Biblical Creation and Evangelism

It is common to hear people make an appeal to a form of religiosity by declaring something is a sin. Presumably this is done to give their declaration some form of power or impact, but it usually just sounds trite. My wife's parents said it was a sin to throw away food. I say it's a sin to eat Brussels sprouts. Anyone can make such a claim, but can seldom support it with Bible verses or scriptural principles. This is not surprising, since most professing Christians are biblically illiterate. Worse, t hey are functional heretics and are unsaved ! To say that something is sinful without having knowledge is trivializing sin and the death of Jesus on the cross. Kneeling at the Cross, PxHere When posting material that refutes the idea that Christmas and Easter are of pagan origin, I see many professing Christians clinging to their uninformed opinions and traditions rather than examining the well-researched material. They were judging knowledgeable Christians and acting like they wer

It is indeed unfortunate that Christians can have their faith negatively affected by atheists spouting things that sound sciency, but are essentially hooey-laden personal opinions. Although other people make fact-free assertions, most of those are not directed at our faith. One of these speculations involves our place in the universe. When misotheists say things like, "We know the universe is unfathomably huge. Religious people believed it was small, but Earth is actually insignificant. If God exists, he would not care about it, or us." There are several problems with such remarks. ISS above Earth, NASA (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) First of all, it is prejudicial conjecture; the scoffer already suppresses the truth of God (Rom. 1:18-23) and uses this presupposition to spread unbelief. He or she has no logical basis for thinking that the Creator of the universe would not care about us. Next, the claim that people thought the universe was small is errone

The American Scientific Affiliation provides an example of what happens when an ostensibly Christian organization begins with an uncertain foundation and continues to compromise on Scripture. Not to be confused with other groups with similar names, it had an interesting approach to science and religion working in harmony. People of varied religious persuasions were members. Unfortunately, they did not seek the authority of the Word of God, but wanted validation from secular science. It did not go well. Secularists insist on naturalism. Sure, it's great to have those st00pid djumb theists promoting evolution and pretending it came from God, but that's not enough. The ASA had a "big tent" approach, but that turned into a circus. It has drifted into not only theistic evolution, but also open hostility toward biblical creation and its proponents. Note that the god of TE is not the God of the Bible, and numerous compromises and scriptural tap dancing are constantly requir

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

In U.S. Supreme Court hearings, Kaiju — I mean, Ketanji — Brown Jackson claimed to be unable to answer "What is a woman" because she is not a biologist. Well, I am not a biologist, medical doctor, or whatever, and I know a woman when I encounter one. But it is becoming more difficult nowadays. While atheists and evolutionists like to call those of us who deny and refute fish-to-fool evolution as "science deniers", those who say that people can have their genders changed are science deniers. They cannot transform chromosomes, skeletal structure, and many other features. Woman on dock, Unsplash / Drew Colins Self-styled "progressives" are blurring the lines, and greedy doctors are going along with them. Such things were unthinkable just a few years ago, and someone who had bodily mutilation surgery and was given hormones in an effort to change sexes made normal people uncomfortable. There was never any need to define man and woman . The world is sliding down

Many people claim they have a problem with God, or that God has a problem, because they think he is wicked or incapable. They are making their case from a limited perspective. We are human and God is infinite; the created cannot fully understand the Creator. In addition, people are in rebellion against him. Misotheists pretend God does not exist, then absurdly ridicule Christians who say that there is plenty of evidence for him (Romans 1:18-23). Read or listen more and they are condemning God to justify themselves (Job 40:8). The most common complain is evil in the world. Question mark and big door, Unsplash / Jac Alexandru Of course, things God considers evil are often accepted by these people. They are working from personal preferences and arbitrary standards. There's a prairie schooner-full of speculation, guesswork, uninformed opinions, prejudicial conjecture and all that good stuff used to contemplate and "explain" God. Very disrespectful. How about his point of view

