Work of Cain or Christ?

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Cain, Christ, Faith, Good News, good works, Gospel, Religion

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His clenched fists were furiously thrust up, but when his hands opened they were covered with his brother‘s blood.

This concluded one of the most compelling scenes of John Huston’s classic film The Bible—Cain’s murder of Abel his brother (1).  As many know, Cain and Abel were Adam and Eve’s first sons.  Abel was a “keeper of sheep.” Cain was a “worker of the ground.”  Each son made an offering from the work of his hands.  God had set the precedent with the sacrifice of an innocent sheep for its skin to cover the shame of Adam and Eve’s sin (Genesis 3:21).  

In the film, Richard Harris captured Cain’s character—reluctant giver of offerings from his fields.  Abel faithfully offered a sheep from his flock.  God’s immediate response to their offerings made it clear they both understood what was expected (Hebrews 11:4). Apparently, Cain felt his offering was disrespected and he burned with resentment.  After God warned him to take charge of his anger, Cain instead chose to hunt down his brother and commit the first murder. 

Then Cain simply went back to his field to work.  So God sought him out and asked, “Where is your brother Abel?” Cain just kept working, but his guilty posturing suggested he might soon snap back, “Can’t you see I’m working here?” Then God asked again, “Cain, where is your brother?” That finally triggered those infamous words, “I do not know; am I my brother’s keeper?”

Some time after, I was at party talking with a characteristically feisty friend who challenged the motives of Christians trying to help self-destructive people.  Finally, his tone turned resolute saying, “I can prove I’m right from the Bible!  Doesn’t it say, ‘Am I my brother’s keeper?’” I was literally jaw-dropped.  I paused, and finally responded, “Do you realize you just quoted a murderer?” 

I knew my friend fairly well, and I believe he was not ignorant about this primal story from the Bible. But how could he get the point of the story precisely upside down?  I believe we all struggle with this essential truth, because of our natural desire to substitute religious activity for humble faith. Think about what we usually do. 

It is rare, but I sometimes find myself in an argument with my wife.  When this happens, we usually head to different parts of the house—justified as a means of deescalation—and then start working.  There can be various reasons we “go to work,” but when I finally realize it’s time for reconciliation, I try to sincerely apologize for my wrong words or actions.  I am usually (always?) the one in the wrong.

It is this delay tactic that often results in a kind of self righteous work that I call the “work of Cain.”  It is during that time we tell ourselves, “I didn’t do anything wrong!  If they hadn’t said it in that way!  I’ll just give them time to realize how wrong they were!” And, “Look at me, I am actually doing good!” (Note the bad grammar.) 

This is where that scene from the movie comes in.  When Cain furiously stretched up to implore God, he raised his hands forgetting they were covered with his brother’s blood.  This was the first death that God warned would be the result of Adam’s sin (Genesis 2:17; 3:19).  But what followed was the first futile attempt at “good works.”  We all find ourselves following Cain when we attempt to justify ourselves before God with sin-stained hands. 

Now here, we really must contrast the “work of Cain” to the “work of Christ.” Jesus alone is sinless and in right relationship with God.  Only he has clean hands.  Therefore, only Jesus can do “good works” because goods works are the result, not the cause of a right relationship with God (Mark 10:17-18).  This is the chief reason Jesus was put to death by self-willed and therefore self-righteousness people.  Only Jesus could declare about his Father’s work, “It is finished!” (John 19:30). The reason? Unlike Cain who willfully chose his own “good work” to justify himself, Jesus willingly accepted his Father’s “good work” of the cross to justify others. 

You were ransomed from the futile ways inherited from your forefathers, not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

His clenched fists were forcibly thrust up, but when his hands opened they were covered with his own blood.

Therefore, we must all ask, in what do I put my faith—the work of Cain, or the work of Christ? (2)

Footnotes:

1. The Bible: In the Beginning, John Huston, dir., 1966. 
2. The good work of Christ is embodied in the Good News of the Gospel.
3. All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Tim Nordgren 6/24/22

Creatively Denying The Creator?

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Art, Bible, Biomimicry, Creation, Creativity, Creator, Darwin, Dawkins, Design, Engineering, Evolution, Hitchens, Inspiration from Creation, Intelligent Design, Music, New Atheist, Patent

I am always amazed when people attempt to use creativity to deny and even decry the Creator (1). Here we might see a creatively defiant fist thrust up as their definitive proof.  “After all,” they insist, “I am creatively gifted, and I don’t even believe there is a god!”

All truly creative designers understand the creative process requires intelligence, knowledge, skill, and hard work. I believe, in one way or another, all persons express some natural gift for creativity (2). We see this in the countless purposeful and complex creations of our world. And our uniform experience of cause and effect reveals the cause of irreducibly complex systems is always creative intelligent design (3). In fact, with over 45 years of design experience, I can say with full confidence, nothing creative happens by accident.

