April 22, 2015

From Gary.... Black and white



For those who say "Everyone will make it to heaven", I share this picture. The following verses seem to naturally follow...

Matthew, Chapter 7 (WEB)
 13  “Enter in by the narrow gate; for wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many are those who enter in by it.  14  How  narrow is the gate, and restricted is the way that leads to life! Few are those who find it. 

Jesus said it and that is that!!!  But, why is it true? Well, I suppose there are many reasons why, but it seems to me that if Jesus is the one who saves (Luke 19:10) and you do not listen to HIM, then basically- you are on your own (and that is the road through the wide gate). Jesus' words (the narrow gate) are life; this parable is worth reading- over and over!!!

Matthew, Chapter 13 (WEB)
 3 He spoke to them many things in parables, saying, “Behold, a farmer went out to sow.  4  As he sowed, some seeds fell by the roadside, and the birds came and devoured them.   5  Others fell on rocky ground, where they didn’t have much soil, and immediately they sprang up, because they had no depth of earth.   6  When the sun had risen, they were scorched. Because they had no root, they withered away.   7  Others fell among thorns. The thorns grew up and choked them.   8  Others fell on good soil, and yielded fruit: some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.   9  He who has ears to hear, let him hear.” 

  10  The disciples came, and said to him, “Why do you speak to them in parables?” 

  11  He answered them, “To you it is given to know the mysteries of the Kingdom of Heaven, but it is not given to them.   12  For whoever has, to him will be given, and he will have abundance, but whoever doesn’t have, from him will be taken away even that which he has.  13  Therefore I speak to them in parables, because seeing they don’t see, and hearing, they don’t hear, neither do they understand.   14  In them the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, which says, 
‘By hearing you will hear, 
and will in no way understand; 
Seeing you will see, 
and will in no way perceive: 
  15  for this people’s heart has grown callous, 
their ears are dull of hearing, 
they have closed their eyes; 
or else perhaps they might perceive with their eyes, 
hear with their ears, 
understand with their heart, 
and should turn again; 
and I would heal them.’ 

  16  “But blessed are your eyes, for they see; and your ears, for they hear.   17  For most certainly I tell you that many prophets and righteous men desired to see the things which you see, and didn’t see them; and to hear the things which you hear, and didn’t hear them. 

  18  “Hear, then, the parable of the farmer.   19  When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his heart. This is what was sown by the roadside.   20  What was sown on the rocky places, this is he who hears the word, and immediately with joy receives it;   21  yet he has no root in himself, but endures for a while. When oppression or persecution arises because of the word, immediately he stumbles.   22  What was sown among the thorns, this is he who hears the word, but the cares of this age and the deceitfulness of riches choke the word, and he becomes unfruitful.  23  What was sown on the good ground, this is he who hears the word, and understands it, who most certainly bears fruit, and produces, some one hundred times as much, some sixty, and some thirty.” 

Now that you know why, learn; that is what the term disciple means- one who learns. One last thing; practice what you have learned. Easier said than done. Pray for help- God does listen and will help!!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading April 22



