A Conflict in the Bible?

"From the Bible John 3:13: 'No one has ever gone into heaven except the one who came from heaven—the Son of Man.' Also from the Bible 2 Kings:2:11 'As they were walking along and talking together, suddenly a chariot of fire and horses of fire appeared and separated the two of them, and Elijah went up to heaven in a whirlwind.' Hmmm seems to be a conflict there. Iago

There's no conflict at all. The Tabernacle, spoken of so often in the Book of Hebrews, is an earthly representation of Heaven. As with Heaven, the Tabernacle had three parts to it. The first was the "Courtyard," then "the Holy Place," and finally "the Holy of Holies." If anyone entered the Holy of Holies (the very presence of God and the Ark of the Covenant) he would be instantly killed by the Justice of God because of his personal sins. There had to be a blood sacrifice to provide a temporary covering for his sin. The high priest, God’s chosen mediator with His people, could only enter that area once a year, on a prescribed day called "the Day of Atonement."

So anyone who died before the redemptive work of the Savior (the shedding of His blood on the cross), didn’t go into the presence of God in Heaven, but into the part of Heaven called "Paradise" (see Luke 23:43). If you study the death of Lazarus (Luke 16:20-31) you will see that he went to "Abraham’s Bosom" (another name for Paradise). The Apostle Paul spoke of actually seeing Paradise (see 2 Corinthians 12:2-4).

A thick curtain separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The Temple in Jerusalem was a replica of the tabernacle, having a massive 60 foot high, 30 foot wide, 4 inch thick curtain that separated the Holy Place from the Holy of Holies. The moment Jesus cried "It is finished," that curtain ripped “from the top to the bottom” (see Mark 15:38). The tearing of it from the top down, meant this act must have come from above, signifying that God Himself had provided a way for sinners to enter His presence, and thus live forever.

Each of those who entered Paradise didn't go there because they were good people. They were sinners who were saved by the grace and mercy of God, through the simplicity of faith (trust). They trusted that God would eventually provide a Savior, so that their sins could be completely forgiven (you can read all about this in Hebrews 11).

So Elijah would have gone into the first heaven (Paradise) until Jesus completed His redemptive work. Nowadays, all who die in Christ (trusting in His shed blood) go straight into the presence of God. Their sins are forever forgiven.

American Atheists do it Again...

Thanks to my generous friends at American Atheists, Inc., even more people are talking about the Christmas message this year. The organization spent $20,000 to get people, reasoning, thinking, and talking about God.

American Atheists, Inc., (God bless them) are very generous people. In April of 2001, at their expense, they flew me 3,000 miles from California to Florida to speak at their annual convention. They kindly put me in a luxury hotel, gave me a large fruit basket, let me preach the entire gospel, and also allowed me to make my books available to their people.

So let's support their efforts, and pray that people who see their signs asking them to "reason," don't just accept things in blind faith.

Each of us needs to go further than just having an intellectual "belief" about God. We need to repent and trust the Savior; then we will come to know Him and be assured of everlasting life.

Reason is a good thing. God Himself speaks of reasoning with this sinful world:

"'Come now, and let us reason together,' Says the Lord, 'Though your sins are like scarlet, They shall be as white as snow...'" (Isaiah 1:18).

So be reasonable. Repent and trust in the Savior today, and on Judgment Day you will be as pure as the driven Christmas snow.

P.s. Maybe the American Atheists, Inc., would take a little advice from a little Kiwi, so that their billboard text would be more meaningful this Christmas. I would just add two words at the beginning.

Atheistic evolution: "You KNOW it's a Myth. This Season, Celebrate REASON!"

Welcome to the Atheist Church

"And he came down with them, and stood in the plain, and the company of his disciples, and a great multitude of people out of all Judaea and Jerusalem, and from the sea coast of Tyre and Sidon, which came to hear him, and to be healed of their diseases; And they that were vexed with unclean spirits: and they were healed. And the whole multitude sought to touch him: for there went virtue out of him, and healed them all" (Luke 5:17-19).

The skeptic says that Christianity is "a catch-22." This phrase was coined by Joseph Heller in his novel Catch-22. It is in reference to "a logical paradox arising from a situation in which an individual needs something that can only be acquired by not being in that very situation." They level that Christianity is "You have to first believe before you believe." But that's not true. It is rather "You have to trust before you discover something is true." If you doubt that a plane could fly you, the way to see if it can is to take a step of faith and get into it. Your doubts would disappear the moment it flies.

The issue with planes has little bearing on life. But the issue with Christianity has everything to do with where you will spend eternity.

The multitude sought to touch Jesus. This was because the people that touched Him were healed of their diseases. Of course, any good skeptic would have stood back and done what skeptics do best. He would have been skeptical. However, those skeptics who wanted to find truth merely had to press in and touch Him to experience the "virtue" (power) that flowed out of Him.

So skeptic, do what the multitude did. Reach out and touch the Lord. There’s the gauntlet. Repent and trust in Him and the power will flow into you. The same power that touched sinners in Thessalonica 2,000 years ago is open to you today:

"For our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power, and in the Holy Spirit and in much assurance..." (1 Thessalonians 1:5).

Pig Out...

