Thankful to God!

On this morning of Thanksgiving, I slept in a bit (after a loooong round trip to Ohio last night) and then opened God's Word. I decided to read verses pertaining to giving thanks. Here's a few that I read:

1 Thessalonians 5:18 (King James Version)

18In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

Ephesians 5:20 (King James Version)

20Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;

Job 1:21 (King James Version)

21And said, Naked came I out of my mother's womb, and naked shall I return thither: the LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD.

Habakkuk 3:17-18 (King James Version)

17Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herd in the stalls:

18Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.

1 Chronicles 29:13 (King James Version)

13Now therefore, our God, we thank thee, and praise thy glorious name.

1 Samuel 2:1-10 (King James Version)

1And Hannah prayed, and said, My heart rejoiceth in the LORD, mine horn is exalted in the LORD: my mouth is enlarged over mine enemies; because I rejoice in thy salvation.

2There is none holy as the LORD: for there is none beside thee: neither is there any rock like our God.

3Talk no more so exceeding proudly; let not arrogancy come out of your mouth: for the LORD is a God of knowledge, and by him actions are weighed.

4The bows of the mighty men are broken, and they that stumbled are girded with strength.

5They that were full have hired out themselves for bread; and they that were hungry ceased: so that the barren hath born seven; and she that hath many children is waxed feeble.

6The LORD killeth, and maketh alive: he bringeth down to the grave, and bringeth up.

7The LORD maketh poor, and maketh rich: he bringeth low, and lifteth up.

8He raiseth up the poor out of the dust, and lifteth up the beggar from the dunghill, to set them among princes, and to make them inherit the throne of glory: for the pillars of the earth are the LORD's, and he hath set the world upon them.

9He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.

10The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

Such beautiful praises unto God! I'd like to offer up my own on this blessed Thanksgiving morning.

Dear Precious Father,

I come to You thanking you for so many things. I thank You for my Salvation that was made possible by Your Son, my precious Savior, going to the cross for my wicked ways. I thank You for looking beyond my faults and loving me regardless. I thank You for reaching Your hands down daily to lift me up and to help me with my infirmities. I thank You Savior for this thorn in my flesh that daily brings me to my knees. I Pray that it continues to bring glory unto Your holy name.

I thank You for my precious mother who is truly my best friend on this earth. I cannot imagine being raised without her God given guidance in my life. I thank You for my precious daddy who has always put my brother, mom and I before himself in all that he does. I thank You that he continues to be a daddy to me even though I am a grown woman. I thank You for my precious, little brother. I thank You for the things that he is learning even now and I Pray for your guidance to be upon his life. I thank You for my sweet, sweet husband who loves me more than I'll ever realize. I thank You that He has stepped up to the plate throughout my struggle with infertility and that He is truly a helpmate to me throughout it all.

I thank you, precious Father, for my sweet "in-luvs" who have always accepted me as family even 6 years ago when I was just dating their son. They have been wonderful to me and I am truly blessed to be a part of the Goodlett clan. I thank You for all my family: cousins (Jess, Gav, Mon, Kris, Shell, Michelle, Robin, etc.), aunts and uncles (Sandy, Craig, Barb, Steve, Candy, etc.), Grandmother Rose, and all those who have passed on yet their teachings bear witness in my life, (Papaw Brock, Mamaw Brittain, Uncle Bruce, Sister Helen, Brother Jack, sis Shauna, Precious Best Friend Danielle, etc.).

I Praise You Father for my blessed friends who have stood by me through all these situations. Those who have Prayed without ceasing for my miracle. Those who unselfishly love me for me and for nothing in return. Lord You know who each of these people are. I Pray a special blessing down upon them on this wonderful day of Thanksgiving.

I thank You God for my home, my job, my material goods, and even the air that I breathe. None of which is possible without your grace and mercy. I thank You for my nation and the freedom that we have been blessed with. Lord I Pray that we will continue in Prayer and keep it that way.

I also thank You Father for my blessed, Bible believing Church and Pastor, William Boyd. I thank You for his faithfulness and for his family's faithfulness. I thank You for inspiring each sermon that he preaches. I thank You for the blessings that I receive from them. I also praise you for the lessons that You have been teaching me through Your Word and experiences. I feel so blessed to be able to study and read such a wonderful set of instructions for my life.

Lord, I praise You for the miracles that I know that You are bringing to pass even now. I thank You for my future, my past, and my present. I could never ask for more than You have given me thus far. I Pray that You rain blessings down upon all those who are celebrating this blessed, and overlooked, holiday. I Pray for those who have no one to celebrate with and for those who feel as though they have nothing to be thankful for. Will You open up their eyes Father, remove the scales and show them their blessings. I thank You most of all for Your unconditional and unchanging love. Without You, I AM NOTHING!

In Your Precious Son Jesus' Name,
Amen.

PART 3 -2008 Creation Conference-Binghamtown Baptist Church with Dr. Jim Gardner

The Mystery of Ancient Man

*** Did man evolve or was he created?

The Bible really can be trusted, starting with the very first verse.

