evolution – Life in the Spirit

The Sanctity of Life and Its Enemies

Hello

Great to see you here in Little Rock recently. We were relieved to hear that you made it home. I want to share some perspectives with you, but first want to let you know that nothing you do, say, or believe (or who you vote for) alters my love for you. Really! That should be freeing to you.

In this missive, I want to focus on one issue – human life. This is an attempt to describe a pro-life perspective and apply that perspective to what is going on in the U.S. and the world. This is a 5 year or perhaps a 10 year letter. You may dismiss it now, but five or ten years from now you may have an experience that connects with some element of this letter.

As you know, the Biblical perspective on human life is that we were created in the image of God; although He is a Spirit, we are like Him. We look like Him, we have a spirit that can connect with Him, as well as emotions, will, and reason, which He also has. We are not merely animals but are a special creation. This sanctity of life perspective shaped the foundation of our nation, and is in contrast to the cultures and political systems from which our forefathers and foremothers came.

Furthermore, God is not a respecter of persons, and we – both men and women – are all equal under the law of God. Under kings, the king and his cohorts are elite rulers who make all of the decisions; the people have little or no voice. The same is often true for sultans, czars, emperors, pharaohs, and chiefs. Many of these considered themselves to be gods, and some practiced human sacrifice.

So the rule of law, in which everyone is equal under the law, was a departure from historical precedents. One of the first to embrace this was when God gave Moses the Ten Commandments. Even Moses was treated as equal to other people by God, and was not allowed to enter the Promised Land because of his transgression. In most of the elitist systems, human life was cheap and expendable for the cause of the regime in power. In direct contrast, early Christians rescued abandoned babies off the trash heaps in ancient Rome because they believed in the sanctity of human life.

I would add that our nation’s history and treatment of Native Americans and African Americans has been a dark stain on our nation’s history, for which there is no excuse. Our Declaration of Independence laid out the basic premise that all men are created equal, but it has taken years and at least one war before that ideal has started to become more fully realized.

Although our nation is still a work in progress, the existence of slavery, persecutions, and lack of basic freedoms and economic opportunity in many other countries today may account for the continued flow of people into our nation from other nations.

Modern attacks on the sanctity of human life and the notion that we were created in the image of God come from:

Charles Darwin, who favored evolution (really macro-evaluation from one species to another) as the best explanation of origins, leading to the perspective that we are merely animals, albeit smart animals. If we are merely animals, then there is no creator with a purpose for our lives, and we can make up our own rules. This is taught in most public schools and universities as “scientific”, ignoring the substantial body of knowledge in creation science that confirms the Biblical world view. The Intelligent Design Movement consists of a group of evolutionary scientists, some of them quite prominent, who have concluded that the data, and the intricate nature of nature forces them to conclude that nature (like Mount Rushmore) did not happen by chance, but by design from some kind of intelligence.

Radical environmentalists embrace evolution and are more concerned for the future of the earth and its ecosystem than people. This leads to laws that protect endangered species (such as the spotted owl) at the expense of the jobs and livelihoods of thousands of people in Oregon, Washington, and other states.

The New World Order, espoused by every U.S. president since George H. Bush, is a movement toward a one world government, one world economy, one world financial system, and one world religion. New World Order advocates are globalist elitists – leaders of multi-national corporations, foundations, banks, and governments, who see population reduction as an essential part of their agenda. The New World Order people are ruthless criminals who start wars and have absolutely no regard for human life.

Hitler also embraced evolution, and sought to eliminate those people who he did not view as highly as the Aryan race (Jews, gypsies, handicapped, etc.), as well as individuals who opposed his regime (Christians, priests, traditional German patriots, etc.)

Karl Marx and Frederich Engels founded Marxism, a materialistic, totalitarian system which advocates replacing God with the state (federal government), and destroying or co-opting all intermediary associations between the individual and the state, including families, the church, businesses, and voluntary organizations. (This is exactly the agenda described by the Communist Party USA, when they met in the 1960s).

