Monkey Scheme

So you can sing along:

Monkey Scheme
by http://www.apologetix.com/

Here they come -- talkin' down at me -- I get the funniest looks ‘cause -- I said I don't believe / They say we were monkeys -- They think they're sayin' something profound / But where's their missing link at? There weren't any bodies found / They built a man from a hog's tooth -- They called a lie the truth / And any time they get busted -- They sell you something new / They say we were monkeys -- I think that they've been monkeyin' around / Cause they're too busy changin' their books and their studies 'round / They're just tryin' to defend it -- they got a lot to re-explain / Where they've done excavation -- they keep uncoverin' mistakes / Any time -- or anywhere -- Just look over the boulders -- You'll see that man's been there / They say we were monkeys -- I think their heads are stuck in the ground / Cause they're too busy diggin' and putting the Bible down

SPOKEN:
Java Man was the skull of a gibbon; Nebraska Man was the tooth of a pig and / The Piltdown Man was a lowdown sham; They built that man from an organutan / Ramapithicus wasn't complete; He's a fragment of jaw and a couple of teeth / Addition skeletons show us today that he isn't our relative -- only an ape / Australapithicus alias Lucy, The fossil of this is just vague and confusing / The wonderful knee bone they're proud to possess was 200 feet deeper -- a mile from the rest / Neanderthal Man was prob'ly deficient in Vitamin D or it might've been rickets / But he had religion and musical instruments, fire and tools and from you he's no different

They say we were monkeys but people came from dust in the ground / But they're too busy thinkin’ to look into what we've found / They're just kinda pretending, but I know why they seem afraid / If we come from creation, you need God’s son to be saved / They say we were monkeys but there was no evidence found / Still you'd better get ready -- They'll make it up anyhow...

"Ray, why do Creationists find it funny that you say bananas are designed to fit the human hand and that that is testament to the genius of the Creator? Why would it be funny to them? To my knowledge you've never answered this question, and I don't think that you can." Raoul Rheits

This is a great question. It’s because Christians have a sense of humor, and recognize a little wit when they see it. Almost all of my audios have humor in them, but I rarely use it on this blog. The reason for this, is because even though many atheists have a great sense of humor, the bitter and angry ones (that I mostly deal with) have no sense of humor at all.

The banana routine was meant to be funny (something I have said from the beginning). I even thought it was funny. Christians thought it was funny. My mistake was doing it on television without a live audience, and some humorless atheists took it seriously. Perhaps we should have used a laughing-track so that they could have spotted it.

But now Thunderf00t has made this video which vindicates me, by showing a live audience who are responding with laughter. He has even created another one called "Creationist Cowards Diss Darwin" in which he not only promotes my books, but he gives my website address.

Maybe Thunderf00t has been thinking about the discussion we had about God. Maybe he’s been reading his Bible. Maybe he’s a closet Christia . . . Nah.

My Friend Thunderf00t Sees the Fruit in Bananas

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yqB4FOlCtls

I was honored to be interviewed recently by "The Friendly Atheist": http://friendlyatheist.com/2009/11/26/interview-with-ray-comfort/#comments/

The responses in the comments section are interesting.

Happy Thanksgiving

Please take extra care. On a normal day, around 102 people die in traffic accidents in the United States.

Last year, 502 people were killed on the road on Thanksgiving. A spokesman for AAA, said that the combined factors of more than 50% more drivers on the road and higher-than-usual alcohol consumption contribute to its danger.

Richard Dawkins...a Little Upset

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/science/11/25/darwin.dawkins.evolution/

Just a Little Embarrassing...

"The two children chosen to front Richard Dawkins’s latest assault on God could not look more free of the misery he associates with religious baggage. With the slogan 'Please don’t label me. Let me grow up and choose for myself', the youngsters with broad grins seem to be the perfect advertisement for the new atheism being promoted by Professor Dawkins and the British Humanist Association. Except that they are about as far from atheism as it is possible to be. The Times can reveal that Charlotte, 8, and Ollie, 7, are from one of the country’s most devout Christian families."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article6925781.ece

We have been living in Southern California for nearly 21 years, and I have noticed something interesting about those who were born here. They complain if the temperature is down to 60F in winter, and I have one friend who even gets depressed if it’s a cloudy day. It often doesn’t rain for six months. This is because many of them think that the rest of the world has weather like this. We get day after day of windless days and cloudless skies. That’s not what the rest of the world is like.

