Genesis Chapter Two

Genesis Chapter Two
Adam & Eve

Verses 1-3 The word “rested” comes from the Hebrew word “shabat” and doesn’t imply fatigue by means “ceased”. Because God had completed the work of creation He simply ceased working. Our God is not a god who grows tied. He is the true God with unlimited power and unlimited knowledge. As humans we certainly don’t have unlimited anything and need to rest. That is why God gave the provision and example for us to do so.

Verses 4-26 We are not looking at a second creation here but a second account of creation. The account in Genesis 2 is more detailed and doesn’t contradict the account of chapter 1 but instead gives us more information.

Verse 7 Life comes from God! Not only is he the creator of all but He also is the one who gives life. Not only that but He is also the one who removes the “breath of life.” Our time is literally in God’s hands and we should live that way. The bottom line is that we are not the one’s who are in control. We’d like to think we are but we just can’t ignore the evidence that proves otherwise.

Verses 15-17 Here we see free will introduced. From the beginning of time man has had to choose God’s will over his own. God doesn’t force us into love and obedience because he wants us to be genuine in our love for Him. A slave has no choice but to be obedient. There is no genuine loyalty and there certainly is no devotion in forced obedience. We would be followers of God because we have to be and not because we want to be.

Verse 24 God’s plan for marriage is clearly laid out here in this verse. A healthy marriage consists of three things found in verse 24.

I - Leaving things behind (father and mother) and devotion to one another.

Many marriages fall into trouble because they can’t leave behind past relationships and tendencies that are unhealthy to the marriage. Men and women can’t run home at the first sign of trouble and they can’t maintain a healthy marriage if they are more devoted to other things.

A good job may support a spouse but if a person is more devoted to that job than they are the spouse they are trying to provide for then they are doing more harm than good to their marriage. To be devoted to a spouse means that the majority of your attention and quality time are devoted towards them. Working long hours may make you more money but it won’t grow a marriage.

II – A man and a woman are joined together and they both love their mate above all else.

I don’t know for sure how far I want to go down this road but the bible clearly illustrates that God intended marriage, and sex for that matter, to be between a man and a woman. Remember, at this point the world is perfect and so we can say that this was God’s perfect plan for marriage with no alternatives.

The bible gives us a clear definition of what love is in 1 Corinthians 13. I had just stated previously that a person has to be fully devoted to their spouse and the only way to completely do that is to love them above all else, including yourself.

III – The two become intimate.

Notice that intimacy wasn’t first on this list. Marriages based solely on a sexual relationship are doomed from the start because at some point that initial attraction is going to wear off. Then what are you left with?

Devotion and love will always lead to greater intimacy. However intimacy very seldom leads to greater love and devotion.

Genesis Chapter 1

Genesis Chapter 1
The Beginning

You may have heard people say that it requires more faith to believe that the universe and our planet “just happened” and that we as people “evolved.” Consider this, the galaxy that we live in spins at the speed of 490,000 miles an hour and still needs 200 million years just to make one rotation. Some scientists will tell you that the number of stars in space is equal to the grains of sand on all the beaches in the world and yet it all spins with order and efficiency. The odds of something like that happening by chance are literally zero.

Understanding that God created us and the world in which we live in gives us an accurate understanding of just how valuable we are. God chose to create the universe and everything in it and he chose to create us as his masterpiece. We are the finishing touches, the centerpieces, on an amazing work of art. Just about every ancient religion has a story about how the earth came into existence but only the Bible teaches that God created it for the purpose of man’s pleasure and enjoyment and that he created man to fellowship with. That places value on every person!

But still the question remains, how did he do it? One of the secular theories out there is the Big Bang Theory in which there was some sort of cosmic explosion that resulted in the formation of our solar system and the very planet on which we live. Verse two tells us that the earth was, “formless and empty”. There was nothing there! Over the next six days God would give form to the universe and fill the earth with living things. The inertia and general energy expelled by going from nothing to everything we have in our universe would be the same as a massive explosion thus giving way to scientific evidence indicating as much.

Days of Creation
First Day: Light
Second Day: Sky and water
Third Day: Land and seas; vegetation
Fourth Day: Sun, moon and stars
Fifth Day: Fish and birds
Sixth Day: Animals, man and woman
Seventh Day: God rested

Verses 26-31 take us through the sixth day when man was created. We learn from the bible that the Spirit of God (Job 33:4, Psalm 104:30) and that Jesus (Colossians 1:16) were present at and at work in creation. This is why we find the use of the plural word, “us” in verse 26.

We aren’t made in the exact likeness of God because God has no physical body. Instead this, “image” we are created with is the character of God. We are reflections of God’s glory and we are to reflect his likeness in our relationships with other people.