According to the Bible, the first “creative rebellion” arose when Satan claimed, “I will make myself like the Most High” (Isa 14:14). Then Adam believed that lie thinking he could autonomously, “be like God” (Gen 3:5). Cain followed and became a type of all those who creatively defy the Creator (Gen 4:17-22). Later, a major creative rebellion erupted at Babel when unified mankind attempted to architect a stairway to heaven to, “make a name for ourselves” (Gen 11:1-6). There are countless cases of the misuse of creativity throughout history, however man’s idolatry will finally come to its zenith when he worships the man-made image of the Anti-Christ (Ex 20:4-6; Deut 31:29; Rev 9:20;13:11-15).

Today, the same idolatrous spirit is seen in many fields.  Rebellious creativity can arise among artists, musicians, engineers, scientists, and in fact any form of design.  Whether it’s Cobainian-God-is-gay-graffiti, or CRISPR-edited-gene-babies, it entails defiant creativity pridefully seeking to make a name for themselves.  Now here, we need to distinguish between designs that disregard and subvert exemplary design precedents, versus designs based on discovery and application of exemplary design precedents.

You see, creativity itself originates from God who created everything out of nothing and thus defined all design precedents. He is the prime innovator. According to scripture, only because man was created in the image of God (Gen 1:26-27), may he think the creative thoughts of God after him. Therefore, creativity is a common gift of God’s grace given to all persons. Again, it is the discovery and application of exemplary precedents that accurately reflect the Creator. You see, according to the Bible, “There is nothing new under the sun” (Ecc 1:9). When we are honest, we recognize that all our creative gifts, and therefore our creative innovations, come from God. Designers are thereby warned to, “Remember also your Creator” (Ecc 12:1).

An excellent Biblical role model was Bezalel who remembered his Creator through what is arguably one of the greatest designs ever conceived—the Tabernacle, a fitting place for the presence of God Almighty.  To complete this unprecedented design, Bezalel was given the following good gifts (Ex 31:1-5): 1) The Holy Spirit of God, 2) ability, 3) intelligence, 4) knowledge, 5) skill, and 6) a heavenly design exemplar (Ex 25:8-10,40; Rev 11:19;15:5).  When the design of the Tabernacle and the Ark of the Covenant were faithfully completed, the glory of God filled that beautiful place (Ex 40:34-38).  Now, before any look down on its modest scale and complexity, go ask a truly gifted designer how easy it is to create anything with “elegant simplicity.” 

One of the unbecoming traits observed in some who lack a particular design skill is a dismissive pose employed to mask their envy.  They are recognized when they take up the role of the catty art critic.  That is, they employ ridicule over reason.  For example, the atheist gadfly, Richard Dawkins, has infamously scorned the design of human eye as an example of “poor design” and the work of a “complete idiot” (4).  He claims the retinal nerves are wired backwards resulting in an unacceptable, albeit tiny, blind spot.  A collaborating critic quips, “a camera designer who committed such a blunder would be fired immediately” (5).  Now never mind that Charles Darwin “freely confessed” that the design of the eye was an inexplicable marvel (6).  And modern science has now shown that because of the irreducibly complex eye-brain system all such blind spots, including the much larger blockage of the human nose, have no perceptible effect on performance.  Likewise, the eminently qualified specialist in the engineering discipline of Biomimicry, Stuart Burgess, is ridiculed by Dawkins because he has shown conclusively that countless natural mechanisms could never have evolved.  Yet Dawkins himself actually has no design qualifications and has never designed a thing (7).  Here I am reminded, “It’s easy to criticize, hard to create.”  Yet designers can also be unthankful for their own creative gifts.  They sometimes behave like the ungrateful dinner guest who drops in on a carefully prepared Thanksgiving feast, gobbles up all the delicious food, belches, and then leaves forgetting to thank the Cook who created it all!

As a design engineer, I would sometimes hear designers describe their efforts as evolutionary design.  To which I might respond, “Do you mean your design process proceeds by random chance and accident over eons of time?”  I’m pretty sure our management expected a bit more timely and innovative results (8).  Now, during my 40 years in the design and development of diagnostic medical ultrasound systems I had the privilege of working in design teams that innovated many novel, patentable features.  As it turned out, all of the patents I contributed to were a team effort, with several inventors assigned.  We believed it was essential to team creativity to never exclude any true inventors.  However, it would be far worse—and even illegal—to knowingly conceal the one true inventor. 

The late Christopher Hitchens, another collaborator with Richard Dawkins, was truly a “gifted” debater who Christians often observed with a respectfully raised eyebrow.  His keen intellect, sharp wit, incomparable elocution, and pragmatic politics were truly a sight to behold.  Just before his tragic death from cancer, Hitchens seemed to favor debates with these respectful Christians with whom he formed warm friendships (9).  Still, he supplied a spectacularly ironic case of gifts used to creatively decry his Creator (10)(11).

So then, when we observe someone deny their Creator, we really must insist: gifts assume a gift Giver and creativity confirms the Creator.  Therefore, I do hereby publicly declare that all creativity ultimately gives glory to God the Creator!

