The Importance of Teaching Future Generations
Today I’d like to share a post from Ken Ham. In his latest blog post, he talks about being encouraged as well as discouraged. I encourage you to read the entire post. There are a couple of things I want to pull out though.
I’m typing this on a Saturday afternoon and this reminded me of tomorrow’s Sunday School lesson, which delves into the first Passover and the importance of teaching future generations about God’s work. I believe Christians today have failed in this. We lose a generation when we don’t ‘train up a child’ like we should. We should start TODAY to do better.
If you’re like me and your kids are grown, you can still influence them. While you can’t make them attend church, you can share Bible verses, offer to pray with them, and remind them of God’s promises. If you have grandkids you can surely influence them while they are young enough to not be hard hearted.
If you are not blessed with kids or grandkids, there are still those you can influence. You can’t influence someone else’s kids if they don’t bring them to church, so make sure to be there for them while they are there!!! We are coming up on Christmas so it’s one of the two times of year some people will come to church. Don’t miss the opportunity!!!
Science, Worldviews, and Interpretation of Data
The reason I mention that is because Ken Ham mentions in his post about a letter received from a mother who shared her son’s commitment to Jesus. Such a heart warming thing! He shares other things too, including some ‘push back’ from secular as well as Christian people. Some of the criticisms Ken receives highlight the challenges Christians face in defending biblical truths.
Two in particular - “We are often called anti-science, anti-intellectual, and anti-academic. Such monikers attempt to undermine our integrity.” I’ve listened to Ken talk about the science behind what they believe and teach, and I believe it is sound! Most people today believe that the theory of evolution and the theory of when the dinosaurs lived are fact. Again, we’ve done too little, too late to prevent our kids from believing these things and they get repeated as facts.
Ken and Answers in Genesis remind us that these are not fact at all, but interpretations of the data. If we start with a secular worldview, we are going to make the data fit our beliefs. If we call ourselves Christian, though, and believe that the Bible is fact, then we are going to see this data through a Biblical worldview. Either way, the data doesn’t change, but our understanding of it does.
Take for example the Grand Canyon. Secular scientists will say that the layers were formed over millions of years by the river cutting through the canyon. They don’t believe in the Bible nor the flood of Noah, so they dismiss that as even a possibility. What makes more sense to me is that the layers were formed over a short period of time.
Fossils are another example. We are told in science class that the fossils were formed over a long period of time, yet you can’t duplicate that in the laboratory. What you CAN do, though, is repeated - over and over - show how fossils are formed when something cataclysmic happens in a short period of time.
Look at it this way, then draw your own conclusions. If a footprint were made today, how long would it take to be disturbed? Even if you put up police tape and made sure no one walked in that area, would the mud stand the rain over even a year? Would the footprint be there in a year? Or would the only way it could be preserved as a fossil would be if it were ‘filled in’ in a short amount of time?
The same with dinosaur bones. We know that when a body dies it starts to decay immediately. We also know the bones are the last to decay. Could a dinosaur’s bones remain exposed and undisturbed for millions of years, or would scavengers and natural decay prevent their preservation? What about the ones that are found ‘mostly intact?’ They HAD to be covered over quickly.
One last thing - do your own reading… There was a recent find of soft material found that breaks all the theories of ‘millions of years.’ I recommend you read it for yourself. This article, for example, is titled in such a way that it MUST be old and we just don’t understand how it happened. We call this FAITH. They have faith that it is 75 millions years old, even though they don’t believe that soft material can actually last that long.
What Do You Believe?
Okay. To those that are non-scientific, sorry for the rabbit hole. The point is that science doesn’t tell us anything - scientists do. And they have a worldview when they look at the data. They ignore what is right in front of them because it doesn’t fit their paradigm, but call Ken anti-science because he believes the Bible.
Bottom line - what do YOU believe? Make sure you aren’t trusting humans more than you are trusting God.
The end of his post lists several examples of how Christians say that he teaches, to paraphrase, young earth is fact and if you don’t believe it you can’t be saved. This is simply not so. He and his people teach that Jesus Christ is the One and Only way to God. Period. He personally believes in a literal six days; others disagree. That’s okay! We will find out the truth when we get to Heaven, if we still care. The point is to get there!!!
