SALVATION IS NOT FREE! IT COST THE BLOOD OF JESUS CHRIST.

BEWARE OF PICTUERS YOU MAY HAVE SEEN

2010-12-14T13:13:00.000-08:00

When you read the account of the meal Jesus had with his disciples on the evening before he went to the cross what image comes to your mind? If you are like most people that image will be an Italian setting consistent with the late 1490’s. That is because we have all seen pictures of the magnificent painting “The Last Supper” by Leonardo Da Vinci. While the painting is a masterpiece of workmanship it is not an accurate portrayal of that meal.

Da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” painting and other paintings by Da Vinci and others can cloud our minds to what was really happening when we read these events as recorded in the Scripture. Maybe even more misleading then those pictures done by the great artists are those which we have seen as illustrations in books, flash pictures used to help hold attention during a Sunday School class, and movies or TV programs depicting the events.

David is frequently illustrated as a young shepherd boy of maybe 12 or 13 years old but though we do not know his age he more likely was between 17 and 20 years of age.

Jacob blessed the sons of Joseph which is usually illustrated by showing an old man with his hands on the head of two young boys. I do not personally remember of ever seeing the event illustrated by showing an old man with his hands on the heads of two young men.

Joseph interpreted Pharaoh’s two dreams, recorded in Genesis 41, as being 7 years of plenty and 7 years of drought. That is a total of 14 years. Verse 50 tells us that Joseph had two sons born unto him before the famine started. There were still five years of famine left when Jacob and his family moved to Egypt (Genesis 45:11). Jacob was sick and at the point of death when he blessed the sons of Joseph (see Genesis 48). 17 years had passed from the time when Jacob entered Egypt until his death (Genesis 47:28). So if the known dates are added up the youngest, Ephraim, had to be at least 19 years old and Manasseh could have been 24 years old.

It is so hard to clear our heads of preconceived notions when reading the Bible yet this is what we must do if we are to understand what God is telling us. As much as possible approach the Bible as an empty vessel and let its words fill that vessel.

BE ANGRY A BIBLICAL COMMAND

2010-12-13T20:35:00.000-08:00

“Be ye angry, and sin not: let not the sun go down upon your wrath” Ephesians 4:26 .

The first part of this verse is frequently quoted to prove that it is ok for Christians to be angry. The second part of the verse is used by others to prove that we should not go to bed angry. Using this passage this way comes back to the same old problem that people are not paying attention to the context of the passage.

The scriptures leading up to this verse speaks about living as believers in Jesus Christ in the body of Jesus Christ and not to living like we did before we were saved. Starting in verse 22 the believer is told to remove from ourselves the actions that characterize the sin nature then in verse 23 we are to replace those actions and thinking with spiritual thinking. Putting together verses 22 through 24 we see that the believer is exhorted to put off (remove as a garment and walk away from) the old man also known as the flesh and the sin nature; and we are to put on the new man, the new nature, the Christ like nature. We are then in verse 25 exhorted to be honest to everyone, “for we are members one of another.”

We are all members of the body of Christ, the church, and thus when one believer sins the whole body is affected.

Suddenly out of the blue we are commanded to be constantly angry and stop sinning. To be angry is a command and it appears, looking at the original Greek structure, that are to be constantly angry.

Then the commandment to be angry is connected to another action namely that we should stop sinning.

We are not to allow the sun to set upon our “irritated, exasperated, embittered anger” (Kenneth S Wuest – The New Testament An Expanded Translation page 454). Now if those who understand this to mean that we are not to carry our anger into a new day or as others say we are not to go to bed angry then we are commanded to be continuously angry for a short time which, of course, makes no sense.

Some point to the fact that by Jewish thinking sundown is the start of a new day so we are not to carry our anger into a new day but the church at Ephesus was comprised of mostly Gentiles whose practice it was to start the new day started halfway between sunset and sunrise, midnight.

Sunset was the end of a work day. They did not have bright electric lights so they were unable to do most jobs after it became dark. As the sun was setting in the western sky they would put away their tools, leave the job site, and go home.

We are told not to let this happen to our wrath. We are to stay vigilant in our wrath.

