I just wanted to write a short article tonight thanking everyone for coming out and supporting Colton tonight and that your presence brought glory and honor to our God tonight. The debate was amazing in case everyone was wondering. Colton did an absolutely amazing job defending God, Creation, and the Bible. Colton's preparation is to be commended and appreciated. God was truly glorified tonight and the brotherhood strengthened. I know I was encouraged and learned from the event as I hope you were.
I know personally that I will be writing several articles on the debate for the next couple of posts because there is just so much to talk about and discuss in further detail. I look forward to writing on the debate because there was only so much time allowed for Colton and Sean to discuss. If you have any specific topic from the debate discussed, please let us know on the fan page or leave a comment on this article.
1 Peter 3:15 - But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;
Thank you Colton for setting for us an excellent example of fulfilling this verse.
Showing posts with label defense. Show all posts
Showing posts with label defense. Show all posts
Tuesday, April 20, 2010
Friday, April 16, 2010
Why Defend God and the Bible
With Colton’s upcoming debate, I believe this topic is worth thinking about in this article. Tuesday April 20, Colton is taking his Stand against the faith atheist have in the theory of atheistic Darwinian evolution. In the remaining few days before the debate, please continue to pray for God’s blessings upon this event and that His name may be glorified. Please continue to encourage Colton and let him know you are behind him in his Stand for our God.
So, why should we defend God and the Bible against an atheist and skeptics? First and foremost, we should make a defense to protect and glorify the name of our God. Atheistic Darwinian evolution teaches that we are the byproducts of an accidental and mindless process, there is no meaning to life, no objective standard of morality, and there is no God. This theory is taught in public schools as fact to young children up into the college level of biology education with no opportunity to explore another story with verifiable scientific claims which portrays man as much more than an ancestor of primordial slime. Tuesday April 20, Colton is taking The Stand against this false theory and defending the God of the Bible. We should always be ready and willing to do the same. There is a wealth of evidence and material readily available to study and prepare to make a defense against this false theory. If a person were to come to you asking, “Why do you believe in the God of the Bible in light of the theory of evolution?” how would you respond? Would you be able to defend your faith and bring glory to the God you love and serve? If not, there is no better time than now to be prepared and defend God’s glory against those who deny our God’s power and majesty.
So, why should we defend God and the Bible against those who teach false doctrine? I will allow the Word of God answer this question for me. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 – and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Galatians 1:9 – As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 1 Corinthians 1:10 – Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
From these few passages, we can see it is of the utmost importance that we defend God and the Bible against those who teach false doctrines. First, if we listen to God through His word, we will be wise for salvation through faith and be able to teach the inspired word of God which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction. Second, those who teach false doctrines or other gospels contrary to the gospel of Christ are accursed by their teaching. We are to teach them the more perfect way of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Next, Paul through the inspiration of God desires for us to all live in perfect unity in the same mind and the same judgment. The church of Jesus Christ is to follow the commandments of God and live as one in the unity of the spirit just as Jesus prayed in the Lord’s prayer in John 17. Finally, it is sad to imagine a person who honestly and sincerely professed the name of Jesus Christ during their lives here upon this earth, but they taught a gospel and doctrine contrary to the words of Christ their Judge. Through the Word of God, we can correct the false teaching and save their souls.
God has entrusted us to teach accurately His message and defend it when necessary. I will close this out with three more passages from Scripture.
1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”
Colossians 4:6 – Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
So, why should we defend God and the Bible against an atheist and skeptics? First and foremost, we should make a defense to protect and glorify the name of our God. Atheistic Darwinian evolution teaches that we are the byproducts of an accidental and mindless process, there is no meaning to life, no objective standard of morality, and there is no God. This theory is taught in public schools as fact to young children up into the college level of biology education with no opportunity to explore another story with verifiable scientific claims which portrays man as much more than an ancestor of primordial slime. Tuesday April 20, Colton is taking The Stand against this false theory and defending the God of the Bible. We should always be ready and willing to do the same. There is a wealth of evidence and material readily available to study and prepare to make a defense against this false theory. If a person were to come to you asking, “Why do you believe in the God of the Bible in light of the theory of evolution?” how would you respond? Would you be able to defend your faith and bring glory to the God you love and serve? If not, there is no better time than now to be prepared and defend God’s glory against those who deny our God’s power and majesty.
