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Friday, July 24, 2015

Mindsets A Set Mind

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about mindsets. This follows this post about abortion. This follows this post about evolution. For a free magazine subscription or to get the books recommended for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.
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Mindsets A Set Mind

by Robert Berendt 1 comment

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I am sure all of us have experienced meeting people with something so deeply etched in their minds that they find it virtually impossible to erase that impression. I know a woman who was caught under a wooden raft on a pond for a few minutes before being rescued. She developed paranoia of water. People have phobias about heights, snakes or spiders, the dark, a closed-in space, crowds of people and a whole list of other very real and debilitating fears. Paranoia is defined in Chamber’s Concise Dictionary as: “a form of mental disorder characterized by fixed delusions, esp. of grandeur, pride, persecution, intense fear or suspicion.”
Phobia is: “a fear, aversion or hatred, esp. morbid and irrational.” It is somewhat bewildering to see the tremendous grip such a fear has on the mind. We seem to develop a mindset towards things happening which frighten us and we do the same towards ideas and concepts impacting us in culture, education, etc.
The really frightening aspect of a fear so deep and so often not understood at all is that trying to correct the mind in this matter takes so much effort that people usually just learn to live with it. Worse yet, it seems if we do not tackle our fears and phobias, they only get worse. Often one fear induces another and another.
A person can be afraid of spiders and soon, it seems, he’ll avoid places where spiders might be, and even a spider’s web invokes the same terrified response. Years ago, a scientist named Pavlov wrote about his experiments with dogs. He would set up a series of lights or other effects and at the end of the series, a bit of food would drop out for a dog. The dog salivated as soon as he saw the food. It did not take long, however, before the dog began salivating as soon as one of the lights came on.
I was taken by surprise when I visited the home of a brother-in-law. The moment he stood up from his special comfortable chair, all the fish in his aquarium swam over against the glass. They were already anticipating food the moment he arose. My son’s family has a dog that gets fed once a day. On the odd occasion I have been in the home, I have broken off just a half of a dog’s milk biscuit from the box in the pantry. I do not go over terribly often, but now just as soon as the dog sees me coming, he greets me at the door and makes a bee-line for the pantry door, stands there with one paw in the air and looks only at the door. He has developed a mindset about me—and his mind is really set!
I have observed the pain many people carry with them from abuse they may have received as a child. An abusive teacher, for example, can turn a student off of education. An overly critical coach can hinder an athlete’s performance. Parents who constantly tell their children, “You are dumb,” or, “You will never amount to anything,” often instill an attitude that hampers a child for the rest of their lives. From those areas, we can only imagine the deep wounds that are left in children who are born with fetal-alcohol syndrome, drug addiction or other similar problems.
Abusive, alcoholic, violent or even absent parents all impact a child. Many people reach adult lives with thought patterns that are deeply ingrained and certainly not asked for. Some have no idea why they think and feel as they do. There are always reasons, but we cannot always find them—and even knowing the reasons does not always help in making things better.

Putting the past behind us

I am greatly encouraged when I read the statement Paul was inspired to write in 1 Corinthians 6:9-11: “Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites, nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners will inherit the kingdom of God. And such were some of you. But you were washed, but you were sanctified, but you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus and by the Spirit of our God.” The word “were” is vital in this sentence. Almighty God is able to erase and remove every painful fear that has been etched into our minds. He is able to heal us completely. He does not turn from those who are suffering, but His love leads us to have faith and trust in His forgiveness—and to leave the past behind us. We may not lose every painful memory or developed phobia, but He eases our load.
We all know through experience those fighting alcoholism must abstain from drinking any alcoholic beverages. They fight this battle on a day by day basis. It is a battle of the mind and certainly is not easy. I have come to realize how difficult it is for people who smoke to drop the habit. There are still far, far more difficult habits, emotions and actions that we may have to fight with. All of the categories Paul listed as not being allowed into the kingdom of God are present in our society. The word “were” indicates that a person is no longer in the grip of that “category.” It does not mean the battle against the mind and or the emotions is over—it only means that the person no longer fornicates, worships idols, commits adultery, etc. He or she has this under control.
In some extreme cases a person may have to live alone and avoid any situation compromising his struggle. Jesus made a strong point as to the value of our struggles when he said, “if your eye makes you sin, pluck it out. It is better for you to enter the kingdom of God with one eye, than having two eyes, to be cast into [Gehenna] fire” (Mark 9:47). C.S. Lewis wrote, “You cannot take all luggage with you on all journeys; on one journey even your right hand and your right eye may be among the things you have to leave behind.” Naturally, we know it is not the eye that makes us offend—it is our mind and our mindset.
It is that which may be deep within our minds and provides the thrust in certain directions. Mark does not mean to remove an eye—his words basically tell us to take whatever steps needed in order not to sin. We are not to remain in the categories to which the kingdom of God is barred. We cannot stay in them. We may have to fight the good fight every day—but it is worth it a thousand times over.