“Worthy are you, our Lord and God, to receive glory and honor and power, for you created all things, and by your will they existed and were created.” Rev 4:11

“For by him [Jesus Christ] all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through him and for him.” Col 1:16

Ultimately, Christians believe that only when Christ is given all the glory, is the purpose for their creative gifts confirmed with the glorious presence of God Almighty, the Creator.

Footnotes:

1. The word “decry” is not frequently used in modern language. Here is the definition, according to the Google Dictionary (Oxford Languages, 12/13/21):
   decry => publicly denounce.
2. All through this piece I will refer to “gifts.” According to the Bible, there are two varieties of gifts: natural gifts (physical, intellectual, emotional, etc.); and spiritual gifts (manifestation—1 Cor 12:7-11,28; ministry—Eph 4:11-13; motivational—Rom 12:6-8; and more). We are all given natural gifts because we are all created in the “image of God” (Gen 1:26-27). However, only those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ are given the gift of the person of the Holy Spirit (Acts 2:38) and only then given one (or more) gifts of the Holy Spirit. Both are gifts from God that are given for his good purpose. Only those who have put their faith in Jesus Christ may experience the joy of fulfilling the purpose of all the gifts given which is to reflect and gratefully give glory to God our Creator (John 5:44; 2 Cor 3:18; 1 Pet 4:8-11, Rev 4:11;14:7).
3. The scope of this brief post does not allow a full discussion of the merits of creation versus evolution. Here I am focused on a particular topic. For a more thorough article see, Creation Agnosticism, by Tim Nordgren: http://www.thingsrevealed.net/Creation_Agnosticism.pdf
4. The Blind Watchmaker, by Richard Dawkins, 1986. New York: W. W. Norton.
5. The Human Retina Shows Evidence of Good Design, by Dr. Jerry Bergman, June 8, 2011, Answers Research Journal 4 (2011): 75–80. https://answersresearchjournal.org/human-retina-good-design . Evolutionists: The Eye Is “Close to Perfect,” by David Coppege, https://evolutionnews.org/2022/04/evolutionists-the-eye-is-close-to-perfect/
6. The Origin of Species By Means of Natural Selection or The Preservation of Favored Races in the Struggle For Life, By Charles Darwin, Harvard University Press, Cambridge, MA, 1964, p.186. “To suppose that the eye with all its inimitable contrivances for adjusting the focus to different distances, for admitting different amounts of light, and for the correction of spherical and chromatic aberration, could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest degree” (emphasis added). Even so, many claim that when Darwin developed the idea of natural selection, he successfully justified “design without a designer.”
7. Inspiration from Creation – How Engineers Are Copying GOD’s Designs, DVD by Dr. Stuart Burgess, 2017. Dr. Burgess is world recognized expert in Biomimicry, and Professor of Engineering Design at the University of Bristol (UK), https://answersingenesis.org/bios/stuart-burgess/ . Dr. Burgess correctly observes that, “A general scientist describes what already is, but an engineer creates what has never been.”
8. Most engineers know that the term “evolutionary design” is meant to describe modest incremental changes to an existing design. This is sometimes contrasted with “revolutionary design.” Clearly, both are ambiguous terms, but the former carries an ill-advised connection with the “theory of undirected evolution.” At best, “evolutionary design” is an oxymoron for incremental design changes. In practice, all engineering design involves intelligently coordinated feature creation of varying complexity.
9. The Faith of Christopher Hitchens: The Restless Soul of the World’s Most Notorious Atheist, by Larry Taunton, 2016.
10. God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything, by Christopher Hitchens, 2009.
11. It would be logically consistent for those who reject the Creator to go on to reject creativity itself. There actually was a movement dedicated to this notion called “Anti-art.” A short review of this absurd exercise in meaningless “design” once again proves the point: Creativity confirms the Creator.
12. All scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.

Reflecting on Revelation

Over the last forty years I have read through and studied the Bible something like twenty times. (I have lost track of the actual number.) This time, when I reflected on how to best finish with my study of the Book of Revelation, I thought I would try a different approach. Many others have sought to characterize this monumental book with varying success. However, the introduction to Revelation offers us this promising exhortation:

“Blessed is the one who reads aloud the words of this prophecy, and blessed are those who hear, and who keep what is written in it, for the time is near.”
Revelation 1:3

Therefore, I would like to share the results of my latest study. Hopefully it will help you partake in the promised blessing.

Linked below is a table divided into 63 rows for the topics (Letters to the 7 churches, 7 Seal Judgements, 7 Trumpet Judgements, 7 Bowl Judgements, etc.) and with 12 columns (Prophetic Scriptures, Theme, Agency of Effects, Realm of Effects. etc.). This worked out to be 756 cellular categories. Included are over 500 Prophetic Scriptures, each linked to the Bible Gateway (ESV).

Here are my Reflections on the Book of Revelation:

• Excel Spreadsheet
• Browser-based

Tim Nordgren, 12/03/21

God is Good!

Thirty five years ago, I was driving east on a joyful Christmas morning over a snowy mountain pass.  As I made my descent a vast panorama opened up to snow-blanketed hills stretched out to infinity.  Breaking over the horizon was a sunrise painted in a palette of pure pastels.  The scale and scope of the beauty was more than my mind could fathom.  I wondered at it all.  Then in a moment my spirit apprehended a sublime truth—God is good!

