Masland Library Blog

~Leia Brunette

There’s nothing more beautiful than watching the sun rise above the horizon early in the morning. As it slowly peeks above the horizon and seeps between the branches of the trees, the warmth it sheds is enough to warm every passer by’s shivering hands.
 
This semester I’ve had the joy of watching the sun rise as I walk to work in the library early in the morning . It’s been something that has brought joy and warmth to my heart and my hands on cold wintry rainy mornings.

As I ponder the little  joys in life, like the rising sun, I thought about our porcelain lives, so fragile and frail… only one crashing wave away from being shattered to peices. Yet with every day I wake and watch the sunrise, I somehow manage to take it for granted. With every breath, I fail to realize His grace in giving me yet another moment.

Another moment to breathe,
to see,
to dream,
to hope,
to grow in godliness,
to smile,
to be His,
to live a Holy life,
and to Love in obedience to His command.

It’s so easy to get distracted by the grandeur of this world and all it has to offer, and I am not immune. But I wonder…what would it look like, if every porcelain life lived wholly dedicated to His purposes? What would my life look like if in light of my hopes and dreams,  I let His light shine the way and change the path where He sees fit?
Maybe a porcelain life isn’t that bad after all. If it’s shattered by a crashing wave of reality, all it’s pieces will rest in the hand of the one who molded it to be in the first place.

C.T Studd put it this way:
Two little lines I heard one day, Traveling along life’s busy way;
Bringing conviction to my heart, And from my mind would not depart;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, yes only one, Soon will its fleeting hours be done;
Then, in ‘that day’ my Lord to meet, And stand before His Judgment seat;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
Only one life, the still small voice, Gently pleads for a better choice
Bidding me selfish aims to leave, And to God’s holy will to cleave;
Only one life, ’twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.
…
Only one life, yes only one, Now let me say, “Thy will be done”;
And when at last I’ll hear the call, I know I’ll say ’twas worth it all”;
Only one life,’ twill soon be past, Only what’s done for Christ will last.

~In Honor of the Life of Dr. Hsu, a loved professor at PBU, who went home to be with Jesus on Decemer 2, 2011. Thank you for letting your Porcelain life shine His light in everything you did. You will be missed by many, but the legacy that He has formed in you, will continue to live on. ~

1 Thessalonians 4: 13: – 18
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him. According to the Lord’s own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that , we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore encourage each other with these words.

~Grace Suliman

We often talk of the fact that we are the church, and that is most certainly true, but I think we often forget to think of ourselves in terms of the invisible Church. The invisible Church, as most theologians describe it, is the body of God’s people throughout all of human history (or Pentecost, if you don’t include Israel). Regardless, I think it’s important to remember that when we are adopted into the family of God we are not by any means the only ones; there are a lot of those old boring dead guys who were bought by the blood of Christ and filled with the Holy Spirit too. And, many of them had really helpful things to say.

~Zak Fixler

Last night Philadelphia Biblical University hosted a chat with Dinesh D'Souza which was highly entertaining and challenging. Mr. D'Souza is an apologetist who has written a number of books including "What is so great about Christianity", a biography on Reagan and one on Obama. He also is known to be outspoken on his views and therefore is frequently on the debate circuit defending Christianity to "New Atheists". New Atheists differ from the intellectual atheists of the eighteenth century in that they no longer ignore the issue of faith but are forcibly against it. According to CNN, "What the New Atheists share is a belief that religion should not simply be tolerated but should be countered, criticized and exposed by rational argument wherever its influence arises." Due to this harsh and critical stance it is necessary for Apologists to stand up and create meaningful and accurate responses. Therefore Mr. D'Souza's lecture covered 3 main questions.

1. What has Christianity/Christendom done for the world?
2. Does Science disprove Christianity?
3. Is Religion or a Belief in God responsible for the majority of the world's murders/genocides?
   

The first question was an interesting one. Atheists, especially the New Atheists frequently stand up for charity, human dignity, compassion and a plethora of moralistic values. Their argument lies in the fact that Classical Western thought and ideas created these intrinsic human values, however if you study Greek and Roman philosophy you will note that Socrates and the Romans didn't subscribe to these ideals at all. Compassion for ones enemies was seen as a weakness, the Spartans left their weak and in-firmed lying in the open so that they could die of the elements or from being eaten by wild animals.

Slavery was also a common practice in ancient antiquity, the only group that protested slavery was Christendom (and slaves). Christendom was the first protesters who talked about human dignity or the rights of men to own other men. Democracy was built on the idea that no man can be master over the other without having his permission.

The next question was regarding whether or not Science disproves Religion. Mr. D'Souza's position is that not only does it not disprove religion, but due to most of the scientific discoveries during the twentieth century, religion and most especially a belief in a creator is proved by the discoveries. How? There are certain rates that must stay constant, sound, light, mass, gravity, otherwise the universe as we know it would literally not exist. Stephen Hawkings admitted as much, and most people agree with him that our universe is built like it is to maintain human life and the universes' dimensions.

The final topic we covered was whether or not Religion is/was responsible for the majority of warfare and genocides in the world. Mr. D'Souza's argument is that no, religion is only a valid main talking point in Islam, not Christianity/Christendom. In the 1100's the Crusades were violent and about Christianity, but in more recent history the Inquisition had about 2000 people killed during 350 years, and the Salem witch trials had less than 20. And while that was still wrong, the numbers or the concept has been blown out of the water. Israel/Palestine, Turkey/Pakistan are all about land, not religion.

Instead the crimes of Atheist rulers/leaders and their numbers is what is truly horrendous. Stalin, Hitler, China's Communist history have been responsible for more deaths than any other all in the name of no god, but man.

What Christians really need to do is to be informed and to stand up for their beliefs, wish-washy relativism is useless in the face of these learned men. They will not back down from their hostility of God, so we cannot back down from our faith in God. Become informed, and learn to critically think through an argument on faith and reason. Work in the media/publishing centers of the world if you want to make a difference in the world, otherwise we will only continue to give up ground. If Christendom were to stand together and stop fighting each other we might have a chance to truly counter the remarks of the enemy and change the "public" opinion and laws.

~LAS

Hooper, Simon. "The rise of the New Atheists". CNN. http://www.cnn.com/2006/WORLD/europe/11/08/atheism.feature/index.html. Retrieved 2010-03-16.