January 30, 2010                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           No. 1001

                                       The Whenever I Get A Chance Newsletter
 

 

 
 

Is God Unique?

A number of Bible verses, predominantly in the Psalms, compare the revealed God of the Bible to various gods worshiped in the ancient Near East.  Many of us may gloss right over them.  We mentally file away such passages as descriptions of primitive, superstitious people who worshiped anything and everything, much like the Greeks the Apostle Paul addressed on Mars Hill who wanted to make sure they had all the bases covered by not neglecting any god in worship for fear of incurring divine wrath.  Sadly, we often miss the point of these passages, which is not meant to simply convey men’s superstitions but is intended to reveal the sovereignty of our God over all creation and to discredit the gods of other peoples as impotent and worthless.

Indeed, one of the many challenges directed at biblical creationists is “if we teach about your God, why not teach about the many other gods in the world?”  That is, what really separates the God of the Bible from the gods of this world?

After God delivered the Israelites from the Egyptians at the Red Sea, Moses wrote, “Who is like to You, O LORD, among the gods?  Who is like You, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?”  (Exodus 15:11).  One of the reasons the Lord sent the plagues upon Egypt before the Exodus was to judge the false gods of Egypt: “For the Egyptians buried all their firstborn, which the LORD had smitten among them: upon their gods also the LORD executed judgments”  (Numbers 33:4).  The psalmist wrote, “For the LORD is great, and greatly to be praised: He is to be feared above all gods.  For all the gods of the nations are idols: but the LORD made the heavens”  (Psalm 96:4-5).

The emphasis of these, and numerous other biblical passages, is that when we compare other gods to the Lord, we can see how insolvent they are in majesty and power to the revealed Creator God of the Bible.  

 

Can A Believer Survive College?

As modern philosophers go, Dr. Seuss is not bad.  A popular high school graduation gift these days is a book written by the master of rhyme titled, Oh, the Places You’ll Go!  The book, a graduation speech Dr. Seuss once delivered, begins like this,

“Congratulations!  Today is your day.  You’re off to Great Places!  You’re off and away!”

Dr. Seuss is right.  College is just the beginning of the many places you will go, the beginning of many firsts.  College is the first time you are free from the regimented schedule of high school.  You begin making more and more decisions for yourself.  Deciding things like whether to go to class, or roll over and stay in bed.  Whether to wear those jeans for the third day in a row, or do laundry.  College is an exciting time, one more open door beckoning you further down the pathway of life.  It is a time when decision-making and responsibilities truly become your own.

“You have brains in your head.  You have feet in your shoes.  You can steer yourself any direction you choose.  You’re on your own.  And you know what you know. And YOU are the guy who’ll decide where to go.”

I was so excited about going to college that I jumped in with both feet.  Like Alice in Wonderland, I found myself in a strange and unfamiliar place, but this one was called Welcome Week.  I understand that some years ago, Welcome Week used to be when you went to campus to walk your class schedule, buy books at the bookstore, find the good places to study among the library stacks, and meet other students in your dorm.  You know the commercial that said, “This is not your father’s Oldsmobile”?  Well, likewise for Welcome Week.  This is not your father’s Welcome Week.

These days, on most college campuses, Welcome Week is a not-so-subtle indoctrination into moral relativism.  Moral relativism is the belief system that says there is no right or wrong.  Right is what is right for you.  When followed to its logical end, moral relativism leads to anarchy, but when it is cloaked in skits, games, group activities, mandatory lectures, and free pizza, it passes for freshman fun.  Welcome Week is also an initiation into the drinking and partying scene, with ample opportunities for hooking up, which for you moms and dads is slang for a one-night stand.  So much for finding out the library hours.

Today, there is no substitute for a good foundation in the Bible.  Without a solid foundation in the Bible, our kids and grandkids will fall away.  Unfortunately, about 75% of children raised in Christian churches today will lose their way.

Part of the reason is because we do not ground the youths of today in such a way that they can defend their beliefs in the Bible.  Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3:15,

But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asks you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:  KJV ER

There is no better time than now to ensure that our youth has a solid foundation in, and can defend their faith.  While we are at this goal, we all need to get back to a Biblical World View.

 

What was the Post-Flood World Like?

Darwin was both a product of his times and his own man.  Like all of us, he was trying to make sense of his world.  Yet true knowledge of the world begins by trusting God and His Word.  Unfortunately, our nature is to rebel against our loving Creator.

“For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.”   1 Timothy 2:3–4  KJV ER

Darwin the God-hater, bent on overturning Christian culture: this is how many Christians view Charles Darwin.  But we need to dig a little deeper.

Actually this is easy to do because Darwin kept a personal diary from an early age until his death.  When we dig, we find not a satanic ogre but an intellectual who embodied the many contradictions and conflicts prevalent in the British culture of Victorian England, a man like any other, and a man whom God wanted to save. Even secular biographies unwittingly shout, “God pursued Darwin.”
 

Until the next time!  Enjoy every second that
God has given you.  For indeed it is a blessing.


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