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Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Tony Campolo? (Part 2)

2012-01-27T13:14:00.000-08:00

Continuing from the previous post where my friend Andrew in Australia wrote a letter to his church expressing his concerns about their invitation to Tony Campolo. This letter serves as a great example of how to graciously write to church leadership in expressing a concern. It also serves as an excellent profile of Tony Campolo's dangerous theology/teachings. Today we pick up at point 3 in Andrew's letter:

3. Involvement in Eastern/New Age/Mystic practices.

There are a number of practices that he [Campolo] affirms in his work but I want to pick on one that he is particularly open about. He often speaks of his affirmation of the practice of centering prayer, a practice that bears a very strong resemblance to trancendental meditiation as practiced in Eastern Religions, the Occult and the New Age religions. My wife was strongly involved in these practices before being saved and has a very good understanding of the dangers accociated with them.

“To do so, I have to drive back the animals--the "animals" being the hundred and one things that trouble me from the day before and the many things that are waiting to be done in the new day. I've got to push everything out of mind save the name of Jesus. I say His name over and over again, for as long as fifteen minutes, until I find my soul suspended in what the ancient Celtic Christians called a "thin place"--a state where the boundary between heaven and earth, divine and human, dissolves. You could say that I use the name of Jesus as my koan.”
(“Mystical Encounters for Christians” - http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2006/02/Mystical-Encounters-For-Christians.aspx)

Campolo speaks of this practice often and reaffirms this in a large number of other sources.

Roger Oakland observes:

“This term ‘thin place’ originated with Celtic spirituality (i.e., contemplative) and is in line with panentheism. ... Thin places imply that God is in all things, and the gap between God, evil, man, everything thins out and ultimately disappears in mediation”
(Faith Undone, pp. 114, 115).

There appear numeroustheological problems in Campolo’s quote :

o We don’t see anywhere in Scripture that this form of prayer is endorsed or modeled. Nowhere in Scripture are we commanded to empty our minds.
o We see in Scripture a conversive form of prayer (Matthew 6:9-13, Ephesians 3:14-21)
o In Psalm 119, the psalmist uses a word that we translate “meditate” which in Hebrew can be also translated as “ponder, converse, commune, complain, declare, muse, pray, speak, talk”.
o Jesus spoke against repetious prayers (Matthew 6:7)
o Much of the book of Leviticus speaks of God’s peope not adopting the pagan practices of the culture/faiths/peoples around them.
o This practice was historically rejected almost universally by Christian theologians.

With many of these mystical practices (particularly in the Islamic, Catholic and Jewish forms) we also see an undermining of the authority of Scripture. The scripture becomes subject to experience and we have the testimony of centuries of history to see how those involved in these mystical practices then interpreted God’s Word in “new” ways. This issue goes right back to the Gnostic traditions that were impacting the church in the first few centuries of the faith.

4. His own story of conversion is foreign to the Biblical pattern.

Campolo’s conversion experience is documented in his book “Letters to a Young Evangelical” where he tells the story of his very gradual becoming a Christian. He speaks of not having a born again experience like his mother had, but rather that he came to knowledge of Jesus though centering prayer.

“When I was a boy growing up in a lower-middle-class neighborhood in West Philadelphia, my mother, a convert to Evangelical Christianity from a Catholic immigrant family, hoped I would have one of those dramatic “born again” experiences. That was the way she had come into a personal relationship with Christ. She took me to hear one evangelist after another, praying that I would go to the altar and come away “converted.” But it never worked for me. I would go down the aisle as the people around me sang “the invitation hymn,” but I just didn’t feel that anything happened to me. For a while I despaired wondering if I would ever get “saved.” It took me quite some time to realize that entering into a personal relationship with Christ does not always happen that way.”
(“Letters to a Young Evangelical” - page 8)

In my case intimacy with Christ had developed gradually over the years, primarily through what Catholics call “centering prayer.” Each morning, as soon as I wake up, I take time—sometimes as much as a half hour—to center myself on Jesus. I say his name over and over again to drive back the 101 things that begin to clutter my mind the minute I open my eyes. Jesus is my mantra, as some would say.
( “Letters to a Young Evangelical” - page 9)

“I learned about this way of having a born-again experience from reading Catholic mystics, especially The Spiritual Exercises of Ignatius Loyola. Ignatius, a founder of the Jesuit order, was once a soldier and it was only when he spent a long time in a hospital bed recovering from a battle wound that his heart and mind focused on God. Like most Catholic mystics he developed an intense desire to experience a “oneness” with God. Gradually, he came to feel an intense yearning for the kind of spiritual purity that he believed would enable him to experience the fullness of God’s presence within.”
(“Letters to a Young Evangelical” - page 30)

I want to stress here that I am not attempting to assert that he is not saved. I cannot and do not know where his heart truly sits with Jesus because although I can examine some of the fruit of his public ministry, I don’t know him personally. I am instead suggesting that his story gives insight into his understanding of the Gospel which as a logical consequence may have implications for his own salvation.

His account of salvation raises serious questions due to the clear teaching of Scripture that someone must be born again (John 3:3) and also the clear example of Scripture which speaks of a clear sharp conversion:
o the Ethiopian Eunuch (Acts 8)
o Paul (Acts 9)
o Cornelius (Acts 10)
o Lydia (Acts 16)
o the Philippian jailer (Acts 16)

That is not to say that people cannot come to faith over a season of life where God does many things in them, but we see both from Scripture and our experience that there is always a clear conversion experience, even for those who have grown up inside the church.

Completely lacking from his account (at least from the excerpts I have) is any mention of:
o Sin
o The cross
o Repentance
o Forgiveness
o Judgement

Instead we see mention of “oneness with God” and a strong dependence on feelings.

The essence of the problem is that his testimony and preaching indicates a different Gospel to the one clearly taught in Scripture and we are told to “watch out for those who cause divisions and create obstacles contrary to the doctrine that you have been taught” (Romans 16:17). He does not appear as theologically naive as to not be aware of the Biblical elements of salvation, or to orthodox thinking.

Thanks Andrew, I'll pick up this letter again and finish it on Tuesday. In the mean time just take a peek at Campolo's bizarre explanation of what it means to be "born again". See if you can figure out what part of Scripture he is referring to . . .

Go Back To Part 1

Who's Afraid Of The Big Bad Tony Campolo? (Part 1)

2012-01-24T21:21:00.000-08:00

How would you deal with a situation where you are a member of a local church that you love and suddenly find out that they have invited a known heretic to come and fill their pulpit? Would you respond? How would you approach this?

My friend Andrew in Australia was recently confronted with this situation and he responded to it. In fact, I was so impressed with Andrew's careful research and gracious presentation that I wanted to post it here over the next week as a very helpful example of a God honoring way to go about responding to such a dire situation. Andrew also compiles an excellent and helpful profile on the beliefs/teachings of Tony Campolo. Take it away Andrew . . .

Earlier this year, our church announced that they would be hosting Tony Campolo as a guest speaker. This immediately raised a red flag for me as I had heard him referenced many times in a negative light and so I began to research his teachings. I also informed a couple of the pastors at our church that I was aware of some theological issues and that I was going to investigate further.

I want to release some of the work I did to the general public for a couple of reasons.

1. I want people to gain a better understanding of Tony Campolo and his teaching. I do not believe he is theologically sound and as such I want people to see the wolf that he is.
2. I want people to learn from my attempt at challenging church leadership. My attempt was by no means perfect, and I don’t want it to be held up as “This is how you should do it”. I was very fortunate to have a number of people come along side me in this process to read and re-read what I wrote. I believe that it is possible to graciously but firmly warn a church that they are hosting a wolf.

I want to emphasise that the leadership of this church are people I consider friends and the church community is one that I dearly love. To this end, I have been careful to remove all names of the people and the church involved so that this cannot be seen as an attack on the church or its leadership.

Below is a letter that I submitted to the church leadership summarising my research.

Dear [Pastors],

I want to bring you up to speed with my research into Tony Campolo and what I have learned.

I want to make a couple of things very clear before I get into specifics:

• I am raising these issues out of a heart for the church and a love for God. I am not interested in causing division or making a scene but rather I am genuinely concerned for protecting the theological integrity of the church and its members.
• I have always placed a high value on supporting, assisting and encouraging you as leaders of this church and this remains my commitment. I am not seeking to judge you in any way for this decision to allow Tony Campolo to speak here nor do I wish to undermine you in any way.
• I am conerned only with Tony Campolo’s theology. His character and behaviour are not in question. Everything I hear, including from his critics, is that he is a really nice guy and a very skilled communicator, however what concerns me and I have therefore examined are his teachings. I do not have relationship with him and do not need to in order to evaluate his teachings and whether or not he ought be invited as teacher. We must be like the Bereans of Acts 17 who closely examined the scriptures to examine the claims that Paul made. We are also commanded to identify those whose teachings are not in alignment with scripture and beware of them (Rom 16:17). To do this we must look at the breadth of his teachings both in what he has written and said publically.

To that end I have endeavoured to work from primary sources rather than potentially out of context secondary sources:
• I have read a number of articles that he has written that are published on the beliefnet website.
• I have read transcripts of interviews that he was involved in.
• I have also listened to audio of him being interviewed.

As a secondary source, I have also used large sections from his books cited on a couple of blogs. I refer to these as secondary because I do not have complete copies of his work. In these cases I have been careful to examine the blog writer’s integrity with quoting work by comparing quotes to primary sources that I did have access to. For the moment I am prepared to trust these quotes as accurate unless I am shown that they are out of context or otherwise inaccurately reproduced in which case I am more than happy to reconsider their use in making my case.

I have found multiple areas that are of considerable theological concern and I have summarised them below.

1. He denies God’s omniscience and omnipotence

Following hurricane Katrina’s destruction in the US in late 2005, Campolo weighed in with his view that clearly undermined both God’s foreknowledge of the event and his ability to intervene.

“Unfortunately, there are a lot of bad answers. One such answer is that somehow all suffering is a part of God's great plan. In the midst of agonies, someone is likely to quote from the Bible, telling us that if we would just be patient, we eventually would see "all things work together for the good, for those who love God, and are called according to His purposes." (Romans 8:28)”

“I don't doubt that God can bring good out of tragedies, but the Bible is clear that God is not the author of evil! (James 1:15) Statements like that dishonor God, and are responsible for driving more people away from Christianity than all the arguments that atheistic philosophers could ever muster. When the floods swept into the Gulf Coast, God was the first one who wept.”

“Perhaps we would do well to listen to the likes of Rabbi Harold Kushner, who contends that God is not really as powerful as we have claimed. Nowhere in the Hebrew Scriptures does it say that God is omnipotent.

Kushner points out that omnipotence is a Greek philosophical concept, but it is not in his Bible. Instead, the Hebrew Bible contends that God is mighty. That means that God is a greater force in the universe than all the other forces combined.”
(“Katrina: Not God's Wrath--or His Will” - http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/Christianity/2005/09/Katrina-Not-Gods-Wrath-Or-His-Will.aspx)

To imply that this was not God’s will (in the title of the article) implies that the creation is not subject to God. He reinforces this in the later quote by Rabbi Kushner. That is flat out historical heresy.

It is a concession by someone who does not have a Biblical understanding of suffering.

2. He does not understand the Biblical Gospel

In an interview with Shane Claiborne he states:

“Catholicism would say that at the moment of death every person is confronted in that split moment with Christ and is given the opportunity of saying yes or no. To say otherwise is to say God has got to be a pretty unfair deity, to condemn three quarters of the human race to hell without them ever having a chance.”

“There is much in Christianity that would suggest exactly the same thing, particularly Romans the 2nd chapter, where the apostle Paul says "What do we say of those who do not accept the law of God," and I would add "as we understand it," "and are faithful to all the things that God calls us to do--will God not have to make room for them?" He asks that as a rhetorical question, leaving the reader with the obvious sense--"but of course." So I think that the apostle Paul would be a lot more generous towards Islamic people than most of my evangelical brothers and sisters are.”
(From: “On evangelicals and interfaith cooperation: an interview with Tony Campolo by Shane Claiborne” - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_1_55/ai_n13798048/ - Emphasis mine)

In this statement, he shows a lack of understanding of the justice of God. In his words, “God has got to be a pretty unfair deity” if he punishes people for their sins. This is seen again as he dramatically misinterprets Romans 2:14-15 which clearly speaks of the fact that all people, Jew or Gentile understand God’s standards because he has written his law on their hearts in the form of a conscience and that he has revealed some of himself through nature so that this will leave them without excuse (Romans 1:20). He doesn’t appear to understand that all of us have enough sin to condemn us (Romans 3:23) and that lack of belief in Christ is not the primary reason someone should be condemned (Romans 2:6, 8, 12, John 3:18). It would appear that to satisfy his lack of understanding he has taken on a Catholic teaching which has no basis in scripture.

In addition to this he clearly promotes a work-righteous salvation where a “good Muslim” (see Romans 3:10-12) can have a relationship with Jesus (without knowing his name) if he fulfils the Muslim command to give to the poor.

“When it comes to what is ultimately important, the Muslim community's sense of commitment to the poor is exactly in tune with where Jesus is in the 25th chapter of Matthew. That is the description of judgment day. And if that is the description of judgment day what can I say to an Islamic brother who has fed the hungry, and clothed the naked? You say, "But he hasn't a personal relationship with Christ." I would argue with that. And I would say from a Christian perspective, in as much as you did it to the least of these you did it unto Christ. You did have a personal relationship with Christ, you just didn't know it. And Jesus himself says: "On that day there will be many people who will say, when did we have this wonderful relationship with you, we don't even know who you are ..." "Well, you didn't know it was me, but when you did it to the least of these it was doing it to me."”
(From: “On evangelicals and interfaith cooperation: an interview with Tony Campolo by Shane Claiborne” - http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_m2096/is_1_55/ai_n13798048/ - Emphasis mine)

Again he mishandles Scripture by misinterpreting Matthew 25:31-46. Jesus does not say in this account of end times (which we need to show great care in interpreting) that the good deeds make someone righteous but rather by taking this passage in conjunction with others on the same subject, we can see that Jesus is saying that the fruit of the righteous is good works (i.e. Righteousness causes good works, not good works causes righteousness). In a passage such as this, we must interpret the text in light of clearer Scriptures (Matthew 7:15-20, Ephesians 2:8-9, James 2:14-25, Galatians 5:16-26).

Jesus did not place upon us the yoke of work-righteousness. Christ has declared me righteous through His finished work on the cross and that there is nothing that I can do to contribute to my own salvation. My works and my sins are not judged when deciding my eternal fate. This is not true for Islam, Judaism or Catholicism. It is through a work-righteous theology that Tony Campolo is able to rationalize his ecumenism.

His commitment to the poor is to be highly commended and his work is well known however, I must reiterate that we are not judging his works but his theology.

Go On To Part 2

Does Jesus Hate Religion - Follow Up 2

2012-01-20T14:57:00.000-08:00

This week marks the official first week of my studies at The Master's Seminary (TMS) and it is quickly dawning on me that I really do live in another universe now. René, who is my blogging friend from Denmark (klik her hvis du er Dansk) responded to my previous post by informing me that Jeff Bethke may have responded in gracious agreement to Kevin De Young's criticism of his Why I Love Jesus But Hate Religion video but Bethke had not subsequently taken the video down nor changed it. I think René raises a good point here and it is an issue of concern to myself. One small issue that I differed with De Young's critique was that I argued that the video should either be replaced or edited whereas De Young, in his correspondence with Bethke, suggested a follow up video of clarification. As of now, to the best of my knowledge, neither have been forthcoming.

I considered René's words as I drove into TMS yesterday morning and thought to myself how nice it would be to speak with Kevin De Young about this issue. I thought it would be great to hear his thoughts on my suggestions since Kevin is in contact with Jeff Bethke. When I arrived at the TMS library very early in the morning I asked one of my fellow students about who would be the chapel speaker for that morning. Well it just turns out that in the Providence of God, Kevin De Young just happened to be visiting California from his native Michigan and just happened to have been invited to come and preach to all the TMS students that morning.

Well, I got my chance to speak with De Young after his excellent sermon. I informed him of the disturbing fact that many of the millions who have watched this video are people who are finding affirmation in a video that should be convicting them. I also mentioned the serious issue of re-interpreting the cross and how I believe we should be zealous over that as well. René, you will be pleased to know that Kevin De Young was in full agreement and will attempt to pursue the matter further. Let's keep an eye on cyberspace over the next week and see if something develops!

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Does Jesus Hate Religion - Follow Up

2012-01-17T07:42:00.000-08:00

There is a lot of debate about my previous post concerning the massively viral "Jesus > Religion" video. The spectrum of responses runs from warm appreciation to accusations of "theological nitpicking". Although I completely fail to see how a debate over the meaning of the cross qualifies for an exercise in theological nitpicking. There are also those who are trying to defend Jeff Bethke by claiming that he is not a theologian and that this is not meant to be a "John MacArthur" sermon. Again I would respond that everyone is a theologian - the question always is whether you are a good one or a bad one. I was never looking for the expository depth of a MacArthur sermon as is evidenced by my willingness to post another video of similar style but greater Gospel accuracy. I am not against the style and innovation but I remain biblically convinced that we must be clear and accurate when it comes to the meaning of the cross - it is the epicenter of the Christian faith. Please hear me on this, I am not against Jeff Bethke or looking for a target to shoot at. I responded to this video because of the massive number of people being influenced by it, and because of the confirmation of my fears evidenced by the number of websites and people who oppose the biblical Gospel but love Bethke's video. The ambiguity has clearly stretched its appeal beyond the boundaries of service to the Great Commission.

I would also like to elaborate on another point that, in the light of recent developments, is worth expanding upon. Bethke's video gets a lot right about the Gospel. This is a video that could be easily improved into an outstanding Gospel centered statement full of redemptive value. If certain terms were defined much more clearly, and the cross defined correctly, it would eradicate the wrong affirmations many lost people have found in it. Bethke is tapping into the very real modern evangelical plague of moralism and rightly pointing out that our justification depends fully on the finished work of Jesus Christ alone. And, it would seem, Jeff Bethke is a humble man who can receive a solid biblical critique and alter course.

Kevin De Young also recently posted a critique of the video and was also able to engage in email correspondence with Bethke. What transpired is very pleasing and gives me great optimism that this situation can be redeemed and utilized for God's glory. Bethke's email response, not only affirms the validity of the criticism, it is also a very positive story of the Body of Christ behaving like it should:

I just wanted to say I really appreciate your article man. It hit me hard. I’ll even be honest and say I agree 100%. God has been working with me in the last 6 months on loving Jesus AND loving his church. For the first few years of walking with Jesus (started in ’08) I had a warped/poor paradigm of the church and it didn’t build up, unify, or glorify His wife (the Bride). If I can be brutally honest I didn’t think this video would get much over a couple thousand views maybe, and because of that, my points/theology wasn’t as air-tight as I would’ve liked. If I redid the video tomorrow, I’d keep the overall message, but would articulate, elaborate, and expand on the parts where my words and delivery were chosen poorly… My prayer is my generation would represent Christ faithfully and not swing to the other spectrum….thankful for your words and more importantly thankful for your tone and fatherly like grace on me as my elder. Humbled. Blessed. Thankful for painful growth. Blessings. Grace and Peace, Jeff

Kevin De Young responded again and wrote:

Thanks for your email. It confirms my impression of you—humble, sincere, a real love for God and the gospel. I can’t remember ever receiving such a teachable response to criticism. I’m grateful for you and your courage in taking time to write me a note. Really grateful.

I know that criticism can be hard. You are probably getting it from right, left, and center, from Christians and non-Christians. I’m sure you are getting a lot of affirmation too, and that presents its own challenges. I tried to my write my post as a friend, not as a hater. I am rooting for you, not against you. I wanted to approach this like Acts 18:26. Thank you for receiving it in that spirit….

What can I do to help you? Have you thought about posting a clarifying follow up to the video? Or maybe writing something on “what I wish I had said differently?” It could be a powerful example of the things you were talking about to come back and say, “Hey, I didn’t get everything right here. I don’t want people to take this in the wrong direction.” Do you want me to post some of your email to me on my blog so people can see your heart in this? Let me know if there is something I can do. Your friend, Kevin

Later Jeff wrote back. This is part of his reply:

Wasn’t expecting such a quick response. I appreciate you a ton, and your words really hit home…My biggest fear is that I will say something and it will be out on the internet forever. But already quickly learning all praise goes to Jesus, and same with critique…Feel free to share parts of my email on the blog if you’d like! The tone is already gracious enough but it’d be cool to show that we have had some correspondence and it’d mean a lot.

The only suggestion I would make that differs from De Young's would be to reshoot the original video because a small amount of alteration would make a massive amount of difference!

Click Here To Read The Latest Development
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Does Jesus Hate Religion?

2012-01-13T11:51:00.000-08:00

Yesterday my wife drew my attention to this edgy hip hoppy poetic video by a guy called Jeff Bethke about Jesus v Religion which has gone very "viral" on youtube and is popping up all over the place in social media. The use of poetry is very clever and the video is well presented but I got a lot of red flags the first time I watched this. Have a look and see what you think . . .

This video serves as a great example of why pastors must train their flocks to practice biblical discernment. The fact that ultra liberal websites like Sojourners (run by Jim Wallis) love this video affirmed a lot of my initial fears about the type of people who would gravitate towards a video like this. This was also confirmed by the people I know who posted this video on Facebook but aren't too fond of biblical Christianity.

Bethke does say a lot of things that are true, which is a great way to package something deceptive or leave something too vague on a lot of points. And my initial impression was that a lot of Bethke's terms were too vague, undefined, and sometimes missed the point. Did Jesus die to set us free from the bondage of religion? Chapter and verse please Jeff because that is not what I read in my Bible (try reading Romans 3:10-26). Is all religion bad Jeff because the book of James tells us that:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God, the Father, is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

I don't think Bethke would disagree with the Epistle of James but it does highlight the need for him too tighten up his use of language and define his terms more clearly. His railing on self-righteousness is absolutely correct but again there is too much missing information. If I was a prostitute watching this I could easily feel like a victim who can receive affirmation from Jesus because those are the people Jesus hung out with. We need to remember that Jesus did hang out with drunks, whores, poor people, and pagans - but He also hung out with sober people, chaste people, rich people, and Pharisees. He hung out with all types of people because all types of people are sinners and he told them things like "go and sin no more" and often demanded repentance. Was Jesus imposing his religious legalism on these people? I wonder what Jeff Bethke would do with Jesus' closing words in Matthew chapter five (the Sermon on the Mount):

For I tell you, unless your righteousness exceeds that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven . . . You therefore must be perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect. (Matthew 5:20,48)

And this again points to the main meaning of the cross which gets completely missed in this video now seen by over 6 million people. Jesus death on the cross was necessary because of our violations of God's law. It was not to "set us free from religion" but to fulfill that law and then endure God's just wrath against sinful people. God's law requires sinless perfection which is why we require a Substitute to accomplish that in our place. Bethke may argue that the religion we need to be set free from is that of human works, but if that is the case then why didn't he point that out? Furthermore, the biblical reality is that sinful men are not pursuing God and trying to earn salvation. The Bible describes the sinner as "dead in trespasses" (Ephesians 2:1). Jesus describes the sinner (just after John 3:16) as someone who "loves darkness and hates the light", someone who will not will not come to the light because it will expose his evil works (John 3:19-20). So do we need freedom from religion, or do we need to repent from our sins and put our faith in the Author of the one and only True Religion?

Christianity is a religion as well, it's just that it is right and all the others are wrong because no other religion deals with atoning for our sin against a holy God. No other religion points to the finished work of Jesus instead of our futile and evil human efforts. That is why Jesus said "it is finished"!

I don't doubt that Jeff Bethke genuinely loves Jesus and wants to honor Him with this video. But redefining the core of the Christian faith is a very bad way to do that. Millions of undiscerning people are watching this every day and being deceived by a message that totally misrepresents the meaning of the cross. If Jeff loves Jesus he should apologize, pull the video down, and consider the option of remaking the video in a way that is faithful to the Gospel . . . like this one!

Here is some great and helpful discerning insights on the Jesus > Religion video courtesy of Jonathan D. Fitzgerald:

The poem is about “how the gospel of Jesus is the good news that breaks us free from the chains of religion.” Ah yes, the chains of religion. For four minutes, Bethke rhymes his way around all kinds of false dichotomies and outright bad theology.

He begins by suggesting that Jesus came to abolish religion, a popular claim among evangelicals, particularly those of the non-denominational persuasion, but one that has no theological foundation. He then goes on to say that “Republican doesn’t automatically mean Christian,” which is true, if not slightly off topic. Then, returning to the subject of religion, he plays right into the hand of the so-called New Atheists by asking “if religion is so great, why has it started so many wars?” There’s some stuff about single mothers, poor people, whores, and John the Baptist, all by way of showing the inconsistencies of religious people.

Religion, according to Bethke, never “gets to the core,” rather, he calls it “behavior modification” and says it’s like “a long list of chores.” Then he gets to what he’s actually talking about. See, he’s not actually on about religion, but about people whose expression of their faith doesn’t match his criteria. It’s not religious people he’s talking about, it’s what we used to call Sunday Christians. “It’s like saying you play for the Lakers just because you bought a jersey,” he says before digging into his own biography to show that he was once like you.

At just about 3 minutes, though, he returns to religion, claiming that “Jesus and religion are on opposite ends of the spectrum.” One is the work of god, he explains, and the other is “a man made invention” (slant rhyme). He continues, “one is the cure, and the other is the infection.” And now he’s on a roll, “religion says do, Jesus says done. Religion says slave, Jesus says son. Religion puts you in bondage, while Jesus sets you free. Religion makes you blind, but Jesus makes you see.” He is building toward this, “And that’s why religion and Jesus are two separate clans,” before his grand finale, ”So for religion, no I hate it. In fact, I literally resent it. Because when Jesus said ‘It is finished,’ I believe he meant it.”

Where do we begin? The number of false dichotomies and ridiculous claims is astounding. Religion is an infection? Religion puts you in bondage? Religion makes you blind? Is he just quoting Sam Harris here?

