 Dear Michael,
Recently I read an article where you stated that you could no longer believe that God is directly responsible for the creation of the universe. I will have to admit that I read this from a facebook post which quoted a Christian news site. Having been burnt by this kind of “gotcha-journalism” before, I knew I needed to read your original blog from which this article quoted. Based on reading this entire post, I would like to respond to your blog entitled, “What Do We Believe?” Your article deeply concerns me – not just because of your lack of belief in the Creator and His revelation to us of how He created the heavens and the earth. My concern goes deeper than that. My greatest concern is on the way you cleverly dismiss the Bible as an authority because it is about belief, and yet tout yourself and modern-day science as a fitting replacement, Your arguments in this blog post take on the appearance of wisdom and ‘well thought out’ reasonings. The problem one finds while reading them is that, in the end, they are based on little more than a false premise that you are a free thinker without an ultimate authority. Your reason alone (informed by scientists who are smart enough to reject biblical creation and hold fast to evolutionary theory) leads you to your premises unlike those who hold the Bible as an authoritative book in all matters of faith and practice. You make an interesting statement early in your article. You state, “. . . pretty much everything is a belief because everything we know is built upon assumptions.” After this seemingly wise statement you speak of what happens when “some of what you built the words and concepts on – no longer exists.” From this dubious vantage point you begin to speak of God, the Bible, the book of Genesis – and eventually even whether what we believe about God is even important. What is fascinating is that you then use “your own words” to convince us not to judge or make distinctions based on what we may or may not believe to be God’s words (i.e. the Bible itself). Even though you seek to present some self-deprecating views of yourself, you do little more than replace one authority with another. What is truly fascinating when I read this article is that in the end – I become the authority over myself – just as you become the ultimate authority over yourself. You and I define our own words. You and I also choose to decide if our former definition of words were true – or were imposed upon us by others (in your case those who taught you the Bible in Christian school and church). You approach biblical authority with the greatest of skepticism while embracing current scientific theory as factual. What you have done in your really cool and open minded article is trade one form of authority for a different one. Whereas people like myself who CAN believe in a God-created universe – Adam and Eve – a 6000 year old earth – a literal world-wide flood – and personally my favorite, “naked people in a garden eating an apple being responsible for the death of the dinosaurs.” (Isn’t it interesting when you want to prove other people to be stupid – you not only denigrate their beliefs – you mock them by mis-stating them.) While we are held up to a very high-minded form of ridicule (notice the NOTE below), your particular views are help up as enlightened, gracious, and far more believable. We are seen as those who hold fast to defined words – while you are seen as one who is more interested in how someone lives. Your “healthy beliefs” are then given credit for leading to a “lifestyle” defined by caring attitudes about your neighbor, ministering and caring for the poor, and living according to James chapter 2 (which evidently IS God’s Word?). We are left thinking that we should reject the Bible as a literal authority (quite an authoritative thought, don’t you think) and be more loving and kind (at least how you define loving and kind – which considering the neighbor and poor stuff is hard to argue with – you know). What we actually get is a view where WE become our own authority – at least the “we” that agrees with modern scientific theory. I don’t hate you Michael – and neither do I know whether you are lost or saved at this point. All I’ve done is read your article – and yet that article concerns me greatly. It does because it presents the same lie that caused our world to end up in the mess it is in today. “Has God said?” is the lie to which I refer. The original lie was to distrust God’s Word – and instead decide that WE would make a much better god over ourselves. Isn’t that what Satan said to Eve? “God knows that in the day that you eat it – you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” How we live (which seems to be your way of determining what is best) is derived from what we believe to be truth. If truth then is solely in the eye of the beholder – because us-forbid we’d actually believe God’s revelation of Himself in the Bible – then isn’t it true that the beholder becomes God in the end? That is little more than a 6000 year old lie repackaged in really cool blog post. [NOTE: Yes, Adam and Eve were naked. No, they did not eat an apple – the Bible simply states it was fruit. Yes, the Fall of man into sin precipitated death in our world. No, the dinosaurs were not singled out in this judgment upon sin – and its effects on the earth. BUT . . . when lacing these facts and mental inventions together it does make the Bible accounts sound sufficiently stupid doesn’t it? How you state something truly does have an effect on how believable someone else views it. Imagine if I referred to evolutionary theory in a similar way. It is little more than believing that, “Everything came about as a result of nothing being done by no one for absolutely no reason at all.”]
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A large meteorite has recently exploded over Russia! The devastation is everwhere. Doors have been blown in – windows were shattered – and the sky was lit up by the exploding fireball from heaven. What does all this mean? Could it be a prophecy of the return of Christ? Was this meteorite predicted by the prophets of the Bible? Could it be one of the meteorite strikes promised in the prophecies of the book of Revelation? Are we possibly days or even moments away from the return of Christ?
