You Know

So the Almighty God of the universe decides He wants to communicate His desires to humans.

He could presumably just appear walking beside you, and after doing a bit of magic to convince you that He is who He claims, tell you directly what He wants you to know.

But, no. Instead, He chose to write a book…well, He actually dictated a book to a few special humans since, in His divine mysteriousness, He can not write it Himself.

Now you might question whether

The Candidate

An Allegory

You’ve been lied to before. But never with the audacity of this candidate for top office Richard Supreme who is again campaigning for your vote. His promises are bold. He invokes the highest authority. He emotionally tugs at your insecurities to ensure your allegiance.

Just last week he unequivocally stated “If you ask me to do something, I will do it.”¹ He added no qualifiers. There were no stipulations. It was the ultimate campaign promise. And that is not the first time he’s made it.

He has also previously stated…

Again, I’m not joking! If any two of you agree about anything they ask for, it will be done.²

He gave no conditions. Again there were no stipulations. Unquestionably a great way to

God’s Equal

An interesting story concerning the claims and powers of alleged gods.

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Why The Gods Can’t Lose

• For a woman in Alabama concerned about family members who had left for the beach during a thunderstorm, turning to God in prayer while she stood in the kitchen seemed the right thing to do. Lighting suddenly exploded through the kitchen, knocking her to the floor. Her response? “I’m blessed to be alive.” [ source ]
• After millions prayed for 13 miners trapped in a West Virginia mine, breaking news revealed that 12 of the miners were alive! Millions rejoiced and chat boards all around the nation praised God for demonstrating his power and mercy. Then an update arrive. 12 miners were dead. Christian reaction? Even one saved life is a miracle. [ source ]
• In Wisconsin, the diabetic daughter of a god-fearing couple began to grow weak. “Call more people to help pray” the father said in complete obedience to James 5:14-15. You can’t blame them. The biblical mandate comes with a clear promise. “And the prayer of faith shall save the sick, and the Lord shall raise him up.” She died. Their response? Unknown after being convicted of man-slaughter. [ source ]
• The same biblical mandate was evidently invoked in New Mexico by the husband of a woman who was giving birth to twins. When one twin began struggling to breathe, church members were called to pray over the child. The child died. The parents’ response? Police quoted them as saying the child’s death was “God’s will”, in clear contradiction to the biblical promise. [ source ]
• Heart problems are something that are not easily influence by the placebo effect, so Christians were hoping to see some clear evidence of the efficacy of prayer after 1.7 million prayers went out for 604 heart patients. The result? Patients who knowingly received prayers developed more post-surgery complications than did patients who unknowingly received prayers—and patients who were prayed for did no better than patients who weren’t prayed for. In fact, patients who received prayers without their knowledge ended up with more major complications than did patients who received no prayers at all. Christians’ response? Most of them don’t even blink an eye. Their faith is doubt-proof, and the facts have no relevance. [ source ]

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Some Christians claim that Jehovah cannot be tested against the possibility of other gods or no gods. Not true.

1 Kings 18:20-40

Biblical Promises

Many of us were told when we were kids that God has promised to do many things on behalf of those who believe in him. After years of studying the bible and Christians, I now strongly believe that all biblical promises to supernaturally alter the lives of Christians have conclusively been broken. There is no effect of a promise made by the bible that falls outside a placebo effect. And this is not a trivial claim. Most Christians will tell you that God, through the bible, has made many promises that should alter their behaviors and physical worlds. I tend to agree. There are many biblical verses that appear to be clear promises of spiritual causes for real world effects. Here are a few such promises to consider.

• Prayer will result in miracles.
• The gift of the Holy Ghost will give you power over sin.
• The gift of the Holy Ghost will allow you to correctly prophesy.
• Christians are are far less apt to be deceived due to the Holy Ghost.
• Christians are happier than other people.
• Christians make wiser decisions than do other people.

How many of these candidate promises do you think are clearly stated in the bible?

Hearing Voices

Imagine a blind man called Henry who, during his appendectomy, has an electronic device secretly planted deep in his ear by an mischievous surgeon called Richard. This device has the capacity to transmit sound to Henry whenever Richard wishes from nearly any location.

A few days later, Richard, hiding behind a postbox, transmits a short message while Henry is slowly tapping his cane along the sidewalk.

“Reach down.”

This is the first time that Henry has heard a voice other than his own in his head. He knows that others who have heard voices have ended up institutionalized.

Nonetheless, he is curious, and reaches down to the sidewalk.

“Left.” comes the voice again.

Henry obeys and reaches left to discover a $100 bill that Richard has left there. Henry is quite stupefied by this new source of knowledge, and goes home to ponder the enigma. He wracks his brain for an explanation, but finally drifts off to sleep.

The next afternoon while walking to the barber, he hears the voice again.

Praying To A Jug Of Milk

The failure of intercessory prayer.