June 10, 2017

"Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." Mark 13:31

How about some more evidence of the veracity of the Bible? So far we have given three examples and today I will offer a fourth, the amazing survival of the Bible despite continual relentless vicious attacks aimed against it.

Four, The Miraculous Survival of Scripture

Consider:

French humanist, Voltaire, (1700) boastfully proclaimed, "one hundred years from now the world will hear no more of the Bible." Yet, in the year of his boast, the British museum purchased a manuscript of the Greek New Testament for $500,000 while the first edition of Voltaire's new book sold for eight cents a copy! Furthermore, fifty years after the death of Voltaire, Bibles were being printed by the Geneva Bible Society in the very house where Voltaire lived and on his own printing press!

Late 7th Century B.C.--King Johioakim of Judah threw the scroll of Jeremiah's prophecy into the fire; however, God simply had his prophet write the same words again with additional material (Jeremiah 36:21-32).

William Tyndale (1500), after the invention of the printing press, put the Bible in his common language. Priests and bishops burned thousands of copies of his translation as a "burnt offering most pleasing to the Almighty God". He too was burned at the stake. His last words were, "Lord, open the King of England's eyes!" Less than three years after that, King Henry VIII authorized the publication of the Great Bible. This version was a combination of the Tyndale Bible and that of Miles Coverdale. A copy was chained to every pulpit in England so that everyone could read it.

Mid-20th century--A patient in an American hospital in Turkey was given a Bible. When dismissed from the hospital, he took the Bible back to his hometown in Turkey and proudly showed it to his friends. A Muslim teacher* snatched it from him, tore out its pages and threw them into the street. The young man was afraid to pick them up. A passing grocer, however, did and took them and used them for wrapping paper. Before long, they were scattered all over the town. His costumers read the pages and returned to him for more. In a few days the entire Bible was distributed to interested readers. When a Bible salesman came to town, he was surprised to find a hundred people eager to purchase the Word of God!

Doesn't it seem that Someone wants the Word to survive? Could it be the same Someone Who declared, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away."

Doesn't it also seem evident that someone else doesn't want it to survive? Could that be the powers of darkness, those enemies of God who fear the Truth and want to keep us ignorant?

Guess who is winning!?

God, the Holy Spirit, has inspired the Word. God, the Son, became the Word. God, the Father, has miraculously preserved the Word.

So, what will you do with it?

Scientific Accuracy

"He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in." Isaiah 40:22

Third, Scientific Accuracy

Many people have been conditioned to think that science and Scripture are incompatible. In fact, nothing could be further from the truth. Centuries before medieval scholars had figured out the world wasn't flat, the Bible announced its curvature. (Isaiah 40:22) Numerous other scientific principles are announced in the Scriptures long before they were discovered and confirmed by scientific methods.

Consider these amazing revelations:

* The roundness of the earth (see Isaiah 40:22)

* The almost infinite extent of the universe (see Isaiah 55:9)

* Law of conservation of mass and energy (see II Peter 3:7)

* The hydrologic cycle (see Eccles. 1:7)

* Vast number of stars (see Jeremiah 33:22)

* The law of increasing entropy (see Psalm 102:25-27)

* The vital importance of blood in life processes (see Lev. 17:11)

* Atmospheric circulation (see Eccles. 1:6)

* The gravitational field (Job 26:7)

None of these revelations are couched in technical scientific jargon, but nonetheless, they bring to light facts about the universe that were not previously known. How were these advanced scientific truths revealed? Even though they would not be widely studied or understood for centuries, God's Word reveals them in various portions of Scripture.

How did these ancient writers know these elements of nature when they had not studied them and when they were not readily known? Lucky guess? I don't think so!

They could only know these natural truths if they were divinely revealed by One Who is supernatural!

If God could reveal these facts centuries before they were proven by accepted scientific methods, maybe He can be trusted to inspire the rest of the Scriptures, too! Since He was right in these predictions, maybe we can trust His veracity in the other Books of Scripture!

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to believe in God's Word!

June 8, 2017

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1:1-4

Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, was a well-respected physician in his day. He wasn't the kind who takes wooden nickels. Luke wasn't afraid to ask the hard question and was in a constant search for truth. His Gospel is written to give a historical documentation of the truth of this new faith called Christianity. Since his primary audience was the Greeks, he had to make sure his arguments were solid and proven. He did. They are!

