Ray Comfort's Blog, page 48

Did PZ Myers do a 180?

I hear that PZ Myers just stated publicly that he thinks I'm a fraud. See: http://bit.ly/njFaBW Does that mean that up until today he thought that I was genuine in my faith, but after viewing our latest video (called "180") he now believes that I'm lining my pockets? If that's so, he can take comfort from the fact that if I am a hypocrite (the biblical word for fraud), I will end up in Hell--with all murderers, liars, thieves, blasphemers, fornicators, and adulterers, etc.

Then again, if I am a fraud, why would we be planning to freely give away (that's no charge) 200,000 copies of the video, in September, October, November, or perhaps December of this year? Why would we make it freely available for viewing (that's no charge) on www.180movie.com Why would we be selling the professionally produced 33-minute video (in an attractive jacket) for the exorbitant price of one dollar?

We have 2,000 faithful workers who are chafing at the bit to get "180" into people's hands because it has such a powerful message. These are the same wonderful workers who volunteered their time to give away about 200,000 copies of Darwin's boring book (with the Introduction that presented Intelligent Design and the Gospel), at one hundred of America's top universities. Atheists messed up that giveaway-date. We came a day early and sent them in a panic.

So make sure you get the date right this time--so that you can once again try and protest free speech, and attempt to stop (censor) us from giving "180" away. And make sure you get the right universities this time. I will give you a hint as to which ones we will visit. There are a total of 2,618 in the United States, and we will be going to 100 of them.
For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Question for Geeks

Velcro was discovered by Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer who, in 1941 went for a walk in the woods and wondered if the burrs that clung to his trousers (and to his dog) could be turned into something useful.

How many other things can you think of, that the design in nature has inspired?

Photograph: The hooks of a piece of Velcro.
Source http://www.flickr.com/photos/olivepix...

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Athiest's Proof that God Doesn't Exist

"Ray, the nice thing about modem science is that it's testable, demonstrable and repeatable. If someone makes a claim in a peer reviewed scientific journal about which I am skeptical, I can recreate the experiment. If my results differ from the published results, the paper can go under review and the claim is retracted if found to be false, misleading or fraudulent. In short, I don't have to 'believe' anything - scientists can actually test and demonstrate their theories!" Zach

The frustrating thing about atheists (and those who believe the theory of evolution to be true), is that they hide behind the shirts of true science, when there is nothing scientific about the idea of Darwinian evolution. Science is testable, and scientists who use the scientific method come to a place where they believe their hypothesis.

However, they don't know anything to be 100% true because their conclusion may change as more information is discovered and believed.

The theory of evolution, however, cannot be tested. If you believe otherwise, please present how the scientific method has proven Darwinian evolution to be true, and how because of it you "don't have to believe anything." In truth, you have faith (trust) in what you have read or what your professor has told you, and his beliefs are based on the same weak and shaky premise.

Look at this comment from a typical atheist who believes evolution:

"On occasion, after feeding my dog I might lazily leave an empty can of dog food on my kitchen counter for 2-3 days. The amino acids in what's left in the can form organisms by way of maggots and flies. Anyone with half a brain can understand that this type of process is what led to the existence of life on Earth. Chemistry made it happen, not god's magic wand."

Magical maggots are his proof that a Creator doesn't exist. It doesn't occur to him that a fly flew in when he wasn't looking at the empty can, and laid eggs.

The tragedy for those that believe in evolution is that they automatically discount the Genesis account of creation, which holds up perfectly under the light of honest scientific scrutiny. It informs us that God is the initial Cause of all things. He created male and female and caused every animal to bring forth after its own kind.

The theory of evolution has no explanation for the initial Cause (it is a case of "evolution-did-it" with the help of invisible sky-daddy of Father Time), nor does it have an explanation for why 1.4 million different kinds of animals, birds, fish, and insects have male and female.

All they have are a few dry bones they believe to be old, and bacteria that evolves into bacteria. And so the evolution believer refuses the offer of forgiveness of sins and everlasting life, based on non-existent evidence.

Unlike the idea of evolution, Christianity can be tested. Simply read the Sermon on the Mount—which tells us among other things that God considers lust to be adultery (see Matthew 5:27-28), and that leaves all of us in big trouble on Judgment Day, heading for Hell.

