A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

Good morning
I saw an interesting debate between a Christian apologist and an atheist.
I couldn’t wrap my mind around the topic for the debate.
The basis of the debate for proving that God exists, was the Trinity doctrine.

This is never going to convince an atheist that God exists.
You can’t even convince a Jehovah’s Witness of the Trinity.
This debate was like putting the cart in front of a horse.

If you’re going to try to win over an atheist, you must first realise what made them an atheist. Believe or not the majority of atheist were raised in a religion.
And these religions all have one thing in common they are based on works that inslave the followers.
Many raised Orthodox Jewish, Catholic, Jehovah’s Witnesses, Muslim….. and the list goes on.

The reason they became atheist because they were never convicted with the Holy Spirit Ruach HaQuodesh.
Experience only comes when someone who has hit the end of themselves, actually had what I call a King Shlomo/ Solomon experience.

So I believe if you’re going to try to convince an atheist to come back to God…..is show one of the greatest examples in the Bible of someone who came down the same road.
Enjoy the teaching.

A TIME FOR EVERYTHING

” For everything there is a season,
A right time for every intention under heaven……”
Kohelet/ Ecclesiastes 3:1 CJB

In the book of Ecclesiastes, Shlomo / Salomon takes a hard look at the human Enterprise, and concludes that despite all efforts, nothing of Ultimate or enduring significance can be achieved in a life lived Under the Sun.
Life lived under the sun is looking at it from a purely physical and materialistic perspective. In Ecclesiastes chapter 3 verses 2 through 8, Shlomo lists 14 sets of contrasting statements, some of which are fairly obvious ; there is a time to be born and a time to die, a time to weep and a time to laugh ; but also some of a more difficult nature ; A Time to Kill and a time to heal, a time to love and a time to hate.

There are two legitimate ways Shlomo / Solomon arrived at his summations, both expressing an overall depressing and cynical outlook, and both presenting a poignant reflection of a life lived without Hashem YHVH.
The first is simply as an observation of life.
He resolved that things just happen and we are merely participants in a meaningless process over which we have no control. It is all rolled up into this experience we call ‘ life ‘ that lasts, if we are lucky, for three score years and ten. This leaves one with a sense of helplessness and emanates an almost relentless monotony that characterizes life.

The other way Shlomo arrives at his summations is by looking at these contrasting statements as an explanation or interpretation of life.
When he says there is a time for everything, he is not just resigning himself to that fact, but actually affirming it.
This series of negative and positive events explains a life in which we do not live on a level above everything else, but we live with this contrast of joy and Pain.
This too is meaningless, says Shlomo, and in the end it all comes to nothing……. a chasing the wind .

Now if I was speaking to an atheist by now I would have them very depressed. Remember Solomon was the wisest king that ever lived there is no disputing this.
Solomon / Shlomo paints a discouraging picture, but what is missing in his analysis of Life lived under the sun is the very real and positive element of hope.
This is not hope in some kind of fluke or accident, but in something far greater and Powerful outside of ourselves.
That is why Shlomo says of Hashem, ” He has set Eternity in the hearts of men ” 3:11.
Life was not meant to be lived apart from Hashem YHVH, and this sense of Eternity can only be satisfied in relationship with Hashem.
There is a time for everything and it is Hashem, G-d, alone who makes sense of this world and gives meaning and significance to both the negative and positive times of our lives.

In order to reach the heart of an atheist you need to bring them to reality.
Baruch Hashem

Our Prayer
Heavenly Father thank You for being my strength and comfort in the Hard Times.
You sustain me and are my reason to rejoice through all the ups and downs in my life.
Baruch Hashem Adonai Amein