In verse 28 God tells Adam and Eve that they are to, “rule over” the creation. We recognize that ultimately God is in control and has the ultimate rule over the earth but in this delegation of responsibility we see God’s love for mankind by allowing humans to be in control of the creation.

The Christian mindset that everything belongs to God and that we are nothing more than His children in possession of His belongings is extremely accurate. Your spouse, your children, your finances, all that you have and the world that you live in all belong to God and are on loan to you for your pleasure. We stop finding pleasure in these when we lose this mindset and begin to abuse them by not honoring and treating them as God’s and not ours.

Genesis chapter one is crucial to the Christian belief for several reasons. To take the words, “In the beginning God” to heart leaves no room for any other methods of creation. It establishes God as the Supreme Being who is motivated by love. He created you and said that, “it was good.” You and I are not accidents and neither is the world that we live in. Motivated by love, God designed and created everything with a purpose. We become fulfilled when we live by that purpose and honor our creator in everything we do. Remember, you were designed to have the character of God. That is how you should live!

The Discipline of Giving

The story is told that when General Sam Houston gave his life to Christ and was baptized that the minister, Dr. Rufus Burleson, noticed that he had a watch and chain on his vest. He said, “Mr. Houston, you probably want to take that off before you’re baptized, because it will get ruined.” So he takes it off and hands it to a friend. Then Dr. Burleson adds, “You may want to take your wallet out, too, and hand it to your friend.” Sam Houston replied, “No, my wallet needs baptizing, too.”

There is an unfortunate movement in some Christian circles that says the discipline of tithing is not biblical. I say unfortunate because it couldn’t be further from the truth. Some will argue that it was a practice of the Old Testament Law and later abolished in the New Testament. Others say that it is an unfair manmade practice that is easy for the rich and difficult on the poor. Yet, others will argue that it is just ministers manipulating their congregations into providing them with luxurious lifestyles. All of these show a person’s biblical ignorance as well as the true condition of one’s heart. It was for reasons like this that Jesus warned that, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Matthew 6:21) While just about anyone can argue with the logic of man it becomes impossible for a Christian to argue with the Word of God. So what I would like to do is address the aforementioned arguments with what the Scriptures say.

Yes, the discipline of tithing was part of the Old Testament law but it actually predates the law. We read in Malachi chapter 3 where God chastises the nation of Israel for not bringing the “full tithe” to the storehouse and accuses the people of “robbing God” for withholding their tithes. Obviously God is interested enough in the tithe to include it in the law and to discipline the people for not giving it so why would it be a practice that He’d stop? We’ll get to that in a minute but let’s look at where it started. In Genesis Chapter 14 we read that after Abram returned from victory in battle we would receive a blessing from God and then (in verse 20) give to the Lord, “a tenth of everything.” (On a quick side note the word “tithe” literally means a tenth.) Not only did this action take place long before the law would be given it also even takes place before the Abrahamic Covenant. So we know that the practice of tithing had been around for centuries before we read Malachi’s charge in the final book of the Old Testament but was it a practice condoned by Jesus in the New Testament? The answer is, ABSOLUTELY!

Keep in mind that the New Testament demands more than the Old. In the Old Testament we read, “Do not commit adultery.” Exodus 20:13-14 However, we also read that, “if you think of a woman lustfully then you have committed adultery.” Matthew 5:28 Later on Jesus would chastise the scribes and Pharisees for neglecting justice, mercy and faith but would commend them for tithing (Matthew 23:23 ). The point being made is that tithing is a practice that goes along with the other aspects of the Christian lifestyle. It just isn’t a part of the law (both Old and New Testament) it is an important part of the law. Keep in mind that Jesus didn’t come to abolish the law but to fulfill it Read Matthew 5:19-19

Now, how about it being unfair because it is easy on the rich and hard on the poor? Let me ask you which is more difficult, giving $10 or $100-1000? The great thing about the tithing principle is that for a person who is spiritually disciplined is that is isn’t really difficult. When you consider all the minimal things we send 10% or more of our paychecks on then you see where tithing is a reasonable practice instituted by God. Where the difficulty comes is when your 10% is a larger amount rather than a small one. I heard the story once of a businessman who made a covenant with his pastor to always tithe 10% of his profits to the church. When the man’s business grew into a multimillion dollar a year business he began to think of all the other things he could do with the hundreds of thousands of dollars he was tithing to the church. He went and met with the pastor and told him of the struggle and said that he was seriously considering no longer tithing 10% because the amount had grown so large. He ended by asking the pastor to pray for him to which the pastor replied he would pray that the Lord would decrease his profits back to where giving 10% was once again manageable.

