• About
    • Welcome
    • Prayer Partners
    • Ministry Partners
    • Angel Partners
    • How to Promote
    • Crowdfunding
    • Statement of Faith
    • The Desert Warrior
    • The Temptations of the Cross (A Novel)
    • Jesus was an Alien (and Other Stories of Faith)
  • Desert Warrior
    • Tears of the Desert Warrior – The Absurdity of an Abnormal Existence
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
      • 1. The Secular Problem of Evil
      • 2. The Essence of Religion
      • 3. The Heart of the Human Experience
      • 4. The Moral Interpretation of Religion
      • 5. Finding Life in the Face of Death
      • 6. Reality, Language and Meaning
      • 7. The Myth of Human Morality
      • 8. The Dangers of the Divine Ethic
      • 9. The Religious Problem of Evil
      • Conclusion
    • Whispers of the Desert Warrior – Evidence of the God who is There
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
      • 1. The God Who is There
      • 2. The Breath of Life
      • 3. Pride and Prejudice
      • 4. The Divine Perspective
      • 5. Return to Babel
      • Conclusion
    • God of the Desert Warrior – Evil and the Goodness of God
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Desert Warrior – Finding Strength in Difficult Times
      • Series Introduction
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Way of a Desert Warrior – How the Desert can give you Courage
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Heart of a Desert Warrior – How Reality can set you Free
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
    • The Life of a Desert Warrior – How a Conversation can Change your Life
      • Prologue
      • Introduction
  • Family Secrets
    • Family Secrets – Chapter One
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Two
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Three
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Four
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Five
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Six
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Seven
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Eight
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Nine
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Ten
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Eleven
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Twelve
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Thirteen
    • Family Secrets – Chapter Fourteen
  • Jesus was an Alien
    • Preface
    • Created For His Pleasure
    • 1. Charles Benton. Neighbor.
    • 2. The Wedding
    • 3. Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil
    • 4. Truth in Flip Flops
    • 5. Jesus was an Alien
    • 6. Lucifer at the Cross
    • 7. The Way of the Desert Warrior
    • 8. The Anointing
    • 9. The Tower of Babel
    • 10. The Eight Year Old Evangelist
    • 11. Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
    • 12. The Old Lady and the Giant
    • Return of the Prodigal
  • Seeking Jerusalem
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 1 to 10
      • Day 1 – The Plan
      • Day 2 – The Confession
      • Day 3 – The Rebuke
      • Day 4 – The Denial
      • Day 5 – The Judgment
      • Day 6 – The Power and The Glory
      • Day 7 – Holiness
      • Day 8 – The Cost (1)
      • Day 9 – The Cost (2)
      • Day 10 – Transfiguration
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 11 to 20
      • Day 11 – Desert Warriors
      • Day 12 – Revealing the Glory
      • Day 13 – Maturity
      • Day 14 – Spiritual Conversations
      • Day 15 – Hard Questions
      • Day 16 – The Weakness
      • Day 18 – Your Life Ministry
      • Day 19 – The Gift of Significance
      • Day 20 – Joshua
      • Day 17 – Spiritual Warfare
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 21 to 30
      • Day 21 – True Confessions
      • Day 22 – The Courage of Confession
      • Day 23 – Brokenness
      • Day 24 – The Culture of Grace
      • Day 25 – FaithWalk
