Why Should You Believe In Creation, And Not Evolution? Christian Holidays: Which? Does God Care? Update.

 

For “Scripture Sunday”:

The Missoula Flood – Why You Should Believe In Creation …And Not Evolution | David Rives

“Why should you believe in creation, and not evolution? I mean, scientifically speaking. Haven’t we proven that evolution is a fact?

When most people hear the term “evolution” they think of one kind of animal turning into another kind of animal. This is biological evolution and it’s just one of several different kinds of evolution. Another kind is geological evolution. This is the idea that the earth is billions of years old and that the rock layers and other geological features are the result of gradual processes over millions of years. It’s an important foundation to biological evolution because without the millions of years there’s absolutely no hope that evolution could have happened. In fact, the geologic “ages” had already been proposed and were used by Darwin to come up with his theories of biological evolution.

Now, since the nineteenth century, uniformitarianism has dominated geology. This is the idea that present day processes and rates are the key to what happened in the past. But scientists are slowly having to let go of this idea, because they increasingly realize that catastrophes are a big part of Earth’s past.

One such catastrophe was the Lake Missoula flood. Now, because we begin with different starting points, creationists and evolutionary geologists don’t agree on the dating of this flood. But both agree that it happened. Actually, for evolutionary geologists it took a long time for them to accept despite the overwhelming evidence because it seemed too Biblical to have a catastrophe of such massive proportions!

So, what was this flood? Well, within a few centuries of the global Flood of Noah’s day there was an Ice Age (which is where cave-men come into the picture), and at the peak of the Ice Age, approximately 540 cubic miles of water were dammed up in Lake Missoula in Montana. That’s three times the volume of Lake Erie! Well, eventually the lake burst, rushing 400 feet deep as it carved its way to the Pacific Ocean. The fast-moving water quickly laid down rock layers and carved out canyons, including Grand Coulee, a canyon 50 miles long and 900 feet deep! And the beautiful Channeled Scablands are a further testament to how much damage a lot of fast-moving water can do.

Secular geologists believe that rock layers are laid down slowly over millions of years and canyons are carved over time by rivers. But that wasn’t the case with much of the geography in the Western United States! It was carved rapidly by a flood of water from a burst glacial lake… and I’ve talked to Ph.D. evolutionary geologists… Most trained geologists agree that it happened extremely quickly!

If a comparatively small flood such as this one could do so much damage and completely change the landscape, imagine what the global Flood described in Genesis could do! Actually, if there was a global Flood, then everywhere we look, we would expect to see miles of rock layers filled with billions of fossils. And this is exactly what we find. The evidence points to a Flood of biblical proportions, not slow and gradual processes over millions of years.

Just one more scientific reason that you shouldn’t believe in evolutionary geology. It takes a LOT of faith.

I’m David Rives, Truly, the Heavens Declare the Glory of God.”

From: http://davidrivesministries.org/the-missoula-flood-why-you-should-believe-in-creation-and-not-evolution-david-rives/#

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Christian Holidays: Which? Does God Care?

by Ron Kelley

Some holidays are national celebrations, and others have religious roots. Are all Christian holidays the same? Are some really made holy by God?

“For many people, a holiday is just a welcome day off from work to be with friends and family. But some days seem to be more significant than others, depending on culture, religion and family values. The Bible actually identifies some days as holy days commanded by God to be observed. Could it really make that much difference which Christian holidays we observe?

There are two basic kinds of holidays, national or religious. In the United States, good examples of the two types would be the Fourth of July and Christmas. The French celebrate Bastille Day and the Feast of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary. No doubt there are many holidays and holy days around the world of which most of us are completely unaware.

Does it make any difference which days we keep?

National or religious holidays?

We celebrate our national holidays because of historic national events (such as America’s Independence Day, Memorial Day or Labor Day). This is simply a matter of observing the day because some national events are significant, and many businesses often close down that day. You have a day at home to relax or take the family on a picnic or go visit relatives.

But what about religious holidays?

Canada and the United States both observe a national Thanksgiving Day. Many Britons take part in a yearly thanksgiving harvest festival. Such celebrations have religious overtones, in that we take time to give thanks to our Creator for His blessings. Jews observe Purim and Hanukkah as both national and religious holidays. For more information about the observance of these days, please read our article: “Thanksgiving, Purim and Hanukkah.”

