Love the Gifts

The university gave us Camelback water bottles today. I guess they want us to be ready for the summer. 

The Real Issue with Gay Marriage

"The problem with redefining marriage for gays on the premise that it's unconstitutional to deny them the right to marry is that the courts have changed the meaning of the Constitution's language concerning "liberty" and "equality." Now...if the courts are to be legally consistent...any discrimination against anybody vying for recognition for any number of marital arrangements is unconstitutional. They are either all equal and protected or they are not, and if not, why not and by who's moral judgement? Rights are now thoroughly vested in the government's power to create them out of thin air...and to take them away. Gay marriage may have won the legal war but in doing so they may have opened a Pandora's box of social chaos and a path to social collapse."

Massacre in Kenya

Meanwhile, in America, we fight over wedding cakes and flowers for gay weddings.

The Measure of a Man

A man should be measured not only by his friends, but also by his enemies. 

Interesting Occupations.

Apparently, the only two occupations that one can have and be consistently wrong is a weatherman and a politician. 

Bible Doctrine - The Canonization of the Bible

The word canon means “measuring rod, rule, or standard”. In reference to the Bible, the Canon refers to those books that have been measured and found worthy to be a part of the Bible. The process of canonization is viewed in two stages: the books that were determined by God which was complete by 96 AD with the writing of Revelation, and the recognition of their’ inspiration by man at the Third Council of Carthage in 397 AD.

In regards to being determined by God, the Old Testament was written and collected by the Jewish people. Jesus believed that all of it was inspired because he either quoted from or alluded to every book in it with the possible exception of Esther.

Unlike our English Bible, the Hebrew Bible starts with Genesis and ends with 2 Chronicles. Jesus alluded to this in Luke 11:51 when he said: “From the blood of Abel unto the blood of Zacharias, which perished between the altar and the temple: verily I say unto you, it shall be required of this generation.” Abel’s blood was shed in Genesis 4:8 and Zacharias’ in 2 Chronicles 24:21. Thus, Jesus was affirming that he believed everything in between.

In regards to being determined by man, the books of the New Testament that were chosen to be included was determined by things such as apostolic authority, authorship, local church acceptance, church father’s recognition, subapostolic (immediate leadership after the age of the apostles), and authority.

Of course, there were books that were rejected that we refer to as the apocryphal books. These were written during the intertestamental period between Malachi and Matthew which was approximately four hundred years. The reason for their rejection included the fact that they never claimed to be inspired, some of their teachings are heretical (e.g., sinless perfection, worship of angels, prayers for the dead, etc.), they were never recognized by the early church, they were never allowed a place in the Canon until 400 years after Christ by Jerome in the Latin Vulgate under pressure of the Roman Catholic Church, and finally they contradict other portions of the Bible and even themselves.

Of course there is much more that could be said on this subject. A great book to read if you want to go deeper is The Canon of Scripture by F. F. Bruce.

Blessings,
Dwayne

"Christians in America Need To Stop Being Such Wussies"

Christians in America Need To Stop Being Such Wussies - John Hawkins - Page 1



Excellent article and my sentiments exactly.



Blessings,

Dwayne

Sad Commentary

Walked past this Unitarian Universalist church the other day in downtown Lynchburg. Sad commentary that people can simply walk away from the clear teachings of Scripture. Found the Dr. Seuss quote to be indicative of pretty much everything else they teach.

Bible Doctrine – Proofs of Inspiration with Scientific Accuracy

Although not a science book, the Bible is accurate when it speaks on scientific matters, and this does serve as another proof to its inspiration. Let’s just take a look at at least sixteen of them.

The life is in the blood

Leviticus 17:11 'For the life of the flesh is in the blood, and I have given it to you on the altar to make atonement for your souls; for it is the blood by reason of the life that makes atonement.'

Have you ever read how our first president, George Washington died? – Leeching. They believed that illness was carried in the blood.

http://www.mountvernon.org/research-collections/digital-encyclopedia/article/the-death-of-george-washington/

The paths or currents in the sea

Psalm 8:8 The birds of the heavens and the fish of the sea, Whatever passes through the paths of the seas.

