6th century BC, 1st century AD, 21st century AD... let's keep preaching!

Six centuries before the revelation of God in the flesh, the Lord GOD spoke the following words to His prophet Ezekiel:

"And you shall speak my words to them, whether they hear or refuse to hear, for they are a rebellious house. But you, son of man, hear what I say to you. Be not rebellious like that rebellious house; open your mouth and eat what I give you."

Moreover, he said to me, "Son of man, all my words that I shall speak to you receive in your heart, and hear with your ears. And go to the exiles, to your people, and speak to them and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord GOD,' whether they hear or refuse to hear."

-Ezekiel 2:7-8,10-11

Seven centuries later, Paul, "an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God according to the promise of the life that is in Christ Jesus", wrote the following to the evangelist Timothy:

Preach the word; be ready in season and out of season; reprove, rebuke, and exhort, with complete patience and teaching. For the time is coming when people will not endure sound teaching, but having itching ears they will accumulate for themselves teachers to suit their own passions, and will turn away from listening to the truth and wander off into myths.

-2 Timothy 4:2-4

And yet another two millennia later, I don't believe that anything has changed for the people of God, who are charged with proclaiming the glory of the LORD on His earth, and who will find true joy in nothing else.

There always have been, and always will be people who refuse to listen to the word of God. There always have been, and always will be people who will persecute those who bring that word. There always have been, and always will be seasons when the Gospel of Christ will be received, and others when it will be abhorred.

But we must not forget that there also always has been, and always will be a great and sovereign God whose ultimate ambition is to proclaim His great worth, drawing men and women to experience His everlasting glory. We must not forget that the Gospel of Christ has been sovereignly planned and executed by this glorious God. And we must not forget that the Gospel will go forth, because it is a manifestation of God's glory. The Gospel will not fail, because God cannot fail.

So let us preach the word of God, in season and out of season, whether they hear or refuse to hear. It is God's Gospel that we bring, not our own. He will ultimately sustain it, but He chooses us to be blessed by being the messengers.

For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes.

-Romans 1:16a

Are We Still The Body Of Christ Without The Full Armor of God?

Here's a very good read over at the Sacred Sandwich. A small excerpt:

It is time, therefore, to make no more apologies to the world for Christ and His Gospel and start acting like the Church… the Body of Christ, that Jesus promised would not be overcome by the gates of Hades. We must gladly display our spiritual armor and be prepared to be vilified by the world just as Christ was vilified, and to suffer just as He suffered. Remember, the world is not really directing their attacks against us, they are directing their attacks against Jesus, their Stumbling Stone and Rock of Offense.

Be blessed on this Lord's Day, brethren, fellow members of the Body of Christ. Let us gladly display our spiritual armor, not only individually, but corporally, on this day and all others to come.

Not overthrown by scholarship

The conviction was growing in me that life is too short and the church is too precious for a minister of the Word to spend his life trying to recreate a conjectured Jesus. There was work to be done—very hard work—to see what is really there in the God-given portrayal of Jesus in the New Testament Gospels. [... T]he portrayal of Jesus in the four Gospels has not been overthrown by scholarship. The appearance of overthrow arises from the unwarranted creation of criteria of authenticity that by definition will rule out aspects of the New Testament portrayal. Thankfully, God has raised up several generations of careful, rigorous, and faithful scholars who are not cowed by the radical critics and who patiently go about their work establishing the historical credibility of the four Gospels. I thank God for them. I don’t mean that they provide proof of the Gospels. I mean they show that the attacks on the historical validity of the portrayal of Jesus in the Gospels are not compelling.

-John Piper, "What Jesus Demands from the World" (pp. 32, 33)

His Superior Beauty and Worth

The glory of Christ is seen in his absolute right and power to annihilate or incapacitate Satan and all demons. But the reason he refrains from destroying and disabling them altogether is to manifest more clearly his superior beauty and worth. If Christ obliterated all devils and demons now (which he could do), his sheer power would be seen as glorious, but his superior beauty and worth would not shine as brightly as when humans renounce the promises of Satan and take pleasure in the greater glory of Christ.

