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DOES GOD EXIST?

KATHARINE HEPBURN: "I'm an atheist, and that's it. I believe there's nothing we can know except that we should be kind to each other and do what we can for each other."

PAMELA ANDERSON: "Well, I believe in God ... And I go to church. My kids go to Sunday school. And it's definitely a part of my life."

PHYLLIS DILLER: "We were not created by a deity (God). We created the deity in our image...Life began on this planet when the first amoeba split. Man will still be seeking God, not accepting that God is a spirit; can't see it, touch it, only feel it. It's called love of all things."

MADONNA: When asked if she believed in God, she said, "Absolutely."

ALICE COOPER: If you recall, Alice Cooper is the same one who chopped up baby dolls and sang about necrophilia during his Rock Concerts. The 56 year old Rock star now says that back in the 80's he became a Christian and he now openly declares, "My life is dedicated to follow Christ."

JACK NICHOLSON: Quite plainly states, "I don't believe in God .... but I can still work up an envy for someone who has faith. I can see how that could be a deeply soothing experience."

MISTER T: When asked about his spiritual beliefs he said, "I like to tell everyone that my father baptized me when I was four years old. Even though I was young and couldn't understand a lot of things, I grew up in the church.... So, I'm in church and I'm listening to my father preach ... he taught me to have faith." He does not hesitate to declare his belief in God and in Jesus Christ, his Savior.

JODIE FOSTER: In speaking about whether she believed in God or not, Jodie said, "I absolutely believe...that there is no direct evidence, so how could you ask me to believe in God when there's absolutely no evidence that I can see?

GEORGE CLOONY: "I don't believe in Heaven and hell ... I don't know if I believe in God or not." (George therefore could be classified as a possible agnostic)

JOHN WAYNE: Not long before his death he said, "I've always had deep faith that there's a Supreme Being; there has to be. To me that's just a normal thing, to have that kind of faith." [*For more information on the hollywood celebrities and their faith, I'd recommend the Book "What Hollywood Believes" by Ron Cormfort, Genesis Publishing Group]

IF SOMEONE ASKED YOU TO ANSWER THE FOLLOWING THREE QUESTIONS WHAT WOULD YOUR ANSWERS BE?

Question 1: It's not my fault that I'm not a believer I have to have some kind of proof. I've tried to find God, but there's just no satisfying evidence to be found.

Answer: God's reply to that is: "You shall seek for me, and find me...when you seek for me with all your heart." Jeremiah 29"13 NLT "Keep on asking and, and you will be given what you ask for. Keep on looking and you will, find. Keep on knocking and the door will be opened." Matthew 7:7 NLT

Question 2: You tell me to believe in Jesus and what he taught, but why should I believe it just because you say it's true? I see no way of being sure about who he was or what he taught?

Answer: "So Jesus told them, "I am not teaching my own ideas, but those of God who sent me. Anyone who wants to do the will of God will know whether my teaching is from God or is merely my own." John 7:16-17 NLT Many profess to be seeking to know the truth about Jesus and his teachings yet say the answer is not to be found even though they've looked. The reason is plain. According to Scripture some searchers--- even if they knew it was true wouldn'tdo anything about it Know this, God doesn't play games for the benefit of those who merely want to satisfy their intellectual curiosity. The answers are available, but only to those who are dead serious and fully intend to do something about the answer once they have found it. The first question that "searchers" really need to honestly answer is this: If you knew that it was true, would you be willing to repent of your sins and follow him... no matter what the cost? If their answer is "No." then they should find some other way of entertaining themselves. The sign on God's door reads "Not In".

Question 3: If these things are true, then why aren't more of the highly intelligent people of our society believers? What about men like Einstein, Stephen Hawkins and the like? The majority of the world's great scholars, philosophers, statesmen, and scientists are not Christians. Why?

Answer: Perhaps I can best answer that question by telling you a story about:

THE WOMAN WHO LOST HER VIRTUE

A large country woman brought a man into court, accusing him of having assaulted her honor. The man denied it, claiming that she submitted willingly. The judge decreed that the man should pay the woman a large number of gold pieces. As the woman left the courtroom the judge sent the man after her with instructions to take the gold pieces away from her and return to the court with them. The man hurried off, but fight as he might he simply could not separate the woman from the gold. The two were brought back before the judge. The woman was loud and shrill in her protests that the gold had been legally awarded to her. The judge, however, wisely observed ---- that had she fought as hard for her honor as she had for the gold, the man would never have succeeded. He then confiscated the gold and saw that justice was done.

The moral of the story: If they would put forth as much effort to find the truth about God, the Bible, and Jesus as they do in matters of far lesser importance, they would have had the answers they needed long ago. If some of those same great minds were focused in humility on the five greatest questions of life, ( Is there a Creator God? Is there a divine purpose for us being on this earth? Has there been some kind of revelation give to mankind from the Creator? Is this life all there is, or is there something more? What is my destiny?) the scales would tip the other way. The majority would be believers. "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth from those who think themselves so wise and clever, and for revealing it to the childlike." Luke 10:21 TLW "Where does this leave the philosophers, the scholars, and the world's brilliant debaters? God has made them all look foolish and has shown their wisdom to be useless nonsense. Since God in his wisdom saw to it that the world would never find him through human wisdom..." I Corinthians 3: 20-21TLB

BLAISE PASCAL'S WAGER

Blaise Pascal was a French mathematician, scientist and great Christian theologian and was counted as being one of the most notable scholars in intellectual history. His writings on religious subjects contain some of the deepest, most profound thinking in the annals of modern history. He once made a famous wager for which he has become well known. Once, while talking to an unbeliever, he told the man, "If I am wrong and you are right about God existing, then when we die we would both simply cease to exist and neither of us would ever know it, because all consciousness would disappear. On the other hand, if I am right and you are wrong, then when we die, I will go to Heaven and you will go to Hell. Now it seems to me that any intelligent man would bet on the right side of that wager."

THE BOTTOM LINE

On which side of that wager are YOU betting? It's one thing that each of us has to decide for ourselves, and one about which we can't afford to be wrong. For me the bottom line is clear. I would rather live my life as if there is a God, and die only to find there isn't ... than to live my life as if there isn't, and die ... only to find out there is.

Posted by cdrnorth at July 14, 2005 7:51 PM

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