Based on the faulty presupposition that we are by nature good, Marx contended that as capitalism is replaced by socialism (government control of the means of production), which then evolves to communism (government control of the entire society), there will be no crime because everyone’s needs will be met, and the state will “wither away”. The reality is that communist states become repressive, totalitarian states ruled by ruthless thugs, with a track record of murdering tens of millions of their own people, even during peace time.

That is why millions of people have fled those countries to come to the U.S., while a much smaller number of Marxist idealists have chosen to move there. These totalitarian societies eliminate freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom to bear arms, and freedom to own private property. (It is alarming that these freedoms are now under assault in this country and in the world.) It is not uncommon among Marxists (even in this country) to discuss the need for millions of people to die (particularly those opposed to their regime), which they see as a necessary evil if the “dictatorship of the capitalists” is to be replaced by the “dictatorship of the proletariat” i.e. the working people.

Although they have the same goal – a totalitarian communistic state, there are two camps within Marxism – those who advocate violent overthrow of existing capitalist systems, and those who favor the gradual takeover of a society’s institutions from within. Antonio Gramsci, an Italian Marxist count, advocated the latter. One of his ardent students was Saul Alinsky, the infamous community organizer from Chicago, who wrote “Rules for Radicals” and dedicated it to “the first rebel, Lucifer”. Alinsky has a famous pupil in very high political office, Barack Hussein Obama. As you may know, I was a Marxist for a time, studied Marx and Alinsky in grad school, and have visited five communist countries. I also presented a paper on Marxism at a national conference. A close friend lost her position in the University of California – Davis History Department when the Marxists took over and she would not toe the party line.

Hinduism has a system of castes that people are born into and from which there is no escape (without leaving that system). Unlike Christianity, with its admonition to feed the poor, the Hindu perspective is that if you help someone in dire poverty, you will interfere with his/her karma, in which he must suffer in this life for wrong-doing in his previous life, in order to be reincarnated at a higher station of life in the next life. New Agers basically embrace Hinduism, its reincarnation, and pantheism.

Islam is a special case. We can learn a lot by studying the founder of a religion. While Jesus treated women with respect and taught his followers to love their enemies, Mohammad personally led multiple raids on passing caravans for booty, women, and slaves. Observing the gradual increase in Muslims in a Western nations, the pattern that is emerging is that rather than assimilate within the culture, Muslims increase their demands for sharia law, with its barbaric treatment of criminals and women. A few other clues:
- Within Islam, the only sure way you know you are going to Paradise when you die is when you die in Jihad – holy war. Perhaps that is why a Palestinian mother exclaimed a few years ago that the happiest day of our life was when her son blew himself up as a suicide bomber in Israel. Amazing – this describes a culture of death!
- During the Iran-Iraq war, a war between two Muslim nations, Iran sent out thousands of its teenagers to clear the minefields prior to a military battle. They became human fodder in this tragic war.
- Honor killings takes place in the Middle East and this country when a family member, usually the father, kills another member of the family who has shamed the family. If a young woman is raped, she is killed by her father because she has shamed her family. Meanwhile, the rapist faces far lesser charges. Unbelievable. So the family’s “honor” is more important than human life.
- In similar fashion, an Egyptian professor at Cairo University converted to Christianity and had to flee because his father was about to kill him to restore honor to the family.

Abortion – with the perspective that human life is just a blob of tissue, abortionists have killed an estimated 70 million babies in the U.S. since Roe vs. Wade in 1973. The tide turned somewhat when “Silent Scream” came out – a video that shows the pain that an unborn child experiences during an abortion. Under President Obama, our government pressures other nations to embrace abortion. I heard an interview with a pastor from Kenya, in which he described how the U.S. government pressured Kenya to change its constitution to accept abortion. President Obama has also sought to force Christian health organizations (Catholic hospitals, etc.) to provide abortion services, in direct conflict with their fundamental beliefs. Worldwide, approximately a billion babies have been killed since 1973, for which our nation bears some responsibility. The blood of these murdered babies cries out from the ground against our nation and our government.

