A Look at Legalism from Legion

If you are unfamiliar with C. S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters, this post might not make much sense. However, if you have read and enjoyed Lewis' work, I believe you will find this post extremely worthy of your time.

For those who are unfamiliar with the Screwtape Letters, let me say a few words: C. S. Lewis wrote the Screwtape Letters as if from the devil's point of view, looking at humankind and all their struggles, failings and temptations. Screwtape is the administrator in the bureaucracy of Hell. He is the mentor to Wormwood, an apprentice in tempting. Throughout the book, Screwtape gives forth advice, in the form of letters, on various ways Wormwood can undermine faith and promote sin in the minds of men. Much observation is given on human nature and Christian doctrine. Obviously, Wormwood and Screwtape live in a morally-reversed world where greed and gain are seen as the highest of benefits.

R. C. Sproul (founder and chairman of Ligonier Ministries, and president of Ligonier Academy. He is also the author of the commentaries on Romans and John), in one of his posts in Tabletalk Magazine, he took on the act of writing from a "devil's point of view" to a tempter in training, just as Lewis did. His overall emphasis is on the subject of legalism. Written in this unfamiliar form, the Christian begins viewing man's sinful nature in a whole new light.

Dear Cousin Gall,

We are excited to write to you regarding the new training we have received from our great mentor. He has come up with a wonderful ploy to create havoc with the enemy. We know that hordes of converts have gone over to the side of our most hated one. We are not able to unconvert them, for once they are converted to Him, He keeps them on His side. So what can we do? Our great leader advises a new way by which we can paralyze them to make their impact in our domain slight.

How is that? The principal means is by stealing their liberty. We can do that by binding them with chains where God has left them free. We will direct their attention to a different law, a false law, a new law. We’ll tell them that what obedience to the enemy really requires is that they refrain from dancing, from smoking, from wearing lipstick, and from going to movies. By putting the accent there, we can keep their attention away from pursuing real righteousness and the fruit of the Spirit. In a word, the strategy we will employ is to make them legalists.

Of course, we know that it is not legalism to obey the law of God, but it is legalism to think that the enemy’s law is something different from what it is. We must work hard to fool them, to tell them that true righteousness comes by obeying these cultural standards that we will suggest to the church. We’ll get people so caught up with refraining from these worldly things that they will be paralyzed and confused about what true righteousness is. We’ll also get them to think that by keeping this new law, their works will save them.

If we’re not able to convince them altogether of this false law, then we’ll give them an unbalanced view of the real law, that is, we’ll encourage them to act like the Pharisees of old by majoring in minors, by obeying lesser items of the law while ignoring the weightier matters. This is part of the strategy of keeping them unbalanced and paralyzed. If we can accomplish this stratagem, then perhaps our gates will prevail against them.

Your Master,
Legion

From Ligonier Ministries and R.C. Sproul. © Tabletalk magazine. Website: www.ligonier.org/tabletalk. Email: tabletalk@ligonier.org. Toll free: 1-800-435-4343

Hard Rock Layers Bending, Not Breaking!

This is just one more out of many evidences so consistent with the young earth belief.

There are numerous places in which we find layers of rock that are sometimes thousands of feet thick -- yet these thick layers of rock are bent and folded into shapes that are like hairpins. Now many evolutionary geologists would tell us that these types of layers of rock solidified -- or hardened -- for hundreds of millions of years BEFORE they were bent.

But we see clearly that there is an insurmountable problem with this statement. These rock layers have not been cracked. It's though they were like putty or play-dough so that they could be folded without breaking.

This obviously means that these rock layers had to be bent before they hardened. Or to be put in other words, this had to happen less than a thousand years after they were deposited.

So then, what's the answer? Our answers come from Genesis, providing the solution. Noah's global flood laid down these many rock layers just a few thousand years ago. Then sometime after the flood, while the layers were still soft, movements in the earth's crust bent the layers. Eventually, these layers hardened.

I quote Ken Ham by saying, "Those who believe in millions of years have to disregard the obvious -- the earth is young!"

The Curse of Ham?

Through many years I've listened to the talk of people about the supposed curse of Ham. Sadly, I've also heard many, this includes Christian leaders, claim that Ham's curse resulted in the black-skinned people being formed. To be blatant, this is nonsense!

The Word of God makes it clear in Genesis chapter nine that it was Ham's youngest son, Canaan who was actually cursed. As a matter of fact, Ham had four sons, and there was not one curse placed on his other three sons.