I believe Jesus meant it when he said, “It is finished,” as well, but I’m sure the “it” he meant wasn’t religion.

See the problem is, Bethke doesn’t mean religion either, but he’s rehearsing a popular evangelical trope, that the freedom that Christians find through Jesus is freedom from structure, organization, and authority. Of course, Bethke, like all Christians, is a member of a religion, he holds “a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs,” as Dictionary.com defines it. What Bethke is actually railing against is people whose expression of religion doesn’t look like he believes it should. Thus, rather than discounting religion, he is just discounting other religions, or even just other manifestations of his own religion.

Had this poem, with its dramatic music and epic setting, simply been called “Sunday Christians,” and if every reference to religion was replaced by something like “hypocrisy,” this video would have been as easy to ignore as his others. But, here Bethke is doing far more harm than good by playing into hurtful stereotypes about religion–his religion and mine, as well as the other major world religions. Denouncing this video takes stepping outside of evangelical subculture to see its actual implications beyond our little playground, but doing so, I think, is extremely important.

Click Here To Read The Follow Up To This Post

A Great Christopher Hitchens Moment

2012-01-10T01:00:00.000-08:00

If I were to ask you what is more evil (or dangerous) between an atheist and a "liberal christian" how would you answer? I know how I would answer - I would rather deal with a wolf that dresses like a wolf!

I recently posted an obituary to express my reflections and sadness over the recent death of fervent atheist Christopher Hitchens. I thought it worthwhile today to add one closing postscript on the life of Hitchens. There is some sort of delicious irony when an atheist schools a professing Christian on Christian doctrine. I have featured posts on this before, most particularly when Penn Jillette (a very publicly recognized and vocal atheist) rebuked professing Christians who don't evangelize and/or warn about hell. There was also the stunning moment when Kirk Cameron schooled Stephen Hawking on the scientific method!

Today, I will share a great Christopher Hitchens moment when he does a better job of exposing "liberal theologians" for the frauds they are than many others who fill pulpits that are silent on the issue. I was unable to find the video of this so we will have to settle for the transcript of this beautiful exchange between Christopher Hitchens and a liberal priest.

Liberal Priest: The religion you cite in your book is a generally fundamentalist faith of various kinds. I’m a liberal Christian, and I don’t take the stories from the scripture literally. I don’t believe in the doctrine of atonement (that Jesus died for our sins, for example). Do you make any distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?

Hitchens: I would say that if you don’t believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you’re really not in any meaningful sense a Christian.

Sewell: Let me go someplace else. When I was in seminary, I was particularly drawn to the work of theologian Paul Tillich. He shocked people by describing the traditional God—as you might, as a matter of fact—as “an invincible tyrant.” For Tillich, God is “the ground of being.” It’s his response to, say, Freud’s belief that religion is mere wish fulfillment and comes from humans’ fear of death. What do you think of Tillich’s concept of God?

Hitchens: I would classify that under the heading of Statements That Have No Meaning—At All. Christianity, remember, was really founded by Saint Paul, not by Jesus. Paul says, very clearly, that if it is not true that Jesus Christ rose from the dead, then we the Christians are of all people the most unhappy. If none of that’s true, and you seem to say it isn’t, I have no quarrel with you. You’re not going to come to my door trying to convince me. Nor are you trying to get a tax break from the government. Nor are you trying to have it taught to my children in school. If all Christians were like you, I wouldn’t have to write the book.

I'll take a Hitchens any day over a cowardly and passive "minister". He will be missed and I sincerely hope that Hitchens repented of his wicked rebellion and trusted in Jesus Christ before his heart stopped beating.

Just Added - The Cup And The Glory

2012-01-07T23:14:00.000-08:00

Greg Harris' excellent book on suffering and prayer has just been added to the resource directory.

THE CUP AND THE GLORY
Greg Harris
Category: Prayer
Click Here To Order
The Cup and the Glory explores the lessons of suffering and the glory of God. Using his own story as a starting point, Greg Harris transparently shares the confusion and misunderstanding that can come into a child of God's life when suffering encroaches. Honest, sensitive, and biblical, this book is full of hope for those who are suffering. God beckons 'place your life in my hands.' It is only when we reach the point of absolute surrender that we embrace the absolute sovereignty of God. God then allows entrance into the pathway of His will and wonder of His glory. In The Cup and the Glory, Greg Harris unlocks the Scripture and opens the doorway into his personal experience so we see more clearly that we can trust God with our lives.

Entering The Arena

2012-01-06T16:27:00.000-08:00

Blogging can lend itself to voyeurism. And people like Rick Warren and Perry Noble have latched onto this stereotype as a great way of deflecting legitimate biblical critiques of their ministries. Chris Rosebrough had this to say on the subject:

You can't let bloggers look like they have any credibility at all. And remember, whenever somebody talks about bloggers - and by the way I'm one of them - they don't ever address the content of the bloggers' points, they always instead go to an ad hominem argument where they basically say 'Listen, these bloggers, they're a bunch of people in their 40's who live in their mom's basement and probably sit on bean bag chairs in their underwear eating Cheatos all day . . . these are people who are malcontents and really mentally unstable.'

Undoubtedly there are bloggers who fall into this stereotyped category, but I like to think that The Bottom Line defies that stereotype (except for the 40's part). I'm not anonymous, my ministry activities are publicly known and accessible, I offer biblical critique that is Gospel centered, and I counter what is false with something that is true. Having said that, I am now faced with several years of seminary education and a heavy academic workload. With that in mind, I will try to continue this blog but post less frequently. I hope you, the reader, will continue to check in, contend, discuss, and pray for me in this coming season. I am so thankful for the many readers who have been such an encouragement, to those who have been genuinely helped by content in this blog, and to those who come on here and argue for an opposing viewpoint - to all of you I ask you to join me for this ride I am embarking on (with my family!!!!) at The Master's Seminary in California.

I need to tread carefully now and manage my responsibilities well as a husband, father, student, provider, and priest in my home. So the servings might get a little smaller but the content should remain as spicy as ever!

A Chick Fil A Welcome To America

2012-01-03T22:18:00.000-08:00

I have to admit there is something special about the fast food franchise known as "Chick Fil A". My more sophisticated, puritanical, or health conscious friends will all be rolling their eyes right now at the fact that I could have such affection for mass produced chicken burgers - but hey, how can you not love Chick Fil A, the ultimate fast food way, who always close on Sunday!

I have only recently arrived in the USA and am just settling into the city of Santa Clarita where most of the Master's Seminary students live (yes I am now enrolled in TMS and begin next week). Santa Clarita is a nice place and the part I live in is known by many as "seminary row". On our first day here I had the inspired idea to head down to the local Chick Fil A, enjoy a spicy chicken sandwich and embark on my cultural adaptation. Another thought I had in the back of my mind was that I might meet some local Christians and perhaps even a fellow TMS student as Chick Fil A is well known for its strong Christian stance and ownership.

No sooner had we walked through the doors of Chick Fil A Valencia (Santa Clarita) when we were greeted by super friendly staff who all were students at the nearby Master's College (also connected with Grace Community Church pastored by John Macarthur). The manager asked what I was in the US for and when I told him he informed me that his wife worked at TMS also. My Rob Bell video also got mentioned and when the manager found out that I had exposed Rob Bell as a false teacher he became very excited and proceeded to provide meals for my children free of charge! While I was pinching myself (to check this was not some fantasy dream sequence) two families of fellow TMS students entered the store. We then became "occupiers" in the back corner of the store where the staff kept refilling our drinks free of charge (a welcome change from Europe) while all the children "occupied" the playground, the ladies got to know each other, and the guys "chewed the theological fat" together. At this point I stopped pinching myself because it was now too surreal for reality! Especially when one of my professors and his family came over to greet us.

We had a great night and I didn't want to leave. The cultural elite can all mock away, but I don't care because I love Chick Fil A. I'll leave y'all with a momento of the grand occasion!

The Gospel Of Moralism - New Years Resolutions

2011-12-30T23:10:00.000-08:00

January 1 has rolled around again as the perpetual reminder that our finite human existance marches on like sand through our fingers. It was the psalmist who wisely said "teach me Lord to number my days". In the light of eternity we can see the futility of pouring our energy into worldly pursuits. Even botox will not travel into the next life - which must be a shock to some!

But the line in the sand that happens on the first of January each year is also a timely reminder of the futility of moralism and a reminder that Calvin got it right with his doctrine of total depravity. New years resolutions have about as much going for them as Rick Warren's moralistic therapeutic sermons. Fallen men vow anew to change their fallen nature just like the church growth gurus who spend their time week in/week out trying to persuade goats to act like sheep.

The heart of the human problem remains the problem of the human heart. A professing Christian recently handed back a Gospel tract I gave him saying "I'm already a Christian so I don't need that". He would do well to heed the counsel of the Apostle Paul and examine himself to see whether he is "in the faith". We never outgrow our need for the Gospel either as a reminder of our total dependence on Christ or as a reminder of our desperate need for Him. Unless God breathes on our valley of dry bones then we remain but dust! I've never been one for new year's resolutions but I am a passionate advocate of the transforming power of the Holy Spirit.

Salvation is of the Lord. Without Him we can do nothing. If you must start the new year with a resolution, then meditate on those two thoughts.

Charles Spurgeon Movie

2011-12-27T11:54:00.000-08:00

We are now in that strange week between Christmas and new year where many of us find ourselves together with family enjoying some much needed R & R. With so many options that are either expensive or worldly or both I am very excited to solve the conundrum with a great movie for the whole family free of charge. Charles Spurgeon's life is worth remembering, learning from, being inspired by, and comparing with the current state of modern evangelicalism. The Bottom Line proudly presents this wonderful movie on the man they called "The Prince of Preachers"!

The Reason For The Season

2011-12-24T12:30:00.000-08:00

The baby in the manger grew up. He came with a mission. He had the power to lay His life down and the power to take it up again. Why was this necessary? The Bottom Line presents to you my Christmas e-card . . .
Click Here To View and be sure to scroll down.

Beware Of Christmas Idolatry

2011-12-23T01:00:00.000-08:00

As I prepare for Christmas 2009, I feel the same disturbance in my soul that I felt last year and I want to get at its source. The reason I have put these thoughts down on paper is so they may have the ability to provoke thought in someone who is possibly feeling some of the same unease.

I try to sing Christmas anthems of “joy” and “celebration” with feeling, yet I know that my thoughts are far from jubilation. In fact they dwell in the realm of conviction, guilt and even sadness. I know that in order to fully and joyfully celebrate the incarnation, I can never lose sight of my lost and helpless state before it. In order to praise the value of the virgin’s birth, I must first contemplate the intensity of a wickedness that required the slaughter of the son of God to drag me from the precipice of hell.

Each year it’s getting easier to see, in the Christmas rush, a peculiar blend of self-approval and importance, self-deservedness, self-satisfaction and a good old hearty human ‘pat on the back’. Only now you can find that same attitude telegraphed from the pulpit. A Christmas 2007 address on national tv by Pastor Rick Warren included the idea “God is not mad at you....He is mad about you”. So, with that in mind, I can’t help but share a few reflections that I have had with regards to this Christmas, and the idea that we need to hold our heads high, because our Creator has tremendous faith in the human being.

There is a link between the manner in which mankind carries itself at Christmas, and the increasing idea that God had previously somehow placed enormous worth on sinful man, and I can never put my finger on it. It’s obvious that Christmas is the greatest time of idolatry on our calendar. You can sit at the carols with thousands of people, and most will have created a God in their own image to sing to. That’s why you can be promiscuous on stage and seductive while singing to Jesus. That’s why you can sing ‘O Holy Night’ while your molestation or assault charge is going through the courts.

But God doesn’t stop being God at Christmas and His standards don’t change because we wish to be merry. I never want to see myself as the ‘apple of His eye’. He doesn’t expect big things from me, nor does He need my help to make His message more relevant, and He’s not waiting to see what I can do for Him. He is waiting patiently, withholding Judgement, in order to receive maximum glory in every human life.

God knew that we were the only agents of His creation capable of coming up with such an exquisitely cruel method of putting to death our only Saviour, and the unimaginable daring to carry through with the ultimate betrayal. So, in a sense, I do agree that God did look down from Heaven and see such worth and value in the human being. But only in their worth to bring Him ultimate magnificence by committing the greatest crime of injustice of all time. The reality of the extent of our evil and self-justification vividly beams forth when we suggest that our Lord, the one Adam defied, pictured us with a doting adoration and preciousness, and incredible potential.

We underestimate our potential, but omniscient God certainly doesn’t. He understood the potential for evil for the Roman crucifiers to cast lots for the innocent Saviour’s clothing, while He screamed prayers for them. He understood the potential for one of the disciples to reject and betray his deliverer. He saw the potential of the miraculously rescued Israelite nation to turn their backs on Him during decades of supernatural provision.

No. I should not hold my head a little higher at Christmas. The truth is that while santa rewards people who think they have been nice, God’s righteous fury would boil at the idea of Jesus looking down from the bloodied cross at His murderers and seeing such worth and preciousness in the human “enemy of God”
soul.

Looking at the face that was “marred beyond description” were the agents of their master, the devil. Speaking blasphemies and ridicule against God were the same mouths that cried “Hosanna”.

Christmas is not Christmas without the cross of our Saviour. The incarnation of God Himself, and conception of the creator of the universe to a God hating and lawless human race, cannot be remembered without contemplating the slaying that the helpless babe in the manger would receive a few decades after that silent night in Bethlehem, to seal our redemption.

How can I be happy at Christmas? Not by feeling good about myself. The only way I can feel joy is to concentrate on the fact that Christ’s story was all brought about this way because it was precisely how God will receive His greatest honour. That’s the ‘joy’ that Christ felt as he ‘endured the cross, despising its shame’.

The following hymn reminds me to place complete faith in God the Creator, and brings the correct perspective of our human potential this Christmas:

My Song Is Love Unknown Hymn Samuel Crossman 1664

My song is love unknown,
My Savior’s love to me;
Love to the loveless shown,
That they might lovely be.
O who am I, that for my sake
My Lord should take, frail flesh and die?

He came from His blest throne
Salvation to bestow;
But men made strange, and none
The longed for Christ would know:
But O! my Friend, my Friend indeed,
Who at my need His life did spend.

Sometimes they strew His way,
And His sweet praises sing;
Resounding all the day
Hosannas to their King:
Then “Crucify!” is all their breath,
And for His death they thirst and cry.

Why, what hath my Lord done?
What makes this rage and spite?
He made the lame to run,
He gave the blind their sight,
Sweet injuries! Yet they at these
Themselves displease, and ’gainst Him rise.
With angry shouts they have
My dear Lord made away;
A murderer they saved,
The Prince of life they slay,
Yet cheerful He to suffering goes,
That He His foes from thence might free.
In life, no house, no home
My Lord on earth might have;
In death no friendly tomb
But what a stranger gave.
What may I say? Heav’n was His home;
But mine the tomb wherein He lay.

Here might I stay and sing,
No story so divine;
Never was love, dear King!
Never was grief like Thine.
This is my Friend, in Whose sweet praise
I all my days could gladly spend.

Let All Mortal Flesh Keep Silence by Gerard Moultrie

1. Let all mortal flesh keep silence,
and with fear and trembling stand;
ponder nothing earthly-minded,
for with blessing in his hand,
Christ our God to earth descendeth,
our full homage to demand.

2. King of kings, yet born of Mary,
as of old on earth he stood,
Lord of lords, in human vesture,
in the body and the blood;
he will give to all the faithful
his own self for heavenly food.

3. Rank on rank the host of heaven
spreads its vanguard on the way,
as the Light of light descendeth
from the realms of endless day,
that the powers of hell may vanish
as the darkness clears away.

4. At his feet the six-winged seraph,
cherubim, with sleepless eye,
veil their faces to the presence,
as with ceaseless voice they cry:
Alleluia, Alleluia,
Alleluia, Lord Most High!

(Article courtesy of Nick Booth)

The Man Who Was Born To Die

2011-12-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

My family and I have now arrived safely in Southern California and are excited at the prospect of experiencing Christmas in the USA for the first time. Yes, I know that many outside America bewail the superficiality and consumerism that gets plastered all over their television screens as they experience it from the outside looking in. But being on the inside for the first time I am heartened and greatly encouraged by the large number of authentic Christ centered people we have already met. I have never experienced so much kindness and generosity from strangers and, though we are far from extended family, we have no shortage of families who have invited us to celebrate the incarnation of Jesus Christ next Sunday. This is one of the great things about being a Christian - that we have been adopted into a far greater family that comprises every tribe, race, and tongue. I think this is what Jesus was referring to when He said:

"Truly, I say to you, there is no one who has left house or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or lands, for my sake and for the gospel, who will not receive a hundredfold now in this time, houses and brothers and sisters and mothers and children and lands, with persecutions, and in the age to come eternal life. (Mark 10:29-30)

There is persecution in this life as a Christian. And it is great to have our adopted family around us as we go through it. May we remember those who are persecuted at this time, pray for them, and be reminded that fellowship in Christ's sufferings ultimately points us to Christ's mission - a mission He fully accomplished. May we remember that this Christmas . . . lest we forget.

"You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, 28even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many." (Matthew 20:25b-28)

He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God. And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:10-14)

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life — the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us — that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete. This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us. (1 John 1:1-10)

Christopher Hitchens Now Knows That God Is Great

2011-12-16T09:52:00.000-08:00

My friend, Joshua Williamson, recently alerted me to the sad news that the famous staunch atheist Christopher Hitchens has died from cancer. What Josh said is worth repeating and a good reflection of the Christian worldview:

Sad news. Leading atheist Christopher Hitchens has died aged 62. He was the author of the book, "God is not great". Mr. Hitchen's now knows that God is indeed great. I hope that Christopher placed his trust in Christ before he died.

It is true that Christopher now knows that God is great beyond his comprehension. Christians led the way during Hitchens' battle with cancer praying for him and writing to him in pleading calls for repentance. Christopher was clearly taken aback by the compassion of Christians who had been the subject of his vitriolic scorn for many years. Hitchens wrote in Vanity Fair in September 2010:

These are my first raw reactions to being stricken. I am quietly resolved to resist bodily as best I can, even if only passively, and to seek the most advanced advice. My heart and blood pressure and many other registers are now strong again: indeed, it occurs to me that if I didn’t have such a stout constitution I might have led a much healthier life thus far. Against me is the blind, emotionless alien, cheered on by some who have long wished me ill. But on the side of my continued life is a group of brilliant and selfless physicians plus an astonishing number of prayer groups. On both of these I hope to write next time if — as my father invariably said — I am spared.

Ultimately none of us are spared from the ultimate statistic - that one out of one people die. I cannot take any moral high ground over Hitchens for all his years of fist shaking at God. I was no better - God's grace to me was unmerited favor so why should I pontificate? Like Josh, in the wake of Hitchens' death we can do nothing else but fly the flag of hope that God can save the worst of sinners at the latest of moments. Death bed conversions should not be treated as normative, nor should we plan on seeking God later in life after we have sown our wild oats. Romans 1 serves as a stern warning against those who persist in sin to the point of God "giving them over" to hearts so hardened that they, like Esau, cannot find repentance.

Spurgeon once preached to his congregation on why he believed the Bible contains only one death bed conversion - that being the thief on the cross. Spurgeon suggested that God only included one of these stories in the Bible to remind the complacent that it is very rare, and remind the hopeless that we are never without hope.

I do hope to see Christopher in heaven. God derives great glory from saving the worst of sinners. How do I know this? Because He saved me!

A Great Christmas Gift Idea For Emergents

2011-12-14T06:53:00.000-08:00

Excitement, Anxiety, And Everything In Between

2011-12-12T01:00:00.000-08:00

Last Monday I posted my letter of application to The Master's Seminary where John Macarthur is president. As you read this today, I am on a plane with my family flying from shivering Denmark to sunny Los Angeles. A letter of application and then next week I'm on a plane. Was it really that simple? Of course not, you just got the highlights package without the long drawn out process of phone calls, paperwork, packing, and moving a lot of furniture.

Right now I don't know how often I will be able to post on this blog as I enter into a period of intense academic study, but I hope that you, the reader, will come along for the ride anyway.

Please pray for my wife and three children as we embark on this seismic shift in our lives. Please pray for me that I will have the wisdom and aptitude to succeed academically (when I have never studied at this level before, or at any level!), and to balance that with my responsibilities as a husband and father. Please also pray for the pioneering church planting work going on in Denmark with our beloved brothers and sisters at Kristuskirken Reformed Baptist Church. Like I said, excitement, anxiety, and everything in between!

The next post you read will be from southern California. Maybe we can commemorate it with donuts, a traffic jam, and some out of work actors!

Paul from Adelaide has already exposed me as an 80's tragic. So I will unashamedly indulge a little and post this Neil Diamond song because it is on topic and my mum is a big fan! Love you mum!!!!

China: Bible Exhibit Protested

2011-12-10T23:55:00.000-08:00

A Chinese theology student wrote an essay recently explaining why a group of Chinese Christians protested a Chinese Bible exhibit in the United States this year. The traveling exhibit was sponsored by the National Committee of the Three-Self Patriotic Movement of the Protestant Church in China, the communist committee that oversees China’s official church.

The Bible exhibit, titled “Thy Word Is the Truth: The Bible Ministry Exhibition of the Protestant Church in China,” was displayed in Washington, D.C.; Charlotte, N.C.; Dallas, Texas; and Chicago, Ill. According to an online article by The Christian Post, the exhibit shows how the Bible was spread throughout China. Rev. Bao Jiayuan, associate general secretary of the China Christian Council, a co-sponsor of the exhibit, told The Christian Post, “We hope to build mutual understanding between American Christians and Christians in China.”

In his essay, the Chinese student attempted to clarify true church-state relations in China and to explain some common misconceptions about the Three-Self Movement and the reasons why Chinese Christians protested the Bible exhibit. The anonymous writer said Chinese believers opposed to the Three-Self Movement are not necessarily opposed to churches within the movement, emphasizing that many members of the body of Christ belong to Three-Self churches.

“Since it is acceptable to expose the China Red Cross Society’s embezzlement and corruption and its monopoly of charity work, so we can likewise criticize the Three-Self for being politicized, for not being separate from the state and for controlling and restricting the church,” the student wrote. “In any case, when the government violates biblical principles, the church, as the vanguard of society and its conscience, has the responsibility to criticize and to bring up biblical truths.”

The student discredited the idea that Three-Self churches are full because they are successfully preaching the gospel. In China, only one Christian church is allowed per area; therefore, the only Christian church permitted is a Three-Self church. “Just imagine if in all of Shanghai (or Chicago) there were only five gas stations. Each would be jammed with customers,” the student wrote. “So the fact that there are so many people at these churches that meet openly isn’t because they are doing such a great job, but rather is due to the irregular religious policy and the Three-Self’s control and restrictions.”

The student also claimed that the Bible exhibit did not paint a true picture of the availability of Bibles in China. He pointed out that Chinese customs officers still seize Bibles when they are brought into the country in quantities. Several pastors are in prison for printing the Bible without permission, and Bibles in China are sold only in churches belonging to the Three-Self organization.

The exhibit displayed Bibles that Chinese Christians copied during the Cultural Revolution and at other times when Christians were widely persecuted in China. “Yet no mention was made anywhere of who was persecuting the church and [who] had made it impossible for Christians to buy Bibles, or who helped the government forcibly take over the church, or the fact that the Three-Self monopoly on Bible distribution brooks no interference,” the student wrote. “What they are trying to do is to dress up a religious policy that is wrong and not free and the Three-Self’s history of controlling and persecuting the church so as to create the illusion of religious freedom in China and the Three-Self as an organization that loves the Lord and loves the church.”

According to the essay, overseas organizations cooperating with the Three-Self have underestimated the potential consequences of working with them. “Consider this: If the Three-Self wins the support of the overseas mainline churches, and then, in the name of ‘orthodox Christianity,’ begins large-scale persecution of house churches, the harm to the work of the Gospel far exceeds the little bit of ministry that they [the foreign groups] can do.”

The student suggested that if foreign churches want a part in ministering to Christians in China, they should do so by working directly with local governments, training house church preachers and translating Christian literature, rather than working with the government organization. Foreign churches can contact China’s local churches, including churches within the Three-Self, and establish a relationship. “All these would be much better than helping the Three-Self in its propaganda efforts.”

Sources: China Aid Association, The Christian Post

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 19)

2011-12-09T01:00:00.000-08:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude having finished looking at the four characteristics of apostates that Jude outlines in verse 8 - that they appeal to their own revelations, are carnal, insubordinate, and blasphemous! Today we will move on into verse 9 which is both an example of how not to be an apostate, but also an intriguing story by itself! This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark (Kristuskirken).

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. 9But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." 10 But these people blaspheme all that they do not understand, and they are destroyed by all that they, like unreasoning animals, understand instinctively. 11Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. 12These are hidden reefs at your love feasts, as they feast with you without fear, shepherds feeding themselves; waterless clouds, swept along by winds; fruitless trees in late autumn, twice dead, uprooted; 13 wild waves of the sea, casting up the foam of their own shame; wandering stars, for whom the gloom of utter darkness has been reserved forever. (Jude 1-13)

My charismatic background exposed me to a lot of what they called "spiritual warfare". Telling Satan off on a regular basis was par for the course for any self respecting arm waving charismatic. Singing militant songs was also thought to scare the devil away - you might remember this classic:

Well, I went to the enemy's camp and
I took back what he stole from me (x3)
I went to the enemy's camp and
I took back what he stole from me

You know
He's under my feet (x6)
Satan is under my feet

We also see examples in Scripture of irreverent fools playing fast and loose with Satan:

Then some of the itinerant Jewish exorcists undertook to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those who had evil spirits, saying, "I adjure you by the Jesus whom Paul proclaims." Seven sons of a Jewish high priest named Sceva were doing this. But the evil spirit answered them, "Jesus I know, and Paul I recognize, but who are you?" And the man in whom was the evil spirit leaped on them, mastered all of them and overpowered them, so that they fled out of that house naked and wounded. (Acts 19:13-16 v13)

We would do well to follow Michael the Archangel's example in Jude verse 9 who dared not bring any accusation against the Devil other than telling him "the Lord rebuke you"! Bob De Waay who was in deliverance ministry for many years arrived at this conclusion – the best way to fight spiritual warfare is to preach the Gospel. That the Holy Spirit may come and dwell in a person when he is converted.

