Month: January 2021

Our Sunday morning Equipping Class just finished watching a fascinating documentary called Is Genesis History? I believe it is the best documentary on the subject because of its high production quality and its unique content. Everyone who watched it was encouraged to see scientific evidence that supports the Bible’s account of a literal six-day creation and a global flood. It made me think, “If this got out it could have a dramatic impact on how Christians think about the age of the earth.” 

Many of us were surprised at the evidence in the documentary. We weren’t surprised because we thought it was difficult to believe. We were surprised because it is so rare to see professional scientists support the idea that the world is thousands of years old instead of millions or billions of years old. 

I did a little bit of research on why we don’t see more young earth evidence from the scientific community. I came across the story of Mary Schweitzer. In 2005, she discovered living tissue inside of dinosaur bones that were supposed to be at least 150 million years old. She told Live Science magazine, ”The problem is, for 300 years, we thought, ‘Well, the organics are all gone, so why should we look for something that’s not going to be there?’ and nobody looks.” https://www.livescience.com/41537-t-rex-soft-tissue.html One reason professional paleontologists may not have been reporting on evidence for a young earth is because their presuppositions limited their research. After Mary Schweitzer discovered living tissue in dinosaur bones people began looking at them differently. 

I also came across the story of a biologist who was recently fired because he allegedly shared research with his students. Mark Armitage claims he was fired from California State University Northridge because he shared information about dinosaur tissue samples with his students. In 2016 he was awarded $399,500 in a settlement with the university after suing them for wrongful termination. “Terminating an employee because of their religious views is completely inappropriate and illegal,” said Attorney Brad Dacus of Pacific Justice Institute. “But doing so in an attempt to silence scientific speech at a public university is even more alarming. This should be a wakeup call and warning to the entire world of academia.” https://www.ancient-origins.net/news-evolution-human-origins/scientist-dismissed-after-soft-tissue-found-dinosaur-fossil-001906 Even after winning the settlement Armitage reported the discrimination didn’t stop. He discovered additional tissue in fossils on two digs, but was not able to find a journal to publish his findings. He said, “I’m clearly being blackballed.” https://world.wng.org/content/after_settlement_academia_still_opposes_creationist/

Unfortunately, it is also becoming rare for Christians to hear biblical teaching that supports a six-day creation perspective in churches and Christian schools. We need to see this trend change. We need Christians to realize this is not just an issue of what theory someone holds for Genesis 1. We need to realize all of Scripture supports a young earth view.  

We usually think of only the Old Testament referring to creation, but Jesus Christ taught about creation as well. In Mark 10:6 he said, “But from the beginning of creation, ‘God made them male and female.”  He was referring to the human race being present on the fifth day of creation. There was no room for millions of years to slip into the timeline. He did not need scientific discoveries to explain the age of the earth because he had a clear understanding of Holy Scripture.

He also wrote about believing in the Old Testament. He said,  “For if you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?” Moses wrote about the creation account outside of Genesis as well. He said, “For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day. Therefore the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” I believe the most natural way to understand “day” in Exodus 20 and Genesis 1 and 2 is as a 24-hour day.  This fits the genre of historical narrative in the most natural way.

Let me end with this dramatic quote from pastor G. I. Williamson. He said, “I do not believe that there is, or ever will be, any scientific discovery that will be able to discredit what God has spoken. Yes, scientific theories do appear to discredit that creation account. But be patient. In time it will be seen that those humble Bible believers were right all along: it was a six-day creation.”

I have heard many people say they are praying for the president. Usually this refers to a general prayer for his health and wisdom in leading the country. Those are good things to pray for. As Christians we are commanded to pray for our leaders. We are told to pray for them so that we “can live quiet and peaceful lives, godly and dignified in every way.” (1 Tim. 2:1-3) If our leaders are ruling well, there will be peace and prosperity in the land that goes beyond the physical well-being of a country to the spiritual health of its citizens as well. Unfortunately, most of our country’s leaders have rejected the guidance of Scripture and so it should be no surprise that our land is far from the peace and quiet that is possible to those who submit their lives to God. 

As Christians we need to pray for our leaders in the specific ways that Scripture encourages us to. We are not just praying for the physical health and general wisdom of the president, we are praying for him on a spiritual level as well because we know that is where prayer is most needed. In keeping with that theme I have put together a list of ways to pray for political leaders from a Biblical perspective. 

Repentance: This may come as a shock to some, but we need to pray for the president to repent of his sin. Father Robert Morey of Saint Anthony Catholic Church in Florence South Carolina would agree with me on this particular point because he is the one who withheld communion from the president last year. He said, “any public figure who advocates for abortion places himself or herself outside of Church teaching.”

Salvation: Repentance and conversion go hand in hand so we should also pray that the president would confess his sin and submit his life to Jesus Christ. This is appropriate to pray for all our leaders because we know that God does not want any to perish, “but that all should reach repentance.” (2 Peter 3:9) 

Justice: Our country is confused about justice today because people are allowing it to be defined by humans instead of by God. We need to join King Solomon’s powerful refrain in Psalm 7, “Give the king your justice, O God, and your righteousness to the royal son! May he judge your people with righteousness, and your poor with justice.” 

Expose Corruption: The 2020 election had more allegations of voter fraud than any other election in recent history. As Christians we need to pray against all forms of political corruption. Ephesians 5:11 says, “Take no part in the unfruitful works of darkness, but instead expose them.” We need to pray that the president will call for an end to election fraud and all other forms of political corruption. 