I come from the South Island of New Zealand. It has weather that’s similar to San Francisco. Wind, rain, clouds, and storms are normal. When it’s a cloudless day with a deep blue sky, everyone talks about what a nice day it is. No one does that in Southern California. They take the good weather for granted.

Recently, I have been watching World War II in HD, and have been brought to tears at the thought of the sacrifice made by so many, so that we could have liberty. If their blood hadn’t been shed we would be speaking German or Japanese, rather than English and we certainly wouldn’t have what we have today. These courageous men and women gave their lives so that we could live in a country that gave individuals freedom.

The United States is a country where books can be freely given out in universities. It’s a country that allows those who want to, to rip out portions they don’t like, or to burn them, and there’s no fear of any repercussions. We can even get onto a soapbox and have the free exchange of ideas. These are wonderful liberties that many other countries don’t have. They are freedoms that came to us at great cost, and we must never take them for granted.

Gift Basket For Richard Dawkins

http://multivu.prnewswire.com/mnr/freedomnow/41278/

Yes...I had a banana put into the basket, but I didn't say who the gift basket was from. I will leave him to formulate a theory on its origin.

I noticed that the Secular Student Alliance went to some expense printing quality bookmarks with a full color picture of a banana on them, that were supposed to be given to everyone who took a copy of On the Origin of Species. Owing to our date change, no doubt they have a lot left over.

If someone has contacts with the SSA, could you please let them know that I will gladly pay their printer's bill for the bookmarks.

Have them email me care of Mark@livingwaters.com

Some of Today’s Comments

"Ray, I'm sick of you. You are one of the most horrible people I have ever known of...I hate violence. I think at times it is necessary, but an ugly necessity nonetheless...I hate you, hope you have a heart attack sometime soon, and don't care in the least if you never let me on this crappy blog again. It's like a huge digital train wreck that I can't stop looking at."

"Ok guys and gals, stick to the plan on the 19th. Get your hands on as many free copies of Ray's book. Cut out the first 54 pages of filth."

"It's not all that hard to predict the outcome at Berkeley. Especially with individuals such as yourself. You're all about a deception within a deception. And knowing this, many will act accordingly. Have fun choking on your own bile on the 19th."

We had a change of plans. We went in on the 18th.

Dear atheists,

I won't be posting for a few days. Something else is going on. I will update you with details after the 19th.

Here's something to watch while I'm away:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=39eYYYaB9Yc

This is funny:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXwZM81XDUA&feature=player_embedded

"It seems much more likely that a number of small changes over the course of millions of years led to the complexity we see today. If not, how do you explain things like the blind spot in the human eye? The fact that our urinary tract runs through the prostate? The tail all embryos have and some babies are born with? The fact that we breathe and eat through the same hole? None of those make sense in light of special creation, but they do make sense when you actually understand the processes of evolution." Mark P

I must point out the language of speculation that you are forced to use in your opening sentence. Words like "seems" and "likely" are always present when a Darwinian believer speaks of what he believes. Let’s address your issues. I don’t have a blind spot in my eye. Both of them see very well and I am thankful for the 137million light sensitive cells that make sight possible. Do you have a blind spot in your eye? If you do, I suggest that you see an optician and see if he can either fix it, or get you another eye.

You may detect a little sarcasm, which I think is thoroughly justified. To think that a camera lens could create itself is insane, but to believe that the human eyes, and the eyes in 1.4 million different species created themselves, is off the charts.

The prostate wraps around the tube that carries urine out of your bladder. If you think evolution caused the prostrate to wrap around the tube, and you think it's a poor design, then you have a problem with the designing mind of evolution.

As far as I know, all mammal embryos have "tails." The embryo has to end somewhere. Leaves have tail endings, dogs have tails, and Darwin had the biggest tale of all, and you believed him, so now you think we came from fish. But the ending of the embryo isn’t vestigial, and neither is the "tail" bone in human beings. Without it you wouldn’t be able to go to the bathroom each day because the muscles that make it possible would have nothing with which to connect..