So, why should we defend God and the Bible against those who teach false doctrine? I will allow the Word of God answer this question for me. 2 Timothy 3:15-17 – and that from childhood you have known the Holy Scriptures, which are able to make you wise for salvation through faith which is in Christ Jesus. All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work. Galatians 1:9 – As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed. 1 Corinthians 1:10 – Now I plead with you, brethren, by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you speak the same thing, and that there be no divisions among you, but that you be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Matthew 7:21-23 – “Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ shall enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to Me in that day, ‘Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, cast out demons in Your name, and done many wonders in Your name?’ And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness!’”
From these few passages, we can see it is of the utmost importance that we defend God and the Bible against those who teach false doctrines. First, if we listen to God through His word, we will be wise for salvation through faith and be able to teach the inspired word of God which is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, and for correction. Second, those who teach false doctrines or other gospels contrary to the gospel of Christ are accursed by their teaching. We are to teach them the more perfect way of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Next, Paul through the inspiration of God desires for us to all live in perfect unity in the same mind and the same judgment. The church of Jesus Christ is to follow the commandments of God and live as one in the unity of the spirit just as Jesus prayed in the Lord’s prayer in John 17. Finally, it is sad to imagine a person who honestly and sincerely professed the name of Jesus Christ during their lives here upon this earth, but they taught a gospel and doctrine contrary to the words of Christ their Judge. Through the Word of God, we can correct the false teaching and save their souls.
God has entrusted us to teach accurately His message and defend it when necessary. I will close this out with three more passages from Scripture.
1 Peter 3:15 – But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear;”
Colossians 4:6 – Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
Ecclesiastes 12:13 – Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God and keep His commandments, for this is man’s all.
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Response to Planter's Comment on Christian Unity
This is a response to a comment made by Planter on Colton’s post titled Christian Unity. I apologize for the length, but I simply desired to answer this response and supplement Colton’s comments on this topic. The quotation below is one comment I would like to respond to made by Planter. Planter I would love to continue this study if you read this because your quotation below is disturbing in my opinion.
“Paul is not saying in Ephesians that there are multiple groups out there claiming to be churches and that you have to some how figure out out which one is the right one.” – Planter
Quickly in Eph 4:1-3, why does Paul have to remind the Christians at Ephesus to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” if everything is in perfect harmony at Ephesus? The rest of this response will continue with points relating to the question here taking passages from Ephesians and other texts from Scripture.
Let us look at other examples of this because this problem goes beyond singling out the church members at Ephesus. Let us examine Galatians 1:6-9. In Galatia, there were certainly “multiple groups out there claiming to be ‘other’ churches” and leading astray some of the members of the church in Galatia. Paul says in vss. 6-9, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you let, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Obviously, some men are going around Galatia spreading a new “gospel” leading astray members of the church in Galatia. This problem is becoming so bad Paul has to write a letter to the church of Galatia to help them “figure out which one is the right one.” Why? If they are a part of a false church, Paul knows that they will be accursed. If being a part of the right church is not important, why would Paul write to the Galatians warning them of false teachers? We have to be a member of the church Jesus established and not some man-made falsehood. The right one (church) is very important.
Now back to Ephesians. In the church of Ephesus, some of these same problems from without or within the church are perhaps the exact reasons for Paul reminding to the members that there is only one body or one church. In Eph 4:4, Paul said, “there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.” Our one Lord, Jesus Christ, came to this earth to save us from our sins. The one faith is grounded in the teachings of Christ and the inspired writers of the NT. The one baptism is where we receive the forgiveness of sins and are added to the one body or one church of Jesus Christ.
On to Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. In First Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul is pleading with the members at Colossae to speak the same things, let there be no divisions among them, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Paul learns from Chloe’s household that there are some serious divisions among some of the members of the church. Some were saying, “I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am of Christ.” Then Paul asked one of the most profound set of questions I think in the NT when he said, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Obviously these are all rhetoric questions with the answer of no, no, and no. However, the Corinthians were also struggling with this same issue of unity as the Ephesians. The divisions are so bad Paul has to write this letter to clear up who the people are to follow. Paul wrote instructing them to live in unity and that Christ is not divided, Christ was crucified, and they were baptized in the name of Christ. Divisions in the church cause nothing but problems and will inhibit the church from growing and spreading the gospel.