"If I were God I'd take it as a bit of a slap in the face that you'd single out one day to thank me. Yeah, all your prayers count and all but everyday should be Thanksgiving Day. Every waking second should be devoted to worship, every word out of your mouth should be solely about God. You should sleep no more than three hours a night and eat no more than a piece of bread a day. You should be beggars for God, instead you indulge in the meat of a dead animal, call yourself a Christian?" Andy Duchemin

This is what convinces me that God's hand is on you. You are beginning to see what God requires of each of us, because the work of the Law is written on your heart (see Romans chapter 2). In other words, you have a God-given conscience that tells you exactly what is wanted of you.

Of course He requires more than the one day a year that we call "Thanksgiving." The essence of the First of the Ten Commandments ("You shall have no other gods before Me"), isn't simply that we set aside one day each year to thank Him. It commands that we love God with all of our heart, mind, soul, and strength, and that we love every other person as much as we love ourselves. It goes even deeper than that. God requires that all other affections--for mother, father, brother, sister, husband, wife, etc., should seem like hated, compared to the love we have for the God that gave them and our own life to us.

And how do we live up to that Commandment? Do we love God that much. No. We give God one day a year. We use His holy name as a cuss word, and there are even some who show such contempt for Him, that they deny the reality of His existence, calling "creation" another word, so that they are not intellectually obligated to acknowledge a Creator. However, God doesn’t require an intellectual acknowledgement of His existence. He requires absolute obedience to His moral Law. The above is only one of the Ten Commandments.

Every one of us fall infinitely short of all of the Ten Commandments. We are unthankful and ungrateful, blasphemous, sin-loving, enemies of God, who are under His just wrath. But He is rich in mercy, will freely forgive all who repent and trust in Jesus Christ, and grant them everlasting life.

So when you point your finger at a Christian and judge him for falling short of God's Law, you are also judging and condemning yourself. That's what Romans 2 addresses. As for eating food; the Bible says that He gives His beloved sleep, and He gave us all things to richly enjoy. So get right with God, kill the fatted calf, indulge yourself, and go and have a good old snooze.

Happy Thanksgiving

Today is the day that Americans celebrate "Thanksgiving." Most will gladly give thanks to where it is due--to God; for life, for health, for loved ones, and for liberty. A few though will gather for a Thanksgiving feast and thank no one. This is because they believe that they are beholden to no one. They think that they are the product of blind chance, mere apes, cousins of bananas, with no purpose in life, not knowing their origin, or their eternal destiny.

Nevertheless, I thank God for the faithful Atheists that frequent Atheist Central, and I pray that despite their ingratitude, He continues to give them life and health.

Happy Thanksgiving to all of you who live in the United States, and to those of you in other countries, may God continue to bless you also, and give you health.

Pic. Grateful Pilgrims begin a three-day feast, starting on December 13, 1621, to thank God and to celebrate with their Indian friends.

How to Avoid the Question...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YddmGJofbL0

Don't be a "Barbarian"...Read the Bible

"You can't appreciate English literature unless you are steeped to some extent in the King James Bible…people don't know that proverbial phrases which make echoes in their minds come from this Bible. We are a Christian culture, we come from a Christian culture and not to know the King James Bible, is to be in some small way, barbarian...it is important that religion should not be allowed to hijack this cultural resource." Professor Richard Dawkins

http://www.kingjamesbibletrust.org/news/2010/02/19/richard-dawkins-lends-his-support-to-the-king-james-bible-trust

God bless Richard Dawkins for this wonderful endorsement of the King James Bible. I read it daily, and have done for nearly 40 years. I also heartily "Amen" his convictions about religion not being "allowed to hijack this cultural resource."

Religion has always been the enemy of the Bible. It truly is the opium of the masses, and it has also been responsible for the spilling of the blood of Christian martyrs--from the time of the Old Testament prophets, to the time of Christ, to the Catholic Spanish Inquisition and their murderous Crusades, to modern day culture with its pedophilia, hypocrisy, and terrorism in the name of God.

Religion masquerades as His representative on earth, and yet it is the enemy of the gospel expounded in the King James Bible. It denies the basic tenants of the Christian message by preaching that we can enter Heaven by living good lives, doing good works, and believing in God, when the Scriptures so no such thing. Nothing we can do in the area of religious works will bribe God to forgive our sins and give us everlasting life. Eternal life is a free gift of God (see Romans 6:23, Amplified Bible), and cannot be earned or deserved (see Ephesians 2:8-9, Amplified Bible).

Pic. John Hus believed that people should be permitted to read the Bible in their own language, and they should oppose the tyranny of the Roman Catholic church that threatened anyone possessing a non-Latin Bible with execution. Hus was burned at the stake in 1415. After translating the Bible into commom English, William Tyndale was incarcerated for 500 days before he was strangled and burned at the stake in 1536, also by the Roman Catholic church.

December is “Be Kind to Atheists” Month

In the past we have given away books, leather vests, and dinner vouchers to atheists. During December we will give away the Richard Dawkin’s leather jacket (the one I made for him) and two leather hand-made Crocodile-Dundee-style vests, to three atheists. A similar vest I made sold on eBay for over $1,000.

Details of when to apply will either be announced in a daily post or in the comments section some time in December. I will also put some money in the pocket of the jacket, to help out with Christmas expenses. Only those atheists who regularly post in December will qualify.