Finally, to breathing. The next time you have a bad cold and your nose is really stuffed up, take a moment to thank God that He gave you another opening that allows you to breathe. Then use that opening to confess your sins, forsake them, and then trust in the Savior so that you will be forgiven on the Day of Judgment.

Thoughtful Comment:
"Perhaps Ray was using 'blind spot' in a different meaning before you all jumped him...

Blind Spot: A subject about which one is markedly ignorant or prejudiced.

Thanks for all you Evolutionary Atheists admitting to your blind spot. A subject about which one is markedly ignorant or prejudiced."

See 2 Corinthians 4:4

"Can a truly saved Christian believe in evolution? If not then does that mean we need to believe in a literal flood, Young Earth Creation perspective etc?" Unregenerate

A Christian can believe in fairies, if he wishes. While I wouldn’t doubt the salvation of one who did, I may doubt his sanity. This is because Christianity doesn’t come from what you believe (although that is part of the equation), it comes from who you know.

Let me back up a little to explain what I mean. The Bible teaches the Jesus Christ was pre-existent before He was manifest in human form. He claimed to be the source of life, saying things like "I am the life" (see John 11:25, 14:6, John 1:4). When someone repents and believes the gospel (that Jesus Christ died for his sin and rose on the third day), he places his trust in the Savior and comes to "know" God. Then God "seals" the believer with the Holy Spirit. Jesus Christ "who is our life" dwells within the believer (see John 14:16-18). The Scriptures say "Christ, who is in you" (see Colossians 1:27). Jesus said that he would come to and would actually dwell within the Christian through the Holy Spirit (see John 14:21).

Here now is the bottom line. If you have Jesus Christ, you have life, irrespective of your denomination. God knows those that love Him. If you don’t have Jesus Christ (through the new birth of John 3:3), you don’t have life. You are still dead in your sins and justly under the condemnation of God (see John 3:17-18). Here’s the pivotal verses:

"He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life. These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, that you may know that you have eternal life..."(1 John 5:12-13).

That said, if you have the Son of God, then the Holy Spirit will lead you into all truth (see John 16:13). Your theology in time will become “sound,” and you will align your beliefs with those truths revealed in Holy Scripture, because it is God’s revelation to mankind. If the Old Testament says there was a literal flood (Jesus did also), the Christian cannot believe otherwise. If the Bible says that the earth freely floats in space when “science” of the time said that it didn’t (see Job 26:7), the Christian quickly sides with the Bible.

In the case of evolution, Scripture is very clear that God made man in His image (not as a primate). He made him and all the animal kingdom as male and female ("Evolutionary biology is unable to reveal why animals would abandon asexual reproduction in favor of more costly and inefficient sexual reproduction."[1]), and He gave them (and every living animal) the ability to reproduce "after their own kind," and not to evolve in time into other "kinds" or species of animals. We see the truth of all of the above both in the fossil record and in the creation that surrounds us.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] http://www.trueorigin.org/sex01.asp

The World's Greatest Surgeons

CBS recently showed a clip of Charla Nash, the poor woman whose face and hands were chewed off by a 200 pound chimpanzee. The anchorman warned viewers that what they were about to see was graphic. It certainly was. Charla no longer has a human face. She had no face at all. She didn’t have a nose, a mouth, or eyelids. Her hands were chewed off and she had to eat through a straw. And we think that we have problems.

The world’s greatest surgeons didn’t know how to recreate (let alone create) her face. The problem was that she didn’t have any features for them to work with. So they couldn’t give her eyelids, a nose, a mouth or even hands.

A nose is made of living, breathing skin, blood, blood vessels, glands, nerves, muscle and cartilage. Human beings can distinguish more than 10,000 different smells, which are detected by specialized olfactory receptor neurons lining the nose. It is thought that there are hundreds of different olfactory receptors, each encoded by a different gene and each recognizing different odorants. Making a nose is no small feat. The mouth is made of the softness of lips, blood vessels, blood, nerves, salivary glands, etc. Working eyelids are also a slight problem. Give it a little thought. How would you start making one?

This is why atheistic evolution is the dumbest of dumb theories. Darwinism is the philosophy of a mad-man. Human genius doesn’t know where to start to create even a nose, but the atheist believes that nothing created everything, and that the "something" that that nothing was, wasn’t intelligent.

