
Welcome to CCC@NUS Engine Region! We have a legacy of being... l a m e
My Child,
You may not know me, but I know everything about you. ~Psalm 139:1
I know when you sit down and when you rise up. ~Psalm 139:2
I am familiar with all your ways. ~Psalm 139:3
Even the very hairs on your head are numbered. ~Matthew 10:29-31
For you were made in my image. ~Genesis 1:27
In me you live and move and have your being. ~Acts 17:28
For you are my offspring. ~Acts 17:28
I knew you even before you were conceived. ~Jeremiah 1:4-5
I chose you when I planned creation. ~Ephesians 1:11-12
You were not a mistake, for all your days are written in my book. ~Psalm 139:15-16
I determined the exact time of your birth and where you would live. ~Acts 17:26
You are fearfully and wonderfully made. ~Psalm 139:14
I knit you together in your mother's womb. ~Psalm 139:13
And brought you forth on the day you were born. ~Psalm 71:6
I have been misrepresented by those who don't know me. ~John 8:41-44
I am not distant and angry, but am the complete expression of love. ~1 John 4:16
And it is my desire to lavish my love on you. ~1 John 3:1
Simply because you are my child and I am your Father. ~1 John 3:1
I offer you more than your earthly father ever could. ~Matthew 7:11
For I am the perfect father. ~Matthew 5:48
Every good gift that you receive comes from my hand. ~James 1:17
For I am your provider and I meet all your needs. ~Matthew 6:31-33
My plan for your future has always been filled with hope. ~Jeremiah 29:11
Because I love you with an everlasting love. ~Jeremiah 31:3
My thoughts toward you are countless as the sand on the seashore. ~Psalms 139:17-18
And I rejoice over you with singing. ~Zephaniah 3:17
I will never stop doing good to you. ~Jeremiah 32:40
For you are my treasured possession. ~Exodus 19:5
I desire to establish you with all my heart and all my soul. ~Jeremiah 32:41
And I want to show you great and marvelous things. ~Jeremiah 33:3
If you seek me with all your heart, you will find me. ~Deuteronomy 4:29
Delight in me and I will give you the desires of your heart. ~Psalm 37:4
For it is I who gave you those desires. ~Philippians 2:13
I am able to do more for you than you could possibly imagine. ~Ephesians 3:20
For I am your greatest encourager. ~2 Thessalonians 2:16-17
I am also the Father who comforts you in all your troubles. ~2 Corinthians 1:3-4
When you are brokenhearted, I am close to you. ~Psalm 34:18
As a shepherd carries a lamb, I have carried you close to my heart. ~Isaiah 40:11
One day I will wipe away every tear from your eyes. ~Revelation 21:3-4
And I'll take away all the pain you have suffered on this earth. ~Revelation 21:3-4
I am your Father, and I love you even as I love my son, Jesus. ~John 17:23
For in Jesus, my love for you is revealed. ~John 17:26
He is the exact representation of my being. ~Hebrews 1:3
He came to demonstrate that I am for you, not against you. ~Romans 8:31
And to tell you that I am not counting your sins. ~2 Corinthians 5:18-19
Jesus died so that you and I could be reconciled. ~2 Corinthians 5:18-19
His death was the ultimate expression of my love for you. ~1 John 4:10
I gave up everything I loved that I might gain your love. ~Romans 8:31-32
If you receive the gift of my son Jesus, you receive me. ~1 John 2:23
And nothing will ever separate you from my love again. ~Romans 8:38-39
Come home and I'll throw the biggest party heaven has ever seen. ~Luke 15:7
I have always been Father, and will always be Father. ~Ephesians 3:14-15
My question is… Will you be my child? ~John 1:12-13
I am waiting for you. ~Luke 15:11-32
Love, Your Dad.
Almighty God
Was there ever nothing?
A thought journey on the beginning of time, the origin of the universe and the question of intelligent design...
Have you ever thought about the beginning? What is that, you say? You know - whatever it was that showed up first. Or whatever it was that was here first, at the earliest moment in time. Have you ever strained your brain to think about that?
Wait a minute, you say, isn't it possible that in the beginning there was nothing? Isn't it possible that kazillions of years ago, there wasn't anything at all? That's certainly a theory to consider. So let's consider it - but first by way of analogy.
