Ray Comfort's Blog, page 69

My Sincere Apologies

My apologies for not moderating comments today. "Rufus" has spammed the comments section with the "A" word hundreds of times. He's been doing it regularly. I have scripts to write for our TV program, and will therefore have to leave off moderating for a while. Thanks for your understanding.

If you would like to drop him a note and politely ask that he stop, he can be contacted at: rufustfirefly66@gmail.comFor Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Corruption in the Atheist Camp

"It's good to be back for the Sunday Atheist services, and thanks Ray for the kind, but misguided, words. Conversely to Ray's purported answer to what he sees as corruption, yes the biblical corruption in which we are all deemed corrupt sinners from birth, my outlook on life is vastly different. Ray used a form of the term corrupt five times in his sermon. He sees corruption everywhere. I must wonder of he looks under his bed for corruption before retiring at night." Froggie

It seems that my friend Froggie lives in a pond of his own, and needs to hop into the real world and look around. There's corruption everywhere, and you need not look under your bed to find it.

For example, Richard Dawkins is suing Josh Timonen for embezzling money from his charity. For those who don't know, Josh was entrusted with the U.S. atheist outreach to unbelievers.

A similar thing happened years ago with American Atheists, Inc., when one of their staff stole $54,000. The leader of American Atheists was also extremely corrupt. According to her own son, "she stole huge amounts of money. She misused the trust of people. She cheated children out of their parents' inheritance. She cheated on her taxes and even stole from her own organizations." The accused member then went on to murder the American Atheist leader, and members of her family. He then cut up their bodies into more than a dozen pieces. Tragic and horrific though this is, according to atheist philosophy, he did nothing morally wrong--as there are no moral absolutes. As an evolved ape, he simply made some wrong choices and got caught.

Josh Timonen was in charge of the sale of T-shirts, hats, mugs, trinkets, and other anti-God-money-making junk. He was so respected by the professor that he dedicated his latest book to him. Dawkins said of him, "Josh's creative talent runs deep, but the image of the iceberg captures neither the versatile breadth of his contributions to our joint endeavor, nor the warm good humor with which he makes them."

He was very creative indeed, and his versatility was an iceberg than ran deeper than was imagined. It was another betrayal, but this keeper of the bag took more than 30 pieces of silver. According to Courthousenews.com "he ran the online store for 3 years, during which he claimed the store cleared only $30,000 and 'was just squeaking by'." But according to Mr. Dawkins, Josh actually pocketed $375,000. He claims Timonen made off with 92 percent of the money generated at the store in 3 years.

Professor Dawkins has lodged a legal suit against Timonen and his girlfriend. In the complaint for the suit, he humbly described himself as "the world's best known and most respected atheist."

According to "The Happy Atheist," Josh Timonen said in his own defense:

"It's a sad, sad day today. All I'll say at this point is that the truth will prevail. It won't begin to fix the damage that's been done, but the truth will prevail. With the internet, you can so easily spread outrageous lies, destroy someone's reputation, self-worth and dignity, and not even have any evidence to back up your malicious attacks. And it amazes me that so many people are so quick to spew venom about people and a situation they know nothing about. Even after my name is cleared, the words and attacks will remain…A quick aside about the closing of the RichardDawkins.net forum: I can understand that this decision was devastating to many of the forum users, and for that I am sorry…This year has certainly been the darkest time of my life, the ultimate betrayal, and then the hordes of mostly-anonymous internet users decide to pile it on. It's making it very hard for me to see the light at the end of this tunnel, where I might regain some kind of hope for humanity, and find motivation again to dedicate my life to improving it in some small way."

However, if you want a glimpse of real corruption, take the time to look in the mirror. We are all corrupt, but the majority of us refuse to do an objective self-examination. We are like a man who has breath and body odor that could kill a house plant, but he's the only one who isn't aware of his true condition. He needs an objective assessment. Here is humanity's objective (outside source) assessment:

"As it is written, None is righteous, just and truthful and upright and conscientious, no, not one. No one understands [no one intelligently discerns or comprehends]; no one seeks out God. All have turned aside; together they have gone wrong and have become unprofitable and worthless; no one does right, not even one! Their throat is a yawning grave; they use their tongues to deceive (to mislead and to deal treacherously). The venom of asps is beneath their lips. Their mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction [as it dashes them to pieces] and misery mark their ways. And they have no experience of the way of peace [they know nothing about peace, for a peaceful way they do not even recognize]. There is no [reverential] fear of God before their eyes" (Romans 3:10-18).

Then the Scriptures points to the moral Law. That's what shows us our true condition. If you refuse to take notice of the Ten Commandments, you will carry on in your corruption and reap the eternal consequences. But if you obey the gospel (repent and trust alone in Jesus for your eternal salvation), there is glorious "hope for humanity."

Pic. Josh and Richard in happier days.