-John Piper, "Seeing and Savoring Jesus Christ" (p. 82)

Jesus and Politics

If we were to remove all of the biblical teaching on caring for the marginalized and the significance of social justice, we would be left with a rather slim book. If we took away the role of stewardship of creation and of cultivating natural resources, Adam and Eve would have been left with very little to do in the Garden. It would be too easy to simply identify Jesus with a political party, to simply put him on the left or on the right. The ethic of the new community demands humble participation, maybe even realizing that the solutions to complex social issues and problems transcends party platforms. The ethic of the new community may demand that - like all things for its members - we recognize that we now see dimly, and not so clearly as those who have put Jesus on the left or on the right would like us to think.

-Stephen J. Nichols, "Jesus: Made in America" (pp. 220-221)

Cream of Wheat

Christian music, originally called Jesus Music, once fearlessly sang clearly about the gospel. Now it yodels of a Christ-less, watered down, pabulum-based, positive alternative, aura-fluff, cream of wheat, mush-kind-of-syrupy, God-as-my-girlfriend kind of thing.

-Steve Camp, thesis 41, "A Call for Reformation in the Contemporary Christian Music Industry"

2 x 2 = 4 ?

What we suffer from today is humility in the wrong place. Modesty has moved from the organ of ambition. Modesty has settled upon the organ of conviction; where it was never meant to be. A man was meant to be doubtful about himself, but undoubting about the truth; this has been exactly reversed. Nowadays the part of a man that a man does assert is exactly the part he ought not to assert - himself. The part he doubts is exactly the part he ought not to doubt - the Divine Reason... The new skeptic is so humble that he doubts if he can even learn... There is a real humility typical of our time; but it so happens that it's practically a more poisonous humility than the wildest prostrations of the ascetic... The old humilty made a man doubtful about his efforts, which might make him work harder. But the new humilty makes a man doubtful about his aims, which makes him stop working altogether... We are on the road to producing a race of man too mentally modest to believe in the multiplication table.

-1908, G. K. Chesterton, "Orthodoxy" (pp. 31-32)

I just threw up in my mouth...

Ugh.

I think I'm gonna be sick.

Click here... if you dare...

Give Men Time

Wow, wow, wow... wow.

This blog post is great, and was really good for me to read, I think. I'd like to share it with you only because, even though it seems the author is referring to specific doctrines within the beliefs of Christianity, I think it has a direct extension to the whole of the Gospel, and our commandment to preach it to the world:

"It is easy to be frustrated with people for not being able to see and accept the truth instantly... Instead of those realities being seen for what they are (majestic and glorious) they are often seen through a vision that has been distorted by misrepresentations, and by expectations moulded by caricatures of the real thing."

It's funny that I read this today, because I was just having a discussion on this very topic with a friend last night. The Gospel itself is, in its very nature, offensive to the rebellious hearts of men. Until the scales fall from our shrouded eyes, we won't understand it, we can't understand it. What's more, the world sees misrepresentations of it all around. It would do us good to remember this.

We should remember that it is not our job to convert unbelievers, only to preach to them of the hope, glory, and joy of Christ's atoning sacrifice on a wooden cross. We cannot possibly know what kind of soil will catch the seeds that are planted by means of our proclamation of the Gospel: that is not our work, but the Spirit's. We need only plant, plant, plant, and not be impatient with people if we do not see immediate, direct evidence of the growth of those seeds.

The growth is God's business, not ours. We need but plant, be patient, and pray that God would give growth to the seed.

Oh, oh, oh!! Blessings!!

Yo.

Feeling like you're not doing much good for the Kingdom if you're not a pastor/missionary/etc. ? Feeling like you can't serve God or show the love of Christ to others unless you're behind a pulpit or off in another country?


Bzzzzzzzz... wrong.


You should all take some time to read this short sermon outline.

Besides... Douglas Wilson is a theological stud-muffin.


May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you!

A Radical View of Creation, Pt. 1

(I first want to say that these kinds of ideas - as with many things that I have posted here - do not necessarily represent my solid and final conviction concerning these matters. These are simply ideas that I'm still mulling though, while searching Scripture for evidences. Feel free to disagree... and please comment if you disagree! I'm young, and the last one who would presume that I have found anything even resembling the only right answers!)


