Mere Biology or Created in God's Image

In the book, Where the Crawdads Sing, Kya, abandoned and orphaned at a very early age and left alone away from humanity to survive in a shack along the swampy marsh, learns about life from observing nature. She has no parents, guardians, or mentors to introduce her to Christ and the Gospel or to teach her infinite value as a sacred human created in God's image with a perfect and eternal purpose. She watches a firefly trick her prey by sending the mating signal of her prey's species to attract him. When her prey comes to mate with her, she eats him, piece by piece. Kya then notes that there is no room for judgment in biology for "evil was not in play here, just life pulsating on and on." Delia Owens writes, "Biology sees right and wrong as the same color in different light."  

Without God as the foundation of a person's worldview, humans are viewed as no more than mere biology who operate out of innate instinct without a soul. Moral relativism is the moral code of a godless universe. It removes a context for judgment by pretending that humankind is nothing more than a biological phenomenon. It removes love, compassion, emotions, reason, artistic expression, intellectual thought, innovation, relationships, meaning and purpose from our lives and leaves us empty and worthless. Even if we could remove God and His justice from His creation, is it really worth giving up all that to allay some guilt and to try to do life our own way without Him? There would be no civilized world or society at all without some moral code to guide, instruct, and unite. Yet, a society without judgment (though this godless worldview still tends to harshly judge and punish those who reflect the Creator) is uplifted in our culture as the supreme virtue.

So, when you hear people praising that which is evil and labeling that which is good as evil, remember the firefly. When "professionals" insist that mankind cannot control their sexual desires ask yourself if rape, incest, human trafficking, pedophilia, child prostitution, polyamory, and all other forms of sexual depravity are just the natural order of things as life pulsates on and on. 

When pro-abortion advocates say life in the womb has no value and should be destroyed when convenient, gaze into the face of an innocent newborn and marvel at God's handiwork or talk to families waiting to adopt a child to love. If there is any love or tenderness for that child at all, that love comes from our heavenly Father. (1 John 4:7) If a woman's body naturally sacrifices itself to put her unborn child's needs before her own throughout the pregnancy, is it really natural or morally neutral to rip that child apart, limb by limb, as the child grimaces in pain so as to seemingly make the woman's life more convenient?

As social justice warriors protest and lament what they call a violation of human rights, consider that biology promises no rights at all. Inalienable rights are given by God, so if we remove God from the equation, we lose those rights and become nothing more than a firefly, each person fighting for his or her own survival without regarding the impact our actions have upon others.

Do we really want a world without God, without love, without moral virtue? Do we want a life with no self control, no boundaries, no goodness, justice, or compassion? What is humanity without a soul? What is life without relationship? Who are we without God?

"Woe to those who call evil good and good evil,who put darkness for light and light for darkness,who put bitter for sweet and sweet for bitter!" - Isaiah 5:20

What Natural Selection Can and Cannot Explain

I continue to be amazed that some people still choose to believe that natural selection proves evolution when evidences of intelligent design are all around us and when new scientific discoveries continue to support intelligent design while causing evolutionists to continually modify their theories in light of the conflicting new findings. (Read about how new scientific discoveries led geneticist Francis S. Collins to rethink his views on evolution here.)

Charles Darwin proposed natural selection as the mechanism for evolution. 

Natural selection may explain why black moths survive better than white moths in a black environment while white moths survive better in a white setting, but it cannot prove that one species can transform into an entirely different one. (Read more about the moth study here.) Such moth observations may also bear witness of a loving omniscient creator who designed such adaptions and genetic mutations to preserve His species. Observations of nature and interpretations of data are all colored by our varying worldviews which are each accepted by faith.

Natural selection cannot even explain the mathematical impossibilities of the great complexities found within a simple cell. Natural selection cannot explain how 40 unique parts with no advantage or function on their own suddenly came to be all together inside a single cell with the exact size and shape to fit together according to precise detailed assembly instructions (instructions by definition require a thinking instructor, suggesting intelligent design, not natural processes) to build a complex flagella motor that rotates more efficiently than any other motor in the world at 100,000 rpm. This same motor can stop within 1/4 turn and spin the other way just as fast. If natural selection cannot explain the complexities of a single motor inside a simple cell, then how can it explain the extraordinary design throughout the complex universe or even the set of ordered information contained within DNA? (To learn more about irreducible complexity as evidence of intelligent design, visit www.ideacenter.org.

Bacterial Flagellum (Source: www.arn.org)

Natural selection cannot explain the most powerful force on earth which is love. It cannot explain human thought, free will, complex emotions, human virtue (such as compassion), or universal moral law. Under the supposition of evolutionary theory, there are no inalienable human rights. The only rights natural selection will allow are those that the superior ones who have gained power over us will allow if those rights in some way advance the survival of the fittest.

