He said, she said, they said...whatever

The age of the earth - a hotly debated subject, perhaps so much so that the main issue has been overlooked and forgotten. Did you know that many Christians believe the earth is millions of years old?It is no wonder since the church has neglected to speak about this issue, leaving indoctrination open to the secular world of educators. Even many Christian institutions teach millions of years and even evolution. They do not understand (or perhaps they do) that this directly contradicts Scripture. What do you believe? Have you ever thought about the issue? Do you realize the significance of your view of the origin of the planet?

The secular world of uniformitarian thinkers has so influenced Christians and the church today that most don't even think about the conflicts of Scripture. But as Answers in Genesis and Ken Ham so strongly emphasize, the Bible is clear as to the age of the earth and creation not evolution was the process by which everything came into being. A literal reading of Genesis describes creation in six, 24-hour days, not separated or stretched out by millions of years. Further, the account of the Biblical flood is clearly global and destroyed the planet, reforming into what we see today. By reinterpreting these accounts to mean something different, we are undermining the authority, inerrancy and infallibility of God's word. Doing this to the first book of the inspired work of God destroys the rest of His words as well including those of the hope of salvation.

Without a literal Adam, created perfect, and the original sin, bringing with it the effects of death, suffering and degradation of the universe, the redemptive story of the rest of Scripture doesn't make sense. By incorporating millions of years of death and decay into the Bible, we are redefining God and rejecting His very words. What are you believing? You can't ignore this issue. You must take a stand. Will you believe the fallible ideas of man simply because the majority says it is "science"? Or will you believe the perfect word of the God who created it all, was there from before time and will one day provide all the answers? Don't try to make excuses. There are only two starting points: God's word or man's word. Which will you choose?

Seeing more clearly

I fear I may have forgotten how to write in my long absence...so do forgive me if this post comes out rather awkwardly. As to the last two weeks I spent on the road on our geology trip, I hesitate to really into the details as it could take awhile. It is hard summing up something that impacted me in so many ways and to describe all the amazing things I saw. I will try to be brief, for I can't just ignore the whole trip - there is too much importance in it.

We traveled from Jackson through Colorado, Utah and into Arizona to the Grand Canyon and then back up stopping at various places along the way (Arches National Park, Canyonlands National Park, Bryce Canyon, Glen Canyon Dam, and Zion National Park to name a few). We were studying the geology of the Grand Staircase and fossil evidences given to us all over the region with the bias of Biblical glasses. Indeed, I am not ashamed to admit we all had out Biblical glasses securely fixed to our eyes as we viewed various landscapes. As Christians, it would be foolish to look at the world around us without the influence of the Bible. (As I have been learning in this week's class with Ken Ham, we can't throw away our "starting point" - God's word, or we are left with only the starting point of the secular world - millions of years and evolution - EVERYONE has a bias). What we saw through these glasses amazed us and strengthened our faith and convictions and encouraged us to stand ever more securely on the authority of the Bible.

We saw landscapes like the Grand Canyon which were carved by water - large amounts of water! We saw layers and layers of sediments at places like Colorado National Monument and Canyonlands that could NOT have been put down slowly (no sign of erosion, spread over such huge regions etc). We saw things like desert varnish on canyon walls, caused by manganese in the sandstone - manganese that cannot be accounted for by the trace elements in the atmosphere but more probably came from volcanism on the sea floor during the flood and mixed with the mud which turned into the stone we see today. We saw "cave art" depicting mammoths and dinosaurs proving that mankind actually saw and lived with these creatures. I could go on and on.

Mammoth drawing

Colorado National Monument

Throughout the trip, our professor continually impressed upon us the importance to STAND FIRM on the Bible. No matter what "science" comes up with today to explain things or discredit Christianity, we can have assurance in God's word. As Ken Ham has pointed out in his class - God is the only one that knows everything, so when we debate about origins or the flood of Noah's day or dinosaurs etc, by standing firm on the Bible, even if we can't answer all the questions, we have assurance that God is the ultimate authority on it all anyways so we don't need to back down. God can answer and will answer it all in time and those who have rejected Him, WILL know the truth and submit.

I will put some more pictures on the photos page if you are interested in seeing some more.

Significantly insignificant

Our first day of Eric Hovind's class blew us all away. God has convicted each one of us through this gifted man and wow. I'm excited but a little afraid of what the week is going to bring.

It's all about your worldview. That determines everything about you! And there are only two options:

God did it all or...
                                                                  He didn't
What you think about God tells a whole lot about you and determines how you live. Did you know that the word universe comes from Latin and means one (uni) spoken sentence (verse). I mean seriously! The scientists have spent hundreds of years debating how the "one spoken sentence" came into existence...ummmmmmmm...

It's a fact that every argument against God can be reduced to foolishness. Psalm 14:1 says "the fool hath said in his heart, 'there is no God.'" Furthermore Romans 1:18-22 tells us that EVERYONE knows God. They are willfully suppressing the truth. Since the creation of the world, God has shown Himself to man and yet man has rejected Him purposefully in sin. Eric says that the reason people scoff at the Bible is never because of science - it's always because of sin. People know the truth but they choose to go against God and live their own way. In reality, there is no such thing as an atheist because to say there is no God means that you know EVERYTHING about the earth, the universe and beyond. You have to know all that is out there in order to say resolutely that there is no God...but in that case, if you know everything, then you yourself are god...so...there is a god...YOU.

But no matter how much we argue and debate, even if we KNOW we are right, we will never convert anybody. It is only by the grace of God, through the Holy Spirit that anyone can come to salvation in Christ. Sometimes I think I give myself too much responsibility in this matter because I blame myself for my inadequate presentation of the gospel and I freak out about people I know, my school friends, the WORLD that doesn't know Christ but in reality, it's God who brings people to Himself. Yes He uses us, but...He doesn't have to - He doesn't NEED us! If He did, He wouldn't be God.

But He is God. and oh, what a God He is. He is worthy to be praised. Just look at some pictures of the universe! Look at the stars, the galaxies, the planets and you can't possibly help but see God. The amazing thing is, it's all out there for HIS GLORY (Psalm 19:1). In fact EVERYTHING God does is to His glory. Think about it, if man's greatest goal is to glorify God, why would God's be any different. God has no one else to give glory to but Himself for He alone is worthy. Even at the cross, it was all for His glory.

It is impossible for us to understand how huge His love for us is until we begin to grasp how huge our God really is. And in doing this, maybe we will understand how significantly insignificant we really are. Just look at a picture of the universe if you need a wake-up call. Isaiah 40:17 says that the nations are nothing to God...and I, I am just one person among the nations. That God loved us enough to save us from our sin, to redeem His fallen creation, in His ultimate plan for HIS GLORY, is unbelievable. There is nothing I can give that isn't already His and I feel completely unworthy in His presence yet He welcomes me, moreover, I can call Him Father!

My only response is: How can I live today, for His glory?