Abortion leads to bizarre things happening. I recently read that 400-500 babies every year are alive due to botched abortions. I saw a video clip of one of these individuals, in which she told her story of how her mother and abortion “doctor” tried to kill her, but she survived. Now that is a dysfunctional family!

In contrast, the Word of God states:

“Where can I go from Your Spirit? Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend into heaven, You are there; if I make my bed in hell, behold, You are there. If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, And Your right hand shall hold me… for You formed my inward parts; You covered me in my mother’s womb.

I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made;marvelous are Your works, that my soul knows very well. My frame was not hidden from You, when I was made in secret, and skillfully wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. Your eyes saw my substance, being yet unformed. And in Your book they all were written, the days fashioned for me, when as yet there were none of them.” Psalm 139:7-16

Unlike materialistic/communistic systems, in which people have no transcendent or special purpose other than utility, or systems that embrace evolution in which we are just animals, the Biblical world view describes a world in which we were created by God teleologically – with a purpose.

Just as nature is a product of design (as opposed to evolutionary chance), so was human life was designed with a purpose. We – you and I, were created by God with a purpose, and that purpose is to draw close to Him on earth, to reflect His love and truth to all people, and to enjoy His presence here on earth and in heaven when we die. But He won’t force anyone to be there who does not want to be in the presence of God.

God invites us to into a relationship (not just a belief) with Him, in which we fellowship and can be led by the Holy Spirit of the sovereign, living God. And this is truly amazing.

Many people’s experience with Christianity has not been positive. Perhaps they encountered a dead church or Christians who did not walk the walk, or were stuck in stifling social roles. Or perhaps they were just seeking a social organization, and became tired of hearing about Jesus, sin and guilt. (False guilt comes from man and is often manipulative; true guilt comes from the Lord and is redemptive.)

Most people don’t like to be called sinners – it is like telling someone they are a bad person. I find it more useful (and Biblically accurate) to note that teleologically, sin is merely missing its mark, like a car that runs off the road and hits a tree. Cars were not designed to hit trees; they are designed to drive down the road. In like manner, we were not created to crash off the road; we were created with the capacity and desire to know the Lord. This is expressed in the following – the Greatest Danger.

The Greatest Danger

The greatest danger facing all of us is not that we shall make an absolute failure of life, nor that we shall fall into outright viciousness, nor that we shall be terribly unhappy, nor that we shall feel that life has no meaning at all – not these things.

The danger is that we may:

fail to perceive life’s greatest meaning,
fall short of its highest good,
miss its deepest and most abiding happiness,
be unable to tender the most needed service,
be unconscious of life ablaze with the light of the Presence of God,
and be content to have it so.

That is the danger – that some day we may wake up and find that always we have been busy with husks and trappings of life and have really missed life itself.

For life without god, to one who has known the richness and joy of life with Him, is unthinkable, impossible. That is what one prays one’s friends may be spared – satisfaction with a life that falls short of the best, that has no tingle or thrill that comes from a friendship with the Father. Phillip Brooks (1835-1893)

Religion vs. Science

“The Bible is about religion, but science is a separate category.” (Quote from an editorial)

Response: Rather than viewing Christianity and science as two separate realms that have nothing to do with each other, or even compete, it is more useful to see how Christianity and science are different, but complement one another. Christianity claims that the sovereign, living God of the universe created the heavens and earth, and many of the earliest scientists saw science as a way to learn more about God’s creation. The following questions help us see how Christianity and science intersect, and how godless evolution is in conflict with both:

Occam’s Razor, a problem-solving principle devised by William of Ockham (c. 1287–1347) states that among competing hypotheses, the one with the fewest assumptions (i.e. the most direct and simplest) should be selected. Other, more complicated solutions may ultimately prove correct, but—in the absence of certainty—the fewer assumptions that are made, the better.