Bible Reading  

April 22

The World English Bible

Apr. 22
Numbers 35, 36

Num 35:1 Yahweh spoke to Moses in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho, saying,
Num 35:2 Command the children of Israel that they give to the Levites of the inheritance of their possession cities to dwell in; and You shall give suburbs for the cities around them to the Levites.
Num 35:3 The cities shall they have to dwell in; and their suburbs shall be for their livestock, and for their substance, and for all their animals.
Num 35:4 The suburbs of the cities, which you shall give to the Levites, shall be from the wall of the city and outward one thousand cubits around it.
Num 35:5 You shall measure outside of the city for the east side two thousand cubits, and for the south side two thousand cubits, and for the west side two thousand cubits, and for the north side two thousand cubits, the city being in the midst. This shall be to them the suburbs of the cities.
Num 35:6 The cities which you shall give to the Levites, they shall be the six cities of refuge, which you shall give for the manslayer to flee to: and besides them you shall give forty-two cities.
Num 35:7 All the cities which you shall give to the Levites shall be forty-eight cities together with their suburbs.
Num 35:8 Concerning the cities which you shall give of the possession of the children of Israel, from the many you shall take many; and from the few you shall take few: everyone according to his inheritance which he inherits shall give of his cities to the Levites.
Num 35:9 Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
Num 35:10 Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them, When you pass over the Jordan into the land of Canaan,
Num 35:11 then you shall appoint you cities to be cities of refuge for you, that the manslayer who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
Num 35:12 The cities shall be to you for refuge from the avenger, that the manslayer not die, until he stands before the congregation for judgment.
Num 35:13 The cities which you shall give shall be for you six cities of refuge.
Num 35:14 You shall give three cities beyond the Jordan, and you shall give three cities in the land of Canaan; they shall be cities of refuge.
Num 35:15 For the children of Israel, and for the stranger and for the foreigner living among them, shall these six cities be for refuge; that everyone who kills any person unwittingly may flee there.
Num 35:16 But if he struck him with an instrument of iron, so that he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Num 35:17 If he struck him with a stone in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Num 35:18 Or if he struck him with a weapon of wood in the hand, by which a man may die, and he died, he is a murderer: the murderer shall surely be put to death.
Num 35:19 The avenger of blood shall himself put the murderer to death: when he meets him, he shall put him to death.
Num 35:20 If he thrust him of hatred, or hurled at him, lying in wait, so that he died,
Num 35:21 or in enmity struck him with his hand, so that he died; he who struck him shall surely be put to death; he is a murderer: the avenger of blood shall put the murderer to death, when he meets him.
Num 35:22 But if he thrust him suddenly without enmity, or hurled on him anything without lying in wait,
Num 35:23 or with any stone, by which a man may die, not seeing him, and cast it on him, so that he died, and he was not his enemy, neither sought his harm;
Num 35:24 then the congregation shall judge between the striker and the avenger of blood according to these ordinances;
Num 35:25 and the congregation shall deliver the manslayer out of the hand of the avenger of blood, and the congregation shall restore him to his city of refuge, where he was fled: and he shall dwell therein until the death of the high priest, who was anointed with the holy oil.
Num 35:26 But if the manslayer shall at any time go beyond the border of his city of refuge, where he flees,
Num 35:27 and the avenger of blood find him outside of the border of his city of refuge, and the avenger of blood kill the manslayer; he shall not be guilty of blood,
Num 35:28 because he should have remained in his city of refuge until the death of the high priest: but after the death of the high priest the manslayer shall return into the land of his possession.
Num 35:29 These things shall be for a statute and ordinance to you throughout your generations in all your dwellings.
Num 35:30 Whoever kills any person, the murderer shall be slain at the mouth of witnesses: but one witness shall not testify against any person that he die.
Num 35:31 Moreover you shall take no ransom for the life of a murderer who is guilty of death; but he shall surely be put to death.
Num 35:32 You shall take no ransom for him who is fled to his city of refuge, that he may come again to dwell in the land, until the death of the priest.
Num 35:33 So you shall not pollute the land in which you are: for blood, it pollutes the land; and no expiation can be made for the land for the blood that is shed therein, but by the blood of him who shed it.
Num 35:34 You shall not defile the land which you inhabit, in the midst of which I dwell: for I, Yahweh, dwell in the midst of the children of Israel.
Num 36:1 The heads of the fathers' houses of the family of the children of Gilead, the son of Machir, the son of Manasseh, of the families of the sons of Joseph, came near, and spoke before Moses, and before the princes, the heads of the fathers' houses of the children of Israel:
Num 36:2 and they said, Yahweh commanded my lord to give the land for inheritance by lot to the children of Israel: and my lord was commanded by Yahweh to give the inheritance of Zelophehad our brother to his daughters.
Num 36:3 If they be married to any of the sons of the other tribes of the children of Israel, then will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of our fathers, and will be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will it be taken away from the lot of our inheritance.
Num 36:4 When the jubilee of the children of Israel shall be, then will their inheritance be added to the inheritance of the tribe whereunto they shall belong: so will their inheritance be taken away from the inheritance of the tribe of our fathers.
Num 36:5 Moses commanded the children of Israel according to the word of Yahweh, saying, The tribe of the sons of Joseph speaks right.
Num 36:6 This is the thing which Yahweh does command concerning the daughters of Zelophehad, saying, Let them be married to whom they think best; only into the family of the tribe of their father shall they be married.
Num 36:7 So shall no inheritance of the children of Israel remove from tribe to tribe; for the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to the inheritance of the tribe of his fathers.
Num 36:8 Every daughter, who possesses an inheritance in any tribe of the children of Israel, shall be wife to one of the family of the tribe of her father, that the children of Israel may possess every man the inheritance of his fathers.
Num 36:9 So shall no inheritance remove from one tribe to another tribe; for the tribes of the children of Israel shall cleave everyone to his own inheritance.
Num 36:10 Even as Yahweh commanded Moses, so did the daughters of Zelophehad:
Num 36:11 for Mahlah, Tirzah, and Hoglah, and Milcah, and Noah, the daughters of Zelophehad, were married to their father's brothers' sons.
Num 36:12 They were married into the families of the sons of Manasseh the son of Joseph; and their inheritance remained in the tribe of the family of their father.
Num 36:13 These are the commandments and the ordinances which Yahweh commanded by Moses to the children of Israel in the plains of Moab by the Jordan at Jericho.