Let's say you have a large room. It's fully enclosed and is about the size of a football field. The room is locked, permanently, and has no doors or windows, and no holes in its walls.
Inside the room there is... nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a particle of anything. No air at all. No dust at all. No light at all. It's a sealed room that's pitch black inside. Then what happens?
Well, let's say your goal is to get something - anything at all - into the room. But the rules are: you can't use anything from outside the room to do that. So what do you do?
Well, you think, what if I try to create a spark inside the room? Then the room would have light in it, even for just a moment. That would qualify as something. Yes, but you are outside the room. So that's not allowed.
But, you say, what if I could teleport something into the room, like in Star Trek? Again, that's not allowable, because you'd be using things from outside the room. Here again is the dilemma: you have to get something inside the room using only what's in the room. And, in this case, what's in the room is nothing.
Well, you say, maybe a tiny particle of something will just show up inside the room if given enough time.
There are three problems with this theory. First, time by itself doesn't do anything. Things happen over time, but it's not time that makes them happen. For example, if you wait 15 minutes for cookies to bake, it's not the 15 minutes that bakes them, it's the heat in the oven. If you set them on the counter for 15 minutes, they're not going to bake.
In our analogy, we've got a fully enclosed room with absolutely nothing in it. Waiting 15 minutes will not, in and of itself, change the situation. Well, you say, what if we wait eons? An eon is merely a bunch of 15-minute segments all pressed together. If you waited an eon with your cookies on the counter, would the eon bake them?
The second problem is this: why would anything just "show up" in the empty room? It would need a reason why it came to be. But there is nothing inside the room at all. So what's to stop that from remaining the case? There would be nothing inside the room to cause something to show up (and yet the reason must come from inside the room).
Well, you say, what about a tiny particle of something? Wouldn't that have a greater chance of materializing in the room than something larger like, for example, a football?
That brings up the third problem: size. Like time, size is an abstract. It's relative. Let's say you have three baseballs, all ranging in size. One is ten feet wide, one is five feet wide, and one is normal size. Which one is more likely to materialize in the room?
The normal-sized baseball? No! It would be the same likelihood for all three. The size wouldn't matter. It's not the issue. The issue is whether or not any baseball of any size could just "show up" in our sealed, empty room.
If you don't think the smallest baseball could just show up in the room, no matter how much time has passed, then you must conclude the same thing even for an atom. Size is not an issue. The likelihood of a small particle materializing without cause is no different than a refrigerator materializing without cause!
Now let's stretch our analogy further, literally. Let's take our large, pitch-black room and remove its walls. And let's extend the room so that it goes on infinitely in all directions. Now there is nothing outside the room, because the room is all there is. Period.
This black infinite room has no light, no dust, no particles of any kind, no air, no elements, and no molecules. It's absolutely nothingness. In fact, we can call it Absolutely Nothing.
So here's the question: if originally - bazillions of years ago - there was Absolutely Nothing, wouldn't there be Absolutely Nothing now? Yes. For something - no matter how small - cannot come from Absolutely Nothing. We would still have Absolutely Nothing.
What does that tell us? That Absolutely Nothing never existed. Why? Because, if Absolutely Nothing ever existed, there would still be Absolutely Nothing!
If Absolutely Nothing ever existed, there would not be anything outside it to cause the existence of anything.
Again, if Absolutely Nothing ever existed, there would still be Absolutely Nothing.
However, something exists. Actually, many things exist. You, for example, are something that exists, a very important something. Therefore, you are proof that Absolutely Nothing never existed.
Now, if Absolutely Nothing never existed, that means there was always a time when there was at least Something in existence. What was it?
Was it one thing or many things? Was it an atom? A particle? A molecule? A football? A mutant baseball? A refrigerator? Some cookies?
Stay tuned for the next article called: Something
READ: Matthew 20:20-28
The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many. - Matthew 20:28
What does it take to disrupt the good work of a church? Just one power-hungry person.
One of my college friends, a pastor, wrote to me about a disruption in his church. People had come to faith in Christ, and membership had quadrupled. The members were active in serving the church and community.