Have you ever read the story of Matthew Maury and how he discovered these paths?

https://answersingenesis.org/creation-scientists/profiles/matthew-maurys-search-for-the-secret-of-the-seas/

The earth is spherical

Isaiah 40:22 It is He who sits above the circle of the earth, And its inhabitants are like grasshoppers, Who stretches out the heavens like a curtain And spreads them out like a tent to dwell in.

For years people thought that the earth was flat!

The earth is suspended in space

Job 26:7 "He stretches out the north over empty space And hangs the earth on nothing.

The stars are innumerable

Genesis 15:5 And He took him outside and said, "Now look toward the heavens, and count the stars, if you are able to count them." And He said to him, "So shall your descendants be."

There are mountains and canyons in the sea

2 Samuel 22:16 "Then the channels of the sea appeared, The foundations of the world were laid bare By the rebuke of the LORD, At the blast of the breath of His nostrils.

Jonah 2:6 "I descended to the roots of the mountains. The earth with its bars was around me forever, But You have brought up my life from the pit, O LORD my God.

There are springs and fountains in the sea

Genesis 7:11 In the six hundredth year of Noah's life, in the second month, on the seventeenth day of the month, on the same day all the fountains of the great deep burst open, and the floodgates of the sky were opened.

Genesis 8:2 Also the fountains of the deep and the floodgates of the sky were closed, and the rain from the sky was restrained;

Proverbs 8:28 When He made firm the skies above, When the springs of the deep became fixed,

The hydrologic cycle

Ecclesiastes 1:6-7 Blowing toward the south, Then turning toward the north, The wind continues swirling along; And on its circular courses the wind returns. All the rivers flow into the sea, Yet the sea is not full. To the place where the rivers flow, There they flow again.

Job 26:8 "He wraps up the waters in His clouds, And the cloud does not burst under them.

Job 36:27-28 "For He draws up the drops of water, They distill rain from the mist, Which the clouds pour down, They drip upon man abundantly.

Job 38:25-27 "Who has cleft a channel for the flood, Or a way for the thunderbolt, To bring rain on a land without people, On a desert without a man in it, To satisfy the waste and desolate land And to make the seeds of grass to sprout?

Job 37:16 "Do you know about the layers of the thick clouds, The wonders of one perfect in knowledge,

Psalm 135:7 He causes the vapors to ascend from the ends of the earth; Who makes lightnings for the rain, Who brings forth the wind from His treasuries.

http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/153627/

The existence of matter

Romans 1:20 For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse.

Reproduction

Genesis 1:21 God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good.

Genesis 6:19 "And of every living thing of all flesh, you shall bring two of every kind into the ark, to keep them alive with you; they shall be male and female.

The need for sanitation

Deuteronomy 23:12-13 "You shall also have a place outside the camp and go out there, and you shall have a spade among your tools, and it shall be when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and shall turn to cover up your excrement.

The need for quarantine

Leviticus 13:45-46 "As for the leper who has the infection, his clothes shall be torn, and the hair of his head shall be uncovered, and he shall cover his mustache and cry, 'Unclean! Unclean!'  "He shall remain unclean all the days during which he has the infection; he is unclean. He shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

The need for the land to rest

Leviticus 25:1-12 The LORD then spoke to Moses at Mount Sinai, saying, "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'When you come into the land which I shall give you, then the land shall have a sabbath to the LORD. 'Six years you shall sow your field, and six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its crop, but during the seventh year the land shall have a sabbath rest, a sabbath to the LORD; you shall not sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 'Your harvest's aftergrowth you shall not reap, and your grapes of untrimmed vines you shall not gather; the land shall have a sabbatical year. 'All of you shall have the sabbath products of the land for food; yourself, and your male and female slaves, and your hired man and your foreign resident, those who live as aliens with you. 'Even your cattle and the animals that are in your land shall have all its crops to eat. 'You are also to count off seven sabbaths of years for yourself, seven times seven years, so that you have the time of the seven sabbaths of years, namely, forty-nine years. 'You shall then sound a ram's horn abroad on the tenth day of the seventh month; on the day of atonement you shall sound a horn all through your land. 'You shall thus consecrate the fiftieth year and proclaim a release through the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you, and each of you shall return to his own property, and each of you shall return to his family.   'You shall have the fiftieth year as a jubilee; you shall not sow, nor reap its aftergrowth, nor gather in from its untrimmed vines. 'For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you. You shall eat its crops out of the field.

