www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html


Does God exist? Here are six
straightforward reasons to
believe that God is really there.
By Marilyn Adamson
Just once wouldn't
you love for someone
to simply show you
the evidence for God's
existence? No arm-
twisting. No
statements of, "You
just have to believe."
Well, here is an
attempt to candidly
offer some of the
reasons which
suggest that God exists.
But first consider this. When it comes to the
possibility of God's existence, the Bible says
that there are people who have seen sufficient
evidence, but they have suppressed the truth
about God.1 On the other hand, for those who
want to know God if he is there, he says, "You
will seek me and find me; when you seek me
with all your heart, I will be found by you."2
Before you look at the facts surrounding God's
existence, ask yourself, If God does exist, would
I want to know him? Here then, are some
reasons to consider...
1. Does God exist? The complexity
of our planet points to a
deliberate Designer who not only
created our universe, but
sustains it today.
Many examples showing God's design could be
given, possibly with no end. But here are a few:


The EARTH---its size is perfect. The Earth's size
and corresponding gravity holds a thin layer of
mostly nitrogen and oxygen gases, only
extending about 50 miles above the Earth's
surface. If Earth were smaller, an atmosphere
would be impossible, like the planet Mercury. If
Earth were larger, its atmosphere would
contain free hydrogen, like Jupiter.3 Earth is
the only known planet equipped with an
atmosphere of the right mixture of gases to
sustain plant, animal and human life.
The Earth is located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we
encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120
degrees. If the Earth were any further away
from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer
and we would burn up. Even a fractional
variance in the Earth's position to the sun
would make life on Earth impossible. The Earth
remains this perfect distance from the sun
while it rotates around the sun at a speed of
nearly 67,000 mph. It is also rotating on its
axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to
be properly warmed and cooled every day.
And our moon is the perfect size and distance
from the Earth for its gravitational pull. The
moon creates important ocean tides and
movement so ocean waters do not stagnate,
and yet our massive oceans are restrained from spilling over across the continents.


WATER--colorless, odorless and without taste,
and yet no living thing can survive without it.
Plants, animals and human beings consist
mostly of water (about two-thirds of the human body is water). You'll see why the
characteristics of water are uniquely suited to
life:It has an unusually high boiling point and
freezing point. Water allows us to live in an
environment of fluctuating temperature
changes, while keeping our bodies a steady
98.6 degrees.
Water is a universal solvent. This property of
water means that various chemicals,
minerals and nutrients can be carried throughout our bodies and into the smallest
blood vessels.

Water is also chemically neutral. Without
affecting the makeup of the substances it
carries, water enables food, medicines and
minerals to be absorbed and used by the body.
Water has a unique surface tension. Water in
plants can therefore flow upward against
gravity, bringing life-giving water and nutrients to the top of even the tallest trees.
Water freezes from the top down and floats, so
fish can live in the winter.
Ninety-seven percent of the Earth's water is in
the oceans. But on our Earth, there is a system designed which removes salt from the water and then distributes that water throughout the globe. Evaporation takes the ocean waters, leaving the salt, and forms clouds which are easily moved by the wind to disperse water over the land, for vegetation, animals and people. It is a system of purification and supply that sustains life on this planet, a system of recycled and reused water.

The HUMAN BRAiN--simultaneously processes
an amazing amount of information. Your brain
takes in all the colors and objects you see, the
temperature around you, the pressure of your
feet against the floor, the sounds around you,
the dryness of your mouth, even the texture of your keyboard. Your brain holds and processes all your emotions, thoughts and memories. At the same time your brain keeps track of the ongoing functions of your body like your breathing pattern, eyelid movement, hunger and movement of the muscles in your hands.
The human brain processes more than a
million messages a second.7 Your brain
weighs the importance of all this data, filtering out the relatively unimportant. This
screening function is what allows you to
focus and operate effectively in your world. The brain functions differently than other organs.
There is an intelligence to it, the ability to
reason, to produce feelings, to dream and plan, to take action, and relate to other people.

The EYE---can distinguish among seven million
colors. It has automatic focusing and handles
an astounding 1.5 million messages --
simultaneously.


