Ray Comfort's Blog, page 52

Genesis on Trial

There are just 31 verses in Genesis chapter one, but in it we see an explanation for the cosmos, and for this amazing earth. So over the next week or so, we will look at what many call "an ancient fairytale bronze-age book," and see if it can hold up to rational scrutiny. We will look at what each verse says, and then what atheism and evolution give us to explain the same thing.

Genesis 1
1In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth.

The Bible begins by saying that there was a beginning, and that (of course) there was a Cause that preexisted the beginning. Everything material must have a cause because anything that is material cannot produce itself. The atheist's nothing created everything doesn't work, because for it to possess the ability to create itself, it must preexist itself--to make itself, it would have to have existed before its existence. So if it preexisted, it wasn't the beginning.

True science demands that the earth has a beginning. It cannot be eternal. The Second Law of Thermodynamics tells us that everything runs down. Nothing improves itself over long periods of time. An apple rots, in time. Trees grow old and turn to dust, in time. Even rocks crumble with age. If the earth was eternal and it has existed trillions upon multiple trillions of years into the past, it would have turned to dust, a long time ago. The earth therefore must have had a beginning.

Atheistic evolution doesn't have a beginning. Those who think it does refer to the "Big Bang," but that wasn't the beginning, because you have to have preexisting materials for a big bang. You have to have gases, and even if atheists reduce the materials that caused the beginning down to a tiny dot, it still wasn't the beginning, because the dot existed. What caused their dot? They don't know. Genesis 1:1 tells us the Cause of all things.

2And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

When first God created the earth, it had no form. It wasn't ordered. Isaiah 45:18 gives us a little more light on the subject. It says:

"For thus says the Lord that created the heavens; God Himself that formed the earth and made it; He has established it, He created it not in vain, He formed it to be inhabited: I am the Lord; and there is none else."

God made the high mountains, the deep green valleys, the fertile soil that could give rise to plant life and food, establishing it for the purpose of human habitation. It wasn't an accident—-a vain exercise with no purpose. However, evolution says that it was an accident—-a causeless cosmic freak with no purpose, rhyme nor reason. It just was.

Notice that it was the "Spirit" of God that moved upon the face of the waters. God is a "Spirit"—-an entity without a body. He is non-material, and therefore not subject to the Second Law of Thermodynamics. The Bible tells us that the Spirit of God is eternal. He is without beginning and without end, and He never changes. He fills the infinitude of space and dwells in eternality beyond the confines of time--a dimension in which we are bound, but one that was created by the genius of His hand.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

"Dawkins Doesn't Debate Creationists"

No doubt you have seen the popular YouTube clip "Why Richard Dawkins Doesn't Debate Creationists." I guess he changed his mind and decided that he would debate a woman, probably thinking he would chew her up and spit her out.

But this time he bit off more than he could chew, and ended up with a very dry mouth and a blank look.

I predict that if you believe in evolution, you won't be able to watch this all the way through to see the outcome. You will face palm, and then tell yourself that he was just frustrated with her.

And he certainly was. I have been to the museums in search of the Holy Grail of which he speaks, and the hard evidence just isn't there. She knew it, and kept telling him so. His "evidence" is about as real as the images of Mary on a pizza. Evolution is built on a false hope, and on false science.

http://youtu.be/Fylu1IkNcAYFor Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Lunch with an Atheist

There are 11 million people in greater Los Angeles, and the entire country has over 300 million. That's a whole lot of people, so I was pleased to do a one-hour interview on a national talk show—because it was broadcast out of Chicago and reached right across the nation.

During the program an atheist called in and we had a great chat. He seemed a nice guy, so I said that if he was ever in our area, I would love to have lunch with him. He wanted a copy of The Defender's Guide for Life's Toughest Questions and he left his address with the show's host. It was "Ramona Street, Bellflower, California." He lived about three minutes from the ministry. If there weren't buildings in the way, we could see his house from our building.