I believe that what was actually happening was that Noah recognized that Canaan's nature was a whole lot like his father, Ham's nature -- only worse. Just as Ham brought great disrespect to Noah, so Canaan also would bring disrespect to his father Ham. As we see from history, this is exactly what happened.

As you study the Bible, you will find that Canaan's descendants were the wicked Canaanites and the evil people of Sodom and Gomorrah. What Noah said about Canaan was shown clearly to be true.

There is also a warning in this section of history for fathers. Ham's rebellious nature obviously influenced the next generation -- and sadly, as we usually see happens, this rebellion grew stronger, generation after generation!

Was there disease before Adam sinned?

Many Christians and even Christian leaders, have accepted the evolutionists' teaching of millions of years when it comes to the fossil record. When believing this many don't take into account that they are also accepting that horrible diseases were rampant before sin.
There's a special branch of science called paleopathology. This branch studies diseases in fossils. For example, dinosaur bones that are supposedly millions of years old show evidence of arthritis, abscesses, and osteoarthritis. Many fossil bones have also shown evidences of cancer and other diseases.
So, by a Christian believing that the fossil record was laid down millions of years before Adam and Eve, then they also have to accept that there were all sorts of horrible diseases in the world before sin. But how could God have described such a world as VERY GOOD?
Many of the diseases found in fossil bones are the exact same kinds of diseases that also affect humans.
No, our answers from the book of Genesis make it clear that there were NO diseases or death before sin. This is just one more reason why Christians cannot believe in the millions of years theory to form the fossil record.

Prayer: The Work of Missions: By John Piper

Prayer: The Work of Missions :: Desiring God Christian Resource Library

I have found this sermon by John Piper to be challenging, convicting, and encouraging! I ask those who follow my blog to visit this site and read Piper's message.

"Until you believe that life is war, you cannot know what prayer is for. Prayer is for the accomplishment of a wartime mission. It is as though the field commander (Jesus) called in the troops, gave them a crucial mission ("Go and bear fruit"), handed each of them a personal transmitter coded to the frequency of the general's headquarters, and said, "Comrades, the general has a mission for you. He aims to see it accomplished. And to that end he has authorized me to give each of you personal access to him through these transmitters. If you stay true to his mission and seek his victory first, he will always be as close as your transmitter, to give tactical advice and to send in air cover when you or your comrades need it.
But what have millions of Christians done? They have stopped believing that we are in a war. No urgency, no watching, no vigilance, no strategic planning. Just easy peacetime and prosperity. And what did they do with the walkie-talkie? They tried to rig it up as an intercom in their cushy houses and cabins and boats and cars - not to call in fire power for conflict with a mortal enemy, but to ask the maid to bring another pillow to the den.
If we are going to mobilize a powerful prayer movement for missions or even sustain the will to pray in our own hearts, we must talk about something else first, namely, war. We have so domesticated prayer that it is no longer, in many of our lives and churches, what it was created to be - a wartime walkie-talkie for the accomplishment of mission commands.
We simply must create in ourselves and in our people a wartime mentality. Otherwise the Biblical teaching about the urgency of prayer, and the vigilance of prayer, and the watching in prayer, and the perseverance in prayer, and the danger of abandoning prayer will make no sense and find no resonance in our hearts. Until we feel the desperation of a bombing raid, or the thrill of a new strategic offensive for the gospel, we will not pray in the spirit of Jesus. " ~John Piper~

A Young Earth, By: Terry Mortonson

There is an intensifying controversy in the church all over the world regarding the age of the earth. For the first 18 centuries of church history, the almost universal belief of Christians was that God created the world in six literal days roughly 4,000 years before Christ and destroyed the world with a global Flood at the time of Noah.

But about 200 years ago some scientists developed new theories of earth history, which proposed that the earth and universe are millions of years old. Over the past 200 years Christian leaders have made various attempts to fit the millions of years into the Bible. These include the day-age view, gap theory, local flood view, framework hypothesis, theistic evolution, and progressive creation.

A growing number of Christians (now called young-earth creationists), including many scientists, hold to the traditional view, believing it to be the only view that is truly faithful to Scripture and that fits the scientific evidence far better than the reigning old-earth evolutionary theory.

Many Christians say that the age of the earth is an unimportant and divisive side issue that hinders the proclamation of the gospel. But is that really the case? Answers in Genesis and many other creationist organizations think not.

In this chapter, I want to introduce you to some of the reasons we think that Christians cannot accept the millions of years without doing great damage to the church and her witness in the world. Other chapters in this book will go into much more detail on these issues.