But God is rich in mercy and provided the Savior—-Jesus of Nazareth, who suffered, died, and rose again—taking our punishment upon Himself and purchasing eternal salvation for sinners. Repent and trust Him and you will pass from death into life, and know the truth--and the truth will make you free (see John 8:31-32). There's the proof.
For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Cooped up in California

Bruce Gleason, one of my atheist friends, has followed the example of his fellow atheists across the country by putting up a billboard that make people think about God. His billboard went up along the southbound 55 Freeway here in Southern California, and says, "Atheism is philanthropy without mythology, peace without superstition."

He said, "We've been getting a lot of comments from people saying we should have spent that money on charity." That made me smile. It's ironic that he spent big money boasting how atheism is philanthropic, when in truth, it's about as philanthropic as it is scientific. Yep, the world is bursting with atheist hospitals, atheist soup kitchens and atheist homeless shelters.

The news release also said, "The ad campaign is financed by 'an anonymous donor' to Backyard Skeptics, which boasts 440 members and sponsors assorted activities, including science-related field trips to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, monthly lectures and occasional movie nights (the latest screening is 'The Ledge,' about a love triangle involving an atheist and two Christians)."

Recently, Bruce asked me to speak at one of his backyard monthly meetings. We were both excited about it, until his fellow atheists chickened out, no doubt because they didn't want to have their feathers ruffled. But if they change their minds, I wouldn't want an honorarium, I would give them free books, would pay for their food, and I would count it an honor to gently challenge their belief system.

But I won't be holding my breath, because almost all atheists are big talkers hiding behind a computer, but chickens in the real world. Bruce excluded.
For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

What Atheists Believe...

"Actually, atheists tend to assume that gravity and heat created the water cycle, but put that aside. If God was providing, free of charge, enough water for San Antonio, there would be no price comparison between the cost of distilling the water from the ocean and the cost of extracting it from an aquifer." Steven J.

I appreciate why you would rather we put aside your belief that gravity and heat have the ability to create. Rather than put it aside, I would like to talk about what atheists believe, and consider it closely.

Atheists believe that gravity thinks intelligently, makes plans, and then creates the concept it has in mind. In this case, gravity created the water cycle. Perhaps you object to my saying that gravity must be intelligent to come up with the concept of the water cycle and then actually create it. Perhaps you think that gravity is mindless, and created it without thinking. I don't think so. I am in awe of the water cycle and couldn't imagine the most intelligent of human beings coming up with it.

But according to atheists, gravity didn't create alone. Its partner was heat. The two of them came up with the concept of water, vapor, clouds, rain, rivers, lakes, waterfalls, snow, evaporation, air, condensation, and then created them and caused them to work throughout the earth in perfect harmony. Atheism brings new meaning to the word "absurd."

Also, the concept of the god you don't believe in doesn't exist. He is a figment of your fertile and faith-filled imagination. The Creator is not your water-boy. Don't believe the television preachers that tell you that He will come running when you click your sinful fingers. He withholds the blessing of live-giving rain when a nation gives itself to evil and at the same time professes itself to be good.

For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Thankless and Blind Atheism

We can't live without water. An incedible 97% of it is in the form of salt water oceans and yet we can't drink it or even use it for crops. Drinkable water for the billions on the earth only amounts to 3% of the total amount. But 2% of that is shut up in the form of ice on the polar caps, and so that leaves just 1% of the earth's water available to sustain life on earth. This fresh water sits in lakes, ponds, rivers, streams, and in deposits beneath the soil.

However, there is one other place in which vast amounts of fresh drinkable water are stored. Trillions upon trillions of tons of water sit above us in the form of pregnant puffy clouds. These great water deposits float like feathers above our heads, and they do so because of fixed laws.

The water gets there because of an incredible process called "the water cycle." This happens when the waters of the earth change from their heavy liquid form and become water vapor. As the sun heats the water, it rises and forms itself into lighter than air water deposits we call clouds.

As this happens, salt and impurities are left behind on the earth so that we can have a supply of salt to give taste to our food, and drinkable water, which, before the evaporation process, was pestilential.

The clouds sit above us, storing trillions of tons of clean, life-giving, fresh drinking water. This is placed at between 10,000 and 20,000 feet in the sky, and it if wasn't for the process of "condensation," that's where it would all stay, and we would all eventually die of thirst.

Condensation is the opposite of evaporation. It occurs when the gases that transported the water to the clouds because of heat, form back into water because of cold. This cooler temperature causes the gas to form into drops, and then drop (or drip), so that we can have crops from the drops and drink cool fresh water. This process is called "precipitation," or "rain" for us common folks.

The rain falls to the earth, is collected in lakes, rivers and streams, and because of gravity, eventually finds itself transported into the vast oceans where it evaporates, is cleansed, and falls again so that we can have crops and drinking water. This means that water never really disappears down the drain. Thank God, it comes back to us so that we can live.

