Biblical Creation and Evangelism

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen On this distinctly American holiday where people traditionally celebrate family, friends, and what we have, we need to remember the greater blessings. Many of us have things we take for granted. We have electronic devices that are "essential" to us that didn't even exist ten years ago, and we panic when they're not working. A bit of perspective, people! I can turn on the faucet and get clean water that we put through an attached filter to make it even better, but there are those who have to scrounge for muddy water to drink and hope it doesn't kill them. Even if we're not living in splendor, we need to be thankful for what we have, you savvy? The Thankful Poor ,  Henry Ossawa Tanner, 1894 A thankful spirit is important in the Christian life, and we should focus on giving thanks to God who gave us life, and eternal life. He doesn't have to bless us in so many ways, but he does it out of his love for us — even mockers and bl

A subject of debate has existed for a very long time regarding the salvation of those who never heard the gospel. It's a fair question, and many Christians have wondered about it. Misotheists have also used it for the purposes of ridicule, even though the incoherent atheistic worldview should not allow them to care about the actions of God who they claim does not exist. "Why should there be only one way to your God?" can be replied with, "God did not have to provide any way to sinful humanity, but he gives both justice and mercy". Credit: Pixabay / jclk8888 God's Word tells us to share the gospel, and emphasizes the importance of doing so. We must be read (1 Peter 3:15, Matt. 28:18-20). It's vital to be true to Scripture, and not resort to subjective claims of "God told me such and so", or "I was led by the Spirit". Making things up does not work, either, and we cannot assume that someone will be saved based on...wishful thin

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen There are Christians who feel obligated to "keep the Sabbath", so they go to church and worship on Sunday. Some rigidly avoid unnecessary activity, and even shun things like sporting events and other pursuits that they consider "worldly". There are several problems with this approach. First, it is not scriptural, and more of a cultural belief. Second, the Sabbath was not changed to Sunday, it was established for the seventh day. Third and most important, Christians are not required to keep the Sabbath at all. Don't be disunderstanding me now, I'm not saying it's wrong to be church going. What I am  saying is that we're not under the Law, the Mosaic Covenant. Credit: Pixabay / tpsdave The Sabbath has its origin in Gen. 2:3, where he rested on and sanctified the seventh day. God was the only Sabbath keeper at first. In Ex. 16:29-30, the day of solemn rest was established for Israel. See that? It was for Israel, not a

A day called Good Friday is observed to some extent by most professing Christians around the world. Unbelievers ignore or even hate this day because there is no camouflaging it; no candy rabbits, baskets with shredded plastic grass, egg hunts , ham dinners or any other trappings like people do with Easter. The crucifixion of Jesus is plainly on display for all to see. Credit: Pixabay / congerdesign The bodily resurrection of Jesus from the dead followed on a Sunday. He defeated death to reconcile those who believe with God the Father, and enemies of God don't rightly cotton to hearing about that none too much. They also dislike being reminded that Jesus is the Creator (John 1:1-4, Colossians 1:16), and that both the crucifixion and resurrection were prophesied centuries before those events happened. Further, the first prophesy about redemption after sin was in Genesis 3:15. For those who belong to God through faith in Jesus Christ (Ephesians 2:8-9, John 1:12, Revelation 21:3

Almost from the beginning of Jesus' incarnation as a man, there have been strange heresies about him. Owlhoots have been trying to find ways to denigrate him and make him less that who he was when he walked the earth, and nowadays, such heresies are no longer restricted to Gnostics, atheists, and other cults; the false teachings have infected mainstream churches. Credit: Pixabay / Hans_Hofer C.S. Lewis referred to unbelievers' remarks about Jesus being a "great moral teacher" as " patronizing nonsense ", but some professing Christians are at that same level. Even though his own words, Old Testament prophesies, New Testament writers, the church fathers, and so on have made it clear that Jesus is God the Son who humbled himself and took on human form, seems that people don't cotton to paying attention. Strange when they claim to believe the Bible, but then say that Jesus made mistakes. Quite often, you can find these false claims about him from beli