Romans 1: 19-21 :

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

Romans 1: 22-25:

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

*** Some of our most intelligent people are so wise that they have become fools and they can't see the simplicity of the Gospel. It isn't "difficult" enough for them.

- Who changed the truth that God created the earth to the lie of Evolution? These same people.

EVOLUTION:
Never happened
Couldn't happen
Not happening now
Never will happen!

***True Evolution of 1 kind into another kind takes the addition of information! The addition of information requires an outside intelligence.

- Horizontal variation, which evolutionist call natural selection, does exist. However, it does not mean that a dog can evolve into a cat. Yes there are different breeds of dogs but they are all still dogs.

***Artifacts are old evidence that is found by going through the garbage dump of what's left from a society.

Evolution teaches: The further back you go, the more primitive mankind must have been.
That means: The more primitive the artifacts should be.

- Artifacts that don't find with evolution are called OOPS-Arts! This stands for Out Of Place Artifacts! Makes sense doesn't it?


These things are not as old as they think they are. They can't be:

Eg. Do Geodes take millions of years to form? A geode was found containing an actual spark plug....

(From: http://www.geocities.com/hngibson/geode.htm)

"Geodes look like ordinary stones. However, when cut open they often house crystals or mineral deposits. Geodes carefully cut in half are highly coveted by rock collectors around the world.

In 1961 Virginia Maxey, Wally Lane and Mike Mikesell, co-owners of the LM&V Rockhounds Gem and Gift shop in Olancha, Calif. went rock hunting in the Coso Mountains. Near the summit of a 4,300 ft. peak they found a geode that challenged the history of mankind.

Mike Mikeshell ruined a diamond saw blade cutting into the fossil encrusted geode. No one was prepared for what they found. In the middle of the geode was a metal core, about .08 inch (2 millimeters) in diameter. Enclosing a seemingly ceramic or porcelain collar that encased a hexagonal sleeve carved out of wood that now seemed to be petrified. All of this was enclosed in a geode made up of hardened clay, pebbles, bits of fossil shell and "two non-magnetic metallic objects resembling a nail and a washer. " A small sliver of copper indicated that the ceramic and wood may have once been separated by a copper sleeve.

Upon examining X-ray photographs taken of the object, Paul Willis, editor of INFO journal noticed the similarities between this object and a modern day spark plug."

Eg. A computing device found in a ship that sank in the Aegan Sea in 1st Century B.C.

Eg. Maps of Antartica - a map found that shows what is believed to be the coast of Antartica before the Icecaps. Scientists have stated previously that the Icecaps were millions of years old, but the map only dates back to 500 B.C.

Eg. Stylized insects on showcase at the Smithsonian? These were first called stylized insects but have now come to be realized as a scale model of an airplane instead. Even the curly cues on the wings are like those on the wings of airplanes today to help them fly more efficiently. They were found in grave yards and there have been quite a few found. They date thousands of years old. When shown to some air pilots they labeled them as a model of an airplane. They made some to scale that were larger and flew them.

Eg. Egyptian artifact a Sakkar bird from the 3rd Century B.C.: This was an artifact as well. There was even a notch found in the back and those who were measuring them to create bigger scale models to fly noticed it. They decided to put a stabilizer into the models there and they flew perfectly. So instead of what it is thought to be, it is instead an approximately 2,000 year old airplane! It makes sense because we do have airplanes today that have faces drawn on them.

Eg. The pyramids and Ziggurats? These have been found in places other than just Egypt. Folks have believed previously that these are tied to extraterrestrial beings actually being god. These places are where they were worshipped. This also ties in with the thoughts of Intelligent Design, a belief that a lot of Christian folks are ok with but should not be as it does not go along with Creationism and the Bible.

(From Wikipedia.com)

Ancient astronaut theories or paleocontact are various proposals that intelligent extraterrestrial beings have visited Earth and that this contact is linked to the origins or development of human cultures, technologies and/or religions.

Some of these theories suggest that deities from most — if not all — religions are actually extraterrestrial beings, and their technologies were taken as evidence of their divine status.^[1][2]

Ancient astronaut theories have limited support within the scientific community, and have garnered little if any attention in peer-reviewed studies from scientific journals. These theories have been popularized, particularly in the latter half of the 20th century, by writers Erich von Däniken, Zecharia Sitchin and Robert K.G. Temple ^[3].

Ancient astronaut theories have been widely used in science fiction.

***YOU CAN'T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ, HEAR, OR (at this day in time) SEE!

- Man's sin brought about death.... evolution teaches that death is normal and good and actually needed. However, death is the penalty of sin!

- The oldest living human to date is 119 (as of this lecture). Think: People before the flood lived from 800-900 years!

John 16:8 -And when he is come, he will reprove the world of sin, and of righteousness, and of judgment:

IMAGINE: What if someone such as Albert Einstein had lived 800-900 years? What else could he have accomplished?

Genesis 4: 20-22 - 20And Adah bare Jabal: he was the father of such as dwell in tents, and of such as have cattle.

21And his brother's name was Jubal: he was the father of all such as handle the harp and organ.

22And Zillah, she also bare Tubalcain, an instructer of every artificer in brass and iron: and the sister of Tubalcain was Naamah.