The thing is that 10% is manageable to anyone and when you develop the attitude that you are returning 10% of the 100% God has blessed you with back to Him then it also becomes reasonable. The issue of tithing has nothing to do with the pastor of your church, the size of the congregation, the worship style or the ministry plans. It has everything to do with the condition of a person’s heart. The assumption that failing to tithe is a sin and shows a lack of faith is a correct one. That was the whole point that God was making in Malachi chapter 3 when God said that the people were robbing him. Rather than getting offended get your heart right by trusting completely in Christ and living by faith. It isn’t about manipulation it’s about salvation! A person who is a Christian should show a strong desire to live by the principles and disciplines of the Christian lifestyle.

Unfortunately scandal has hit the church just as it has in the business world, the sports world and even in politics. However people still invest in Fortune 500 companies, they still pay hundreds of dollars to attend sporting events and they still vote. I find it ironic that they choose the church to single out because of scandal. You can’t judge all of Christianity based on the unfortunate decisions of some ministers who lost sight of their calling. Just like you can’t judge the entire sports and business world as well as all politicians based on the mistakes of a minority of the people in those professions.

Just keep in mind that your giving to the work of the Lord has everything to do with your relationship to Him and nothing else. We live in a society that excuses almost everything and makes excuses for not doing the right thing. I hope and pray that the tithe isn’t the next thing on the list.

Just the Facts

Did you know that 13 people die a year from a vending machine falling on them, 40% of women have hurled foot ware at men, 50% of bank robberies take place on a Friday, 90% of boats sold are used for fishing, 90% of women who walk into a department store turn right, a car is stolen every 30 sec in the US, 200 babies are born every minute, approx 97.3978271128 of statistics are made up, assuming Rudolph was in front there are 40,320 ways to rearrange the other 8 reindeer, August is the most popular moth to have a baby, the average 4 year old asks 400 questions a day, adults spend approx. 14 minutes in the shower a day, average person speaks 31,500 words a day, average female spends 2 years of her life on the phone, average person spends 2 years of life waiting for traffic lights to change? Did you know that I may have just constructed the longest run on sentence, ever?

It’s amazing how many useless facts we keep track of. They are interesting to read and usually fun to look at but really they aren’t good for anything at all. If you memorize them they just become useless information stored in our brain that we do nothing with.

Here’s one for you. Did you know that 89% of the population of Nigeria attends a church of some kind as opposed to 44% of the population here in the United States ? In fact the U.S. is 11th among all the nations in church attendance percentage but is third in the world in population with 301,139,947 people. Last one, I promise. A recent survey showed that over 90% of unchurched people would go if someone would just ask them.

What’s the point? As believers in Christ we have an obligation to share with other people what we know about love, joy, peace, forgiveness, acceptance, heaven, hell, eternity, salvation, purpose and invite them to the church where you learned those things. Otherwise we are just retaining useless information.

Ben Stein Making the Debate Interesting Again!

Let’s be honest. The Creationism/Darwinism debate isn’t going away any time soon but Ben Stein’s new film “Exposed” sheds some new light on the debate. Not from the “God created” vs. “nothing created” perspective but from the freedom of speech perspective. Creationists are labeled to be narrow minded judgmental people but that couldn’t be more false. In fact, as this film exposes, it is the Darwinist who could be tagged with that label for their aggressive and hateful attacks on creationists simply for questioning a theory that isn’t backed by any hard evidence. (For great examples of this just look at the videos posted on YouTube in response to the trailer for Stein’s film.)

Darwinist are still frantically looking for the evidence that has been missing from the very beginning in order to validate their theory while Creationists have the evidence that all of creation points to a designer backed by the validity and historical accuracy of the bible. However it is Darwinism that is taught and regarded as actual fact and Creationism as some far out theory with no evidence that only the ignorant hold on to.

The debate will continue to rage on but as this film exposes the labels need to be swapped.

Is Capital Punishment a Sin?

There has been some talk in the news recently about the death penalty and whether it is constitutional or not. As the nationwide halt on executions is expiring I have to admit that my initial thought was disgust. Not in the fact that death row inmates will soon be facing the consequences of their actions but rather in the fact that there is such a huge battle to protect convicted killers but not unborn children. I don’t want to turn this post into an abortion debate but I do want to say that this issue speaks volumes to how backwards our society has become.

