Feeling Crabby

One thing about having to be on the road a lot lately is that it gives us a chance to stop now and then and check out some road cuts for fossils. On Monday Mary Ann and Abigail and I were blessed to do a little fossil hunting, and then Mary Ann and I did some more in a different location yesterday. I thought you might enjoy seeing the treasures we found. God is so good, and the Bible so trustworthy. He told us how He created the world. He told us how He flooded it. And He put the evidence of it all around us to just find. Enjoy a slice of our life with us. God bless you.

It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out. Proverbs 25:2

Crabs found after we split open an "innocent" looking rock.

Probably a sea urchin. Still in rock matrix.

Huntin' together.

Clam like shell still in rock matrix.

What Have We Become?

I can't tell you how sad, and how angry, I was to watch multiple candidates in the New Hampshire Republican debate endorse making women sign up for Selective Service. What have we become? What are we that we, as a nation (even many of the leaders who most tout their Christian stands), are considering drafting women into the brutality and horror of war?

It strikes me that much of the crumbling in our society we see is in part stemming from a collapse of Godly men in the homes. Men who protect their wives and children. Men who train their children up in the Scriptures and God's ways. Men who open doors for ladies. Men who provide. Men who teach their daughters what a Godly man looks like, what appropriate touch is, and give them a model of the man they should look for. Men who teach their sons to love and cherish and honor and protect women. And now, it seems, that men can't even defend and protect this nation.

And before someone calls me sexist, let me just say that to do so is to level the same claim at God. He ordained the structure of the home. He ordained the roles of the Home. He told men to love and cherish their brides and to lift them as ones without spot or blemish. He died for His bride.

At West Point and in the Army I had the privilege of serving alongside many amazing women who volunteered to be there. Volunteered. But the inevitable result that anyone looking could see coming is now here. The push to be equal, equal, equal has now "drafted" in those who were not pushing. Daughters who don't want to kill, be killed, be captured (and everything that goes with it), see the horror of death thrust in their face won't have a choice. What have we become? Can we no longer even protect our women from that?

Based on some responses I got when I posted about this on Facebook, there is almost a smug "hey, women, you wanted to be equal so now lie in the bed you made" attitude. My response is this—not all women wanted this, but all women will be subject to this. And before you think in some perverse way you are "getting back" at feminists through this let me say that that line of thinking is akin to firebombing a city to get back at a few criminals in it.

I believe that how we view this goes directly to how we view Scripture and God. Do we believe He has ordained roles and different strengths for the different sexes? This isn't to say a women shouldn't (or can't defend herself). This isn't to say anything against women. But to make law a variance to God's structure is to say something different. It is to fly in the face of God and the truths and order He has given us.

I guess, though, what do we expect?!? We undermine the Scriptures. We rewrite God and our theology to fit what we approve of. We remove the idea that we are handcrafted, each uniquely, in God's image and we teach instead that we are all evolved animals. In that light, what does it matter? But to have men who claim to believe in God and the authority of Scripture believe this is good is grievous to me, and it scares me.

I can't—and won't—describe to you some of the things I've seen on the volunteer fire department. Images flash through my mind I'll probably never be able to forget this side of the grave. And I can't tell you how grateful I am that my wife and daughters don't have those images in their minds. That I could stand in a place so others don't have to. The thought of my daughters being drafted into an environment where that could be their exposure sickens me, and angers me. But, in light of the rejection of God and the Scriptures we are avalanching into in this nation, I guess it shouldn't surprise me . . .

Make No Mistake . . .

This post is long, but I believe it will be of value to you, as a Christian, as you process the course of our nation and seek to understand things through a Biblical perspective. I believe it will help you clarify the true issue at work.   —Erick

As the nation awaits the Supreme Court's decision on gay marriage we can not make the mistake of assuming that this is simply about marriage, or even the rights of homosexuals. It is a decision that will affect most Christian institutions, colleges, businesses, etc. It will be a decision that forever alters the fabric of our nation, and Christians in it who stand on Biblical principles and world view.

And, we can't make the mistake of seeing this as anything other than what it truly is—it is our nation's decision on what the very essence of its (our nation's) being will be. This is a decision that defines this nation at the core of what it is, and as such it carries a weight that is larger than we can fathom . . . and, unfortunately, is a battle it seems we've already lost.

As soon as this issue became defined as a civil rights issue it was lost to Christians who actually believe the Bible is God's inspired, written word to us, revealing Himself and His nature and heart. As a civil rights issue, as a fairness issue, I don't see people having a right to deny marriage to homosexuals—just as they wouldn't have a right to deny polygamy, or any other thing or type of marriage or lifestyle in the future that society may not embrace now but will embrace later as it gets more "tolerant" and more "progressive."

The thing is, this is not a civil rights issue, and as Christians we must understand this, as our resolve will fade eventually under the withering bombardment of being called small, hateful, intolerant, old-fashioned, fundamentalist, etc. This is not a civil rights issue, it is an issue at the very core of how we define right and wrong: Is there a God, above all, Who defines right and wrong, Who gives rights, and Whom we choose to submit to . . . or are right and wrong and rights something a majority or a legislative body or a court can decide and confer?

This question defines our nation. Our Declaration of Independence says, "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." This sentence, taken in part, could be used to argue for the right of homosexuals to be happy and marry. But it is not written in part, but in whole. These rights come from a Creator, therefore the Creator must be considered in them . . . and the Creator, the God of the Bible, has very specific things to say about what is right and what is wrong, and homosexuality is absolutely wrong in His eyes, therefore giving it legal blessing in marriage is only further going against our Creator. (Note: He also calls adultery, lying, fornication—sex outside marriage, etc., wrong, and the church is, sadly, inconsistent and much less vocal about these things, even in our own ranks.)

How we stand on this issue—and other values issues the Bible has something to say about—will define us individually and as a nation. The moment we leave the argument that God is God, and God is real, and the Bible is His written revelation, and He says something about the issue, we have entered the moral quicksand of morality being defined by the masses or a despot or a court. We have given morality over to legal briefs and influential people, and we have walked away from God.

Over and over in the Bible it talks about something being evil or good in the sight of the Lord. No matter what man thinks, what matters is how God sees something. That is all that matters. And whether our nation embraces that as the foundational truth of itself, or whether it rejects it, we as Christians can not leave that moral high ground and try and argue morality on "practical" levels or we have left the only rock of truth we have to stand on. And if our nation does go that way (and it seems it already has), we, as Christians, must be firm in why we believe what we believe. And that is why, I believe, God calls the church which is the body of Christ and His bride, a holy nation, His own special people, citizens of Heaven. We live in America, but our citizenship is the Kingdom of God. We are His, and that identity transcends lines on a map. We were His when America embraced Him as their foundation, and we are His when it turns from Him. We are His, and that is eternal, and He knows who are His and who are not, and He holds eternity in His hands.

