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Seed and Four Kinds of Soil

There are different kinds of soil which are suited to different kinds of plants. A person does not simply dig it up from the yard and expect a plant to flourish, it may be a persnickety plant. Soil has unique compositions that can be detected with special analysis. People who watch detective shows set in modern times have probably seen lab work where certain soil on shoes, tires, carpet, or whatever is found. Forensic science is historical science (so is the study of origins), using what is observed in the present in an effort to reconstruct the past. Planting in the soil, Freeimages / Dieter Joel Jagnow In Mark 4:13, Jesus indicates that the Parable of the Sower is important to understanding all of the parables. It does not matter what kind of seed is sown, nor is the good soil identified. Of the four kinds of soil, one was right for the seed. On a spiritual level, professing Christians may seem enthusiastic and pretend to care about important things related to the Kingdom of God, but

Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion versus the Bible

There are many ideas that seem good, even biblical, on the surface but are actually carriers of insidious ideas. Taking care of the environment is actually a biblical concept , but is a Trojan Horse for Marxism and other views. People may say something that is agreeable but mean something else. Years ago, I expressed disdain for New Year's resolutions. Then I was asked, "Are you against setting goals?" She had a belief and made me into a villain for not thinking her way. Examine wording on diversity, equity, and inclusion. Hands of diverse group, Pexels / fauxels Years ago, people were excluded from services, employment, and basic human dignity because of ethnicities and other things. Things have changed. For example, now we see signs and training modules in our jobs that stress how The Company values diversity and will not discriminate. (Of course, their policy also echoes the law, so they are not exactly heroes in this.) I work with people who have religious views and l

Looking at the Future Me?

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Many people know the truism about being good to other people, you do not know what they may be going through. (That helps curb judgmental attitudes.) I hope that people will be considerate because of my apparently stupid actions because of bereavement. Holding the two items I needed, I stood in the line for the self checkout. There was an old man at one of them who was moving mighty slow. I passed up a chance to move to a line with a cashier. He he had  to be done in a minute, right? Not hardly! Self checkout, Flickr / pin add ( CC by 2.0 ) (modified with FotoSketcher ) As I gaped in frustration, I had time to think. It struck me that this could be me in twenty years. Would I be moving so slowly? Mayhaps it was from pain, lethargy, or something else. Was he a widower like myself? If so, had come to terms with his loss? When a kiosk opened up for me, I got through it quickly enough but I think he was still there when I left. Expressing irritation at people like

Put On the Armor of God

Good teachers tell Christians that we are in spiritual warfare, whether we know it or not. Our main enemies are unseen. Before we came to Christ, we were prisoners of Satan. Now we are defectors and he wants to neutralize us. Christians belong to Jesus, and God has blessed us with the spiritual things we need (Eph. 1:3). Although we belong to Christ, we still have to fight spiritual battles. I am not talking about demons coming into your home (unless you are inviting them by messing with occult things), but even small daily concerns as well as larger battles. We have been given armor and weapons. Roman soldiers defensive group, Flickr / rikdom ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) Roman soldiers were a disciplined, ruthless, efficient fighting force. If I got word they were going to attack my place, I'd light a shuck out of there, you betcha! The apostle Paul was being guarded by these guys (who also protected him very handily in Acts 23:12-25). Imagine him writing to the Ephesians and contemplati

How to Approach and Understand the Bible

As many professing Christians claim, the Bible is essential for Christianity. It contains the words of life everlasting and the love of God — but far too many cannot be bothered to read it. When it is pointed out that all of us  are to be able to present the gospel, people clutch their pearls and walk away. They cannot present or defend the gospel message, just like far too many professing biblical creationists do go beyond reading picture captions. Those folks try to stand up to atheists but get their clocks cleaned because atheists and evolutionists know their talking points. The very basis of it all is understanding basic Bible interpretation. Reading the Bible , N.C. Wyeth, 1920 Christians must presuppose several things, not the least of which is that the Bible is true. It is also necessary to respect its authority, which is something that other biblical creationists and I have stressed many times. In addition, rational thinking (which has practical applications in every area of li

Taming the Monsters we Face

The season of fear. Although people watch horror movies throughout the year, many put a great deal of effort and money into celebrating images of evil and death on Halloween. Long ago, this child was into it. Now I dislike it, and I reckon part of the reason is that I hate fear. Have you ever watched a movie about werewolves, demons, or other monsters of darkness and then glanced around your home with unease? We know they are imaginary, but we still get the heebie-jeebies after watching a show. Pixabay /  Lothar Dieterich When people prepare for the "zombie apocalypse", I think most consider it as fun, but it seems that some really believe it's possible. (Are they really unaware that the zombie mythos is based on movies, and that it has little resemblance to zombie folklore based on Haitian voodoo?) The Centers for Disease Control used the fad to promote the more serious subject of disaster preparedness . Nothing to fear here, Horace. Speaking of mythologies, there are se

