Designed For Love

Father, sometimes it's really easy to follow Jesus.

Sometimes, Father Jesus, following him means we do things that people think are good and wise and true.

And sometimes we have to do things and change in ways that many people in our society think are odd or weird, maybe even wrong.

And Father, you know the different things in our hearts, and you know how much we like approval of others.

And we ask, Father, that the Holy Spirit would bring the truth of who Jesus is and what he did for us on the cross, bring that home deeply to us.

And we ask that you would bring your word home to us as well, that we would hear every word of your scripture as good news for us.

Not only good for us on this side of the grave, but good into eternity.

And we ask this in the name of Jesus, your Son and our Savior. Amen.

Please be seated.

So, I have sort of a nerdy aspect to me that many of you are aware of.

And I have a bit of a nerdy conscience that sometimes gets me into trouble.

It might get me into trouble today.

And so, the way I'm mentioning this is this.

When I was in the Anglican Church of Canada, for many, many, many years, it would come time for Advent.

And so, especially when I was first being trained, I was told we had to do an Advent sermon, right?

Because it was Advent.

And then I would be told that Advent is about, you know, there's the four candles.

And I think, was it one of them, like, love, peace, joy, and hope?

Do I have that?

I'd probably have the order all wrong.

But that's what I was told.

That's what Advent is.

And then I'd have to get up and do the sermon.

But here's part of my nerdy aspect.

I'd look at the scripture text for the day.

And the scripture text had nothing to do with those themes.

Like, I mean, maybe if you really played around with it like you did, you know, and that's what, you know, that's what I'd hear people other do.

They'd play around with it.

You know, maybe there was this, you know, I sometimes felt like if you took, you know, enough letters from different words, you could make the word peace or something.

And you could talk about that.

So, like, I, you know, I sort of think that my sermon should be based on the Bible text, not like I just do some things and add a couple of Bible verses.

So, and then it got even more complicated because as I started to become aware of the whole prayer book and the Inglis Reformation, I started to realize that actually how people talked about Advent isn't sort of how ancient Christians talked about Advent and how Anglicanism talked about Advent up until like just a few decades ago.

So, anyway, I wrote a very nerdy blog that came out on Monday.

And for those two or three people who read my blogs, if I don't get them done by 4.30 now, then they come out on Monday.

If I get it done before 4.30 on Friday, then it comes out on Saturday.

So, my blog didn't get done at 4.30 on Friday.

You'll get it tomorrow.

But one of the things I discovered is that like Advent goes right back to at least the fifth century.

In fact, I was talking to a guy who was like a patristic scholar just a week or two ago.

So, and he told me that like for those guys like in the fifth century, Gregory the Great, and I can't pronounce the name of the other pope, what they just did is codified stuff that had been going on a lot longer, right?

So, if it begins in the fifth century, it might have gone like a century or more even earlier.

And what happened is that these fundamental scripture texts, Advent, this way of beginning the church year, they didn't quite think of it in those terms back then, but preparing you to celebrate Christmas and all of that.

They had these sort of eight foundational texts, a gospel text and epistle, which would be read the first Sunday of Advent, second, third, and fourth.

And so, actually, if you go and find a 1662 book of common prayer, or you go online and type in 1662 book of common prayer, colics, if you look at the readings, this is what's so cool.

Like people who don't like, who want something thick and ancient, you're looking at the scripture texts that basically, up until they changed the lectionaries in the 1970s,

you're looking at the texts they read for Advent, right back to the 400s.

Like, isn't that cool?

Now, here's the problem, though.

Those texts don't talk about faith, hope, peace, and joy.

And so, what happens is that the Reformation comes in the mid-1500s, and Cramner, sort of this brilliant mind who ended up becoming a martyr,

he looks at these readings, and he ends up making two completely new, three basically new prayers,

and then a fourth one was added.

That's too nerdy.

Sorry, I'm losing you.

But here's the thing.