***This was 7 generations after Adam. And people really believe that the Ancient Man was stupid because he lived 5,000 years ago! Nope!

- They played woodwind and stringed instruments. How could have they have done this if they were just hunters and gatherers? It isn't exactly easy to play a violin. It isn't exactly easy to built these either.

Eg. Acan instrument .... strange instrument but makes beautiful music when played by someone who knows how.

- Tubalcain cast brass and iron - this was sophisticated metal working.

- The preflood blacksmiths had the art of metallurgy. Brass (Hebrew for Copper and Bronze) dealing with smelting.

- Deep underground mining - a stack of 98% ingas found .... 4,000 years old.... how?

***The Global Flood destroyed the surface of the entire planet!

- Possible Eg. Atlantis - the Global Flood could have taken it under ... just a possibility.

- People were highly advanced technologically speaking. Nimrod (Noah's great grandson), the founder of Babel, set up Astrology. Astrology was set up to worship the sun, moon, and stars.

What was God's reaction to this?

Gen. 11: 5-6 -

5And the LORD came down to see the city and the tower, which the children of men builded.

6And the LORD said, Behold, the people is one, and they have all one language; and this they begin to do: and now nothing will be restrained from them, which they have imagined to do.

- The post civilization of Nimrod: If they can dream it up, they can build it.

- Noah made the ark because he believed God. He probably took engineering drawings or mental pictures of the technology that was available before the flood with him on the ark. God had instructed Noah and his family to go and be fruitful unto all the earth. Nimrod did not follow God's instructions and tried to keep all the people right there.

- Noah and Shem lived for God

- The technology declined from The Flood until Christ's time (the dark ages) and then begins to come back after Christ.

***Why was there a decline?

- God confused their language and it slowed technology down.

- The different family groups could only understand themselves.

- They had disagreements with each other (different family groups) because they couldn't understand each other and they left Babel. God had wanted them to all sort out in the first place but Nimrod had disobeyed.

- They all moved away and the good things separated. You see, when they all lived together in Babel and worked together, everything was awesome. You had some families who were good at agriculture while others were good at building. You had families that were good at medicine and families that were good at various other trades. When they all separated, each family excelled at only one or so things and therefore technology slowed down while they tried to get better at the other things.

- Part of the human gene pool and knowledge pool also was moved away. They begin to marry within those who lived around them (family) and thus came gene mutations.

PART 2-2008 Creation Conference-Binghamtown Baptist Church with Dr. Jim Gardner

In the last set of notes, I mentioned Dr. Gardener's thoughts on what a "day" really is. This is where we'll pick up with the notes on his talk today.

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***If a day was 1,000 years in Creation, the plants would have died. The plants wouldn't have been able to exist without the sun for that long.

***"Yom" is "Day" as we learned earlier.

The Number of times Yom is found in the Bible:

* Yom + a number = 410 times
* Yom w/o the word day = 38 times
* Yom w/ the word day = 23 times
* Yom w/ night and day = 52 times

We can see this throughout Genesis, including these verses:

5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

31And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

***Evening, Morning, Day, Night... AKA Yom is an ordinal number!

(From AIG's website)

In Genesis 1, God, through the 'pen' of Moses, is going out of His way to tell us that the 'days' of creation were literal earth–rotation days. To do this, He used the Hebrew word yôm, combined with a number and the words 'evening and morning'. If God had wanted to tell us it was an ancient creation, then there were several good ways He could have done this. If theistic evolution had been intended, then there were several constructions He could have used. If the time factor had been meant to be ambiguous, then the Hebrew language had ways of saying this. However, God chose not to use any construction which would have communicated a meaning other than a literal solar day.

The only meaning which is possible from the Hebrew words used is that the 'days' of creation were 24–hour days. God could not have communicated this meaning more clearly than He did in Genesis 1. The divine confirmation of this, if any is needed, is Exodus 20:9-11, where the same word 'days' is used throughout:

'Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, not thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.'

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Eg. Jonah in the whale 3,000 years? Nope!

Eg. Exodus 20:11 -For in six days the LORD made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it.

- God actually wrote this in the stone tablets with His very own finger!

***The time frame of "Week" is found no where. Can scientist even explain where the "Week" comes from? The other time frames make sense:

Day: 1 Earth rotation
Month: earth and moon rotation
Year: Earth and sun rotation

(Book suggestion: "Old Earth Creationism On Trial")

*** True Evolution of 1 kind into another kind, takes the addition of outside information. The addition of outside information requires an outside intelligence. THIS ARGUMENT DEFEATS THE BASIS OF EVOLUTION!

- Evolution is the substance of fossils hoped for and the evidence of things not found! (haha)




- The lines on the Evolutionary Tree of Life are not connected and have missing links.

*** Richard Dawkins said that religion teaches us to be satisfied with not understanding the world. That is definitely not true. We can understand everything about the world by using the Bible as our guide.

