Matters of mushrooms, vines and a grateful heart by Gary Rose

I think this little fella is appreciating this mushroom, don't you?  Rain falls on us all, doesn't it? And yet we have been blessed with life and somehow, someway, we have arrived at today? 

I remember year after year of wondering how I was ever going to "make it". Looking back now, I can see God's hand in everything and I mean everything! Otherwise, there is simply no reasonable explanation of how I have gotten this far.

Today, I will remember to thank God for HIS provisions in my life and express that heartfelt appreciation in prayer. 

Jonah, Chapter 4 (WEB)

  ⁵ Then Jonah went out of the city, and sat on the east side of the city, and there made himself a booth, and sat under it in the shade, until he might see what would become of the city.  ⁶ Yahweh God prepared a vine, and made it to come up over Jonah, that it might be a shade over his head, to deliver him from his discomfort. So Jonah was exceedingly glad because of the vine.  ⁷ But God prepared a worm at dawn the next day, and it chewed on the vine, so that it withered.  ⁸ When the sun arose, God prepared a sultry east wind; and the sun beat on Jonah’s head, so that he fainted, and requested for himself that he might die, and said, “It is better for me to die than to live.” 

  ⁹ God said to Jonah, “Is it right for you to be angry about the vine?” 

He said, “I am right to be angry, even to death.” 
  ¹⁰ Yahweh said, “You have been concerned for the vine, for which you have not labored, neither made it grow; which came up in a night, and perished in a night. ¹¹ Shouldn’t I be concerned for Nineveh, that great city, in which are more than one hundred twenty thousand persons who can’t discern between their right hand and their left hand; and also much livestock?”  (emp. added GDR)

Jonah on the other hand was not grateful and was rebuked by God. His bad example is a lesson to us all. We need to be thankful for what God has done for us and appreciate our blessings.

Bible Reading September 14 by Gary Rose

Bible Reading September 14 (WEB)

Sept. 14

Psalms 68-70

Psa 68:1 Let God arise! Let his enemies be scattered! Let them who hate him also flee before him.

Psa 68:2 As smoke is driven away, so drive them away. As wax melts before the fire, so let the wicked perish at the presence of God.

Psa 68:3 But let the righteous be glad. Let them rejoice before God. Yes, let them rejoice with gladness.

Psa 68:4 Sing to God! Sing praises to his name! Extol him who rides on the clouds: to Yah, his name! Rejoice before him!

Psa 68:5 A father of the fatherless, and a defender of the widows, is God in his holy habitation.

Psa 68:6 God sets the lonely in families. He brings out the prisoners with singing, but the rebellious dwell in a sun-scorched land.

Psa 68:7 God, when you went forth before your people, when you marched through the wilderness... Selah.

Psa 68:8 The earth trembled. The sky also poured down rain at the presence of the God of Sinai-- at the presence of God, the God of Israel.

Psa 68:9 You, God, sent a plentiful rain. You confirmed your inheritance, when it was weary.

Psa 68:10 Your congregation lived therein. You, God, prepared your goodness for the poor.

Psa 68:11 The Lord announced the word. The ones who proclaim it are a great company.

Psa 68:12 "Kings of armies flee! They flee!" She who waits at home divides the spoil,

Psa 68:13 while you sleep among the campfires, the wings of a dove sheathed with silver, her feathers with shining gold.

Psa 68:14 When the Almighty scattered kings in her, it snowed on Zalmon.

Psa 68:15 The mountains of Bashan are majestic mountains. The mountains of Bashan are rugged.

Psa 68:16 Why do you look in envy, you rugged mountains, at the mountain where God chooses to reign? Yes, Yahweh will dwell there forever.

Psa 68:17 The chariots of God are tens of thousands and thousands of thousands. The Lord is among them, from Sinai, into the sanctuary.

Psa 68:18 You have ascended on high. You have led away captives. You have received gifts among men, yes, among the rebellious also, that Yah God might dwell there.

Psa 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily bears our burdens, even the God who is our salvation. Selah.

Psa 68:20 God is to us a God of deliverance. To Yahweh, the Lord, belongs escape from death.

Psa 68:21 But God will strike through the head of his enemies, the hairy scalp of such a one as still continues in his guiltiness.

Psa 68:22 The Lord said, "I will bring you again from Bashan, I will bring you again from the depths of the sea;

Psa 68:23 That you may crush them, dipping your foot in blood, that the tongues of your dogs may have their portion from your enemies."

Psa 68:24 They have seen your processions, God, even the processions of my God, my King, into the sanctuary.

Psa 68:25 The singers went before, the minstrels followed after, in the midst of the ladies playing with tambourines,

Psa 68:26 "Bless God in the congregations, even the Lord in the assembly of Israel!"

Psa 68:27 There is little Benjamin, their ruler, the princes of Judah, their council, the princes of Zebulun, and the princes of Naphtali.

Psa 68:28 Your God has commanded your strength. Strengthen, God, that which you have done for us.

Psa 68:29 Because of your temple at Jerusalem, kings shall bring presents to you.

Psa 68:30 Rebuke the wild animal of the reeds, the multitude of the bulls, with the calves of the peoples. Being humbled, may it bring bars of silver. Scatter the nations that delight in war.

Psa 68:31 Princes shall come out of Egypt. Ethiopia shall hurry to stretch out her hands to God.

Psa 68:32 Sing to God, you kingdoms of the earth! Sing praises to the Lord! Selah.

Psa 68:33 To him who rides on the heaven of heavens, which are of old; behold, he utters his voice, a mighty voice.

Psa 68:34 Ascribe strength to God! His excellency is over Israel, his strength is in the skies.

Psa 68:35 You are awesome, God, in your sanctuaries. The God of Israel gives strength and power to his people. Praise be to God!

Psa 69:1 Save me, God, for the waters have come up to my neck!

Psa 69:2 I sink in deep mire, where there is no foothold. I have come into deep waters, where the floods overflow me.

Psa 69:3 I am weary with my crying. My throat is dry. My eyes fail, looking for my God.

