Biblical Creation and Evangelism

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

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

We have discussed some rather in-depth subjects here, but there is a question that I bypassed. After all, most of the major creation science organizations deal with it, so I made the erroneous assumption that it was not needed. That is, where did Cain get his wife? While the question is an honest one for people who are new to biblical creation teachings, it is also treated like a "Gotcha!" question by atheists and other evolutionists. They act like it cannot be answered, therefore, Genesis is a myth. Or, therefore, evolution. Who knows what they looked like? Here are two ladybugs from Pixabay / Ron van den Berg It's okay to admit it if you don't know the answer, but there are plenty of resources (including the one linked below) that you should investigate and get back to the person asking the question. None of that, "Just have faith and believe" excuse stuff, you savvy that, pilgrim? Especially for the young'uns. The quick answer is that if people actual

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

People have long believed in forms of determinism , where behaviors and even events are the result of environmental causes, genetics, conditioning, and so on. This also extends to belief in fate, karma, and God (some religious views make God our puppeteer). So much for free will, huh? I have a vague memory of watching Steve Irwin on television where he came across a dead animal, looked at the camera, and said reverently, "It's nature's way!" In addition to the fallacy of reification, he was affirming an aspect of determinism. Original image: Wikimedia Commons / Tage Olsin ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunia I'm going to lose friends and followers over this, but I have to be truthful. Like Steve Irwin in that show, some Calvinists solemnly declare after something bad happens, "God is sovereign." We know and believe that, but a little humility is in order: there is no single Christian system that fully understands every aspect of the Bible. It's

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

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

For a very long time, people accepted the genealogies in Genesis as accurate chronologies: chronogenealogies. After Christians began ceding science to secularists with the advent of deep time and Darwinism, excuses were found to deny their accuracy. There are many problems with this, including casting doubt on God's preservation of Scripture, his care for us, trusting Jesus, and a tacit denial of the truth of God's Word from the beginning. People have lost sight of the purposes of the genealogies. Unsplash / Priscilla Du Preez On a somewhat side note, someone was hawking his book about leaving atheism and coming to Christ. Since he is in the flaming liberal United Methodist denomination (in which I was raised and my father was a pastor for fifty years), I suspect he has some serious theology problems. His reaction to my comment says a great deal: It's unfortunate that you think only those who follow your unorthodox, recently cult derived interpretation of the Bible can clai

This is a title I never thought I would use. A recent post on Twitter asked what you would say to a stranger on the street, but that is not usually the best approach. When it comes to apologetics, Christians and creationists who are informed on their subjects use analogies and other things as springboards. Indeed, I have referred to Stargate SG-1 , and used Star Trek:TNG  as inspirations for creation articles. Augustine probably never made a pickle analogy (apologies to  Pietro Perugino ) Sometimes when watching a show, I will remark to my wife about how something we are seeing was designed by our Creator. In conversations, people like to have something in common or relatable. The discussion can move into more important subjects. I was surprised that a kosher dill pickle can be used to make four points about creation and in evangelism. Food, even dill pickles, can provide relevant insights for creation apologetics. Since November 14th is National Pickle Day, this is a good time to cons

It is common to take a stroll in a wooded area and encounter critters, which often scamper away. Others freeze in place as a defense, or possibly doing threat assessment. They usually want to get away from us. Animals have fear of us and of each other.  Our apartment is on the second floor of three. Lots of trees in the area. Squirrels show no fear in leaping up onto our porch, but when we go outside, they run off.  Wikimedia Commons /  Jineshpanchal  ( CC BY-SA 4.0 ) One was on the porch when a big hawk landed on the railing. That's never happened before. The rodent froze in terror and just laid there. The hawk just looked at it, probably not hungry at the moment. If we had gone to the sliding glass door, I lack belief either would have stayed put. Even domestic animals show fear of humans, including pets around strangers. Animals that have gone feral or never knew human contact are in touch with their inner wildness. It takes a mighty long time to make friends with a feral animal

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  First, a note for anyone who is curious. The usual format: introduction with some of my thoughts plus links for useful information, excerpts of featured articles, then links to keep reading. I put my name on it and call it an article when I have more to say. This one will be different. I will reference older articles, then add some thoughts that I hope will prove helpful. There is more following the excerpt and link. So, does anyone remember Ken Keathley? Medal image manufactured at Custom Medal Maker Several years ago, Ken Keathley renounced young earth creationism to accept an old earth view. Apparently, he was disappointed by people in the young earth community. No kidding? Taking Friendly Fire This is where I'm going to open up and get personal with both of my readers. Ken Keathley is not the only one who has been disappointed, and in addition, I've been deeply hurt by the young earth community. Things I have posted on social(ist) media have been &qu

As Christians, we freely admit that we walk by faith (2 Cor. 5:7), and that it is impossible to please God without it (Heb. 11:6). Despite the claims of mockers, faith is not believing in something that is not true. The Bible is self-attesting, and our faith is supported by evidence. Ironically, materialists believe everything came from nothing. Credit: Pexels /  Ave Calvar Martinez Professing atheists frequently object that they do not believe everything came from nothing. In fact, I have provided this link  (as well as the quotes from it), but instead of admitting the truth, it was met with ridicule. Some secularists realize the foolishness of their claims, so they deal from the bottom of the deck and claim that nothing  means something else . The faith of atheists is absurd and based on rebellion against the God they know exists (Rom. 1:18-23). They believe everything came from nothing, life on Earth originated with rocks ( here is an interesting link about that ), promote molecules

