Hitler, Religion, and the Holocaust (Promo)

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Genesis on Trial

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

It was the brilliant father of science, Sir Isaac Newton, who once said,

"Opposition to godliness is atheism in profession and idolatry in practice. Atheism is so senseless and odious to mankind that it never had many professors."

If he was alive today, he may like to revise his last six words. We live in an age where there is a revival of the senselessness of atheism. But he certainly put his finger on its cause. Normally those guilty of the sin of idolatry pick and choose the attractive characteristics of the nature of God—"My God is a God of love and mercy. He would never create Hell."

And they are right. He would never create Hell because he couldn't. He doesn’t exist. He's a figment of their over active imagination—the place of imagery. The nature of the Creator of the Universe, as revealed in Holy Scripture, is not only love and mercy, but also justice and truth, holiness and righteousness.

The atheist's buffet, however, is a reverse idolatry. He picks and chooses a god from the characteristics he finds unattractive—"The God of the Bible is a judgmental, homophobic, unloving, wrath filled, merciless tyrant. If that's your 'God of love,' I want nothing to do with him!" But the god he doesn’t believe in doesn’t exist. He is also a figment of the human imagination.

Remember, Newton said, "Opposition to godliness is atheism in profession and idolatry in practice."

The atheist is in truth just the criminal offspring of Adam, still imitating his first forefather, by trying to hide from God. And the best hiding place he can find is in atheism.

In 2008, as Los Angeles County Sheriff's homicide investigator Kevin Lloyd routinely checked out some snapshots of tattooed gang members, he noticed a crime in which he was very familiar. One gang member named Anthony Garcia, had a tattooed scene of the killing of 23-year-old John Juarez.

The tattoo showed Christmas lights on the liquor store where Juarez was murdered, where the body was found, a bent street lamp, the name of the gang that was suspected of killing him, and a helicopter above the scene firing bullets. The police put an undercover police officer in Garcia's cell and got a confession from him. He then faced a sentence of 65 years to life.

Every crime we have ever commited against God is engraved with the point of a diamond upon our conscience, whether we believe in the existence of God or not. On the Day of Judgment God’s Law will seek it out and we will be punished with a life sentence, without parole.

What a fool this man was-—to boast on his flesh of the crime of murder. His trophy became his damnation. And what fools sinners are when they boast about their fleshly sins, because they believe that God doesn’t exist, or doesn’t see or doesn't care.

God warned Israel that He saw their every transgression, by saying "The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart..." (Jeremiah 17:1). He means what He says. He will punish every sin, right down to the thought and intent of the heart.

Fortunately, not all sinners are hardened atheists. Some have an open mind and are prepared to think and listen.

P.s. We leave for Israel this Sunday--to film Season Five of our television program, so Monday's post may be delayed a little.

David Wilkerson: Not available

Everyone has heros--or at least people they respect. David Wilkerson was one of mine, along with John the Baptist and a few others. So I was deeply saddened when my daughter called and said that he had been killed in a car accident. Of course there was the sweet knowledge that he was with the Lord, but there was also the bitter reality that we no longer had him here on earth.

His passing brought back a flood of memories. Back in 1980, I screened the movie that was based on his best-selling book, The Cross and the Switchblade. It starred Erik Estrada (from the television series CHiPs) as Nicky Cruz, the hardened gang member who mocked the naive country preacher who had come to his rough neighborhood.

I loved the way Wilkerson trusted God and went to New York, gave his shoes to some hoodlum, and ended up walking around the city in his socks. He epitomized the love that each of us should have for the lost. I decided there and then that I had to fly David Wilkerson seven thousand miles to New Zealand for a series of meetings.

New Zealand is about 16 hours ahead of New York, so I climbed out of bed at 2:00 a.m. on a Tuesday morning, and put a long distance call through to the United States. After about 40 minutes of complications, I finally got through to the church and was disappointed to hear a busy signal.

The next morning I got up at the same time, and after another 40 or so minutes I was able to contact his personal secretary. I boldly said, "May I speak to David Wilkerson please?" Any second now and I would be speaking to the man himself. The voice came back, "Mr. Wilkerson is not available." I said, "But I’m calling from New Zealand!" Once again I heard a stern, "Mr. Wilkerson is not available." I placed the phone down, and felt a little stupid. David Wilkerson was untouchable.

Fast-forward 13 years to 1993. Sue and I were now living in the U.S. A few years earlier, a pastor had heard a teaching called "Hell’s Best Kept Secret," had said, "America must hear this message!" and invited us to base our ministry in Southern California.

A woman had called my office and said that David Wilkerson had also heard "Hell’s Best Kept Secret" and wanted to speak with me. He would be calling in a few minutes. When the phone rang, I quickly picked it up, and sure enough it was that famous voice. He wanted to fly me from Los Angeles to New York to share the teaching with his church. I could hardly believe my ears.

A few days later, I was sitting wide-eyed having lunch with David Wilkerson in New York City. Just me and him. It was almost like having lunch with John the Baptist. Seriously. I hardly heard a word he said because I kept thinking, "That is David Wilkerson! It's him. The man. I could reach out and poke him in the eye. I can't believe this!"

I then preached in his church, and had the wonderful experience of walking with him (with his shoes on) through the streets of New York, as he gave me a personal tour through his ministry.

When I arrived back in Los Angeles airport I saw Pat Boone at the baggage claim and cleverly broke the ice by saying, "Hi Pat. I'm Ray Comfort. Have you heard of David Wilkerson? I just spoke at his church." It was then that I remembered that Pat Boone starred as the famous preacher in "The Cross and the Switchblade." Duh.

A year or so later, I spoke for a pastor in Texas. He kindly gave me an endorsement for the ministry. It said, "I have served as a local pastor, Teen Challenge Director, Crusade Director for David Wilkerson, and missionary, but never during those years did I encounter an evangelist with a more life-changing message."

It was then that I found out that he was the secretary, who, 14 years earlier had wrongly told me that David Wilkerson was not available. Sure he was. It just had to be in God's timing.

Genesis on Trial

26And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth. 27So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. 28And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moves upon the earth. 29And God said, Behold, I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree, in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat. 30And to every beast of the earth, and to every fowl of the air, and to everything that creepeth upon the earth, wherein there is life, I have given every green herb for meat: and it was so.

Back on December 15, 2004, the Dallas Morning News said, "The most famous atheist in the academic world over the last half-century, Professor Antony Flew of England's University of Reading, now accepts the existence of God. Flew said, 'What I think the DNA material has done is show that intelligence must have been involved in getting these extraordinarily diverse elements together,' he said. 'The enormous complexity by which the results were achieved look to me like the work of intelligence.'"