Natural selection can, however, explain how people could have justified (in their own minds anyway) some of the most horrific acts of human history. Natural selection and the theory of evolution suggest that we are all cosmic accidents with no intrinsic value. Life is meaningless except for it's ability to pass on genetic combinations deemed superior for survival. Thus, if Hitler believed one race was superior to another, then he felt justified in slaughtering millions of Jews, and he could use that same reasoning to brainwash his people into following him and doing his dirty work for him.

Darwin's writings about natural selection feed racism and all types of bigotry. Natural selection gave people an "excuse" to own and even abuse slaves, for they falsely considered their slaves to be genetically inferior. Natural selection encouraged Planned Parenthood founder Margaret Sanger to advance her philosophy of eugenics, for she was convinced she was helping nature along by providing contraceptives and sterilization to prevent those she deemed unfit (the poor and African Americans) from reproducing. Natural selection explains why so many in this country support the brutal dismemberment of babies in the womb over the inconvenience of asking a mother to carry and deliver her child and of supporting that mother throughout the process. Natural selection also explains why so many European nations have chosen to abort babies with Down's syndrome instead of allowing these precious, joy filled children to live and infuse extraordinary love into the world. It explains why so many nations with socialist healthcare programs use death panels to determine which classes of people can receive limited medical care and live and which people are undeserving and must therefore die (shout out to England and Canada).

Natural selection explains why women and children are abducted, abused, and murdered without remorse by the perpetrator and why we have had so many school shootings. If life isn't sacred, and if one life is deemed superior to another, then any life judged to be inferior need not be cherished or protected, and taking the life of another has no moral implications.

Natural selection is held up as an excuse to deny God exists, but if you take God out of the equation, then life is joyless and meaningless, and we are mere cogs in the wheel of nature's mechanical processes. For the evolutionist, this life is all there is, yet I've never met an evolutionist who possesses lasting joy or peace. They may derive temporary pleasure from feelings of intellectual superiority or fleeting carnal pursuits, but their hearts and lives are empty, always longing but never satisfied.

Creation, on the other hand, is a philosophy of freely chosen (vs. mechanistic or instinctive) love and life. Through the Gospel of Christ, to which all of creation testifies, love conquers both sin and death and life takes on infinite meaning and purpose while bringing unconditional joy and peace, not just now but for all eternity.

For faith and love to be sincere, they must be freely chosen, so each of us gets to choose what we will believe and who or what we will worship.  But clinging to natural selection as an excuse to deny God will only push us further away from the healing, reconciliation, peace, love, unity, and hope our world so desperately needs. 

The Incompatibility of Theistic Evolution and the Gospel of Christ

With so much division in our nation, I know we should overlook minor differences as long as we unite over the fundamentals. I am especially supportive of a united church, with many different members from different cultures and with different gifts working together as one body under Christ, serving together as Christ's ambassadors, fulfilling God's mission on earth. However, a healthy and fruitful church must be like-minded regarding the Gospel and the core doctrines of the faith.  There is one difference within the church, which concerns creation vs. theistic evolution and the age of the earth, that we must stop overlooking, especially as we witness so much pain and death.

The Bible teaches that death entered the world THROUGH sin and that death began with Adam's sin. This sin and death has extended to all people, for all have sinned.

Therefore, just as through one man sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men, because all sinned—(Romans 5:12)

Before Adam, there was no sin or death. Before sin entered the world, God created the earth and all living things and animals on it, each according to "their kind" (repeated 7 times in Genesis), and God saw that "it was good" (repeated 7 times in Genesis 1-3).

While God may take our pain and suffering and work it together for our good and His glory (Romans 8:28), He always has and always will hate both sin and death.  The first two chapters of Genesis present God's perfect plan for creation in which men and women experience holy relationships with God and each other. Genesis 3 explains how man and woman, by their own free will, chose to ruin this perfection by bringing sin and death into the world. From Genesis 3:15 through the rest of the Bible, we see God's gracious plan unfold in which He sends Jesus to conquer death and to reconcile mankind to God.  Death is not God's choice.  Death is the result of man's choice, yet God chose to defeat sin and death to reconcile mankind to Himself through the work of Christ on the cross.  (John 3:16)



The theory of evolution is built upon an ugly series of struggles and deaths over millions of years to establish life through the survival of the fittest. Theistic evolution suggests that God used pain and death over a long period of time ("a million years is like a day to God") to create every living thing.  This theory requires that death existed before Adam, which directly contradicts God's word, not just the specific passages referenced above, but the entire theme and purpose of the Bible itself. Why would a good, all-powerful God choose a system of survival of the fittest, pain, and death to create that which He kept calling "good" in Genesis 1-3, when He has the power to speak it all into existence in a moment, exactly as presented in the historical narrative found in Genesis 1-2?  If God is perfectly good and omnipotent, shouldn't He get creation right the first time?  Those who attempt to diminish God's power and perfection in their own minds have a faith that offers little hope. Why would the God of truth who cannot lie (Titus 1:2) contradict Himself, doing one thing and saying something completely different throughout His inspired Word?  If this cycle of continuous death is supposed to evolve us all into something better, why do the headlines show us growing worse, especially in terms of morality over the past 50 years?