But what of this strange story that only appears here in Scripture. This fascinating little window into the Spiritual world where Michael has an argument with Satan. Satan who is described as the Prince of this world - it would seem he had some knowledge of people and their deaths. But with the death of Moses there was obviously some information concealed from him. Something was different about the death of Moses and where his body was. This is a fascinating mystery and I will now give my opinion (there are good scholars who disagree with me on this - just giving my five cents worth - please don't stone me if you disagree) on what I think this is about.

The first five books of the Bible were written by Moses but the last chapter of the fifth book tells us about his death. So one mystery is who wrote Deuteronomy chapter 34. Let's take a look at some of it:

And the LORD said to him [Moses], "This is the land of which I swore to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, 'I will give it to your offspring.' I have let you see it with your eyes, but you shall not go over there." So Moses the servant of the LORD died there in the land of Moab, according to the word of the LORD, and he buried him in the valley in the land of Moab opposite Beth-peor; but no one knows the place of his burial to this day. Moses was 120 years old when he died. His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated. (Deuteronomy 34:4-7)

There are four mysteries in these verses:

1.How did Moses die?
2. Who buried him?
3. Where was he buried?
4. Why does it say that in Moses' death “His eye was undimmed, and his vigor unabated.”

Go forward now to 2Kings 2:9-11:

When they had crossed, Elijah said to Elisha, "Ask what I shall do for you, before I am taken from you." And Elisha said, "Please let there be a double portion of your spirit on me." And he said, "You have asked a hard thing; yet, if you see me as I am being taken from you, it shall be so for you, but if you do not see me, it shall not be so." And as they still went on and talked, behold, chariots of fire and horses of fire separated the two of them. And Elijah went up by a whirlwind into heaven. (2 Kings 2:9-11)

Go forward now to Zechariah:

And the angel who talked with me came again and woke me, like a man who is awakened out of his sleep. And he said to me, "What do you see?" I said, "I see, and behold, a lampstand all of gold, with a bowl on the top of it, and seven lamps on it, with seven lips on each of the lamps that are on the top of it. And there are two olive trees by it, one on the right of the bowl and the other on its left." . . . Then I said to him, "What are these two olive trees on the right and the left of the lampstand?" And a second time I answered and said to him, "What are these two branches of the olive trees, which are beside the two golden pipes from which the golden oil is poured out?" He said to me, "Do you not know what these are?" I said, "No, my lord." (Zechariah 4:1-3,11-13)

Go forward now to Luke 9:28-31:

Now about eight days after these sayings he took with him Peter and John and James and went up on the mountain to pray. And as he was praying, the appearance of his face was altered, and his clothing became dazzling white. And behold, two men were talking with him, Moses and Elijah, who appeared in glory and spoke of his departure, which he was about to accomplish at Jerusalem. (Luke 9:28-31)

Go forward again to Revelation 11:3-12:

And I will grant authority to my two witnesses, and they will prophesy for 1,260 days, clothed in sackcloth." These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands that stand before the Lord of the earth. And if anyone would harm them, fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. If anyone would harm them, this is how he is doomed to be killed. They have the power to shut the sky, that no rain may fall during the days of their prophesying, and they have power over the waters to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with every kind of plague, as often as they desire. And when they have finished their testimony, the beast that rises from the bottomless pit will make war on them and conquer them and kill them, and their dead bodies will lie in the street of the great city that symbolically is called Sodom and Egypt, where their Lord was crucified. For three and a half days some from the peoples and tribes and languages and nations will gaze at their dead bodies and refuse to let them be placed in a tomb, and those who dwell on the earth will rejoice over them and make merry and exchange presents, because these two prophets had been a torment to those who dwell on the earth. But after the three and a half days a breath of life from God entered them, and they stood up on their feet, and great fear fell on those who saw them. Then they heard a loud voice from heaven saying to them, "Come up here!" And they went up to heaven in a cloud, and their enemies watched them. (Revelation 11:3-12)

My opinion is that like Elijah, God is actually keeping Moses to return as one of the two witnesses to Israel to preach the Gospel together during the end times and rise of the Antichrist. Anyway, that is my view on what the Scriptures may well teach on this subject. I cannot be 100% certain about this, there are many better Bible teachers who would disagree, and we need to remember that this is not a doctrine of first importance. It is something we can agree to disagree on. But Jude 9 is todays text, so today I give my understanding of this subject.

In Revelation 12:7 Michael and his angels are waging war with Satan and his angels. And, of course, Michael and his angels defeat Satan and his angels and throw them out of heaven and throw them down to earth. He is, then, a powerful heavenly holy angel. He knew Lucifer. He knew him when he was the son of the morning, when he was the anointed cherub, when he was around the throne, when he was the heavenly choir director. He knew the other demons, all of them being created together at once. And when they fell, he knew they fell and he did battle with them and was part of the force that threw them out of heaven. He knows he has power over Satan then, he knows Satan is fallen. And yet he has respect for those angelic enemies of God and even though he is a powerful holy angel, he knows that there are limits to his power and there are limits to his knowledge. His name Michael, means “who is like God”. Michael is not omniscient, nor is he omnipotent. His power as a holy angel is delegated and his function is to do whatever God tells him to do and not act independently on his own. He will not usurp divine authority. He will not exercise his own will over Satan. He will not on his own blaspheme even Satan. God has His plans for Satan and God knows what they are and Michael will carry them out but he will not act independently (John Macarthur).

Most importantly, we need to understand that we should not play around with authorities that are way more powerful than us. We need to remain in Christ, Who is our strong tower and more powerful than everything in the universe. Everything in the Bible revolves around the Gospel because it reminds us of how weak we are and how we need to depend on the certain saving power of Him Who fulfilled the law, took our sins upon Himself, took God's wrath in the place of helpless sinners, graciously gives the sinner His righteousness, and proved it by conquering the grave. He came as a Lamb the first time, but He is coming again as a warrior king to destroy all his enemies. Whether we go to Him or He comes to us, we need to be clothed in His righteousness that we might be spared from the wrath to come.

Go Back To Part 18
Go Back To Part 1

Closing Remarks - Evolution Debate (Part 12)

2011-12-07T12:05:00.000-08:00

Here is a video from an honest evolutionist.

Summary of implications of modern evolutionary biology (as quoted by evolutionist naturalist William Provine who is a world famous evolutionary professor at Cornell University):

1. No gods or purposive forces
2. No life after death
3. No ultimate foundation for ethics
4. No ultimate meaning in life
5. No free will (determinism)

(Interesting sidenote: Provine does not believe in prisons)

In contrast to the evolutionary worldview, Biblical Christianity says that:

1. You are created in the image of God
2. You will live eternally in heaven or he'll
3. All morality comes from God and is written on our consciences
4. You exist for the purpose of glorifying God and enjoying Him for ever
5. Your decisions have consequences in this life and the next

We are talking about the most important subject in the universe here and that is the ultimate message of evolution. If I am wrong then I am wasting my life and if you are wrong then you will be judged by the God Who made everything including yourself. He knows everything you have ever done, ever said, and ever thought. The God Who made your eyes sees everything.

I am going to admit one thing to you about the Bible. There is one big problem in the Bible. It happened when God spoke to Moses:

The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty (Exodus 34:6b-7a)

God is kind and loving, slow to anger, and rich in mercy. But he cannot let the guilty go free. No good judge lets criminals go free. And God's righteousness demands that he must punish you for every single sin you have ever committed. Every time you have broken His Law. Here is the greatest problem in the Bible. How can God show you His great mercy and kindness and love and still be a righteous judge at the same time. There was only one way and that is why He is the only way. God became a man, the Lord Jesus Christ, and lived a perfect sinless life fulfilling every law that you have ever broken so that He could be our representative. He then went to the cross and died a horrific death and more than that, suffered under the wrath of God that is meant for sinners like you . . . and me. From now on, every time you see a cross on a church building remember this: That God treated Jesus Christ as if he lived your life, so that He could treat you as if you lived His life! That way God can demonstrate His great mercy and kindness to you without leaving the guilty unpunished. And if you love science and like to deal with facts here is the greatest fact of history - that Jesus rose from the dead proving that God was satisfied with His payment in the place of sinners.

So who are you going to believe? Those who tell you that everything came from nothing, everything is random and meaningless, there is no right and wrong, and death is the end. Or are you going to believe the guy who says that everything is a creation of God, the whole universe is an amazingly designed operating system, everything has purpose and consequences, that you know right from wrong and you do what's wrong anyway, that each and everyone of us will stand before Almighty God - alone - and answer to Him for every thought, word, and deed in our lives and that God in His great love sent a Savior to rescue us from the wrath to come.

Do you really have enough faith to believe in the religion of evolution. The Bible tells me the reason why people reject the One true God of the Bible - and like evolution it has nothing to do with science. Jesus said it best:

"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed. (John 3:16-20)

God calls on you to repent and believe the Gospel. My evolutionary friend, this is not about science, this is about morality. What is the sin that you love so much that you will not repent and believe the Gospel? Turn to God, put your trust in the Lord Jesus Christ, for He is kind and merciful to those who humble themselves and repent of their rebellion and false religion.

Go Back To Part 11
Go Back To Part 1

Dear John Macarthur

2011-12-05T01:00:00.000-08:00

Well, this isn't really a letter to John MacArthur specifically . . . but it is my application to enroll in the seminary that he is president of. I cannot think of any better place in the world to be trained as an expositor of God's Word than The Master's Seminary and to apply for their Masters of Divinity program required that I write a letter of application outlining the major reasons why I want to attend TMS. What follows is that letter of application:

WHY I WANT TO ATTEND THE MASTER'S SEMINARY AND MY MINISTRY GOALS – CAMERON BUETTEL

I have spent too much of my Christian journey in the kind of fellowship that Dr. John Macarthur would describe as a “church of the tares”. Coming out of this and discovering the gospel truths that the reformers recovered has been like coming out of the desert and taking a drink from a fire hydrant.

I believe my conversion did actually occur in 1989 even though my first ten years of church life were in a “church” that was typical of the modern evangelical landscape – moralism, self esteem, success, and superficiality. In spite of this climate, I found myself to be a strange animal in this world. Conviction of sin and gut wrenching repentance (though I was not able to articulate these terms) were experiences that I knew but were completely foreign to others. Sometimes a blind squirrel finds a nut and by God's grace I became acquainted with the glorious truths of God's sovereignty, man's depravity, the miraculous nature of regeneration, and the breathtaking doctrine of penal substitutionary atonement.

This has cultivated an insatiable longing to proclaim this once for all delivered faith wherever and whenever I can. Defending and contending for this glorious gospel is what consumes my thinking. Reading Calvin's Institutes, A.W. Pink, and Systematic Theology are now pleasurable pursuits for a man who once despised reading. Even Scripture has taken on a whole new level of meaning as I have learnt to study it as the seamless story of Christ rather than a smorgasbord of moralisms.

I realize that the engine room at the heart of God honoring defending/contending/proclaiming is sound biblical exposition. I live in the ruins of the once great reformation. Living in Denmark is a harrowing experience due to severe lack of fellowship and the lack of godly men to be trained by. By the grace of God we have pioneered a church plant, an evangelism ministry, and an annual reformation conference, through seat of the pants learning via the internet. These are endeavors that I am completely untrained to do, and would gladly relinquish to someone more qualified. But with a boldness that comes from the knowledge that I could not possibly make things worse, coupled with the intense grief of never finding a single sound biblical church in the entire country, has given the energy to embrace this labor.

The rampant apostasy of the cowardly and compromising shepherds in the land of Denmark is nothing short of disgusting. I realize that the greatest need in this climate is men who are governed by God's Word, men who are passionate proclaimers of the one true Gospel, men who fear God but have total disdain for the prevailing cultural views, and men who know when to associate and when to separate. I want to dedicate the remaining years of my life to this task – this is what consumes my thoughts!

Through my own experiences attending two Shepherd's Conferences, acquaintances who have studied at TMS, meeting lecturers, and the goldmine sermon archive at www.gty.org , I am thoroughly convinced that The Master's Seminary is the best place to be trained as one of these men.

It is a seminary where:
The lecturers understand that they are gatekeepers and guardians of truth which is necessary to avoid the slide into liberalism.
The literal view of Genesis chapter one sets the tone for the other 1188 chapters.
The goal of interpreting Scripture is to find the authorial intent – not to “re-imagine it”.
Our labor is seen as a matter of life and death, heaven and hell.
There is reformed soteriology without the paedo-baptism.
There is little or no contamination of the 21st century sensibility which causes good theologians to lose their minds by being civil and tolerant toward heretics.
There is an In'N'Out burger joint on the same street.

The Master's Seminary is where I earnestly desire to be trained and ultimately deployed from. Thank you for considering my application, and more importantly, thank you for being steadfast in a world full of “climate change”.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 18)

2011-12-02T01:00:00.000-08:00

Questions For Evolutionists - Evolution Debate (Part 11)

2011-11-30T15:47:00.000-08:00

What follows is some of the questions I had prepared to ask my evolutionary opponent in my recent debate.

Are you familiar with the word "genome"? For those of you who are unfamiliar, genome is the word biologists use to describe the entire genetic code in a living thing. It is what is found encoded in it's DNA. For evolution to be true it requires genetic mutations that cause genome information to increase. Let me be specific here, I am not talking about an increase in the chances of survival because that can come through a loss of information.

Question 1: Has there ever been a genetic mutation observed where it has increased the genome information?

The world's most famous evolutionist got asked this question and this is what he had to say . . .

Question 2: How can DNA develop through evolutionary processes?

Question 3: Where did life come from?

Once again, here is Dawkins' "scientific speculations" on the subject during an interview with Ben Stein . . .

Unfortunately this video cannot be embedded onto my blog but it can be viewed here and is well worth the watch for its comedic elements alone: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L5FTyZ732lQ

Question 4: "Haeckel's Embryos"

Do you recognize this picture? Perhaps you have seen it in one of your modern scientific text books. Can you tell me if it is a drawing or a picture? Do you know why it is a drawing? Because this is a completely fraudulent attempt to show fabricated similarities between a wide variety of living things at the embryonic stage. It is a fraud that was exposed over 100 years ago. Haeckel even confessed to it. My question is why is this fake picture still allowed in scientific text books?

Michael K Richardson, Professor of Evolutionary Developmental Zoology at Leiden University said:

This is one of the worst cases of scientific fraud. It's shocking to find that somebody one thought was a great scientist was deliberately misleading. It makes me angry ... What he [Haeckel] did was to take a human embryo and copy it, pretending that the salamander and the pig and all the others looked the same at the same stage of development. They don't ... These are fakes.' (Michael Richardson, in an interview with Nigel Hawkes, The Times (London), p. 14, August 11, 1997. )

Question 5: How can something as complex as an eye evolve?

For an eye to be able to see, the 40 or so basic components which make it up need to be present at the same time and work together perfectly. The lens is only one of these. If all the other components, such as the cornea, iris, pupil, retina, and eye muscles, are all present and functioning properly, but just the eyelid is missing, then the eye will shortly incur serious damage and cease to carry out its function. In the same way, if all the subsystems exist but tear production ceases, then the eye will dry up and go blind within a few hours. How could an eye evolve when it requires all 40 parts to be working or it cannot function?

To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree.

Do you know who said that?

Charles Darwin (From the Origin of Species, CHAPTER VI - DIFFICULTIES OF THE THEORY "Organs of extreme Perfection and Complication).

The only difficult part in preparing questions for my opponent were which ones to leave out considering there are so many. Evolution is a theory about as watertight as my screen door!

Go On To Part 12
Go Back To Part 10
Go Back To Part 1

The Anti-Biblical Teachings Of Biologos

2011-11-28T13:10:00.000-08:00

Biologos is a relative newcomer to the "battle for the beginning". They are an organization devoted to the oxymoronic notion of "theistic evolution". Their professed goal is to harmonize science with Scripture but their track record is one of continually contorting Scripture to try and fit it into the prevailing evolutionary paradigm. This has become a very disturbing development in recent times, most notably because of Biologos' ability to gain acceptance with Christian leaders who cherish "academic respectability". Ken Ham from Answers In Genesis recently gave this lecture exposing Biologos for what they are:

Kazakhstan: New Anti-Religion Laws

2011-11-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

The government of Kazakhstan enacted two new laws on Oct. 24, 2011, further restricting freedom of religion. All registered churches must now re-register with the government, and only churches meeting new criteria will be registered.

As churches begin the rigorous re-registration process, organizations and human rights defenders from around the world are strongly criticizing the new laws. Jens Eschenbaecher, spokesperson for the Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), told Forum 18 News, “The legislation appears to unnecessarily restrict the freedom of religion or belief and is poised to limit the exercise of this freedom in Kazakhstan.”

Both laws force churches to compile documentation and re-register with the government. Forum 18 News reports that the first law, The Law on Religious Activity and Religious Associations, imposes a complex registration system, bans unregistered religious activity, enforces greater religious censorship and requires both central and local government approval to build or open new places of worship. Any current church that does not re-register faces court liquidation. The second law amends nine existing laws and legal provisions, according to Forum 18 News. One provision prohibits inviting children to participate in religious activities if their parents object. According to Mission Network News (MNN), some fear this provision could shut down summer camps and other children’s events.

Nazgul Yergalieva, head of the Legal Policy Research Center in Kazakhstan, told Forum 18 News, “Strict regulation and limitation of fundamental rights, such as freedom of religion, by governments has already proved to be a dangerous path, leading to social tension and resentment.” Please pray that Christians in Kazakhstan will remain courageous and strong as they face increased government pressure.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 17)

2011-11-25T06:35:00.000-08:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Verse 8 of Jude's Epistle gives four characteristics of apostates that infiltrate the church. Last week we looked at the third of these, which is that they "reject authority", they are people who want to live outside the realm of accountability and submission. Today we will look at the fourth characteristic in verse 8 which is that these false teachers "blaspheme the glorious ones". This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1-8)

The fourth characteristic of apostates that Jude lists in verse 8 is that they "blaspheme the glorious ones". They have contempt and carelessness for anything that warrants fear or reverence. These are people who shoot from the hip in their speech about "spiritual warfare", Satan, and God Himself. They continually play with fire without any regard for the impending peril they open themselves and their followers up to. John Macarthur had this to say:

The Greek is doxasfrom which we get doxology, it's a word that means glory. They blaspheme glories. And it could refer to the glories of God, it could refer to the glories of Christ. It could refer to the glories of divine truth. But I'll tell you this, the word "blaspheme" is clear enough in its intention to be identified with anything that is holy, or sacred. To blaspheme is to basically curse what is sacred. They're irreverent. I get sometimes squeamish when I hear certain so-called clerics or biblical scholars talk about Jesus in a blasphemous fashion. I literally feel sick when I see Jesus misrepresented in some stupid fashion in a ridiculous movie which takes away His glory. These people who claim to represent Christ and claim to be the scholars of the New Testament who are going to help us find the real Jesus, are really blasphemers. Certainly the angels did that. They blasphemed the glories of heaven. Certainly Sodom and Gomorrah did that, they blasphemed the very holy angels. Certainly Israel did that, they blasphemed God when they made that idol and worshiped it. Very serious.

Jesse Duplantis is one of the worst examples of this sort of behavior.

The teaching in this video is so stupid and blasphemous of God's character and nature that it does not even warrant a response. I'll include just one more short clip because it serves as another great example of this idiotic biblically incompetent behavior:

Jesse, you are going to find out how wrong you are! The Apostle Peter described this behavior when he said:

then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trials, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment, and especially those who indulge in the lust of defiling passion and despise authority. Bold and willful, they do not tremble as they blaspheme the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not pronounce a blasphemous judgment against them before the Lord. But these, like irrational animals, creatures of instinct, born to be caught and destroyed, blaspheming about matters of which they are ignorant, will also be destroyed in their destruction (2 Peter 2:9-12)

Here is one more clear example of this. Aside from the very obvious reason why Joyce Meyer should not be calling HERself a Bible teacher, there are other alarm bells we should be hearing. Even though Jude points out in verse 9:

But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, was disputing about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a blasphemous judgment, but said, "The Lord rebuke you." (Jude 9)

Joyce seems to think that she can take these matters into her own hands.

If Michael the archangel refused to take a shot at Satan, but rather appealed to God and His authority, how much more should we. We'll talk more about this intriguing encounter between Michael and the Devil next week!

Go On To Part 18
Go Back To Part 16
Go Back To Part 1

Newsflash! - Evolution Debate (Part 10)

2011-11-23T07:12:00.000-08:00

Religious evolutionary fanatics like Kristoffer Haldrup insist that there is absolutely no evidence for the global flood of Noah. Not a single scrap of evidence. The following article here (published just two days ago) is another great example (in the long line of examples) of why evolutionary scientists say there is no evidence . . . because they start with the presupposition that there is no evidence and that their theory must be right - therefore they impose their theory on the evidence and come up with their own set of fabricated facts.

Is it just possible that this recent discovery of a massive whale graveyard high up and a long way from the ocean could be evidence for the ocean once covering this piece of desert? Is it just possible that the mass of perfectly preserved skeletons (including two adult whales with a juvenile between them) in a small area points to a sudden cataclysmic event? Why aren't they surprised to find that these whales which are "millions of years old" are mainly identical to the whales we find in the water today? Why do they consider the possibility of lagoons high up in the desert, and tsunamis that washed a massive number of whales into one spot on a hill in the desert but not even mention the possibility of a cataclysmic global flood like the Bible says? Answer these questions and then maybe you will have the answer to the question as to why religious evolutionary fanatics desperately cling to their assertions that there is "no evidence for a global flood". Because this discovery screams a ton of consistency with a global flood (my comments in italics).

GIANT WHALE GRAVEYARD FOUND IN CHILEAN DESERT!
Posted on November 21, 2011 at 12:35pm by Liz Klimas

SANTIAGO, Chile (The Blaze/AP) — More than 2 million years ago, scores of whales congregating off the Pacific Coast of South America mysteriously met their end. Today, they have emerged again atop a desert hill more than a kilometer (half a mile) from the surf, where researchers have begun to unearth one of the world’s best-preserved graveyards of prehistoric whales.

A paleontologist from the museum prepares a whale fossil at the site where many prehistoric whale fossils were discovered in the Atacama desert near Copiapo, Chile. But how did they get there? That’s the question paleontologists are trying to figure out.

Yes, it's a difficult question, when you are committed to denying the obvious!

Maybe they became disoriented and beached themselves. Maybe they were trapped in a lagoon by a landslide or a storm. Maybe they died there over a period of a few millennia. Somehow they ended up right next to one another, many just meters (yards) apart, entombed as the shallow sea floor was driven upward by geological forces and transformed into the driest place on the planet.

Yes, these are all well thought out scientific theories when you consider how difficult it is to think with your head shoved in that desert sand.

Chilean scientists together with researchers from the Smithsonian Institution are studying how these whales, many of the them the size of buses, wound up in the same corner of the Atacama Desert. “That’s the top question,” said Mario Suarez, director of the Paleontological Museum in the nearby town of Caldera, about 700 kilometers (440 miles) north of Santiago, the Chilean capital.

Pick me, pick me! I can answer that question and save you a whole lot of money in research grants in the process.

Experts say other groups of prehistoric whales have been found together in Peru and Egypt, but the Chilean fossils stand out for their staggering number and beautifully preserved bones. More than 75 whales have been discovered so far — including more than 20 perfectly intact skeletons.

They provide a snapshot of sea life at the time, and even include what might have been a family group: two adult whales with a juvenile between them.

“I think they died more or less at the same time,” said Nicholas Pyenson, curator of fossil marine mammals at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History. Pyenson and Suarez are jointly leading the research.

How much are they paying you Nicholas to come up with these brilliant observations?

As for why such a great number perished in the same place, Pyenson said: “There are many ways that whales could die, and we’re still testing all those different hypotheses.”

Except the obvious hypothesis where all the evidence points to.

The scientists have yet to publish their findings about the fossil bed and the extensive remains, which began to emerge in June last year during a highway-widening project that is now on hold.

So far, the fossils have been found in a roadside strip the length of two football fields — about 240 meters (260 yards) long and 20 meters (yards) wide.

Pyenson said the spot was once a “lagoon-like environment” and that the whales probably died between 2 million and 7 million years ago.

Yes, no evidence of a global flood but he is absolutely certain that that this piece of desert was once a lagoon. A lagoon with whales just like you find today - not! He even has the technology to date this lagoon to 4.5 million years plus or minus 2.5 million years. Great accuracy there - NOT!

Most of the fossils are baleen whales that measured about 8 meters (25 feet) long, Pyenson said.

The researchers also discovered a sperm whale skeleton and remains of a now-extinct dolphin that had two walrus-like tusks and previously had only turned up in Peru, he said.

“We’re very excited about that,” Pyenson said in a telephone interview. “It is a very bizarre animal.”

Other unusual creatures found elsewhere in the fossil-rich Atacama Desert include an extinct aquatic sloth and a seabird with a 5-meter (17-foot) wingspan, bigger than a condor’s.

Erich Fitzgerald, a vertebrate paleontologist at Museum Victoria in Melbourne, Australia, emailed that the latest find is very significant.

“The fossils are exceptionally well preserved and quite complete — a rare combination in paleontology and one that will likely shed light on many facets of the … ecology and evolution of these extinct species,” Fitzgerald said.

There he goes again imposing his evolutionary presupposition onto the evidence. Great empirical science there Enrich!

He said it’s possible “these fossilized remains may have accumulated over a relatively long period of time.”

Here is that great scientific consensus that shows us how much certainty these scientists have with their theory. One guy says it happened at the same time, the other says it may have happened over a long period of time.

