THE "SPIRITUAL REALITY CHECK" BLOG

GREETINGS!

My name is Casey and I live in the western suburbs of Minneapolis, Minnesota. I started "Spiritual Reality Check" to personally awaken you to the sobering reality that your death is certain, and your life is not. The roadside memorial in the picture above is a stark reminder that your death can come unexpectedly, at any time; after all, do you really think that those three people memorialized by the roadside knew they were going to die that day? No, they woke up believing that their day would end just like any other day.

DEATH IS NOT TAKEN SERIOUSLY

I sincerely believe that many people in American culture and elsewhere around the world avoid the fact that one day they will go to the grave. We tend to joke about death, making light of it. We engage in endless diversions, activities, and lifestyles to salve the brute fact of our own mortality. 

Everything from hobbies, traveling and adventure, work, sports, politics, drinking, drugs, partying, sex, and other endless avenues of entertainment and amusement serve to suppress that nagging voice inside that one day you going to die. Death is the one thing you have absolutely no control over. You are going to die. Period.  

DEATH CANNOT BE AVOIDED

Even if we engage in an effort to avoid the certainty of our own death, we cannot avoid the fact of death in the world in which we live. It is ubiquitous. Every day you are presented with a morbid smorgasbord of news stories involving death. Death from accidents, murders, wars, starvation, natural disasters, diseases, and suicides. Day in and day out we are barraged by news of death.  

AT TIMES DEATH BECOMES PERSONAL

And then occasionally, our lives are turned upside down when a close family member, a good friend, a co-worker, or someone else we have a relationship with suddenly dies. Death is dark, awful, relentless and uncontrollable; we feel such loss and hurt inside that will linger for months, if not years. When someone close to us dies, we are far more likely to reflect on how fragile and vulnerable we really are,  and we wonder what actually happens us when we die.

Many people sincerely believe that their loved ones will go to Heaven, even if they were not religious, because after all, they have lived a pretty good life, and if there is a God, He will see that their good deeds outweighed their bad deeds. People tend not to tolerate the idea of any loved one being tormented in a place called Hell, so we end up saying, "At least he/she is in a better place". 

BUT IS THAT TRUE?

When we make statements to that effect, we are basically making stuff up according to our liking, reacting to our subjective feelings and convictions and not according to an objective authoritative standard. The authoritative standard I have in mind is the Bible. The Bible makes truth claims that are verified through multiple academic disciplines. Christians maintain that the Bible is God's Word, it is Truth with a capital T. It says particular things that are True about God, creation, man, sin, death, redemption, Heaven, Hell, and so on. I proclaim that Christianity, as taught only in the Bible, is the one true religion and that every other religion is false. That is my Christian worldview.

HOW TO MAKE SENSE OF THE WORLD WE LIVE IN

A "worldview" is like a pair of glasses we put on and then we interpret the world through those glasses. For example, the worldview of Naturalism views man as nothing but a cosmic accident, and that our thoughts and emotions are like secretions that result from a fortuitous arrangement of atoms and molecules in our brains.  

On the other hand, the Christian worldview contends that man was made by a Supreme, Majestic, Glorious, and Holy Deity. And that the Christian God made man in His image to reflect His character and bring glory to His Name. 

So depending on which pair of glasses you are wearing, you will reflect upon the world and interpret events through that particular worldview. By the way, it is impossible not to have a worldview!

TWO WORLDVIEWS THAT CHALLENGE THE IDEA OF TRUTH

Existententialism is a popular worldview that proposes that man's existence precedes his essence. In other words, people are born, that is, they begin to exist with a "blank slate". Then as they grow older they write on their slate what it means to be human to them; they establish their own essence by having their own value system, their own moral code, and their own view of the world. People who have adopted the Existential worldview (whether they realize it or not) intellectually and logically fall asleep when they make statements like, "This is true for me", or "You have your truth, and I have my truth.", And, "If that's what you believe, then it's true." Or how about, "It's true because I believe it".

These statements are logically absurd. Like it or not there is only the Truth. Not "My truth" or "Your truth" or "Everyone has their own truth". There is Truth with a capitol T, and nothing else. In Existentialism people are uncertain as to what "Truth with a capitol T" is, so they write their own narrative. 

POST MODERNISM

Another popular worldview that is in vogue today is post-modernism. Post-modernism=uncertainty. People who have adopted the post-modern worldview are skeptical that anything can be known for certain. This is a self-defeating worldview because they are proclaiming with certainty is that you cannot know anything for certain! 

WHICH WORLDVIEW BEST FITS THE HUMAN CONDITION?

There are other major worldviews besides the three I have mentioned. But the question I want to ask all visitors to this blog is this, "Of all worldviews available, which one best fits natural phenomena and the human condition. Let's first look at natural phenomena.

THE UNIVERSE
We live in a world of exotic beauty and mind-boggling complexity. Many attributes and conditions of the universe must be so precise and exactly the way they are or no life could ever exist. 

Some things in the universe are incredibly small, like sub-atomic particles, atoms, molecules, cells, and irreducibly complex systems in living organisms. And then you have vast, large scale structures like planets, stars, galaxies, and galaxy clusters. Everything in between, plants and animals, mountains and oceans, and all else are equally incredible. There are four immutable and inexplicable forces of nature that bind everything together and keep things working.