What an unspeakable embarrassment--that the pinnacle of God’s creation would stoop to such stupidity.

P.s. Do a little digging and I bet my bottom dollar that it will be a Christian church that will rally around this poor woman, comfort her and help her through life.

Mr. Shock Jock

I subjected myself to about 20 minutes of listening to Howard Stern recently, as he let off steam about the Origin of Species into schools giveaway. I can certainly understand why he is called a shock-jock. Wow! I was really shocked to hear how professionally uninformed he was.

In a mere 20 minutes he managed to mess up American history twice, he kept calling Kirk Cameron a "kid," when Kirk has six kids himself. Mr. Stern had no idea that his last movie brought in more than 34 million dollars. He was confused as to why we are giving the books to students.

Add to that, that he surmised that he was a good person, despite the fact that his vocabulary came directly from the walls of a public restroom. Of course, Howard isn't a good person; he’s just like the rest of us. His dirty mouth revealed his dirty heart.

So it’s my earnest prayer that Mr. Stern finds a place of genuine repentance and faith in Jesus, so that God can cleanse his dirty heart as He did mine, before the Day of Judgment.

Imagine that--Howard Stern a Christian! Now that would be a real shock.

Release: Atheist Youth Movement Leads Charge Against Anti-Darwin Book Project

November 10, 2009

For Release: IMMEDIATELY UPON RECEIPT

Contact: August Brunsman – (614) 441-9588 – august@secularstudents.org

COLUMBUS, Ohio – The Secular Student Alliance is mobilizing student groups to counter the Living Waters Ministry program to distribute an edition of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species containing a special introduction misrepresenting the book’s claims. The SSA national leadership is encouraging its campus affiliates to schedule protests, host speakers, write letters to the editor, show films, and distribute the original version of Darwin’s 150-year old masterpiece.

“We’re asking students to respond proactively. We believe the best way to respond to misinformation is with a positive, educational campaign,” says August Brunsman, executive director for the Secular Student Alliance.

Living Waters Ministry, an evangelical ministry group headed by Ray Comfort and actor Kirk Cameron, calls the project The Origin into Schools Project. It plans to print an edition of Origin of Species with a 50-page introduction that attempts to cast doubt on the theory of evolution and connect Charles Darwin to Adolf Hitler. Over 100,000 copies are set to be distributed to over 100 college campus across the country and in Canada.

Students are aware that the distributors have the first amendment right to pass out their anti-evolution literature, but are being encouraged by the Secular Student Alliance to use their own rights to respond with a friendly, science-based message.

The Secular Student Alliance at Yale University, for example, has plans to set up a table promoting "alternative theories on sexual education," appropriately named Students for Stork Acknowledgment.

"People engaged in such lunatic endeavors are legitimized by opponents who attempt to take them seriously. My organization intends no such legitimization," stated Michael Wright, president of SSA at Yale, adding that past attempts at rational debate with creationists have failed, "but where reason fails, satire triumphs."

The Secular Student Alliance is assisting campus groups by providing resources from national groups like The Center for Inquiry, National Center for Science Education, the Brights, and the Richard Dawkins Foundation for Reason and Science in order to combat misinformation on campus. Secular Student Alliance has also partnered with the creators of Flock of Dodos, the 2006 documentary highlighting the debate over evolution, granting the rights to students who wish to show the film on campus.

Nov. 24 marks the 150th anniversary of the original Origin of Species, and books and protests are set to hit campuses around that time. Students can find ways to get involved at www.secularstudents.org/origininschools.

The Secular Student Alliance is an educational nonprofit whose mission is to organize, unite, educate and serve students and student communities that promote the ideals of scientific rationality, secularism, democracy, and human-based ethics. Learn more at http://www.secularstudents.org.

-- This press release was sent to you by the Secular Student Alliance, 1515 W. Lane Ave., Columbus, OH 43221. You are not on a list that will be reused. This relesae was sent to you because we believe you are a member of the media that would be interested in this story. If you do not want to receive press releases from the Secular Student Alliance, please email August Brunsman at august@secularstudents.org.

