“Since they thought it foolish to acknowledge God, he abandoned them to their foolish thinking and let them do things that should never be done. Their lives become full of every kind of wickedness, sin, greed, hate, envy, murder, quarreling, deception, malicious behavior and gossip” (Romans 1:28-29 NLT).
Though true philosophy is crafted out of theology, and philosophers of note had turned to theological foundations in God’s special revelation (Holy Bible) for credible conclusions about life, versions of postmodernism philosophies have taken on different foundations in which the God-factor seems to disappear in man’s consciousness, and this is greatly working against man. Individualism and self-actualization make men to look within themselves and think they don’t have a need for God; people think that they can get along on their own. Men achieve financial dreams and are addressed as self-made millionaires. Sweet community life disappears, and city dwellers aren’t caring so much as to know a next-door neighbor; only workplaces provide common grounds for social connection. Every now and then someone would say, “Never mind, it is my life!” Yet, people never really find meaning to their lives, and running their lives their own way rather opens up a vacuum of emptiness and meaninglessness in them.
Man, ultimately, will never find meaning without God because it was God’s breath which made man a living being. Therefore, man needs God, the source of his life, for him to be fulfilled just like he needs to ingest food grown from the ground to nourish his body which was equally formed from the ground1. No matter how one pretends to be self-sufficient, there will remain a longing in the heart: an innate craving which only God satisfies. It is God’s presence in a man’s life offering direction that brings the tranquility which drives out cognitive dissonance of meaninglessness.
A meaningless existence is the snare which postmodernism philosophies project to our age; it makes people think that there is no God, no absolute truth and no ultimate purpose for life. Therefore, men seek the universals (Holy Grail) of philosophy from the particulars: the big answers to the questions of life from the smaller things of life. This approach conceptualizes the universe as a cosmic cube believed to be all there was, all there is, and all there will ever be without a thing existing outside it. This hollow and deceptive philosophy is the reason why men look within themselves for answers, and search for meaning to life from things which they can make happen by themselves. Ultimately, this leads on to self-delusion, as people are never able to get a hold of what they think would give their lives a meaning. However, a careful look at creation gives an intriguing revelation of meaning, design, purpose and a flawless supernatural plan.
I was thrilled to read about the laws of physics and how they are extremely fine tuned to permit the existence of matter; for some of these physical laws, a change of as 1 part in 1037 (10,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000) would prevent the universe from ever containing any kind of life2. This is certainly not a creation without purpose! In the book, Cosmos, Bios, and Theos, Arno Penzias, winner of Noble Prize in Physics, observed the delicate balance in creation, and he acknowledged a supernatural plan:
“Astrology leads us to a unique event, a universe which was created out of nothing, one with the very delicate balance needed to prove exactly the conditions required to permit life, and one which has an underlying (one might say ‘supernatural) plan.” (Quoted by Margenau, and R. A. Varhese, 1992:83)
Just as Penzias observed, Roger Penrose, British Mathematics Professor and author, equally came to a similar conclusion “I would say the universe has a purpose. It’s not there just somehow by chance3.”
The cosmic cube hypothesis is a costly assumption which refutes the existence of God who in his transcendence, is above and beyond creation. It is to Him we should look for real answers to life’s questions and not to ourselves or anything around us. For instance, man is completely inadequate to answer the question of what the truth is or the question of human dignity. Man by himself cannot determine the basis for truth, moral right and human dignity. In Professor Yusuf Turaki’s view of human foundation in an analysis of African religious believes and practices, he points to a realm beyond the natural for answers:
“The divine basis for human dignity is grounded in something that both precedes and transcends humanity itself, the state, the race and all social institutions. Human dignity cannot be rooted in the historical consciousness of man or in some sort of values forged out by man.” (Christianity & African Gods, 1993)
The world had never been as complex as we have it today, and it seems like a foolhardy attempt for anyone to think that he is adequate to be on his own without God4, or rely on his forged values as the right answers. We all need to look beyond us to the One who knows all things, who created all things, and who alone can proffer a credible foundation for moral truth, our cultural values and belief system. It’s He who can guide us safely through the mélange of life’s confusing alternatives of choices5, and He is delighted to do so.
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1 Genesis 2:7
2 www.godandscience.org/love/sld009.html . DOA, 15th December, 2009
3 Psalm 14:1
4Proverbs 3:5-7
5 Penrose, R. 1992. A Brief History of Time (feature film). Burbank, CA, Paramount Pictures Inc.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Thursday, May 28, 2009
Last Sunday was the culmination service of Children’s Week at ECWA Seminary Church, Jos. During the service, I paid rapt attention to Pastor Emmanuel Bawa, the children pastor, as he spoke concerning building up the body of Christ. It was a well presented sermon on spiritual gifts of Christians.
A striking statement he made was that no Christian needs to feel left out when it comes to possessing a spiritual gift. Then the thought came to me again fresh: nobody is unimportant then! Let’s imagine how great the experience would be when all Christians put their gifts into use. Truly this is the only way the body of Christ can be built up and edified.