This revelation epitomizes how stupid athiesm is. It took this man a lifetime to figure out that whoever or whatever made this incredible earth was intelligent. A slow child can figure that out in a second.

An atheist has no idea as to the Genesis of life, and neither has he figured how non-living matter can form by accident into a living cell—how dead matter became live matter. But to an atheist, that doesn’t matter. All that matters is that his worldview excludes any thought of the existence of God, and for that he pats himself on the back and thinks that he’s intelligent.

If that isn't crazy enough, here is where evolution gets really weird. It says that man wasn't "created" at all. He just happened and he happened over a long period of time. It was a lucky accident that man, like the fish, birds, and animals, has eyes, ears, a heart, and an instinct to search for food and a strong desire to bring forth after his own kind.

He was once a primitive life form, which meant that at one time didn't have eyes with which he could see, or ears with which he could hear. Neither did he have a heart or blood or blood vessels to carry his blood.

But as blood began to evolve, it couldn't get around the body, so he evolved a heart to pump it around. The heart would take a long time to evolve, and it also needed a complex system of blood vessels to evolve. So survival was impossible for the first pre-human primitive life form. But that doesn’t matter to an atheist. It just happened. Evolution-did-it.

Neither was man a moral creature. As time past he was the only beast in nature who cared about right and wrong and set up courts to send transgressors to a place of punishment. That set him head and shoulders above the beasts. He evolved a conscience. Unlike the 1.4 million differing kinds in nature, man is the only creature that seeks retribution for violations of a moral code, which, for some reason says that it's wrong to steal, to lie, to murder and commit adultery.

Evolution doesn't know why he has a moral code, nor why man evolved to the top of the evolutionary chain. But that doesn't matter to an atheist.

In truth, we are top because God gave man "dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps upon the earth." The sea yields delicious fish for our plate, and chickens give us eggs and finger-licking food. Cows give him milk that with a little churning gives him cream, and butter, and yogurt and ice cream. How cool is that?

The cattle also gave him meat to eat and leather for the weather, whether you believe that or not. The "creeping" things--from bugging bugs to stinking skunks run from man, because man has dominion over this planet. Lions don't like it, but a chair and a whip subdue him for circus fans. Even whales and porpoises will jump at his command and make a splash for delighted tourists. He has dominion because God gave dominion to him.

Here's another puzzle that doesn't matter to an atheist. How did man survive in his primitive state until females evolved? Ask any fundamentalist evolutionary believer that question, and like a wounded and cornered animal he will try and bite you, because he has no answer. He will tell you that to even ask the question, you are an ignorant fool who doesn't understand the principles of evolutionary biology.

He believes that male and female came about because of "populations." It just happened. Anything written on the subject moves to the subject of sex, and doesn't deal with where the sexes came from. It's just a given that procreation is possible because of random chance. Nothing created everything. Evolution is real science, and the Bible is nothing but an ancient bronze-age book that doesn't even deserve a first glance.

Genesis on Trial

24And God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind: and it was so. 25And God made the beast of the earth after his kind, and cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps upon the earth after his kind: and God saw that it was good.

Do you notice how the Bible repeats one phrase? It keeps saying "after its kind," as though it is making some kind of important point. Think about nature. Notice that every animal, bird, fish, and insect (but for a few slugs and worms), has both male and female, and they each bring forth after their kind. Cows have baby cows, horses have baby horses, ants have baby ants, spiders have spiders, cats have kittens, and dogs have puppies.

A male dog chases an on-heat female dog, because he wants to mate with the female dog. If a cat is in heat, he’s not interested, no matter how cool a cat it is. He mates only within his kind--dogs. He recognizes a dog, whether it’s a Great Dame or a not-so-great long-haired Chihuahua.

A dog doesn't want to mate with a chicken, a fish, a squirrel, and he's certainly not attracted to a skunk. He stays within his kind because God was kind enough to give him a kind-of instinct to stay within his kind.

Yet evolutionists ignore this uncompromising pattern throughout nature. It's as though the existing creation doesn't exist, and in their imaginative minds, they imagine that all the animals, fish, insects and birds of the past, never had male and female and didn’t stay within their kind. Such is the power of the human imagination. It can go anywhere it wants, and within evolution it knows no logical boundaries.

Again, it's very clear what the Bible means by "after its kind." It means that a dog will never cross into another kind. It will always bring forth a dog. Darwinian evolution has searched for over 200 years for undisputed evidence of one kind of animal evolving into another kind, and it hasn’t found anything that isn't a big bone of contention. The "missing link" between man and ape is still missing.

The following quote is from Steven J. It shows how modern believers in the theory move the goalposts during the game:

Ray, "species" refers to distinctions such as those between, e.g. a lion and a tiger, or a wolf and a coyote, or a chimpanzee and a bonobo. "Kind," in creationist jargon, generally refers these days to groups larger than a species but still thought to be related by common descent, such as entire genera or families (e.g. the "cat kind"). There are "species-to-species" transitions in the fossil record (e.g. Stephen Gould described a sequence of transitional fossils between two species of the snail genus Cerion), but presumably if you bothered to consider that rather than simply regurgitate your standard list of slogans, you dismiss this example as "they're still snails" (which of course is on some other creationist's list of standard slogans). Since "kind" is undefined, it's difficult to find a good example of a "kind-to-kind" transitional series. But the fact that creationists disagree on whether, e.g. the Trinil skullcap (Homo erectus) is just another ape or as much a "fully human" remain as any H. sapiens skeleton, or the fact that there are similar disagreements about KNM-ER1470 (the skull of Homo rudolfensis) ought to indicate that in fact intermediates between obviously nonhuman apes and obvious human beings do exist. There are indeed quite a few such.

He uses the word "species" in an unashamed attempt to link animals within "kinds," and therefore maintains that he has evidence of evolution. He says that the evidence is that snails evolve into snails. Then he says that the word “kind” is "undefined" and maintains that it is "difficult to find a good example of a kind-to-kind transitional series."

The fault isn’t with the definition of the word "kind." It hasn't changed in the slightest. One more time; here’s the definition: dog-kind, cat-kind, horse-kind, snail-kind, human-kind, etc. The atheist's difficulty is with the so-called evidence for evolution. There isn't any. Repetition is the mother of knowledge, so one more time--every animal, bird, fish, and insect brings forth after its own kind. They stay as animals, birds, fish, and insects. Evolution is a farce. It’s bogus science that has no evidence to back its fantastic claims.