That brings us to our second proof of the authenticity of the Bible:

Second, Historical Accuracy

Quoting Alex McFarland, "The historical accuracy of the Scriptures is in a class by itself, far superior to the written records of Egypt, Assyria, and other ancient nations. Archaeological confirmations of the biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last century."

Dr. Nelson Glueck, is regarded by many as the greatest modern authority on Israeli archaeology. He observed, "No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible."

Here are a few of the document archaeological finds that support biblical claims:

Old Testament discoveries:

The city of Jericho (by the way, the walls DID fall in)

The city of Nineveh

Ur, which had Ziggurats (similar to what scholars had imagined the Tower of Babel would have resembled).

Babylon, a clay fragment was unearthed there with the following inscription referring to one particular ziggurate: "Offended the gods, was destroyed at night....people scattered with speech made strange." (sound familiar?)

Meggido, the failure to discover this city was cited as a criticism against the authenticity of the Old Testament. But guess what? It was recently discovered and was found to be where, indeed, Solomon kept his stables for 450 horses. (See I Kings 9 and II Chronicles 8)

This is just a partial list, but impressive historical documentation for any open-minded researcher.

Want some New Testament historical evidence?

The following places referenced in the New Testament have been verified by archaeological finds:

Bethany

Bethlehem

Bethesda

Cesarea

Cana - in 725 A.D. an inscription was found referencing "Cana, near Nazareth" and referring to the "miracle of the wine."

Capernaum

Emmaus

Again, this is only a partial list of the archaeological documentations.

Skeptics, atheists, and agnostics put their confidence in historical records and manuscripts far less documented than the Old and New Testaments. So, faith ultimately becomes and issue of the heart not the head.

For those of you who have given your hearts to Jesus, here is some good stuff to wrap your head around!

Historical Accuracy of the Bible

"Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. Therefore, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, it seemed good also to me to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus, so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught." Luke 1:1-4

Luke, who wrote the Gospel of Luke, was a well-respected physician in his day. He wasn't the kind who takes wooden nickels. Luke wasn't afraid to ask the hard question and was in a constant search for truth. His Gospel is written to give a historical documentation of the truth of this new faith called Christianity. Since his primary audience was the Greeks, he had to make sure his arguments were solid and proven. He did. They are!

That brings us to our second proof of the authenticity of the Bible:

Second, Historical Accuracy

Quoting Alex McFarland, "The historical accuracy of the Scriptures is in a class by itself, far superior to the written records of Egypt, Assyria, and other ancient nations. Archaeological confirmations of the biblical record have been almost innumerable in the last century."

Dr. Nelson Glueck, is regarded by many as the greatest modern authority on Israeli archaeology. He observed, "No archaeological discovery has ever controverted a biblical reference. Scores of archaeological findings have been made which confirm in clear outline or in exact detail historical statements in the Bible."

Here are a few of the document archaeological finds that support biblical claims:

Old Testament discoveries:

The city of Jericho (by the way, the walls DID fall in)

The city of Nineveh

Ur, which had Ziggurats (similar to what scholars had imagined the Tower of Babel would have resembled).

Babylon, a clay fragment was unearthed there with the following inscription referring to one particular ziggurate: "Offended the gods, was destroyed at night....people scattered with speech made strange." (sound familiar?)

Meggido, the failure to discover this city was cited as a criticism against the authenticity of the Old Testament. But guess what? It was recently discovered and was found to be where, indeed, Solomon kept his stables for 450 horses. (See I Kings 9 and II Chronicles 8)

This is just a partial list, but impressive historical documentation for any open-minded researcher.

Want some New Testament historical evidence?

The following places referenced in the New Testament have been verified by archaeological finds:

Bethany

Bethlehem

Bethesda

Cesarea

Cana - in 725 A.D. an inscription was found referencing "Cana, near Nazareth" and referring to the "miracle of the wine."

Capernaum

Emmaus

Again, this is only a partial list of the archaeological documentations.

Skeptics, atheists, and agnostics put their confidence in historical records and manuscripts far less documented than the Old and New Testaments. So, faith ultimately becomes and issue of the heart not the head.

For those of you who have given your hearts to Jesus, here is some good stuff to wrap your head around!

June 6, 2017

I want to honor my amazing wife on this the 30th Anniversary of our wedding! Barbara, you have been a tremendous blessing in my life. Thank you for sharing this journey with me. It has been a blast! Shall we say, "A blessed blast?"

"That man should not think he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all he does." James 1:7-8

Can a Christian believe in evolution? Is it possible for the two ideas about our origins to be reconciled or melded into a coherent explanation? Could God have used evolution to create the world?

