Author: Matt Capps

Below is a link to an article written by William Lane Craig which appeared in the July issue of Christianity Today.

Here is the first paragraph;

“You might think from the recent spate of atheist best-sellers that belief in God has become intellectually indefensible for thinking people today. But a look at these books by Richard Dawkins, Sam Harris, and Christopher Hitchens, among others, quickly reveals that the so-called New Atheism lacks intellectual muscle. It is blissfully ignorant of the revolution that has taken place in Anglo-American philosophy. It reflects the scientism of a bygone generation rather than the contemporary intellectual scene.”

This article is a brief overview of the philosophical foundations for Christianity, namely, arguments for God’s existence.

Click Here for the article.

Below I have posted one of the beginning paragraphs of C.S. Lewis‘ collection of essays entitled “The Weight of Glory”.

“If you asked twenty good men today what they thought the highest of the virtues, nineteen of them would reply, Unselfishness. But if you had asked almost any of the great Christians of old, he would have replied, Love. You see what has happened? A negative term has been substituted for a positive, and this is of more than philological importance. The negative idea of Unselfishness carries with it the suggestion not primarily of securing good things for others, but of going without them ourselves, as if our abstinence and not their happiness was the important point. I do not think this is the Christian virtue of Love. The New Testament has lots to say about self-denial, but not about self-denial as an end in itself. We are told to deny ourselves and to take up our crosses in order that we may follow Christ; and nearly every description of what we shall ultimately find if we do so contains an appeal to desire. If there lurks in most modern minds the notion that to desire our own good and earnestly to hope for the enjoyment of it is a bad thing,. Indeed, if we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Have you ever considered the importance of how you use your time? I think we should set a high value on time, and be exceedingly careful that it be not lost. In this post I will exhort you to exercise wisdom in what you do with your time, because it appears that time is exceedingly precious. I was reading Jonathan Edwards on this subject, and here are some notes and thoughts as I reflected on what he said;

1. If things are precious in proportion to their importance, then our time here on earth is precious because our eternal welfare depends on how we have used it.
2. Time is precious because we are given one life. The scarcity of any commodity occasions men to set a higher value on it, especially if it is necessary and they cannot do without it.
3. Time is precious because we are uncertain of its continuance. We know it’s short, but not how short. What would you do if you had a few months to live, a few days rather?
4. Time is precious, because when it is past, it cannot be recovered. There are many things which we can possess, that if we part with it, we can regain, it is not so with time.
5. There is no other space with which we can prepare for eternity. Therefore, time is a gift, used for the preparation of eternity.

How do you use your time? I think we can conclude with a few things;

1. Time is precious.
2. Time is short and uncertain.
3. Time is irrecoverable.

I believe that we all will be held accountable to God for the use of our time, so be diligent and intentional in how you use it.

1. Improve the present time without delay.
2. Be especially careful to improve those parts of time which are most precious.
3. Improve your leisure time.