Here’s the background of the jacket: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tvitmq7KkPE

The Atheists Church

"And it came to pass in those days, that he went out into a mountain to pray, and continued all night in prayer to God. And when it was day, he called unto him his disciples: and of them he chose twelve, whom also he named apostles; Simon, (whom he also named Peter,) and Andrew his brother, James and John, Philip and Bartholomew, Matthew and Thomas, James the son of Alphaeus, and Simon called Zelotes, And Judas the brother of James, and Judas Iscariot, which also was the traitor" (Luke 5:12-16).

Show me someone who says he"s never prayed, and I will show you someone who has never been in severe turbulence. Jesus went to a mountain to pray. It's good to get away from the business of everyday life and get among God's creation. Nature isn't the result of nothing creating everything. The mountains, the trees, flowers, birds and a million and one other things on God's green earth are an expression of the genius of His creative hand. You may disagree if you wish, but it doesn't change anything.

Jesus continued all night in prayer, then He chose His disciples. One of them was Judas Iscariot, the betrayer. Didn’t God answer His prayer and let Him know that He should have avoided Judas. Not according to Scripture. Jesus said, "Jesus answered them, Have not I chosen you twelve, and one of you is a devil?" (John 6:70).

Judas had the same choice as the other disciples. He could have been genuine in his faith, but instead, he played the hypocrite, and it was only a matter of time until his hypocrisy was exposed. His love of money overcame him.

So is the way of the hypocrite. He has the same choice that Judas had. He can follow Jesus and keep his heart free from sin, but he secretly serves his own lusts, and it’s only a matter of time until he returns to sin like a dog returns to its vomit.

Charles Spurgeon said of Jesus, "If ever one of woman born might have lived without prayer, it was our spotless, perfect Lord, and yet none was ever so much in supplication as He! Such was his love to His Father, that He loved much to be in communion with Him: such His love for His people, that He desired to be much in intercession for them. The fact of this eminent prayerfulness of Jesus is a lesson for us—He has given us an example that we may follow in His steps."

The Answer to Your Question

"You cannot produce a single person that denies there is gravity or magnetism. ANALOGY FAIL Magnetism CAN be demonstrated to anyone, anytime. Hold an iron ball in your hand, and lower your hand over the top of a rare earth magnet. When your hand is crushed by the force of the attraction between the two objects, the demonstration is over. Now, please give an example that demonstrates the existence of God. I'm not 'unreasonable'. Just one example... " Slydog

Your statement that I can't produce a single person who would deny gravity or magnetism isn't true. A small child is a person. Someone who is insane is a person. An unreasonable person is a "person."

The Bible warns that if you continue to hold onto sin with both of your sin-loving hands, the wrath of God will come upon you and "grind" you "to powder." You have God's promise on that (see Luke 20:18). When something is ground to powder, a thorough job is done. God's justice will be so thorough on Judgment Day, it will judge right down to your thought-life and your deepest motives.

His Law will swiftly fall on you like magnified metal falls onto an electron magnet, but with infinitely greater force. It is attracted to sin because it screams for equity. Here now is the answer to your question about God's existence. This can be proven by obeying the gospel. The moment you truly repent and trust in Jesus Christ, you will come to know the God that created all things.

The conversion experience will be more real to you than anything that this life can offer. God will give you a new heart with new desires, and open the eyes of your understanding. You will be like a man who has been born blind, suddenly seeing color for the first time--born again as a "new creature" in Christ. It is so real you will stand with your unbelieving mouth open wider than a road tunnel. Instead of being a "sly dog," He will make you into a faithful retriever.

Now, please give me one good reason why you should remain in your beloved sins, and end up damned in Hell. Just one reason....

It's "in My face."

The First of the Ten Commandments says, "You shall have no other gods before Me." However, this is not a passive Commandment. It doesn't just mean that God--as the Giver of life, should be first in our affections. It means more than that.

The "before Me," literally means "before my face." In other words, the false gods--those that are made of wood and stone (as well as the image of God that is nurtured in the imagination of this sinful world), is not something that is impersonal to Him. Idolatry is in His face. It's an offense to God. It angers Him, and for good reason. Inordinate affection tends to do that even in human beings. No parent wants his child to love gifts given to him more than the one who gave the gifts.

But idolatry carries with it even more than inordinate affection. Making up a false god opens the door to violation of the other nine Commandments. For example, a man will not give himself to adultery or murder, if he has a correct understanding of the nature and power of God. Knowledge tends to help us govern our decisions. A wide-eyed imbecile may stare at and hold onto a lighted stick of dynamite; but a man who understands what he holds in his hand will make sure he is a good distance from the little sparkler, as quickly as he can.

And so a man who has the knowledge that the eye of the Lord is in every place beholding the evil and the good, will separate himself quickly from the sin of adultery. He knows that he is accountable to God for every word, every thought, and every deed, and therefore a healthy fear of God keeps him from sin, and will keep him out of Hell.

But the idolater's image of God doesn't produce the fear of God. To him, God is a friend, a buddy, or divine butler who doesn’t mind adultery or murder. Some slow-wits will even pretend that God doesn't exist, and believe that such a delusion gives them license to sin, such is the sin of idolatry.

