Raising Your Level Of Commitment To Christ

Millions of people have made a decision about Christ without making a commitment to Christ. But what exactly does that mean?

According to recent surveys, 225 million people in America claim to be Christian. Out of that 225 million, only 100 million claim to be a member of a church. And out of that 100 million, only 50 million attend church on at least a semi-regular basis.

Another study reports that teen pregnancy is nearly identical in the church as to those who do not attend. And the divorce rate is actually slightly higher in the church as that of those who do not belong.

Put another way, 225 million people believe Jesus lived. 100 million people have made a decision about Christ.

But consider this. If the 225 million or the 100 million, or even the 50 million were actually committed to Christ, would the world be different? Would there be less teen pregnancy, fewer divorces, less adultery? Would there not be less pornography and drug use?

Jesus once said, “Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.” (Matthew 7:13, New American Standard)

And in Luke:14:26, he states, “If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple.” (New American Standard)

Does this mean you literally have to hate your parents? No. It simply means that your love of Christ must be so great that your love for others pales in comparison. “He who loves father or mother more than Me is not worthy of Me; and he who loves son or daughter more than Me is not worthy of Me.” (Matthew 10:37) God either must be placed first in your life or have no place at all. You either trust in God or you do not.

The next question many ask is, “Why should I? What is in it for me?” That is a fair question. The Apostle Paul gives the answer in Romans 12:2, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.”

And what is the result of this? John 3:15 states, “so that whoever believes will in Him have eternal life.” A commitment to Christ means eternal life in paradise. Without Christ, there is only death.

“As for me, I would seek God, and to God would I commit my cause” (Job 5:8).

Is Silence Really Golden?

The stillness of a dark night sky can remind a person of their human aloneness and solitude. For many of us, being so busy every day and all the time, the lack of noise and business causes an unnerving and even a terrifying sense of helplessness.

Our fears of silence and solitude can be confirmed even by the early Romans and Greeks who populated the distant skies with spirits, god-like astrological signs and star animals.

Horoscope readers find comfort in the belief that stars and planets are concentrated and spell out our fates. Horoscopes daily point out what we find right with life and what needs to be changed and what to expect for that day. All reports are based on the sky and the planets.

Disliking silence so much becomes a fear of looking at all that is within us. That can be a good thing or a bad thing depending on how we feel and how we conduct our business and our lives.

Technology has already given us multiple ways to avoid silence such as radio, television, cell phones, games, emails, mall shopping, text-messaging, etc. We can go to bed with music or television and awake to the same. If we want to avoid silence, an app of some kind is available for that very situation.

There is an old religious saying that claims the cure for loneliness is solitude. The turnaround shows when we have conquered the fear of solitude, we discover that we are not alone. That there is a more powerful being within us is a thought that comes to everyone at various times when we take a little break from the noise and bustle of daily living. Bringing a temporary halt to our busy, fast-paced daily lives allow us to tap into conversations within ourselves. The noise only distracts and prevents us from this conversation.

When a person first attempts to bring more silence into daily living, it can cause anxiety and irritation, a feeling of weirdness because we are not used to silence. It is very strange to watch a minute tick by and realize how very long that minute really is. We want to make sure our time is up so that we can get on to bigger and better things.

Working through silence can be scary; but, a place of peace will come through and this is where the silence changes into a place of quality. It is in this most peaceful place that we are more in tune with our self and with our God. It is here that we discover that silence is not an absence, but a presence, not boring, but refreshing, and not stressful, but calming.

"We can often hear ourselves think". As the world prepares for a winter's sleep, maybe it is time to take a little break from the every day noise and find a little bit of solace and silence to become a better person in tune with the surroundings of life itself.

Is Global Warming Caused by Humans?

Whether the world is currently undergoing a warming period that is largely caused by human activity is a question over which there has been considerable disagreement. While there may be moderate agreement that the earth has warmed measurably in recent history, there seems to be less consensus that human activity has played a significant role in the warming process.

The recent 2007 report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), a respected organization that attempts to reach agreement among hundreds of scientists, diplomats, and politicians, showed that thermometer records from around the world indicate that the average global temperature has increased from about 56 degrees Fahrenheit to 58 degrees since 1850. The assertion is that temperatures on earth are higher now that they have been in the past 400 years.

The argument that human activity has caused the temperature rise depends primarily on the concept of the "greenhouse effect." A real greenhouse creates warmth by gathering incident heat rays from the sun and trapping them, not allowing all of the infrared (IR) rays to escape. Similarly, the earth's greenhouse effect is caused by the gasses water vapor, carbon dioxide, methane, and a few minor gasses trapping incident IR rays from the sun and not allowing them all to escape from the atmosphere. In theory and in demonstrated practice, the more greenhouse gasses there are in the atmosphere the more IR rays are retained, and the greater are the measured temperatures on earth.

The IPCC research produced a graph that plotted CO2 in the atmosphere from about 800 AD to the present. The graph shows that for centuries the concentration of CO2 remained stable at around 280 parts per million (ppm) and that since about 1850 the concentration has increased 36% to about 380 ppm. Significantly, the period of increase of this important greenhouse gas coincides with increased industrialization worldwide that has been spurred by the increased use of fossil fuels such as coal and petroleum products. Burning of fossil fuels creates CO2 as a byproduct. This period of increased greenhouse gas production also coincides with the period during which worldwide temperatures have increased 2 degrees. The resulting conclusion is that human activity has played a role in the observed global warming.

On the other hand those who argue that the present perceived warming trend is not caused by human activity make numerous points, two of them significant. First, the implication that increased levels of CO2 and other greenhouse gasses cause warming may be incorrect. It appears from close examination of the measurements that as the earth gets warmer CO2 levels increase, not the other way around. That is, warming causes increased CO2 concentrations and therefore human activity is not the cause of higher CO2.

Secondly, there have been many periods of warming and cooling during earth's natural history, and nearly all of them occurred before humans existed on earth. Warming periods on earth have numerous natural causes, increased volcanic activity being the most common. Recent history has not seen abnormal volcanic activity but it has seen increased levels of solar activity. Several studies claim that solar activity over the past century is at the highest level seen in the past 8,000 years. Since our Sun is huge and its output is huge, the conclusion is that increased solar activity is more likely to be the cause of the observed global warming trend than anything that humans could contribute.

The debate over whether human activity is a large factor in global warming will likely continue for a long time. Perhaps additional evidence or more sophisticated computer models of our complex climate system will bring the debate to a conclusion in the future.