The collect that we have for all of Advent really gives you the ancient Christian, as reflected through the Reformation,

when we wanted to return to the Bible and the Gospel, it gives you what Advent is.

Now, listen, you know, faith, hope, peace, and joy, those are great.

The Bible doesn't tell you how to celebrate Advent, so, like, there's not, this isn't like a Gospel issue or anything like that.

So, all this is to say, so, Daniel and I are talking, like, months ago about what our scripture texts were going to be,

and Daniel said, well, you know, we always do some specialized services around Advent and Christmas.

Why don't we make December 12th the Advent Sunday, and then, which is what I'm doing,

and then 19th and 24th and 25th we'll have Christmas sermons on the key Christmas texts,

and then we'll do some other stuff December 26th, January 2nd, before we get back to Mark in January.

So, what we're looking at today is we're looking at, in a sense, the text,

which is the, that helps to form the ancient Christian, as reflected through the Reformation,

way of understanding what Advent is all about.

And what you see from that is it's about the three comings of Christ.

It's about remembering, of course, the birth of Jesus humbly, the first coming,

and it's also remembering the second coming, where he's going to come in glory to judge the living and the dead,

and it is urging us to consider the third coming, which is when he comes into your life to be your Savior and your Lord.

Now, this is all good, but one of the things is, is I discovered this week,

and it's been bothering my nerdy conscience all week,

is I could go through this text in such a way that the average Canadian would think,

yeah, that sounds like a really good idea, I agree with that, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah,

but not realizing that the Bible text actually goes against what most Canadians believe.

And that doesn't feel very Canadian Advent-y, you know,

and so I've struggled with it all week, but we're going to look at it anyway.

Okay, so what we're going to do first is we're going to just pray or read the Colic for All of Advent,

and you're just going to get it in your mind, and then you're going to see as we go through the Scripture text,

we'll pray it again at the end, how this Scripture text has had a huge formative influence

in the Book of Romans on how to understand Advent from an ancient perspective, a thick perspective.

So you have it on the screen, that would be great.

Let's pray it, say it together.

Almighty God, give us grace that we may cast away the works of darkness

and put upon us the armor of light, now in the time of this mortal life

in which your Son Jesus Christ came to visit us in great humility,

that in the last day, when he shall come again in his glorious majesty

to judge both the living and the dead, we may rise to the life immortal

through him who lives and reigns with you in the Holy Spirit,

now, so one God, now and forever. Amen.

So you can see, I mean, there's already that judgment thing,

which we're going to talk just a tiny bit about because there's some other stuff to get at,

but let's look at the Bible text, and as we start to look at the Bible text,

you'll see how this text, which goes way back, Christians in the 5th century,

chose this as one of the texts on the first Sunday of Advent

to prepare people for the birth of Christ, to remember it,

to launch yourself into the Christian year, and so here's this text.

Romans chapter 13, and we'll start at verse 8.

Romans 13 · chapter mention

Owe no one anything except to love each other.

Just by the way, if you have your own Bible, it's really good to follow along.

We have it up there on the screen, and you online, you can see it down here.

But, you know, if you're at home, get your own Bible.

It's really good to have your own Bible and to be able to look around the text

to see if I'm handling the text correctly and honestly and fairly.

I'll read it again.

Owe no one anything except to love each other.

For the one who loves another has fulfilled the law.

And here the word law doesn't mean like the law of Rome or the law of Canada.

It means what we call the Old Testament

and our Jewish friends call the Tanakh or the Torah.

So it's saying all of the commands in the Bible.

I'll read that verse 8 again.

Owe no one anything except to love each other,

for the one who loves another has fulfilled the commandments of the Bible, the law.

For the commandments, verse 9, you shall not commit adultery,

you shall not murder, you shall not steal, you shall not covet,

and any other commandment are summed up in this word.

You shall love your neighbor as yourself.

Love does no wrong to a neighbor.