Expose Hypocrisy: The president used his inaugural address to call the nation to unity. He then went to the White House and signed a divisive executive order on sexual orientation. We need to pray that he would recognize the hypocrisy of these actions and make decisions that reflect his call for unity. The Bible gives a vivid description of hypocrisy as “whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people’s bones and uncleanness.” (Mt. 23:27) 

Family: We need to pray for him as he leads his wife and influences his grown children and grandchildren. Ephesians 5:25 says, “Husbands, love your wives, as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.” That is a high calling for Christians husbands and one that helps us know how to pray for all husbands. We also need to pray for the first lady because she is under an immense amount of pressure with the responsibilities that come with serving as a leader of the nation. 

Humans are naturally drawn to technology because it fights against our natural limitations. We are finite creatures who can only be in one place at one time primarily doing one thing. We  invent things to try to change that. Our desire to change things is not inherently wrong, but it can lead to a negative outcome if it goes against the way God designed us to live. 

This is important to consider in our modern world because it has become so marked by technology.  We need to make sure to ask the right questions. Does the benefit of adopting a given technology outweigh the disadvantages? As Christians, we will answer this question very differently than the world because we are living for eternity with God, while the world is not. 

A worldly definition of technology is “the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes.” A materialistic worldview struggles to say no to technological advancement because it believes there are no supernatural consequences for saying yes. Christians see the world very differently. We believe people are made in the image of God. We believe they are made up of body, mind, and soul. We should not consider technology with a pragmatic approach. We need to think about it biblically, with a supernatural worldview in place. 

In Matthew 16:26 Jesus Christ wrote, “What will it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses his soul?” This is a helpful question to ask in relation to modern technology because it forces us think of the natural world in relation to the supernatural. Technology often tries to let humans break out of their limitations. Go faster, communicate with more people, have influence in more places at the same time. As Christians we need to remember we are just one soul. Our purpose is to glorify God and make disciples of God one soul at a time. This is difficult to keep in mind because the materialistic goals of technology often seep into our minds and into the church. We have to be careful. We have to ask questions about modern technology that can be difficult to ask. 

How is your smart phone impacting your soul? How does watching Netflix impact your relationship with God? How does your 8K resolution TV help you serve in the local church? How does using Amazon Prime impact your ability to share the gospel with people at the store? Jesus’ question in Matthew 16 is difficult to ask because it makes us think about our soul. It makes us think about eternity, which is something technology so often distracts us from. 

The soul will never find true contentment until it finds peace with God. He is the creator of every soul. He knows that humans do not need technology to find lasting peace. In fact his word says, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on you, because he trusts in you.” (Isaiah 26:3). How can someone trust in God? They must recognize that they have sin in their life, which separates them from God. They must believe that God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross and rise from the dead to pay for their sin. They must submit their life to the Lordship of Christ. Then they will have peace because they will know that after death comes eternal life with their Savior. 

One of the wonderful aspects of eternity is that there will be no need for modern technology. We won’t need to put sermons on Youtube because the bride of Christ will be with the groom. We won’t need to use Zoom to protect ourselves from a virus because there will be no sickness, no pain, and no tears. We won’t need to use FaceTime with loved ones because we will be in the presence of Love himself! Let’s keep eternity in mind so we will know how to find peace for our souls during these turbulent times. 

If I had to choose one silver lining to the Coronavirus cloud it would be this, God is using the crisis to raise up men in the local church. In the last three months we have seen an unusual surge of men who want to get their lives right with God. They have come to our church and they have found out they need to repent of their sin, trust in Christ as their Lord, and dive in to life in the local church. We have also seen men who were already in the church step up to lead and become more involved in the church family. This has been a great encouragement to us and I hope it will be an encouragement to those reading as well. God is on the move!

This desire for men to rise up during the crisis is not just limited to our church. I was able to see it first hand when I went to a meeting this week for the Central Valley extension of The Master’s Seminary. What a joy to see dozens of men come from all over the valley to learn about how to be trained to preach God’s word! For two glorious hours my mind was turned from political turmoil and pandemic fear-mongering to the spiritual reality that God is at work in the hearts of men.

The more I heard from the students and pastors the more excited I became. These men understand what the apostle Paul wrote to Timothy, “Preach the word, be ready in season and out of season” (2 Tim. 4:2). They recognize the need for men to preach and to entrust God’s word to faithful men “who will be able to teach others also.” (2 Tim. 2:2) Paul did not include a qualifying statement that said, “Take a break during a pandemic.” No! The Great Commission’s command to make disciples should not be hindered by what is being reported in the news. If anything, Christians should be even more motivated to share the gospel because people are desperate to know where they can find peace during this time of crisis.

The men at the pastor’s meeting represented over a dozen churches. I was struck by the impact they could have if God used them to stir up the saints in their own church communities. So much of our society is entrapped in a spirit of fear. Imagine if these men beat back the fear by standing for the truth? We need men who will understand what Paul meant when he told Timothy, “Fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands, for God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.” The men in our churches are all gifted differently, but all of them need to be reminded that God wants them to stand up and lead. We are not to live in fear. We are not to think of this year as a time of spiritual retreat and isolation. This is a time to spread God’s word. This is a time to make disciples. This is a time to pray for revival, and I know this is a time to pray for our men because God brings true revival through the leadership of men.

E. M. Bounds understood the importance of men in the local church. He wrote, “What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but men whom the Holy Ghost can use, men of prayer, men mighty in prayer. The Holy Ghost does not flow through methods, but through men. He does not come on machinery, but on men. He does not anoint plans, but men, men of prayer.” I hope you will join me in praying for God to raise up men in our churches who will stand firm in the gospel.