So it seems that the water cycle is simple. Heat and drink. In other words, we could easily copy God's water cycle and create fresh water from salt water, by heating salt water and catching it:

"In April 2000 the Texas Water Development Board approved a $59,000 grant to the Lavaca-Navadid River Authority to determine if building a $400 million plant on Matagorda Bay at Point Comfort would be economically and environmentally feasible. There is a power plant at this location that could supply the heated sea water for the membrane process. The study was released two months later and the cost rose to $755 million, but this included the cost of transmission facilities to San Antonio."

"Ocean water desalination is extraordinarily expensive – more than 10 times the cost of Aquifer water, and a plant and pipeline would cost well over $1 billion in today's dollars."

Look at the incredible cost--simply to imitate what God makes available to us at no charge. Of course, the atheist doesn't think of or thank God for all this, because he believes that nothing created everything, including the water cycle.

Notes:
1. http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/desalin...
2. "S.A. urged to look to gulf for more water" San Antonio Express-News, March 10, 2010

Edit: "It covers 97% of the earth" changed to "An incedible 97% of it is..." (Thanks to James Bond). For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Bird Brains and Atheists

In mid-2011, Markus Fischer and his creative team at Festo built "SmartBird"--a large, lightweight robot, modeled on a seagull. This amazing flying robot was unique in that it flapped its wings like a real bird. When Fischer spoke about his creation, the large audience sat quietly and listened to his every word. However, after they saw it fly around the room in which they sat, they gave him a standing ovation. They praised him for his brilliance.

Plagiarism is the copying of someone else's ideas, and representing it as your own original work. Fischer copied his bird directly from God's design, and humbly took praise for it as if it was his own creation.

Despite this copyright infringement, it is understandable why they praised him. He did something no other human being had managed to do. He made a flying, flapping, swerving bird. Sort of. It couldn't think breath, think, eat, and reproduce of itself. It couldn't even blink. Not that it needed to, because this was a blind bird.

There are some who accuse God of being the ultimate egotist because they think that He demands worship. Scripture says "You shall worship the Lord your God and Him only shall you serve." However, to praise God for the gift of life—-for birds and all the amazing creation that surrounds us, is the right thing to do. To fail to praise Him and love Him with all of our "heart, mind, soul, and strength" for what He has done and Who He is, is to be guilty of the sin of ingratitude. Worship is commanded because we are dull in mind, selfish in heart, blind to reality, and so ungrateful that we need to be directed to give God due praise.

Despite Fischer's genius, there is no comparison between his flying robot and God's design of the bird. The model they copied has eyes that can see and relate images to an incredibly complex brain, that in the smallest of birds shames our most complex of computers. It has an amazing heart that sends life-giving oxygenated blood at just the right temperature, through a myriad of tiny blood vessels into complicated layers of perfectly designed muscles that are fastened onto hollow multifaceted bones that are curved especially for flight, and layered with amazingly shaped feathers that twist and turn as directed by the brain of each bird.

So what sort of crazy person could believe that there was no evidence that Fischer's robot had a creator; and what sort of bird-brain could believe for a moment that the one he plagiarized had no Maker?For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Atheists, Voltaire, Morality and God

"Hello. I am writing regarding some evangelical booklets I have recently found around my high school. They keep turning up, mostly in bathrooms, and are essentially the 'Are you a good person' cartoon from your website in comic form. I must say that I find such propaganda shameful. The implication that everyone is bound for hell fire unless they prostrate themselves before God is far worse than a death threat. The objective of this pamphlet seems to be to prey on the insecure and the unsure, first by instilling a sense of guilt, and then a sense of terror, and finally offering them what you say is the only salvation: submission. I am offended by these manipulative and coercive tactics. However, as Voltaire once said, 'I disagree with what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it.' Though I am certainly no Voltaire, I share the same love of freedom of speech. Therefore, I cannot object in principal to the distribution of ideas simply because I believe them to be incorrect and dangerous. However, when faced with the spread of such ideas, I can combat them in another way: by providing another viewpoint. To this end, I have launched a pamphlet campaign which points out the illogical nature of your propaganda. I hope that logic and humor are enough to overcome the fear and guilt which you employ, and make people see how unlikely the existence of God truly is." Sam

Sam, I appreciate the courteous way in which you wrote (may you read this reply in the same spirit).

