THE REAL ORIGIN AND HISTORY OF THE WORLD AND MANKIND

Posted on by

Part of this real history is the bad news that the rebellion of the first man, Adam, against God’s command, brought death, suffering, and separation from God into this world. We see the results all around us. All of Adam’s descendants are sinful from conception (Psalm 51:5) and have themselves entered into this rebellion (sin). They, therefore, cannot live with a holy God but are condemned to separation from God. The Bible says that “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23) and that all are therefore subject to “everlasting destruction from the presence of the Lord and from the glory of His power” (2 Thessalonians 1:9).

 The good news is that God has done something about it. “For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16). Jesus Christ the Creator, God the Son, though totally sinless, took on human nature, so He could become our Redeemer. Then He suffered, on behalf of mankind, the penalty of mankind’s sin, which is death and separation from God. He did this to satisfy the righteous demands of the holiness and justice of God, His Father. Jesus was the perfect sacrifice; He died on a cross, but on the third day, He rose again, conquering death, so that all who truly believe in Him, repent (repentance = a change of mind) of their sin and trust in Him (rather than their own merit), are able to come back to God and live for eternity with their Creator.

Sadly, the world no longer takes the Bible as God’s Word divinely inspired by its Creator. Despite the overwhelming evidence of a worldwide flood: billions of dead things were buried quickly all over the world including abundant fossil fuels formed from buried vegetation, we do not want to believe there is a God to whom we are responsible for our actions. A god who judged the world just 4,000 years ago with the worldwide flood of Noah’s day. Look at the following two prophetic Scriptures written over two thousand years ago telling us that what we see happening in the world today will happen.

“You should remember the predictions of the holy prophets and the commandment of the Lord and Savior through your apostles, knowing this first of all, that scoffers will come in the last days with scoffing, following their own sinful desires. They will say, “Where is the promise of his coming?… For they deliberately overlook this fact, that the heavens existed long ago, and the earth was formed out of water and through water by the word of God, and that by means of these, the world that then existed was deluged with water and perished.” 2 Peter 3:2-3,5-6

“But you must remember, beloved, the predictions of the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ. They said to you, “In the last time there will be scoffers, following their own ungodly passions.” It is these who cause divisions, worldly people, devoid of the Spirit.” Jude 1:17-19

Jesus came to earth, two thousand years ago, to redeem us and there were 300-plus prophecies to warn the religious leaders of the day but they missed it. Likewise, there are almost 2000 Biblical prophecies about Jesus’ soon second coming to earth and many of the religious leaders of our day are missing it. Jesus is coming to take believers to heaven for a period whilst God pours out His wrath a second time on an unrepentant world. The end times Biblical prophecies are already playing out in our day and we are not too far off the prophesied last seven years of this age. The Bible gives us a lot of information about the events that will occur during those last seven years. Make sure you take advantage of God’s offer of redemption in Jesus Christ and avoid the coming wrath of God.

“When the Lord Jesus is revealed from heaven with his mighty angels in flaming fire, inflicting vengeance on those who do not know God and on those who do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.” 2 Thessalonians 1:6b-8

“When he opened the sixth seal, I looked, and behold, there was a great earthquake, and the sun became black as sackcloth, the full moon became like blood, and the stars of the sky fell to the earth as the fig tree sheds its winter fruit when shaken by a gale. The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” Revelation 6:12-17

IMPORTANCE OF CREATION MINISTRIES INT’L AND ANSWERS IN GENESIS

Posted on by

Creation Ministries International (CMI) commonly receive testimonies from folk who have come to faith in Christ but then had a wilderness experience before finding their way to a confident faith. A major reason for this wandering is the doubts generated by the pervasive evolution/ long-ages mindset that crowds in upon the new Christian’s confidence in the Bible as the Word of God. Malcolm T. shared:

I became a believer in 1989 but in all of this time [20 years], I have been plagued by doubts caused because I couldn’t prove creation or doubt evolution. This had caused me so much trouble in my daily Christian walk and a lack of assurance. Recently, I came upon creation.com and began reading the articles every day and, praise be to God! I saw that creation is the truth and evolution is a lie and all my doubts and fears have disappeared …

Simply sharing a Creation magazine has led many to a restored Christian walk. Indeed, not just restored, but, like Malcolm, a much more confident and active faith.

