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The Spiritual Realm, UFOs, and Dark Matter?

When people say that something is spiritual, the connotation is of wispy and ghostlike things, or simply the unseen. Since we are spiritual beings that live in bodies, that concept is not quite right. There is also the spiritual realm  that theologians and others have discussed for many years. Where is that? Despite being materialists, secularists know that there is more to people than just being meat machines. They have tried to find the soul and the origin of consciousness , but were doomed to failure from the get-go because of their presuppositions. UFO at night via PxHere People are beginning to realize what some Christians have been saying for a long time: UFOs (well, now the term is Unidentified Aerial Phenomena) are of a spiritual, not physical, nature. Spirit beings such as angels and demons can pop into our realm from the one in which they live and show themselves — or be active and unseen. Some of us contend that UFOs and space aliens are demonic. It has been suggested that

Awe is Unique to Humans

For Bible-believing Christians, there are times when we become keenly aware of the blessings of God and a sense of awe overtakes us. We can respond in praise and thanksgiving for what we have, and for the majesty of creation. If you study on it, we could even thank God for the laws of nature that allow us to appreciate things. (In my view, the universe has been damaged by the Fall of Man and the Flood, but God made it so that even after all that, we perceive amazing beauty.) Romans 8:20-21 tells us that all creation has been subjected to futility. Unsplash / Joshua Earle Psalmists poetically say that all creation praises God and sings. Such language is probably based on the coming release from futility after the return of Jesus at the consummation of all things at the end. Animals generally don't express a sense of awe. Our alleged evolutionary cousins just go about their ape business. No, awe is unique to humans and helps us relate to our Father. Materialists may have a sense of a

Science, Religion, and Pantheism

Anti-Christians have said that there is a war between science and religion, but these types of people are not exactly skilled at deep thinking. Science and religion are on good terms but secularists pretend that they are at odds. Logic, science, and more have been (and still are) used by Christians to advance science. We see origins, a historical science , at odds with biblical Christianity. It is not because one side has better facts. Instead, it is a question of people interpreting facts according to their worldviews. One side honors God the Creator and Redeemer, the other side is essentially pagan. Skye, Unsplash / Robert Lukeman Paganism is not a single religion, and has many facets. A pagan can be a witch in a coven, a New Age crystal enthusiast, or someone who has a vague "spirituality." I reckon many people are pagans and don't even realize it. Professing atheists claim that they do not have a religion because they do not worship a deity. Such a claim helps reveal

The Foundation of Creation

A fairly common remark that biblical creationists hear is something like, "Creation, evolution, the age of the earth — all those things are side issues. We need to focus on preaching the gospel." I had one of these a spell back, only this one was amazingly sanctimonious. Unfortunately, because so many people misrepresent us, we need to frequently point out that believing in a young earth and rejecting evolution are not salvific (required for salvation) issues. This does not mean that they are unimportant or even irrelevant! Creation Tiles, Unsplash / Alex Shute One simple reason to refute evolution as well as affirm creation and the young earth is that those things have been stumbling blocks to many people. Also, it should make an impression on Christians how the church fathers as well as the way people in the Bible viewed the importance of creation. Irenaeus (c. 130–202 AD), a significant leader in the early Christian Church, wrote Against Heresies to counter wrong ideas in

Jesus Pictures and — Idolatry?

Years ago, the forerunner of this weblog was called A Soldier for Jesus . There was a drawing of Jesus on it. Someone accused me of being an idolater because of it. Also, I joined a Christian-based humor group on Fakebook  that prohibited posting images of Jesus because some people got upset. Probably that idolatry thing again. Where do they get such ideas? Eisegesis from the Ten Commandments in Exodus 20:4-6 and other places. I am going to be blunt here. People who sanctimoniously accuse others of being idolaters because they use images of Jesus (or God the Father, such as  Michelangelo  and  William Blake ) have no basis for their pride. They are showing ignorance of scriptural context. It's not a difficult theological context, either, because they are not even reading the rest of the verse. Jesus Pictures ( source here ) as Gallery Exhibit, PhotoFunia (cropped) Pictures can be used as a way of praising God and giving him glory, and possibly a means of focusing in worship. I hav