Psa 69:4 Those who hate me without a cause are more than the hairs of my head. Those who want to cut me off, being my enemies wrongfully, are mighty. I have to restore what I didn't take away.

Psa 69:5 God, you know my foolishness. My sins aren't hidden from you.

Psa 69:6 Don't let those who wait for you be shamed through me, Lord Yahweh of Armies. Don't let those who seek you be brought to dishonor through me, God of Israel.

Psa 69:7 Because for your sake, I have borne reproach. Shame has covered my face.

Psa 69:8 I have become a stranger to my brothers, an alien to my mother's children.

Psa 69:9 For the zeal of your house consumes me. The reproaches of those who reproach you have fallen on me.

Psa 69:10 When I wept and I fasted, that was to my reproach.

Psa 69:11 When I made sackcloth my clothing, I became a byword to them.

Psa 69:12 Those who sit in the gate talk about me. I am the song of the drunkards.

Psa 69:13 But as for me, my prayer is to you, Yahweh, in an acceptable time. God, in the abundance of your loving kindness, answer me in the truth of your salvation.

Psa 69:14 Deliver me out of the mire, and don't let me sink. Let me be delivered from those who hate me, and out of the deep waters.

Psa 69:15 Don't let the flood waters overwhelm me, neither let the deep swallow me up. Don't let the pit shut its mouth on me.

Psa 69:16 Answer me, Yahweh, for your loving kindness is good. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, turn to me.

Psa 69:17 Don't hide your face from your servant, for I am in distress. Answer me speedily!

Psa 69:18 Draw near to my soul, and redeem it. Ransom me because of my enemies.

Psa 69:19 You know my reproach, my shame, and my dishonor. My adversaries are all before you.

Psa 69:20 Reproach has broken my heart, and I am full of heaviness. I looked for some to take pity, but there was none; for comforters, but I found none.

Psa 69:21 They also gave me gall for my food. In my thirst, they gave me vinegar to drink.

Psa 69:22 Let their table before them become a snare. May it become a retribution and a trap.

Psa 69:23 Let their eyes be darkened, so that they can't see. Let their backs be continually bent.

Psa 69:24 Pour out your indignation on them. Let the fierceness of your anger overtake them.

Psa 69:25 Let their habitation be desolate. Let no one dwell in their tents.

Psa 69:26 For they persecute him whom you have wounded. They tell of the sorrow of those whom you have hurt.

Psa 69:27 Charge them with crime upon crime. Don't let them come into your righteousness.

Psa 69:28 Let them be blotted out of the book of life, and not be written with the righteous.

Psa 69:29 But I am in pain and distress. Let your salvation, God, protect me.

Psa 69:30 I will praise the name of God with a song, and will magnify him with thanksgiving.

Psa 69:31 It will please Yahweh better than an ox, or a bull that has horns and hoofs.

Psa 69:32 The humble have seen it, and are glad. You who seek after God, let your heart live.

Psa 69:33 For Yahweh hears the needy, and doesn't despise his captive people.

Psa 69:34 Let heaven and earth praise him; the seas, and everything that moves therein!

Psa 69:35 For God will save Zion, and build the cities of Judah. They shall settle there, and own it.

Psa 69:36 The children also of his servants shall inherit it. Those who love his name shall dwell therein.

Psa 70:1 Hurry, God, to deliver me. Come quickly to help me, Yahweh.

Psa 70:2 Let them be disappointed and confounded who seek my soul. Let those who desire my ruin be turned back in disgrace.

Psa 70:3 Let them be turned because of their shame Who say, "Aha! Aha!"

Psa 70:4 Let all those who seek you rejoice and be glad in you. Let those who love your salvation continually say, "Let God be exalted!"

Psa 70:5 But I am poor and needy. Come to me quickly, God. You are my help and my deliverer. Yahweh, don't delay.

 

Sept. 14

1 Corinthians 10

1Co 10:1 Now I would not have you ignorant, brothers, that our fathers were all under the cloud, and all passed through the sea;

1Co 10:2 and were all baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea;

1Co 10:3 and all ate the same spiritual food;

1Co 10:4 and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of a spiritual rock that followed them, and the rock was Christ.

1Co 10:5 However with most of them, God was not well pleased, for they were overthrown in the wilderness.

1Co 10:6 Now these things were our examples, to the intent we should not lust after evil things, as they also lusted.

1Co 10:7 Neither be idolaters, as some of them were. As it is written, "The people sat down to eat and drink, and rose up to play."

1Co 10:8 Neither let us commit sexual immorality, as some of them committed, and in one day twenty-three thousand fell.

1Co 10:9 Neither let us test the Lord, as some of them tested, and perished by the serpents.

1Co 10:10 Neither grumble, as some of them also grumbled, and perished by the destroyer.

1Co 10:11 Now all these things happened to them by way of example, and they were written for our admonition, on whom the ends of the ages have come.

1Co 10:12 Therefore let him who thinks he stands be careful that he doesn't fall.

1Co 10:13 No temptation has taken you except what is common to man. God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted above what you are able, but will with the temptation also make the way of escape, that you may be able to endure it.

1Co 10:14 Therefore, my beloved, flee from idolatry.

1Co 10:15 I speak as to wise men. Judge what I say.

1Co 10:16 The cup of blessing which we bless, isn't it a sharing of the blood of Christ? The bread which we break, isn't it a sharing of the body of Christ?

1Co 10:17 Because there is one loaf of bread, we, who are many, are one body; for we all partake of the one loaf of bread.

1Co 10:18 Consider Israel according to the flesh. Don't those who eat the sacrifices participate in the altar?

1Co 10:19 What am I saying then? That a thing sacrificed to idols is anything, or that an idol is anything?

1Co 10:20 But I say that the things which the Gentiles sacrifice, they sacrifice to demons, and not to God, and I don't desire that you would have fellowship with demons.

1Co 10:21 You can't both drink the cup of the Lord and the cup of demons. You can't both partake of the table of the Lord, and of the table of demons.