There is a biblically ignorant argument out there where people will tell you that the bible says, “Thou shall not kill.” The reason I say this is ignorant is because the bible doesn’t say that at all. In Exodus chapter 20, where God is delivering the 10 Commandments, we find that it actually says not to commit “murder.” Now, simple logic tells us that there is a huge difference between the two. Is a soldier engaged in battle or a man who is protecting is family guilty of murder if their actions result in someone’s death? Well…no! However, a person who commits a crime which results in the death of another person is and those are the men and women who we find on death row.

God does value human life and He does love each and every human on the face of the earth but the bible over and again teaches accountability. We are responsible for our actions! Newton’s third law teaches that for every action there is an equal and opposite reaction. We know that the consequence for murder could be the death penalty. If that isn’t enough to deter a person from committing the act then they should be prepared to deal with the reaction.

Since the beginning of civilization cultures have reserved the most severe penalties for the most severe crimes. Even among God’s chosen people, the Israelites, murder was dealt with swiftly and justly. Even living under God’s grace we must face the consequences of our actions. We can find forgiveness in Christ but the consequences for our actions against others remains.

Add to the discussion: Share your thoughts and views on Capital Punishment and vote on the opinion poll in the forum.

The Oprah Cult

This video should be a startling revelation to Christians all over the world regardless of denomination or location. Oprah is a world known figure and she is leading millions of people astray from the truth of the Gospel with a watered down humanistic view of God. Here are just a few of my responses to her contradictions of God.

Yes, there is only one way. Jesus made that very clear in John 14:6 when he declared, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” Just because a person can’t fathom the reality of this statement doesn’t make it any less true. Jesus warned of false prophets and people who would attempt to lead others astray and that is exactly what Oprah is attempting to do. Regardless of how you feel about her show and the millions of dollars that she gives to charity the idea that there are other ways to get to heaven other than through a relationship with Jesus Christ is a lie that has severe eternal consequences.

Yes, God is a jealous God. He is everything that Oprah describes Him to be. He is all powerful, all present, all knowing and all loving but He’s also a jealous God. The Old Testament refers to God as being jealous 10 times. Here’s what many people don’t understand about God’s jealousy. It is motivated by love. You see we are all creations of a Holy God. He is an artist and we are His masterpieces. Of all his created beings we are the only ones that He loves enough to sacrifice himself on the cross for. Because of His amazing love for us He desires that we worship Him and Him alone. When we refuse to believe in Him or live a lifestyle that does not honor Him he becomes jealous of the attention that we are not giving to Him. This isn’t doctrinal its biblical.

10 Then the LORD said: "I am making a covenant with you. Before all your people I will do wonders never before done in any nation in all the world. The people you live among will see how awesome is the work that I, the LORD, will do for you. 11 Obey what I command you today. I will drive out before you the Amorites, Canaanites, Hittites, Perizzites, Hivites and Jebusites. 12 Be careful not to make a treaty with those who live in the land where you are going, or they will be a snare among you. 13 Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and cut down their Asherah poles. 14 Do not worship any other god, for the LORD, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Exodus 34:10-14

Rather than make an attempt to understand this concept Oprah is moving away from it because it is easier to serve and please ourselves than it is God. She is instead teaching that we can worship ourselves and find satisfaction it that. However, the worship of self is also what the Church of Satan teaches.

God wasn’t made in man’s image. Rather man was made in God’s image. Again what we are dealing with is a person’s inability to understand and live by biblical principles. To accept the biblical God a person has to accept the lifestyle that goes with it. Because people would rather create their own standard of holiness than the way the bible says we should live we try to “logically” say that is a religious law or doctrine made by man so in turn they actually do create their own man made religious laws and doctrines and follow them.

Yes, Christians are to be the light of the world and here is the full text of what Eckhart is trying to quote.

13"You are the salt of the earth. But if the salt loses its saltiness, how can it be made salty again? It is no longer good for anything, except to be thrown out and trampled by men.

14"You are the light of the world. A city on a hill cannot be hidden. 15Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. 16In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:13-16

What Jesus is saying is that Christians (people who actually believe in Him) should live a lifestyle that benefits those around them through sharing the love, joy and peace of Christ and ultimately bring glory to God. This passage in no way indicates that because we are the “conscious of the world” that we should create a new image of God where the standard of holiness is different from what is lined out in the bible.

How ironic is it though that two people who are trying to deny the biblical view of God will actually use a quote from Jesus to try lure people away from the Gospel. Talk about a wolf in sheep’s clothing. The other thing is that he (Eckhart) says that he doesn’t think about eternity (life after death) but will quote the teachings of Jesus. What kind of hope is there if this world is all we get? What kind of religion teaches that you have your human existence (75 years) and that is it? Here’s the truth, you can’t have Jesus without an afterlife. You can’t quote one passage from the teachings of Christ and then deny the biblical view of God. It is all or nothing and regardless of your view of God there will be an eternity for everyone. Refusing to believe that and attempting to explain to millions of people why it isn’t logical to you doesn’t make is any less true.