It is easy to find people who claim to be tolerant and open-minded, saying that they defend the rights of others to hold contrary views. It may seem noble, but when the time comes to ante up, it becomes obvious that it was empty bluster.  This is readily apparent when it comes to expressions of biblical truth. Credit: Pixabay /  Angela Yuriko Smith It's interesting to watch a conflict of trends. Charles Darwin was racist and sexist, and his worldview not only permeated his version of evolution, but influenced is followers through the years. Cancel culture is giving him a pass . Obviously, atheistic naturalism trumps outrage at his views. Rational people can examine the details and learn from history instead of trying to erase it. The free expression of our Christian worldview is being reduced at an increasing rate in Western cultures, and there are people (mainly misotheists) who do not even want us to have  our views. Indeed, they dehumanize creationists because we uphold the fou

As regular readers have noticed, the Christian worldview makes sense of what is seen in the world. Logic, science, mathematics, and other necessary but intangible things are impossible without God. It is often easy to dismantle spurious arguments from professing atheists, but Christians are called to a higher standard . Deluge (II) by Mikalojus Konstantinas Ciurlionis, 1904 A professing Christian decided to slap leather with Dr. Jason Lisle regarding the lengths of the days before the Genesis Flood and why days are longer now. It did not go well. The challenger acted like an atheist in several ways by using logical fallacies, uninformed conjectures, exceeding what was written in the Bible — and lying. Dr. Lisle corrected him with Scripture, reason, and mathematics. This guy, like atheists, seemed to resent being kept on topic. We here examine some assertions made by Troy, a young earth creationist who has made some very unorthodox claims about conditions before the Genesis flood.  He

It may come as a shock to many people, but all education is religious in nature. If you commence to cognating on it, everyone has a worldview . It is formed through the values and presuppositions that we use to make sense of the big questions in life. People who teach operate from their worldviews. Modified from a photo at Freeimages, original from  Jeramey Jannene Studying on it further, we see that worldviews are religious in nature. Some people claim that secular  means neutral , but that is not the case: it is impossible to be neutral . It has been clearly demonstrated that secular schools are most definitely not neutral. They are, in fact, operating from atheist naturalism and even persecute Christian teachers who oppose anserine values. In an interesting twist, this indoctrinator maintains that so-called "neutral" science is anything but. She is unhappy about "science" that may omit things that she perceives to be "facts", but are actually leftist a

There is a four-part miniseries by biblical creationist Ian Juby that originally aired on the Miracle Channel in North Texas — I mean, Canada — and when it became available on his Wazooloo YouTube channel, I shared the episodes on The Question Evolution Project . The episodes are about half an hour each, so I wanted to do this post and make the links convenient. Title added to a screenshot from one of the videos. Used without permission. For a long time, flying saucers or unidentified flying objects were considered the stuff of someone who was crazy as a loon. While there were legends of aerial phenomena long ago, it took off (heh!) in about the 1950s. While some were hoaxes, mistakes, and occasional insanity, not all can be easily dismissed. Reporter and radio announcer commenced to doing some investigating, and I remember reading his 1966 book Flying Saucers — Serious Business  (which  Amazon is disingenuously marketing as a 2017 publication , fifty years after Edwards died). In th

As any skilled totalitarian dictator knows, indoctrinate children early with propaganda and disparage God's Word. But we are not contending with a physical person or organization. It is spiritual in nature, and uses people, false religions, governments, and more to strike at the heart of biblical Christianity. Credit: Freeimages / bayek We are not at war with flesh and blood, but instead, Satan and his minions (Eph. 6:12). People who are unsaved belong to Satan and are serving him willingly or unwillingly (1 Cor. 2:14, John 8:44, 2 Cor. 4:4). Professing atheists blatantly attack God's Word, but others put on a guise of religiosity, even professing to believe in Christ. Some are sincere, but sincerely deluded. They are clever enough to attack the very foundations of the faith which are found in Genesis. Parents are to instruct their children (Eph. 6:4, Deut. 11:19, 2 Tim. 3:15) so they are able to deal with struggles and deceptions in life. A viperine "Christian" curri

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  While Christians need to obtain their spiritual knowledge from the Bible, pastors, godly teachings, and so forth, the Holy Spirit can sometimes prompt us to learn things from unexpected sources. Indeed, although psychology is entrenched in evolution and naturalism, it can have occasional benefits — but is dangerous to those who are not grounded in the Word of God. Credit: Pixabay / Gerd Altmann You and I may be souls whose intentions are good, so we don't want to be misunderstood. It's natural to clarify what we say to some extent. When it comes to dealing with someone who is accusing and unwilling to believe what we say, why try so hard? In " Toxic Misotheists, Being Alpha, and the Bible ", one of the points discussed was how toxic people manipulate others. A recent video by Ashley Berges (one of my previous sources) titled " Over Explaining is a Trap - Are You Trapped? " brought this into focus in a different way. For some reason, m