Therefore, love is the fulfilling of the law.

Now, that is a good text.

But if you think about it for a second,

it has something in there which is a bit of a puzzle.

It says, verse 8,

Owe no one anything except to love each other.

It's saying that somehow or another,

I owe it to you to love you.

That I owe it to people,

owe it to each other to love them.

Now, if you think about it for a second,

this is actually an idea that Canadians would find,

like just common sense.

Like if you were getting talking with,

you know, the Tim Hortons coffee person,

or, you know, Bridgehead, or Starbucks,

or something like that,

and you got chatting with them

because you're friendly with them,

and you just talked about how there was this interaction

and how a person was rude to you,

they would just automatically say,

well, it's just common sense, of course.

Like everybody knows that it's,

that's wrong,

that they shouldn't have been rude to you.

They should have acted in a more loving manner,

that what they did was wrong.

And that would just be,

that's like common morality in Canada.

But if you think about it for a second,

it's a very odd idea.

Like, and it's not actually,

it isn't in fact the case that it's obvious

to most people in the world,

either today or throughout history.

Like, in classic Hinduism,

the caste that you're in,

you deserve it.

If you're at the very, very bottom

of the caste hierarchy,

well, you deserve that.

And if you're at the top of the caste hierarchy,

you don't owe it to love a lower caste person.

They would go, what?

They're in this situation of abject poverty,

impoverishment, and powerlessness

because they deserve it,

because of what's happened in their previous lives.

That's just, that's common sense.

I deserve what I have,

they deserve what they have,

and I have no obligation to love them.

That would be common sense.

If you think about it within the Quran,

the Quran is a book of conquest

that Allah has basically commanded

his followers and his people

that the goal is that all of the world

will be subject to Allah.

And it wouldn't be an obvious thing

from reading the Quran

that there's an obligation to love.

In fact, Muhammad had slaves.

He was a warrior,

and Muhammad was the greatest

of all the followers of Allah.

He was Allah's prophet.

It isn't obvious in that context

that you're owed,

that you're owed it,

that people deserve to be loved.

They're owed it.

And if you think about it,

even, in fact,

if you read, like,

serious philosophers

who take evolution seriously,

it's not obvious

that human beings are owed love

because, you know,

at the end of the day,

from an evolutionary

and a scientific perspective,

there's nothing special

about human beings.

Like, there's nothing special

about us.

There's really, in a sense,

I have no more of an obligation

to love you

than I do to love a bird

or a budgie

or an earthworm.

That, in a sense,

you're all just sort of the same.

We might claim certain things,

and one of you might claim

that I owe it to love you,

but that's really not based

on science or reason.

It's just something

that you happen to say.

In fact, actually,

if you really think about it,

I know this is a discredited idea,

but the reason it's discredited

is actually because

of the influence

of Christianity,

not because of anything

inherent to the problem

of taking naturalistic evolution

seriously.

A very, very good case

would be that, in fact,

I don't owe anything

to the weak.

The weak should die,

and it's, in fact,

better for the human race

in the long run

if strong people

are able to exercise

their strength,

have the majority of the food

and the money

and the resources

and people who are poor

will die off

and those of us

who are stronger

and will actually be making

the human race

in a stronger and better way.

And I know that's a discounted idea,

but it's not discounted

because there's anything

inherently wrong

with the idea

within that worldview.

It ends up ultimately

because, you know what,

we owe others

the debt of love,

and that idea

comes from Christianity.

In fact,

if you could put up

the first point,

this is what Christianity teaches.

Because the triune God

is love,

he designed human beings

to be loved

and to love.

Because the triune God

is love,

he designed human beings

to be loved

and to love.

That's how he designed

human beings.

If you go to

an Anglican wedding ceremony,

one of the things

we say in the ceremony

at sort of the opening remarks

is that

the institution of marriage

is something that was

instituted of God

in the time of man

and woman's innocency.

