Biblical Creation and Evangelism

Although the Bible is a book of history and is extremely detailed in many aspects, scoffers often refuse to consider it. Why? Because it's the Bible. They are using the genetic fallacy , and insist on verification from secular sources. This has happened many times (see, for example, " Archaeology Supports the Bible "). One area that is easy to mock is the dispersal of the growing world population at Babel. Credit: Freeimages / B S K Before the Genesis Flood, people packed a passel of years under their belts. Afterward, not so much. However, most of Noah's grandsons still managed to live a long time. Their descendants migrated, built cities, and did what many people still do today: name cities and regions after their patriarchs. The history of these folks is well established. When Noah and his family stepped out of the Ark, they were the only people on Earth. It fell to Noah’s three sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and their wives, to repopulate the Earth through

The expected response to the question, "What was the beginning of sin", is probably when Adam and Eve at that apple. Actually, no. The Bible does not say apple , that's a bit of information for you to carry around and shine up to show people on occasion. In addition, Eve was deceived by the serpent, which was the work of Satan. For some reason, Adam chose to eat the fruit that she gave to him. Interesting to note that if Eve had been presuppositional in her approach, she would have stopped the whole thing right there by declaring that she believed God, not Satan. Credit: cropped from Pixabay / RayHolloway If you study on it, you'll realize that the first sin was not with Adam and Eve. Instead, it was when Lucifer rebelled against God because of pride. Before that, everything was very good (Gen 1:31). This raises questions and can give material for a passel of sermons and articles, so we have to keep the subject narrow. Satan fell because of pride, and has appea

Some folks riding for the old earth brand claim to believe the Bible, but their words betray them. They have a low view of Scripture, and put atheistic interpretations of science into the magisterial position over the Word of God. Old Earth creationists, theistic evolutionists (TEs) and the like find ways to sidestep what the Bible clearly says. Some reinterpret the clear teachings of Scripture because they are committed to deep time views. I reckon that they have to run to the excuse mill near the Darwin Ranch when annoying facts come to light, and keep on compromising.  via GIPHY Those of us who believe what the Bible says don't have that problem. Jaspers at the Biologos outfit have been playing fast and loose with God's Word (and siding with their atheist cohorts against biblical creationists). Sometimes, they even challenge Jesus. But he's the Creator (John 1:2-3, Col. 1:16-17), so I reckon he knows what he's talking about. In a recent column on the B

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen Christians who know and believe the Bible are well aware that Satan exists, and is intent on negating or even destroying the work of God. Some professing Christians see the devil behind every bush, and blame him for practically everything that goes wrong. That's not the whole story. Scripture tells us that we have two other sources of conflict: the flesh and the world. Satan will not only use his own deceitful skills, but brings the other two nonentities along to bring down a believer. In addition, we have our own lusts and sin nature, so we may very well be out of line to blame Satan too often.  The opposite extreme is to take a pseudo-intellectual approach and pretend that Satan does not exist. A phrase attributed to French writer Charles Baudelaire has appeared in several forms and in many places, including movies: "The devil's finest trick is to persuade you that he does not exist." I'll let you study on that for a while and you can

Prophecy is an important and prominent component of the Bible , and many of them were specifically and rather dramatically fulfilled already. Others are yet to happen. Many Christians are heavily involved in eschatology (end-times prophecies), and it is a fascinating subject. I'll allow that it's mighty confusing at times, however, and it is not my strongest subject. There are several different viewpoints that I will not go into here, but I'll let you know that I lean toward what is often called the Premillennial view, as I believe its proponents make the most compelling case. Credit: Pixabay / StockSnap I think one reason that there is different schools of thought on prophecy is that God has his own reasons for making some things hidden. Prophecies about Jesus were not known during his earthly ministry, and the fulfillments were not recognized until after his Resurrection. Also, God does not do things according to our demands. Add to this that we need to look at the

A few years back, some atheists wanted to change their name because of the negative connotations associated with the word atheist.  One suggested term was "brights", which is fallacious because it implies that they are smarter than everyone else because they choose to reject God. That kind of whitewash will not fool people, since the negative connotations have been earned, what with the protests, persecution of Christians, trolling, and generally negative attitudes in general. Some tips given for mental health and to reduce depression is to stay away from negative people. I suggest that folks start with avoiding internet atheists. Similarly, theistic evolutionists have a deserved bad image because they prefer the magisterial view of secular science philosophies to the written Word of God. It's like they have their evolutionism wagon and slap a sign on the back saying "God used evolution", and that somehow validates their views. TEs often saddle up with the

