The fool has said in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt and have committed abominable injustice. There is no one who does good. God has looked down from heaven upon the sons of men to see if there is anyone who understands - who seeks after God. (Vs. 1-3)
The fear (reverence) for the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
For some reason, God saw fit to repeat Psalm 14. Perhaps that is just how concerned He is about the foolishness of denying His existence. That "foolishness" causes great harm to the children of God as they are treated cruelly by those who hate God.
On September 13, 2001, the massive clean-up of the fallen World Trade Center twin towers was barely under way. Tons of dust and blackened steel rose from the earth like monoliths to mayhem. The effort looked overwhelming as twisted metal heaped in tall mountains in downtown Manhattan. Frank Silecchia had walked four hours from 34th and 12th, a ten minute drive, to the site of the attack carrying his hard hat, a flashlight and a bottle of water. He was the last volunteer taken into the area for the clean-up. He walked through dust over a foot high and saw firetrucks mangled and twisted; ambulances and police cars flattened as if they had been stepped on by a giant's foot. The search was for bodies. Some were found whole; others were in pieces. Frank was allowed into Building #6. The area was dark, visibility limited. With flashlights aglow, the men searched for any who might have survived the carnage. A ray of light ahead caught Frank's attention and took his breath away. The grotto was illuminated to reveal a cross, seventeen feet high, standing upright and glimmering in the sun as it peaked through the wreckage. Frank fell to his knees. His pilgrimage and the overwhelming scenes of the day had left him hopeless and despairing. But the cross, gleaming before him, revitalized Frank to pursue and persevere. Later in the day, Frank saw Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest, and called him over to see the cross. Many others joined the priest to see the visage of hope rising like a phoenix from the fire. The icon became a symbol to all the workers at Ground Zero. Of hope and courage. Daily prayers were said at the cross. Not only Christian prayers, but those of all faiths who saw it as a sign of comfort. Ultimately it stands as a permanent reminder to those who worked at Ground Zero and carried replicas of the cross in their pockets as they went about the clean-up. Who looked up at the lighted symbol of hope in the dark nights of filtering through dusty debris for those who lost their lives in the crumbling of the buildings.
Kenneth Bronstein, the president of the New York Atheists has filed a lawsuit to remove the cross from the Ground Zero memorial. His group suffers dyspepsia, depression, headaches and anxiety every time they look at that "dusty girder." Unfair, he says, that the cross should be a symbol there, despite 100,000 signatures from people of all faiths who would argue against the removal of the cross from the memorial grounds. He at least wants to make sure that the religious hate his group before he quits what is probably a futile desire to abolish the cross. That is not what it brings up in me, however. Hate. If the cross of Christ makes the atheists dyspeptic, what is it they are experiencing? Were He only a prophet as some claim, would they then become ill because of Him? If He were only a human like they, would He give them such a headache? Or is it that He claimed to be the great I AM? God in the flesh. The One Who could represent Himself with a symbol so unique it is recognized the world over as the representation of suffering for mankind.
Why, if He is God, did He not then keep Al Qaeda from the attack in the first place? That is their question. Why worship a god who instead of saving you throws a cross into the rubble to make you look? Good question. And the upshot of Psalm 53. The foolish are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have fallen away. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one.
Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on God? (Vs. 2-4)
Reverence for God is at the root of wisdom, for we have only our own perspective without Him. The cross is a symbol that God is sovereign even over the enemy who would lay us at his feet. For those who know Christ as their Savior and for those who see Him only as One Who suffered great loss, the cross represents hope of salvation and resurrection. I am deeply sorry this makes the atheist want to vomit. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God for salvation....Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe....For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1.
The fear (reverence) for the Lord is the beginning of knowledge. Fools despise wisdom and instruction. Proverbs 1:7
For some reason, God saw fit to repeat Psalm 14. Perhaps that is just how concerned He is about the foolishness of denying His existence. That "foolishness" causes great harm to the children of God as they are treated cruelly by those who hate God.
On September 13, 2001, the massive clean-up of the fallen World Trade Center twin towers was barely under way. Tons of dust and blackened steel rose from the earth like monoliths to mayhem. The effort looked overwhelming as twisted metal heaped in tall mountains in downtown Manhattan. Frank Silecchia had walked four hours from 34th and 12th, a ten minute drive, to the site of the attack carrying his hard hat, a flashlight and a bottle of water. He was the last volunteer taken into the area for the clean-up. He walked through dust over a foot high and saw firetrucks mangled and twisted; ambulances and police cars flattened as if they had been stepped on by a giant's foot. The search was for bodies. Some were found whole; others were in pieces. Frank was allowed into Building #6. The area was dark, visibility limited. With flashlights aglow, the men searched for any who might have survived the carnage. A ray of light ahead caught Frank's attention and took his breath away. The grotto was illuminated to reveal a cross, seventeen feet high, standing upright and glimmering in the sun as it peaked through the wreckage. Frank fell to his knees. His pilgrimage and the overwhelming scenes of the day had left him hopeless and despairing. But the cross, gleaming before him, revitalized Frank to pursue and persevere. Later in the day, Frank saw Brian Jordan, a Franciscan priest, and called him over to see the cross. Many others joined the priest to see the visage of hope rising like a phoenix from the fire. The icon became a symbol to all the workers at Ground Zero. Of hope and courage. Daily prayers were said at the cross. Not only Christian prayers, but those of all faiths who saw it as a sign of comfort. Ultimately it stands as a permanent reminder to those who worked at Ground Zero and carried replicas of the cross in their pockets as they went about the clean-up. Who looked up at the lighted symbol of hope in the dark nights of filtering through dusty debris for those who lost their lives in the crumbling of the buildings.
Kenneth Bronstein, the president of the New York Atheists has filed a lawsuit to remove the cross from the Ground Zero memorial. His group suffers dyspepsia, depression, headaches and anxiety every time they look at that "dusty girder." Unfair, he says, that the cross should be a symbol there, despite 100,000 signatures from people of all faiths who would argue against the removal of the cross from the memorial grounds. He at least wants to make sure that the religious hate his group before he quits what is probably a futile desire to abolish the cross. That is not what it brings up in me, however. Hate. If the cross of Christ makes the atheists dyspeptic, what is it they are experiencing? Were He only a prophet as some claim, would they then become ill because of Him? If He were only a human like they, would He give them such a headache? Or is it that He claimed to be the great I AM? God in the flesh. The One Who could represent Himself with a symbol so unique it is recognized the world over as the representation of suffering for mankind.
Why, if He is God, did He not then keep Al Qaeda from the attack in the first place? That is their question. Why worship a god who instead of saving you throws a cross into the rubble to make you look? Good question. And the upshot of Psalm 53. The foolish are corrupt, doing abominable iniquity. There is none who does good.
God looks down from heaven on the children of man to see if there are any who understand, who seek after God. They have fallen away. Together they have become corrupt. There is none who does good, not even one.
Have those who work evil no knowledge, who eat up my people as they eat bread, and do not call on God? (Vs. 2-4)
Reverence for God is at the root of wisdom, for we have only our own perspective without Him. The cross is a symbol that God is sovereign even over the enemy who would lay us at his feet. For those who know Christ as their Savior and for those who see Him only as One Who suffered great loss, the cross represents hope of salvation and resurrection. I am deeply sorry this makes the atheist want to vomit. For the word of the cross is folly to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved, it is the power of God for salvation....Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since, in the wisdom of God, the world did not know God through wisdom, it pleased God through the folly of what we preach to save those who believe....For the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the weakness of God is stronger than men. I Corinthians 1.
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