How I Discovered, as a Scientist, that God is Real

Some of us [like me] have never worked in any scientific field at all! So you are ahead on that score.

This is my most recent picture. How do I add it to my profile?

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Click on your M icon in the upper right next to the magnifying glass. Select the icon that looks like gears for preferences. That takes you to your profile. Click on the pencil next to the circle under profile picture, check custom picture and then hit the upload picture button.

Welcome to the forum, @maggie777! We are thankful for your testimony.

Wow. You brought me to tears. Maybe you know a little bit about God’s providential M.O.* :slightly_smiling_face:
 


*It was God’s providence that led me to understand (a little :slightly_smiling_face:) and be accepting of evolutionary science, among many other things he has done with it in my life.

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O Sovereign God of time and place, timing and placing.

@MarkD

Maggie’s series of 'co-instants’, or rather the series that God gave Maggie, reminded me of your dismissal…

I think you underestimate the capacity of God to act interventionally into the natural world that he has created and that it accounts for what many of his children have experienced.
 

You really should reconsider.

There was a time I would sympathize with that until it happened to me.

For what it’s worth I have no problem with uncharted natural, that is, uncovering new phenomena. In part that is what leads me to wonder what it is which supports God belief. I do think there is reason. I just don’t think what it is is out there or the creator of the entire cosmos. It is only the cultural availability of that concept which leads to that conception IMHO.

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Dear Dale@MarkD,

When I seek answers, or sincerely desire certain things which are beyond my own ability to provide, but just mull the issues over in my mind, whether dreaming or worrying, nothing ever comes of any of them. They have always been as if dreams in the night that flicker through my head and then are gone, if I only pondered them. The only times what you now “co-events” and I call miracles, have happened in the past, have occurred repeatedly for the past 50 years and continue to occur on a regular basis now, are when I bring them to God in prayer in the manner and conditions prescribed by scripture. In other words, the co-incidence, has never been the need and the “out-of-the-blue provision”; the co-events have only occurred concomitantly with Biblical prayer. I have experienced literally thousands of such co-events. I now expect them and count of them. This is New Testament faith. DO THESE CO-EVENTS CONSISTENTLY HAPPEN TO YOU?

If instead of just pondering, mulling about or worrying about things which were beyond my own ability to provide, I made a deliberate decision to pray and ask God, through faith in Jesus Christ, about these things. I always found that I came to peace about the issue with the KNOWLEDGE they would be resolved. Then every time I prayed, something happened that was “out of the blue”, and whatever the need/desire I had was either met/surpassed or replaced. Always, something specific happened, but only, 100% of the time when I sincerely prayed, honestly relating to Jesus as The King who personally befriended me.

For everything in my life where I had cherished some goal that was out of my reach, nothing I ever wanted ever came about, except when I made it a point for dedicated prayer.I have had 50 years experience of these all-or-none experiences. You read of the five-in-a-row in 1969.

Others have included being healed of an incurable condition, three different times, three different conditions ten years apart, to astonished doctor. Twice people unsolicited, not knowing I had asked God to give me a way to earn extra income, came to me wanting to pay me to do something for them just because they knew I had the skills. No one knew I had wanted part-time income. Twice, during the times of illness I had financial crises and could not make a mortgage payment and other bills. I did not say a single word to anyone other than Jesus, but both times I simply told Him I needed exactly $1,000 to cover my bills that month. The first time, I received a letter in the mail the next day from a total stranger. The entire text was “God told me to send you this”. Enclosed was a check for $1,000. Lucky coincidence of “nature”? I call it a miracle from a personal, loving God. The second time it “happened”, same amount", the Holy Spirit spoke in my inner being and directed me to go to church at a small non-denominational place I had never visited. I obeyed that “direction” and settled into a chair before the meeting. A few minutes later a woman I had never met came up to me and said “God told me to give you this”: a check - no name written - for $1,000. You want to call this “luck” or “nature” and not the intervention of God in response to my prayer of faith? Surely, you Jest; I should reconsider the existence of God as a personally loving, interacting, benevolent Creator, who took on human form supernaturally, to provide an avenue for (anyone who will accept it) me, to continue receiving His supernatural provisions? Why in the world would I now want to renounce God as the ONE who has been answering my prayers for 50 years? These things do not happen to you; I know they do not. I know many people like myself who live day to day with the expectation from experience, that God will intervene in their life for every need to be met. They never worry. I also know many who have to worry, because they have no certain source for the resolution of crises. The first group are people who have a continuing loving relationship with Jesus, with constant communication, more like conversation than prayer in their daily life. The second group of people rarely if ever, pray, because they do not KNOW Jesus in a personal relationship.

Ultimately, the underlying the difference between the first group and the second is that the first chose to WANT to believe the Word of God, and the second chose to NOT want to believe the word of God.

What we receive from God we receive by faith. “Faith is the substance of things hoped for” (Hebrews 11: 1); “So then faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.” (Romans 10:17) and “without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He IS and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him” (Hebrew 11: 6).

There are some issues I have started to bring to God in prayer, but stop. He shows me it is either not the time. or will never be compatible with what is best for me, and to leave it alone. I mentioned in my testimony, that once I came to God I became as earnest a scholar of the Bible as I was of science. These are simply some of the things I have learned and that God has proven to be true. One other Word I have found to be true is this "“Delight yourself also in the LORD and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” (Psalm 37: 4).

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If that was addressed to me, I’m sorry, but you misunderstood. I am all about God’s providential timing and placing, miracles where he does not break any of the natural laws he has put into place, but wonderfully demonstrates his sovereignty over time and place, as I say, and timing and placing. ‘Co-instants’ and ‘co-instance(s)’ are my substitute words for coincidence, and they denote ‘not a chance!’