This issue will write into law the future of our nation. It, like Roe vs. Wade, will absolutely solidify and codify that we, as a nation, have no regard for what God says is right or wrong. It will say, "We, as a nation, have risen above God, knowing right and wrong, and conferring rights on people." Whatever the court decides, we as God's children must know, He loves the lost and desires to draw all men to Him . . . and He will never leave or forsake His children, whether America a few decades from now loves Him, or whether we are living a persecuted minority.

A Side Note—But Important Note—On Genesis and All of This
If you've known me, or read this blog, any length of time you know that defending the first ten chapters or so of Genesis as a literal record of Creation and a global flood is a passion of mine. In these decisions our nation is wrestling with we are seeing one of the strongest evidences for that importance play out before our eyes.

If we discount those chapters as allegory—submitting them to "science" instead of submitting science to the Bible, we have begun down a slippery slope we can't recover from. The church in the early 1800s found this out. They collapsed on the age of the earth (inventing Day Age Theory, or Gap Theory, to try and reconcile "science" and the Bible) and then along comes Darwin and they've already, as the church, climbed into bed with the major requirement of Darwinian evolution—vast periods of time. Suddenly the church is left holding a bag with a hole in it. They've already embraced the unBiblical vast periods of time. They've already said a key component of Genesis is allegory . . . and so they had no leg to stand on arguing the creation of man in God's image from the start was literal.

When we embrace those things, putting "science" (I say that loosely since many brilliant scientists whose voices aren't heard embrace a literal reading of Genesis) above the Bible, we are then hypocrites to defend a virgin birth, a resurrection, angels and demons, a parting of a sea, a feeding of thousands from a few loaves and fish, the turning of water to wine, etc. Each of these are areas "science" has no room for, and we are inconsistent and hypocritical to fight for them as true when we've already let "science" define the Bible for us.

And so, down the slippery slope, the Bible becomes untrustworthy, and subject to man's interpretation and molding to fit man's "wisdom." Does anyone else see a correlation between a nation professing to be Christian but embracing values that the Bible clearly speaks out against? When we start to see the Bible as a childish book, not able to stand against the progressive wisdom and mind of man, then we really shouldn't be surprised when we give it no authority on moral issues as well. It is truly the next logical stage of descent off the high mountain of the Bible (hence God's) authority. Why, oh why, church, are we so surprised. We who've watered down the very book God gave us?

And . . . should it be any surprise to us, and could it underline the argument I am making any better, then to see the very side defending traditional marriage argue before the Supreme Court use evolutionary terms, ". . . the marriage institution did not develop to deny dignity or to give second class status to anyone. It developed to serve purposes that, by their nature, arise from biology. Now, imagine a world today where we had no marriage at all. Men and women would still be getting together and creating children, but they wouldn’t be attached to each other in any social institution." (In fairness, he has made it clear the issue he was arguing is not about the definition of marriage, but if the people or the courts will decide it. Again . . . already lost . . . God is not even in that. He may be the reason the people—the states in court who are standing against homosexual marriage—voted against it, but whether or not their will stands is not about God, but about legality.)

Genesis does matter. Marriage hasn't "evolved," it is a God-ordained institution present in the first chapters of Genesis. It doesn't need to be defended on "practical" basis, it is what God has ordained and for us that is enough. And God has said certain lifestyles are wrong, and that should be enough for us as well. He is the only basis for the argument . . . and He is enough. For those who don't recognize that . . . those who may define much of our lives left here on earth . . . they will recognize it—on one side of the grave or the other.

I Am in Awe . . .

Jon nailed this one! A rose.

We have been having fun photographing for, and managing our family's new Facebook page, "Just a Closer Look" (www.facebook.com/justacloserlook). We'd love to say hundreds of people are having a blast trying to guess what the images are, but that isn't the case and it is probably good! (See my note under "Remember" below.) Jon Guenther, one of this blog's readers and one of the two authors I blogged about on April 10th in Great Reads, Great Deals, actually guessed the first one correctly down to the type of flower! Wow! No wonder he is such a good author if he notices detail like that!

Abigail "on assignment."

Our great hope with this Facebook page is that people would (besides having fun!), find themselves starting to slow down and notice things in God's Creation that they maybe would have walked past before. Ultimately that will point us to God and remind us that He is interested in the tiniest of details in Creation—which to me means He must be interested in the tiniest details of our lives. Jesus used Creation to illustrate this incredible and reassuring truth:

And he said to his disciples, "Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat, nor about your body, what you will put on. For life is more than food, and the body more than clothing. Consider the ravens: they neither sow nor reap, they have neither storehouse nor barn, and yet God feeds them. Of how much more value are you than the birds! And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? If then you are not able to do as small a thing as that, why are you anxious about the rest? Consider the lilies, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass, which is alive in the field today, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, how much more will he clothe you, O you of little faith! And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be worried. For all the nations of the world seek after these things, and your Father knows that you need them. Instead, seek his kingdom, and these things will be added to you. (Luke 12:22-31, ESV—underlines mine)

Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.  But even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows. (Matthew 10:29–31, ESV—underline mine)

Genesis 1 makes it clear that God made everything, and Hebrews 11:3 makes it clear that a primary component of faith is believing that He made it all from nothing. Therefore, what we see is the result of God's creative hand and word. Imagine! If it is this stunning in the tiniest details of earth what it will be like for us in Heaven free of sin's corruption!

Bethany examining a picture.

I can tell you that after spending fifteen to twenty minutes in a garden looking for things that I normally walk past but that are stunning in macro detail, I am in awe each time. There are even times that, after we put the pictures on a big screen, we see things we hadn't even noticed. God is so absolutely incredible!

Romans 1:18-20 says: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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.

The more I study Creation and the more I take time to stand under the stars, or stare into a flower's center, the more I realize how it should be impossible for us to be in Creation and deny a Creator. God says it is impossible—that we know the truth but suppress it. He says that because of Creation we are without excuse before Him for denying Him. I am in awe, and I feel the fool, to think I spent so many years of my life arrogantly denying Him in my intellect when His evidence is all around me. May this homeschool project of our family help someone who once walked where I walk recognize God sooner, and may it encourage those who do know God to worship Him more, to be encouraged that He knows their details and cares, and to slow down.

Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" (Psalm 46:10, ESV—underline mine)

---

This one currently has people stumped! We'll put the
answer on Facebook later today or tomorrow.

Remember: You don't have to have a Facebook account to see the page, only to guess and comment on it. If you do have a Facebook page and "Like" the "Just a Closer Look" page I'd encourage you to share it with anyone you know who you think:

1. Might be encouraged to slow down and notice God's Creation, and to realize how God is interested in the tiniest of details. I believe it might be just what someone needs right now who is feeling overwhelmed or forgotten.

2. Can handle being drawn into Facebook (online media, etc.). Not everyone should be encouraged to plug into something like this as Facebook and other online media can easily, if not guarded, suck us into hours we never intended. I see youth in our youth group who can't be away from their online stuff for any length of time, and I know adults who've had to make the hard decisions to step back because they were getting drawn into their online world at the cost of their world around them. Everything has a time and place and I know people for whom Facebook is a true ministry, but it needs to be something someone can handle in God's leading and balance. So, for you or someone else, if you can't participate without wisdom then please stay away from the page. Go out in the garden and see the real things instead!

