The Grace Shop

In my dream I went into a 2nd hand shop in Old Papatoetoe and saw a set of golf clubs of good quality better than my old ones. I decided to buy all of them with a value of $380. When I went to pay, the man settling the account wrote in his book the amount and gave them to me for free. He also told me to take some 2nd hand golf balls and was a bit surprised when I only took 3. I walked out the shop and my golfing friend asked me how much I paid for them and I was weeping as I told him it was for free!

Proof 7 : Rainbows

Genesis 9:12-16 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”

For you to see a rainbow in the sky, you need rain and the sun behind you. The suns parallel rays pass through the raindrops and light is refracted back to you in the colours you see at an angle of 42° from the entry point of the ray into the droplet. The bow is caused by the way the light is refracted within the spherical nature of the raindrops. You only see half the circular shape because the Earth gets in the way of the other half.

If we have a scientific explanation, does that negate the biblical explanation for rainbows?

Proof 6 : Love and Justice

1 John 4:8 Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

I have recently watched Les Misérables, probably my favourite musical. This very moving story primarily follows the paths of two men, Jean Valjean is a thief converted to an honest life by the gracious forgiveness of a Bishop, the other man is Inspector Javert the upholder of Justice and the Law seeking Valjean's conviction for his crimes. The tension between the 2 characters runs throughout but there is no doubt that Valjean is the hero of the story. It is a great story because it describes the human dilemma so perfectly and how the individual can ultimately triumph through Love and Grace. Does the truth matter if we have Love? A great question for our times...

Proof 5 : Sin, Death and the existence of Evil

People often argue that the existence of suffering in the World is an argument against the existence of God but equally the reverse can be true! So why does a good God allows such terrible suffering in the world?

Proof 4 : Language

Genesis 11:5-7 But the Lord came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The Lord said, “If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, then nothing they plan to do will be impossible for them. Come, let us go down and confuse their language so they will not understand each other.”

According to SIL International's Ethnologue: Languages of the World (12th Edition, 1992), there are over 6,900 spoken languages. Where did all the languages come from?

Proof 3 : Prophecy

Luke 24:44 He said to them, “This is what I told you while I was still with you: Everything must be fulfilled that is written about me in the Law of Moses, the Prophets and the Psalms.”

A number of years ago, 2 scientists worked out the odds of any one man in all of history fulfilling even only eight of the 60 major prophecies fulfilled by the life of Christ.

The probability that Jesus of Nazareth could have fulfilled even eight such prophecies would be 1 in 100,000,000,000,000,000

Proof 2 : The life and resurrection of Christ

1 Corinthians 15:3-8 For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born.

Can we rely on the claims of the Gospel writers in regards to the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

Proof 1 : Life, the Universe and Everything!

This is a very BIG topic to start with but why not start at the Beginning?

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

That's a very provocative statement in the Bible! We live in the modern age where many intelligent people say that Science has proven that there is no God. Is it fair to say that these people are without excuse?

The Court Case

You do hear it said sometimes that there is no evidence that God exists. If no-one has ever seen God, how can he be real? If God exists and he is good, how can he allow so much suffering in the World?

It's a serious accusation because it is calling the follower of God deluded or even worse, a liar. Every outsider enjoys a dramatic court case, if this accusation of fraud was taken to court, what would be the outcome? Is there really NO evidence of God?

The way to win a court case is to use the evidence to establish the truth. You can do this two ways.

If you are a Defense lawyer you can take the evidence and put up an alternative explanation and so cast doubt. Lawyer's have become so clever at this, that even when an accused person is plainly guilty, if enough doubt can be established the accused will get off Scot free.

On the other hand, if you are acting for the Prosecution, you will want to present evidence so overwhelming that even if some doubt can be cast, the overall weight of facts is enough to get a conviction.

It is always up to the Jury to decide which argument is the most convincing. It is up to you to decide whether God exists or not, but since it is a serious question, you should at least carefully consider all the evidence.