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Dare I even hope to begin seeking direction, order, meaning and unity? Is it possible to have a path to follow? As a river, there may be some bends, but it is a continuous flow. This is possible, direction and order and meaning and unity are to be found even in an age of confusion and chaos. AND IT IS POSSIBLE TO KNOW WHERE TO BEGIN? WE HAVE A FEW POINTERS, AND THERE IS A STARTING POINT, AND A PATH, BUT STAY ON THE PATH AND DON'T TAKE EVERY LITTLE SIDE ROAD. UNITY: There must then be a unifying factor. We call schools of higher learning UNIversities, but today there is no unifying factor, they are in fact not UNI-, but multiversities. ORDER: There must be a plan and a planner who brings purpose and meaning to the realm being discussed.
Not the Hollywood variety, we are talking about a paradigm, a set outline to follow, pattern, a form. Science, religion, philosophy, economics all have a MODEL they attempt to follow. Otherwise all we would have is a mere collection of ideas thrown into the arena and thus we have chaos, confusion and lack of direction. Many who profess to believe in a model do not operate within their own model. As a boy we had a saying: "Take 4 tin cans and an old flat board, nail it together and we called it a Ford." While this was a bit insulting to Henry Ford's product, the young boy building his "can and board" car did have some kind of model in his mind before he started. Remember Johnny Cash's song ONE PIECE AT A TIME. He had a picture, a model in mind when he began bringing those parts out of the Cadillac plant to build himself a Cadillac. Over the years he thus had many parts from many styles and then proceeded to put them all together. Though it ended in such a diverse collection, he always had a form, a model in his mind. Otherwise it would have been a just a pile of junk parts laying on the floor. The further you depart from the original MODEL, the broader the scope of modifying that MODEL, the further you go down the path to confusion and chaos and ultimately into madness and falsehood. There must be order, design and purpose. For this to be possible there must be one who did the designing and who had a purpose in mind. You may not like his or her design or agree with his purpose. Walk around your house, look at all the pieces, the pictures and fixtures. I may not like the looks of it, may not agree with your purpose, but you had a pattern, a model in mind and this brought order to your home. But if we load all that "stuff" into a dump truck and haul it to the garbage heap, all the pieces are still there, but now there is no meaning, nothing but chaos. The designer is gone, order and beauty is gone, the purpose and goal of you the designer is forgotten. The above is equally true whether in the universe, a society, a family or personally. It is equally true in religion, philosophy, economics, government, environment or medicine.
Fuel, electric, lubricant, coolant These are the major ingredients for our auto engine to function, to achieve the purpose and goal we had in mind in our MODEL. The primary thing now is to build step by step according to that MODEL, whether the auto is a Ford, Buick or Plymouth. Understanding these 4 points and their relationship is primary. Again, don't jump to the paint selection. Well, aren't all the parts, their shape and makeup important, and aren't some of them highly technical and even confusing to the learner? Of course, but remember, we need a Starting Point!
Diagram shows God from eternity past to eternity future 1. We have to find out what KIND of God He is! (Next Step) 2. Did that God as He has revealed Himself in His Word and His creation:
3. CAMP RIGHT HERE UNTIL YOU CONSIDER AND GRASP THESE ISSUES! Then move on to the TIME LINE, Time, Man, History, Problems. There is a Starting Point. Yet when it comes to some of the most vital areas of life, we often start anywhere, travel aimlessly, if there are goals they are often too fuzzy to do any good. If we are asked WHY? What PURPOSE? Well, we are very apt to stumble around in our answer. Then comes the cry "What's the meaning in this world gone mad?" Frustration and perplexity plague us because we are not reaching the GOAL and we are not real sure what that is supposed to be. Just walk out into your yard tonight, look up, look around you; or go look into the microscope, or the telescope. There you see the molecule, or the earth, the sun and moon and stars, men, women, and living things moving about. If the automobile in our illustration had a designer-planner that had a MODEL, a GOAL and PURPOSE in mind; do you not think it folly to assume that that which you have seen could come into being and function in an orderly fashion without such a Designer-Planner? If the automobile belongs to you, you may do with it as you please, does not the world about you belong to its Designer-Planner-Builder? Does He not have the right to do with His project as He planned, and for the overall benefit that He purposed? We have not gone astray from our first questions and observations. This is not merely a few differences of opinions about how all this universe and its inhabitants began. It is not some nice little subject to sit around and have a polite discussion about. It is a matter of urgent, vital importance about all of life: Is it?
It has to do with all of life, order, meaning, unity, purpose, goal, morals, economics, government, family, farming It has to do with YOU, WHO YOU ARE, WHERE YOU ARE GOING AND WHY. NOW THE MODEL FOR OUR SEARCH. OUR DESIGNER-CREATOR-BUILDER GAVE US AN OWNER'S MANUAL. HE IS THE NEEDED UNIFYING AGENT IN ALL THIS. Please Follow the Path to God!
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