Category: Missions/Evangelism

I’ve been to AIG’s Creation Museum. I have a few posts about Young Earth Creationism and Intelligent Design. But, I’ve never really done a post about why I’m a YEC–Young Earth Creationist.  So, that is what this is.

First, I reject Darwinian monkey-to-man evolution because it is incompatible with the Bible.  Plain and simple, the Bible says that God created.  The Bible then goes on to say that God created kinds of animals that would reproduce within their own kind.  I also reject the idea of the big-bang or theistic evolution.  So, it should be fairly simply why I believe in the Creationism part of Young Earth Creationism.

Second, I reject old earth creationism because young earth is the simplest reading of the Bible text.  First, most forms of OEC (old-earth creationism) require some form of the day-age form of creation.  Just in case you don’t know, day-age ideas say that each day in Genesis was actually a long period of time instead of a literal as we know it 24 hour day.  I believe that the days mentioned in Genesis were actual days.  Why?  Well, read it for yourself.  That is the simplest reading of the text.  Add to that, the Bible itself–in Genesis 5–tells us when people were born, how long they lived before their son was born, and then when they died.  Simple math there (and with other places in the Bible) will get you a figure of 6,000 to 10,000 for the age of the earth.

Third, small changes seen today (darwin’s finches, the spotted moth, and others) are not a problem and are not evolution in the Darwinian monkey-to-man model.  As a YEC, I don’t not believe that changes within kinds can happen.  They even explain the diversity seen today.  For example, from a medium-haired dog “kind” you can end up with short hair dogs, long-hair dogs, and poodles.  We see horses and donkeys produce mules.  Within “kinds” this can and does happen.

Fourth, I think that dating methods–carbon dating and the like–are based on assumptions that may or may not be the case (or may not have always been the case).  So, in carbon dating the amount of c14 is measured.  Based on the steady rate of change, scientists can determine an age (many other dating methods work the same).  This would be like you entering a room with a bathtub being filled at a steady rate and being asked to determine how long it had been being filled.  Sure, you could measure the rate of the water-flow, size of the container, and amount of water.  However, you couldn’t determine what had happened before you entered the room.  What if the container started out 1/3 full?  What if the container had a small leak that was plugged in the past?  What if the flow was faster or slower in the past?  What if the temperature in the room were different  (so the evaporation rate was different)?  See where I’m going here?

Finally, a strong stand on YEC gives a “high” view of scripture.  This high view and little compromise makes it more likely that I’ll keep a firm foundation on which to build other positions.  Meaning, I think this position doesn’t compromise any Biblical position while others (theistic evolution, day age theory, etc…) cause compromise.

If you want more reading, check out this page on the Answers in Genesis website.

Image from NASA Goddard Photo and Video via flickr

Last night, Cyndi and I watched the Machine Gun Preacher movie based on the life of Sam Childers.  Before I go on, I want to say three things: To say this movie is violent is the understatement of the year.  It is way way violent.  The first 30-45 min of the movie deal with Childers’ life before he “found Jesus” (a quote from the movie).  After he’s release from jail, he finds out that his wife isn’t stripping and “found Jesus” (how her character puts it).  He then meets up with an old buddy and they go on a drug and alcohol fueled rampage. What I’ve got to say in this post is purely based on the film.  I know that real life doesn’t line up with films and that some people have issues with the real life Sam Childers.  I don’t know any of that; however, it doesn’t matter with what I’m going to say. I have no clue if Sam is a Christian or not.  Based on the film, something caused a dramatic life change.  For the sake of what I’m going to say, I’ll assume he was saved.

Ok, now that those things are out of the way, I think his story outlines a major problem with Christianity:  the social gospel.  Why?  When people start advocating a social gospel, they begin dealing more with immediate problems–homelessness, starvation, war, and the like–and quit focusing on the REAL problem in the world–sin and God’s judgement.  For those who haven’t seen the film, here is a quick overview:

Sam is in jail for something.  He gets out.
He goes on a rampage and even murders a guy (although it gets revealed later the guy lived)
In his rampage, he also does drugs, robs people, etc….
He gets saved, changes his life, and has a real job
he goes to Africia
He sees how the war in Sudan is affecting kids.  It hits him really hard.
Back in the states he figures out how to go back and build an orphanage (and a church)
He does that
While in Africa, he gets violent and begins executing “the bad guys”
He does seem to turn from that a bit at the end

Right.  So here’s what I mean by him going to the social gospel:   he comes to believe that the real problem is the “bad guys” doing “bad things” to these kids and their families.  He goes on to fight that problem with guns.  In reality, the real root cause of the problems is sin.  Man’s rebellion against God makes all of creation groan and be really really messed up.  Yes, he needs to protect himself and his property (I don’t care about his use of deadly force to do that) but to go out and execute judgement on people by outright killing them isn’t.  He doesn’t try to convert people.  He doesn’t struggle for the Gospel (and if he did, his actions aren’t that of Jesus and I doubt if people would believe him).

