Wise Man

I really enjoyed this quote:

“For the scientist who has lived by his faith in the power of reason, the story ends like a bad dream. He has scaled the mountains of ignorance; he is about to conquer the highest peak; as he pulls himself over the final rock, he is greeted by a band of theologians who have been sitting there for centuries.” - Robert Jastrow

Boldness in Speaking

This is an article by Pastor Paul M. Sadler on having boldness in presenting the truth to unbelievers.

Scripture Reading:

"And [pray] for me, that utterance may be given unto me, that I may open my mouth boldly, to make known the mystery of the gospel, for which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak."
-- Ephesians 6:19,20

In our modern day there is a great demand for instant success. We read frequently of how many have risen to fame and fortune practically overnight. Seldom, however, do we hear of the hours of labor, practice, sacrifice and discipline it took to build that career. Most times we only hear and see the end result. Many have been deceived and disillusioned to think that they can have fame and fortune with little or no effort.

In these days in which we live, the world seems to have a powerful influence over the lives of many believers. For this reason many members of the Body of Christ are looking for that book, conference or seminar that will be a shortcut to spiritual maturity. When it comes to our spiritual lives and having boldness of faith we want instant results with little or no effort put into it. As a Pastor, I would have to say that to have boldness in the faith as the Apostle says, there must be three key ingredients.

Time:

Just as physical growth takes years, spiritual growth also takes time. As we come to spiritual maturity we become more and more confident to speak out for the Lord. It takes time to learn that we have to take our eyes off of ourselves which causes us to be reluctant to speak because of the fear of men.

Discipline:

It takes discipline to sit down with the Word of God and study to acquire a knowledge of the Scriptures. We don't mean just reading the Bible devotionally. It is said that we retain only about 20 percent of what we read. But, if we read and study, we retain about 60 percent when comparing Scripture with Scripture. The better equipped you are in the Word of God the more comfortable you will be to share the truth, rightly divided.

Consistency:

If we are to gain the respect of others in order to more effectively minister the gospel, we must be consistent with the truth. Don't sound an uncertain trumpet, be able to substantiate what you teach with the Blessed Book. Not only should we speak the truth in love consistently, we must also live the truth. Our lives are the only Bibles some men see. That's why the Apostle Paul warns us to put "away lying, [and] speak every man truth with his neighbor: for we are members one of another" (Eph. 4:25). True boldness in the faith does not come naturally, it is something we grow into as we increase in the knowledge of Him Who has called us into the glorious light.

An Actual Letter to a Christian Nation

Okay, I ripped the name off of Sam Harris, whose book should have instead been "A Whiny Atheist Rant to a Christian Nation", but the more I read stories about interactions between the Christian community and the secular society, the more I get distressed at both.

You see, we are in fact not a Christian nation. The Constitution of the United States is not the 67th book of the Bible. It is perhaps the greatest law that has ever existed on Earth short of the Mosaic law, but it is not a righteous document and it is not actually based on the Bible per se. What the Constitution does is prevent the federal (and state) governments from taking away the liberties of the people. It does not (since allowing women and blacks equal rights) group people into classes that are afforded different levels of freedom, excluding minors and criminals.

I want to say straight up, first thing, that I completely agree with the Biblical position on homosexuality. Gays and lesbians are not less righteous than anyone else in God's eyes (we are all unrighteous without the salvation of the cross and the indwelling of the Holy Spirit), but the homosexual act is most certainly sinful, in "marriage" or out. However, the issue is that the Constitution is not Bible-based. According to the Constitution, homosexuals are not law-breakers, thus they are deserving of equal treatment under the law. Quite frankly, any time the Christian community fights the "gay agenda" - such as California's Proposition 8 - what they are actually doing is 1) forcibly imposing their own religious values onto non-believers, which is un-Biblical, and 2) seeking to deprive adults of equal legal rights, which is unconsitutional. Romans 13 tells us to obey the laws of the land, and Jesus tells us to render unto Caesar and unto God accordingly. There is a division between the two.

I'm pained by the battle between Christians and homosexuals because the Christians absolutely cannot win that fight (there is no Constitutional basis of discrimination, as more and more judges are speaking out). And in this battle, there will be high costs for believers, in the form of a rising backlash by those sympathetic to homosexuals being deprived of equal protection under the (secular) law.

I think there is a better way. Instead of Christians trying to mold society in a Biblical image, I think we should in a sense leave society behind. I'm not talking about the cessation of being ambassadors for Christ, far from it. An example of what I'm talking about is the science of Baraminology, which seeks to identify original created kinds of animals as described in Genesis. It doesn't seek to force naturalists beholden to Darwinian evolution to accept their beliefs. Baraminology completely ignores what secular science is spouting, and instead uses the Bible as a starting point to study the world. I think that's the best way. We should pull our kids out of secular schools, since virtually every bad influence a child can encounter will be encountered there. I think Christians should divert resources to creating more excellent homeschool networks and Christian schools (instead of more mega-churches and zillionaire televangelists) to bring up children in a Biblical worldview while educating them to society's standards. Teach children that homosexuality is legal, but it is WRONG, and explain the difference. Unbelievers could then compare the product being churned out of the secular government school system with those students coming out of the Christian education system. Who knows? Maybe all those lights in the darkness would attract the right kind of attention.