I also appreciate your understanding of the importance of having the free exchange of ideas. With that said, as you step in as the intellectual savior of your peers, make sure you let them know that as an atheist you believe that nothing created everything (a scientific impossibility).

If you don't believe that, and instead believe that something rather than nothing created everything (but it wasn't God), then you're not an atheist; you're an agnostic.

If you are embarrassed to admit that an atheist believes that nothing created everything, you could try to redefine the word "nothing," and say that it's actually "something." That will make you feel better.

Those who read our booklet may not have had a sense of guilt, fear, and terror that you had. Remember, it was Voltaire who said, "All sects are different, because they come from men; morality is everywhere the same, because it comes from God."

God gave you a conscience, and because of it you are morally responsible to Him for your thoughts, words, and your deeds. So that fear you feel is legitimate. It has driven many a rebel to a sensible submission to the God who gave him life. John 8:31-32.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

A Friendly Visit From an Atheist

I had a pleasant surprise this week. My friend Thunderf00t emailed me, and said that was in Los Angeles and wanted to get together. Two years earlier we had a passive on-camera discussion. This time he suggested that we discuss the subject of morality.

The next day we took two chairs outside, set up two cameras and began talking about an issue which most atheists would rather avoid.

When an atheist talks about morality he has a problem. He has no basis of right or wrong, other than whether or not something is good for society. Kind of like Nazi Germany. Killing Jews was good for the Arian society. It was also legal, therefore it was morally okay in the atheist world-view.

We respectfully argued back and forth on different issues for about 20 minutes, and then something wonderful happened. Thunderf00t let me take him through the Ten Commandments as a gauge to see if he was morally good. He wasn't. He freely admitted to being a liar, a thief, a blasphemer, and when I said,

"Jesus said, whoever looks upon a woman to lust after her has committed adultery already with her, in his heart... "

he smiled and (like every honest red-blooded male) pleaded guilty to the violation of the Seventh Commandment.

No wonder he (and every atheist) didn't like the thought of God's existence. Being morally responsible to Him isn't a pleasant feeling for a guilty, sin-loving sinner. I know, because I have been where he now is.

He politely listened as I told him that Jesus took his punishment upon Himself so that he could go free from God's wrath, and he was even able to finish the Bible verse,

"For God so loved the world that he gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him (trusts in Him) should not perish but shall..."

and he finished it off, "...have everlasting life." Unlike many atheists, Thunderf00t knows his Bible.

We then had lunch together, and my son (Daniel), myself and Thunderfoot thoroughly enjoyed further discussions about things that really matter. I don't think the subject of Darwin's theory tale even came up.

It was a good time all round. After he left we prayed for God's richest blessing on this likeable, quietly spoken, sincere atheist, hoping that he will soon come to his senses and seek out the gift of everlasting life that is alone in Jesus Christ.

Pic. From two years agoFor Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

The Atheist Experience

"Ray believes I was a 'false convert' and was never a 'true Christian' the entire time I believed I was a born-again evangelical Christian for many years. I spoke in tongues, had the many gifts of the Holy Spirit, laying-on-of-hands, the whole nine yards." Lehman

He isn't the only regular on this blog who is the sad product of the false gospel. Another person continually says that he was a Christian minister, that he read the Bible many times, and that he truly believed, until he saw the light.

But notice the above person's "evidence" of his supposed conversion. It was "gifts," when the Bible says that it is by "fruits" (not gifts) that a Christian is known.

The Scriptures list the evidential fruits of conversion as fruit of righteousness (striving to do the right thing), the fruit of praise (giving God due praise for His kindness, etc.), the fruit of thanksgiving (having a thankful heart for the "unspeakable" gift of everlasting life, etc.), the fruit of repentance (living a life of holiness—-no longer serving sin), and the fruit of the Spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, goodness, gentleness, faith, meekness and temperance).

Instead of possessing these fruits, the false convert is a hypocrite. He doesn't come to know the Lord because his sin still separates him from God (see Mark chapter 4). He holds onto secret sins (lust, selfishness, bitterness, etc.), and it's only a matter of time (as with Judas) until he is exposed.

Many hypocrites are not yet evident, and so they will stay within the Church among God's people—-as goats among the sheep--and will be sorted out on Judgment Day.

The reason the false convert had a false conversion is that he never found a place of biblical repentance in the first place. He never saw sin in its true light. That's why the Ten Commandments should be thundered from the pulpits of churches, and not the unbiblical "God has a Wonderful Plan for Your Life" false gospel.

You can freely read about the false gospel and its tragic effects (or listen) on www.freewonderfulbook.com
For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.