Hans Thewissen, an expert on early whales, agreed. Another scenario, he said, is that the whales might have gathered in a lagoon and then an earthquake or storm could have closed off the outlet to the ocean.

Yes, scientists deal with hard empirical facts, not fanciful theories!

“Subsequently the lagoon dries up and the whales die,” said Thewissen, a professor of anatomy at Northeast Ohio Medical University. He said the accumulation of so many complete skeletons is “a very unusual situation.”

“If this were a lagoon that dried up, you might see signs that ocean water evaporated,” such as crystallized salt and gypsum in the rock, said Thewissen, who is not involved in the research. “On the other hand, if a giant wave or storm flung the whales onto shore, it would also have pushed the ocean floor around, and you would see scour marks in the rocks.”

Dating fossils is complicated, experts said, and it will be very hard to distinguish dates precisely enough to determine whether the whales all died simultaneously.

It is very complicated when they have no idea how to do it.

The researchers have been told to finish their onsite studies so that fossils can be moved out of the path of the widened Pan American Highway, or Route 5, which is Chile’s main north-south road.

Many of the fossils have been transported in plaster coverings to the museum in Caldera. Researchers from Chile’s National Museum of Natural History are also studying the fossils.

Pyenson and his team are working quickly under tents to document the intact skeletons. With funding from the National Geographic Society, the Smithsonian team is using sophisticated photography and laser scanners to capture 3D images of the whales that can later be used to make life-sized models of them.

At least they have entire skeletons to base their models on rather than the massive amount of guesswork involved in creating a life sized "Nebraska Man" from a pig tooth.

Suarez, the paleontologist, had long known about the whale bones just north of Caldera – they could be seen jutting out of the sandstone ridge alongside the highway at the spot known as Cerro Ballena, or Whale Hill. When the road work began last year, the construction company asked him to monitor the job to avoid destroying fossils.

“In the first week, about six or seven whales appeared,” Suarez said. “We realized that it was a truly extraordinary site.”

The Chilean government has declared the site a protected zone, and Pyenson said he hopes a museum will be built to showcase the intact skeletons where they lie, in the same way fossils are displayed at Dinosaur National Monument in Utah and Colorado.

Suarez thinks there are probably fossils of hundreds of whales waiting to be uncovered – enough to keep him working at this one spot for the rest of his life.

“We have a unique opportunity to develop a great scientific project and make a great contribution to science,” he said.

Great contribution to science fiction more like it!

Ok Kristoffer, you can now write in and have a cry about how dumb and unscientific I am.

Go On To Part 11
Go Back To Part 9
Go Back To Part 1

The Joy Of The Redeemed And The Redeemer

2011-11-21T01:00:00.000-08:00

My good friend Arnold Barba just wrote this and I like it so much I am posting it on my blog today. A fusion between good poetry and good theology - a rare combination these days!

The Joy Of The Redeemed And The Redeemer

Maybe there is a wonder for man to see that cannot be seen by the angels of God.
Maybe there is a wonder for man to see that cannot be seen even by the holy angels from on high.
Maybe there is a wonder for man to see that one cannot see but for an act of God.
Maybe there is a wonder for man to see, but which only can be seen if the eye of man is enabled to see,

or better said, the heart of man is enabled to believe.

And maybe this wonder is not a wonder of the earth, nor a wonder of man.
And maybe this wonder is not a wonder of the flesh, nor of the will of man—

but of God.

And maybe this wonder is not a work of the one that is to behold it, but a work of God—

alone.

Well, this is so. I know it to be so.

For I have seen this wonder that is not a wonder of the flesh, nor of the will of man.
I have encountered this wonder that is not of the works of man, but of the work of God, alone.

And “This is the work of God, [that makes this wonder known],
that you believe in Him whom He sent.”

John 6:29 (NKJV)

And because of this work of God alone, I see this wonder that man and world and angel cannot see, but only one whose eyes are opened, and whose heart is reborn, can see.

And this is the wonder that I see:

God gave wretched man,
who was once dead and enslaved to sin,
the right to be called his son, and son of God is now he,
if he believes in Him whom Father sent,
a belief enabled him by
the work and power of God Himself.

But this son is not begotten by God. For only one was begotten by Him. But adopted by God is he.

And by this adoption, man is made a son, not just for this life. Rather, redeemed man is adopted in this life for this life and for all eternity.

But what can be seen in this adoption that neither flesh, nor world, nor fallen angel, nor even holy angel can see?

The wonder that can be seen is this:

a redeemed heart made anew,
made to shine the glory of His light and don the righteousness of Christ,
having been translated from darkness and death, unto eternal life.

The flesh shall never know this, for this is not a work of the flesh, nor an encounter of the flesh.

The world shall never know this, for this is not a work of the world, nor an encounter of this world.

No fallen angel can see this, for no fallen angel can be redeemed, for the work of light is not known by the darkness, for darkness cannot comprehend it.

But this is also true, you see.

The holy angels from on high do not know and cannot know and will never know the work of God in the redemption of the heart of man in Christ. For no holy angel knows sin, and thus no holy angel requires redemption from sin and from its wages of death.

And so no holy angel knows what it is to be enslaved to sin and bound to death one day, and become redeemed, and be set free and saved from death another day—oh on that great, happy day!

This is a wonder that only redeemed man can see, and only redeemed man encounters, and only redeemed man inextricably knows in his inner soul.

Oh what joy there is in being redeemed!

And though neither the flesh, nor the world, nor power nor principality can know the wonder of redemption, nor the joy of the redeemed . . .

there is ONE other that can see and does know the joy of redemption.

But this ONE does not see or know such joy of a sinful man that knows this joy from his redeemed stance.

This ONE is no other than redeemed man’s REDEEMER that knows the fullness of joy that is known in redemption.

Not because he was, or is, or ever will be, redeemed. But rather because . . .

He redeemed!

And knowing this wonder as the Redeemer, rather than the redeemed, is no small thing.

For while men of every tribe and every nation as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore will know the joy of being redeemed, there will be only ONE in all eternity that will know this wonder as the ONE Who redeemed.

This ONE, unique sent ONE, is none other than His Excellency, the Lord of lords and King of kings, the ONE named . . .

Jesus Christ, the Redeemer of the redeemed.

And the joy of the redeemed, when united with the joy of the Redeemer, is the very joy of His Kingdom come for you and me!

But when shall this be?

When man, redeemed, lives in the joy of his redemption, so that the joy of His redeemer can come forth unto him from within!

This is your call and your inheritance, you redeemed: to enjoy and delight in your redemption, for it gives joy and delight to our Redeemer, in Whose joy and delight we can know His great love toward you and me, the redeemed!

Yes and amen!

Washington DC - Petitions Delivered To Pakistani Embassy

2011-11-19T23:47:00.000-08:00

A team from The Voice of the Martyrs traveled to Washington, D.C., in November to make the first delivery of Call For Mercy petitions to the Pakistani Embassy. The team received a courteous response from Pakistani Embassy personnel, who accepted the more than 400,000 signatures that had been collected at that time, including the initial 150,000 from Christians inside Pakistan.

“It’s hard to know what to expect when you call an embassy and tell them you have petitions like that to deliver,” said Todd Nettleton, VOM’s Director of Media Development and a part of the delivery team. “I wasn’t sure if we’d end up with a warm welcome or a message not to come. Thankfully, the Lord blessed us with favor and they welcomed us.”

Helping out in VOM’s delivery efforts were the winners of VOM’s first-ever film contest, David and Christina, who are brother and sister and are also both students at Asbury University. Their winning contest entry was a 97-second call to action that has now encouraged more than 30,000 YouTube viewers to sign the Call For Mercy petition.

The Pakistani Embassy representative who deals with human rights issues met with us and thanked the VOM team for interest in Asia’s case. She reminded the team that the legal process in Asia’s case is still going forward. The appeal of her death sentence is currently before the High Court, and if it fails there, it could be appealed further to the Supreme Court, the final judicial authority in Pakistan. Even if it fails there, a presidential pardon is possible, the embassy representative said.

“The Embassy and the Pakistani government want us to be patient, to let their legal system do its job,” said Nettleton. “But while we are waiting, Asia Bibi is sitting in a jail cell, separated from her husband and her daughters. We are calling for mercy on this family now. Asia and her family shouldn’t have to wait any longer.”

The Voice of the Martyrs is committed to continuing the Call For Mercy campaign, in cooperation with Pakistani Christians who began the campaign, until Asia Bibi is released from prison. You can still sign the petition at www.CallForMercy.com. Please encourage your Christian friends to add their voices to this important effort.
Posted: November 17, 2011

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 16)

2011-11-18T01:32:00.000-08:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Verse 8 of Jude's Epistle gives four characteristics of apostates that infiltrate the church. Last week we looked at the second of these, which is that they "defile the flesh", they are lovers of worldly pleasure whether that may be money, power, sexual immorality, or a combination of all three. Today we will look at the third characteristic in verse 8 which is that these false teachers "reject authority". This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1-8)

Apostates reject authority, particularly biblical authority, but also the counsel of those who labor in the Word. A prominent theme, and form of self-defense, among false teachers is their command "thou shalt not criticize", or as I call it, the eleventh commandment. Many bad teachers survive solely on the basis of this mantra. It is commonplace among the Word Faith and prosperity crowds.

Without a doubt we should be careful about our motivation and attitude when asking critical questions. But Scripture actually mandates the testing of all teaching commanding us to test all teaching (I John 4:1), expose the works of darkness (Ephesians 5:11), mark false teachers (Romans 16:17), and condemn any other gospel than the one found in Scripture (Galatians 1:8-9). John Macarthur had this to say about teaching that opposes any critique:

In a time like this of tolerance, listen, false teaching will always cry intolerance. It will always say you are being divisive, you are being unloving, you are being ungracious, because it can only survive when it doesn't get scrutinized. So it cries against any intolerance. It cries against any examination, any scrutiny—just let's embrace each other; let's love each other; let's put all that behind us. False doctrine cries the loudest about unity. Listen carefully when you hear the cry for unity, because it may be the cover of false doctrine encroaching. If ever we should follow 1 Thessalonians 5, and examine everything carefully, it's when somebody is crying unity, love, and acceptance (online source).

One of the real problems with trying to have productive discussion with people immersed in this kind of "theology" is that they mask their unrepentance in a four fold strategy - change the subject, ignore it, deny it, or question the motivation behind a question. But even if I am the biggest jerk in the world when I critique (and I am sure there are times when my attitude is not right), the question still remains as to whether my critique is true or not. Or, more importantly, whether my critique aligns with Scripture.

One of the main reasons apostates reject authority is because they love their own authority.

I have written something to the church, but Diotrephes, who likes to put himself first, does not acknowledge our authority. So if I come, I will bring up what he is doing, talking wicked nonsense against us. And not content with that, he refuses to welcome the brothers, and also stops those who want to and puts them out of the church. (3 John 9-10)

John Macarthur elaborates further on this rejection of authority:

Obviously if you're going to live an immoral life and love your lust and love your sin, you're going to have to reject authority, that is divine authority. This is very interesting. They reject authority, verse 8, reject is atheteo, to do away with something that is established, that is to say they reject the established authority. The word authority, this is very interesting, kurioteta, in the Greek, related to the word kurios . . . they reject lordship. They reject lordship. They reject any rule over them. It is even a word used of angels in Ephesians 1:21 and Colossians 1:16, angels are called authorities, rulers. But this isn't about angels. They reject singular authority. They reject lordship. And we know exactly what lordship they're talking about because we went back to verse 4, right? "They deny our only Master and Lord Jesus Christ." They will not come under the authority of the Lord Jesus Christ. They are their own self-styled authorities. This is arrogance, this is arrogant reaction to God's rule and authority and the lordship of Christ over His church.

Instead of rejecting authority and lording it over others, leaders in the body of Christ (all Christians in fact) are called to:

Do nothing from rivalry or conceit, but in humility count others more significant than yourselves. Let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others. Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but made himself nothing, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. (Philippians 2:3-8)

Go On To Part 17
Go Back To Part 15
Go Back To Part 1

Objection 3 - Evolution Debate (Part 9)

2011-11-16T01:42:00.000-08:00

As we progress through my major three objections against modern evolutionary theory I know that I camped on Objection 2 (no transitional forms and an abundance of fakes) for quite a while. I did this for two main reasons. Firstly, the history of fossil evidence, lack of transitional forms, the endless procession of fakes and frauds, and the bizarre "scientific speculations" on the future, is so ridiculous and runs so deep. Secondly, because of the constant crying of Kristoffer Haldrup who carries the double burden of having a brain the size of a planet and being a bishop in his evolutionary religion. The mountain heap of mock-worthy evidence is so huge that I could continue ad infinitum but let's move on to objection 3 today. As we go through the issue of dating rocks don't worry if some of the technical terms go over your head. Bear with me because I think the big picture in this is simple to grasp. I must thank the dedicated scientists at Answers In Genesis for much of the following material.

Objection 3: Scientists don't really know how old things are!

Geologists can’t use just any old rock for dating. They must find rocks that have the following parent radioisotopes to date rocks: uranium-238, uranium-235, potassium-40, rubidium-87, and samarium-147. These parent radioisotopes change into the corresponding daughter isotopes lead-206, lead-207, argon-40, strontium-87, and neodymium-143 isotopes, respectively. Thus geologists refer to uranium-lead (two versions), potassium-argon, rubidium-strontium, or samarium-neodymium dates for rocks. Note that the carbon-14 (or radiocarbon) method is not used to date rocks because most rocks do not contain carbon (more about that later).

Assumption 1: Conditions at Time Zero
No geologists were present when most rocks formed, so they cannot test whether the original rocks already contained daughter isotopes alongside their parent radioisotopes. For example, with regard to the volcanic lavas that erupted, flowed, and cooled to form rocks in the unobserved past, evolutionary geologists simply assume that none of the daughter argon-40 atoms was in the lava rocks.

For example, when a sample of the lava in the Mt. St. Helens crater (that had been observed to form and cool in 1986) was analyzed in 1996, it contained so much argon-40 that it had a calculated “age” of 350,000 years (S. A. Austin, “Excess Argon within Mineral Concentrates from the New Dacite Lava Dome at Mount St. Helens Volcano,” Creation Ex Nihilo Technical Journal 10.3 (1996): 335–343).

Basalt rocks from the Grand Canyon were tested and aged at about 1 million years based on the amounts of potassium and argon isotopes in the rocks. But when we date the rocks using the rubidium and strontium isotopes, we get an age of 1.143 billion years (A. A. Snelling, “Isochron Discordances and the Role of Inheritance and Mixing of Radioisotopes in the Mantle and Crust,” in Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth: Results of a Young-Earth Creationist Research Initiative, eds. L. Vardiman, A. A. Snelling, and E. F. Chaffin (El Cajon, California: Institute for Creation Research; Chino Valley, Arizona: Creation Research Society, 2005), pp. 393–524; D. B. DeYoung, “Radioisotope Dating Case Studies” in Thousands . . . Not Billions (Green Forest, Arkansas: Master Books, 2005), pp. 123–139).

Assumption 2: No Contamination
The problems with contamination, as with inheritance, are already well-documented in the textbooks on radioactive dating of rocks. Unlike the hourglass, where its two bowls are sealed, the radioactive “clock” in rocks is open to contamination by gain or loss of parent or daughter isotopes because of waters flowing in the ground from rainfall and from the molten rocks beneath volcanoes. Similarly, as molten lava rises through a conduit from deep inside the earth to be erupted through a volcano, pieces of the conduit wallrocks and their isotopes can mix into the lava and contaminate it.

Because of such contamination, the less than 50-year-old lava flows at Mt. Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, yield a rubidium-strontium “age” of 133 million years, a samarium-neodymium “age” of 197 million years, and a uranium-lead “age” of 3.908 billion years! (A. A. Snelling, “The Relevance of Rb-Sr, Sm-Nd and Pb-Pb Isotope Systematics to Elucidation of the Genesis and History of Recent Andesite Flows at Mt. Ngauruhoe, New Zealand, and the Implications for Radioisotopic Dating,” in Proceedings of the Fifth International Conference on Creationism, ed. R. L. Ivey, Jr. (Pittsburgh: Creation Science Fellowship, 2003), pp. 285–303; Ref. 4, 2005).

It is also interesting to note that large traces of Carbon 14 are found in diamonds that are "billions of years old". The reason they don't use carbon dating on rocks is because carbon decays so quickly compared to uranium half life. So there should be no Carbon 14 atoms in diamonds . . . unless they are only thousands of years old.

Assumption 3: Constant Decay Rate
Geologists have assumed that these radioactive decay rates have been constant for billions of years based on their stability over the 100 years that they have observed it. This uniformity is unproven, speculative, and in stark contrast to catastrophic global flood we see in the biblical account. It is also in conflict with other parts of evolutionary theory such as the "Big Bang" theory and the "cambrian explosion".

Evolution is Speculation and guess work! It is built upon naturalism which requires observation but cannot observe the big bang, the start of life, or the mutations it needs to be true. It assumes uniformity but has no explanation for it. It has no explanation for morality. It has no explanation for how a bang can happen without something to go bang!

Science cannot prove it's own assumptions:

1. The universe is real and nature is knowable.
2. All nature is subject to the same laws and therefore we can predict its behavior.
3. Measurable causes underlie all observable effects. (no explanation for first cause)
4. The simplest explanation is the accepted one.

The fact is that Theology is also based upon presuppositions and therefore there is a faith basis for both theology and science.

Christians have the foundation for science because it is only the Bible that affirms the presuppositions of science to be true. Hence, the scientific method was actually an historical outgrowth of the biblical worldview.

Go On To Part 10
Go Back To Part 8
Go Back To Part 1

Phil Johnson, Todd Friel, And Another Elephant In The Room

2011-11-14T02:08:00.000-08:00

I have refrained from commenting thus far on the much debated Elephant Room conference. The Elephant room conference is a concept developed by Pastor James MacDonald which, in the words of the conference website:

Getting brothers together who believe in salvation by grace alone through faith alone but normally don't interact, is what the Elephant Room is all about.

The idea is to get Christians together who agree on the Gospel but have major methodological differences, and thrash out those differences in a no holds barred public conversation. I think it would be fair to say that MacDonald is trying to give off a combative vibe about the conference when people are invited to "get their ringside seats".

I think the concept has a lot of merit in principle and I have always liked James MacDonald and the content of his preaching. I think people like Mark Driscoll, Francis Chan, and Matt Chandler are the perfect candidates for a brotherly debate on methodology. But I took issue with the first Elephant Room conference earlier this year because, I would contend, there was another elephant in the room. When MacDonald invited wannabe rock star pastor Steven Furtick and wannabe tough guy pastor Perry Noble I was quite shocked. I would think that a lot of other things need to be discussed with these guys before we talk about methodology. What about the Gospel elephant in the room? And what about the way they speak to their sheep? (Though I do find the thought of speaking with Steven Furtick without the interference of one of his bodyguards quite appealing.) When Perry Noble has ACDC's Highway To Hell as part of his worship service I think the problems go way deeper than song selection. This all just seemed so beneath Pastor James MacDonald. Many of us scratched our heads and just chalked it up as one of those strange things akin to JI Packer signing the ECT (Evangelicals and Catholics Together statement) or John Piper's association with Rick Warren.

But when MacDonald announced Elephant Room 2 (the sequel) and said that TD Jakes would be one of the guests a cyber volcano erupted. A lot of respected theological heavyweights weighed in with very sharp responses. MacDonald does not seem to have taken the criticism especially well but has softened somewhat more recently. But the way he has dealt with the opposition to his invitation of a well known anti-Trinitarian heretic (and that is just one of the myriad of problems with Jakes prosperity man centered theology - see the video at the bottom of this post) by changing the vision statement from "getting brothers together" to "conversation among all kinds of leaders". I seriously question this kind of solution to a problem of this magnitude.

Todd Friel publicly questioned Phil Johnson on this very subject recently and I am grateful that someone was around to video this fascinating conversation. It is 43 minutes long but well worth the listen because Johnson's insights really get to the core of this issue and discernment in general. This is an interesting discussion that would be exceedingly appropriate for the Elephant Room (without the need to buy "ringside" seats):

A Danish Lutheran Who Has Not Bowed To Baal

2011-11-11T05:05:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I received this letter from a Lutheran priest in Denmark. He is a good friend who came to our last Reformation Resurrection conference to hear Voddie Baucham. The Lutheran movement in Denmark is unspeakably heretical and blasphemous and loaded with female priests, atheist priests, homosexual priests, and various combinations of all three. But Thomas is a shiny flash of lightning in that dark Lutheran night. It has been such a joy to meet this priest, a man who loves the Lord Jesus Christ passionately and preaches the Gospel faithfully. Like Luther he understands the Law-Gospel distinctive and preaches both rightly - the law to magnify the wrath due to sinners, and the Gospel as the means by which we can avert God's wrath and be reconciled to Him. He informs us that there is a remnant of faithful Gospel preachers in the Lutheran church "who have not bowed their knee to Baal". These priests are known as "black priests" by the dominant liberal factions. Here is what he wrote:

Hi Cameron. Thank you for your encouragement. Actually I have come to a point where I don't care that much if I am being kicked out of this filthy church. I will only stay here as long as God wants me to . . . meaning until the day I will be kicked out . . .

Yesterday we had at church-board meeting in ______, where I was being secerely critizised in general and in particular for my preaching. They complained that my preaching was too clear and scaring people away from the church (central to my preaching is always the total depravity of man and the substitutionary atonement made by Christ, justification, repentance and faith), too long (I ONLY preach half an hour at sundays but "15 minutes" is what they meant) . . . and so they went on and on and on . . . and the worst thing is that the congregation has actually become fewer in my time as a pastor in _______ (though not in the other congregation I pastor). I said to them that it was not out of stubbornness that I did not want to preach anything else, but because the message I deliver simply is my life - I'm bound to that message and I cannot and will not preach anything else. As I said to them: I do not want to stand on the day of judgment and have people looking at me saying: "Why didn't you tell us - why didn't you warn us while you had the opportunity" . . . Jesus is my LIFE! Cameron, I cannot do anything but preach of Him - he has saved me from an eterity under the wrath of almighty God . . . there is nothing good in me - I am wretched, evil, and sinful, but Jesus saved me! I have to preach that, so that other people may see the wonderful Savior I have come to know - Him who took our guilt and nailed it to a tree . . . I have to admit I got very sad and I really cried in the car on my way home. It is tough being in the Danish state-church and more and more often I wish to leave this disgusting and filthy church - but I have come to see, that Christ has his bride also in the midst of this church - there are VERY few left, but they are there! Denmark is an apostate society and contry, but like Elijah I have come to see, that God still has "7000 men" who have not bowed their knee to Baal . . .

Please pray for this priest and I will forward any letters of encouragement that people send to me.

Evolution's "Best" Evidence For Denying The Obvious!

2011-11-09T03:02:00.000-08:00

The notes from my recent evolution debate have upset a scientist (or "science expert") called Kristoffer Haldrup. Kristoffer is adamant that evolutionary theory is a scientific fact even though the missing link is still missing. But Kristoffer insists that transitional forms have been found and pointed to "Whale Evolution" as irrefutable proof. Kristoffer said:

VERY many examples of transitional forms [are] known. Transitional forms that are not only known from a sometimes spotty fossil record, but transitional forms that are completely in line with what we have nowadays learned from genetics about the evolution of existing species such as horses, humans and whales . . . And if I should pick just one transitional form, then Ambulocetus is kind of a nice one - something like a small whale with legs, legs well adapted for swimming. This very nicely illustrates how even transitional forms are superbly well adapted to the niche they occupy, like penguins are today . . . There is a plethora of transitional forms, all species or subspecies in their own right and all well adapted to their particular ecological niche.

So now Kristoffer demands that I check out the scientifically verifiable fact of "whale evolution". Behold the science of Whale evolution:

Whale Evolution vs. The Actual Fossil Evidence from Philip Cunningham on Vimeo.

I guess when you can't find a transitional form you have to invent one! How many more "missing links" are they going to trot out before they give up?

Kristoffer tried to put his best construction on the video by pointing out that:

the video actually does manage to underscore why paleontology/evolution is indeed an emprical science. Darwin put forth a theory - bears were the ancestors of whales - with an implicit prediction that intermediate fossils of such a transition should show up. None did, on the contrary, so the theory had to be discarded and was thrown on the midden heap. Later, based on clues from fossil skulls, a theory was proposed that the whale ancestors were more like a now-extinct class of predators called mesonychids, the hyena-like beasties of the video I guess. Alas, new evidence again showed up, this time from genetics, and the theory had to discarded as it was in conflict with the best available evidence. The genetic data predicted (a key feature of empirical science, in addition to falsifiablity like in the two preceding examples) that there should exist an ancestral species with traits similar to the ancestral species of hippos, and now THIS prediction actually held true. Rhodocetus and Pakicetus were found in the Afghan/Pakistani deserts, confirming the general theory of common ancestry with hippos or, more precisely, the artiodactyls. However, as the video shows, there was still room for refinement as early predictions about the anatomy of Rhodocetus were falsified (no flippers) and the theory was corrected to reflect the new evidence. And so it goes, theories are put forth, and as time passes they are either falsified, corrected or confirmed as they are held against evidence old and new. And through this arduous, slow process new knowledge is gradually formed.

Here's some new knowledge I derive from that "arduous, slow process" - maybe the whole theory is wrong! What Kristoffer just said there is long winded scientific code for "we have never found anything that proves our theory so we have to keep trying to find the evidence or invent some". Why won't they even consider the possibility that their theory is wrong? Perhaps zoologist D. M. S. Watson gave the real reason when he said that:

the theory of evolution itself, a theory universally accepted not because it be can proved by logically coherent evidence to be true but because the only alternative, special creation, is clearly incredible (D. M. S. Watson, Adaptation, Nature 124 (August 10, 1929), 233)

What we find on earth today is what the Bible has always taught. Life reproducing after its own kind. Cats giving birth to cats. Dogs giving birth to dogs. Humans giving birth to humans. And phony scientific theories giving birth to new phony scientific theories!

