Ben Stein's Expelled is a must see documentary! It is a cinematic cry in the academia wilderness of America for freedom of speech and honest inquiry. The movie exposes the hypocrisy that is going on in the scientific community as it relates to scientific research - in any field - and how it relates to Darwin's Theory of Evolution and the possibility of Intelligent Design being a possible answer to some of the perplexing questions that are being raised.
Expelled makes it very clear that there is a big difference between Creationism and Intelligent Design. With Creationism, you have as a premise, a Supreme Being called God Who takes an active interest in the creation He has made. With Intelligent Design, you have as a premise, some kind of Intelligent Designer - whether it be called God or something else - who is behind all the incredible designs scientists are discovering in a plethora of scientific fields. With ID, you do not have to acknowledge or deal with the matter of faith or religion. You are simply acknowledging a Superior Intelligence other than, and greater than man.
Therein lies the rub! Darwinists are appalled at the thought that there could possibly be a higher intelligence than themselves. Their arrogance on this point is quite apparent in the film. Ben Stein does a superb job at drawing out scientists, who are darwinists, and have them display both their foolishness in their support of darwinism, and their animosity toward anyone who suggests that there might be flaws to Darwin's theory of evolution.
Prior to Charles Darwin's publication On The Origin of Species in 1859, the pervading thought at the time was that there was a Creator behind creation. Using the axiomatic proposition that scientists have a responsibility to question the status quo, Darwin was unhindered in his publication of his work. The point of the movie Expelled is that scientists do not have that same freedom today!
There is no room for free inquiry in the realm of science when it comes to the subject of Darwinism. This presents a tremendous problem. In Darwin's day - and in his writings - he took the cell to be the simplest form of matter known to man. Because of nanotechnology, we have discovered that there are literally galaxies of molecular material in a cell. As one scientific mathematician puts it, it would be mathematically impossible for all of what makes the cell to have just happened - even if you take five billion years to do so. The complexity of the cell demands the probability of an Intelligent Designer behind it all. This possibility causes fear to run rampant in the hearts of Darwinians.
I am persuaded that Darwinism will one day fall by the wayside along with all the other theories that man has proposed in written history. There is just too much new information being presently gathered that refutes the theory of darwinism. You can't hold down truth forever! And no matter how hard the scientific establishment tries to hold back the truth that is being discovered, the internet and other channels of communication will continue to present to the world what the present opposition to truth does not want the public to know.
It is understandable why the scientific community cannot tolerate the possibility of a Creator - much less an Intelligent Designer. If there is, indeed, a God Who is actually superintending Creation, then there is a God Whom man will one day have to face. That thought terrifies a Darwinist who rejects the existence of God. And this is why ID is too close to sounding like the Creator in their mind; consequently, they have to reject the possibility - or even the discussion of Intelligent Design. And as they reject the possibility of ID, they must also reject anyone who talks about it.
See the movie while you can - the opposition is doing everything possible to stop the showing of it.
I wonder why?
Wednesday, April 30, 2008
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Book Review: The Faith Given Once, For All
- The Faith Given Once, For All by Charles Colson and Harold Fickett is a must read for every Christian living in the 21st century. As Christians, we are in a spiritual warfare with our fallen nature, the age in which we live, and with Satan himself (Eph. 2:1-3). The liberal society in which we live is increasingly anti-Christian. The gods of materialism, social tolerance and humanism are assaulting Christianity every day and the casualty count among Christians is alarming. How can this be?
More and more Christians are being overrun by the age in which we live because they are poorly prepared to give a strong defense for the faith that was handed down to them. Too many pastors have bought into the secular progressive idea that we don’t want to offend anyone with the Gospel. We dare not speak with a tone that projects authority: “Thus saith the Lord” – that would be narrow-minded! Truth and doctrine must be jettisoned and in their place, we must preach acceptance of others and the value of self. Wrap the love of God in a gospel of prosperity and health – this is what people want to hear today. You can preach Jesus without preaching doctrine. Anyway, there are many ways to get to heaven – right?
Colson answers such foolish notions with a resounding “No!” He goes on to explain:
“To present Jesus without doctrine is to present a disembodied savior, a moral teacher perhaps, but with no more authority than Confucius. This is why I believe that the question of truth and its knowability is the most important single issue for the Church and perhaps for the culture today (p64).”
It is for this reason that Colson and Fickett wrote The Faith Given Once, For All. In the book the following three questions are addressed:
What Christians Believe - Why They Believe It - Why It Matters
It is not being narrow-minded when a Christian says that Christ is the only way to heaven – Jesus said it (John 14:6). Yes, a Christian is supposed to be accepting of people (Rom. 14:1), but that does not mean that we are to be accepting of sinful behavior.
And who defines what sinful behavior is? God does in His Word! Too many Christians are disengaging from the truth of the Gospel for the sake of peace with their fellow man. Subjective sentimentality is a poor replacement for objective truth.
I highly recommend Colson’s book. Get it, read it – it will prepare you for the end times in which we live (Hebrews 1:1-3).
Monday, April 7, 2008
What is Truth?
During the French Revolution, Voltaire did his best to castigate and destroy the Word of God and its effectiveness in peoples' lives. He even went so far as to say that within a hundred years no one would be reading the Bible.
God must have a sense of humor. After Voltaire's death, his home was being auctioned off to the highest bidder. It was purchased by the French Bible Society. In the same house where the Bible was put down, Bibles were soon running off the presses for the masses.