There are many religious holidays that man has set up in his desire to worship. If, however, there is a God who has established days as “holy,” then we should keep those above all others. It does make a difference which Christian holidays we keep if obeying God is important to us.

Saturday or Sunday: Does it make a difference?

Only God has authority to make a day “holy,” so why have people established days of worship based on their own ideas or traditions? For example, believe it or not, even the common observance of Sunday as the day of worship was established by the Roman Church, not the authority of the Bible (which clearly commands Saturday as the Sabbath).

Notice some remarkable admissions regarding this:

• A Catholic Church newsletter stated, “Perhaps the boldest thing, the most revolutionary change the Church ever did, happened in the first century. The holy day, the Sabbath, was changed from Saturday to Sunday. ‘The Day of the Lord’ [dies domini] was chosen, not from any direction noted in the Scriptures, but from the Church’s sense of its own power” (Catherine Catholic Church Sentinel,Algonac, Michigan, May 21, 1995).
• “Sunday is a Catholic institution and its claim to observance can be defended only on Catholic principles. … From beginning to end of Scripture there is not a single passage that warrants the transfer of weekly public worship from the last day of the week to the first” (Catholic Press, Sydney, Australia, August 1900).
• “Nowhere in the Bible do we find that Christ or the Apostles ordered that the Sabbath be changed from Saturday to Sunday. We have the commandment of God given to Moses to keep holy the Sabbath day, that is the 7th day of the week, Saturday. Today most Christians keep Sunday because it has been revealed to us by the [Roman Catholic] church outside the Bible” (“To Tell You the Truth,” The Catholic Virginian, Oct. 3, 1947, p. 9).

Rather startling admissions, right? But does it make any difference which days we keep? The Bible says that Jesus Christ is “Lord even of the Sabbath” (Matthew 12:8). And the Fourth Commandment says we are to “remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy” (Exodus 20:8). Clearly it matters to God whether or not we keep His Sabbath.

Breaking the Sabbath was one of the main reasons the ancient Israelites went into captivity. Notice: “Notwithstanding, the children rebelled against Me; they did not walk in My statutes, and were not careful to observe My judgments, ‘which, if a man does, he shall live by them’; but they profaned My Sabbaths [note the plural, including other holy days God established]. Then I said I would pour out My fury on them and fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness” (Ezekiel 20:21).

There are several references in the Bible to God’s anger regarding the profaning of the days He established as holy time.There are several references in the Bible to God’s anger regarding the profaning of the days He established as holy time. Try doing a word search in an online Bible on the words “profane Sabbath” and note the results.

So which days are holy according to the Bible?

Should we be surprised if God also ordained certain annual religious holy days to be celebrated?

“And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ‘Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them: “The feasts of the LORD, which you shall proclaim to be holy convocations, these are My feasts”’” (Leviticus 23:1-2). So God has implemented days on which we are to observe “holy” convocations. He lists them for us:

• The Feast of Unleavened Bread (first and seventh days).
• Pentecost.
• The Feast of Trumpets.
• The Day of Atonement.
• The Feast of Tabernacles (first day).
• The Last Great Day (also called the Eighth Day).

God clearly initiated these holy day observances, but where do we find He said it was no longer necessary to observe them? There is no such passage in the Bible! Rather, we find the New Testament Church observing these same holy days (Acts 18:21; 1 Corinthians 5:8; for more on this, see “Christian Festivals”).

On the other hand, there is no biblical record of these early Christians observing such Christian holidays as Easter and Christmas. The early New Testament Church did not celebrate them!

In reality, most religious holidays around the world have their origin in ancient polytheistic cultures. Today few people care if their observances have such pagan origins. Do you?”

More at: https://lifehopeandtruth.com/life/plan-of-salvation/holy-days-vs-holidays/christian-holidays/

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Update:

The days go by so fast, especially as you grow older.  I didn’t even post last Sunday, and have been busy all week.  I went to see Roni, the neighbor with terminal pancreatic cancer, at the hospital which was way south of here, and took her some pastel pencils, pastel pad and clothes.

One day I went to the cardiologiost office for an Echo, and then another day I went back to see him to get the results of it, and of a bloodtest.  He said my heart looked and sounded great, but he wants me to have a treadmill stress test as soon as my insurance will approve it.  Found out that my cholesterol has gone up again, after me getting it under control a couple of years ago.  That is all diet related and it is because I have not been eating the way I should.  I have been cooking my helper’s food for him and he doesn’t like onions or garlic, two things which help get cholesterol down.  Also I haven’t been juicing greens, like I used to, so that makes a difference. 