Using Occam’s Razor as a guideline (check all that apply)

1) If a frog turns into a prince, is it:

___a) Magic

___b) Science (you just have to wait a long time – evolution in action)

___c) Other:____________________________________

2) The Bible, written by 40 authors with widely differing occupations from 3 continents over 1,500 years, tells an integrated story that is woven together in a progressive story of human life, with God’s involvement over the centuries, including dozens of prophecies that are fulfilled. This unity is:

___a) by chance – the books just happen to have a common theme and story, and the prophecies just happened to have been fulfilled,

___b) the Roman Catholic Church commissioned all of this work to be done, and pulled it together,

___c) there was a common author (the Holy Spirit), who inspired and guided the writing of the books of the Bible,

___d) other:___________________________________

3) Over 130 cultures have stories / myths in their history that they are descendants of a family who was saved in a boat from a world-wide flood. This is best explained by:

___a) chance – it just happened that way. Their cultures also probably have stories about dogs as well.

___b) as evolution is based on the premise that every change must be advantageous to the organism for it to be adopted, there is a survival advantage to all cultures that developed the flood story versus those that didn’t.

___c) Noah really did build an ark, the Bible story is true, and these stories/myths are exactly what we would expect.

___d) other:_____________________________________

4) If we were hiking through the Black Hills and came upon Mount Rushmore, we would logically conclude that:

___a) it happened by chance – just a fluke of nature and erosion over time,

___b) it is a sign of design and intelligence; that one or more persons created it,

___c) some creature from outer space created it,

___d) other:_____________________________________

5) The human brain is more complex than the largest supercomputer ever developed. It came from:

___a) A long time ago, there was this thing that exploded, and some of the stuff that exploded joined together (all by itself) into order – tremendous order. Then it came alive (also all by itself), and eventually became a human being with a brain. Of course this took a long time. This is called “science”, and just goes to show what can happen if you wait long enough.

___b) Intelligence; design reflects intelligence, and tremendous design reflects tremendous intelligence. We were created by the sovereign, living God who was there, and tells us about it in the Bible, which He inspired. (Which would explain why an Intelligent Design movement is emerging, led by former evolutionary scientists.)

___c) We came from outer space (which raises another question – when we were in outer space, where did we come from?)

___d) Other:_____________________________________

6) The assumption that the origin of the universe and life as we know it is from material causes:

___a) is scientific – we can prove that natural causes were the forces that led to the universe, and that there was no super-natural cause involved.

___b) is a philosophical presupposition that cannot be proven scientifically because the origins of the universe and life were not observed by human beings and cannot be replicated.

___c) is false. The origin of the universe and life can only be truly known by observation, and only God was there to observe it. He then revealed this in the Bible.

___d) is fundamental to Marx’s theory of scientific materialism (which has led to the deaths of hundreds of millions of people)

___e) other:______________________________________

7) Jesus was:

___a) a great teacher, and perhaps even a prophet, but not the Son of God.

___b) either who He said He was – the Son of God and part of the eternal triune God, or a false teacher and imposter, who claimed to be someone who He was not,

___c) who He said He was – the son of the sovereign, living God (which is why Simon Greenleaf, the nation’s greatest legal scholar on rules of evidence, ultimately converted from Judaism to Christianity, compelled by the evidence before him.)

___d) other:_____________________________________

8) Life or existence beyond the grave is:

___a) clearly beyond the reach of science,

___b) not beyond the reach of science if we could just figure out how someone could observe it and come back and tell about it,

___c) beginning to give us clues. Dr. Maurice Rawlings was a non-Christian cardiologist who lost many patients. As his medical skills improved, he was able to bring many of them back from the dead. About half of them did not want to come back, as they were experiencing great bliss. The other half were absolutely terrified that they were die again and once experience what they described as hell.

___c) other:_____________________________________

Best regards,

Pretty Cool to Design Your Own Religion

“My religion is a religion of love and my god is a god of love”.

