Anti-Gravity Machine
(Live By Faith)
(God Is Real)
 
We live by faith and not by sight.  II Corinthians 5:7
 
The Basic Bible Truth
 
To describe God completely is an impossible challenge for us on this side of Heaven.  We see only dim shadows of the realm that God inhabits.  Our culture says to us that if we see something, we can believe in it.  God describes a better way.  That we trust Him and believe Him blindly.  To prove God’s existence to this world is a difficult task.  Much like a jury trial, we can present evidence to those around us.  We can point them toward creation and the majesty seen in the enormity of this universe.  Or we can show them the complexity of the human genome and how it works in its smallest detail.  The sheer number of copies of the earliest manuscripts of Scripture overwhelm the handfuls that represent any other ancient text.  No one piece of evidence, taken by itself, can adequately prove God’s existence.  But when taken as a cumulative accounting and considered with a genuinely unbiased study, a verdict can be reached.  Unbelievers often are looking for that one, individual bit of evidence that they can point to as proof.  But as many juries have found, truth is often found in considering all of the materials and testimony offered for consideration.  God has provided ample proof.  We must reach a verdict.
 
The Object
 
A Simple Handmade Wooden Crate
A Few Optional “Controls”

​I call this an Anti-Gravity Machine.  You can call it anything you like.  It can be used a variety of different ways.  It is a simple magic illusion.  I built this as a seemingly open wood crate.  You will notice a black pipe running diagonally across the top of the crate.  That is a key component of this illusion.  Directly under that pipe, cut into the slots of the wood floor, stands a vertical mirror.  From the front it looks remarkably like a square box, but in reality what you see is simply a reflection of the front half of the box in the mirror.  This leaves all the area behind the mirror to use for various illusions.  For example, I bought a dozen very small black and white teddy bears at the dollar store.  I can make them disappear by dropping them just behind the black crossbar.  I give them some nonsensical story of this being a portal into another dimension.  With a little care, you can hop into the crate with one foot in front of the mirror and one behind.  By shifting your weight carefully and remaining balanced, you can lift the visible foot off the floor an inch or so and with the reflection it looks as if you have levitated in the box.  Thus, the name of the illusion-The Anti-Gravity Machine.
 
The Lesson
 
First, an introduction.     Some things even science fiction struggles to rationalize.  Allow me explain as best I can.  The story is told of an ancient forest in a dark, uncharted region of Africa with trees unknown to science or the modern world.  Legends tell us of peculiar things—strange things—that happen in the presence of the few remaining samples of this wood that have survived the millennia, carefully handed down from one generation to another.  It is said that a manuscript of extreme antiquity reveals that even the simplest box, built of this wood, defies all known laws of physics, and is proof itself of the existence of other dimensions.  After much careful study and research, and a bit of luck, I must have obtained some of this very lumber!  A simple box with a very odd characteristic—the stuff legends are made of!
 
 We live by faith and not by sight.     Taken in context, this verse refers to Heaven.  Paul is talking to the Corinthian church about their ultimate future—where all Christians will spend eternity.  The truth of this verse, though, extends into all areas of the Christian walk.
 
So much of our Christianity is “un-provable” by the standards of the world.  The culture we live in demands a reality check based upon the five physical senses:  taste, touch, hearing, sight, and smell.  The spiritual world, which is very real indeed, is not accessed by any of these senses.  So the unsaved look at our belief system as foolishness.
 
Some time back I had the opportunity to observe a murder trial from the very first opening argument through to the jury verdict and sentencing by the judge.  I was fascinated by the courtroom proceedings and listened and watched with interest as evidence was introduced and witnesses testified.  Interestingly, there was no one piece of evidence that, if taken by itself, was worthy of pressing the jury towards a innocent or   guilty verdict.  It was the sum total of all of the witness testimony and all of the evidence that directed the jury’s decision.  Our understanding of the reality of God and the truth of the Bible hangs in the same balance.  We must consider all of the evidence.
 
For the Christian, the Bible must be seen as absolutely dependable.  It does not just contain the Words of God—it is the Word of God!  And if God is perfect, (He is, by the way), then His Word is also perfect.
 
Mankind, since the fall, has been separated from God by sin.  I believe that Adam understood firsthand how incredibly awesome God actually is.  The Bible says that Adam walked with God in the garden in the cool of the day.  Have you ever wondered what God looks like—or sounds like—or feels like—or smells like?  Adam knew.
 
Everything that we need to know about God is described in the Bible.  We trust and we have faith that what God has said in His Word is true and unchanging.  And what is even more amazing, He gives us the faith that we need to believe!
 
Will there at times be days of doubt?  Yes, even some of the heroes of the Bible exhibited skepticism at times.  Usually that uncertainty was a result of their physical senses.  What they saw, and felt, and heard, and smelled overwhelmed the truth that they knew, deep down, was unchanging.
 
Learn to trust God implicitly.  Don’t waste your life in pursuit of some physical evidence of God.    Your five senses are not infallible.  They are, in reality, quite easily deceived. Trust the Bible to be true, no matter what!
 
 
 
 
 
 
  Scripture taken from the Holy Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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