Skip to main content

Posts

Showing posts from April, 2020

Hezekiah in History

Many years ago, I attended a Christian high school that was run by Fundamentalists, but the school was interdenominational . Quite a change for this child who was being raised in liberal theology. Anyway, they had a daily "chapel" for the small high school. One guest pastor told us to turn to the book of Hezekiah. I started flipping through my Bible, and the girl next to me was doing nothing. For good reason. King Hezekiah crying out to God. Image credit: Sweet Publishing via Free Bible Images ( CC BY-SA 3.0 ) Many of the kings of Israel and Judah were mighty wicked folks, but when it was Hezekiah's turn, his heart was right toward God. Trouble is, they had neighbors that would get the occasional notion to make war. The Assyrians attacked, and things looked bad until Hezekiah implored the Lord for help. He got it in a big way. Bible deniers have said that archaeology has found no evidence of some things recorded in the Bible, therefore, the Bible is full of myths

The Environment, Science, and the Dominion Mandate

There is a term use about a biblical principle that may seem scary to some people. It is called the dominion mandate. It may sound like one of those political doctrines for the abuse of power like the divine right of kings or eminent domain , but the dominion mandate is a term for our Creator's command to understand and care about the world he has given us. Credit: Unsplash / Dylan Sauerwein Shortly after God created Adam and Eve, he told them, essentially, "See this nice planet I gave you? Reproduce (critters are to do this also), fill the earth, and get it under control". He did not tell them to run rampant and trash the place so he could be like a modern parent and clean up after his spoiled offspring. No, we are responsible to our Creator for how we care for the world. To do that, we must also learn about and understand many things. It is interesting that Jesus indicated this aspect as well! It’s noteworthy that this was God’s first commandment to the man an

Denying Genesis Compromises the Gospel

Perhaps, as some tinhorns claim, those who deny Genesis and recent creation try to appear moderate or reasonable. After all, science has proven that evolution happened and that Earth is billions of years old, right? Not hardly! Such antics are expected from those who ride for the atheism brand, but it is not fitting for professing Christians to do so. Image credits: Original from Morguefile / JCKL8888 , then processed through PhotoFunia People who have little or no understanding of theology, even though they may have attended a church, often reject the plain reading of Genesis because evolution. Because uniformitarianism. Because science. Because they want to look intelligent in the eyes of enemies of God. Because rejection of biblical authority. People also compromise because their church leaders are liberal in their theology or have not bothered to think through how Genesis affects the gospel message. While Christians need to understand God's Word, their leaders have a gr

Adam, Jesus, and Thorns

When Adam and Eve sinned in Eden, the the curse came on all of creation (Rom. 8:22, 5:12). One part of the curse was that thorns (which are modified leaves, stems, roots, and so forth) are some of what Adam would contend with when he worked the ground (Gen. 3:17-19). Credit: Pixabay / kalhh Jesus wore a crown of thorns (Matt. 27:29) as a part of the Crucifixion. The Creator of the universe humbled himself, taking the form of a man, died on a cross (Phil. 2:8). The crown of thorns is one of many symbols used in Scripture, and thorns are used many times. What does this mean in our redemption? The thorns and thistles introduced in Genesis 3 pose significant problems for Christians who do not take Genesis as real history, as it is intended. If, as long-age secular geologists claim, the earth took billions of years of slow and gradual processes to reach its current form, then we have to conclude that thorns found in the fossil record are also millions of years old. This would mean

Christian Atheism and Fools

Many Christians use Psalm 14:1 to indicate what God says about atheists. The word for fool is × ָבָל, nabal , which essentially means a vile person. Although many professing atheists display a profound lack of reasoning ability, nabal  does not indicate lack of intelligence, but moral failing. But you knew that. There is a big problem with Christians who act like God does not exist. We can effectively be atheists by saying in our hearts  that there is no God; Christians can be fools. Phil Johnson has an excellent sermon about this called "Atheism in our Hearts". I hope you will download it (there's an arrow down at the far right of the thing below) or listen online.