And then you have the biggest conundrum of all in the Big Bang beginning of the universe. An event that took place billions of years ago where all matter, energy, space, and even time came into existence out of nothing. What causal agent could possibly produce our amazing universe out of absolutely nothing? 

THE HUMAN CONDITION

Now let's turn to the human condition. In some ways man is brilliant (and you gals out there, this includes you too!). He is vastly intelligent, able to construct works of incredible ingenuity that improve our quality of life. Man also continually makes technological advances in medicine that relieve human pain, suffering, and extend human life. He is also brilliant in that he is artistic, creative, and expresses himself through music, art, dance and theater; this is a unique feature that separates us from all the animals on earth.

Man is also capable of great deeds of human kindness and charity, reaching out, helping those in need, even sacrificing themselves to save others from death. So in one sense man does things that are "good" , and people benefit from from that human goodness.     

THE DARK SIDE OF THE HUMAN CONDITION

And yet, for all of man's human goodness, there is a very disturbing and very dark side to all of human nature, including you, the reader. It is because of this very disturbing, very dark side of human nature that relationships crumble, anxiety and depression are rampant, wars break out, moral depravity spirals out of control, human suffering increases, people die.

Religious groups, (and this includes groups acting in the name of Christ) commit horrific acts of spiritual abuse, human violence, death, and destruction. And under cruel political regimes, millions upon millions of ordinary citizens have been oppressed, starved, and slaughtered like animals.   

Then there are the very words that we humans speak. People hurt us with their harsh words, and we do the same to others. We gossip, we lie, we quarrel, we make condescending remarks about others, and say things that are insensitive and rude. Our actions toward others are are equally disturbing and dark when we physically harm other people. Your thought life is probably more disturbing and sinister than your family and friends would ever believe, and theirs would probably be equally shocking to you.  

Even though human beings know the difference between right and wrong, for some reason we choose to do the things that we know are wrong. Why would we do what we know is wrong? When someone hurts us either psychologically or physically, our conscience quickly informs us that a crime has been committed against us and we want justice.

A most unsual aspect of the human condition is that there is no single person alive today who is morally perfect, not even close. And yet you would think that there would be at least some people who have never thought, said, or did anything wrong. But that is not the case at all. Evil is pandemic: something is seriously "wrong" with the human race.  

NATURAL EVIL 
Evil not only manifests itself in human beings, thare is also an evil that occurs in nature. Disasters such as hurricanes, earthquakes, tornadoes, floods, droughts, volcanic eruptions, and tsunami's have claimed millions of lives. Not to mention diseases and plagues. People understand the impact such disasters have of on human beings; psychological and physical pain, disease, starvation, and death. And our reaction is a tacit indictment against the Christian God, "How could a loving God, an all-powerful God allow such human suffering on innocent people?" Does Christianity offer an answer to that question? Yes it does.

THE PURPOSE OF THIS BLOG

It is my conviction that the Christian worldview is the only worldview that has the  explanatory power to satisfy our deepest, most probing questions about ultimate reality; God, the physical world, natural disasters, man, life, death, justice, good versus evil, Heaven and Hell. So I ask you to take to heart my sincere reminder that your death is certain, and your life is not.

All I ask is that you take your impending death seriously and ask the big questions you have been hiding away in some obscure corner of your psyche. . Explore the truth claims of the Bible. Try on the glasses of the Christian worldview and see if the world makes more sense to you. And if it does, then be reconciled to the God who created you. Jesus Christ, the second Person who is God, came to rescue people from their sins and make all things new. According to the Bible, there is life after death, but there are only two eternal destinations. One is infinitely glorious, beautiful, and worthy to obtain. The other is an unfathomable catastrophe infinitely more terrible than your worst nighmare.  

Where this blog is going is any body's guess. I will have more features available soon to this blog, including free resources like books and cd's to help you address specific questions. I have a Gospel message available for you to read, and also my story of how I became a Christian, that's my Christian testimony. Both these you can find on the right hand side under "Pages". 

I plan on organizing the week around particular features, for example, I'll ask people to ask a question that is troubling to you, and on Tuesday's I will try my best to answer it. Sundays I will post a sermon or two from reputable pastors. Other days I might devote to apologetics or the doctrine of the Bible, or study a particular Bible verse or passage as it was intended to communicate to the authors readers. Biblical discernment and proper hermeneutics are also profitable topics. I will also conduct polls every week on various topics related to Christianity; this may provide some direction as to what I should focus my attention.  

TROLLS NEED NOT RESPOND

This blog is for genuine seekers who do not "get" the Gospel and are trying to better understand Christianity. It is also for people who stumble over particular christian doctrines which they strive to resolve in order to make progress toward faith in Christ. 

This blog is not for trolls. Anyone who is vulgar, profane, caustic, divisive, blasphemous, incendiary, or otherwise want to post just for the sake of arguing against the Christian faith, will not have their comments posted. Trust me, I know there are a lot of you out there, so don't waste your time here!    

"SPIRITUAL REALITY CHECK" PAGE
Since this first post explains much of what this blog is about, I will edit it and make a stand alone page for anyone to access.

Anyway, this is the inaugural post of "Spiritual Reality Check". It is a long post. I'll try to shorten things up in the future, until then God bless, Casey