In my younger years, I was really into sports. I played baseball, softball, basketball, almost football (a story for another time), tennis, racquetball, some golf, some volleyball, and a lot of track & field. I held three high school records in the discus. I loved throwing it so much that I ended up buying my own discus after graduation, and I still have it today! And you should have seen me play basketball. I was extremely… average! 😊

So now that I’ve completely underwhelmed you with my sports prowess, why did I bother to mention any of that? I still enjoy sports, but with my limited time I am no longer able to follow the professional teams as I used to years ago. I’m pretty much down to following the Green Bay Packers, going to a game or two of the Milwaukee Brewers each season, and watching the Milwaukee Bucks if they make the playoffs. The last time I sat down to relax and watch a television program was about 23 years ago! Seriously. I’ll occasionally watch a movie with my wife, but I’ve got too many other things I would rather do. However, I do love watching football, but due to my limited time, I am generally only able to watch Packers games. It’s a treat for me to be able to relax and watch the games. And I LOVE watching!

So why do I love watching football? Better yet, why does anyone love watching football? By the way, if you are not a football fan, this article really isn’t about football, so hang in there.

Here’s my point. According to our public school systems and state universities, the universe began with a “Big Bang” and rapidly expanded, eventually resulting in everything we see around us today. Everything! Let’s think about that for a moment. First, you had to get something from nothing. No, you can’t really say the universe came from something because then we would just ask, “Where did that something come from?” And you can’t say that something came from something else because we would just ask, “Where did that something else come from?” Scientists know that matter and energy cannot be eternal for several reasons, which I will skip for now. The vast majority of scientists believe the universe had a beginning. For those scientists who don’t wish to consider the supernatural (i.e., anything outside of nature), they must believe that everything came from nothing.

So, nothing produced something, which they say was initially just hydrogen, helium, and a little bit of lithium (the three lightest elements of the periodic table). By the way, my wife doesn’t really like the periodic table, but she said she’s willing to help me pick out chairs for it and maybe some decorative placemats!

So, we now have particles making up… hydrogen, helium, and lithium. How did these particles produce more particles that ended up liking football? Our schools and universities teach that scientists have pretty much discovered natural explanations for our existence, and it was all by undirected processes of nature. No designer, no creator, no real purpose. So how did particles bang together so that after billions of years, certain collections of particles (e.g., my own brain) ended up enjoying watching other collections of particles (football players) run around a football field (which is also a collection of particles)? Step me through that process. At what point did particles begin to be aware of themselves or anything else? How did they acquire opinions about the other particles? Is it simply the laws of physics? If so, why don’t all similar collections have the same opinion? How do the opinions change? Can we control opinions through manipulating the particles?

The idea of controlling our particles leads to the necessity of explaining consciousness. Scientists are basically clueless when it comes to understanding consciousness. We can describe what it does, but we are incapable of explaining its origin through naturalistic, undirected processes of nature. And for secular scientists and philosophers, they can only resort to particles interacting in various ways.

Ultimately, consciousness lies OUTSIDE our physical nature. We are created in the image of God, who is a spirit-being, not consisting of a physical body. He has, in addition to our physical bodies, given us a spirit through which we are conscious of the world around us and of our Creator! In His sovereignty, He has also given us the ability to use our spirit to make decisions, including the decision to deny His existence. Interestingly, Psalm 14:1 states, “The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’”

Even though there is debate among atheists regarding freewill, a logically consistent atheist must admit everything is predetermined, that is, we don’t really choose anything. Everything is predestined according to how particles interact over time. We possess nothing other than particles. There is nothing to control the particles we have. You might believe that some particles control others, but what controls the controlling particles? Ultimately, everything has to be controlled by something outside the particles themselves. Sounds like a supernatural thing? Hmmm, that’s what the Bible has indicated all along.

So the next time you watch football, or anything else for that matter, ask yourself, “Why do I care about this?” I don’t think you’ll be satisfied with saying it’s just because that’s how your particles are moving at the time. Try asking a skeptic the same question, “Why do they care about anything?” Have them explain, from the very beginning of the universe, how they ended up caring, and how that fits with their belief that everything, including their brain, came from undirected processes of nature. You could also present the following challenge to them. I’ll give you all the particles you want, as many kinds as you want. Then arrange them in such a way that they care about themselves and others. Could you do it? Could anyone? Again, make sure you do all of this with “truth and grace” as modeled by Christ!

Just a quick P.S. Earlier this morning, I realized it was time for me to write another “Question of the Month” article, necessitating coming up with a question. I was working out at the gym and I prayed, asking God to give me some direction. At that very moment, I saw a football game on one of the TV screens. I wondered why I like football so much… and now you know, “the rest of the story.”

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