Psalm 103:1-4 "Bless the LORD, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name. Bless the LORD, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits: Who forgives all your iniquities; who heals all your diseases; Who redeems your life from destruction; who crowns you with loving kindness and tender mercies."

Praise God on the Lord's Day!

Pray for the Christians worldwide - Especially in Indonesia and Iraq.

Tags: Sunday

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Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness" (Genesis 1:26).

"If the world were not as scripture says it is, if the natural man’s knowledge were not actually rooted in the creation and providence of God, then there would be no knowledge... The non-Christians have made and now make discoveries about the state of the universe simply because the universe is what Christ says it is. The unbelieving scientist borrows or steals the Christian principal of creation and providence every time he says that an “explanation” is possible, for he knows he cannot account for 'explanation' of his own" (Greg Bahnsen).

The nonbeliever cannot account for the intelligibility of anything, even his own personal identity. When someone says I am “Ernie,” and he means he is the same “Ernie,” as the person that is in his high school yearbook named “Ernie,” he is borrowing from the Christian worldview. Only Christianity can give us a reason to be certain we are who we are. Our physical body changes every moment and everyday. Human beings lose one-sixtieth of an ounce of respiratory moisture and sweat every minute. There is a net loss every second. This means humans physically change every moment, hence under a physical-only worldview, I am not the same person I was a second ago. The skin replaces itself once a month. The stomach lining is replaced every five days. The cells in the liver are replaced every six weeks, and the skeleton about every three months. The body of every human being constantly changes. The cells of a human body are in a constant state of flux, and are always being modified. In one year, the average person has ninety-eight percent of his atoms exchanged for new ones. In seven years time, every atom in a person’s body has been replaced by new ones. Thus the person is a new and completely different being, within the worldview of the materialist atheist (faster if you visit the dentist frequently).

The atheist affirms that only the physical world exists. He claims that nothing spiritual or nonmaterial exists. This means that after seven years, everyone is a different person. So the atheist cannot account for personal identity. By his standard of a physical-only world, everyone is a different person after seven years because every physical atom has been swapped for new ones. Would a car, over the course of twenty years, which had every mechanical part replaced with new ones, be the same car? No. The car does not have a soul. If we consist of only physical matter, and are devoid of a soul like the car, under the atheist physical-only view, after our bodily atoms were completely exchanged for new ones, we would be different people. The atheist, under his worldview, is not married to the woman he married nine years ago. They are totally different physically, due to the complete exchange of bodily atoms after seven years. If he has a child over the age of seven, by the atheist’s standard, the kid is not the same child that was born to them. Therefore, if he wanted to be consistent in his worldview, he should throw away all his baby pictures and their wedding album. Every molecule in his body has changed. And under a material-only world, he is a different person. Yet, he will not do that because he is basing much of his life on the Christian worldview. The atheist husband still hugs his wife without being unfaithful to her, since Christianity is true. He will still take his kid to the park and buy him a balloon. But he will not buy the unknown kid who is next to him a balloon. The atheist knows that his child is the same child who was born to him years before. He lives much of his life on the Christian worldview.

Tags: Apologetics Person ID Truth Darwin Lee Strobel Greg Bahnsen

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“Let us reason together,” Says the LORD (Isaiah 1:18).

   The atheist borrows from the Christian worldview when he uses and applies reason. Atheists testify that they adore reason. That is the rationale behind Ingersoll’s assertion: “Upon every brain reason should be enthroned as king.” Skeptics do not want to bow to God, so they will bow down to an idol, such as human reason. This creates a big problem for them:

Deny God and you cannot account for reason. An example occurred at a debate: During the debate Barrier accidentally picked up Comfort’s glasses while making his case for atheism. Comfort in his response said to the crowd, “If you are an atheist, you are wearing someone else’s glasses.” That’s what atheists do: They borrow from the Christianity when they use reason.

This nonphysical dynamic the atheist cannot rationally justify. He only believes that matter exists & nothing more. Atheists, when they use logic r borrowing our glasses. W/o Christianity, they cannot see anything at all. C.S. Lewis’ notion that I believe in God as “I believe in the Sun; not so much that I see the Sun, it’s more like without the Sun, I cannot see anything at all.” The only lens that can give us vision is God.