Years ago I had an eccentric friend. He could talk on any subject at the drop of a hat. I once said, "The inside of a ping pong ball. Sixty seconds. Go!" and he immediately began a spiel about the nothing of its inside for sixty seconds, without the slightest hesitation. He reminds me of the atheist and the subject of evolution. He has nothing at all, and yet he forever argues about it without the slightest hesitation.

Picture: Golden retriever puppy, three months old. (Daisy Parker)
EDIT: "on" heat, to "in" heat.

Genesis on Trial

21And God created great whales, and every living creature that moves, which the waters brought forth abundantly, after their kind, and every winged fowl after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 22And God blessed them, saying, Be fruitful, and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let fowl multiply in the earth. 23And the evening and the morning were the fifth day.

Have you ever watched a whale playing in the ocean? It jumps high out of the water; it twists, it turns and sends a geyser into the heavens, and seems to be having a whale of a time. It's as though this big mammal loves life, and lives it to the fullest.

He's like a playful puppy, or a bird that sings in the cool of an early morning sunrise.

Look at the little fellow as he sits on a tree branch and sings his joy-filled song. Listen closely, and notice that his tune is complex. So are his feathers. They are amazingly complex. So are his wings and the muscles and nerves that move them. He can twist and turn them, so that in flight he can turn on a dime, faster than the human eye can even track him.

The Wright Brothers studied his amazing design, and they knew that it was evidence of a Designer. The atheist doesn’t think so. This is because he doesn't think at all. The Bible calls him a fool. Newton rightly said atheists are senseless.

To them, the fact that both birds and fish have design and that each need male and female to continue to live, is an amazing purposeless accident. A lucky coincidence that happened billions of years ago, when nothing caused everything with a big bang...that he's not even sure really happened. This is because scientists now disagree about whether or not there was a big bang.

Whatever did or didn't happen, it resulted in the bird and fish population--that coincidentally have all matured to a point of perfect adaptive survival. Half a wing, half an eye, half a lung, or half a gill would mean death in seconds to any of these birds or fish. But somehow they survived as these necessities evolved. How lucky for them and us. Praise Nature for brilliantly making itself, even though nature, like the atheist doesn't think.

Genesis on Trial

20And God said, Let the waters bring forth abundantly the moving creature that has life, and fowl that may fly above the earth in the open firmament of heaven.

Have you ever snorkeled in the crystal clear waters of Hawaii? It's breathtaking, even under the water. It's truly breathtaking if you have eyes to see and a brain that works, that is. Otherwise you will look at the bright yellow fish with their bright blue spots, as they go about their daily routine of looking for food, then looking for a mate, so that they can reproduce and bring forth after their own kind, and not think at all.

But if you think deeply while under the shallow waters you will see design everywhere, from each fish with its amazing colors, to its tiny quivering fins, to its perfectly formed eyes, its mouth, tail and gills.

If it evolved from some sort of primitive life form, did the primitive life-form have lungs, a heart and eyes, when it was in this primitive form? If it did, it wasn't primitive. If it didn't, how did it see, and live, and eat? If it was doing okay as a heartless, bloodless, and blind life form, why and how did it evolve a heart, blood and eyes? And how do you know this to be true?

And why are there hundreds of thousands of other amazing fish with two eyes, one heart, blood, a mouth, stomach, fins and a tail? Why and how did they all evolve from a primitive life source into what we see today? Why is it that all this life in the ocean is mature, in our time? Why don't we see semi-evolved fish with eyes that don't yet see or fins that don't direct or gills that don't yet grab the necessities of life out of the waters that came to be because of a big bang in space?

And when you give your pat answers, ask yourself how you know all this, and why you would believe such crazy musings of the imagination? The Bible will tell you why, in the book of Romans. It’s in chapter one, if you have a mind to read it.

Genesis on Trial

14And God said, Let there be lights in the firmament of the heaven to divide the day from the night; and let them be for signs, and for seasons, and for days, and years: 15And let them be for lights in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth: and it was so. 16And God made two great lights; the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night: he made the stars also. 17And God set them in the firmament of the heaven to give light upon the earth, 18And to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness: and God saw that it was good. 19And the evening and the morning were the fourth day.

Do you ever wonder why we have 24 hours in a day, and 365 days in a year? Why is our time "divided" into days and into years? Who started such a numbering process, and upon what is it based?

We know that different civilizations numbered their days, but the reason for the 24 hour numbering is that it takes the earth 24 hours to spin on its axis. It has a 24-hour rotation.

And why is it that it takes 365 days for the earth to rotate around the sun? And while it is orbiting the sun, why does the earth consistently turn around and give us day and night with such incredible and predictable precision? Atheists don't know. They simply believe that evolution-did-it. Of course, evolution doesn't "think." They know that. It just happened.

The amazing order and precision happened because of a causeless bang in space that happened for no reason with no preexisting materials, billions of years ago. So they believe.

Genesis on Trial

11And God said, Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb yielding seed, and the fruit tree yielding fruit after his kind, whose seed is in itself, upon the earth: and it was so. 12And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good. 13And the evening and the morning were the third day.

The next time you bite into a juicy apple, or eat sweet grapes, or a succulent orange, or eat tasty cereal, or look at lush green grass, you have a Cause, in Genesis. Instead of saying that the causeless chaos of a big bang in space resulted in the accident of all the different herbs--alfalfa, mint, cinnamon, basil, garlic, parsley, siege and thyme, in time, you can know that they were created by God, for the taste buds of mankind.

And as you plant the plants in the dry earth that God made, you can thank Him that each of these tasty plants contain the inherent ability to bring forth after their own kind. The garlic plant has seeds within it to produce more garlic plants. The parsley plant has its own ability to "go to seed" and put into your thankful hands seeds that will give you more parsley. But if you are an atheist you have to look at everything and think "A fortunate accident." Such thoughts are indeed foolishness.

Each of the varieties of fruits we so love also have this ability to put seeds into your hand so that you can grow more fruit, after their kind. Evolution doesn't know why this is. It neither asks the deep questions, nor gives a hint of an answer. It just is, with no reason or purpose.

This is perfectly summed up by an atheist, who said,

"Ray, You apparently fail to realize that atheism is merely the position on the existence of God (or any gods for that matter), and that it does not pretend or intend to offer a position on things like the formation of planet Earth, the tides, daylight or the other things you're complaining atheism has no explanation for."

Atheism is nothing, believes in nothing, and offers nothing but hopelessness, death, and damnation. You only have one shot at this life. Don't blow it big time with the stupidity of atheism.