Now let me say, so you don’t get the wrong idea at this point, this wrath is not towards a person but let me develop my thought a little further before we get into that.

Anger is a natural emotion for humans. It can be closely associated with fighting and wars. During World War II the United States citizens became very angry with the Japanese people for attacking, as many believed unprovoked, Pearl Harbor. This anger lead to a response of declaring war on the Axis of which Japan was a part.

The war went from days to months to years. Times were difficult. Loved ones were dying. The people needed to be constantly reminded of what happened at Pearl Harbor and at other battles that followed so their wrath against Japan and the Axis would not cease to burn within them. The forces between the Axis and the Allies were closely matched in military might so it would take a lot of abiding anger to overcome the enemy.

That is a picture of what Paul was saying in Ephesians 4:26. We need to get angry; angry enough to fight and that anger is to be directed towards sin. The battle goes on from the time we are saved until we die or are raptured. We can’t put down our tools which God has given us to fight and defeat the sin nature.

WHO CHOSE SAUL AS KING?

2010-08-16T23:12:00.000-07:00

"Daniel answered and said, 'Blessed be the name of God for ever and ever: for wisdom and might are his: And he changeth the times and the seasons: he removeth kings, and setteth up kings: he giveth wisdom unto the wise, and knowledge to them that know understanding:'" Daniel 2:20, 21

“God chose David to be king over Israel but men chose Saul to be king.” That statement I have heard many times and when I have tried to challenge it I have been cut off quickly and even rebuked for not just blindly accepting it as truth. No one has ever showed me why they believe this based on scripture. When I try to show why I disagree with the statement based on the Word of God the conversation ends.

Does it really make a difference? Why should we make a fuss over whether Saul was chosen by God or by man? The Apostle Paul said, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, “All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness”( 2 Timothy 3:16). God breathed (inspired) even the most seemingly insignificant part of scripture. What gives us the right to handle any portion of his word lightly?

Let’s consider the facts. I have quoted some verses from 1 Samuel below that I believe directly speaks to the issue but I challenge you to read the whole context.

God delivered the children of Israel out of Egypt and after forty years of wondering in the desert he allowed them to enter into the land he promised to give them for a possession. God established himself as king over Israel and used judges to make his wishes known.

Because of sin Israel suffered defeat and oppression from surrounding nations and it was not until they repented that God delivered them from the oppressors. Finally the Israelites decided they would rather have a man than God as their king. Samuel was the judge when they cried out for a king and though he objected God said to him, “Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.”

Now about that time Saul the son of Kish of the tribe of Benjamin went out to look for some donkeys that had gone astray. After a few days Saul told the servant that went with him that they should return home but the servant suggested they speak to the man of God (Samuel) first. The Bible does not indicate that Saul has any thoughts or aspirations of becoming the new king in Israel nor do we see any indication that there are any followers trying to promote him as the new king.

God told Samuel to anoint Saul as king. Then later Samuel calls the tribes of Israel to Mizpeh and there he preformed a process of selection, possibly by casting lots, even though Samuel knew the person upon who the selection would finally rest he was proving that this was God’s selection and not his. The people did not bring Saul to Samuel and ask him to anoint him as king.

When Saul was finally chosen the people could not find him because, possibly out of fear, he was hiding. He does not give the appearance of a man who wanted to be king. Once he got the position he did not want to lose it but in the beginning he does not appear to want the job.

1 Samuel chapter 8 verse 18 God speaks of “your king which ye shall have chosen you.” But this does not mean they chose Saul as king but it refers to the fact that they chose to have a man as king rather then God. Again we see in chapter 12 of 1 Samuel verse 13 Samuel says, “therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired” but again the context shows that God chose Saul not the people when Samuel said, “and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.”

We also see in 1 Samuel 1 verse 24 Samuel said, “See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen…” God spoke to Samuel as recorded in 1 Samuel chapter 15 verse 11, “It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king…”

It seems that people have difficulty believing that God could have chosen Saul because of his actions but we, no matter how difficult it is for us to understand or no matter how far it deviates from our concept of God, must accept the Word as it is written. When the Word says God chose Saul to be king then we must believe God chose Saul to be king.

