Posted on 06/17/2007 6:54:37 PM PDT by Rodney King
Why I believe in Creation Posted: December 17, 2004 1:00 a.m. Eastern
I was stunned the other day when I asked evolution-believing listeners to my nationally syndicated radio show to call in and tell me why they believed.
"Just give me one reason why you accept the theory," I said. "Just give me the strongest argument. You don't have to give me mountains of evidence. Just tell me why I should accept it."
Not one evolutionist called in.
Meanwhile, the phone banks lit up with dozens of evolution skeptics.
Go figure. For more than 40 years, evolution has been taught as fact in government schools to generations of children, yet there is still widespread skepticism, if not cynicism, about the theory across the country.
But, because of political correctness and the fear of ostracism, most people are afraid to admit what they believe about our origins. That's why I wrote my last column – "I believe in Creation."
The reaction to it has been unprecedented. While I expected mostly negative fallout, most letters have been quite positive.
So, I decided to take this issue a step further. Since the evolutionists don't want to tell me why they believe in their theory, I figured I would explain why I believe in mine.
The primary reason I believe, of course, is because the Bible tells me so. That's good enough for me, because I haven't found the Bible to be wrong about anything else.
But what about the worldly evidence?
The evolutionists insist the dinosaurs lived millions and millions of years ago and became extinct long before man walked the planet.
I don't believe that for a minute. I don't believe there is a shred of scientific evidence to suggest it. I am 100 percent certain man and dinosaurs walked the earth at the same time. In fact, I'm not at all sure dinosaurs are even extinct!
Think of all the world's legends about dragons. Look at those images. What were those folks seeing? They were clearly seeing dinosaurs. You can see them etched in cave drawings. You can see them in ancient literature. You can see them described in the Bible. You can see them in virtually every culture in every corner of the world.
Did the human race have a collective common nightmare? Or did these people actually see dragons? I believe they saw dragons – what we now call dinosaurs.
Furthermore, many of the dinosaur fossils discovered in various parts of the world were found right along human footprints and remains. How did that happen?
And what about the not-so-unusual sightings of contemporary sea monsters? Some of them have actually been captured.
There are also countless contemporary sightings of what appear to be pterodactyls in Asia and Africa.
You know what I think? I think we've been sold a bill of goods about the dinosaurs. I don't believe they died off millions and millions of years ago. In fact, I'm not at all convinced they've died off completely.
Evolutionists have put the cart before the horse. They start out with a theory, then ignore all the facts that contradict the theory. Any observation that might call into question their assumptions is discounted, ridiculed and covered up. That's not science.
How could all the thousands of historical records of dragons and behemoths throughout mankind's time on earth be ignored? Let's admit it. At least some of these observations and records indicate dinosaurs were walking the earth fairly recently – if not still walking it today.
If I'm right about that – which I am – then the whole evolutionary house of cards comes tumbling down.
This is the evidence about which the evolutionists dare not speak.
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Please pardon me for jumping in here, but that is not at all what the bible says or teaches. The key phrase of the passage you refer to says "In My Name", which is the same as saying "for ME" or "in MY Will" or "for My purpose".
Praying for what Jesus wants is usually not a million dollars or a new caddy.
[Come on. Every amputee prays that his missing limb will grow back, but not a one has ever grown back. You know that as well as I do. Once in a while, someone who prays or is prayed for is going to have their cancer go into remission. It’s not a miracle when it happens. Bottom line is, if you get seriously ill, pray all you want, but there is no one listening.]
Gee- that age of direct intervention that includes supernatural miracles such as lost limbs reappearing is over in the church age? Whoda thunk it? When Christ was performing His supernatural miracles such as restoring sight, limbs raising the dead etc, He said to his Disciples that in effedct, they were fortunate because they got to witness these particular type miracles first hand and said that they were fortunate because the time was coming when it would be much much harder to bewlieve because these spectacular miracles were com9ing to an end for a short period- why? For God’s own purposes. And for things like cancer healing, which, while still spectacular, isn’t on par with restoring lost limbs supernaturally, healings of diseases while praying are much more common than your ‘once in awhile’ insinuation.
[Bottom line is, if you get seriously ill, pray all you want, but there is no one listening.]
And you knowq this how? Tell it to the thousands and thousands of folks who have experienced God’s intervention personally- it happens FAR more commonly than you are willing to give credit for
[You really have to contort logic to rationalize that God’s refusal to help you when help is needed is just part of his glorious “plan.” That’s the ultimate rationalization when bad things happen to good people: “It’s God’s will and who are we to question God’s will.”]