Awe is Unique to Humans

For Bible-believing Christians, there are times when we become keenly aware of the blessings of God and a sense of awe overtakes us. We can respond in praise and thanksgiving for what we have, and for the majesty of creation. If you study on it, we could even thank God for the laws of nature that allow us to appreciate things. (In my view, the universe has been damaged by the Fall of Man and the Flood, but God made it so that even after all that, we perceive amazing beauty.) Romans 8:20-21 tells us that all creation has been subjected to futility. Unsplash / Joshua Earle Psalmists poetically say that all creation praises God and sings. Such language is probably based on the coming release from futility after the return of Jesus at the consummation of all things at the end. Animals generally don't express a sense of awe. Our alleged evolutionary cousins just go about their ape business. No, awe is unique to humans and helps us relate to our Father. Materialists may have a sense of a

The Proper Worldview is Imperative

Something that this child learned several years ago is the importance of worldviews, including how they are made and the way they impact our lives. I bring these things up every once in a while because they are crucial, especially for Christians. Many professing Christians do not know what and why  they believe things, and are essentially heretics. They are riding to perdition in a handcar. We must not only make sure of our salvation , but have a proper worldview and submit to the authority of God's Word. Spectacles by kkiser at FreeImages Everyone has a worldview. It's how we interpret reality and respond to life. People may not know that word, and I doubt that they have analyzed the components and developed their own. Worldviews are mostly built on our presuppositions — those things we take as basic truths, though they are not tested or proven true. For more about this, see " What’s Your Worldview? " Unfortunately, many Christians are into tribalism, a kind of &quo

Christians Must Redeem the Time

It is easy to be a professing Christian in much of the Western world, provided we do not take a stand for Jesus. Complacency is not in the Bible. We do find, however, that we are in a spiritual warfare and need to be soldiers for Christ (Eph. 6:10-19, 2 Cor. 10:4-5, 2 Tim. 2:3) and the godly suffer persecution (Mark 4:17, 2 Tim. 3:12). If you study on Ephesians 5:16, there is a rather startling admonition there as well as the reasons behind it. RGBStock / Hanspeter Klasser As mentioned above, we are in a war and those actively living a godly life can expect persecution. Why? We are salt and light (Matt. 5:13-16), and an irritant to those who are perishing (2 Cor. 2:15-16). Ministries exist to edify and equip the saints to do the work of sharing the gospel message and standing for the truth in this fallen world. My parents took [Ephesians 5:16] to heart and did their best to take whatever opportunity arose to proclaim God’s Word and the saving gospel message. . . . . . . Since my father

Courage is Necessary for Christians

Ask around, and people have many definitions for courage. Some folks have the mistaken notion that courage  includes doing something reckless. "Yep, took lots of courage to try to jump that active volcano with a bicycle." No, that is stupidity.  Bravery  is often used synonymously with courage, but  there are differences . A person can be courageous and scared silly, but doing what is right is more important than giving in to fear.  Christians need to cowboy up and show courage, standing up for the truth. Pixabay / Bruce Courage is an act of will. There are people who are vainglorious, but the truth is revealed when danger falls from a tree, they turn their backs and bravely flee. Other times, some people are surprising when they show courage in the face of danger. What dangers do biblical creationists face? In Western countries, it is mostly fear of ridicule from unbelievers. They should ask themselves if enemies of God are people from whom they want admiration. I almost joi

Christian, Find Your Bible

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  This post is likely to offend and enrage people, but I have to tell the truth. Sure, people say that as an excuse for being unkind, but keep reading to discern my motives. It is a sad fact that many professing Christians are effectively non-Christian heretics , accepting things that are contrary to the Bible that they claim to believe. The Word of God is the source of life, but many are unaware of its contents. They will not even read it. Image credit:  pazham  at FreeDigitalPhotos.net Take six minutes and read (or listen to the audio by my favorite reader), " The Scandal of Biblical Illiteracy " and then come back. A bane of social media is when people will simply ignore the content and make uninformed comments, and the linked material often contradicts their opinions. (This is one reason I seldom make my titles into questions such as, "Was Adam the First Man?") I've mentioned before that when I asked someone if they read the article on

When Undermining the Truth, Money Talks

Christians are confronted with unbelievers of various stripes, including atheists, the apathetic, moral relativists, cultists, evolutionists, false teachers, and many others. Biblical creationists uphold not only essentials of the faith, but the authority of God's Word as well. Genesis is foundational to the faith. Things get more difficult when a well-heeled fifth column undermines not only the truth of Genesis, but trust in the Bible itself. The owlhoots at the Templeton Foundation are using their money to finance compromise among Christians. Mostly made at PhotoFunia For a Christian, humility means that we are entirely dependent on the work of Christ for our salvation, and our works cannot earn or keep it. In addition, good works are a result  of our salvation. We give glory to Jesus. John Templeton, however, redefined humility  as uncertainty about the truth, and it definitely  does not come from sacred texts. The ever-changing whims of manmade science philosophies, though —