A common sense interpretation of the facts suggests that a superintellect has monkeyed with physics, as well as with chemistry and biology, and that there are no blind forces worth speaking about in nature. The numbers one calculates from the facts seem to me so overwhelming as to put this conclusion almost beyond question (Atheist Astrophysicist - Sir Fred Hoyle).

There are gaps in the fossil graveyard, places where there should be no intermediate forms, but there is nothing whatsoever instead. No paleontologist . . . denies that this is so. It is simply a fact. Darwin's theory and the fossil record are in conflict (David Berlinsky).

Scientists concede that their most cherished theories are based on embarrassingly few fossil fragments and that huge gaps exist in the fossil record (Time Magazine 7 Nov 1977)

The evolutionists seem to know everything about the missing link except the fact that it is missing. (GK Chesterton)

Just Added - The Soul Of Science

2011-11-08T13:06:00.000-08:00

Nancy Pearcey's important work tracing the true Theistic origins of science has now been added to the resource directory.

THE SOUL OF SCIENCE
Nancy Pearcey
Category: Creation/Evolution
Click Here To Order
A metanarrative has become ingrained in our culture which states that science is the means by which we threw off our religious superstitions and entered a brave new world of reason and progress. Does this metanarrative itself need to be overthrown? In this work Nancy Pearcey explains how Christian theism has played a vital role in the historical development of science. Moreover, the next scientific revolution may bring science back to a point where it will reconsider the possibility that life was designed.

Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 10)

2011-11-07T01:00:00.000-08:00

The Elephant Room conference has caused a lot of controversy in recent times. Most particularly because of certain people who have been invited. I must point out that I am positive about many of the people who were invited to the first Elephant Room conference as well as part 2 that will take place in January. But a few of the guests have left many of us scratching our heads as to what is going on with this conference organized by Pastor James Macdonald. Based on my own limited experience of his preaching as well as all the reports I have heard, James Macdonald is an excellent expositor with a lengthy track record of faithful Gospel preaching - hence the confusion over what he is doing with his conference. I would say that my major grievance with the Elephant Room conference is that the invitation of certain false teachers has left them with another elephant in the room. I hope to discuss this in more detail next week, but before I do that, I thought it necessary to induct another Elephant Room invitee into the "Lame Attempts At Relevance" hall of shame.

If Perry Noble is the tough guy of seeker sensitivity then Steven Furtick is the rock star. And the jury is out as to whether Jesus could even be the opening act for the Steven Furtick show. Furtick doesn't seem to have much time to focus on biblical content in his sermons, which is understandable when you consider how interesting his own life is and the amount of effort he is putting into new and innovative ways to attract people to his church who are dead in sin. And let's face it, a lot of creativity and innovation is required to get dead people to do anything:

3D is about as culturally relevant as 1950's science fiction. Like the poster reveals, 3D was a cutting edge cinematic experience in the 50's. Maybe those churches that are fixated with 80's music aren't thirty years behind after all - at least they're thirty years in front of Furtick. But judging by the size of his congregation, this schtick still works with a lot of people. And that raises another interesting point, what is the purpose of church? Well, Pastor Steven is not short for a word on this subject either:

It would be of tremendous help to Furtick if he actually looked up what the word church means. The Greek word translated church in the New Testament is ekklesia, a compound word composed of ek, meaning "from." or "out of," and kaleo "to call." Together the two words mean, called from, or out of, denoting a company of people chosen and called. A people chosen and called out of the world. Newsflash Pastor Steven, church is for Christians because that is precisely what it is made up of. By all means welcome unbelievers, but when they come try preaching about Jesus Christ instead of about yourself! I am curious to know if anyone has any audio of Furtick actually preaching the Gospel because it seems to be very difficult to find. However, it has been much easier to find videos of Furtick explaining his views on biblical discernment:

Discerners (and admittedly there are bad ones out there) are not the only people that Steven takes aim at. Furtick's seminary training really shines through when he tells his congregation the theological reason why some people don't like rock music in church - "it's because they're stupid!" It also has to be said that Furtick is not overly fond of his critics. So much so, that Steven decided to channel all of his creative energies into a music video dedicated to his critics:

Can you feel the love tonight? But why finish with the lame story of a wannabe rock star pastor? Here is something that is exceedingly creative, innovative, compelling, and . . . . . explains the Gospel! Pastor Steven Furtick, please stop making videos and watch this one instead. It will teach you how to fill a lot of the "gaps" in your ministry:

Go Back To Part 9
Go Back To Part 1

Outrageous Persecution Of Swedish Homeschoolers

2011-11-05T12:56:00.000-07:00

Social workers who had police troopers storm a jetliner on which a family was attempting to emigrate to India, to take custody of a young boy over his homeschooling, now have discussed allowing the foster family where he's been staying to take him to Thailand, the boy's father has told World Net Daily.

WND reported only weeks ago that the social workers responsible for removing Domenic Johannson from his parents had called for a court hearing to consider moving custody permanently away from the family and to the government.

That word had come from officials with the Home School Legal Defense Association, which along with the Alliance Defense Fund already has elevated the dispute involving Christer and Annie Johannson and their son, Domenic, of Sweden to the European Court of Human Rights.

The American groups working on behalf of the Johannsons have assembled a petition webpage for those interested in expressing their alarm over the situation to the Swedish government.

Domenic, now 10 after his birthday just a few weeks ago, has been in the custody of social services and in foster homes in Sweden since the middle of 2009, when as a 7-year-old he was snatched from a jetliner he and his parents had boarded to move to India, his mother's home country.

Michael Donnelly, director of international relations for HSLDA, told WND when the social services workers sought the court hearing, "The only way I can think of describing the way the Swedish social and judicial systems have treated the Johansson family is barbaric – the harm done to them is beyond comprehension.

"Their most basic of human rights have been violated and no civilized country should permit this kind of treatment," he continued. "If the Swedish judicial system permits the termination of the Johansson's parental rights because of homeschooling, missed vaccinations and a few cavities it will have become the darkest of regimes for families in Western Europe."

In a communication addressed to WND today, Christer Johannson said the controversial case has decimated his family by piling tragedy upon tragedy. He spoke of how his own father and mother, Domenic's grandparents, and an uncle had sought to meet with Domenic

"My mother and father then waited for the day to arrive, but the social services called up, I believe, late the night before meeting, or the same morning and said, 'Domenic does not want to see you now,' and they canceled that meeting," he told WND.

Later, they called again to set up a meeting.

"Domenic especially wanted to see his grandma … finally at the meeting, Domenic ran to my dad and my brother, only to hear that his grandmother and best friend had passed away that morning."

He said Domenic's last memory of his grandmother is when armed police officers came to "recapture" him last Thanksgiving after Christer had taken him home to see family members following a court-supervised visit.

For that visit, Christer spent weeks in jail.

The latest on the custody dispute, he said, is that social workers "wish to move the custody to the other family now, permanently."

He said an attorney is reviewing that demand.

"Thank God, I can't even read them [court documents] anymore," he told WND.

"They want to have a hearing about this in the local court fast as well," he continued, "Domenic told [his uncle] and my father, Rune, at the meeting, 'They will take me to Thailand this winter.'

"The latest thing I heard from the social [workers] was, 'We reject a meeting with you to discuss all the errors that have been made by us in the past. Instead, talk to the courts.'"

The father told WND apparently the discussion is to allow the foster family to take Domenic to Thailand, a trip that would involve required vaccinations to which he and his wife, Annie, have strong objections.

The issue also was raised before the Organization for Security and Co-Operation in Europe at its annual human rights meeting.

WND has reported that several other cases in which children were taken by authorities in Sweden were resolved over recent months when parents had a private detective literally abduct their own children from social services and reunite the families in another country.

That work drew the qualified praise of Ruby Harrold-Claeson, president of the Nordic Committee for Human Rights, which was founded in Copenhagen in 1996. The group aims to "increase the rights and freedoms of private individuals and their families and strengthen respect for basic human rights and fundamental freedoms in the Nordic countries."

Harrold-Claeson has been involved in some of the most notorious child-custody cases, including the Johansson case. In fact, her involvement so alarmed local judicial officials that they ordered the Johansson family to be represented by an attorney of the court's choosing instead of Harrold-Claeson.

WND also reported that the father, Christer Johansson, was jailed for two months for taking Domenic home from court-ordered foster care for a visit last Thanksgiving.

The case developed in mid-2009 when social services and police forcibly took custody of Domenic, then 7, because they worried he was homeschooled. The local courts later denied the parents the legal representation they sought from Harrold-Claeson, demanding instead they be represented by a government-approved attorney. The courts ultimately ruled the state must keep custody of Domenic.

Harrold-Claeson said it was strange that social service agents don't realize that their interventions in families by removing the children and placing them in foster homes among total strangers are more traumatizing than the eventual problems of the parents.

She also said Swedish authorities believe "children are the property of the state to be bought and sold as commodities. Taking children into care and placing them in foster homes is an … industry in which children's and the parents and relatives and their health – both physical and mental – is destroyed beyond repair."

She told WND that the state "has decided to usurp the powers of the parents and replace parental authority over children by delivering them into the hands of the civil servants, who per definition should be servants, not masters."

She called on Americans to condemn such practices and watch their own backs, since she's seen similar practices developing in the U.S.

The case also is being followed by a blog called FriendsofDomenic.

Gustaf Hofstedt, president of the local social services board in Gotland, Sweden, where the family lives, earlier told WND by telephone from Sweden that there is more to the dispute than homeschooling, but he refused to explain.

"I understand the public debate has been that is a case that is only concerning the fact of homeschooling," he told WND. "But that is not the case."

Asked to explain, he said, "I can't answer that question because of secrecy."

Social services workers since then have declined to respond to WND questions submitted via email.

Article courtesy of World Net Daily.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 15)

2011-11-04T10:06:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Verse 8 of Jude's Epistle gives four characteristics of apostates that infiltrate the church. Last week we looked at the first of these, which is that they are dreamers or the kind of people who appeal to some extra-biblical revelation to elevate themselves in the congregation. They may have a special "anointing" or been given a special "vision" by God. Today we will look at the second characteristic in verse 8 which is that these false teachers "defile the flesh". This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1-8)

Jude 8 says that apostates "defile the flesh". They are marked by underlying carnality and sensuality. John Macarthur describes this when he says:

Flesh means here the body, physical body. It's not talking about the essence of depravity in Romans 7, you can't defile that , it's already defiled. This is talking about sarx,the actual body. And the word defiled is from a verb miaino, it means to stain, to dye something, like you dye clothing, material. It means to pollute, it means to corrupt. And when you link staining, polluting, corrupting with the word sarx,or flesh, it speaks of sexual sin and immorality. Apostate false teachers are inevitably immoral. It may not be publicly visible, because they cover it up. But the corruption is unrestrained, it has to be because they have abandoned the truth.

Along with sexual immorality, a far more visible characteristic of defiling the flesh is the apostate's materialism and love of worldly wealth. Jude goes on to describe this in verse 11:

Woe to them! For they walked in the way of Cain and abandoned themselves for the sake of gain to Balaam’s error and perished in Korah’s rebellion. (Jude 11)

The prophet Ezekiel was instructed by God to speak out about this behavior:

"Son of man, prophesy against the shepherds of Israel; prophesy, and say to them, even to the shepherds, Thus says the Lord GOD: Ah, shepherds of Israel who have been feeding yourselves! Should not shepherds feed the sheep? You eat the fat, you clothe yourselves with the wool, you slaughter the fat ones, but you do not feed the sheep. (Ezekiel 34:2-3)

Paul also proclaimed a damning indictment upon those who preach material prosperity:

If anyone teaches a different doctrine and does not agree with the sound words of our Lord Jesus Christ and the teaching that accords with godliness, he is puffed up with conceit and understands nothing. He has an unhealthy craving for controversy and for quarrels about words, which produce envy, dissension, slander, evil suspicions, and constant friction among people who are depraved in mind and deprived of the truth, imagining that godliness is a means of gain. Now there is great gain in godliness with contentment, for we brought nothing into the world, and we cannot take anything out of the world. But if we have food and clothing, with these we will be content. But those who desire to be rich fall into temptation, into a snare, into many senseless and harmful desires that plunge people into ruin and destruction. For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evils. It is through this craving that some have wandered away from the faith and pierced themselves with many pangs. But as for you, O man of God, flee these things. Pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, steadfastness, gentleness. Fight the good fight of the faith. Take hold of the eternal life to which you were called and about which you made the good confession in the presence of many witnesses. I charge you in the presence of God, who gives life to all things, and of Christ Jesus, who in his testimony before Pontius Pilate made the good confession, to keep the commandment unstained and free from reproach until the appearing of our Lord Jesus Christ, which he will display at the proper time—he who is the blessed and only Sovereign, the King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see. To him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen. (1 Timothy 6:3-16)

This is a startling passage and explicit enough to make many of us wonder how so many extortioner preachers get away with their brazen appeals for money and promises of prosperity. The King James Version actually includes the phrase "from such [people] withdraw thyself". Luther's 95 Theses which were the fuse for the reformation were initially provoked by the disgraceful Roman Catholic practice of selling indulgences. Luther also did some very good "stand up" on the subject:

But if you thought indulgences died out in the reformation then think again . . .

There is a lot of outrage at the moment over TD Jakes' invitation to the Elephant Room conference because he denies the historic biblical doctrine of the Trinity. But as you can see from the video, the problems with "the Bishop" TD Jakes go way beyond that!

Closing on a positive note, if you are wondering what to look for in a faithful pastor of the flock then listen to Paul's instructions on what characterizes a true shepherd:

For an overseer, as God’s steward, must be above reproach. He must not be arrogant or quick-tempered or a drunkard or violent or greedy for gain, but hospitable, a lover of good, self-controlled, upright, holy, and disciplined. He must hold firm to the trustworthy word as taught, so that he may be able to give instruction in sound doctrine and also to rebuke those who contradict it. (Titus 1:7-9)

Next week we'll take a look at the third characteristic of an apostate as found in Jude verse 8 - they reject authority!

Go Back To Part 14
Go Back To Part 1

More Of Objection 2 - Evolution Debate (Part 8)

2011-11-02T06:58:00.001-07:00

Objection 2 for the recent debate involved the complete absence of any transitional forms in the fossil record. And no Kristoffer, variation within a species does not qualify, nor does reconstructing a caveman from a pigs tooth. For evolution to be true you need to have transitional forms at the macro level ie dinosaurs transitioning to birds and apes transitioning to men. But the problems go further than that and we will today take a look at some "scientific" transitional forms that will occur in the future.

Several years ago Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron insulted the intelligence of the "scientific community" with their own fictitious transitional forms.

Perhaps it was foolish of Ray and Kirk to insult everybody's intelligence when modern science could do a vastly superior job . . . of insulting everybody's intelligence. If you sometimes wonder where your tax money goes, I can tell you about one place. The Future is Wild is a website demonstrating the evolutionary speculations of a group of highly recognized and accredited scientists (including people from places like Harvard and the Natural History Museum). This is how they present themselves:

From the beginning we wanted The Future is Wild to be about more than simply guesswork, so we recruited 16 scientists from top institutions around the world to provide the scientific basis for the project.

They're experts in fields such as geology, climatology and biology, and together they painstakingly projected where evolution and planetary events might take the Earth 5 million, 100 million and 200 million years from now.

So how did they do it?:

Building a vision of the planet aeons from now isn't straightforward, even when you involve some of the world's best scientists. But nature does work to certain rules which we can use to make predictions . . . using this data our biologists can project what plants and creatures might evolve and how they might behave - to create the living, breathing worlds of The Future Is Wild.

Everything you'll see is based on the best available science. No event or animal is outside the realms of possibility. It could all happen - so get ready for the voyage of a million lifetimes!

Note: They say "the best available science" without actually telling us what it is. Yeah, trust me I wear a white coat with a pocket protector - believe everything I say!!! They go on to say:

Every animal and plant in The Future is Wild could really exist. Our science team devised each one as a viable, living organism. Their place in the environment, their life cycle and their place in the food chain are all authentic.

The mathematics of their sizes and shapes and the technology of their movements were all calculated. It’s not surprising that our scientists talk about them as if they really existed!

Yes they were calculated but we're not going to tell you how we did that. Great science guys! But this is not science fiction - no way!

Populating the future world with new creatures wasn't blind guesswork or science fiction. There's a whole series of rules of how life evolves that we can test by looking back at the past. All we had to do was apply the same rules to the future and then add a little imagination!

Oh, add a little "imagination" . . . very scientific. Forget Ray and Kirk's crocoduck. These futuristic transitional forms are a legitimate contribution from the "scientific community". Things like the Mega Squid:

Here is the Megasquid FACT FILE:

Time zone: 200 million years

Type: Land-living cephalopod or squid

Size: 4m tall, weighs 8 tonnes

Ancestor: Deep sea squid

Lives: In the Northern Forest

Eats: Fruit, leaves, small animals including squibbons

Eaten by: Nothing

Behaviour: The megasquid is king of the forest. Since it has no enemies, it can live for up to 50 years. An invertebrate, meaning it has no backbone or skeleton, it has strong muscles in its 8 thick legs. These need to be strong enough to support such a large body. It has a strange walking style. Moving at no more than a human walking pace it shuffles forwards a few legs at a time. As it marches through the forest it makes aloud bellowing to let other creatures know that this is its territory.

Feeding: Because they are not warm-blooded endothermic animals like mammals, they need far less food. They are not fussy eaters, feasting on anything in its path, including leaves, shoots and other animals which it grabs from the trees with its long grasping tentacles.

Breeding: Not known.

Wow! At least they had the humility to admit that they did not know how this big Megasquid would make baby land dwelling Megasquids. So this branch of science does have limits after all! What else did they come up with? I'll leave you with just a couple more: How about a flying fish with a lion's jaw and a 120 ton turtle . . . and it's all "scientific":

Now my intelligence is way more insulted. Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron should have left it to the experts after all!

Go On To Part 9
Go Back To Part 7
Go Back To Part 1

Just Added - Faith, Form, And Time

2011-11-01T13:00:00.000-07:00

Kurt Wise's excellent defense of the Young Earth Creationist position has now been added to the resource directory.

FAITH, FORM, AND TIME
Kurt Wise
Category: Creation/Evolution
Click Here To Order
Darwinian theories of the universe, although mostly rejected by evangelical Christians, have still found their way into creation theology. A concept such as evolutionist creation has watered down much of the Bible's teaching in order to reconcile with popular tenants of science. The whole controversy swirls around the age of the universe. Dr. Kurt Wise, an associate professor of science and director of the Center for Origins Research and Education at Bryan College, shows from solid biblical teachings and scientific confirmation why young universe creation is correct. Beginning with God and His Word as the standard, Wise demonstrates how the biblical witness teaches that the age of the universe is not as old as Darwinian theory would contend. He also demonstrates how all issues raised by evolutionists can be answered not only by the Bible, but also by scientific data and research, nailing shut macroevolution's coffin.

RC Sproul On Reformation Day

2011-10-31T12:20:00.000-07:00

It was wonderful yesterday to attend church and commemorate the Protestant Reformation. My friend Mikael preached a thrilling sermon on the imputed righteousness of Christ, how wonderful this reality is to be forgiven and declared righteous, and how all gospels that deny this (including Catholicism to this very day) are false.

In honor of Reformation day RC Sproul at Ligonier Ministries has written the following article which I just had to post here. And guess what, if you scroll down to the bottom you can click on a link where you can get a special free download of a children's audio book by RC Sproul in honor of this historic day. Be quick, the free download is available for a limited time!

On October 31, 1517, Martin Luther tacked up 95 theses on the church door at Wittenberg. With this act, he hoped to provoke a discussion among the scholars about the abuses of the indulgences by the Roman Catholic Church. He was not trying to create a public furor by any means, but within a fortnight, these theses had spread through the country like wildfire. The last thing Luther had in mind was to start some kind of major controversy, but nevertheless major controversy did begin.

From the discussions at Wittenberg, the disputations began to accelerate and escalate. Copies of the theses reached Rome and critical meetings were scheduled with the young monk. In these debates, Luther was maneuvered into proclaiming publicly that he had questions about the infallibility of church councils and also that he thought that it was possible that the pope could err. In 1520 a papal encyclical was issued which condemned Martin Luther as a heretic. Luther burned the document in a public bonfire and his defiance before the church was now a matter of record.

In response, Martin Luther picked up his pen to challenge the entire penitential system of the Roman Catholic Church, which undermined in principle the free remission of sins that is ours in the gospel. By doing so, he was unswervingly advocating his commitment to sola fide, the doctrine of justification by faith alone.

In 1521, Luther was summoned to the Imperial Diet, an authoritative meeting that involved the princes of the church, called by the Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire to be held in the city of Worms in Germany. Luther was an outlaw. For him to appear at the Diet was to risk his very life; therefore, he was given safe conduct by the Emperor to attend. With a few friends, Luther traveled from Wittenberg to Worms. The eyewitnesses of that episode tell us that when Luther’s little covered wagon appeared around the corner of the bend, there were lookouts posted in the church tower at Worms. All the people were agog waiting for the arrival of this notorious person. When Luther’s caravan was sighted, people were throwing their hats in the air, blowing trumpets, and creating all the fanfare of the arrival of the hero. It was the 16th century answer to a ticker-tape parade.

Things, however, became very solemn in a hurry because the next day he appeared before the Diet. His books were stacked on a table in the room, and he was asked and ordered to recant of his writings. This surprised Luther because he thought he was going to have an opportunity to defend his writings; but the only question really of any importance that was asked of him was this: “Are these your writings?” And when he said yes, they said, “Are you ready to recant of them?”

Hollywood has their version of Luther standing there boldly with his fist in the air saying, “Here I stand!” and so on. But instead he dropped his chin on his chest and muttered something that nobody could understand, so they asked him to speak up. “What did you say?” He said, “May I have 24 hours to think about it.” And so Luther was granted a reprieve of 24 hours to return to his room to contemplate the seriousness of this occasion.

The prayer that Luther wrote in that ensuing 24-hour period was one of the most moving prayers I have ever read in my life. In that prayer, Luther cried out for God in his sense of total loneliness fearing that God had abandoned him, and proclaimed, “O Lord, I am Thine, and the cause is Thine, give me the courage to stand.”

And on the morrow, Luther was called once again back to the court and was told to reply to the question. He said to the Diet, “Unless I am convinced by sacred Scripture or by evident reason, I cannot recant, for my conscience is held captive by the Word of God, and to act against conscience is neither right nor safe. Here I stand. I can do no other. God help me.” And with that there was an instant uproar.

The Emperor himself later indicated his regret that he even gave Luther a safe conduct, and immediately put a new price on his head. As Luther was leaving the city, his friends staged a kidnapping to protect him and took him away in a fast horse through the forest. They hid him for a year in Wartburg at the castle disguised as a knight. During that year, Luther undertook the task of translating the Bible from the biblical languages into German. And that perhaps was his most important legacy of that time - that he made the Bible available to the common people. And with that the Reformation was born.

—R.C. Sproul (from the series, Heroes of the Christian Faith)

Click Here To Download A Free Audio Book By RC Sproul (for a limited time only).

The Ministry Of Christian Prisoners In China

2011-10-29T23:21:00.000-07:00

Chinese Pastor Zhang Rongliang, also known as Uncle Z, reports that the seven years and six months he spent in prison were a fruitful time of ministry. Zhang is still recovering from severe health problems after completing his full sentence on Aug. 31, 2011. He was immediately admitted to a hospital for 15 days where doctors monitored Zhang’s high blood pressure and diabetes.

In early December 2004 Zhang disappeared, and eventually, the Chinese government admitted they had him in custody. Zhang was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison for possessing and using a forged passport — which typically carries a six-month sentence. People and organizations around the world pressured Chinese Communist leaders to release Zhang. Thousands of individuals wrote letters and prayed while multiple organizations worked to secure his release.

“I am happy that you and others tried to arrange for my release, but in one way, I am happy that you failed,” Zhang told a VOM contact in China. “You almost made a big mistake. If you had been successful, there would be no church in that prison today.”
Chinese Christians are not allowed to visit prisons or start prison outreach ministries, so Zhang ministered to everyone he could while in prison — prisoners, prison guards and officials he could never have met outside prison. Over 5,000 men lived in prison with Zhang, and many of them were able to hear the good news of Jesus Christ.

Zhang, a founder of one of China’s largest churches with over ten million members, has endured constant persecution for his ministry in China. Zhang has been imprisoned five times and spent about a fourth of his life in prison.
In a recent interview, a VOM contact asked about Zhang’s most recent prison experience.

Uncle Z, most people I know have the same question for you — How could you endure prison for so many years?

First let me say that while I was in prison, I remembered our friendship and the times you helped our church. I could feel inside my heart that you were doing something to try to help me. Also, I believed many people and organizations and governments in the West were speaking out about my situation.

To answer your question, I want to remind you that in my life, I have become accustomed to living in prison. This is the fifth time I have been in prison. So now, you see, I have spent one fourth of my life in prison and in some ways I have needed to adapt, to become accustomed to prison.

The second answer to this question is that the entire time I was in prison, I knew that many Christian brothers and sisters were praying for me constantly. So I had strength to overcome.

Finally, I want to remind you that our church movement has for years sent out missionaries to the unreached people groups of China and more recently to the Muslim peoples of the world. The missionaries leave their homes to go to a new environment. They preach the gospel in the area where they are called to preach. You have followed the call of God to China. I am the same as you. I consider myself and I treat myself as one who is a missionary. The difference is that God called me to preach to the prisoners.

You know, no Christian can go to the prisons of China to have an outreach ministry. We cannot go to witness to the prisoners. We cannot go to disciple them in the faith. If a Christian wants to preach in the prison, there must be a reason for him to go to prison. I preached to many, many people during the more than seven years I was in prison. I preached not only to common prisoners, but also I met many government officials while I was in prison. I met many business leaders. These were highly-placed officials; they were not common criminals. I shared the gospel with them in prison, and many of them received the Lord. Then I baptized them inside the prison. The prisoners were always coming and going, but I was in for a long time. At any given time, I would have direct access with more than ten important people who I was discipling daily and who I considered to be my “cell group.” These new converts were the only way that I could forget the suffering I was going through in prison.
These were people who I could never have met outside of the prison. They were too high in society. But in prison it was easy to preach Jesus to them, and it was easy for them to receive the Lord. It was much easier for them to receive Christ than it would have been outside. After that, they were happy. They were happy that the Lord loved them enough to arrange for them to go to prison to hear about him. The day I left the prison, one part of me was sad because I did not want to leave these new brothers. They all waved to me as I left.

