Sunday, August 26, 2018

Christmas Giving Project!

We are in the last quarter of the year and people are starting to think about how they might give to causes that are dear to their hearts. I am pleased to announce that my wife and I have taken upon a project to raise support for the Cleveland Pregnancy Center, a non-profit organization that seeks to help women who are facing an unplanned pregnancy. Unlike other organizations, the Cleveland Pregnancy Center chooses to promote the life of the unborn child.

In 2016, Ohio performed over 20,000 abortions! That means that 20,000 innocent lives were terminated before they could even meet their family or have a chance to be loved in this world.

The Cleveland Pregnancy Center provides hope. They provide ultra-sounds and encourage putting children up for adoption. According to their website at www.clevelandpregnancycenter.org, more than 5000 abortion-vulnerable women coming through their doors have chosen life for their children. We are all created in the image of God, and we seek to remind those, who are in crisis, of this beautiful reality.

How can you support this cause? Join my wife and I in raising money for the Cleveland Pregnancy Center by purchasing a copy of our upcoming books: 1.)Wisdom for the Journey in Parenting: 50 Simple Tips for Christian Moms and Dads and 2.)Giganotus Rex: The Battle of Midland (as well as the prequel, The Wrath of Giganotus Rex). All profits from September 2018 through December 2018 will go to the Cleveland Pregnancy Center.

Melissa and I are excited to be partnering with this organization to save lives. Our prayer is that we might raise awareness and lead women into their doors. Cleveland Pregnancy Center is a faith-based organization that not only saves the lives of unborn children, but also points people to faith in Jesus Christ.

In the coming weeks, check out our updates and also the store page at www.williamhseng.com. Thanks for your help in giving this Christmas!

In Christ,
Bill, Melissa, Jaden, and Carter Seng

Wednesday, August 22, 2018

The World We Live In

Have you ever thought about the world that we live in today? It is full of injustice, deceit, violence, suffering, hatred, and death.

Many people believe that this is the world's natural condition because of the cruel nature of natural selection. In order for evolution to occur, things must die. This philosophy of cruelty has become a part of our daily thought patterns.

Regardless of our beliefs, humanity seems to also believe that their is a way to escape the sadness of nature's brutality. We do so through drugs, alcohol, promiscuity, entertainment, and thrill-seeking. No matter how hard we try our satisfaction lasts for mere moments before we realize our emptiness, once again.

The reality is that we are living in a broken world. This might sound like bad news, but it is actually the basis for the best news you could ever possibly hear. If the world we live in is broken, that means that it can be fixed. The idea that the universe is nothing more than a series of cruel accidents melts away into beautiful reality that all things were designed with a purpose. The notion that only the strong should survive is surpassed by the reality that the strong were meant to care for the weak. The belief that cruelty is the driving force of progress is discarded for the reality that love conquers all.

Jesus is the answer to your feelings of emptiness. All else fails to satisfy, but Jesus has promised to be with us forever. Put Him as your first priority and you will be able to bring healing to a broken world.


Wednesday, April 18, 2018

Flat Earther Theory

Do you know anybody who believes in a flat earth? Do you know anybody who knows somebody that believes in a flat earth? If you are anything like me, your answers to these questions are no and not to my knowledge. The number of people that believe in a flat earth can be counted on one hand. Why are Flat Earthers mocked so much when they exist only as a benign and irrelevant movement? The answer is somewhat troubling.

The flat earth movement is considered by many people to be derived from an ultra literal understanding of Scripture. The implication is that the more conservative one's understanding of Scripture is, the more wacky it becomes. Extrapolating this point to its logical conclusion, it then follows that the more liberal one's interpretation of the Bible is, the more realistic one's understanding becomes.

Now, a liberal understanding of Scripture views the majority of the Bible as being merely symbolic. It took more than 6 days to create the universe, the world could not be flooded by water, the plagues in Egypt had to be some sort of an allegory, and the resurrection of Jesus does not need to be viewed as a literal and bodily resurrection. The Bible does not become more realistic, it becomes less relevant when turned into a book of allegories. This is exactly what the mockers of the flat earth movement are trying to accomplish by pretending that flat earthers make up a significant portion of the community of faith.