      • Day 26 – Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
      • Day 27 – Healing Power
      • Day 29 – Spiritual Unity
      • Day 28 – Spiritual Trust
      • Day 30 – The Anointing
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 31 to 40
      • Day 31 – The Sanctification Gap
      • Day 32 – The Sweet Spot
      • Day 33 – Hosea and Gomer
      • Day 34 – The Wedding
      • Day 35 – The Delivery
      • Day 36 – The Struggle
      • Day 37 – The Helper
      • Day 38 – The Secret
      • Day 39 – Messianic Prophesy
      • Day 40 – The Gathering Darkness
    • Seeking Jerusalem – Days 41 to 50
      • Day 41 – Dark Night of the Soul
      • Day 42 – The Divine Irony
      • Day 43 – Truth on Trial
      • Day 44 – The Descent into Hell
      • Day 45 – Death Comes in Darkness
      • Day 46 – The Divine Sting
      • Day 47 – Divine Visitation
      • Day 48 – The Kingdom Come
      • Day 49 – Transformation
      • Day 50 – The Road to Jerusalem
  • Temptations
    • Prologue
    • 1. Death of a Warrior
    • 2. The Old Man in the Temple
    • 3. Memories from the Past
    • 4. Battle Over Jerusalem
    • 5. Passover in the Holy City
    • 6. The Shedding of Blood
    • 7.Messianic Prophecy
    • 8. Ten Divine Words
    • 9. The Days of Artistry
    • 10. Breaking the Alliance
    • 11. The Covenant of Promise
    • 12. Birth Pangs
    • 13. Temptation in the Desert
    • 14. Prophet, Priest, and King
    • 15. Mobilizing the Forces
    • 16. The Gathering Darkness
    • 17. The Dark Night of the Soul
    • 18. The Divine Irony
    • 19. Truth on Trial
    • 20. The Descent into Hell
    • 21. Death Comes in Darkness
    • 22. The Divine Sting
    • 23. Divine Visitations
    • 24. Thy Kingdom Come
    • 25. Transformation
    • Epilogue
  • The Roman Road
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 1-10
      • Day 1 – All Roads Lead to Rome
      • Day 2 – “Let me Introduce myself….”
      • Day 3 – “….and my Ministry”
      • Day 4 – The Fight with Peter
      • Day 5 – Getting our Hearts in the Right Place
      • Day 6 – Getting our Heads on Straight
      • Day 7 – ……and the Demons tremble.
      • Day 8 – The Five Pillars of Evangelism
      • Day 9 – Truth in Flip Flops
      • Day 10 – A Conversation with Jesus
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 11-20
      • Day 11 – Jesus Was An Alien
      • Day 12 – Don’t Kill the Messenger
      • Day 13 – The Holy Hiatus
      • Day 14 – The Dilemma of Love
      • Day 15 – The Enigma of Evil
      • Day 16 – Dr. House. Brilliant. Idiot.
      • Day 17 – The Good, the Bad and the Ugly
      • Day 18 – No Wonder God is Upset
      • Day 19 – Suppressing the Truth
      • Day 20 – A Law Unto Themselves
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 21-30
      • Day 21 – Intelligent Design for Stupid Fools
      • Day 22 – Evil is it’s Own Punishment
      • Day 23 – The Revelation of Wrath
      • Day 24 – But for the Grace of God
      • Day 25 – I’m A Good Guy
      • Day 26 – The Sin of Jonah
      • Day 27 – Reality is the Ultimate Judge
      • Day 28 – Obedience is the Ultimate Goal
      • Day 29 – The Heart is the Ultimate Standard
      • Day 30 – Blasphemer or True Heart
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 31-40
      • Day 31 – Sin Addiction
      • Day 32 – Friendship with God
      • Day 33 – Breaking the Alliance
      • Day 34 – Religious Virtues
      • Day 35 – Spiritual Warfare
      • Day 36 – The Path
      • Day 37 – The Holy Guarantee
      • Day 38 – Charlie Benton. Neighbor.
      • Day 39 – The Sacred Moment
      • Day 40 – The Nature of Our Struggle
    • Walking the Roman Road of Salvation – Days 41-50
      • Day 41 – The Quality of Our Struggle
      • Day 42 – Walking In The Spirit
      • Day 43 – More Than Conquerors
      • Day 44 – Living Sacrifices
      • Day 45 – Love Must Be Sincere
      • Day 46 – The Secret
      • Day 47 – Resurrection Maturity
      • Day 48 – Kingdom Evangelism
      • Day 49 – Seeking Jerusalem
      • Day 50 – Walking with Purpose