Selected verses from 1 Samuel
1 Samuel 8:4Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,
5 And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.
6 But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.
7 And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.
8 According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.
9 Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.
10 And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king.
11 And he said, This will be the manner of the king that shall reign over you: He will take your sons, and appoint them for himself, for his chariots, and to be his horsemen; and some shall run before his chariots.

18 And ye shall cry out in that day because of your king which ye shall have chosen you; and the LORD will not hear you in that day.
19 Nevertheless the people refused to obey the voice of Samuel; and they said, Nay; but we will have a king over us;
20 That we also may be like all the nations; and that our king may judge us, and go out before us, and fight our battles.
21 And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.
22 And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. And Samuel said unto the men of Israel, Go ye every man unto his city.
1 Samuel 9:3And the asses of Kish Saul's father were lost. And Kish said to Saul his son, Take now one of the servants with thee, and arise, go seek the asses.

5 And when they were come to the land of Zuph, Saul said to his servant that was with him, Come, and let us return; lest my father leave caring for the asses, and take thought for us.
14 And they went up into the city: and when they were come into the city, behold, Samuel came out against them, for to go up to the high place.
15Now the LORD had told Samuel in his ear a day before Saul came, saying,
16 To morrow about this time I will send thee a man out of the land of Benjamin, and thou shalt anoint him to be captain over my people Israel, that he may save my people out of the hand of the Philistines: for I have looked upon my people, because their cry is come unto me.
17 And when Samuel saw Saul, the LORD said unto him, Behold the man whom I spake to thee of! this same shall reign over my people.
19 And Samuel answered Saul, and said, I am the seer: go up before me unto the high place; for ye shall eat with me to day, and to morrow I will let thee go, and will tell thee all that is in thine heart.
20 And as for thine asses that were lost three days ago, set not thy mind on them; for they are found. And on whom is all the desire of Israel? Is it not on thee, and on all thy father's house?
21And Saul answered and said, Am not I a Benjamite, of the smallest of the tribes of Israel? and my family the least of all the families of the tribe of Benjamin? wherefore then speakest thou so to me?
1 Samuel 10:1Then Samuel took a vial of oil, and poured it upon his head, and kissed him, and said, Is it not because the LORD hath anointed thee to be captain over his inheritance?
20And when Samuel had caused all the tribes of Israel to come near, the tribe of Benjamin was taken.
21When he had caused the tribe of Benjamin to come near by their families, the family of Matri was taken, and Saul the son of Kish was taken: and when they sought him, he could not be found.
22Therefore they enquired of the LORD further, if the man should yet come thither. And the LORD answered, Behold he hath hid himself among the stuff.
23And they ran and fetched him thence: and when he stood among the people, he was higher than any of the people from his shoulders and upward.
24And Samuel said to all the people, See ye him whom the LORD hath chosen, that there is none like him among all the people? And all the people shouted, and said, God save the king.
1 Samuel 12:12And when ye saw that Nahash the king of the children of Ammon came against you, ye said unto me, Nay; but a king shall reign over us: when the LORD your God was your king.
13Now therefore behold the king whom ye have chosen, and whom ye have desired! and, behold, the LORD hath set a king over you.
1 Samuel 15:11It repenteth me that I have set up Saul to be king: for he is turned back from following me, and hath not performed my commandments. And it grieved Samuel; and he cried unto the LORD all night.

BIBLICAL DISTINCTION BETWEEN WOMEN AND MEN IN THE CHURCH

2010-08-05T13:54:00.000-07:00

1 Timothy 2:14 And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived was in the transgression.

Fortunately it is not my desire to use this blog to become popular but it is my purpose to get people to think about what they believe and why they believe it. The topic for this post will not be popular but read the Word. If I am wrong show me where I am wrong but do it with the Word of God. Do not give me vain worldly philosophy.

When first preparing this post my intent to discuss why the Bible speaks of Adam’s sin as the origin of sin in mankind when it was Eve who first partook of the fruit and while First Timothy two verse fourteen gives us insight on that subject I do not believe the writer placed that verse there for that purpose.

First Timothy is a letter written by Paul to instruct Timothy in his ministry. He, according to chapter one verse three, was to “…charge some that they teach no other doctrine.” In other words exhort those who teach Christian doctrine to stay true to the Word of God and not to get sidetracked into false teachings.