*** Dawkins even states that people who do not believe in Evolution are "ignorant, stupid, and/or insane."

*** He also stated that "Evolution is observed, just not while happening."

*** Our modern day society had a fit when the Creation Museum was opened. One headline supporting this "fit" states: "Nationwide Oppose $27 Million Creationist Effort to 'Institutionalize A Lie'"

- What folks do not realize is that every idea has a consequence no matter what you believe.

Eg. Global Warming: This is taking the world by storm and Al Gore is the leader of the pack. However, it is a bunch of hype based on no evidence. Take this quote from an article interviewing John Coleman, creator of "The Weather Channel":

" John Coleman, founder of the Weather channel, claims that global warming is a complete hoax. His ideas have been a major obstacle in initiatives in greenhouse awareness for political pulpits on the issue like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Al Gore. Entertainment has even made moves to incorporate green ideas into sitcoms and shows while John Coleman has called these critical concerns about environment "the greatest scam in history."

(Suggested DVD: "Global Warming: You Decide")

Eg. Intelligent Design: Many folks are beginning to believe that aliens brought life to this planet.

Professor Provine, from Columbia University, believes that evolution is a worldview. Listen to this quote:

"Evolution is the greatest engine of atheism ever invented. Naturalistic evolution has clear consequences that Charles Darwin understood perfectly. 1) No gods worth having exist; 2) no life after death exists; 3) no ultimate foundation for ethics exists; 4) no ultimate meaning in life exists; and 5) human free will is nonexistent. "

(Provine, William - 'Evolution: Free will and punishment and meaning in life' 1998 Darwin Day Keynote Address.)

***THE MOST DISTURBING PART OF THIS LECTURE***

According to the Barna Research Organization, the main things Christians should agree with and believe in are not being embraced by most "born again believers."

The Barna Organization gave a survey to see how many pastors agree with the following:

7 Things Bible Believing Christians Should Agree With and Confirm!:

1. The absolute moral truth
2. That the Bible is completely accurate
3. Jesus is completely without sin
4. satan does exist
5. God is omnipotent and omnipresent
6. Salvation by grace and grace alone
7. We are called to evangelize and spread the gospel message

Only 51% of pastors agree with all 7 statements!

57% of Baptist pastors agree

44% of Pentecostal pastors agree

28% of Protestant pastors agree

27% of Methodist pastors agree

35% of Black pastors agree

15% of Women pastors agree (withholding my own thoughts here)

***Then the Barna Organization asked church members the same question. Only 9% of all protestants agree with these 7 truths!***

QUESTION??????????????????????

IF WE SAY WE DON'T BELIEVE IN CREATION BECAUSE IT DOESN'T "FIT" WITH SCIENCE THEN HOW CAN WE SAY THAT WE BELIEVE IN:

1. A virgin birth.... according to science, virgins can't give birth.
2. Jesus being raised from the dead.... according to science, dead men do not come back to life.

*** Of course Atheist don't believe these things, but it is definitely something to think about as a Christian. You must believe it all or none at all. God's word is infallible and is truth from the first verse of the first chapter of the first book. Remember, God said:

John 3:12 - If I have told you earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of heavenly things?

LASTLY, a post note from my pastor, William Boyd Bingham III, which included the reading of Romans 1: 18-32. This, he described as "A description of our society all because Charles Darwin's father died and went to hell and he did not want to believe it."

Romans 1: 18-32:

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth in unrighteousness;

19Because that which may be known of God is manifest in them; for God hath shewed it unto them.

20For the invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:

21Because that, when they knew God, they glorified him not as God, neither were thankful; but became vain in their imaginations, and their foolish heart was darkened.

22Professing themselves to be wise, they became fools,

23And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things.

24Wherefore God also gave them up to uncleanness through the lusts of their own hearts, to dishonour their own bodies between themselves:

25Who changed the truth of God into a lie, and worshipped and served the creature more than the Creator, who is blessed for ever. Amen.

26For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

27And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

28And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a reprobate mind, to do those things which are not convenient;

29Being filled with all unrighteousness, fornication, wickedness, covetousness, maliciousness; full of envy, murder, debate, deceit, malignity; whisperers,

30Backbiters, haters of God, despiteful, proud, boasters, inventors of evil things, disobedient to parents,

31Without understanding, covenantbreakers, without natural affection, implacable, unmerciful:

32Who knowing the judgment of God, that they which commit such things are worthy of death, not only do the same, but have pleasure in them that do them.

PART 1-2008 Creation Conference-Binghamtown Baptist Church with Dr. Jim Gardner

PART 1:

I come to you today with excitement! It is once again time for the Creation Conference at my church. This morning I listened to Dr. Gardener talk and I was so excited to blog my notes. I am going to "try" to cover everything that he mentioned and "try" to link to some of the articles and videos. Bear with me. He will talk again tonight and I'll post that at a later date.

We need Biblical Scholars now more than ever!
2 Timothy 2:15-Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.


WHY COMPROMISE BIBLICAL AUTHORITY?

2 Questions:

1. Did God mean exactly what He said?
2. Did He say exactly what He meant?

John 3:12: If I have told you Earthly things, and ye believe not, how shall ye believe, if I tell you of Heavenly things?