Yesterday, I discussed the idea that the institution of marriage was established by God for the purpose of glorifying Himself on this earth. I want to continue this train of thought now, and discuss a similar view of the role of the entirety of Creation itself.

In his book "The Pleasures of God", John Piper explains that God had no need to create this earth or any of its inhabitants, including mankind. There was nothing missing in God's "life" that caused Him to long for something else. It's not as if God was pining away for friends, and decided to make some playmates to hang out with Him. This same point has also been stressed by C.S. Lewis: "God, who needs nothing, loves in to existence wholly superfluous creatures in order that He may love and perfect them."

I might disagree with Lewis a slight bit here, however, or at least see a need to qualify his statement. What I read in his words is that God's ultimate purpose in the act of Creation was to give us something. If this were the case, then it would mean that the focus of the totality of Creation - from the beginning of time to the end of this world as we know it - is us. I don't think this is true. I believe the foundational center of all of Creation is God's own glory manifested in the person of Jesus Christ.

Why do I think this? Let's look at the first chapter of the gospel of John, verses 1-4:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men.

Firstly, it is through Jesus that "all things were made", and "without Him nothing was made that was made." Jesus was central in the action of the creation of the worlds and all creatures. Matthew Henry comments on a valuable realization to be had in this truth: "This proves the excellency of the Christian religion, that the author and founder of it is the same that was the author and founder of the world." Jesus is not only the Redeemer of the souls of those whom He justifies, but also - being with God, in God, and divinely God Himself - the creator of all mankind. Our existence was created, and will be perfected, in Christ.

Secondly, Jesus was not only the giver of our life, but He is also the sustainer of it. Our life force - including all things which make Man uniquely Man, "the light of men" which allows us to bear the image of the Creator - finds its source in Christ Himself.

And Jesus, who is, with God the Father, the source of our life as well as the sustainer of our life, this same Jesus was also the perfectly righteous spotless Lamb on whom was poured all of the wrath of God for our sins. So how can it be that creatures who have been created, sustained, and redeemed by the very God whom they have sinned against be the focal point of, and reason for, their own creation?

(This post is getting long, and I'm getting tired, but I have more I want to say, so I'll finish later. Feel free to dialogue on this!)

The History of Religion

I saw this linked on a couple of blogs, so I thought I would share it as well.

Puts things in perspective a bit.




Note the boom of Christianity from missions.

Missions, missions, missions!

Common grace?

So, I was working in a coffee shop tonight, and there was an acoustic band that was setting up, and I thought to myself, "Self, this isn't going to be good. You came here to work, and you're not going to be able to concentrate."

I'm sure glad that I stayed anyway, because I thought the band was spectacular! Two girls, keyboard, acoustic guitar, beautiful voices. I bought their CD, and told them both how wonderfully they played.

As I was going home, I thought again to myself, "Self, those girls have truly been given a wonderful gift. Praise God for that!"

But then I started thinking about the mystery of common grace. Now, I don't want to assume that these girls aren't Christians, because I don't know that. But I do know that there are many people out there who have great talents, but do not recognize where those talents have come from. People always say, "You have such a gift!" But a gift requires not only a recipient to receive the gift, but also a benefactor to give the gift. For those who do not believe in God, or at least some concept of a god, where do they think these "gifts" come from?

Does something like musical talent fall under the category of common grace? Is the goal of God's giving of this gift to glorify Himself, even through those who do not directly give Him glory? Were these gifts purchased at the Cross, as was saving grace? If so, then how and why are they distributed to those who are not His adopted sons and daughters? If not, then where do they come from, and why are they given?

Common grace has always been, and continues to be, a very difficult concept for me to grasp.

Thoughts?

The Greco-Roman Myth

I'm currently picking away at the literature portion of the reading list for my M.A. exams, and I'm reading Le Misanthrope tonight in a local café. I just came across something which reminded me of a sermon series that I listened to last year:

Comment pouvoir juger s’il est vrai qu’elle l’aime ?
Son cœur de ce qu’il sent n’est pas bien sûr lui-même ;
Il aime quelquefois sans qu’il le sache bien,
Et croit aimer aussi parfois qu’il n’en est rien.