By the way I don’t believe him that he doesn’t think of what happens after death simply because every person who has ever lived does. The difference is that this cult that they are trying to get people to buy into doesn’t answer the questions about eternity and therefore can’t be discussed because it leaves a big open hole in their belief system. That hole is called hope and discussing eternity would cause millions of people to realize that the Oprah Cult leaves you without any.
God is very much about a belief. Again we find humanistic logic that says we have to see (or in Oprah’s case feel) to believe. The requirement for a Christian lifestyle is that we believe in God and in Jesus Christ his son as our Lord and Savior.

9That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved. Romans 10:9-10

You are not a God and you never will be! You aren’t holy on your own account and you can’t be! Our natural inclination is to be rebellious towards the things of God putting each and every one of us in the need to be reconciled to God. Because of God’s love for us we can become reconciled to Him and made holy but make no mistake it will be totally because of God and not of ourselves. Submission to Christ doesn’t make you a God but it will make you a child of God.

26You are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. Galatians 3:26

You can see more videos on Operah's beliefs on the message board.

Panama Day Two – Tour of the City

Roger and I had the first part of the day off so we decided to do some touring of Panama City. We walked a few blocks before hailing a taxi and taking the twenty minute ride down to the old Panama City ruins. Standing on the ruins of structures that were built almost 500 years ago was pretty amazing.

After leaving the ruins we walked several more blocks (hailing a taxi in Panama City is a little more difficult than you would think) before catching another cab to the Hard Rock Café for lunch and then a little souvenir shopping before heading back to the hotel.

Later that afternoon we went with the missionary to meet with a potential pastor and then we visited a local house church.

10that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, 11and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father. – Philippians 2:10-11

If you’ve never had the opportunity to attend a worship service that is not done in your native language it is an amazing experience. The above verse came to mind as I listened to the voices of just a handful of people worship without restriction or inhibition. We sit in our sanctuaries with instruments and multimedia devices surrounded by dozens, if not hundreds of people, and we watch rather than participate.

As long as we are prohibited from worshiping by pride, prejudice or down right unwillingness we are failing to confess Jesus Christ as Lord. If He was truly Lord of my life then there’s nothing that would prevent me from acknowledging that through worship.

Panama Trip Day One – Jumped by a Monkey

I arrived in the country of Panama last night to make arrangements for our mission team that is coming down in March. While yesterday was pretty uneventful with nothing more exciting happening than traveling down here today, our first full day in country, was a pretty busy.

We started out with breakfast at the hotel where Roger, my traveling partner, spotted a monkey running by on the fence. I gotta be honest I really didn’t believe that he saw a monkey. Not that Roger would lie I just suspected that whatever he saw appeared to be a monkey to him but was actually some other kind of animal.

We left our hotel and traveled to the community of La Chorrera to meet with leaders from the local church there that we will be working with in March. The meeting was very productive and we left with a complete list of ministry activities for the week that will only need to be fine tuned a little before we arrive for the main trip.

We also booked hotel rooms in the community and checked out food options. If you are one of our mission team members reading to check in on how the trip is going let me just warn you in advance that the upcoming trip to Panama will be like nothing experienced in the past.

The craziest thing that happened to me today is actually the craziest thing that has ever happened to me in Panama. As we were walking out of the hotel tonight to go to dinner we saw Roger’s monkey on the gate that goes out to the road. When the little guy saw us he climbed to the top of the gate and looked right into my eyes. Roger had just said, “Look out that thing is about to jump on you!” when suddenly he did. So there I was in Panama with a monkey on my back. We still have three days here but it is going to be very difficult to top that moment. The adventure is just beginning!

The Attributes of God Found in Jesus Christ

Christians believe that faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior is the only way to eternity in heaven with God the Father. Obviously if a person could find a way to deny that Jesus was the Son of God and that he had the attributes of God then they would be able to totally debunk Christianity.

We believe, by faith, that Jesus is the Son of God but there isn’t a lack of physical evidence either. In response to Thomas’ doubt in his resurrection demanding to see physical before he would believe Jesus replied, "Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed." John 20:29

Jesus didn’t just believe that he was the Son of God with all the power of God he actually was. The bible records that Jesus had all of the biblical attributes of God. While pundits are going to claim that the bible is irrelevant and inaccurate it should be mentioned that way of thinking is inaccurate in itself. We’ll get to that at a later time but for right now we’ll stick to the bible as the ultimate authority on identifying Jesus as God incarnate.