If not searching out or finding the right church is not essential, then why does it matter if the Corinthian church is divided? Think of this illustration. There is a circle of church’s and in the center of this circle is Jesus. Few examples of beliefs, one church teaches that baptism is essential for salvation, babies ought not to be baptized, and musical instruments should not be used in worship. Another church teaches that baptism is to be done because of salvation, babies ought not to be baptized, and musical instruments may be used in worship. The third church teaches that baptism is not essential for salvation in any way, babies ought to be baptized in dedication, and musical instruments may be used in worship. We have three completely set of beliefs concerning issues and salvation. The question is which church does Jesus agree with? All have conflicting beliefs so Jesus cannot agree with one without contradicting Himself with another set of beliefs. As Paul asked, “Is Christ divided?” If it does not matter which church we are a part of, why does Paul constantly write to churches clearing up conflicting beliefs within the church and issues negatively affecting the church?
Back to the point of examining the Corinthians, let us now turn our attention to 1 Corinthians 12:13. In this part of the letter, Paul has been talking about spiritual gifts, love, and maintaining unity through diversity. Then in 1 Cor 12:13 Pauls writes, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” I find it interesting that Paul reminds the Corinthians just like the Ephesians the body is composed of Jews and Greeks as you said. As Colton pointed from Ephesians 1:22-23 (also see Colossians 1:24), the body is the church. The terms are used interchangeably here referring to the same thing. Similarly to Ephesians 4 Paul says by one spirit we are all baptized into one body (Eph 1:22-23 and Colossians 1:24 – body = church). The repetition of the number one should be noted in these passages. There is only one body or church. We are placed into the body or church through baptism whether we are Jews or Greeks. There is no longer a distinction between Jews and Greeks (or Gentiles).
Closing out. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” We can know the truth of the church, salvation, guidance for life, etc in the Word of God. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “…I will build my church…” Notice the word church is singular. Jesus purchased His church with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and the one church where the truth can be found and should be a part of. Luke records in Acts 17:11 that the people of Berea received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. If being a part of the right church is not important, why would the people of Berea be concerned with searching the Scriptures to see if what the people said were so? 2 Peter 2:1-2 warns of false prophets among members in the church. Why should we be concerned with false prophets among the brethren if it does not matter if we are in the right church? In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Why should we use God’s Word to correct others teaching something concerning the church if it does not matter that we are in the right church? In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Why should we be ready to give a defense for the beliefs of the church and its teachings if it does not matter if we are in the right church?
According to Scripture, it is of the utmost importance that an individual is in the right church. Jesus died for the church He described in Matthew 16:18 and established in Acts 2. The right church can be found and is described in Scripture.
- Tyler Alexander
“Paul is not saying in Ephesians that there are multiple groups out there claiming to be churches and that you have to some how figure out out which one is the right one.” – Planter
Quickly in Eph 4:1-3, why does Paul have to remind the Christians at Ephesus to “endeavor to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace” if everything is in perfect harmony at Ephesus? The rest of this response will continue with points relating to the question here taking passages from Ephesians and other texts from Scripture.
Let us look at other examples of this because this problem goes beyond singling out the church members at Ephesus. Let us examine Galatians 1:6-9. In Galatia, there were certainly “multiple groups out there claiming to be ‘other’ churches” and leading astray some of the members of the church in Galatia. Paul says in vss. 6-9, “I marvel that you are turning away so soon from Him who called you in the grace of Christ, to a different gospel, which is not another; but there are some who trouble you and want to pervert the gospel of Christ. But even if we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel to you than what we have preached to you let, let him be accursed. As we have said before, so now I say again, if anyone preaches any other gospel to you than what you have received, let him be accursed.” Obviously, some men are going around Galatia spreading a new “gospel” leading astray members of the church in Galatia. This problem is becoming so bad Paul has to write a letter to the church of Galatia to help them “figure out which one is the right one.” Why? If they are a part of a false church, Paul knows that they will be accursed. If being a part of the right church is not important, why would Paul write to the Galatians warning them of false teachers? We have to be a member of the church Jesus established and not some man-made falsehood. The right one (church) is very important.