Changing the inner man

The battle or struggle is not going to be easy—but then the goal is worth far more than any effort we may need to expend. Added to our effort, God offers strength and help through His Holy Spirit. He does not do the work for us, but He is there to give us rest, direction and encouragement. What is being changed is the “inner man”—that which makes you the person you are. All of us—every human being who plans to enter into the kingdom of God one day needs to change anything and everything contrary to God. We need to “walk in newness of life” as we accept the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. That path is not easy for anyone, but you will have plenty of company.
After many trying times for David, at one point, he is overcome by the realization that things will turn out all right. Why? Because of God’s love for him. Psalm 103 expresses his deep feelings at understanding the depth of God’s forgiveness, patience and mercy.
There is one important point that we need to know. We need to want to change the habits or mindset that hurts us so and which confronts God. God gives us choices and He gives us help, but we need to want to change and we need to determine (with His help) to do whatever is needed. We need to learn about ourselves and seek the steps leading to freedom. Every one of us needs God in our lives and every one of us needs to conform our minds into the mind of Christ. We need a new mindset on which to set our minds. That focus ought to be on the kingdom of God. Make that real in your life.

Wednesday, July 22, 2015

Prove Evolution Is False - Even Without the Bible

An interesting article from http://www.ucg.org/ about evolution. This follows this post about a previous GOP primary. This follows this post about terrorism from the Koran. For a free magazine subscription or to get the books recommended for free click HERE! or call 1-888-886- 8632.
Please follow me here for continued posts.

Prove Evolution Is False - Even Without the Bible

by Mario Seiglie 103 comments

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Can we prove that evolution is false without using the Bible? Certainly we can! Evolution is a scientific theory that stands or falls on the physical evidence. In fact, one can be an atheist, a person who doesn’t believe in God, and still not believe in evolution!
Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution, as taught at school, is a biological explanation of how creatures have supposedly “evolved” or developed progressively through natural selection and variation (now known as mutation) over eons of time from the tiny cell to the largest creatures on earth today. What is taught in classrooms is not mere micro evolution—small changes within a species—but macro evolution, the change from one type of creature to another quite distinct life form.
What many evolutionists are trying to convince you of is that there is no need for a Creator since, as they say, evolution can substitute as the mechanism for creating and transforming life. They teach that life arose from non-life and evolved from simpler creatures to more complex life forms. In other words, the tiny cell eventually became an amoeba, then a lizard, then a monkey, and finally— you !
In order to remember key points that disprove Darwinian evolution—the “molecules to man” theory—we’ll use the acronym FALSE. (A few of these points also disprove the compromise of theistic evolution—the notion that God employed macroevolution over eons in forming the creatures we see on earth today.)

F for Fossils

A fossil is the preserved remains of a living thing. The fossil record around the earth extends an average of one mile deep. Below this level we come up with a blank slate as far as living, complex creatures are concerned.
I collect fossils of what are deemed the earliest type of complex creatures with hard bodies—trilobites. No previous ancestors of these arthropods have been found. Similar to some marine “bugs” we see today on the seashore that disappear into the sand when the waves retreat, trilobites had hard shells, all the basic organs, and complex eyes like those of flies, with hundreds of sophisticated lenses connected to the optic nerve going to the brain. Trilobite fossils are found around the earth, and in all cases the level of rock beneath them does not reveal other creatures with similar features.
As one source states: “The dominant life form was the now-extinct sea creature known as a trilobite, up to a foot long, with a distinctive head and tail, a body made up of several parts, and a complex respiratory system. But although there are many places on earth where 5,000 feet of sedimentary rock stretch unbroken and uniformly beneath the Cambrian [layer], not a single indisputable multi-celled fossil has been found there. It is ‘the enigma of paleontological [fossil studies] enigmas,’ according to Stephen Gould. Darwin himself said he could give ‘no satisfactory answer’ to why no fossils had been discovered. Today’s scientists are none the wiser” (Francis Hitching, The Neck of the Giraffe , 1982, pp. 26-27).
Question: If, after almost two centuries of digging beneath all the world’s continents, no previous ancestor of this first hard-bodied creature has been found, how then did the ubiquitous trilobite evolve? There should be some previous ancestor if evolution were true.
It’s like finding an exquisite watch on the seashore and yet never finding any previous primitive models of the watch on earth. If you reasoned as an evolutionist, you would deny there was a need for a watchmaker at all, maintaining that time, water, sand, minerals and actions of the elements are sufficient to producing a fully functional watch that runs. This is part of the reason it takes more faith to believe in evolution than in a Creator!
Further important evidence from the fossil record is the absence of transitional forms between species. Darwin was concerned that the thousands of intermediate stages between creatures needed to prove his theory were not in evidence, but he expected they would eventually be found. Yet those thousands of missing transitional forms are still missing!
Another reference explains: “If throughout past ages life was actually drifting over in one continual stream from one form to another, it is to be expected that as many samples of the intermediate stages between species should be discovered in fossil condition as of the species themselves … All should be in a state of flux. But these missing links are wanting. There are no fossils of creatures whose scales were changing into feathers or whose feet were changing into wings, no fossils of fish getting legs or of reptiles getting hair. The real task of the geological evolutionist is not to find ‘the’ missing link, as if there were only one. The task is to find those thousands upon thousands of missing links that connect the many fossil species with one another” (Byron Nelson, After Its Kind , 1970, pp. 60-62).
The absence of transitional forms is an insurmountable hurdle for theistic evolutionists as well. It also fits with our next point.

