Newsletter 90.

Newsletter 90 from Maurice Sweetsur

 

 

Contents.

 

T.T. 60 - God's Diary.

T.T. 61 - How old is the earth?

Why do vast numbers of teens leave the church?

Prayers from children.

 

God's Diary.

 

Diaries can be very useful. We can use them to record things we have done that we might like to remember, or as a way to remind us of future important dates like birthdays or holidays. We would all agree, however, that some events in our lives are more important than others. I think that is also true for God. I think that if He had a diary, six events would stand out as being the most important of all in his relationship with us. By talking about these, we can give a summary of the entire Bible message.

 

As you talk about each event, you could show a simple 6-page book, entitled "God's Diary, each page having the name of that particular event written on it.

 

1. Creation. In the beginning God spoke and the earth was formed. (You could illustrate this with a thumb tip (Object Lesson 77, Newsletter 89). The earth was perfect, and people were God's greatest creations made in His own image and for friendship with him. But the very first people disobeyed God, and that act resulted in sin coming into the world and spoiling it all.

 

2. God became a man. God still loved the people of the world, and so He became a man Himself. We called him Jesus. By doing this, God was able to more fully reveal his nature to us and demonstrate how passionately He loves us. While Jesus was here on earth, he was totally human. For example, he could only be in one place at a time and got tired, hungry, thirsty, etc, just like us. He was still God, but left his divine (Godly) qualities behind in heaven. Jesus did heal the sick and perform miracles, but through the power of the Holy Spirit (See Newsletter 80 - "Can Christians perform miracles?). 

 

3.He died for us. Jesus didn't die of a disease, accident or old age. No. He died as our Substitute. He allowed Himself to be crucified by wicked men so that He could pay the price for our sins by being punished instead of us. (You could illustrate this by telling the story of the Judge and his friend "A free pardon", Newsletter 41).

 

4. He rose again. On the third day, Jesus rose victorious from the dead, demonstrating that He had beaten the power of death, sin, sickness and every form of evil. The good news is, He didn't do it for himself. He did it for us, and invites us to share in His victory.

 

The difference between Christianity and other religions is that our Leader is alive! Moslems or Buddhists, for example, could take you to the graves of their leaders and tell you that great or good as they were, their bones ore now rotting away under the ground. On the other hand, Christians could take you to a cave just outside Jerusalem and say "Our leader, Jesus died and his body was placed in that cave. But He is not there now. He rose from the dead and is alive for evermore!"

 

5. He returned to heaven. Six weeks after he rose from the dead, Jesus returned to heaven. That's where he is now, praying for us and preparing a home for us. However, He still works through His followers to carry on his work of defeating evil and making this earth perfect once more. The good news is that in this war against evil, WE WIN - because the decisive battle has already been fought and won by Jesus when He rose from the dead.

 

6. He is coming back again. This is the only one of the six major events in "God's Diary" that is still to happen. But as God knows the future and always keeps His promises, it is just as certain to take place as the first five. One day, Jesus will return to earth for all his followers. He will instantly change us by giving us a new spiritual, everlasting, body that will never get hungry, thirsty, tired, sick, etc. And then He will take us to be with Him in heaven for ever. What a wonderful future we have to look forward to!

 

Expiry date.

 

Just as our diaries have an expiry date on them (Usually December 31st.), so does God's. One day, God will say "Time up" and the world as we know it will come to an end. That is why it is so important to make sure that we are trusting in Jesus, and to tell others that God offers them a free pardon and eternal life through Jesus Christ. (You could conclude the lesson by telling the story of George Wilson, and how a free pardon must be accepted, Newsletter 36).

 

 

How old is the earth?

The only way that anyone could know the age of the earth would be if they were present when it was being formed. As only the Creator Himself was present, He is the only one who could tell you when He made it. Although the Bible doesn't tell us exactly when the earth was created, by a careful reading of its recorded events and time spans between them, we can conclude that the earth is about 6,000 years old. It may possibly be slightly older than this, but not by much.