Evolution focuses on
mutations and changes from and within
existing organisms. Yet evolution alone does
not fully explain the initial source of the eye or
the brain -- the start of living organisms from
nonliving matter

2) The UNIVERSE HAD A START - what caused it?
Scientists are convinced that our universe
began with one enormous explosion of energy
and light, which we now call the Big Bang. This was the singular start to everything that exists: the beginning of the universe, the start of space, and even the initial start of time itself.
Astrophysicist Robert Jastrow, a self-described
agnostic, stated, "The seed of everything that
has happened in the Universe was planted in
that first instant; every star, every planet and
every living creature in the Universe came into
being as a result of events that were set in
motion in the moment of the cosmic
explosion...The Universe flashed into being, and we cannot find out what caused that to
happen. "9 Steven Weinberg, a Nobel laureate in Physics, said at the moment of this explosion, "the universe was about a hundred thousands million degrees Centigrade...and the universe was filled with light."10
The universe has not always existed. It had a
start...what caused that? Scientists have no
explanation for the sudden explosion of light
and matter.

3) The universe
operates by UNIFORM LAWS OF NATURE. Why does it?
Much of life may seem uncertain, but look at
what we can count on day after day: gravity
remains consistent, a hot cup of coffee left on a counter will get cold, the earth rotates in the
same 24 hours, and the speed of light doesn't
change -- on earth or in galaxies far from us.
How is it that we can identify laws of nature
that never change? Why is the universe so
orderly, so reliable?
"The greatest scientists have been struck by
how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This
astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way.
It is easy to imagine a universe in which
conditions change unpredictably from instant
to instant, or even a universe in which things
pop in and out of existence."11
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for
quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."12

Hahahaha.
Xtian brain.

4) The DNA code
informs, programs a cell's
behavior.
All instruction, all teaching, all training
comes with intent. Someone who writes an
instruction manual does so with purpose. Did
you know that in every cell of our bodies there
exists a very detailed instruction code, much
like a miniature computer program? As you
may know, a computer program is made up of
ones and zeros, like this: 110010101011000.
The way they are arranged tell the computer
program what to do. The DNA code in each of
our cells is very similar. It's made up of four
chemicals that scientists abbreviate as A, T, G,
and C. These are arranged in the human cell
like this: CGTGTGACTCGCTCCTGAT and so on.
There are three billion of these letters in every
human cell!!
Well, just like you can program your phone to
beep for specific reasons, DNA instructs the
cell. DNA is a three-billion-lettered program
telling the cell to act in a certain way. It is a full instruction manual.13
Why is this so amazing? One has to ask....how
did this information program wind up in
each human cell? These are not just chemicals.
These are chemicals that instruct, that code in a very detailed way exactly how the person's body should develop.
Natural, biological causes are completely
lacking as an explanation when programmed
information is involved. You cannot find
instruction, precise information like this,
without someone intentionally constructing it.

Tell me when you finish, so I can start debunking you.

5) We know God
exists because he pursues us(OH yes He does). He is constantly initiating and seeking for us to come to him.
I was an atheist at one time. And like many
atheists, the issue of people believing in God
bothered me greatly. What is it about atheists
that we would spend so much time, attention,
and energy refuting something that we don't
believe even exists?! What causes us to do
that? When I was an atheist, I attributed my
intentions as caring for those poor, delusional
people...to help them realize their hope was
completely ill-founded. To be honest, I also had
another motive. As I challenged those who
believed in God, I was deeply curious to see if
they COULD CONVINCE me otherwise. Part of my quest was to become free from the question of God. If I could conclusively prove to believers that they were wrong, then the issue is off the table, and I would be free to go about my life.
I didn't realize that the reason the topic of God
weighed so heavily on my mind, was because
God was pressing the Issue. I have come to
find out that God wants to be known. He
created us with the intention that we would
know him. He has surrounded us with evidence of himself and he keeps the question of his existence squarely before us. It was as if I couldn't escape thinking about the possibility of God. In fact, the day I chose to acknowledge God's existence, my prayer began with, "Ok,
you win..." It might be that the underlying
reason atheists are bothered by people
believing in God is because God is actively
pursuing them.
I am not the only one who has experienced
this. Malcolm Muggeridge, socialist and
philosophical author, wrote, "I had a notion
that somehow, besides questing, I was being
pursued." C.S. Lewis said he remembered,
"...night after night, feeling whenever my mind lifted even for a second from my work, the steady, unrelenting approach of Him whom I so earnestly desired not to meet. I gave in, and admitted that God was God, and knelt and prayed: perhaps, that night, the most dejected and reluctant convert in all of England."
Lewis went on to write a book titled, "Surprised by Joy" as a result of knowing God. I too had no expectations other than rightfully admitting God's existence. Yet over the following several months, I became amazed by his love for me.