No sir I don’t have to contort anything. God’s blessings don’t hinge on our wants and desires. Far greater good comes from bad than you obviously fail to realize. Now pay attention because I’m abotu to teach you somethign about the spiritual warfare- the dire consequences of not accepting Christ, and the ills that come from demanding that our selfish desires be answered when we want every time.
I’m going to state soem absolute truths in setting this explanation up— This is going to be long, but please take the time to read it and digest it as it is very important to understanding God’s will for our lives. It’s going to be harsh, but it is the raw truth that we all know deep down but simply don’t wish to face- but it is crucial that WE ALL face it head on because it exposes OUR selfish desires that are key to our disbelief in what we KNOW to be the truth deep down. I’ll be capitalizing key words- so don’t interpret the caps s yelling or condemnation on you alone- I’m included myself as well because I too have my own selfishness in certain areas.
Satan is at complete war with both God and His people. Satan can do NOTHING without God’s permission. Illness is obviously bad. WE- WE- NOT God or anyone else, Brought illness into this life because of our SELFISH desires. WE ate the apple. WE had every blessing from God WE could possibly want, yet WE decided that WE wanted what WE wanted when WE wanted it. WE knew the consequences of our actions, yet WE decided WE knew better than God what was good for US.
Now, We knew life wasn’t going to be a bed of roses where our every whims and desires would be met and instant gratifications would be the norm of the day- but WE chose, in our rebellious, self glorifying manner, to disregards God’s perfect will for our lives.
Satan won round one- He won the skirmish, but I assure you He will NOT win the war.
With me so far? Now, Satan, as I said, needs permission from God to wreak His havoc on us, God’s creation, people that Satan can not stand. He hates us with all His being, with all His soul. He glories in our demise and agony. Nothing motivates Satan more than to cause each of God’s creation to fall away further and further from God. Satan would like nothing more than for every person to be so self absorbed, so wrapped up in their own selfish wants and sense of sefl-importance, that we would look at God with loathing in our hearts.
Ask yourself- What better way to get people to shake their fist in fury at God than to cause some unspeakable horror to befall us? Some evil so vile that we gnash our teeth at God in rabid seething blind rage filled fury?
This is important, so take note- Satan plays on our sense of self-importance. He knows us well, knows our weakness, and knows that we will not bow a knee to our very creator, the God who gave us life, if He, Satan, can do somethign that will infuriate our sense of justice. He causes bad things to happen to ‘good’ people just as you state, but I tell you the truth, these ‘good’ people you speak about, The ‘good’ people who Don’t accept God and, when faced with bad things, turn even more from God when things don’t go their way. These ‘good people’ while ‘good’ on the surface, have an evil sin nature that rejects the God who breathed very life into them in the first place.
Here’s where it gets harsh- These ‘good’ people that don’t accept God’s will, are weak- Satan knew they were weak, and He capitalized on their weakness to inflict evil and cause these people further reject God.
You might be asking right now “Why would God allow evil if God knew the people couldn’t take it and still accept Him?”
Simple- God is cutting through the bull venere and getting right to the heart of the matter, by exposing the person’s selfish nature that demands God be their vending machine whenever they command God to perform for them.
This last sentance cuts right to the heart of the matter- it cuts right through all the bull crap fakeness in our lives, and exposes us bluntly to the truth in our hearts that we keep hidden away- the skeletons in the closet so to speak- the dirty little secret that we hide from everyone- the secret that we keep that says that we will NOT accept God UNLESS God do as we demand and keep us healthy, problem free for our entire lives. We shake our fist in God’s face when bad things happen, and we strengthen our resolve to hate Him because we didn’t get exactly what we want whenever we wanted it in this life. (I know the objections that are comming to your mind right now- but bear with me, I’ll be addressing htem further down)
It takes a VERY strong person to, when faced with illness or evil, obey God and accept Him no matter what happens. Trial by fire you might call it. It weeds the weak from the strong. It weeds the pretenders (or what I liek to call ‘fair weather ‘good people’) from the folks who accept God for who He is without any stipulations placed on Him.