Now back to Ephesians. In the church of Ephesus, some of these same problems from without or within the church are perhaps the exact reasons for Paul reminding to the members that there is only one body or one church. In Eph 4:4, Paul said, “there is one Lord, one faith, and one baptism.” Our one Lord, Jesus Christ, came to this earth to save us from our sins. The one faith is grounded in the teachings of Christ and the inspired writers of the NT. The one baptism is where we receive the forgiveness of sins and are added to the one body or one church of Jesus Christ.
On to Paul’s First Letter to the Corinthians. In First Corinthians 1:10-17, Paul is pleading with the members at Colossae to speak the same things, let there be no divisions among them, and be perfectly joined together in the same mind and in the same judgment. Paul learns from Chloe’s household that there are some serious divisions among some of the members of the church. Some were saying, “I am of Paul,” “I am of Apollos,” “I am of Cephas (Peter),” or “I am of Christ.” Then Paul asked one of the most profound set of questions I think in the NT when he said, “Is Christ divided? Was Paul crucified for you? Or were you baptized in the name of Paul?” Obviously these are all rhetoric questions with the answer of no, no, and no. However, the Corinthians were also struggling with this same issue of unity as the Ephesians. The divisions are so bad Paul has to write this letter to clear up who the people are to follow. Paul wrote instructing them to live in unity and that Christ is not divided, Christ was crucified, and they were baptized in the name of Christ. Divisions in the church cause nothing but problems and will inhibit the church from growing and spreading the gospel.
If not searching out or finding the right church is not essential, then why does it matter if the Corinthian church is divided? Think of this illustration. There is a circle of church’s and in the center of this circle is Jesus. Few examples of beliefs, one church teaches that baptism is essential for salvation, babies ought not to be baptized, and musical instruments should not be used in worship. Another church teaches that baptism is to be done because of salvation, babies ought not to be baptized, and musical instruments may be used in worship. The third church teaches that baptism is not essential for salvation in any way, babies ought to be baptized in dedication, and musical instruments may be used in worship. We have three completely set of beliefs concerning issues and salvation. The question is which church does Jesus agree with? All have conflicting beliefs so Jesus cannot agree with one without contradicting Himself with another set of beliefs. As Paul asked, “Is Christ divided?” If it does not matter which church we are a part of, why does Paul constantly write to churches clearing up conflicting beliefs within the church and issues negatively affecting the church?
Back to the point of examining the Corinthians, let us now turn our attention to 1 Corinthians 12:13. In this part of the letter, Paul has been talking about spiritual gifts, love, and maintaining unity through diversity. Then in 1 Cor 12:13 Pauls writes, “For by one Spirit we were all baptized into one body—whether Jews or Greeks, whether slaves or free—and have all been made to drink into one Spirit.” I find it interesting that Paul reminds the Corinthians just like the Ephesians the body is composed of Jews and Greeks as you said. As Colton pointed from Ephesians 1:22-23 (also see Colossians 1:24), the body is the church. The terms are used interchangeably here referring to the same thing. Similarly to Ephesians 4 Paul says by one spirit we are all baptized into one body (Eph 1:22-23 and Colossians 1:24 – body = church). The repetition of the number one should be noted in these passages. There is only one body or church. We are placed into the body or church through baptism whether we are Jews or Greeks. There is no longer a distinction between Jews and Greeks (or Gentiles).