Apr. 22, 23
Luke 13
Luk 13:1 Now there were some present at the same time who told him about the Galileans, whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2 Jesus answered them, "Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3 I tell you, no, but unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way.
Luk 13:4 Or those eighteen, on whom the tower in Siloam fell, and killed them; do you think that they were worse offenders than all the men who dwell in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5 I tell you, no, but, unless you repent, you will all perish in the same way."
Luk 13:6 He spoke this parable. "A certain man had a fig tree planted in his vineyard, and he came seeking fruit on it, and found none.
Luk 13:7 He said to the vine dresser, 'Behold, these three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree, and found none. Cut it down. Why does it waste the soil?'
Luk 13:8 He answered, 'Lord, leave it alone this year also, until I dig around it, and fertilize it.
Luk 13:9 If it bears fruit, fine; but if not, after that, you can cut it down.' "
Luk 13:10 He was teaching in one of the synagogues on the Sabbath day.
Luk 13:11 Behold, there was a woman who had a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and she was bent over, and could in no way straighten herself up.
Luk 13:12 When Jesus saw her, he called her, and said to her, "Woman, you are freed from your infirmity."
Luk 13:13 He laid his hands on her, and immediately she stood up straight, and glorified God.
Luk 13:14 The ruler of the synagogue, being indignant because Jesus had healed on the Sabbath, said to the multitude, "There are six days in which men ought to work. Therefore come on those days and be healed, and not on the Sabbath day!"
Luk 13:15 Therefore the Lord answered him, "You hypocrites! Doesn't each one of you free his ox or his donkey from the stall on the Sabbath, and lead him away to water?
Luk 13:16 Ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan had bound eighteen long years, be freed from this bondage on the Sabbath day?"
Luk 13:17 As he said these things, all his adversaries were disappointed, and all the multitude rejoiced for all the glorious things that were done by him.
Luk 13:18 He said, "What is the Kingdom of God like? To what shall I compare it?
Luk 13:19 It is like a grain of mustard seed, which a man took, and put in his own garden. It grew, and became a large tree, and the birds of the sky lodged in its branches."
Luk 13:20 Again he said, "To what shall I compare the Kingdom of God?
Luk 13:21 It is like yeast, which a woman took and hid in three measures of flour, until it was all leavened."
Luk 13:22 He went on his way through cities and villages, teaching, and traveling on to Jerusalem.
Luk 13:23 One said to him, "Lord, are they few who are saved?" He said to them,
Luk 13:24 "Strive to enter in by the narrow door, for many, I tell you, will seek to enter in, and will not be able.
Luk 13:25 When once the master of the house has risen up, and has shut the door, and you begin to stand outside, and to knock at the door, saying, 'Lord, Lord, open to us!' then he will answer and tell you, 'I don't know you or where you come from.'
Luk 13:26 Then you will begin to say, 'We ate and drank in your presence, and you taught in our streets.'
Luk 13:27 He will say, 'I tell you, I don't know where you come from. Depart from me, all you workers of iniquity.'
Luk 13:28 There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth, when you see Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and all the prophets, in the Kingdom of God, and yourselves being thrown outside.
Luk 13:29 They will come from the east, west, north, and south, and will sit down in the Kingdom of God.
Luk 13:30 Behold, there are some who are last who will be first, and there are some who are first who will be last."
Luk 13:31 On that same day, some Pharisees came, saying to him, "Get out of here, and go away, for Herod wants to kill you."
Luk 13:32 He said to them, "Go and tell that fox, 'Behold, I cast out demons and perform cures today and tomorrow, and the third day I complete my mission.
Luk 13:33 Nevertheless I must go on my way today and tomorrow and the next day, for it can't be that a prophet perish outside of Jerusalem.'
Luk 13:34 "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, that kills the prophets, and stones those who are sent to her! How often I wanted to gather your children together, like a hen gathers her own brood under her wings, and you refused!
Luk 13:35 Behold, your house is left to you desolate. I tell you, you will not see me, until you say, 'Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord!' "