lifehopeandtruth.com

If death is part of God's plan, then why did Christ come to defeat it?  To hold to theistic evolution is to nullify the Gospel of Christ. You must choose which you will believe, but you cannot believe both.  Only Jesus is the way, the truth, and life. (John 14:6)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly. (John 10:10)

Radioactive dating methods are flawed. How could anything based on uniformitarianism deliver accurate results?  Simply experiencing North Carolina weather should provide enough understanding to know that natural processes are neither uniform nor predictable. Regarding geological changes, one earthquake, volcanic eruption, hurricane or hypercane, or flood can drastically skew the geological timeline.  Regardless of nature's clues one side or the other, true believers must take God at His word. Eyewitness accounts hold a lot more weight in the courtroom than random "clues" do, after all.  When you view science through the lens of Scripture, the mysteries start to make sense, and those clues lead Spirit led scientists to new discoveries at a much more rapid rate.

We can agree to disagree on the nonessentials, but those who consider Jesus an essential while upholding theistic evolution should consider the full implications of theistic evolution.  Theistic evolution is not a compromise to preserve unity.  It is a contradiction that attacks Christ's offer of eternal impunity.


Resources for Additional Study

Dr. Paul Elliot has provided useful resources for discerning and addressing false teaching in Christian churches and seminaries here.   This article references many Bible verses that are highly recommended for personal study.  Please note the following excerpt:

In the past generation, false teachers have crept into Evangelical and Reformed seminaries largely unnoticed. The men they have instructed in their false teachings have likewise come into the church for the most part without being recognized. They have secretly brought in destructive heresies. They cause sound doctrine to be ridiculed. They claim that their teachings are superior to what has been taught in past generations. They say they represent progress in theology. They often allege that misconceptions regarding the covenants, the person and work of Christ, baptism, justification, sanctification, the church, and the Last Judgment have become embedded in Protestant doctrine over the centuries. Neo-liberals claim that their teachings serve to correct these supposedly long-held misconceptions. But what they are really saying, at the end of the day, is that our forebears in the faith - from the apostles themselves onward - have been wrong on the most basic elements of Christian doctrine. What they are really doing is denying authentic Biblical Christianity

 WordTruth.net offers a handy .PDF reference guide entitled "False Teaching in the Church" here.

The Only Way to Truly Satisfy Social Justice Warriors

Do all these people who are crying out for equality, world peace, open borders, equal outcomes, distribution of wealth, and one unified global government realize that what they are truly longing for is Heaven? None of those things are fully possible unless sin is absent and resources are limitless.

God initially gave us Heaven on earth, but Adam and Eve were not content with perfection under the authority of God, so they chose to disobey God, tempted by that which promised to make them like God.  God's punishment on man included painful toil. Provisions would no longer come easily, and never again would there be sufficient resources readily available for everyone (Matthew 26:11). Since Adam and Eve sought to dominate instead of assimilate, they were deported from paradise, and a cherubim with a flaming sword was set up as a type of border patrol, blocking the way to the tree of life, with the strictest vetting protocol. (Genesis 1-3)

Under Nimrod, mankind tried to set up another global utopia at a plain in Shinar where they cried, "Come, let us build ourselves a city, with a tower that reaches to the heavens, so that we may make a name for ourselves; otherwise we will be scattered over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4) Knowing the wicked corruption that the lust for power brings and the folly of misguided worship, God confused their languages and scattered them into different nations and cultures so that no one man or government body would rule the whole earth.  God established the different nations for our protection and for the greater good (Acts 17:26-17).

God loves the nations.  He established clear boundaries for the nations and gives specific commands for protecting them (which do involve some massive walls), and for preserving their unique identities. (2 Chronicles 14:6-7)  He gives instructions regarding who to include or exclude (Deuteronomy 23:3, Exodus 23: 32-33).  He teaches families and nations to look out for their own first (1 Timothy 5:8, Deuteronomy 15:11,  Romans 12:13), but he also commands us to also show love and hospitality to sojourners (Leviticus 19:34, Leviticus 23:22, Leviticus 25:35, Deuteronomy 10:19, Deuteronomy 14:29,  Deuteronomy 24:19-21, Deuteronomy 26:12-13, Matthew 25:35-40, Romans 12:13, Hebrews 13:1), with the understanding that those who stay should assimilate into the culture, adhering to the laws of the land (Deuteronomy 31:12-13, Leviticus 18:26).  

(For more information on how the Bible instructs us on issues of immigration, reference Danny Carroll's article found here.)