Recently, a famous political commentator stated that he no longer gives credit to the sum of the American people as being smart. To the contrary, it has become more and more evident that we live in a culture where people do not want to debate ideas. The indoctrination process in this country has become so powerful that what children are taught in institutions of learning becomes Gospel truth until the day they die. Intellectual debate has been replaced by labels, like bigot or denier, that render all things spoken by the other person to be irrelevant. How does this relate to the label of a Flat Earther?

You do not have to be a Flat Earther in order to be deemed a Flat Earther. All it takes to end up with a Flat Earther label is to believe that the Bible is inerrant, infallible, and the eternal Word of God which never changes. To those who understand the Bible through a more liberal interpretation, believing in the permanence of God's Word is far too extreme to take seriously. Although the Bible never expresses that the earth is flat, in any way, liberals use the label as a tool to render any literal understanding of the Bible as pure foolishness.

As a Young Earth Creationist, this is particularly troubling to me because I know that my stances are not based on a rejection of proven science. Flat Earthers deny what satellite photos clearly teach about the earth's shape. Flat Earthers deny that mankind has landed on the moon (and they have convinced many non-flat earthers that the moon landing was a staged performance). In contrast, Young Earth Creationists do not deny the speed of light, radioactive decay rates, or the existence of the geological column; they simply choose to interpret the information differently based on alternative possibilities. Creationists choose to interpret the evidence through the lens of God's Word rather than interpreting God's Word through the lens of popular science. It is getting more and more difficult to engage people in conversations over these topics because Young Earth Creationists are often assumed to be Flat Earthers by people who know little about Creationists' true convictions.

For those who mock Flat Earthers regularly, their mocking is not really against Flat Earthers; Flat Earthers barely exist. In many cases, they are inadvertently mocking people who believe in the Bible as God's revelation to mankind. You do not need to be a Young Earth Creationist to be mislabeled as a Flat Earther, you need only say that you believe the Word of God for what it says. In so doing, you acknowledge that you believe in absolute truth, and that makes many people uncomfortable.

www.williamhseng.com

Tuesday, February 27, 2018

God is Not Scientific?

Science is considered to be the only constant we know of in the universe. It is a process of making observations and forming conclusions. If all knowledge were lost, science would inevitably get us back on track. Right?

God is recognized by many religions as the entity that started everything. He has no beginning and will have no end. He was once thought to be the storehouse of all wisdom, until the scientific method was invented and taught mankind how to interpret the natural universe. Through the scientific method, God can neither be proven nor disproven. So, how can a being that cannot be seen, heard, touched, or felt be considered a part of reality? In addition, how could God, who is considered to be all powerful and all good be in control of the universe, that is not all good? Perhaps a God that is not scientific is no God at all.

Have you ever been stumped by propositions like these? God doesn't meet the same criteria as everything else in the universe. He is the ultimate reality, who wrote the laws of the universe, and who keeps it in motion. His existence is independent of our universe. The entirety of creation is a testimony towards his existence.

There are times when God must defy the laws of nature through miraculous works to achieve his ultimate plans. The Bible makes it clear that God shows mercy on some people and he brings his wrath upon others. He makes his rain to come down on the crops of both the righteous and the wicked. He is a free being that works all things out for good for those who love him and are called according to his purposes. The judgment that awaits the wicked and the glory that awaits the righteous far outweigh the temporary comforts or sufferings of our short-lived lives.

With this in mind, from an objective standpoint, one must remember that not all gods are the same. The God of the Bible is not like the god of the Koran. The god of the Koran is not like the gods of the Greeks. The gods of the Greeks are not like the Norwegian gods. The Norwegian gods are not like the Great Spirit of the Native Americans, and so forth.There is a way to disprove each set of gods that are discussed. It can be done by judging whether or not their stories represent reality.

