Cerebro Consciousness Argument

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(The following is another approach to my argument for the necessity of the human spirit given in More Than Matter, and Independently Conscious. Imagine you are an X-Man like Charles Xavier, but with much more extreme capabilities. You also have a Cerebro-like machine that allows you to see every human being in the world and know everything there is to know about them. With your superhuman powers, you look at Cerebro’s screen and see billions of human beings at once in infinite detail. You know each person’s exact physical makeup. You can see their every neuron firing. And you fully comprehend what you see. You also know virtually every human being on the screen is self-aware. Each has an independent … Continue reading →

Knowing God Through The Psalms

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The path to greater faith is to know God better, for how can you trust someone you don’t know, and how can you trust someone more if you don’t know him more? For the last 9 years I’ve kept a journal of my Bible readings. I keep track of each date, passage, and thing I’ve discovered. My primary focus is to know God better, so when I find something in my reading that directly or indirectly describes who God is, what He does, why He does it, to whom He does it, and so on, I write it down so I can remember for the benefit of my relationship with Him. Psalm 18 is one of those psalms that contains … Continue reading →

God Is Good

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God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. – Genesis 1:31a Nevertheless he left not himself without witness, in that he did good, and gave us rain from heaven, and fruitful seasons, filling our hearts with food and gladness. – Acts 14:17 Paul said that everyone can see God’s power and deity through what He has created (Romans 1:20). I believe you can also add God’s goodness to that. What are some of the practical, everyday things you see and experience that let you know that God is good? For myself I see incredible beauty in what God has created, from the galaxies down to the sub-microscopic details. But more than that, I see … Continue reading →

Praying For Patience

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Take thy share in suffering as a good soldier of Jesus Christ. – 2 Timothy 2:3 (JND) It is not our purpose to seek out suffering, but neither is it to avoid it. It is jokingly said that one thing you should not pray for is patience, because if you do, God is going to send all sorts of calamity to try what little patience you do have. However, patience is a virtue that we need to have. It is a fruit of the Spirit. Patience is a good, godly thing, and the only way to acquire it is to have it tried. To say, even jokingly, that you should not pray for patience focuses on the suffering rather than … Continue reading →

Book Giveaway: How To Gain Victory Over Sin

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It’s been a few months since I published my second book, How To Gain Victory Over Sin. The ebook is free, but the paperback version isn’t simply because it costs money to print books. But from now until May 3, you have the chance to win one of 10 free paperback editions of the book through Goodreads.com. All you need to do is click on the ‘Enter To Win’ button below. If you do win, I’ll send you the book, asking you for an honest review on Goodreads, Amazon, or wherever. (Of course, you don’t have to enter the contest to post a review!) Goodreads Book Giveaway How to Gain Victory Over Sin by Andrew Bernhardt Giveaway ends May 03, … Continue reading →

Abandoning Fleshly Righteousness

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The fleshly nature has two ways of expressing itself. The first is the one we are most aware and ashamed of: it is our desire to sin. But the second way is also bad, and maybe worse because we are not ashamed of it – we’re even proud of it: it is our desire for self-righteousness. When I say self-righteousness, I’m not talking about a holier-than-thou attitude, or a hypocritical righteous facade. I mean sincerely trying to do the right thing through one’s own willpower and determination, but apart from reliance on the power of God. This kind of ‘righteousness’ falls far short of the righteousness God requires for salvation or for living the Christian life. That law-keeping is insufficient … Continue reading →

What Do I Mean By ‘Sanctification’?

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This question came up recently on a Christian forum. Since I’ve written quite a bit about justification and sanctification lately, it would be a good idea for me to clarify what I mean by these terms. In the Bible, justification has to do with righteousness. It is about being declared innocent – not guilty – before God. The Law, summarized by the Ten Commandments, reveals God’s righteousness, and therefore it is closely tied to justification. A person can only be justified if the entire Law is kept faultlessly. To break just one Law imputes guilt on a person. Jesus Christ is the only Person to keep the whole Law without sin, but He did so in our place so we … Continue reading →

Is Sanctification By Law Or By Faith?

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We tend to misunderstand what was going on in the Galatian church. Well, let me rephrase. I have misunderstood what was going on in the Galatian church, …but I do think many of us share the same misunderstanding. What I mean is, as we read Paul’s epistle to the Galatians, we assume they were trying to be saved by the works of the Law of Moses. It’s real easy to come to this conclusion when we see warnings of “a different gospel,” and read statements like “a man is not justified by the works of the Law but through the faith of Jesus Christ,” and “Abraham believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.” There is so much … Continue reading →

Note on ‘Galilee of the Nations’

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We’re studying Matthew in my church adult class, and this little tidbit came to me during the study, which seems to give some insight into why Jesus began His ministry in Galilee rather than Jerusalem. Now when Jesus heard that John was delivered up to prison, He withdrew into Galilee. And leaving Nazareth, He came and dwelt in Capernaum, which is by the sea, in the regions of Zebulun and Naphtali, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, saying: The land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, by the way of the sea, beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles: The people who sat in darkness have seen a great Light, and upon those … Continue reading →

Thoughts On Running The Race

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Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one receives the prize? So run that you may obtain it. Every athlete exercises self-control in all things. They do it to receive a perishable wreath, but we an imperishable. – 1 Corinthians 9:24-25 (ESV) The way a runner runs depends on the kind of race he’s in. When the distance is small, an all-out sprint to the finish line is probably best. But when the distance is great, more self-control must be exercised. For the best possible chance of making it to the finish line first, a runner must control his expenditure of energy such that he has just enough strength to make it across … Continue reading →