So you see, I am happy that you and others tried to arrange for my release. But in one way, I am happy that you failed. You almost made a big mistake! If you had been successful, there would be no church in that prison today. There were 5,000 men in prison with me. Soon all of them will hear the good news of Jesus.

Did you have a Bible while you were in prison?

No, and this was very unusual that they would do this, and very difficult for me. It is against the law for them to withhold a religious book from a prisoner. I asked for a Bible many times, but the officials always refused to give me one.
I have a personal question. Of course you know my son.I often travel and am away from my family and sometimes worry about the effect this will have on him.For much of your life, you have not been with your two sons, but both of them serve the Lord now and are working in significant ministries, actually risking their own lives.What advice do you have for a father?
First, try your best to spend time with them, as much as you can. This is important and it is your responsibility. Then during those times you must be away, you must pray for them. You must put them completely in the hands of God. Remember, he will take better care of them than you can. Finally, always remember that the Word of God promises us that the children of the righteous will become like the oak tree in the hands of the Lord.

I have spent a lot of time in prison, but the children know why their father is being kept in prison. We have taught our children that this lifestyle is our duty. When we teach, we put more focus, more emphasis on the will of God and on the position that he has given to us. God wants us to do a bigger thing for him. All who are called to ministry are different people. We are not like other people. The world does not understand us. But our lives and our calling is a precious thing in the eyes of God.
I know that many foreign pastors say that we must put the family first. I don't agree with this philosophy. God is number one. God and his will must always be first in our lives. After that, he will take care of all other things.

What would you say to pastors in the West if you had the opportunity?

First I would say thank you many times for all of the help they have given to the Chinese church for so many years and also for the prayers they prayed for me while I was in prison.

Next, I want to encourage the Western church to not forget the Chinese church. Attend to the needs that we still have. We need you. We need your love and your partnership. Please don't forget us.

Third, I want to remind the Western church that there is in China great fruit that can be seen that is a direct result of the labor that the West has labored for us. Your ministry to the Chinese church has changed this nation! Soon there will be a great opening-up in China. The friends in the West can feel that they have been successful in helping China to hear the gospel. We, the Chinese church, have been caught off guard and unprepared.

Recently, the officials in the Henan provincial government have made a statement that every village should have a church. These churches do not need to be owned by the Three-Self Patriotic Movement (the government-owned church). The government has told us that they will register and approve our land and our buildings. Now we can begin to build actual churches, but we do not know how to begin. We are completely overwhelmed. We feel very strange about this. We are completely at a loss to know how to address this thing that has never happened before. The government wants us to quickly find places to build churches. We have no plan for this. Please pray for us and help us if you can.

Article courtesy of VOM.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 14)

2011-10-28T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Today we will examine verse 8 where Jude now starts to profile these apostates. This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken. I must also acknowledge that I have leant very heavily on John Macarthur's exposition of this passage.

There is a spiritual war going on. There is a war going on inside the church being waged in terrorist fashion because the enemy is disguised as an angel of light, because he clothes himself in sheep's clothing. The terrorists who are hidden in the church are far more dangerous than the terrorists who are hidden in the world because those terrorists can only kill the body, but the terrorists in the church destroy the truth and leave a rubble of lies that damns men's souls. This is why Jude was written.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. 8 Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 1-8)

In verses five through seven Jude has given us three examples of the certainty of judgment on apostates. In verse four he reminds his readers that the apostates who infiltrate the church are people "who long ago were designated for this condemnation". Their damnation is certain and in verse five we are reminded of the Israelites being judged for their rebellion after the exodus out of Egypt. In verse six we are reminded of the judgment on angels who "left their proper dwelling" (go to Part 12 for a discussion on this intriguing subject). And in verse seven we are given an example of judgment on the Gentiles as Jude reminds his audience of the fire and brimstone that rained down on the ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah.

Now, as Jude moves into verse eight he starts to describe the lifestyles and characteristics of apostates:

Yet in like manner these people also, relying on their dreams, defile the flesh, reject authority, and blaspheme the glorious ones. (Jude 8)

The first description of apostates that Jude gives in verse eight is that they rely on their "dreams". This happens a lot in the more extreme Charismatic and Word Faith churches where leaders can appeal to some form of personal revelation to justify an aspect of their teaching or practice. Here is what John Macarthur said:

Did you look at that and wonder what is that saying to us, by dreaming? Actually in the Greek, houtoi(??) enupniazomenoi(??), big long word. It says this in the Greek, "Likewise these dreamers," it categorically says that apostates are dreamers . . . It's a word in the New Testament associated with visions and prophecies. So we say then it's selected because it refers to revelatory dreams, associated with visions and prophecies . . . So what we have here then at best is that false teachers, now follow this, false teachers inevitably have to have a source for their deception. And they have to have a source that's believable. They have to have a source that has some authority, or that is convincing. So they can't just say, "I think..." They can't just say, "I feel..." They can't just say, "We've got a committee in our group and we came up with this deal." The really effective false teachers and apostates will inevitably tell you God communicates to them in secret ways, in their dreams, in their visions. These are revelatory experiences. Apostate false teachers from Joseph Smith to Benny Hinn and everybody in between claim that God speaks to them in their dreams, in their visions. And this, of course, transcends the necessity to be submissive to the Word of God which is not in their hearts anyway. And it gives them the illusion of authority and God gets blamed for all their aberrations. They reject the Word of God . . . inevitably these dreamers are immoral, insubordinate and irreverent. Now let me hasten to say, not all the poor, witless people who may be true Christians who follow along after them are the same as they are. They are...they're being taken, they're being had, they're being made merchandise of. But inevitably though not always public visible, these people are immoral and they are insubordinate to the Word of God and they are irreverent, blasphemous. They may cover it up and you may never know them. It's not like it used to be in the world. If you heard somebody speak, you were there and you heard them and they maybe lived in your community and you knew the reality of their lives. But now they're in a box or on a radio or in a book and you don't know anything about their life.

This appeal to supernatural and personal revelation is in sharp contrast to the Apostle Peter who said:

For we did not follow cleverly devised myths when we made known to you the power and coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, but we were eyewitnesses of his majesty. For when he received honor and glory from God the Father, and the voice was borne to him by the Majestic Glory, "This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased," we ourselves heard this very voice borne from heaven, for we were with him on the holy mountain. And we have something more sure, the prophetic word, to which you will do well to pay attention as to a lamp shining in a dark place, until the day dawns and the morning star rises in your hearts, knowing this first of all, that no prophecy of Scripture comes from someone's own interpretation. For no prophecy was ever produced by the will of man, but men spoke from God as they were carried along by the Holy Spirit. (2 Peter 1:16-21)

Paul agreed with Peter:

Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth. (2 Timothy 2:15)

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works. (2 Timothy 3:16-17)

Next week we'll look at the next characteristic of false teachers in Jude verse 8 - that they defile the flesh.

Go On To Part 15
Go Back To Part 13
Go Back To Part 1

Objection 2 Continued - Evolution Debate (Part 7)

2011-10-26T02:44:00.000-07:00

There are many problems with evolution - more than I can fit in one blog post. Last weeks post pointed out the lack of transitional forms in the fossil record. But I also thought it worth mentioning some questionable practice of the "scientific method" when it comes to examining the future. What follows is a real newspaper article:

This recent offering from the "scientists" made major headlines in the UK's Guardian newspaper. The article goes on to say:

It may not rank as the most compelling reason to curb greenhouse gases, but reducing our emissions might just save humanity from a pre-emptive alien attack, scientists claim.

Watching from afar, extraterrestrial beings might view changes in Earth's atmosphere as symptomatic of a civilisation growing out of control – and take drastic action to keep us from becoming a more serious threat, the researchers explain.

This highly speculative scenario is one of several described by a Nasa-affiliated scientist and colleagues at Pennsylvania State University that, while considered unlikely, they say could play out were humans and alien life to make contact at some point in the future.

Shawn Domagal-Goldman of Nasa's Planetary Science Division and his colleagues compiled a list of plausible outcomes that could unfold in the aftermath of a close encounter, to help humanity "prepare for actual contact".

In their report, Would Contact with Extraterrestrials Benefit or Harm Humanity? A Scenario Analysis, the researchers divide alien contacts into three broad categories: beneficial, neutral or harmful.

Beneficial encounters ranged from the mere detection of extraterrestrial intelligence (ETI), for example through the interception of alien broadcasts, to contact with cooperative organisms that help us advance our knowledge and solve global problems such as hunger, poverty and disease.

Another beneficial outcome the authors entertain sees humanity triumph over a more powerful alien aggressor, or even being saved by a second group of ETs. "In these scenarios, humanity benefits not only from the major moral victory of having defeated a daunting rival, but also from the opportunity to reverse-engineer ETI technology," the authors write.

Other kinds of close encounter may be less rewarding and leave much of human society feeling indifferent towards alien life. The extraterrestrials may be too different from us to communicate with usefully. They might invite humanity to join the "Galactic Club" only for the entry requirements to be too bureaucratic and tedious for humans to bother with. They could even become a nuisance, like the stranded, prawn-like creatures that are kept in a refugee camp in the 2009 South African movie, District 9, the report explains.

The most unappealing outcomes would arise if extraterrestrials caused harm to humanity, even if by accident. While aliens may arrive to eat, enslave or attack us, the report adds that people might also suffer from being physically crushed or by contracting diseases carried by the visitors. In especially unfortunate incidents, humanity could be wiped out when a more advanced civilisation accidentally unleashes an unfriendly artificial intelligence, or performs a catastrophic physics experiment that renders a portion of the galaxy uninhabitable.

To bolster humanity's chances of survival, the researchers call for caution in sending signals into space, and in particular warn against broadcasting information about our biological make-up, which could be used to manufacture weapons that target humans. Instead, any contact with ETs should be limited to mathematical discourse "until we have a better idea of the type of ETI we are dealing with."

The authors warn that extraterrestrials may be wary of civilisations that expand very rapidly, as these may be prone to destroy other life as they grow, just as humans have pushed species to extinction on Earth. In the most extreme scenario, aliens might choose to destroy humanity to protect other civilisations.

"A preemptive strike would be particularly likely in the early phases of our expansion because a civilisation may become increasingly difficult to destroy as it continues to expand. Humanity may just now be entering the period in which its rapid civilisational expansion could be detected by an ETI because our expansion is changing the composition of the Earth's atmosphere, via greenhouse gas emissions," the report states.

"Green" aliens might object to the environmental damage humans have caused on Earth and wipe us out to save the planet. "These scenarios give us reason to limit our growth and reduce our impact on global ecosystems. It would be particularly important for us to limit our emissions of greenhouse gases, since atmospheric composition can be observed from other planets," the authors write.

Even if we never make contact with extraterrestrials, the report argues that considering the potential scenarios may help to plot the future path of human civilisation, avoid collapse and achieve long-term survival.

Once again, the question must be asked as to exactly what kind of "science" are these people practicing? And why do these people discount the possibility of a Creator when they have a creation, but readily warn about an impending alien invasion even though no aliens have, as yet, been discovered. Although I must admit that the jury is still out concerning the claims of a Wal-mart employee who still maintains that he is a real Jedi Knight who attended Obi Wan's academy on Tatooine. For the doubters he decided to show a few of his moves:

Did you feel the Force?

While the newspaper article does not represent the entire scientific community, it is a stern reminder that the phrase "scientists say" is often a propoganda smokescreen that persuades the man in the street. Empirical science is measurable, testable, repeatable, and observable but the realm of "historical science" and "speculative science" is often nothing more than science fiction. As Christians, we have something far more reliable - a text that has never been proven wrong authored by a Sovereign God Who is the same yesterday, today, and forever!

Next week I will unveil some futuristic transitional forms that scientists have been able to "calculate" based on what they "already know". It may well be the funniest post to ever feature on this blog so stay tuned . . .

Go On To Part 8
Go Back To Part 6
Go Back To Part 1

Just Added - Creation And Change

2011-10-25T13:00:00.000-07:00

Professor Doug Kelly's outstanding exegetical work on Genesis 1 and 2 has now been added to the resource directory. This is the book that persuaded RC Sproul to change camps from an old earth view to the correct view.

CREATION AND CHANGE
Doug Kelly
Category: Creation/Evolution
Click Here To Order
In this book Professor Douglas Kelly persuasively argues for a literal interpretation of the seven day account of creation found in Genesis chapters 1 and 2. He assesses both the biblical details and the scientific data to show that there is a convincing case for this understanding and how it is scientifically viable. How are Christians to develop their thinking on origins? Where do we start? “The Bible is God's revelation of his Word to us and includes all we need to know concerning his will for our lives. Notice how God chose to begin this all important book. He initiated his whole revelation with a description of creation, demonstrating that it is not only primal in the historical sense, but primary for the understanding of other doctrines as well” (p.16). This emphasis pervades the book: Douglas Kelly sets out to expound, teach and discuss the text of Genesis 1:1 – 2:4 regarding it as foundational for Christians.

180 Behind The Scenes

2011-10-24T01:00:00.000-07:00

Ray Comfort's anti-abortion movie called "180" is really causing a stir on the internet. A lot of atheists and pro-murder people are up in arms over Ray's unfair tactic of using the truth against them. If you want to hear the truth about the conspiracy theories and the background story to this inspiring project then you will enjoy the next 23 minutes as Reformed Youtube Extraordinaire Lane Chaplin hosts Ray Comfort and Tony "Lawman" Miano on his Rightly Divided online show. For those of you who don't know who Lane is, he is the guy who posted Paul Washer's Shocking Message on youtube in its entirety. Lane is the guy that everyone, who has preaching videos longer than 11 minutes, wishes they could be:

What Life Is Like For Egyptian Christians Since Egypt Was "Liberated"

2011-10-22T23:33:00.000-07:00

A YouTube video of 25 Egyptian soldiers beating Coptic Christian Raef After Faheem prompted a protest by thousands of Coptic Christians on Sunday, October 9.

“[I] would like to let you know that millions of Egyptian Christians will go out to the streets all over Egypt — from all the cities — to demonstrate against the army leaders because of the video,” a VOM contact wrote the day before the protests. “The Muslim group and Salafi movement are threatening the Christians, saying that we do not have any rights in the country. We do not know what could happen tomorrow, but we decided to go out and [use] our voices against persecution.”

WARNING: The following video is very disturbing. Egyptian police obviously think it is a proud show of force for dozens of armed riot police to beat a single unarmed Christian man relentlessly. Words cannot express my disgust. Lord have mercy . . .

The military fired at demonstrators when the protests began Sunday afternoon, and videos posted online show increased violence as military vehicles ran over protestors. According to VOM contacts, the Egyptian military eventually attacked the hospital where injured Christians were being treated and even tried to kill hospital employees. International news agencies report that at least 24 people have been killed, including at least 17 Christians.

The violence began after Muslim extremists attacked a recently rebuilt Christian church in Sohag, near Cairo. The governor of Sohag protected the church’s attackers and said, “If the Muslims did not destroy the church on that day, I would go destroy it myself.” Shocked by the governor’s comment, the Christians held a demonstration at a TV and radio building, and the Egyptian army responded to the demonstrations. A VOM contact said, “They were very [tough] in beating and attacking the Christians instead of restoring their rights. [This] situation is too hard and really unbelievable. We are waiting for the Lord to show mercy on the martyrs’ families. Please keep praying for us, and ask our beloved friends everywhere to pray.”

Shocking Picture Of Kirk Cameron

2011-10-21T11:09:00.000-07:00

The internet was aflame over the last week because of this shocking photo of Kirk Cameron. It would seem that Lane Chaplin managed to catch him blowing out candles on his birthday cake - with only one bystander in the picture!!!! This has certainly exposed Kirk for the fraud he really is. All those years of lying about the massive attendances that his birthday parties draw. Starring in a blockbuster independant movie, the 140000 fans on his Facebook page, the big beautiful family, the interviews on O'Reilly and Larry King, pretending to be this guy called Mike Seaver - all of this was a carefully orchestrated conspiracy to make the general public believe that he was popular. And this photo is conclusive proof of his secret double life! Kirk's life is so pathetic he's only ever been married once! And his six children show him up as a selfish jerk with no concern for global over-population. He's not even smart enough to come on board with all the clear thinking people out there who accept that everything was created by nothing.

But why stop with Kirk? I thought I should take it upon myself to expose a lot of other deceptions going on out there that you might not be aware of. This blog has no place for gossip - I am posting this because my precious readers deserve to know the truth!

Take Brad Pitt for example. He is not as much of a "ladies man" as you might think. In real life he actually pays Angelina Jolie to appear in pictures with him. This is just a deceptive veneer for a very lame and tragic existence. In real life Brad finds it so hard to get a girl that he has decided to dress like one instead. And let's face it, that dress is so 90's!

And then there is the great hoax of Barack Obama's athletic prowess. He continually poses for press shots playing all sorts of different sporting activities. Anyone can look athletic and coordinated in a still. But the sad truth is that Barack has always been a bumbling nerd who can't even aim up right when it comes to kissing his wife. Let's just say that his wedding video had a lot of outtakes. Few people know that back in the 80's Obama actually turned down the role of Steve Urkel in favor of pursuing a political career.

And who would have known that Johnny Depp thought he needed to dress like a pirate in order to illegally download and copy movies. Johnny is clearly not the sharpest tool in the shed. Earth to Johnny - internet piracy does not require sailing the caribbean in an old wooden ship shouting "arrrrghhhh".

What about the little known fact that Hollywood heartthrob Matt Damon is really a Hollywood heart attack waiting to happen. And let's face it, if you had all the money in the world then you would eat In'N'Out animal style three times a day as well! The Matt Damon you see at the movies is really just a digitally enhanced version of the guy you see in the picture. We're talking a lot of digital enhancement!

But George Clooney takes fake popularity to a whole new level. Here he is snapped at a recent fan club convention together with the President, Founder, Treasurer and General Secretary.

After all, it wasn't talent that got George all those leading roles. No, it was money! It is only a select few of us who are aware that Clooney did not make his fortune from the box-office as can be seen by the crowds lining up to see his latest movie. No, George actually made his fortune from an investment mistake in the 1970's when he attempted to purchase a large stake in the fruit industry by buying a lot of shares off a guy called Steve Jobs. The rest, they say, is show business!

Yes this whole thing is just a satire in response to all the cheap shots being taken at Kirk by "cyber warriors" who spend their lives hiding behind computer monitors with a keyboard in their hands. I have met Kirk Cameron on numerous occasions and met his family. He is someone I count it an honor to know and someone who epitomizes what real manhood is all about. Loving his wife, discipling his family, and serving the Lord Jesus Christ. Tragically, the blogosphere seems to esteem Brangelina, Botox, and busted marriages more highly.

The saddest thing about the whirlwind surrounding Kirk's picture is that his ministry has just produced something far more interesting that matters and is changing lives. Please go and watch it instead of all the pointless gossip. Because on the day of judgment the penetrating spotlight of God's all knowing justice will shine on us.

Nothing is covered up that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known. Therefore whatever you have said in the dark shall be heard in the light, and what you have whispered in private rooms shall be proclaimed on the housetops. "I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him! (Luke 12:2-5 words of Jesus)

Objection 2 - Evolution Debate (Part 6)

2011-10-19T01:00:00.000-07:00

Objection 2: The Missing Link Is Still Missing

Here's a quote:

The number of intermediate varieties, which have formerly existed on the earth, (must) be truly enormous. Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory

Do you know who said that?

(Darwin, Origin of the Species 1859, p. 292).

Let's take a look at the most famous missing link discoveries:

Neanderthals
These turned out to be just plain people, some of whom suffered from bone diseases. In proper attire, they would attract no particular attention today.

Piltdown Man
(Eoanthropus dawsoni) was a deliberate (but not very clever) hoax palmed off as “proof of evolution” to students for more than two generations. It turned out to be a bit of ape jaw and human skull artificially aged. In November 1953, Time published evidence gathered variously by Kenneth Page Oakley, Sir Wilfrid Edward Le Gros Clark and Joseph Weiner proving that the Piltdown Man was a forgery.

Nebraska Man
(Hesperopithecus) was reconstructed, family and all, from a tooth — a tooth that later was found to belong to an extinct pig! Further field work on the site in 1925 revealed that the tooth was incorrectly identified. Other parts of the skeleton were also found. According to these newly discovered pieces, the tooth belonged neither to a man nor to an ape, but to a fossil of an extinct genus of peccary called Prosthennops, and its identification as an ape was retracted in the journal Science in 1927.

Ramapithecus
A partial jawbone, consisting of two parts, was discovered by G.E. Lewis in India in the 1930s. Based on these two jaw bone fragments, claimed to be 14 million years old, evolutionists reconstructed Ramapithecus’s family and supposed natural habitat (at side). For fifty years, the fossil was portrayed as an ancestor of Man but following the results of a 1981 anatomical comparison with a baboon skeleton, evolutionists were forced to quietly set it aside.

The dethroning of Ramapithecus — from putative [supposed] first human in 1961 to extinct relative of the orangutan in 1982 — is one of the most fascinating, and bitter, sagas in the search for human origins. (Lewin, Bones of Contention, p. 86)

Lucy
This fossil, discovered in Africa in 1974, was widely esteemed by evolutionists and was the subject of some of the most intensive speculation. Recently however, it has been revealed that Lucy (A. afarensis) had an anatomy ideally suited to climbing trees and was no different from other apes we are familiar with. The French scientific journal Science et Vie covered the story in 1999 under the headline “Adieu, Lucy.” One study, performed in 2000, discovered a locking system in Lucy’s forearms enabling it to walk using the knuckles, in the same way as modern-day chimps. In the face of all these findings, many evolutionist experts declared that Lucy could not have been a forerunner of man.

The Archaeoraptor Fossil
This was introduced in 1999 and hailed as the missing evolutionary link between carnivorous dinosaurs and modern birds. It was fairly quickly exposed as bogus, a composite containing the head and body of a primitive bird and the tail and hind limbs of a dromaeosaur dinosaur, glued together by a Chinese farmer. Hillary Mayell for National Geographic News November 20, 2002

Now remember that true empirical science is measurable testable repeatable and observable. What we have seen here is the result of wild and wishful speculation - pathetic attempts at removing God from the equation. Next week we will look at some of the absolutely laughable modern claims in the name of "science".

Go On To Part 7
Go Back To Part 5
Go Back To Part 1

Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 9)

2011-10-17T02:43:00.000-07:00

It is pretty easy to figure out how much confidence the Dykstras have in the power of the Gospel. "Pastor" Eric, why not preach the Gospel like it is the only hope for a hell bound world and training people in your "church" to evangelize instead of telling them to "invite people to church"! Yes it is awkward to invite an unregenerate sinner to church - just as it is awkward to invite a corpse at the morgue over to your house for tea and scones. All you are achieving by appealing to the carnal flesh of carnal men is to gather them in a room to see if it can be fed by your X-boxes and flat screens and cars (yes, they give away cars as well). This all amounts to a massive vote of no confidence in the forgiveness of sins and imputed righteousness on offer because of Jesus Christ's ultimate sacrifice of fulfilling the law that we have broken and enduring the wrath that we deserve on a rugged cross 2000 years ago. Why is this uninteresting to the audience? Because when the law of God, and the righteousness of God, and the judgement of God is not preached then sinners will never hunger and thirst after righteousness.

But the lameness doesn't end here for Eric Dykstra. Like Perry Noble in Part 8 Eric is a wannabe tough guy and give blue collar tough guy lectures in relevance. Just as it is tragic when glam rockers from the 70's still get around in spandex, the same effect occurs when middle aged Dykstra tries to connect with the men in his audience by saying the word "dude" a lot and using unbelievably bad hermeneutics . . .

Earth to Eric - Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure came out in the 80's! Young people have moved on from the space cadet speeches where sentences all finished with the word "dude". Get a life and start preaching the Gospel - if you know it! Once again, this amounts to more pathetic lame attempts at relevance. And Eric, why not start submitting to the biblical text instead of abusing it for your useless pep talks with no Gospel content.

Go On To Part 10
Go Back To Part 8
Go Back To Part 1

The Suffering Of Pastors In Communist Vietnam

2011-10-15T23:06:00.000-07:00

Prisoner Alert: From Voice of the Martyrs (VOM)
Name: Pastor Y Wo Nie
Location: Vietnam
Arrested: August 2004
Days Imprisoned: 2610

Pastor Y Wo Nie was arrested August 18, 2004, for leading a demonstration demanding more religious freedom and the release of property confiscated by the Vietnamese government. He received a nine-year sentence. His family has not been able to visit him.

Write a letter of encouragement. Let Pastor Nie know you are praying for him and the believers in Vietnam. Let your friends know about persecution in Vietnam; encourage them to pray and write. Also, write Vietnamese officials requesting Nie’s release. Your letters make a difference.

Get involved! Pray for and write to Nie today.

Y Wo Nie's wife recently wrote to VOM. She wrote:

Our family situation is very difficult. I don't have a job; some days I work as a day laborer and some days I'm unemployed. My youngest son is sickly.

She recently visited her husband in prison, thanks to VOM donors. Her husband is ill. She said:

I’m worried for my husband but God gives me His comfort that He is always with us though we have to face sickness or hard situations; He will help me to overcome my hard times.