From Jim McGuiggan... James 5: Robbed

James 5: Robbed

In chapter 5 James turns on those who prosper through the labor of others but who refuse to pay wages to those workers. The issue is fundamentally practical because it concerns food and clothing, shelter and dignity and these are being kept from those who have earned them. This is robbery, however explained or explained away or however skillfully the employer talks his way out of his obligation. He might as well be mugging the worker as far as concrete results are concerned because in the end he is robbing the worker of what is rightfully his. Down the years countless workers have made the rich and powerful richer and more powerful and for sheerly self-serving reasons, with no sense of debt, the rich and powerful walked away and left the workers stunned, jobless and in dire straits.
The reverse is true! There is more than enough of those who prey on the elderly, the ignorant and the disadvantaged. He comes to fix a leak under the sink or a faulty switch in the bedroom or a few loose slates on the roof and the sly crook gouges the poor woman for work he has never done. A recent case here in the UK involved the life’s savings of an elderly gentleman. A carpenter/joiner came to fix some windows, as I recall, but ending up building a whole new staircase and putting in some new flooring. I say that as though he had finished the job but he never had. What made it especially galling was that the sweet-natured old man continued to speak of the crook as "a nice man, very kind and helpful," certainly words to that affect. He said it took all his savings but at least his house was fixed up, or nearly so. Some time after the television interview the man fell down the stairs and died. The matter is still being pursued. In James the employers took advantage of and robbed the workers and in this case—as in so many others—the worker took advantage of and robbed the vulnerable old man.
And there are those in unions who go far beyond the sometimes essential work that they do to ensure that the workers are not prey to predatory wealth and power. They become the predators and honest businessmen and women are intimidated into agreements that are near impossible, straight-jacketed by union rules and policies that claims rights to the point where community is lost and everyone loses.
The principles involved here are far-reaching because while there’s more than one way of robbing someone there are many things we can steal from people. There are those who have made us rich in freedom and education and health and we refuse to give them what is due them. I’m think immediately of parents that have spent their lives providing for and protecting their children and their due is withheld—robbed! Teachers have devoted their lives to give us a shot at a better life in spirit as well as in other ways and their due is withheld—robbed! Wives and husbands have given the best years of their lives in faithfulness and devotion and their due is withheld—robbed! Little and growing children came to us for shaping and protection, came to us because we invited them into our lives and made them dependent on us and their due is withheld—Robbed!
James had a word of consolation: the Lord is near! Yes, that’s all very well, but what about those who’ve already suffered the loss? The Lord is not only near he will right all wrongs! Think noble things of God. Don’t rob him of his due because he has shown himself worthy of it all in Jesus Christ.