That blessed revelation was now gloriously imprinted on my heart.  Many before me have seen such wonderful things. King David once saw it and exclaimed:

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth his handywork.

Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.  

There is no speech nor language, where their voice is not heard.  

Their line is gone out through all the earth, and their words to the end of the world.

Psalm 19:1-4

God’s goodness is revealed in countless ways, but most clearly when he gives his mercy and grace to fallen men.  Therefore, I believe that salvation is the greatest gift of all when God gave his Son to pay for our sins on the cross.  I have previously shared how God gave his mercy and grace to me here: He Raised My Life From the Dead.

Soon after God gave me salvation, he graciously gave me my wonderful wife Dorothy.  Then I learned her name means, “Gift of God.”  I now know that; 

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights.

James 1:17

Over the years Dorothy and I have experienced God’s goodness in countless wonderful ways.  However in 2018, we discovered that she had stage 3 cancer.  Both the diagnosis and treatment processes were harrowing, but after a grueling year it was finally completed.  Now this is a type of cancer that can often recur within a year.  Just last week, after two years of surveillance, we learned it’s still in remission.  We choose to say daily, with hearts full of thanksgiving—God is so good to us! 

These and many other good things have revealed God’s goodness to me, however a few years back I had another kind of experience.  I was driving on that same stretch of road in the same mountain pass, but now heading west.  This time I felt heart-rending pain and a rising level of dread that I just could not manage or make go away.  As I traveled west the pain and anxiety only got worse, but then gradually something else arrested my attention.  Over the mountains broke the most beautiful sunset I had ever seen in all my life.  However, I was deeply troubled by how incongruous this seemed in the moment.  I actually felt obligated to shut it out.  I thought, “Right now it seems wrong to acknowledge something as beautiful,” so I strained to close myself off, but it’s beams had piercing power to keep breaking through.  Like all sunsets, it did finally fade away along with the immediate cause of my emotional distress.  However, I continued to wrestle with this for hours on the entire drive home.  In fact, I wrestled with my conflicted feelings for months thereafter.  

Then, over time, my spirit finally apprehended another sublime truth—No matter what happens…God is still good!

This uninvited revelation is now ingloriously imprinted on my heart.  Like so many before me, I must learn to trust God in the midst of trouble because; 

The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him. 

Nahum 1:7

Scripture references from the King James Version of the Bible. 

THE Sign

At some point, every thoughtful person has considered if and when our world might be coming to a final reckoning.  To be sure, one of the essential teachings of the Christian Faith is the promised Second Coming of Christ. [1]

All three of the synoptic gospels recount Jesus’ disciples questioning him about “the end.”

As he sat on the Mount of Olives, the disciples came to him privately, saying, “Tell us, when will these things be, and what will be the sign of your coming and of the end of the age?” (Matthew 24:3)

As many do today, the disciples were clearly asking for THE Sign. That is, a definitive, final sign of his imminent return.

Yet Jesus actually gave many signs for his coming and the end of the age. Here is a very short list:

• Nations will rise against nation (the end of imperialism?) (Mat 24:7)
• Worldwide famines (Mat 24:7)
• Worldwide earthquakes (Mat 24:7)
• Worldwide pestilence (pandemic disease and insects) (Luke 21:11)
• Worldwide destructive weather (Luke 21:25)
• Sorrows like birth pains (sharper and closer together) (Mat 24:8)
• Christian persecution and martyrdom (Mat 24:9; Luke 21:12,16,17)
• Many will fall away from faith (Mat 24:10)
• Rage and hatred (Mat 24:10)
• Lawlessness (Mat 24:12)
• Love of many will grow cold (Mat 24:12)
• Great signs from heaven (Luke 21:11)
• Disturbances of the sun, moon, and stars (Luke 21:25)
• Many false Christs and false prophets (Mat 24:4-5,11)

To this could be added hundreds more signs provided throughout the Bible [2]. However, we really should make a few observations about the short list.

First, there have been many times throughout history that signs have troubled people that did not lead to the immediate judgement of the world.  You see, Jesus explained that some very alarming signs, “must take place, but the end is not yet” (Matt 24:6).  However, there is one essential sign that really must be added to the short list.  It has never occurred in the past two thousand years and is only now being fulfilled [3]. The restoration of the nation of Israel was so long and so unlikely in coming, that “theologies” were devised to explain it away [4].  According to some interpretations of scripture the nation of Israel was either replaced by the church or rendered irrelevant.  However, starting in 1948 the nation of Israel began an indisputably miraculous reconstitution, and therefore all such theological “explanations” are no longer needed and should be summarily dismissed.