II Timothy 3:16 - All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness:

Genesis 1:1- In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

***Most churches today have compromised Biblical Authority.
***satan is really good at what he does. He got Eve to do three things:
1. he got her to question God's word
2. he got her to doubt God's word
3. he got her to disbelieve God's word

***satan has had 6,000 years of practice to get better here on earth. We can even see how he is in some of our "Christian" churches today. he is visible in Sunday School classes and in the pulpit because some of our churches today let things go on and mislead people.

Reinterpretaion
***Attempts to add millions of years to the Bible do not come from those who do not believe in the Bible, rather Christians who are looking for a way to fit Evolution in with their faith. Atheists couldn't care less about trying to fit it with the Bible because they don't even believe the Bible.
*** They question the Bible instead of questioning science. The world and secular folks have taught us to do this exact thing.

We've been taught:



(From AIG's website)

Internal evidence of the book of Genesis

1. There is the internal evidence of the book of Genesis itself. As already mentioned, chapters 12–50 have always been regarded by the Jewish people as being the record of their own true history, and the style of writing contained in chapters 1–11 is not strikingly different from that in chapters 12–50.

2. Hebrew scholars of standing have always regarded this to be the case. Thus, Professor James Barr, Regius Professor of Hebrew at the University of Oxford, has written:

‘Probably, so far as I know, there is no professor of Hebrew or Old Testament at any world-class university who does not believe that the writer(s) of Genesis 1–11 intended to convey to their readers the ideas that: (a) creation took place in a series of six days which were the same as the days of 24 hours we now experience (b) the figures contained in the Genesis genealogies provided by simple addition a chronology from the beginning of the world up to later stages in the biblical story (c) Noah’s flood was understood to be world-wide and extinguish all human and animal life except for those in the ark. Or, to put it negatively, the apologetic arguments which suppose the “days” of creation to be long eras of time, the figures of years not to be chronological, and the flood to be a merely local Mesopotamian flood, are not taken seriously by any such professors, as far as I know.’⁹.

3. One of the main themes of Genesis is the Sovereignty of God. This is seen in God’s actions in respect of four outstanding events in Genesis 1–11 (Creation, the Fall, the Flood, and the Babel dispersion), and His relationship to four outstanding people in Genesis 12–50 (Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and Joseph). There is thus a unifying theme to the whole of the book of Genesis, which falls to the ground if any part is mythical and not true history; on the other hand, each portion reinforces the historical authenticity of the other.¹⁰

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***When people try to make What the Bible says and What Evolutionist agree, guess which one always gets changed? The Bible!

*** Where do you even fit a million years in the Bible?

- The genealogy in the Bible shows that we are all connected to Adam and Eve and thus have sinned against God even through our lineage.

- Alot of folks try to "fit" this million years between verses 1 and 2 of Genesis 1:

1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

- This is called the Gap Theory.

- The word for "Day" in the Bible is "Yom" and it is used 2,301 times in the Old Testament.

- The issue is that it is only questioned in the book of Genesis. Why is it only questioned there when it is used throughout the entirety of the Bible?

- An example being Jonah and the Whale. Did Jonah stay in the belly of the whale for 3,000 years? This would be true IF one day is equal to 1,000 years as it states in 2 Peter 3:8:

8But, beloved, be not ignorant of this one thing, that one day is with the Lord as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day.

- This is talking about Heaven, not here on earth. Our days are in 24 hour spans. God doesn't need to measure time but He knows that we do and therefore He gave us that knowledge in 2 Peter in order to help us understand how time would work IN HEAVEN.

***The Gap Theory does not work when looking at the scripture because:
1. If lucifer fell before Creation week, how could God say that everything was good?

Genesis 1: 31 And God saw every thing that he had made, and, behold, it was very good. And the evening and the morning were the sixth day.

2. He made everything in the beginning.... so the beginning really meant the beginning.

3. The sun must have shined upon the earth long before in order to support the earth. How could it have just appeared thousands of years after the plants and animals? They would have died before it began to shine.

4. Thorns and thistles are supposedly billions of years old when in actually they really aren't. Genesis 3:18 : Thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;


(From AIG's website)

If the idea of millions of years of earth and cosmic history is really true, as many teach, then

1. it destroys the Bible’s teaching on death.
2. it assaults the character of God.
3. it contradicts what Jesus believed and taught about the age of the earth, thereby undermining faith in Him for salvation (see this short article and this longer one). If Jesus was wrong about the age of the earth, what other errors did He make in His teaching?
4. it undermines faith in the gospel by undermining faith in the Bible that contains the gospel.
5. it nullifies the authority of Scripture.
6. it therefore weakens the Church and its gospel witness in the world.

You see, if death, disease, suffering, natural disasters (like hurricane Katrina and the tsunami in southeast Asia in December 2004), and extinctions have been going on for millions of years, as evolutionists teach, then God’s Word is fundamentally in error from beginning to end.

God says in Genesis 1:29–30 that man and the animals and birds were all originally vegetarian. Six times in Genesis 1 God said that what He had made was “good” (not good like on our scale of good-better-best, but good like God is good—without any quality that could be described as evil or bad).