Refuting the Solid Dome Sky Idea

Both misotheists and liberal scholars who profess to be Christians saddle up and ride together, attacking the Genesis narrative. (As I have said before, if Christians receive support and applause from enemies of God, that should prompt self-examination about their faith .) In this case, the hard sky. These tinhorns figure that the ancient Hebrews had a view of the universe similar to their pagan neighbors, and it was apparent in the Bible. A many things are implicit in this accusation. It can also be considered  poisoning the well . Early Hebrew Conception of the Universe (misrepresentation, modified), WikiComm / Tom-L ( CC BY 4.0 ) Obviously, materialists reject the inerrancy and authority of the Bible, but so do many liberal Christians. One "error" is the sky vault dome shell thing. If the Hebrews had hairbrained views of cosmology, why should we believe Genesis when it says "windows of heaven?" For that matter, the Lexham English Bible refers to a solid dome . B

Training for Spiritual Warfare

No, this is not one of those posts about singing feelgood songs and chanting, or "binding" demons hiding under every bush. Stay away from that stuff. This is about a fact that I bring up here every once in a while since this weblog began in 2011. (Originally, it was "A Soldier for Jesus.") We are in a spiritual war. We do not have to go looking for trouble, it comes for us. Satan wants Christians eliminated or at least neutralized. Those who want no part of the spiritual warfare that we are in every day  are actually doing service for the enemy. Whoever is not for  Jesus is against  him. Soldiers, Pixabay / Defence-Imagery "But Cowboy Bob, if I speak up, atheists and others will say mean things and hurt my feelings!" Cowboy up, little buckaroo, and decide whose side you're on (Luke 9:62). Jesus died on a cross for your sins and rose again on the third day, and a Christian is no longer an enemy of God but adopted as one of his children, indwelt with the

Dinosaur Feathers and Discerning Creationist Teachings

Something very important and practical in many areas of life that biblical creationists encourage people to do is use discernment and critical thinking. We cannot accept someone's say-so because we like them, they profess to be authorities, are creationists, are Christians, or other reasons. While the leadership in the secular science industry has an atheistic agenda, what about Christians and creationists? There are indeed wolves among us (such as theistic evolutionists who identify as "evolutionary creationists"), sometimes mistakes are made. We have to watch for deceit as well as errors. Feathered dinosaur, Flickr / Aaron Gustafson ( CC BY-SA 2.0 ), modified at PhotoFunny In many instances, trust has to be earned. Do you trust me? If so, why? It could be that you like my writing style, accept my Statement of Faith , agree with much of the content, approve of linked sources, or whatever. Perhaps you apply those criteria other authors. But you must still use discernment

Lying for the Greater Good

by Cowboy Bob Sorensen  Many of us with some life experience look back on television, movies, and so on, seeing how moral values were more prevalent in the past. We object to the blatant immorality in modern programming and certain agendas being forced on us. Some of us watch very few modern shows. This is all relative, however. I will use The Andy Griffith Show  for an example. Some Christian values were present, and going to church was mentioned, but there was very little content that had any mention of biblical teachings. Many times, Sheriff Taylor and friends would lie to others. He lied to his son Opie, helped Otis the town drunk deceive his relatives to seem respectable, and more. We cannot expect biblical truth from secular entertainment — and never could. One problem with lying is that it shows disrespect for the other person and takes away his or her ability to choose. Also, in The Andy Griffith Show  (and many others), they lied for what seemed to be a greater good. It would

Big God, Big Universe

The other day, I was woolgathering about a job I had. We could call the company president by his first name. He was walking by and I called out to him. He stopped and turned toward me, ready to listen. Something similar happened with a person of importance just the other day, too. They condescended to give time and attention to a nobody. Scoffers will challenge Christians, asking that since the universe is so huge, why would God bother with us down here? For centuries, humans have been learning about the vastness of the universe. While scoffers make the big universe a challenge, believers also wonder — for different reasons. Webb’s 1st Deep Field, NASA, ESA, CSA, STScI , modified at PhotoFunia (usage does imply endorsement of contents by anyone anywhere One view involves presuppositions of atheistic naturalism. I'll allow that the universe is incomprehensibly large, so scoffers cannot accept that if the Creator exists, we're in a special place. Contrary to this is the biblical