I shared a post recently about Martyn Isles, an Australian evangelist that was being used mightily to share the Gospel in all States of Australia under the banner of the Australian Christian Lobby (ACL). Martyn has now moved to Answers in Genesis. This move was orchestrated by God and proved to me the importance of both Answers in Genesis and CMI. God is using both of these organisations to restore faith in the Bible (God’s Word) from Genesis to Revelation. You need to get behind and support both these organisations.

http://www.creation.com and http://www.answersingenesis.org.

ONLY EIGHT PEOPLE SURVIVED GOD’S FIRST JUDGEMENT HOW MANY WILL SURVIVE HIS COMING JUDGEMENT?

Posted on by

The vast majority of Americans, 96%, do not hold to a biblical worldview following the COVID-19 lockdowns, according to a new survey. Calling it a “significant change” in Americans’ worldview, the Cultural Research Centre of Arizona Christian University led by researcher George Barna found in its survey that the lockdowns impacted the already-dwindling number of people who claim to hold a biblical worldview.

A biblical worldview is one in which the entirety of a person’s “ideas about all dimensions of life and eternity are based on biblical principles and commands.” The data, which was part of a survey that began in 2020 known as the American Worldview Inventory (AWVI), which evaluates the worldview of the U.S. adult population, also found the pandemic fuelled a decline in biblical worldview even among those who identify as born-again Christians, from 19% pre-pandemic to 13% post-pandemic.

We should not be surprised at this great falling away from God and His commands, Jesus told us that this would be the state of the world prior to His second coming.

“What will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age? And Jesus answered them: ‘See that no one leads you astray. For many will come in my name, saying, ‘I am the Christ,’ and they will lead many astray. And you will hear of wars and rumours of wars. See that you are not alarmed, for this must take place, but the end is not yet. For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be famines and earthquakes in various places. All these are but the beginning of the birth pains. Then they will deliver you up to tribulation and put you to death, and you will be hated by all nations for my name’s sake. And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.‘” Matthew 24:3-12

The Biblical prophesied end times signs are being manifested in our day. But, it is only those that hold a Biblical worldview (4% in the USA) that will know the truth that we are in end times and that the judgement of God is imminent for those that reject Him and His Word.

Only eight people survived the first time God poured out His wrath upon an unbelieving lawless world (Worldwide flood of Noah’s day) and sadly we know many will be destroyed during the Biblical prophesied wrath to come.

SEVEN TRUMPET JUDGEMENTS (Revelation 9)

“Then the sixth angel blew his trumpet… So the four angels, who had been prepared for the hour, the day, the month, and the year, were released to kill a third of mankind… The rest of mankind, who were not killed by these plagues, did not repent of the works of their hands nor give up worshipping demons and idols of gold and silver and bronze and stone and wood, which cannot see or hear or walk, nor did they repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts.“ Revelation 9:13,15, 20-21

SEVEN BOWL JUDGEMENTS (Revelation 16)

“Then I heard a loud voice from the temple telling the seven angels, “Go and pour out on the earth the seven bowls of the wrath of God.” Revelation 16:1

“The seventh angel poured out his bowl into the air, and a loud voice came out of the temple, from the throne, saying, “It is done!” And there were flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, and a great earthquake such as there had never been since man was on the earth, so great was that earthquake. The great city was split into three parts, and the cities of the nations fell, and God remembered Babylon the great, to make her drain the cup of the wine of the fury of his wrath. And every island fled away, and no mountains were to be found. And great hailstones, about one hundred pounds each, fell from heaven on people; and they cursed God for the plague of the hail, because the plague was so severe.” Revelation 16:17-21

MASSIVE DECLINE IN AMERICANS WHO BELIEVE THE BIBLE IS THE ACTUAL WORD OF GOD

Posted on by

It’s no secret the Bible is receiving less support in contemporary culture, but new statistics from Gallup showcase how much modern culture is impacting Americans’ views and perceptions of Scripture.  The survey, which has attracted attention since its release, contains several eye-opening findings.

Just 20% now believe the Bible is the literal word of God, down from 30% in 2011 and 24% in 2017. These statistics are remarkable considering 40% said the same in 1980. The steep decline puts definitive numbers to the moral slide many Christians have discussed over the past few decades. Meanwhile, there’s a new record high among Americans who believe the Bible is a collection of “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” Just 10% held this view in 1980, though that proportion has swelled to 29% in 2022, the highest ever recorded by Gallup.

it appears the most notable development is the shift away from a literal approach and toward the belief Scripture is “fables, legends, history and moral precepts recorded by man.” As Gallup noted, these findings coincide with a decrease in Americans’ perceived importance of religion in their lives. Just 44% said in 2022 religion is very important in their lives, down from 60% in 2002. It’s interesting to note that, during the same timeframe, the belief the Bible is the actual word of God also plummeted from 30% to 20%.

