Fools Holiday

~ The Atheists Holiday ~            

The following is from an unknown source.

An atheist was quite incensed over the preparation for Easter and Passover holidays, and decided to contact the local ACLU about the discrimination inflicted on atheists by the constant celebrations afforded to Christians and Jews with all their holidays, while the atheists had no holidays for them to celebrate.  The ACLU jumped on the opportunity to once again pick up the cause of the downtrodden and assigned their sharpest attorney to the case.

The case was brought up before a learned judge, who after listening to the passionate presentation by the ACLU representative, promptly banged his gavel and said, “Case dismissed!”  The ACLU lawyer stood up and objected to the ruling, and said, “Your honor, how can you dismiss this case?  Surely the Christians have Christmas, Easter, and many other observances.  And the Jews—why, in addition to Passover, they have Yom Kippur and Hanukkah, and yet my client and all other atheists have no such holiday!”

The judge leaned back in his chair and simply said, “Obviously your client is too confused to know about, or for that matter, even celebrate the Atheists holiday!”  The ACLU lawyer pompously said, “We are aware of no such holiday for atheists.  Just when might that be?”  The judge said, “Well, it comes every year at the same time:  April 1st!”

The Word of God Says  ~  “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1a).  This is repeated, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 53:1a).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

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5 Fools

~ Which Fool Are You? ~

Each of us fits into one of the five types of fools.

Atheistic Fool ~ The person who has enough faith to believe that there is no master designer—no God. He lives by the motto that “there is no God.” This may be the biggest fool of all since Scripture twice makes the following statement:  “The fool has said in his heart, ‘There is no God’” (Psalm 14:1a & 53:1a).

Do It Yourself Fool ~ The individual who depends on their own good works—unwilling to accept the Cross of Calvary as their access to God. “For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God” (1 Corinthians 1:18).

Let Me Help Fool ~ The one who intellectually accepts the reality of the historical Christ but bases their salvation on something other than Christ’s death in their place for them—unwilling to accept the Cross of Calvary as their only access to God. Jesus said, “Therefore whoever hears these sayings of Mine, and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house on the rock: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it did not fall, for it was founded on the rock. But everyone who hears these sayings of Mine, and does not do them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand: and the rain descended, the floods came, and the winds blew and beat on that house; and it fell. And great was its fall” (Matthew 7:24-27).

Pick & Choose Fool ~ This is the person who decides for themselves which parts of God’s Word is true and reliable—unwilling to accept the whole of the Word of God. “Then He said to them, ‘O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe in all that the prophets have spoken!’” (Luke 24:25, emphasis added).

Not Really a Fool ~ The individual who is sold out to God and considered a fool by the four other classes of fools. This person seeks to respect, honor, and live for God in all they do. “We are fools for Christ's sake” (1 Corinthians 4:10a).

Martyred missionary Jim Elliot is often quoted for saying, “He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain that which he cannot lose.” Centuries prior Dr. Luke wrote: “And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but are yourself lost or destroyed?” (Luke 9:25 New Living Translation).

~ Robert Lloyd Russell, ABUNDANT LIFE NOW

Insight to Witnessing

Book Review: A Friendly Dialogue Between an Atheist and a Christian

Overview: This is an unusual book which relates a conversation between Zhao Qizheng, a renowned Chinese diplomat, and Luis Palau, an American evangelist. It is self-described as a dialogue between an atheist and a theist, between a scientist and a Christian evangelist, between one from the East and one from the West.

From the book: Dr. Palau said, “We came at it from the points of view of an atheist and a believer, but we soon realized that we have a lot in common as human beings, that we respect each other and we enjoy each other’s company.” … Mr. Zhao Qizheng said at the same press conference, “Dr. Palau and I are both rather pure species of our two different cultures. Because both of us were very straightforward during our discussions, we were able to breach the barriers posed by different ideologies and exchange views on a wide range of topics.”

Summary: I found this book to have significant value. It illustrates a very civil and respectful dialogue between individuals with drastically different views. It could be considered a textbook on how to be an effective witness to someone who has very different beliefs and views. The book provides real insight into the mind of a very accomplished self-described atheist. The following is an example of the interchanges:

[Zhao]: For China, Christianity is an imported item. It’s not a local product. Buddhism is also imported from abroad, but it has long been localized so as to make it more compatible with Chinese culture.

[Palau]: I’ve got to say something. Actually, Christianity was imported from heaven to every nation. When Jesus was born of the Virgin Mary, Christ brought in Christianity and it’s an important religion for every culture, not just China.

[Zhao]: Most of the major religions claim that theirs is the only God. I cannot discriminate against anyone of them. So I am left with only two choices. The first: I believe all their claims are correct. In that case, there will be many gods. The second choice is: all the claims are unfounded; there’s no God at all. No religion would agree with me on that, either.

[Palau]: It’s too easy to answer that one. There’s no God? Forget it. You got to get serious and say, “I’m going to find God if it’s the last thing I do.” You’re a scientist, you have to dig, dig, dig,

Full Title: A Friendly Dialogue Between an Atheist and a Christian
Authors: Luis Palau & Zhao Qizheng
Publisher: Zondervan
Date Published: 2006
Number of pages: 140
ISBN: 978-0-310-28533-5