Second, throughout history the Church has always experienced persecution. Why would we interpret this time of persecution different from the past?  Well, spiking levels of persecution recently triggered a thorough, quantitative analysis for historical comparison [5].  According to this review of the conditions worldwide, one in three Christians experiences severe persecution and are now the world’s “most widely targeted religious community.”  In this study they conclude that in the Middle East, Christian persecution is “close to meeting the international definition of genocide.” Further, in Syria, Iraq, Egypt, the Philippines, and several African nations, systematic genocide is fully underway.  Recently, human rights activists warned that, “Nigeria could be [the] next Rwanda or Darfur if [the] world doesn’t act” [6].  Many westerners still debate this “sign,” but for millions of suffering Christians these are “THE last days.”

Now a last observation related to the short list.  There is at least one definitive sign that many people think they know to watch out for.  According to scripture, even though there will be many “false Christs” (Matt 24:4-5; 1 John 2:18), there will also be a final “man of lawlessness” (or “man of sin”) who is correctly identified as THE Antichrist (2 Thess 2:1-12, Rev 13:1-18).  Many think they know not to take the “mark of the beast” even if it’s the only way to “buy or sell” (Rev 13:17-18).  But here is the problem.  This “beast” will have power to deceive those remaining on the earth with a “strong delusion” (2 Thess 2:11-12; Rev 13:14).  If you delay putting your faith in Christ until this time called the “great tribulation” (Matt 24:21-22), there is no reason to believe you won’t instead believe a lie.  The result of that fateful decision will be eternal separation from God in the lake of fire (Matt 25:41; Rev 20:7-15).

Finally, I will add yet another crucial sign to the above list that some understandably call definitive.  According to Matt 24:14:

And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.

Yet in a world where nearly everyone now has a smartphone with secure (encrypted) apps, the past limitations of geography and politics are no longer in effect.  For example, in the last three days of May 2020, a good friend shared the Gospel with over 10-million people in 11 different language groups that included previously closed countries [7].  Millions more received discipleship training daily with these same secure apps.  To this we can add that many countries previously thought to be unreached by the Gospel, are now sending missionaries back to western nations to restore them to Biblical faith [8].  I would submit that this sign may already, or very soon be fulfilled.

In view of the current state of the many “signs of the times” (Matt 16:3), there is only one option that makes sense.  The compelling reason is given by Jesus:

But concerning that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, nor the Son, but the Father only. (Matt 24:36) (See also: 1 Thess 5:2)

You see, there will be one definitive, last sign at his Second Coming.

Then will appear in heaven the sign of the Son of Man, and then all the tribes of the earth will mourn, and they will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of heaven with power and great glory. (Matthew 24:30)

Sadly, then it will be too late.  Therefore, I am compelled to share with all who will listen—the time to respond to the Good News of the First Coming of Christ is now!

Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. (2 Corinthians 5:20)

So in view of what many now recognize as portentous present events, I do hereby share the Good News with The Gospel Way to Salvation.

In conclusion, one of the first spiritual blessings of responding to the Good News is hope. According to Titus 2:13, believers are now,

“Waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ.”

 

Tim Nordgren, 7/16/20

 

Notes:
[1] Mark 14:62; Acts 1:11; “He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!” (Revelation 22:20).

[2]  As indicated , there are hundreds of prophetic signs about the future given from Genesis to Revelation.  In the synoptic gospels alone, there are signs given in Matthew chapters 24 & 25, Mark chapter 13, and Luke chapter 21.  For brevity, I have only listed some representative examples.

[3] See the following very short list of the many scriptures that demand, first the reconstitution, and then the restoration of the nation of Israel in the “latter days.”  Hosea 3:4,5; Ezek 37:1-14; Mat 24:15-16; 2 Thess 2:3-4; Rev 7:1-8; 20:1-10. See the truly miraculous ministry of One for Israel for the unfolding fulfillment of this restoration.

[4] My review of the documentary movie, With God on Our Side, includes a brief assessment of the so-called, post-millennial, a-millennial, and pre-millennial views of the return of Christ and the implications to the reconstitution of the nation of Israel.  (http://www.thingsrevealed.net/With_God_on_Our_Side_Review.html)

[5] Bishop of Truro’s Independent Review for the Foreign Secretary of FCO Support for Persecuted Christians. (https://christianpersecutionreview.org.uk/interim-report/) (Accessed 7/10/20).  See also: Christian persecution at near genocide levels. (https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-48146305) (Accessed 7/10/20)

[6] Nigeria could be next Rwanda or Darfur if world doesn’t act, advocates warn.  7/1/20. (https://www.christianpost.com/news/nigeria-could-be-next-rwanda-or-darfur-if-world-doesnt-act-advocates-warn.html) (Accessed 7/10/20)

[7] Sammy Tippit Ministry Profile: Link.

[8] Not-so-united Methodists.  (https://world.wng.org/content/not_so_united_methodists)

[9] Scripture quotations from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version (ESV), 2001, by Crossway Bibles, Good News Publishers.

Be Still And Know…

In the past I shared how God used the explosion of Mt. St. Helens to dramatically change my world. Today I am compelled to recount that experience in light of current  events.

