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When Undermining the Truth, Money Talks

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 —

The Internet Frontlines and Biblical Creation

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

Humans Designed for Earth Life

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

The Wife of Cain and Why it Matters

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

Moving from Shootout to Tennis Game

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

Determinism and You

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

Truth Claims and the ASK Method

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

The Distracting Law of Attraction

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  It was pointed out some time ago that it is perplexing why people who practice New Age, Buddhist, Hindu, and other philosophies to improve themselves are blind to how little they benefit practitioners worldwide. Various forms of the supposed Law of Attraction are major example. Centuries ago, I was a follower of Kenneth Copeland, Jerry Savelle, Frederick K.C. Price , and several others of the Word of Faith movement. Based on what I heard and read, they seemed to believe the gospel message, did not have a false "translation" of the Bible — but some things made me uneasy. Background image: Pixabay /  Okan Caliskan At the time, I was willing to learn. Mayhaps churches had it wrong and some of the message of the Bible had been shelved, so Copeland and friends might be onto something. I would watch his messages on TV and had a contraption hooked up so I could record them on cassette tapes (this was the 1990s). Something that made me defensive of Copeland w

The Creator-Savior and Christmas

Other biblical creationists and I like to point out the mirific act of God the Son, Creator of the universe (Col. 1:16, John 1:1-3, Heb. 1:2-3), humbling himself to take the form of the man Jesus (Phil. 2:4-11). He did not just pop into existence, but was born of Mary, a virgin (Matt. 1:23). People sing songs about Santa Claus and lie to their children (the  real Nicholas  was a godly man), making him a demigod that rewards good behavior with toys once a year. Secularists obscure the true meaning of Christmas with sentiment. The truth is known to some extent by many professing Christians: Jesus came into the world to save us. But what does that really mean? Far too many people make salvation into a means of gain, a way to be a good person, be happy, get the most out of life right now. In some cultures, "accepting Jesus" is taken to mean, "Add Jesus to your list of gods", but without emphasizing that false gods must be forsaken, and surrendering to the lordship of Ch

William Lane Craig: Denying Biblical Truth?

Long ago when I was first becoming serious about apologetics, I followed Dr. Craig. While he could easily dismantle atheism, some things made me uneasy. When it came to ridiculing biblical creationists , I was done. Later, I learned of his belief in molinism  and  dancing around biblical inerrancy . Craig has been garnering attention with his book  In Quest of the Historical Adam , where he bushwhacks not only biblical creationists, but foundational beliefs in Scripture. He has clearly saddled up to ride with the fifth column of theistic evolution and rejection of biblical authority. Unsplash / Aaron Burden (modified) Of course, Craig is not stupid or inexperienced, which makes the downward spiral of his material all the more execrable. Several creationists have analyzed his book and pointed out serious errors in reasoning, and revealing his disdain for the Bible. By my reckoning, to say that Adam was not real when Jesus, Paul, and others in the Bible said he was was, and to relegate