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Will you spend eternity together?

1/18/2021

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Is there any human bond more significant than the mother-child relationship? I don’t believe so, and I’ll bet most people would agree.  
 
If you’re among them, here’s the big question: will you enjoy that relationship for all eternity?
 
There’s only one way to be sure, whatever our culture may be trying to teach us.  And that’s repenting and trusting in Jesus Christ’s full payment for our sins on the cross.
 
I have no doubt that this is true. Back in 2000, faced with the death of my own Christian mother, I investigated the two most important questions a human being can ask: Is there a God? And if so, which one’s the real deal?
 
The first one turned out to be easy. Anyone who questions the existence of God is either not paying attention, or is as “willfully ignorant” as I was for most of my adult life. In either case, he or she is more interested in his or her own thinking than in overarching truth.
 
The second question – which God? – was tougher. I did not head straight for Christianity, figuring that it was too restrictive, too intolerant, too blasé for my exotic tastes. So I looked into every other major religion first, searching for the “everyone’s welcome” truth that would put me on a path to joining my mother forever.
 
Except that I came up empty. I found no evidence of truth in the world’s “anything but Christianity” religions – not in Islam, or Hinduism, or Buddhism, or the Baha’i faith, or the New Age, or any of the major offshoots of these worldviews.
 
So at last I turned to Christianity. Since I was looking for proof, and had nothing but books to guide my search, I naturally turned to the Bible.

​And was blown away by what I discovered in its pages.
 
My memoir Heaven Without Her details this journey in what author Mark Buchanan called “a wonder of storytelling and a testament of grace.” There are a number of excellent Christian apologetics books available today (some described in my bibliography). But if you are not absolutely sure of your eternal destination, or your mother’s or child's, Heaven Without Her may be the perfect book for you to read and share this Mother’s Day. I hope you’ll check it out soon.

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Guest post: Why God sometimes delays answering our prayers

1/6/2021

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By Marsha Headley
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HERE’S HOPE: Why does God delay when we pray? None of us fully understands this mystery, but here are some observations to consider.
 
Delay causes evil doers to become over-confident so God can position them for greater defeat. Remember Pharaoh and the army of Egypt that drowned in the Red Sea?
 
Delay removes all possible saviors and solutions but God Himself for a greater finale. Remember how Jesus waited until both Jairus’ daughter and Lazarus were dead before arriving on the scene?
 
Delay increases our trust in God. It forces us to develop our faith "muscles." Remember how the walls of Jericho did not fall until the 7th day of marching and the 7th time around?
 
Delay thins out the crowd. It causes the faithful to become clearly evident. Remember how God diminished Gideon’s army before the victory could be accomplished?
 
God’s ways and thoughts are higher than our own. Regardless of what you are facing, though God delays, let us not lose heart or cease crying out to Him.
 
Here’s why—-“And will not God give justice to his elect, who cry to him day and night? Will he delay long over them? I tell you, he will give justice to them speedily. Nevertheless, when the Son of Man comes, will he find faith on earth?” (Luke 18:7-8 ESV)
 
MAY HE FIND US FAITHFUL! “And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint.” (Luke 18:1 KJV)

​Marsha Headley is author of Prayer Dynamics, a 31-day Prayer Journey, and co-author of Decisions of Destiny.

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An open letter to a professing Christian

12/24/2020

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Dear professing Christian,
 
Once again, you have tried to set me straight on the character of God. You have let me know that He is nothing but love; that He adores just about everyone, regardless of belief or lifestyle, because after all He made each of us just the way we are; and that your take on Him is uniquely valid, because He told you these things personally, as opposed to those of us who believe that ancient and obsolete tome known as the Bible.  
 
And that, as usual, is the end of the conversation. You have no interest in discussing the matter further.  
 
Which makes me really sad, because it makes God sad. It is His will, you see, for “all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Timothy 2:4). He is in fact “longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
 
But I know this is irrelevant to you, as a scripture-free theologian. So let's instead delve more deeply into your worldview.  How do you answer questions like these? 

  • Why is there suffering in the world? Is this God of yours unaware of it, not being truly omniscient? Is He unconcerned about it, not really being love? Or is He incapable of stopping it, being a power or two short of true omnipotence?
 
  • If the Bible’s moral dictates can be safely ignored, then who decides what’s right and what’s wrong? You? Your friends? Your political allies and heroes? Or is it just a subjective free-for-all, wherein we each get to decide for ourselves what’s right or wrong based on our deepest thoughts?
 
  • If so, what happens when your idea of “right” conflicts with someone else’s?
 
  • If Jesus' atonement for man's sin applies to all without regard to our relationship with Him – if in fact we can deny Him entirely and still go to heaven – then can we just go on rampantly breaking His law? Do we even have to be kind to one another? Are adultery, murder, theft and idolatry among the acts that are perfectly okay with Him? If not, where is one to draw the line?
 