1. The Bible clearly teaches that God created in six literal, 24-hour days a few thousand years ago. The Hebrew word for day in Genesis 1 is yom. In the vast majority of its uses in the Old Testament it means a literal day; and where it doesn’t, the context makes this clear.
2. The context of Genesis 1 clearly shows that the days of creation were literal days. First, yom is defined the first time it is used in the Bible (Genesis 1:4-5) in its two literal senses: the light portion of the light/dark cycle and the whole light/dark cycle. Second, yom is used with “evening” and “morning.” Everywhere these two words are used in the Old Testament, either together or separately and with or without yom in the context, they always mean a literal evening or morning of a literal day. Third, yom is modified with a number: one day, second day, third day, etc., which everywhere else in the Old Testament indicates literal days. Fourth, yom is defined literally in Genesis 1:14 in relation to the heavenly bodies.

3. The genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 make it clear that the creation days happened only about 6,000 years ago. It is transparent from the genealogies of Genesis 5 and 11 (which give very detailed chronological information, unlike the clearly abbreviated genealogy in Matthew 1 and other chronological information in the Bible that the Creation Week took place only about 6,000 years ago.
4. Exodus 20:9-11 blocks all attempts to fit millions of years into Genesis 1. “Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath of the LORD your God; in it you shall not do any work, you or your son or your daughter, your male or your female servant or your cattle or your sojourner who stays with you. For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea and all that is in them, and rested on the seventh day; therefore the LORD blessed the sabbath day and made it holy” (Exodus 20:9-11)

   This passage gives the reason for God’s command to Israel to work six days and then take a sabbath rest. Yom is used in both parts of the commandment. If God meant that the Jews were to work six days because He created over six long periods of time, He could have said that using one of three indefinite Hebrew time words. He chose the only word that means a literal day, and the Jews understood it literally (until the idea of millions of years developed in the early nineteenth century). For this reason, the day-age view or framework hypothesis must be rejected. The gap theory or any other attempt to put millions of years before the six days are also false because God says that in six days He made the heaven and the earth and the sea and all that is in them. So He made everything in those six literal days and nothing before the first day.

5. Noah’s Flood washes away millions of years. The evidence in Genesis 6:9 for a global catastrophic flood is overwhelming. For example, the Flood was intended to destroy not only all sinful people but also all land animals and birds and the surface of the earth, which only a global flood could accomplish. The Ark's purpose was to save two of every kind of land animal and bird (and seven of some) to repopulate the earth after the Flood. The Ark was totally unnecessary if the Flood was only local. People, animals, and birds could have migrated out of the flood zone before it occurred, or the zone could have been populated from creatures outside the area after the Flood. The catastrophic nature of the Flood is seen in the nonstop rain for at least 40 days, which would have produced massive erosion, mud slides, hurricanes, etc. The Hebrew words translated “the fountains of the great deep burst open” (Genesis 7:11) clearly point to tectonic rupturing of the earth’s surface in many places for 150 days, resulting in volcanoes, earthquakes, and tsunamis. Noah’s Flood would produce exactly the kind of complex geological record we see worldwide today: thousands of feet of sediments clearly deposited by water and later hardened into rock and containing billions of fossils. If the year-long Flood is responsible for most of the rock layers and fossils, then those rocks and fossils cannot represent the history of the earth over millions of years, as evolutionists claim.
6. Jesus was a young-earth creationist. Jesus consistently treated the miracle accounts of the Old Testament as straightforward, truthful, historical accounts (e.g., creation of Adam, Noah and the Flood, Lot and his wife in Sodom, Moses and the manna, and Jonah in the fish). He continually affirmed the authority of Scripture over men’s ideas and traditions (Matthew 15:1-9). In Mark 10:6 we have the clearest (but not the only) statement showing that Jesus was a young-earth creationist. He teaches that Adam and Eve were made at the “beginning of creation,” not billions of years after the beginning, as would be the case if the universe were really billions of years old. So, if Jesus was a young-earth creationist, then how can His faithful followers have any other view?

