I am a Christian

“I am not an atheist. Nor am I a theist. I am a Christian.

I believe in a God that designed and created the world and governs it through natural laws that are inherent in everything. I believe in natural laws that can be discovered through observation, experience, and reasoning. My religion is based primarily on nature and reasoning, in contrast to other religions that are based on alleged "revelations" that come through some "supernatural" means. 

I believe that man has "free will" and has responsibility for choosing how he lives in relation to natural laws that govern the world.

I am opposed to the doctrine of predestination in which everything that happens is thought to be "the will of God." I believe that it is never "God's will" for anything "bad" to happen. I believe that anything that is destructive to human life is "bad." These bad things may be caused by accident or by human action. An illness may be caused by an infection or may be caused by a person choosing to smoke cigarettes. God does not make a person sick or well. My health is partly within my control and sometimes beyond anyone’s control. God has given my body and mind certain natural powers to heal many illnesses but God will not directly intervene to heal me by some "supernatural" action. I reject the belief that when a person is killed in an automobile accident, "God must have a purpose in it."

If God directly intervened in my life, I would no longer have "free will.”  I would be a puppet controlled by God. Such control by God would cost me the very thing that makes me an individual human being with the freedom to think and act for myself.

I believe that God can only intervene indirectly in the world through other human beings. God can heal through the efforts of physicians and nurses and God can only care for the poor through others….

According to Jesus, our mission is to create the "kingdom of God on earth." God can work through each of us if we will follow God's law of love for each other. We are God's representatives on earth if we do God's will. Each of us can contribute in some way toward the development of the Kingdom of God on earth.

I do not believe in the theory of atonement that claims that Jesus had to die as a sacrifice to pay the "death penalty" for humankind and save them from the "wrath" of God. I do not view God as a whimsical tyrant who sends plagues and pestilence to punish people on earth and who plans to torture people in "hell" in the future. I reject these superstitious ideas as products of human hatred and a failure to recognize God's natural laws of love for others.

I am a Christian. I am a Christian because I am a disciple of Jesus. I believe in the natural laws of God that Jesus taught. But as a Christian, I recognize that Jesus was only human. I know that Jesus had to struggle with his own times of disappointment, sorrow, anger, prejudice, impatience, and despair, just as other human beings struggle with these experiences. Jesus never claimed to be perfect. Yet, he was committed to following God's natural laws of love. Jesus used examples from the natural world and from human nature to explain basic truths about life. In his parables, Jesus spoke of mustard seeds, wheat, weeds, fishing nets, pearls, vineyards, fig trees, salt, candle light and sheep to illustrate his points. Jesus used illustrations from human nature to teach the basic concepts such as repentance, forgiveness, justice, and love.

Jesus believed that it is God's will for people to love God and to love each other. God should be loved as creator of the world and as the source of human life. We should show our love for each other because happiness comes to us as we live in harmony, or unity, with each other. The Christianity that Jesus taught is based on the appreciation for all creation and on appreciation for every human life.

Jesus called for people to follow God's laws so the "kingdom of God" could come "on earth as it is in heaven." Jesus preached the "gospel" that the "kingdom of God is at hand." Jesus taught that there are only two basic laws of God governing mankind. The first law is that life comes from God and we are to use it as God intends, as illustrated in Jesus' parable of the talents ("How Can You Love God?). The second law is that God intends for human beings to live by love for each other as illustrated in Jesus' parable of the Good Samaritan. ("Love Your Neighbor.")

I do not believe that morality comes from Christianity or any religion because God's laws are known naturally by everyone. Even the apostle Paul, who was a Jew, recognized that "When Gentiles who do not have the law do by nature what the law requires, they are a law to themselves, even though they do not have the  law. They show that what the law requires is written in their hearts" (Romans 2:14-15).”


I am a Christian. I am a Deist. I am a Christian Deist.

Dahilayan

 In my younger days, I used to go to Dahilayan (long before the zip line, drop zone and resorts) and soaked in it's natural beauty. The people there were poor yet they didn't starve. They didn't eat chicken unless they were sick, or the chicken was and that was often....

