thenonbelieversbible-blog

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Proverbs 3:5-6

“Trust in the Lord with all your heart    and lean not on your own understanding;  in all your ways submit to him,    and he will make your paths straight.”

           Before I begin, i want to start with a quote from Suzy Kassem, author of the book “Rise up and Salute the Sun” and director: “Doubt kills more dreams than failure ever will.” 

A story of perseverance has always won the hearts of us, from Michael Jordan, Steve Jobs, and Walt Disney, to the more extraneous examples of Simon Cowell and Milton Hershey, peoples whose success comes from not giving up seems to strike a theme with us, maybe giving us hope that we will someday be like them, no matter how far away that goal is. 

The truth is, our second judgment can be fatal to our aspirations we think too hard on them. We begin to realize how far away the goal is. With Proverbs 3:5-6 the Lord, in a list of commandments, tells how, to believe in ourselves and trust that what you are doing is the correct path. As individuals, it is impossible to understand fully the world around us. The world is complicated place. Isaiah 55:8-9 says

“’For my thoughts are not your thoughts,    neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord.  ‘As the heavens are higher than the earth,    so are my ways higher than your ways    and my thoughts than your thoughts.’”

 If we cannot trust that what we are doing, from as simple as the cliche grind to a perseverance story, is correct, none of us will succeed. This constant chase of whats better is later addressed in Proverbs 16:25 in 

   “There is a way that appears to be right,    but in the end it leads to death.”

The rat race of doing what seems to be the correct thing to do can prove futile, where as the man who does his thing, can be lead to the path of success. 

          Secondly, and maybe more importantly, life is stressful. The stresses of our daily lives, even when those lives were sowing seeds or defending the Holy Land, were still enough to cripple anyone who didn't know how to deal with it efficiently. The second part, Proverbs 3:6, deals with this, to me, explicitly. There is significant psychiatric benefit in confiding in someone else, for example: the reason that not being alone feels good to us while being lonely does not.If we are told that our fate is in someone elses hands and that we are not alone, there’s a significant benefit in the fact that we can start to handle that stress better. Loneliness is a disease that is plaguing our societies today. In January 2017, Forbes magazine reported the finds of a study from the Brigham Young University in an article called “Loneliness might be a bigger health risk than smoking or obesity”. The following is a quote from their official findings:

“Actual and perceived social isolation are both associated with increased risk for early mortality. In this meta-analytic review, our objective is to establish the overall and relative magnitude of social isolation and loneliness and to examine possible moderators. We conducted a literature search of studies (January 1980 to February 2014) using MEDLINE, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Social Work Abstracts, and Google Scholar. The included studies provided quantitative data on mortality as affected by loneliness, social isolation, or living alone. Across studies in which several possible confounds were statistically controlled for, the weighted average effect sizes were as follows: social isolation odds ratio (OR) = 1.29, loneliness OR = 1.26, and living alone OR = 1.32, corresponding to an average of 29%, 26%, and 32% increased likelihood of mortality, respectively. We found no differences between measures of objective and subjective social isolation. Results remain consistent across gender, length of follow-up, and world region, but initial health status has an influence on the findings. Results also differ across participant age, with social deficits being more predictive of death in samples with an average age younger than 65 years. Overall, the influence of both objective and subjective social isolation on risk for mortality is comparable with well-established risk factors for mortality.”

Obviously there is a stress on not being lonely and having faith that all will be fine because it is a necessity to a happy, long life. Not being alone is a reoccuring theme in the Bible. Deuteronomy 31:6 says:

“Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the LORD your God goes with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you.”

          There is a major gleaming flaw with the wide spread usage of this quote: laziness. This can very easily be interpreted as The Lord bringing all things to you, although the Bible speaks many times on idleness as a sin in such verses as 2 thessalonians 3:11-13:

“We hear that some among you are idle and disruptive. They are not busy; they are busybodies. 12 Such people we command and urge in the Lord Jesus Christ to settle down and earn the food they eat. 13 And as for you, brothers and sisters, never tire of doing what is good.”

           What i derive from this quote is that everything will be ok and to not fret because we cannot see the full picture; only what we can control, so keep working hard and your goal will come to you.

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Isaiah 41:10

“So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you;I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

Throughout the Bible there remains an outstanding amount of quotes dealing with fear and how we can over come it. We see this idea again of reassurance in the face of danger in Phillipians 4:13:

“I can do all this through him who gives me strength.” 