We are now getting into the very difficult to accept issue of God’s Soverienty, and this is where most people draw the line at accepting God, and where the true nature of people’s sense of pride and self importance gets exposed. And htis is precisely the issue that Satan exploits to it’s fullest to turn people away from God. He knows it assaults our sense of self grandeur, self importance like nothign esle can, and He exploits it precisely because He knows it will cause us to self-delude ourselves into thinking we don’t have that ugly skeleton in the closet called self-worship. The very self-worship that Adam had when he ate that apple! And here you thought eating that apple was just a benign act of no real importance. It was MUCH MUCH more than a simple act. Adam (and by proxy, all of us too, as we would have, and indeed do to this day, eaten the apple out of our sense of selfisness and independence from God), exposed the root of all sin by eating that apple- the root that we so cleaverly hide away from everyone by putting on heirs of ‘goodness’ for everyone to see and admire.
Satan has pulled off the greatest act of illusion that has ever been performed. He has deluded people into thinking they are good, that they don’t deserve bad thigns to happen to them, and He exploits this sense of self importance, self-goodness, and has managed to get a great many people to look at evil and shake their fist in God’s face declaring that injustice has been dealt undeservedly when bad things happen.
Do you see the twisted logic? The convoluted rationale that Satan has slyly pulled off here? SATAN has brought evil upon us, and HE is the one responsible for our sufferings, YET, HE is never the one blamed here. He so blinds the person to REALITY that HE manages to get people to set their jaws and declare that God is responsible for ‘letting it hapen.’ Here is the raw TRUTH of the matter though- WE- NOT God, are responsible for inviting evil into our lives. WE are the ones who eat the apple every single day. WE have an opportunity to receive countless blessings from God on HIS terms, not our own, but WE, WE decide that the road is too tough, and that it is easier to sit down, pouind our fists, and demand that everything go according to ur plans and that our sense of justice never be tested so as not to expose our innermost sin of denial of God’s Godness- God’s Soveriengty (sp?)- God’s absolute right to rule in our lives REGARDLESS of the present circumstances. When bad thigns happen- we foam at the mouth, call God all sorts of names, and IGNORE the fact that it is NOT God who brings the evil, NOR was it God who invited evil into our lives WILLINGLY, but rather it was US- WE who couldn’t stand the htought of obeying God.
WE demand Miracles on Demand- WE demand that God perform for us every minute of every day the way WE want Him to, and we self-piously declare that we will follow god IF- and ONLY IF, God perfomr to our liking. The first sign of trouble, and drop God like a hot potato, and run for hills sulking liek spoiled rotton brats.
We view everythign with such a narrow shortsightedness that thinks everythign revolves around us alone- if somethign bad happens to us, we simply don’t/won’t stop to think that it is NOT just us who are being sifted, but others around us too. We get all pissy and delude ourselves into thinking that we ‘don’t deserve’ what is happening hwen the reality of the matter is that WE invited evil into our lives ALL BY OURSELVES. And beleive me, Satan capitalizes on our weak- selfish sense of self importance- our sense that God has no right to expose our selfisness by allowing Satan to test us by FULLY exposing us and our inner demon so to speak.
Yuo won’t be finding this reality spoken in any of the multitudes of ‘self-help’ books because they all focus on- deceivingly focus on, our sense of self importance- they preach a message that we deserve to be pampered, we deserve to feel good, to have our every desires met. These books cater to our root evils. They know that there is a harsh reality that should be preached, one that puts the blame precisely where it needs to be placed, but they avoid it because the fact is, the root is too ugly to confront. We demand that either God comfort us at all times, or we’re goen in a heartbeat from Him.
Yes, bad things happen to ‘good’ people, but what Satan means for evil, God turns around for good. God uses the intended evil to cut throuygh the bull, to expose the ugly, and to cause people to face our most primitive selfishnesses and make a decision- Are we strong enough to love God DESPITE external circumstances? Or will we dig in our heels, get all pissy about the fact that we invited evil into our lives by our refusal to listen to God, and falsely accuse God of ‘causing’ discomfort in our lives?
It is tough watchign a loved one suffer, and you and I can and most likely will ‘feel’ abandoned by God, but our loved ones are NOT the only ones who are being affected by evil/ills- many many people are exposed to the situation, and they too are being brought face to face with their inner skeleton called pride. The doctors, the nurses, the relatives, firends, even strangers who are made aware of what is transpiring. All these people’s families and firends- their children, etc can all be affected by what one person is going through. We don’t concider that- all we can focus on is our own discomfort.