Teachers, speakers, or preachers with charismatic personality says things that sound right and uses verses of scripture to support the teaching but sometimes what they say is not doctrinally correct. If we accept that teaching without verifying it with Scripture we can be lead to believe erroneous doctrine then we might pass that error on to others. This scenario does not exemplify faithful Bible learning. We need to diligently research all doctrines using God’s word before we accept them.

False doctrines grow in our churches because we trust the one who taught us the doctrine. We accept the teaching as truth without challenging it. It sounds good so we teach it to others. Frequently we accept a teaching because going would rather just go with the flow and not fight with the current. People say, “What is the big deal is it going to make that much difference?”

Major doctrinal errors do not normally happen suddenly over night. They start with a small deviation that no one is willing to correct. Then it gets a little larger and a little larger again until it grows to devour the whole truth.

The distinction between the position of men and women in the church which God ordained has largely been cast to the dogs in most of our modern churches.

I would like to challenge you to read first Timothy, at least read chapters one through three, and ignore the chapter and verse divisions. As I said in an earlier post these are not inspired they were added later to help us find passages.

Verse eight of chapter two Paul expresses his desire “… that men pray every where, lifting up holy hands, without wrath and doubting.” Thus he speaks about men showing forth a Godly example. The verse does not speak of men in a general use of mankind because verse nine contrasts this with the conduct of Godly women by using the phrase, “in like manner.” Modern philosophy even in our churches seems to exclude men from such a display of worship.

The Word of God places a distinction between men and women. A problem comes into focus when women want to be like men. This should come as no surprise to us God said that is the way it would be as recorded in Genesis three verse sixteen. (Genesis 3:16 “To the woman He said: ‘I will greatly multiply your sorrow and your conception; In pain you shall bring forth children; Your desire shall be for your husband, And he shall rule over you’.”)

In verses thirteen and fourteen of first Timothy two Paul points back to events recorded in Genesis two and three and uses this to establish the reason for the difference.

All through scripture God uses things to give a physical manifestation or a metaphorical picture of what he has done, what he is doing, or what he is going to do. The Old Testament sacrifices provide one example of such a picture. Each of the Jewish feasts pictures some aspect of Christ’s ministry. We have baptism and communion which God gave to the church to picture our relationship to Christ.

Ephesians five twenty-two to twenty-four uses the relationship of a wife to her husband to compare the relationship of the church to Christ. (“Wives, submit to your own husbands, as to the Lord. For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body. Therefore, just as the church is subject to Christ, so let the wives be to their own husbands in everything.”)

First Corinthians fourteen thirty-four and thirty-five says, “Let your women keep silent in the churches, for they are not permitted to speak; but they are to be submissive, as the law also says. And if they want to learn something, let them ask their own husbands at home; for it is shameful for women to speak in church.” This is echoed in First Timothy two eleven and twelve, “Let the woman learn in silence with all subjection. But I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man, but to be in silence.” Paul reveals the reason for this teaching in his letter to Timothy.

The reason has nothing to do with men being more qualified or having different brainwave patterns. It is based on two things: the order of creation and the fact that Eve was deceived while Adam knew what he was doing and did it anyway. Every time a woman steps out of her God given position in the church she mars the picture God gave us to remind us of our creation and how sin entered into the world.

One of the reasons for basic training for the military is to train recruits to follow orders immediately without questioning. If obeying an order means a soldier’s death and he knows doing it means his death he must follow that order anyway.

We are solders of the cross and we are at war. God expect us to obey his orders. We don’t have to understand why. We just need to obey.

When verse thirty-five says “I suffer not a woman to teach…” Paul was saying he does not allow a woman to be a teacher. There are times and places where women are allowed to teach. Acts eighteen twenty-six seems to indicate that Priscilla assisted in Apollos’ training. Titus two verses three and four Paul tells Titus to instruct older women to teach younger women by example.

So the passage must be a reference to the position of teacher in the church. The question is frequently asked, what about women teaching children? The argument usually goes that they do not “usurp authority over the man” when they are teaching children. Then it gets to splitting hairs about whether teenagers are children or not.