67 Now his father Zacharias was filled with the Holy Spirit, and prophesied, saying: 68 “Blessed is the Lord God of Israel, for He has visited and redeemed His people, 69 and has raised up a horn of salvation for us in the house of His servant David, 70 as He spoke by the mouth of His holy prophets, who have been since the world began, 71 that we should be saved from our enemies and from the hand of all who hate us, 72 to perform the mercy promised to our fathers and to remember His holy covenant, 73 the oath which He swore to our father Abraham: 74 to grant us that we, being delivered from the hand of our enemies, might serve Him without fear, 75 in holiness and righteousness before Him all the days of our life.

Zacharius prophesied of the future, in the present tense. This is because when God says He will do something, it is done. The moment God promised to buy His people back from the grip of death, it was completed because God doesn’t lie. Ever.

Think now of a man who has seriously violated civil law. He is guilty of multiple grizzly murders, is arrested and held without bail. He is no longer free to come and go as he pleases. He can’t live within his own home, sleep in his own bed, or go out for a meal with friends. He is held captive by the law until the time of his execution. Governments will spend millions of dollars to hold a criminal such as that, until justice is done.

In the same way, when you and I sin, we seriously transgress God’s Law--the Ten Commandments. We are told in Scripture that the Law is perfect, holy, just and good. It demands absolute moral perfection, and when its perfect precepts are transgressed, it demands (and will get) absolute retribution. Every time we sin all we do is store up the Law's wrath, and the day will come when God manifests His righteous indignation against all evil. The Bible calls that day, "the day of the wrath of Almighty God." So each of us is kept in this large holding cell called earth, until the time of our execution when we will be the recipients of capital punishment, and then damned forever from that which is good.

So shake off any notions you may have that God doesn’t care about right of wrong. Shake off any pretense that He doesn’t exist, and then flee to the Savior. He will save you from your greatest enemy--death itself:

"But now we have been delivered from the law, having died to what we were held by, so that we should serve in the newness of the Spirit and not in the oldness of the letter" (Romans 7:6).

66 And all those who heard them kept them in their hearts, saying, "What kind of child will this be?"And the hand of the Lord was with him.

How wonderful it is to have the hand of the Lord with us, rather than against us. Until we find peace with God through the cross, His hand is certainly against us. His wrath abides on us (see John 3:36) and we are enemies of God in our minds because of our "wicked works." But the moment we come to the Savior, everything changes. We turn from the path of sin and begin a new walk--on the path of righteousness (see Psalm 23). We want to do that which is right and good and just.

Have you ever had the unpleasant experience of having to drive towards to the sun just before it sets? You can’t see anything clearly. Every speck of dirt and slight smudge becomes a glaring obstacle on the windshield. That’s what it is like just before we repent and trust in Jesus Christ. The light of God's Law shines on and exposes every dirty little sin. Like David (when he was caught in his sin), we say "For I acknowledge my transgressions, and my sin is always before me' (Psalm 51:3).

But think of how different it is to drive with the sun behind you in the early morning. Everything looks bright, clean and clear. That is what it is like after we turn away from sin through repentance and faith in Jesus. Everything becomes new and bright. We have a new heart with new desires. We want to run to God not away from Him. No longer is life and death some cosmic mystery. We know the truth and the truth makes us free. Everything becomes clear. We know why we were born, the purpose for our existence, the reason for death, and how to find everlasting life. Not only do we have peace with God, but we have the peace of God. No long are we an enemy of God, but we are His friend. All this can happened because Jesus Christ suffered for the sin of the world and rose from death on the third day, so that the hand of the Lord could be with us.

Back to Doctor Luke

61 But they said to her, "There is no one among your relatives who is called by this name." 62 So they made signs to his father—what he would have him called. 63 And he asked for a writing tablet, and wrote, saying, "His name is John." So they all marveled. 64 Immediately his mouth was opened and his tongue loosed, and he spoke, praising God. 65 Then fear came on all who dwelt around them; and all these sayings were discussed throughout all the hill country of Judea.

If you remember, Zacharius refused to believe what God said to him through His angel. He therefore deemed God to be a liar. That is the insult of unbelief, and he was punished by God for his sin by being struck dumb. However, the moment he became obedient to God by naming his son John, God did a personal miracle for him. His mouth was opened and his tongue was loosed.