Forty years ago I felt like my life was unraveling. I was newly aware of the instability of the times and they unnerved me.  Though I had reached many of the goals I had set for myself, I had no peace or lasting satisfaction.  The bad decisions of my past were now repeating and I was deeply disturbed by my pattern of unfaithfulness. Years earlier I claimed faith in God, but now I actually said with contempt, “I don’t even believe there is a God.”

I was finally shaken awake by the revelation of God’s power when I—along with millions in the Northwest—experienced the explosion of Mt. St. Helens.  A friend called to ask if I had seen the ash-cloud.  I answered, “Sure it’s on television right now.”  He came back, “No, have you seen it.  Tim, go outside and see it for yourself!”  So I walked outside and looked down a rural highway to see what I thought would be a distant sight, but it seemed like the volcano was at the end of the road and the black mushroom cloud towered up and over everything.  With the soaring menace rose my apprehension as I sensed the uncertainty of a broken world.  Like a ground-fault my mind opened up to a disturbing question, “I wonder if there is a God?” After I paused to consider the immediate implications, some foundational words took form in my heart, “Be still and know that I am God.” 

I had no idea what to do with these thoughts and the deep questions they entailed, but immediately I began rummaging through assorted bookstores.  My process was read-until-reject.  Virtually all options were on the table.  The pile of rejects stacked up quickly.  This went on for a number of months that only produced confusion.  Finally, I became so “desperate” that I decided to visit a cathedral class church in downtown Seattle.  This only revealed how clueless I was about such things.  I was surprised to learn that all the doors were locked on Sunday at 3:30pm.  

I went on thrashing about like this for several more weeks.  So I decided to visit another church seen from a central Seattle freeway, but this time I arrived on Sunday morning.  Here I was greeted warmly, and after a short discussion I was guided to a “new believers class.”  They gave me a small booklet of weekly lessons with blanks to fill in Bible verses.  Next I joined the worship service where the pastor was teaching about the life of King David, “a man after God’s own heart.”  I realized this was not how I was living, and I needed a change of heart.

This began a step-wise progression that included encouraging steps forward followed by disheartening setbacks.  I was deeply troubled to learn that more scriptural knowledge about the holy and loving life of Jesus was powerfully attractive, yet completely unattainable.  My friends and family observed my unstable behavior with concern or contempt.  This put a great strain on my relationships.  Some of those I valued most were permanently broken.  Yet I was compelled to push forward in an effort to know Jesus Christ personally.  

Over several weeks of filling out the booklet and memorizing key verses, I learned some essential Biblical promises.  For example, according to 1 John 1:9, 

“If we confess out sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.”  

This was essential to me because I was increasingly aware that my life was far from the holy and loving life of Jesus who I desperately wanted to know.  It was at this very time that I came across another promise that would help undergird my faith.  In order to memorize Psalm 46:1, I read the context of the Psalm.  I have since memorized the whole Psalm, but here is the core message I then realized was the living Word of God.  

God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” 

Palm 46:1-2,10

I don’t believe there was any way I could have previously known these words were in the Bible, much less associated with a trembling mountain. I was Biblically illiterate. But now I knew there was a God who was able to speak his Word into my life!

As the weeks went on, I began to grow in my faith in Jesus as my savoir.  Yet I knew there were parts of my life still out of control.  Then exactly 5 weeks later I came across a scriptural commandment that did not initially seem to pose a challenge.  It was an encouragement to faithfully meet in church with other believers, because the Day of Christ’s return was near.  I was already doing this.  But once again, before memorizing Hebrews 10:25, I read the context through verse 31,

Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

For if we go on sinning deliberately after receiving the knowledge of the truth, there no longer remains a sacrifice for sins, but a fearful expectation of judgment, and a fury of fire that will consume the adversaries… It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.  

Hebrews 10:25-27,31

In that moment I saw it was my sinful rebellion that had kept me from knowing who Jesus was—He is the Lord!  Right then I asked God to forgive me and trusted him as my Savior and Lord.  Immediately after that, I experienced the power to overcome those particular temptations that had previously mastered me. I finally had a sense of assurance that I knew Jesus personally.

Now this year I will have known Jesus as my Savior and Lord for thirty-nine years.  He has blessed me in so many wonderful ways. I am very grateful.  But here is one essential truth that I have learned: God speaks to us in a way he knows we can understand.  This is the chief reason for the website/blog I now publish called, www.ThingsRevealed.net.  Here you will find some of the many miracles God has done in my life and that of my family.  I have found that God actually promises to speak to us if we call out to him:

Call to me and I will answer you, and will tell you great and hidden things that you have not known.  

Jeremiah 33:3

Yet when God does speak, we are responsible to listen and be willing to be changed:

See that you do not refuse him who is speaking. For if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, much less will we escape if we reject him who warns from heaven.

Hebrews 12:25

In view of all this, on this Easter of 2020, I really must implore you to “go outside” to look and listen. God is doing a new thing.  I believe if you are honest with yourself, you will see that God has completely changed your world!  Will you now open your life to God’s message of forgiveness through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ?

“Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God.” 