In Genesis 1:31 He called everything He had made “very good.” In Genesis 3:14–19 He cursed the whole creation because of Adam’s sin. God cursed the serpent who deceived Eve, and it resulted in a physical change to the serpent. It therefore is reasonable to assume that animals were changed physically in some way as a result of the curse on them (e.g., carnivore behavior began at this time). Eve was changed physically (more pain in childbirth) because of God’s judgment.

Adam and Eve spiritually died instantly when they sinned—their relationship with God was broken and they hid themselves from God. But they also began to die physically as God said “from the dust you came, to the dust you shall return” (and as Paul says in Romans 5:12 and I Corinthians 15:21–22 that physical death came into the human race through Adam). The ground was also cursed. So, the fall had an impact on the whole creation. It is now all fallen and cursed, ruined by man’s sin—in bondage to corruption (Romans 8:19–23).

If we accept the millions of years, then (whether we realize it or not) we are also accepting that there were thorns and thistles long before Adam sinned (they have been found fossilized in rock layers dated at 340–405 million years), even though God says in Genesis 3 that thorns and thistles came as a result of sin. They are not the result of His good creativity but His holy justice.

If the millions of years are a fact, then God lied about the thorns. If God told the truth (I believe He did), then the millions of years are a lie. If Christians accept the millions of years, then they are also accepting (whether they realize it or not) that God calls cancer “very good,” because cancer is found in dinosaur bones that are dated to be at least 65 million years old, dying long before Adam was created and sinned in a theistic evolutionist viewpoint.............

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***Evolutionists count on the fact that Christians do not understand Carbon dating.

Carbon 14 dating:

- was developed in the late 1960's
- The problem with it is that Carbon 14 has a half life of 5, 500 years. This basically means that after this many years the Carbon 14 will be cut in half and continue until there is nothing left. In 22,000 years it would be down to the point of being immeasurable. How then do you measure something older than 22,000 years old?


*** Scientists came up with Radio Metric Dating:
- It deals with the ratio of Parent elements to daughter elements.
- It's half lives are longer.
- The parent is lead.
- The problem is the assumptions that go along with it.

***4 Assumptions About Radio Metric Dating:

1. The beginning concentration of the parents and daughters
2. Decay rates of parent to daughter
3. No parent and daughter elements were gained or lost
4. It assumes that everything has always been as it is today

- Eg. Mount St. Helen is dated 900,000 years old and only 35 years ago it erupted.

***Years ago all scientists believed in the Geocentric Universe, a theory by Aristotle:

...is the superseded theory that the Earth is the center of the universe and other objects go around it. Belief in this system was common in ancient Greece. It was embraced by both Aristotle and Ptolemy, and most Ancient Greek philosophers assumed that the Sun, Moon, stars, and naked eye planets circle the Earth. Similar ideas were held in ancient China.<sup>[1]
(From Wikipedia).

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***Next came Copernicus who believed in a Heliocentric system. Galileo, after studying the sky tremendously, agreed with this theory:</sup>

Model of the solar system centred on the Sun, with Earth and other planets revolving around it, formulated by Nicolaus Copernicus in the mid 16th century. Having the Sun in this central position explained the apparent motion of planets relative to the fixed stars and was truer than the Earth-centred Ptolemaic system (see Ptolemy). Scientifically, the Copernican system led to belief in a much larger universe than before (because, if the Earth revolved around the Sun, the stars would have to be very distant not to appear to alter their position); more broadly, the Copernican principle is invoked to argue against any theory that would give the solar system a special place in the universe. Dethronement of Earth from the centre of the universe caused profound shock: the Copernican system challenged the entire system of ancient authority and required a complete change in the philosophical conception of the universe.
(From Answers.com)


PART 2 to come shortly!

2 Corinthians 8: .... Giving for God

I have been studying in 2 Corinthians for that last week or so. This morning I read chapter 8 and could barely contain myself to keep studying instead of starting this blog entry because of the good stuff I was reading.

This chapter was so beautifully written and composed so well to explain to us, as Christians, the importance of giving. What does it mean to give? Giving is giving of your time, your talents, your abundance, your love, your friendship, etc. God has blessed each of us so greatly and we tend to forget that quite often. The love in our heart, the extra time (no matter how little), the food on our table, the money in our bank accounts (no matter how big or small); it is all of and from God our Father. God is really good at giving us above and beyond in all areas of our lives. Check out these verses:

2 Corinthians 8 (King James Version)

Example of the Macedonians

The Macedonians were such an example for Paul to use for the Corinthians. They were taught by Paul and they actually "got it." In so many of our churches today, folks don't "get it." They think it is all about themselves and they have the "ME, ME, ME" syndrome. These folks understood the importance of the gospel and of giving. Who were these Macedonians? They were the churches in Thessalonica, Berea, and Philippi that Paul ministered to.

