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Even working within the laws of physics, researchers with an anti-God bias often make blind leaps of faith to escape any evidence of God's involvement in the universe. For centuries Christians were criticized for their God-of-the-gaps arguments. Sometimes that criticism was deserved. Christians tended to use gaps in understanding or data to build a case for God's miraculous intervention. Then, when scientific discoveries uncovered a natural..
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Hugh Ross |
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Typically, preachers in our work-oriented society teach that God rested to provide humanity with a precedent for rest, an example for our good. Seldom have I heard mention of the other meaning for rest, the one used in musical notation. This meaning refers to cessation rather than recovery from weariness. Our enjoyment of music owes much to these brief pauses.
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Hugh Ross |
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20, 51; 1 Thess. 4:13-17). Sleep is an excellent analogy. The
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Hugh Ross |
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Job's account of creation tells us that after God "laid the earth's foundation" he "made the clouds its garment and wrapped it in thick darkness" (38:4, 9). The pronouns "its" and "it" here refer to the vast sea that covered the entire surface of Earth at the time. Job leaves no room for ambiguity. Darkness initially pervades the surface of the deep (Gen. 1:2) not because the sun and stars hadn't yet been created, but rather because Earth's..
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Hugh Ross |
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In one sense, the dialogue between Job and his friends serves as one of the greatest worship examples in the Bible. Though the five men differed in their understanding of God and his ways, each stayed with the conversation, wrestling with his beliefs, and meanwhile repeatedly extolling God for his greatness, majesty, justice, and mercy. Each man revered him as Creator and ultimate Authority over all creation.
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Hugh Ross |
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Animals at the high end of heartbeat longevity, such as mice, cats, dogs, horses, elephants, and whales, have the capacity for as many as a billion heartbeats within their life spans. Human hearts, on the other hand, can sustain nearly three billion beats in a lifetime. This significant difference in humans' capacity for longevity demands explanation. The human body's characteristics allowing for such extended activity on all levels (physic..
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Hugh Ross |
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The book of Job offers some remarkable insights into the ways these higher animals relate to humans and shows that God endowed soulish animals with unique capacities to serve and please humanity, each creature in its own special way. Job even provides a top ten list of animals that have played essential roles both in the launch of civilization and in sustaining human well-being today. The ancient observer describes how the different kinds o..
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Hugh Ross |
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To put it another way, God is able to interact with us in ways we interpret (through our time-bound experience of cause and effect) as the result of time-like capacities in the person or essence of God or the existence of other time-like dimensions
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Hugh Ross |
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Christians can help people receive the message of reconciliation to God by modeling reconciliation among themselves. John 13:35 says, "By this everyone will know that you are my disciples if you love one another." How well do we show love when we disagree? Nonbelievers look on and wonder if they can trust Christians to deal gently and respectfully with their questions and doubts if we don't treat each other that way."
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Hugh Ross |
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domesticated cows deliver more greenhouse gases to the atmosphere than do all the world's vehicles--autos, trucks, trains, aircraft, ships--combined. Deforestation
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Hugh Ross |
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I've observed an unmistakable synergy between engagement in purposeful, proactive outreach and serendipitous encounters with people that lead to spiritually significant conversations. Taking the initiative to present reasons for faith in Christ with people who don't yet know him and who realize we're there for that purpose can enhance our sensitivity and readiness for moments when the Holy Spirit surprises us with such opportunities.
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Hugh Ross |
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God has designed every component of his creation to display some aspect of his care, and each holds a unique fascination for the human observer. Thus, we can easily engage both young and older minds with some newly discovered feature or fact of nature. If we can make a connection between that discovery and one of God's attributes or a component of God's plan to redeem humanity, we will have provided a stronger motivation for people to serio..
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Hugh Ross |
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The book of Job highlights the theme that God has marvelously designed the universe, the earth, and all its life in such a way as to harmonize ethics and economics. When we humans face a crisis or dilemma that appears to force a choice between ethics and economics, we can be sure God has provided a solution that compromises neither. Through
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Hugh Ross |
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Proof of the beginning of time probably ranks as the most theologically significant theorem. This great significance arises from the theorem establishing that the universe must be caused by some Entity capable of creating the universe entirely independent of space and time. Such an entity matches the attributes of the God of the Bible but is contradicted by the gods of the eastern (and indeed all other) religions who create within space and..
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religion
science
god
astrophysics
big-bang
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Hugh Ross |
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More than fifty years have passed since the flask experiments by Stanley Miller and Harold Urey rekindled the primordial soup hypothesis for the origin of life. Scientists now realize, however, that generating miniscule amounts of a few amino acids is irrelevant to the origin of life because the chemicals in Miller and Urey's experiment were exposed to neither oxygen nor ultraviolet light. The fact that Earth never possessed measurable quan..
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Hugh Ross |
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water vapor is a greenhouse gas,
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Hugh Ross |
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Because we lack complete understanding of the Bible and all that it reveals, doubts are inevitable. As with anomalies, doubts present us with opportunities to dig deeper, to check for some truth we may have overlooked. Doubts become powerful tools for testing and either affirming or revising our understanding of Scripture and of God's character and purposes. Through the expression of doubts and the subsequent hard work of seeking resolution..
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Hugh Ross |
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I'm convinced God calls each of us to use whatever talents, skills, and gifts he endows us with to draw others toward him. To me, the differentiation of spiritual gifts implies that each Christian will "evangelize" (convey the good news to others) in a different but nonetheless productive way. In this context, every Christian is gifted for evangelism, but each Christian's manner of expressing that gift will be unique."
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Hugh Ross |
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The book of nature brought me to the book of Scripture, which led me, in turn, to submit my life to the Redeemer, Jesus Christ. I am not alone. I have met many others who came to Christ in a similar way. Some Christians are amazed to hear how frequently I get to share my faith with strangers. To a large degree, God uses the book of nature and the links he reveals between nature's record and key components of his redemptive plan to open up t..
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Hugh Ross |
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The uniqueness of God's Word sets our faith apart from all others. No other book reveals both the world around us and the world within us with complete and demonstrable accuracy and consistency. Testable accuracy and consistency. Increasing accuracy and consistency. So, that's where my apologia begins. It ends, of course, with the person who rightfully claimed, 'I am the way--and the truth and the life' (John 14:6).
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Hugh Ross |
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I anticipate that our readiness to engage ensures our opportunities to participate in the mission, to complete the work God has prepared in advance for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).
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Hugh Ross |
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Some Christians feel embarrassed to admit doubts because they've been told that if they just had enough faith, they'd harbor no doubts. They worry that people might find out about their doubts and, consequently, think less of them as Jesus's followers. If we meet someone who struggles in this way, let's be ready to remind them that since God knows our doubts already, we have nothing to lose and everything to gain by admitting them and askin..
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Hugh Ross |