I started writing this weekly column in 2009, reflecting on current events and life experience from a faith perspective. During these fifteen years current event have included: the attack at Fort Hood, the AME church in Charleston where 9 members were gunned down, the bombing at the Boston Marathon, the massacre at Sutherland Springs, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, among many others.
Tuesday, June 17, 2025
Making Sense of It All
Monday, June 9, 2025
Is There Proof of Heaven?
Eben Alexander was convinced that there is nothing beyond this life. He graduated from the University of North Carolina in 1976 and received his M.D. from Duke Medical School in 1980. After he completed a fellowship in cerebrovascular neurosurgery at Newcastle-Upon Tyne, he served for 15 years on the faculty at Harvard Medical School with specialization in neurosurgery. As a physician and a scientist, he concluded that when the brain dies all consciousness ends. The person ceases to exist.
All that changed on November 10, 2008 when he suffered a severe attack of
bacterial meningitis that left him on life support and, by every measurement,
brain dead. After existing in this comatose condition for a week, Eben
Alexander miraculously woke up. When he did, all his preconceived scientific
assumptions about life and death were changed. The dramatic Near Death
Experience (NDE) left him convinced that life beyond this physical existence is
not only real, it is the greater reality.
He documented his experience in his book, Proof of Heaven. He writes, “The
physical side of the universe is as a speck of dust compared to the invisible
and spiritual part. In my past view, spiritual wasn’t a word that I would have
employed during a scientific conversation. Now I believe it is a word that we
cannot afford to leave out.”
Luke, a first century physician, after conducting exhaustive research and
extensive interviews wrote, “He also presented Himself alive after His
suffering, by many convincing proofs, appearing to them over a period of 40
days and speaking of the things concerning the kingdom of God.” (Acts 1:3).
Paul, arguably one of the greatest minds in history, stated, “For I delivered
to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our
sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was
raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to
Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred
brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen
asleep; then He appeared to James, then to all the apostles; and last of all,
as to one untimely born, He appeared to me also.” (1 Cor. 15:3-8). Every other
event in history is dated by that singular life that gave the world its
greatest “proof of heaven.”
Monday, June 2, 2025
How To Remain Positive In A Negative World
Since this column reflects on current events and life experience, I am constantly searching the news for information. It is a daunting task. The headlines alone are depressing, let alone the blow-by-blow accounts of murder, theft, graft, rape, sexual abuse, prejudice, hatred, scams, suicide, mass shootings, political corruption and a looming recession. Sometimes the news seems like a black hole that drags every ray of light into its dark abyss. I spent some time this morning reading about the terrorist who set 12 peaceful protestors on fire with a flame thrower in Boulder, Colorado.
Download William Tinsley's book of poems, Sunrise Sunset, free eBook on Amazon June 3-6)
Tuesday, May 27, 2025
Center of the Universe
For thousands of years we assumed the earth was the center of the universe. When Galileo advanced the proposition that the earth revolved around the sun and was, in fact, only one of many planets that did so, he was tried by the Inquisition and placed under house arrest for the remainder of his life. More recent investigations, along with Voyager’s first foray beyond our solar system, have verified that the earth is a very small speck of dust in the galaxies -- nowhere near the center of the cosmic creation.
Download Bill Tinsley's eBook, The Jesus Encounter, FREE on Amazon, May 27-29
Monday, May 19, 2025
What We Don't Know
The total of human knowledge is increasing at an astonishing rate. It is estimated that it took 300 years for knowledge to double after 1450, but only 150 years for it to double again. From 1900 to 1950 it doubled once more. It is now believed to double every 12 months and, with the build out of the internet and AI, is soon expected to double every 12 hours.
Only 200 years ago physicians thought that illness was caused by bad blood.
George Washington was virtually bled to death in 1799 as the favored treatment
for an obvious infection. One hundred years ago Henry Ford introduced the
assembly line and the Model T. Fifty years ago personal computers were unknown.
Thirty-five years ago, the World Wide Web was introduced. The first iPhone went on sale January 29,
2007. Our access to knowledge and the
world has dramatically changed. What is there that we do not know today that
will be common knowledge tomorrow? What is it that we think we know that will
be proved wrong or usless?
Each of us can comprehend only a small segment of the vast ocean of human
knowledge. And, when all our knowledge is compiled and computed it only
scratches the surface of the limitless universe. We are still confined to this
tiny spec of a planet. Humans have not been able to travel any further than the
moon. The vastness of the universe remains far beyond our reach. The closest
star, Proxima Centauri, is 4.33 light years away. Traveling at the fastest
speed imaginable with current technology, scientists estimate it would take
19,000 years to reach it. At our very best we can only observe the vast reaches
of the universe through our telescopes as though looking through a glass
darkly.
Regarding God, we debate our axioms and truths as if we have complete and
comprehensive knowledge about God. We must always be reminded by the words of
the prophet when God says, “My ways are not your ways. My thoughts are not your
thoughts. As the heavens are above the earth, so are my thoughts above your
thoughts.”
This is one of the reasons God sent his Son, simply because God is
incomprehensible. Knowledge of his universe is too vast. Knowledge of his
nature and character is too far beyond our mortal minds. As with his creation,
we can only observe and stand in awe.
We are like newborn babes first opening their eyes to a new world they have
never seen. We are like children giggling over newfound discoveries on the playground:
a stick, a flower, a worm, a caterpillar. I think God takes joy in this. He
takes pleasure in our discoveries of his intricate, complex and mysterious
creation.
At the same time, he is grieved by our blindness. The violence, cruelty, abuse and conflict that exists on the earth bears witness that for all our advance in scientific and technological knowledge, we are still unable to focus on the truths that matter most.
Jesus was the
only one who has ever known and seen all things clearly. For all of our
advances we have yet to learn the Sermon on the Mount and put it into practice.
Order Tinsley' book, The Jesus Encounter, FREE eBook May 27-29 on Amazon.
Tuesday, May 13, 2025
We Are All Born By God's Design
Ten years ago Kensington Palace made the announcement: “Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge was safely delivered of a daughter at 8:34 am. The baby weighs 8 lbs 3 oz.” It was a typical British announcement with little more flair than the weigh-in of jockeys at the Kentucky Derby. But Prince William and Kate beamed with joy when, seven hours later, they presented their newborn daughter to the world.
Princess Charlotte is who she is by birth
and by choice. She was born a Princess because Prince William chose Kate
Middleton to be his bride. And she was born a Princess because she is the
daughter of their union.
Monday, May 5, 2025
Celebrating Diversity
Last Saturday, like millions of others, my wife and I sat back and watched the Kentucky Derby, an American tradition. Simone Biles, the Olympic gymnast gave the call, “Riders Up!” The top thoroughbreds in the world pranced onto the track. Everyone sang, “My Old Kentucky Home,” including my wife. They introduced the jockeys that would vie for the coveted prize. And there it was, right in the middle of the Kentucky Derby, “diversity!” Three of the jockeys were from the U.S., 2 from Brazil, 2 from Venezuela, 3 from Puerto Rico, 1 from Mexico, 3 from France, 1 from Italy, 1 from the Dominican Republic and 1 from Panama.
Tinsley's eBook We Beheld His Glory is free on Amazon May 6-7..