Thus write the Prophecy nuts of our time – who use just about any excuse a flashy news item to once again tell us that the sky is falling and the coming of Christ is just around the corner. Oh, and they also introduce yet another book that they or someone else within the prophecy movement just wrote to show you the numbers, prophecies, or whatever other gimmick they turn to each time – to prove their point (and make $19.95 – plus shipping). But . . . when we dig a little deeper – and we dig into the clear meaning of Scripture rather than other non-biblical sources – we come back to sanity. At least we tend to return to a biblical view of God’s purposes and intent. We also return to a heart set on His will and purpose rather than the most recent “scare” that hit Christian TV or radio. And more than anything we hopefully return to the Bible rather than whatever book that recently hit news-stands and bookstores or whatever article was in a magazine or prophecy blog. For the next couple of days I’ll cover two events that have filled the papers and blogs with headlines mentioning the end times and even some predicting that this event is reminding us that the coming of Christ is very near. I’ll begin with the meteorite that exploded in Russia. From the articles I read about the incident they described the meteor as being about the size of a school bus. When it exploded in the sky over Russia, it was powerful enough to shatter windows – rock homes – and even destroy buildings that were closer to the center of the shock wave it produced. Videotapes were also available on the internet which showed the sky lighting up like a flash from a camera – followed by a bright white flash that pulsated to an even brighter level as the meteorite exploded in the sky. These are the facts about the event. What was amazing though was the speculation about end times that took place afterward. I read a few articles that said this was a harbinger of the end times – some even stating that additional meteors were coming which would bring greater devastation. Some went as far as to say this was an event prophesied in the Bible and the book of Revelation. Sheesh. There is a couple of events in the book of Revelation that involve something that might be describing a meteor burning when it hits the earths atmosphere. During the trumpet judgments of Revelation chapter 8 we read the following: “The first sounded, and there came hail and fire, mixed with blood, and they were thrown to the earth; and a third of the earth was burned up, and a third of the trees were burned up, and all the green grass was burned up. 8 The second angel sounded, and something like a great mountain burning with fire was thrown into the sea; and a third of the sea became blood, 9 and a third of the creatures which were in the sea and had life, died; and a third of the ships were destroyed. 10 The third angel sounded, and a great star fell from heaven, burning like a torch, and it fell on a third of the rivers and on the springs of waters. 11 The name of the star is called Wormwood; and a third of the waters became wormwood, and many men died from the waters, because they were made bitter.” Revelation 8:7-11 (NASB) These three judgments may – and please read the statement MAY – involve some sort of meteorite striking the earth. The first in verse 7 speaks of hail, fire, and blood falling from the skies. The hail and fire might be from a meteor striking the earth which subsequently burns up a third of the earth, trees, and all the green grass. The problem here is the blood that is mentioned. Not sure I’ve ever heard of a meteorite that did that. The second possibility is in verse 8 where something like a great mountain burning with fire fell into the sea – making a third of the sea blood – as well as killing a third of the creatures in the sea. The third event is described as a great star falling from heaven, named wormwood. This “star” falls from the heavens onto the earth, making a third of the rivers and waters bitter. Men die from drinking these waters. Now that we have the Scriptures before us let’s take a look at the Russian meteor event. Do you have any grass alive near you? If so – this was not a meteorite event that fulfills verse 7. Was this thing the size of a mountain – and did it destroy a third of all sea life? If not – then it was not a meteorite event fulfilling verse 8. Was there a star-like event falling from heaven that subsequently turned a third of the earth’s drinking water bitter – and killed many who drank it? If not – then we are 0-3 – and we’ve accomplished a prophetic strike out! Never mind that biblically we are not allowed even one strike if someone is a biblical prophet (they should be 100% accurate on all predictions – or else we should ignore them and not be afraid of anything they prophesy). Then what was the Russian meteorite event? Well – let’s try this – it was a meteorite that came into our atmosphere – and exploded over a small area of Russia. It was scary and terrifying to those who experienced it. The Royal Astronomical Society of England states that every year we have between 18,000 to 84,000 meteorites larger than 10 grams hit the earth every year. This was a particularly large one comparatively but – was nothing compared to what will come one day as the coming of Christ draws nearer. Is it a sign that His coming is nearer? Not really – what we have that is far more reliable than this is the Scriptural admonition that we be ready for His coming at ANY MOMENT. The Bible does not tell us the exact time of date of these events that will happen. It spends far more of its time telling us that God wants us to share the gospel with men and women who desperately need forgiveness of sin – and a righteousness that will stand on the day of judgment. It is a reminder that we live in a universe that is filled with millions of pieces of space junk that floats all over – and occasionally (at least 18,000 times a year) hits our planet with varying degrees of destruction. But unless you look out your window and see devastation on a continent-wide degree – or learn of tsunamis that were started by a meteorite the size of a mountain hitting the ocean – you can be assured that no biblical event has yet occurred. Oh – once you’ve realized this – you might want to share the gospel with those around you. There are far more clear commands indicating that this is what should be dominating our time – rather than making a burning mountain out of a meteorite no bigger than a bus. Lately, I’ve been noticing a lot of truly ridiculous statements being made – and not being challenged for the foolishness that they are. In an effort to expose these statements for what they are, I am going to institute a monthly award to be given out to those who make them. The name of my award is the “Doofus of the Month” award. It will go to the person whose statement truly exhibits all the very best (or worst, if you think about it) of doofus thinking.