The method and timing of circumcision

Gen 17:9-12 God said further to Abraham, "Now as for you, you shall keep My covenant, you and your descendants after you throughout their generations. "This is My covenant, which you shall keep, between Me and you and your descendants after you: every male among you shall be circumcised. "And you shall be circumcised in the flesh of your foreskin, and it shall be the sign of the covenant between Me and you."And every male among you who is eight days old shall be circumcised throughout your generations, a servant who is born in the house or who is bought with money from any foreigner, who is not of your descendants.

Again, the Bible is not a science book, but where it speaks to the areas of science, it is accurate!

Matthew 5:18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Those who say that the Bible is “full of errors” and not inspired speak from ignorance.

Blessings,
Dwayne

Bible Doctrine – Proofs of Inspiration

Okay, now that we’ve seen the men that God used to write the Bible. I want to take a look at the many proofs of the inspiration of the Bible. I will do this in two ways. First, we will take a look at what the Bible says of its own inspiration, and secondly, discuss how history has shown its indestructibility.

First, the Bible says of itself that it is inspired. Let’s take a look at some Scriptures that speak to the issue of inspiration.

2 Timothy 3:16 All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness;

2 Peter 1:21 for no prophecy was ever made by an act of human will, but men moved by the Holy Spirit spoke from God.

Did you also know that the term, “Thus says the Lord” is used over 3800 times in the Bible? Of course, that by implication means that God said it!

Second, history has shown that the Bible is indestructible.

In 303 AD, the Roman Emperor Diocletian issued an edict that Christians and “their book” were to be destroyed. The persecution on the church was brutal. He then built a monument over a burned Bible with the words “Extincto Nomene Christianorum”, meaning “the name Christian is extinguished”. Twenty-five years later (some say nine), another Roman Emperor named Constantine declared Rome to be a Christian nation and commissioned fifty copies of the Bible to be made and paid for at government expense. Not much chance of that happening in our day!

The infamous Voltaire once said, “One hundred years from now there will be no Bibles on earth except one which will be in a museum.” Now there are stories that his home was purchased by the Geneva Bible Society and they used it to print and store Bibles. Unfortunately, the veracity of that story is questionable as much as we would like for it to be true. However, it is true that one hundred years after Voltaire’s death, a first edition of one of his works sold for a mere eleven cents in Paris, while the British paid the Czar of Russia half a million dollars for a Bible manuscript. Apparently, Voltaire’s predictions were a little hasty!

The Bible even speaks to its own indestructibility.

Isaiah 40:8 The grass withers, the flower fades, But the word of our God stands forever.

Isaiah 55:11 So will My word be which goes forth from My mouth; It will not return to Me empty, Without accomplishing what I desire, And without succeeding in the matter for which I sent it.

Isaiah 59:21 "As for Me, this is My covenant with them," says the LORD: "My Spirit which is upon you, and My words which I have put in your mouth shall not depart from your mouth, nor from the mouth of your offspring, nor from the mouth of your offspring's offspring," says the LORD, "from now and forever."

Matthew 5:18 "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.

Matthew 24:35 "Heaven and earth will pass away, but My words will not pass away.

Luke 16:17 "But it is easier for heaven and earth to pass away than for one stroke of a letter of the Law to fail.

The bottom line is that the Bible that we have in our hands today is the inspired Word of God.

The Anvil

Last eve I paused before a blacksmith’s door and heard the anvil ring the vesper chime.

And looking in, I saw old hammers on the floor, Worn by the beating years of time.

“How many anvils have you had,” said I, “To wear and batter all these hammers so?”

“Just one,” said he, then with a twinkle in his eyes, “The anvil wears the hammers out you know.”

And so I thought, the anvil of God’s word, For ages skeptic blows have beat upon.

Yet though the noise of falling blows was heard, the anvil is unharmed and the hammers gone!

Blessings,
Dwayne