The Internet Frontlines and Biblical Creation

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  The hands up yonder at the Darwin Ranch (near Deception Pass) are in a "Katie, bar the door!" frame of mind.  Question Evolution Day is near, and they have an intense dislike people examining the evidence that is presented for quark-to-questioner evolution. It is interesting that many people who tell us to "question authority" are willing to accept pronouncements about origins and even theology because of some vague "scientists say" attitude. We can have an impact and keep the pressure on  using the internet . Flickr /  sentex64  ( CC BY-NC-SA 2.0 ) Despite the claims of prosperity preachers, the Christian life is not fun and games. It is spiritual warfare (Eph. 6:10-20, 2 Cor. 10:3-6). We will  have persecution (2 Peter 3:14, Rom. 8:35, Mark 4:17, Heb. 10:33, 2 Tim. 3:12), so we can't just sit back being saved, not fulfilling God's commands to grow and influence the world (2 Peter 3:18, Matt. 5:13-16). It take God-given c

Slavery, Darwin, and the Bible

Misotheists and other unbelievers frequently try to find errors in the Bible, or to simply make God a bad guy. One of these is found in the annals of atheistic  soi-disant  reasoning, equivocating on the definition of slavery . For people today, the word generally has connotations of Antebellum slavery in Southern American. We have seen that context is vitally important for properly interpreting and understanding the Bible. A cursory reading ancient texts translated into modern languages does not provide all the necessary information to do this properly. Pharaoh clipart by Free Christian Illustrations What we can call harsh slavery  has been around for millennia. It was often a consequence of losing a war or battle, but the children of Israel were born into it (Exodus 1:8-13). Such slavery spanned years, cultures, ethnicities, and languages — which means no group can make a pretense at exclusive victimhood. Also, harsh slavery exists today, especially in Communist China and North Korea

Surrendering to the Laziness of Atheism

Edited 5 December 2021  To be a Bible-believing Christian (as opposed to a "cultural" or in name only) is not easy. It may seem tempting to put our beliefs out to pasture and embrace the laziness of atheism. We can sit back and say, "I lack belief", and demand proof for everything a Christian says, only to reject anything that does not meet our subjective criteria. Very lazy. Very selfish. But for a Christian, it means denying our very nature — and denying what we know is true. Unknown source image derivative via FotoSketcher and PhotoFunia A Christian is born from above (1 Peter 1:3, John 3:3) and a new creation (2 Cor. 5:17). To act in such a way means denying our very nature and rejecting what we know is true. Atheistic philosophies and excuse-making are ongoing. Just watch when a Christian wants to share evidence and have a discussion: atheists keep dodging and changing the subject, as well as attacking God and people. It's also a safe  religion as well as

Rejecting the Light of Biblical Creation

Several months ago, I was in a hair cuttery and we were making conversation. It came up that I write creation science material, and the lady said she had never heard of it. Her nearby co-worker had a modicum of knowledge, but that was it. Living in a culture that is saturated with atheistic materialism, that is not a surprise. Freeimages / Brano Hudak People are in spiritual darkness (John 3:19), are blinded to the light of the truth (2 Cor. 4:4), and cannot understand spiritual matters of any depth (1 Cor. 2:14). While it is not up to us to have brilliant arguments and save the lost (1 Cor. 2:1-5), we are to sanctify Christ as Lord and be ready to present the gospel (1 Peter 3:15). The Holy Spirit does the drawing, convicting, and saving. Evolution is foundational to atheism (which in turn are foundational to naturalistic philosophies, secular humanism, and so on) as well as some other non-Christian religions. Some people, like the barber mentioned above, are ignorant of the truth. Af

Bringing Satan into the Church

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  After dancing with the devil in the pale moonlight, many professing Christians bring him with them to church. No, he is not afraid of it, or you, or me. Many churches are pusillanimous and infested with unseen demonic entities. How did this happen? Image from Unsplash / Tyler Milligan , with modifications including Clker clipart Many Bible-believing Christians are dismayed by the lack of power in what is called the Body of Christ. Individual churches as well as entire denominations have compromised on the importance of Genesis, biblical inerrancy, and other foundational aspects of Christian doctrine. Far too many do not preach the Word of God, and people reject its authority. (Years ago, I endured some sermons were so feckless, I heard better sermons in Christian rock songs!) Satan is not dismayed whate'er betide. It's been said that one of the devil's greatest achievements is to convince people that he doesn't exist. To get people into churches