Please understand. I am not trying to bring reproach upon faithful Godly women who believe what they are doing is what God wants them to do. I respect and admire these women but the question is will God call us to do that which violates his Word? We can believe with all our heart that what we are doing is right but if it is contrary to the Word it is wrong.

First notice the structure of the passage, “…I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the man…” These are two complete thoughts separated by the negative coordinating conjunction “nor”. Thus Paul does not restrict women from the position of women because they would have to teach men. The thought of the passage is that Paul does not permit a woman to be a teacher nor does he allow them to hold any position in the church where they would be in a position of authority over men. To allow women to hold the position of teacher or a position that gives them authority over men violates the order which God has given for the church.

Up to the eighteen hundreds women did not hold teaching positions in the church. Then Sunday Schools came into the church and the men let the women fill the position of teaching the children. Many thought this was not a good thing but the end justified the means and so it became common practice.

Prior to those days going to church was not considered feminine. But as young boys going to Sunday School grew up to be men they had experienced only women as their teachers so the attitude that church was for women and children became prevalent.

The men willing to let women take on leadership positions relinquished these positions. Now it is hard to find men who will assume leadership positions.

I have talked to pastors who agreed that God’s Word does teach against the modern position of women in the churches but they are afraid to try to touch that one.

WHAT DOOR DOES JESUS STAND AT IN REVELATION 3:20?

2010-07-28T10:30:00.000-07:00

Revelation 3:20-21 Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me. To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.

“Jesus stands at your heart’s door and knocks.” How many times have you heard those words said or seen them written when referring to Revelation 3:20. But is the door of Revelation 3:20 really the door to our heart? Is this an invitation to ask Jesus to come into our hearts?

To answer these questions we must look at the passage in its context.

When putting a passage in context we need, if possible, to determine who is speaking or writing.

We know the apostle John wrote the book (Revelation 1:1) as he recorded the events he saw in a vision while on the Isle of Patmos. In chapter two, three and part of chapter one John records those things spoken to him by one who identifies himself as “the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last.” Then the speaker identifies himself, as recorded in verse eight of chapter one, as, “I am He who lives, and was dead, and behold, I am alive forevermore…” thus we know the speaker is Jesus in his resurrected and glorified body.

Next, in order to understand the context, we need to determine the direct recipient or recipients of the message. Many believers become confused here and try to apply passages directly to all New Testament believer that were not meant to be applied to all believers. Some passages speak directly to Israel while others speak directly to an individual. Verses which do not speak directly to us do have value as examples and instructions to us ( 2 Timothy 3:16). For example God told Jonah to go to Nineveh but he did not tell everyone to go to Nineveh. We can learn a lot from Jonah’s experience but we do not have to go to Nineveh.

Seven churches in Asia (area now known as Asia Minor) were the first recipients of the book of Revelation (Revelation 1:11) but with the exception of chapters two and three most of this prophetic book’s content has future but general information to all.

(Just as a side note: The chapter and verses of the bible are not inspired. They provide convenient references but the original documents did not have chapter and verses. Shortly after 1560 the publishers of the Geneva Bible added the chapter and verse divisions we commonly use today.)

Chapter two verse one starts, “To the angel of the church of Ephesus write…” and then in verse twelve we read, “to the angel of the church in Pergamos write…” and on until Jesus addresses each of the angels of the seven churches with specific information and instructions addressed to them. Jesus gave his evaluation of their churches’ activities and describes the results those actions would produce.

The word Greek word translated angel does not always refer to a spirit being. The word simply means messenger. In James 2:25 the same Greek word translated angel in Revelation chapters two and three refers to the spies that hid in Rahab’s house. The passage does not identify the messengers beyond just calling the messengers of the named church.

Jesus concludes the letters to the seven messengers by addressing the messenger of the church of the Laodiceans. This church is the vilest of them all. He calls them lukewarm and says he will vomit them.

That church does not reject or deny Jesus but at the same time it does not revere and love him. Reading these verses gives us a grim reminder of many of our churches today.

Chapter three concludes the epistle to the messenger of the church of the Laodiceans at verse twenty-two with the same phrase the Lord used to conclude his remarks to the other messengers, “He who has an ear, let him hear what the Spirit says to the churches.” Thus verse twenty still addresses the messenger of the church of the Laodiceans.