Disobedience comes naturally to all human beings--anyone who has kids can tell you that. We don’t have to teach our children to be selfish, to lie, to be greedy, or to be rebellious. We are born rebels. Yet, despite the multitude of sins that we each have, God will do a miracle for us the moment we obey Him. Speaking of Jesus, the Bible says "though He was a Son, yet He learned obedience by the things which He suffered. And having been perfected, He became the author of eternal salvation to all who obey Him..." (Hebrews 5:8-9).

Jesus is the "author" of eternal salvation. That means He grants everlasting life to anyone who obeys Him. Why should you obey Him? What has He done for you? He gave you eyes to see His incredible creation, ears to enjoy music and the sounds of the birds He created. He gave you the ability to love, to laugh, to sing, to think. He lavished His kindness upon you by giving you the gift of live itself. Have you thanked God for your life, and asked what He would have you do? The moment you obey the gospel you will no longer be dumb. God will open your mouth and you will speak of His kindness and praise Him for His goodness, much to the distain of a proud and rebellious world:

"I will bless the Lord at all times; His praise shall continually be in my mouth. My soul shall make its boast in the Lord; the humble shall hear of it and be glad" (Psalm 34:1-2).

Dr. Scott's Rebuttal

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/11/03/scientist-genie-scotts-last-word-to-creationist-ray-comfort-there-you-go-again.html

Only For Thinkers

"I don't want to go to Hell... It sounds awful. However, to devote my entire life to avoiding such a fate I would need to have at least a little bit of credible evidence that Hell exists, which thus far I have yet to hear despite going to church weekly for 18 years and frequenting this blog for several months. Some say the evidence should be in my conscience, but I really do not feel any guilt when I lust after a woman or work on the Sabbath, so I will need more than just that. Any insight from Ray or any of the other Christians on this blog would be much appreciated."

Millions go to church and don’t know the Lord. The Bible warns that in the last days there will be a "form of godliness." A "form" means that it’s not genuine. It’s just an outward appearance, and that certainly is what we see today. You managed to stick it out for 18 years. Many suffer the boredom of religion for a lifetime, and tragically still die unsaved.

The way some deal with the thought of Hell is to pretend that God doesn’t exist. But think for a moment of Stonehenge--the famous British rock group. Why do people make such a song and dance about the assemblage of a few rocks? Because of its amazing formation. Its existence tells us that it was intelligently designed. No one in his right mind could think that it just happened by itself. It has composition. Yet the atheist looks at all the amazing structure in this beautifully balanced planet, and says that there was no Designer. So atheism is out for a thinker.

The next refuge for a sin-loving sinner is the sin of "idolatry." That’s when you concede that there is a God but, you make one up in your own mind. A convenient god to have is one who has no sense of Justice, and therefore couldn’t care less about whether or not the wicked are punished. Both atheism and idolatry allow guilt-free lust, pornography, fornication, adultery and whatever else comes to our sinful minds. However, idolatry is delusional. Making up a non-existent god is ridiculous. So it’s out for a thinker.

That leaves a Creator who is intelligent enough to have a sense of right and wrong. That leaves those who have sinned in big trouble, but we will only be aware of our sins if our God-given conscience is doing its duty. Do you know why leprosy is such a horrible disease? It's because it destroys our sense of pain. Instead of moving our body around when sitting or sleeping because of mild pain, a leper remains still, and that stops the blood-flow, causing the flesh to rot. When your conscience no longer causes you pain, it will let your very soul rot with the disease of sin.

Have you ever watched a movie where you are longing for the evil guy to get what’s coming to him? When he gets it you rejoice. It's a good feeling when justice is done. Guess what? We are the evil guy. The best of us is filled with lying, stealing, lust, greed, envy, ingratitude, self-righteousness, blasphemy--blinded by our love for sin, and when all that sin comes out on the day of Judgment, Hell will be what we have justly coming to us. Justice will be done. God offers you mercy in the Savior He provided. Ignore Him at your own eternal peril.

"I Don't Believe in Deities."

"I'm called an 'atheist' because I have no beliefs in deities. I also don't believe in what you call 'creation'. i.e. a 'deity' made everything from nothing. I don’t even believe that there was such a thing as 'creation'. That is not to say I discount it as a possibility, I just don't believe it. I don't believe in a 'first cause' as there is nothing I can observe in nature that is remotely analogous. I don't believe there was ever literally 'nothing'."