We think (And I think this may be one of your objections) “Why is such a young, innocent person goingthrough this evil when they don’t even have a say in the matter, and before they even get a chance to experience life?” The answer is one that will not sit well with you- God is both Sovereign, and all knowing. He knows whether the person being afflicted will eventually accept Him or not (A point needs to be raised here that young children, before the age of reckoning- before they are able to fully know right from wrong, bewfore they can make a descision to accept God or not- will go to heaven if they die before that age), and God has the absolute right to allow what He will for His own purposes. We do NOT accept that- God either performs for our delight on demand, or else!!~! Oh, we wouldn’t come right out and say that of course, we’re ‘good people’ after all! But the truth is, that is exactly our sentiment, it’s just that we refuse to admit it or have it exposed in any way shape or form. God however, has the right to allow that sentiment to be exposed in all it’s ugliness however He chooses, and we don’t like it one bit! We’re ‘good people’ dangit! And we ‘don’t deserve’ to be treated that way! We don’t deserve to watch our young loved ones wasting away from illness- taken by criminals and abused severely- our our folks, who worked hard all their lives, lying in a hsopital bed at age 60 or so fighting for their lives, instead of enjoying the fruits of the labor and enjoying a cushy retirement.
You’re not going to liek this one bit Buckeye, but it’s the cold hard reality- We unleashed the Devil, we WILLINGLY invited Him into our lives, and now that we are reaping what we have sown, we don’t liek it one little bit. We turn around and blame God for soemthing WE DID- soemthing we allowed to happen. And here’s something you’re really not going to like- but I’m sorry, it needs saying because it is the ugly truth that we do everythign in our power to subdue, to hide away, to ignore- We hate God for not fixing the mess we got ourselves into. We KNOW that the wages of sin is death (and quite frankly, that death can come at anytime, in any number of ways, hard harsh death, or a comfortable passing in the night while asleep), BUT WE DEMAND that WE be able to hold onto our sin and have God ignore our sin and give us all the comforts of life anyways.
The truth IS- Blessed is the man who, DESPITE, and INSPITE of the fact that evil exists and affects us personally, believes in God and calls upon His name in the face of evil. Blessed is the man who DESPITE the fact that God isn’t seomone who performs on our demand and makes our lives pain-free and comfortable, and DESPITE the fact that the age of miracles is over, and DESPITE the fact that God. for this time being- during the what is called the church age, a time of great trial and tribulation minus God’s direct personal appearance and involvement in spuernatural miracles such as supernaturally resoring limbs (Which God is fully capable of as we nkow from Scripture when Christ was present amoung us, and when God was present Himself amoung the Israelites), blessed is He who can cut out hte self-pitying, and stand up against Satan who desperately wants us to succumb to self-pitying so that we thrust our fist in God’s face and with chest out, with Pride beaming forth from our all important self-existence, declare “God You have NO right allowing this to me- I’m a ‘good person!”, and Trusts god INSPITE of the evils that befall us because WE invited it to happen when WE ate that apple!
If you’ve read this far, I imagine it’s probably not set well with you, and I am sorry- but hiding from our inner self-coddling desires for exemption from the evil we brought upon ourselves WILLINGLY in the garden, is NOT doing anyone any eternal good. It takes a strong man/woman to admit that we ALL are NOT ‘good people’, while we may put on a mask, and pretend we are ‘good people’, we STILL have an inner loathing that despises the fact that God has a Soveriegn right to expose our self-pitying nature by allowing Satan to bring the very thing we invited Him to bring into our lives- evil!
We need to cut through the bull- strip the masks off, and face our TRUE selves with ALL it’s ugliness. Until we’re willing to do that, we’ll keep insisting God is to blame for everythign, and that “He could stop the evil, but doesn’t, despite hte fact that we, ‘good poeple’ are ‘earnest’ in our ‘goodness’, and pray to Him diligently, but don’t ‘hear from Him’ therefore He must not exist.