Attributes of God	Found in Christ
Omniscience (all-knowing)	John 16:30 the apostle John affirms of Jesus, “Now we can see that you know all things.
Omnipresence (all-present)	Jesus said in Matthew 28:20, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.”
Omnipotence (all-powerful)	All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me,” Jesus said in Matthew 28:18
Eternality (no beginning or end)	John 1:1declares of Jesus, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.”
Immutability (unchanging)	Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.

What this means to us is that the Christ we’ve invited into our lives is the most powerful being ever. Having the power to know all, see all, overcome all and exists through all there isn’t any area of our lives that he can’t have a significant impact on. The question is, are we able to accept his Lordship by faith or do we, like Thomas, require physical proof before we believe? Regardless there is a blessing for believing, just a greater one for not requiring proof first.

Putting Together the Pieces for Panama

2007 is just about to give way to 2008 which will bring plenty of new opportunities. Each spring members from our church travel to Panama for a mission trip. Honestly its one of the best weeks of the year that leads to establishing new relationships enhancing existing ones.

I’ll be traveling to Panama mid-January to make arrangements and to get things set up for the group trip in March. It’s around this time of the year that I receive the most traffic on the blog because people are checking in for information and details. I’ll do my absolute best to update from Panama everyday with photos and thoughts on my travels to Central America.

Meanwhile back at the church our mission team is forming and preparing themselves for the trip. It is definitely a busy time as passports have to be ordered, airline reservations need to be made and mission activities need to be planned. Definitely wont be a slow start to the new year for us.

God and Evil

An over used argument against the belief in God is the existence of evil. People want to make the statement that if God was all powerful, all loving and all good then the presence of evil in the world show that God either isn’t all of those things or that He just doesn’t exists.

I have actually lost count on the number of times this case has been presented to me in an attempt to disprove God. It’s a flawed argument that defies logic. I recently received an email that contained some facts that help defend against this argument.

Did you know that there are different types of heat? You have heat, even more heat, super-heat, Mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don't have anything called 'cold'. We can reach temperatures of 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can't go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees. Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat.

You see cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat just the absence of it

Did you know that there is no such thing as darkness? Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and its called darkness, isn't it? That's the meaning we use to define the word. In reality, darkness isn't. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn't you?"

If you argue that there is life and then there's death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite o f life, just the absence of it.

Evil does not exist, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of good and our standard of good does come from God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God.

God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God's love present in his heart. It's like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light.

Nehemiah’s Wall Discovery Should Affirm Our Faith in the Bible

An archeological discovery made last week in Jerusalem adds validity to the accuracy of the bible should encourage Christians in their faith in the book that is the foundation for their religious beliefs.

The discovery of the wall that Nehemiah built is turning heads in Jerusalem and around the world, especially among those who argued that the wall never existed. There’s no way to deny it now but its discovery is of no value if we fail to recognize the significance of it.

Nehemiah teaches us to follow God’s desire for us despite the sacrifice, resistance and how impossible it may seem. Nehemiah left a position in the Persian government in order to motivate the Jewish people to go back and reconstruct the Jerusalem wall. Along the way he encountered complaining from his own people and threats from enemies. In the end the wall was rebuilt not by Nehemiah’s greatness but his allowing God to be active and work through him and his people.

We accept the bible by faith but evidence like this discovery reaffirms not only the truth of the stories found in God’s word but also the truth of who God is through those stories. It gives us confidence to continue to trust in God while living in a world that tries to deny His existence.

15 So the wall was completed on the twenty-fifth of Elul, in fifty-two days. 16 When all our enemies heard about this, all the surrounding nations were afraid and lost their self-confidence, because they realized that this work had been done with the help of our God. – Nehemiah 6:15,16

We all get spiritually run down at some point and there are times when we feel that God is not active in our lives. Those are all feelings that result from us straying away from God and not Him backing away from us. Like God’s call for the Jews to return to Jerusalem to rebuild the wall He also calls us back to Himself to rebuild or reestablish our relationship with him. For that to happen we’ll have to sacrifice the things that have hindered our spiritual growth, overcome resistance from friends, family and even ourselves to continue walking in the light of Christ.

Sometimes people may feel that it is impossible to find their way back to a loving God because of the way they have lived their lives. Remember that Nehemiah faced a task that seemed impossible as well but it was God’s power that allowed him to complete the rebuilding of that wall. Now we have actual physical evidence of it but you yourself can be the evidence of God’s power if you would just let Him work through you as Nehemiah did.

The Lighthearted Side of Preaching

As a pastor I understand as well as anyone the occasional tongue twist and mispronounced word or twisted phrase. Two years ago a youth pastor in Colorado made a horrible mistake when he tried to say “pitched his tents.” The video floated around on YouTube resulting in a great practice joke.



