Doctrinal Matters

You may have watched the Bill Nye vs. Ken Ham debate early this year.  If you didn't, it is available in its entirety online  here.   I hope you'll take the time to watch it.  During the debate, Bill Nye asserted that Bible-believing creationists cannot do good science.  He argued that a biblical worldview suppresses good science and therefore, if creationists persist in telling children that the Bible can be trusted when it speaks of the origin of the universe, the result will be that the United States will suffer and lag behind the rest of the world in our scientific progress.  His premise is that technological advances will come to a stand-still if would-be scientists allow that there may be a Creator. Ken Ham did an excellent job refuting that argument.  Ham showed video clips of well respected scientists and inventors who are biblical creationists; the debate audience could hear and see these scientists give testimony to their belief in six-d...

A few years ago I watched the news coverage of a flood in west Texas. The video showed a raging river that had overrun its banks.  The muddy, debris-filled water churned under and around a tree.  In the tree stood a man who had climbed into it to escape the flood. The picture is still vivid in my mind. The man was wearing blue jeans and a white t-shirt.  He stood on a limb and clung to the tree as the waters raged beneath him.  Time was running out. The river was rising by the minute and soon the tree that provided refuge for him would be swallowed up by the flood and the man would be lost. A rescue helicopter was dispatched and hovered above the tree.  The air movement created by its rotors kicked up waves beneath the tree and caused the man's white shirt to flap angrily around him.  A man descended on a cable from the helicopter.  He was wearing a uniform and helmet.  He was obviously a trained professional.  As the rescuer descended...

I was asked today whether I believed in the "power of the tongue".  The Christian who asked me this is from a charismatic background.  What she wanted to know is if I believe that we can speak negative things into existence in our lives.  Is it possible for me to create my own bad circumstances, i.e. cancer, sickness, tragedy, etc. by speaking them into existence?  She referenced the fact that God created the universe by simply speaking.  The implication is that words have power and, since we are created in God's image, our words have power also.  Since God's words can create, then we, His image-bearers, should also be able to create with our words.  We can literally speak things into existence, negative or positive.  This idea is called "positive/negative confession".  This is a heretical idea with no Scriptural support.  The Got Questions? website ( http://www.gotquestions.org/positive-confession.html ) has a good refutation of ...