Genesis on Trial

6And God said, Let there be a firmament [the expanse of the sky] in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. 7And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. 8And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.

How amazing it is that the clouds are filled with trillions of tons of water. Most people have no idea that the average puffy raincloud weighs something like 350 thousand tons, and yet it floats like a feather and waters the earth so that food can grow and feed man and beast. Scripture tells us that it was God who divided the waters in the heavens from the waters on the earth.

The heat from the sun causes the oceans to rise into the heavens, leaving their salty taste and in time, the evaporated oceans fall back down onto the earth to give life to its inhabitants. Without this process, we wouldn’t have a green life-giving earth. It would mostly be dry and fruitless desert, but for the irrigation waters that man is able to bring from lakes in different parts of the earth.

The perfectly balanced division of the oceans from the mass of water in the clouds didn’t come about by causeless accident, as evolution believers and atheists believe. The "Big Bang" folks are shallow in their understanding of the water cycle and its origin. Big bangs produce chaos not order.

9And God said, Let the waters under the heaven be gathered together unto one place, and let the dry land appear: and it was so. 10And God called the dry land Earth; and the gathering together of the waters called the Seas: and God saw that it was good.

Only in recent years has science discovered that there are mountains and valleys under the seas. It was assumed by experts that the sea bottom was just flat land. But it’s not. It's massive mountains and deep valleys, because God caused the dry land to "appear." These appeared as the seas receded, because God was the Cause.

Many atheists believe that we originally evolved from fish. Some think that all land animals trace their roots back to fish called Eusthenopteron, which was the first fish to evolve dual gills/lungs and then spend part of its life on land. But the Bible says that we were created as dry-earth creatures, with arms and legs, skin, and lungs. Still, those who believe in evolution don’t believe we were made as we are. Instead, they postulate that we once didn't exist, and then we miraculously appeared and became a primitive life form, that over time became sea-dwelling creatures.

The theory goes that we temporarily left other sea-dwelling creatures and crawled onto dry land to evolve (over time) lungs and a heart that could accept oxygenated blood, while under the water. Then, with primitive legs that had also evolved, as a "population" we ventured onto the dry land and over millions of years, decided to stay permanently.

Evolution's followers don’t know why we made the decision to leave. We just did, and so here we are on the dry land that came about by chance, with no rhyme, no reason, and no purpose. It's not "good" as the Bible says. It just is. Evolution-did-it.

Genesis on Trial

3And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. 4And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. 5And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day.

The Bible not only tells us that God is light, but we are told that He caused natural light to exist upon the earth. However, in the beginning, light wasn't divided from darkness. There was no division of day and night. Atheism has no explanation as to why we have the amazing balance of the earth spinning as it moves through space--turning upon its own axis, and travelling around the sun at such a speed that we end up with the divisions of day and night.

Each year, our winters faithfully produce shorter cold days, and then we enjoy the warmer summer days. This consistently happens to a point where we can predict the average meantime temperature on a certain day or night of the year, 100 years ahead in time.

This is because there is an incredible balance within the division between day and night caused by the constant and predictable movement of the earth, as it flies at breakneck speed through space. The Bible says that it was God that created the light and caused the division. Again, atheism has no explanation. It was just a cosmic accident that happened. Day and night just are.

How cool it is--to have an explanation of the first day. Evolution believers don't have one. They don't know. The cool and fresh air of the morning just is. The beautiful evening sunset, with its panorama of colors just are. They evolved from an explosion caused by nothing that produced amazing order, by itself.

A committed atheist will tell you that it isn't ordered at all, it just looks like order.

He believes that there was a point in time billions of years ago when there was a semi-sunrise and semi-sunset, semi-light and semi-darkness, and a semi-day. He believes that it took time to bring about the order and completeness we think we see.

Instead of admitting that he has no idea how all this happened, he will mock you by saying that you are ignorant as to the difference between biology and cosmology.

EDIT: Added: Instead of admitting that he has no idea how all this happened, he will mock you by saying that you are ignorant as to the difference between biology and cosmology.

Genesis on Trial

There are just 31 verses in Genesis chapter one, but in it we see an explanation for the cosmos, and for this amazing earth. So over the next week or so, we will look at what many call "an ancient fairytale bronze-age book," and see if it can hold up to rational scrutiny. We will look at what each verse says, and then what atheism and evolution give us to explain the same thing.

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

The Bible begins by saying that there was a beginning, and that (of course) there was a Cause that preexisted the beginning. Everything material must have a cause because anything that is material cannot produce itself. The atheist's nothing created everything doesn't work, because for it to possess the ability to create itself, it must preexist itself--to make itself, it would have to have existed before its existence. So if it preexisted, it wasn't the beginning.

True science demands that the earth has a beginning. It cannot be eternal. The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that everything runs down. Nothing improves itself over long periods of time. An apple rots, in time. Trees grow old and turn to dust, in time. Even rocks crumble with age. If the earth was eternal and it has existed trillions upon multiple trillions of years into the past, it would have turned to dust, a long time ago. The earth therefore must have had a beginning.

Atheistic evolution doesn’t have a beginning. Those who think it does refer to the "Big Bang," but that wasn’t the beginning, because you have to have preexisting materials for a big bang. You have to have gases, and even if atheists reduce the materials that caused the beginning down to a tiny dot, it still wasn't the beginning, because the dot existed. What caused their dot? They don't know. Genesis 1:1 tells us the Cause of all things.

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.

When first God created the earth, it had no form. It wasn't ordered. Isaiah 45:18 gives us a little more light on the subject. It says:

“For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else.”

God made the high mountains, the deep green valleys, the fertile soil that could give rise to plant life and food, establishing it for the purpose of human habitation. It wasn't an accident—-a vain exercise with no purpose. However, evolution says that it was an accident—-a causeless cosmic freak with no purpose, rhyme nor reason. It just was.

Notice that it was the "Spirit" of God that moved upon the face of the waters. God is a "Spirit"—-an entity without a body. He is non-material, and therefore not subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God is eternal. He is without beginning and without end, and He never changes. He fills the infinitude of space and dwells in eternality beyond the confines of time--a dimension in which we are bound, but one that was created by the genius of His hand.

"Dawkins Doesn’t Debate Creationists"

No doubt you have seen the popular YouTube clip "Why Richard Dawkins Doesn't Debate Creationists." I guess he changed his mind and decided that he would debate a woman, probably thinking he would chew her up and spit her out.

[ADDITION: I just spoke to Wendy Wright, and found out that Professor Courageous broadsided her. She didn't know he was coming].