Desert Warrior Ministries

~ A Burden of Glory

Desert Warrior Ministries

Category Archives: e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

A Conversation with God 4

02 Sunday Dec 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, A Conversation with God, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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A God who Weeps, Freedom of the Forbidden, Science and Technology, Support of God, The Divine Perspective, Uneasy Truce

“Why are you weeping?”  I said.

He turned his head slightly to look at me and then turned back to look into the night sky. He was seated on a log freshly cut down. “My children have been snatched away.  They are in grave danger.  Most of them I will never get back.  I know each one of them by name.”  His voice was a whisper in the night air.

“What do you mean?  Kidnapped?”

“In a way of speaking.”  His back was still turned toward me, the side of his face visible in the light of the full moon.

“But can’t you just go and get them back?”

A deep sigh escaped into the night.

“They went willingly,”  he said quietly.

“Willingly?”  That didn’t make sense.  “Didn’t you throw them out of the garden?”

“I meant before that,” he said, “when they threw me out.”

I was still getting used to this conversation and I wasn’t sure that I heard him right.  I forced myself to relax and took a deep breath.  He turned his head to look at me, the deep blue of his eyes rooted me to my place, though he looked at me with sadness and his voice was gentle.

“Do you think for a moment I would throw them out of my garden, away from their home, if it wasn’t absolutely necessary and for their own good?”

I could not answer.  The divine perspective was overwhelming in its simplicity and depth of feeling.  I ventured another question, carefully.

“Did they know what they were doing?”

“Yes,” he said, “and no.  They were deceived, it is true, but I warned them of the danger.”

“Maybe they will find a way back by themselves?”  I said.

“No, they don’t even want to come back.  Once you’ve tasted the freedom of the forbidden, no one can come back or even wants to.”

“Freedom,” I said, “well, that’s not so bad.  Maybe you just have to let them go?”

“I cannot let them go.  There is no freedom from me that doesn’t end in evil, and suffering and death.”

“I’m not sure I understand.  We seem to be able to survive.”

“There is no evil in your world, no suffering, no death?” he asked, turning to look at me, his eyebrow arching.

“Well, yes there is,” I said.  I stopped, trying to put it all together. “Sometimes we think we have a handle on it and other times it seems to spin out of control almost as if it has a mind of its own.”

“A mind of its own, that’s an interesting way to put it.”

“But what I wanted to say is that we mostly think that we can handle it.  Science and technology are providing new solutions every day.”

“And creating new problems, perhaps bigger problems, as well.”

“Maybe, but there is sense that we will get through.  The indomitable human spirit and all that.”

“Let me assure you,” he said.  “that the problem is within you, even though the solution is not.  It is not within your grasp.  It is not possible in your own strength alone.”

“Many people don’t believe that.  Especially the leaders and philosophers.”

“Yes, I know.  They think that they can manage or, at least survive, without me but in fact, I continue to support them and make it possible for them to manage and survive.  There is no such thing as “without me” until I create such a place, and, believe me when I tell you, you don’t want to go there.” His face was tight.

“You have been supporting us all this time?” I said.

“I cannot let you go.  I told you that.  There is no freedom from me that doesn’t end in evil and suffering and death.  Eternal death.  It is the nature of things.  It is who I am and it is how I created you.  We were meant to be together. It’s what makes it all worth while.”  He paused thoughtfully.  “But let me ask you a question.”

A question?

“Would you rather manage and survive without me – even with my help – or live with me, under my authority, as my children?”  He wouldn’t look at me.  His face was turned away.

Did the answer matter so much?

I was silent.  I could answer for myself easily enough but I knew that many others would answer differently.  That’s always the question, isn’t it?  What do you want?  Do you want a relationship with God?

That’s a question for lovers, even friends, a question every heart asks of another, a foundation for community, for fellowship, for a life lived together.

“I know your heart, my son,” he said.  “But now you know why I grieve for all the sons of Adam and the daughters of Eve.”  He sighed heavily.  “I have opened up a temporary space and time for each of them to answer that question for themselves.  I will support them long enough to give me an answer but, in the end, I will give them what they want.”

“What do you mean, give them what they want?”  Somehow it sounded dreadful and my chest began to squeeze my heart in a vice.

“Those who want me will find me, if they want me with all their hearts but those who want nothing to do with me will also get what they want.”

“What are you saying, that you won’t…..support them anymore?  Will you turn away from them completely?”

“I cannot support evil and rebellion forever. This uneasy truce that I have established is unnatural and unsustainable.  The very foundations of creation groan and cry out for a return to paradise.  It is because I love them that I give them this brief space and time to respond.  And if, after everything is said and done, they want nothing to do with me – that, too, can be arranged.”  His face was dark, unreadable.

“But will they understand the question?  Will they know what is at stake?”

“I will go personally and speak to them and I will show them without question that I want them back and that I would die for them.”  His eyes narrowed with thought, reaching far into eternity.

“If that isn’t enough,” he said finally, “then nothing is.”

*****

Click here to read more……

A Conversation with God by Bert A. Amsing
Excerpt from Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net      info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

A Conversation with God 5

01 Saturday Dec 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, A Conversation with God, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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Freedom of Choice, Image of God, Knowing Good and Evil, Slavery of Love

“Adam and Eve wanted to be like you, knowing good and evil.  Why is that so bad?”