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen As I have stated many times, all major Christian doctrines have their origins in Genesis , which is foundational for the Christian faith. Some folks wave off Genesis and creation as incidental and want to get to what they consider the "good stuff", but they are doing themselves (and others) a tremendous disservice. Of course, atheists, theistic evolutionists, and other owlhoots malign Genesis because it threatens their faith in evolutionism, and they know the importance of Genesis to the Christian faith. Why do we wear clothes? It's found in Genesis. When did sin begin? Genesis. What is first promise of the Redeemer? Genesis, again. What is the foundation for marriage? That's right, Genesis again. The world is increasingly hostile to the truth of Scripture as well as more accommodating to secularism and atheism. Although persecution in the West is mild in comparison to what Christians endure in other parts of the world, it does exist and is

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen No, I'm not the one seeking challenges for my beliefs. Someone was asking what people read that challenge their "deeply held beliefs". The inquirer (who shall remain unidentified as well as my source) does not want to be pigeonholed as someone who believes because he or she was told to believe, and commenced to reading books by atheists. Other folks chimed in and said it was a good idea. Image credit: Freeimages / Stephen J. Sullivan Before I continue, ever have a situation where you explained something correctly, then found out that the person receiving the explanation didn't need it? That's how I feel here. What I'm about to say is valid, but I don't know if the one doing the asking even needs this information, but I'm doing it for someone who may need it. Hope that makes sense. Why seek out challenges to your faith? A Bible-believing Christian gets those on a regular basis from temptations, media, social media, frie

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen It's kind of sad that the manger scenes we have are wrong. Well, not exactly wrong, just...not exactly accurate. I had one of those barn things with figurines and three plastic wise men on camels. When I learned that the magi were not there to see the birth of Jesus and arrived much later (possibly even two years later), I put the figurines away from the manger scene and said, "They're on their way". Kind of difficult to include them in a Christmas celebration if you're going to be a stickler for historical accuracy, but that's just me. Adoration Of The Magi , Sandro Botticelli, 1500 We know the song about the "three kings of orient are", but who were they, really? There are a passel of traditions and opinions about them. The only reference we have to the magi (wise men) is in Matthew 2:1-12, but we can't justify the tradition of three  wise men on camels. Three gifts  are mentioned, but no camels (although that&

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen When translating the Latin Vulgate version of the Bible, Jerome had an easy -to-make but serious "oops" with Genesis 3:15, the protoevangelium , the first prophesy of the redemption of man. Most Bibles render it, "... he shall bruise you on the head (or, crush  your head), and you shall bruise him on the heel". But Jerome made it say, "... she shall crush thy head, and thou shalt lie in wait for her heel", as found in the  Douay-Rheims Roman Catholic Bible . The Virgin and Child (The Madonna of the Book) - Sandro Botticelli, 1480 Where can I get a hat like they have? That mistranslation fits in well with Roman Catholic mythology where Mary is the co-redemptrix along with Jesus , which is a blatant violation of Scripture . Although the Vatican's Neo-Vulgate corrected the error , Catholics still managed to force-fit poor Mary into the text, since she gave birth to Jesus. If you study on it for a spell, you'll see th

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen This article has two parts. I was going to present some musings that had built up in my mind, made some notes about this on Friday — and something very serious came to my attention on Saturday that fits right in . Kind of strange when those things happen. My concern is how Christians turn their prayers and worship into something resembling spells, forget that God is our loving Father, and act like the Bible is a kind of occult manual. First, a personal problem. Although it's good to be specific in prayer and even pour out your heart to God, I'll allow that I get a mite over-specific. F'rinstance, I'll pray for my wife's safety for the work day. So, I'll pray for her safety to, from, and during work. I realized that I needed to rein up because I was insulting God at full gallop and didn't even realize it! God is infinitely wise, and knows what we mean. Indeed, he helps in our prayers (Romans 8:26-27). I'm thankful that he'

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen In another article, I discussed how some people will turn their backs on God because of disappointment in their lives, whether trivial, expecting God to be a cosmic wish-granting genie, bringing problems upon themselves and then blaming God, or from serious hardships. Some find excuses to suppress the truth of God, preferring their own sin and pride to submission to their Creator. There are others who seek God in the midst of their hardships and remain faithful. See " Pain, Disappointment, and Apostasy ". Image credit: Pixabay / jill111 Paul the apostle had hardships (for example, see 2 Cor. 11:16-33, Acts 4:19-20), and you'd think that if he was relying on his own strength, he'd be quite willing to say, "Too much! I'm taking the next stage outta Dodge!" In Second Corinthians, he wrote, "By reason of the exceeding greatness of the revelations, that I should not be exalted excessively, there was given to me a thorn in