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

No, this is not one of those posts about singing feelgood songs and chanting, or "binding" demons hiding under every bush. Stay away from that stuff. This is about a fact that I bring up here every once in a while since this weblog began in 2011. (Originally, it was "A Soldier for Jesus.") We are in a spiritual war. We do not have to go looking for trouble, it comes for us. Satan wants Christians eliminated or at least neutralized. Those who want no part of the spiritual warfare that we are in every day  are actually doing service for the enemy. Whoever is not for  Jesus is against  him. Soldiers, Pixabay / Defence-Imagery "But Cowboy Bob, if I speak up, atheists and others will say mean things and hurt my feelings!" Cowboy up, little buckaroo, and decide whose side you're on (Luke 9:62). Jesus died on a cross for your sins and rose again on the third day, and a Christian is no longer an enemy of God but adopted as one of his children, indwelt with the

The other day, I was woolgathering about a job I had. We could call the company president by his first name. He was walking by and I called out to him. He stopped and turned toward me, ready to listen. Something similar happened with a person of importance just the other day, too. They condescended to give time and attention to a nobody. Scoffers will challenge Christians, asking that since the universe is so huge, why would God bother with us down here? For centuries, humans have been learning about the vastness of the universe. While scoffers make the big universe a challenge, believers also wonder — for different reasons. Webb’s 1st Deep Field, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI , modified at PhotoFunia (usage does imply endorsement of contents by anyone anywhere One view involves presuppositions of atheistic naturalism. I'll allow that the universe is incomprehensibly large, so scoffers cannot accept that if the Creator exists, we're in a special place. Contrary to this is the biblical

Although unplanned, this post fits well with " Old-Earth Inerrancy Contradicts Itself ." There are quite a few professing Christians that claim to believe the Bible, but upon further inquiry, we see that they are riding the owlhoot trail — they rejected the authority of Scripture. One way to distort the truth is to blur it by putting secular science views in the magisterial position. Some go as far as to say that Jesus was wrong about creation because he did not have the enlightenment of modern science. It is easy for a Bible-believing Christian to wonder if those folks, who are married up with an old earth view, have bothered to think things through. Such a position cascades throughout all of Scripture. Some say Jesus was wrong, as were Peter, Paul, and others. This negates the Bible's trustworthiness, and also denies the Deity of God the Son, who is the Creator. Salvation become impossible! Recently, I was involved in an exchange with someone whose thinking on the age

A basic principle of Christianity is that humanity was created imago Dei , in the image of God. This is contrary to the concept of dust-to-Darwin evolution, where we are the products of time, chance, natural selection, mutations, and luck. For them, we are nothing special. Just another animal. We often do not show that we are created in the image of God, and evolutionists may use our current state to reject the truth of the Bible. Something clearly happened after Genesis 1:27. Night silhouette under stars, Unsplash / Greg Rakozy Adam and Eve were exploring, enjoying, and doing other newly-created beings stuff. Then in Genesis 3:1-17, that sidewinder Satan decided to foul things up. After all, we are God's masterpiece (Ephesians 2:10), and he hates that. The Christian worldview holds that people are image-bearers of God, worthy of dignity and respect. This is one reason abortion is abhorrent . Eve took the fruit, gave to Adam who was with her , and all have sinned (Romans 3:23) and

The idea that the waters above or firmament in Genesis 1:6-8 indicated a canopy was used by biblical creationists a few decades ago, but knowledgeable creationists have mostly abandoned it [ 1 ]. The idea was promoted by Dr. Henry M. Morris, and the Institute for Creation Research still has some hints about it [ 2 ], but they were seeing problems with it in the late 1990s [ 3 ] and have pretty much put it out to pasture today [ 4 ]. I taught that idea myself. Part of its appeal is its explanatory power. RGBStock /  Sias van Schalkwyk One of the challenges of creation science material (and scientific material in generally, if you study on it) is that things change — often quickly. Theories and conjectures are modified and even rejected, but someone may own a book or video from a few years earlier that influenced their thinking. Perhaps an underinformed lecturer is spreading outdated information. So, we have to cowboy up, get informed, and make changes when necessary. Theories come and