In other words,

that God designed

human beings

that some human beings

would enter into marriage.

And that's not something

that was created

because of evil

coming into the world.

That was part of God's

original good intention.

That that's just how

God designed human beings.

And this is the same thing

here with this idea

is that God designed

human beings

in a sense when

when we say

oh no one anything

except to love each other,

this is actually saying

something that really

you'd have to think

that it's a bit of a tension

within other religions

and philosophies

because there is

something intuitive

about that

that does make sense.

even though

then maybe our mind

will come and say

no no no

Allah has said

something different

or the Hindu scriptures

have said something different

or the demands of Marxism

or the demands of cultural theory

or critical theory

demand something

very very different

than this

but and so there's

at least

for some people

there's a bit of a tension

between these types of things

but

this is why

in fact

Christianity

has this very very

deep understanding

of why it is

in fact the case

that I owe it

to the coffee person

to treat them

in a loving way

I owe it

to the other drivers

I owe it

to those in government

to treat them

in a loving type of way

now

it's very curious

that this

this powerful idea

is seen right here

in the text

at the same time

and this is where

my nerdy conscience

issue came out

because you see

I just the text

that I read

it could be understood

in such a way

that the average Canadian

would say

yeah yeah I understand that

because the average Canadian

would say

well you don't actually

have to

to be married

to live together

and as

you know

but if you're living together

you can't cheat

on your partner

like that's wrong

like that

that would be

a very common idea

and you wouldn't have

to do much

to argue for that

for most people

it would just be viewed

as inherently correct

and even later on

in the text

when it talks about

sexual immorality

most Canadians

from within their own

perspective

would understand themselves

to be very moral people

in the sexual matter

and so I could

read both of these things

and I could go on

but not realizing

that actually the Bible

is disagreeing with Canadians

in a very powerful way

and I've struggled

in my conscience

I wouldn't say struggled

the devil has told me

that I shouldn't talk

about this

but I thank you

for praying for me

here's what these two

it's right here

the word adultery

which is a good word

to translate it

in verse 9

you shall not commit adultery

and later on

in verse

later on when we read it

in verse 13

there's the word

sexual immorality

in the original language

it's the same word

and the word

is part of the

porneia word group

but here's the problem

what does the porneia word group

say

the porneia word group

is basically saying

that sexual knowing

and sexual stimulation

is a good gift from God

but is reserved

to be enjoyed

in the life

of a biological male

married to a biological female

and outside of that

we are called

to sexual abstinence

in singleness

so now that I've just

broken the law

of Bill C4

I'll say it again

sexual knowing

and stimulation

is good

actually it's not clear

whether I've broken the law

and not

but the wording

is very unclear

but because the wording

is unclear

it might be that

if I preach this sermon

in a year

you'll have to bail me out

later in the week

and I'm not saying

that for laughs

it's going to definitely

go to the courts

and it should concern

Christians

if you haven't looked

at it or read it

it should concern you

the way it's worded

is

it can mean

that as long as

I don't do it

in a therapeutic context

for money

that I'm fine

but it's not clear

that what I just

have said

is in fact

breaking the law

it's not clear

and that was pointed out

to the bill makers

and they refused

to clarify it

so

it's not clear

I'm going to say it again

what does the

pornea word group mean

it means this

sexual knowing

and stimulation

is a good gift

from God

but it is reserved

to be enjoyed

in the life

of a biblical

in the life

of a biological male

married to a

biological female

or

for those

outside of that

sexual abstinence

and singleness