In this sense, the Biblical God rises to the top because the Bible, which asserts that it's the Word of God. The Bible is a book that accurately describes the world in which we live. The people described are real and can be verified through archaeology. The way that it describes the natural world is consistent with the way that science defines it, from a purely objective perspective. Its description of human nature is several millennia ahead of its time, and we are still just trying to catch up to its wisdom concerning how to correct the ailments of mankind. When the truths of the Bible are put into practice by a nation, that nation prospers. When a nation departs from the ways of the Bible, that nation falls apart, piece by piece.

Science, as we now know it, falls short of defining truth. It is a collection of observations through which we devise conclusions. The observations will not change, but the conclusions are always changing. A false premise, leads to false conclusions. Historically, these are some examples where science has gotten it wrong: genetics, astrophysics, metaphysics, vestigial organs, junk DNA, earth's location in the universe (which was affirmed through observation, not religion), the affects of second hand smoke, nutrition (which changes daily), human sexuality, gender identification, and just about any theory that exists today once existed in a less perfect form in previous generations. Science is always changing; sometimes for better and sometimes for worse.

Is God scientific? He is the author of all science. He exists beyond the universe of scientific observations but can be proven through a holy text that rightly defines reality. His miracles that have been observed throughout history defy the laws of nature. And, up to this day, there has been no book that has been correct by every objective standard, as the Bible has been. "The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of the Lord stands forever" (Isaiah 40:8).

www.williamhseng.com



Wednesday, February 14, 2018

Seeking the Truth or Just an Excuse?

Have you ever experienced frustration in trying to share your faith with other people? Sometimes it feels as though I make all of the right points, cite the correct Scriptures, and sufficiently answer any questions that a skeptic might have only to be questioned one more time. What makes matters worse is that the same people ask the same questions, time and time again, after already having received an answer that should satisfy the most skeptical of minds. Like myself, you probably just want to throw up your hands and say, "Enough!" At moments like this, it is important to realize a very troubling and even more frustrating truth: not everyone is interested in the truth.

It's true! Not everyone who engages you in a conversation about the existence of God, no matter how sincere he or she comes across, is truly interested in having his mind convinced. A lot of people are only looking for one more excuse to not believe in God. Let me give you an example of a conversation you may have had with a skeptic.

Skeptic: If someone provided me with scientific evidence that God exists, I would consider the possibility.

You: Actually, there is a lot of scientific evidence that points to God's existence. First and foremost, the universe had to have come into existence through supernatural processes because science has never observed a universe coming into existence through natural means.

Skeptic: You can say that all you want, but I believe in the Big Bang. The Big Bang proves that there is no God.

You: Whether or not you believe in the Big Bang, it is unscientific to say that everything came out of nothing for no reason. Everything comes into existence as a result of something else.

Skeptic: Well, where did God come from then?

You: God is supernatural. He is not like anything in nature. But time, space, and matter had to have come from somewhere and nature could not have brought them into existence before nature existed.

Skeptic: That's ridiculous! Every time I ask for scientific proof from you, you just say, "God did it and that's good enough for me." It's religious zealots like you who were responsible for the Crusades, the Spanish Inquisition, and the Holocaust.

You, in this instance, presented scientific evidence that God exists. The Skeptic follows up by asking some more questions  that appear fairly reasonable. After You sufficiently answer the Skeptic's follow-up questions, the Skeptic expresses his absolute disdain for the belief in God by then saying you have not brought up any evidence that is worth thinking about. It is maddening, but the Skeptic has made it clear that he doesn't really care about having his mind changed. He is only looking for an excuse to not believe and to convince you that your belief in God is stupid.

But how do you know that you are not guilty of the same intellectual crime? Are you open enough to hear the skeptic out and allow for the possibility that you might be wrong?