2 Corinthians 5:20

Tim Nordgren, 4/12/20

Footnotes:

1. Scripture references from, The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers.
2. This year I created a new introduction to the Bible study formatted in the same way as the booklet I received from my first church. The Bible: Foundation, Focus, and Fulfillment. (Link)

A NEW New Testament Reliability Index

A few years back I was preparing a short talk for an AWANA church group.  The audience was 1st through 6th graders.  I knew the topic was pretty challenging—the reliability of the New Testament.  Now, with over 35 years of teaching children and adults I have found that you can address nearly any subject, just so long you clearly explain your terms.  However, with this subject there remains a persistent challenge to clarity.  Though the case for the reliability of the New Testament is extremely strong, it’s also abstract.  Let me explain.

The way it’s conventionally presented is through what is called the “bibliographical test.”  That is, a list of comparable ancient literature with: (1) the date of origin, (2) the date of earliest copy, (3) the time span (origin to oldest copy), and (4) the number of copies.  The greater the number of copies and the shorter the time span, the more reliable is the piece of historical literature.  In the end, the New Testament (number of copies: 24,633; time span: 25 years) is far superior to the next most reliable historical book of Homer (number of copies: 643; time span: 500 years).  I invite you to review the details in the attached (1) PowerPoint slides 5 & 8 or in the original source for this assessment (2).

Again, I believe this is an extremely strong case, but we are still left to make an abstract qualitative assessment.  Therefore, what I hereby offer is a new way to handle the same data holistically and quantitatively.  In short, by simply taking the ratio of the number of copies with the time span, we can make a direct comparison of the reliability of the New Testament to any other piece of ancient literature.  On this basis, the New Testament is found to be 766 times more reliable than Homer.  Or far more, the New Testament is 168,912 times more reliable than Plato.  So unless we are prepared to throw out all of ancient history, we really must accept the literary reliability of the New Testament.

Further, with this new index, we can measure and more concretely “see” how much more reliable the New Testament is compared to any of the key documents of ancient history.  The header picture of a man before a mile high mountain actually shows a height ratio comparable to the reliability of Homer to the towering New Testament!

With this new view, we can finally begin to “see” the relative majesty of God’s Word:

“It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the LORD shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.” – Isaiah 2:2-3

Footnotes:
(1) See the original AWANA Council Time Talk (NT Reliability Index) with additional ways to visualize these and other results.  See slides 5 & 8.  Slides 6-12 provide some additional ways to make this abstract information more concrete for children and adults.
(2) Evidence That Demands A Verdict, by Josh McDowell, 1972, 1979, pp. 42-43.
(3) When additional factors are added to this assessment the case for the reliability of the New Testament remains strong and even increases. One example is the fact that there are over nineteen times more questionable lines of text in Homer than in the New Testament.

The Bible: Foundation, Focus, and Fulfillment

I am happy to share a new introduction to the Bible study—Genesis to Revelation. Too often I hear people say they planned to read the Bible and later got stuck on some scripture they couldn’t fit into their current world view.

Through this study you will acquire a new Biblical world view by learning and memorizing scriptures that are the foundation for the Gospel, or Good News.  The core outline for this teaching about the Biblical Gospel is as follows:

• The Foundation
• The Focus
• The Fulfillment

You see, the Gospel has always been focused on the work of Jesus, the lamb slain from the foundation of the world (Revelation 13:8), who alone can fulfill God’s eternal purpose!  According to 1 Peter 1:20,

“He was foreknown before the foundation of the world but was made manifest in the last times for the sake of you.”

So here I offer this twelve-part study of the essence of the Biblical Gospel that God planned for you from the very beginning!

Link to PDF for: The Bible, Foundation Focus and Fulfillment

A New Tee-Shirt Slogan

Over the Christmas break I was shopping with my wife (okay, she was shopping) and it came to me. Religion is just like Nike. It constantly chides, “Just do it!” And keep doing it, and keep doing it, and keep doing it… until you get it right, or fall down dead. And you certainly will—fall down or die. 100%.

Christianity is the exact opposite. Jesus proved that genuine good works are the result, not the cause of a right relationship with God. So, you are either a child of God, or you are not.

“But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God” (John 1:12-13).

Now this will only happen by faith in the Son of God—Jesus Christ—alone. You see, the Bible clearly says,

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I hereby propose an alternate tee-shirt slogan:

“Just BE it!”

(And for all those who are wearied by countless demands to perform, see Matthew 11:28-30.)

CREATED for a Purpose!

I often hear people ask for scientific “proofs” for evolution or creation. However this is something science can never provide. That is because “proofs” are only relevant for mathematics and logic, while science requires experimental evidence acquired in the present [1]. Therefore I choose to respond with the relevant evidence for Biblical creation using the following acronym: CREATED

CREATION of Science: Concepts found in the Bible motivated the very development of science by which experimental evidence is acquired. Historians of science now recognize that the scientific method itself and most of the major disciplines of science were developed because of beliefs uniquely found in the Bible [2]. Two of the key beliefs were: 1) Because man was created in the image of God, he can think the thoughts of God after him. 2) Because God established laws for the affairs of man, there should be laws for the affairs of nature. Genesis 1:26-28.