Just a Closer Look

Our family enjoys photography, and sometimes we'll zoom into a picture we've taken and be amazed at the intricacy of some tiny part of a flower or plant or piece of wood or a bug or ??? that we could have so easily just glanced at or even simply passed by. We've felt like others would be amazed at it as well, and maybe even encouraged to know that God cares about such tiny details in nature—because it stands to reason that He would be even more concerned about, and attentive to, the tiniest of details in our lives as well. We also find such a closer look leaves us in awe of God, and praising Him, so we wanted to share some of it.

We've come up with what we hope will be a fun Facebook page called "Just a Closer Look." It can be found at: https://www.facebook.com/justacloserlook

Our intention is to post a zoomed in portion of a picture and give people a few days to have fun trying to guess what it is. Then we'll post the "big picture" and a new zoom to guess about. Our hope is that it will:
1. Glorify God
2. Cause people to slow down and take notice of the tiny details in Creation around them
3. Encourage people's faith
4. Challenge the unsaved to question if they really can believe such intricacy is all by chance
We also hope to post encouraging thoughts and scriptures that are relevant to the theme of the page.

If that interests you feel free to "like" the page and spread the link to your friends who'd be blessed by it. I will be monitoring the comments pretty closely as it is a page our whole family will be working on. As a teaser I am posting our first "What is it?" picture here . . .

(By the way. If you are on Facebook and haven't "friended" me, send me a Friend Request at: https://www.facebook.com/erickr1
As a forewarning, I don't spend much time on Facebook at all other than updating events and photos on our church's page, but I do find value in being able to add that as one more way to try and stay in touch.

Blessings! And may you have an amazing Easter!   —Erick

Already in Place . . .

I have been fascinated in the road of study God has taken me down lately, which it seems He keeps centering on the church's early 1800s collapse from believing a literal six-day Genesis Creation to believing alternatives like a gap theory or that the "days" of Genesis mean much more than a literal day (despite God saying there was evening and there was morning for them). I thought you might be interested in a brief summary of what I've learned so far . . .

Shoshone Falls area of Idaho. One of many places we saw
on our trip that now attribute the terrain to a short duration
catastrophic flood event instead of a gradual carving out
over long periods of time.

If you'd ask most Christians when the collapse of Genesis belief occurred my guess is that many would say it began with Darwin. The reality is that well before Darwin uniformitarian geology was gaining strength. This basically says that the present is the key to the past (change is uniform) so therefore, since we see earth changing so slowly now, to arrive at where we are now at this rate of change would take vast periods of time. In opposition to them were catastrophists who believe that the earth's surface was explained by a major (or multiple major) catastrophe(s) . . . i.e. a global flood.

Over the early decades of the 1800s it appears the catastrophists were shut out as the dominate voice, with a few "Scriptural Geologists" trying to hold the gates closed, but Christian leader after Christian leader collapsing under the pressure and assumption that the latest geological "evidence" was true. So, scrambling to find a way to "preserve" the inspiration and truth of Scripture these other theories surfaced that tried to reconcile the two, giving room for vast periods of time and Scripture to still be true.

By the time Darwin published his On the Origin of Species book in 1859 the church had already, for the most part, caved to old earth theories—"reinterpreting" Scripture to fit "nature" instead of interpreting nature in light of Scripture. At this point in the early to mid-1800s it seems to me that it is mainly geology and the earth that seem to be discussed, but then, along comes Darwin—strongly influenced in old earth gradual change theory—who publishes a theory of life that has man evolving from primitive life forms over ages and ages of time.

"Oh no! What do we do? Man made in God's image from apes! Death before sin! Heaven forbid!" I can assume many cries like that went up from Christians based on many of the responses to Darwin's book I've read about . . . but, it is the church who'd already put in place from their pulpits the two primary tenets needed to believe in evolution across species (the earth is vast periods of time old, and Scripture doesn't mean what it clearly says it means and confirms in other places in Scripture), and who'd already set the precedent of reinterpreting Scripture to "science."

Well, now the church has to explain how and why the rest of Scripture and God's promises and the revelations of God's character and nature are true when they've already put themselves as the judge and jury in arbitrarily declaring parts of it true and parts not. And, they have to explain in a way that doesn't keep "reinterpreting" Scripture, how death entered through sin if there was death before sin, how a brutal and self-centered killing idea of survival of the fittest could possibly be declared "as good" by God, why Jesus' genealogy goes to Adam, how sin entered through "one man," and so on and so on and so on.

I actually find it stunning in the inconsistency of a church submitting God's Word to purported "science" in the origins and age of the earth issue, but then standing adamantly against that same "science" that equally declares impossible or "false" things like resurrection from the dead, virgin birth, multiplying of loaves and fishes, miraculous healings, parting of oceans, walking on water, demonic and angelic activity, Heaven, Hell, etc. Is it any wonder the world gives us so little credit when we are so inconsistent and arbitrary?

Anyway, I found that insight into the early/mid-1800s compromise fascinating and eye-opening as it sheds light on why, when Darwin pops up, we fell so fast. Maybe it interests you as well. I believe that this issue is tremendously critical as the foundation of our faith in the Bible, how we interpret the Bible, and the foundation of what we submit as the highest source of truth are at stake. And, despite what the media and everyone else tells us, a little research will reveal multitudes of Ph.D. and other scientists who believe the evidence supports a literal young-earth Creation as recorded in Genesis.

Note: Today it is fascinating how many geological sites (some of which we visited on our Fall "Creation Trip" up into Yellowstone) now attribute significant terrain features to massive interior seas that breached in the past and carved out stunning canyons and topography on their way to the major oceans. Of course none of these sites attribute any of that to the receding flood waters of Noah's flood, or mention that these interior seas likely formed during the flood and subsequent Ice Age, but it is interesting to see the word "catastrophe" returning in different forms in secular geologic theories since it was so "taboo" to even hint at it for so many decades and possibly give Creationists and "Flood people" any chance of credibility.

A Man's Joy

The girls photographing Trumpeter Swans in Yellowstone.

Psalm 111:2  Great are the works of the Lord, studied by all who delight in them.

I want to share two things about the trip I recently took which brought me tremendous joy. This doesn't take away from the joy of just being with my bride through this—away from phones, email, the fire department pager, etc. She is my best friend and my pal and she knows in complete security how much I treasured that time hanging out with her, and she understands what I am about to say (and rejoices with me in them)!

Abigail capturing a Yellowstone Geyser.