6) Unlike any other revelation of God, Jesus
Christ is the clearest, most
specific picture of God revealing
himself to us.
Why Jesus? Look throughout the major world
religions and you'll find that Buddha,
Muhammad, Confucius and Moses all identified
themselves as teachers or prophets. None of
them ever claimed to be equal to God.
Surprisingly, Jesus did. That is what sets Jesus
apart from all the others. He said God exists
and you're looking at him. Though he talked
about his Father in heaven, it was not from the
position of separation, but of very close union,
unique to all humankind. Jesus said that
anyone who had seen Him had seen the Father,
anyone who believed in him, believed in the
Father.
He said, "I am the light of the world, he who
follows me will not walk in darkness, but will
have the light of life."14 He claimed attributes
belonging only to God: to be able to forgive
people of their sin, free them from habits of sin,
give people a more abundant life and give
them eternal life in heaven. Unlike other
teachers who focused people on their words,
Jesus pointed people to himself. He did not say,
"follow my words and you will find truth." He
said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no
one comes to the Father but through me."15
What proof did Jesus give for claiming to
be divine? He did what people can't do. Jesus
performed miracles. He healed people...blind,
crippled, deaf, even raised a couple of people
from the dead. He had power over
objects...created food out of thin air, enough to feed crowds of several thousand people. He
performed miracles over nature...walked on top of a lake, commanding a raging storm to stop for some friends. People everywhere followed Jesus, because he constantly met their needs,
doing the miraculous. He said if you do not
want to believe what I'm telling you, you should at least believe in me based on the miracles you're seeing.16
Jesus Christ showed God to be gentle, loving,
aware of our self-centeredness and
shortcomings, yet deeply wanting a
relationship with us. Jesus revealed that
although God views us as sinners, worthy of his punishment, his love for us ruled and God
came up with a different plan. God himself took on the form of man and accepted the
punishment for our sin on our behalf. Sounds
ludicrous? Perhaps, but many loving fathers
would gladly trade places with their child in a
cancer ward if they could. The Bible says that
the reason we would love God is because he
first loved us.
Jesus died in our place so we could be forgiven.
Of all the religions known to humanity, only
through Jesus will you see God reaching toward humanity, providing a way for us to have a relationship with him. Jesus proves a divine heart of love, meeting our needs, drawing us to himself. Because of Jesus' death and resurrection, he offers us a new life today. We can be forgiven, fully accepted by God and
genuinely loved by God. He says, "I have loved
you with an everlasting love, therefore I have
continued my faithfulness to you."17 This is
God, in action.
Does God exist? If you want to know,
investigate Jesus Christ. We're told that "God so
loved the world that he gave his only Son, that
whoever believes in him should not perish but
have eternal life."18
God does NOT FORCE us to believe in Him, though He COULD. Instead, he has provided sufficient proof of his existence for us to willingly respond to him. The earth's perfect distance from the sun, the unique chemical properties of water,
the human brain, DNA, the number of people
who attest to knowing God, the gnawing in our
hearts and minds to determine if God is there,
the willingness for God to be known through
Jesus Christ.

"The greatest scientists have been struck by
how strange this is. There is no logical necessity for a universe that obeys rules, let alone one that abides by the rules of mathematics. This
astonishment springs from the recognition that the universe doesn't have to behave this way.
It is easy to imagine a universe in which
conditions change unpredictably from instant
to instant, or even a universe in which things
pop in and out of existence."11
Richard Feynman, a Nobel Prize winner for
quantum electrodynamics, said, "Why nature is mathematical is a mystery...The fact that there are rules at all is a kind of miracle."

advocate666: Tell me when you finish, so I can start debunking you.

I'm not here to Argue with u,I'm here to Educate minds dat are willing to learn nd be convinced.




Criticize/debunk dis,I dnt mind cos I knw I've contributed my Iota nd I've succeeded in putting ur master '666' to shame.