I am so inspired to hear of this woman's faithful devotion to her husband regardless of circumstance. Please pray for their family.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 13)

2011-10-14T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Today we will examine Jude's third lessons from history concerning the certain judgment of apostates - Sodom and Gomorrah! This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day- 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1-7)

God has given one example of judgment on apostate Jews, and one example of judgment on apostate demons, now He gives one example of judgment on apostate Gentiles in Sodom and Gomorrah:

Just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 7)

Jesus used Sodom and Gomorrah as a means of rebuke against the the unrepentant:

Then he [Jesus] began to denounce the cities where most of his mighty works had been done, because they did not repent. "Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable on the day of judgment for Tyre and Sidon than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be exalted to heaven? You will be brought down to Hades. For if the mighty works done in you had been done in Sodom, it would have remained until this day. But I tell you that it will be more tolerable on the day of judgment for the land of Sodom than for you." (Matthew 11:20-24)

Yes, that was our friend Jesus, the God of the New Testament (as well as the Old)! That was a blistering and terrifying rebuke. When the Creator of the universe gives these warnings we must pay diligent attention. It always amazes me how the "red letter Christians" are nowhere to be found when verses like these appear.

Another issue concerning the sin of Sodom and Gomorrah is that their major crimes were reported by Ezekiel who said that:

this was the guilt of your sister Sodom: she and her daughters had pride, excess of food, and prosperous ease, but did not aid the poor and needy. They were haughty and did an abomination before me. So I removed them, when I saw it. (Ezekiel 16:49-50)

Homosexuals are often referred to as sodomites which is a lasting reminder of the relentless sexual perversion and immorality that was going on in that city. The sobering message for us is that perversion on this level is normally the natural extension of an affluent self centered society that abandons God - a downward spiral we see in Romans 1:

For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images resembling mortal man and birds and animals and creeping things. Therefore God gave them up in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, to the dishonoring of their bodies among themselves, because they exchanged the truth about God for a lie and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever! Amen. For this reason God gave them up to dishonorable passions. For their women exchanged natural relations for those that are contrary to nature; and the men likewise gave up natural relations with women and were consumed with passion for one another, men committing shameless acts with men and receiving in themselves the due penalty for their error. And since they did not see fit to acknowledge God, God gave them up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. They were filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. They are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless. Though they know God’s decree that those who practice such things deserve to die, they not only do them but give approval to those who practice them. (Romans 1:21-32)

There is the downward spiral of rejecting God. First we see that they know God but will not honor Him or give thanks; then their thoughts and hearts grow more hard and rebellious; idolatry follows; God's restraining grace is then lifted and sexual perversion follows; their total depravity now finds full, wicked, unrestrained rebellion; people are no longer ashamed of their perversion (as Lot witnessed in Sodom); and finally they give moral approval to such behavior. This should sound familiar! And don't let social scientists give you false assurance that homosexual behavior is acceptable. There is an enormous tract of scorched earth in the Middle East that says otherwise!

The ruins of Sodom and Gomorrah have been discovered southeast of the Dead Sea. The modern names are Bab edh-Dhra, thought to be Sodom, and Numeira, thought to be Gomorrah. Both places were destroyed at the same time by an enormous conflagration. The destruction debris was about three feet thick. What brought about this awful calamity? Startling discoveries in the cemetery at Bab edh-Dhra revealed the cause. Archaeologists found that buildings used to bury the dead were burned by a fire that started on the roof.

What would cause every structure in the cemetery to be destroyed in this way? The answer to the mystery is found in the Bible:

“Then the Lord rained down burning sulfur on Sodom and Gomorrah—from the Lord out of the heavens” (Genesis 19:24).

Jude, like Jesus, uses Sodom and Gomorrah as a terrifying warning to those apostates who are unrepentantly wreaking havoc in the church. All that is left of those two cities is one giant scorch mark!

To be continued two weeks from now . . .

Go On To Part 14
Go Back To Part 12
Go Back To Part 1

Objection 1 - Evolution Debate (Part 5)

2011-10-12T01:00:00.000-07:00

It is ironic that Darwin's book is called Origin of the Species when evolution has no explanation for how life started. It is interesting that the actual title for Darwin's book is:

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection or the Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle for Life.

Darwin himself said that:

There is really no probability that the "races" would be equal. In fact, the whole notion runs counter to all evolutionary theory and to the whole science of biology.

At some future period, not very distant as measured by centuries, the civilized races of man will almost certainly exterminate and replace the savage races throughout the world. At the same time the anthropomorphous apes... will no doubt be exterminated. The break between man and his nearest allies will then be wider, for it will intervene in a more civilised state, as we may hope, even than the Caucasian, and some ape as low as baboon, instead of as now between the negro or Australian and the gorilla. (The Descent of Man , 2nd ed, 1874 p178)

Darwin's doctrines of racial superiority and eugenics had a major influence on Hitler. In Mein Kampf, Hitler used the German word for evolution (Entwicklung) many times, citing "lower human types." He criticized the Jews for bringing "Negroes into the Rhineland" with the aim of "ruining the white race by the necessarily resulting ization." He spoke of "Monstrosities halfway between man and ape".

Darwin didn't only believe that white people were more highly evolved. He thought that men were more highly evolved than women. In his autobiography he described a future wife as an:

object to be beloved and played with – better than a dog anyhow. (The Autobiography of Charles Darwin, 1958, pp. 232–233)

Charles Darwin's education was not in science. He quit medical school and studied theology . . . just so you know. But his title "Origins of the Species" is ironic because Darwin and Evolution provide no natural explanation for how things began or how life started.

Objection 1: No natural explanation For Origins

[The Big Bang] represents the instantaneous suspension of physical laws, the sudden abrupt flash of lawlessness that allowed something to come out of nothing. It represents a true miracle . . . (Paul Davies, physicist and evolutionist , The Edge Of Infinity 1995).

Evolutionists are open to a miracle coming from nothing. That is not only unscientific, it is also a very strange religion. I don't have enough faith to believe that. Let me ask you – is it more logical to believe that everything is Created by nothing or by a God?

Continued next week . . .

Go On To Part 6
Go Back To Part 4
Go Back To Part 1

Lame Attempts At Relevance (Part 8)

2011-10-10T01:00:00.000-07:00

Warning: some pop culture references in this post may require the assistance of someone who was alive during the 70's!

When I went to school there were always guys who did things to act tough. One really impressive way to bring some serious intimidation onto the playground was to wear a Kiss T-shirt and stuff a packet of cigarettes up the sleeve. I can just imagine Chuck Norris fleeing in terror at the sight of one of these guys! Well, lame tough guy routines did not escape the notice of church growth experts.

Pastor Perry Noble is a bizarre byproduct of the consumer driven, seeker sensitive, church growth movement. He is the new wave of what I call reverse psychology seeker sensitivity. Why not attract people to your church by acting tough and offending them with your tough guy talk. Why bother with the offense of the Gospel when you can do it yourself by being an obnoxious jerk behind the safety of a pulpit and a microphone . . .

Can you feel the love tonight . . . .

Wow!!! Pastor Perry thinks he's the big man in town - look out Leroy Brown! Talking tough to the sheep. Maybe he found some new paraphrase that says:

"If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the 99 on the mountains and verbally abuse the one that went astray . . . and refuse to visit it in hospital . . . unless of course it is pronounced dead" PNSBV (Perry Noble Sheep Beating Version).

The Apostle Peter might have known a thing or two about the job description of a shepherd of God's flock:

So I exhort the elders among you, as a fellow elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, as well as a partaker in the glory that is going to be revealed: shepherd the flock of God that is among you, exercising oversight, not under compulsion, but willingly, as God would have you; not for shameful gain, but eagerly; not domineering over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock. (1 Peter 5:1-3)

So what Bible are you reading Perry?

Paul says that a Shepherd must:

be above reproach the husband of one wife, sober-minded, self-controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not a drunkard, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome (1 Timothy 3:2b-3a)

But clearly Pastor Perry has a slightly different hermeneutical approach and maybe some members of his church have cause for complaint with their song selection for worship services:

(That video was from the Elephant Room conference where Noble was interviewed by James MacDonald and Mark Driscoll. For the life of me I cannot see the point of flying Perry Noble to a conference to discuss the merits of adding "Highway to Hell" to the hymnal. Nonetheless there will be a lot more said about the Elephant Room conference in later posts.)

Perry is about as tough and manly as that guy in the Kiss T-shirt with the cigarette packet stuffed up his sleeve . . . but that would be an emasculating insult to chain smoking Kiss fans everywhere! How about we finish it with some real men instead of pathetic wannabes like Noble who clearly know nothing on the subject. A couple of young guys who never pastored a seeker sensitive mega church but knew a whole lot about real biblical manhood:

Go On To Part 9
Go Back To Part 7
Go Back To Part 1

Iranian Pastor Stands Firm in Faith - Faces Execution

2011-10-08T23:55:00.000-07:00

"The Judge kept asking my client to say, 'I have renounced Christianity and I recognize Islam as rescinder of all other regions,' and he kept saying 'I won't say that.'" (Youcef Nadarkhani)

9/28/2011 Iran (CDN) – Pastor Yousef Nadarkhani refused to recant his Christian faith today at the fourth and final court hearing in Iran to appeal his death sentence for apostasy (leaving Islam).

The court house in Rasht, 243 kilometers (151 miles) northwest of Tehran, has swarmed with security forces for four consecutive days since Sunday (Sept. 25), the first day of his four appeal hearings. Applying sharia (Islamic law), the court on Monday, Tuesday and today gave Nadarkhani, 35, three chances to recant Christianity and return to Islam in order for his life to be spared. In all instances, Nadarkhani refused to recant.

“I’m in contact with Iran,” a source close to Nadarkhani’s family said, “but the news isn’t very good. We’ll see. If they really want to they can kill him they can, because he hasn’t renounced his faith. It finished today. We have left everything in the hands of God.”

Authorities arrested Nadarkhani in his home city of Rasht in Oct. 2009 because he allegedly questioned obligatory religion classes in Iranian schools. In September 2010 the court of appeals in Rasht found him guilty of apostasy and in November issued a written confirmation of his charges and death sentence.

At an appeal hearing in June, the Supreme Court of Iran upheld Nadarkhani’s sentence but asked the court in Rasht to determine if he was a practicing Muslim before his conversion. The Supreme Court also determined that his death sentence could be annulled if he recanted his faith.

On Sunday (Sept. 25) in the first two and a half hours of the court, the judges determined that Nadarkhani indeed was not a practicing Muslim before his conversion to Christianity. The source said that in this time period things looked more promising for Nadarkhani, and that the court might reverse the sentence based on the findings.

In the end, however, the court declared that although Nadarkhani was not a practicing Muslim before his conversion, he was still guilty of apostasy due to his Muslim ancestry, the source told Compass.

Secret service agents surrounded the court and maintained a presence there throughout the following days, and his wife, Tina, was not allowed in the courtroom. On Sunday (Sept. 25), she was allowed to stand at the doorway for a few minutes to see her husband, the source said.

A defense lawyer told Nadarkhani’s family and friends there is a way to take the case back to the Supreme Court or extend Nadarkhani’s prison sentence, but the source said the directives of the Supreme Court were clear and he didn’t think there was much hope.

“Yousef is known as a hero, so if he is released it will seem like the government was defeated,” he said, “but if they leave him in prison there could be more international pressure.”

It is critical for foreign governments to negotiate and engage in diplomacy with Iranian authorities about Nadarkhani’s case, the source said, adding that his predicament could be more hopeful if they intervened.

“They need to start negotiating,” the source said. “It’s the moment to negotiate, because if they do, the situation could be regulated.”

The source and advocates in the international community fear that authorities may kill Nadarkhani as early as midnight tonight or any time in the coming week. The court said a verdict on Nadarkhani would be issued within the next week.

“They probably won’t kill him today, but they can do it whenever they want,” the source said. “They can hang him in the middle of the night or in 10 days. Sometimes in Iran they call the family and deliver the body with the verdict. They have gone outside the borders of law. This is not in the Iranian law, this is sharia. Sometimes they don’t even give the body.”

The final appeals hearing today lasted about an hour and a half, ending around 1 p.m. after Nadarkhani’s defense lawyer, Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, gave his closing defense. Dadkhah also reportedly faces charges for “actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime,” due to his human rights activities.

The hearings on Monday (Sept. 26) and yesterday lasted just 30 minutes, long enough for Nadarkhani to refuse to recant Christianity.

The source said Nadarkhani’s 30-year-old wife is very apprehensive about what the courts might decide this week. They have two children: Joel, 7 and Daniel, 9.

“The wife is under depression and worried; we can say his wife is very worried,” he said. “It is difficult for all his family, it is difficult for us.”

Nadarkhani, whose first name is also spelled Youcef, belongs to the Church of Iran, a group that has been marginalized by other Christian Iranian groups over concerns that its doctrine on the Trinity is inadequate.

The Church of Iran’s statement of faith on its website http://www.eglisediran.org/?page_id=8 asserts that God is “revealed in the Scriptures as Father, Son and Holy Spirit (Matthew 3:16-17, 28:19).”

The church’s statement of faith also affirms “...the Lordship of Jesus Christ, only Son of God, the Word manifested in flesh. We believe that He is from the Holy Spirit (Matt. 1:20) and He was born of a Virgin Mary (Matt. 1:23, Luke 1:34). We believe in His atoning death and redemption (Heb. 9:28), in His bodily resurrection (Luke 24:39), in His ascension (Acts 1:9-11), on His return in person to gather His Church (1 Thess. 4:17), followed by His coming in glory to judge the rebels and establish the reign of a thousand years (Rev. 1:7). ”

The church also states that it believes the “baptism of the Holy Spirit (Matt. 3:11; Mark 1:8; Luke 3:16; John 1:33; Acts 1:5, 2:38) is the new birth (John 3:5-8). It introduces the Christian in the Eternal Life of God and leads into all truth, to holiness in communion with Christ.”

Article courtesy of Persecution.org

Youcef is a real man, may the Lord give me grace enough to be one tenth of the man that this brave Iranian Christian is when the fire of persecution is in my face! Yousuf is still alive according to the latest I have heard - please pray for him.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 12)

2011-10-07T12:53:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Today we will examine two lessons from history concerning apostates. One of these concerns Israel's rebellion against God after the Exodus from Egypt, and the other concerns an angelic rebellion against God. This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken. Much thanks must go to John Macarthur for his commentaries and exposition which have been my major source for this series.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day- 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1-7)

Verses 5-7 are a lesson in history to remind us that God's judgment and damnation of apostates is absolutely certain.

Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. (Jude 5b)

Just as God saved His people out of Egypt, He also destroyed the unbelieving in the desert:

But truly, as I live, and as all the earth shall be filled with the glory of the LORD, none of the men who have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have put me to the test these ten times and have not obeyed my voice, shall see the land that I swore to give to their fathers. And none of those who despised me shall see it. (Numbers 14:21-23).

This also parallels Jesus' first and second coming. The first time He came as a Lamb to die for His people. Next time He will come as a lion to make war with His enemies:

Then I saw heaven opened, and behold, a white horse! The one sitting on it is called Faithful and True, and in righteousness he judges and makes war. His eyes are like a flame of fire, and on his head are many diadems, and he has a name written that no one knows but himself. He is clothed in a robe dipped in blood, and the name by which he is called is The Word of God. And the armies of heaven, arrayed in fine linen, white and pure, were following him on white horses. From his mouth comes a sharp sword with which to strike down the nations, and he will rule them with a rod of iron. He will tread the winepress of the fury of the wrath of God the Almighty. On his robe and on his thigh he has a name written, King of kings and Lord of lords. (Revelation 19:11-16)

So the first historical example of apostasy concerns Israel. Jude then gives an example of angelic apostasy that is very intriguing and hotly debated:

And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day (Jude 6).

What could this be about? There is a parallel verse in 2 Peter which says:

For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to chains of gloomy darkness to be kept until the judgment (2 Peter 2:4).

There are three words for hell in the New Testament Greek: Hades, Gehenna, and Tartarus. The word Hades appears 10 times in the New Testament and refers to the grave or the place of the dead. The word Gehenna appears 12 times in the New Testament and refers to a firey place of punishment. Interestingly, each of those twelve times was spoken by Jesus - something clearly missed by the "Red Letter Christians". The context often makes it clear which one is being referred to:

"I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do. But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him!" (Luke 12:4-5)

Jesus is clearly speaking about something other than the grave here!

Thirdly, there is the word Tartarus, which appears only one time in the whole Bible. And that is in 2 Peter 2:4 which is quoted above. Tartarus describes the place where these demons mentioned in Jude 6 are chained up. Tartarus is a word that describes the “deepest abyss of hell”. These demons are so evil that God has already locked them up in Tartarus. It would seem that other demons were aware of this place. In Luke 8 Jesus has an encounter with a group of demons:

Jesus then asked him, "What is your name?" And he said, "Legion," for many demons had entered him. And they begged him not to command them to depart into the abyss. Now a large herd of pigs was feeding there on the hillside, and they begged him to let them enter these. So he gave them permission. (Luke 8:30-32)

Clearly the demons knew of this place and were terrified. We also see here that the demonic world still operates under the Sovereign rule of God and can only do what He allows. But what about these demons in Tartarus? Why were they there and what did they do. I’m going to give my theory here on who they are and what they did (I have good friends who differ with me on this). I believe you can only find one place in Scripture where this is mentioned:

When man began to multiply on the face of the land and daughters were born to them, the sons of God saw that the daughters of man were attractive. And they took as their wives any they chose. Then the LORD said, "My Spirit shall not abide in man forever, for he is flesh: his days shall be 120 years." The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. (Genesis 6:1-5)

The phrase “sons of God” appears in only two other places – in the first 2 chapters of the book of Job to describe certain angels or demons who sometimes come to speak with God together with Satan. What we see in Genesis here, I believe, is that these demons were breeding with the women and corrupting the human race with these giant hybrids. Not only was this perverse, but it was also probably an attempt by Satan to corrupt the human race and stop the Messiah who he knew would come one day, and who he knew must have full humanity as well as full Deity in order to be our sin bearing representative.

Jude is saying that just as God condemned the unbelieving Israelites in the desert after he brought them out of Egypt, and just as He chained up the demons that cross bred with human women, be certain of the damnation coming upon these false teachers that Jude is warning about.

So there we have the first example of God's judgment on apostates which concerned Israel and their rebellion in the wilderness after their deliverance from Egypt. The second example was that of the fallen angels which "did not keep their first estate". And next week we will examine the third historic example of God's judgment on apostates - the Gentiles in Sodom and Gomorrah! Stay tuned . . .

Go On To Part 13
Go Back To Part 11
Go Back To Part 1

Support For The Biblical View Of Creation - Evolution Debate (Part 4)

2011-10-05T01:58:00.000-07:00

There are many arguments I could use for the existance of God.

Ontological Argument – That there has to be a supreme being in the universe.

Cosmological Argument – That the law of cause and effect still requires a first cause or “unmoved mover” as many philosophers said.

Teleological Argument – This is the argument that I prefer to use. That if the world is designed then it must have a designer. In fact, the second law of thermodynamics disproves Evolution because it says that all systems decay over time left to themselves and yet evolution requires that more and more order would come from chaos through time and chance.

God has revealed Himself to us in three ways.

The first of these is the teleological argument. Take a look at where we are sitting. Was anybody here when this building was being built? Did anybody meet the builder? No – but we know this is a building that had a builder because we can see design in the building.

Take a look outside and you will see creation. We did not see it being Created and we might not have met the Creator but we know that a Creation must have a Creator. Don't you see the design? The earth is the perfect distance from the sun to support life. The earth is on the perfect angle to produce seasons and these seasons allow us to grow food that provides fuel for our bodies.

Many scientists are abandoning Darwinistic evolution since the discovery of DNA which is an amazing sophistacated human genetic code that is impossible to explain by time and chance.

In fact there is a massive list of top scientists at major and prestigious universities all around the world that are either rejecting or seriously questioning evolutionary theory which can be read here. There could even be more if not for the fact that professors and scientists who hold to a biblical creation view or reject Darwin's theory often get "blacklisted" as pointed out in the movie Expelled:

The Bible tells us:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse. (Romans 1:18-20)

The Second Way God Has Revealed Himself is through the human conscience. The bible teaches us that God has written his moral law on our human hearts. We know right from wrong. We know it is wrong to lie, and steal, and murder. But our nature is constantly against our morality. We desire to do things that we know is wrong. I did not grow up in a Christian home and I found this to be the strongest revelation. Why was I so angry when I heard about paedophiles when no one ever taught me that it was wrong. And why did I keep doing things that I know are wrong. I could see the design in creation. And my conscience told me that I was in trouble with this Creator.

Right now I want to do a test with you to see if your conscience is working. Have you ever told a lie? What do you call people who tell lies? Did you know that the Bible teaches that all liars will end up in hell! That may seem ridiculous but maybe this will help you understand.

If I lie to my daughter she can do nothing to me. If I lie to my wife I'll be sleeping on the sofa. If I lie to my boss he can fire me. And if I lie to the government they can throw me in jail. The higher the authority we sin against - the greater the consequences. What if God is an infinite and perfect authority??? Then our crimes against Him would be infinite. This is why there is a hell. Not only because of our sin but also because of God's perfect righteousness. If you ask the question how can a loving God send people to hell you are asking the wrong question. We should be asking how can anyone be saved from hell? And I will answer that question later.

Have you ever stolen something? What do you call someone who steals? Have you ever misused or blasphemed God's Name? That would make you a blasphemer. How about sex outside of marriage between one man and one woman? Jesus took that a step further and said even a sexual thought makes you guilty of adultery of the heart (Matthew 5:27-28) – have you ever done that? If you answered yes to the four conscience questions I asked then you are a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and an adulterer, and you have to face God on judgment day! How will you do? If your conscience is working then you will know that you are in big trouble. And that is just four of the ten commandments – there are six more! I will say more about this later.

They show that the work of the law is written on their hearts, while their conscience also bears witness, and their conflicting thoughts accuse or even excuse them on that day when, according to my gospel, God judges the secrets of men by Christ Jesus. (Romans 2:15-16)

The Third Way God Has Revealed Himself is in the Bible. This is when the atheist and the evolutionist try to laugh. But have you ever read the Bible? Are you open minded to the biggest selling book in history? It is true that the Bible is not a science text book and I am glad about that because science text books are full of errors. The Bible has never been proven wrong about anything. In fact, the Bible has been right about many things when science was wrong.

Jeremiah 33:22 (written 2500 years ago): “As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured.”
The Bible claimed that there are billions of stars (“host of heaven” is the biblical term for the stars). When it made this statement, no one knew how vast the numbers of stars were as only about 1,100 were observable. Now we know that there are billions of stars, and that they cannot be numbered.

Job 26:7 (written 3500 years ago): “He stretches out the north over the empty place, and hangs the earth upon nothing.”
The Bible claimed that the earth freely floated in space. Science then thought that the earth sat on a large animal. We now know that the earth has a free float in space.

Isaiah 40:22 (written 2800 years ago): “It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth.”
The Bible informs us here that the earth is round. At a time when science believed that the earth was flat, it was the Scriptures that inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world. He wrote: “It was the Lord who put it into my mind. I could feel His hand upon me...there is no question the inspiration was from the Holy Spirit because He comforted me with rays of marvelous illumination from the Holy Scriptures...” (From his diary, in reference to his discovery of “the New World”).

The Proof of Prophecy

One of the strongest arguments for the accuracy of the Bible is its 100% accuracy in predicting the future. These future predictions are called “prophecies.” The Old Testament was written between approximately 1450 BC and 430 BC. During that time, many predictions of the future were recorded in the Bible by God’s prophets. Of the events that were to have taken place by now, every one happened just the way they predicted it would. No other “sacred writing” has such perfectly accurate predictions of the future.

Most Reliable Document of Antiquity

The Bible is also the most reliable document of antiquity (prior to the printing press). Let's compare it with the most famous and reliable documents.

Josephus Jewish War is the main historical source for first century history. They have 9 manuscripts and the earliest manuscripts are 400 years after the original.

Tacitus wrote the Annals of Imperial Rome. We have 3 manuscripts the earliest being more than 800 years after the time of the original.

Seutonius wrote Lives of the Caesars. We have nearly 100 manuscripts the earliest being more than 900 years later.

Homers Iliad has 643 manuscripts the earliest being 500 years later.

The New Testament of the Bible has over 24000 full or partial manuscripts with the earliest being at the time of writing (earliest full manuscript 200 years later; earliest partial manuscripts are Rylands p52 which is dated 30 years after autograph and possibly 7q5 which is from the actual time of writing).

It is this Bible through which God has given His fullest revelation of Himself to us. It is this Bible that tells us that God created the world about 6000 years ago in six 24 hour days. It is this Bible that tells of God creating Adam and Eve the first people, their fall into sin, and their sin being passed onto every other human being. It is this Bible that tells us that God appeared as a man – The Lord Jesus Christ – to keep the laws that we have broken and suffer the punishment that we deserve. It is this Bible that tells of the resurrection of this Jesus Christ proving Who He said He was. It is this Bible that calls on all men everywhere to repent of their sinful rebellion and trust in Jesus Christ because He has fixed a day when He will judge all men in perfect righteousness. It is this Bible that says that the reason why people refuse to believe it is because men love darkness and hate the light and will not come to the light because this light will expose their evil deeds.

Go On To Part 5
Go Back To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

REFORMATION RESURRECTION 2012 - Phil Johnson Coming To Denmark

2011-10-03T01:00:00.000-07:00

The Tilbage Til Bibelen (Back to Scripture) network of Denmark is pleased to present Reformation Resurrection 2012 with keynote speaker Phil Johnson - an outstanding preacher who serves alongside John Macarthur at Grace Community Church and Grace To You ministry. Those close to me know that Phil is one of my favorite preachers and writers (his Pyromaniacs blog is theologically outstanding, satirically sharp, and a lot of fun to read). He is also one of the foremost experts on the life and ministry of Charles Spurgeon and is a fervent gatekeeper of the Spurgeon Archive. You may also be more familiar with Phil than you realize because every time you read a book by John Macarthur, Phil has been the chief agent behind the scenes taking Dr. Macarthur's expository sermons and converting/editing them for our bookshelves. Needless to say that I am thrilled with Phil's willingness to come and minister to us (you can read Phil's bio in more detail below as well as view a full length version of the sermon posted above).

