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HAVE YOU EQUIPPED YOURSELF FROM EVERY FIERY DART? |
 
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At the Scopes trial in 1925, there was an attempt underway led by John Scopes to replace the teaching of a Biblical creation with the evolution theory in a public school. This nation was buzzing as they waited
eagerly to hear the outcome of Christianity vs. Humanism. The answers to many of the questions asked were found in Genesis. One of the questions asked of William Jennings Bryan was: "Where did Cain get his wife?" Without a good foundational knowledge this and many other questions that were asked couldn't be answered. At another point in the trial, Mr. Bryan was asked if he believed a literal six-day
creation and his reply was that he thought a day could have been a long period of time, not necessarily one 24-hour day. It was obvious to Clarence Darrow that Mr. Bryan was compromising God's Word. He knew if he attacked the foundation and was successful he could then convince the people that science has proven that you can't trust the Bible. Being one of the more crafty and cunning man of his
time his stratagy worked. Although it didn't win the case, it did do a great deal of damage to Christianity as time passed. William Jennings Bryan was a great theologian who's opinion had a great deal of influence in that day.
Unfortunately, his contribution to the collapse in the moral and value systems of that day was due to his lack of a foundational knowledge through Scripture. In that area alone Christianity suffered a tremendous blow as we watched a good, godly man get stumped by Clarence Darrow. John Scopes lost the case and was fined $100.00, but compared to the loss of faith in their Christian leaders that was just a drop in the bucket. Today Mr. Bryan, Mr. Darrow, Mr. Scopes, the judge and the scientists who collected their theories to back evolution have
probably all passed away. All the evidence that was used against Mr. Bryan has been proven false. The saddest part of all is that some of the teachings that were proven false and thrown out are still in some public school textbooks today and are being taught as fact. It's easy to see how to destroy a childs faith in the Bible, and how to defend it.
Not being able to defend one's faith
can allow another to claim victory for theirs. We have chosen to be saints of virtue, but lack the ability to defend. To win a war we must prepare ourselves to be victorious. I don't have all the answers myself, but I know where they can be found and as a father it is my God-given responsibility to train my children - to open the Bible first, and then apply history, geology, biology, astronomy, anthropology, through God's infallible Word that has never changed and answers all the questions you could ever have. You must base your thinking from
the Bible first and then apply what you know is truth to the world around you, past or present.
 
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It only takes one generation to win or lose a society. Look at all the different cultures in the world and think about how many became lost over generations because they didn't build an altar to remind themselves of God's judgement, mercy, love and protection. One day a child asks his father, "What mean ye by these stones?" (Joshua 4:6). Sadly, they can't teach their children because they were never taught. Do you realize most Christians today haven't been taught the true Creation Story (which is foudational to Christian doctrine) by their fathers and therefore can't teach their children. At some point the children go out into the world and then they are surrounded with evolutionary thinking through colleges, christian circles, hollywood, the media and so on. If they can't defend their faith and knock out the evolutionary foundations replacing them with truth, we will continue to lose the culture. Fathers need to build a foundation with their children from Genesis 1:1 forward that will enable them to defend their faith and challenge the evolutionary thinking of this day teaching the message to start with the Bible first and then make sense of the world's, history, geology, biology, astronomy, and anthropology.
How do you get this message out to a world that can't understand how Genesis is foundational to the New Testament? I thought Ken Ham's (Answers in Genesis) approach to this question helped me to explain this from my understanding. Using the Bible as a history book also helps me understand what is missing from our society in the present day.
"But we preach Christ
crucified, unto the Jews a stumblingblock, and unto the Greeks foolishness" (I Corinthians 1:23).When Peter preached to the Jews, they had an understanding of Creation, sin, and The Ten Commandments, but their stumblingblock was that Jesus of Nazareth was the Messiah. When Paul preached a similar message to the Greeks, he was rejected due to the fact that they
were a pagan society without a foundational knowledge of a Creator and man's fall. So they couldn't understand the Gospel message and the need for Jesus. Today's educational institutions teach about a world without God, most children grow up thinking the Bible is a collection of stories and science has proven the Bible wrong.
Question: When you talk to most young people, including some Christians, are you communicating with a Jew or a Greek? When you try to tell them that they need to be saved most people reply: "GET LOST! We all know science has proven you can't trust the Bible." Sadly there are many that have been raised without a foundation that don't know they are the ones that are
lost. How can they understand the Gospel message and teach a literal Genesis to their children if they've never been taught?
Did you know that this country has the most Churches, Sunday schools, Seminaries, Christian radio
stations, and Christian book stores in the world? Did you also know that 80% of the missionaries come from this country.
Question: Is this country becoming more, or less Christian? Less. Are we losing this society? Yes we are.
There's only one way to look at all the facts: something is terribly wrong with our society and I think the problem is found where a strong foundation wasn't built first and the structure won't stand the test of time.
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