But this time he bit off more than he could chew, and ended up with a very dry mouth and a blank look.

I predict that if you believe in evolution, you won't be able to watch this all the way through to see the outcome. You will face palm, and then tell yourself that he was just frustrated with her.

And he certainly was. I have been to the museums in search of the Holy Grail of which he speaks, and the hard evidence just isn't there. She knew it, and kept telling him so. His "evidence" is about as real as the images of Mary on a pizza. Evolution is built on a false hope, and on false science.

http://youtu.be/Fylu1IkNcAY

EDIT: Added: Richard Dawkins Interviews Wendy Wright

Lunch with an Atheist

There are 11 million people in greater Los Angeles, and the entire country has over 300 million. That's a whole lot of people, so I was pleased to do a one-hour interview on a national talk show—because it was broadcast out of Chicago and reached right across the nation.

During the program an atheist called in and we had a great chat. He seemed a nice guy, so I said that if he was ever in our area, I would love to have lunch with him. He wanted a copy of The Defender's Guide for Life’s Toughest Questions and he left his address with the show's host. It was "Ramona Street, Bellflower, California." He lived about three minutes from the ministry. If there weren't buildings in the way, we could see his house from our building.

Let's hope he takes me up on lunch. You can listen to the call at:

http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_programarchive.aspx?id=63170

(scroll down to April 12th, click on Hour Two).

The Atheist's Popular "All Jews are in Hell!"

"Ray, yesterday when you called me a hateful anti-Semite, were you aware that I was speaking of observant practicing Jews, not perceived ethnic Jews? A simple Yes or No will suffice. Thank you in advance, Sir." Lehman

I wasn't sure which you meant. However, saying that either are in Hell is horrible beyond words. I know you don't believe that Hell exists, so you can be excused for such talk. But I do believe that it’s a very real place and I am horrified that anyone would end up there, either Jew or Gentile.

Not believing in God doesn't deal with the problem of moral accountability. Any criminal who throws himself into crime because he has no belief in judges, is a fool. If the law catches up with him, he will have to pay for his crimes. If criminal law doesn’t get him in this life, the moral Law (the Ten Commandments) will in the next.

Despite the foolishness of atheism, God exists, and He will bring every work to Judgment, including every secret thing whether it’s good or evil. God made your eyes, so He can see what you do. He’s not blind. He made your brain, so He sees your thoughts. Nothing is hidden from His holy eyes. To Him, lust is adultery, and hatred is murder. Lying lips are an abomination to Him, and who of us is guiltless of breaking that Commandment? We all need a Savior, or we will get exactly what we deserve, and our “just” dessert is to be damned. There’s not a hope in Hell. It will never freeze over. Nothing is as sure.

I know that atheists say that I preach about it to hold people in fear, so that I can make money from them. But I preached in the open air more than 3,000 times (almost every week day for 12 years) without pay for preaching--when I was in New Zealand, and I have done the same thing thousands of times in the U.S. without pay. For the last 4,000 times I have preached in the open air I have given away money almost every time. Why would I do that if I was doing it for the money? If you think preaching the gospel that way feeds the ego, give it a try.

My motivation is love. I do it for no other reason. If Hell didn't exist, I wouldn't bother.

EDIT: The Popular Atheist "All Jews are in Hell!" changed to: The Atheist's Popular "All Jews are in Hell!"

A Word to Atheists

I am forever reading how I'm a lying, money-hungry, ignorant, fear-mongering, snake-oil salesman. Yet, I know that if I told you that Hell doesn't exist and that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your moral responsibility, the accusations would slow down and perhaps even stop.

But if I denied what I know to be true, then I would be a liar and would deserve every name you throw at me.

I wasn't speaking anywhere this last Sunday, and so Sue and I had the privilege of listening to my pastor (Pastor Bruce Garner) speak at my home church.

He shared an anecdote that left me with tears in my eyes--because it epitomized my motive and the motive of every Christian who warns about eternity. The anecdote is at 26 minutes, but I would encourage you to listen to his whole message.

http://www.crosspointhb.org/media.php?pageID=22

Bell's Hell Sells

I watched a lot of holocaust footage while researching for, Hitler, God, and the Bible and its accompanying "Hitler’s Religion" DVD. I read eye-witness accounts of families of Jews being shot, and some of them buried while still alive. I stared through tear-filled eyes at photos of innocent Jewish women (some in their teens) being paraded through the streets, and then hung publically. They weren’t given the mercy of a quick drop to break the neck. Instead, thin rope was deliberately used to make the hanging last longer. The photos show other Jews being made to watch, and German soldiers smiling as they dangled by the rope.

Jews were made to pull teeth from the dead bodies of their fellow countrymen that had been gassed, and extract gold. The corpses were then thrown into ovens for cremation. If gold was missed, those doing the extracting were thrown alive into the ovens.

Adolf Hitler systematically and cruelty slaughtered six million men, women, and children in the horror we call the "holocaust." After the war, Hitler shot himself, and many Nazis fled to the haven of Argentina to happily live out the rest of their days without being brought to justice.

In the much-publicized Love Wins, Rob Bell informs us that the Bible's references to a place called "Hell"--are speaking of nothing more than Gehenna, the burning trash heap outside Jerusalem, during the time of Christ.

Instead of justice, loves wins, and Hitler will be in Heaven along with every evil unrepentant Nazi who threw Jews alive into ovens, buried them while still alive in mass graves, tortured, raped, and murdered so many. Enjoying the pleasures of Heaven with the Nazis we will find every throat-cutting rapist, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Mao Tse-tung, Uganda’s machete-wielding murderers, the man who cut the head off Daniel Pearl, Osama Bin Laden, Pol Pot, Charles Manson, all 19 of the al-Qaeda 911 terrorists, and every child-molester that ever lived. They may all make it to Heaven.

Rob Bell goes as far as to suggest that people will have an opportunity to change their mind about God and make their way into Heaven, after they die. What's clear in his book is that the god in whom Bell believes will not exercise a just and holy wrath against anyone. He says that no one will be eternally punished.

I didn't write, The Defender’s Guide for Life’s Tough Questions—to counter Bell's twisted theology—-but it thankfully does. It lists all the references to Hell in the Old Testament. It addresses the "Hitler is in Heaven" issue, and it deals with why God allows suffering, why He allows evil, His "sanctioning" of slavery, why He lets children get cancer, and His merciless judgments.