The difference that I observe most of the time is that the believer focuses on answering questions and commending the skeptic for good points he might have. It is not that you are 100% open to having your mind changed; nobody wants to have his mind changed! Someone who is truly open to having a conversation will not deflect a person's answers by mocking the points of the person they are debating. An honest seeker might ask more questions that are relevant to the conversation. They might also bring up counter points that are directly related to the topic you are discussing. Notice that in the above conversation, the Crusades have nothing to do with the creation of the universe.

If a skeptic is genuinely concerned with evidence, he or she will focus the conversation on evidence. When the conversation deviates from the topic and moves into a plethora of accusations, it is safe to assume that your friend is not really interested in having his mind changed.

Not every reasonable person is going to have a change of heart after one conversation. The goal is to be respectful, honest, and open to what your friend says. And don't get discouraged if your friend is seeking an excuse instead of the truth. Some of the most persuasive believers are people who rejected the truth of God for many years of their lives.

www.williamhseng.com

Sunday, January 28, 2018

Accepting the Obvious

For although they know God, they neither glorified him as God nor gave thanks to him, but their thinking became futile and their foolish hearts were darkened. - Romans 1:21

In the 11th chapter of Genesis mankind set out on a mission to build a city with an enormous tower at its center. This tower came to be known as the Tower of Babel and is representative of mankind’s efforts to take hold of God’s kingdom through force. This shameful rebellion was made all the more severe because it occurred after God's judgment of the world through a worldwide flood. The reality of God, and His expectations, were no secret. This did not prevent people from denying the reality of the true God and setting up idols for themselves.

In the early parts of the Bible, mankind directly interacted with God on one level or another. Adam and Eve walked with God in the Garden of Eden. Cain and Abel offered sacrifices to God. Cain conversed with God on a personal level. Noah was spoken to by God and the flood that followed was God's judgment on the wickedness of mankind. This judgment was intended not only to cleanse the world of evil, but to put the fear of the Lord into the hearts of mankind.

Instead, mankind disregarded the clear signs from God, regarding His existence and His righteousness. Since then, thousands of false accounts have been forged to replace the one authentic story of creation and the flood, through which God judged a rebellious world.

Today, we have gone as far as to remove God from the story of creation. As a result, our thinking has literally become futile and we have darkened our foolish hearts to the most reasonable of truths.

But if you look closely, even at the godless theories used to explain away creation, you will see God’s fingerprints smudging the pages of the most militant of atheist science texts. The complexity of life, the appearance of all things from nothing, and the superiority of mankind over all other creatures are elements of the natural world that can only be explained through an intentional Creator. It is this intentionality that gives us hope and enlightens our hearts to the most obvious truth in all creation.

www.williamhseng.com

Friday, January 12, 2018

Giganotus Rex 2: Coming Soon!

I am excited to announce that book #2 in the Giganotus Rex series is well underway. I’m going to be scant on details at this time, but I am pumped to get this title into your hands as soon as possible. In both books there is a balance between intense action scenes and fun humor, along with characters that bring you right in to the story.

Here is a recap of the characters in the first book, The Wrath of Giganotus Rex:

  • G-Rex is a giant fire-breathing dinosaur, who always seems to show up at the right time. 
  • William Martin Stevens, the main character, is a reporter in search for the truth. 
  • Murakoshi is an undercover agent, who secretly helps out William Martin Stevens. 
  • The people of Orwell are kind, hard-working folks, who have been singled out for destruction. 
  • Lilith Greengate is a major official in the world's global government and uses the military to protect the city of Utopia.

 The end of the book leaves us with a question of faith and where this faith will lead our heroes.

In G-Rex 2, most of the “good guys” from The Wrath of Giganotus Rex will be virtually absent. You will see the world through the eyes of the bad guys, a soldier, and William Martin Stevens’ good friend, Murakoshi Honda. By the way, did I mention that there will be a giant monster battle?

You will learn about the fate of our heroes and find out where their faith has led them. But you will also be a fly on the wall in the office of Lilith Greengate as she continues to devise wicked schemes against humanity. This is a book that you will not want to miss!

Get up to speed with the G-Rex series by reading The Wrath of Giganotus Rex! Click here to order your copy!