No Coincidences

Tag: Creator

  • Are We Living in the End of Times?

    Are We Living in the End of Times?

    A simple Google search of “Are we in the end of times?” led to something I found very funny. My attention was caught when my search results returned a headline that started: “In US, 39% of adults believe humanity ‘living in the end…’” That result led to this link: “Do you believe Jesus will return to Earth?”

    Yes, yes, I do. But do others?

    This article was a Pew research article from December 2022 asking U.S. adults that simple, yet complex and extraordinarily important question: Do you believe Jesus will return to Earth? (You know, just the question, is the Creator and God of this Earth gonna, you know, come back, ever? Not a big deal).

    The fact that others believe we’re close to the end, as I do, did not surprise me, or make me laugh.

    What made me laugh, was this:

    Look closely. Do you see it? (I circled it to help out)

    That’s one confused atheist.

    For the record, “Atheist – a person who disbelieves or lacks belief in the existence of God or gods.”

    “Agnostic – a person who believes that nothing is known or can be known of the existence or nature of God or of anything beyond material phenomena; a person who claims neither faith nor disbelief in God.”

    So I guess the agnostic through some mental gymnastics could say they believe Jesus Christ is coming back to earth.

    But man, do I want to meet that atheist! I have a lot of questions. “I don’t believe in Jesus, but I believe the historical figure will come back to earth one day.” Now that I think about it, maybe this atheist has extraordinarily complex and deep thoughts on the matter. Maybe I shouldn’t judge them.

    Anyways, we are living in the end times. If you don’t believe it, read the Bible. It’s pretty clear.

    Elijah has come, this is the last dispensation, pretty obvious if you’re paying attention.

    But Beth tells me I have to tone down my “doomsday” talk so I’ll just leave it at that.

    If you do believe the world is ending, though, please contact me, let’s compare notes and talk shop.

    Until next time!

  • Jesus Christ

    Jesus Christ

    At church last week, we had an uplifting meeting focused on music. Ivy and Sage even participated, singing my new favorite song:

    That evening, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hosted an interfaith concert. Beth and I took Ivy as a special treat for being such a big kid lately. It was a sufficiently uplifting Sunday.

    This is Holy Week.

    Latter-day Saint traditions haven’t normally had a big focus on Holy Week (not sure if that’s supposed to be capitalized…).. I don’t even really know what it means. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has asked its members to have a little more focus on Easter this and recent years.

    I had a blog post already prepared for this week. I rarely stray from my plans. But during church on Sunday, a thought came to me:

    When was the last time I wrote a post completely focused on Jesus Christ?

    I hope my blog is Christ-centered. I think pretty much every post should have something to do with Him. But I realized I hadn’t given my simple testimony of Him in some time.

    I don’t have anything extraordinary to say since this wasn’t planned. Except that everything about Jesus Christ is extraordinary.

    This is my humble testimony and my small reminder to the world.

    Jesus Christ, under the direction of God the Father, created this Earth that we now reside on. He was our Brother. We were part of the council that decided to come to Earth.

    Jesus Christ was born to a virgin in Bethlehem. He was the Creator of this Earth. He could have been born anywhere. Instead of being born in a royal palace, He was born in a manger, amidst farm animals, in the humblest of circumstances.

    I marvel that He would descend from His throne divine
    To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
    That He should extend His great love unto such as I,
    Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.

    Jesus Christ lived and grew, just like us. He walked this Earth that He had created. Then He began to preach.

    Jesus Christ quickly amassed followers and a reputation for His powerful words, teachings, and miracles.

    Jesus Christ went to a garden called Gethsemane. There He began the process we now call the Atonement. 

    Atonement: Reparation for a wrong or injury.
    Atonement: the reconciliation of God and humankind through Jesus Christ.

    He paid for every sin. He paid for every wrongdoing. He felt every suffering, injustice, pain, sickness, heartache, loneliness, fear, hurt, and tear. He experienced it like it was His own. The sheer weight of this task made Him bleed from every pore in His body. A mortal body with an immortal soul. Our Brother.

    I stand all amazed at the love Jesus offers me,
    Confused at the grace that so fully He proffers me.
    I tremble to know that for me He was crucified,
    That for me, a sinner, He suffered, He bled and died.

    As if this weren’t enough, He allowed Himself to be arrested, spit upon, and beaten. He carried the cross that would be used to kill Him.

    He allowed Himself to be nailed to a cross. Nails through His feet. Nails through His hands. Nails through His wrists. 

    I think of His hands pierced and bleeding to pay the debt!
    Such mercy, such love and devotion can I forget?
    No, no, I will praise and adore at the mercy seat,
    Until at the glorified throne I kneel at His feet.

    He suffered and died so we could be reconciled to God. He suffered and died so we could one day go home with Him.

    Then the glorious, most fantastic, most amazing news the Earth had ever heard. Death isn’t the end.

    Three days after His death Jesus Christ raised up the body He allowed to die. 

    He keeps the nail marks in a resurrected and perfected body. Why? I ask my daughters this often. Why does Jesus Christ keep the marks of the nails in His perfect body? “To remind us that He always remembers us.”

    Oh, it is wonderful that He should care for me
    Enough to die for me!
    Oh, it is wonderful, wonderful to me!

    He lives.

    Our Savior. Our King.

  • Faith of an Atheist – Bouncing Atoms

    Faith of an Atheist – Bouncing Atoms

    What does an atheist have faith in?

    We all have faith. We have faith that we eat, and the food will sustain our body. We have faith that we drink, and the water sustains our body. We have faith that we breathe, and air sustains our body. We have faith that we will move, and it happens. Every act of our lives is an act of faith.

    As Lectures on Faith Lecture First says: “without [faith], both mind and body would be in a state of inactivity, and all their exertions would cease, both physical and mental.”

    Whether you believe in a Creator or not, this fact remains: all have faith. The only question is: what is your faith in?

    I previously wrote about the faith of an atheist HERE. That post talks about the hope of an atheist. What about the faith?

    If we all live by faith, what does an atheist have faith in?

    The only thing I can think that an atheist has faith in is their self.

    When you remove God from the equation, what else is there? There is you, your mind, your thoughts, your supremacy. Not only that, if there is no God, then this all just happened by chance. You are a product of random chance, with no meaning. You are an object with atoms inside of you bouncing around causing you to do things. If this is all by chance, there is no free will. If there is no God and we are all happenstance, if we are all a great coincidence, then we are Gods, and there are no Gods. There is nothing. There is no point.

    A lack of a belief in God is a lack of belief in anything. If this life is not about a bigger plan then it’s all pointless.