1Co 10:22 Or do we provoke the Lord to jealousy? Are we stronger than he?

1Co 10:23 "All things are lawful for me," but not all things are profitable. "All things are lawful for me," but not all things build up.

1Co 10:24 Let no one seek his own, but each one his neighbor's good.

1Co 10:25 Whatever is sold in the butcher shop, eat, asking no question for the sake of conscience,

1Co 10:26 for "the earth is the Lord's, and its fullness."

1Co 10:27 But if one of those who don't believe invites you to a meal, and you are inclined to go, eat whatever is set before you, asking no questions for the sake of conscience.

1Co 10:28 But if anyone says to you, "This was offered to idols," don't eat it for the sake of the one who told you, and for the sake of conscience. For "the earth is the Lord's, and all its fullness."

1Co 10:29 Conscience, I say, not your own, but the other's conscience. For why is my liberty judged by another conscience?

1Co 10:30 If I partake with thankfulness, why am I denounced for that for which I give thanks?

1Co 10:31 Whether therefore you eat, or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.

1Co 10:32 Give no occasions for stumbling, either to Jews, or to Greeks, or to the assembly of God;

1Co 10:33 even as I also please all men in all things, not seeking my own profit, but the profit of the many, that they may be saved.

“Flee from the midst of Babylon!” by Roy Davison

http://www.oldpaths.com/Archive/Davison/Roy/Allen/1940/062-flee.html  

“Flee from the midst of Babylon!”

In the symbolic language of Revelation, Christians are commanded to distance themselves from false religions just like the Israelites were commanded to leave Babylon and restore true worship at Jerusalem.

“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

When this was written, literal Babylon had lost its power two hundred years earlier, as predicted by Isaiah and Jeremiah. Thus, in Revelation, Babylon obviously refers to something other than the literal city.

Considering the seriousness of this warning, it is vital that we know what it means to come out of Babylon, so we can avoid her sins and her punishment.

To understand the imagery, we must examine Old Testament passages about Babylon and compare them with the warning in Revelation.


What is the historical basis for Babylon’s symbolism?


Babylon had a long history of rebellion against God.

Babel, the forerunner of Babylon, was one of the first cities built. Nimrod, who “began to be a mighty one on the earth” (1 Chronicles 1:10) founded Babel (Genesis 10:10).

The name “Babel” means “confusion” and originates from the confusion of languages, which halted the building of the tower of Babel (Genesis 11:9).


Babylon used political force to promote false religion.

“All the people, nations and languages” were commanded to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gold image (Daniel 3:1-7).

Isaiah and Jeremiah predicted the ruin of Babylon as punishment for idolatry.

“Babylon is fallen, is fallen! And all the carved images of her gods He has broken to the ground” (Isaiah 21:9).

“Declare among the nations, proclaim, and set up a standard; proclaim, and do not conceal it - Say, ‘Babylon is taken, Bel is shamed. Merodach is broken in pieces; her idols are humiliated, her images are broken in pieces’” (Jeremiah 50:2).

Bel and Merodach were Babylonian idols. Merodach was the patron deity of Babylon, a sun god, often pictured with a dragon.

Israel went into Babylonian exile as punishment for her own unfaithfulness and idolatry. God allowed the temple to be destroyed because He was disgusted by the hypocritical worship being conducted there (Isaiah 1:13-15).

Because the temple was indispensable for Old Covenant worship, the Israelites could not worship God according to His word in Babylon. When their captors asked them to sing a song of Zion, they replied: “How shall we sing the LORD’s song in a foreign land?” (Psalm 137:4).


The Israelites were commanded to flee from Babylon.

To flee is to quickly get away from impending danger.

God used Babylonian captivity to bring Israel to repentance.

After 70 years of exile, the Israelites were allowed to return to Jerusalem, rebuild the temple, and restore Old Covenant worship.

Considering the many warnings, some must have preferred to stay in Babylon!

A messianic undertone is discernable in passages where Israel is commanded to flee from Babylon.

“Go forth from Babylon! Flee from the Chaldees! With a voice of singing, declare, proclaim ‘The LORD has redeemed His servant Jacob!’” (Isaiah 48:20). [See verses 12-22.]

“Depart! Depart! Go out from there, touch no unclean thing; go out from the midst of her, be clean, you who bear the vessels of the LORD” (Isaiah 52:11). [See verses 7-12.]

“‘In those days and in that time,’ says the LORD, ‘The children of Israel shall come, they and the children of Judah together; with continual weeping they shall come, and seek the LORD their God. They shall ask the way to Zion, with their faces toward it, saying, “Come and let us join ourselves to the LORD in a perpetual covenant that will not be forgotten”’” (Jeremiah 50:4, 5). [For additional insight read chapters 50 and 51.]

“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity, for this is the time of the LORD’s vengeance; He shall recompense her” (Jeremiah 51:6).

“We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed. Forsake her, and let us go everyone to his own country; for her judgment reaches to heaven and is lifted up to the skies. The LORD has revealed our righteousness. Come and let us declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God” (Jeremiah 51:9, 10).

“My people, go out of the midst of her! And let everyone deliver himself from the fierce anger of the LORD” (Jeremiah 51:45).

“Up, Zion! Escape, you who dwell with the daughter of Babylon” (Zechariah 2:7).

Observe that although God’s people in Babylon did not serve idols themselves, they were unclean and shared in her sins if they remained and did not go to Jerusalem to worship God according to His word.


What does Babylon represent in Revelation?

Babylon is first mentioned in chapter fourteen: “Babylon is fallen, is fallen, that great city, because she has made all nations drink of the wine of the wrath of her fornication” (Revelation 14:8).

To know the meaning of Babylon, we must understand various symbols in Revelation. The dragon is the devil (Revelation 12:9). As in Daniel, beasts represent governments. To the first beast the devil gives “his power, his throne and great authority” (Revelation 13:2). A second beast, who resembles a lamb but speaks like a dragon, exercises all the authority of the first beast, and causes everyone on earth to worship the first beast (Revelation 13:11-14).