This is one good thing that is coming from Love Wins. It's making people think about this issue, question men like Bell, and ask how he managed to make it into a pulpit. They are rethinking the Bible's warning about ear-tickling preachers and how Jesus warned "Woe to you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." God is love, but He is also just and holy. Hitler will get his dues, and that is good news for those who lost loved ones in the holocaust and want desperately to see that justice is done.

God showed both His great love and His perfect righteousness, through the cross. He provided a Savior to save us from His just wrath and, in His great mercy, give us everlasting life. Those who refuse to repent and trust in Him will find that God keeps His Word. There is good news for Jews. There is a Hell. Justice wins.

Atheists: Stand up for What You Believe

I followed a link to an atheist website recently, and watched an interesting Youtube clip starring a friend and myself. Each time a picture of us came up, the background music track chanted "Lies! Lies!"

The producers of the video and the music believed that it was a lie that an atheist believes that "nothing created everything" (a scientific impossibility). But the alternative is to believe that something created everything, so the atheist is stuck with his (or her) unscientific belief, even though it is intellectually embarrassing. Again, for those who don't believe an atheist believes that nothing created everything, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWq0lahNNyY Take special note of the final quote--an idolator admitting that I am right.

The lies, lies video also said that it was a lie that if the mythological "crocoduck" was ever found, it would prove evolution. For hundreds of years evolution believers have searched for a genuine species-to-species transitional form (the missing link) and never found one; up until recent years, so they say.

In an article on the National Geographic site, entitled, "7 Major Missing Links Since Darwin," the crocodile-headed fish (crocofish) came in at Number One of seven missing links.

They said, "For the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12, 2009), National Geographic News asked leading scientists for their picks of the most important fossils that show evolution in action—seven of which are presented here, starting with this 'fishapod.'"

So there you have it. The "Fishapod" is a crocodile head and a fish body. Another name for the fishapod is "Tiktaalik." I don't believe that this crocofish is a missing link. But many do.

The article then said, "The discoveries of these and other 'missing link' species have helped dispel what Darwin called perhaps 'the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory' of evolution--the former lack of transitional fossil species."

But they haven't helped in the slightest. These seven missing links aren't found-links at all. They are just more wild imagination (lies, lies) from the minds of speculators who can't find anything to back up a theory that has to be believed (received with blind faith), and one that has no basis in true science.

So if you are an atheist, hold your up head high. Don't be ashamed of your faith. Never deny that you believe that nothing created everything, and that you would be ecstatic (and rich and famous) if you found a crocoduck in your back yard.

Notes: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/02/photogalleries/darwin-birthday-evolution/

Picture: Tiktaalik: The "Fishapod": Crocofish
Illustration by Zina Deretsky, National Science Foundation

EDIT: "a fundamentalist atheist" changed to "an idolator." My apologies to Whateverman for misrepresenting his position.

From where did Jesus Get His Money?

"And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:1-3).

"Glad tidings" is an understatement, probably because the English language lacks the depth of the original Greek. God had granted the dying Human Race a Savior, so that they could live forever. If anything should make us "glad," it's the wonderful news that death need not swallow us and drag us to Hell. Whosoever will may come. That means you and me—atheist, agnostic, religious person, black, white, rich or poor. "Whoever" repents and trusts in Jesus finds everlasting life. Glad indeed!

Few people know that Jesus had a donor-based ministry. It costs money to feed and lodge 13 itinerant preachers. Many people knew that, and gladly supported the cause. But as with a number of contemporary ministries, there was corruption within. The trusted treasurer turned out to be a liar and a thief (see John 12:4-6). He was secretly stealing money from the ministry. Jesus knew what he was up to and warned him, but he didn't listen and ended up with just enough rope to hang himself. As with most money-hungry folks, he wasn't even happy with what he was stealing, and wanted more silver.

Many today are like Judas the hypocrite. They point the finger and complain about others and what they do with their money, and they will also be given enough rope to hang themselves. Check out Romans 2 to see the end result of those who are accusatory, and yet do the same things.

Despite the problem of corruption in ministries, it is biblically legitimate to be supported by donors and sales:

"Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? . . . Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:7, 14).

Atheists and Fairy Tales

I'm always fascinated when I hear atheists mock the Bible. They say that it's nothing but fairy tales. They mock Adam, Eve, Jonah, Noah, and Jesus and His miracles with unending scorn. Yet, they don't believe that these people existed or that miracles really happened. To them, Adam and Eve didn't exist. Neither did Noah or Jonah. They think they are myths.

So why do they steam, scheme, rant and rave? It's like someone being upset at the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood or at the Pied Piper for leading a stack of children down the garden path.

Or is it that you know that if Adam did exist, then so does sin; and if sin exists, then you are morally responsible to God? Could it be that that's why you fight tooth and nail against Christianity? Could your love of darkness be the reason you so hate the light? See John 3:19-21 for the answer, if you dare.

No Atheists in an Earthquake?

"I was actually in this earthquake...I live in Tokyo and it was the scariest thing that I have ever been in. I was in Kitasenju teaching English when it struck and after the initial shock we all ventured outside. I saw a mother of about 27/28 clutching her newborn to her chest in fear as the temperature got colder and colder and colder. Fallen creation? What are you talking about? I will NEVER accept this. NEVER. Do you hear me Ray? You can SCREAM this in my face for the rest of time. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT WHAT YOU SAY."

Creation is absolute evidence of a Creator. It didn't make itself. So to suddenly say that God doesn’t exist because we have killer earthquakes and horrific tsunamis (such as the March 2011 tragedy) is to be in denial of something we all intuitively know.

The question is rather, "Is God impotent?" Did He have the ability to create this infinite universe, with suns that dwarf ours massive sun, and yet He can't stop a tremor on this little earth? The question itself is rhetorical, but it's covered in Scripture when we are told, "With God, nothing is impossible."

So it then becomes, "Why did Almighty God allow it, and its terrible train of unspeakable suffering and death?"

Atheism has no consolation for us, other than to say that such pain is the result of an indifferent "Nature" that created itself, and is still in the process of creating. Richard Dawkins said, "Nature is not cruel, pitiless, indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous -- indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose." [A Devil's Chaplain & Other Selected Essays, by Richard Dawkins]

However, the Bible has the consoling answer. It says that we live in a "Fallen Creation" (see Genesis 1-3). We are like an alcoholic who is in denial, adamantly saying that all is well, and yet the symptoms of alcoholism are clearly evident as he staggers toward you.

Here is just some of the evidence that humanity has a serious problem–earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, disease, suffering, and death. The Bible says the whole of creation "groans in travail" under the Fall (see Romans 8:22)—the "curse" of Genesis. Those who understand this don't lose faith in God when terrible tragedies shake a world in denial.