There is no doubt in mind that this has been due to academia swallowing the lie of evolution as the cause of the Cosmos. The prime mover for evolution was Charles Darwin who believed that natural selection was the mechanism by which evolution brought this complex world into existence. Natural selection can only select from what is already in existence it does not take us from GOO to YOU. The only other mechanism that science can add is mutation and yet mutation is the loss of information from the DNA. It does not add complex information once again to take us from GOO TO YOU.

Dr Dean Kenyon – From Darwinist to Creationist

In 1969, Dr. Dean Kenyon, a Professor of Biochemistry at Stanford University, co-authored the book entitled Biochemical Predestination which was adopted in the USA as a graduate textbook and was regarded as the seminal work on the naturalistic formation of living cells from the chemicals of the earth.
In the 1980s Kenyon realised that the discovery of DNA revealed that complex information on the DNA controlled all of the complex machinery that the electron microscope revealed is in every cell. There are manufacturing units that make all of the chemicals needed for life and transport devices to take these complex chemicals to where they are needed in the organism. All evidence of complex design that only an Intelligent Designer with an intelligence beyond our comprehension could construct.

It is beyond my comprehension that evolution is still being taught as fact in our schools and universities. For more evidence to support creation go to http://www.creation.com where you will find that many Ph.D. scientists are now proponents of Intelligent Design.

If you want the truth about this Intelligent Designer you need to go to His revealed Word to us. The Bible reveals that He controls everything that happens in His world and is capable of ensuring that what is in it is inerrant.

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.” 2 Timothy 3:16-17

“In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not anything made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” John 1:1-5

A MINORITY OF PASTORS IN THE USA HOLD A BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW

Posted on by

A “shocking” new survey from researcher and pollster George Barna of the Cultural Research Center at Arizona Christian University found just 37% of U.S.-based pastors hold to a “biblical worldview.”

“This is another strong piece of evidence that the culture is influencing the American church more than Christian churches are influencing the culture,” Barna said of the survey results. “The research indicates that Americans are more likely to experience a positive impact on their worldview by hanging out with [spiritually active governance engaged conservative Christians] than they are by being in the presence or under the teaching of pastors.”

Taken on the whole, just under 2/3 of pastors embrace a form of syncretism, which is the blending of various belief systems together as one. In other words, purported ministers of the Christian faith don’t actually hold to the Christian faith, but an eclectic grab-bag of ideological, philosophical, and theological ideas that are fundamentally at odds with one another. 

If America is going to experience a spiritual revival it must happen at the grassroots level.

For the most part, Barna explained, people largely form their perspectives on the world before they reach 13 years old, then go “through a period of refinement during their teens and twenties.”

“From a worldview perspective, a church’s most important ministers are the children’s pastor and the youth pastor,” he stated. “Discovering that seven out of every eight of those pastors lack a biblical worldview helps to explain why so few people in the nation’s youngest generations are developing a heart and mind for biblical principles and ways of life, and why our society seems to have run wild over the last decade, in particular.”

According to information provided to CBN’s Faithwire, Barna’s “American Worldview Inventory” is an annual survey developed in 2020 and conducted by the Cultural Research Center, surveying roughly 2,000 randomly chosen U.S. adults. The survey contains 54 “belief and behavior questions” that determine a “biblical worldview.”

Preachers who hold to a biblical worldview are in the minority,

“The AWVI survey questions relate to eight different categories of life,” states an explainer on the survey. “Those categories are faith practices; human character and nature; God, creation, history; purpose, calling; sin, salvation, God relationship; family and value of life; lifestyle, behavior, relationships; and Bible, truth, morals. The AWVI provides scores for each of those eight areas, as well as identifying one’s dominant worldview.”

“Respondents who answer 80% or more of the belief questions and 80% or more of the behavioral questions in harmony with biblical teaching are identified as Integrated Disciples, people who have integrated biblical principles into their mind and heart in such a way that they clearly have a biblical view of and approach to life,” it adds.

Of all eight categories, the only one showing a majority of pastors holding to a biblical worldview was the purpose of life and calling (57%). In the remaining categories, a minority of pastors were found to hold to a biblical worldview: 47% on family; 44% on God, creation, and history; 43% on faith practices; 43% on sin, salvation, God relationship; 40% on human character and nature; 40% on lifestyle, behavior relationships; and 39% on Bible, truth, morals.