Buckeye- God exists, but you find Him until you realize that your inner self-pitying is keeping you from truly meeting/knowing God. (And please don’t take that as an insult- We ALL are self-pitying, demanding that nothing bad ever happen, and when it does, we sulk and stomp out feet and demand even more insistently)
I struggle somethign fierce with self-pitying. I have had a serious disease all my life, I missed out on my childhood years, most of my teen years until I got an operation that saved my life, but left me with a disgusting filthy rotton ostomy pouch, (I was a juniour in Highschool, and only wieghed 78 pounds because my disease- Crohn’s disease, was not allowing me to get enough nutrition)- after operation I had 11 good years, then started getting sick again, and needed many more operations- Then, I discovered I had a pituitary tumor (Who knows how long I’ve had it- we caught it by accident) and the tumor caused Acromegally, a quite rare condtion that only 1 in 600,000 pewople get (Andrea the giant had it- but he had it before his growth plates shut off, which casued him to get giantism- My Acromegally came after the growth plates shut down, but I stil lexperienced several problems- enlarged intestines, enlarged heart, minor facial distortions etc.), then after that operation, Which doesn’t cure a person as the tumors reappear over 60% of the time, I found out I had sleep apnea, and I also am developing a muscle condition that makes my muscles very weak upon even small exhertions- Docs aren’t sure yet what the problem is, but the couple of diseases that they think it might be have no cure or even effective treatment- This struck me down in the prime of my life, and I went from a very active, hard working person, to someone who can’t even brush my teeth without muscle pain anymore. So, as you can see- I have more reason than most to be self-pitying, and beleive me, I am privately self-pitying when I ‘tell God’ how things are, and how things should be- because darn-it, I’m a ‘good person’ and I don’t deserve all this!!! I have REALLY struggled along the way with God’s soveriegnty and absolute right to allow what He will FOR HIS OWN PURPOSES. My vision is so narrow, that I simply can not see the big piucture- Pain has a way fo narrowing a person’s view (interpretation- it makes us sink into self-pitying), and causing us to succomb to Satan’s plan of causing us to turn away from God because ‘things could be better “IF ONLY” God would make the uglies go away’. But I tell you the truth- evils expose our selfish natures quicker than anythign I nkow. They cause us to get real with God, to cut hte crap, cut out our sefl-delusion, and face the ugly fact that we demand God to perform at our command before we’ll even htink about accepting Him!
Sorry so long- but this harsh reality needed to be said isntead of ‘politely’ dancing around the reality in an effort to try not to offend- Eternity is too long a time for us to be ‘polite’ by avoiding the very evil that is keeping us from coming face to face with God in all truthfulness instead of the way we want to- hiding our inner hate from God- God is NOT fooled- we may think we’re hiding it niecely from Him- but we’re not- We may delude ourselves into thinking we’re ‘good people’ or that others are ‘ggod people’ but the reality is God allows evils to expose our true inner selves, and when it’;s exposed, it’s ugly, it’s abrasive, and it shows us who we really are- and we’ll either face God with all our ugliness and allow Him to be God, and accept Him, or we’ll stomp our foots and run away from Him at the first sign of trouble- The path to God is not for the faint of heart. After the fall in the garden, God didn’t promise us a bed of roses without any pain, He laid it out plainly for al lto see what we had doen to ourselves. God gave us free will, and we chose to go our own way, and God allowed us to FREELY invite the evil one to do His worste, but now we don’t liek it and we want a ‘do over’ but I you the truth- we WILL eat that apple again- Each one of us WILL.
“Please pardon me for jumping in here, but that is not at all what the bible says or teaches. The key phrase of the passage you refer to says “In My Name”, which is the same as saying “for ME” or “in MY Will” or “for My purpose”.
Praying for what Jesus wants is usually not a million dollars or a new caddy.”
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You are wrong. I don’t know which passage you are referring to, but there are several in the Bible that have Jesus making these broad promises, and not one of them is qualified by “for me,” “in my will,” “for my purpose,” or anything like that. Read the Gospels, and you will see that, in several places therein, Jesus is quoted as saying, essentially, you can ask for ANYTHING, and it will be yours for the asking — as long as you have faith in Jesus. Now, seriously, don’t you think that is ludicrous? Jesus said, if you want to pitch a mountain into the sea, go ahead. You can do, if you just believe you can, and you believe in him. This is just another of several reasons rational people understand this is all a bunch of nonsense.
CottShop,
I don’t want to be misunderstood here. I read your entire, very lengthy post, and I want you to understand that, one human being writing to another, I am very sympathetic to you for your severe health problems. It is most unfortunate that this world can be so difficult for many people. If you find comfort in your religious beliefs, that is great. I don’t believe there is any reason to believe in a “supreme being,” and I certainly don’t believe there is really a Satan. We will just have to disagree with each other on just about everything, I suppose. But for what it is worth, I hope you find peace and comfort in dealing with your health afflictions, hatever it takes.
"apparently"
Buckeye- thanks- I have found peace- the peace of course doesn’t diminish what I or anyone goes through, but it helps to understand why. While I respect your right to not believe, I certainly dissagree that there isn’t any reason to beleive- especially with so much at stake in eternity.
I appologize for the long post, but I wantec ot cut through the veneers and get right ot the crux of why we reject Christ/God. I see lots of posts that kinda dance all around the real issues, and while one can understand the reasoning behind it, I guess I’m a person that likes to get right to the heart of hte matter- Never cared for dancing. Anyway\- sure we can agree to dissagree- I respect that.