While God loves all the nations, He established Israel to be a light to the nations, sent Christ to be the Light of the world (and the fulfillment of Israel's calling), and commissioned the church to take the Gospel of Christ to the furthest corners of the earth.  His Gospel is for all the nations.  However, God does not support globalism established by man for the glory of man, for as we have seen throughout world history with the rise and fall of kings and nations, ultimate power ultimately corrupts.  Only God possesses that power, deserves that honor, and can rule with perfect righteousness, but mankind rejected His authority.

By His goodness and grace, God set His redemptive plan in motion when He cursed the serpent at the fall as described in Genesis 3:15. The seed of the woman, Christ Jesus, would crush Satan's head and strike his heel. God planned from the beginning to restore all that was lost and to reestablish all He intended for His creation (see Isaiah 11:9, Isaiah 25, Matthew 5-7, Revelation 7, 21-22).  God is the One who will bring about this new kingdom, not man, for only God is perfect in holiness and justice, infinite in wisdom and love, limitless, omniscient, omnipotent, and eternally good.

So please consider, social justice warriors, that while we should all strive to make the world a better place and while God uniquely called us to be wise and faithful stewards over the earth (Genesis 1), what your heart truly desires is His everlasting kingdom (Ecclesiastes 3:11).  No amount of good works, activism, or passionate protests will get you to that perfect place your heart desires.  The narrow way to Heaven (Matthew 7:13-15) is found by trusting in Jesus's redemptive work on the cross and by believing that He is God's son who bore all our sins in our place.  Jesus is the only way to Heaven. 

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (John 14:6)

In His word, God gives us a glimpse of this new heaven that awaits all who believe. How glorious it will be!

Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. ² I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. ³ And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ⁴ ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” ⁵ He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”
⁶ He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To the thirsty I will give water without cost from the spring of the water of life. ⁷ Those who are victorious will inherit all this, and I will be their God and they will be my children. ⁸ But the cowardly, the unbelieving, the vile, the murderers, the sexually immoral, those who practice magic arts, the idolaters and all liars—they will be consigned to the fiery lake of burning sulfur. This is the second death....

...It shone with the glory of God, and its brilliance was like that of a very precious jewel, like a jasper, clear as crystal. ¹² It had a great, high wall with twelve gates, and with twelve angels at the gates. On the gates were written the names of the twelve tribes of Israel. ¹³ There were three gates on the east, three on the north, three on the south and three on the west. ¹⁴ The wall of the city had twelve foundations, and on them were the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb. ¹⁵ The angel who talked with me had a measuring rod of gold to measure the city, its gates and its walls. ¹⁶ The city was laid out like a square, as long as it was wide. He measured the city with the rod and found it to be 12,000 stadia in length, and as wide and high as it is long. ¹⁷ The angel measured the wall using human measurement, and it was 144 cubits^[thick. ¹⁸ The wall was made of jasper, and the city of pure gold, as pure as glass. ¹⁹ The foundations of the city walls were decorated with every kind of precious stone. The first foundation was jasper, the second sapphire, the third agate, the fourth emerald, ²⁰ the fifth onyx, the sixth ruby, the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth turquoise, the eleventh jacinth, and the twelfth amethyst.²¹ The twelve gates were twelve pearls, each gate made of a single pearl. The great street of the city was of gold, as pure as transparent glass.
²² I did not see a temple in the city, because the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are its temple. ²³ The city does not need the sun or the moon to shine on it, for the glory of God gives it light, and the Lamb is its lamp. ²⁴ The nations will walk by its light, and the kings of the earth will bring their splendor into it. ²⁵ On no day will its gates ever be shut, for there will be no night there. ²⁶ The glory and honor of the nations will be brought into it. ²⁷ Nothing impure will ever enter it, nor will anyone who does what is shameful or deceitful, but only those whose names are written in the Lamb’s book of life.  (Revelation 21: 1-8, 11-26)

Eden Restored

22 Then the angel showed me the river of the water of life, as clear as crystal, flowing from the throne of God and of the Lamb ² down the middle of the great street of the city. On each side of the river stood the tree of life, bearing twelve crops of fruit, yielding its fruit every month. And the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. ³ No longer will there be any curse. The throne of God and of the Lamb will be in the city, and his servants will serve him. ⁴ They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. ⁵ There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign for ever and ever.  (Revelation 22:1-5)

⁹ After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb. They were wearing white robes and were holding palm branches in their hands. ¹⁰ And they cried out in a loud voice: “Salvation belongs to our God,
who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb.” (Revelation 7:9-10)

‘Never again will they hunger; never again will they thirst.The sun will not beat down on them, nor any scorching heat.
¹⁷ For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their shepherd;
‘he will lead them to springs of living water.’
    ‘And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. (Revelation 7: 16-17)

 People will come from east and west and north and south, and will take their places at the feast in the kingdom of God.  (Luke 13:29)

The Sovereign Lord will wipe away the tear from all faces;
he will remove his people’s disgrace from all the earth.
The Lord has spoken.