I realize that you are not saying that you don't believe that there are "deities"--gods that belong to different religions. You are rather saying that you don’t believe that those "gods" are a reality. They are false gods. In that we agree. They are merely wood, or stone, or only exist in the imaginations of these who bow down to them.

You contend that we don't live in "creation," obviously because that has strong connotations that there was a Creator. I can understand why you do that. You also say that you don’t believe in a "first cause" because you can’t see anything in nature that would remotely suggest that there was one.

May I suggest to you that this is because you don’t believe there is a creation. If I say I don’t believe there is a building, it is going to logically follow that I don’t believe that there was a builder. I can understand your logic in that. But then you say "I don't believe there was ever literally 'nothing.'" So you therefore must believe that there was literally something. What was that "something," and how did it get here? No doubt your answer will be "We don’t know. . . but we are working on it."

I am consoled that I don’t have to argue with such illogical beliefs. I know that every sane person knows that God exists, and that they deny His existence because of His moral government. They don’t want God telling them what to do, because they love their sins. How do I know this? Because the Bible (the Manual that tells us the inner-workings of human nature) tells me so.

My agenda as a Christian, is simply to warn you that (even though you said five times that you "don't believe") you will stand before a holy God who has seen every sin you have ever committed. On Judgment Day He will give you exactly what you deserve--and Hell is a fearful place. I don’t want you to go there, and as long as there is breath in my lungs I will plead with you and every unsaved person on this earth to repent and trust Jesus Christ:

"Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God" (Hebrews 3:12).

Pic. One of the many Hindu gods

Taking us Seriously

"Till you theists approach these serious questions honestly (i.e. drop quote mining, repeating nonsense like atheist believe 'everything from nothing' Evolution leads to Nazism, etc...) and provide answers of substance (with logic and objective evidence), then you have no rational basis to expect others to take you seriously."

Sadly, you are like a man who is slowly sinking in quicksand. You are about to face a terrible death and we are telling you that there is something you can do to get out. Instead of believing us, you rail at us that we should have answers to questions that you consider to be rational. Yet you are the one with the problem, not us. You are in the shadow of death, we aren’t. We have been saved from death.

I know that most of you think I’m deluded, or that I’m a snake oil salesman, or that I’m in this to get rich from my books. That’s just not true. I don't get royalties through books that are sold through my ministry. I draw an average wage. I don’t own a car. I ride a bike to work. I don’t have a jet. I fly domestic. Almost every time of the more than 5,000 times I have preached the gospel in the open air, I have given away money, not taken it. There’s no charge for you to be on this blog, and I don’t have advertising on it so that I can make money from it.

I say these things so that you can’t use me as an excuse for staying in your sins. I have cared enough about you to do all I can to warn you. I am completely free from your blood. That’s the Bible way of saying that I warned you about the reality of Hell, and you wouldn’t listen. You will be damned because of your own sins, and you will have no one to blame but yourself.

A Genuine Apology

I’m going to try and put this so that it can’t be taken out of context. I sincerely apologize for misrepresenting what Darwinian evolution says about the origin of males and females. I have checked out the references you have given me as to what the theory has to say about their genesis, read them again and again, and I still don’t understand what you believe. It doesn’t make sense to me because I can’t reconcile what I see in creation with what you would have me believe about evolution. Still, that doesn’t give me the right to misrepresent your beliefs, even if it was done in ignorance.

I know that many of you will not accept this in the spirit it is given, and will demand apologies for my non-acceptance of your supposed transitional forms and how a true atheist believes that nothing created everything. Sorry, no apologies there.

The reason for the apology is because my agenda isn’t primarily to convince you that evolution is wrong, or even that God exists. It to see you saved from a very real Hell through repentance and faith in Jesus, and I don’t want to unnecessarily offend you by something that doesn’t matter in the light of eternity.

My Rebuttal to Dr. Scott

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/god-and-country/2009/11/02/ray-comfort-responds-to-genie-scott-on-creationist-origin-of-species.html

Interesting comment

Captain Howdy said..."So, what should we believe instead...(God) just 'poofed' everything into existence?"

