Salad Bar Faith
Some people approach what they choose to believe like they would a salad bar. They pick and choose what they like and disregard the rest. The problem with this approach is that God doesn’t give us a choice of what to believe but of whether to believe. We must be careful not to confuse these two things.
For example, people take issue with such things as whether or not God created everything in just six twenty-four-hour days, or whether there was a literal Adam and Eve, or whether Noah preserved all land animals during a worldwide flood, or whether Jesus is the only way to heaven. These things are questioned by some Christians even though they are presented forthrightly in the text of Scripture.
Nevertheless, many feel free to amend what God has said and still call it faith!
Of course, we can believe whatever we choose. But when we choose to contradict what God has communicated in His word, we have chosen doubt over faith. Once again, God doesn’t give us a choice of what to believe but whether to believe!
So, the next time someone scoffs at you for believing the Bible, explain to them that God hasn’t given you the choice of what to believe but whether to believe, and you have chosen faith.
"All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right" (2 Timothy 3:16, NLT).
A Willing Suspension of Disbelief (Or, Frankenstein's Monster Visits Starbucks)
In his book, RANDOMNESS HAPPENS FOR A REASON, the founder of Illustration Exchange discusses the limits of randomness in the creative process:
The term “willing suspension of disbelief” was coined by the poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge in 1817. Coleridge asked readers to set aside their skeptic glasses to allow a “willing suspension of disbelief,” so they might better engage with his fantasy-filled poems. Of course, we’ve all been captivated by the inked magic of a good page-turner or transported to unexplored dimensions by the bewitching spectacle of the silver screen.
But even as we indulge in one of these flights of fantasy, no one genuinely believes that the guy with the big 'S' on his chest is actually whooshing past skyscrapers, or that they might stumble across Dr. Frankenstein's pet project at Starbucks, sipping a pumpkin spice latte. Instead, for the sake of being taken on the journey, we willingly place our critical thinking on airplane mode, allowing the magic to wash over us.
What we are less cognizant of is that we are often called upon to suspend our disbelief when it comes to how we view the real world. For example, who has ever actually witnessed life springing forth from non-living matter? Given that such an event has never been observed—even in today’s high-tech, billion-dollar labs—it raises the question: What’s the difference between this “story” and the tale of Frankenstein’s life-imparting lightning bolt? As far as we’ve been able to determine, one is just as improbable as the other.
Yet, inexplicably, without blinking an eye, we suspend our critical faculties by accepting the audacious proposition that the diversity of life we witness today was woven by the clumsy fingers of blind, aimless chance. Secular society asks us to allow a “willing suspension of disbelief” so that we might better engage in its fantasy-filled theories about reality—and we have obliged.
... [To] keep the fantasy afloat, modern narrators distort reality on two fronts. They hyper-hyperbolize the creative potential of randomness while adamantly denying the authenticity of the design observed throughout nature. By tweaking the narrative in these two specific ways, it can be claimed that chaos and order not only work towards the same end; they are, in fact, the same thing.
With the help of a little creative storytelling, our critical capacities are disabled so that our brains are no longer capable of discerning the difference between chance and design. Instead, we gaze out at the vast complexities of the natural world and all we see is the byproduct of chaos. Chance and design have become indistinguishable.
But let's not be fooled: Chaos and complexity are not even on speaking terms. By any measure, they are as compatible as fire and ice. Rather than aiding and abetting order and design, entropy is a relentless saboteur, dismantling it with ruthless efficiency. ...
But beyond the realm of our imagination, randomness has real limits. It lacks the knowledge and the finesse to write the intricate DNA codes that distinguish every species inhabiting our blue marble, nor can it produce the fine-tuned complexity found at the molecular, cellular, or systems level of living organisms. Moreover, it fails to explain how these layers of design came to operate in perfect harmony with one another.
The story that’s told of the wonders of a Creation, molded and shaped by random processes, is as fantastic a tale as any penned by Samuel Taylor Coleridge, or anyone else for that matter. Yet, here we are, fully immersed in a fantasy world where chance is deemed more capable than God Himself. That’s because, all too often, we’ve allowed naturalistic assumptions to overshadow common sense. ...
To break this spell, we must shake off the stardust and reclaim our critical faculties. Rather than ascribing superpowers to randomness, we must recognize it for what it truly is: a rudderless, reckless, chaotic force, as incapable of producing the complexities of the human brain as a tornado is of constructing a jumbo jetliner capable of flight.
"in the beginning, God ..." (Genesis 1:1).
"For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him" (Colossians 1:16, ESV).
Playing Blind
Jasen Bracy always wanted to play football, but retinal cancer he developed as a toddler took his eyesight by the time he was age 7. How could he play a fast-paced contact sport like football if he couldn't see?
This was the question before him. Yet young Jasen would not be dissauded. As he got older, he began calling around to different youth leagues to see if there were any teams that would take a chance on a kid who was sold out to following and relying on the guidance and direction of others to make his dreams come true. He found just such a team in the Modesto Raiders.
"The way he was on the phone, I just said, 'Come on we'll figure it out,'" coach David Nichols told CBS News.
Jasen started out as a running back, but soon advanced to ... wait for it ... quarterback!
"It's all memory," Jasen said. "It's all about having trust in the player, the receiver and the team. I have to trust them 100%.
Upworthy reports:
Bracy's teammates guide him into position on the field and his dad coaches him from the sidelines using a walkie-talkie that transmits to his helmet. "After the play starts, I may tell him, 'Hey, run to your right, let's get upfield,' or 'Watch out, somebody's coming to hit you,'" Bracy Sr. said.
All that trust, all that deep leaning into guidance and direction seems to have paid off. Not long after, Bracy led the Raiders to a 33-6 win.
You do not need to be sighted to walk in the ways of the Lord. It is not our eyes, but the "eyes of our hearts" that we need opened. When we trust in His Word, His will, and his ways, our path will always be clear. His eye and His mighty hand will guide us! As He says in His word, "I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will counsel you with my eye upon you" (Psalms 32:8, ESV).
Commit to the Lord's guidance, and commit His Word to your memory. Follow Jasen's example, "It's all about memory ... It's all about having trust ... [You] have to trust [Him] 100%."
"The steps of a man are established by the Lord, when he delights in his way; though he fall, he shall not be cast headlong, for the Lord upholds his hand" (Psalms 37: 23-24, ESV).
"Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight" (Proverbs 3:5-6, NIV).