Let's hope he takes me up on lunch. You can listen to the call at:

http://www.moodyradio.org/brd_programarchive.aspx?id=63170

(scroll down to April 12th, click on Hour Two).For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

The Atheist's Popular "All Jews are in Hell!"

"Ray, yesterday when you called me a hateful anti-Semite, were you aware that I was speaking of observant practicing Jews, not perceived ethnic Jews? A simple Yes or No will suffice. Thank you in advance, Sir." Lehman

I wasn't sure which you meant. However, saying that either are in Hell is horrible beyond words. I know you don't believe that Hell exists, so you can be excused for such talk. But I do believe that it's a very real place and I am horrified that anyone would end up there, either Jew or Gentile.

Not believing in God doesn't deal with the problem of moral accountability. Any criminal who throws himself into crime because he has no belief in judges, is a fool. If the law catches up with him, he will have to pay for his crimes. If criminal law doesn't get him in this life, the moral Law (the Ten Commandments) will in the next.

Despite the foolishness of atheism, God exists, and He will bring every work to Judgment, including every secret thing whether it's good or evil. God made your eyes, so He can see what you do. He's not blind. He made your brain, so He sees your thoughts. Nothing is hidden from His holy eyes. To Him, lust is adultery, and hatred is murder. Lying lips are an abomination to Him, and who of us is guiltless of breaking that Commandment? We all need a Savior, or we will get exactly what we deserve, and our "just" dessert is to be damned. There's not a hope in Hell. It will never freeze over. Nothing is as sure.

I know that atheists say that I preach about it to hold people in fear, so that I can make money from them. But I preached in the open air more than 3,000 times (almost every week day for 12 years) without pay for preaching--when I was in New Zealand, and I have done the same thing thousands of times in the U.S. without pay. For the last 4,000 times I have preached in the open air I have given away money almost every time. Why would I do that if I was doing it for the money? If you think preaching the gospel that way feeds the ego, give it a try.

My motivation is love. I do it for no other reason. If Hell didn't exist, I wouldn't bother.

EDIT: The Popular Atheist "All Jews are in Hell!" changed to: The Atheist's Popular "All Jews are in Hell!"For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

A Word to Atheists

I am forever reading how I'm a lying, money-hungry, ignorant, fear-mongering, snake-oil salesman. Yet, I know that if I told you that Hell doesn't exist and that you have nothing to worry about when it comes to your moral responsibility, the accusations would slow down and perhaps even stop.

But if I denied what I know to be true, then I would be a liar and would deserve every name you throw at me.

I wasn't speaking anywhere this last Sunday, and so Sue and I had the privilege of listening to my pastor (Pastor Bruce Garner) speak at my home church.

He shared an anecdote that left me with tears in my eyes--because it epitomized my motive and the motive of every Christian who warns about eternity. The anecdote is at 26 minutes, but I would encourage you to listen to his whole message.

http://www.crosspointhb.org/media.php?pageID=22
For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Bell's Hell Sells

I watched a lot of holocaust footage while researching for, Hitler, God, and the Bible and its accompanying "Hitler's Religion" DVD. I read eye-witness accounts of families of Jews being shot, and some of them buried while still alive. I stared through tear-filled eyes at photos of innocent Jewish women (some in their teens) being paraded through the streets, and then hung publically. They weren't given the mercy of a quick drop to break the neck. Instead, thin rope was deliberately used to make the hanging last longer. The photos show other Jews being made to watch, and German soldiers smiling as they dangled by the rope.

Jews were made to pull teeth from the dead bodies of their fellow countrymen that had been gassed, and extract gold. The corpses were then thrown into ovens for cremation. If gold was missed, those doing the extracting were thrown alive into the ovens.

Adolf Hitler systematically and cruelty slaughtered six million men, women, and children in the horror we call the "holocaust." After the war, Hitler shot himself, and many Nazis fled to the haven of Argentina to happily live out the rest of their days without being brought to justice.