Tags: Apologetics Logic Reason Logos Lincoln Darwin Lee Strobel Greg Bahnsen

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Moses A Foreshadowing of Jesus

Unlike Muslims who are unable to show that Muhammad met even one of the necessary conditions of the prophecy to begin with, which renders any and all other considerations null and void, Jesus not only met the terms in the fullest sense imaginable, but in His life, words and works Jesus provides us with such substantive parallels to Moses as to easily trounce those that Muslims have proffered in favor of Muhammad. Consider the many striking parallels between the life and ministry of Moses and Jesus that follow:

1. Just as Moses came after four centuries of prophetic silence as the penultimate fulfillment of the promises made to Abraham, so Jesus came after four centuries of prophetic silence as the ultimate fulfillment of the words spoken by all the prophets from Abraham to Malachi;
2. Just as Moses was delivered as a baby from the wrath of Pharaoh, a pagan who ruled over the people of Israel, and who ordered the slaughter of the innocents (Exodus 1-2), so also Jesus was delivered as a baby from the wrath of Herod, another pagan who ruled over Israel, who also ordered the slaughter of all male children (Matthew 2);
3. Just as Pharaoh was outwitted by the midwives, which allowed Moses to survive, so Herod was outwitted by the Magi, which providentially insured that Jesus would not die before the appointed hour;
4. Just as Moses forsook Egypt’s glory to identify with the people of God (Hebrews 11:24-26), his brethren (Exodus 2:11), so Jesus left heaven’s glory to identify with His people (2 Corinthians 8:9; Philippians 2:6-7), not being ashamed to call them His brethren (Hebrews 2:11);
5. Just as Moses was told to return and see to the deliverance of Israel, because “all the men who were seeking your life are dead” (Exodus 4:19), so Jesus returned to deliver Israel after the word came from heaven: “…for those who sought the child’s life are dead” (Matthew 2:20);
6. Just as Moses performed miracles by “the finger of God” (Exodus 8:19), so did Jesus (Luke 11:14-28, esp. vs. 20).
7. Just as the first of the ten signs of Moses’ against Egypt was turning the water  into blood, from the water of the Nile all the way down to the water found in their stone jars, so Jesus’ first sign was to turn water into wine at a wedding feast, which was contained in stone jars, and wine is used thereafter to represent Christ’s blood, the blood of the New Covenant (many other parallels can be found between the signs given to Moses and those performed by Jesus)⁹;
8. Just as Moses passed through the sea into the wilderness, so Jesus passed through the waters of baptism and was driven into the wilderness by the Spirit (Matthew 3:13-4:11);
9. Just as Moses fasted for forty days on the mountain as He communed with God (Exodus 34:28), so Jesus fasted forty days (Luke 4:2);
10. Just as Moses ascended Mount Sinai to receive the law after his forty days of fasting, so Jesus, after forty days of fasting, delivered His great Sermon on the Mount, where He disabused the Law from the false glosses and interpretations of the scribes and Pharisees (Matthew 5-7).
11. Just as Moses was tested in the wilderness, where he proved himself a faithful servant in God’s house, so Jesus was tested in the wilderness and proved Himself a perfect Son, worthy of His rightful place over God’s house (Hebrews 3);
12. Just as Moses was transfigured on the mountain (Exodus 34), so Jesus was transfigured on the mountain (Matthew 17:1-8; Mark 9:2-8; Luke 9:28-36);
13. Just as Moses took three men with him up the mountain – Joshua, Aaron, and Hur (Exodus 24:1ff), so also Jesus took with Him Peter, James and John;
14. Just as Moses interceded for Israel when she sinned, even expressing his willingness to lay down his life on her behalf (Exodus 32:19-35), so Jesus interceded and ever lives to intercede for those He willingly died for (Romans 8:34);
15. Just as Moses, at God’s command, effected the redemption of Israel by directing every household to sacrifice an unblemished lamb at the Passover (Exodus 12), so Jesus is the true Passover, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world (1 Corinthians 5:7; John 1:29, 36);
16. Just as Moses lifted up a serpent on a pole as a sign to look upon and be saved from temporal calamity (Numbers 21), so Jesus was lifted up on the cross and saves all those who look upon Him for eternal salvation (John 3:14);
17. Just as Moses provided bread from heaven, which a man could eat but still eventually die, so Jesus is the true bread from heaven, which a man could eat and live forever (John 6);
18. Just as Moses provided water from a rock by striking it with his staff (Exodus 17; Numbers 20), so Jesus was struck, causing water to flow out of His side (John 19:34; see also 1 Corinthians 10:4);
19. Just as Moses constructed the tabernacle in which the glory of God came to dwell, so Jesus is the Word and glory of God who became flesh and tabernacled among us (John 1:14); in addition, Jesus is building a New Covenant tabernacle/temple, consisting of all who are indwelt by His glorious Spirit (Ephesians 2:1-22, see esp. vs. 21);
20. Just as Moses mediated the Old Covenant between God and Israel, ratified by the blood of sprinkling (Exodus 24), so Jesus mediated the New Covenant in His blood (Matthew 26; and Hebrews 9).

