August 17, 2016

Both sides of the equation by Gary Rose


Before you say- "Here we go, Gary is going to rant and rave about education in America today" let me say that this has nothing to do with scholastic matters. Rather, it has to do with the way things work in the world. As far as the equation on the blackboard goes, the left side is normal and the equal sign means what it means (the result follows to the right). It to that right side I refer to this morning.

Consider the following passages from the New Testament...

Acts, Chapter 2 (WEB)
41  Then those who gladly received his word were baptized. There were added that day about three thousand souls. 42 They continued steadfastly in the apostles’ teaching and fellowship, in the breaking of bread, and prayer.  43 Fear came on every soul, and many wonders and signs were done through the apostles.  44 All who believed were together, and had all things in common. 45 They sold their possessions and goods, and distributed them to all, according as anyone had need.  46 Day by day, continuing steadfastly with one accord in the temple, and breaking bread at home, they took their food with gladness and singleness of heart,  47 praising God, and having favor with all the people. The Lord added to the assembly day by day those who were being saved.  (Emp. added GDR)

2 Peter, Chapter 1 (WEB)
 2 Grace to you and peace be multiplied in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord,  3 seeing that his divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and virtue;  4 by which he has granted to us his precious and exceedingly great promises; that through these you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world by lust.  5 Yes, and for this very cause adding on your part all diligence, in your faith supply moral excellence; and in moral excellence, knowledge;  6 and in knowledge, self-control; and in self-control patience; and in patience godliness;  7 and in godliness brotherly affection; and in brotherly affection, love. (Emp. added GDR) 8 For if these things are yours and abound, they make you to be not idle nor unfruitful to the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Acts 2 = The Lord adds     +     1 Peter 1 = what you add

Result; what you can't see plus what you can. This means God adds to the church and you grow by adding the attributes and actions of God in your daily life (which, when added WILL BE SEEN). How's that for a NEW MATH!!!

Bible Reading August 17 by Gary Rose


Bible Reading August 17 (WEB)

Aug. 17
Job 5-8

Job 5:1 "Call now; is there any who will answer you? To which of the holy ones will you turn?
Job 5:2 For resentment kills the foolish man, and jealousy kills the simple.
Job 5:3 I have seen the foolish taking root, but suddenly I cursed his habitation.
Job 5:4 His children are far from safety. They are crushed in the gate. Neither is there any to deliver them,
Job 5:5 whose harvest the hungry eats up, and take it even out of the thorns. The snare gapes for their substance.
Job 5:6 For affliction doesn't come forth from the dust, neither does trouble spring out of the ground;
Job 5:7 but man is born to trouble, as the sparks fly upward.
Job 5:8 "But as for me, I would seek God. I would commit my cause to God,
Job 5:9 who does great things that can't be fathomed, marvelous things without number;
Job 5:10 who gives rain on the earth, and sends waters on the fields;
Job 5:11 so that he sets up on high those who are low, those who mourn are exalted to safety.
Job 5:12 He frustrates the devices of the crafty, So that their hands can't perform their enterprise.
Job 5:13 He takes the wise in their own craftiness; the counsel of the cunning is carried headlong.
Job 5:14 They meet with darkness in the day time, and grope at noonday as in the night.
Job 5:15 But he saves from the sword of their mouth, even the needy from the hand of the mighty.
Job 5:16 So the poor has hope, and injustice shuts her mouth.
Job 5:17 "Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty.
Job 5:18 For he wounds, and binds up. He injures, and his hands make whole.
Job 5:19 He will deliver you in six troubles; yes, in seven there shall no evil touch you.
Job 5:20 In famine he will redeem you from death; in war, from the power of the sword.
Job 5:21 You shall be hidden from the scourge of the tongue, neither shall you be afraid of destruction when it comes.
Job 5:22 At destruction and famine you shall laugh, neither shall you be afraid of the animals of the earth.
Job 5:23 For you shall be in league with the stones of the field. The animals of the field shall be at peace with you.
Job 5:24 You shall know that your tent is in peace. You shall visit your fold, and shall miss nothing.
Job 5:25 You shall know also that your seed shall be great, Your offspring as the grass of the earth.
Job 5:26 You shall come to your grave in a full age, like a shock of grain comes in its season.
Job 5:27 Look this, we have searched it, so it is. Hear it, and know it for your good."