The first thing was to be able to see this land with the scales removed from my eyes. The last time I saw most of the land we traveled through I probably gave a nominal nod to God having created it, but I certainly didn't believe the Bible's account of how He did . . . and I found myself struggling to fully understand the land with the explanations given of evolution, millions of years of slow change, etc. I accepted it because "science" said it was true, but while the land was beautiful, I missed the most glorious part of it. This time, though, I was able to travel the land with a whole different pair of glasses. Instead of the old earth, uniformitarianism view of slow change at the rate of change we see today, I was able to see the land through the eyes of the Bible and (wow!) it changed everything!

Bethany photographing the
Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone

In preparation for what we call our "Creation Trip" I was privileged to talk with different people—some with degrees in geology, one with a Masters degree in atmospheric science, another with a Ph.D. in evolutionary biology—scientists and lay people with degrees who used to be old earth evolutionists and are now young earth Creationists. They were able to talk to me about the land we'd be traveling through and tell me what we should make a point to see and how we could see Biblical evidence in it. We also were able to get different guidebooks and geology books written from a young earth Creationist scientist perspective and read them as we traveled.

Abigail in the Tetons.

I can't tell you how amazing that was, and how the land I traveled through finally made sense! When you know what to look for and see it through the lens of a young earth, spoken Creation with age; followed by the curse of sin and a catastrophic global flood and the scaring of receding waters; followed by rupturing inland bodies of water; followed by a singular ice age; suddenly the land around you reads like a book. All of a sudden the scales were falling off and I could see clearly, and it was stunning. I was in awe of what I saw, in awe picturing the land through its different phases, and in frequent prayer and lifting of praises to the One to whom it all is attributed. It was an incredible joy and privilege, and I'll never be the same for it.

Abigail posing Mom by a T-Rex (I believe)
at the Museum of the Rockies.

The second thing that brought me tremendous joy that I want to share was to travel the land as a father and to simply take pictures of my girls taking pictures! Yes, I took pictures of scenery for pleasure and some times for maybe using later in teachings, but the most fun was watching them and capturing them seeing the land through their eyes. We had spent quite a bit of time teaching them photography as part of homeschool before the trip so they could make the most of it, and to see them using those skills and processing God's Creation was a father's joy. It was simply incredible to see their faces the first time they saw a grizzly, or a geyser, or the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone, or found their first fossil, or . . .

Bethany photographing in the
John Day fossil area of Oregon.

I am reminded of Hebrews 11—God's New Testament Hall of Fame of faith. In it He lists praise after praise of His children who stood in faith. If we read the Old Testament each of them had faults and shortcomings, but on the other side of the cross He has washed those away and He simply delights in bragging on His kids. I thought of that as I stared at this incredible scenery . . . and found the greatest joy taking pictures of my girls taking pictures of it. It was truly a father's joy to share this with them and to see their eyes being opened to God, His Creation, His Creativity, and His evidence.

Hebrews 11:3 By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

I'll post a few more pictures of my girls taking pictures tomorrow for those who might enjoy them. Thanks for reading, sharing in my life, and caring. Blessings to all of you.   —Erick

A Cliff and a Cross

Chapel of  the Transfiguration

In the Grand Tetons National Park there is a little church in a place called Moose. It is a log building with a mighty glass window behind the altar. If you look out the window you see, past the cross in front of it, the rugged Tetons upthrust as a jagged knife against the sky. Psalm 104 tells us how near the end of the flood the mountains rose up and the valleys sank down when it says:

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. (Psalm 104:5–9)

As I stood at the altar and saw the cross silhouetted against the mountains I was struck by the beauty and power of it. There, in the distance, were mountains which rose up through the waters of judgment. Jagged reminders of a time when God judged the world and His wrath against sin was poured out against it and man. God's Word tells us that there is another judgment coming, and 2 Peter 3 tells us that the same ones who doubt the Flood are the ones who will doubt the coming judgment as well. 

Judgment and the Cross—as seen from the window
behind the altar.

But there, in front of those mountains, stood the cross—the work of God on my behalf that saves me from the coming judgment. It was a powerful reminder that while I was immersed in scenery that left me in awe, my awe was to be toward the one who created Creation, and who died for me. 

It was a timely reminded because I had become so excited by the stunning things we had seen that I realized I was at times more excited about them then the One who made them. The cross and the cliff—mountains of judgment in the back fronted by the cross that my Savior carried up His own hill to die, so that I would not have to . . . Thank You, Lord. May I or my generations until You return never doubt You or Your Word, and may we never be more in awe of Creation than we are of the Creator.

The Perfect End, The Completed Circle

Yellowstone. Yes. That's falling snow!

Our family has just returned from what we call our "Creation Trip"—a trip Mary Ann and I have talked about, prayed about, hoped for, and saved up for, for over a year (but which we just told the girls about in early August after we committed to it). We left for a little over two weeks and took the girls on a 4,044 mile homeschool road trip to different sites that demonstrated the truth of the Genesis Creation account, and the effects of a global flood and subsequent singular ice age on the topography and geology of the earth. We were blessed to talk to multiple Creation Scientists and to get different Creation literature and guidebooks to help us get the most out of our trip. I'll probably post a lot more about the trip and share pictures and insights from it in subsequent posts—but in a nutshell we:

Traveled from Central California through northern Nevada, into Idaho, and camped for five nights in Yellowstone (including two mornings where we woke up to snow on our tent, and one night where 60 mph gusts pushed the sides of our tent in to touch Abigail's nose in her sleeping bag!). While there we saw tremendous demonstrations of thermal activity, flood sculpturing, wildlife (including moose and grizzly), visited the Tetons, and a lot more.

Going daily journals by our Yellowstone campsite.

We continued from there and saw the Museum of the Rockies' amazing dinosaur exhibit (though we differ in our interpretations of the fossil evidence), visited friends, and then traveled around the southern edges of Glacier National Park examining Ice Age evidence (the government shutdown occurred between our visits to Yellowstone and Glacier, and from Yellowstone on all national parks, monuments, etc., were closed).

Leaving the Glacier area we headed south and then cut into Idaho and fossil hunted in Oregon and then spent our last road night in Northern California. And now I'll share why that was the completed circle, the perfect end . . .

Morning snow on our van and tent. Yellowstone.

In the town in Northern California we visited our last night and day of the trip is a church that walks heavily in the miraculous. I am not saying I agree with all of their theology, but I don't have theology perfect either. What is undeniable is the atmosphere they create of love and worship for the Lord, and great faith in Him to demonstrate through us the things He promises in His Word He will do through us. You can't be there for more than a few hours and not feel the faith building increase of being immersed in a place where worship and faith and trust and great expectancy are emphasized. The testimonies of healing that have come out of this church are tremendous, and I attribute to them the encouragement years back that prompted Mary Ann and I to trust God for, and go after, many of the miracles we have seen in our lives and people we have prayed for.

Snow and the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone.

The culture that is created at this church is one in which hundreds of young people, late teens and twenties, head to the streets and pray for people and share the love and power of Jesus with them. As we sat at the coffee shop at the church just soaking up the love for Jesus that fills the place, we were surrounded by dozens of these youth coming out of classes and just talking around us. It was amazing to just listen like a fly on a wall as they shared amazing moments they'd had with Jesus, about times of worship with Jesus, and prayed for one another.You didn't hear inappropriate words, see anyone hitting on anyone, or any of the things you see in a normal, secular coffee shop.