Even though there is a great deal of beauty in the world, the fact is, it's broken. We have no concept of what it was like just after creation. More than that, the world is broken in other ways. We have natural disasters, diseases, the origins myth of evolution foisted on the public as "science", false religions, profiteering pretend Christians, man's inhumanity to man, and much more. Some folks reckon that bad things happening is a sign that God doesn't care, can't do anything, or doesn't even exist. Some even say he's evil. (Interesting, they don't use evil in the world as evidence for the existence of Satan, who is a liar and destroyer.) Such "bad God" ideas are simplistic, springing from looking for excuses to rebel against him. When these excuses are examined, they cannot withstand scrutiny. The problem of our broken planet goes all the way back go Genesis. And that's where we begin to learn about the solution and final

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Sadly, there are some people who are afraid that they have committed the unpardonable sin and are beyond redemption for eternity. While it is good to be concerned, the unpardonable sin is not something that can be committed casually. Think about it. God is not capricious and willing to condemn someone for such a serious sin committed in ignorance or by something said in haste. ESV Bible text added to Woe unto You, Scribes and Pharisees by James Tissot / Public Domain There are several views on this sin. One is that it cannot be committed today, it was a "game over" for the Pharisees who had been condemning him and had finally crossed the line because of the constant hardening of their hearts. Another view is that this sin is the rejection of salvation, where someone dies without Christ. (In the latter case, the end result is the same.) Even some Christians are afraid that they fouled up somehow, and take the unbiblical view of losing their sa

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen The topic of aliens from outer space can make as much sense as a cattle stampede. Many people believe that there are extraterrestrial visitors who traveled amazingly vast distances through impossible-to-survive conditions in outer space to visit us. What for, just to say "Howdy?" Others reject space aliens as products of imagination, psychotic episodes, mistakes, or are faked. Then you hear about how UFOs are secret government flying machines. See? Orderly as a stampede. To dismiss UFOs and aliens outright is to impugn the integrity of many respectable people. Something  happened to various people, and others did  see something in the sky. By my cogitations, those space ships are probably military aircraft — and something sinister as well. Those visitations by extraterrestrials? They're not from outer space. If ET says he's from out there, he's lying. Having reluctantly abandoned my belief that we are visited by space strangers, I

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Today is Creation Sunday . It was created in response to misleading atheist Michael Zimmerman 's call to apostasy called the " Clergy Letter Project ". Creation Sunday is an effort to get Bible-believing Christians to take a stand for the truth, and to educate themselves on the importance of Genesis as well as how science supports creation and refutes evolution. Why is it that those owlhoots feel the need to slap leather with those of us who believe the Bible, to recruit compromisers, and to evangelize for atheism? You'd think that they'd be content to be "right" in their own eyes (Psalm 14:1) and their rejection of God, even though they know he exists (Romans 1:18-23). They insist that we're "wrong", but they have to protect "science" (fallaciously equivocating "evolution" with "science"), and are not content to leave us alone, nor show a modicum of respect for people who believ

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Edited 10-23-2015 Most Christians (and many non-Christians) celebrate Christmas. There are some Christians who choose to avoid it. Unfortunately, there are also legalistic, judgmental Christians who scorn those of us who choose to celebrate, but this is based on a misunderstanding of Scripture and history (and maybe a prideful desire to feel "better" than others). Some of those people are influenced by atheistic dishonesty and cult propaganda. I've seen cults actually start with a foundation of blatant lies, and then build an "argument" against Christmas with "logic" that is cringe-worthy. Some legalistic Christians (as well as the Jehovah's Witnesses) proudly assert that everyone else is wrong and they  are right in avoiding Christmas. They assert alleged pagan associations with the holiday, and even torture the text of Jeremiah 10:1-16 to get it to confess that Christmas trees are evil. Except that their use is a