Job 6:1 Then Job answered,
Job 6:2 "Oh that my anguish were weighed, and all my calamity laid in the balances!
Job 6:3 For now it would be heavier than the sand of the seas, therefore have my words been rash.
Job 6:4 For the arrows of the Almighty are within me. My spirit drinks up their poison. The terrors of God set themselves in array against me.
Job 6:5 Does the wild donkey bray when he has grass? Or does the ox low over his fodder?
Job 6:6 Can that which has no flavor be eaten without salt? Or is there any taste in the white of an egg?
Job 6:7 My soul refuses to touch them. They are as loathsome food to me.
Job 6:8 "Oh that I might have my request, that God would grant the thing that I long for,
Job 6:9 even that it would please God to crush me; that he would let loose his hand, and cut me off!
Job 6:10 Be it still my consolation, yes, let me exult in pain that doesn't spare, that I have not denied the words of the Holy One.
Job 6:11 What is my strength, that I should wait? What is my end, that I should be patient?
Job 6:12 Is my strength the strength of stones? Or is my flesh of brass?
Job 6:13 Isn't it that I have no help in me, That wisdom is driven quite from me?
Job 6:14 "To him who is ready to faint, kindness should be shown from his friend; even to him who forsakes the fear of the Almighty.
Job 6:15 My brothers have dealt deceitfully as a brook, as the channel of brooks that pass away;
Job 6:16 Which are black by reason of the ice, in which the snow hides itself.
Job 6:17 In the dry season, they vanish. When it is hot, they are consumed out of their place.
Job 6:18 The caravans that travel beside them turn aside. They go up into the waste, and perish.
Job 6:19 The caravans of Tema looked. The companies of Sheba waited for them.
Job 6:20 They were distressed because they were confident. They came there, and were confounded.
Job 6:21 For now you are nothing. You see a terror, and are afraid.
Job 6:22 Did I say, 'Give to me?' or, 'Offer a present for me from your substance?'
Job 6:23 or, 'Deliver me from the adversary's hand?' or, 'Redeem me from the hand of the oppressors?'
Job 6:24 "Teach me, and I will hold my peace. Cause me to understand wherein I have erred.
Job 6:25 How forcible are words of uprightness! But your reproof, what does it reprove?
Job 6:26 Do you intend to reprove words, seeing that the speeches of one who is desperate are as wind?
Job 6:27 Yes, you would even cast lots for the fatherless, and make merchandise of your friend.
Job 6:28 Now therefore be pleased to look at me, for surely I shall not lie to your face.
Job 6:29 Please return. Let there be no injustice. Yes, return again. My cause is righteous.
Job 6:30 Is there injustice on my tongue? Can't my taste discern mischievous things?

Job 7:1 "Isn't a man forced to labor on earth? Aren't his days like the days of a hired hand?
Job 7:2 As a servant who earnestly desires the shadow, as a hireling who looks for his wages,
Job 7:3 so am I made to possess months of misery, wearisome nights are appointed to me.
Job 7:4 When I lie down, I say, 'When shall I arise, and the night be gone?' I toss and turn until the dawning of the day.
Job 7:5 My flesh is clothed with worms and clods of dust. My skin closes up, and breaks out afresh.
Job 7:6 My days are swifter than a weaver's shuttle, and are spent without hope.
Job 7:7 Oh remember that my life is a breath. My eye shall no more see good.
Job 7:8 The eye of him who sees me shall see me no more. Your eyes shall be on me, but I shall not be.
Job 7:9 As the cloud is consumed and vanishes away, so he who goes down to Sheol shall come up no more.
Job 7:10 He shall return no more to his house, neither shall his place know him any more.
Job 7:11 "Therefore I will not keep silent. I will speak in the anguish of my spirit. I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.
Job 7:12 Am I a sea, or a sea monster, that you put a guard over me?
Job 7:13 When I say, 'My bed shall comfort me. My couch shall ease my complaint;'
Job 7:14 then you scare me with dreams, and terrify me through visions:
Job 7:15 so that my soul chooses strangling, death rather than my bones.
Job 7:16 I loathe my life. I don't want to live forever. Leave me alone, for my days are but a breath.
Job 7:17 What is man, that you should magnify him, that you should set your mind on him,
Job 7:18 that you should visit him every morning, and test him every moment?
Job 7:19 How long will you not look away from me, nor leave me alone until I swallow down my spittle?
Job 7:20 If I have sinned, what do I do to you, you watcher of men? Why have you set me as a mark for you, so that I am a burden to myself?
Job 7:21 Why do you not pardon my disobedience, and take away my iniquity? For now shall I lie down in the dust. You will seek me diligently, but I shall not be."