⁹ In that day they will say, “Surely this is our God;
    we trusted in him, and he saved us.
This is the Lord, we trusted in him;
    let us rejoice and be glad in his salvation.”

¹⁰ The hand of the Lord will rest on this mountain;
    but Moab will be trampled in their landas straw is trampled down in the manure.
¹¹ They will stretch out their hands in it,
    as swimmers stretch out their hands to swim.
God will bring down their pride despite the cleverness of their hands.
¹² He will bring down your high fortified wallsand lay them low;
he will bring them down to the ground, to the very dust.  (Isaiah 25:8-12)

Did God really say that?

We live in a culture that insists that Christians only accept the Bible in bits, not as a whole. For now, the culture (and too many mainline "Christian" churches and seminaries) will at least permit Christians to adopt the passages on loving thy neighbor, giving to the poor, and not judging others as long as they do so in a way that is politically correct while also ignoring other passages that condemn sexual immorality, gay marriage, abortion, or selfish-ambition. The passages that insist there is only one way to salvation, that is through Christ alone, must be dismissed so as not to offend other religions, even though to do so would require accepting two contradictory statements as both being true which contradicts basic logic. Worse, to assert that there are multiple ways to salvation would be to call Christ a liar or a lunatic. (See John 8.) Only a fool would suffer and die as He did if there was any other way to save humankind. To call Himself the Son of God and the promised Messiah would be ultimate blasphemy unless He truly was who He said He was. Given that Jesus fulfilled at least 351 prophecies of the Messiah perfectly and that fulfilling only eight is statistically impossible, the odds are certainly in favor of His claims. Then there are the countless followers who know Him personally through faith and testify of their personal experience which confirms the truth of His authenticity.

The culture is also pushing toward an anti-Semitic worldview that insists that we ignore Biblical teaching on the origins of Israel and the Middle Eastern conflict despite the complete accuracy with which the Bible has perfectly foretold the events that have taken place since the days of their father Abraham. When establishing Islam, Muhammad tried to reverse the characters of Isaac and Ishmael so that Ishmael's descendants (who God still blessed abundantly as promised in Genesis 17:20) would receive the specific promise given to Isaac.  Ishmael's descendants can all receive the same spiritual promise through faith, just as we Gentiles can be grafted in by faith, receiving the same inheritance by faith in Christ. God's plan for peace comes through faith, not through war or hostility.  God's plan for peace is only by His plans and His power, not by any human strategy or effort. The culture blames Christians and Jews for all the wars around the world when the Scriptures accurately foretold that this hostility would come from the descendants of Ishmael (Genesis 16:12).

The culture accuses Christians of being exclusive and intolerant, but the fact is that the true path to peace comes only through faith in Christ, and He has extended that salvation to ALL who believe.  No one who comes by genuine faith will be excluded, and we are commanded to go into ALL the world sharing the hope available through Christ.  We have nothing to gain personally in this life except ridicule by sharing the full Gospel with others, but those with whom we share have everything to gain. It is selfless love and a desire for peace that compels the true believer, not arrogance or hostility. (See Genesis 16:12, 25:18.)

Our culture apparently wants us to also ignore the last chapter of the Bible (Revelation 22:18) which warns of judgment on anyone who adds or takes away from the Scriptures.

Our culture insists we are haters, intolerant, and arrogant simply because we refuse to question the words of the God of the universe who possesses all power, all wisdom, all knowledge, and perfect love.  Could it be that those who insist that we read the Bible with white-out or who edit the Scriptures to suit their own social preferences are the more arrogant ones, for are they not essentially shaking their fists at God, accusing Him of being unloving, unwise, and flat out wrong?  Who is pompous enough to declare that God was wrong about those issues that clash with new and ever-changing social norms? Who is brave enough to deny His holiness and call him a fool or a liar?

The ultimate  fool and father of lies (John 8:44) is Satan himself who first questioned God's word.  He tempted Eve by instilling doubt with the question, "'Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden’?” (Genesis 3:1)  Today, Satan is leading our society astray with similar deceptive questions and statements such as the following:

• Satan's Deception:  Did God really say that marriage can be only be between one man and one woman?" 

(Truth:  Yes, He really did. Reference Genesis 2: 14-24, Deuteronomy 24:5, Proverbs 18:22,  Matthew 19:4-6,  Mark 10:6-9, Ephesians 5:22-33, Exodus 20:14, and Colossians 3:18-19 for a few examples. )

• Satan's Deception:  Does God seriously expect you to keep sex only within the marriage covenant? If He really did, wouldn't He would have made it easier for you?