“Because those are two entirely different things, being “like me” and “knowing good and evil”.  They knew evil by experiencing evil.  They participated in evil but there is no evil in me.  So, it wasn’t an innocent desire to be like me.”  He looked up into the night sky for a long moment and then spoke again.

“They were already created in my image,” he said.  “They are like me in many ways.  This was something more.  They wanted the knowledge of good and evil, thinking that they would have the power to decide between the two, to choose for themselves what they wanted, as if evil was an option for them, even if I didn´t like it.  They made the freedom of their choices more important than the slavery of a loving  relationship with me as their Father and Creator.  They wanted to take my place, to decide things for themselves and thereby make me irrelevant.”  He paused, the look on his face unreadable.  “They kicked me out.”

“They wanted to take your place?”

“In relation to their lives, yes.  Often in relation to others as well.”

“Is that so bad?”  I said.  “Don’t you want them to make their own decisions?”

“Yes, of course.  Decisions and judgments and choices but in the context of a relationship with their Father, their Creator.”

“So, this was a way of saying that they didn’t want you in their lives at all anymore.”

“Exactly.  But that is impossible.  It simply isn’t an option.”

“Why not?”

“For one thing, that is the point of being the Creator.  I am essential to life.  Even more, a conscious relationship with me is essential to their natures, to their eternal lives.  That’s how I created them.  But there is another reason.”  He paused.  “Even if I was prepared to remain on the sidelines – which I’m not – it still wouldn’t work.”

“Why not?” I repeated.

“Because they weren’t created to make the ultimate decisions about right and wrong.  That’s my job.  Only I can see the consequences of every action, only I have all of the pertinent information and can process it appropriately, only I have the ability to control events and protect them so that the intended consequences of their actions are accomplished.”

“I never thought of it that way before,” I said.

“They need me whether they like it or not.  I am essential to life in every way imaginable.”  He stopped for a moment and looked at me curiously.  “But there is one more reason, the essential reason, why life and morality does not work without my active involvement.”

“What is it, Lord?”  I was truly entranced.

“Because morality is intrinsic to the structures of the world, and the structures of the world are a reflection of my nature.  It is my fellowship within the divine that is the ground and the pattern for good and evil.  There can be no other.”

*****

Click here to read more…….

A Conversation with God by Bert A. Amsing.  Used with permission.
Excerpt from Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing.
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

Finding Life in the Face of Death

10 Saturday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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A leap of faith, Beyond rational, Faith seeking understanding

The problem with taking a leap of faith is the falling.  That feeling that everything is out of control, that you are rushing toward your own demise and there is nothing you can do about it.  The only question is when it would happen.

On the other hand, we are all dying.  Everyone is mortal.  That is the terminal fact of life which we must all deal with. The problem is that taking a leap of faith makes our mortality a sudden and inescapable reality because suffering, pain and, especially, death are the key issues, the ultimate test of our faith.

A leap of faith into the arms of our loving Creator is a major step that leaves rationality behind.  Not that there aren’t good reasons to believe in God only that there is the sense that rationality is not enough, that it is insufficient for the task at hand.

Of course, that is true to a certain extent of all relationships, though there is a qualitative difference in a relationship with the Divine when we aren’t entirely sure (based on our normal method of verification by means of our senses) that He is even there.

Faith is at a premium in this kind of endeavor.  We have launched ourselves into a relationship with the Divine and have risked everything, even life itself, on our intuitive, “beyond rational” trust in a Creator who claims to love us more than we love ourselves.

Perhaps we’ve been a bit hasty.  Perhaps we need to take another look at things but now from the other side of the divide, from the side of faith, from the side of a new relationship with God.

Perhaps a new perspective will give us some peace and assurance that we aren’t stark raving mad.

Perhaps.  Perhaps not.

*****

Click here to read more……..

Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net     info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

Man´s Search for Meaning

09 Friday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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Existentialism, Free will, Freud, Heidegger, Kierkegaard, Search for meaning, The authentic life, The Modern angst

What is interesting is that even many secular philosophers believe that this is the best place to ask the hard questions of life – in the face of death.

This is where honesty is found, where reality reigns, where the expectations and influences of others are diminished and the human soul can gain a deep perspective on the real issues of its own existence.

