A Pastor's Thoughts

For proper functioning in the the world, people need to know their world view. Hyrum Smith has written several books on time management and organization and his view, which I agree with, is that once you understand your own world view, you can set goals and do things that support that world view. You will then be happier and feel more accomplished. You will learn to apply your world view in every area of life. We can understand the world around us much better, if we understand our own world view. For example, over the last couple of years, it has been popular to say that climate change is the greatest challenge the world faces. Climate change is the cause of all poverty, all terrorism, all immigration and every other problem you can think of. I disagree. My world view states that God created the world in 6 days, then reshaped it with a world-wide flood, starting over with 8 people. If someone’s view of the world or the cosmos does not include these facts, then their foundat

The fourth aspect that must be included in every world view is this: how does it end? The two basic choices every world view has is this: There is either something after death or nothing. Also world views can contain teachings about the end of time when existence as we know today is gone. Fundamental secularists, humanists, progressives and atheists are all nihilists . They believe there is nothing or nothing knowable after this life. They also believe there are no consequences or judgement after this life. They live for today. The biblical mockery of eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow you will die , fits these people. Their goal is living for today, gaining all they can today, because tomorrow does not matter. Humanists say that when people die, they cease to exist with no memory, no spirit, no soul, no consequences, no accountability…..nothing. Hindus and Buddhists believe in an eternal reincarnation cycle. There are vague mentions of joining with your favorite god

If you recall, the four parts that must be included in every world view are How did it begin What is the problem How is the problem fixed How does it end Asking about the problem, in number 2 will usually concern itself with the problem between people and God. That is the only universal type problem that can exist. There may be a problem of poverty but that would be localized. All world views, except humanism, state the universal problem in terms of a theological situation. Humanism’s definition of the problem varies from moment to moment. Their universal problem these days is either trans-gender, LGBTQ issues or climate change. However, every religious world view sees the universal problem as some offense that people have committed and God is angry or upset. The more transcendent the view of God, the less immediate effects are felt with this offense. Atonement is a world that means to fix the problem in number 2.  Atonement can be behavior or sacrifice or prayer.  

There are three religions who claim the title people of the book . The Jews claim the 39 books of the Old Testament as their rule of faith and practice. The Christians claim the 39 books of the Old Testament and the 27 books of the New Testament as their rule of faith and practice. Islam takes the Q’oran as their rule book. Christians believe that in their state of sin there was nothing to do to please God. God the Father sent Jesus the Christ, God the Son to die on a cross. Those who accept this event by faith receive forgiveness for sins. Christians are saved by grace, not of works. Once a person becomes a Christian through faith alone, their top goal is to love God and love others. They don't blow things up, and there are no points to be earned.  Christians have as their perfect example, Jesus Christ, and the New Testament is the story of Jesus’ life and then letters discussing how to apply these truths. The Bible is the inerrant word of God and it describes how the worl

There is a world view that is sweeping America. It is taught in the elementary schools, high schools and colleges. It is portrayed on TV in sitcoms and dramas and it is shown to be a great idea by politicians and news. That world view is humanism . It has gone by many names over the years. It is called secular humanism and fundamental secularism . This view says that people, their ideas, their desires, there dreams and thoughts are the highest good and the best thing there is. The fight over transgender bathrooms, abortion on demand, climate change, pride parades and other acts of self expression are all part of this worldview. Add to the mix that religious people are called racist, bigoted, prejudiced and closed minded, and you have the marching orders of the fundamental secularists. The core motivator of this belief system is "whatever feels good". So if helping someone causes me to feel good, then I will help someone, while if hurting someone promotes g

Islam teaches that they are the third and final revelation from Allah, a fully transcendent, omnipotent and omniscient god. The first revelation came to Moses and the Jews were Allah’s chosen people. They failed to obey. The second revelation came to Jesus and the Christians were to be Allah’s chosen people and they failed to obey. The third revelation came to Muhammad, and the Arabs were to be Allah’s chosen people and they got it right. In Islam, the creator god, Allah really does not like people. His dislike for people is shown in the fact that grace and love are words that are never attributed to Allah. Islam is a system where believers spend their whole life trying too prove their love for Allah, so that he will notice them and love them back. Therefore the final judgement where each person stands before Allah, consists of a set of scales. If the good things a person does out weight the bad things, then they get to go to heaven. Pretty simple. However, the things th