A real log cabin, with no water or bathroom inside, in the
national forest in Montana a friend owns where we stayed.
You bring in water from a spring outside, cook over a wood-
burning stove, and heat by fireplace and propane. No
electricity. The girls were calling each other Laura and Mary—
and we were Ma and Pa—within 5 minutes of our arrival!

It was in this town that we saw the circle that began the first day of the trip completed. I'll explain in a moment, but let me first say that we can all surround ourselves in Christian circles. In those circles it is “safe” to talk about Him, pray for one another, worship, etc.—and Jesus, too, spent time alone with the Father or with just His disciples—but, Jesus ultimately took it to the streets and went to where the lost were who needed to know the Good News of the Kingdom of God. That is the completed circle. He came to serve, to love, to minister, to demonstrate, to destroy the works of the devil, and to reach the lost—from prestigious religious leaders like Nicodemus, to despised prostitutes and hard working common fishermen.

That last night of our trip, after securing a room for the night, as darkness settled in, we drove to dinner and while on the way we saw a young lady, maybe in her twenties, standing in a median at a major intersection with her bike held up by one hand and her other hand on the shoulder of a young man who was standing there hitchhiking. Her head was bowed and she was praying over him. As we sat at a red light and watched she must have prayed at least 30 second or more, and that was after we noticed her. There is no telling how long she'd been talking to him and praying for him before we saw her.

Finding leaf fossils in the national forest in Oregon.

After she then finished they exchanged a few more words, and she got on her bike and continued riding on her way down the street into the darkness. It was a very powerful moment to witness these two heads bowed and the tender touch of caring of this young woman as cars went past in all directions in this busy intersection. And, it was what it is all about. 

The reason we have invested so much in teaching our girls the truth of, and evidence for, the literal Creation account is not so they can become some arrogant intellectuals able to slice and dice on evolutionists, but so that they find their hearts so securely anchored in God's Word, and so deeply trusting it, that they trust the rest of the Bible and trust Jesus' words and promises. In the end what matters is love—the love of God shown through us to others—our faith, and our eternal destiny. 

Why can we surrender our lives to God and trust Him with it and let Him live His life through us? Because He is real and His Word is true, and He does what He says He will do. From the mighty demonstrations of God's spoken word seen in Creation, to the evidences which surround us of a massive flood in which He poured out His judgment on sin, to a deep love and worship of Jesus who died for our sin and the Father who so loved us He sent Him, to a young lady in a median of a busy intersection on a dark night praying for a young hitchhiker . . . the completed circle, the perfect end.

Just Noticed Something . . .

I love when this happens! God and His Word are amazing . . .

I have for awhile believed that Psalm 104 is referencing the global flood of Noah* and giving us an amazing description of the topographic changes that occurred in this upheaval of judgment—giving us all the description we need to be confident in the flood as the defining element in explaining the geography around us. It says in verses 5–9:

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth.   ESV

Note that it says the mountains rose and the valleys sank down. It makes sense to me that the earth would have been created a lot more "mild" in terrain then we see it now as our command was to take dominion over it, so it needed to be accessible. But after the curse, and then the flood of judgment, it became far more harsh and inaccessible, and Creation groans awaiting redemption. I believe these verses give us a very real and literal description of a geographic season when the entire earth was transformed dramatically in a very short time, not in the long periods of time evolutionists require who don't believe in the flood or its ensuing changes.

But . . . I also believe that far more of the Old Testament then we probably realize is, while being true and literal, also a picture and foreshadow of Christ to come, and this morning in my reading through the Bible I saw something in a passage I'd never seen before. In Luke 3 it says of John the Baptist that he will preach ahead of Jesus and and fulfill the words of Isaiah. It says these words are:

"The voice of one crying in the wilderness:  'Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways, and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.'"   (Luke 3:4-6, ESV)

So, in the flood of judgement the mountains rose and the valleys sank down . . . and in Christ, the one who takes from us God's judgement, "Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall become straight, and the rough places shall become level ways."

Wow! This spiritual picture of what Christ did for us is amazing! God has become accessible, Christ has carried and become the curse, and the path to and for God is made! What man was cut off from is now available. Isn't that amazing!

God is so good, and what He has done in and for us so amazing, and His Word so rich and deep and valuable and inspired! Thanks, Lord, for all!

* Some people believe these verses describe Creation, but I don't think that's possible because it says of the waters, "You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth." and if that was Creation then it is a lie, because clearly they did in the global flood of Noah, but never again after that due to God's promise sealed in the rainbow. For other posts in which I've talked about Psalm 104 see this and this. As a note that meant something to me, I was really encouraged after reading different commentaries that ascribe Psalm 104 to Creation to read Michael Oard's books on Creation (he is an atmospheric scientist that defends a literal Genesis reading) and find that he agrees with me that the Psalm has to be talking about the flood.

Boring?

Two of the things in the Bible that I most often hear described as boring are the book of Leviticus and the genealogies. I'd like to share what God has done to change that in me (I used to feel that, too).

Leviticus: God has been opening my eyes to His holiness. He is set apart, holy, separate. We tend to make common (profane) His name and who He is. We tend to try and make Him and His Word match our opinions, our "science," our values, our desires, etc. When we do that we profane Him and His Word. Leviticus has become, for me, an amazing reminder of His holiness. It is filled with reminders of the fact that that which is for Him will be set apart, holy, not used for the common. That God has a way and it is His way or no way. That He is holy and I am not and that I must follow Him instead of expecting Him to follow me (a reminder David should have thought of before Uzzah died moving the ark, and not after . . .) Leviticus reminds me of how, though God is holy and a vast separation exists between us and Him, Jesus paid for our sin and now His Word says we as believers are a holy nation, His own special people, set apart unto Him, no longer of this world, no longer Satan's but now, instead, God's adopted children for all of eternity. It makes me so grateful! Leviticus is a constant, repeating reminder that God will not be profaned or made common. He is holy, and all that is for Him will be set apart as well. And so, now, I enjoy it. It reminds me. It blesses me. It encourages me to not become casual with God or to try and to things half way or my way and just assume He'll be OK with that. He is holy, holy, holy. He is God. It is His way, not mine.