(How can we judge whether it be true that she loves him?
Her own heart is not so very sure of what it feels.
It sometimes loves, without being quite aware of it,
And at other times thinks it does, without any grounds.)

The sermon series that I listened to is called "Love & Marriage" by Voddie Baucham, Pastor of Preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, TX (which can be downloaded here, if you want to listen to them; mind you, some of the files are split up in a weird way, so you'll have to play them through consecutively). I recommend them. Seriously. You know you want to. Go for it. Click.

Anyway, in one of the four parts of the series, Voddie confronts what he calls the "Greco-Roman myth" of romantic love. The myth wants us to believe things such as “This thing is bigger than both of us", “We don’t choose who we fall in love with", “The heart wants what it wants", and the ever-so-popular "Follow your heart."

Bull crap.

You know what the Bible says about the human heart? That it's wicked and not to be trusted! (Jeremiah 17:9)

Don't get me wrong: it's not that I believe that emotions aren't valid, or that they're not God-given. On the contrary, I believe that they are, and are, therefore, a wonderful gift. And I believe that they should play a very important part in romantic love. (I'm also not saying that we humans are as completely wicked as we could be without God's common grace on humanity, just to make that clear!) But I know a bit about my own heart, and I can at least speak for myself when I say that I would rather not make all of my decisions based on what that little untrustworthy idol factory is feeding my brain... especially not when hormones are involved.

I believe that Voddie is correct when he gives a biblical definition of love to counter this myth: "Biblical love is an act of the will, accompanied by emotion, which leads to action on behalf of its object."

Men, what Biblical model are we given for how we are to love our wives? That's right: our Lord and Redeemer Himself. We are called to love our wives as Christ loved His Church (Ephesians 5:25). Did Christ love the Church because she was physically attractive? Did Christ love the Church simply because His heart told Him to? Was His love for the Church - His spotless bride - an emotion that was beyond Him, bigger than Him, out of His control?

No. Christ chose to love His Church! Jesus chose to give Himself up for her! And He continues to choose to love her even when she doesn't act very love-worthy!

Let's stop buying into this myth that our culture is trying to feed us. Use your heart, but use first and foremost your will when you choose to love others, romantically or otherwise.

And if you don't feel like you love them anymore... stop it. Stop listening to your heart, and choose to love the object of your affection. The world will tell you to move on, to follow your heart, to trust in your emotions when things get sticky.

Boy... I'm sure glad that Jesus didn't buy into this lie when He chose to love me....

Hard words: Part 2 (!)

As I mentioned in the last post, I wasn't sure if I was going to post this follow-up, due to the fact that it may offend people who read it. However, if we please God, it doesn't matter who we displease; if we displease God, it doesn't matter who we please. While on this earth, we are to proclaim the truth of the words of God... and this will offend some, because true righteousness is offensive to human beings who, in our very fallen nature, are unrighteous, yet wrongfully believe ourselves to be made righteous by our own works.

We learned from the words of John Piper in the last post (not that the words of Piper are the very words of God, but his point is a biblical one!) that one of the marks of saving faith is the fighting of sin. This is a mark of saving faith because we, as fallen creatures, love sin: we love rebelling against God. Our nature decrees that turning from God is the only thing that we know how to do before we have been drawn to Him (Romans 8:7, John 15:5). Fighting this nature is something that we cannot do apart from the grace of God’s work of sanctification in us, which is only given to those who have been adopted as sons and daughters of the Kingdom.

But let us not rely on the words of a mere man to ascertain truth. Our sole authority is Scripture, and we gain our understanding of God's ultimate truth through the words that He has given us. And if you are inclined to argue against the inerrancy of the whole of God's writ, then let's take a look at the very words of our Lord Himself:

"But what do you think? A man had two sons, and he came to the first and said, 'Son, go, work today in my vineyard.' He answered and said, 'I will not,' but afterward he regretted it and went. Then we came to the second and said likewise. And he answered and said, 'I go, sir,' but he did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?" They said to Him, "The first." Jesus said to them, "Assuredly, I say to you that tax collectors and harlots enter the kingdom of God before you." -Matthew 21:28-31

"But why do you call Me 'Lord, Lord,' and not do the things which I say?" -Luke 6:46

"Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?' And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!' " -Matthew 7:21-23

Hard words. But if we claim Jesus as our Lord, we must listen to them.

