The Wilder Place

Today on CNN.com I saw a story titled: "Study: Prayer doesn't affect heart patients"... basically, the title says it all... Some "scientists" decided to run a test on 1,800 patients to see whether or not prayer had any affect on the patient's recovery from heart bypass surgery.

The first thing I want to point out about this is that it was a "test" of God... Guess what God says about that?

"You shall not put the Lord your God to the test." Deuteronomy 6:16.

I'd say these folks probably didn't start out on the right foot. This is really almost laughable if it wasn't so truly sad. They set out to test God. God!

Secondly, this so-called "study" had three groups:
1. Those who knew they were being prayed for,
2. Those who were prayed for but only knew it was a possiblity, and
3. Those who weren't prayed for but were told it was a possibility.

What about a fourth group: Those who weren't prayed for and knew it would be an impossibility? Why weren't they included? Maybe the scientist were afraid it would shew the results?

So... Who do you think won? .... According to the article... there was "no affect".... The implication is that the only answer God could possible give for prayers to work is in the affirmative... do you realize that would mean that God... The All-Powerful God Almighty, non-created, always IS God... would have to do what wee little people (you know... people who die and turn back into dust) tell Him to do in order for Him to be considered as having answered... that is RIDICULOUS!!! Guess what... He can choose NOT to answer or He can choose to say NO!

People... this is HIS plan going on here... not ours... He does NOT have to obey US... He IS the creator we are the created... do you get that? I certainly do!

Perhaps what we don't know is that it was actually "the appointed time" (to die) for all 1,800 of these patients and because of all the prayer God allowed them to live... and "they" say there was no affect; go figure.

Bottom line... many people have long ago lost their respect and awe of God and walk carelessly where angels fear to tread. But be not deceived; God is not mocked! (Galations 6:7).

God does answer prayer... He answers mine every single day... sometimes the answer is "Wait, Child."... sometimes it's, "No, Dear that will harm you.".... and sometimes the answer is... "Yes, because I love you!"... No matter the answer, my Glorious Lord gives me in response to my prayers... I'll continue to ask... because... He's my Father... He loves me... I see only a little... He sees it all...

O God, thou art my God; earnestly will I seek thee: My soul thirsteth for thee, my flesh longeth for thee, In a dry and weary land, where no water is. So have I looked upon thee in the sanctuary, To see thy power and thy glory. Because thy lovingkindness is better than life, My lips shall praise thee. So will I bless thee while I live: I will lift up my hands in thy name. My soul shall be satisfied as with marrow and fatness; And my mouth shall praise thee with joyful lips; When I remember thee upon my bed, And meditate on thee in the night-watches. For thou hast been my help, And in the shadow of thy wings will I rejoice. My soul followeth hard after thee: Thy right hand upholdeth me.

Posted by Luci Wilder at 07:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Life can be hard... does anyone really dispute that? It doesn't seem to matter whether you're rich or famous (or both) or poor and homeless... extremes... yes... but the point is that every one of us has problems... every single one of us... no matter where we are in life or in the world... albeit some of our problems may be significantly more tragic than others... and while some may be happy today... wait 5 minutes...

There are hundreds of people who think they know the answers... they write books... how to be rich, skinny, married, divorced... whatever it is you think you need to be happy... I guarantee you there's a book about it... Periodically someone thinks they've found THE answer and a new top 10 book is born... but that book gets shelved (pun intended)... life goes on... so do the problems... and the wonder-book of the moment is forgotten... ever thought... if even one of those books was right why don't things change?.... Seems like a book that really had the answers would be in the top 10 for longer than just a couple of months... wouldn't it?

My life's no different from yours... I have "issues"... better translated... "problems"... I'm getting older, kids live too far away... never see enough of the grandkids... work is hard and getting harder thanks to a new boss... over weight... diabetic... hard of hearing... get the picture.... but, you know what... I have so much joy in my heart, it makes me want to shout from the roof tops... I mean I'm... "I don't really need anything"... profoundly happy... why? I know what's really going on here... but MORE importantly I KNOW what comes next and it's soul-satisfyingly glorious!

It's all a matter of perspective.... if you're miserable... I bet you're looking in... focusing on yourself... thinking you and you alone have to come up with the solutions... or maybe you think you have the solution, but it's dependent on something you have to do... so maybe you buy a book....