Genealogies: I read them as history. Real history! Recorded history. Verified history. So much of our "understanding" of origins and history is based on a scrap of writing or a bunch of theories without evidence, but the genealogies gives us a person by person listing of history back to the first man. It is amazing! And, most important to me, the genealogies with the accompanying ages at births and deaths, give us the age of the earth. Yes, it is the genealogies that form the corm foundation of the young earth interpretation of Genesis, which I believe is one of the most critical views we will adopt in our walks. If the genealogies are true then we must interpret Genesis as literal and the world as very young. If they aren't, then the Bible is a fairy tale and we might as well throw it out along with all the revelation in it of God and of His promises to us. When I read the genealogies I realize I am reading an accurate, detailed listing of the line of men to Adam. It is my family tree. It is my history. And I am more and more convinced that God gave them to us in such detail that we could do exactly what I described—count them out and realize that Genesis must be interpreted and stood on as a young earth account, historical and detailed and accurate. When I read the genealogies I read with amazement, realizing God has given them to me to strengthen my faith in His Word and to give me the basis to stand with confidence on a literal reading of Genesis. Wow! Thanks, Lord!

Maybe these will bless you. Maybe not. But they bless me and I thought I'd share them. Thanks for reading. May you have an amazing week in the arms of the Father!

Is the Present the Key to the Past?

You can explain the earth's geology in one of two ways. Uniformitarian belief (which includes Christian compromise attempts to "make" Genesis match "science") says the present is the key to the past. Therefore, since the earth's surface changes very slowly today they conclude it must have been changing at the same rate all along (a "uniform" rate), therefore vast periods of time had to have passed to explain what we see today. People who reject God have no problem with this. Christians who believe this are forced to manipulate Genesis to say what it doesn't say, or to add to it things it doesn't support.

The other lens to view and interpret the earth around us through is that of a catastrophe that dramatically shaped the earth's surface in a very short period of time. This fits exactly with the young earth, eye-witness account of Creation and a global flood given in Genesis. (Eye-witness because God was there and He recorded what happened!) In this model the earth's surface was dramatically ruptured and uplifted and scarred during the global flood of Noah and the period following it.

I believe the earth was probably a lot gentler in contour prior to the flood. This makes sense to me since God gave us the earth for our use and to take dominion over, and we can't do either to parts of it we can't access or live in. Then, when God had had enough, He judged the world with a global flood. I have read that if the earth's land was flat the oceans would cover it by over 8,000 feet, so there is clearly enough water on the earth to cover the land even with some contour.

Genesis tells us the earth was flooded for an extended time, and at 8 lbs/gallon that weight alone would have tremendously impacted the earth's surface and plates. Add that the fountains of the deep opened up and you have splitting and rupturing below. Then add the effect of the runoff of water as it first sheeted, then, as mountains rose out of it, started to narrow (which would accelerate its flow), and you have tremendous gouging and cutting and sediment moving.

Then we have Psalm 104. Some people say this describes Creation but I don't think that is possible because it talks about the waters never again covering the earth. The Bible makes it clear the water covered the earth in Noah's flood, so it has to be talking about that flood. It gives us a tremendous window into what the earth endured in the flood and shortly after. The specific section of verses I am referencing say:

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. (Psalm 104:5–9) ESV

Mountains rising, valleys sinking, flood waters receding. Could this explain what we see? Absolutely! And it is what God said happened and, when the presuppositional bias of science that there is no God is removed, it is what true science supports! No, the present is not the key to the past, and we don't need to buy the old earth view. It is completely incompatible with the Gospel, it destroys the words of Jesus and other New Testament books, and it erodes faith in the Bible as a whole. God formed the earth, then He judged the earth, and He provided an ark in which safety was found until He said "enough" and closed its door. Inside the ark it was safe, and outside it was death, as the ark rose and left the earth behind. Nothing has changed. Our ark is Jesus. And the door is open until God shuts it, but then it will be too late. The same Bible that tells us how the earth was formed is the same Bible that tells us that as well. May we believe it, live it, and trust it until that day comes!

. . . Suppress the Truth

A CNN online article says that they have discovered a massive canyon under Greenland's ice—a canyon that is half again as long as the Grand Canyon. And they say it must have been caused by an extensive river systems millions of years ago. Yet . . . they deny a global, Biblical flood and the erosion the receding waters would have caused.

Other news articles in recent years tell us scientists observing huge canyons on Mars speculate there was massive water erosion there long ago. Problem? Yes. There is no water found on Mars today! Yet, they will believe that, but on our earth which is around 70+% covered in water they can't believe in a global flood that is described in detail in the Bible which is being proven over and over to be an accurate record of history.

The flood of Noah is the defining force that explains the geology of the earth around us. Psalm 104 tells us:

He set the earth on its foundations, so that it should never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. At your rebuke they fled; at the sound of your thunder they took to flight. The mountains rose, the valleys sank down to the place that you appointed for them. You set a boundary that they may not pass, so that they might not again cover the earth. (Psalm 104:5–9) [Note: Some people believe this describes Creation, but it must describe the flood instead, because it ends with the line, ". . . so that they [waters] might not again cover the earth" and they clearly did, according to the same Bible, once after Creation in the flood.]

1. The flood would have put tremendous seismic pressure on the earth's plates at over 8 lbs/gallon.
2. The upheaval and sediment transfer would have been massive!
3. As the mountains rose and valleys sank down the receding water would have caused massive erosion and canyon carving!
4. Tremendous amounts of dead, fossilized creatures, including sea animals, would be found in massive graveyards all covered together, on top of high mountains, etc. . . . which is exactly what we find today!
5. Then entire earth would be reshaped within a few years.

Apart from the flood—which gives massive change in a rapid time frame—and God having created already with age (as He did with Adam) the only other explanation for what we see in the geology and topography around us is a form of uniformitarianism (slow change over long time periods as we observe today and many assume has been happening from the start). So, maybe that is why so many resist the flood of Noah's day so vehemently, because without it then evolution and long periods of time must be the answer and that destroys Genesis, which begins the slide of the entire Bible, and ultimately God.

Romans 1:17–22 tells us:

. . . "The righteous shall live by faith." For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who by their unrighteousness suppress the truth. For what can be known about God is plain to them, because God has shown it to them. 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. For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Claiming to be wise, they became fools . . .

It is so hard to see how far people go to deny God, and the explanations they cling to that allow them to continue to deny Him. I know that described me for so many years, and even in my early Christian years I tried to embrace a Theistic Evolution until God revealed Himself to me in deeper ways. How far will we go to deny God? Read this quote attributed to Professor Dawkins:

"Well, it could come about in the following way. It could be that at some earlier time, somewhere in the universe, a civilization evolved, probably by some kind of Darwinian means, probably to a very high level of technology, and designed a form of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet. Now that is a possibility, and an intriguing possibility. And I suppose it’s possible that you might find evidence for that if you look at the details of biochemistry, molecular biology, you might find a signature of some sort of designer."

Wow! But it shouldn't surprise us if we've read Romans 1 in even a cursory fashion. This is the world. But we are not of the world when we are born again as new creations in Christ. We have a new identity, a new citizenship, and the Spirit of God living in us. Praise God for that, and may we know in our hearts that God's written Word is true, from the first words to the last. The same Bible that tells us God spoke it forth in 6 days is the same Bible that tells us He will never leave us or forsake us. The same Jesus that promises us eternal life is the same Jesus that quotes from Genesis and refers to Noah as if they are true, and whose line is given back to Adam. Does our stand on Genesis matter? Absolutely!