So the idolater doesn't depart from sin, because he doesn't fear God, and therefore his sin will take him to Hell. Idolatry is not just an offense in the face of God, but it brings in its train terrible and eternal consequences.

You May Have a Problem With This...

Have you ever noticed that everyday life is filled with problems? Problems at work, problems with the car, the cat, the house, the lawnmower; you name it, it needs fixing (including the cat).

Then there's a problem with health. It has been said that one in four people approached on the street, said that they had a health problem that was serious enough for a doctor’s visit (my own doctor has health problems).

Then there's the real serious problems, like problems such as a relative or a friend having a terminal disease, or big financial problems, serious addictions, sleep problems, etc., etc. That's the personal problems.

There's the problem of national debt, massive unemployment, war, suicide, rape and murder, etc. This all seems insurmountable. Oh, and be careful if you are tempted to say that you don't have problems. There’s always tomorrow.

Shouldn't I be trying to console you, rather than add to the daily weight which you have to deal with? Yes and no. I want to bring your attention to the cause of all human problems. It's our rebellion to God. That's the big problem. Throw out the pilot and the flight will have multiple and big problems. You need to give him the controls, and even then, it's not going to stop the problems until the landing.

If you are not born again, this life won’t get any better. This is all you have. Sure, you can find little puddles of temporal happiness, but this life is a dry and barren desert.

Millions of Christians throughout this earth (with as many problems as you have) are waiting patiently for a new heavens and a new earth. And it's not just the earth that will be renewed. God promises to give new bodies to all those who trust in His mercy. It sounds too good to be true, but it's axiomatic. Call upon His name. Repent of your sins--lust (adultery of the heart), hatred (murder of the heart), ingratitude, rebellion, lying, stealing, blasphemy, etc., and trust alone in Jesus, and you will come to know Him "whom to know is life eternal.”

When that happens, you will know that all His "exceedingly great and precious promises" are immutable.

Short-term Amnesty

"Andy Duchemin said...Ray, I've been listening to the Living Waters podcasts and it's given me an insight as to how sly and underhanded your preaching can be. I think it was Kirk who was going through the good person test and if someone answered in the wrong way than he wanted to hear, there's a back up plan to prove that the person is wrong. It's not a test, it's a trap, a condemnation...The self-assuredness that your friends show appears to be dishonest."

Andy...You hit the nail on the head. It is "a condemnation." However, it's not dishonest. Think of it like this. You are a devious criminal who refuses to give up his evil lifestyle, because you don't see it as being "evil." You consider lawlessness to be an exciting lifestyle. Besides, you've never been caught by the police. Not once.

I am a police office who has the difficult task of telling you about a special short-term amnesty, offered by the Chief of Police. You have a certain amount of time to surrender your weapons and change your lifestyle. After the door of amnesty closes there will be a big bust, and when that comes there will be no mercy, especially in the light of your ignoring the offer of amnesty. I have no alternative but to show you that you are already condemned with no way of escape, and that you would be a fool to neglect the offer of amnesty.

As a Christian, the only (and not very pleasant) way to convince you of your terrible danger is to point out the seriousness of your crimes against God....that you have "eyes full of adultery" and that lying lips are an abomination to Him. This is done by taking you through the moral Law (the Ten Commandments). You must be convinced that you are an enemy of God...that you hate Him "without cause," to the point of foolishly denying His very existence.

If you refuse to surrender to Jesus Christ and take advantage of God's incredible offer of amnesty (escape Hell and live forever), you will come under the deserved condemnation of His Law. The Bible says that you are already condemned (see John 3:17-18, 36).

There are three ways to know if I'm speaking the truth. 1. The very second you pass into eternity you will realize what a fool you have been to neglect the Savior, because you will know that it's too late to cry "God help me!!" 2. At the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, when the heavens depart and He comes in flaming fire "to render His anger with fury and His rebuke with flames of fire." 3. Upon your repentance and faith in Jesus. Obey the gospel and God with reveal Himself to you (see John 14:21), and you will know the truth and the truth will make you free. The gospel I am privileged to preach is backed by the power of God. The atheistic philosophy you have is backed by less than nothing.

Back to the Monkeys

"I suggest the following experiment: let's have a million PEOPLE sitting at a million keyboards typing to see if they would type ANYTHING intelligent. Oh wait that one's already been done. It's called the Blogosphere." Alan Trimble

I'm sure that if enough time was given, a million monkeys could write a few words that were intelligent. Maybe there is a possibility that two or three words would be spelled correctly and actually sit together. However, the chances that chance (and time--no matter how long) would produce an actual sentence, beginning with a capital, ending with a period, containing a predicate and a subject, along with an adjective, a pronoun and a conjunction, is astronomical. But it could happen in principle. The possibility is there, somewhere.

However, an atheist doesn't believe any such thing when it comes to how actual life was produced in the beginning. He moves into the realm of the absolute impossible. He believes that there were no computers and no monkeys to begin with, and what was then left didn't just produce a word or a sentence. He believes that this absence of anything produced everything.

Those who are familiar with the structure of a human cell will tell you that there is nothing basic or simple about it. Life in its "simplest" form is incredibly complex. It's not just a sentence or book that had to happen by chance, it is a mass of bound, proofed, titled and printed encyclopedia's.