Under the influence of these two beasts, all the world worships the devil except those whose names are in the Book of Life: “All the world marveled and followed the beast. So they worshiped the dragon who gave authority to the beast; ... All who dwell on the earth will worship him, whose names have not been written in the Book of Life of the Lamb slain from the foundation of the world” (Revelation 13:3, 4, 8).

There are only two classes: the saints of God and those who worship the devil. Only by the blood of Christ can one be conveyed from the power of darkness into the kingdom of God (Colossians 1:13, 14).

The second beast is “the false prophet” (Revelation 19:20). This beast is religious (religious authority) and is supported by the first beast (political authority).

Babylon is a symbolic representation of the false prophet, pictured as a harlot riding on a beast: “The woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stones and pearls, having in her hand a golden cup full of abominations and the filthiness of her fornication. And on her forehead a name was written: MYSTERY, BABYLON THE GREAT, THE MOTHER OF HARLOTS AND OF THE ABOMINATIONS OF THE EARTH” (Revelation 17:4, 5).

The mystery is disclosed: “And the woman whom you saw is that great city which reigns over the kings of the earth” (Revelation 17:18).

When this was written, any reader would think of the Roman Empire. Thus Babylon (Rome) is a depiction of the false prophet. All religious and political rebellion against God is symbolized by the harlot and the beast she rides!

The harlot is not the literal city of Rome, but Rome as a symbol. Paul was a Roman citizen (Acts 22:27, 28). In his letter to the Romans, he did not tell them to leave the city.

Like ancient Babylon, Rome spread false religion by political force. After Augustus (27-14 BC) everyone was commanded to worship the emperor. Thus, like Babylon, Rome is a fitting symbol of all political and religious rebellion against God.

Babylon and Rome are the first and last of four kingdoms in Daniel that would be vanquished by God’s Kingdom (Daniel 2:31-45; 7:17-27).


How has Rome evolved in history?

The harlot on the beast was “drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus” (Revelation 17:6).

Because they refused to worship the emperor, Christians were persecuted by pagan Rome, especially under Nero, Domitian and Trajan.

Pagan Rome mutated into “The Holy Roman Empire” (“holy” is a gross misnomer) with emperors appointed by the pope. Otto I was appointed by Pope John XII in 962.

Through the centuries this unholy Roman empire murdered non- Catholics with the blessing of the popes. Among the thousands killed was William Tyndale, the English Bible translator. He was burned at the stake in Vilvoorde, Belgium on 6 October 1536.

The “Holy Roman Empire” was dissolved by Napoleon in 1806.

After a period of conflicting claims to jurisdiction, the Vatican City State was recognized as a sovereign state in 1929. This ended Rome’s direct political power over kings. Even so, most European and many South American countries have Catholic political parties, and via its hierarchy, the Vatican exercises authority throughout the world.

The Roman Catholic Church is a world-wide, politically organized, pagan religion whose adherents worship images, dead people (“saints”) and a living, speaking idol, blasphemously called “the Holy Father”. The Roman Catholic Church is the largest body that claims to be Christian.


Why is Babylon called a harlot?

In prophetic symbolism, harlotry and fornication represent unfaithfulness to God: “They played the harlot with other gods” (Judges 2:17). [See also Exodus 34:15, 16; Leviticus 20:5; Deuteronomy 31:16; Psalm 73:27; Judges 8:33; Jeremiah 2:20; 3:1; Ezekiel 16:15-17.] Babylon’s fornication represents spiritual corruption. Babylon corrupts the world religiously.


Why is Babylon called the mother of harlots?

Remember that these symbols include everyone on earth who is not in the Book of Life (Revelation 13:3, 4, 8).

The researcher, David B. Barrett, identified 19 major world religions subdivided into about 10,000 distinct religions, and 34,000 denominations in Christendom. Now that is real Babel!

The devil has created this Babylonian “confusion” so people will worship him rather than God. The devil’s shopping mall offers something appealing for everyone. Denominationalism, which views divergent forms of Christianity as tolerable, is a tool of the devil. He encourages you to join the church of your choice rather than God’s choice.

Babylon in Revelation cannot refer to the Roman Catholic Church exclusively, as is sometimes claimed, since everyone in the world, except those in the Book of Life, worships the devil via these two beasts.

But the Roman Catholic Church is definitely the major embodiment (daughter) of prophetic Babylon as successor of the Holy Roman Empire and as the largest, most influential, false form of Christianity.

But she is not alone. Various Protestant denominations are merely spin-offs of the Catholic church, retaining many of her false doctrines and practices. All man-made denominations are daughters of the harlot because, like her, they do not submit to Christ. All false religions in the world are daughters of the harlot for the same reason. Islam, which is spread by political and physical force, is certainly a “daughter” of Babylon.


God will punish Babylon because of her sins.

As God punished ancient Babylon, He will punish prophetic Babylon.

“And great Babylon was remembered before God, to give her the cup of the wine of the fierceness of His wrath” (Revelation 16:19). Religious and political opposition to God earn His wrath.

“Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and has become a habitation of demons, a prison for every foul spirit, and a cage for every unclean and hated bird! For all the nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her” (Revelation 18:2b, 3a).

Babylon’s ruin results from God’s defeat of the false prophet and the beast, representing all false religions and godless authorities. “Then the beast was captured, and with him the false prophet. ... These two were cast alive into the lake of fire burning with brimstone” (Revelation 19:20).

Their patron, the devil, is also defeated: “The devil, who deceived them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone where the beast and the false prophet are. And they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Revelation 20:10).

The unredeemed share the devil’s punishment: “Then He will also say to those on the left hand, ‘Depart from Me, you cursed, into the everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Matthew 25:41).


We too must flee from Babylon!

“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues. For her sins have reached to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities” (Revelation 18:4, 5).

How do we flee from Babylon to escape her punishment?

Various passages in the New Testament clarify this warning. “Come out from among them and be separate, says the Lord. Do not touch what is unclean, and I will receive you” (2 Corinthians 6:17). We may not participate in false religions or other forms of worldliness because that is spiritual fornication, uncleanness, unfaithfulness to God.