Last year, late at night, I came across a show on television called “Philosophy – Here and Now.”  The intent was to make philosophy relevant.  Citing both Kierkegaard and Heidegger, the narrator made the point that only in the face of death can you find meaning in life.

In fact, Kierkegaard has often been quoted as saying that the more anguish you have in life, the more human you become.  Heidegger talks about “the inauthentic life” which denies death, or, at least, avoids it or treats it as an “event” or even a “spectacle” to be endured but not to be embraced.  This fear of death is at the heart of the inauthentic life.

In contrast, Heidegger claims, the basis of the authentic life is to accept death.

“No one can die for me,” he would say.  “I must die myself.” Pain, suffering and death are intensely personal.

These statements may be a way of confronting our finitude but they also create great anguish.  This is the source of the modern “angst” (anxiety) about life (and, more specifically, the non-continuance of life, that is, death).

“Death makes impossible all the possibilities of your life,” he would claim.  When we face our anguish and come to terms with it, we find truth and out of truth we can construct meaning – at least for ourselves.

These philosophers recognize that the concept of “free will” is quite misleading.  Even Freud did not believe that we have “free will” but, rather, that we are all deeply affected and influenced by the thinking, the beliefs and the values of those around us (as well as deep forces within our own psyche).

Since death is so personal, so intimate, so final, you are forced (if only for a moment) to disregard the opinions of others and to focus on yourself.  What do you really want?  What do you really believe?  In the face of death, what are you willing to die for (or live for)?  What truth, what meaning can you construct for yourself in the face of this intimate and ultimate finitude?

Rather than living the life of the “herd” under the tyranny of others, often mediated through mass media with the purpose of creating a consumer lifestyle meant to fulfill (or, better said, to distract you from) your need for meaning, purpose and significance, death invites you to break the power of public opinion in your life and chart your own course, make your own way, find your own answers.

This is the existential search for meaning in a dangerous world.

This is, ultimately, a step in the direction of “free will”.  At least you can attempt to truly be the god of your own life if you are willing to throw off the shackles of fear and conformity.

Death is nothingness (they say).  The way to defy “nothingness” is to create something – find meaning, develop purpose, discover significance.

Declare what you believe.

Make commitments and back them up with action.

Find your individual voice, your own words, your personal contribution.

Find yourself.  Discover your uniqueness.

Appreciate life, your life, by facing death.

*****

Click here to read more…….

Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net     info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

Meaning Beyond Finality

08 Thursday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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A fate worse than death, A ground for morality, A reward beyond hope, Death as nothingness, existential anguish, Heaven, hell, meaning, purpose, significance, the final assault on our value, ultimate limit to our will

These words are inspiring.  This perspective on life is genuine.  Who can resist the call to become a “god” over his or her own life?  Who doesn’t recognize the tyranny of public opinion and our incessant need for the approval of others?

Once again, it all rings true but it also rings hollow.

Why?  Because we intuitively (and experientially) know that no meaning, purpose or significance in life that we create for ourselves can stand in the face of death.  It is a finality when finality is exactly the problem.

Certainly the reality of death can make us appreciate life all the more.  No doubt.  Certainly we need to find meaning, purpose and significance in life and not just follow the crowd into mindless consumerism and a materialistic lifestyle.  Fine.

But whatever meaning, purpose and significance we create (or discover) must go beyond this life and conquer death.  The “nothingness” of death must be transformed into some form of “continuity” of meaning, purpose and significance that includes us, that includes our self-aware existence, not just memories, or works of charity, or writing a book, otherwise all of our existential anguish will overwhelm us in the face of the final reality of non-existence (or worse).

Two more things need to be said.

The first is that the interpretation of death as “nothingness” may not be accurate.  It is bad enough in its own right – the horror of “non-being” is truly abhorrent to a self-aware, sentient being.

Yet there is also the witness of multiple religions that death is not “nothingness” but rather a gateway to another dimension, another life, one that may hold punishment or reward.

Remember that religion (in the view of some) may provide us with a ground for morality.  We need to believe in a just universe where good will be rewarded and evil will be punished.

According to this perspective, death is not the end but the beginning.  There is more to be said (and experienced) about existence beyond this life and, if that is true, we need to know on what basis we will be judged (if we truly live in a just universe).

There may be “a fate worse than death” waiting for us or perhaps “a reward beyond hope” – either one is apparently dependent on what we do or don’t do in this life.  We would be wise to get that right before we pass on to the other side.