Still, such is the belief of those who deem themselves intelligent, then cloke themselves in science, and mock those who believe otherwise. But I have no choice. It's not intelligence that stops me having the faith of an atheist. It's simple common sense.

PZ Myers...

I noticed that my friend PZ Myers has promoted me from "banana man" to the leader of a "death cult." Some unnamed person 7,000 miles away sent a card to someone who said that it could have been sent to an elderly person, and that elderly person may have been upset because it spoke about death. He then wrongfully accuses me of "targeting the elderly with cards to remind them of their mortality and imminent need of salvation...Hey, lady, you're old and are going to die soon. Come to church now! Put us in your will!"

Thus, I was promoted to the leader of a death cult. It seems that PZ comes to conclusions about people the same way he comes to conclusions with the science fiction theory of evolution. Censorship, intolerance, and hate speech aren't restricted to the religious world.

When my book,You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, But You Can't Make Him Think was first published and knocked The God Delusion off the number one spot on Amazon.com, he said to his faithful flock, "I don't recommend reading Comfort's book..." Of course this may be "quote-mined" For those who don't know this favorite atheist word, a quote-mine is when you take something out of context so that it says something that the writer never intended.

So PZ may be saying to actually read the book. But I doubt it. I don't think he wants any atheists to see the stupid nature of atheism. Neither does he want his flock to see the unscientific nature of evolution; that it doesn’t have a bone to stand on.

Ad hominem attacks are his specialty. When you can't provide an argument, insult your opponent. Some of his funny little insults include calling me a "parasite," a "sleazebag," an "idiot," an "ignoramus," a "kook," and a "clown." He says that I'm "deluded and confused and ignorant." He also says that I have an "itty-bitty body." Okay, I will give him that one.

I was once booked to debate PZ. On August 1, 2008, he lamented "I've agreed to another talk radio debate — this time it's not a Christian radio station, so there's hope of some ethical behavior on their part — on WDAY, AM 970 next Tuesday, 5 August, at 10am."

For some reason the station suddenly changed the format. I know that PZ didn't chicken out [when I first posted, I insinuated that he did. I forgot that the problem was with the radio station and not with him. My apologies to PZ].

But I wonder if he would be open to an online debate with the leader of a death cult? Don’t tell PZ about this post. It might embarrass him. He will have to say that he doesn’t want to give me "a platform"...you know how it goes. If he tries that one, I would like him to then explain why I have featured so many times on his blog?

Pic. Larry Moran

http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2010/10/why_do_you_think_i_call_it_a_d.php

For the Piranha Bowl...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qpIjxNeJDr0

Sincere Advice

According to the New York Times, American atheists are about to start a bold and widespread billboard, bus, train, newspaper and magazine campaign. Among other things, they will be calling passages from the Bible and the Koran "barbaric." This will be done by four separate and competing national organizations representing various streams of atheists, humanists and freethinkers.

Normally, I'm encouraged when atheists put up billboards telling people not to think about God, because I believe that it's human nature to do the opposite. But Moslems believe no such thing. Anyone who even slightly disrespects Mohammed or the Koran can be sentenced to a violent death.

When a Florida pastor was going to burn a Koran, many people were concerned that he was signing his own death warrant. The Pentagon and the President pleaded with him to back down--for his own sake and for the sake of world peace. Thankfully, he backed down.

Think of the horrific kidnapping and beheading of the U.S. journalist, Daniel Pearl, or the international violence that erupted, simply because a Danish cartoonist drew Mohammed. In India, a minister in the state government announced in February 2006 a reward of 11 million dollars for anyone who beheaded "the Danish cartoonist" who caricatured Mohammed.

There are factions within Islam that have no love or mercy. If you have any influence in these atheist organizations, please take a moment to strongly encourage them to confine the mockery to Christianity and the Bible.

We genuinely love you, and we can take it with grace.

Picture: Daniel Pearl. On May 16, 2002, his body was found cut into ten pieces, and buried in a shallow grave in the outskirts of Karachi.
Notes:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/10/us/10atheist.html
http://209.157.64.201/focus/f-news/1580915/posts.

Sowing and Reaping

"I am curious. If someone uses Jesus or God as a curse word, do you feel personally persecuted?" themaverickjester

Persecution has nothing to do with it with how I feel when someone blasphemes God or the name of Jesus. I react the same way I would if someone called my wife a whore, or used my mother’s name instead of using a four lettered filth word used to express disgust.

I am deeply offended by blasphemy, but I am even more concerned for the blasphemer. I am not exaggerating at all when I say that it would be far more sensible to play with fork lightning, than to misuse the name of the God who gave you life--whether you believe in Him or not. Jesus warned that every idle word that men speak, they will have to give an account of on the Day of Judgment, and the Scriptures add that the Lord will not hold him guiltless, who takes His name in vain.

The Bible also tells the Christian not to be concerned when people mock God or make fun of those who trust in Him. We are told, "Be not deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap."

A man who blasphemes or mocks God is like a man who runs a bulldozer into the basement pillars of a 20-story building. He doesn't like the look of the pillars that hold up the building, so he mows them down, and in doing so causes the massive building to fall on him and crush him to death. He caused his own demise. So is the way of those who blaspheme and mock Almighty God.