Reformation Resurrection 2012 is a four day conference in the Danish countryside devoted to the furtherance of the Gospel in Europe and around the world. There is a lot of talk today about "new reformations" with new solutions to new problems. But we face the same problem today that we did 500 years ago - the pulpits of Europe have abandoned the Gospel. Reformation Resurrection 2012 is a rallying cry to the same solution that the reformers risked their lives to proclaim. That sinful men can be justified before a Holy God by grace alone, through faith alone, in Jesus Christ alone. And that this truth is faithfully proclaimed in God's Word alone, and to God's glory alone. The reformation isn't over - it just needs new life breathed into old truth. Men and women who are not ashamed of the glorious Gospel of Jesus Christ, the power of God unto salvation. Will you forsake the silence to join with us and be a voice in resurrecting the Reformation?

WHEN:
Tuesday July 10th to Friday July 13th 2012 (week 28).

WHERE:
Skroedstrup Boarding School
Skroedstrupvej 26
9550 Mariager
Denmark

Please Note: All on site accommodation filled quickly at our last conference. On site rooms will be allocated with priority given to families, those with disabilities, and those who book earliest. Reformation Resurrection 2012 will also offer onsite space for tents and caravans.

Here is an online map of the conference site:

View Larger Map

PRICES:

For Those Using Onsite Accomodation
These prices include all food and accomodation.
Adults: 700 Danish Kroner (500 for those in tents and caravans)
Students: 400 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 7-14: 300 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 400 Danish Kroner

For Those Making Their Own Accomodation Arrangements
Adults: 500 Danish Kroner
Students: 250 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 250 Danish Kroner

Day Visit
Adults: 200 Danish Kroner
Students: 150 Danish Kroner
Ages 0-6: Free
Ages 7-14: 50 Danish Kroner
Ages 15-20: 150 Danish Kroner
(Half Day is half price)

REMEMBER - All evening meetings are free of charge. Coffee and cake is also provided!

THEMES
Phil Johnson will be taking an expository sweep through John's three letters - 1 John, 2 John, and 3 John. We will get to see the beautiful simplicity of the true biblical Gospel and how it clearly distinguishes itself from all false versions.

TRANSLATION
The meetings will have Danish translation. The question and answer sessions will be in English only.

CHILDREN
Because Reformation Resurrection 2012 is a family camp, there will be teaching and activities for the children.

CONTACT:
Bookings are now open. Please email Carsten Jørgensen at carstenstampe@yahoo.com

FACEBOOK
You can join our new Facebook page as a friend to stay updated and help promote the conference to the widest possible audience. Look on Facebook for "Reformation Resurrection" and become a friend!

KEYNOTE SPEAKER:
Europe has an amazing heritage of godly men who thunderously and fearlessly preached the Gospel. Thus it is entirely appropriate that this years guest speaker is a man cut from the same die. Phil Johnson is the executive Director of Grace to You, a major global Christian teaching and radio ministry featuring the preaching of John MacArthur. Phil has been closely associated with John MacArthur since 1981 and edits most of MacArthur's major books. Phil pastors an adult fellowship group called GraceLife at Grace Community Church in Sun Valley, CA. He is a board member of The Martyn Lloyd-Jones Recordings Trust in England, and a member of the Fellowship of Independent Reformed Evangelicals (FIRE).

Phil studied at Southeastern Oklahoma State University for one year, then transferred to Moody Bible Institute, where he earned a bachelor's degree in theology (class of 1975). He also spent one year at a fundamentalist Baptist school in Tennessee, and took some courses in publishing and editing at the University of Chicago. He was an assistant pastor in St. Petersburg, Florida and an editor for Moody Press before moving to Southern California to take his current position in 1983.

Theologically, Phil is a committed Calvinist—with a decidedly Baptistic bent. (That explains his love for Charles Spurgeon). Phil is also an inveterate reader and bibliophile. Phil has a beautiful wife (Darlene), three grown sons, one fantastic daughter-in-law, a beagle, and a mortgage.

If you want a bigger taste of Phil's preaching then here is the full length version of the sermon excerpt posted above, it is well worth watching:

Christian Suffering In Islamic Pakistan

2011-10-01T23:08:00.000-07:00

Name: Asia Bibi
Location: Pakistan
Arrested: June 2009
Days Imprisoned: 833

Asia Bibi, a 37-year-old Pakistani woman from the village of Ittanwali, was arrested by police on Friday, June 19, 2009. Asia (also called Asia Noreen) is the wife of 50-year-old Ashiq Masih, and their family is one of only three Christian families in a village of 1,500 families.

Many of the local women, including Asia, work on the farm of Muslim landowner Muhammad Idrees. During their work, many of the Muslim women have pressured Asia to renounce Christianity and accept Islam. In June, the pressure became especially strong.

On Friday, June 19, there was an intense discussion among the women about their faith. The Muslim women told Asia about Islam. Asia responded by telling them about her faith in Christ. Asia told the Muslim women Christ had died on the cross for sins, then asked them what Mohammad had done for them, according to VOM sources. She told them Jesus is alive, but Mohammad is dead. “Our Christ is the true prophet of God,” she reportedly told them, “and yours is not true.”

Upon hearing this, the Muslim women became angry and began to beat Asia. Then some men took her and locked her in a room. They announced from the mosque loudspeakers that she would be punished by having her face blackened and being paraded through the village on a donkey. Local Christians informed the police, who took Asia into custody before the Muslims could carry out their plan. She was held at the police station in Nankana city. Christians there urged the police not to file blasphemy charges, but police claimed they were under pressure from local Muslim leaders.

Seventeen months after Asia’s arrest, she was convicted of violating subsection C of Pakistan’s 295 blasphemy law - blasphemy against the prophet Muhammad - and was sentenced to death. No Christian in Pakistan has ever been executed under the blasphemy law, but in several cases,extremists have murdered Christians after their release from prison. Asia’s conviction and death sentence have brought international attention to the country’s blasphemy laws. Christians have called for Asia’s release and for a repeal of the laws, while extremists in Pakistan continue to demand that she be executed.

The Voice of the Martyrs urges Christians around the world to pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Asia Missing Her Children
Because of safety concerns, Asia Bibi has not seen her children since December 2010. Her husband reports she misses them, but that she is doing as well as can be expected. After the death of two prominent politicians who were helping, Asia is worried about other Christians in Pakistan connected with her case. She prayed all night for them on March 5, 2011. She said, “Please continue praying for me with commitment.” Pray for Asia’s faith to stay strong and for her family.

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 11)

2011-09-30T01:00:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off last week on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Today we will take an interesting look at four false substitutes for the biblical doctrine of hell. This is a part of my verse by verse exposition through the Epistle of Jude for our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day- 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1-7)

Who is the major enemy in this war that we are called to fight in contending for this once for all delivered faith? Ultimately it is Satan who controls these false teachers that have crept into the church. Just as Jude comforts the Christians with the knowledge of God’s election, so he also assures them of the certain damnation of these false teachers or apostates. Jude gives three examples from history to remind his audience of the certainty of damnation for these apostates.

In verse 5 Jude reminds us that after rescuing Israel out of Egypt, God destroyed those who did not believe. In verse 6 he reminds them of the demons that did something that was extra evil and are now locked up in hell. And in verse 7 he gives an example of the of the Gentiles of Sodom and Gomorrah that practiced gross immorality and rampant homosexuality but were destroyed by God as rained eternal fire on those two cities.

The doctrine of hell is not a popular subject today. Many preachers try to pretend it’s not in the Bible because it is too scary and no one wants to go there which is actually the whole point! In verse 23 Jude reminds the church of how serious this is when he calls on them to:

save others by snatching them out of the fire (Jude 23a).

The fact that so many churches refuse to speak of hell and so many pastors find it contrary to God’s love only shows that they have no understanding of Who God is and who we are. If God is loving then He must also be wrathful. What do you think of those policemen in Muslim countries who look the other way when Muslims attack Christians and murder them right in front of the police station? They are unloving because they have no desire to punish evil. It is because God is good and loving that there must be a hell. Just as God loves all that is good he hates all that is evil.

God judgeth the righteous, and God is angry with the wicked every day. (Psalm 7:11)

The boastful shall not stand before your eyes; you hate all evildoers. (Psalm 5:5)

It is not just what we do but also Who He is. The Bible says that all liars will end up in hell. If that seems severe then think of this illustration that I use ad infinitum (it is worth repeating because it is worth memorizing). If I lie to my daughter, she can do nothing to me. If I lie to my wife I will be sleeping on the sofa. If I lie to my boss he can fire me. And if I lie to the government they can throw me in jail. Though the crime never changed the higher the authority the bigger the consequence. Now, what if God is an infinite authority, then all lies are an infinite crime. If God is infinitely Holy and He judges all of our actions, all of our words, and all of our thoughts and He is infinitely good and infinitely loving and infinitely righteous then it is heaven that should confuse us. We should really be asking the question how can anyone be right with God. And that is the right question to ask and I will answer that question later.

Before taking a closer look at verse 5 in Jude's letter it is worthwhile refuting four popular modern preaching ideas that try to get rid of hell or make it softer.

1. Annihilationism

This is the idea that hell is not eternal punishment but that the wicked will be destroyed and no longer exist. This idea has little basis in Scripture but comes more out of the emotions of those who cannot believe in eternal punishment. John Stott readily admitted this when articulating his annihilationist view. The silver bullet to this view is Matthew 25:46 which comes right at the end of the Jesus' frightening story of when the sheep (true converts) and the goats (false converts) will be separated:

And these will go away into eternal punishment, but the righteous into eternal life.

The two words "eternal" in this verse are known as a perfect greek pair. They are the mirror image of each other. To deny eternal punishment you must also deny eternal life because they both carry the same meaning in that verse.

2. Purgatory

This evil lie is an invention of the Catholic church found nowhere in Scripture. It is supposed to be a temporary hell where people can have their sins atoned for or paid for by some relative. The Catholic church used purgatory to make money by claiming that they could release dead relatives from purgatory if you paid them enough money. This evil practice is what provoked Martin Luther to nail his 95 theses to the church door in Wittenberg which was the bomb that started the reformation. Emergent church leader Greg Boyd actually teaches purgatory in the present day. But the idea is found nowhere in Scripture. There is eternal life and eternal punishment and once we are dead it is too late.

3. Hell Is Separation From God

This modern evangelical phrase shows itself to be worthless in the clear light of Scripture:

If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name. (Revelation 14:9-11 emphasis mine)

4. The Fire, Darkness and Punishment are Symbols

John Piper says that:

Even if I try to make the Lake Of Fire a symbol, I am confronted with the terrifying thought that symbols are not overstatements but understatements of reality. Jesus did not choose these symbols to tell us that hell is easier than burning (Brothers We Are Not Professionals P114).

The truth is that if we preach hell as something totally horrifying, then it actually makes salvation more meaningful and wonderful. The wrath of God is real and something that should terrify us. It is the reason that Jesus trembled in the garden and sweated drops of blood asking if there was another way. The Jews did not scare Jesus, neither did the Romans, and neither did Satan. But the Lord asked if He could avoid the “cup”. What was that “cup” – it was the cup of God’s wrath that had to be poured out on Him as a substitute in the place those who deserved God’s wrath but trusted in Him as the One who would pay for their sins. When we preach hell and God’s wrath in full terror then we are magnifying His love and salvation.

So in Jude verse 4 the church is reminded that the false teachers among them "who long ago were designated for this condemnation". Verses 5-7 are a lesson in history to remind us that this damnation is absolutely certain and we will explore this lesson from history next week . . .

Go On To Part 12
Go Back To Part 10
Go Back To Part 1

The Big Questions - Evolution Debate (Part 3)

2011-09-28T00:32:00.000-07:00

Where do I come from?

We go to the very first verse in the Bible to get the answer

In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. (Genesis 1:1)

God created the world around 6000 years ago over 6 days. He took six days to fill and shape the earth with land, seas, animals, and, of course, man.

Verses 26 and 27 tell us:

Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. (Genesis 1:26-27)

Jesus taught this scientific fact in the New Testament:

But from the beginning of creation, 'God made them male and female.' (Mark 10:6)

The Christian world view teaches that man was created by Almighty God in His image. That man has always been man since the creation of the world.

Why am I here?

Christianity teaches that you are not an accident but have been created with a purpose. To live a life that brings glory to God and to enter into eternal life with Him in the next life.

For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God's.... Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God. (1 Corinthians 6:20; 10:31)

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created. (Revelation 4:11)

Where am I going?

It is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment (Hebrews 9:27b)

The reason for this judgment is that we are all going to live for eternity in either heaven or hell.

Heaven is described in the Bible:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away." (Revelation 21:3-4)

Hell is also described as a place where people will:

drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night (Revelation 14:10a,11a).

My opponent's answers to these questions were similar to those in the video below, though dressed in "nicer clothes". William Provine (the man in the video) is a world-famous evolutionary professor at Cornell University who featured in the movie "Expelled". Using my gift of the best possible construction I would have to say that Provine is an honest evolutionist:

Provine's comments are even more chilling in the light of the fact that he has a very serious illness! Lord please open his eyes . . .

Go On To Part 4
Go Back To Part 2
Go Back To Part 1

Watch "180" Now - Shocking Award Winning Documentary

2011-09-26T01:00:00.000-07:00

On behalf of my friend Ray Comfort I am excited and honored to be a part of today's giant launch of their brand new movie "180"! This is a documentary that I had the privilege of previewing before release and I can assure you that it is a shocking, absorbing, and God honoring 33 minutes of your time. See people recant their pro-abortion views within seconds as they are interviewed by Ray Comfort. Without any further delay, here is "180"! (Click on the four arrow icon in the bottom right hand corner of the video box to convert it to full screen display.)

Shock Therapy For Modern Evangellyfishes

2011-09-24T23:45:00.000-07:00

Several people I have spoken to recently have told me of their fears of speaking to people or even giving out tracts. Several of these people have told me of their need to be pushed. Well many of us need to stop and examine ourselves right now. Ask yourself this question, do I love my self respect more than lost souls and glorifying God's Name?

WATCH THIS VIDEO!!

A Reality Check
People in Denmark, where I live, are generally very worried about what people think about them. This goes for the typical church goer as well. I strongly suspect much of the west is the same. Folks we need to get past this. Jesus told us:

"If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you" (John 15:18-19).

The Apostle Paul also said:

"But thanks be to God, who in Christ always leads us in triumphal procession, and through us spreads the fragrance of the knowledge of him everywhere. For we are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing, to one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life (II Coritnhians 2:14-16).

True Christians are the smell of life to those being saved and the smell of death to those perishing. Some people just aren't going to like us. And that's just it, someone mightn't like you or call you a name. There are many Christians right now having their bodies hacked into pieces just because they are Christians. How dare we even be preoccupied with our own fragile selfesteem.

The disciples always taught:

"that we must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of God" (Acts 14:22).

So if you're trying to avoid tribulation you're probably trying to avoid God's Kingdom. Just stop and think about it for a moment.

"Yea, and all that will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution" (II Timothy 3:12).

So you can try and avoid persecution or embrace it as something honorable to go through for the Name of Him who suffered so much for us (please don't confuse this with offending people through acting like a jerk). Either way, persecution will come!

So in Denmark, persecution means a little personal rejection . . . what does it mean in India right now???

Many tears have been shed as I have prepared this blog post. It comes from seeing the suffering of my persecuted brothers and sisters while I watch on in my westernised affluence, I also cry as I am reminded that the blood of the martyrs is precious in God's sight, and I pray to God that he would give me courage and strength to ceaselessly testify of my wonderful Savior when I face Satan's henchmen. Watching these videos also makes me so mad at all these churches trying to preach "your best life now" all the while remaining silent on our precious suffering brothers and sisters in India. Pray for them and speak up with the Gospel. It is glorious and Christ is so worthy to be preached.

"Therefore, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us also lay aside every weight, and sin which clings so closely, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking to Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider him who endured from sinners such hostility against himself, so that you may not grow weary or fainthearted" (Hebrews 12:1-3).

Exposing And Expelling Heretics (Part 10)

2011-09-23T01:01:00.000-07:00

Today we pick up from where we left off on our expository journey through the Epistle of Jude. Jude represents the first expository assignment I have been tasked with in our church plant in Denmark - Kristuskirken. Though short in length, Jude is a letter jam packed with information on why we should hunt down false teachers that conceal themselves in the church, how we should identify them, and that we as Christians should go to war against them secure in the knowledge of being kept in the safety of God's preserving grace. Much of the credit for this series must go to John MacArthur whose teaching on this Epistle has been my major source.

1 Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: 2 May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you. 3 Beloved, although I was very eager to write to you about our common salvation, I found it necessary to write appealing to you to contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints. 4 For certain people have crept in unnoticed who long ago were designated for this condemnation, ungodly people, who pervert the grace of our God into sensuality and deny our only Master and Lord, Jesus Christ. 5 Now I want to remind you, although you once fully knew it, that Jesus, who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. 6 And the angels who did not stay within their own position of authority, but left their proper dwelling, he has kept in eternal chains under gloomy darkness until the judgment of the great day- 7 just as Sodom and Gomorrah and the surrounding cities, which likewise indulged in sexual immorality and pursued unnatural desire, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. (Jude 1-7)

Knowing history can be a life and death issue as we learnt in the previous post when looking at the unfolding tragedy of the Book of Judges. Jude also recognizes the importance of history and gives a lesson on this subject in verses five to seven. But first, let’s take a quick look back at the first four verses of Jude to see the reason for this history lesson. As we learnt earlier Jude, who wrote this letter, was actually the Lord’s half brother (they shared the same mother). He was originally an unbeliever but was probably converted sometime after the resurrection. He now called himself a servant of the Lord Jesus but we also learnt that the correct translation of that word or servant, which is doulos in the Greek, should actually read “slave”. Jude’s life was no longer his own and his life was not his own, he was bought with a price and ready to die for the Lord. His devotion was so great that he needed to write this letter to warn the church about false teachers that were among them. We see in verse three that he wanted to write about their commen salvation but the dangerous situation made it necessary to write a letter warning the church about the false teachers and calling them to fight for the true Gospel with those words "contend for the faith that was once for all delivered to the saints".

Jude also wanted to comfort the church in the knowledge of God’s election as we see in verse 1. Those who are called are loved by God. And those who are loved by God are kept by God:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. (Romans 8:28-30)

We can enter the battlefield secure in the knowledge of God’s calling, loving, and keeping. And we are called to battle:

Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus. No soldier gets entangled in civilian pursuits, since his aim is to please the one who enlisted him. (2 Timothy 2:3-4)

And who is the enemy in this war? Ultimately it is Satan who controls these false teachers that have sneaked into the church. Just as Jude comforts the Christians with the knowledge of God’s election, so he also assures them of the certain damnation of these false teachers or apostates.

Go On To Part 11
Go Back To Part 9
Go Back To Part 1

Opening Remarks - Evolution Debate (Part 2)

2011-09-21T01:00:00.000-07:00

I have been asked by a lot of people in the last few weeks on both sides of the Atlantic (and Pacific) about my recent debate over creation vs evolution with Lars Viggers who is a college biology teacher in Denmark. What I intend to do over the coming weeks is post the entirety of my presentation for three reasons. Firstly because I did not get to present much of my research due to an inexperienced moderator (not that I am experienced either) who deviated a long way from the originally planned structure of the debate. Secondly because I believe the real facts surrounding the debate are very edifying for all true Christians. And thirdly because I believe there is a lot of very useful information for the Christian layman to use when contending for the Christian faith/worldview in our everyday secular lives.

Later on, I will also give my verdict on Lars' arguments that he brought to the debating table. I realize that this blog is not exclusively read by Christians and that some readers may question my objectivity. To those people I would say hey, all I can do is give my opinion (and yes, none of us are unbiased, I just happen to have a strong bias for the truth) and you can do with that what you will. To those who would object to my not posting Lars' presentation, there is a reason for that. Lars did not really come to the debate with any serious written presentation. Otherwise I would love to post Lars' arguments because most of them ultimately turned out to either support my worldview or expose evolutionary theory as a religion with no real scientific basis. With that said, today we start with my opening remarks:

First and foremost I ask you, the audience, for patience with me because I do find it difficult to discuss technical things in the Danish language. I may ask for help sometimes tonight and I hope you will understand that it will be to help me explain some things that are too advanced for my limited Danish.

My name is Cameron and I am a preacher and missionary who works in a factory. I am married to a beautiful Danish wife and we have three children. My main work in Denmark is in preaching and teaching the Bible. I have never been in a debate before and I am not coming here tonight to try and win a fight because there is a good chance that Lars is much smarter than me. There is also the slight chance that he may be a little better at Danish than me.

But I am here tonight because I think it is about time that the THEORY of evolution stopped being taught as a fact and I think everyone here deserves the opportunity to hear the facts that the Danish education system hides from you.

If you are here tonight to hear a debate between religion and science then you can forget it. The Danish schools don't want religion taught in their schools and yet that is exactly what you get with evolution! It is a religion with no scientific proof at all. True empirical science is observable, testable, repeatable, and measurable. That is why we have the LAW of gravity because it is observable, testable, repeatable, and measureable. Evolution is none of these things – nobody has seen a monkey turn into a man, tested it, repeated it, or measured it. It is a bigger fairytale than anything ever written by your very own Hans Christian Andersen. My opponent tonight is a man of great faith, because I personally don't have enough faith to believe that nothing created everything.

And Lars, please don't think that evidence of monkeys turning into different types of monkeys is evidence. That is just variation within a species. What you need to do to prove your case tonight is show proof of monkeys becoming humans. Species to species change – evolutionists need to prove this!

I am hopeful that my lack of experience in debate and my lack of formal education will only help to show that the true scientific evidence is very simple and very clear:

1. That “Darwin's theory of evolution” is still called a theory because it has no proof.
2. That the “missing link” is still called the “missing link” because no one has ever found it.
3. And that “creation” is still called “creation” because it has a Creator!

Go On To Part 3
Go Back To Part 1

Evolution's Phony Chasm Between Science And Christianity - Evolution Debate (Part 1)

2011-09-19T03:32:00.000-07:00

Many of my friends are aware of my recent debate with a Danish biology teacher on the subject of creation vs evolution. I have been asked a lot about this event and plan to discuss it over the coming weeks. Today, I thought a good start point would be to examine the true relationship between science and Biblical Christianity. Because there are a lot of "educators" who don't want you to know this! Highly decorated anthropologist, educator, philosopher, and natural science writer Loren Eiseley wrote that science "demands some kind of unique soil to flourish." Eiseley went on to reluctantly concede that this unique soil was in fact "the Christian world which finally gave birth in a clear, articulate fashion to the experimental method of science itself".

The scientific method is built upon presuppositions, all of which, cannot be verified by this scientific method. These presuppositions include the reality of the universe, the knowability of nature, the uniform laws that nature is subject to, the predictability of its behavior, and that measurable causes underlie all observable effects. It would seem that the modern world of evolutionary science is heavily invested in concealing the fact that all these presuppositions find their sole affirmation within the pages of the Biblical Text.

This has become a nasty form of historical revisionism because the truth of the matter is that the scientific endeavor was pioneered by Christians like Copernicus, Johnannes Kepler, and Jean-Baptiste van Helmont. These men saw science's ultimate goal as the pursuit of greater knowledge of the Creator, and they considered this a God given calling! What the modern "guardians" of evolutionary science veil behind all their empty rhetoric is the reality that theology was established in institutes of higher learning as the "Queen of the Sciences". Michael Patton says that theology was "understood to be the first among pursuits of knowledge, since it was believed that all other pursuits were vitally linked to its dictates. Morality was dictated by it. Philosophy was called its handmaiden. Why was it held in such high esteem then? Because theology itself provides a foundation for your philosophy and worldview, which in turn sets inclinations for your heart, actions, and decisions in all situations." Many Americans would be surprised to know that universities like Yale, Harvard, and Princeton (to name a few) were all established to train missionaries and Christian ministers.

Richard Dawkins leads the brigade of "modern scientific" gurus who pit science and religion (more specifically Biblical Christianity) as warring factions for the hearts and minds of humanity. It would seem that Dawkins does not ascribe to theology as "Queen of the sciences" when he rhetorically asks "What has 'theology' ever said that is of the smallest use to anybody? When has 'theology' ever said anything that is demonstrably true and is not obvious? What makes you think that 'theology' is a subject at all?". Yet when Professor Dawkins continually refers to Darwin's theory of evolution as "the fact of evolution" he exposes himself as an apologist for his own religion, not a good scientist. True science is measurable, testable, repeatable, and observable - all of which have no connection to Darwin's theory of cell to creature evolution. Darwin's theory is still called a theory because it is not a fact! The "missing link" is still called the "missing link" because no one has ever found it! And the creation is still called creation because it has a Creator!

This all points to the first chapter of Romans where Paul says:

For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse (Romans 1:18-20).

This is the great big cosmic "no-brainer" which Dawkins unwittingly affirms when he says that:

The God of the Old Testament is arguably the most unpleasant character in all fiction: jealous and proud of it; a petty, unjust, unforgiving control-freak; a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic cleanser; a misogynistic, homophobic, racist, infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential, megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously malevolent bully (The God Delusion p51).

This is not an argument against God's existence, it is an argument for Dawkins' hatred of the God he denies (it would seem that Richard Dawkins has learned a way to make a good living from being a bad theologian which just goes to show that this is not exclusively the domain of prosperity preachers on TV).

This brings us to ground zero of the atheistic evolutionary worldview. That their main objection to God's existence is not based on their knowledge but is rather driven by their morality. The Lord Jesus affirmed this just after the most famous verse in the Bible when He said:

And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil. For everyone who does wicked things hates the light and does not come to the light, lest his works should be exposed (John 3:19-20).

These verses remind us that the atheist's primary problem with God's existence is that he loves sin and hates God. It is also a humbling reminder of my own condition before God graciously saved me. It also serves to remind us that all evangelism should revolve around the moral issues of sin, righteousness, and judgment rather than the endless rabbit trail of intellectual debate. Because Biblical theology is the "Queen of science" and evolutionary theory is just bad theology.

Go On To Part 2