Those of us involved in Christian apologetics ministries are familiar with how atheists, other unbelievers, apostate "Christians" and others are in rebellion against God (see Romans 1:18-23). Rebellion is glorified in today's culture. However, God warns his people all through Scripture about rebellion. Indeed, God likens it to divination and witchcraft (1 Sam. 15:22-23)! Note that the Bible never condones rebellion. The Judgement of Korah, Dathan and Abiram , Maria Hadfield Cosway, 1801 How many rebellions, large or small, begin with grumbling to one another? We are warned against that, too (Prov. 11:13, Jer. 6:28, 2 Cor. 12:20). Not only does such grumbling help produce a rebellious spirit, but it shows lack of Christian love for one another. Grumblers recruit one another and the whole thing escalates, then there is discontent in the church. I have to mention that, if you study on it, adding to God's Word is an act of rebellion. God don't cotton none to

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

For centuries, people speculated about where water comes from and where it goes. Sure, we have rainfall, and sometimes plenty of it, but that does not account for most of it. Some of the ancient Greeks thought there could be a huge underwater lake that supplied the water into the ground. It was not until 1674 that a more accurate understanding of the hydrologic cycle was determined. Credit: RGBStock / MARMIT Interestingly, bits and pieces of the water cycle are described in the Bible in reference to our Creator's work. While the writers were not attempting to write a scientific treatise, their comments were still accurate. That's what happens when the Bible refers to scientific matters, it's always right. After all, Matthew Maury read about the "paths of the seas", which lead him to  important work in oceanography . Perhaps if folks put the verses about the water cycle together, we may have known more details about it sooner.  Every living organism relies

Something that inspires awe and faith in Christians, but consternation and excuse-making in professing atheists, is biblical prophecy. In simplest terms, a prophet is someone sent by God to proclaim his message. (There are quite a few qualifiers, however.) People think a prophet primarily foretells the future, but that is only a part of his job. Credit: Freeimages / John Harris Pe There are far too many self-appointed "prophets" who contradict Scripture. God made it clear that Scripture is God breathed , and a prophet must be right every time. These modern sidewinders are not only presumptuous in announcing, "God said to me...", but are often vague, and have a terrible record for accuracy. If they tried their shenanigans in ancient Israel, they wouldn't live long (Deuteronomy 18:20-22). God himself prophesied directly about the coming Redeemer in Genesis 3:15. I'll allow that prophesy is a difficult subject, since some were far in the future, such

For a mighty long time, the book of Genesis was understood to be history, not allegory or anything else. Josephus, the respected Jewish historian, also recognized the straightforward reading of Genesis . One in a while, some owlhoot would try to change the literal days of Genesis into something else In the days of the Reformers, some folks tried to make the days much quicker, but most accepted literal creation days .  Later, professing Christians compromised on the meaning of the days of Genesis in order to accommodate atheistic interpretations of "science", and commenced to shoving millions of years into the text. They also began rejecting creation in favor of evolutionism, and the faith of many was shipwrecked. I suspicion that religious folks didn't want to look stupid to the burgeoning secular science promoters, and were fearful of ridicule. Did they, and do people today, want to please men, or God?  There are various attempts to marry up Genesis and atheistic

It should be obvious that people who identify as Christians must rely on the Bible as their final authority in spiritual matters. Unfortunately, many people elevate man-made traditions, false authority, teachings from teachers they admire, and even their own opinions above God's Word. Credit: Pixabay / StockSnap Many translations translate a word in 2 Timothy 3:16 as inspired , which causes some confusion because people say William Shakespeare, John MacArthur, J.S. Bach, and other writers are inspired. The word in the Bible is θεόπνευστος and is more correctly translated as God-breathed. God gave us his inerrant Word for instruction in righteousness, doctrine, daily living, and other matter essential to Christian life. It is true from the very first verse. Bible-believing Christians who read it on a regular basis and receive sound biblical teachings are less likely to fall under the influence of owlhoots who are bringing false doctrine. The doctrine of Sola Scriptura was a

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