Thank you for writing that...
You’re welcoem, but Writing what? The long boring post on my thesis on man’s condition and standing before God? or are you refering to another post?
I found it quite humbling (and true, by the way) rather than boring though...something we all could use a little more of.
Thank you again for writing it.
Matthew 7:6
6"Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet, and then turn and tear you to pieces.
Actually, you haven't given any reasons in your post as to why it is irrational. You simply assert it sans evidence. That's alright though, because I agree with you in principle. You can not get there through rational thought. You can only get there, through wisdom.
The problem for you is, since you have ruled out the one, a priori, you will forever be without both. Neither will you ever have faith, nor wisdom.
You should have listened, and taken to heart, what CottShop had to say to you...and I pray that God opens your eyes to the truth....
Tell me about it, I feel like this about every day.
Well you’re welcome. There’s so much to our lives that go just beyond the hpysical world and affect others in in ways that we simply will never realize. It’s certainly hard for us to see that our own little worlds aren’t all there is to this life- there is a higher purpose, one that affects so many more people than just ourselves, and there is a vicious spiritual war going on, being waged by Satan who seeks to keep people blind to God’s love and caring. Evil and sufferings can quickly change our focus from what God wants, to what we want- nay, what we demand.
“Actually, you haven’t given any reasons in your post as to why it is irrational. You simply assert it sans evidence. That’s alright though, because I agree with you in principle. You can not get there through rational thought. You can only get there, through wisdom.”
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You don’t understand why belief in what Jesus supposedly said about prayer was irrational? I suggest you try this: Muster up all the mighty faith you claim to have in God and Jesus, and make mountain go into the sea. Let me know how you did.
It seems strange to me that believers pretend these passages simply aren’t there in their Bible, but I suppose it is a defense mechanism, part of the apologetics of being Christian. But it is there, and it ought to be understood to be an embarrassment to those apologists. Let me see one of you believers through a mountain into the sea, or perform a miracle of your choice, to prove that Jesus was right.
===========================
M: An argument isn't just contradiction.
A: It can be.
M: No it can't. An argument is a connected series of statements intended to establish a proposition.
A: No it isn't.
M: Yes it is! It's not just contradiction.
A: Look, if I argue with you, I must take up a contrary position.
M: Yes, but that's not just saying 'No it isn't.'
A: Yes it is!
M: No it isn't!
A: Yes it is!
M: Argument is an intellectual process. Contradiction is just the automatic gainsaying of any statement the other person makes.
(short pause)
A: No it isn't.
[You don’t understand why belief in what Jesus supposedly said about prayer was irrational? I suggest you try this: Muster up all the mighty faith you claim to have in God and Jesus, and make mountain go into the sea.]
It was explained to you buckeye- perfectly-
Jesus is very specific in His explanations that whatsoever we shall ask IN HIS NAME, we shall recieve- one poster explained exactly what asking IN HIS NAME meant.
Now, your challenge exposes the fact that you desire Jesus to perform IN YOUR NAME- miracles on demand- power for powers sake, and NOT for the sake of glorifying the name of the Lord- which is why we MUST ask IN HIS NAME.
MANY prayer requests have been answered when people asked IN HIS NAME- people have recovered, people have been helped when help was needed, and mountains have indeed been moved when people asked IN HIS NAME- You seem to be under the delusion that only a supernatural intervention with a mountain moving all by itself would qualify as an answer to someone’s prayer to move a mountain for the glory of God.
The age of supernatural miracles is over for now. Jesus spoke to this very fact when He told the disciples that blessed will be those hwo believe despite not having witnessed the supernatural miracles first hand- in other words, He was telling us future generations that it was going to take greater faith to bewlieve in Him because His supernatural miracles were goign to end for a time. I’m sure you’re well aware of this, but you seem intent on ridiculing Christians beccause Christ no longer performs supernatural miracles that are flashy enough for you to point to in wide eyed wonder. You have many eyewitnesses to supernatural miracles, yet you dismiss them all and won’t believe they witnessed Christ’s supernatural miracles-
Do you want a mountain moved Buckeye? Pray to God to allow you to do so for HIS GLORY, and not for your own selfish desire to wield some power on command. IF God decides His glory will be displayed by moving that mountain, HE will order events so that you can move that mountain. He will direct events in a supernatural manner that HIS GLORY will be seen and there will be no doubt that HE is directing the events and NOT YOU!!! Oh- it won’t be in the flashy manner that your selfish desire wants- He won’t perform on command for someone with such an arrogant ridiculing heart, but he WILL, if your intentions are honest and honorable, provide you with all the help you need to move that mountain.