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.
Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

A&E, “Duck Dynasty,” GQ, & Homosexuality by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=4776

A&E, “Duck Dynasty,” GQ, & Homosexuality

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

No doubt you’ve heard the brouhaha over the remarks of a member of the “Duck Dynasty” cast concerning homosexuality. Though we do not agree with all of the religious views of the Robertson family, the Christian cannot help but be encouraged by the forthright stand made by the Robertson family's patriarch. Phil Robertson told his interviewer that homosexuality is “sin,” “not logical,” and “not right” (Magary, 2013). Leading homosexual organizations and other “politically correct” advocates have been quick to condemn and spew hate speech against him (e.g., Sacks and Kaplan, 2013; “‘Duck Dynasty’ Family…,” 2013). The incident merely highlights the full-blown culture war that has been raging for a number of years in the United States.
Apart from the issues of “free speech,” the self-contradiction and utter inconsistency of the left, and the determination of anti-Christian forces to bully, intimidate, and silence those who oppose their agenda, the entire matter actually distills into a single, all-encompassing issue: Does the God of the Bible exist and is the Bible His inspired, decipherable Word to which all human beings are amenable and for which they will be held accountable? For those who still believe the Bible, the issue is clear and decisive.
Homosexual intercourse is condemned as immoral sexual behavior in every period of Bible history. It was condemned implicitly at the beginning of human history in the creation of a man and a woman to form marriage and the home (Genesis 2:24). It was condemned as “wicked and sinful” and “very grievous” in Sodom and Gomorrah during the pre-Mosaic age (Genesis 13:13; 18:20; 19:1-11; cf. 2 Peter 2:7-8; Jude 7). It was condemned under the Law of Moses (Leviticus 18:22-30; 20:13), even to the point of being described as “wickedness,” “outrage,” “vileness,” “lewdness,” and “evil” (Judges 19:23-24; 20:3,6,10,12,13). With the arrival of Christ and Christianity on the planet, the New Testament is equally definitive in its uncompromising and unquestioned condemnation of same-sex activity (Matthew 19:9). Paul summarized the “unrighteous” and “ungodly” behavior of the Gentile nations, and declared:
For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due. And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to adebased mind, to do those things which are not fitting;...who, knowing the righteous judgment of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, not only do the same but also approve of those who practice them (Romans 1:26-32, emp. added; cf. 1 Corinthians 6:9-11; 1 Timothy 1:9-10).
So the Bible is clear.
What’s more, science is equally definitive. For all the reckless claims of a genetic link to homosexuality, the fact of the matter is that no scientific evidence has been discovered that establishes the existence of the alleged “gay gene.” The Human Genome project found no proof for a genetic connection ("Human Genome...," 2003), and the studies conducted many years ago, that are largely responsible for perpetrating the myth of a genetic origin for homosexuality in the minds of most Americans (LeVay, 1991; Bailey and Pillard, 1991, Hamer, et al., 1993), have been discredited (see Miller, et al., 2004).

CONCLUSION

It is more than hard to believe that a sizable segment of the population of the United States of America has come to believe that homosexuality—recognized by the bulk of Western civilization as sexually aberrant behavior—should be tolerated and even encouraged. The Father of our country expressed the sentiment of the vast majority of Americans which prevailed for most of American history when he expressed his “abhorrence and detestation” for homosexuality (“George…,” 1778). The Creator of the Universe, Who also created human sexuality, was equally vehement in His condemnation of same-sex behavior. America would do well to consider soberly the divine declaration regarding the eventual outcome for the nation that sanctions it: “For the land is defiled; therefore I visit the punishment of its iniquity upon it, and the land vomits out its inhabitants” (Leviticus 18:25).