Closing out. In John 8:32, Jesus said, “And you shall know the truth, and the truth shall set you free.” We can know the truth of the church, salvation, guidance for life, etc in the Word of God. In Matthew 16:18, Jesus said, “…I will build my church…” Notice the word church is singular. Jesus purchased His church with His own blood (Acts 20:28), and the one church where the truth can be found and should be a part of. Luke records in Acts 17:11 that the people of Berea received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so. If being a part of the right church is not important, why would the people of Berea be concerned with searching the Scriptures to see if what the people said were so? 2 Peter 2:1-2 warns of false prophets among members in the church. Why should we be concerned with false prophets among the brethren if it does not matter if we are in the right church? In 2 Timothy 3:16, Paul says, “All Scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness.” Why should we use God’s Word to correct others teaching something concerning the church if it does not matter that we are in the right church? In 1 Peter 3:15, Peter says, “But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts, and always be ready to give a defense to everyone who asks you a reason for the hope that is in you, with meekness and fear.” Why should we be ready to give a defense for the beliefs of the church and its teachings if it does not matter if we are in the right church?
According to Scripture, it is of the utmost importance that an individual is in the right church. Jesus died for the church He described in Matthew 16:18 and established in Acts 2. The right church can be found and is described in Scripture.
- Tyler Alexander
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
Why Do I Believe in God?
Why do I believe in God? I remember the very first time I asked myself that question. I was around twelve years old, laying in bed late at night, and the thought just hit me. I mean, my parents have always told me that there was a God, but how could I know for sure? How could I know that they weren't mistaken? I had never heard any good reason to believe in God outside of the bible. God had never talked to me. I had asked God to let me see a miracle so that I could believe, but he never did. As far as I was concerned, there wasn't one good reason for me to believe in God, or anything supernatural for that matter. It was a very scary thought. I didn't like it. But it was there, and I couldn't get rid of it.
I struggled with that thought for years. When I was sixteen, I finally put the thought behind me. I was at a christian youth camp (Camp Wiregrass) when I finally decided that there just had to be a God. I saw so many young people worshiping God with all their hearts. I could feel the emotion for myself, and I just knew that this "God thing" had to be legit. I was baptized into Christ later that year for the remission of my sins, and I put all my worry and doubt of God's existence behind me for good. Or so I thought.
It wasn't until after I graduated from high school and was getting prepared to start my adult life when the question struck me again. Why do I believe in God? The doubt had taken its a game to a whole new level. Now I was old enough to understand the theory of Evolution, and that most scientists believed it to be a fact. Now I understood that there are many other religions out in the world, and that the followers of those religions believe that there religion is true, just like I do. What gave me the right to believe that I was right and they were wrong? What really hit me the hardest, was the matter of Hell. I knew what God commanded us to do in order to go to Heaven, and based off my own personal observations, I came to the conclusion that about 9 out of 10 people, including many of my loved ones, weren't living the way God had commanded. Did this mean that around 90 percent of people on earth, including people I loved dearly, were going to Hell? I just didn't want to believe that. As a matter of fact, I refused to believe that. If God loved us so much, why would he allow that to happen? What gave God the right to send so many people, including some who I would consider to be really good people, to an eternity of torment? These are the kinds of questions that I could not seem to get out of my head, and once again, my faith had been rattled.
I finally decided that it was time for me to make a decision. I wasn't going to play the fence any longer. Was I going to believe in the God of the Bible or not? I started investigating for myself. I wasn't to going to shy away from things like evolution anymore. I was going to study it, with an open mind, and see what kind of facts that it really had. I was going to do more in depth studies of the bible to see if it really would prevail as the inspired word of God. I was going to take to look at history to see if the bible's accounts of Jesus really were true. So what did I find?
In all the research that I have done, I have come away with the conclusion that the God of the bible is the one true God. I don't understand how anyone who has taken a look at all the evidence could come away with anything else. Over the next few weeks, I am going to be answering the question, "Why do I believe in God?". I am going to discuss why evolution is a theory and not a fact, and I am going to inform you why some of your science text books lie to you. I am also going to talk about how we know that Jesus Christ really did live on this earth 2,000 years ago, and how we can know for sure that the bible is 100 percent accurate. The goal of this discussion is to help you grow in your faith, and to better equip you to defend the reason for what you believe in (1 Peter 3:15). I am going to do my best to explain these topics in a way that a college or high school student can really understand. If you would like to study these topics on your own at a higher level, I would suggest that you visit www.apologeticspress.org. If you have any questions or comments, please let me know, and I will do my best to answer them. - Colton
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