[But it is there, and it ought to be understood to be an embarrassment to those apologists.]
There’s abso9lutel;y no embarrasment whatsoever buckeye- We fully understand that the age of supernatural miracles is over- but we also fully realize that God still performs His miracles FOR HIS GLORY when He sees fit, and HOW He sees fit. While moving that mountain supernaturally, by just speaking to it isn’t as flashy as praying and watching God work His miracle by providing us with folks and funds and equiptment needed to move a mountain FOR HIS GLORY-
FOR HIS GLORY is somethign you are obviously either not understanding, or, you are understanding that, but ignoring that FACT and demanding God perform on demand so you can beat your chest and prove how powerful YOU are. Your heart’s desire is wrong Buckeye- and it exposes the fact that you couldn’t care less that God displayed His power in the past, as witnessed by many, but rather you care only about exploiting the fact that the age of flashy supernatural miracles is over and using that fact as some sort of arrogant inspired tool to ridicule Christians with.
I’ve described many supernatural interventions by God, and you simply dismiss them as though they are nothing, and the internet will provide many many more examples of God’s divine intervention, but you in your unbeliving heart won’t accept that God does indeed have a very personal relationship with His children and does indeed provide in a divinely supernatural way they way HE has chosen, not the way WE choose.
So if you wish to continue ridiculing Christians, have at it, it just shows a profound misunderstanding of God, and it exposes the fact that even a mountain moving supernaturally wouldn’t be enough for you to believe. God performs His miracles every single day in thousands of lives all across the globe- but hte fact that these miracles aren’t flashy enough for you shows that no matter how many miracles are pointed out to you means little in your determined heart.
God answers the pure heart Buckeye- not the selfish heart. Don’t be fooled- God is no fool, and He sees through the unbelief. He’ll move that mountain for you if He chooses to, but your heart needs to ask purely, something you’ve so far not shown you’re willing to do. Just for the record- God has moved many mountains when His glory has been shown to do so. Many people have prayed and had mountains moved through the direct divine intervention of God. God makes the impossible possible when the heart is right. Jesus wasn’t giving man cart blanc permission to perform flashy supernatual miracles, and you know this- You know that He was fully implying that whatsoever we shall aks IN HIS NAME we shall recieve NOT for our own glory, but for God’s glory, yet you’re ignoring what you know to be true simply to ridicule Christians.
Well, keep ridiculing, meanwhile, Christians the world over will continue to watch God’s supernatural divinity in action and watch the impsossible happen every day- While you’re sitting idly by sneering at Christians, Christians will be moving moutnains and enjoying a relationship with the God who makes the impossible possible. While you’re writing events off as ‘coincidences’ millions of christians will be enjoying multitudes of ‘coincidences’ that are direct answers to their prayers. Mock away.
I'm thinking the water went away to the same place from whence Jesus got the 5 kaiser rolls and 2 walleye in order to feed the 5,000 or so people at that picnic....
Even if such an event were to occur, in what way would it represent proof that prayer and faith were causative, especially since you have ruled out such a correlation a priori.
You seem to be in such a quandary as to be totally ineffective at debating this subject.
That said, there is nothing Christ said that I am ashamed of. I save my shame and embarrassment for myself, my behavior, and my lack of faith.
My last response was a bit harsh, and I apologize for soem of hte thigns said- the context of what was said htough is truth.
You demand that we be able to ‘move mountains’ and ‘pray anything, and miracles will happen’ Yet all through the bible, The miracles of God and Christ and the Desciples and Prophets were all supernatural acts meant for only one thing- to validify God’s commission of selected teachers and men and women of God. The miracles pointed to the fact that God was indeed real, and that He indeed was God. The miracles were NOT for the edification of those performing the miracles. Many htousands of people of course witnessed the miracles, and were recipients of God’s miracles through select men and women of God, however, as you will remember, Christ performed many many miracles in front of thousands of people who not only wouldn’t accept them, but who infact were so enraged by them that they murdered God Himself by nailing Him to a tree. These people had every oportunity to take note of supernatuiral miracles that could ONLY have come from God Hismelf, yet they refused to believe that Christ was God.
I explained that we are in what is known as the “Church Age” that preceeds the end times, and that during this age, miracles, true supernatural miracles, not the fluff and trickery performed by charlatans onstage claiming to ‘heal the sick, make the lame walk again’ etc- but true miracles, like speaking to the mountain and having it removed spuernaturally to the sea without any intervention by man, will not be performed by God’s people during htis age.