How can God’s people be in Babylon? Potential Christians and Christians associated with false religions must leave Babylon.

Among those called out of Babylon are people who will obey the gospel when they hear it.

Jesus told Paul: “Do not be afraid, but speak, and do not keep silent; ... for I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9, 10). God had people in Corinth who would accept the gospel when they heard it. Paul’s preaching enabled them to escape from Babylon.

Among those called out of Babylon are also Christians who have compromised with “the lawless one” by being in denominations and religious organizations established by men rather than by Christ. The doctrine of such groups is always different from the doctrine of Christ, otherwise they would simply be a church of Christ rather than a human denomination.

Christians who associate with false forms of Christianity are trying to serve Christ in the camp of the antichrist! They think they can serve God although they worship with a denomination that deviates from the doctrine of Christ.

This is not possible because doctrinal soundness is essential to serving God. “Whoever transgresses and does not abide in the doctrine of Christ does not have God. He who abides in the doctrine of Christ has both the Father and the Son. If anyone comes to you and does not bring this doctrine, do not receive him into your house nor greet him; for he who greets him shares in his evil deeds” (2 John 9-11).

Anyone who preaches a gospel that differs from the original gospel is accursed (Galatians 1:6-9).

When we fellowship those who do not abide in the doctrine of Christ (even if we do not agree with them), we share in their evil deeds. “Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4).

“Do not be unequally yoked together with unbelievers. For what fellowship has righteousness with lawlessness? And what communion has light with darkness? And what accord has Christ with Belial? Or what part has a believer with an unbeliever? And what agreement has the temple of God with idols?” (2 Corinthians 6:14-16).

“Belial” means “the worthless one” or “the lawless one”. The lawless one includes many who say, “Lord, Lord,” but do not obey Christ. Jesus tells them, “depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!” (Matthew 7:21-23). They have allowed themselves to be deceived by the lawless one because they lack love for the truth (2 Thessalonians 2:8-12).

The forces of religious evil called the “false prophet” and “Babylon” in Revelation, are called the “lawless one” by Paul and the “antichrist” by John. [See 1 John 2:18, 22; 4:3; 2 John 7.]

Since Israel returned from captivity, virtually no images have been worshiped by Jews. Yet, in describing the Jews of His day, Jesus said, “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. And in vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men” (Matthew 15:8, 9).

Here Jesus quotes Isaiah 29:13 which describes Israel in the run- up to Babylonian captivity! Although the Jews had restored the temple service, their spiritual condition was the same as before the captivity!

The disciples were concerned that this harsh statement had offended the Pharisees, the strictest denomination of the Jews, but Jesus replied, “Every plant which My heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted. Let them alone. They are blind leaders of the blind. And if the blind leads the blind, both will fall into a ditch” (Matthew 15:13, 14).

“There is one body” (Ephesians 4:4), which is “the church” (Colossians 1:18). Thus, all religions and all denominations, which are not the church of Christ established by Him, constitute Babylon, are inspired by the devil, and will be uprooted by God.

If we are in a religious group of human origin, we must get out of it or we will be uprooted with it! We must serve God according to the faith “once and for all delivered to the saints” (Jude 3), we must serve God according to the gospel that went forth from Jerusalem in the first century! We must “ask the way to Zion” and “declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.”


God’s warning is abundantly clear.

“Flee from the midst of Babylon, and every one save his life! Do not be cut off in her iniquity” (Jeremiah 51:6).

“Come out of her, my people, lest you share in her sins, and lest you receive of her plagues” (Revelation 18:4). Amen.
Roy Davison

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)

Two “Contradictions” Solved By Remembering Two Simple Rules by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/AllegedDiscrepancies.aspx?article=2818&b=Luke

Two “Contradictions” Solved By Remembering Two Simple Rules

by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

On a regular basis, atheists, agnostics, skeptics, and Bible critics write our offices at Apologetics Press. Some of the feedback we receive is simply to inform us how naïve Christians are for believing in God, Jesus, and the Bible, or how ignorant creationists are for disbelieving in macro-evolution. We also receive numerous questions from these non-believers. (Unfortunately, due to the volume of inquiries we receive, we are unable to answer all of them.) Recently, one Bible critic sent the following note:

You say the Bible does not contradict itself but I have found several contradictions in the Bible. For example, in John 10:30 Jesus says that he and his father are one then in John 14:28 he says his father is greater than he. Did he change his mind?
So what were Jesus’ last words? Well Matthew, Luke and John seem to have all heard something different. In Matthew 27:46,50 Jesus said my god my god why has thou forsaken me then died but in Luke 23:46 he claims Jesus said father unto thy hands I commit thy spirit then died and finally in John 19:30 he claims that Jesus said it is finished then died. Well which one is it? These are just a few of many. Why would someone say the Bible doesn’t contradict itself when if you have read the words in its pages it does not take a genius to see all the falsities within.

Consider how easily these questions can be answered simply by remembering two basic rules of interpretation.
First, supplementation is not equivalent to a contradiction. For example, suppose you tell a friend about your trip to Disney World. You mention that you went to Magic Kingdom on Monday. Later, you state that you went to Hollywood Studios on Monday. Have you lied? Are these two contradictory statements? Not necessarily. It could be that you visited both Magic Kingdom and Hollywood Studios on the same day. Similarly, the seven statements the gospel writers recorded that Jesus made from the cross (including the three aforementioned statements—Matthew 27:46; Luke 23:46; John 19:30) all supplement one another. Nothing is said about Jesus making only one of these statements. What’s more, silence does not negate supplementation. Simply because John wrote that our suffering Savior said, “‘It is finished!’ And bowing His head, He gave up His spirit” (John 19:30), does not mean that Jesus could not also have said, “Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit” after He had cried out, “It is finished,” and before His death (Luke 23:46). Nothing in John 19:30, Luke 23:46, or Matthew 27:46,50 is contradictory. We simply have three different statements that Jesus made at three different moments during His crucifixion.
Second, when comparing two or more Bible passages, one must also remember to consider the sense in which a word or phrase is used. Scripture repeatedly testifies that Jesus was more than a mere man—He was God in the flesh (John 1:1,14,17; 9:38; 10:30,33; 20:28). But how could Jesus truthfully say, “My Father is greater than I,” if Jesus was really deity? Though Jesus was and is God, while on Earth Jesus willingly humbled Himself, taking the form of a suffering servant in order to save mankind from the consequences of sin. Jesus was not denying His deity in John 14:28; He was professing His submission to the Father while in human form. John 14:28 must be understood in light of what Paul wrote to the church at Philippi concerning Jesus’ self-limitation during His time on Earth. Christ,

