As of Dec 6th, 2009 the invitation to the gospel meetings below are now over. Over the six weeks (4) souls professed faith in Christ. To God be the glory! May their lives prove they are indeed possessors of Eternal life.
Our regular Sunday night gospel meeting will continue every Sunday night at 7pM.
Written by Murray McCandless
The first Italian bus to boast an atheist advertisement rolled out earlier this year, or should I say, tried to roll out. No sooner had the bus — carrying the message, “The Good News Is There Are Millions of Atheists in Italy; The Excellent News Is They Believe in Freedom of Expression” –- hit the streets of Genoa when it suffered battery problems and had to go straight back to the depot for repairs.
”It was by pure chance, a freak thing,” the newspaper quoted a member of the Italian Union of Atheists, Agnostics and Rationalists. He went on to say the vehicle left the depot bright and early but had to go straight back because of a ‘curious’ problem with the battery system.
The group’s new ads are a variation on their original campaign launched in Washington, London and Spain, which read — “The Bad News Is God Doesn’t Exist. The Good News Is You Don’t Need Him.” King David said in Psalms 53:1 The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God. Corrupt are they, and have done abominable iniquity: there is none that doeth good.
Some of you may remember Dave Dravecky, former pitcher for the San Francisco Giants. At the peak of his career in 1991 he lost his pitching arm to cancer. Those who watched his 1989 comeback will never forget the Montreal game. Dave’s left arm snapped with a deafening crack that could be heard in the stands. The comeback quickly ended. It was a devastating experience. It is bad enough to have cancer, let alone face the amputation of an arm, but then on top of that, to lose a promising career as a major league baseball player. Naturally Dave was filled with many questions.
During his struggles, letters of encouragement poured in from all over the country. Most were letters of encouragement. Some were looking for answers to life’s questions. They had seen him keep his faith, and they wanted to know how he had done it. But one day he received this letter:
Dear Mr. Dravecky, If there is a God who cares so much about you, why did he allow you to have the surgery in the first place? I have lived 41 years in this old world and have yet to see any piece of genuine evidence that there is anything real about any of those religious beliefs you talk about. God certainly does not love me and has never done a single thing to express that love for me. I have had to fight for everything I ever got in life. Nobody cares about what happens to me and I don’t care about anybody else either. Can’t you see the truth that religion is nothing more than a crutch used by a lot of weaklings who can’t face reality and that the church is nothing but a bunch of hypocrites who care nothing for each other and whose faith extends not to their actions or daily lives but is only just a bunch of empty phrases spouted off to impress others?
A cruel letter, isn’t it? How would you have responded to it? He sent a letter to the man and said that he had faced his own doubts and that faith was not always easy. He wrote, “I am convinced that there is a God. That no matter what happens to me, there is a purpose for it and behind that purpose stands a loving, caring God.” Dravecky had come to know the same Lord who came back for Thomas. The same resurrected Jesus who stood before all the disciples and said, “Peace be with you.”
Personally, I question whether any one has ever believed there wasn’t a God. Sure, they may deny him, at times doubt his ways, but deep down, people we have been built as human beings with clear evidence stamped all over our bodies and minds as to who our maker is!
I love the words of John’s gospel in John chapter 17 and verse 3 ‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’
Murray A. McCandless 2070 Route 121 Norton NB E5T 1E9 mmccand@nbnet.nb.ca