Sikhism starting in the Punjab region of India in the 1500s. It is very new compared to the other mainstream religions. They are monotheistic, believing in one all powerful creator god. This god spoke to the world in ten prophets or Gurus. These Gurus wrote down what god said and it has been compiled into one really large book. The book is so big it is wheeled around on a cart. The book is written in Punjabi and is not translated. One aspect of becoming Sikh is that you have to speak Punjabi, which may be why it is not sweeping America as a belief system. What makes Sikhism unique is that they do not try to get anyone to join their religion, perhaps of the language barrier.   They believe that god will bring people to himself. The believers spend their time serving and making life better for all. Sikhs make great policemen, fireman, military members and do great in other service type jobs. There is even a Sikh motorcycle club that is a public service organization. The

Around 450 BC, a man by the name of Siddhārtha Gautama lived in India. He was from a royal family and was very rich. He participated in the Hindu religion but was dissatisfied. He felt that Hinduism offered great spiritual answers but nothing for the practical details of life. So he set out on a quest to find answers. His journey was very similar to Solomon’s journey detailed in the book of Ecclesiastes. He tried buying stuff, giving stuff away, gluttony and starvation. He traveled and played the life of a hermit. He spent most of his time living a life of asceticism. After years of searching he sat down under a bodhi tree and claims that enlightenment came to him and he became the buddha and formed buddhism Buddhism has four noble truths: All existence is suffering All suffering comes from desire There is a fix for this problem The fix is known as the middle way Siddhartha’s enlightenment was the pattern for what became known as the middle way. The goal of buddhis

A world view is the lens through which individuals view the world. It is the set of rules and beliefs that allow them to interpret the situation and events around them. For example, if I have the belief that chocolate ice cream is a gift from heaven and all other ice creams are from the devil, then I will treat chocolate ice cream eaters different than vanilla ice cream eaters. This is a basic example, but each of us has hundreds, if not thousands of such beliefs and rules that we use to function in the world. A world view had four parts How it all began What the problem is How the problem can be fixed How it all ends Religions offer answers to these four questions and therefore offer the most complete world views. Modern atheists who reject religion use religious terms to answer these four questions in humanistic terms. Over the next several days I will be examining various common world views and discussing what they mean. Hinduism is the default religious system of I

Many years ago I was teaching at a local community college. They had recently changed their administration and the politics of the school became almost unbearable. Students learned that they could make accusations against the teachers and extort grades. I was written up for such an accusation even though there was no evidence. At that time, the city of Santa Clara had a program where anyone could meet with a lawyer for 30 minutes for $30. I wrote up my situation and my wife and I met with a lawyer. I gave him the write-up and he spent about 10 minutes reading it. He then handed the paper back to me and looked me in my eyes and said, “quit.” That is a profound statement and amazing advice and well worth the $30. Too often it is easy to get so involved in the injustice of a situation that fighting against the situation, righting the wrong, fixing the injustice seems the holy war that must be fought. But do all injustices need to be made right? Do all wrongs need to be corre

Once a person truly believes in the work of Jesus Christ and the blood of Christ is applied to the believer’s sins, the Holy Spirit takes up residence in the believer and the process of sanctification begins. Remember than sanctification means to make holy . No one will ever attain holiness in this life, on this earth, except Jesus, who came with it and left with it. However, we must function as believers which requires us to interface with God almighty in prayer and study. How can unholy people do this? The answer is imputed righteousness . Jesus Christ lived a perfectly righteous life while on this earth. He knew the Law, the Mosaic Covenant, and kept every part of it. Every command was obeyed by Christ. Then they killed him. Upon his death, everyone who has their sin covered by Christ, receives Christ’s righteousness also. This righteousness is placed in the believer like a robe. It does not belong to the believer and the believer did not participate in this righteous