being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God, but made Himself of no reputation [He “emptied Himself”—NASB], taking the form of a bondservant, and coming in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to the point of death, even the death of the cross (Philippians 2:6-8).

While on Earth in the form of a man, Jesus was voluntarily in a subordinate position to the Father. Christ “emptied Himself” (Philippians 2:7; He “made Himself nothing”—NIV). Unlike Adam and Eve, who attempted to seize equality with God (Genesis 3:5), Jesus, the last Adam (1 Corinthians 15:47), humbled Himself, and obediently accepted the role of a servant. Jesus’ earthly limitations (cf. Mark 13:32), however, “were not the consequence of a less-than-God nature; rather, they were the result of a self-imposed submission reflecting the exercise of His sovereign will” (Jackson, 1995, emp. added). While on Earth, Jesus assumed a position of complete subjection to the Father, and exercised His divine attributes only at the Father’s bidding (Wycliffe, 1985; cf. John 8:26,28-29). As A.H. Strong similarly commented, Jesus “resigned not the possession, nor yet entirely the use, but rather the independent exercise, of the divine attributes” (1907, p. 703).
The aforementioned Bible critic who recently wrote our offices alleged that she had found “several contradictions in the Bible” (including the two discussed in this article), and then concluded “it does not take a genius to see all the falsities within.” The truth is, however, it does not take a genius to see these “contradictions” for what they really are: unproven accusations. If a person merely gave the Bible writers the same measure of respect and benefit of the doubt he shows others with whom he communicates on a daily basis, he would quickly find that the only “falsities” are within the baseless and biased accusations made against Scripture, and not Scripture itself.

 

REFERENCES

Jackson, Wayne (1995), “Did Jesus Exist in the Form of God While on Earth?” Reason & Revelation, 15[3]:21-22, March, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/264.
Strong, A.H. (1907), Systematic Theology (Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming H. Revell).
Wycliffe Bible Commentary (1985), Electronic Database: Biblesoft.

Animal Rights by Dave Miller, Ph.D.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=7&article=2367

Animal Rights

by	Dave Miller, Ph.D.

View Article in PDF

The last 40 years have witnessed a decline in the predominating influence of the Christian perspective in American civilization. Sociologists now refer to America as a “post-Christian nation.” With this increasing alienation from the one true God of the Bible has come a corresponding upsurge in aberrant thinking regarding the value and nature of human life. The largest animal rights organization in the world, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), is “dedicated to establishing and protecting the rights of all animals” and operates under the principle that “animals are not ours to eat, wear, experiment on, or use for entertainment” (“PETA’s Mission...,” 2007). Millions of dollars have been spent on causes that assign an inordinate value to animals—from dolphins, whales, and sea turtles, to birds, beavers, and spotted owls. Pet mega-supermarket chains have sprung up around the country. Pet dentists, pet nutritionists, petsitters, and pet therapists offer their expensive services to people whose pets have become “part of the family.” [NOTE: That is not to suggest that giving attention to pets is wrong; nevertheless, most Americans prior to the 1960s would disagree with current culture’s inflated preoccupation with animals as pets.]
What is the Christian (i.e., biblical) stance on animal rights? During the Creation week, after God made the animals, He made the first human beings, setting them apart from the animal kingdom by making humans in His own image (Genesis 1:27). A human possesses a soul—a spirit—that lives on after the death of the body (Ecclesiastes 12:7; Zechariah 12:1; Luke 16:22-31; Hebrews 12:9; James 2:26). Animals do not share this spiritual dimension with humans. While they possess an animating life force, when they die, they cease to exist. No part of their being continues to exist beyond physical death. Animals are not subject to the laws of God; they are not accountable for their actions as are humans; they do not commit sin; and they are not subject to God’s plan of salvation.
God created the planet to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18). Included in His creation of human beings was His pronouncement regarding human rule of and domination over animals. Referring to humans, He stated: “[L]et them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth” (Genesis 1:26, emp. added). He instructed humans to “fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth” (Genesis 1:28, emp. added). The Hebrew term for “dominion” (rah-dah) means to rule over (Harris, et al., 1980, 2:833; Gesenius, 1847, p. 758). The word for “subdue” (kah-vash) means to bring into submission by force (Harris, 1:430). The psalmist echoed these very directives when he praised God by saying, “You [God] have made him [man] to have dominion over the works of Your hands; You have put all things under his feet, all sheep and oxen—even the beasts of the field, the birds of the air, and the fish of the sea that pass through the paths of the seas” (Psalm 8:6-8, emp. added). God stressed human domination in even stronger terms after the Flood: “[T]he fear of you [humans] and the dread of you shall be on every beast of the earth, on every bird of the air, on all that moves on the earth, and on all the fish of the sea. They are given into your hand. Every moving thing that lives shall be food for you. I have given you all things, even as the green herbs” (Genesis 9:2-3, emp. added). The only restriction that God placed on the consumption of animal meat was that the blood was to be drained from the animal before it was eaten (Genesis 9:4; cf. Leviticus 17:10-14; Deuteronomy 12:16,23-24; 1 Samuel 14:32-34; Acts 15:20).
Both Old and New Testaments endorsed human consumption of animal meat (Deuteronomy 12:15; 14:4ff.). While God placed certain restrictions on the Israelite dietary practices, primarily due to health concerns, Christians are under no such regulations—as Paul affirmed: “For every creature of God is good, and nothing is to be refused if it is received with thanksgiving” (1 Timothy 4:4). God intended for animals to serve as food for humans; He did not intend for humans to serve as food for animals. In fact, God made provision for animals to be destroyed if they killed humans (Genesis 9:5; cf. Exodus 21:28). No such provision was made when humans killed animals. In fact, the divine sacrificial systems instituted by God under both the Patriarchal and Mosaic religions required animal sacrifice (Genesis 4:4; 15:9-10; Job 42:8; Leviticus 1:2ff.).
Likewise, the Bible endorses the use of animal skin/leather and fur in order to aid humanity. When the first human pair sinned, their newly acquired sense of shame led them to prepare coverings made from leaves (Genesis 3:7). However, God replaced their makeshift coverings with clothing made from animal skin (Genesis 3:21). Animal skins and hair were used in the construction of the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:5; 26:14; 35:23). The famed forerunner of Jesus, John the Baptizer, was “clothed with camel’s hair and with a leather belt around his waist” (Mark 1:6). Jesus’ sandals were laced with leather thongs (Mark 1:7; John 1:27). Many righteous people wore sheepskins and goatskins (Hebrews 11:37).
Assuredly, the Bible teaches the principle of stewardship and wisdom in the use of resources allotted by God (Matthew 25:14-30; 1 Corinthians 4:2). Occasional references seem to give a measure of consideration to the humane treatment of animals (e.g., Leviticus 22:27-28; Deuteronomy 22:6-7,10). God, Himself, provides for their care (Job 38:41; Psalm 147:9; Matthew 10:29), and we should not be wasteful, greedy, cruel, or reckless in our handling of Earth’s resources in general and Earth’s animals in particular. However, animals do not take precedence or preference over humans. A balanced, proper perspective is needed. We must realize that animals are not human and are not to be regarded as such. Animals, like the rest of the created order, render divinely intended services to humans as sources of food and clothing, as well as transportation (e.g., Mark 11:7) and other work-related performance.
If there is no God, then animal rights activism is as sensible, appropriate, and as noble as any other cause. However, if God exists, and if He has spoken to humans through the Bible, then our view of the created order must be shaped by God Himself. A review of Bible teaching regarding the status of animals reveals that animal rights activism evinces misinformed, misplaced zeal. Rather than spending millions of dollars on animals, would not a more rational approach be to concentrate on alleviating the starvation, sickness, and suffering of humanity? Or more importantly, why not concentrate our resources on striving to achieve what the Founders of American civilization considered to be the purpose of the Republic, as stated by the Continental Congress in October 1780: “to cause the knowledge of Christianity to spread over all the earth” (Journals of..., 1904-1937, 18:950-951, emp. added).