If we put ourselves in the shoes of Isaiah, or another of the greatest, most revered prophets in the Christian faith, with the task of creating a book in which the future will read and derive morality from, fear becomes a much more applicable topic to cover. Think of how we deal in our daily lives with fear. The fear of failure. The fear of never being good enough for those around us, the fear of rejection. All the fears, crippling if we allow them to be, crush us from all sides, yet fear is tamable. Fear is the fire of our emotions; destructive if we cannot stop it, powerful if we do. If we were writing a great tome on how to get through life, there is little chance something as important as reassurance wound be left on the cutting room floor. In today's society we range success somewhat off the basis of how well we deal with stress. Those who are able to pull together in the face of stress more often than not more successful, as we deem, than those who are not. The person who is crippled by fear never made history. We must face our fears to grow   

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Kings 19:4-14

This selection is my first request, and I am more than happy to cover. First i want to preface this with my goal. In life, when my time has come and I look back on my life, i want to be able to say the world was a better place because of me. There are few better ways to do this than saving a life of someone who feels as if they need to take their own. Suicide is not a joke. Depression is a stage of our lives, how ever. If we can make it through, we become stronger and learn happiness must be achieved and not granted. Lots can be learned from Rock bottom. For those of us who are going through hard times and the feeling of that light at the end of the tunnel never coming mounting, we must keep in mind that it will, and that day will be glorious and we will emerge stronger than we have ever been. 

This is what The Lord and Elijah discuss in Kings 19:4-14.

“4 while he himself went a day’s journey into the wilderness. He came to a broom bush, sat down under it and prayed that he might die. “I have had enough, LORD,” he said. “Take my life; I am no better than my ancestors.” 5 Then he lay down under the bush and fell asleep. All at once an angel touched him and said, “Get up and eat.” 6 He looked around, and there by his head was some bread baked over hot coals, and a jar of water. He ate and drank and then lay down again. 7 The angel of the LORD came back a second time and touched him and said, “Get up and eat, for the journey is too much for you.” 8 So he got up and ate and drank. Strengthened by that food, he traveled forty days and forty nights until he reached Horeb, the mountain of God.

The LORD Appears to Elijah

9 There he went into a cave and spent the night. And the word of the LORD came to him: “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 10 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.” 11 The LORD said, “Go out and stand on the mountain in the presence of the LORD, for the LORD is about to pass by.” Then a great and powerful wind tore the mountains apart and shattered the rocks before the LORD, but the LORD was not in the wind. After the wind there was an earthquake, but the LORD was not in the earthquake. 12 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in the fire. And after the fire came a gentle whisper. 13 When Elijah heard it, he pulled his cloak over his face and went out and stood at the mouth of the cave. Then a voice said to him, “What are you doing here, Elijah?” 14 He replied, “I have been very zealous for the LORD God Almighty. The Israelites have rejected your covenant, torn down your altars, and put your prophets to death with the sword. I am the only one left, and now they are trying to kill me too.””

What I find interesting about this piece remains the actions of God and Elijah. Elijah mental dexterity is definitely being pushed and Elijah, like most of us, is feeling insufficient. He says he is no better than his ancestors. he feels as if he has failed the Lord. In our daily lives we fail. We fail multiple times, yet we get back up and we achieve that goal. Failure is a detour, one that can get us down and make us feel claustrophobic in ourselves, even insecure. When Elijah wants to quit, All he truly needs is the motivation to keep going, achieving his goal. Often in our lives we over think our basic aspects, leading to stress, halting our progress. Things such as tests, the ways someone looked at you, the way you looked at someone, all can clog ones mental progression if not dismissed.  Often, these minute problems offer a solution much quicker than we expect. Elijah, in this selection, is forty days and nights away, yet keeps chipping away until he arrives. Daily, we must chip away our stresses and aggressors until we get back on track with our happiness. We must chip away that depression, maybe once a day smiling at something we usually ignore, acknowledging the beauty that surrounds us, or finding solitude in knowing the world is better with us in it. None of these cracks we make daily will be big, just as food and water are not big items, he does not receive a gold wagon and horses, he receives nutrients. The small differences we make daily add up quickly, and soon we will find ourselves far from where we started. The journey will not be easy, the journey will not be quick, but the journey will be worth it in bettering ourselves. 

So what does this mean for our God we call life and mental dexterity?

I have found that life after beating depression becomes uncontested because we have the confidence and backing to handle whatever trials and tribulations come our way, and just like when those Israelite's did not want Elijah, we will know how to handle our stresses. Now, the cloud that lingers daily feels like a curse, yet i assure you that it is truly a lesson in disguise, one that we must take full advantage of, for someday we will emerge stronger than when we entered with a new skill set, and real world applications that will not leave you no matter how far you travel.    

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Jeremiah 29:11

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

Already a common thread of need for a deep trust in the Lord, which is to be expected, is once again exemplified. Weight of the future is what most often gives us stress in our lives. Bills, dates, careers, all of these future seem daunting, however in the hands of the Lord, all is possible. So what does all this mean? Life has a way of figuring things out for all. That bill we stress about may get postponed and met, or that date will go great for both of you, because you were just as nervous as they were. Life figures things out, but because we stress these events out of proportion, not because a deity has our back. This faith would put these anxious thoughts in someone else’s hands: Gods. Yet to us God is the self. Out of sight out of mind, and if we trust ourselves to get these done, then we once again regain control.   