Contrary to what some people believe, Science cannot tell us how old the earth is This is because scientific experiments can only be performed in the present, and not the past. Therefore, as no human was present when the earth was first formed, we cannot look to any human to give us a definitive answer.

There are, however, numerous ways in which people can try to estimate the age of the earth. (For a more detailed revue, see the Creation Ministries International web site).These estimates vary from just a few thousand years (which are close to the age derived from the Biblical record) to about five billion years! However, all these methods depend upon many assumptions, mainly that the change processes that we can presently observe happening on the earth having always occurred at the same rate. No-one can know this.

The fact that different methods of estimating the earth's age, and indeed different scientific laboratories using the same method, come up with very different answers, suggest that conditions on the earth have not always been the same and demonstrate how unreliable such findings are.

Which earth age-estimation methods a person chooses to believe will depend on their world view. Biblical Christians will obviously accept the "young earth" estimates, whereas Evolutionists will choose to accept the "old earth" estimates. That is because for evolution to be even remotely possible it would require aeons of time for all the necessary changes to take place as we evolved from chemicals to a living single cell, and then into man, not to mention all the many different life forms we find today.

Most of these methods actually conclude that the earth is "young", usually giving values of between about 5,000 to 1 million years. The only earth age-estimation methods that give answers of billions of years are the radiometric dating methods in which the rate at which one type of chemical element is changed into another is measured. For example, if we know that element A in the earth is slowly changing to element B, then by measuring the present rate of change, and the amount of A and B presently in the sample, we can calculate how long the process has been occurring, and thus how long ago it was first formed. However, apart from assuming that the rate of change has always been constant, we need to assume that there was no "B" present at the beginning, and also that no "B" was leached out of the sample over the supposed billions of years that this was taking place. This no-one can possibly know!

Does it really matter whether we believe that the earth is "young" or "old"?

I believe it does because if we doubt the accuracy of the very first part of the Bible, what justification have we foe believing other parts of it, such as when it talks about the resurrection of Jesus and the means of obtaining eternal life through Him?

Why do vast numbers of teens leave the church?

I am sure that we are all concerned about this. The following thought-provoking article, which was recently published on the Creation Ministries International web site, attempts to answer this question.

 

What percentage is acceptable to you?

by Scott Gillis

The average Christian family prays at the dinner table. They go to church together and the children are in Sunday school. Maybe they read Bible stories at bedtime and pray together when the children are tucked in. The children go to Christian camps each year, attend the youth group each week, and the family even attends the mid-week service at church. This is an active Christian family.

Whose youth are leaving the church?

You have likely heard the statistics, such as 2/3 of children raised in Christian homes are leaving the church and other ‘studies’ claiming a rate of exodus as high as 88%. Regardless of the accuracy of these statistics, few Christians would deny the alarming departure rate they have witnessed not only in their churches, but in their own families. Yet the ‘active’ Christian families described above are exactly the ones that are dealing with the heart-wrenching loss of their young adult children departing the faith. And most times the parents are oblivious as to why this has happened.
So, here’s the rub. Are these statistics just about “somebody else’s” children? If this portrait reflects reality across the wider church, what percentage would be acceptable to you and your family? Would even 25% be acceptable?
When CMI speakers are on the road, it is common after the presentation for a Mom or Dad to approach us with a painful expression and tell us about how one, or more, of their children are part of the youth exodus statistics mentioned in our talks. It’s quite sobering to discuss. Even though this abandonment of faith comes as a surprise to many parents, it’s actually easier to understand when you consider what happens even before they leave the nest.
Many parents might think that college or other influences their children encounter when they leave home are the main culprits in this scenario. However, the process of this waning faith starts long before that, often times undetected by parents. Barna research says 2 out of 3 have already made their minds up before they leave home. And one of the major reasons is that all we ever hear is the evolutionary story of billions of years of deep time being presented as an accepted and irrefutable ‘fact’ of science. Whether TV programs, textbooks, magazines, school, books, documentaries, even Saturday morning cartoons, our children are saturated with a story that directly opposes the “Bible stories” they hear in church. The take home message the children actually hear is “The Bible is not true!” And the solution can’t merely be more “Bible stories”, church time, camps and youth groups to somehow drown out that worldly challenge. You see, our children are smart. If the science teacher presents the evolutionary story as the real history of the world supported by ‘science’, what would you reasonably expect if they are not adequately presented with the alternative explanation that better accounts for the facts and science supporting the Bible’s historical record? Unfortunately, this very important aspect in defending our faith is absent from the teaching presented in most churches and thus most homes.