Signs, Seasons, Days, Years, Light . . .

Genesis 1:14-15   And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth." And it was so. (ESV)

One of the purposes of God creating the Sun and Moon and stars was for signs and season, days and years, and light upon the earth. In the last few centuries we've lost a lot of the "working" understanding of the heavens as a way to mark the passing of time (days, months, years) as it has been replaced with wall calendars, electronic calendars, clocks and watches. It strikes me that the less we pay attention to the heavens, the less we often connect with God as well, because another purpose of the heavens, according to God's Word, is to display His glory. I know that for me, spending time gazing upward and reflecting, puts things on earth back into perspective and returns me to a place of worship and awe.

We started homeschool with our girls this week and one of the things I am doing is teaching them Classical Astronomy from a wonderful book called Signs & Seasons by Jay Ryan which we got at a homeschool conference. (You can find the book and sign up for free Classical Astronomy newsletters at www.classicalastronomy.com.) Classical Astronomy is the study of the heavens (which includes the Sun, our most visible star!) without telescopes, but with the naked eye as they have been done since Creation. It is like learning to read a book written across the sky by God, and it is fascinating how easily you can determine directions, times, and seasons through what He has placed there. I have found in the study that what I used to look at and not even notice (does that make sense?) I am now noticing in far different ways (the length of shadows, etc.).

Pounding nails to mark the shadow every 10 minutes.

Our first "field" project has been building a compass in our backyard using the Sun. The principle is that when the sun is highest (high noon, not necessarily your watch's noon) shadows point North and the Sun is South. You can tell when it is at its highest when the shadows are shortest in the day. (Incidentally, that North/South line is called the meridian, or "middle of the day" and when the sun is before it it is "ante meridian," or "am," and when it is past it then it is "post meridian," or "pm." Cool, isn't it!)

Around 2:40 pm. We are ready to find the shortest!

So, we put a stake in the ground and the girls went out about every 10 minutes from around 11:30 am onward and drove a nail at the center, end of the shadow of the stake. Later we found which was the shortest shadow and drew a line through the stake to that nail and past it and we had our line North. We drove a spike in the ground about 80" out from the stake on that line and then carried the line back 80" to the other side of the stake and drove a spike, marking South. Then, using intersecting arcs drawn from each North/South stake we could find a point 90-degrees off the center in the East and West directions and we marked a line from the center spike 80" in each of those directions and put a spike. Now we have a compass 160" in diameter in our back yard! It points straight at the North Star!

Each of us standing at the cardinal points of our compass—
Bethany, North; Abigail, South; Mary Ann, East; myself,
West. We also have a spike in the center for future reference.

We are looking forward to moving further in the book and being drawn closer to our Creator as we marvel at the order and design He has woven into His Creation, and we worship Him as a family. Thanks, Jay and your family, for sharing your knowledge with us!

We are His

The heavens are yours; the earth also is yours; the world and all that is in it, you have founded them. Psalm 89:11 ESV

The heavens are His. The earth and all that is in it is His. He made them. He made us. As Christians we'd all acknowledge that intellectually, and yet how easy it is in this self-focused society and Gospel we often hear to shift that around and not even realize we are doing it—to "sell" God like a product based on His benefits, or come to God for what He does for us. Or to look around and to say, "I have this and that and I have God and I have a family and I have a car and I have . . ." lumping Him in with everything else we "have."

But there is a reality that we must come to realize if we are ever going to truly surrender to Him. It begins with realizing—meditating on—that before all "this" around us was, there was God and God alone, perfectly complete and sufficient in the Trinity. Spend some time simply imagining and reflecting on that—God and nothing else. God, completely complete. Perfect. In need of nothing.

To often we ask questions that suppose there is a purpose for God or for the Trinity or that God came to be or took a certain form for a reason. The true place to begin and to realize is that God doesn't exist for a reason, or He is not the Trinity for a reason, He simply is that way and always has been. He is the start of everything. It all begins in Him. There was nothing that created Him, or came before Him, so any question that implies there is a reason for God or for the form God takes is wrong because it presupposes there was cause for God or a decision in how God would be—that God serves a purpose. (For an excellent discussion on this read Chapter 2 of Fred Sanders book The Deep Things of God: How the Trinity Changes Everything.)

God simply is, in the form He is, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end, from everlasting to everlasting. He is, and always was, and always will be. EVERYTHING else finds its origin and start and beginning and life and source in Him, from Him. And, realizing that He is totally COMPLETE and WHOLE in and of Himself we realize He needs nothing . . . therefore EVERYTHING He does is from His desire and pleasure, not because He needed something and had to.

Beginning in this place—having had that reality go from our head to our heart through pondering on it—we then realize that the ONLY, the SOLE, the SINGLE reason we exist is that at some point (after He had already existed for eternity without us) He decided and wanted to create us. That is it. There was God, and being God He needed nothing. He didn't have to create us. He wasn't incomplete without us. He was God, perfect, complete, eternal. And from that place, as a free gift, He DECIDED to create us and all that is around us. Every one of us, and everything around us, exists SIMPLY and ONLY because He decided it would, for His own reasons or pleasure. There is not a single tiny thing we offer to God that He needed that obligated Him to make us or left Him imperfect without us. It was 100% His free desire.

When I can reach that point where I realize this—that the only reason I exist is because He decided to create me for His own desire or pleasure—I then realize that, logically, because of that, I am His. He is my Creator and He created me for Him. I am the clay and He is the potter. He made me, formed me, designed me, molded me, breathed life into me. From that realization it is then a tiny step to realize I am not my own, but I am His, and He has all rights to me.

This RIGHT of God to all of us makes perfect sense and takes hold of our heart when we fully and completely realize that there was NOTHING that obligated Him to makes us or that He is indebted to us for. There isn't even a tiny iota of anything that made Him have to make us. We are ENTIRELY His creation of HIS own free gift and choice. And realizing that helps us to internalize at our core that being His entirely—our entire existence depending on and drawing from His gracious free-will gift—we are truly His, for His pleasure and will. To say it again—from that realization comes the realization that He has ALL rights to us. It is not a two way street. We don't also have rights or any basis of leverage or demand on God. Our existence is entirely one way which means we have no claim on it. We are His, and His alone. May we live as surrendered vessels recognizing that right of His over us. It will be the most joyous place we can ever live when we stop kicking against the goads and surrender.

Foolish Brilliance

Bethany & Abigail beneath the shuttle.

Last week our family was blessed to be able to see the Space Shuttle Endeavour at the California Science Center in Los Angeles. I can't effectively describe the awe and emotion Mary Ann and I felt when we entered the room and there it was, sitting about 10 feet off the ground. We just stood there. I felt almost choked up. There was something about seeing that massive craft, and the brilliance that it took to engineer that program, and to see the wear and tear on it, and to realize it had been in space over 25 times and it was only feet away. Simply hearing a guide describe the process of re-entry and landing in and of itself left me in awe, and that was just a tiny fraction of the thought and research and intelligence that went in to making that program possible (or sending men to the moon and back for that matter). Having watched many Shuttle launches on TV, and having read so much about it in displays before actually seeing it, just enhanced how moved I felt to be there. I was actually caught off guard by how much it affected me.