Carl responded...Dear Capt'n,
What about the "poofs" you have faith in?
Poof! Explosive dust cloud to planetary systems and galaxies!
Poof! Bacteria from primordial soup.
Poof! Cambrian explosion!
Poof! Invertebrates to vertebrates!
Poof! Fish to land animals!
Poof! Dinosaurs to birds!
Poof! Reptiles to mammals!
Poof! Apes to man!

Lots of poof but no proof.
John 1: "All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being."

A National Outcry

We live in what many call "the age of tolerance." Never before has a generation been so sensitive to the ethnicity, the sexual diversity of people groups, or the beliefs and concerns of others. This is a generation that not only cares about animals, about smoke-free zones and the general environment, they care about people.

Can you imagine the outcry if a university (under the guise of freedom of speech) allowed students to have a "Black Day International Event," where white students, with the blessing of authorities, spent the day chalking the sidewalks with the "n" word and other racial slurs? There would be a national outcry. Or imagine if a university condoned a "Gay Day International Event," where students were free to write slurs about homosexuals. Such would be deemed "hate speech," have severe repercussions, and make national news.

Early in October of 2009, the University of Northern Iowa allowed a group of atheist students who saw themselves as "Freethinkers," host a "Blasphemy Day International event." This was a day that they said was "devoted to the defense of free speech and blasphemy." They spent the day chalking blasphemous messages and sexually perverted cartoons depicting Jesus. Their president said, "There was a lot of kind of lowbrow chalking, I would guess, and there was some profanity. While that’s not what I chalked, and that’s not something I would chalk, I definitely support our members chalking whatever they want to chalk, because it was a day to protect free speech."

I’m not concerned about the childish acts of the atheists. What concerns me is the blatant hypocrisy of the university in allowing such juvenile behavior. I'm concerned, but not surprised.

Post Script: The atheist’s typical response to this post is: "The difference here is that blasphemy is a victimless crime." But that is not true. The blasphemer is the victim:

"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain. For the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain."

Blasphemers are victims of their own willful ignorance. They are guilty of a most serious crime against God and unless they repent they will be punished to the full extent, despite their unbelief.

A Very Good Question

"Is there free will in Heaven? If there is free will in Heaven is it possible to sin in Heaven? If the answer to either of those questions is no then clearly either free will is not as important as you make out OR it is possible for God to give people free will AND remove the ability for them to sin. God can apparently do anything. So why could he not have created beings that had both free will and lacked the ability to sin?" Rabbitpirate

Most Christians believe that God allowed the Fall because He didn’t want to make us as "robots." He therefore gave us a free will, and that entailed the freedom to choose right and wrong. That explanation has never satisfied me. This is because it is (hopefully) evident that in Heaven, God isn’t going to give the vast sea of redeemed humanity the ability to sin. That didn’t work with just one couple, so it’s not going to work with innumerable multitudes. So we will clearly live in a state where we aren’t robots but we won’t have the capability to sin. That makes sense. The question then arises as to why God didn’t do that with Adam and Eve. Why did He create them with the freedom of choice, and therefore allow them to bring all this misery, death and an impending Hell upon the entire human race.

That’s the first of two questions that I will humbly and with due reverence ask when I get to Heaven.

The second is, "Why does God allow children to suffer?" I’m not talking about suffering the pain of a broken leg or some sort of temporal disease. I’m talking about excruciating pain from a disease that sucks out their life, leaving them as a skeleton, and then taking them terrified to an untimely grave. If He is loving and kind, why doesn’t He heal them? He has the power to do so. Nothing is impossible for God. So why not heal them? The atheist therefore concludes that God is either a tyrant or He doesn’t exist.

Here’s why I am still a Christian despite my unanswered questions. I know that the sun exists. I also know that it is directly responsible for the agonizing deaths of many innocent people. Deserts are littered with the dry bones of those who found themselves under its terrible burning heat. I know that there are holes in this analogy because the sun isn't a thinking rational part of God's creation, but my point is, do I then conclude that the sun doesn’t exist because it killed these people?

I can't deny the reality of the existence of God simply because I have unanswered questions. I know He exists because of the axiom of creation. I know He exists because I know Him experientially, and have an all-consuming love for Him that embraces all of my heart, mind, soul and strength. I’m not angered, worried, frustrated, concerned or upset by these questions, because I love and trust Him. I know that the time will come when I find out the answers, and I don't mind waiting.