Similar research conducted earlier this year and reported on by CBN News found that, although 67% of parents with pre-teens identified as Christians, only 2% were found to abide by a biblical worldview, which stresses the importance of children and youth pastors believing in and teaching Bible-based perspective on life.

Although concerned, Barna suggested he is not defeated by the survey’s results. It is important, he said, for people to be aware of the problem — because that is the only way to fix it.

“God is in the transformation business,” he stated. “Pastors who are willing to allow Him to transform their thinking and behavior can emerge from that process as a powerful example of what can happen when one’s heart, mind, and soul are surrendered to God.

These are perilous days. And the days to come may even be more perilous than today, but hope in God. Join the throng of God’s people and wage war against the power and principalities of darkness looming over the church. The powers of hell cannot prevail against Christ’s bride; time and time again this keen and hopeful Word has proven true. Be strong and courageous, act like men, and gird up your loins by going about those ordinary works which He prepared beforehand for us to walk in. Lo, Christ is with us, even to the end of the age.

CRAB CAPTURED IN AMBER

Posted on by

“The specimen is spectacular, it is one of a kind. It’s absolutely complete and is not missing a single hair on the body, which is remarkable”. These are the words lead author Javier Luque used to describe Cretapsara athanata, the first crab from the ‘Cretaceous dinosaur era’ preserved in amber (fossil tree resin), and the most complete fossil crab ever found. Despite being ‘dated’ at around 100 million years, 3-D scans showed it to be modern-looking.

The amber preserved delicate features such as antennae, compound eyes, and mouthparts covered in minute hairs. It even preserved the well-developed gills which meant the small crab was most likely water-dwelling. Plant material and insect faeces were also found in the same amber lump (c. 20 mm × 7 mm). “How then did a 100 million-year-old aquatic animal become preserved in tree amber, which normally houses land-dwelling specimens?”

For evolutionists, such a question leads to many ‘it might have’ stories. Of course, they would be aware that to preserve the crab in such a complete state the resin would have to engulf it quickly. Today’s generally slow trickle of resin from trees would never suffice.

The conditions found in the Noahic Flood around 4,500 years ago readily account for all aspects of this find. The obvious one is finding an aquatic crab in resin from a tree, alongside terrestrial plant and insect material. As forests were ripped up and carried by the floodwaters, huge rafts of trees crashed into each other. The damaged trees were bleeding abnormally copious amounts of their sticky resin, which quickly enveloped the items it contacted. This also explains the existence of large amber deposits, such as the ones mined in Myanmar from which this specimen came.

Harvard University, International team of researchers discover first dinosaur era crab fully preserved in amber; oeb.harvard.edu, 20 Oct 2021.

This article appeared in Creation Magazine Vol 44 Issue 2, 2022 (http://www.creation.com)

THE WHO, WHY, AND WHEN OF THE WISEMEN

Posted on by
Wise men (Magi) from the East come to worship the new born king.

“In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand... Nebuchadnezzar commanded Ashpenaz, his chief eunuch, to bring some of the people of Israel, both of the royal family and of the nobility, youths without blemish, of good appearance and skillful in all wisdom, endowed with knowledge, understanding learning, and competent to stand in the king’s palace, and to teach them the literature and language of the Chaldeans… Among these were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah of the tribe of Judah.” Daniel 1:1-6

Daniel was part of the king’s administration and was even made head over it all (Daniel 5:29, 6:1-3). Eventually, Daniel was the highest authority (next to the king) in Babylonia, holding the position of governor and ruling over all the authorities in this enormous kingdom. And this subsequent rule included reigning over all of the wise men or magi in Babylonia (Daniel 2:12, 48).

Daniel’s title was rab mag or “chief of the Magi” (Daniel 5:11), so he would have left historical records of his writings to the kings of Babylon which included Daniel chapter 9 where Daniel references the appearance of Jesus Christ and goes into very specific detail about the timing of the Anointed One’s appearance (Daniel 9:21-26), so even near the time of Christ’s birth, and even after hundreds of years had already passed, Daniel’s pronouncement of the Anointed One’s coming would allow the wise men to discern the when and where of the Messiah’s birth. So how was Daniel able to predict the time of the Messiah’s arrival (Daniel 2:12-48, 9:24-26)? Daniel was a man of prayer, and Gabriel answered his prayer and told Daniel not only when the Messiah would come, but when He would be killed (Daniel 9:25-26). And the location must have been obviously known to the wise men, recognizing that Daniel’s point of reference was not Babylon but the temple at Jerusalem (Daniel 9:16), so for the wise men, it was not a guessing game, otherwise, if they were too early, they would have missed Him, and if too late, the child Jesus would have been in Egypt (Matthew. 2:13).

