My View of Creation

All of the theories that we went through in class were interesting. I don't think that there is any that I completely agree with. Some of them had more points than other that I agreed with, but anyway I am going to tell you about all of them.
The Gap Theory doesn't really make sense to me. The Bible says that the world was created in 6 days, and on the seventh day God rested. The Gap Theory says that there is a gap between Genesis 1 and 2. I think that that would kind of be important to put in the Bible, and it's not in there. Also there is no way that people could figure out that there was a gap, so I just don't think that that happend.
The Young Earth Creationism people talk more about what they don't believe than what they do believe. That makes me think that they aren't exactly sure about what they believe, but thats just me.
Ideal-Time Theory is the next one that we talked about. I think that it is an interesting idea. They say that God created a built-in history. I don't think that that is what happened. I think that history just started taking place after God created the earth.
One theory that we talked about sayed that one "day" in the Bible could have been a thousand or a millionn years. I don't know how long the days  were. the Bible doesn't say how long a day is. A million years seems like a long time to be making the world!I think that it is very possible that the days weren't 24 hours. In the end though, it really doesn't matter to me how long it took God to create the world.
Pictoral-Day Theory says that Genesis 1 is more literal than science. It's more a theological statement than a recipe for creation. This theory sounds more complicated than the rest, and I don't exactly understand it all, so for that reason I don't exactly agree with it.
The last Theory that we talked about was the Theistic Evolution. It says that God used the evolutionary process to create life. Genesis says that God created man, not used the evolutionary process. So I think that God just created everything, not let evolution processes create it.
In the end I think that God created the world in 6 days. No matter how long the days were. Then God rested on the seventh. I think that God thought everything out. He obviously knew what he was doing. He spoke and the world was formed. I think that that is very cool. I believe that the creation story is very true, and one of the greatest stories ever!

Faith *

       Faith is believing in something that you can not see. I think that you can have faith in lots of things, but no faith is the same as the faith that you need to have in God. Not many people have seen God, but some people have. To some people it might be weird to believe in something that you have never seen you have only heard of. I think that even though you have never seen God you can see little things everywhere that point to Him. Sometimes we go through hard times, and we find it hard to believe in God. That is when we really have to rely on faith. We have to believe that God is with us and He always we be with us. We may find it harder to see Him when we are in tough situations, but if we look for Him we will find Him. There are things everyday that can renew our faith. Even just looking outside on a nice day and seeing the sun, clouds, trees, blue sky, flowers, and green grass can remind us that God made al of that. He is the only one that could make that, and because of that we know that he is there. There can also be people that help us in our faith. Having conversations with people about God can bring up interesting subjects and we can learn new things all of the time. When we are always learning about God, we are always finding new ways to see Him and believe in Him. 

       Something that I think is interesting to think about is, would it be harder to have faith in the Bible days or in the present, where we are today. I don't really have a set answer, I think that both would have their pros and cons. In the Bible days you could actually see Jesus, so your faith wouldn't have to be believing in something you can't see. But I think that because there were lots of people saying that they were Jesus and so many people saying that he was a fake, that it could be hard to decide if he was the real Jesus. Also the people that hated him might judge you if you followed him. I think that that would make it really hard to decide who to follow and what to do. Those would be the cons. The pros would be you did actually get to see Him and hear him talk. You would also get to watch him perform miracles and see Him actually touch people and heal them. Now for my thoughts on having faith in the present. I think that some people find it easier to believe in something that they can not see than others. I think that that is why God allows some people to see Him and then they can tell others about Him, and that would renew everyones faith. The cons about having faith in the present would be that  you have to rely on written words more then spoken ones. You do not hear Jesus talk, you read the words that He has spoken. I do not mean that He doesn't talk directly to people still, I just don't think that he does it as much. For that reason it could be harder for some people to have faith in the present. On the other hand you do not have people pretending to be Jesus.  You have the Bible with the true words of Jesus written in it. You have lots of stories to go on that have actually happened, that is one way that God talks to us in the present. So I don't know in which time it would be harder to have faith, present or past. I do know that either way God will speak to you and He will always be there and help you. I think that He will show you the best way to have faith in Him.

       Though out all of the years that the world has been around there have been people with extraordinary faith. I think that one of the first people with amazing faith in God would be Abraham. Romans 4:13 says, "It was not through law that Abraham and his offspring received the promise that he would be heir to the world, but through that righteousness that comes by faith." Abraham had great faith in God. He followed God and listened to Him. He led His family and he received that promise from God    through faith alone. I'm sure that it must have been hard for Abraham and his family at times, but God provided and led him. 

       Another story of great faith would be Noah. This is one of the first stories that comes to my mind, mabe because it is a good little kid story and probably one of the first ones that I learned. Anyway Noah had great faith in God. He did something that everyone thought was stupid. He built a huge arc and loaded it with animals. Everyone around him thought that he had lost his mind, but when the time came for the flood he was the only one that was ready, so he loaded the animals and his family and they were the only ones that were saved. That must have taken a lot of faith. To only listen to God and not let what other people thought get in the way with what God was telling you to do. In the end obviously Noah was right, because God told him to build an arc and Noah simply did what God told him to do.

Hebrews 11:7 says, "By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in  holy fear built an arc to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that comes by faith."

       There are many other people that had amazing faith in the Bible, and God rewarded them for that. But there are also people that have had an have great faith in the present. One example of that would be Billy Graham. He has travelled so many places to tell people about God. he has led so many people to Christ. He even mentored the presidents! Billy Graham has won many awards, but I don't think that that is why he does what he does. I think that all the good things that he has done over his life where to honor God. I think that he has set a wonderful example for people everywhere, and not only that but he has impacted people everywhere. He is now about 92, and he has said that he would like to preach one more time. I think that he has lived a very good life, and it is very interesting to read about everything that he has done. 

       Another person that had great faith in God was Mother Teresa. I think that she did so many good things for people. She felt God calling her at a very early age to be a missionary. She listened to God and he led her to do great things for people. I don't know that much about her, but from what I do know I think that she had a very good attitude towards life. She has many quotes about how you should treat people and about love, kindness, and forgiveness. She was an amazing example for many many people. I don't think that she will be forgotten. She has left a great impact in the world. I was looking at some of her quotes and one of the ones that I liked the most was, "Do it anyway."

People are often unreasonable and self-centered

Forgive them anyway

If you are kind, people may accuse you of ulterior motives

Be kind anyway  

If you are honest, people may cheat you 

Be honest anyway 

If you find happiness, people may be jealous 

Be happy anyway 

The good you do today may be forgotten tomorrow 

Do good anyway 

Give the world the best that you have, and it may never be enough 

Give your best anyway 

For you see, in the end, it is between you and God 

It was never between you and them anyway 

                                               Mother Teresa

       I think that faith is an amazing thing. God has given us many examples of how we can live out our faith. I think that it is important to keep growing in your faith and always learn new things about God. There are so many people that are making an impact on where ever they go. They follow God and tell people about Him. To grow in your faith I think that you need to read the Bible. There are so many good examples in there. Also you need to pray and ask God to help you find ways to grow in your faith. Prayer is a great way to communicate with God and when we talk to God we learn more about Him and then we can grow more in our faith. Also looking up people like Mother Teresa, Billy Graham and other people that have made such a big difference in the world can help us understand more about faith. We can learn by others examples. Also I'm sure that you can find someone close to you that is a good example of faith. I know that there are many people around me that set a really good example and that make an impact on my life. I am thankful that God has put so many people on the earth that leave good messages behind. 

       Faith is believing in something that you can't see, but I think that if you have faith in God, he will allow you to see Him.