Did God Really Say That? Trusting God’s Word Amid Doubt
To shift gears, I’d like to share my notes from a Sunday School lesson from a few weeks ago. November 24 was titled Trust - Believers find joy through trusting God in all circumstances. The writer starts by saying there are two responses to situations: fight or flight. He points out that believers have a third response: faith.
The question is presented: “How do you respond when confronting serious problems? What makes it difficult to trust God in every circumstances?” I answered prayer and faith; I added, though, doubt sometimes, though I’m not proud of it.
Why doubt? Sinful nature; the human side believing that we are somehow in control; the fact that we can’t see God, so sometimes it is hard to believe in Him.
Think back to the first whispers of doubt, which remind us of the challenges we face in trusting God fully.
Genesis 3:1 NIRV - The serpent was more clever than any of the wild animals the Lord God had made. The serpent said to the woman, “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat fruit from any tree in the garden’?”
Did God really say that? We are told that Jesus is the Way, the Truth and the Light - the ONLY way to Heaven. The enemy will whisper to us, “did God really say that?”
This time of year, It’s a Wonderful Life, gets a lot of play at our house. It’s a great story, though it’s not Biblically sound. Angels don’t get wings, and angels are not dead people. But again, it’s a cute story and tugs at the heartstrings. It does get one thing right - we are not an island! For good or ill, we definitely influence others.
But I mention it because Clarance at the beginning is told he is to help a man on earth. Clarance asks, “is he sick?” to which the head person, God?, replies, “no, worse, he’s discouraged.” When we doubt, it’s easy to become discouraged.
Is God sovereign? Then why should we be discouraged at all! We are on a first name basis with the Creator of the universe! But just a little bit of doubt will cause us to act as though we don’t know this fact. We have to constantly remind ourselves. Remember this verse and know that it applies to this circumstance as well -
Romans 10:17 NIRV - So faith comes from hearing the message. And the message that is heard is the message about Christ.
You might be more familiar with the King James version -
Romans 10:17 KJV - So then faith cometh by hearing, and hearing by the word of God.
Choosing Faith Over Fear
There’s another question I’d like to discuss. “As you read Acts 27:31-44, note how Paul trusted God in the situation. How did Paul’s faith impact others?” My answer was that even as the world was falling apart around him, Paul was preaching. The same thing we are called to do. The fact that he had this love inside - the Holy Spirit - in the midst of all these trials made his testimony that much more impactful!
If you read that passage, you’ll see how the people were afraid the boat would not make it. At one point they threw their cargo overboard. The writer brings out a good life lesson. “When life is threatened, financial gain seems unimportant.”
This reminds me of something Ray Comfort says. In the process of witnessing, sometimes he will say how you can offer someone on a plane a choice between a parachute, a bag of money, gold or diamonds. No one wants the parachute. But then tell them the plane is going to crash and they will leave everything behind except the parachute.
Using Life’s Challenges for God’s Glory
Two more points in this lesson - we’re almost done… Paul was bitten by a viper and then healed the father of a leading citizen to gain favor with the people. This gave him a chance to preach and be heard. Note that Paul took no glory for himself, but used it as a chance to give God the glory and preach the gospel. Shouldn’t we be the same way? Our trust in God can inspire and strengthen others, even in life’s storms.
And lastly the writer says, “only by depending on the Holy Spirit and having a personal relationship with Christ can we choose to live in faith, not fear.” Those without Jesus are also without the Holy Spirit. I think we forget this sometimes and expect people to respond as we do, or see things as we see them. We have to remember that people are not always at the same point in their spiritual path as we are. Have patience, yes, but always - ALWAYS - be ready and willing to share what we have and why we are different.
Approach Boldly
I leave you with Hebrews 4:16 and a reminder that we don’t have to wait until we are snakebite, or stranded to approach God. We are on a first name basis with the Creator, so take this verse to heart.
Hebrews 4:16 NIRV - So let us boldly approach God’s throne of grace. Then we will receive mercy. We will find grace to help us when we need it.