 (Truth:Yes, He really does, for sex will only reach it's true fulfillment and purpose within the safe boundaries of covenant marriage.  This command is not unattainable, however, for all things are possible through Christ. He wants us to rely on His power, though, not merely our own.  Reference  1 Corinthians 2:7-9, 1 Corinthians 6:9-20, 1 Corinthians 7:2,

1 , Hebrews 13:4, Philippians 4:13, Colossians 3:5, 1 Thessalonians 4:3-5, 1 , Ephesians 5:3, and Proverbs 5:15-18.)

• Satan's Deception:  Did God really say that homosexuality is wrong?  God would not give two people of the same sex such a strong attraction to each other if He did not intend for them to act on their sexual urges.  Besides, now that we have populated the earth, the "be fruitful and multiply" excuse for male/female intercourse should no longer be valid. 

 (Truth:  The Scriptures repeatedly teach that homosexual acts are sinful and reveal harmful consequences, but these Bible verses "aren't about condemning homosexuals, gays, lesbians, or transgender people. Rather, God's words provide a loving warning and offer of grace for those who have strayed from His will for sex. We live in a fallen world with a fallen nature, but in Christ, we can be new creations." (BibleStudyTools.com) Learn more and find useful Bible passages at here.)

• Satan's Deception:  God's promise to Isaac was unfair to Ishmael and caused too many wars.  Since Israel is so small and all the surrounding nations are too small.  Just side with the Arabs and strip Israel of the land they claim is theirs by God's decree.

 (Truth:  God does not start wars or tempt us to sin. Our own evil desires are what entice us to sin and lead us to death. (James 1:13-15)  God did not cause the Middle Eastern conflict, but He has made a way for both the sons of Isaac and Ishmael to find peace and an eternal inheritance through Christ. Any plans we make apart from God will ultimately fail. (Proverbs 19:21 and Proverbs 21:30)  God promised that land to Israel, and nothing can thwart the plans, purposes, and promises of God.  See Job 42:2, Psalm 33:10-11, 2 Chronicles 20:6, and Proverbs 16:4)

• Satan's Deception:   Surely God does not mind if you abort a fetus, especially if, as the abortion clinic workers repeatedly insist, you are in no position to properly care for a child. 

(Truth:  God is the giver of life.  He creates all life in His image. Scriptures affirm the value of all life, from the unborn to the elderly.  All life, whether born or unborn is precious to Him and has been given a unique plan and purpose.  He wants us to trust Him with all our needs and with those of our children.  (See Jeremiah 1:5, Job 31:15, Psalm 22:10,  Psalm 139: 13-16, and Exodus 20:13)

God is infinite, the first and the last.  (Revelation 22:13)  He never changes. What He said then He still means now. 

He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change his mind; for he is not a human being, that he should change his mind.” (1 Samuel 15:29)

No matter what society calls me or does to me, I will always fear God more than man, so I'm going to take Him at his word.

³  When I am afraid, I put my trust in you.
⁴   In God, whose word I praise—
     in God I trust and am not afraid.
    What can mere mortals do to me?

¹⁰ In God, whose word I praise,
    in the Lord, whose word I praise—
¹¹ in God I trust and am not afraid.   

What can man do to me?  (Psalm 56: 3-4, 10-11)

While we must be careful not to throw stones or  cast judgment, we absolutely cannot compromise God's truth to make it seem more comfortable to a society that flat out rejects Him.  How others choose to respond to His word is solely between them and God.  We just must be faithful to live out the faith authentically and share God's unedited truth in love.

"If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth --only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair." - C.S. Lewis (1958)

Are you angry with God?

Life can certainly be unfair.  Overwhelming oppression overflows.  Astonishing abuse abounds.  The helpless, hungry and hurting are hated and hindered.  Suffering surges.  Powerful political personae idle while the ire of ISIS ignites ill-tempered ignominy on the innocent and grave, grim, gut-wrenching genocide.  Babies are butchered. Porn is prominent.  The elected elite get a free pass from prison while violating both voters’ values and the laws of the land.  No wonder so many people are angry, but much of that anger is vented at God.  Since God doesn't seem to be producing the life many think they want and deserve, they reject Him.  And the moral relativism that permeates modern society insists that by rejecting God, He somehow no longer exists.

Many books have been written in an attempt to explain why God, who is supposed to be both good and sovereign, would allow so much suffering.  The world is fallen. Sin has consequences which naturally affect both the guilty and the innocent.  God may allow our suffering to refine us just as we may discipline our children to train them for their greater good.  Hardships may be a way of waking us up to draw us to repentance and to a closer walk with the Lord.  Struggles strengthen our faith and our resolve, and they also help us grow in appreciation for the blessings which we would otherwise take for granted.   As the saying goes, "The darker the valley, the brighter He shines."  The book of Job shows us that God may allow the righteous to suffer to prove His boast in them and to prove Satan a liar which makes suffering a privilege in that we are partaking in spiritual warfare (which kicks some Satan "boo-tay").