Job 8:1 Then Bildad the Shuhite answered,
Job 8:2 "How long will you speak these things? Shall the words of your mouth be a mighty wind?
Job 8:3 Does God pervert justice? Or does the Almighty pervert righteousness?
Job 8:4 If your children have sinned against him, He has delivered them into the hand of their disobedience.
Job 8:5 If you want to seek God diligently, make your supplication to the Almighty.
Job 8:6 If you were pure and upright, surely now he would awaken for you, and make the habitation of your righteousness prosperous.
Job 8:7 Though your beginning was small, yet your latter end would greatly increase.
Job 8:8 "Please inquire of past generations. Find out about the learning of their fathers.
Job 8:9 (For we are but of yesterday, and know nothing, because our days on earth are a shadow.)
Job 8:10 Shall they not teach you, tell you, and utter words out of their heart?
Job 8:11 "Can the papyrus grow up without mire? Can the rushes grow without water?
Job 8:12 While it is yet in its greenness, not cut down, it withers before any other reed.
Job 8:13 So are the paths of all who forget God. The hope of the godless man shall perish,
Job 8:14 Whose confidence shall break apart, Whose trust is a spider's web.
Job 8:15 He shall lean on his house, but it shall not stand. He shall cling to it, but it shall not endure.
Job 8:16 He is green before the sun. His shoots go forth over his garden.
Job 8:17 His roots are wrapped around the rock pile. He sees the place of stones.
Job 8:18 If he is destroyed from his place, then it shall deny him, saying, 'I have not seen you.'
Job 8:19 Behold, this is the joy of his way: out of the earth, others shall spring.
Job 8:20 "Behold, God will not cast away a blameless man, neither will he uphold the evildoers.
Job 8:21 He will still fill your mouth with laughter, your lips with shouting.
Job 8:22 Those who hate you shall be clothed with shame. The tent of the wicked shall be no more."