This is the problem that affects most of American Christianity.  People see a problem (homelessness, poverty, lack of clean water, etc…) and begin to work to fix that.  That work is good (it really is…there are real problems that need fixed).  However, people loose sight that the real problem is Sin and focus on whatever their crusade is.  The people they are helping may or may not get help, but they never hear the Gospel so they die in their sin.

What’s the solution?  Obviously, people need to work to help those in need (Christians are commanded to do that).  BUT, we cannot loose sight of the fact that EVERYONE in the world has a SIN problem and 100% of those people will die and suffer God’s wrath.  There is a balance that must be struck.

Oh, the image is a movie poster I found using google images.  I’ll credit the studio and movie people for it…..

This man–Adoniram Judson–and his wife became the first Protestant missionaries sent from North America.  They went to Burma to share the good news of the Gospel with the heathen there (yes, I know I said heathen).  I find their story interesting not so much because they went, but because of what happened on the voyage.

They left the US as Congregationalists; however, while on the boat, Adoniram studied the Bible and came to see that Biblical Baptism was something that happened post-salvation (as opposed to infant baptism).  This led him to a point where he had to resign as a missionary for the Congregationalists.  However, while in India, he wrote to baptists in the US offering to serve as their missionary.  They offered and, when they were driven out of India by the East India Company, they went to Burma.  

You should read his story (at least the Wikipedia article on him).  Here is an excerpt from the Way of Life Friday Church Notes for this week (pdf format):

This year is the 200th anniversary of the departure of the first missionaries sent from American churches to foreign lands . Adoniram Judson and Luther Rice were commissioned by Congregational churches in 1811 and set sail for India in February 1812. Judson had married Ann Hasseltine just two weeks earlier. Her parents would never see their daughter again, nor the grandchildren that Ann would bear, but they had placed her into the Lord’s hands, come what may. On the way to India, the young couple came to the conviction through Bible study that baptism is for believers only, rather than infants, and by immersion rather than sprinkling or pouring.

When they arrived in Serampore, India, they were immersed on their profession of faith in Christ by William Ward, a co-worker with William Carey. Luther Rice came to the same conclusion independently of the Judsons. He returned to the States and traveled to Baptist churches to challenge them for world missions. In response, Baptist churches in America formed a missionary society of their own. Judson’s 67- year-old father resigned his pastorate in a Congregational church and was baptized scripturally, together with his wife and daughter (Adoniram’s sister), Abigail.

The Judsons settled in Burma, a Buddhist stronghold, in July 1813, and it was not until six difficult years later that they had their first convert. Six years after that Judson’s fledgling church still had only 18 members. Their second child, a son, died at age eight months. Judson was imprisoned for nearly two years under terrible conditions–half-starved, fettered in iron, sometimes tied up and suspended by his mangled feet. Soon after he was released, Ann died, followed by their third child, Maria. This nearly crushed Judson, but his faith in God endured and the gospel work began to prosper. When Judson died in 1850, there were 63 Baptist churches in Burma with 7,000 baptized believers.

I know not everyone who reads my blog would agree with me; however, I’m thankful that someone in the past cared enough about my ancestors to share the forgotten truth with them (forgotten in the sense that a sinful man shuns the things of God to believe the lie that there is no God).  At some point in the past, someone made a trip like this to share with my ancestors the truth.  In turn, I was able to hear the truth from my parents.  If it weren’t for men like Adoniram–men who answered the call of God–untold numbers would never get an opportunity to hear the truth, die in their sins, and go to Hell.

Oh, the image is in the public domain and from the wikipedia article too.

I went to a computer conference once and met a guy whose title was Microsoft Evangelist.  That caught me off guard but I put it out of my mind.  Today, I’m reading and come across a post written by one of these software evangelists.  I read it wondering what it could teach me about sharing the Gospel with people I come across.  For the details, you’ll have to read the whole post, but here are the main points:

1) Create a cause.
2) Love the cause.
3) Look for agnostics, ignore atheists.
4) Localize the pain.
5) Let people test drive the cause.
6) Learn to give a demo.
7) Provide a safe first step.
8) Ignore pedigrees.
9) Never tell a lie.
10) Remember your friends.

I thought just about all of these applied to Evangelists (those Christians who obey the Bible by telling others about the Gospel).  #5 is hard/impossible.  You can’t hardly “test drive” christanity, but they can see you living it out.

Don’t get me wrong…I’m not saying we need slick salesmanship in the church.  I actually think that sort of thing is wrong and leads to easyprayerism.  But, we do need to be passionate about our cause…do we believe it when Jesus proclaimed Himself THE way or not?