Dahilayan: From the Distant Thunder series

Sitio Dahilayan: a coffee painting

Viajeros: a coffee painting

Colors from the Heart

Sometimes I try to paint my life. I take a brush and start to paint with the most beautiful colors I know. Colors that represent moments in my life that have been filled with love, forgiveness, dreams and euphoria…life in perfection.  

But despite all the joys and security that filled my soul, there have always been times when I couldn’t hold my life together…times when I messed up. I lied, I got hurt, I failed and I cried. And the more I tried to cover it up with various colors, the darker it became.

Life is not a road that we need to follow or a tunnel to try to get out of. It is like perfect art, made by the greatest artist. 

Every painting, every life is unique with its own colors. I could never choose my picture, it is beyond my ability.

But every single color I own, no matter how bright or dark, will in the end add to make my life painting beautiful.

These paintings are my palette. Some of them are from my own life and some from other life stories that have touched my heart in a special way. This exhibit is my own painting so far, and these are the colors, from my heart to yours. 

The Bible-toting Believer and Me

 When Mahatma Gandhi  was once asked what he saw as the greatest obstacle to Christianity in India and he answered "Other Christians!"

Those who share strong disbelief should be welcomed by those who believe. For if they are not prepared to defend properly that which they believe in,  it simply indicates how little they believe.

Religion is like....

 I came across this image on the net and mentioned it to a friend. His reaction after giving it some thought was "Nah! That can't be true! Man is born with a blank mind... 'tabula rasa'... so aetheism must be the default concept of man."

"Actually I don't believe atheism is a default position because to deny the existence of any gods you must first know the concept of a god. I would say not having any concept of god is the default position and later in life when you learn this concept you either accept or reject it." I countered.

"One does not have to have a concept of gods to not believe in them. Do you believe in things no one's thought of yet? Me neither. Because you can't believe in something that hasn't been thought of yet." he reasoned out.

"Atheism is, in a broad sense, the rejection of belief in the existence of deities. In a narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there are no deities. Most inclusively, atheism is simply the absence of belief that any deities exist. Atheism is contrasted with theism, which in its most general form is the belief that at least one deity exists. All of these definitions clearly include having the concept of a god. You cannot have a lack of belief in something you do not know about. You have to know that concept to reject it. So no baby is born an atheist...."

What do you think?

Good Art! Bad Art!

I am often asked if there is such a thing as "bad art." Sometimes, I avoid a long-drawn-out discussion by simply answering "there is only art and it is subjective". More often than not, this answer puts the discussion to rest...

But is there really such a thing as bad art? Definitely! If at one side of the spectrum, the works of Picasso, Van Gogh, Rembrandt and others are universally accepted as "good art", then logic dictates that there must be another side to that same spectrum filled up with what can be considered as "bad art". That has to be so, or else darkness can exist without light. I can hear some of you saying "but art is subjective!" Good art may be subjective but bad art is not! Art is often used synonymously with visual art, but the term also applies more generally to other mediums, such as music, literature, and dance. If you've been to a bad play lately, then you probably know what I mean...

Dog Bites Man. A painting so bad it is actually good! Go figure.

If some of you still don't agree, then let me just say: "There is no such thing as good art or bad art. Just good or poor taste...."

Some artist think every work they do is a work of art, I say keep working and you may produce a work of art.

Remembering Charlie

CHARLIE CHAPLIN once said, "I remain just one thing, and one thing only — and that is a clown. It places me on a far higher plane than any politician.” 

Is Charlie Chaplin famous or something?? Now before anyone says anything, I grew up in the 60's, many years after Mr. Chaplin, so no, I wasn't around when his movies were made. But I did see some of the reruns that they would play once in a while...

If you remember him, either when he was around, or by just watching reruns, or if you don't know who I am talking about, here is a short video of some of his movies, for memories or to see how they use to watch movies... http://youtube.com/watch?v=1MNzVEy_mnE

Charlie Chaplin, considered to be one of the most pivotal stars of the early days of Hollywood, lived an interesting life both in his films and behind the camera. He is most recognized as an icon of the silent film era, often associated with his popular "Little Tramp" character; the man with the toothbrush mustache.

The Charlie Chaplin Collection can be downloaded from this site.  http://www.hotfiledog.com/search/Charlie%20Chaplin