Aug. 17, 18
Acts 27

Act 27:1 When it was determined that we should sail for Italy, they delivered Paul and certain other prisoners to a centurion named Julius, of the Augustan band.
Act 27:2 Embarking in a ship of Adramyttium, which was about to sail to places on the coast of Asia, we put to sea; Aristarchus, a Macedonian of Thessalonica, being with us.
Act 27:3 The next day, we touched at Sidon. Julius treated Paul kindly, and gave him permission to go to his friends and refresh himself.
Act 27:4 Putting to sea from there, we sailed under the lee of Cyprus, because the winds were contrary.
Act 27:5 When we had sailed across the sea which is off Cilicia and Pamphylia, we came to Myra, a city of Lycia.
Act 27:6 There the centurion found a ship of Alexandria sailing for Italy, and he put us on board.
Act 27:7 When we had sailed slowly many days, and had come with difficulty opposite Cnidus, the wind not allowing us further, we sailed under the lee of Crete, opposite Salmone.
Act 27:8 With difficulty sailing along it we came to a certain place called Fair Havens, near the city of Lasea.
Act 27:9 When much time had passed and the voyage was now dangerous, because the Fast had now already gone by, Paul admonished them,
Act 27:10 and said to them, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives."
Act 27:11 But the centurion gave more heed to the master and to the owner of the ship than to those things which were spoken by Paul.
Act 27:12 Because the haven was not suitable to winter in, the majority advised going to sea from there, if by any means they could reach Phoenix, and winter there, which is a port of Crete, looking northeast and southeast.
Act 27:13 When the south wind blew softly, supposing that they had obtained their purpose, they weighed anchor and sailed along Crete, close to shore.
Act 27:14 But before long, a stormy wind beat down from shore, which is called Euroclydon.
Act 27:15 When the ship was caught, and couldn't face the wind, we gave way to it, and were driven along.
Act 27:16 Running under the lee of a small island called Clauda, we were able, with difficulty, to secure the boat.
Act 27:17 After they had hoisted it up, they used cables to help reinforce the ship. Fearing that they would run aground on the Syrtis sand bars, they lowered the sea anchor, and so were driven along.
Act 27:18 As we labored exceedingly with the storm, the next day they began to throw things overboard.
Act 27:19 On the third day, they threw out the ship's tackle with their own hands.
Act 27:20 When neither sun nor stars shone on us for many days, and no small storm pressed on us, all hope that we would be saved was now taken away.
Act 27:21 When they had been long without food, Paul stood up in the middle of them, and said, "Sirs, you should have listened to me, and not have set sail from Crete, and have gotten this injury and loss.
Act 27:22 Now I exhort you to cheer up, for there will be no loss of life among you, but only of the ship.
Act 27:23 For there stood by me this night an angel, belonging to the God whose I am and whom I serve,
Act 27:24 saying, 'Don't be afraid, Paul. You must stand before Caesar. Behold, God has granted you all those who sail with you.'
Act 27:25 Therefore, sirs, cheer up! For I believe God, that it will be just as it has been spoken to me.
Act 27:26 But we must run aground on a certain island."
Act 27:27 But when the fourteenth night had come, as we were driven back and forth in the Adriatic Sea, about midnight the sailors surmised that they were drawing near to some land.
Act 27:28 They took soundings, and found twenty fathoms. After a little while, they took soundings again, and found fifteen fathoms.
Act 27:29 Fearing that we would run aground on rocky ground, they let go four anchors from the stern, and wished for daylight.
Act 27:30 As the sailors were trying to flee out of the ship, and had lowered the boat into the sea, pretending that they would lay out anchors from the bow,
Act 27:31 Paul said to the centurion and to the soldiers, "Unless these stay in the ship, you can't be saved."
Act 27:32 Then the soldiers cut away the ropes of the boat, and let it fall off.
Act 27:33 While the day was coming on, Paul begged them all to take some food, saying, "This day is the fourteenth day that you wait and continue fasting, having taken nothing.
Act 27:34 Therefore I beg you to take some food, for this is for your safety; for not a hair will perish from any of your heads."
Act 27:35 When he had said this, and had taken bread, he gave thanks to God in the presence of all, and he broke it, and began to eat.
Act 27:36 Then they all cheered up, and they also took food.
Act 27:37 In all, we were two hundred seventy-six souls on the ship.
Act 27:38 When they had eaten enough, they lightened the ship, throwing out the wheat into the sea.
Act 27:39 When it was day, they didn't recognize the land, but they noticed a certain bay with a beach, and they decided to try to drive the ship onto it.
Act 27:40 Casting off the anchors, they left them in the sea, at the same time untying the rudder ropes. Hoisting up the foresail to the wind, they made for the beach.
Act 27:41 But coming to a place where two seas met, they ran the vessel aground. The bow struck and remained immovable, but the stern began to break up by the violence of the waves.
Act 27:42 The soldiers' counsel was to kill the prisoners, so that none of them would swim out and escape.
Act 27:43 But the centurion, desiring to save Paul, stopped them from their purpose, and commanded that those who could swim should throw themselves overboard first to go toward the land;
Act 27:44 and the rest should follow, some on planks, and some on other things from the ship. So it happened that they all escaped safely to the land.

Jesus taught religious freedom by Roy Davison


http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/freedom.html


Jesus taught religious freedom

Through the ages, terrible atrocities have been committed because of religious intolerance. Religions have been persecuted, and religions have persecuted others. Such atrocities are almost always related to political power.