Actually, they do, quite consistently, and sometimes just for fun. :slightly_smiling_face: I have been keeping a ‘Co-instants Log’ for over three decades with retrospective entries for two decades before that. So you’re preaching to the choir as far as I’m concerned. That was the whole point of my tagging @MarkD – he’s not in the choir, yet, anyway. He’s dismissive of God’s providential M.O.

You would appreciate reading about George Müller.

We don’t even agree on what it is which leads people to believe in a god. I’m mostly dismissive of the claims of people who insist they and only they have the real deal.

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How many real deals do you think there are? None, right? And yet you complain?

You have read Maggie’s accounts, haven’t you? Did you notice any similarities between her accounts and mine, God’s providential M.O.? Multiple unrelated co-instants except for their meaningfulness, beyond what any reasonable person would consider to be within the realm of mere probability?

Nope, wrong. People believe a lot of different things and, wait for it, they’re all real. When it comes to things this personal what’s true for you is real for you too. It has effects in this life, the one life we can be very sure we definitely have. That makes it real, as real as it gets IMO.

Yes lots of real deals, and not just between different religions but between denominations and very likely between you and more people than you would suspect in the very same church, though I could be wrong about that last one. But even if yours is some kind of Stepford church I know there are people on these forums who have to measure what they share with others in their church. That isn’t a criticism. It may be regrettable but it isn’t surprising. What we are inside isn’t easy to see and there is a tendency to assume everyone is just the way we are. I used to think the same.

What do you have in mind? What have I complained about? I really don’t know.

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The ‘deal’ that I was refering to that you deny is the supernatural, not just the claims, the ‘deals’, about it.

 

Complain was a figure of speech with respect to you being dismissive of all claims, since you do not believe any are legitimate.

Is insistence on the supernatural even biblical? Wouldn’t matter to me of course but you shouldn’t think that I don’t have faith in anything which cannot be demonstrated. I definitely do. What I believe is pretty out there and generally dismissed by most atheists I meet, but I grant you it isn’t as out there as the notion of the supernatural. Makes me wonder if all Christians are committed to a supernatural God. Maybe they are but I don’t see why they should need to be.

I get that disagreement about such things is upsetting for you. I hope you can get past that. I don’t think you’ll ever be living in a world which perfectly aligns with your personal beliefs. I certainly don’t have such an expectation. I’m much more concerned with how we live in such a diverse world in a way that is consistent with our values. My presence here is in part about working on that.

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That’s pretty funny, really. The world does align perfectly with my beliefs. A Christian worldview covers all of reality quite nicely, as I have mentioned before and not too long ago, but you have neglected to remember. A pretense at condescension isn’t going to work, sorry.

Seriously? A man does not naturally rise from the dead. Are you familiar with the word ‘miracle’? You can find it in the Bible without too much difficulty.

Greetings.

I do not understand some of what you say. We have different vocabularies. I have no idea what you, personally, mean by a “Christian worldview” or whether you understand what Paul meant when he taught Christians should hold a worldview that “the whole world lies in darkness” (1 John 5: 19)

I also have not been able to figure out what you mean in your statement about denying the supernatural. Rather than trying to figure it out, I’ll just refer to two others of your statements above.

  1. Is insistence on the supernatural even biblical? Yes it is. Jesus was called the “Miracles worker” because He insisted the only proof He came from God was His working miracles "believe in the evidence of the miraculous works I have done, even if you don’t believe me. Then you will know and understand that the Father is in me, and I am in the Father.”(John 10:38) [New Living Translation]

  2. “…wonder if all Christians are committed to a supernatural God. Maybe they are but I don’t see why they should need to be…” Yes. The whole premise of Christianity is the miracle that a supernatural, spiritual God, made himself a human being by impregnating the virgin Miriam (Mary) in fulfillment of the prophecy of Isaiah 7: 14 “behold, a virgin shall conceive in the womb , and shall bring forth a son, and thou shalt call his name Emmanuel.” (Emmanuel meaning “God with us as Savior”; the name Yeshua also meaning savior; Yeshua being the Aramaic Spelling of Jesus, also Yehoshua, Joshuah) The old Testament prophecy of the savior/yeshua/Messiah coming as God made flesh/man is reiterated at John 1: 1-15.

Essentially, total faith and dependence on these verses is the beginning of acceptance of Christianity, It is the basis of the Creed. If a person does not believe this totally supernatural miracle, he may follow some of the teachings of Jesus as a philosophy, but he is not a Christian - by definition.
1 In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4 In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind. 5 The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.*** 6 There was a man sent from God whose name was John. 7 He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all might believe. 8 He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9 The true light that gives light to everyone was coming into the world. 10 He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11 He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12 Yet to all who did receive him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13 children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband’s will, but born of God.
14 The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. 15 (John testified concerning him. He cried out, saying, “This is the one I spoke about when I said, ‘He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.’”)
*** [NOTE THIS IS THE SAME DARKNESS PAUL DESCRIBED IN SAYING THE WHOLE WORLD LIES IN DARKNESS. IN THE NEW TESTAMENT, THAT WHICH PERTAINS TO JESUS, HIS WORD AND PEOPLE IS LIGHT; EVERYTHING ELSE IS "OF THE WORLD, I.E. DARKNESS]
I don’t intend to be condescending, but we seem to have different vocabularies. To a Bible scholar who has been a “born-again- miracle-witnessing-Christian” for 50 years, there is no such thing as a Christian “worldview”. It is an oxymoron, like hot-ice. In Christianity “world” is synonymous with “darkness”, at least, but also the sin nature and corruption.

I guess “Christianity 101” could also be listed in the Foreign Languages department as well as Theology.