Today, between 30 and 60 million copies of the Bible are printed each year throughout the world. Those who read it realize it is not simply a book. It is the Word of God. While God used some forty writers over a period of 1500 years to write it down, there is only one Author - God Himself! The Bible is Truth, because God is Truth - nothing more, nothing less.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever." - Isaiah 40:8
God must have a sense of humor. After Voltaire's death, his home was being auctioned off to the highest bidder. It was purchased by the French Bible Society. In the same house where the Bible was put down, Bibles were soon running off the presses for the masses.
Today, between 30 and 60 million copies of the Bible are printed each year throughout the world. Those who read it realize it is not simply a book. It is the Word of God. While God used some forty writers over a period of 1500 years to write it down, there is only one Author - God Himself! The Bible is Truth, because God is Truth - nothing more, nothing less.
"The grass withers, the flower fades, But the Word of our God stands forever." - Isaiah 40:8
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
On Raising Children
We have eight out of eleven children still at home - of those eight, the older four are in their "teen" years. The youngest two are three and five years old respectively. And when you look at the eight children: our oldest child is an eighteen year old daughter, our youngest is a three year old daughter. In between those two roses, we have six boys. To say that each day is a challenge is an understatement.
As a homeschooling family, we are very close. We find the mistaken notion that a homeschool child is not adept at social interaction a rather humorous thought. We have learned this: if a child can learn to interact with his siblings in the give and take of a large household, he or she will be quite capable in knowing how to get along with other people outside the home.
As parents, we have also learned from the wisdom given in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."
In the Hebrew language, the verse reads like this: "Train up a child in its own unique way..."
No two children are alike. Yes, absolutes should be taught to all the children, but they should not be taught in the same way to each child. That would be a mistake. The challenge of parenting is to discover the uniqueness of each child. Once that is discovered, the important things of life can be taught the child in a wonderfully personal way. Each child will learn best when what is being taught is uniquely crafted to their own individual character.
How do we, as parents, accomplish such a foreboding assignment? It takes alot of time given over to each child in the following areas:
1. observing the child
2. listening to the child
3. playing (interacting) with the child
4. being a good example to the child, and finally
5. matching our life example with verbal training to the child in the area you, as a parent, are seeking to develop.
Sure, it sounds like a big list - and it is, but they are worth it!
As a homeschooling family, we are very close. We find the mistaken notion that a homeschool child is not adept at social interaction a rather humorous thought. We have learned this: if a child can learn to interact with his siblings in the give and take of a large household, he or she will be quite capable in knowing how to get along with other people outside the home.
As parents, we have also learned from the wisdom given in Proverbs 22:6, "Train up a child in the way he should go, And when he is old he will not depart from it."
In the Hebrew language, the verse reads like this: "Train up a child in its own unique way..."
No two children are alike. Yes, absolutes should be taught to all the children, but they should not be taught in the same way to each child. That would be a mistake. The challenge of parenting is to discover the uniqueness of each child. Once that is discovered, the important things of life can be taught the child in a wonderfully personal way. Each child will learn best when what is being taught is uniquely crafted to their own individual character.
How do we, as parents, accomplish such a foreboding assignment? It takes alot of time given over to each child in the following areas:
1. observing the child
2. listening to the child
3. playing (interacting) with the child
4. being a good example to the child, and finally
5. matching our life example with verbal training to the child in the area you, as a parent, are seeking to develop.
Sure, it sounds like a big list - and it is, but they are worth it!
Tuesday, April 1, 2008
Welcome
It is my singular desire to bring glory to God through the clear dissemination of His Word. The following statements are given to make lucid the intent of this blog:
1. Our basic premise is that the Holy Scripture (the 66 books commonly known as The Bible) is the infallible and inerrant Word of God. In all matters of discussion, the Bible will have the last word on any matter of discussion.
2. My opinion is worth little, God's Word is priceless and its nature is both authoritative and absolute.
3. While God has used many writers over hundreds of years to write the Bible, God - and God alone - is the only Author. The Bible is the very exhaled breath of God on written page (II Timothy 3:16).
4. According to II Peter 1:20-21, there is no room for interpretations of the Bible made by men. Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God to write down God's interpretation. This is why it is said, "Let Scripture interpret Scripture." While men may receive many illuminations concerning the Holy Scripture, there is but one, true interpretation of Holy Writ - that is the Biblical interpretation.
5. Given the truth of my 4th statement, this is the reason why we are commanded by God (II Timothy 2:15) to be good students of the Bible. We are commanded to study His Word in order to know how to rightly divide His Word. By the Holy Spirit's leading, we will through diligent study come to know the mind of God. And in knowing the mind of God, we will come to know Him - in all His holiness, love and glory!
1. Our basic premise is that the Holy Scripture (the 66 books commonly known as The Bible) is the infallible and inerrant Word of God. In all matters of discussion, the Bible will have the last word on any matter of discussion.
2. My opinion is worth little, God's Word is priceless and its nature is both authoritative and absolute.
3. While God has used many writers over hundreds of years to write the Bible, God - and God alone - is the only Author. The Bible is the very exhaled breath of God on written page (II Timothy 3:16).
4. According to II Peter 1:20-21, there is no room for interpretations of the Bible made by men. Holy men of God were moved by the Holy Spirit of God to write down God's interpretation. This is why it is said, "Let Scripture interpret Scripture." While men may receive many illuminations concerning the Holy Scripture, there is but one, true interpretation of Holy Writ - that is the Biblical interpretation.
5. Given the truth of my 4th statement, this is the reason why we are commanded by God (II Timothy 2:15) to be good students of the Bible. We are commanded to study His Word in order to know how to rightly divide His Word. By the Holy Spirit's leading, we will through diligent study come to know the mind of God. And in knowing the mind of God, we will come to know Him - in all His holiness, love and glory!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)