Notes:
Bryce, Robert (1999-06-04). "Preying on Atheists". Austin Chronicle. http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues.... Retrieved 2007-12-01.
Murray, William J. "Madalyn Murray O'Hair Murder: Statement of William J. Murray". Religious Freedom Coalition. http://www.rfcnet.org/news/default.as.... Retrieved 2007-12-01
http://www.courthousenews.com/2010/10...
http://www.happyatheistforum.com/view... Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Welcome to The Atheist Church

"And they said to him, Why do the disciples of John fast often, and make prayers, and likewise the disciples of the Pharisees; but yours eat and drink? And he said to them, Can you make the children of the bridechamber fast, while the bridegroom is with them? But the days will come, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them, and then shall they fast in those days. And he spoke also a parable to them; No man puts a piece of a new garment upon an old; if otherwise, then both the new makes a rent, and the piece that was taken out of the new agrees not with the old. And no man puts new wine into old bottles; else the new wine will burst the bottles, and be spilled, and the bottles shall perish. But new wine must be put into new bottles; and both are preserved. No man also having drunk old wine straightway desires new: for he says, The old is better" (Luke 5:33-39).

A small town council gathered to discuss the problem of reoccurring accidents on a certain portion of nearby road. Cars were speeding around a bend, and going over a cliff. After some discussion, the council came up with what they believed was a solution to their problem. They decided to build a hospital at the bottom of the cliff.

Such is the way of man. He attacks the symptom rather than the cause, and this is never so evident as with the seesaw of political elections. Every four years the country becomes disgruntled by unfulfilled political promises, so it votes for change, and change never comes.

Even the great political force of the "religious right" gets caught up in hospital building, thinking that the answer to the accident problem is legislative. However, trying to fix a corrupt system is nothing more than putting a new patch on an old wineskin. In time it will burst.

The answer is to look to the blueprint of Christianity--the Bible, particularly the Book of Acts. It shows us the clear agenda of the early Church. It wasn't to bring in a legislative theocracy to a corrupt society. Instead, it was to change the corrupt heart of the individual, through the power of the gospel. When a sinful man or woman is genuinely converted, they live for righteousness. They know the reality of "He leads me in paths of righteousness."

We live in a thoroughly corrupt world, evidenced by corruption within religious society, within the political world, within the business community, within every area of human endeavor. The only way to straighten the road and stop the accidents, is to preach the gospel and pray (and fast) that a sinful world listens and obeys its command to repent and trust in the Savior.

Pic. Porter with Wineskin by Niko Pirosmani.

For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Another Activity for the Purposeless Atheist...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O6FH0C74DysFor Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Get a Life...

"BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOORING. Me"

Seeing the above comment from an atheist, reminded me of when I preached open air in New Zealand for many years. One of the things my regular hecklers enjoyed doing was to climb to the steeple of the large church building in front of me, and shout out a long, drawn-out "Boring" in unison.

A bar of solid gold is boring to a toddler. It's too heavy to play with. He hasn't the brain-power to understand its value. To him, sucking his thumb is far more interesting.

The leader of the group of hecklers, a guy named Jeff, recently wrote to me and earnestly asked about Christianity. I guess he's grown out of thumb-sucking, and is interested in everlasting life.

Pic. New Zealand newspaper article, 1989. Heckler bottom right. For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Fashion Statement

Listening to what atheists believe about science makes me smile. They remind me of teenagers and "fashion."

Teenagers embrace what they think is cool, not realizing that every generation was just like them, in that they also thought that they were up-to-date, state-of-the-art, looking cool. Yet they were more than likely the product of some marketer with a brain, who knew that people are just like sheep, especially easily fleeced teenagers.

They must laugh all the way to the bank when a generation thinks that worn out jeans with holes in the knees, looks cool. But that's nothing new. Think of the embarrassingly stupid clothes of the 1960's, or the ridiculous hairstyles (moustaches) and fat ties of the 70's, or the dumb disco-look of the 80's, and the ugly mullets of the 90's. They all look stupid in retrospect, and yet those who were caught up in the look, thought they looked cool.

So it is with the atheist, as he coolly quotes what he believes is modern science. He thinks he has arrived at truth, and states his beliefs as such. He thinks that he is part of the state-of-the-art "we have finally arrived" generation. Yet, what he believes about mutations, genes, evolution, origins, planets, the universe, gravity, etc., will be laughed at with scorn in a hundred years time. We are tomorrow's flat-earther's.

In contrast, the Bible has always been laughed at and mocked, by those who don't know God. This is simply because of its moral implications. It's unchanging words stand like a rock, as a condemnation on all sin, and hold humanity ultimately accountable to Almighty God. Very unnerving for the ungodly.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

The Four Corners of the Earth

"deb said...[Ray said] 'give me the verse where the Bible says the earth is a flat circular disc," etc., and I will address each one.' I don't think that there is a specific verse that states the earth is flat. But I decided to do an internet search to discover what verses might be used to claim that the earth is not a sphere. 1. And he shall set up an ensign for the nations, and shall assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of Judah from the FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH. Isaiah 11:12 (KJV). And 2., after these things I saw four angels standing on FOUR CORNERS OF THE EARTH, holding the four winds of the earth, that the wind should not blow on the earth, nor on the sea, nor on any tree. Revelation 7:1"(KJV)

"The four corners of the earth" is simply a reference to the four cardinal directions: north, south, east, and west. One shoe company advertisement said "We are searching the four corners of the earth for the best deals!"