REFERENCES

Bailey, Michael J., and Richard C. Pillard (1991), “A Genetic Study of Male Sexual Orientation,”Archives of General Psychiatry, 48:1089-1096, December.
“‘Duck Dynasty’ Family, Conservatives Defend Phil Robertson” (2013), Chicago Tribune, December 20, http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/chi-duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-20131220,0,1685719.story.
George Washington, March 14, 1778, General Orders” (1778), The George Washington Papers at the Library of Congress, 1741-1799, from ed. John C. Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/mgw:@field(DOCID+@lit (gw110081)).
Hamer, Dean H., Stella Hu, Victoria L. Magnuson, Nan Hu, and Angela M.L. Pattatucci (1993), “A Linkage Between DNA Markers on the X Chromosome and Male Sexual Orientation,” Science, 261:321-327, July 16.
Human Genome Report Press Release” (2003), International Consortium Completes Human Genome Project, http://www.ornl.gov/TechResources/Human_Genome/project/50yr.html.
LeVay, Simon (1991), “A Difference in Hypothalamic Structure Between Heterosexual and Homosexual Men,” Science, 253:1034-1037, August 30.
Miller, Dave and Brad Harrub (2004), “‘This is the Way God Made Me’—A Scientific Examination of Homosexuality and the ‘Gay Gene,’” Reason & Revelation, 24[9], September,http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1388&topic=36.
Sacks, Ethan and Don Kaplan (2013), “‘Duck Dynasty’ Star Phil Robertson Suspended From Show After Equating Homosexuality With Bestiality,” New York Daily News, December 19,http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/tv-movies/duck-dynasty-phil-robertson-equates-homosexuality-bestiality-article-1.1551556.

"Why Do You Use Illustrations of People Taming Dinosaurs?" by Jeff Miller, Ph.D. Kyle Butt, M.A.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1605

"Why Do You Use Illustrations of People Taming Dinosaurs?"