A second thing needs to be said about the quest to create our own existential meaning in life.  To be a “god” over our own lives, to decide the meaning of our life, to create purpose and significance for ourselves, we must be masters over life and death for any of it to matter.

Only the insensitive, truly lost soul, can believe that death does not matter, reducing it to a biological function in a final service or servitude to the amoral forces of nature.

Death is the final assault on our value, the ultimate limit to our will.  In the face of death, we can no longer maintain the illusion that we are the masters of life.

Maybe that is the point after all.

*****

Click here to read more…….

Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net    https://desertwarriornet.wordpress.com/

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

An Alternative Approach

07 Wednesday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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A new relationship with an old acquaintance, Human nature, meaning, purpose, significance, The expediency of our perceived self-interest based on our felt needs, The myth of human autonomy

Rather than trying to become “gods” ourselves, we may want to consider an alternative approach and seek out the true God of life and death, the Creator, the one who started it all and has conquered the power of sin (i.e. rebellion against the rule of God) and death (i.e. the natural consequences of a broken relationship with the Creator and Sustainer of Life) in our lives by dying on a tree outside a small, provincial city called Jerusalem almost two thousand years ago.

But perhaps that is too big a step for some to take at this stage in our discussion.  Still, it’s interesting how that “truth” about the existence of an external God (rather than being our own god) seems to put a lot of things in perspective.

The heart of the issue, in this view, is a relationship – a new relationship with an old acquaintance, our Father, the Creator.  A relationship that was destroyed at the beginning, creating the myth of (and the desire for) human autonomy at any cost.  A relationship that can be restored only through Jesus Christ and what he accomplished through his death on the cross and resurrection to new life.

A relationship that is the key to understanding human nature.  We were created to live in continual, physical-spiritual contact with and under the loving authority of our Creator.

The reality is that we do not always know what our real needs are in a world created by God.  We are more interested in the expediency of our perceived self-interest based on our felt needs.

We have tunnel vision when we need the broad perspective of someone who has all the information, can see the future consequences of every action, someone who has the power and resources to manage life for our benefit and finally, someone who is entirely and completely “good,” who loves us and has our best interests in mind.

We lost that connection and it must be restored.  That is the only true source of meaning, purpose and significance in this life.  It is the only thing that is able to defeat death and result in everlasting, ongoing life without end.

*****

Click here to read more…..

Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net     info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

The True Purpose of Death

06 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in 1. Tears of the Desert Warrior, Desert Warrior Series, e) Finding Life in the Face of Death

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Humble self-evaluation, Nietzsche, The fundamental problem of mankind, The ultimate test of our own mortality

There is one thing in which the philosophers are exactly right.  It is when we face the finality and finitude of our own, personal death that we are forced to reexamine our lives.

Perhaps that is the true purpose of death – to act as a witness to us that all is not well on planet earth and that all of our feeble attempts at meaning, purpose and significance must finally face the ultimate test of our own mortality.

Whether that drives us to seek out answers beyond ourselves or answers within ourselves depends on whether we see the problem as a lack of morality and knowledge or, first of all and more fundamentally, a flaw in our very natures due to a lack of a relationship with God that is at the heart of the human experience.  

It begins with a true, humble self-evaluation and awareness that the problem is within so the solution must come from without.

The problem is that being our own “god” is easier (although more dangerous in the long run) than letting our Creator be “God” over our lives.

If He is God, then we must follow Him.  He would have authority over our lives.  He created us and therefore we are proactively dependent on Him.

If we are “god,” then we can go where we like and do what we want and be a law unto ourselves within the social contract and legal limits – at least until we die.

At the end of the day, this is the fundamental problem of mankind.  Who is in charge and can He (or can I?) be trusted?

As Nietzsche has said, “Why must he rule and I serve?”  

Will we run our own lives, be an authority unto ourselves, or will we turn our lives over to our Creator in faith, trusting in His protection and providence, knowing that we were created to live a symbiotic, real, everyday existence together with Him, following His lead and trusting in His love and care for us.

At the end of the day, in this view, our meaning, purpose and significance is found in a renewed relationship with our Creator – a relationship (and personal existence) that even death cannot destroy.

*****

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Tears of the Desert Warrior by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.  All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net      info@desertwarrior.net

Footnotes and references included in the original manuscript.

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Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers. All rights reserved. Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved.

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