1Moreover, brethren, we do you to wit (make known to you) of the grace of God bestowed on the churches of Macedonia;

(This grace is in reference to Christian character. According to Col. 4:6
Let your speech be always with grace, seasoned with salt, that ye may know how ye ought to answer every man. This tells us that we should demonstrate our Christian grace through the words of our mouths. We also see that we should demonstrate our Christian grace through our deeds. 2 Corinthians 9:8 - And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: Lastly, we should demonstrate through our Christian life as a whole. 2 Peter 3:18- But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. To him be glory both now and for ever. Amen.)

2How that in a great trial of affliction the abundance of their joy and their deep poverty abounded unto the riches of their liberality.

[This joy that is mentioned is the joy that goes along with giving. As stated in the "New Defender's Study Bible" commentary, "The grace of joy accompanies the grace of giving, especially when both are refined in the furnance of affliction and poverty. This is one of the paradoxes of the genuine Christian life. Like the widow and her mite (Mark 12:41-44), the Philippians 'first gave their owen selves to the Lord' (2 Corinthian 8:5), and then could share generously with others, since they naturally regarded their possessions also as belonging to the Lord. Thefore the apostle could promise them that God would 'supply all your need according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus' (Philippians 4:19). ]

3For to their power, I bear record, yea, and beyond their power they were willing of themselves;

4Praying us with much intreaty that we would receive the gift, and take upon us the fellowship of the ministering to the saints.

5And this they did, not as we hoped, but first gave their own selves to the Lord, and unto us by the will of God.

(How important! They first gave themselves to the Lord. If we first give ourselves to the Lord, we would then see as the Macedonians did, that everything we have belongs to Him as well.)

6Insomuch that we desired Titus, that as he had begun, so he would also finish in you the same grace also.

(Titus shared and gave of himself and all that he had. What an example for us to live by!)

Example of Christ

Who could be more of an example of giving than our Savior?! He gave of Himself so thoroughly just so that we might be Saved and have eternal life!

7Therefore, as ye abound in every thing, in faith, and utterance, and knowledge, and in all diligence, and in your love to us, see that ye abound in this grace also.

8I speak not by commandment, but by occasion of the forwardness of others, and to prove the sincerity of your love.

9For ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich.

[How true! Can you imagine any of our world's rich folk doing this? Me either! No one else is like Christ. He gave up everything, not just a portion, but EVERYTHING just for you and I. From the "New Defender's Study Bible" commentary 'He was the Creator of the entire cosmos (Colossians 1:16), with all its infinite riches, yet He left it all to die a cruel death, utterly impoverished, with even His meager garments stripped away a s He was spiked to the cross. This great gift of grace is the standard against which our own practices of the grace of giving must always be compared.']

(Also, read this testimony found in Philippians 2:5-8, 5Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus:
6Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God:
7But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:
8And being found in fashion as a man, he humbled himself, and became obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. )

10And herein I give my advice: for this is expedient for you, who have begun before, not only to do, but also to be forward a year ago.

11Now therefore perform the doing of it; that as there was a readiness to will, so there may be a performance also out of that which ye have.

12For if there be first a willing mind, it is accepted according to that a man hath, and not according to that he hath not.

13For I mean not that other men be eased, and ye burdened:

14But by an equality, that now at this time your abundance may be a supply for their want, that their abundance also may be a supply for your want: that there may be equality:

15As it is written, He that had gathered much had nothing over; and he that had gathered little had no lack.

(This comes from Exodus 16: 18. In this chapter of Exodus, the people were being preserved from hunger through God's manna or miraculous bread from Heaven. The people gathered and measured and all had exactly what they needed regardless of how great or how little they had actually gathered.)

Policies in Giving

16But thanks be to God, which put the same earnest care into the heart of Titus for you.

17For indeed he accepted the exhortation; but being more forward, of his own accord he went unto you.

18And we have sent with him the brother, whose praise is in the gospel throughout all the churches;

19And not that only, but who was also chosen of the churches to travel with us with this grace, which is administered by us to the glory of the same Lord, and declaration of your ready mind:

20Avoiding this, that no man should blame us in this abundance which is administered by us:

21Providing for honest things, not only in the sight of the Lord, but also in the sight of men.

(From "The New Defender's Study Bible" commentary, 'In the work of Christ, the end does not justify the use of questionable means. Our testimony before men must be credible if we expect it to be effective for the Lord. See also Proverbs 3:4 - So shalt thou find favour and good understanding in the sight of God and man. and 1 Peter 2:12- Having your conversation honest among the Gentiles: that, whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may be your good works, which hey shall behold, glorify God in the day of visitation. )

22And we have sent with them our brother, whom we have oftentimes proved diligent in many things, but now much more diligent, upon the great confidence which I have in you.

23Whether any do enquire of Titus, he is my partner and fellowhelper concerning you: or our brethren be enquired of, they are the messengers of the churches, and the glory of Christ.

24Wherefore shew ye to them, and before the churches, the proof of your love (giving), and of our boasting on your behalf.

So what should this giving mean to us? It should mean that everyday, not just during this holiday season, we should give when God lays it on our hearts to do so. We should earnestly Pray and ask God for His guidance for the areas that are in need, whether it be a church, a needy family, a friend who is in need of spiritual guidance, etc. We should be willing to give of ourselves, our talents, our money, and anything that God has blessed us with. And we need to give for the right reasons above... for the reason of JOY, mentioned at the beginning of the chapter. It should give us Joy to give to others as God gives to us. We should never get so tied up in the gamble of giving as many ministries do. Don't worry about how much you will get back for what you give. Let God worry about what you need and you (and I) just continue to give.