now this is a

heartbreaking text

for many people

and I know

that there are

people here

who struggle

with this teaching

and I know

it's very very funny

because nowadays

when we talk

about this

it automatically

people think

of trans

and

our trans

family members

or friends

or are a

lesbian

and gay

family members

or friends

but in fact

this bible

doesn't pick

on it

the text

the word group

doesn't pick

on anybody

it's a word

to all human

beings

it includes

it's a challenge

to men

and women

who watch

heterosexual

pornography

or

have affairs

or

it's a

challenge

to all human

beings

but it's

very curious

isn't it

that

it's in the

same text

that say

that we're

owed love

that we have

this thing

here which

many Canadians

would say

is very

profoundly

unloving

this week

I was reading

a story

of a person

who at 15

years of age

came out

as a lesbian

and she lived

openly as a

lesbian

and when she

was in

university

amidst the

heartbreak

of her

girlfriend

dumping her

she came

across

she started

for a variety

of reasons

looking at a

couple of

bible texts

and she

started to

get in

this little

bit of

a journey

as to

whether

this first

century Jew

had something

for her

life

and she

didn't know

what to do

with any

of this

and so

interestingly

enough

the only

people she

knew

who were

out

Christians

were as

a lesbian

couple

and so

she talked

to the

lesbian

couple

about it

and they

said that

she should

pursue

Jesus

that the

bible

has things

to say

that are

just wrong

about other

things

but she

should pursue

Jesus

so it

was with

the encouragement

of this

lesbian

couple

that she

did pursue

Jesus

and she

ended up

becoming a

Christian

and so

as I'm

looking at

this text

all week

it's been

playing with

my mind

if a

member of

the lesbian

or the

gay community

was to come

here wondering

if there's

something for

them and

Jesus

or if a

person

struggling

with

or not

struggling

just very

happily

trans

happily gay

happily

lesbian

and if

they were

to come

here

if they

were to

see

that I've

now shut

the door

on them

but

you know

that very

very first

thing is

true

the triune

God is

love

and because

the triune

God is

love

he designed

human beings

to be loved

and to love

only that

explains

why it is

that we

sense

that we

are

that

that you

are owed

love

only that

statement

explains it

if you

just think

for a

second

it's

not

obvious

actually

in terms

of the

the real

serious

theology

and philosophy

of the world's

religions

and the

and the

and the

religion

of the

West

only this

very very

powerful

truth

that there

is a

God

that does

exist

that the

God

who does

exist

is the

triune

God

and it's

because

the

triune

God

is triune

three

persons

but one

God

that

that it

can be

said

that God

is love

because

the

father

has

always

loved

the

son

and the

son

has

always

loved

the

father

and the

son

the

Holy

Spirit

and the

Holy

Spirit

the

son

and

and

it's

because

that has

been true

from all

eternity

that God

designed

human beings

to be

to be

loved

and to

love

the

first

thing

is

I'm

going to

say this

a bit

more in a

moment

is this

text

should never

be taken

by Christians

in a

political

sense

it's not

part of

the culture

wars

because

you see

this text

is not

about us

versus

them

this text

is about

us

because

every

single

human

being

is

sexually

broken

every

single

human

being

is

sexually

broken

some

of us

more

than

others

some

of us

are

broken

to such

an

extent

that

if

one

of

the

rest

of

us

heard

about

it

we

would

be

actually

quite

shocked

at

the

depth

of

our

sexual

brokenness

so this

is not

an

us

versus

them

text

this

is a

text

about

us

finding

a way

forward

to that

place

where we

understand

that we

are loved

I

meant to

show

it

a couple

of weeks

ago

when

or a

month

or two

ago

now

Louise

and I

were in

Montreal

for a

couple

of days

and we

stayed

on the

south

side

of

the

Mount

Royal

and there's

this

Mount

Royal

it's a

very

beautiful

park

and we

decided

to walk

from where

we were

to the

other

side

of the

mountain

to go

to St.