The Worm-in-the-eye Defense

David Attenborough, the well-known naturalist, broadcaster, and advocate of Charles Darwin, once said,

"My response is that when Creationists talk about God creating every individual species as a separate act, they always instance hummingbirds, or orchids, sunflowers and beautiful things. But I tend to think instead of a parasitic worm that is boring through the eye of a boy sitting on the bank of a river in West Africa, [a worm] that's going to make him blind. And [I ask them], 'Are you telling me that the God you believe in, who you also say is an all-merciful God, who cares for each one of us individually, are you saying that God created this worm that can live in no other way than in an innocent child's eyeball? Because that doesn't seem to me to coincide with a God who's full of mercy'."

A West African boy going blind because of a parasitic worm doesn't coincide with our image of God--if we deny the Book of Genesis, which Mr. Attenborough does. The Bible's explanation is that we live in a fallen creation, with not only worms in the eye, but worms in the stomach--round worms (up to 15 inches long), pin worms, tape worms, and hook worms. We get ring worms in our hair, worms in our crops, worms in our dogs and cats, worms in our apples, and we can even have the excitement of parasitic worms crawling under our skin. The thought makes your skin crawl!

When Mr. Attenborough was asked if he believed in God, he said, "My view is: I don't know one way or the other but I don't think that evolution is against a belief in God."

He's correct. We can believe in God and evolution, but to make the theory fit, we have to discard the God of the Bible and make up a false god, deny the fallen creation of Genesis, and also deny our moral responsibility to God, which Mr. Attenborough does. Idolatry is the most convenient of bushes behind which guilty sinners may temporarily hide.

The West African boy of whom he spoke also has disease-ridden mosquitoes that can bite him, killer bees than can sting and kill him, leaches that can suck his blood, snakes that can poison him, bedbugs that can bite him, lions and crocodiles that can eat him, and human beings that can murder him. He may also have a problem with fever-spreading ticks, typhus-spreading lice, and plague-causing fleas. Then again, he may die from trypanosomiasis, which comes through the bite of an infected and nasty little tsetse fly.

Add to these things, continual earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, cancer, pain, suffering, disease and death, and you have a strong case for a holy God and a sinful fallen humanity. That's if you ever give serious thought to the existence of God. Mr. Attenborough doesn’t. He once said "It never really occurred to me to believe in God." So nothing about this subject makes too much sense to him.

But if you and I believe that a morally perfect God made man and woman in the beginning, and sin caused creation to be under the Genesis curse, then every deathly disease and devastating disaster makes sense.

Just a note of caution for potential Attenborough clones. The African boy with the worm in the eye won't be any sort of defense on Judgment Day.

Notes:
David Attenborough, 2003. "Wild, wild life." Sydney Morning Herald, 25 March. Attenborough has also told this story in numerous other interviews.
"David Attenborough on ''Friday Night with Jonathan Ross''". YouTube. 31 October 2009. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvoJSlcIYmM
Walker, Tim (26 January 2009). "Sir David Attenborough questioned on faith, naturally". The Daily Telegraph (London). http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/mandrake/4347954/Sir-David-Attenborough-questioned-on-faith-naturally.html.

Photo attribution: Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003

The Effects of Magnetism

"Did anyone else stop reading after this: "Of course a small number of atheists won’t know what I am talking about, because magnetic repulsion is invisible. You can’t see it, touch it, taste it, hear it, or smell it, therefore it doesn’t exist." The effects of magnetism can be both seen and felt empirically. Magnetism can be DEMONSTRATED!! You can test its effects. You can quantify it, measure it and use it for things like your silly box. Cripes you are annoying...and still I return. A guilty pleasure if ever there was one." MVP

You said "The effects of magnetism can be both seen and felt empirically. Magnetism can be DEMONSTRATED!!" Not to someone who is unreasonable. If someone put his hand into the invisible field and said "I don’t see or feel anything," then there is nothing you can do to convince him it exists.

So it is with God's existence. Like many things in this life (the wind, love, history, gravity, etc.) He is invisible, and so, if for some reason, you want to look at creation and say there is no Creator, go ahead. Or if you want to change the word "creation" to "nature," and believe that nature made itself, go ahead. I can’t stop you, but you are being unreasonable (unable to be reason with).

If you refuse to listen to your conscience, or to look honestly at the Ten Commandments, and mock God’s Word, go ahead. I can't stop you or convince you to be reasonable. But I would add one thing. Deny the reality magnetism and there are no consequences. It's no big deal. Deny God, and therefore refuse to repent and trust in Jesus Christ, and the consequences are terrible and eternal.

The Atheist's Church

"And it came to pass also on another Sabbath, that he entered into the synagogue and taught: and there was a man whose right hand was withered. And the scribes and Pharisees watched him, whether he would heal on the Sabbath day; that they might find an accusation against him. But he knew their thoughts, and said to the man which had the withered hand, Rise up, and stand forth in the midst. And he arose and stood forth. Then said Jesus unto them, I will ask you one thing; Is it lawful on the Sabbath days to do good, or to do evil? to save life, or to destroy it? And looking round about upon them all, he said unto the man, Stretch forth thy hand. And he did so: and his hand was restored whole as the other. And they were filled with madness; and communed one with another what they might do to Jesus" (Luke 5:6-11).