In the much-publicized Love Wins, Rob Bell informs us that the Bible's references to a place called "Hell"--are speaking of nothing more than Gehenna, the burning trash heap outside Jerusalem, during the time of Christ.

Instead of justice, loves wins, and Hitler will be in Heaven along with every evil unrepentant Nazi who threw Jews alive into ovens, buried them while still alive in mass graves, tortured, raped, and murdered so many. Enjoying the pleasures of Heaven with the Nazis we will find every throat-cutting rapist, Joseph Stalin, Idi Amin, Mao Tse-tung, Uganda's machete-wielding murderers, the man who cut the head off Daniel Pearl, Osama Bin Laden, Pol Pot, Charles Manson, all 19 of the al-Qaeda 911 terrorists, and every child-molester that ever lived. They may all make it to Heaven.

Rob Bell goes as far as to suggest that people will have an opportunity to change their mind about God and make their way into Heaven, after they die. What's clear in his book is that the god in whom Bell believes will not exercise a just and holy wrath against anyone. He says that no one will be eternally punished.

I didn't write, The Defender's Guide for Life's Tough Questions—to counter Bell's twisted theology—-but it thankfully does. It lists all the references to Hell in the Old Testament. It addresses the "Hitler is in Heaven" issue, and it deals with why God allows suffering, why He allows evil, His "sanctioning" of slavery, why He lets children get cancer, and His merciless judgments.

This is one good thing that is coming from Love Wins. It's making people think about this issue, question men like Bell, and ask how he managed to make it into a pulpit. They are rethinking the Bible's warning about ear-tickling preachers and how Jesus warned "Woe to you, when all men shall speak well of you! for so did their fathers to the false prophets." God is love, but He is also just and holy. Hitler will get his dues, and that is good news for those who lost loved ones in the holocaust and want desperately to see that justice is done.

God showed both His great love and His perfect righteousness, through the cross. He provided a Savior to save us from His just wrath and, in His great mercy, give us everlasting life. Those who refuse to repent and trust in Him will find that God keeps His Word. There is good news for Jews. There is a Hell. Justice wins.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Atheists: Stand up for What You Believe

I followed a link to an atheist website recently, and watched an interesting Youtube clip starring a friend and myself. Each time a picture of us came up, the background music track chanted "Lies! Lies!"

The producers of the video and the music believed that it was a lie that an atheist believes that "nothing created everything" (a scientific impossibility). But the alternative is to believe that something created everything, so the atheist is stuck with his (or her) unscientific belief, even though it is intellectually embarrassing. Again, for those who don't believe an atheist believes that nothing created everything, watch http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fWq0la... Take special note of the final quote--a fundamentalist atheist admitting that I am right.

The lies, lies video also said that it was a lie that if the mythological "crocoduck" was ever found, it would prove evolution. For hundreds of years evolution believers have searched for a genuine species-to-species transitional form (the missing link) and never found one; up until recent years, so they say.

In an article on the National Geographic site, entitled, "7 Major Missing Links Since Darwin," the crocodile-headed fish (crocofish) came in at Number One of seven missing links.

They said, "For the 200th anniversary of Charles Darwin's birth (February 12, 2009), National Geographic News asked leading scientists for their picks of the most important fossils that show evolution in action—seven of which are presented here, starting with this 'fishapod.'"

So there you have it. The "Fishapod" is a crocodile head and a fish body. Another name for the fishapod is "Tiktaalik." I don't believe that this crocofish is a missing link. But many do.

The article then said, "The discoveries of these and other 'missing link' species have helped dispel what Darwin called perhaps 'the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory' of evolution--the former lack of transitional fossil species."

But they haven't helped in the slightest. These seven missing links aren't found-links at all. They are just more wild imagination (lies, lies) from the minds of speculators who can't find anything to back up a theory that has to be believed (received with blind faith), and one that has no basis in true science.