Response: You seem to describe a “designer religion” – the notion that each of us can fashion our own god or gods to suit our wishes and desires. We thus create god in our own image. Here are some clues about choosing (or designing) our own gods:

Did your god create the heavens and earth, or did it all just happen by itself?

Some religions, like Hinduism, are based on evolution. And yet there are 10,000 scientists in this country who see evolution as an unproven theory, with stronger evidence for creation than evolution. An example is the fossil record, within which the missing links are still missing. (By the way, both creation scientists and evolutions embrace micro-evolution, such as changes in moths or birds. It is on macro-evolution – the notion that a whale can evolve to a bear – where they disagree.) There is even an emerging Intelligent Design movement of scientists who have abandoned evolution because the evidence of intelligence in design is too compelling to ignore.

Where do you want to end up after this life on earth?

Every religion has a distinctly different ending for life. So you might consider the following:

“Good” Moslem men go to paradise with 73 virgins and “bad” Moslem men go to hell;
Hindus believe that the end their life on earth leads to being reincarnated as a person, animal, or perhaps a mosquito, and (hopefully) eventually escaping reincarnation to become one with the All;
Mormons – get their own planet if they are good Mormons;
Atheists – turn into a pile of ashes and are buried or blown away by the wind;
Christians – go to heaven to be with the Lord; those who reject Christ and His offer of eternal life spend eternity in Hades; and
Universalism – everyone gets to go to heaven, whether they want to or not.

NOTE: These different perspectives raise these provocative questions:

Are they all true? (Is it even possible for all of them to be true?)
On what basis do you assume that we get to select the ending we want (paradise with virgins, have our own planet, one with the all, go to heaven to be with the Lord, etc.)?
Are there clues as to which of these is most likely to be the truth?

Have you considered the evidence for Christianity:
The Bible: Written by 40 authors with widely differing occupations from 3 continents over 1,500 years, the Bible tells an integrated story that is woven together in a progressive story of human life, with God’s involvement over the centuries. This unity is evidence of a common author (the Holy Spirit), who inspired and guided the writing of the books of the Bible, in contrast to other religions.

Fulfilled prophecy – Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection fulfilled dozens of prophecies, the odds of which happening by chance are truly astronomical.

The Flood – Over 130 cultures have stories / myths in their history that they are descendants of a family who was saved in a boat from a world-wide flood. This is best explained by the story of Noah – that he really did build an ark, the Bible story is true, and these stories/myths are exactly what we would expect. This is in contrast to evolution, which claims that a fish can turn into a bear if we just wait long enough.

Vast archaeological evidence that testifies to the historicity of the Old and New Testaments, rather than being merely an inspiring book authored by a charismatic religious or cult leader. There have even been expeditions that have found Noah’s Ark, and brought back physical evidence of the ark’s existence.

Evidence Consistent With Rules of Evidence – From a legal perspective, what does the evidence tell us? Simon Greenleaf was the nation’s greatest legal scholar on rules of evidence, with his work known as the standard for rules of evidence, even by the U.S. Supreme Court. A person of Jewish descent, Greenleaf was challenged by his students to examine the evidence for whether or not Jesus Christ was indeed the savior of mankind, or a great imposter. He accepted the challenge, and after much study, became a Christian, compelled by the evidence before him.

Coming Back From the Dead – Evidence comes from many different sources. Dr. Maurice Rawlings was a non-Christian cardiologist who lost many patients. As his medical skills improved, he was able to bring many of them back from the dead. About half of them did not want to come back, as they were experiencing great bliss. About half of them were absolutely terrified that they were to die again and once experience hell.

A Personal Relationship with the Sovereign, Living God of the Universe

Christianity is unique in that it offers the opportunity for a personal relationship with the sovereign, living God, unlike other religions. The sovereign, living God of the universe created us in His image, with the capacity and yearning to know Him and walk in His ways. The Word of God reveals that He knows each of us, that He created each of us with unique gifts and talents, and that we have a purpose in our lives. Furthermore, we will never experience true joy and peace (that transcends circumstances) unless we discover and live to carry out that purpose. Have you discovered your purpose or mission in your life?