7. Belief in millions of years undermines the Bible’s teaching on death and on the character of God. Genesis 1 says six times that God called the creation “good,” and when He finished creation on Day 6, He called everything “very good.” Man and animals and birds were originally vegetarian (Gen. 1:29-30), plants are not “living creatures,” as people and animals are, according to Scripture). But Adam and Eve sinned, resulting in the judgment of God on the whole creation. Instantly Adam and Eve died spiritually, and after God’s curse they began to die physically. The serpent and Eve were changed physically and the ground itself was cursed (Gen. 3:14-19). The whole creation now groans in bondage to corruption, waiting for the final redemption of Christians (Romans 8:19-25) when we will see the restoration of all things (Acts 3:21, Colossians 1:20) to a state similar to the pre-Fall world, when there will be no more carnivorous behavior (Isaiah 11:6-9) and no disease, suffering, or death (Revelation 21:3-5) because there will be no more Curse (Revelation 22:3). To accept millions of years of animal death before the creation and Fall of man contradicts and destroys the Bible's teaching on death and the full redemptive work of Christ. It also makes God into a bumbling, cruel creator who uses (or can’t prevent) disease, natural disasters, and extinctions to mar His creative work, without any moral cause, but still calls it all “very good.”
8. The idea of millions of years did not come from the scientific facts. This idea of long ages was developed by deistic and atheistic geologists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. These men used antibiblical philosophical and religious assumptions to interpret the geological observations in a way that plainly contradicted the biblical account of creation, the Flood, and the Age of the earth. Most church leaders and scholars quickly compromised using the gap theory, day-age view, local flood view, etc. to try to fit “deep time” into the Bible. But they did not understand the geological arguments, and they did not defend their views by careful Bible study. The “deep time” idea flows out of naturalistic assumptions, not scientific observations.
9. Radiometric dating methods do not prove millions of years. Radiometric dating was not developed until the early twentieth century, by which time virtually the whole world had already accepted the millions of years. For many years creation scientists have cited numerous examples in the published scientific literature of these dating methods clearly giving erroneous dates (e.g., a date of millions of years for lava flows that occurred in the past few hundred years or even decades). In recent years creationists in the RATE project have done experimental, theoretical, and field research to uncover more such evidence (e.g., diamonds and coal, which the evolutionists say are millions of years old, were dated by carbon-14 to be only thousands of years old) and to show that decay rates were orders of magnitude faster in the past, which shrinks the millions of years to thousands of years, confirming the Bible.

Conclusion

These are just some of the reasons why we believe that the Bible is giving us the true history of the world. God’s Word must be the final authority on all matters about which it speaks—not just the moral and spiritual matters, but also its teachings that bear on history, archaeology, and science.

What is at stake here is the authority of Scripture, the character of God, the doctrine of death, and the very foundation of the gospel. If the early chapters of Genesis are not true literal history, then faith in the rest of the Bible is undermined, including its teaching about salvation and morality. I urge you to carefully read the other chapters in this book. The health of the church, the effectiveness of her mission to a lost world, and the glory of God are at stake.

By: Terry Mortonson

Local Attractions

“The economy is making it too difficult to do anything on family nights.”
“We used to have family nights all the time, but now everything is so expensive!”
“Are you kidding? You have to have money to have a family night!”
These are the type of answers I ran into after taking a poll at a local business. The question is obvious, “What do you do, or where do you go on family nights?” The usual answer I received was very similar to the three at the top. After asking the question and receiving the answer, I then asked what they had done in the past for family nights, or what they would do for family nights. I got a few Chuck-E-Cheese answers, but almost all answered out of the three below:
1. Bowling
2. Movies
3. Out to eat
All three of these cost money, and number two and three usually cost a pretty penny, mostly if you’re looking for a good restaurant such as Red Lobster or P.F. Changs.
I asked the question why it was that they didn’t do anything else… the answer was blunt, “What else is there to do around here?” Wow! That answer sounds like we’re living in the middle of nowhere!
To give a little encouragement and to help you out, let me give you a long list of ideas of new and exciting events and activities that are right in our area or just an hour or two drive away. True, many of these cost money, but they’re fresh ideas. Most of these ideas are priceless, in both ways, with the money and with the memories.