So if you are an atheist, hold your up head high. Don't be ashamed of your faith. Never deny that you believe that nothing created everything, and that you would be ecstatic (and rich and famous) if you found a crocoduck in your back yard.

Notes: http://news.nationalgeographic.com/ne...

Picture: Tiktaalik: The "Fishapod": Crocofish
Illustration by Zina Deretsky, National Science FoundationFor Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

From where did Jesus Get His Money?

"And it came to pass afterward, that he went throughout every city and village, preaching and showing the glad tidings of the kingdom of God: and the twelve were with him, and certain women, which had been healed of evil spirits and infirmities, Mary called Magdalene, out of whom went seven demons, and Joanna the wife of Chuza Herod's steward, and Susanna, and many others, which ministered unto him of their substance" (Luke 8:1-3).

"Glad tidings" is an understatement, probably because the English language lacks the depth of the original Greek. God had granted the dying Human Race a Savior, so that they could live forever. If anything should make us "glad," it's the wonderful news that death need not swallow us and drag us to Hell. Whosoever will make come. That means you and me—atheist, agnostic, religious person, black, white, rich or poor. "Whoever" repents and trusts in Jesus finds everlasting life. Glad indeed!

Few people know that Jesus had a donor-based ministry. It costs money to feed and lodge 13 itinerant preachers. Many people knew that, and gladly supported the cause. But as with a number of contemporary ministries, there was corruption within. The trusted treasurer turned out to be a liar and a thief (see John 12:4-6). He was secretly stealing money from the ministry. Jesus knew what he was up to and warned him, but he didn't listen and ended up with just enough rope to hang himself. As with most money-hungry folks, he wasn't even happy with what he was stealing, and wanted more silver.

Many today are like Judas the hypocrite. They point the finger and complain about others and what they do with their money, and they will also be given enough rope to hang themselves. Check out Romans 2 to see the end result of those who are accusatory, and yet do the same things.

Despite the problem of corruption in ministries, it is biblically legitimate to be supported by donors and sales:

"Who ever goes to war at his own expense? Who plants a vineyard and does not eat of its fruit? Or who tends a flock and does not drink of the milk of the flock? . . . Even so the Lord has commanded that those who preach the gospel should live from the gospel" (1 Corinthians 9:7, 14).For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Atheists and Fairy Tales

I'm always fascinated when I hear atheists mock the Bible. They say that it's nothing but fairy tales. They mock Adam, Eve, Jonah, Noah, and Jesus and His miracles with unending scorn. Yet, they don't believe that these people existed or that miracles really happened. To them, Adam and Eve didn't exist. Neither did Noah or Jonah. They think they are myths.

So why do they steam, scheme, rant and rave? It's like someone being upset at the wolf in Little Red Riding Hood or at the Pied Piper for leading a stack of children down the garden path.

Or is it that you know that if Adam did exist, then so does sin; and if sin exists, then you are morally responsible to God? Could it be that that's why you fight tooth and nail against Christianity? Could your love of darkness be the reason you so hate the light? See John 3:19-21 for the answer, if you dare.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

No Atheists in an Earthquake?

"I was actually in this earthquake...I live in Tokyo and it was the scariest thing that I have ever been in. I was in Kitasenju teaching English when it struck and after the initial shock we all ventured outside. I saw a mother of about 27/28 clutching her newborn to her chest in fear as the temperature got colder and colder and colder. Fallen creation? What are you talking about? I will NEVER accept this. NEVER. Do you hear me Ray? You can SCREAM this in my face for the rest of time. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT WHAT YOU SAY."

Creation is absolute evidence of a Creator. It didn't make itself. So to suddenly say that God doesn't exist because we have killer earthquakes and horrific tsunamis (such as the March 2011 tragedy) is to be in denial of something we all intuitively know.