The context makes no reference to the heart of man. To say this door speaks of the door to our heart where Jesus stands knocking adds a meaning to the verse which the context can not support.

Jesus does extend a personal invitation in Revelation three twenty but that invitation says nothing about inviting him into our heart. When Jesus refers to himself as standing at the door he identifies his position in relationship to the church and by knocking he metaphorically shows his position is outside the church. He refers to himself as knocking and encouraging “If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.”

Salvation is an individual response. He invites anyone who is in that vile assembly to respond to him and he will have a personal relationship with that person even though others in that church are lost and on their way to an eternal hell.

Being in the right church does not make you a Christian nor does being in the wrong church prevent you from being a Christian. So while Jesus knocks at the church door he extends his invitation for communion to the individual.

Now I did not say if you belong to a church that does not adhere to the Word of God you should not leave because I believe you should leave and find an assembly that does follow Christ (See 2 Corinthians 6:11-17).

In the past after presenting the problem with calling the door in Revelation three twenty the door to our heart there have been those who have accused me of saying that I do not believe children can be saved. I never even implied that I do not believe children can not experience the saving grace of Jesus. I do believe children can be saved and that many are. I believe many children have been saved who asked Jesus to come into their heart because asking Jesus into your heart neither saves nor precludes a person from being saved. The Bible does not give us a magic phrase that we can quote for our salvation.

Taking any verse or passage out of its context and twisting it to conform to what a teacher want it to mean changes absolute truth to potential doctrinal error which could result in serious consequences. I firmly believe that the misuse of scripture constitutes a serious offense against God, against the Word, and against all mankind.

Children are very literal. Thus I fear many people who have been told as a child that if they ask Jesus to come into their heart they will be saved from hell have acquired a false sense of hope they are saved. The child quotes this little phrase and asks Jesus to come into his heart but they do not confess Jesus as Lord nor believe in their heart that God has raised him from the dead so they are just as lost after they asked Jesus into their heart as they were before they did the only difference is that they now have that false hope which could hinder them in the future from responding.

Romans 10:8-10 “But what does it say? ‘The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith which we preach): that if you confess with your mouth the Lord Jesus and believe in your heart that God has raised Him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

A FOOL’S HEART PART 3 THE DESIGN OF FLIGHT

2010-07-24T13:07:00.000-07:00

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

Psalm 53:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

In the previous two posts we saw the foolishness of the statement “There is no God” based (1) on not being able to see or hear him when we know there are many things we can not see or hear, and (2) the design of nature and design requires a designer. Today will continue a little deeper in the into the design factor.

I love to watch and learn from nature. The Corvus brachyrhynchos also known as the American crow or the common crow gives us one example of complex design found in nature. The crow has a head about the size of a small walnut. That head houses a brain which would not fill the bowl small decorative spoon purchased at a souvenir shop. Yet this small organ serves its host as a complex analog computer the likes of which our modern day digital computers do not come close to comparing.

I was reminded of just how efficient the crow’s brain works one day while driving home after taking my daughter to school. I saw a crow in flight setting its wings to land. Looking at its height and angle of decent it appeared as though the bird would glide across the road, over a large brick wall and out onto the lawn of a home beside the road. Suddenly with very subtle almost unperceivable changes in its wings and tail feathers the crow’s descent turned to a rapid ascent; the bird’s flight stalled then the black feathered creature dropped as gently as a thistle down and perched on top of a power pole.

Most people probably give little thought to the complexity of such a maneuver but ask any pilot, a skill I personally do not possess, about the difficulty of such a precision landing and the answer may surprise you.

So while many just consider the crow a noisy nasty nuisance I see the crow as a magnificent sleek black creature that demonstrates to me the beauty and complexity of life. Some can believe that life is by random chance but how can anyone believe that a crow, or any other bird, could manage the art of flying without a creator to design and install in the bird’s brain the program and in the bird’s body the parts necessary to perform such a complex procedure?

It takes faith to believe in God but it takes a lot more faith to not believe in God.