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Philippians 4:6

“Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.”

Philippians 4:6 prefaces 4:8 of course. With that knowledge, which we know was talking about doing what makes you happy with your life, in addition to this quote, we can infer that there needs to be trust between God and the believer, an idea that is stressed in churches and throughout the Bible. Once again, if we substitute the idea of God here with an idea of the self, the selection can start to make more sense. We are asked to put faith in the Lord by trusting him to soothe anxiety, a natural human emotion. To often in our day to day lives, we overthink and stress over minor causes. If we had this same relationship with ourselves, trusting ourselves so deeply, most of these problems would seize to exist, and that is definitely something that a book regarding development as a person would want to instill. This would be one more step closer to inner peace.

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Philippians 4:8

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.”

To any one, whether God is in the picture or not, Philippians 4:8 is not too hard to decrypt. what this one boils down to is simply to do what makes you happy. One of the more fascinating points of this quote is, that if read wrong, can possibly violate the first and second commandments, Thou shalt not have any Gods before me and  Thou shalt not make idols, respectively. What we choose to do with our lives and how these make us feel should be at the fore front of any persons psyche as we navigate through our lives. Along with our moral compass, the two can help lead us through hard times, as God would. The world can be confusing, and for most of us, it will be, but keeping our bearings in  hard times and doing with our lives what makes us happy is the key to mental strength and inner peace. 

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Romans 12:2

One of the most famous Bible quotes, Romans 12:2, reads 

“Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.”

To me, this only means nothing more than to stay with your morals and your ethics, not the world around you and the negative influences. In the typical reading, this would be a command to follow the commandments; however, non-metaphorically, I interpret this as more of a reaffirmation of your gut feeling and ethics.  

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

What if

If we imagine God being the knowledge inside of us and our mental strength, the reasons why people feel as if God is with them in hard times becomes a lot more obvious. Naturally, as humans, we tend to project ourselves onto characters, and God, once being seen as a metaphor for ourselves, which, in hard times, can feel like all that we have, ourselves, can be a person we rest safely knowing is with us.Someone who grows up being told that God will always be with them is going to have an established relationship with projecting their safety on to God rather than someone that goes out and forges through hard times on their own projecting their feelings on their own mental strength. This creation of a a projection of some one who is by our side and always taking care of us, to atheists, is preposterous, however we have all found, at least once, solitude in our knowledge. These seemingly shining lights are just a difference in perspective compared to someone who has vs. hasn't been told there’s someone next to them their whole lives. 

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

The Word of God

The word f God has been interpreted as a literal meaning for thousands of years by Christians; however, if we take these messages at more than face value, messages such as God will always be with you, when we start to look at it and realize that God, in some sections prefers to be thought of inside at all times, can be thought of than no more than the knowledge, and life lessons we obtain, as they will always be with us. 

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

How?

It is often said in churches that The Holy Bible is the literal word of God. Here, there is no word of God, only what we can derive from this so called “Holy Advice.” Together, we will search for deeper meanings that are more applicable to our lives as atheists and those who just need advice whether they are going through a hard time, or just looking for more answers to life.

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

If We Don’t Believe, Whats The Point?

It is undeniable that the Christian Bible has a fair share of horribly tragic and immoral lessons to be learned, but for every one of those pieces, there is equally one lesson, as we will discover, that we cannot let fall away from our daily lives. Lessons that, for thousands of years people have lived off of, some peacefully, some not. Teenage years are hard enough to figure out by ourselves and advice that has been upheld for thousands of years. We will delve into these books for what we can learn.

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

Why?

We are growing up and finding a world where religion, in the western world and European Union, is dying, contrasted to some parts of the world, where religion is becoming stronger than ever. This drastic difference is creating a generation who is finding it more important to take a stance on religion. My vision is to help in this search for the way we think, and decode some of the most cryptic and possibly confusing texts in human history for the moral messages and modern applications, in order to better ourselves as people and better ourselves as atheists, theists, or just those people who are not sure which they are yet. 

[thenonbelieversbible-blog]

The Atheist In Church

Hello! My name is The Atheist In Church. My purpose is to inspire young adults like myself, to view religion and the world around them in a different light. Today, atheism has spread with the rise of science's influence. With The Atheist In Church project, we will review The Holy Bible as well as sermons through an Atheist lens, and trying to identify moral lessons. After all, The Bible has had many revisions through many time periods and has come to contain moral wisdom; of which we will interpret through atheism.