I’m just glad that nothing like this has ever happened to me!

Should Christians Vote for Mitt Romney?

Christians should vote their convictions and not be convicted about their votes. When it comes to selecting America’s next president Christians should be more concerned about a person’s stance on critical issues than their religious affiliation.

Romney is a devout Mormon, a religion that Christians view to be a cult, but for a Christian to not vote for him based solely on his religious preference would give validity to a secular world’s view that Christians are judgmental and close minded.

Instead Christians need to evaluate their own stance of hot topics like abortion, tax cuts, the war in Iraq and gay marriage. Then find a presidential candidate who best matches those convictions. Keep in mind that as believers in God our standard of morality comes from the bible. We, unlike political candidates, don’t have the luxury of wavering on our own personal standards and morality. The bible is what it is and we either believe in it or not. We are either Christ like or we are not but the choice is ours.

We can’t expect every presidential candidate to have the exact same convictions as we do but there will be some out there who are close. By informing ourselves of where the candidates stand on issues that are important to us we can cast a vote without compromising our own moral convictions regardless of the candidates religious affiliation.

Leave Baby Jesus Alone!

Thinking through the major American Holidays and their subsequent decorations I can’t think of one more controversial than the nativity scene and I really don’t understand why. No one complains about Cupid’s arrows of love in February and he’s traced back to Roman mythology. In the spring no one complains about the Easter Bunny whose origin traces back to an ancient pagan goddess named Eostre. No one takes issue with Uncle Sam in July although he has been linked to wars involving America dating back as far as 1812. Every November pilgrims pop up all across our nation despite the fact that these men and women represented religious freedom and Christian values.

Regardless of the origin and folklore surrounding them each major holiday is represented by some form of a character and long before Christmas had Santa Clause it had baby Jesus. Jesus is what Christmas is all about and without him we wouldn’t have the winter holiday and yet people still ardently protest nativity scenes at city hall.

Sure we live in a world of religious intolerance but what did baby Jesus ever do to anyone? Again, no one complains about the pilgrims making appearances on City Hall windows and doors in November and they not only stood for Christian values but they also brought disease and death to the indigenous people. We’ll gladly celebrate them but let the Savior of the World lay in his manger on the front lawn and the law suites start filing in.

In my opinion the problem is cultural. We’ve developed a secular society that is so hatefully opposed to organized religion and the things of God that the church that lawsuits are becoming the newest trend among law firms. Unlike the Easter Bunny, Jesus is convicting. To truly believe in him means to turn from a sinful lifestyle and to embrace a biblical standard of morality. However, our society would much rather be offended than convicted! How dare anyone, including baby Jesus, tell us that our lifestyle is wrong. Therein lies the problem with baby Jesus lying in the manger.

Christians are viewed, unfairly, as narrow minded, judgmental and unacceptable by a society where 90% of the people claim to believe in God, 84% believe in the survival of the soul after death and 77% believe in the virgin birth. So why are Christians so grossly misrepresented? Because the people who oppose them are more vocal. Jesus spoke of this in John 15:19, If you belonged to the world, it would love you as its own. As it is, you do not belong to the world, but I have chosen you out of the world. That is why the world hates you.

Christians need to become more vocal but not in the hateful manner used by those who oppose us. Instead, respond in love and explain why you believe what you do and why something like a nativity scene is important to you. It represents not only the birth or the savior and the rebirth of sinful man. There’s no lawsuit that will ever take that away!

The Word

1In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2He was with God in the beginning.
3Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. 4In him was life, and that life was the light of men. 5The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.
6There came a man who was sent from God; his name was John. 7He came as a witness to testify concerning that light, so that through him all men might believe. 8He himself was not the light; he came only as a witness to the light. 9The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world.
10He was in the world, and though the world was made through him, the world did not recognize him. 11He came to that which was his own, but his own did not receive him. 12Yet to all who received him, to those who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God— 13children born not of natural descent, nor of human decision or a husband's will, but born of God.
14The Word became flesh and made his dwelling among us. We have seen his glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.
15John testifies concerning him. He cries out, saying, "This was he of whom I said, 'He who comes after me has surpassed me because he was before me.' " 16From the fullness of his grace we have all received one blessing after another. 17For the law was given through Moses; grace and truth came through Jesus Christ. 18No one has ever seen God, but God the One and Only,who is at the Father's side, has made him known.

In Hebrew scripture the word was an agent of creation, (Psalm 33:6), the source of God’s message to his people through the prophets (Hosea 1:2), and God’s law.

In Greek philosophy the word was another expression for God.