The initial winner of the “Doofus of the Month” award is Richard Dawkins. Recently Dawkins was quoted in an interview with the UK Guardian as making the following statement. “Jesus was a great moral teacher and I was suggesting that somebody as intelligent as Jesus would have been an atheist if he had known what we know today.” Let’s look at why Mr. Dawkins deserves this award for his truly amazing “Doofus Thinking.” First of all, if we are going to take an honest look at Jesus, we can only do so on the basis of the teachings given to us in the Gospels. It is our original source material on Jesus Christ, what He said, and Who He is. The gospels assume – and go to great lengths to prove that Jesus is God Himself. There are numerous statements attributed to Jesus of Nazareth in which He calls Himself God. Therefore for Jesus Christ to one moment state that He is God – and in the next (at least in Dawkins' thinking) deny even the existence of God at all – would make Jesus Christ one of two things. He is either a spiritual schizophrenic, or worse, a charlatan of the highest order. This then pokes serious holes in Dawkin’s statement that Jesus was a great moral teacher. As C. S. Lewis asserted, if we take Jesus at His Words in the Gospels, we are left with one of three conclusions. Jesus Christ is either a liar, a lunatic, or Lord. If someone is crazy enough to call himself God when he is not - even willing to die a horrendous death on a cross for it - he is not a good moral teacher - he is nuts. So, Mr. Dawkins, Jesus has to be one of the two - He is either insane or He is Who He says He is - God. Those of us who are Christians believe that His teachings, His works (miracles), His fulfillment of prophecy, and ultimately His resurrection prove He is the latter. The second thing that truly manifests “Doofus Thinking” of the first order is Dawkin’s comments that if Jesus knew what we knew, He would be an atheist. It is hard to decide if this is more “doofus thinking,” or just arrogance reaching to new heights. Truly this man sees himself as superior in his scientific thinking than the rest of us lowly unscientific serfs. Dawkins lifts the current world as superior in knowledge to any that ever existed – and evidently sees himself as high priest of such knowledge. This is how he can utter such absolutist statements about the intelligence of Jesus – and how it was inferior to our own. How else could a great moral teacher make such gargantuan blunders in advancing belief in God – when of course the enlightened ones of our current age have made such belief obsolete with their infallible science and its discoveries. The God revealed in the Bible is represented by that revelation as omniscient (Mr. Dawkins, that means He is all-knowing). Jesus manifest that omniscience by knowing what His detractors were thinking. We learn in Philippians 2 that Jesus, being God of very God, chose to lay aside His attributes. He emptied Himself and took upon the form of a servant, being made in human form. He did so to eventually bear the sin of the world – and pay the full measure of punishment and wrath due that sin. But in no way does that mean Jesus was just too simple-minded and dumb to not realize there wasn’t a God – and He wasn’t Him. Mr Dawkins also has a problem with his reasoning - because he asserts that there is a thing such as a "great moral teacher". That assumes that there is good moral teaching - or at least a set of morals that should be embraced as better than other morals. Unfortunately for him an atheistic evolutionary view of the world militates against even the existence of morals. Classic evolutionary theory is founded upon a world that has one moral code. That code is the advancement of superior species, and the ultimate extinction of inferior ones. It is even wrong to suggest that this is moral in any way - because this advancement of superior species is totally random and happens only because life is perpetuating itself. The existence of morals assumes someone who can speak with authority as to why one behavior or choice is superior to another. In Dawkins' atheistic, evolutionary model no such authority exists. It would be more consistent for Dawkins to say that Jesus was a bigoted, authoritarian, arrogant man who had the audacity to assume his moral positions were superior to what another person considered their own truth. If Jesus were a true atheist, the first thing he would shed would be the moral assertions of his own teachings. He could hold such a moral code for himself - but to assert that others should hold it as superior to their own thoughts and desires would be the height of arrogance and religious bigotry. Only a "doofus thinker" wants to have it both ways. Mr. Dawkin’s statement defies any kind of reason in its assertion. He simply is defining himself as the ultimate authority on God. His statements lack credibility because, as one who rejects absolute truth, he himself is making absolute statements about God. In so doing he is making himself “god” in the process (well at least god over all thoughts and belief systems about God). One has to wonder if one day in the future other, far more enlightened scientists will one day state that if Mr. Dawkins knew what they knew, he would not have held his own views in such high esteem – thus making him an “A-Dawkin-ist.” Congratulations Mr. Dawkins! You are our very first "Doofus of the Month!" |
 What is the Prophecy/News Update?At Calvary Chapel of Jonesboro, we believe that history is moving toward fulfilling God's plans and purposes. In an effort to help us be prepared for His appearing - and also to chronicle news items you just won't see in the national media - this page is devoted to sharing those items and their possible significance to 
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