In our postmodern society, it is easy to find many people who claim to be "Christian", and yet ignore Christ. They will give lip service to God, but will not do what He commands: they will not fight against sin. And if they do good works, it is not for the glory of God, but for their own glory. They believe that everyone has their own "take" on religion, and that we shouldn't draw lines between world religions because God doesn't. They believe that to say that Jesus is the only path to heaven is ignorant, unprogressive, hateful, and intolerant. They believe that because God is all-loving, He will accept anyone into heaven in the last day who is a "good person".

Let us weep for these people.

And let us pray for them.

Yes, it is true that we are not saved by our works. We are forgiven, justified, and sanctified by the work of Christ on the cross. It is never about our work, but only ever about His. However, true saving faith will bear fruit, and will fight against sin. Those who are of the Kingdom of God, who have been regenerated by the Holy Spirit, will have this Spirit working in them. The fruit of this work will be seen by others... and will be seen by ourselves.

I am not saying that if we still have much sin in our lives, we are not saved. What I am saying is that if we do not find ourselves fighting against sin in these earthly bodies, if we cannot say alongside Paul that when we sin we do what we hate (Romans 7:15), we need to fall on our knees in the holy presence of the LORD, we need to confess that we have not loved Him, we need to ask Him in the matchless name of His Son to forgive us for these sins, and we need to ask for the desire to be implanted in us to fight against them!

If you have never done this, and yet claim to follow after Christ, you have obviously not listened to His words... and when the rain and the winds come, great will be the fall of the house of your soul (Matthew 7:27).

Hard words: Part 1 (?)

The question mark after "Part 1" is due to the fact that I'm not entirely sure that I'm going to post the second part that I have in mind to post. I may offend some in doing so. Then again, we're not on this earth to gain the appreciation of man... maybe I'm more afraid of man than I am of God....

The catalyst for my post today is a portion of a sermon that I listened to last night from John Piper (if you haven't yet been blessed by hearing this man speak of God and the infinite pleasures to be found in His holy presence, please visit Desiring God as soon as you can).

The sermon is entitled "How to Deal with the Guilt of Sexual Failure for the Glory of Christ and His Global Cause", and if you find yourself dealing with the darkness of guilt of any sin, and after having rebelled once again against your God you hear a little voice that drips lies from its lips as it whispers in your ear, "Give up. It's not worth trying because you'll never be good enough for God. Just stop trying and live your life how you want to," I recommend that you listen to this sermon (all MP3s are free in the sermon section of the website).

Anyway, let's get to the point of the post. Here's the section of the sermon:

"And this [saving] faith will fight anything that gets between it and Christ. The distinguishing mark of saving faith is not perfection. The mark of faith is not that I never sin sexually. The mark of faith is that I fight. I fight anything that dims my sight of Jesus as my glorious Savior. I fight anything that diminishes the fullness of the lordship of Jesus in my life. I fight anything that threatens to replace Jesus as the supreme Treasure of my life. Anything that stands between me and receiving Jesus faith fights - not with fists or knives or guns or bombs, but with the truth of Christ."

Did you hear that?! The distinguishing mark of saving faith is that we fight! Is something coming between you and your beautiful Lord? Fight it by the power of God! Do not just allow Satan to do what he wants with you, because what he wants is to separate you from his Holy Enemy. But we know that this cannot happen!

For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us from the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. -Romans 8:38-39

The only tool that Satan has ever been able to use to keep man from God is unforgiven sin... and he doesn't posses it anymore! If you are of Christ, then your sins were nailed to a bloodied, wooden cross 2000 years ago! Don't believe Satan: he can't separate you from Christ if you belong to Him!

But listen carefully, brethren, to the well-known, and often ignored, words of the apostle Paul:

Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. -2 Corinthians 5:17

This means that we are children of the Almighty God, we are heirs to His kingdom. We are no longer men and women of this fallen world... so let's stop acting like it! Let's fight sin!!