Millions have been murdered.
During the first few centuries after Christ, Christians were severely persecuted and murdered by pagans and Jews. The pagans were offended because Christians refused to worship the pagan gods and the emperor. The Jews viewed Christians as heretics.
The Christians did not retaliate because Jesus taught His followers to love their enemies and to do good to those who hate them (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27, 35).
From the seventh to the eleventh century, by force of arms, Muslims spread their religion around the Mediterranean from Asia Minor, along the northern coast of Africa, and into Spain. Church buildings were destroyed, church leaders were murdered, and Christianity was exterminated where Muslims gained political power.
With regard to unfaithful Muslims who “wish that you should disbelieve as they disbelieve,” the Koran commands1: “If they turn their backs, take them, and slay them wherever you find them” (Chapter 4:89). With regard to “unbelievers” the Koran says: “I shall cast into the unbelievers &146; hearts terror; so smite above the necks, and smite every finger of them!” (Chapter 8:12). Another translation of the Koran interprets this more graphically: “Therefore strike off their heads and strike off every fingertip of them”2 When a peace treaty with idolaters expires, the following is commanded: “slay the idolaters wherever you find them, and take them, and confine them, and lie in wait for them at every place of ambush” (Chapter 9:5).
Some Muslims try to soften these teachings, but it cannot be denied that through the centuries, and also at the present time, these passages in the Koran have been used to promote and justify much persecution, war, terrorism and murder. 
The establishment of worldwide Muslim totalitarian government is a tenant of Islam.
From the eleventh through the thirteenth centuries, Crusades were organized in Europe in an attempt to conquer Jerusalem by force of arms. Thousands of Muslims were murdered and their villages were destroyed.
The Crusaders called themselves Christians but they were not Christians. They did not follow the teachings of Jesus at all!
At the time of the Reformation, the Roman Catholic Church used the Inquisition to murder those who opposed its authority. It was a capital crime to read the Bible without the permission of the Church.
In 1536 William Tyndale was strangled and burned at the stake in Vilvoorde, Belgium by Catholic authorities. His crime? Publishing the Bible in English and exposing false doctrines of the Roman Church.
When Protestants came to power in certain countries, they sometimes persecuted Catholics and other Protestants who did not agree with them.
On October 27, 1553, Michael Servetus was burned to death at Geneva, Switzerland at the instigation of John Calvin.
In the twentieth century many religion-related atrocities were committed.
Six million Jews, men women and children, were murdered by the Nazis by shooting, in mobile gas vans and at mass extermination camps. The Nazis also exterminated gypsies and people with physical defects or mental illness.
Seven hundred thousand Muslims were evicted from their homes in Palestine and forced to spend the rest of their lives impoverished in refugee camps in the desert.
Conflicts involving religion in Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Indonesia resulted in the murder of millions of innocent people.
Atheistic communism persecuted and murdered countless believers of all faiths in Europe, Asia, Africa and South America.

Jesus taught tolerance and religious freedom.
All persecution is contrary to the doctrine of Christ. Although apostasy is to be refuted and false teachers are to be expelled from the church, Christians are not to persecute others or use coercion to prevent others from practicing their religion.
Once when Jesus and His disciples were traveling to Jerusalem, they were refused lodging in a Samaritan village. “And when His disciples James and John saw this, they said, &145;Lord, do You want us to command fire to come down from heaven and consume them, just as Elijah did?&146; But He turned and rebuked them, and said, &145;You do not know what manner of spirit you are of. For the Son of man did not come to destroy men&146;s lives but to save them.&146; And they went to another village” (Luke 9:54-56). Christians may not use Old Testament examples to justify violence. The teaching of Jesus is on a higher plain, is of a different spirit.
Not only does Jesus teach against persecuting others, we are not even to forbid them: “Then John answered and said, &145;Master, we saw someone casting out demons in Your name, and we forbade him because he does not follow with us.&146; But Jesus said to him, &145;Do not forbid him, for he who is not against us is for us&146;“ (Luke 9:49, 50 //Mark 9:38-40).
Some have misapplied this passage to teach that we should fellowship false teachers. But Jesus did not condone what this person was doing. He simply taught religious freedom. We are not to &145;forbid&146; others.
Paul explains: “Some indeed preach Christ even from envy and strife, and some also from good will: The former preach Christ from selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing to add affliction to my chains; but the latter out of love, knowing that I am appointed for the defense of the gospel. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is preached; and in this I rejoice, yes, and will rejoice” (Philippians 1:15-18).
Some who are now Christians in Flanders, first started studying the Bible with Jehovah&146;s Witnesses. Others who are now Christians, first studied the Bible with Mormons. As they continued studying the Scriptures, however, they rejected the errors of these groups, and learned the truth of the gospel.
Although false teachers are not to be permitted to teach in the church, it is not our task as Christians to prevent them from proclaiming their beliefs in general. It is our task, however, to refute their false doctrine. Religious freedom does not mean that we must remain silent in the face of religious error.
“For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ” (2 Corinthians 10:3-5).
Christians combat false doctrine by preaching the truth. We refute false arguments and capture the thoughts of men by preaching the Word of God. Rather than being overcome by evil, we overcome evil with good (Romans 12:21).
Although we can sympathize with oppressed peoples who mistakenly think force of arms can set them free, it does not work. Jesus said: “Put away your sword, for all who draw the sword will perish by the sword” (Matthew 26:52). You cannot overcome evil with evil. An attempt to do so only multiplies evil.
Jesus showed us how to overcome evil with good by going to the cross and rising victorious from the grave to become King of kings and Lord of lords. He tells us to take up our cross and follow Him (Matthew 16:24).
The most powerful weapons on earth are not guns and bombs, but words. If you want to have influence for good, learn to speak and write well. And, of course, the most powerful words of all by far are the words of God.
“For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12).
Christians are proponents and defenders of religious freedom. Our weapon is the sword of the Spirit, the Word of God (Ephesians 6:17). Unchristian teaching is to be refuted, but true followers of Christ do not persecute others or prevent them from practicing their religion. Amen.
Roy Davison
Footnotes:

1 These quotations are from “The Koran Interpreted, A translation by A.J.Arberry” considered to be one of the most scholarly and unbiased translations of the Koran into English.

2 As translated by M. H. Shakir.

The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc., Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.

Published in The Old Paths Archive
(http://www.oldpaths.com)

Elijah and the Drought by Eric Lyons, M.Min.


http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=1444&b=Luke


Elijah and the Drought

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.


Twice in the New Testament one can read of the drought of Eljiah’s day that lasted for three and a half years. Jesus once referred to this famine while addressing fellow Jews in His hometown of Nazareth (Luke 4:25-26), while James mentioned it near the end of his epistle (5:17-18). Some have a problem with the drought of “three years and six months,” because 1 Kings 18:1 says: “The word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, ‘Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth’” (emp. added). Soon thereafter, “there was a heavy rain” (18:45; cf. 18:15). The question is, did the rain come “in the third year” (1 Kings 18:1, emp. added) or after “three years and six months” (Luke 4:25; James 5:17)?
Previously, in 1 Kings 17:1, Elijah had prophesied to Ahab that “there shall not be dew nor rain these years, except at my word.” Afterward, God instructed Elijah to “turn eastward and hide by the Brook Cherith” (17:3). There he lived, eating the bread and meat that ravens brought him twice a day, until “the brook dried up, because there had been no rain in the land” (17:7). God then sent Elijah to Zarephath to live with a widow and her son. After the child became sick and died, Elijah raised him from the dead (17:17-24). Immediately following this event, the inspired historian wrote: “And it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah, in the third year, saying, “Go, present yourself to Ahab, and I will send rain on the earth” (18:1, emp. added).
Those who contend that Luke 4:25 and James 5:17 contradict 1 Kings 18:1 (cf. Matheney and Honeycutt, 1970, 3:210)assume that “in the third year” refers to the drought. Yet, no proof exists for such an interpretation. First Kings 18:1 does not say, “...in the third year of the drought,” but only “in the third year.” Considering both the immediate context and the fact that originally there was no chapter break separating 1 Kings 17:24 and 18:1, the most natural reading is that Elijah was “in the third year” of his residence in Zarephath. Elijah, the widow, and her household ate of the miraculously replenished flour for “(many) days” (17:8-15, ASV). Some time later Elijah revived the widow’s son. Then, “it came to pass after many days that the word of the Lord came to Elijah” (18:1, emp. added). It is reasonable to conclude that Elijah spent more than two years in Zarephath, since it was “in the third year” that God sent Elijah away from Zarephath to confront Ahab.
The “three years and six months” to which Jesus and James referred includes the two-plus years Elijah was in Zarephath and the several months Elijah lived at Brook Cherith. Although skeptics would rather assume guilt on the part of the inspired historian, Jesus, and/or James, once again they are unable to present real evidence for a genuine Bible contradiction.

 

REFERENCES

Matheney, M. Pierce and Roy L. Honeycutt, Jr. (1970), Broadman Bible Commentary: 1 Samuel-Nehemiah, ed. Clifton J. Allen (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press).

