Honestly Thinking

Honestly thinking (& rethinking) about God, the universe, and everything in between

Tag: rethinking God

If God Speaks to You in the Forest and No One Else is Around to Hear it, Does He Make a Sound?

May 6, 2024 / / 0 Comments

(Part Three of “Hearing God’s Voice”)

When do I get my burning bush?

Most of us have seen the fantastic moment portrayed on the big screen one way or another – the most classic one starring Charlton Heston in Cecil B. DeMille’s The Ten Commandments.

Out of the burning bush emanates the audible, reverberating masculine voice of God as He calls out to Moses for the first time and gives him purpose.

My personal favorite rendition is the animated Prince of Egypt, beautifully illustrated with swirling colors of light and underscored by a majestic soundtrack as God’s booming voice alternates between commanding force and gentle whispers. I shiver in awe every time I see it, especially toward the end as the music crescendos and God promises that with his staff “you shall do My wonders!”

DeMille’s epic piece steps up the spectacle near the end as Moses stands upon Mount Sinai while God, in clear-diction English from above, authoritatively pronounces each of the ten commandments and simultaneously sends fire from the sky to inscribe them onto the tablets.

These are amazing scenes, illuminating the power of God’s voice. 

Films with more modern takes like to portray God as a person that looks and sounds a lot like Morgan Freeman or George Burns communicating face to face with someone in an office space or bathroom.

While few would argue the latter are biblical portrayals of God, I suspect many connect with them because they make God’s voice and presence a little more personal and tangible.

I imagine most of us, after seeing any of the films above, look forward to the possibility of someday having our own tangible “burning bush” or “mountaintop” experience.

In Part One of this series, I shared how God speaks to each of us continuously and that listening to that voice can have a significant impact on the 35,000 decisions we make each day. In Part Two, I recounted my own “miracle” story of learning how we can truly know His voice.

But many reading this are likely asking the questions (ones I often ask myself):

 “If it’s so easy to hear God’s voice, then why do I still struggle?”

“I’ve never heard an audible voice booming from above or had Morgan Freeman magically appear in my living room. When do I get my burning bush moment?” Continue reading

The Day I Became an Atheist and Believed in God

November 2, 2020 / / 0 Comments

This is Part 3 in the series titled “Split-Brain and the REAL Reason People are Leaving the Church”

I remember the morning quite vividly – though I’ve never really relayed it so as not to frighten the wife and kids…nor my extended family, my church, or the ministry where I work.

There I lay in bed alone, Bible yet unopened across my lap, as I attempted to do my morning “Quiet Time” ritual of conversing with God and learning from his “Word.”

Full of doubts and questions and unable to hear much in return, I remember the thought flashing across my mind: “Oh crap, what if none of this is REAL?”

And in that moment, I allowed myself to believe it.

And it was good.

Now let me back up a bit to before that “fateful” day. Continue reading

The Leading Cause of Death

November 26, 2018 / / 2 Comments

I need to inform you all about something fairly significant…

I’m dying.

I’ve actually known about this for quite a while, but the timing seems right for me to let you all know now.

It’s from an illness that’s acronym is T.O.K.G.E (which I will explain later). It’s about as dangerous of a disease as any known to humankind, and its symptoms are quite severe…

So serious that it affects every area of my life. Continue reading

Confession: I Know Practically Nothing About God

November 11, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Confession: I just wrote an entire book trying to explain and define God, but I actually know practically nothing about him.

I hope you will forgive me for it.

Of course, I’m in good company, as plenty before me have tried to do the same.

Add in the fact that each of us individually have all sort of made up our own ideas about God without really having much of a clue and likely shared them with others along the way.

“But wait a second, Steve,” you say, “there’s plenty of evidence out there telling us exactly what God is like.”

But God himself begs to differ:

“For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.” (Isaiah 55:9, ESV)

In context, the “heavens” here refers to the celestial bodies way out in space (planets, stars, etc.) that people in Old Testament times would have observed (at least partially) as they gazed up into the night sky – in other words, the whole big universe.

So just how high is the universe? And how much can we even comprehend? Continue reading

Is Stephen Hawking’s Claim There’s “No Possibility” of God Possible?

October 23, 2018 / / 1 Comment

Artist’s illustration of how a black hole system could look. Image Credit: Dana Berry, NASA

World-famous cosmologist Stephen Hawking’s newly released book Brief Answers to the Big Questions, compiled from years of speeches, interviews and essays prior to his death, is a fascinating read.

In the very first chapter he tackles the big question of, “Is There a God?” Ultimately, he concludes that the laws of science are such that the universe didn’t need a God to create it. “If you accept, as I do, that the laws of nature are fixed, then it doesn’t take long to ask: what role is there for God?” he queries.

Furthermore, he argues that because it can be shown that time did not exist prior to the Big Bang, there was no time for a cause and, therefore, no God: “For me this means that there is no possibility of a creator, because there is no time for a creator to have existed in.”

He proposes, consequently, that it’s scientifically “possible that nothing caused the Big Bang. Nothing.”

Now, to establish up front, there is a tendency for some people of faith to try to villainize people like Hawking for daring to speak such notions – or to arrogantly try to “shut them down” by proving how ignorant that person really is.

I have no such intentions. I hold the greatest amount of respect for Mr. Hawking and recognize the amazing contribution he has made not only to science in general but to me personally in helping provide a greater understanding of our universe and how it works. I also do not pretend to even come close to holding the intellectual prowess and knowledge that he has.

On his own part, Hawking confesses that he doesn’t “have a grudge against God” and has “no desire to offend anyone of faith.” To me, he is merely attempting to speak truth as he sees it.

That said, I do believe he is ultimately incorrect in his assertions on God’s existence because he, like the rest of us, is the victim of false assumptions about God – many of which have been purported for years by theologians and scientists alike.

The following are the reasons his conclusions fall short:

Continue reading

Check out my new book, “Rethinking God!”

October 13, 2018 / / 0 Comments

Book description:

The God you think exists does not exist.

By examining science, philosophy, and the Bible, Steve Baldwin reveals the existence of a God that is radically different than most have understood. He demonstrates how we lack a consistent definition for “God” and the result is often a God we see as too insignificant for our lives, too distant for relationship and having little relevance to our daily realities. By proposing a new understanding of the name of God, Steve uncovers a God that really does exist and bridges the widening gap between faith and science:

“What if we are looking at two sides of the same coin? What if billions, if not infinite, combinations played out together to ‘accidentally’ create over a length of time an ordered universe with intelligent creatures, reflecting the very natural laws and character of its intelligent, creative, and I daresay even loving source – existence?”

The universe is telling stories.

The question is, why?

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