And then, in the gift shop, they have a mug for sale (I wish I'd thought to take a picture of it!) which shows, wrapping around it, the "evolution" of apes into neanderthals into men into men wearing space suits. It was a stunning contrast to see in that mug both a picture of the utter brilliance of man, and a reminder of the utter foolishness and lack of wisdom of man. It was one of those pictures that show so clearly that you can be very intelligent and not be very wise—that you can be very smart and still be very ignorant. Some times I am stunned that many of the same minds that can create a space program can believe that from nothing and by nothing something happened and from that something, accident upon accident upon accident billions of times over, all this ended up happening without any divine guidance or hand . . . including their own brilliant minds!

Our family at the shuttle exhibit.

Yet, I remember all to well the years of my life I was lost in my intellectual arrogance and pride, thinking myself smart when I was a fool—mocking God and Christians and the Bible. That mug, in a hall of science that showcased some of man's most brilliant moments, was a strong reminder to me, in a culture that almost worships college degrees and those scientist who believe in evolution, that we can have an amazing mind (we ARE made in God's image!), and still be fooled and foolish. Once again I find myself reminded that the "wisdom" of the world and the wisdom of God and His written Word and in conflict, and I must not be surprised when the world mocks what I believe . . . nor must I be ashamed of what I believe, or shrink back from it. Will following and believing God always require faith? Yes. But the more I look at the claims of evolution the more I realize that the faith required to believe in that dwarfs the faith I need to believe in God and His Word.

Maybe I should have bought that mug. Putting it in my office would be a strong reminder to me that while we are in this world, we are not of it. I should never be surprised when the world mocks and rejects my faith. To the contrary, I should probably be concerned about my walk and testimony when the world is too comfortable around me.

It Matters to God . . .

As I was teaching the youth group about faith last night I was struck anew (afresh?) by something in Hebrews that isn't often talked about (at least in my experience). We assert, of course, from 2 Corinthians that as Christians we walk by faith and not by sight, and then we begin with Hebrews 11:1, the classic definition of faith, which says, "Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen." When sight (the world, its wisdom, its declarations, its definitions, our physical circumstances, etc.) come into conflict with God's Word or what we know to be true about His nature, goodness, power, trustworthiness, love, etc. then, by faith, we choose God's Word or promise or leading and not sight as how we will walk.

Often from there we head into Hebrews 11:6 which tells us, "And without faith it is impossible to please him, for whoever would draw near to God must believe that he exists and that he rewards those who seek him." Clearly we must believe not only that He exists (even the demons do that), but things about His nature and character—as any good relationship requires. Then Hebrews 11 opens up into an amazing Hall of Fame of faith of Old Testament people that walked by faith. It is an incredible chapter which leads into the encouragements to us in the chapters that follow it.


But, so often it seems that we skip, or simply quickly read over, Hebrews 11:3 which God deemed important enough that He put it almost immediately after the definition of faith and as the first "requirement" or "by faith . . ." that He lays out. Before Abel, or Enoch, or Noah, or Abraham, or Sarah, or . . . He says, "By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible." As the most foundational and basic beginning of walking by faith God says that by faith we understand that He created the Universe—what is seen—from nothing, by His word. Talking about Abraham, the father and model of our faith, Romans 4:17 says of God that He, ". . . calls into existence the things that do not exist."

Clearly the realization that God calls into existence, from nothing, that which is His will is a critical component of our faith (I'll share why I think that is in a minute). And that helps us see why the literal Genesis account is so attacked by Satan, causing it to be disregarded and mocked among non-Christians and often added to or taken away from by Christians. If God places so much emphasis on it, it makes sense Satan will realize how important it is. Even among many Christians who deeply love God there has come a compromise on it, or an adding to it.

Satan knows that our stand on Genesis has the potential to define our faith stand and he will do, I believe, all he can to draw us from the utter simplicity and beauty and truth of Genesis 1, read in its most basic and obvious way. Just like someone trying to get a pet to swallow a pill who knows enough to cover the bad thing (the pill) in good things (cheese or ground beef), Satan knows he won't get Christians to say the Bible is wrong, so he'll cover the lie with enough truth to get us to swallow it. It might go something like, "God created everything (truth). God spoke it into being in the beginning (truth). God is God of Creation (truth). And then He used evolution or millions of years to bring us to where we are today (lie)." There is so much "God" in that whole thing that it is easy to start to swallow it. I know I did for many years.

Even a subtle compromise like that starts to undermine faith, which can cripple a walk that is supposed to be based on faith and not sight. Even subtle compromises like that start to anchor us in "sight" in contradiction to God's Word. Even a subtle lie like that gets us to start to look around and see what God "used" to make things like they are. And here is why I think it is so dangerous, and why I believe God stands against it in His Word.

1. It undermines faith in God's Word. We start to feel an obligation to mesh God's word to what we think "science" tells us. We start to think that God left all this stuff out of His Word in Genesis 1, and later in life when we desperately need to trust God's Word and promises there is that seed planted that there might be a, "Yeah, but . . ." somewhere hidden in that promise or in our ability to trust what God says. The reality is that any time we begin to feel obligated to condescend God's Word to "science" we have begun our fall, or the fall of people who trust us as teachers and mentors. Because, that same science has no room for miracles, parting of oceans, resurrection from the dead, the reality of angels or demons, eternal life, etc. To be a consistent person you must be consistent (that's obvious) and that means that if purported "science" trumps God's Word for you in one area then it is only a matter of time until it erodes into other areas, if not for you then for people you are influencing.

2. We start to subtly believe God needs "things" or "situations" to build or bring about His solutions. We then start to look around us in the "impossible" situations in our life and look for what He might use to bring about the solution. The reality is, in many cases, there is nothing in the physical we see that He can use. Our situation looks impossible. It is then we must have absolute, unshakable faith that our God speaks and from nothing comes forth His will. It is then we must walk by faith, and not by sight, but if we have somewhere started to believe He needs to take things that are to make new things we will find around us no hope.

It is so, so clear from God's Word that He wants us to walk by faith. To do this He wants us to understand that His Word trumps all sight and wisdom of the world, and that He requires nothing but His Word and our faith to bring about from nothing His will and solutions (remember Sarah, in Hebrews 11:11 who, by faith, received the power to conceive—her faith met God's promise, and the "impossible" happened). I personally believe that an undermining of Genesis 1 in people's minds is one of the very first and most critical places of attack of the enemy and it is proving devastating to the faith of many, especially youth standing what feels like alone and naked in our "hallowed" halls of education. If God put a clear reference to Genesis 1 as His first "By faith . . ." in Hebrews 11, shouldn't we, too, put a high priority on it?