LASTLY:If you want to begin a
relationship with God now, you
can.
This is your decision, no coercion here. But if
you want to be forgiven by God and come into
a relationship with him, you can do so right
now by asking him to forgive you and come
into your life. Jesus said, "Behold, I stand at the
door [of your heart] and knock. He who hears
my voice and opens the door, I will come into
him [or her]."19 If you want to do this, but
aren't sure how to put it into words, this may
help: "Jesus, thank you for dying for my sins.
You know my life and that I need to be
forgiven. I ask you to forgive me right now and
come into my life. I want to know you in a real
way. Come into my life now. Thank you that
you wanted a relationship with me. Amen."
God views your relationship with him as
permanent. Referring to all those who believe in
him, Jesus Christ said of us, "I know them, and
they follow me; and I give them eternal life, and
they shall never perish, and no one shall snatch
them out of my hand."20
Looking at all these facts, one can conclude
that a loving God does exist and can be known
in an intimate, personal way.

Ok. Let me start from earth.

You see, earth's size is far from perfect. And it is not constant. Neither is it's distance from the sun constant nor it's rotational speed constant.

We live here on earth because our DNA-based life is adpated to earth's current atmosphere. Moreover, there are millions of earth-like planets in our galaxy alone. And there are trillions of galaxy in our observable universe alone. So, mathematically, we are not alone.

Tons of space dust fall on earth every second increasing its mass. This constantly affects its rotational speed. Though the change are very negligible, over a long period of time, it varies. The moon's pull on earth's aquatic surface also affects the speed of rotation.

Toyolad: I'm not here to Argue with u,I'm here to Educate minds dat are willing to learn nd be convinced.




Criticize/debunk dis,I dnt mind cos I knw I've contributed my Iota nd I've succeeded in putting ur master '666' to shame.

It will be very difficult for you to argue from a position of ignorance so I'm not surprised that you chose the path of taking to your heels as a proper soldier of Kryst would do.

Next is water. You stated the characteristics of water but I'm at loss as to how they prove the existence of your god.
As you already stated, water is everywhere. There are even planets made of entirey frozen water. So there's nothing significantly special about water that will make me wanna start paying thites.

The human brain is great. But so are other animals' brains.
There are loads of things orther animal's brain can do that we cannot do. Did your god deliberately make us handicapped in those areas?

advocate666:

It will be very difficult for you to argue from a position of ignorance so I'm not surprised that you chose the path of taking to your heels as a proper soldier of Kryst would do.

You are quibbling over semantics. When the OP says the size of the earth is perfect s/he isn't talking of negligible differences in size. Mercury, the planet closest to the sun is a molten rock that is about a 3rd the size of the earth while Jupiter has been equated to be able to contain 1200 earths! We are talking of reasonable diameter and size and rotation and not spacedust.

Incidentally despite the perpetual cosmic shower of space dust you mentioned, earth is actually losing weight from internal combustion and not gaining it. How much weight? Close to 0.0000000000001% of its Mass in a year. How negligible is that?

The eye!

This one is a joke because we are desperately blind.
Look in nature to see extremely developed eyes.
Let's take just one example: The dragonfly

The dragonfly have a full 360 degree field of vision. Their eyes are made up of 30,000 visual units called ommatidia, each one containing a lens and a series of light sensitive cells. Their eyesight is so good that they can detect billions of colors as well as polarized light.

Again why did your god handicap our eyesight?

advocate666: Next is water. You stated the characteristics of water but I'm at loss as to how they prove the existence of your god.
As you already stated, water is everywhere. There are even planets made of entirey frozen water. So there's nothing significantly special about water that will make me wanna start paying thites.

Water isn't on mercury. Water isn't in the sun. Mars as far as we know does not contain water. Jupiter does not contain water, although one of its moons has been postulated to contain frozen oceans.

Water is actually a scarce commodity in our galaxy and the known universe at large. Its presence wherever found is celebrated by scientists cos it signifies the possibility of life.
So water is a big deal.

5minsmadness:

You are quibbling over semantics. When the OP says the size of the earth is perfect s/he isn't talking of negligible differences in size. Mercury, the planet closest to the sun is a molten rock that is about a 3rd the size of the earth while Jupiter has been equated to be able to contain 1200 earths! We are talking of reasonable diameter and size and rotation and not spacedust.

Incidentally despite the perpetual cosmic shower of space dust you mentioned, earth is actually losing weight from internal combustion and not gaining it. How much weight? Close to 0.0000000000001% of its Mass in a year. How negligible is that?

If the yearly percentage mass loss is constant, imagine how different the earth is now compared to 3 billion years ago. So, no it is not constant. Except the op means that his god has nothing to do with the earth 3 billion years ago and will have nothing to do with it in 3 billion years time.

advocate666: The human brain is great. But so are other animals' brains.
There are loads of things orther animal's brain can do that we cannot do. Did your god deliberately make us handicapped in those areas?