Christ Himself was amoung us, and we recieved Him not despite the fact that He validified His Godship beyond a shadow of a doubt by performing miracles that ONLY God could perform so that there would be NO question that He indeed was God!- worse yet, we not only didn’t receive Him, but we murdered Him! So there we had God living right amoung us, performing thiungs ONLY God could perform, ans we received Him not! God ended the times of miracles, and Christ Himself said that in the future it would be much much more difficult to believe in Him as a result.
That was God’s descision to make, and it was His Soveriegn right to make such a descision- As you will remember from a previous post to you- WE invited sin and evil into our lives, and WE will deal with the results as such and have NOONE to blame but ourselves.
God could very well heal an amputee, cure sickness, and end world hunger and cure aids, cancer, diabetese etc, but WE, NOT God, didn’t want hte paradise we had in the garden- The apple appealed to our arrogant selfish desire to rule our own lives, and despite hte fact that we are more and more sinking into an abyss of self destruction, we STILL want sin more than we want to love and obey God.
God will not be tested, and I’m sorry, but your request for God to change His mind about performing supernatural miracles is an exemplary effort to put God to the test. God already performed the miracles you require, but that isn’t good enough for you apparently. You demand that the Soverieng God who created you, perform on your command and suspend His descision to end His Supernatural involvement in our lives during htis Church Age. God intervenes in our lives in another equally spectacular manner by performing providential acts, but you ignore these, and demand more from God.
You claim that because God does not raise the dead today that that must mean God doesn’t exist, and quite frankly, this is a lame argument against the existence of God especially in light of the many many testimonials of God’s direct providential involvement and answers to prayers. Why is the argument weak? Because you can NOT claim the providential acts do not occure, and you can NOT prove that they are nothign more than ‘coincidences’, because hte sheer volume of them occuring every day, every year are powerful counterevidences to the accusation.
I’d like you to read through this link- the teacher is John McArthur Jr. who is a dead on preacher of God’s word. He is speaking to the issue of supposed miracles today, and addresses why they no longer happen and why they would NOT happen upon the command of just anyone, and I want you to understand while reading this that Christ’s words about moving mountains was not a cart blanc token that empowers anyone to command God on demand. It was a statement that absolutely implied that IF we should ask according to His will, then God will do the thing we ask, no matter how seemingly impossible it might appear. Christ’s statements were not indicating God would suspend His descision to end supernatural miracles, but were indeed implying, as per other testaments in the bible, that we MUST ask with a pure heart, and not a heart corrupted by doubt and a sense of disbeleif that incurres a demand for God to show His power. God will answer the prayers of the pure of heart IN ACCORD with His will, and quite bluntly, the pure of heart will NOT be putting God to the test by demanding that He suspend His descision about supernatural miracles for our benifit.
The reasons for miracles have ALWAYS been to introduce MAJOR new eras and to validify the introiductions of those eras and of the written word-
“1. Miracles Introduced New Eras of Revelation.
All three of those periods of miracles were times when God gave His written revelation.
a. Moses and Joshua—the time of the giving of the Law.
b. Elijah and Elisha—introduced the prophetic office, the prophetic age, and all of the Books of Prophecies (Major Prophets, Minor Prophets).
c. New Testament—obviously. Christ did miracles, the apostles did miracles. That introduced the era of the New Testament revelation.”
The introduction of those eras are now over, but there will come one final introduction, and that will be right before the end times- but beware, there will be false miracles and charlatans who deceive even the saints and hwos ‘miracles’ are nothign but the deceits of the Evil one.
Please give htis link a read through: http://www.biblebb.com/files/MAC/CHAOS5.HTM
Believing in Christ today takes faith, and it takes trust, But I assure you personally, that you will not be let down should you take that leap of faith as God DOES indeed have a personal relationhsip and WILL act in providential ways to authenticate His relationship with us, but alas, not because we demand it, but because we ask ACCORDING TO HIS WILL IN HIS NAME, and those that understand this great truth, enjoy a personal and rewarding relationship with their Creator.
I APPOLOGIZED FOR THAT ONE (rabid coyote) btw; It was un-Christian of me, I don’t care how much they insult me, unless it is blatently untrue.
It was a moment of my flesh when I just got mad at the constant insults, but that really doesn’t matter when I (or you) are trying to have a serious conversation with them, and maybe wittness to them~
-Blessings JS
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