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

Christians and Jews generally affirm that God is independent, the maker of all things, and needs nothing. It should be obvious. Although these facts are made clear throughout Scripture, there is a view known as process theism  that rejects biblical truth in this area. Everything depends on God for its existence (Heb. 1:3), but process theism rejects this. Somehow, God depends on some other entity, and he is evolving with creation. With this comes a rejection of creation out of nothing —  creatio ex nihilo . Dwarf Starburst Galaxy Henize 2-10 credit: NASA , ESA et. al. (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) I'll allow that ex nihilo  creation is not stated explicitly in the Bible, but it is clearly found by reasoning from Scripture. The denial of creatio ex nihilo  is tied in with greater problems in process theism. (Adding to the confusion is that there is no specific creed for process theism, so one may encounter those who believe in certain aspects but not others. So

Mockers as well as compromisers on biblical authority point to Genesis 2:17 and say that it is untrue, that Adam did not drop dead when he ate the forbidden fruit. Therefore, Genesis cannot be taken more than a fictional story or allegory. A more in-depth approach shows that they are wrong. Knowledge of the Bible is necessary, and it is very helpful to get the perspective of people who have spent time studying and writing about it. One of these is Charles Haddon Spurgeon. Although this child has taken heat from both Calvinists and Arminians for refusing to identify with either group, Spurgeon is popular with Calvinists. That doesn't matter here, because the man referred to as the Prince of Preachers has some important material for us. He preached a huge number of sermons , and was known for keeping his listener enthralled. Spurgeon also was faithful to Scripture and spoke so that people could understand his messages. The sermons on Five Kinds of Life help give us a fuller understan

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

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 —

In Isaiah 45:18, we read that God created the earth for us. We have seen that our bodies have many marvelous examples of his engineering skills. This planet is made to keep us (and itself) going, and there are protections around the planet to shield us from cosmic dangers. Stories about journeying to other planets real or imagined have been popular for a mighty long time. Passing through areas of radiation, colliding with asteroids and meteors, space junk  and other problems are plentiful. Then there are concerns with human physiology. Soviet space station Mir, modified by FotoSketcher from a 1989 NASA image of Mir taken by STS-89 In addition to being hit by something zooming past and requiring shielding from radiation, humans must be physically capable of withstanding the gravity to blast us up yonder. Another part of the problem with gravity is the lack of it while up there. Human red blood cells deplete quite rapidly, causing anemia and other physiological problems. Valery Polyako

Many of us engaging in apologetics are confronted with people who say they want to ask questions, but instead, they want to slap leather with us. It seems that they want to play the "Gotcha!" game, and if an apologist is unable to answer a question or objection, they can further justify their rebellion against God. (Embarrassing the apologist is a bonus.) A favored tactic of scoffers is to turn a discussion into a shootout, rapidly firing their statements and not allowing a response.  Cropped from Pixnio / Amanda Mills In the Nye-Ham debate, Bill Nye exploited the debate rules and indulged in a related tactic known as elephant hurling , where Ken Ham was unable to respond in the allotted time. Something I've pointed out many times is that misotheists and other evolutionists often rely on intimidation. While 1 Peter 3:15 tells us to sanctify Christ and be ready to answer, there is no command about getting pummeled. Also, there comes a time when we discern that we're b

While everyone has an opinion, most people can tell the difference between an off-the-cuff remark and a truth claim. A truth claim seems to carry knowledge, and it is often said with authority and confidence. One aspect of critical thinking is to have healthy skepticism instead of simply accepting statements. It is very important to have a foundation in the truth, and knowing where to find answers to questions (which is one reason sites like this point to resources). An excellent starting point is ASKing. Pixabay / Justina Nagy Before I turn you over to the featured article, there are a couple of points I want to make. When someone comes along and makes a statement that sounds authoritative, some folks get all het up if it threatens their beliefs. Proof of evolution! The tomb of Jesus was found! Life on Venus! Pull back on the reins there, pilgrim. Think! I had someone who panicked when evolutionary pronouncements were made. He would ask, "This can be refuted, right?" He did