Agreed.




With a minor correction...
There are loads of things other animals brain can do that we cannot do because we don't need to.
Sense of smell? A dog can scent a drop of blood in an entire room. Its a hunter. It needs the ability. We have tools and other sophisticated equipment for that. We have advanced thinking faculties.

A hawk can spot a brown rabbit in a bush 30miles up in the sky. Its power of vision is amazing. It needs this power to feed. We don't.
Etc.
Etc.

5minsmadness:

Water isn't on mercury. Water isn't in the sun. Mars as far as we know does not contain water. Jupiter does not contain water, although one of its moons has been postulated to contain frozen oceans.

Water is actually a scarce commodity in our galaxy and the known universe at large. Its presence wherever found is celebrated by scientists cos it signifies the possibility of life.
So water is a big deal.

In the universe

Much of the universe's water is produced as a byproduct of star formation. When stars are born, their birth is accompanied by a strong outward wind of gas and dust. When this outflow of material eventually impacts the surrounding gas, the shock waves that are created compress and heat the gas. The water observed is quickly produced in this warm dense gas.[15]

On 22 July 2011 a report described the discovery of a gigantic cloud of water vapor containing "140 trillion times more water than all of Earth's oceans combined" around a quasar located 12 billion light years from Earth. According to the researchers, the "discovery shows that water has been prevalent in the universe for nearly its entire existence".[16][17]

Water has been detected in interstellar clouds within our galaxy, the Milky Way.[citation needed] Water probably exists in abundance in other galaxies, too, because its components, hydrogen and oxygen, are among the most abundant elements in the universe.[citation needed] Based on models of the formation and evolution of the Solar System and that of other star systems, most other planetary systems are likely to have similar ingredients.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Water

5minsmadness:
Agreed.




With a minor correction...
There are loads of things other animals brain can do that we cannot do because we don't need to.
Sense of smell? A dog can scent a drop of blood in an entire room. Its a hunter. It needs the ability. We have tools and other sophisticated equipment for that. We have advanced thinking faculties.

A hawk can spot a brown rabbit in a bush 30miles up in the sky. Its power of vision is amazing. It needs this power to feed. We don't.
Etc.
Etc.

You are making the xtian mistake of thinking that we don't need things we don't have. The truth is that we use what we have to adapt to our needs. Like some birds do not have the powerful vision of the hawk but don't die of hunger because they adapted differently.

Point no 2: The universe has a start.

So now xtians believe in Big Bang after fighting it for decades. Please inform your brethren that Genesis should be revised.

Point 3. Universe.

It is true that our universe is amazing. Again, how that equates to "god did it" beats me.

No 4. The DNA code.

Yes, the DNA is complex but so is everything around us. Even objects. Did someone originally program DNA? Maybe, maybe not. We don't know. However, scientific evidence and laboratory tests shows us that your DNA today is a result of mutation due to genetic adaptation. You take DNA from both parents and adapt. Nobody programmed you. If you suffer a disease, your genes adapt and your offsprings DNA will change accordingly. No programming.

Computer programs do not mutate.

5. We know God.

Yes, I know the evil one. I fight him daily.

6. The mad jew.

So a mad jew started calling himself doG and here you are. SMDH.

Toyolad: I'm not here to Argue with u,I'm here to Educate minds dat are willing to learn nd be convinced.




Criticize/debunk dis,I dnt mind cos I knw I've contributed my Iota nd I've succeeded in putting ur master '666' to shame.

and you know he worships 666, how? mr spirikoko

@ advocate666,I really admire ur reasoning and logic on diz topic.. People judging u cuz of ur monicker doesn't surprise me. We Nigerians like to judge a book by its cover. Thumbs up.

andyallor:

and you know he worships 666, how? mr spirikoko

mrs spirikoko,y nt chk his moniker again before......#lips sealed#

advocate666:

If the yearly percentage mass loss is constant, imagine how different the earth is now compared to 3 billion years ago. So, no it is not constant. Except the op means that his god has nothing to do with the earth 3 billion years ago and will have nothing to do with it in 3 billion years time.

I thought the bible said, when god finished "creationism", he went to have a rest.

Who woke him?

qstar:

I thought the bible said, when god finished "creationism", he went to have a rest.

Who woke him?

Imagine a tired god.