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Apples of Gold
Radio Script for August 31, 2009
“I Am Ruined for Atheism”
Hello, I’m Doug Apple…with Apples of Gold.
If God’s not writing through me, I don’t want to write.
If God’s not speaking through me, I don’t want to speak.
If God’s not in my plans, I don’t want to make them.
If I stand at the edge and think of living life without God, all I see is a useless void.
But when I think of life with God, I see hope and beauty and mystery and love and wisdom and adventure and a high calling and purpose for my life, both now and forever.
When I look at my family, my marriage, my household, I see peace and order and love and a bright future. And the reason is because we are trying to do things God’s way instead of our own way.
It’s not always easy, but I can look back over the years and see all the good fruit that comes from doing things God’s way.
I have an atheist trying to convince me there is no god. He says we evolved and there is no creator. He says we will die and there is no afterlife. He says we are just animals and we have no soul. He gets irate when I talk about God and thinks I am close-minded and that if I would ever just listen to all his facts, I would be convinced.
He doesn’t realize it’s too late. I’m already 100% convinced the other way. I have zero doubts there is a creator. We have a creation, and thus a creator. I am thoroughly convinced of the afterlife. I believe it because the Bible says it, and I believe it because it makes sense to me, that even though our bodies die, we actually live on forever.
And I’m mostly convinced because of the changes God made in my life to make me a better man – a far better man than I would have been without Him. If left to myself, hard telling how wretched I might be by now. But God through Jesus Christ, working through His Holy Spirit within me, has forgiven and cleansed me and made me whole. He has me striving to lead a holy and blameless life before Him, and He is empowering me to do that as He changes me from the inside out.
God is the foundation of my life, and He has made it a blessed life.
Remember the old movie “It’s a Wonderful Life”? George Bailey says, “I wish I had never been born,” and suddenly he gets to see what the world would be like if he hadn’t.
Well I look at my life and say, “What if I hadn’t been born again?” And I don’t like what I see.
I look at the path some of my old friends have taken, a path that veered them away from God; and look where they ended up. So many broken marriages and broken homes. Kids gone astray. I just see broken pieces everywhere.
I don’t doubt that without God in my life I would have ended up like that. My life without God looks like Pottersville – bleak and ugly and dingy.
But God takes crooked things and makes them straight. He takes broken things and makes them new. He takes dirty things and makes them white as snow.
God has done that in my life, and it is a glorious thing to behold.
And now you want me to consider life without God, as if He doesn’t exist, as if I just made all this up, as if I just conjured up the idea of God in my own mind and convinced myself that He existed and then became a good husband and father and worker and citizen, became honest and loving and forgiving and decent and kind? Like one day I just swallowed some kind of really-good-person pill?
Nope. I can’t even fathom it. The changes God made in me are so real and tangible, I guess I am ruined for atheism. It’s impossible for me to be an atheist now.
I don’t want to live a day without God, not a minute without God. I don’t want to do anything without God.
And because God has done so much for me, I want to spread the word! I want to share the good news! That’s why I manage this Christian radio station, to keep the good news on the air 24 hours a day. That’s why I write Apples of Gold and e-mail it all over.
I think knowing the Lord and His ways is the best thing that could happen to anyone, so I want everyone to know.
As for you atheists, I see what you are saying. I can’t see God, so He doesn’t exist. There are many different religions, so mine isn’t true. Doctors can’t find it, so I don’t have a soul. Scientists can’t prove a Creator, so there isn’t one. Everything is just made up, so there really is no sin. Oh, except that it’s a sin for me to keep telling people about God.
I see your point, but your bullying and your hateful speech and your incomplete logic just bounce off like so many pebbles against Mount Everest.
Like I said, I’m ruined for atheism.
It’s too late for me. God has done too many wonderful things in my life, and to even think about living without Him is just a hopeless, joyless thought.
So I say along the apostle in First Peter chapter 1 – though I have not seen the Lord, I love Him; and even though I do not see Him now, I believe in Him and am filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for I am receiving the goal of my faith, the salvation of my soul.
Comments?
E-mail me: dougapple@wave94.com.
May God bless you today! With Apples of Gold…I’m Doug Apple.
© 2009 The Arrow’s Tip
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(Proverbs 25:11 – “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in settings of silver.”)
Why “The Arrow’s Tip”? Each morning, after diligently seeking the Lord, I write Apples of Gold. Then before I release it to the public I pray one final prayer, “Lord, send forth your arrows.” I envision Apples of Gold as arrows, tips dipped in the river of the water of life that flows from the throne of God (Rev. 22:1), sailing toward the hearts and minds of men and women around the world.
Doug Apple
General Manager - Wave 94
Christian Radio for Tallahassee
PO Box 4105
Tallahassee, FL 32315
(850) 926-8000
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1 comment:
Oh my, what a fine, fine post. My thoughts exactly but written so much better than I could have ever done on my own. Thank you. See you there!
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