Do You See Sound and Taste Color?

“There are people who can actually see, smell and physically taste music. This is an example of a phenomenon known as synesthesia. Synesthetes report seeing symphonies in spectacular colors, smelling Beethoven, and tasting Chopin.” (source: www.mentalfloss.com)

This astounding bit of information sets me wondering–what does rap music tastes like?

But, wow! As a preacher I can really see potential here. For instance, the other morning I was speaking to a group of teens at a youth camp. They had spent most of the preceding night, camping out in the forest.

For many of them, sleep had only been a tiny part of the program. (See photo at bottom of page)

So, in the meeting that morning I was close to setting my personal record for putting people to sleep. At the moment my record is five, if I remember correctly, and two of them were preachers. Continue reading

Did You See God?

He’s there. Look!

http://www.joshuabell.com/photos

http://www.joshuabell.com/photos

“No one knew it, but the fiddler standing against a bare wall outside the Metro in an indoor arcade at the top of the escalators was one of the finest classical musicians in the world, playing some of the most elegant music ever written on one of the most valuable violins ever made,” wrote Gene Weingarten in an article in the Washington Post.

The violinist was Joshua Bell who had filled the house at Boston’s Symphony Hall three nights before, where good seats went for $100 or more. He played this day on a violin handcrafted in 1713 by Antonio Stradivari, for which he was reported to have paid 3.5 million dollars.

Those people in the metro station were in for a treat! A free forty-five minute concert by one of the world’s greatest violinists on one of the finest instruments in the world.

Only no one knew it was Bell. He just stood there and played his heart out. That morning of the 1,070 people who hurried by, seven people stopped to take in the performance, at least for a minute. He got $32 for 45 minutes work. Continue reading

Does God Play Hide and Seek?

When my grandson Matthew was little, he like to play hide and seek. Once he ran into his room and waited excitedly for me to find him.

It wasn’t hard. It was like looking for a twenty-pound mouse behind the door. “Where’s Matthew?” I wondered out loud knowing full well where the little guy was hiding.


Just in case I missed him, though, Matthew gave hints. Little cries of “wooo …” issued from his hiding place. I finally pulled back the door and grabbed a giggling little boy who was trying to run away.

It’s not hard to find someone who wants to be found is it?

That’s why I have a hard time understanding those who say they lack evidence of God’s existence. Paul says that they will be without excuse on judgment day because, “But the basic reality of God is plain enough. Open your eyes and there it is! By taking a long and thoughtful look at what God has created, people have always been able to see what their eyes as such can’t see: eternal power, for instance, and the mystery of his divine being. So nobody has a good excuse. What happened was this: People knew God perfectly well, but when they didn’t treat him like God, refusing to worship him, they trivialized themselves into silliness and confusion so that there was neither sense nor direction left in their lives. They pretended to know it all, but were illiterate regarding life.” (Rom. 1: 19- 21 ,The Message)

God reveals Himself in His creation. People often see him without wanting to admit it. Listen to the mockings of the atheist, Richard Dawkins in his book, God Delusion: “Such a bandwidth! God, who may not have a brain made of neurons, or a CPU made of silicon, but if he has the powers attributed to him he must have something far more elaborately and non-randomly constructed than the largest brain or the largest computer we know.”

Bingo! Mr. Dawkins.

Like little Matthew, the creation cries out to us to find this God that surpasses our limited human experience.

God also calls to us through his Word. If you read it with a sincere heart you’ll find that God isn’t hiding.

He reveals Himself especially in His Son Jesus. “Jesus answered: ‘Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.’” (Jean 14:9, NIV)

These days He’s added a revelation through His Church. “And hath put all things under his feet, and gave him to be the head over all things to the church, Which is his body, the fulness of him that filleth all in all.” (Eph. 5: 22, 23)

Voices calling from all over, “Here I am! Find me! See me! Know me!” We’re serving a God who wants to be found and known. He’s not hiding.

Why is it important that we respond to his appeal?

God has called and called, drawn and drawn, but so many men have resisted Him. One day they won’t be able to close their eyes to Him but will experience the fruits of their neglect and contempt–their rebellion.

Church, keep calling out with God’s invitation. And if you’re among those who’ve resisted God, today is the day to turn your heart back and find the God who is not hiding.

If you had responded to my rebuke,
I would have poured out my heart to you
and made my thoughts known to you.
But since you rejected me when I called
and no one gave heed when I stretched out my hand,
since you ignored all my advice
and would not accept my rebuke,
I in turn will laugh at your disaster;
I will mock when calamity overtakes you-
when calamity overtakes you like a storm,
when disaster sweeps over you like a whirlwind,
when distress and trouble overwhelm you.
“Then they will call to me but I will not answer;
they will look for me but will not find me.
Since they hated knowledge
and did not choose to fear the LORD,
since they would not accept my advice
and spurned my rebuke,
they will eat the fruit of their ways
and be filled with the fruit of their schemes.
For the waywardness of the simple will kill them,
and the complacency of fools will destroy them;
but whoever listens to me will live in safety
and be at ease, without fear of harm.” Proverbs 1:22-33, NIV).