The name of Jesus Christ is the most despised name in history. If you disagree, then name one other historical figure who has his name used in place of a cuss word. How about wicked men like Hitler, Judas, or Rasputin? None were despised enough to use their name in such a way.

Jesus Christ is hated by those who love to do evil. To them His name has no honor. It is used without a second thought; taken "in vain."

If you become a Christian (if you are born again), and stand for righteousness, you will be "hated for His name's sake." That means that this world will also hate you. Of course the wicked will say that they don't hate you. They just hate what you stand for--which proves the point. They will never admit it, but they hate Christ in you.

Of course, the contempt for Christians in contemporary society is nothing like the hatred that was poured upon the early Church. They were burned as torches in Nero's court, and ripped apart by lions because they belonged to Jesus Christ. During the Spanish Inquisition, they were tortured and murdered by the Roman church, because they belonged to Jesus Christ.

In this passage we are told that they were "filled with madness" because Jesus healed a man on their holy day. Bible commentator Matthew Henry said, "Christ was neither ashamed nor afraid to own the purposes of His grace. He healed the poor man, though He knew that His enemies would take advantage against Him for it. Let us not be drawn either from our duty or from our usefulness by any opposition. We may well be amazed, that the sons of men should be so wicked."

How true are those words. No matter what the Christian does, if he stands for the cause of that which is good, right and just (in the name of Jesus Christ), the wicked will be filled with madness.

Jesus healed the man’s withered and lifeless hand. That perfectly describes the state of the unsaved. They are "withered" and lifeless--marked for death, alienated from the life of God. If you don’t know the Lord today, rise up, stand forth in the midst of this wicked world, stretch forth your hand to God in repentance and faith in Jesus, and He will make you whole.

Amazing Scrapbook

On January 14th of 2007, a package was sent to the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. It contained 116 personal photographs from a scrapbook that formerly belonged to a man named Karl Hoecker. He was a First Lieutenant to Richard Baer, who was the commandant of the infamous Auschwitz Nazi death camp.

The scrapbook showed, among other things, commandants of Concentration Camps relaxing in their spare time. They were obviously winding down after a hard day at the office. They killed Jews during the day, and partied to get rid of any stress, at night.

Sara J. Bloomfield, the director of the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum, on seeing the photos, said,

"I think the big question about the holocaust is 'why?' Why do people kill? Why were so many people able to do this, in the heart of such a civilized nation? And it shows the killers as humans. This is a question that I think doesn’t have answers..."

That's the dilemma in which each end up, if we ignore the biblical revelation of the nature of human beings, and instead embrace that man is basically good. It will also be compounded by a Genesis-less world view.

The Bible says that we live in a fallen world. This world was created perfect by God, in the beginning. Then, because of the Adamic Fall, we have disease, suffering and death. When Adam sinned, he polluted his offspring with an "evil" nature--something the Bible calls "sin."

Taking God's perspective immediately makes life make sense. When I read stories of the holocaust and see horrific pictures that make me weep, I don't have the dilemma of wondering how human beings could do such a thing. What I see simply confirms what I have read--that sin dwells in every human heart.

It is sin that not only makes us capable of evil; its very presence makes us evil. Evil isn’t just something I do. According to the Bible, it is something I am. I am sin-full by nature. Sin is much a part of me as is my blood. This thought is extremely offensive to us—especially if we are convinced of the opposite, that man is basically good. We want to think that man is good, not evil, because we want to think that we are good, not evil. But if we stay with that belief, we will be pushed into an intellectual corner, from which we have no escape.

However, when I look at life with the biblical perception, and ask how 200,000 people could be murdered in the U.S. during the 1990's, I don’t have to say that each of those murderers was a good person who somehow strayed from his goodness. Instead, I affirm what the Scriptures say about the reality of sin in the human heart. When a husband beats his wife, a man shoots his children, the Mexican Cartel beheads innocent people, a spouse betrays marital trust and commits adultery; all this does is verify the presence of sin.

When an atheist denies that God exists and uses His name to cuss, or when evil men deny the existence of evil, or when a man has an explosive temper he can’t control, or someone is consumed by bitterness, or when filthy or blasphemous language pours from a man's lips, or when I feel the power of lust or selfishness in my own heart, it confirms the truth of Scripture. When pornography is a billion dollar industry, when priests are pedophiles, when filthy and violent entertainment is loved by millions, I know why. When kids are bullied or when people are racially prejudice, I think "sin" not "skin."

When there is hypocrisy and double standards in politics or in the Church or kids kill kids at school, or when doctors kill children in the womb to make money, or slick televangelists use Christianity to line their pockets, or when men use religion to kill others--when they fly planes into buildings, torture people in the name of God (as in the Roman Catholic Inquisition), or as Hitler did in the name of God with the Jews, I say "Sin dwells in the human heart."

When love is all we need, but there seems to be so little of it; when peace isn’t given a chance and instead continual wars take the lives of millions, there is a reason. When a man puts four bullets into the back of John Lennon, and does it because he wants to be famous, and does it professing to be a Christian, there’s no mystery. There's no need to psychoanalyze him and try and find what this man has in common with other psychopaths. He's a normal human being. He's like the Nazis, the rapists, the pedophiles, the thieves and liars. He's like the man next door. His evil actions simply confirm that God's testimony about man is true and right.