http://www.answering-islam.org/authors/rogers/not_afraid2.html

Tags: Apologetics Moses Christ OT Calvin Lincoln Darwin Lee Strobel Greg Bahnsen

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Let us pray for the people in Xinjiang, China as ethnic tensions worsen after riots left almost 150 people dead this week. The government of China is worried, not about the many deaths, but about the image of this communist nation. It wants to project a "harmonious society" based on communist ideology as the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Communist rule arrives. It is self-evident that anti-theistic governments will often produce mass atrocities. Atheist Joe Stalin murdered 30-50 million people for atheism. Atheist Chairman Mao murdered 20-40 million women, men and children. Yes many times in history religious people ruled in an ungodly fashion and murdered people in the name of God. There is no excuse for such behavior and we should never down play it either. Yet murder is contrary to the teachings of Jesus Christ.  Furthermore, atheist Stalin killed more people in one day than the entire Inquisition and witch trails combined! Let us all aim for peace, love, justice and truth and never affirm those who murder in the name of God. Our purpose is win people and nations through grace, truth, prayer and evangelism, not weapons. Has atheistic communism yielded good fruit? Let us pray for the people in Xinjiang, China as ethnic tensions worsen after riots left almost 150 people dead this week. The government of China is worried, not about the many deaths, but about the image of this communist nation. It wants to project a "harmonious society" based on communist ideology as the celebration of the 60th anniversary of Communist rule arrives. Has atheistic communism yielded good fruit?

Tags: Prayer China Muslims

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Mankind is unique and has a God given purpose. Stones will never learn Calculus; apples will never strive to play Beethoven. The human soul is always searching. Mankind knows there must be something more out there or up there. Something transcendent must exist, or we would never ask questions about purpose. Is this all there is? Many rich, powerful, and famous people live lives that do not satisfy their restless hearts. Many of the glammo-queens and pop-princes become so despondent that they commit suicide to try to relieve their pain. All their toys, all their wealth, and all their write-ups leave them empty and without real purpose if they deny God.

Dawkins freely admits that “in a universe of blind physical forces and genetic replication, some people are going to get hurt, and some people are going to get lucky; and you won’t find any rhyme or reason to it, nor any justice. The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is at the bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind, pitiless indifference.” The ultimate purpose of the atheist is, ultimately, that you have no purpose. Pondering this can only envelop you with hopelessness and despondency. Scripture declares that God has a marvelous purpose for all His beloved. Our ultimate purpose is to be in Christ, as the person He created. The universe may end in cosmic heat dissolution, but the one who created it has built a place for all His people, a heavenly home that will never perish or burn out. An eternal home with God is a sublime purpose, and a fantastic destination filled with perfect and unmitigated satisfaction and joy.

Tags: Apologetics Demar Luther Reformed Lincoln Darwin Lee Strobel Greg Bahnsen

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