One travel agent said, "From the Grand Canyon to the Matterhorn, the world's most iconic vistas are part of the travel canon for good reason...They get us thinking about the four corners of the earth as well as humankind's minor place in the scheme of things." And modern map-makers create square paper maps that show the earth as having four corners.

Does this mean that the shoe company, travel site and map makers believe that the earth is square? Of course not. If you said that they did, it would make me suspicious that you (for some strange reason) wanted to make each of them look foolish.

And that's the motive when it comes to those who twist Bible verses. They want to discredit God's Word because they don't want to be held morally responsible for their actions.

The Cambridge Idioms Dictionary explains the popular idiom "go to the ends of the earth" as "to do everything possible in order to achieve something." Then they give an example: "Some journalists would go to the ends of the earth to get a story."

And some atheists will go to the ends of the earth to try and justify their own sinful actions. Don't believe their lies. Instead, direct your faith towards the Bible. The stakes are too high for you to mess up this issue.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Can't...or Won't See

"Captain Howdy said...Ray explains to us that--For those who think that this is a mistake in the Bible, "Levi" is another name for "Matthew." People in those days went by different names, as they do today--Bob and Robert, John and Jim, Chuck and Charles, etc. Ray, Ray, Ray...What am I gonna do with you?? "John" and "Jim" are NOT the same name, genius. But I just bet you're absolutely right about everything else you tell us, like evolution is a lie, falling is a violation of the law of gravity, Jesus is coming back..."

Captain...you are right. My apologies. It's Jack and John. BTW. Regarding my calling gravity a "law." Some time ago I quoted Steven Hawking saying that gravity was a law. I guess you didn't see it. You may deny that gravity is a law that can be broken. But if you violate its precepts and jump from 10,000 feet without a parachute you will think you are right, until you hit the ground. It's the same with the Law of God. I'm sure you will stubbornly hold onto your belief that you haven't violated it until the moment you die, but then it will be too late.

Regarding the Second Coming of Jesus. Keep one eye on Israel and its surrounding nations. What is going on there is an elephant sitting on your nose, but I guess you can't see that either.

Finally, evolution isn't a science. It's a belief on a par with fairytales of frogs turning into princes. It just takes longer. It is a theory for the believing simple masses--for those who have a ton more blind faith than any Christian.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

The Atheists Church

"And after these things he went forth, and saw a publican, named Levi, sitting at the receipt of custom: and he said to him, Follow me. And he left all, rose up, and followed him. And Levi made him a great feast in his own house: and there was a great company of publicans and of others that sat down with them. But their scribes and Pharisees murmured against his disciples, saying, Why do you eat and drink with publicans and sinners? And Jesus answering said to them, They that are whole need not a physician; but they that are sick. I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance" (Luke 5:27-32).

For those who think that this is a mistake in the Bible, "Levi" is another name for "Matthew." People in those days went by different names, as they do today--Bob and Robert, John and Jim, Chuck and Charles, etc.

Notice how the religious leaders began to whine because Jesus sat down with "publicans" and those they condescendingly called "sinners." Matthew had gathered his fellow tax collectors and had a great feast, with Jesus as his special guest. When anyone truly meets the Savior, they want others to come to Him. This is because when Jesus Christ through the power of the Holy Spirit, lives within a Christian, His presence guarantees them of everlasting life. They are "sealed" with the very source of life, and where life dwells death leaves--in the same way that the presence of light banishes darkness.

Notice what Jesus told them that only sick people need a doctor. If you think you are well, you don't need one; and if you are righteous, you don't need a Savior. If you think you are morally perfect, you won't see your need of God's forgiveness. Many people fit that category.

Then again, someone who is ignorant of a disease won't bother to see a doctor also. If you feel a hard lump in your neck and you think that's normal, then you will carry on with everyday living. And you will for a time. However, someone with a little common sense will tell you that if there's a lump, you had better see a doctor real quick.

If you think that lust, greed, hatred, pride, etc., are normal and natural you will carry on in your delusion. But anyone with a little understanding will tell you that you are a sinner, and that you need a Savior. You have the symptoms of a terminal disease called "sin," and that you need a Savior. You have to face a holy God on the Day of Judgment, who will damn all who have transgressed His moral Law.For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.

Media Bias?

There is an interesting parallel between the 33 rescued Chilean minors and the rescuing of lost sinners. The Bible describes the state of the unsaved--"without hope;" "in darkness"…waiting for death to come.

But in Jesus Christ, we are "translated from darkness to light" and given a "living hope." Jesus "came down" and rescued us from the cursed, stale, lifeless grave of a very dark world.

I can't express the joy I have had from the moment I, by the grace of God, burst into the "glorious light."

Of course the miners didn't feel that way about God; not from what a bias media told us: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ONQBqOCApC4For Evangelism Resources, please visit LivingWaters.com.