Biblical Creation and Evangelism

Although it is an old word and often used when movie studios mock Christians who are the villains shout it, heresy is useful. Heresies about Jesus abound. Perhaps it is a heresy when an atheist claims there is no God (or the absurdity that he never existed), but we will focus on heresies among professing Christians. Unfortunately, people believe at least three of the most common false teachings. Why do they believe them? Because they are easily deceived. Bluntly, this usually comes from spiritual laziness and biblical illiteracy. The Good Shepherd , Public Domain Pictures / Bernard Plockhorst, mid-1800s As mentioned before, I was raised in a theologically liberal denomination. When I went to a conservative Christian school for my last three years, I had no understanding of the Trinity or that Jesus is God the Son. Yes, the Trinity cannot be fully understood and must be taken by faith, but we can learn basic teachings in the Bible. Some teachings are not heresies but are heterodox, oft...

When dealing with professing atheists and other religious groups, we expect them to take passages of the Bible out of context. These things can often be refuted quickly by examining the larger context. Sometimes it may require digging into the contexts of history, culture, language, and so on, but not always. (Indeed, most alleged contradictions in the Bible that were refuted by Veritas Domain were based on context tampering.) Some atheists object to our pointing out how they take things out of context, but it happens a great deal. Genesis and reading glasses, FreeDigitalPhotos / Janaka Dharmasena Christians tamper with the context as well. Those who actually believe the Bible probably do not do this intentionally, but it can easily happen. Especially when someone is teaching and mislead his hearers. (James 3:1 has a warning for teachers of God's Word — I reckon those who use bad hermeneutics make the Bible about us are in big trouble.) We should ride up on the hill for the bigger...

This post will have some informative material before moving on to more serious matters, and I enjoyed putting it together. While there is a similarity between potholes and sinkholes, the two should not be confused — even though the potholes New York, Michigan, and other places can probably be seen from the International Space Station. Cover-collapse sinkhole in limestone near Frederick, MD Image credit: US Geological Survey / Randall Orndorff (usage does not imply endorsement of site contents) Sinkholes vary in size and are found worldwide, but most often in areas where the water remains below the surface and erodes underlying rock. The process is usually gradual and may not be noticed for a long time. Eventually, they collapse, such as the one on Washington Street in Kingston, NY  — which troubled residents for five years . They can also occur quickly due to factors like when a water main breaks , heavy rainfall, and others. Let's talk about the power of water for a bit, wh...

There are people who believe that the constellations contain the gospel message, and it was there before the Bible was completed. Then, it became unnecessary. This is according to a woman named Frances Rolleston, whose work was published in 1865 and influenced many people. Unfortunately, he work was full of serious errors. Map of the Northern Sky with representations of the constellations / Albrecht Durer, 1515 Her books was published posthumously as a collection of notes. (I wonder if some of those were notes to herself to conduct further research, but when I do that I usually have a "look up" or "check on" phrase.) The concept of the gospel in the stars relies on spurious research and taking verses out of context. Like atheists and evolutionists, Rolleston seemed to use the scientific principle of Making Things Up™. She also took verses out of context to make this presentation. Sincere people and even good pastors have believed this false story. While it ...