Therefore purge out the old leaven, that you may be a new lump, since you truly are unleavened. -1 Corinthians 5:7

Do you see it? Do you see it?! We are no longer leavened! We are no longer slaves to our sin! So let's stop acting like it!

Yes, you will fail. You will fail over and over and over. But if you are an adopted child of God, then you have the Holy Spirit working in you, and you need but ask of the LORD to grant you the strength to fight, and He will do so. So pray that God would give you the ability to fight sin... and then fight it! Fight sin so that God may be glorified on this earth. Fight sin so that you may enjoy communion with Jesus more fully. Finally, fight sin because it no longer has dominion over you!

(To be continued...?)

Does Sin Sadden Us?

As I continue to meditate on chunks of Psalm 119, I was struck this morning by a subtle, yet important, theme: the existence of sin in the world not only angered this psalmist... it made him sad.

Rivers of water run down from my eyes, because men do not keep Your law. (v. 136)

My zeal has consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten Your words. (v. 139)

When we view our world, and we see the rampant spread of a lack of reverence for God, how do we react? Perhaps we get angry! "How dare we, who are created, treat our Creator this way!" we may shout... and rightly so! This anger is certainly a righteous indignation if it is rooted in the desire to see the LORD's name hallowed on this earth.

However, how often do we weep for the world when we realize how corrupt we are? How often can we echo the sentiments of the psalmist in reaction to the fallenness of creation, with "water running down from our eyes"? Does sin sadden us?

I believe that it is right to be angered by sin, but I also believe that it is right to be saddened by sin: The sin in the world. The sin in our country. The sin in our city. The sin in ourselves.

Ah! But we must not stop here! If you have the Spirit of God in your soul, and the sacred word of the Almighty on your lips, you have hope for yourself and for the world! Let your anger and anguish toward sin spur you on to proclaim your salvation from its reign! Use your godly sorrow for all that opposes God to tell those who are bound by their sin of the Cross, sin's ultimate defeat!

Let then sin madden you, sadden you, and provoke you to preach of its Conqueror!

True Wisdom

Entrenched in the world of academia, I am daily surrounded by very intelligent people. I mean VERY intelligent people. My job requires me to be constantly in the presence of human brilliance.

Sadly enough, however, many of these minds do not glorify God with their intelligence. In fact, they use it to deny His very existence.

I will admit that this is a struggle for me: if these people are so intelligent, why has their study led them away from the very One who is the cause of science? Science itself is the study of God's creation, is it not? How can they know so much and yet not know their Creator?

I am not alone in these thoughts. Truly, there is nothing new under the sun:

I have more understanding than all my teachers, for Your testimonies are my meditation. -Psalm 119:99

For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God.
For it is written:
“I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and bring to nothing the understanding of the prudent.”
Where is the wise? Where is the scribe? Where is the disputer of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of this world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world through wisdom did not know God, it pleased God through the foolishness of the message preached to save those who believe. -1 Corinthians 1:18-21

In man's quest for knowledge, he has put knowledge before God. Knowledge has become his idol, and it may very well be his downfall.

All of us, especially those who are in academia or in any field whose goal is to seek after knowledge, must remember that man's wisdom, no matter how wise it may seem, is nothing compared to God's wisdom. We must remember that the message of Christ is as foolishness to man, for man seeks to be his own god by means of his own wisdom. But we must also remember that the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men.

If we hide the word of God in our hearts, we posses the treasure of true wisdom. Let us then seek to be wise, brethren! Let us, as the psalmist, gain understanding through His precepts in order that we might hate every false way!

Melancholy and the Infinite Sadness

Not to be cliché, but Satan and his work sadden me.

Sometimes I simply do not understand why the world hates God so much. Atheism, I can understand: it is easy to ignore God. I do this all the time. But outright hatred toward a Being that supposedly means nothing to you? I just don't get it...

And yet, without God's grace, this is who I am.

For the mind that is set on the flesh is hostile to God, for it does not submit to God's law; indeed, it cannot. - Romans 8:7

Lord, may Your name be hallowed in Champaign-Urbana... for it seems that, currently, it is despised by many. Have mercy on us, O Lord.