A for Assumption

When there is no real evidence, evolutionary scientists simply make assumptions.
If evolution were true, then where is the evidence of different types of animals now “evolving” into other types? Where is the evidence of cats, dogs and horses gradually turning into something else? We do see changes within species, but we do not see any changes into other species. And, as mentioned, we see no evidence of gradual change in the fossil record either. Yet evolutionists continue to assume that transitional forms must have existed.
In Darwin’s landmark book On the Origin of Species there are some 800 subjective clauses, with uncertainty repeatedly admitted instead of proof. Words such as “could,” “perhaps” and “possibly” plague the entire book.
Evolution is still called a theory—a possible explanation or assumption—because it is not testable according to the scientific method, as this would require thousands or millions of years. Evolutionists will counter that a theory is not a mere hypothesis but is a widely affirmed intellectual construct that generally appears to fit all the facts. Yet evolution in no way fits all the facts available. Evidence does not support it—and in many respects runs counter to it.

L for Life

The law of biogenesis as taught in biology class states that only life can produce life.
You’ve probably heard the famous question: Which came first, the chicken or the egg? It’s a real dilemma for an evolutionist to answer. An egg comes from a chicken, yet the chicken comes from an egg. How can there be one without the other?
To complicate matters even more, the chicken has to come from a fertilized egg that has the mixture of two different genetic strains from both its parents. So the problem of the origin of life and initial reproduction is still a mystery that evolutionary science cannot adequately answer.
Yet for someone who believes in special creation by a Creator, there is no dilemma here. First God made the male and female chickens, which produced the first fertilized egg—and the rest is history.

S for Symbiosis

When one living thing needs another different living thing to survive, it’s called a symbiotic relationship.
A good example of this is the relationship between bees and flowers. The bees need the nectar from some types of flowers to feed while these flowers need bees to pollinate them. Both depend on each other to exist and survive. The question for evolutionists is: How did these plants exist without the bees, and how did the bees exist without these plants?
Again, atheistic scientists are stumped. Theistic evolutionists are perplexed as well. Yet if you believe in a Creator who specially created the various forms of life on earth, the answer is simple—both were created at about the same time.

E for Engineering

All living things are exquisitely engineered or designed. Qualitatively, a bacterium is as majestically built for its purpose as a human body is for its function. Yet evolution says it’s only an illusion of design—that there is no real designer behind it. Reality is not an illusion! Living things are multi-functional, which means they do many complex things at the same time, something evolution with its step-by-step process has never been able to demonstrate.
One example of a living thing with exquisite engineering is the tree. It provides breathable oxygen for us while processing carbon dioxide, which would in high amounts in the air be toxic to us. It supplies wood, housing for birds, roots to limit erosion, fruit and seeds to eat, is biodegradable and gives shade. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, “A healthy tree provides a cooling effect that is equivalent to 10 room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day.” How could something so complex arise from a random, undirected evolutionary process?
Again, you need more “faith” to believe in blind evolution than in an all-knowing Creator who designed the marvelous tree in the first place.
Now you have five proofs that evolution is F-A-L-S-E and that special creation is true—and we didn’t even use the Bible. Remember the acronym FALSE when you read or hear about evolution—and do take time to read our Creator’s great book of truth! It has much to say regarding origins.

brianlee

Friday, July 24, 2015