The solution

So what can a parent do? We get constant reports that when a person is equipped with "Creation Magazine", our "Fundamental resources" and a consistent diet of our Bible-affirming resources", not only is their faith built up, but they become confident with a defense against the onslaught of evolutionary ideas. However, it might surprise you to learn that the best course of action is not for a parent to provide their children these resources. You see, while our children live under our roof, parents are the biggest influences in their lives. When parents commit to equip, even saturate themselves with those defenses that stand up against that ever-present challenge, then day by day they are able to pepper their children’s lives with consistent truth. As parents handle the truth and their children’s questions consistently, they will be able to discern how evolution is a counterfeit substitution of the truth.

The authority of the Bible trumps evolution

Yes, these statistics show how vitally important and powerful it is that we address this issue head on within our families. However, as you can see, this is not a matter of accumulating facts and evidence. Despite the consistent droning message of being told that ‘science’ has proven the Bible is wrong, it truly boils down to whether that authority trumps our faith, or if our ultimate authority comes from the Word of God.
So pray, go to church, study the Bible with your family, but today, commit to equip yourself and your family with the truth that will stand the challenges that we all face.

 

Prayers from children.

Dear God, please put another holiday between Christmas and Easter. There is nothing good in there now.  
Amanda

Dear God, thank you for the baby brother but what I asked for was a puppy. I never asked for anything before. You can look it up.  
Joyce

Dear Mr. God, I wish you would not make it so easy for people to come apart I had to have 3 stitches and a shot.  
Janet

God, I read the Bible. What does beget mean? Nobody will tell me.
Love Alison

Dear God, how did you know you were God? Who told you?  
Charlene

Dear God, is it true my father won't get in Heaven if he uses his golf words in the house?  
Anita

Dear God,
I bet it's very hard for you to love all of everybody in the whole world. There are only 4 people in our family and I can never do it.  
Nancy

Dear God, I like the story about Noah the best of all of them. You really made up some good ones. I like walking on water, too.  
Glenn

Dear God, my grandpa says you were around when he was a little boy. How far back do you go?  
Love, Dennis

Dear God, do you draw the lines around the countries? If you don't, who does?  
Nathan

Dear God, did you mean for giraffes to look like that or was it an accident?  
Norma

Dear God, in Bible times, did they really talk that fancy?
Jennifer

Dear God, how come you did all those miracles in the old days and don't do any now?  
Billy

Dear God, please send Dennis Clark to a different summer camp this year.  
Peter

Dear God, maybe Cain and Abel would not kill each other so much if they each had their own rooms.  It works out okay with me and my brother.
Larry

Dear God, I keep waiting for spring, but it never did come yet. What's up?  Don't forget.  
Mark

Dear God, my brother told me about how you are born but it just doesn't sound right. What do you say?  
Marsha

Dear God, if you watch in church on Sunday, I will show you my new shoes.  
Barbara

Dear God, I do not think anybody could be a better God than you. Well, I just want you to know that. I am not just saying that because you are already God.  
Charles

Dear God, I am doing the best I can. Really!!!
Frank

Dear God, I didn't think orange went with purple until I saw the sunset you made on Tuesday night. That was really cool.  
Thomas

[forwarded by Adon Brownell]