The central question for designer religions: Anyone can develop a philosophy or religion – a conceptual framework for life and what happens after we die.

But what is the source of their knowledge?
Did they receive some revelation from the sovereign, living God about life and death (the only true authority about life and death), or did they just make it up?
If you take a little from this religion and a little from that religion, to create a new (synthetic) religion, is it valid?
Does your explanation for your eternal destiny explain what will really happen when you die? The stakes are very high, as eternity is a very long time.

Did We Really Evolve From Nothing?

Hello

Just another note to let you know it was great to see you at the CDS conference in Cincinnati. I always appreciate our shared history and friends, your insights about what is happening in the world of community development, and your sense of humor. I also appreciate our spirited discussion about matters temporal and eternal.

I wanted to follow up our discussion about origins, specifically the evolution / creation issue. A few key points always seem to arise in these kinds of discussion:

The fossil record: Some religions, like Hinduism, are based on evolution. And yet there are 10,000 scientists in this country who see evolution as an unproven theory, with stronger evidence for creation than evolution, such as the fossil record, within which the missing links are still missing. The missing links are exactly what is predicted from the creation science perspective. Darwin even said that the validity of his theory depended on the fossil record, and yet the gaps are still missing.

Macro-evolution vs. micro-evolution: By the way, both creation scientists and evolutions embrace micro-evolution, such as changes in moths or birds. It is on macro-evolution – the notion that a whale can evolve to a bear – where they disagree. There is even an emerging Intelligent Design movement of evolutionary scientists who have abandoned evolution because the evidence of intelligence in design is too compelling to ignore. They just don’t take it to the next logical conclusion, which is that the designer is really the God of the Bible.

Speaking of the Bible, it was written by 40 authors with widely differing occupations from 3 continents over 1,500 years, telling an integrated story that is woven together in a progressive story of human life (starting with the creation), of God’s involvement over the centuries, and dozens of prophecies that are fulfilled. This unity is evidence of a common author (the Holy Spirit), who inspired and guided the writing of the books of the Bible, in contrast to other religions.

Stories within cultures: Over 130 cultures have stories / myths in their history that they are descendants of a family who was saved in a boat from a world-wide flood. Could this possibly come about by chance? This phenomena is best explained by the story of Noah – that he really did build an ark, the Bible story is true, and these stories/myths are exactly what we would expect. This is in contrast to evolution, which claims that a fish can turn into a bear if we just wait long enough.

Evolution lacks face validity: The theory of evolution claims:

* if we wait long enough, something can come from nothing,

* that the 100 billion galaxies in the observable universe were contained in a volume smaller than the size of a single atom prior to the “Big Bang” 13.7 billion years ago,

* that something can come to life,

* that great order can come from a big explosion (like a tornado blowing through a large junkyard and producing a Boeing 747),

* that people can evolve from primordial soup, and

* that all of this is scientific. (Science depends on observation, and yet no person was around at the origin of the universe except God, who revealed these truths for us in the Bible.)

Mount Rushmore – If we were hiking through the Black Hills of South Dakota and came upon Mount Rushmore, no one would say: “Wow – look what has evolved over centuries”. We would be more likely to remark that this is a sign of great skill and intelligence. And yet the human brain is thousands of times more complex than Mount Rushmore, and evolutionists claim it evolved from simpler forms.

Who gets the prize – Evolutionists claim that creation science is religion, a matter of blind faith. But the prize really belongs to the evolutionists – it takes a much greater leap of faith to believe in evolution than to believe that the incredible complexity and design of the universe reflects intelligence – that of the sovereign, living God – the creator of the universe. By the way, an excellent source on this issue is the Institute for Creation Science http://www.icr.org.

Finally, the relevance of all this is that severe times are coming to our nation; some refer to this as a perfect storm. I believe those who know the Lord will be best able to weather the storm.

Best regards,