1. Hiking/Parks (Always good for the families health, and Spring Park now has lots of exciting attractions!)
A short list of parks around this area:
· Spring Park
· Veteran’s Park
· Diebert Park
· Davy Crocket State Park
· Joe Wheeler State Park
· Shiloh National Park
· Wilson Park
· Florence Water Park
2. Library/Bookstores (Always good for the families mental health)
3. Plays (The Zodiac, the Ritz or Gingerbread players are always putting on some fun play in this area)
4. Horseback Riding (Areas around here give half-day to all-day trail rides, especially in the summer)
5. Zoo (Only a couple hours away, the Zoo is a super place for varying ages and it’s very entertaining. Check for days of the month that the zoo is open free, to all visitors)
6. Badminton/Tennis (Hey, it’s free, and we have plenty of nice tennis courts in our picturesque town)
7. U.S. Space & Rocket Center (Very educational and lots of excitement. Going with a group can lower the price-rates as well)
8. Chuck-E-Cheese (Fun for Birthday parties or just meeting-up with friends)
9. Visit Friends (How often do we neglect that? Visiting friends can prove more fun than a movie or a game of bowling many times!)
10. Ice Skating (Ice Skating is great for all ages; even Mom and Dad can get out on the ice and have a blast. And most rinks have monthly group events, with great rates; sometimes they even include lunch)
11. Mini Golf/Glow Golf (The mall now has a large Glow Golf area, and this too can give you better rates with a group. There are always advertisements of Mini Golf set-up in this area)
12. Golf (If your kids are into learning how to golf this is the perfect activity for a lovely day. This activity is great with Grandparents or friends who willingly give up some time to teach the younger generation in an area they have mastered)
13. Fishing/River (This is one of the wonderful things about where we live. We are close to the water and we have some great parks and picnic areas right by the beautiful scenery of rock cliffs and the river. Check-out the Pier at the end of McFarland. Nice!)
14. Caves/Caverns/Hiking Trails (We’re getting close to that time of year that makes it perfect for these types of activities. Caves, caverns, and hiking trails can be found all around this area. Some of the caves and caverns offer group tours; there is even one about 45 minutes away that offers bat viewing. Alabama Outdoors offers classes and events on spelunking)
15. Shiloh (Not too far away is Shiloh. This National Park has events that involve our historic past. They offer a Living History in April. They have a museum, video presentation and gift shop. Shiloh is well worth the drive.)
16. Downtown Florence (Every first Friday of the month Downtown Florence is buzzing with stores, vendors, live music, art and it’s located right by Wilson Park.)
17. Noccalula Falls (The falls of Noccalula cascades 90 ft. over Lookout Mountain ledge into a lush ravine. Home to Gilliland-Reese Covered Bridge, park features botanical garden, pioneer homestead, nature trails, picnic areas, year-round campground, train ride, and a petting zoo.)
18. Alabama State Capital (For a great educational time with your kids, Alabama State Capital is perfect. After the tour, enjoy a picnic outside)
19. Indoor Game Day (What about those days with rain or when it’s just too cold? Planning an indoor game day can be almost as much fun as having one. Ask the kids ideas for games they would enjoy and then go online or flip through magazines such as, Cookie or Family Fun for more great ideas)
20. Visit Relatives (Grandkids are always welcome at Grandma and Grandpa’s house, and on visiting Uncles and Aunts the kids love to play with their cousins. This can be a great time for the whole family)
21. Bicycling/Flying Kites/Canoeing (These are all great outdoor activities that include the whole family; any age. There are fabulous bike trails, open fields, creeks to dip our toes in and canoe runs situated all around our picturesque area)
22. Go Carts/Bumper boats ( Funland or Winkle World can give a whole day of fun)
23. Bowling (Always enjoyable for the whole family and fairly cheap. The game room inside is also a great idea for afterwards. Check-out various deals they offer for different times of the month)
24. Natchez Trace (Natchez Trace offers many areas for hiking, picnics, swimming, fishing, and much more. Bring the family dog along, load up the roller blades, or pack the kites and be prepared for some enjoyment. The Natchez Trace also hosts many events throughout the year; such as, Craft Shows, Historic Live events, Indian lore and other captivating activities )
25. David Crocket State Park (This State Park is filled with enjoyment. Unique playgrounds, hiking trails, wading streams, flat-bottom and paddle boats, tennis courts, camping areas dot the landscape of this great park. The family can spend all day or a month here, camping, enjoying the park and visiting the nearby towns; including Amish wagon rides to see sorghum produced, buying Amish-made baskets, produce and honey)
26. Planetarium (The Planetarium can be a grand time of instruction and pleasure wrapped into one event. The Planetarium in Florence offers seasonal showings and you also have the opportunity to view the heavenly sky through their telescope)
27. Natural Bridge (Natural Bridge Park is an all-day event of pleasure. Don’t forget to bring the camera!)
28. Scavenger Hunts (It’s great fun to plan a scavenger hunt for your kids, especially if you have one or two older children who can help in the planning. At a park, in your backyard or at a friend’s house is a wonderful place to plan this activity)
Now we don’t have to wait for the once a year theme-park vacation on steroids. Each week can have a little dash of fun for the whole family. With just a bit of creativity and a little research on entertainment or activities in our area you can begin planning to have family nights all over again!