“You Cannot Legislate Morality!” by Dave Miller, Ph.D.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=1507


“You Cannot Legislate Morality!”

by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

The CEO of a major American corporation was forced to resign after admitting to a sexual affair with a female subordinate (Merle, 2005). The incident triggered the oft’-debated ethical question: “Should one’s personal behavior in moral matters have any bearing on one’s position in public life?” Conventional wisdom now says, “no.” You’ve heard the claims—over and over again ad nauseam: “What a person does on his own time is none of the company’s business.” “Public life and private life are separate issues.” “After all, you cannot legislate morality and personal behavior.” From the president of the United States and the CEO of a large corporation to the public school teacher, Americans in large numbers have swallowed the baseless and ludicrous assertion that personal conduct and moral choices have no bearing on one’s employment position and credibility. Character, integrity, and ethical behavior increasingly have been detached from job performance as people compartmentalize their lives into separate and distinct spheres.
But such ethical schizophrenia is irrational, nonsensical, and destructive to the fabric of society. When a person manifests immorality in one aspect of his life, he demonstrates a character flaw that has become a part of his being. This circumstance must inevitably and naturally permeate a person’s character. If he is willing to lie in his private life, logically his propensity for lying can know no boundaries. The person who becomes comfortable with lying in one area of his life will eventually feel comfortable lying in other areas as well. Once a person sacrifices her integrity by embracing one illicit behavior (e.g., lying), she instantaneously opens herself up to embracing additional illicit behaviors (e.g., stealing, cheating). If a man cannot be trusted with your wife, why would you trust him with your money or your business?
God’s Word is the only reliable guide for human behavior (Psalm 119). In the Bible, God has given rules for the regulation of human behavior. Only He is in a position to establish the parameters of proper behavior. Without law, humans would have no guidance and no framework for assessing their actions. They would be free to conduct themselves in any manner whatsoever. One person may choose to murder while another may choose not to murder. There would be no ultimate difference between those two choices—no objective basis upon which to assign any ethical or moral significance. The person who engages in immoral behavior would be open to being immoral in any and every area of his or her life. Only incidental circumstances would decide when and where the immorality manifested itself. If a CEO would sacrifice his sexual integrity, given the right circumstances, he would be willing to sacrifice his financial integrity as well.
Human civilization is, in fact, grounded and dependent on the fundamental principle that human behavior can and must be regulated. Laws, by definition, regulate human behavior! Why do we have traffic laws? Why do we require people to drive their automobiles on the correct side of the road, stop at red traffic lights, or yield to pedestrians in crosswalks? Weren’t we told that we could not legislate human behavior? Why do we have laws governing the food industry’s handling of food for human consumption? I thought we could not legislate human behavior? Why do we have laws that make murder, stealing, and perjury in court illegal—if human morality cannot be legislated? The fact of the matter is that human behavior can and must be governed. The very fabric and functioning of society depends on it!
Ultimately, morality must be based on the laws of God, with the understanding that one day all humans will stand before the Supreme Judge of the world Who will “render to each one according to his deeds” (Romans 2:6): “For God will bring every work into judgment, including every secret thing, whether good or evil (Ecclesiastes 12:14). “For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive the things done in the body, according to what he has done, whether good or bad. Knowing, therefore, the terror of the Lord, we persuade men” (2 Corinthians 5:10-11).

REFERENCES

Merle, Renae (2005), “Boeing CEO Resigns Over Affair with Subordinate,” Washington Post, Tuesday, March 8, [On-line], URL: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A13173-2005Mar7.html.

"No Dinosaur…Ever Breathed Fire" by Eric Lyons, M.Min.


http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=1180


"No Dinosaur…Ever Breathed Fire"