REFERENCES

Gesenius, William (1847), Hebrew-Chaldee Lexicon to the Old Testament (Grand Rapids, MI: Baker, 1979 reprint).
Harris, R. Laird, Gleason Archer, Jr. and Bruce Waltke, eds. (1980), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (Chicago, IL: Moody).
Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774-1789 (1904-1937), ed. Worthington C. Ford, et al. (Washington, D.C.: Government Printing Office), [On-line], URL: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/amlaw/lwjc.html.
“PETA’s Mission Statement” (2007), [On-line], URL: http://www.peta.org/living/magazine.asp.

5 Reasons Racism is Ridiculous by Eric Lyons, M.Min.

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=9&article=4171

5 Reasons Racism is Ridiculous

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Atheism has no rational basis upon which to call anything objectively just or unjust, including racism. If mankind is merely the result of billions of years of mindless evolution and is nothing more than animals (as atheistic evolution contends; Marchant, 2008), then man can logically make evolutionary-based racist remarks that are consistent with the godless General Theory of Evolution. In fact, Charles Darwin’s “Bulldog,” atheist Thomas Huxley, did just that in his 1865 essay, “Emancipation—Black and White.” He alleged, for example, “no rational man, cognizant of the facts, believes that the average Negro is the equal, still less superior, of the white man.” In truth, if there is no God, mankind could just as easily look down upon and mistreat others (whom he deems are less evolved), as he does roaches, rats, and orangutans (Lyons, 2011; Lyons and Butt, 2009). Those who are Christians, however, logically contend that since (1) God exists, and (2) the Bible is the Word of God, racism is morally wrong—and completely ridiculous for the following five reasons.

#1—All Human Beings Are Made in the Image of God

Not only did God specially create Adam and Eve in His image and vastly different than all other living things on Earth (Genesis 1:26-27), since then, every human being has been made according to God’s likeness. While preaching to Gentiles in Athens thousands of years after the Creation, Paul, a Jew, did not contend that man was once the offspring of God; he said, “We are” the offspring of God (Acts 17:28-29). [The Greek word esmen in 17:28 is the first person plural of eimi (to be). This recognition of being God’s offspring served as a basis for his argument, as the next verse indicates: “Being then the offspring of God….”]
James wrote: “But the tongue can no man tame; it is a restless evil, it is full of deadly poison. Therewith bless we the Lord and Father; and therewith curse we men, who are made after the likeness of God: out of the same mouth cometh forth blessing and cursing. My brethren these things ought not so to be” (3:8-9, ASV, emp. added). [The English verb “are made” (ASV) derives from the Greek gegonotas, which is the perfect participle of the verb ginomai. The perfect tense in Greek is used to describe an action brought to completion in the past, but whose effects are felt in the present (Mounce, 1993, p. 219).] The thrust of the expression, “who are made after the likeness of God” (Greek kath’ homoisosin theou gegonotas), is that humans in the past have been made according to the likeness of God, and they are still bearers of that likeness. For this reason, praising the Creator at one moment, while hurling unkind, racist remarks at another time, is terribly inconsistent in a most unChristlike way. All human beings (of every color and ethnicity) are divine image bearers.