ROOT of Life: In 1864 Louis Pasteur scientifically established the Law of Biogenesis, that is, all life comes from life. Evolutionists have never offered a satisfactory solution for the origin of life from non-life. The evidence in the fossil record always shows sudden appearance and stability of types [3]. The best explanation for the appearance of complex life observed at every level—amoeba-to-man—is intelligent design. Acts 17:24-25.

ENTROPY and the 1st and 2nd Laws of Thermodynamics: These two most fundamental laws of science were predicted by the Biblical view of origins [4]. The first law states that nothing can now be created or destroyed. The second law states that everything naturally goes from order to disorder, and from hot to cold. The fact that the universe cannot be some kind of perpetual motion machine which is both organized and energized for eternity is demanded by these two most fundamental laws of science and the Bible. Evolution does not predict, but actually contradicts both of these essential Laws of science. Genesis 1:1; Isaiah 40:28.

ANCIENT Fossils: The insight that the Biblical Flood was the sufficient and necessary cause for ancient fossils and the geologic column was set forth in the groundbreaking book, The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications [5]. No other historical theory, past or present, explains so well the causes and effects shaping earth history. Recognizing this, Ken Ham reminds us of the expected evidence for the Flood we observe everywhere, “Billions of dead things, buried in rock layers, laid down by water, all over the earth.” 2 Peter 3:3-7.

TYPES and Biblical Kinds: Motivated by the Biblical description of creation, Carolus Linnaeus developed the scientific classification system for all life into distinct types called the Linnaean System [6]. In Genesis, each created type “yields fruit, whose seed is in itself according to its kind” (Gen 1:12, NKJV). This is precisely what is observed in all of nature. Yet the amoeba-to-man macro-evolution concept requires small step-changes in a continuum which we do not observe anywhere in the living or fossil record. Finally, no combinations of any of the basic kinds are observed and so never anything like a cat-dog. Genesis 1:12.

ENCODED DNA is fully functional:  In 1953, we learned about the most basic structure of the code of life in every cell—DNA. Yet for over fifty of those years, evolutionary ideas motivated a theory of Junk DNA—the supposed leftovers from millions of years of random mutation. After the Human Genome project (2003) found only 3-5% of DNA coded for proteins, this was taken as “proof” for evolution and the majority of DNA was assigned “junk” status. Then in 2012, the ENCODE research project, revealed this evolutionary prediction was dead wrong [7]. The vast majority of DNA (over 80%) is now known to serve many functions essential to life. This reversal repeats the previous evolutionary error of “vestigial” organs as leftovers of evolution. The recurring errors of evolution, not to mention the metaphor that DNA is fully ENCODED, should not be forgotten by those who question the anti-scientific predictions of evolution. Romans 1:19-21.

DESIGNED intelligently for a purpose: The whole history of observation has led to one and only one reasonable conclusion: Life is masterfully designed. Even the New Atheists acknowledge that life “appears to be designed,” yet they insist that Darwin’s design substitute—uniformitarianism and natural selection—can create complexity by chance from chaos. Today we know better. With the four billion bits of information in human DNA, our biological systems, organs, cells, organelles, and even the proteins are all irreducibly complex [8]. In view of all these facts, not only is the chance origin of life fantastically improbable, it’s impossible! According to the Bible, God created you as his wonderful work with a purpose! Psalm 139:13-16

Notes:
[1] What Is Science? (http://www.thingsrevealed.net/science1.htm)
[2] Bible-Believing Scientists of the Past, Henry M. Morris, 1/01/1982. (https://www.icr.org/article/bible-believing-scientists-past). For a brief history of the development of the scientific method see Creation Agnosticism, by Tim Nordgren (http://www.thingsrevealed.net/Creation_Agnosticism.pdf)
[3] Fossils Show Stasis and No Transitional Forms, (https://www.icr.org/fossils-stasis)
[4] Theory Of Science: An Introduction To The History, Logic, And Philosophy Of Science. George Gale, New York: McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1979, p.188. Gale, a preeminent historian and philosopher of science, explains how the First Law (conservation) was not “logically or empirically justified,” but issued from the “prescientific Western intellect.”
[5] The Genesis Flood: The Biblical Record and Its Scientific Implications, John C. Whitcomb and Henry M. Morris, 1961.
[6] Carolus Linnaeus: Founder of Modern Taxonomy (https://www.icr.org/article/carolus-linnaeus-founder-modern-taxonomy). Here it is instructive to compare this article to the Wikipedia article which doesn’t mention a word about what motivated this truly great scientist.
[7] An Important New Discovery, (http://www.thingsrevealed.net/God_Doesnt_Make_Junk.html)
[8] This concept was explained by Michael Behe. “By irreducibly complex I mean a single system composed of several well-matched, interacting parts that contribute to the basic function, wherein the removal of any one of the parts causes the system to effectively cease functioning. See, Darwin’s Black Box, Michael Behe, [1996], p. 39.
[9] Welcome Them Into the Fold, (https://www.icr.org/article/we-welcome-them-into-fold)