by Jeff Miller, Ph.D.
Kyle Butt, M.A.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, and when it comes to dinosaurs, that certainly is the truth. Thousands of children across the globe have learned more about dinosaurs by flipping through picture books or graphic-laden magazine articles than they will ever learn by reading articles about these amazing creatures. Since we know this to be true, those of us at Apologetics Press often utilize graphics, pictures, and illustrations to teach the truth that dinosaurs and humans lived together in the past. In the process, we sometimes appropriate illustrations that portray humans and dinosaurs interacting with each other in various ways. We might have a picture of a person fighting a T-rex, watching an Apatosaurus run through the yard, or chasing a herd of Iguanodons. These illustrations, just like Bible pictures or many scientific illustrations, are not presented to say exactly how things were, but instead to illustrate, based on what we know, how things could have been.
For instance, when a scientific illustrator paints a picture of a dinosaur, he will often use different colors. But the color of a dinosaur is anybody’s guess. Would we accuse the illustrator of “error” simply because he painted a Stegosaurus with a red and yellow neck, even though such a detail is unknown? Of course not. We all understand that some aspects of an illustration are plausible, educated guesses, not facets designed to dogmatically demand that something was exactly a certain way. When a Bible illustrator draws a picture of David and Goliath and includes certain types of bushes or grass in the picture, is there any way to know that there was grass on the hillside if the text does not mention it? No. Nor are we suggesting that we know exactly what David and Goliath looked like. But we would not accuse an artist of “lying” because he painted grass in a realistic fashion on the side of a hill that most likely had some kind of vegetation on it.
The Apologetics Press poster of Lewis Lavoie's painting, "Deers in the Forest"
Coming to the point, recently Apologetics Press produced a poster of Lewis Lavoie’s painting “Deers in the Forest” (http://www.apologeticspress.org/store/Product.aspx?pid=450). The poster is a beautiful illustration of a child leading a plant-eating dinosaur through the woods with a rope and harness. Some who have seen the picture have questioned our use of such illustrations. They suggest that while we can know that humans and dinosaurs lived together in the past (see Lyons and Butt, 2008), we cannot know that a child ever pulled one with a rope. Thus, they contend that we are, at least in a minor way, “misleading” people who see the picture. If we have no record of a person ever pulling a dinosaur, why would we use such an illustration?
While we appreciate the conscientious nature of such a question, there is a good reason to use such illustrations. In James 3:7, the Bible says: “For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea is tamed and has been tamed by mankind” (emp. added). The original Greek term that is translated “reptile” is the word herpeton, from which we get the English word “herpetology” which is the study of amphibians and reptiles. Thus, it is saying that all kinds of animals, including reptiles have been tamed by mankind. [NOTE: The text is not saying that every animal has been tamed—not every individual grizzly bear has been tamed, or is even tamable. Rather, the text is giving a general statement that the different kinds of animals can be and have been tamed.] When we explore the book of Genesis, we discover that God had Adam name all the different kinds of animals (Genesis 3:20), including dinosaurs. In addition, God created humans with the ability to have dominion over all the animals (Genesis 1:26), including dinosaurs as well.
We can see mankind’s dominion over the animal world quite clearly. Trainers can teach vicious killer whales to perform tricks, they can teach lions to jump through fiery hoops, elephants to stand on tiny stumps, and bears to dance in the circus ring. If we know that mankind was given dominion over all the beasts from the beginning of creation, and we know that all kinds of animals, including reptiles, have been tamed by mankind, is it reasonable to conclude that humans tamed dinosaurs in the same way that other animals have been tamed? It certainly is. Of course, we are not suggesting that we know for a fact that a nine-year-old boy pulled a dinosaur through the woods during a harvest of exotic white flowers. Just as we are not saying that the boy had brown hair as a matter of factual history, or that the child was actually barefooted, or that the dinosaur that he pulled had the exact number of spots as the one in the picture. What we are saying is, given what we know, this is a plausible scenario that could describe a similar past event.
While many people mentally acknowledge the truth that humans and dinosaurs lived together in the past, they are often taken aback when an artistic illustration actually portrays that truth. Many Christians are, understandably, still being unconsciously affected by the standard portrait that evolutionists paint concerning the nature of dinosaurs. Evolutionists have long had a monopoly on dinosaur images in the marketplace. Secular children’s pictures, shows, and books about dinosaurs rarely depict humans in the presence of dinosaurs. When they do, it is projected as a humorous, unbelievable scenario such as in the Flintstones. The evolutionary propaganda often leaves the impression that dinosaurs were all gigantic, ferocious, carnivorous beasts—a description which is inaccurate. Furthermore, such a description does not lend itself to the idea that dinosaurs could co-habit the Earth in a peaceful way with humans. But the average size of a dinosaur was that of approximately a large cow or rhinoceros and many species were herbivores. Many people simply have not stopped to think through all of the implications of the available evidence concerning dinosaurs and mankind. If an elephant or a cow can be subdued, why not a dinosaur? Especially a medium-to-small sized herbivore like the one painted in our most recent poster.
If a picture is worth a thousand words, why not use that form of teaching to get across the truth that humans and dinosaurs lived in the past, and humans have tamed every kind of “beast and bird, of reptile and creature of the sea”? It is time to reclaim the minds of young people and paint a more accurate picture of history for them. Just think, one such illustration has the potential to accomplish as much or more than all the 1,120 words in this article you just read!

REFERENCE

Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2008), The Dinosaur Delusion (Montgomery: AL: Apologetics Press).