My 12 year old foster cat, Napoleon, was taken to the vet for a blood test to see if he is diabetic.  He was also supposed to get his great big long nails cut at the vet.  I asked the vet to give him an “I-don’t-care-pill” and to tell Napoleon that I have been cutting animal’s nails for 50 years, and to let me cut them.  I petted Napoleon for ages up on that exam table while waiting, so when the lady finally came in the room with the sedative and the nail clippers, I took the nail clippers out of her hand and tipped all of Napoleon’s nails as he was perfectly relaxed sitting on that exam table.  He seems so much more content now.  His nails aren’t sticking to everything that he walks on.  He had tried so hard to scratch those tips off on a rug by my door.  That’s what they are trying to do when they are scratching things.  If you can get your cat to relax enough for you to just nip off the very tip of their nails with a fingernail or toenail clipper, they won’t scratch your furniture.

Roni’s cats that are now here, were vaccinated, dewormed, checked for FIV (Feline AIDS) and Feline Leukemia, (FeLV) then spayed and neutered.  These terminal diseases are contracted by cats who live outside.   This is why it is recommended that cats stay indoors, also to save the lives of millions of birds and other small critters that they might eat, like lizards.  The cats are still in cages, as they mustn’t jump up or down so soon after their surgery, but they can be turned loose to play in my grooming room in two days.

Then, Roni was brought home, and she has had me running hither and thither.  Either to the ATM, the store to get phone card, another store to get litter for a third cat who wouldn’t come to me, then some medicines, and it’s always something.   She is taming the third cat which she called a calico, but it is a tortie (tortoiseshell)

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A domestic shorthair tortoiseshell cat with the orange and black patches.

                       Long-haired calico

 

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So no wonder I picked up the wrong cat !  But it is best that this little one that I picked up was spayed as she was already pregnant.  We found out that she was a come-along at someone’s home and not really part of their family.  Now she will be adopted and have a real indoor home.

As for work on the guest house or mini-house, it has come to a screeching halt.  The squeal of it’s brakes were heard last Wednesday afternoon.  My helper is basically homeless and just stays with different friends, but has been showering here, doing his laundry here, very often eating here (his food, my cooking), sometimes sleeping on my couch on clean sheets, and also has a lot of stuff, and tools, and fishing equipment stored here in all three of my buildings.  I asked him for a $20 electricity contribution for the 7 months that this has been going on.  He cut off his nose to spite his face and said that he would have all his stuff moved out in two days after he had rented a storage unit.

I didn’t fire him, he just quit, but he did come back on the Friday to fix the plumbing leaks and finish the wiring of a light in the new kitchen.  I offered to pay him, but he wouldn’t accept.  But he hasn’t moved anything out yet, so I don’t know what his intentions are.  I expect he found out what it cost to rent a storage unit and is trying to stay in my good books!  It is a big relief for me though, not to be tied down to working him six days a week, and finding that money each day.  This will give me more time to get more stuff listed and sold to get ahead again.  I knew I was going to run short of funds to finish repairing the guest house so I opened a GoFundMe account last year, but I was too shy to promote it.  The LORD always seems to take care of me, though.

On the 28th, the Bible readings were Gen. 6:2-9:35, Eze. 28;25-29:21, and 2 Cor. 6:14-7:1, and the Teaching was about “Leaders Having Faults”, and that man cannot rule in a perfect way.  An earthly government is not salvation, and giving Saul as an example.

I took a quinoa, grassfed beef and veggies dish, and we all had a great time afterwards in the dining hall, which should be called our ‘Fellowship Hall’.

Then this week the Bible readings were Exo. 10:1-13:16, Jer. 46:13-28, and Heb.12:12-23.  The pastor and his wife were not there, she had hurt her knee, and couldn’t come, so I had to ramrod the food for the potluck.  That meant that even though the sounds in the chapel are piped over into the dining hall, I was really concentrating on the food, not really hearing the Teaching, which was about The Rapture.  Some didn’t agree with what the elder was preaching about the Rapture, though, and there was a discussion about Revelation 20 in the dining hall afterwards. 

I took two crock pots. One with a vegan veggie soup which was all gone and got compliments, and then some veggies cooked in beef bone broth which wasn’t so popular, so I will be eating some for dinner today.