Joseph's

Oratory

and it

was just

a beautiful

time to

go

you know

it was

one of

those

times

of the

leaves

on the

ground

that the

ground

was really

covered

with all

these

beautiful

multicolored

leaves

but there's

still enough

on the

trees

that you

had the

beautiful

leaves

on the

bottom

and above

you

all around

and it

was a

nice

temperature

it was

really

beautiful

anyway

we're

wandering

for a

way

we're

not in

any

rush

right

we're

just

taking

a

couple

of

days

off

so we

come

to

a

map

and

it

was

a

very

very

very

very

very

good

accurate

look at

the

map

and you

think

well

that's

a

nice

map

but I

don't

know

where I

am

like

in other

words

it

becomes

useless

and that's

actually

what goes

on in

our

culture

you see

the power

of what

this text

is going

to try

to point

this to

it's

trying

to

understand

it's

trying

to help

us

to

understand

where

we

need

to

go

and

where

we

are

and

part

of it

wants

to

understand

that you

are

sexually

broken

and that

if you

and I

just

look

within

to try

to figure

out

who we

are

and where

we have

to go

it's

hard

to figure

out

the

broken

parts

from the

good

parts

because

we look

at

ourselves

within

by our

normal

natural

abilities

and we

are like

looking

at the

beautiful

map

about

Mount

Royal

Park

without

knowing

where

we

are

to

know

whether

we

should

be

going

here

or

here

or

there

or

there

you

see

you

think

about

it

as well

if

because

the

triune

God

is

love

he

designed

human

beings

to be

loved

and to

love

that

word

designed

is really

important

and that

begins

to get

at the

great

profound

difference

between

the

Christian

faith

and how

most

Canadians

think

about

these

things

now

is

because

we're

stuck

by

that

word

designed

and that

we were

designed

by

love

to be

loved

and to

love

it

means

that

we

can't

treat

human

beings

as if

we're

just

plastic

as if

it's

just

clay

and you

can

just

mold

that

clay

in any

type

of

way

in fact

actually

if you

hear of

somebody

treating

another

human

being

if you

come

across

a dad

or a

mom

treating

their

kid

as if

they're

clay

that can

just

be

molded

in any

type

of way

that the

parent

wants

what do

we say

that's

not

loving

that's

what we

say

if we

see that

a man

is treating

his wife

as if

she's

just

sort of

plastic

or

treating

her like

she's a

blank

slate

and he

can just

paint on

her

whatever

he

wants

we say

that's

not

loving

and it's

because

we

understand

on one

fundamental

level

that if

love

if we

are designed

by love

to receive

love

and to

give love

that means

we're not

just plastic

we're not

just clay

to be

molded

we're just

not blank

canvases

there's

something

there

that can

love

and

and has

to be

loved

and we

can't be

reduced

and if

we're

designed

it means

that there's

things that

we can

do

that might

seem

right to

us

but are

actually

breaking

us

like

if you

had an

iphone

13

pro

and you

happened to

leave it

down over

there

and one

of the

beautiful

little

kids

picked it

up

and figured

out

that that

would be

a great

way to

hammer in

a loose

nail on

one of

the chairs

you'd

grab it

from them

and why

because an

iphone 13

pro isn't

designed

to hang

hammer and

attack

and if

the little

smart ass

kid said

but it's

perfect for

it

you'd

say

no

it's

not

designed

for

it

and

consider

a couple

of other

things

I'm not

going to

give you

the answer

to these

things

but I

want to

try to

show

those of

you

who are

all of us

who have

trouble

thinking

about

this

and a lot

of us

Christians

are embarrassed

to even

think about

it

or talk

about

it

and if

you're

listening

in

and you're

here as

a seeker

and now

maybe you're

not a seeker

anymore

you're here

as a skeptic

you came

in sort

of like

this

but now

you're

sitting

like

this

just

consider

a couple

of these

questions

because the

fact of

the matter

is

if you

not only

follow

the trajectory

of the fact

that we're

owed love

but follow

the trajectory

of these

other things

which you

just think

are obvious

you realize

that you're

actually on

the Christian

side of the

conversation

not against

it

but you don't

realize it

like think

about it

for a second

every single

person

that you

almost

everybody

you meet

will care

it doesn't

