Sometime last year someone asked me the question, “How can we counteract the false information our young people are receiving concerning God and creation and teach them the truth?” (My paraphrase of the question.) In my Pastor’s Pen newsletter I presented some thoughts on the subject. I want to share that article again in several segment of my blog.

In an article I read recently, a writer stated that the Bible was ever so slowly attacking and eroding the walls of the bastions of materialistic humanism. To me, the suggestion seems to picture the Bible leading a charge from the outside against the strong, seemingly impenetrable fortresses of a philosophy that is at odds with theistic principles. I say it is an incorrect picture of the Bible for a number of reasons. One is that the Bible is truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth. Instead of mounting feeble attacks against unbelief and unrighteousness, rather it stands as a strong tower of ethics, morals and godliness unmovable against the onslaughts of evil. When considering the character of the Bible, I think of a children chorus that says:
The Bible stands like a rock undaunted
’Mid the raging storms of time;
Its pages burn with the truth eternal,
And they glow with a light sublime

The Bible stands though the hills may tumble,
It will firmly stand when the earth shall crumble;
I will plant my feet on its firm foundation,
For the Bible stands.

The principles inculcated in the pages of the Bible are being assailed from every direction. On television, in the movies, on the printed page and even in the classroom, our children are exposed to propaganda that contradicts the Bible by attributing the universe to an accident and tracing man’s origin to a pool of primordial soup. Concerning the universe and man, humanism says chance, the Bible says creation. Concerning the Bible, humanism says fake, God says fact.

Unbelief has reached pandemic magnitudes. At the heart of the global outbreak is age-old the attempt to shake man’s confidence in God’s existence. To accomplish this undertaking, atheist, agnostic, humanists and other unbelievers justify their position by proposing that the universe and all that is in it originated spontaneously and that the life-forms that resulted began a process of evolution that eventually produced the human family. The theory of evolution did not originate with the English Naturalist Charles Darwin, who at the age of fifty-one, published the renown The Origin of the Species. Darwin’s thoughts were the results of his extensive travels collecting specimens of what he felt established proof of evolution. So anxious to find something which would establish their conjecture that man arrived on earth as an accident and then evolved over million of years, those who wanted to rule God out of man’s life fed on Darwin’s ideas like sharks in a feeding frenzy. Then for years, the concept of evolution as man’s origin grew in popularity until what at first was presented as a theory began to be taught as fact.

In spite of the lack of definitive proof of its authenticity and a mounting number of prominent scientist who are now embracing creationism, many continue to accept evolution as the accepted answer to the existence of man,. Even Christians are not excluded from this number. So what is wrong with accepting what world opinion seems to believe is the only intelligent explanation for the material universe and all that is in it? Consider the words of eminent evolutionary biologist William Provine of Cornell University quoted by Lee Stroble. In a debate, Provine stated that if Darwin’s theory were true, it produces five inescapable conclusions:
1. there is no evidence of God
2. there is no life after death
3. there is no absolute foundation for right and wrong
4. there is no ultimate meaning for life
5. there is no such thing as free will
(The Case for a Creator, Lee Strobel, pg 18)

Evolution is THE popular world-view because it negates a responsibility and accountability to a holy God for one’s actions. The acceptance of the biblical account of creation puts God in the picture where He belongs and provides the only logical explanation for the countless intricacies of cosmos. The world does not want this accountablility.
(Continued)

How often do you hear people talk about time. “I don’t have enough time!” “Give me a little more time.” “There just isn’t enough time.” The truth of the matter is that regardless of how much we wish for more, all of us have the same amount of time. When we use it up there is no more. Face it, there are only twenty-four hours in a day. Regardless of how we would like to have more, no way man. It is simply not going to happen. So, why do we have so much trouble with time? Where does it go?

One of the things that plagues our families, our churches and even our jobs is what we call busyness. Try engaging someone in a decent conversation and before long they are telling you about all the things they must get done and how little time they have to do them. There’s housework to do, the kids’ soccer games, grocery shopping and the list goes on. I read of someone who had an expression for it. He said people are as busy as a fiddler’s elbow. In 1982 Dr. Larry Dossey wrote about “the obsessive belief that one’s time is getting away, that there isn’t enough of it and that one much peddle faster and faster to keep up” and called it “time sickness.”

Is there something wrong with being busy? Isn’t it better to be lazy than to be slothful? Busyness is not the problem. The problem is what are you busy doing. The bee is praised, mosquito is swatted. Why? Because fruitless busyness is destructive. Busyness can destroy are at least severely damage a number of things.

Busyiness can be destructive to a marriage. Research shows that, on the whole, married people are healthier and happier than unmarried people. However, research has also shown that busyness can produce stress fractures in a marriage. Busyness interferes with conversation and conversation is vital to a good marriage. Often the home becomes so busy that husbands and wives feel more like traffic controllers than spouses and parents. Research reveals that on the average a couple spends less than three minutes of meaningful conversation in a typical day. A person spends more time than that talking to a bank teller. With all the things most families have going on, there is seldom time for meaningful conversation.

Busyness is destructive to plain old every day fun. By the end of the day most family members feel like hamsters in a wheel and that is a shame. Life does not have to be a drag. Solomon said there is “a time...to laugh” (Ecc. 3:4). He also wrote, “A merry heart doeth good like a medicine” (Pro. 17:22). Lord Byron commented on this by saying "Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine." However, busyness will rob a person of joy and take the fun out of life.

