• 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

Tag Archives: significance

The Right Question

13 Tuesday Nov 2012

Posted by Bert Amsing in Reflections

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

Existentialism, identity, life questions, meaning, purpose, religion, significance

There are three questions that I must ask

Four that I do not understand.

Why did you make me?

Why did you save me?

Why did you show me my shame?

Why did you love me anyway?

The right question will set me free

To reveal your glory in me.

*****

The Desert Warrior

Reflections by Bert A. Amsing
Copyright © 2012 by vanKregten Publishers.   All rights reserved.
http://www.desertwarrior.net       info@desertwarrior.net

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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

≈ Leave a comment

Tags

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.

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The Desert Warrior

Artwork by Astray-Engel.

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© 2012 vanKregten Publishers and Desert Warrior Ministries. Unauthorized use and/or duplication of this material without express and written permission from this blog’s author and/or owner is strictly prohibited. Excerpts and links may be used, provided that full and clear credit is given to vanKregten Publishers, Desert Warrior Ministries and/or Bert A. Amsing with appropriate and specific direction to the original content. Specific reprint permission will be granted upon request via email for inclusion in digital and print media.

Scripture Copyright

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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