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Shooting Down Theistic Evolution
Part 1 of the series: Shooting Down Theistic Evolution
According to Genesis 1:1, the universe was launched in an instant, due to the initiating, intelligent, omnipotent, creative work of Elohim. In the first verse of the Bible our beliefs are framed about God, the one God, the only eternal God, the God who is distinct from, yet involved with His creation. He created time, space, and substance out of nothing. And as quickly as the second verse in the Bible, amidst this new and vast universe, God focuses His work on the earth.
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Breaking News
Many of you already know that Mo is scheduled for a C-section on Wednesday morning since Hallie is breech. However, her water broke around 10PM tonight (Sunday) which a trip to triage confirmed. From here on out you can check any news on my Twitter page, as it’s easier for me to update.
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What Not to Believe
Photo thanks to keyphotographics
Genesis 1:1 frames our beliefs about God in such a way that certain other beliefs are necessarily ruled out. As various commentators indicate, the creation account precludes:
Atheism, the belief that there is no god. Verse 1 assumes God’s existence. There is no proof provided, or apparently necessary. It is taken for granted. I guess the point is, only a fool would say there is no God (Psalm 14:1).
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Starting at the Beginning
A couple months ago I was having breakfast with some of the one28 staff men. Our conversation turned toward the subject of past one28 graduates, and in particular, the current spiritual state of those students. There are, as anyone might suspect, some students continuing to walk with Christ who are closer to Him than ever. There are other students who have given every appearance of walking away from Christ.
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Monkeys in My Backyard
The following is not a joke. The Professor saw this poster on the wall at our local community college and “obtained” a copy for me. All I did was snap a photo and crop out the teacher’s contact information at the bottom. Again, there was no monkey business on my part regarding either the background image or any of the text. Feel free to click on the picture for a larger version.
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Beware of Dogs
During the night Nathan Busenitz posted his points about why Mark Driscoll is not justified in his particular use of provocative and offensive speech. By mid-morning Doug Wison responded with counterpoints.
Not that either one of them asked, or cared, but I really was tempted to add my two cents. Then I remembered: beware of dogs.
Whoever meddles in a quarrel not his own
is like one who takes a passing dog by the ears.
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Wilson Thinks Out Loud about Palin
I have told numerous people in the past couple weeks that they should read Doug Wilson’s posts on Sarah Palin. Whether you agree with his answers or not, the questions he’s raised are good ones. I tried to summarize the links with the idea that it might help you prioritize your click-tab reading.
Prior to Palin’s Speech at the RNC: Kinda Spooky When You Think About It. “[R]emember that in the Bible Deborah was the dame who upstaged a fellow named Barak.
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Ethics for a Can of Worms
As I said last week, failing to understand God’s created order makes for all kinds of futility. Then we received our hard copy of Credenda/Agenda (Summer 2008, Vol. 20 Issue 2) and were greeted by the following news briefs.
A report in April prepared by an ethics committee for the Swiss government has determined that plants have “inherent worth” and that human beings have no right to wield “absolute ownership” over aforementioned plants.
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My Middle Name Is Fun
Dave Cleland continues his torrid posting with today’s, Our Youth Ministry is no Fun! Here’s a taste:
Students who love Jesus expect more than fun when they come to church….They come to church to be encouraged, admonished and taught the word of God. They are looking for a place where they can pray together, sing together and fellowship together. Those who seek to make their youth ministry fun often do so at the expense of Christian teens.
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Framing a Generation
There may be no better book in the Bible to confront our culture’s current issues than the book of Genesis. Our generation’s confusion about the roles of men and women is precarious, as is our understanding of marriage and family. We are a people thirsty for identity and purpose, yet our generation may be the emptiest ever. We are distressed about the condition of our planet, afraid we’ll wreck it or nuke it and deplete all our natural resources, so we campaign to save the whales and save the planet by thinking green.
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Catching Genesis
This Sunday I start my teaching trek through Genesis in one28. I already sense the thrill of paddling to catch the wave, but likewise sense the fear that at any moment the wave may upend me and pound me into the rocks.
Photo thanks to Roy’s World
I am excited about Genesis because it is (obviously) the explanation of the beginning of almost everything. Genesis casts God’s light of revelation on why we exist and what He made us to do.
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You think English is easy?
The bandage was wound around the wound. The farm was used to produce produce. The dump was so full that it had to refuse more refuse. We must polish the Polish furniture. He could lead if he would get the lead out. The soldier decided to desert his dessert in the desert. Since there is no time like the present, he thought it was time to present the present. A bass was painted on the head of the bass drum.
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The Savanna Project
My friend, David W. Cleland, is now writing at and about The Savannah Project. He has moved a time zone, switched blogging platforms, and even converted blog genres (the third day of my week feels empty without Cat Tuesdays). More than that, he’s committed to planting a church in his hometown, a church he hopes will be rooted in the rich soil of God’s Word.
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Discerning Repentance
One’s attitude does not produce discernment, like sadness can’t diagnose disease. On the other hand, the right attitude should be one of the results of discernment, like an accurate diagnosis may cause sorrow. As always, discernment flourishes only when energized by the light of doctrine.
Discernment is not created in God’s people by brokenness, humility, reverence, and repentance. It is created by biblical truth and the application of truth by the power of the Holy Spirit to our hearts and minds.
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How Do You Respond
One week ago I was minding my own business, working on something in my office when I received a text message on my iPhone. I suspected it was a one28 staff person letting me know they were unable to make it to our meeting later that evening, but when I looked at the snippet I didn’t recognize the number. I was even more surprised upon opening the entire message, and though they said they didn’t want a response, I sent one anyway.
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Making Disciples - The Booklet
A few months ago I blogged through a series of posts on Making Disciples. My ulterior motive was to prepare a booklet from those notes to share with parents of new students coming into our ministry. I wanted parents to get a glimpse of our passion and plan to help them help their students become complete in Christ.
That booklet is now complete. I want to say thank you to Jonathan Sarr and my mom for lending their editing pens and pencils, and thank you to Jesse Martin for transforming the text and diagrams into a fabulous printed page format.
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You Can't Pay for This Kind of Promotion
Ryan Hall is eager for the upcoming seminar on Bible study. We should all have this attitude and perspective toward our copies of God’s Word:
I want to become a kid in the candy store when it comes to reading through the pages of Scripture. You can never out-study the truths of the Bible.
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Pastoral Wisdom
According to 50 former pastors, faithful pastoral ministry requires initiative and discipline, with a vivid sense of divine calling, from a constantly refurbished theological commitment, and personal, growing affection for the sheep.
HT: B2W
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Rightly Dividing Your Copy of God's Word
Today we announced a new seminar at church:
Rightly | Dividing aims to move believers beyond personal Bible reading to Bible study. There are many useful Bible reading plans, and for that matter, much excellent material is available from good Bible teachers. But this seminar hopes to train people how to understand and depend on the Book, not only on teachers of the Book.
I’ll be teaching this seminar on Saturday, October 11.
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Fools Play with Fire
Series | Whispers and Flames
Avoiding drama doesn’t mean we never say tough things, it means we don’t add theatrics. It also means that we say tough things to the person, not about the person. Being kind to someone’s face doesn’t always equal love, and saying difficult things to someone’s face doesn’t always equal not love.
On the other hand, whisperers are invariably haters. They talk a love game in certain settings but, as Proverbs 26:23-28 describes, they are hiding an evil heart and harboring deceit.