Busyness helps to identify priorities. People talk about not having enough time to do everything. In such cases, what is it that these people usually get accomplished? You can be sure it will be the things they feel are the most important to them. Christians should carefully evaluate the things they feel are important. Jesus spoke f priorities when He said “seek ye first the kingdom of God.” If not approached with the right attitude, busyness can in opposition to this principle by distorting priorities and making even the strongest Christian occasionally forget what is truly important. Jesus told us "occupy" till He comes. That means to keep busy doing His work. So, remember the question is not are you busy, but rather what are you busy doing.

IT'S WEDNESDAY...

and that means mid-week services– Discovery and Adult Prayer Meeting. That also means I should be well on my way to having my messages for Sunday ready. The operative word here is SHOULD. Truth be know, I don’t. Things happen andyou have to adjust. Besides dealing with the mini-calamity at the church (showing the clean-up crew where things are and waiting for the insurance adjuster), at the house we were in the process of putting up crown molding, new baseboards and painting. That work was interrupted or delayed a number of times.

My wife was not a happy camper. She says it seems that every time we start a project that should normally take a day or two, it turns into a week (or more) because it never fails, I get called away right in the middle of it. I can understand her frustrations. I believe the Lord will have special rewards for pastors' wives--some for putting up with us and others for the many times they have had to put their own plans on hold. I can go weeks without getting a call that requires that I drop everything, but let me begin something here at the house and it seems the calls start. I’m sure I am not the only one who experiences this sort of thing. Sunday is our anniversary, so I am going to work extra hard to try and get this home project finished before the weekend.

This just may be my only post for today. We are taking the day off from the painting and stuff, but I still must prepare an ad for the paper, print some cards to send out, go over my message for tonight, work on the lessons for our Marriage Enrichment seminar and get started writing one of the lessons for fall Teen Discovery. Whew! I got tired just writing all that.

THE LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL WAS NOT A TRAIN
Things are looking up. The clean-up crew that arrived last night has completed the process of draining every molecule (or at least it seems) of moisture from floors, carpets, walls and ceiling of east wing of our main building.

This afternoon they began disinfecting the area and next will professionally clean the carpets. The adjustor arrived a hour early and within two hours the insurance company called to check how things were going. The insurance company said they would make sure things were taken care of, and they would take care of all the things we need. Of course, all these things remain to be seen, but at this point, things are going much better.

Sorry, I couldn’t come up with anything more exciting than this. Maybe something will come to mind sooner or later.

Help is on the way...I think
I spent the morning trying to get in touch with our insurance agent, attempting to set up a temporary office, calling our insurance agent, hooking up a phone, calling our insurance agent and reinstalling our office computer. I finally heard from our agent. Then I started waiting for the main office to call back, then more waiting for the water/moisture removal people to call and finally waiting to hear from the adjuster. Eventually, by about 3:00, all of them contacted me. According to the moisture removal company, one team would get here about 7:00 P.M. They said they will call me and I will meet them to open the church for them to set up their equipment. The second team will be here in the morning. I specifically told them I did not want to have to get up in the middle of the night to let them in. "No problem," the man said. Well, it is after 7:30 and I haven’t heard a word. If I have to leave the house and go to the church at 11:00 I am not going to be a happy camper. However, help is on the way...I think.

I realize that little items like this do not contain earth shattering information and perhaps do not merit using valuable time reading them, but I really would like to know if anyone reads them. In fact I would like to know if anyone is reading anything that I post. If you can figure out how to leave a comment, please do. I will look forward to hearing from you.

The waters asswaged

“And the waters asswaged!” The carpet was not completely dry this morning, but it was getting that way. The odor was there, but it was not too bad. I feel all the carpet will have to be replaced. I also feel that the sheet rock at floor level will have to be cut out and replaced. Now we are waiting on the adjuster to come. All the office work and phones will have to be handled from home (my secretary’s and mine).

We had a great service this morning. Several weeks ago after the morning service, a young mother asked if she could talk with me in my office. She told me she had joined a church when she was young, but she was sure she had not known what she was doing. She told me that something happened two years ago that changed her life. She was diagnosed with cervical cancer. She had since lived with it for two years because she felt she was too young to have surgery. In December, her doctor told her she should enjoy Christmas with her kids because it would most likely be the last one she would have. It was then she realized she was not prepared to die. There in my office I explained the plan of salvation to her and she asked the Lord to save her.

She told me she had a tumor the size of a baseball and numerous smaller ones in her intestinal track. The doctors said they could probably remove the large one but doubted they would be able to do anything with the smaller ones, there were just too many. At that time, she was preparing for several more chemo treatments before having surgery. We have mentioned her in prayer at every service and had her on our prayer chain.

This morning, she presented herself to the church for baptism and gave a fantastic testimony. In her last visit to the doctor for tests, they found the baseball-sized tumor had decreased to the size of a nickle or time. All the smaller tumors in her intestinal track were gone. We had a shouting good time. This young lady is a single mother with three beautiful children. She will still have surgery and have to take a few more chemo treatments as a precaution. We will baptize her next Sunday. After that service, the water and wet carpets no longer seemed that important.