TrueU Part 3 - In the Beginning (2/24/11)

Hello, everyone!

Tomorrow night we will continue our look at the cosmological arguments for the existence of a creator.  We will begin to compare and contrast multiple theories on how/why our universe began to exist at all.  Obviously, as Christians, we believe we know the cause.  But a naturalistic culture which limits the possible explanations to only that which can be scientifically tested is limited in their possibilities of a causal explanation.  As we continue I believe you will begin to understand they are simply unable, or unwilling, to accept anything which transcends what exists within our universe, leaving them no other option but to posit insufficient theories in hopes of justifying a life without their loving Father.

But just like the analogy we shared in class about "...going to their playing field and playing with their ball...", we will continue to encourage and prepare ourselves, becoming better equiped to communicate with our culture.  Keep in mind, that is exactly what God did for us.  And remember, He has not set a bar for us to jump over; He established the model we are to follow!

Philipians 2:5-8

"...have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death — even death on a cross!

God bless you all!  I'm looking forward to seeing you all again tomorrow night.

Ricky Chapman

worldviewstudy@gmail.com

P.S. - Special thanks to all of you who have helped me prepare for this week's lesson.  A number of you helped me a lot by defining terms, writing chapter questions for our assigned reading, and recommending good websites and research material.  Thank you so much!!!

TrueU Part 2 - The Finite Universe (2/17/11)

Tonight's lesson will focus on the overwhelming consensus within the scientific community that our universe had a beginning.  Up until the last century it was widely accepted that the universe we inhabit was eternal; which accommodates the world-view of materialistic science.  However, confronted with the discovery of the expanding universe, even Einstein admitted the necessity for a beginning of time; which, by the way, was a view held since the writing of the earliest books of the Bible.

Today we face a scientific community which, according to their own presupposed notions, is looking for a naturalistic explanation for how our universe came into existence.  I believe the question we should be asking ourselves is, "What are the motivations of those who seek to explain away our finite universe?"  The question should not only be focused at those who hold a materialistic world-view, but also at those who believe we are here by the notion and intention of a personal creator.

Our class is going to become very exciting from this point forward.  We are going to begin considering matters that are generally foreign to the Christian community, but which I believe lend substantial support to those who wish to communicate with a lost culture.

God bless you all!  I encourage you to not only persevere, but to invite others to join us in our study!

"Pay close attention to yourself and to your teaching; persevere in these things, for as you do this you will ensure salvation both for yourself and for those who hear you."  1 Timothy 4:16

Ricky

TrueU Part 1 - Faith and Reason (2/10/11)

Tomorrow night we begin the TrueU video series.  The TrueU series is a "pre-qual" to Truth Project produced by Focus on the Family.  For those of you who completed the Truth Project, you may be aware that it was produced with two baseline assumptions.  The first is that an honest review of science demonstrates the necessity of a transcendant creator.  The second is that the Bible is reliable.  This series was produced in order to help people, Christians and non-Christians alike, consider some of the most convincing scientific evidences which point to God's existence.  It is a very good resource, and I believe you will enjoy it greatly, even if you do not believe in God.

(By the way, TrueU has just announced the release of their next series on the reliability of the Bible.  That is very good news to me since it is our next destination sometime early next year.)

So you are aware, we will have more time for discussion and fellowship over the next few weeks since each of these video sessions are only about 30 minutes long.  It's my hope, like last week, that we will continue to have great discussion on our subject matter.  That said, I would like to encourage each of us to keep in mind Paul's encouragement to the church in Corinth; "If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but have not love, I am become sounding brass, or a clanging cymbal."..."Love is patient and kind, love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude.  It does not insist on it's own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice at wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth...." Please keep in mind there is no guarantee that every person in our class believes in God.  And even those who do may not necessarily be very confident in the subject matter we are discussing.  Therefore, I encourage you all to be patient and very kind in all you say.  If God is God, then He is more than able to manage our questions and uncertainties.

I have updated the various documents for tomorrow's class.  Unfortunately, the documents are changing slightly as we go along since this is our first time through this subject matter.  Thank you for your patience.

God bless you all!  See you tomorrow night.

Ricky Chapman
worldviewstudy@gmail.com

Faith and Reason 3 (2/3/11)

Tomorrow night we will finish the John Lennox and Alister McGrath interview conducted by Larry Taunton of Fixed-Point Foundation.  The purpose of our first 3 classes has been to more fully open our eyes to the reality that the Christian faith, unlike what we see today, should not be blind.  Instead, God would have us approach the discovery and study of His creation (natural Theology) through the scientific process as an aspect of discovering and knowing Him more intimately.

Another part of tonight's class will be a short discussion of the Intelligent Design (ID) movement, and those who support it's assertions; both old-earth and young-earth creationists.  And while there are theological implications to both view points, our purpose for the next few months will be to recognize and analyze their common conclusions.  We will return somewhere towards the end of our class to conduct a more full analysis of the problems associated with the differing biblical interpretations of the creation account.  In the meantime, I encourage you to do your own study on this issue as it is a very important topic.

NOTE:  The content under the "Key Documents" section on the left side of our blog has been updated for tomorrow's class.  Please feel free to download and review them.

I look forward to seeing you all there tomorrow night.

God bless you all!

Ricky Chapman

worldviewstudy@gmail.com