And the Lord said to Satan, “Have you considered my servant Job, that there is none like him on the earth, a blameless and upright man, who fears God and turns away from evil? He still holds fast his integrity, although you incited me against him to destroy him without reason.” (Job 1:8 and 2:3)

Our perseverance through trials also encourages all who hear and see so that they too may seek the Lord and grow in faith in Him.  I suppose we could list dozens of other reasons why we think God may allow injustice for a time, but ultimately, we do not know what God is thinking or what His purposes are in each situation.  We can’t fully know His reasons because we do not have His perspective. 

"For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord." (Isaiah 55:8)

So what do we do with all these questions?  King David, God's beloved chosen one who had a heart after His own, asked similar questions and many are recorded throughout the book of Psalms.  "Why, God?" was a common refrain.  Though he did not understand, David continued to trust God.  Job was the most righteous man of his time, yet God allowed him to suffer unbelievable loss. Job has served as the ultimate example of suffering (after Christ) ever since.  Job asked God all the why questions as well, with mournful pleadings.  Yet God did not give him the reasons he requested.  Instead God answered, "Where were you when I laid the foundation of the earth?" (Job 38:4, ESV).

God did ultimately restore everything Job lost twofold, and He rescued and restored David after molding him (through his anguish and time spent hiding from Saul) into the man he needed to be to effectively lead Israel.  But God's response to the why questions must have been difficult to accept.  God owes us no explanation for why He does what He does, so will we trust Him anyway?

But what about us ordinary people who aren't rich like Job or called to be king like David?  Isn’t it easier just to reject God’s authority over our lives and live however we want, grasping every ounce of carnal pleasure we can from this short and seemingly wretched life?  Given the current state of the world, such thoughts are understandable, and I empathize.

Before jumping to that conclusion, I respectfully ask that you first ask yourself some of the questions that follow:

• Do I really want a god who looks at my life and this world from my narrow, limited perspective and responds accordingly?  Or, do I want God to see my life and the world from a higher, limitless, eternal perspective?  Do I want Him to guide my life the way I think is best or the way He knows is best because he knows the beginning and the end?  Do I want a sovereign, all powerful, omniscient God, or do I want a god of my own making who thinks like I do?

^"Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them."  (Psalm 139:16) 

• Do I want a vending machine god who spits out unhealthy snacks that give me quick energy now but make me crash later?  Do I want a toy dispensing god that spits out random cheap toys in plastic oval containers? Or do I want the God who offers me eternal life, forgiveness, restoration, and both living bread and living water which quench my hunger and thirst forever?

"I am the living bread that came down from heaven. If anyone eats of this bread, he will live forever..." (John 6:51a)

"Jesus said to her, 'Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, ¹⁴ but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.' " (John 4: 13-14)

• If wise parents withhold certain freedoms and responsibilities from their children until the children are mature and discerning enough to handle them for their protection, why do I expect God to give me everything I want before I am ready for it and then resent Him when he doesn’t?  If I expect my children to believe that my parenting choices are for their good and their protection, why can't I trust my Heavenly Father to do the same for me?

• Do I want a sovereign, omnipotent God who controls everything in the universe according to His perfect plan, or do I want a weak, people pleasing god who will do whatever anyone asks to curry favor regardless of the long term implications?  What if different people demand contradictory things?  Which person would a squishy god appease?

• Do I want a quick-tempered, vengeful god who judges every wrong action (including my own) right away, or do I want a merciful god who is slow to anger and who waits patiently so that more may repent and believe before He pours out the full weight of His judgment and wrath as a just and holy God must eventually do? 

"The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty..." (Exodus 34:6-7).

• Do I want a god who is always permissive without exercising justice?  Do I want a god who always lets us go our own way, or do I want the God who loves us too much not to chase after us and who offers to lead us to the better path? 

• Do I have the power to suddenly remove His authority over my life by running from Him?  Did Jonah?

• If I simply say that He does not exist, does He simply disappear and cease to exist?

"For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. So they are without excuse." (Romans 1:20)

¹⁵ "Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark,
    and who say, 'Who sees us? Who knows us?'
¹⁶ You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay,  that the thing made should  say of its maker,  'He did not make me'; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, 'He has no understanding'?  (Isaiah 29: 15-16, ESV)

• Am I really better off by rejecting Him, now and in eternity? Which life brings more joy?  Who has more joy and contentment and peace in life, those who worship God or those who throw their fist at Him?

"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly." (John 10:10)

Whatever we each personally decide about God does not change who He is or erase the fact that we will each individually give an account to him some day.