Let's take a logical think about that.

Obviously, a confessed believer fully accepts the biblical account of creation as conclusive truth. To believe otherwise would be to conclude that part of the Bible is untrue. That doesn't work because if any of the Word is untrue then all of it is untrue. So, that presents a HUGE problem.

For Christians, the final arbiter of faith is the Bible, the Word of God. Does the Bible answer this question? Did God anticipate this debate and offer us some guidance?

Yes, He did!

In addition to the Genesis account of creation, consider these Scripture references:

* In Mark 10:6, Jesus quotes from a Genesis passage when He says, "From the beginning of the creation, God 'made them male and female'."

God didn't "morph" them or evolve them, He hand made them!

* Paul writes in Colossians 1:16-17, "For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist."

* John 1:10 explains, "He [Jesus] was in the world, and the world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not."

Still not convinced? Let me ask you a couple of questions. Why would you not want to accept the biblical account of creation with God as the Creator? If you know Him you know He is well able to create anything He desires. Evolution at best, marginalizes God's handiwork and at worst it denies it. Why would you want to do that?

Let's let Jesus have the final word on this issue. As usual, He asks this probing question, "For if you believed Moses, you would believe Me; for he wrote about Me. But if you do not believe his writings , how will you believe My words?"

So, what part of "God created" don't you understand?

May 5, 2017

"The fool has said in his heart, 'There is no God." Psalm 14:1

One of the big themes of recent posts has been the contention that behind the push for Evolution and against Creationism is the promotion of an anti-God agenda. Most of the prime movers of this agenda show an arrogance and an ignorance that refuses to acknowledge God and to demean the intelligence of those who do.

When the Psalmist wrote the Psalm I referenced above, he was referring not to the intelligence or the intellect of a person who denies the existence of God and His role in the origin of man, it refers to his morality. The word "fool" means "morally deficient". Question the morality of anyone who denies Creation.

Early attacks in this movement began with attacks on the veracity of the Bible and then challenges to the Christian foundation of our nation. Fortunately, there are still a few courageous and principled men who are willing to stand for the truth. Watch this and be encouraged.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpQOCvthw-o

Know what you believe. Know why you believe it. Live like you believe it and stand courageously for it!

June 4, 2017

"Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world? For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe." I Corinthians 1:20-21

Evolutionists try to infer that those of us who believe in Creation and Intelligent Design are simple-minded fools. They imply that we are intellectually inferior because we "cling to faith and religious fables".

The purpose of this post is to show that Christians who believe in the Genesis account of Creation do not have to be intimidated by evolutionists. We ARE people of faith, but it takes a giant leap of faith to embrace the "Big Bang" and evolution as the origins of the universe.

Consider this reference to former atheistic evolutionist, Fred Hoyle, an astronomer who, in 1953, figured out the preconditions necessary for the formation of carbon. He reasoned that the likelihood of this happening by chance, as the Big Bang theory suggests, were phenomenally low, and this revelation lead him to convert from atheism to a belief that the universe reflects a "purposeful intelligence." Hoyle admitted that the 'probability of life originating at random is so utterly minuscule as to make the random concept absurd.'" Again, Hoyle's conclusion does not prove that there is a God or an Intelligent Designer; however, it is important to note that Hoyle's intellectual honesty about evolution led him to the conclusion that it, too, required a great act of faith. Hoyle's conclusions then, suggest that it takes as much or more faith to believe in evolution than it does to believe in a purposeful Designer.1

Hoyle is not alone. Over the past century and a half, paleontologists have examined an estimated 1 billion fossils representing 250,000 to be the oldest in which fossils of living creatures have been found. Interestingly, all of these remains found within the Cambrian rocks are fossils of fully formed creatures. Life-complete, fully mature creatures - appears en masse.

This "Cambrian explosion" - the term coined to refer to the puzzling fact that these creatures seemed to have "burst on the scene" -- brings to the surface a fact particularly troubling for the evolutionary theory. Each of these living forms appears suddenly - completely developed - in fossil record, not through gradual transition as evolution would suggest. Charles Darwin himself recognized that the earth's fossil record does not reveal this long-sought "intermediate varieties." Regarding this complete lack of transitional fossils, Darwin had to admit, "This, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory."

So, with a complete and honest examination of the evidence, it takes a greater leap of faith - and logic - to believe that God did NOT create the universe. 

Who is the fool and who is the wise man?

1 -"The 10 Most Common Objections to Christianity" - Alex McFarland, pp. 58-59