John is clearly talking about Jesus Christ and is expressing the fact that he has been around since the beginning of time. He’s not a mythological creature and he didn’t just appear on the scene at the virgin birth. The “in the beginning” phrase used here is the exact same phrase we find in Genesis 1:1.

There isn’t a single thing in creation that was not made by God. Even man made things are made with the things of God. All around the world God’s creation cries out to His existence even though people go to extreme measures to deny Him.

The agents working against God is the darkness we find in verses 4 and 5. They are not necessarily evil and in some cases not even bad but the world’s standards. They are just simply absent from the presence of God.

God is often described as light and that is how you have light in Genesis 1 before the creation of the sun and moon. The light there is the presence of God and darkness is His absence. Some people just simply don’t understand God while others purposely don’t want to understand and yet still some are so ardently opposed to the concept of God that the hate Him and all things or religion.

Not everyone who hears the words of Jesus Christ is going to accept it but those who do will have all the rights of the Children of God including a Holy inheritance. The Word is so much more than just the bible. Jesus Christ makes the word come alive because he is the word became flesh.

Why People Don’t Believe in God

There is a whole world out there that doesn’t trust the church and believe that Christianity is nothing more than a bunch of phony rituals and traditions to a non-existent God. Why do they feel this way? Because there are people like holding ministry positions.

I’ll not use his/her name but there is a Methodist pastor in Baltimore who is not satisfied with the person that God created them to be so this person underwent a sex-change because God made a mistake.

“The gender I was assigned at birth has never matched my own true authentic God-given gender identity, how I know myself. Fortunately, God's gift of medical science is enabling me to bring my physical body in alignment with my true gender.”

People are entitled to opinions and they certainly have the right to pursue happiness but what this person has done goes against everything biblical. Again people certainly have the right to chose to deny a biblical lifestyle, its called free will, and they do but I don’t see how a minister can preach the infallibility of God and then say He made a mistake on creating them?

Christian’s are supposed to be different. We are supposed to be set aside, made holy. We are supposed to be examples of what a relationship with Christ looks like. When we read the bible, go to church, pray, and then go out and live a lifestyle that is no different from people who don’t do those things then we are telling the world that we follow a God who doesn’t work.

The Great God Debate

I finally got around to watching, “Does God Exist? The Nightline Face-Off” and I have to say that my fear of this being a bad idea even before the debate was proven true during it. I have a ton of respect for Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort and I think that they each did an outstanding job at voicing their beliefs and convictions but an event like this is a no win situation for either side because they are so ardently opposed to each other’s view points.

The problem for the Christians in a debate like this is that the rules aren’t the same for both sides. The atheist camp can respond and react with hatred and sarcasm, which they did, but if the Christians were to slip and respond in that manner then they would be ridiculed for it. To their credit Cameron and Comfort both kept a calm respectful tone while the atheist disrespectfully looked away and responded and attacked in hateful tones. There was a clear difference in the level of respect given between the two sides.

The other thing that is wrong with a debate like this is that the atheists don’t really care to hear what the Christians have to say. They view God (if He existed) as a heavenly tyrant, Christians as foolish and narrow minded, and are actually out for victory in this debate where the Christians just want to get their message out and let the audience make their own decisions and there lies the problem for the atheists in an event like this.

They attack the Christian’s stance so aggressively but defend their own with a weak effort. They gave no clear answer to the development of morality with the absence of God; they grossly misrepresented the scriptures, failed miserably to defend the gaping holes in evolution and refused to answer questions of proof regarding some of their “facts”.

While I’m certain that this event did not portray and adequate depiction of atheism it can be said that the atheistic views of Christianity aren’t adequate as well. They tend to focus on the corruption of the church and the deviations of Christianity rather than the true depiction of a believer in Christ.

In all I appreciated the efforts of both sides but also thought that they could have been represented better. I did like the format and thought that the program’s choice to leave the final decision up to the viewer was a good one.

Jerry Falwell (1933 – 2007)

Jerry Falwell was often outspoken and often controversial to which I didn’t agree with on several occasions but you cannot downplay the impact he had on American Christianity and politics.

His ministries have reached out to thousands of people over the past 50 years. His church has grown from 35 members at the first meeting in 1956 to over 24,000 members in 2007.

Liberty University, founded by Falwell, not only gave us DC Talk (My favorite music group of all time) but continues to grow into one of the leading institutions in America for Christian based education.

Most importantly Falwell got the Christian body involved in politics. Sure he spoke his mind and stirred up controversy on just about every political and social front but he also motivated the “Moral Majority” to be heard in the political world by providing a platform for Christian values to be voiced in politics.