The question is rather, "Is God impotent?" Did He have the ability to create this infinite universe, with suns that dwarf ours massive sun, and yet He can't stop a tremor on this little earth? The question itself is rhetorical, but it's covered in Scripture when we are told, "With God, nothing is impossible."

So it then becomes, "Why did Almighty God allow it, and its terrible train of unspeakable suffering and death?"

Atheism has no consolation for us, other than to say that such pain is the result of an indifferent "Nature" that created itself, and is still in the process of creating. Richard Dawkins said, "Nature is not cruel, pitiless, indifferent. This is one of the hardest lessons for humans to learn. We cannot admit that things might be neither good nor evil, neither cruel nor kind, but simply callous -- indifferent to all suffering, lacking all purpose." [A Devil's Chaplain & Other Selected Essays, by Richard Dawkins]

However, the Bible has the consoling answer. It says that we live in a "Fallen Creation" (see Genesis 1-3). We are like an alcoholic who is in denial, adamantly saying that all is well, and yet the symptoms of alcoholism are clearly evident as he staggers toward you.

Here is just some of the evidence that humanity has a serious problem–earthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornados, disease, suffering, and death. The Bible says the whole of creation "groans in travail" under the Fall (see Romans 8:22)—the "curse" of Genesis. Those who understand this don't lose faith in God when terrible tragedies shake a world in denial.

Each one of them instead reminds us that all isn't well. For the world they should be a wake-up call—a slap in our drunken face--a reminder that we are not apes with no moral responsibility, as so many are trying to have us believe. All is far from well between sinful man and a holy God. We have a problem. A big one, that is more serious than a heart attack.

For someone to accept that we live in a fallen creation means that they have to accept that we are sinners—that we aren't the good folks we say we are. It means that we have moral responsibility—-that when a man rapes a woman and slits her throat, God will hold him accountable. It means that Hitler will face God on Judgment Day for the mass murder of so many innocents.

It means that God is just, and that Hell therefore is a real place of punishment for the wicked. These are not pleasant thoughts when we realize that God is morally perfect, that he sees the thought-life and considers lust to be adultery and hatred to be murder. That puts all of us, with our unquenchable thirst for (and addiction to) sin, in deep trouble.

Earthquakes tend to make us tremble. They show us that we don't have total control. In the Book of Acts, there was a big quake that caused a hardened Philippian jailer to cry out to his prisoners "Sirs, what must I do to be saved?"(see Acts 16:30). He wasn't talking about the quake (that had already happened). He was talking about his relationship to the One he had angered by his sin.

Fortunately, God has more than a 12-step program for the hopeless alcoholic. When Jesus suffered in our place and rose from the dead, He balanced the scales of eternal justice. He paid the fine so that we could leave the courtroom. The cross is an expression of the love and mercy of God. He is "rich in mercy," and can make us clean and sober with a new thirst for righteousness, and the ability to walk the straight and narrow.

I contacted a friend early in March of 2011, whom I hadn't seen for twenty years. He lived in my hometown of Christchurch, New Zealand, had always mocked me for my faith, and so I was surprised that he emailed back. He said that "god" greatly scared him in 2010 (he used profanity) with a 7.1 earthquake. When I then shared the gospel with him, he wrote back and mockingly said that he was guilty of breaking the Commandments, and that he going to Hell to "party."

The next day a killer quake hit, taking over 165 lives. When I contacted him again to see if he was okay, he soberly replied, "Tell your God I am sorry and please don't do that again." This time he used a capital for "God."

Tragedies have a way of putting the fear of God into those of us who are still living. Most of us, that is. Sadly, some may stay in denial and say, "Fallen creation? What are you talking about? I will NEVER accept this. NEVER. Do you hear me Ray? You can SCREAM this in my face for the rest of time. I WILL NEVER ACCEPT WHAT YOU SAY." I hope you are not one of them.

Photo: Tokyo, Japan, by "Morio."For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.