Then God said, “Let the waters abound with an abundance of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the face of the firmament of the heavens.” So God created great sea creatures and every living thing that moves, with which the waters abounded, according to their kind, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:20-21

A FOOL’S HEART PART 2 DESIGN

2010-07-22T13:56:00.000-07:00

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

Psalm 53:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

In the previous post we saw where it is foolish to say, “There is no God.” Not being able to sense him with our physical body does not prove he does not exist. There are many things that are real which we are not able to see, hear, smell, taste, or feel.

Design in nature proclaims a designer.

Several years ago a friend introduced me to a doctor friend of his and he told his friend that I was a missionary. The doctor looked at me and said, “I despise you.” That seemed like an interesting way to start out a potentially friendly relationship. He went on to tell me that he did not believe in the existence of God and he despised people who tried to convert people from what they believed.

The doctor went on to challenge me with, “go on convert me. I am a tough cookie. Convert me.”

“I can’t convert you if you don’t want to believe. But you above all people surprise me that you say you are an atheist,” was my response.

Looking a bit shocked he asked me why.

The response went like this:

“You are a doctor. I assume you are a medical doctor is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Then you know how complex and intricate the human body is far better then I do and you say it just happened by accident. There was no designer. Yes sir you of all people surprise me that you say you do not believe God exists.”

The doctor stood speechless a few seconds looking at me then shook his head and walked away saying, “You might have something there.”

Even a tough cookie had no argument for the necessity of a designer and maker when it comes to complex construction.

If, while walking in a park, you heard a cell phone ring and you looked down to see it laying there on the ground unattended you would not come to the conclusion that thousands of years of gathering sediment brought together all the necessary ingredients so when zapped by lightning it produced that phone. You would know that phone was dropped by someone because such a complex piece of equipment requires designers and a manufacturer for it to exist.

Every cell in the human body is by far more complex then that cell phone. How could any rational being think it could just happen be chance?

If you picked up the fore mentioned cell phone and made long distance calls so that a huge bill was run up on it and you were taken to court for your actions do you think you use an argument that you did not know it belonged to anyone, that you thought it just evolved naturally? Do you think such a defense could stand up in any court anywhere? Would not a person making such a defense be considered a fool? Yet people who otherwise would be considered rational and highly intelligent say they believe humans evolved from lower life forms which evolved from even lower life forms which came into existence by chance.

Life is be design.

The Psalmist said, “I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well.” Psalm 139:14.

A FOOL’S HEART PART 1

2010-07-21T15:37:00.000-07:00

Psalm 14:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good.

Psalm 53:1 The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt, and have done abominable iniquity;
There is none who does good.

The English word “fool” appears many times in our English translations of the Bible. Unfortunately if you read the Bible in English, as I do, you will miss the fact that where the English word “fool” appears several different words appear in the original languages. Those of us who do not read Hebrew or Greek have many helps available to us to know what words the translators rendered to our English vocabulary but I will leave that for a later post.

Psalms 14 and 53 start out the same, “The fool has said in his heart, ‘there is no God’.” They also end the same and in between the beginning and the end they are almost the same. They start with a declaration that the true atheist is a fool. I say “true atheist” because the writer said this person “has said in his heart” in other words the declaration “there is no God” comes out of a deep faith or a sincere belief. This person lays his head on the pillow at night and goes to sleep believing God does not exist.

Today in light of modern science the number of professing atheists increases. I can’t know the thoughts of a person’s heart but I truly wonder how many of those who make such a blatant statement actually believe that when they are alone in the dark? They can’t see God. They can’t hear God thus God must not be real. But is that a good reason for not believing?

If a person living today had never heard of radio or TV was told there were conversations present where they stand they might object on the grounds that they can’t hear any conversation. The human ear can not hear radio signals nor can the human eye see radio signals but that does not mean they do not exist. We have to use special equipment to detect them or to change them into usable energy. Light is a form of electromagnetic radiation and radio waves are also electromagnetic radiation only at a much longer wavelength. Our eyes are not tuned to the frequency of radio waves. Our ears respond to mechanical vibrations and thus we do not hear electromagnetic vibrations.

We can not see God nor can we hear God with our physical bodies because God is spirit and our physical bodies are not designed to see or hear spirit. The spirit world exists but in a different dimension or at a different wavelength.