However, some Christians do not know the spiritual gifts which they possess. Here are questions to help you in the discovery: since you received Christ, in what area would you say you have a grace to operate as in tendencies and dispositions? Do you always see a material need in the people that come into contact with you? If yes, then that is a disposition that points to the gift of giving (Romans 12:8).
Also, do you find yourself outspoken and courageous enough to right a wrong irrespective of what is at stake, or maybe being passionately concerned about the sufferings of others? If yes, then this disposition points you to the gift of leadership (Romans 12:8). Just like the gifts of giving and leading, you can know that you possess the gift of teaching, if you find teaching come easy to you. By prayerfully tracking your dispositions, you’d be able to identify the spiritual gift you possess.
Let’s have a look at Moses who possessed certain dispositions of leadership much before he was commissioned foe leadership. In Exodus 2:11-12, we see that he could not refrain from intervening when he saw a fellow Hebrew being beaten up by an Egyptian; he felt bad and went on to kill the Egyptian.
Just the next day he saw two Hebrew men fighting, and again, he intervened asking, “Why are you beating up your friend? (vv.13 NLT). When he realized that his earlier action was no longer a secret, the anticipatory response from the Pharaoh now made him escape to Midian where he stayed as a fugitive.
Again, while sitting by a well in a sorry state at Midian, he could not help jumping up to rescue the daughters of Reuel from the hands of bullies (Exodus 2:17). These actions simply point to Moses’ gift of leadership. Little wonder, years ahead the great burden to free a nation of slaves from oppression was borne by him, and he was famed as an outstanding leader in Israel’s history
It is important that Christians know their areas of gifting, because we are all made to be unique, and not to be somebody else. What distinguishes a person is the extent to which he has utilized or exercised his gifts. When Jesus taught about humility in the Gospel of Luke 14, he said, “When someone invites you to a wedding feast, do not take the place of honour, for a person more distinguished than you may have been invited. If so, the host who invited both of you will come and say to you ‘Give this man your seat.’ Then humiliated, you will have to take the least important place” (Luke 14:8-9 NIV).
From this scripture, do we say that being distinguished implies that one person is more important than another? ...NO. All gifts have the same level of importance; therefore, a person possessing one gift is not more important than the person possessing another. However, through exercise and constant use of gifts, one may become more distinguished than another. But even more better than our being distinguished is the fact that the body of Christ will be edified to the glory of God, when we all use our spiritual gifts.
I have used Christian Net to ascertain my spiritual gifts and its results are just amazing and show up quite fast. You may want to visit there and take a spiritual gift test. Click HERE.
God made us differently and fitted us with gifts and abilities that are special to each person; though, we have organs which are similar in functions. Through self-branding, you will be able to find your area of uniqueness, which ultimately stands you out. There are no two people alike in the world, just like there are no two finger prints alike. This variety or difference is intended to add spice to life and to reserve a distinguishing value for everyone. However, your distinguishing value is your unique selling point (USP) and everyone has got it!
Branding is a marketing concept that identifies products and their sources and also differentiates them from other products. In much the same way, we ought to differentiate and distinguish ourselves and not to compete with others. You become distinguished when you identify your uniqueness, and your uniqueness in terms of ability or gifting gives you an edge. This is called unique selling preposition; the single most distinguishing attribute of a product.
Sadly however, I hear people make comments that reveal that they measure their weaknesses against other people else’s strength. The right thing to do is to appreciate other people else’s strength which God has given to them and then be equally able to glow about your own unique area of strength. If, for instance, you don’t do great in soccer and you do great in music then you can capitalize on music. Obvious temptation is that you may want to keep music aside to concentrate on soccer. But this is a counterproductive approach because nobody ever performs at superlative level from a position of weakness, so it is safer and wiser that you concentrate on your strength.
The bible tells us the story of twelve spies who were sent out by Moses to spy the Promised Land, but they failed to distinguish themselves; they failed to consider their strength in God. Instead, they put their giant enemies in perspective and saw themselves as mere weaklings and slaves. These folks accepted defeat because they lacked an understanding of branding; their assessment was wrong. Thanks to God that two fellows (Joshua & Caleb) understood the branding concept, and they distinguished themselves. They did not take the enemies' strength into account, but established a clean point of difference by looking at their own strength of uniqueness which was in God (Numbers 13.25 - 33).
Can you imagine that at another occasion they still did not learn their lesson? (1 Samuel 17.1-58). Here again, the Israelites were challenged to a battle by the Philistines. The philistines had a giant who boasted of his power, and again, the Israelite army became frightened. Rather than figuring out an idea, they wrongly spent the time considering the imposing physique of the giant. What a terrible thing to do? This ill standard of measuring strength affected their confidence in God and they became afraid.
Thank God again that while they were terrified, there was the daring David who understood his USP and was soon offended by the insults of this giant, Goliath. By applying the concept of branding, David began to take into account the distinguishing points which differentiated him from the giant, which was his faith in God, and not too long David dropped the giant dead through the Help of God, by an effortless use of a sling and a smooth stone. (1 Samuel 17.1-58).
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