Dr William Lane Craig offers a brief response to the challenge often posited by atheist Christopher Hitchens, and others: “Name a moral action that a religious person can do, that a non-religious person cannot.”

A satirical video from North Point Community Church, Alpharetta, GA. (And it really captures accurately the church I used to attend five years ago.)

(A parody of “More Than Words” by Extreme)

They might tell you there’s lots of works God wants to see from you
That’s not the right attitude; none are saved by things that man can do
But Jesus said the deed was done on Calvary’s hill
More than works: ‘cause all the good you do ain’t no big deal
And it couldn’t get you saved; that’s too costly, the Bible tells me so

What would you do if I quote Ephesians 2
No man’s works can save his soul; that’s so nobody can boast
The Good Book says that it’s not by works but grace
And you couldn’t make things new without faith in our Lord too

La-dee-dah-di-dee-dah…
More than works

Now they might try to talk to you and make you one of them
But all you have to do is hope in Christ and just be born again
And trust the Holy Ghost, he’ll never let you go
More than works is John 6:28, and now to show
That the good work that you need is to believe, ‘cause Christ already rose

What would you do if your heart was born anew
Your good works could show your faith, but you must first take His grace
What do you say? If you trust His Word today
Then you could still make things new just by praying
Why don’t you?

I [the LORD God] will ransom them from the power of the grave; I will redeem them from death. Where, O death, are your plagues? Where, O grave, is your destruction? ~ Hosea 13:14

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said” ~ Matthew 28:5-6

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. But each in his own turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. Then the end will come, when he hands over the kingdom to God the Father after he has destroyed all dominion, authority and power ~ 1Cor 15:20-24

But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed ~ Isaiah 53:5 (NIV)

I was inspired to post this following the conversation about grace on an earlier post.

I heard the song East to West by Casting Crowns for the first time on a myspace site a few years ago and became addicted to it almost instantly. The lyrics will really hit home for those of you who know what it means to struggle with sin everyday. But it also touches very personally on many truths at the heart of Christianity and paints a vivid picture of Christ crucified for the purpose of separating us from sin as “far as the east is from the west”.

For example, you may recognise the reference in the song to this passage from Scripture:

‘as far as the east is from the west,
so far has he removed our transgressions from us.’

Psalm 103:12

The significance of the comparison of East with West being that the two are mutually exclusive; necessarily separate; the one can never unite with the other.

I think the writers of this song (Mark Hall and Bernie Herms) demonstrate – not just through this song, but many others they write – a proper attitude to sin and to Christ, as well as the ability to capture, through the lyrics, imagery and music, the anxiety that Christians face every day about their sin. Don’t be afraid to allow this song to stir the emotions. You may just find that it brings you to tears as it does me.

‘East to West’ – Casting Crowns
(Album: Altar & the Door)

Here I am, Lord, and I’m drowning
in your sea of forgetfulness
The chains of yesterday surround me
I yearn for peace and rest
I don’t want to end up where You found me
And it echoes in my mind, keeps me awake tonight

I know You’ve cast my sin as far as the east is from the west
And I stand before You now as, as though I’ve never sinned
But today I feel like I’m just one mistake away from You leaving me this way

In conjunction with the Global Atheist Conference which concluded yesterday, Australia’s national broadcasting station, the ABC, invited Professor Richard Dawkins onto to it’s program of panelists, Q and A. The topic to be discussed was, none too coincidentally, “God, Science and Sanity”. And given the makeup of the panel on last Monday night (8 March 2010), it comes as no surprise that Prof. Dawkins stole the show.

For those of you unaware – of which I assume this is the vast majority of you – the Q and A program pits pollies, professionals and “pundits” up against each other while passing the questioning over to the audience, whether to a member in the studio or to someone watching at home who participates via the program’s website. The idea is quite simple: grab a hodge-podge of celebrities, specialists and politicians, throw them in the same room, given them a topic and then let the public “have at it”.

And “have at it” was the operative word last Monday; but not against Prof. Dawkins – that was one parrot that wasn’t going to get knocked off his perch. But the other panelists, namely those who identify as theists, sure did get a hammering.

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The truth of the phrase “a picture tells a thousand words” holds much persuasive power. The media has long used a variety of images to convey the truth and reality of situations far removed from the every day viewer; we use images to provoke, to emotionally stir and to captivate people’s attention. We are, by and large, a visually stimulated people. The success of the movie industry and of TV programming is testament to that. Yet can we intentionally use graphically disturbing pictures to promote a cause or to bring awareness of an issue to the uninitiated? Can we use images to sway our opponents on the abortion issue? If they’re used appropriately, then the answer is an emphatic, “yes”.

The use of pictures does have its place; the use of factual pictures entomb the truths of an event for future generations. One man who understood this in totality was General Eisenhower who, on visiting the Nazi concentration camp at Ohrdruf on April 12th, 1945, ordered that every citizen of the nearby town of Gotha visit the camp; that media personnel make full documentation; and that military cameras be sure to capture the horrific scene, immortalizing in photographs the barbarity and cruelty.

Said Eisenhower, “I made the visit deliberately, in order to be in a position to give first-hand evidence of these things if ever, in the future, there develops a tendency to charge these allegations merely to ‘propaganda.’”^[1] Eisenhower envisaged that the documentation was necessary because, at point in the future, he believed there would be people who would deny that such astrocities ever took place, perhaps thinking them some elaborate conspiracy to stir the hearts and cloud the minds of a gullible people. Yet there are groups who deny the holocaust; I’m sure Eisenhower would not be surprised.

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Casting Crowns – Glorious Day (Living He Loved Me)

One day when Heaven was filled with his praises
One day when sin was as black as could be
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin
Dwelt among men, my example is he
Word became flesh and the light shined among us
His glory revealed

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
Buried, he carried my sins far away
Rising, he justified freely forever
One day he’s coming
Oh glorious day

One day they led him up Calvary’s mountain
One day they nailed him to die on a tree
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is he
Hands that healed nations, stretched out on a tree
And took the nails for me

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
Buried, he carried my sins far away
Rising, he justified freely forever
One day he’s coming
Oh glorious day

One day the grave could conceal him no longer
One day the stone rolled away from the door
Then he arose, over death he had conquered
Now he’s ascended, my Lord evermore
Death could not hold him, the grave could not keep him
From rising again!

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
Buried, he carried my sins far away
Rising, he justified freely forever
One day he’s coming
Oh glorious day

One day the trumpet will sound for his coming
One day the skies with his glories will shine
Wonderful day my Beloved One bringing
My Savior, Jesus, is mine

Living, he loved me
Dying, he saved me
Buried, he carried my sins far away
Rising, he justified freely forever
One day he’s coming
Oh glorious day