matter how

secular

the person

is

or how

spiritual

the person

is

they care

who their

loved ones

sleep with

you meet a

25 year old

and they start

to tell you

that their

mom has

divorced

their dad

and she's

sleeping with

this guy

but he's a

jerk

he's going

to hurt

her

they care

who their

mom sleeps

with

and moms

and dads

care who

their kids

sleep with

but if you

care who

people sleep

with

why can't

God

like why

can't

God

and if in

fact the

true and

living God

is the

triune God

who is

love

who designed

us

maybe he

actually knows

the right

maybe he

knows what's

right

or

if your

kid

begins to

get caught

up in

neo-nazi

racist

literature

or if

your kid

gets caught

up in

something

which not

just says

that there's

problems with

covid-19

vaccines but

all vaccines

and they

really get

identified with

that and

start to tell

you other

types of

stuff and

they start

to hang

around with

people like

that and

they get

their identity

out of it

you care

about how

their identity

is being

formed

you care

what their

identity

is based

on

but if

you care

about it

why can't

God

if you

find out

that your

best friend

has this

new boyfriend

but he

treats

your best

friend

like she's

just a play

thing

a toy

a playground

don't you

sort of

agree with

the human

that the

bible teaching

that a human

being is

more like a

temple than

a playground

that human

beings are

more like

temples

that there's

something sacred

and that human

beings are

just play

things or

play toys

but you see

once you think

these things

you're on the

Christian side

of the

conversation

now you're

in the

world of

the bible

you don't

treat a

person like

a blank

slate

or like

clay

and in

fact even

if you

think about

it for a

second

talk to

alcoholics

talk to

people who've

struggled

with drug

addiction

but not

just that

people have

had to go

into therapy

for all

sorts of

other reasons

what you

can

if you

talk to

an

alcoholic

those of

us who've

struggled

with any

type of

addiction

what they'll

tell you

is this

that the

thing that

was the

most natural

desire

inside of

them and

the most

powerful

desire

inside of

them was

ruining their

lives

and they

needed some

type of

therapy and

help to

get clarity

to set

aside the

desires that

were more

powerful so

they could

start to

have sanity

and freedom

and control

but you

see if you

understand and

think that now

you're on the

Christian side of

the conversation

you're on the

biblical side of

the conversation

could you put

up the next

point

here's another

thing

I know I

have to be

my time

in every

human being

you can see

the truth

that you

are designed

and the

truth

that the

design is

bent or

broken

in other

words

that you're

not just

designed

but you're a

little bit

of a ruin

and so am I

by the way

when I say

this

there's three

fingers pointing

back at me

you think

about it

if you go to

a science

fiction movie

or anything

like that

or you watch

some documentaries

if you look

at a documentary

of like when

a tsunami

has gone

through

or if you

look at a

documentary

or movie

where there's

been a huge

war or

earthquakes

or you look

at the

tornado

stuff like

that

we can all

tell the

difference

between when

there's been

something like

a tornado

and there's

just a pile

of rubbish

the winds

have just

picked things

up

helter

skelter

higgledy

piggledy

thrown them

in a thing

and it's

just a big

jumble

you can all

tell the

difference

between that

without

with very

rarely

making a

stake

and between

something

which has

now been

damaged

and ruined

there's a

difference

between what

the forces

of nature

create

which is

just a

jumble

of chaos

and what

human beings

design

and now

maybe due

to the

stress of

the wind

or over

time

if you're

watching

science fiction

things

or fantasy

things

are now

like ruins

starting to

crumble

you can see

the design

and you can

see the

design

you can see

that human

beings

aren't a

jumble

there's a

very interesting

book by

Eric Metaxas

that came out

just about a

month ago

called

Is Atheism

Dead

and the title

which I don't

think is the

world's greatest

title but it's a

play on words

to the famous

time magazine

cover in 1966

that is God

is dead

and the interesting

thing that he does

time and time and time

and time again

throughout the book

is he shows from

science and from