#2—God Only Made One Race—The Human Race

Although people come in different colors, shapes, and sizes, and although they often associate more closely with those whom they find more similar in ways to themselves, the fact is, there is only one human race. Racism is ridiculous because we are all related, not by means of naturalistic evolution, but by special Creation. No one person is inherently of more value than another person. We are all sons and daughters of Adam and Eve—the specially created couple whom God made thousands of years ago in the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:20). What’s more, we are also sons and daughters of Noah and his wife, through whom the Earth was repopulated after the worldwide Flood of Genesis 6-8.
As the apostle Paul informed the idolatrous Athenians 2,000 years ago, God “made from one blood every nation to dwell on all the face of the earth” (Acts 17:26). Adam and Eve had children, who had children, who had children…who had you and me. We are all physically related. We are all of one race—the one human race. We are all (as modern science classifies us) of the same human species—Homo sapiens. We all trace our ancestry back to Noah, and then back to Adam. We may have different skin color, facial features, hair texture, etc., but we are all brothers and sisters! We are family—a part of the same human race.

#3—God Doesn’t Play Favorites…and Neither Should We

Although God is omnipotent, He is actually color-blind. His all-loving, perfectly just nature will not allow Him to love someone more than another based upon the color of a person’s skin or the nation in which one was born. Similar to how God cannot lie (Titus 1:2), God cannot show favoritism.
Moses wrote: “For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great God, mighty and awesome, who shows no partiality nor takes a bribe. He administers justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the stranger, giving him food and clothing. Therefore love the stranger, for you were strangers in the land of Egypt” (Deuteronomy 10:17-19). Peter said: “God shows no partiality. But in every nation whoever fears Him and works righteousness is accepted by Him” (Acts 10:34-35, emp. added). According to Paul, God “does not receive a face” (Galatians 2:6, NASB literal footnote rendering); that is, “God does not judge by external appearance” (Galatians 2:6, NIV).
In short, it is impossible to hold “the faith of our Lord Jesus Christ, (the Lord) of glory, with respect of persons” (James 2:1, ASV). The Christian’s care and concern for his fellow brother by Creation and by Christ is to be color-blind.

#4—Love is Not Racist

Whereas racism is fueled by earthly ignorance and hate, the Christian is filled with the fruit of Heaven’s Spirit (Galatians 5:22-23). The child of God is directed by an omniscient, omni-benevolent Father Who expects His children to “grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ” (2 Peter 3:18). To the Philippians Paul wrote, “And this I pray, that your love may abound still more and more in knowledge and all discernment, that you may approve the things that are excellent, that you may be sincere and without offense till the day of Christ, being filled with the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (1:9-11, emp. added).
In two of the more challenging sections of Scripture, Paul wrote: “Love is patient and kind; love does not envy or boast; it is not arrogant or rude. It does not insist on its own way; it is not irritable or resentful; it does not rejoice in wrongdoing, but rejoices with the truth” (1 Corinthians 13:4-6, ESV). “Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another…. Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse…. Repay no one evil for evil…. If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men” (Romans 12:9-18).
No Christian can be a racist, and any racist who claims to be a Christian is, in truth, a liar. As the apostle John explained, “If someone says, ‘I love God,’ and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen? And this commandment we have from Him: that he who loves God must love his brother also” (1 John 4:20-21).
“[W]hatever other commandment there may be, are summed up in this one rule: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to its neighbor [regardless of his or her color and ethnicity—EL]. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:9-10, NIV).

#5—Jesus is EVERYONE’S Savior

In one of the earliest Messianic prophecies, God promised Abraham that it would be through One of his descendants that “all the nations” and “all the families of the earth shall be blessed” (Genesis 22:18; 12:3, emp. added). It certainly was an honor for Abraham’s family to be chosen as the one through whom the Savior of the world would come, but Jesus did not come only to save the Jews. God did not enact a plan of salvation to save one particular color of people. He did not send Jesus to take away the sins of a particular ethnic group or nation. Jesus is the answer to the whole world’s sin problem; He is “the Savior of the world” (1 John 4:14). “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17, emp. added).
“God…desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:3-4, emp. added). For this reason, “repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name to all nations” (Luke 24:47, emp. added)—to people of all colors, in all cultures, in whatever countries.
The Gospel “is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes” (Romans 1:16, emp. added). And when individuals in the world “obey the Gospel” (2 Thessalonians 1:8; see Lyons and Butt, n.d.) and are added to the Lord’s Church by God Himself (Acts 2:47), we all become one in Christ Jesus. “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is neither male nor female; for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Galatians 3:29).

Conclusion

I do not claim to be an expert on race relations, but I know that some people genuinely struggle with the sin of racism. Some struggle with being the recipients of racism, which in turn may cause them to be tempted to react in racist ways. Others struggle with cowardly silence as they tolerate the sin of racism in their homes, churches, schools, businesses, and communities. Still others seem so preoccupied with advancing their own racial agenda that they appear to hastily interpret most everything as a racial problem, when most things are not.
Jesus once taught the hypocrites of His day, saying, “Do not judge according to appearance, but judge with righteous judgment” (John 7:24). May God help us to see as He sees: “for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). What a better world this would be if everyone realized the foolishness of judging a book by its cover. Racism really is ridiculous.

REFERENCES

Huxley, Thomas (1865), “Emancipation—Black and White,” http://aleph0.clarku.edu/huxley/CE3/B&W.html.
Lyons, Eric (2011), “The Moral Argument for the Existence of God,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4101&topic=95.
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (no date), Receiving the Gift of Salvation (Montgomery, AL: Apologetics Press), http://www.apologeticspress.org/pdfs/e-books_pdf/Receiving%20the%20Gift%20of%20Salvation.pdf.
Lyons, Eric and Kyle Butt (2009), “Darwin, Evolution, and Racism,” Apologetics Press, http://www.apologeticspress.org/apcontent.aspx?category=9&article=2654.
Marchant, Jo (2008), “We Should Act Like the Animals We Are,” New Scientist, 200[2678]:44-45, October 18-24.
Mounce, William D. (1993), Basics of Biblical Greek (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan).