Reason = a basis or cause, as for some belief, action, or fact.

Faith = confidence or trust in a person or thing.

Evidence = that which tends to prove or disprove something; ground for belief.

Our challenge today is to follow the evidence!

Hebrews 11:1 “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”

Evidence Based Upon Modern Scientific Inquiry Proves It Is Reasonable to Believe That…

1. There is a primary ‘First Cause’ for the origin of space, time, and matter, a ‘Lawgiver’ of the laws observed throughout nature.

Genesis 1:1, 3 “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth…. And God said, ‘Let there be light,’ and there was light.”

• It is not reasonable to believe that nothing created everything or that the laws related to nature and cosmology are illusionary.

2. The Law of Biogenesis cannot be violated, and life is the direct result of an ultimate Life-Giver. 

Genesis 1:27 “So God created mankind in his own image, in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.”

• It is not reasonable to believe that life comes from non-life through time, chance, and unknown random processes.

* A Biblical worldview is built upon a reasonable faith.

3. The design, order, and complexity observed throughout creation is not accidental or illusionary, thus pointing to a Designer of creation (cf. John 1:1-4).

• It is not reasonable to believe that mankind has been merely ‘tricked’ into perceiving design and complexity observed in nature.

4. DNA, an immensely coded genetic blueprint of information, reveals the supernatural intelligence of a masterful Creator (see Colossians 1:16; Nehemiah 9:6).

• It is not reasonable to believe that this, too, is only a contrived misperception of man’s wishful thinking or confirmation bias.

5. Random mutations have no possibility of providing the mechanism for creatures to change (i.e., transition) into something totally new in kind.

• It is not reasonable to believe that mutations can bring forth any necessary new genetic information required for traversing of species.

6. The precise fine-tuning laws of the universe, allowing for the existence of life itself, is insurmountable proof of a Creator who is behind it all.

• It is not reasonable to believe we just somehow got ‘lucky’ or to proposed unprovable and untestable ‘theoretical concepts’ (e.g., the multiverse theory) that actually do not relate to the fine-tuning laws at all.

Hebrews 11:3 “By faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that the things which are seen were not made of things which are visible.”

Evidence Based Upon Moral and Ethical Reasoning Proves It Is Reasonable to Believe That…

1. Humanity possesses authentic purpose and meaning…

• It is not reasonable to believe that life is purely a series of accidental and ultimately meaningless coincidences of ‘nature’ (cf. Hebrews 11:3).

2. Objective moral values and duties do exist… (cf. Romans 1:20)…

• It is not reasonable to believe that such truth claims are situational or a reflection of merely contemporary cultural mores.

3. The universal human sense of spiritual reality is not just superstition of the ignorant…

• It is not reasonable to believe that spiritual life experienced throughout recorded human history can be explained via naturalistic philosophy and materialism (Psalm 33:6; 104:24).

4. There are objective moral differences between evil actions and good behaviors…

• It is not reasonable to believe that evil and non-evil are ultimately morally non-distinct (Isaiah 5:20; Romans 3:23).

5. Man’s logic and reasoning capacities are not the result of purely naturalistic processes developing over time… (Psalm 144:3; Genesis 2:7)…

• It is not reasonable to believe that biochemical or random forces of nature would produce human consciousness, self-awareness, ethics, esthetics, or rational thought in humankind.

Summary: Following the evidence will lead to a reasonable faith and the God who is there!

Check out the School of Bible Prophecy that equips believers to know and teach this subject in their own churches and Bible study groups @ PerspectiveInProphecy.com.

About 2 years ago, my article MALLS: HALLS OF VANITIES was posted on Rapture Ready during the Thanksgiving holidays. I’d like to repost and update that article here at Christmastime.

Last December (2024), my family was at the MAGGIANO’S Italian restaurant a few days before Christmas (at Cumberland Mall just a few blocks from Atlanta Braves Stadium). We could not get a parking space anywhere near the restaurant. My sister has a handicapped tag on her car. SO WE ENDED UP *”CHASING THE WIND”* AROUND THE PARKING LOT. Our driver finally dropped us off at the restaurant and then struggled to find a parking place on the FAR SIDE. He found a space about a quarter mile from the restaurant. The traffic was heavy, and that night was windy and cold.

The Sears store that was at that mall is long gone, and was replaced with a BOWLING ALLEY. So retail vanities have been replaced with RECREATIONAL VANITIES. No new, big, enclosed malls have been built during the last 20 years. I hate big malls, especially during holidays. Even nearby roads are cluttered with traffic. It has gotten to the point where I even avoid Walmart (or other big stores) during holidays. At that time, I do only grocery stores (for fresh fruits and veggies) and dollar stores.

Here is an excerpt of the article from two years ago:

Vanity: something that is vain, empty, or valueless (Merriam-Webster Dictionary).

What would Solomon say about big shopping malls, especially during the holiday shopping season, if he were to visit them today? He would probably say something like, ‘Malls, the halls of vanities! Full of vanities! Vanity of vanities! All is vanity, like chasing the wind!’

When I visited a big mall, the products that I saw there served no useful purposes. There were all these fancy clothes, jewelry, and all sorts of makeup. All sorts of fancy furniture and decorative items. And tons of toys. Every manner of luxuries. All these items are expensive, too. I was not accustomed to seeing all this since I do most of my shopping at places like Walmart, Sam’s Club, Dollar Tree, Dollar General, or other low-cost stores.

When I saw all these vanity items that serve no useful purpose, I thought all that was absolutely crazy. Here’s what Solomon said in Ecclesiastes:

“Vanity of vanities,” says the Preacher; “Vanity of vanities, all is vanity” (Ecclesiastes 1:2).

“I have seen all the works that are done under the sun; and indeed, all is vanity and grasping for [chasing after] the wind” (Ecclesiastes 1:14).

Today, it could be paraphrased as, “Malls, the halls of vanities! All (that shopping in malls) is vanity like chasing (on Black Fridays or other major holiday shopping days) the wind (and bad traffic at malls, circling the parking lot trying to find a parking space)!”

With the Christmas shopping season upon us, you can expect large numbers of people to head back to the malls, the halls of vanities. I avoid Black Friday like the plague. It is too hard to get a parking space, where you chase the wind (and traffic) around the parking lot, trying to get a parking space. My family did not go to malls very often because the traffic was so bad. Avoid the halls of vanities like the plague.

In recent years, violent fights have broken out at malls during Black Friday sales, when there was a limited number of popular toys. There were deadly stampedes at the entrances of stores where everyone tried to get in at one time.

“Again, I saw that for all toil and every skillful work, a man is envied by his neighbor. This also is vanity and grasping for the wind” (Ecclesiastes 4:4).

In recent years, some of the vanities shifted online to places like Amazon, where all sorts of vanities show up. Yes, the most expensive vanity luxury goods show up online, too. Stuff all over the world appears on online platforms. There are additional non-material intangible vanities on social media, where people post selfies in seeking fame. Playing addictive games on TikTok, Facebook, Twitter, and other social media. “Friends” on the internet are not real friends and can’t substitute for real physical friends or family.

Since there are many things that increase vanity, How is man the better? (Ecclesiastes 6:11).

There are vanities of all types like you have never seen before. It is all empty and can’t substitute for having Jesus in your life.