Each one of them instead reminds us that all isn't well. For the world they should be a wake-up call—a slap in our drunken face--a reminder that we are not apes with no moral responsibility, as so many are trying to have us believe. All is far from well between sinful man and a holy God. We have a problem. A big one, that is more serious than a heart attack.

For someone to accept that we live in a fallen creation means that they have to accept that we are sinners—that we aren't the good folks we say we are. It means that we have moral responsibility—-that when a man rapes a woman and slits her throat, God will hold him accountable. It means that Hitler will face God on Judgment Day for the mass murder of so many innocents.

It means that God is just, and that Hell therefore is a real place of punishment for the wicked. These are not pleasant thoughts when we realize that God is morally perfect, that he sees the thought-life and considers lust to be adultery and hatred to be murder. That puts all of us, with our unquenchable thirst for (and addiction to) sin, in deep trouble.

Earthquakes tend to make us tremble. They show us that we don't have total control. In the Book of Acts, there was a big quake that caused a hardened Philippian jailer to cry out to his prisoners "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"(see Acts 16:30). He wasn't talking about the quake (that had already happened). He was talking about his relationship to the One he had angered by his sin.

Fortunately, God has more than a 12-step program for the hopeless alcoholic. When Jesus suffered in our place and rose from the dead, He balanced the scales of eternal justice. He paid the fine so that we could leave the courtroom. The cross is an expression of the love and mercy of God. He is "rich in mercy," and can make us clean and sober with a new thirst for righteousness, and the ability to walk the straight and narrow.

I contacted a friend early in March of 2011, whom I hadn't seen for twenty years. He lived in my hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, had always mocked me for my faith, and so I was surprised that he emailed back. He said that "god" greatly scared him in 2010 (he used profanity) with a 7.1 earthquake. When I then shared the gospel with him, he wrote back and mockingly said that he was guilty of breaking the Commandments, and that he going to Hell to "party."

The next day a killer quake hit, taking over 165 lives. When I contacted him again to see if he was okay, he soberly replied, "Tell your God I am sorry and please don't do that again." This time he used a capital for "God."

Tragedies have a way of putting the fear of God into those of us who are still living. Most of us, that is. Sadly, some may stay in denial and say, "Fallen creation? What are you talking about? I will NEVER accept this. NEVER. Do you hear me Ray? You can SCREAM this in my face for the rest of time. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT WHAT YOU SAY." I hope you are not one of them.

Photo: Tokyo, Japan, by "Morio."

Mark Twain, Atheists, and Red Arrows

I have a lot of ideas. Some are good, and some are a little strange. Take for instance a strange idea I had for years. I noticed that car dealerships strive to get our attention with balloons flying above their car yards. I imagined driving along the freeway and seeing an arrow in the sky, with no visible means of support, pointing down at dealerships. Now that would get attention.

So around the middle of 2010, I had an arrow made, filled it with helium, attached it to clear fishing tackle, and sent it skyward.

It looked amazing (see pictures). The local Honda dealers were so excited about the concept they let us experiment by flying it above their dealership on the side of a major L.A. freeway. The concept worked! The landscape of America was about to change. Red arrows would be everywhere.

It was an incredible idea...until the wind came up, and blew it. The moment the wind hit the arrow it went like a big-game fish fighting for its very life. It twisted and turned, ducked and dived. We reeled it in, and after some serious thought as to how to stop the problem, we tossed it overboard.

Mark Twain had an idea that he believed would take off. He so believed in it, he poured all his wealth into the project, and it bombed big time. He went into bankruptcy, and that left him miserable for the final years of his life.

Now and then I post something that I regret posting. Perhaps it was something that looked good when I wrote it, but it bombed when it was posted. It's embarrassing, but I am in the enviable position of being able to delete it and forget it. One tap of my finger and it's gone, forever.

Perhaps you have done something that you regret and you wish you could take back. But you can't. It's happened and there's nothing you can do about it.

So it's important to know when to quit, and to quit while we are ahead. Today, repent and trust in Jesus, and God will delete your entire past.

You are just a distant descendent of Adam, still trying to hide from God; and atheism is your best hiding place. But there's a big red arrow pointing down at you from the heavens. Your hiding place has never hidden you from God. Not for a moment. You are going to bomb big time on Judgment Day, and have eternity to regret your sins. Quit while you are ahead.

Atheists will Bow

"I wouldn’t bow to your Jesus, even with a gun to my head." Cameron

Yes you will, and it won't be with a gun at your head. When it happens, you will be wishing that is was just a gun. Every knee will bow to Him, and every tongue will confess that Jesus Christ is Lord. You have God’s Word on it. You will bow. Hitler will bow. So will Pontius Pilate, every cruel Roman soldier that spat on Him, and every hate filled religious hypocrite that called for his death.

So will every God-denying atheist and every God-loving sinner. We bowed the knee the moment we repented and trusted Him as Lord (the One to whom we are all morally responsible) and God (the One who gave us life).

As much as you would like to, you haven’t made a "covenant with death." The grave will not hide you from the Justice of a holy God. The moral Law will rip you from your grave and you will stand before God in Judgment, whether you believe in Him or not. The Bible warns that it's a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God. If you think that I’m trying to scare you, you are right. Fear is good, if it awakens you into self-preservation.

Massive tsunamis, terrifying earthquakes, jaw-dropping flashes of lightning, and ground-shaking rolls of thunder are nothing compared to the terror of Judgment Day. Almighty God is wrath-filled at wicked humanity—with all its murder, rape, hatred, lust, adultery, pride, arrogance, and ingratitude, and Hell opens wide its hungry mouth for equity.

If you can't understand such talk, think of how angry you would be if someone tied up your mother, tortured, raped her, and then slowly cut her throat. How would you feel if, in a statement to the judge, the criminal demeaned his crime and said it was no big deal, that he had done many good things in his life, and that he was a good person? I hope you would be angry at such wickedness. Think of how you would long for him to be punished for such a heinous crime. If so, you have a small glimpse into how a morally perfect God reacts to our many sins.

So don't die in your sins. There is no way out of Hell. If you end up there, it will be because of your own rebellion. I will be free from your blood. It will be on your own head. I have spent the best part of 40 years warning people like you that God means what He says. He takes no pleasure in your death, but if you want to embrace it and then what comes after it, so be it.

Atheism and the Intellect

Some Atheists like to make a big thing out of something I have said for years—-that when a Christian shares his faith he should "circumnavigate the intellect."