God wants to be found. Do you have your eyes open?

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Hmmm …
“I’d rather be able to pray than be a great preacher: Jesus Christ never taught his disciples how to preach, but only to pray.”
D. L. Moody

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Made by … Extra-terrestrials?

We humans are pretty cool. We’ve got it all figured out. Our brains have expanded to almost understand everything. Well, maybe not everything yet, but we’re sure of some things. Like the “fact” that it couldn’t have been God who created the universe. Could it?

Recently I talked to a young science teacher here in France. He told me that when he was studying to be a teacher and the class came to the beginnings of the universe, all theories were open for discussion—ummm… except one. You guessed, no doubt, which idea that is.

They could even speculate on the idea that extra-terrestrials may have done the job of creation. Millions of euros have been spent investigating this hair-brained theory. But the idea that God created the heavens and the earth doesn’t fit the politically-correct worldview. We couldn’t explore a subversive idea like that in our schools, our tolerant schools that are open to all kinds of investigation for curious young minds and critical thinking.

I wonder why.

If the creation of the universe by God is so unbelievable, why don’t they just study it and blow it apart? I mean, hundreds of millions, maybe billions of people, believe that God was responsible for all this. If it’s such a ridiculous idea, why don’t they study it scientifically? (In a fair way, not a one-sided presentation).

Ayatollahs of correctness

“Well, it doesn’t fit with what we ‘know’ you see. And we’re awfully smart, so don’t you dare contradict us.”

Doesn’t fit? I was reading once about quantum physics (don’t ask me why). Now to say I don’t understand, is under an understatement but I’m not the only one. Danish physicist Niels Bohr, the winner of the Nobel Prize in physics in 1922 once said, “Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it.” 

There seems to be a tiny, tiny world at the atomic level (or is it the sub-atomic level?) that refuses to obey the laws of the “normal” world. Einstein’s theory of relativity explains most of the world we know fairly well. But, said Bill Bryson in the book, A Short History of Almost Everything:

 “…the idea of action at a distance—that one particle could instantaneously influence another trillions of miles away—was a stark violation of the special theory of relativity … Suddenly you needed two sets of law to explain the behavior of the universe—quantum theory for the world of the very small and relativity for the larger universe beyond.”

Bryson quotes James Trefil as saying that scientists had encountered, “an area of the universe that our brains just aren’t wired to understand.”

Einstein was so bothered by this world of quantum physics that he spent a good bit of the last half of his life trying to find a unifying theory between the two. He never could unite the two worlds, though.

“Okay David. But what are you on about? My eyes are crossing (mine too) and my brain is freezing up. What has all this got to do with anything except dusty scientists who get their kicks from talking about xy=2z to the fourth power?”

Just this. If there exists a tiny, tiny world that is governed by laws that even stumped Einstein, who are we in our grand arrogance to say that there isn’t also a spiritual world, ruled by other laws of “physics” from which God created our universe and even now reigns? It’s invisible to human eyes but can be known.

“By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.” Heb. 11:2, NIV.

Who are we to say that the only way to define what exists is by what we can measure through our fives senses? Who made the rule that those are the only “senses” which we possess? I think some of our Ayatollahs of political correctness have gone too far in trying to exclude any idea which doesn’t square with what they say. After all, they’ve got test tubes that prove it—until someone else with test tubes proves that, well, maybe it wasn’t quite that sure after all, but now we have the definitive answer.” Until the next “definitive answer” comes along.

And it will, because someone always need another government grant.

For the Christian, “revelation” is the way God communicates truth that can’t be completely understood by the five senses. We believe that God has placed a “receiver” in us, a spiritual sense that’s just as real as touching, tasting, feeling, etc. God speaks to us in our heart, that spiritual part of us, so that can know Him.

He reveals Himself.

Rationalists live by faith

Rationalists laugh at faith as if it were the exclusive domain of old ladies and weaklings who never bother think.

These people have never thought life through. In their arrogance they don’t realize that their beliefs are just as much by faith as someone who puts in His faith in God through Christ Jesus.

Everyone lives by faith. The difference is where they put their faith. We need to make sure that the object of our faith can save—eternally. He speaks to those who listen.

Some say, “If God exists why doesn’t He speak more evidently?” God is constantly speaking, loud and clear. The problem is on the receiving side. Probably most people have their “receivers” turned off. They don’t want to hear anything that would shake the world of illusions that they’ve so carefully crafted.

For those who set their hearts to seek after God, this invisible world becomes clearer and clearer and we understand the laws that direct it (as well as our world).

“But even there, if you seek GOD, your God, you’ll be able to find him if you’re serious, looking for him with your whole heart and soul.” (Deut. 4:29)

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 Hmmm…
We never hear our Lord Jesus commending any thing so much as great faith (Mat_8:10 and Mat_15:28): therefore God gives honour to faith, great faith, because faith, great faith, gives honour to God. Matthew Henry