Image from Michael Kappel via flicker

There is a video called Everybody Needs Jesus. It is a very good video to use to promote missions in your church or organization. I’d highly recommend it. You can purchase it from the following places:

Good News Productions — Everybody Needs Jesus
IMB — Everybody Needs Jesus

You can also view it on YouTube:

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[Update 2012-12-26 16:09:56] The link to Good News Production’s website was stale.  I’ve updated it.

Think for a minute about the holidays you celebrate:  Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving, Good Friday, Memorial Day, Labor Day, Haloween, etc….   Have you ever wondered how they line up with what you claim to believe?  Why is that important?  Well, if you aren’t careful, you end up like the Roman Catholic Church and think things like famadihana are ok.  For more on it go read this article at the BBC website.  Here is a quote from the article:

There have also been clashes with Christianity. Early missionaries to the country tried to stop it and today increasing numbers of evangelical Christians are turning away from famadihana.

Perhaps surprisingly though, the Roman Catholic Church, the largest in the country, no longer opposes it.

For his part Jean Pierre stressed that in any case it is not a religious ceremony, but a tradition.

I don’t know anything more than what I read in the article, butI believe that true Christians would and should seperate from this kind of behavior.  Why?  Well, once the body (the earth suit) has died, the soul leaves the bod.  That “person” isn’t around any more.  What use is there is revering the body?

Don’t get me wrong, we have many things in our US culture that are the same way:  Christmas and Santa (no, he isn’t real).  Easter and the Easter Bunny.  Haloween.  The list goes on and on.  We need to be very careful in what we think, say, and allow.  Otherwise, we won’t be able to honestly look at our fellow Brothers and Sisters and explain to them why a practice like famadihana is wrong without being hypocrytical.  Go think about it for a bit. 

As I was reading my Bible Study today, I came across 2 Samuel 10:1-5

1 And it came to pass after this, that the king of the children of Ammon died, and Hanun his son reigned in his stead.

2 Then said David, I will shew kindness unto Hanun the son of Nahash, as his father shewed kindness unto me. And David sent to comfort him by the hand of his servants for his father. And David’s servants came into the land of the children of Ammon.

3 And the princes of the children of Ammon said unto Hanun their lord, Thinkest thou that David doth honour thy father, that he hath sent comforters unto thee? hath not David rather sent his servants unto thee, to search the city, and to spy it out, and to overthrow it?

4 Wherefore Hanun took David’s servants, and shaved off the one half of their beards, and cut off their garments in the middle, even to their buttocks, and sent them away.

5 When they told it unto David, he sent to meet them, because the men were greatly ashamed: and the king said, Tarry at Jericho until your beards be grown, and then return.

I thought this was a good example of the importance of how important culture is in communicating with people. It isn’t just about learning a language…you have to say things the right way too. Look at what happened:

David wanted to honor Hanun when he became king because the former king was good to David.
David sends his servants with gifts
Hanun’s advisers and friends tell him that David is really trying to dishonor him by not coming himself.
Hanun agrees and shaves off 1/2 the hair on David’s servant’s heads.

David wanted to do good but did it in a way that wasn’t “right.” (Right in the eyes of those he is trying to reach. I’d like to note that this is not a right/wrong truth thing but a perception/cultural right/wrong). The king ends up and doesn’t like it and so the gift doesn’t have the effect that David wanted/hoped for.

I just got done reading a good book on this topic several weeks ago. It is called Cross Cultural Servanthood and I would highly reccommend this book to anyone who wants to work cross culturally. The basic idea is that “help” and “serving” needs to look like those two things to the people who are being “helped” and “served” or it isn’t “help” or “service.”

Why is it important to speak the language?  Why would one not use an interpreter?  Watch, listen, and learn.

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Cyndi, Lydia, and I went to Answers in Genesis’ Creation Museum last week. While we were there, I took tons of pictures. For all of them, check out our flickr site. The museum is very well done and very high quality. Top notch! If you are ever in the area, by all means, go see it! The museum is themed around the seven Cs of history:

Creation	Corruption
Sorry…I missed Catastrophe
Confusion	Christ
Cross	Consummation

If you are interested, Buddy Davis (a singer and animal sculptor) has a song about the seven Cs of history. If you want to listen to it, click the play button below.

{enclose http://media.maxsons.org/BuddyDavis7CsOfHistory.mp3}

Download the mp3 here.

My favorite exhibit was about Noah’s Ark. They have given much thought to the ark, the flood, global impact, and Biblical truth. Here is a picture of their model showing how the ark may have come to rest on the mountains of Arrat:

We took a walk through their very nice gardens and ended up taking a picture of Cyndi and Lydia in front of the dinosaur/dragon outsite before we left.

[Update 2013-01-20 16:16:29] I’ve outlined why I’m a young earth creationist.

It looks like Wycliffe Bible Translators are making progress in translating the Word into every language .