Fulfilled prophecy is incontrovertible truth the Bible is God’s Word to us. It alone holds the truth about the Cosmos, its origin, history and future.

BIBLE REVEALS TRUE HISTORY FROM CREATION

Posted on by

Prof. Heck does a thorough job of demonstrating that the Bible is largely narrative and provides an accurate account of the history of our planet from Creation through to Jesus entry into history just over 2000 years ago.

It is accurate because it was revealed by God to the authors. Confirmation the authors were inspired by God are the prophecies they were given which have subsequently come to pass.

The 8th Annual Society of Creation conference June 2020 presentation by Rev. Prof. Joel Heck, ThD

FURTHER PROOF OF BIBLICAL INERRANCY

Posted on by

Archaeologists were excited by the discovery of a seal and a small clay seal impression (bulla), with ancient Hebrew script on them on the western slope of the City of David, Jerusalem.

This wonderful find serves to connect another specifically named individual from the Bible to real physical history in the correct time period, confirming that we can be confident the Bible is reliable.

City of David,
CLAY SEAL OF KING JOSIAH’S

The 2,700-year-old seal impression translates as “[belonging] to Nathan-Melech, Servant of the King”. In 2 Kings 23:11, Nathan-Melek is named as an official of the godly King Josiah of Judah (7th century BC).

The items were found inside the remains of a large public administrative building that was likely destroyed during the Babylonian destruction of Jerusalem in 586 bc. Archaeologist Dr Yiftah Shalev of the Israel Antiquities Authority explained, “What is important is not just that they were found in Jerusalem, but [that they were found] inside their true archaeological context. It is not a coincidence that the seal and the seal impression are found here.”

Borschel-Dan, A., Tiny First Temple find could be first proof of aide to biblical King Josiah, timesofisrael.com, 31 Mar 2019.

STANDING FIRM ON THE BIBLE

Posted on by
image of map
Geologist Dr Timothy Clarey

Geologist Dr Timothy Clarey earned a B.S. in geology summa cum laude, an M.S. in geology from the University of Wyoming, and an M.S. in hydrogeology and a Ph.D. in geology (1996) from Western Michigan University. Tim spent nearly 10 years in the oil exploration industry and 17 years in academia which gives him a unique perspective for his work at the International Creation Research Institute. Tim joined ICR as a full-time geologist in 2013. His first major (and current) research project is called the Column Project. Tim explains:

It entails plotting stratigraphic columns from oil well, outcrop, and even seismic data into a database, continent by continent. Basically, I’m plotting the actual rocks that are in place all over the globe. So far, I have three continents completed and another nearly finished. All the continents show the same sedimentation patterns that reflect a single watery catastrophe. They all begin with minimal sedimentary coverage and rock volume, and reach a peak in coverage and volume on all continents at the same time. The results are showing the true global nature of the Flood.

Although Tim’s work deals with rocks and fossils, it is significant for affirming the trustworthiness of the Bible and the integrity of the Gospel. Tim explains:

The truth of God’s Word is on the line, and ultimately, salvation is on the line. The Bible makes it clear that God created everything in six literal days some 6,000 years ago. He put the genealogies in the Bible for a reason. We must believe He did what He said. Sadly, evolution and long-age thinking are turning people away from God. We need to show people that they can trust God and His written Word.

If God’s Word is shown to be untrue or even partially untrue, it would undermine Jesus’ credibility. If the parts of the Bible that says certain events happened when they really didn’t—are merely stories—then who’s to say whether other parts of the Bible, like the crucifixion and resurrection of Christ, aren’t just stories, too? We have to believe all of God’s Word, from the very first word to the last. And the biggest problem most people have in doing that is with the book of Genesis and its accounts of creation and the global Flood.

I’m excited that my research is showing people the global Flood as described in the Bible really happened, and that the evidence, correctly interpreted, shows how the water rose and covered the entire planet. That’s why I am so passionate about it. God’s Word is truly true! And Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Life. Believing and accepting the truth of Jesus’ sacrifice and His shed blood is what salvation is all about. I am just thankful that God is able to use me in this way.

Taken from article in the Creation Magazine Volume 41 Issue 4: Shaun Doyle talks to Dr Tim Clarey about his research career in Flood geology