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Showing posts from January, 2019

Authority and Our Worth

There are people who seem to think that being under the authority of another person implies inferiority, but that is not necessarily the case. In the workplace, we need to submit to our superiors but that does not mean they are better people than us. In a biblical context, submission to the authority of God actually brings us self worth and security. Credit: Unsplash / Ben White People are interested in their own opinions and how they feel about something, and these things change frequently. This is often coupled with rebellion against God where people choose which parts of Scripture they want to believe. It seems counter-intuitive to to the natural mind, but being under authority gives us stability. For the Christian, submission to God's Word is vital to our spiritual lives. There is submission in the Trinity, but no inferiority is implies. Likewise, wives are to submit to their husbands, while husbands are to love their wives sacrificially like Christ loves the church. Wh

God Made Monsters Too

Bible believers know that God made every kind of critter. Some of those we think are ugly or creepy (they probably have unflattering thoughts about us as well), or even downright scary, take some people a bit of time to appreciate. (My wife isn't fond of when I talk about fascinating traits in reptiles.) Some creatures we think of as monsters . Credit: RGBstock /  Adrian van Leen It's a fair question to ask why God would make monsters. He has his plans, and many things we consider to be monsters are not dangerous after all, while other cute and pretty things can be deadly. In the beginning, there was no predation; T Rex  may have been a fierce melon eater! Aside from movies and television shows showing scary monsters, actual monsters are a matter of perception. There is another kind of monster to consider: that taniwha on the inside of us, prompting us to sin, be imprisoned by our fears, and more. We have that sin nature, you see, the product of living in a fallen wor

Taking Jesus for a Test Drive

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Most people admit to belief in some sort of God, which is consistent with what the Bible teaches (Romans 1:1-22, Ecclesiastes 3:11). Most do not know the true God in a personal way. Some have had the gospel message clearly explained to them, but they have rejected it or traded the truth for false religions and philosophies. Used car lot, Lancaster, Ohio, 1938 photo by Ben Shahn / US Library of Congress / Public Domain Some people think that they are Christians because they attend(ed) church and participated in rituals. Perhaps they get a twinge of sentiment around Christmas and Easter which inspires them to give an intellectual assent to Jesus. Unfortunately, many of these professing (or "former") Christians demonstrate little or no knowledge of biblical Christianity. Easy Believism Some folks want to make evangelism simple and pleasant. They come up with "ask Jesus into your heart", "God has a wonderful plan for your life&

Interpreting the Bible with "First Mention"

There are many biblical scholars that I have heard and read (including Dr. James R. White, who can translate an ancient manuscript from the Greek on the spot). They never mentioned the Law (or Principle) of First Mention, so I was surprised to learn that this concept is a problem for hermeneutics and proper interpretation. The Bible , George Harvey, 1845 I was also startled to learn that some educated biblical creationists actually use this Law of First Mention. Essentially, it means that the meaning of a word is determined by where it first appears in the Bible. That may appear sensible at first, but there are some things to consider.  First of all, an argument for First Mention may appear more believable if people were reading from the original languages instead of translations. Another problem with the concept would be that the books of the Bible are not laid out chronologically — Job is considered to be the oldest book, Mark is considered to be the earliest Gospel, and John

Doubling Down on Darwin in Denmark

The joys of living in a civilized world where independent thought is encouraged, disagreements are discussed, violence and defamation are not used to get others to surrender to your point of view, atheists and evolutionists do not force their religious views on others — let me know when you find such a place. While most people believe in the separation of church and state (no, it is not  in the US Constitution) and reject the idea of an official state religion, atheistic secular humanism is becoming the state church in the United States. Evolutionism is foundational to atheism and other religions that reject the authority of God's Word, and this is readily apparent from the actions of my distant kinfolk in Denmark. Apparently, it is a sin to question Darwinism in the state Evangelical Lutheran Church in Denmark. One priest found out the hard way. Now, don't be disunderstanding me. Mads Jakobsen does not seem to hold any creationist views, but he does have problems with