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Showing posts from July, 2020

God, the Church, and Government

While the novel coronavirus COVID-19 has prompted many people to learn many things about it, we have also seen how certain American government officials who have contempt for God have not only made restrictions on human rights in the US , but also around the world . Churches in the US are being forced to decide between God and Government. Made at PhotoFunia People may be surprised to know that God has ordained government to enforce laws and protect the people. If you study on it a mite, you'll realize that the "you can't legislate morality" canard is foolish, because most laws are based upon morality. When governments act according to their purposes, the church and the state get along fine. When the state rejects God wrongly exceeds and claims power, we have problems. Prayer in schools is outlawed, Christians are told to shut up and stay out of government (apparently government is only for secularists now), teaching that evolutionism is a religion and its sci

Repenting of Old Earth Creationism

It may be surprising, but repentance is not preached nearly as much as it should (Matt. 4:17, Mark 1:14-15, Luke 24:46-47, Acts 3:19, 2 Tim. 2:25, 2 Peter 3:9, Rev. 3:19). It applies not only to the unsaved, but to Christians who are not following the truth. How does this apply to old-earth creationists? Credit: Modified at imgflip from a graphic at FreeImages by Claudia Meyer Repentance from false beliefs is readily apparent, such as Arianism , Pelagianism , Gnosticism and Docetism , and others . These are far more significant than, say, disagreements regarding baptism. (I have to restrain myself about the war between Reformed and Arminian doctrines, each has adherents that act like cultists belonging to the One True Faith™ and essentially calling the other side heretics. Why I oughta...) There is a difference between heresies and disagreements. Learn it. One thing that many false teaching have in common is denial of scriptural authority. Theistic evolutionists are coyotes sm

Losing Faith in an Old Earth

It may come as a surprise to many people that a number of those involved in biblical creation science ministries had quite different views before becoming biblical creationists. Some were atheists, others theistic evolutionists, and some like Dr. Brian Thomas held to an old earth view. Credit: StockSnap / Lauren Mancke One problem people like Dr. Thomas and others have is that they are only aware of one side. Many do not even know that other — superior — interpretations even exist, and have never heard of biblical creation science. Brian's faith in long ages was challenged by several factors. He could not reconcile the old earth narrative with observed evidence, and most importantly, he saw that secular interpretations of the facts did not fit the truth of the Bible. A student recently asked what I believe about the age of the earth. I replied that at one time I felt absolutely certain that the world was billions of years old. I even wrote a song that mentioned “the age of

Honor-Shame Cultures and the Gospel Message

In the United States and many other countries, the gospel message is rather straightforward (with some variations, of course). Unfortunately, evangelists tend to leave out Genesis, which has the origin of everything and tells us where sin and death began. Things get more complicated when dealing with people who have honor and shame in their cultures. Credit: FreeDigitalPhotos /  tawatchai Honor and shame are closely associated with pride, but in some cultures, it affects the entire family. Also, they want to save face , and even help you or I to do the same so dignity is maintained. People will "accept Jesus" without knowing what that means, and those who believe in many false gods will add the real one into the mix.  Missionaries have reported false conversions through misunderstandings, but have had far better success when beginning with Genesis. We need to learn about the people we are talking with and to change tack so we can take their mindset into account. We ca

Evolution, Creation, and the Dilemma of Death

Professing Christians who accept the pronouncements of secular scientists about the age of the earth and evolution are faced with several dilemmas regarding death and God's very good creation. We can watch it on television and movies, read about it in books, but death is not entertaining when it happens to those we care about. Credit: Morguefile / ClarksGirl Secularists tell us that death has been here all along. God's Word tells us that death is an intruder into creation, an enemy that was defeated at the bodily Resurrection of Jesus Christ. Death was not God's process of creation over long ages, and there will not be there at the restoration. The lie of evolution causes confusion and raises questions, but the truth in the Bible — beginning in the very first verse — gives us answers. You won't get answers or any hope from secularists. Why is the world filled with death? Why did my friend’s three-month-old son recently die in the ambulance on the way to the hospi