Pic. On the cover of the album, delivered in 2007 to the U.S. Holocaust Museum, was a studio portrait of Commandant Richard Baer and his assistant Karl Hocker.

The "Hate" Speech of Biblical Christianity

Many nowadays think that any talk of the exclusivity of Jesus Christ is intolerant and unloving and could even be considered by the politically correct as "hate speech." The thought that He is the only way to find everlasting life, is seen by them as nothing but religious extremism.

As we know, on August the 5th, 2010, part of the San José copper-gold mine in the Atacama Desert near Copiapó, Chile, collapsed, leaving 33 men trapped 2,300 feet under ground. However, all 33 miners were safely rescued and brought to the surface on 13 October 2010 (69 days later) through a narrow hole that had been drilled down to reach them.

It was estimated more than a billion people watched the rescue on live television around the world. Each of the men had to be winched in a rescue capsule, reaching the surface in 16 minutes. The total cost of the rescue operation was estimated at 20 million U.S. dollars.

Can you imagine being one of those men, hopelessly trapped deeper than 2,300 feet under the ground? They could move around, and they had limited food and water, but it was just a matter of time until they died in the darkness, in a mass grave.

But hope came from above. Compassionate rescuers spent millions of dollars and went to great effort to drill one narrow way down to them, so that they could be brought back from the very brink of a sure death. When the offer of rescue came, all 33 of them gladly climbed into that narrow capsule, and did exactly as they were instructed to by their rescuers.

Not one of them said, "I am offended that there is only one way out of here. I don’t like this hateful narrow way, and anyone who offers it is narrow minded. Instead, I am going to dig my own way out, thank you!" Anyone who would say something like that would have to be insane!

Yet such is the way of those who are offended by what God did to rescue hopeless sinners from a sure death. Until God gives us light through the gospel, we sit helplessly in the black shadow of death. We can move around and we have food and drink, but we are trapped, waiting to die. It's just a matter of time. That's reality.

Yet rescue came from above. God Himself is rich in mercy and didn’t leave us alone in our darkness. He made a way for us to be rescued, and it didn’t cost a mere 20 million dollars. It cost the precious blood of His Son, who suffered agony on the cross of Calvary. God said through the prophets that He would rescue us from the grave, and that there would be only one way of salvation. He then became a Man and in the person of Jesus of Nazareth and bore the punishment for the sin of the world, so that we could come out of the darkness into the glorious light, out of sure death, into everlasting life. So there is only one way to be saved, and it's straight and it's narrow. Obey the gospel and be rescued from the power of the grave.

Please, oh please, don’t insist that you try and dig your way out of this mess. Repent of your sins, and trust alone in the Savior: "Nor is there salvation in any other, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12, NKJV)

The Greatest of Company

I find it interesting that the news media are not accused of bad taste or making money when they report tragedies. Recently, they reported that a young man, who was filming his football team, tragically fell to his death. He was so concerned about gusts of wind as he sat with his camera on a high tower, he sent a text, joking that he was about to die. Then, terrified, he texted again, this time blaspheming. Seconds later he fell to his death.

This is what the news media reported, and they were paid to do so. They also received money for advertising for their program. It could be said that they made money off his death. Yet, I would be surprised if anyone took the time to complain about that. This is because it's legitimate to report news, whether it's good or bad.

However, if I dare to use the tragedy to remind us that death can come to any of us when we least expect it, I am the scum of the earth. I'm said to be using someone's tragedy for my own evil agenda. Yet, I'm in the greatest of company when I do so.

In Luke chapter 13, some religious folks spoke of two contemporary tragedies. Occupying military had carried out some ethnic cleansing, and an unstable structure had collapsed and killed 18 people. It seems that those who brought up this news item contended that those who died did so, because God was punishing them for their sins, and Jesus used the tragedy to make a very powerful point...

Am I Wrong About This?

"Hey Ray...Credit where credit is due; the premise for the box is quite cool. Where did you get the idea? And, if anyone wants to actually get a concept of how and why magnets work go to YouTube and type in 'Richard Feynman magnets.' Richard was one of the most beloved physicists ever since he was good at explaining complex ideas to stupid idiots like me." Froggie

I have many crazy ideas. Some work, and some don’t. If you missed it, watch this short clip: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1OLC6UZgJ0

I have always been attracted to magnets, because the repulsive force really fascinates me. Of course a small number of atheists won’t know what I am talking about, because magnetic repulsion is invisible. You can’t see it, touch it, taste it, hear it, or smell it, therefore it doesn’t exist.

But not so with my faithful friend Froggie. He believes in the invisible, and when he said that this physicist actually explained why magnets work, I was very exited. But after watching the clip, I came to the conclusion that I must be more of an idiot than Froggie.

All I saw was a very uncomfortable man dance around in circles, until he finally admitted that he didn’t have a clue as to why magnets do what they do. He just didn't know. He reminded me of how the typical believer in evolution reacts when he’s pushed into a corner, and asked for an evidential explanation of the theory.

All I really learned from this likeable physicist was that he had a problem with heartburn. Watch it for yourself, and tell me if I’m wrong (I don’t mean about the heartburn): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wMFPe-DwULM

Richard Feynman died in 1988.