“As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me,  and every tongue shall confess to God.”  So then each of us will give an account of himself to God."  (Romans 14: 11-12)

When my kids complain that my parenting decisions are unfair, they may get angry and ask why (sometimes I give them a reason, and other times I do not in their best interest or because they cannot understand at the time), but they eventually accept my choices because they know me and trust my character as being full of love for them and seeking to protect and nurture them.  When we accept Christ as Savior and Lord, we begin building a relationship with God who is our perfect Father.  We are not placing our trust blindly – as weak ones, but as those who know their Father's character and know that He has never broken a single promise to His people.  Yes, life seems unfair and I don't understand all the suffering, but I know without a doubt that I can trust my Lord and Father to work all things together according to His perfect plan which is far better and higher than anything I could hope for or imagine. I just have to wait for the final outcome which only He can see.

Are Christians Lovers or Haters? God's Love vs. His Wrath

Beth Moore teaches in her 1 Thessalonians Bible Study that the Greek form of the word translated as God's "wrath" throughout much of the Bible is not the type of wrath we ordinarily consider, for human wrath is angry, vindictive, hot-tempered, uncontrolled and vengeful. But God's wrath is the Greek word "orge' " (pronounced OR-GAY) which means "anger as a state of mind" or as Aristotle defined it, "DESIRE with GRIEF."

When we try to comprehend how God can be perfect in love and mercy yet also a God of wrath, we wrestle with the paradox. But it is not a paradox when we consider that His wrath is a result of His love. God loves us lavishly just as we are, drowning in the flood of sinful choices we made by our own free-will. But He loves us too much to let us perish forever. He paid the ultimate price to free us from the sin that destroys us. His greatest DESIRE is that we would accept His gift of love, but we bring Him great GRIEF when we reject Him or hinder others from coming to Him.

It seems our culture is becoming increasingly hostile to God and to those who claim to follow Christ. They say the church is filled with hatred and judgment when Christ clearly demonstrated that He is the embodiment of LOVE and has done infinitely more than any man could ever do to save us from the judgment we deserve. How it grieves Him when we deny His perfect gift.

How can anyone who has tasted the love of God hate anyone because of their lifestyle when Christ repeatedly demonstrated His love for ALL people? (John 3:16, 1 John 4:16, Romans 5:8) How can an honest Christian judge another person's lifestyle without first judging his/her own as sinful, knowing that we all fall short of the glory of God? (Romans 3:23) Only God has the right to judge for only He is perfectly Holy, and He has clearly defined his standard in His word. His laws were given out of love for us because He knows what is best for us. God hates those sins that separate us from Him, destroy us from the inside out, and keep us from the glorious calling He has for us. He hates our sin BECAUSE he loves us and wants the best for us. If he did not LOVE us, he would not hate our sin.
Parents who truly love their children will never withhold their love because of their children's poor choices. They will discipline them in love while utterly hating their children's bad choices, but they will never ever hate one of their own children. The more they love their child, the more they hate his/her sinful choices because they always have the child's best interests at heart. Loving parents do not DEFINE their child by his/her wrong choices. A loving parent will always define that child as their beloved son or daughter. As parents, we only get a small taste of the love Father God has for us as His adopted children. (Hebrews 12:6-8)

So, why then, does our culture insist that Christ followers HATE certain people because of their lifestyle choices? God defines each of us as sacred, made in His perfect image. If God doesn't define a person by his or her sinful choices, then neither should we as Christ followers and neither should they. We love them because God loves them, and because God loves them, we must hate their sinful choices just as He does.

We are wrong to think we are better than they are because we know all too well how much we struggle with sins of our own. But we hate our sins because God hates our sins. That's the primary difference. They may not hate their sins or accept what God says about them, but that doesn't make them any less worthy of love.

We are wrong to think we know better than they do. But we are not wrong to uphold God's standard because He knows all, loves all, and gave all of Himself for all mankind. True believers also have no right to show "thumos" (wrath that is filled with indignation or characterized by uncontrolled outbursts of rage from a vengeful mind.) Instead, the church of Christ may only express "orge'" out of grief for their unwillingness to let Christ set them free from the bondage of sin.

"34 A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. 35 By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34

Archaeologists Found Sodom!

As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, Surprise, Surprise!"   Maybe the Bible is right after all (you know it is!) about the city of Sodom which was utterly destroyed because of their sexual iniquity. Atheists have always denied such a city existed, but archaeologists have found it, and excavations are showing that the destruction occurred all at once and that the city then remained a wasteland for over 700 years just as the Bible has always said.

The timing of this discovery after 10 years of digging in that area is not lost on me. The U.S. just made gay marriage legal, and the battle to stop funding Planned Parenthood continues fiercely when the legal evidence against should shut down the organization and send it's top leaders to prison.  But our culture wants sex without consequences at the taxpayer's expense, so the brutal, murderous, illegal actions continue under the false pretense of "women's health" with $500 million in government funding a year.  This discovery at this time sure seems like a wake-up call to me. All God's words are true. (Psalm 119:160)

Read more about this discovery here.