This doesn't mean (as many Atheists believe) that we are fearful to engage someone in an intelligent conversation addressing the intellect. Rather, I say it because the Bible uses the word "natural" or "carnal" to describe the mind of someone who doesn't know God. They can only think carnally, in a natural realm. The Scriptures go on to say that this "carnal" mind is in a state of continual hostility towards God.

This hostility can be seen in blasphemy (what atheists call "the Victimless crime"), mockery, anger, hatred, or denial of God’s existence. In most cases the hostility or mockery is directed at God's visible representatives.

If a Christian wants to try and reach an Atheist with the message of everlasting life and engages the carnal mind with subjects such as the existence of God, evolution, general apologetics, etc., more than likely he will find resistance, be mocked, or shown hostility.

To deal with this, the Bible tells us where we are to direct ourselves when speaking to the unsaved. It is to their conscience or what the Book of Romans says is the "work of the Law written on their hearts" (see Romans 2:15). This is what Jesus did in Mark 10:17, and the Apostle Paul did in Romans chapter 2.

If I address a sinner's conscience, he has no argument because it "bears witness" with the moral Law. Who of us can say that it's right to lie (not referring to "Grandma your hat looks nice," when you don't really believe that), or to steal (not meaning stealing a loaf of bread to feed your eight starving kids). It's the same with adultery and murder.

The conscience will always agree with the moral Law, unless it is "seared" and has lost its ability to do its divine duty. That is no doubt the case with some on this blog. The batteries have been removed from the smoke detector, and so they are given over to a "reprobate” mind (see Romans 1) and are without hope.

The Thankful Prostitute...

"And one of the Pharisees desired him that he would eat with him. And he went into the Pharisee's house, and sat down to meat. And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee's house, brought an alabaster box of ointment, and stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash his feet with tears, and did wipe them with the hairs of her head, and kissed his feet, and anointed them with the ointment. Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spoke within himself, saying, This man, if he were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that touches him: for she is a sinner. And Jesus answering said to him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto you. And he said, Master, say on. There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty. And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most? Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, You hast rightly judged. And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, See this woman? I entered into your house, you gave me no water for my feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head. You gave me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss my feet. My head with oil you did not anoint: but this woman has anointed my feet with ointment. Wherefore I say to you, Her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loves little. And he said unto her, You sins are forgiven. And they that sat at meat with him began to say within themselves, Who is this that forgives sins also? And he said to the woman, Your faith has saved thee; go in peace" (Luke 7:36-50)

This was a very sinful woman, and she was touching Jesus. Simon knew this. But what he didn't know, was that this was no ordinary Man. Jesus of Nazareth was without sin. He was tempted just as you and I are tempted, but He never sinned even once—not even with a lustful thought. He was morally perfect, in thought, word, and in deed. If you think I’m wrong, try and fault Him, and you will end up being the one who is at fault.

In the Book of Job, poor suffering Job cried out "I have made a covenant with my eyes; why should I then think on a maid?" What man doesn’t feel the power of lust grip his mind? Our eye may be pure, but our heart certainly isn’t. Many a man has destroyed his marriage because adultery began with a lustful look. The Bible says that it "brings forth" sin, and it certainly does. King David's adultery and murder began with a lust-filled look.

On another occasion, when the religious leaders upbraided Jesus for not washing His hands in a religious ritual before He ate, He said that it wasn’t what goes into the mouth that makes a man unclean, but what comes out:

"But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashed hands defileth not a man" (Matthew 15:18-20).

These sins come out of the heart of man—lust, adultery, fornication, etc. So whatever you do, don't become religious in an effort to overcome sin. Religion lets sin live within the heart. Repent and trust in Jesus Christ, and God will reckon all your sin as dead in Christ and He will give you the righteousness of Christ. That means that you will be clean in His sight on the Day of Judgment. And just like that immoral woman, the more you see your sins, the more you will love God and worship Him for His mercy.

EDIT: "It seems that this woman was a prostitute" changed to "this was a very sinful woman."

A Kind Gift from an Atheist...

"Ray, it seems the Red Ring of Enlightenment I sent you isn't working for you very well. Are you sure you are using it correctly?" Jim Diver

Last Sunday I was in a store looking for nasal strips. While I was searching, I did spend a moment looking at a red inflatable cushion. On the outside of the box it said it could be used for travel. We are filming Season Five of our television program in Israel in May, and so I seriously considered buying it for the 30 hours of flying. The most comfortable of seats can feel uncomfortable after such a long time. I’m not sure why I didn’t buy it. I guess I must have been distracted by something else, or my mind was on the atheist debate I had coming up that afternoon.

Fast-forward to Tuesday’s mail. An atheist named James Wissick (blog name Jim Diver) kindly sent me a gift with an accompanying card. The card read: “To help you feel better after your appearance on The Atheist Experience.” I could hardly believe my eyes! I was delighted to get the gift--because it was the exact same inflatable cushion I had been looking at in the store. James bought it for me on the very same day I looked at it. God bless him (see Psalm 37:4).

Of course, this isn’t proof of God’s existence. Creation is proof of that. Then conscience confirms His moral requirements, the Commandments show us we need a Savior, and conversion allows us to know Him and His mercy.

Rubber ring experiences just show me that God stays with the principles of His Word. The Bible tells us that the ungodly fall into the pit that they dig. God “confounds” them in their schemes. I have seen it happen many times. He promises to work out for good, anything that happens to those that love Him (see Romans 8:28).

What Joseph's brothers intended for evil, God turned to his good, and any of us who trust in the Lord will never be disappointed. Even those who were tortured for their faith in Jesus by the Catholic church at the Spanish inquisition (and the many Christians they burned at the stake), will not be disappointed. On the Day of Resurrection you will see that "not one hair on their head will perish."

Never underestimate the power and faithfulness of the One who created the language of DNA. He's not the old man in the sky you think He is—"Oh, the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out!" (Romans 11:33).

Take for example my popular nick-name. Years ago I was embarrassed when I was called “The Banana-man,” but now it makes me smile as I see what a huge platform I have to atheists because of it. Many of you are reading this because of that dumb analogy. It also sets a very low bar for me when it comes to interviews with atheists. Hosts and listeners are amazed that I’m able to string a complete sentence together, and that often works for my good.

So if you think that you are your own master and that every thought that you have is your own, think again: "The king’s heart is in the hand of the Lord, like the rivers of water; He turns it wherever He wishes" (Proverbs 21:1). You cannot outwit God. A spit-less ant would have more chance of extinguishing the sun. Give up. Lay down your weapons. You cannot win this battle.