Christians who are grounded in the Word, make an effort to know true doctrine, and pay attention to good teaching are most likely to spot owlhoots who want to lead people on a bad trail. Nominal Christians are at a greater risk of being swayed by false teachers. However, both kinds of professing believers need to be wary of the tactics of these types so they can avoid deception. The Preacher , George Harvey, 1840 Sure, a teacher can read text from the Bible, but many will use that as a springboard for interpretations and opinions that are not justified. Some will make disparaging remarks about the first eleven chapters of Genesis, which contain the basis of all major doctrines. Then they commence to insert long ages, evolution, current trends of social justice, homosexual marriage, and other aberrations. They may even cite "authorities" who base their views on other authorities, further and further from what God's Word actually says, and people end up being fed lie...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Seems to be human nature to defer to someone in authority. Well, let me modify that: someone that seems to have  authority. The scene of a traffic accident, a stranger stops, gives instructions, directs traffic, and takes charge overall until the police and EMTs arrive. (There is something that is called presence, where someone has authority and personality.) He or she may not have had any formal status, but people deferred to the air of authority. Atheists listen to Clinton Richard Dawkins, even though he is a lousy philosopher, and evolutionists believe his ridiculous claim that the human eye was "poorly designed" . Unfortunately, Christians are often persuaded by people with what they perceive as authority. Evangelist D.L. Moody, from J. Wilbur Chapman , 1900 As an illustration, allow me a personal anecdote. I was raised in the Untied Methodist Church (misspelling intentional), my father was a pastor. In an adult Sunday School class, I was a...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen We need something new. That Bible on the shelf (or wherever it is, I can't find mine) is tired and old. Fortunately, we have apostles that are busy anointing other apostles, and they are proclaiming direct revelations from God! I can be blessed , especially if I make seed offerings to their ministries. Praise the Lord! It's all about  me,  God  needs  me to fulfill my dreams, the Holy Spirit can't  function  without me , God  wants  me to meet all my material needs and desires, and maybe I, too, will be told by an angel to preach "Kingdom Power" . I'm so special, I don't know how he made it so long without me. Well, isn't that the kind of thing people are saying? Christians have turned into a bunch of biblically illiterate selfish owlhoots . We have enough problems of alleged "former Christians" who have rejected God and claimed he doesn't even exist (or God is evil) because he's not a magic wish-granti...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Andy Stanley has been disappointing some people, and causing quite a few to be alarmed by his opposition to the authority of Scripture. (Note: Do not be confused.  Charles  Stanley is his father, senior pastor of First Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, and heard on In Touch Ministries . I've found most of his teachings to be doctrinally sound, and he upholds the inerrancy and authority of the Bible.) Unfortunately, megachurch director Andy Stanley has been saying things that are destructive to the truth, including recommending the false teaching of theistic evolution. Gray wolf image credit: US National Park Service While shooting from the hip can be a good thing, someone claiming the title of pastor should reign himself in . Stanley was disrespectful of small churches, then apologized later . In another instance, " What  did he just say?", Stanley may have used a very bad word in a sermon. When the segment was legally posted on YouTube ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited 11-22-2015 Despite what many unbelievers seem to think, when people become Christians, they don't have to surrender their humanity. Yes, we make mistakes and have occasional sins in our lives (Heb 12:1, 1 John 1:9), and do many things that everyone else does. That is, we have needs, desires, jobs, eat, drink, breathe, sleep, do some mattress dancing with our spouses, have hobbies, hang around with friends, and so on. We also have people we look up to. Image credit: Pixabay / Unsplash Who are the Heroes? Anyone can be elevated to hero status among Christians, just like our counterparts in the world. W hen it someone of "our own kind", people tend to get excited about someone of their own ethnic, religio n , sex, age, country, political views, and so on. Some people that Christians elevate include: A sports star is very public about his or her faith Musicians that mention Jesus favorably, or even make claims to be Christians Tha...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen For those who want the background on this unintended series, I discussed the origins of "Why Unbelievers Hate Christians" in " Making Money From End of the World Fears ", the reading of which is optional but helpful. You may want to see " Crooks: Why Unbelievers Hate Christians Part 2 " as well. Once again, I was listening to a podcast at work and chomping at the bit to gallop home and write an article on it.  Christians have enough problems dealing with critics and mockers without some of us giving them reasons to do so. I could write articles on nutty people who profess the name of Christ as a career (as well as false teachers), but there are others who do it far better than I do. Unpopular Opinion Puffin's opinion is unpopular among some people. Still, this one bothers me, and I hope it can be an object lesson. Opal Covey is running for mayor of Toledo, Ohio. She's run four times before, and lost every time. ...

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited October 26,2015 I discussed the origins of "Why Unbelievers Hate Christians" in " Making Money From End of the World Fears ", the reading of which is optional but helpful. The essence of this unintended series is that Christians are hated from the get-go because we are followers of Jesus, and because the cross of Christ is offensive itself. Problem is, there are professing Christians who stupidly give the world reasons to ridicule us. Yes, we have crooks in our midst. Not only are there false teachers giving a feel good message without repentance and without the blood of Christ, but there are con men and women who are using the gospel for money (1 Peter 5:2, Titus 1:11). Jimmy Swaggart was caught with a prostitute (was disciplined by the Assemblies of God, rejected it, and went independent ), televangelist Jim Bakker was nailed for fraud  and a sex scandal ( now he's back , people don't seem to learn), various preacher...