I think there is a great opportunity for churches to do more to equip parents for bringing up children and to form what would essentially be a Christian community within the larger to help support and encourage its members (it takes a village, remember?). I know from experience that all the Bible study in the world, while helpful, can't replace the need for fellowship. God made us social for a reason. And that fellowship should extend into every facet of the Christian life, because it's the better way.

But it should never be forced onto unbelievers. That way leads to the dark side.

Answers in Genesis

For those believers who are interested in science but sick of hearing about common ancestry of all life or other naturalistic explanations for our universe, there is an organization called Answers in Genesis that is an excellent resource for creation science. It has hundreds of articles on biology, geology, astronomy, and other fields, as well as resources aimed at teachers, parents, and students. I highly recommend it.

Accelerated Decay

One of the main methods used to "prove" uniformitarian geology - that is, all the observable rock strata were laid down slowly, over millions of years - is radiometric dating. The claim is that measuring the decay rate of a parent element into a daughter element can be used to extrapolate the age of the object being measured. The main assumption is that the breakdown rate is constant.

A few years ago, the Institute for Creation Research and the Creation Research Society formed a team of scientists called the RATE group (Radioisotopes and the Age of The Earth) to study this claim, with the fresh perspective of not automatically assuming old ages.

RATE found that, through studying helium, the creation model closely fit the data, but the naturalistic model was way off. RATE concluded that accelerated decay has occurred in the past, which invalidates any dating that assumes a constant decay rate. RATE has been criticized, naturally, but time will tell whether they were right or not. Regardless, it is a good study for creation science.

Being Abased

Phillipians 4:11-12 - "Not that I speak in respect of want: for I have learned, in whatsoever state I am, therewith to be content. I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound: every where and in all things I am instructed both to be full and to be hungry, both to abound and to suffer need."

I listened to a really good sermon by my pastor, Bro. Jerry Sanders, about being abased, or more specifically, how to properly be abased. Whether it's harder to abound or to be abased, I'm not certain. In the good times it's easy to stop leaning on God so much, but in bad times sometimes either my faith can weaken during prolonged bad periods, or I can whine through prayer like a little brat. (Thankfully, those two possible reactions to bad times don't happen very often!) But the key to properly being abased is to be content, as in v. 11. The key to contentment is faith in v. 13 and 19: "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" and "But my God shall supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus."

For a long time after I was first saved, almost my entire focus in Christian doctrine was that of salvation. This was no fault of Bro. Jerry's. First, he only had one night a month to teach us, so it was primarly (but by no means entirely) focused on strengthening our knowledge of scripture to reach out to others and tell them about the Lord. But mostly, I just for some reason wasn't very receptive to anything else at that time. It was only after I met Charin that the concept of including God in EVERY SINGLE FACET of life penetrated the density that is my mind. Having never gone to church - only Bible studies - the more social, everyday applications of Christian living had never become ingrained with me.

Most of that stuff comes from being in a church atmosphere, and granted, I don't have much use for any of the churches I've gone to around here. For even if I didn't have a doctrinal issue with their message, I felt it was either weakly presented or a complete waste of time, lacking any edifying power. My brother-in-law's church in Louisiana was the very first church (besides Bro. Jerry's church when he lived in Mtn. Home) that I'd ever actually heard the gospel of Christ not only identified in 1 Cor. 15, but then quoted in its entirety. Maybe I'm too critical, because I've been raised in an intensely doctrine/study-oriented environment.

At any rate, I'm thankful for Bro. Jerry for delivering his sermon on abasement, and I'm thankful for Charin to opening my eyes to the point that I can truly understand that sermon.

Supply All Need

It's way too easy for me to pass through a period of time in which things are going great, and I thank God and forget my dependence on him. Paul knew of this potential pitfall, hence the thorn in his flesh.

It's also easy for me, in times of trouble, to lose more faith than I am comfortable admitting. I am not patient by nature, so sometimes I stare at the sky, or clench my fists, and admit to the Lord that I don't understand what is going on. This is a bit foolish, since invariably, and in ways I could never have foreseen, my needs are met and my troubles are lessened. But it is easy for me to forget sometimes.

It's worse now, it seems that sleep deprivation has made my mind weaker and more easily swayed by outside factors (not logical alterations, such as not knowing what to believe or getting my mind changed, but emotional swings). In weaker moments, I now sometimes lose all sense of proportion and forget the past. It's a weight I chose to bear, to keep my children at home and out of daycare, and as a man, a father, a husband, and a child of God, I pray that I can perform superhuman feats and maintain normal mental function when extreme mental fatigue meets trouble.

Reading back through this post, I see that I've rambled, but somehow it seems to mesh together...at least in the foggy recesses of my mind. ;) Glory to God, who will supply all my need.