There's one book that beats all the others hands-down... the #1 best seller of all time that really can put it all in perspective... it's the Bible... and it can answer all of life's guestions. I can take any event (absolutely any... Dad's suicide... husband's stroke... any) and find the solution... why I have a problem to begin with, what I should do about it... all talked about in the Bible... name me any other book like that... sharper than a two edged sword... I can find any answer in that book to any question about how I should or should not behave.... Have you ever thought about what it is? It's marvelous... It's a love letter... from God to man... me... you!

One time David (as in King David) was having it tough... he'd lost his job, his home... everything... his son was trying to kill him, he was sleeping in a cave... in Psalms, he started to ask God, "Why me?" But, he switched perspectives and started praising God for all the good things He'd done in David's life... before long David wasn't sad any longer... he was singing God's praises to the highest of heavens.

If you're a believer and you're unhappy... get back to basics.. pray about it, lay it at God's feet... pick up your Bible and start reading... Romans is great.. so is John ;-)

If you're not a believer what then... the Bible can solve your problems too... this entire thing called "life" is a process... a process of making a decision... a decision for Christ or against Him.... people choose not to believe because they do not want to be responsible to God for their actions... their pride stands in their way... they don't want a God telling them what they can and can't do.

But, did you know it's really all about love? The earth and everything on it were created to be a setting for a jewel... where's the jewel? Why, Honey, it's you. You are the jewel!!!

The whole book is about love... love of God the Creator for you!.... John 3:16 says it so well... "For God so loved the world [that's you too] that He gave His only son..." He didn't come for Himself... HE loves you so much, HE did everything necessary so YOU can have a relationship with HIM.

It's a choice... your choice... go at the world alone, with only you by your side... or go at it with God by your side... the choice is totally up to you.

I'm keeping you in my prayers... God loves you so much!!! He is not willing that you should perish and be separated from Him forever!... choose GOD and you'll find everything else falling into proper perspective.

Posted by Luci Wilder at 06:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I was going to come home from work tonight and write a simple, non-biblioblog... something. But, all that changed as I was scanning the news today. I could not believe my eyes....

An Italian, Luigi Cascioli is suing another gentleman (a Catholic priest) in Italy. Mr. Cascioli is accusing the priest of swindling or conning folks about the historical existance of Jesus.

In the news article Mr. Cascioli says, "In my book, The Fable of Christ, I present proof Jesus did not exist as a historic figure..."

Let's stop here for just a second... he claims to present proof???? Isn't it a bit pompous of Mr. Cascioli to claim he has proof? First of all, it is extremely difficult to prove a negative. Secondly, exactly what kind of so-called proof can he have 2000 years later? I do not believe there is a document from the time of Christ that says, "Oh... Jesus does not live."

It would be hard to prove that George Washington never existed and he died only in 1799, 206 years ago. You say, "Well, of course he's not going to prove that... after all George Washington DID exist." But, how do you know? Did you see him? Do you have his birth certificiate?

FYI: Birth records are a modern record and do not exist prior to the first half of the 1800s. That's it... nothing before that.

So I would guess the only way to prove George Washington didn't exist would be to refute eye witness accounts. You say, "But wait there are paintings..." Now, do you really want me to go there? OK, probably not ;-) What about someone like Caesar? Or, what about Constantine the Great? We cannot prove these people did not exist, not because they did, but because we cannot refute all that we have that says they did. We must rely on the historical records; it's all we have.

Back to the Jesus.... you may think the only record of Christ is in the Bible (even though the New Testament is comprised of 27 different documents that say He did live)... Scripture isn't all, but even if it were... Did you know that on a historical basis the Bible has never been disproved in one single item. In fact, to date, archaeology has only verified the historical accuracy of the Bible.

There are several other sources though. A notable non-Christian source is Josephus a Jewish historian who in the 1st century also wrote about Jesus and he wasn't alone. There were several people who wrote about Jesus within 20 years of his death.

There are other reasons for believing that the historical record is accurate, but I don't want to write a book here. And, I'm sorry but it just doesn't make sense to me that anyone who unbiasedly (is that a word) reviewed the early documents can declare that Christ did not live. No one has to believe He is God, but to say He never lived at all... well, there's no factual basis for that.

I would love to get an English text of this book. It's not out on Amazon yet... I checked.

Posted by Luci Wilder at 04:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)