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

In a book he authored in 1998 titled The Genesis Question, well-known progressive creationist Hugh Ross ridiculed the idea that behemoth and leviathan were dinosaurs. According to Ross, “No creatures on Earth, alive or extinct, fit the literal descriptions” of the animals that God described to the patriarch Job in Job 40:15-41:34. Furthermore, “No dinosaur…ever breathed fire or smoke or had bones of iron and brass” (p. 48). Ross has chosen to believe that the magnificent creatures described by God in His second speech to Job were the hippopotamus and the crocodile.
Like so many professed Christians who have attempted to amalgamate the long evolutionary ages with the biblical account of Creation, Ross’ reservations to accept the likelihood of behemoth being a dinosaur and leviathan being a dinosaur-like, water-living reptile are not the result of a sensible, judicious exegesis of the biblical text. A man who believes that dinosaurs “dominated the Earth’s land and sea life from 250 million to 65 million years ago” (p. 48), and that “no credible evidence whatever suggests the coexistence of primates and the great dinosaurs” (p. 49), obviously will have a difficult time accepting that behemoth and leviathan, which lived as the same time as Job, were dinosaurs. [For information on the cohabitation of humans and dinosaurs, see Harrub and Thompson, 2003. For a discussion on the reality and the identity of behemoth and leviathan, see Lyons, 2001.]
Two of the main reasons Ross gives for rejecting the dinosaur-like features of these creatures are: (1) “no creatures on Earth, alive or extinct, fit the literal descriptions;” and (2) “no dinosaur…ever breathed fire or smoke.” According to Ross, these “facts” present a problem when Bible students understand these creatures as being dinosaurs.
I have two questions for Dr. Ross, which I wonder if he could answer for us. First, although admittedly no creature alive today fits the “literal descriptions” of leviathan and behemoth, how can Ross confidently assert that no extinct animal resembles the description of behemoth or leviathan? How does Ross know what every creature that ever has walked on Earth looked like? How does he know what feats they were able to perform? Ross might suggest: “But common sense tells us no creature had ribs of “iron” or bones of “brass” (cf. Job 40:18). Agreed. But, by employing such metaphors and similes, any reasonable Bible student can understand that God was stressing the fact that behemoth’s bones were extremely solid—like they were made of solid metal. Interestingly, although dinosaurs had the largest, most massive bones of any known animal that has ever walked this Earth (e.g., one fossilized Argentinosaurus vertebra was five feet high and five feet wide—see Meyer, 2002), and even though they are known to have the most massive tails of any animal ever known (e.g., the 40-foot-long tail of Diplodocus), which could reasonably be likened to a “cedar” (Job 40:17), Ross has chosen rather to believe that behemoth was a hippo—an animal with a tail shorter than many dogs and cats.
A second question I wish Hugh Ross could answer for us is how he can be so certain that “no dinosaur…ever breathed fire or smoke.” By his own admission, Ross never has seen a dinosaur (he believes they became extinct 65 million years ago), and thus obviously he never has observed every dinosaur or dinosaur-like creature that ever walked on land or swam in the oceans. Truly, as Henry Morris observed in his book Biblical Basis for Modern Science: “To say that the leviathan could not have breathed fire is to say much more than we know about leviathans (or water dragons or sea serpents)” (1984, p. 359). When a person considers that electric eels can produce enough electricity (500-600 volts) to stun a horse without ever shocking itself, that anglerfish and fireflies can produce “light,” that the komodo dragon can store deadly bacteria inside its own mouth, and that bombardier beetles can produce a stream of noxious gas that can be expelled from their bodies at 212 degrees Fahrenheit, it is not difficult to accept the possibility that certain dinosaurs or dinosaur-like, water-living reptiles were capable of expelling certain hot gaseous fumes that might briefly ignite.
Hugh Ross, it seems, has forgotten that all animals, including the dinosaurs, were designed and created by God on days five and six of Creation. If Jehovah wanted to create one or more dinosaurs that could expel fire, smoke, or some deadly chemical out of their mouths without harming themselves, He certainly could have done so. Bearing in mind the way that He described leviathan to Job in Job 41:18-21, and considering that many secular stories have circulated for millennia that describe “fiery dragons,” it is logical to conclude that He did create such creatures. It seems fitting to ask Dr. Ross the same rhetorical question God asked Abraham long ago: “Is anything too hard for the Lord?” (Genesis 18:14). Who is Ross to say that “no dinosaur…ever breathed fire”?

REFERENCES

Harrub, Brad and Bert Thompson (2003), “Walking Amidst the Dinosaurs,” Reason and Revelation, [On-line], URL: https://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=37.
Lyons, Eric (2001), “Behemoth and Leviathan—Creatures of Controversy,” Reason & Revelation, 21:1-7, January, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/154.
Meyer, Pedro (2002), “Does the Original Matter?” WashingtonPost.com, [On-line], URL: http://media.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/photo/essays/zonezero/jan_02.htm.
Morris, Henry M. (1984), Biblical Basis for Modern Science (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker).
Ross, Hugh (1998), The Genesis Question (Colorado Springs, CO: NavPress).