Pray for Our Leaders

In my last post I encouraged you to Pray for our nation. I still think we need to do that but I also think that even if we don't agree with our leaders, we still need to cover them in Prayer. God can change their hearts and minds on issues and can lead their decisions if they will let Him. In fact God instructs us to Pray for our leaders including the leaders of our Church!

1 Timothy 2:1-4 (King James Version)

I exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men; For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour; Who will have all men to be saved, and to come unto the knowledge of the truth.

Titus 3:1-5 (King James Version)Show all

1Put them in mind to be subject to principalities and powers, to obey magistrates, to be ready to every good work,

2To speak evil of no man, to be no brawlers, but gentle, shewing all meekness unto all men.

3For we ourselves also were sometimes foolish, disobedient, deceived, serving divers lusts and pleasures, living in malice and envy, hateful, and hating one another.

4But after that the kindness and love of God our Saviour toward man appeared,

5Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to his mercy he saved us, by the washing of regeneration, and renewing of the Holy Ghost;

1 Peter 2:17 (King James Version)

17Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king

My pastor, William Boyd Bingham III, told us this fact the Wednesday night after the election:

This verse was written when Nero was the emperor of Rome. Peter encouraged the Christians then to honor this "King" who was so awful to them. He feed them to the lions and burned the bodies of Christians in the street. If the early Christians could Pray for this leader.... surely we can Pray for ours. (See this link for more info.)

Think about the leaders of your Church and read the following 8 verses from Romans 13.

Romans 13:1-8 (King James Version)

1Let every soul be subject unto the higher powers. For there is no power but of God: the powers that be are ordained of God.

2Whosoever therefore resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God: and they that resist shall receive to themselves damnation.

3For rulers are not a terror to good works, but to the evil. Wilt thou then not be afraid of the power? do that which is good, and thou shalt have praise of the same:

4For he is the minister of God to thee for good. But if thou do that which is evil, be afraid; for he beareth not the sword in vain: for he is the minister of God, a revenger to execute wrath upon him that doeth evil.

5Wherefore ye must needs be subject, not only for wrath, but also for conscience sake.

6For for this cause pay ye tribute also: for they are God's ministers, attending continually upon this very thing.

7Render therefore to all their dues: tribute to whom tribute is due; custom to whom custom; fear to whom fear; honour to whom honour.

8Owe no man any thing, but to love one another: for he that loveth another hath fulfilled the law.

Pray For Our Nation

Please be in much Prayer for our nation in this time. God be with us throughout these last days. It hurts my heart that someone who believes in late term abortions will be leading our nation.... I wish that he could feel what I feel each month as I try to concieve. Please just Pray fellow Christians!

2 Corinthians 1:22

2 Corinthians 1:22 : Who hath also sealed us, and given the earnest of the Spirit in our hearts.

My pastor has been mentioning some of the banking terms found in the Bible. He has talked about the binding agreements that is talked about and showing us God's promises via these terms.

Tonight I was beginning 2nd Corinthians. I have been here all day in my bed resting and trying to get all healed up from surgery on Friday. I read up to verse 22 and then read the commentary and realized that this was another of these terms. Here's what my commentary says:

1:22 earnest. The "earnest" is "earnest money," the deposit paid to guarantee that the whole promise will be fulfilled in the proper time. See 2 Corinthians 5:5, Ephesians 1:14. On the sealing of the Spirit, see note on Ephesians 1:13. (Source: New Defender's Study Bible)

2 Corinthians 5:5 (King James Version)

5Now he that hath wrought us for the selfsame thing is God, who also hath given unto us the earnest (deposit paid to guarantee that the whole promise will be fulfilled in the proper time) of the Spirit.

Ephesians 1:13 (King James Version)

13In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,

Ephesians 1:14 (King James Version)

14Which is the earnest (deposit paid to guarantee that the whole promise will be fulfilled in the proper time) of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.

How beautiful these verses are when you realize what they are talking about. God has placed a deposit to guarantee His promises! How wonderful! He didn't have to do that.... but He did because He is a good God. The Holy Spirit is this deposit. How amazing to have the deposit of such a promise living inside of us! Thank You Lord for the Trinity and for allowing me to have the Holy Spirit guiding me and reassuring me of the promises You have made me on a daily basis.

Happy Birthday Danielle Lilly!

JUST A HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DEAREST FRIEND WHO IS RIGHT NOW IN HEAVEN REJOICING. WHAT A WONDERFUL WAY TO CELEBRATE A BIRTHDAY! I LOVE YOU GIRL AND I MISS YOU MORE THAN ANYONE COULD EVER KNOW!

God is still Faithful!

Click on over to my infertility blog and read about the results of my diagnostic surgery yesterday in hopes to find out why I haven't gotten pregnant. And please just Pray that I can become a mommy.