But then one man in a leadership position began to envy the pastor's influence. He felt he deserved more power, so he began to tear down the pastor-thinking that would increase his own stature. It didn't matter to him what he was doing to God's work; he wanted power and recognition. He caused such an uproar that my friend finally had to resign.
When it comes to serving Christ, we have no right to seek power. We have no calling for prestige. We have no reason to look for self-aggrandizement and recognition. How much better to serve quietly in the background, keeping in mind that Jesus, our example, "did not come to be served, but to serve" (Matt. 20:28).
Are you a pastor? A teacher? A deacon? A missionary? A church member? If you look for power, you may get it, but it will become power that disrupts the good work of your church ministry. -Dave Branon
Find out what God would have you do,
And do that little well;
For what is great and what is small
The Lord alone can tell. -Anon.
We lose the approval of God when we seek the applause of men.
The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble. -Nahum 1:7
Nineveh was in trouble with God. Big trouble! Despite the good work of the reluctant prophet Jonah, Nineveh had returned to its evil ways. The Ninevites had oppressed other countries, worshiped idols, and performed acts of cruelty.
God saw this evil, and through the words of Nahum He spoke of Nineveh's coming destruction, using words such as wrath and vengeance. Nineveh was about to face judgment.
Why would God's prophet tell the people of Judah about this? How could Nahum's frightening words help those who lived in the Promised Land?
There is help for answering those questions in Nahum 1:7-8. His prophecy of the destruction of those who reject God stands in sharp contrast to God's promise to those "who trust in Him." The godly, rather than facing judgment, would be cared for. They would have a refuge in Him.
God is not one-sided. He provides refuge, help, and comfort for those who trust Him, and He also sends judgment against those who disobey His standards.
The message for us is the same as it was for Judah. Through trust and obedience, we can enjoy the comfort of God's refuge-even in times of trouble. -Dave Branon
How oft in the conflict, when pressed by the foe,
I have fled to my Refuge and breathed out my woe;
How often, when trials like sea billows roll,
Have I hidden in Thee, O Thou Rock of my soul. -Cushing
Everyone must face God as Savior or as Judge.
On a teaching trip to Togo, West Africa, I noticed hundreds of abandoned buildings that were only partially built. I asked my missionary host why so many structures were incomplete. His response was striking.
Apparently, Togolese law allows an injured party to demand payment from the available cash of family members of the person who injured them. Even distant relatives are not exempt. To prevent their cash savings from being attached to a legal action, people will purchase land instead. Slowly, sometimes over decades, they will build a house on it with any extra cash. The hundreds of unfinished buildings were testimony to how easy it is to lose one's material possessions.
This was certainly part of the reason our Lord taught, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal" (Matt. 6:19). Treasure that is of this world is vulnerable to being lost, stolen, destroyed, or devalued. If that is our focus, we will only experience frustration.
If our hearts are drawn instead to the value of the eternal-godly character, relationships, souls-we won't be disappointed. We will become rich in the things of Christ. And treasure in heaven can never be taken away! - Bill Crowder
I do not ask for treasures here
To hoard, decay, and rust,
But for the better things of life-
Humility and trust. -Meadows
Treasures in heaven are laid up as treasures on earth are laid down.
READ: Acts 8:1-8
Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word - Acts 8:4
In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina struck the US Gulf Coast and displaced an estimated 1.3 million households. With cities and towns evacuated, homes destroyed, and jobs gone, people relocated to communities in every state including Alaska and Hawaii. Because Christians are not immune to the storms of life, it's likely that thousands of people who love the Lord found themselves in places they never expected to live.
Yet many of those same people whose hopes and plans were shattered by Katrina would also bring God's love to others across the US. Like the early Christians who were forced out of Jerusalem by persecution, it could be said of them: "Those who were scattered went everywhere preaching the Word" (Acts 8:4).
While none of us would choose this kind of financial loss and disruption, would we see it as an opportunity to share the hope Jesus Christ has given us?
The apostle Peter's letter reminded Christians who had been scattered among the nations to "be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you" (1 Peter 3:15).
If we are uprooted, we can scatter the seeds of the gospel wherever we go. - David C. McCasland
We're always sowing seeds in life
By everything we do and say,
So let's make sure we sow God's Word
Among the ones we meet each day. - Hess
There's no wrong place to share the gospel.