The thing is, no human being has ever been able to come up with coherent, consistent and non-contradictory answers to such questions simply by thinking about them, or by listening for voices from heaven. There is in fact only one source that does answer them all coherently, consistently and without contradiction, and that’s the Bible.
 
Which leads me to a number of things I’m dying to ask you:

  • What if you’re wrong?
 
  • What if you must indeed be born again to see heaven (see e.g. John 3:3)?
 
  • What if there really is no salvation apart from repenting of what God defines as sin (see e.g. Luke 3:3)?
 
  • What if your denial of Jesus as He revealed Himself really will result in His denial of you before the Father (see e.g. Matthew 10:33)?
 
  • Are you so sure of what you believe that you’re ready to persuade a holy God that He should let you into His heaven for all eternity?
 
I’d love to hear your answers to all these questions. I’m not trying to win an argument here; my sole motive is to persuade you to hear the gospel gladly, and to become heaven-bound through repentance and trust in the Savior.  
 
Sincerely,
Kitty
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The truth isn't open to interpretation

12/14/2020

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Okay, so not everything in Scripture is "see Dick run" straightforward. Some of the concepts the Lord is trying to teach us are a tad beyond our understanding. Other things, like Daniel 9's "weeks" timeline, require some math and ancient Hebrew skills. And many passages are best understood with the help of disciplines from history to languages -- one reason that good study Bibles rock!

Still, I don't think the Lord has been deliberately cryptic about anything, do you? I believe that He in fact inspired a book that tells us everything we need to know to live peaceful, fruitful and godly lives here on earth and to spend all eternity with Him in His heaven. 

As a writer myself, I consider this a very good thing. Doesn't excellent writing explain and clarify, rather than confuse? 

Apparently not.

Some time ago, I read an excellent book on writing for publication -- The First Five Pages by Noah Lukeman (Fireside, 2000). Honestly, it's a great book, but it does contain one disturbing section -- a section in which the author praises literature that remains "endlessly fascinating" because "Twenty students can walk away from a seemingly straightforward text with twenty different conclusions." 

Lukeman explains: "What all this shows is that books are as much about what readers bring to them; no matter how factual the text, there is no absolute reality -- it is ultimately subjective. Great books, in order to remain exciting time and again, reflect an awareness of this and leave open this room for interpretation." (p. 120-121)

I beg to differ, at least when it comes to the Bible. What could possibly be more exciting than learning about our Creator, His will, His works, His plans for eternity? What could possibly be more endlessly fascinating than the story of a God who took the fall for our transgressions, suffering and dying to pay the just penalty for those transgressions so that we can spend our eternities in heaven with Him? 

In point of fact, the Bible doesn't remain exciting by inviting alternative interpretations. It remains exciting by inviting us to dig into every line and meditate upon every word; by expecting us to amass knowledge of the divine; by helping us develop the wisdom to apply its truths to our own lives, and the understanding of why God's direction is always, invariably, inevitably best for us. 

Certainly, it's to our advantage to consult experts in various disciplines to learn more about what its authors wanted us to know. Take, for example, the 23rd Psalm. Lately I've been thinking a lot about a wonderful book by the late Phillip Keller, A Shepherd Looks at Psalm 23. A former shepherd himself, Keller provides fantastic insights into shepherds and their sheep -- including what it means to have one's head anointed with oil, and why that's such a wonderful thing. My life is so much richer today for having incorporated these insights into my reading of this most beautiful of King David's psalms. 

I am convinced that one could spend a lifetime studying just one chapter of the Bible, and never reach the end of what its author, inspired by the Holy Spirit, intended to convey.

In contrast, it's when we treat the word of God as ambiguous, and insist on adding our own spin to it, that we get in trouble.

Consider the simple statement of fact provided in John 3:16, which tells us who can go to heaven, on what basis, and why: "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." 

What's ambiguous about that verse? Nothing. What's subject to interpretation? Nada. And yet for centuries scholars have been building theological empires for themselves by presenting it as equivocal, by re-interpreting or spiritualizing it, by adding to or taking away from its plain words. 
 
And that's just one example of dozens I could cite -- many of them causing eternal harm to those who buy into such twists and turns.  

The bottom line: If it's ambiguity you seek, pick up a book by Falkner or Camus or Joyce, and leave the Bible alone. Because Scripture is truth. And truth is not open to interpretation. 
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The legend of the lost horse

11/20/2020

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If God's so good, how can He allow such evil in our world? 
 
I hear this question again and again – often from Christian friends who have been confronted with some version of it by a son or daughter, sibling or spouse, friend or parent, and don't know how to respond.
 
The Bible, of course, provides many possible reasons. For instance, Hebrews 12:3-11 gives us plenty to chew on. Consider the conclusion of this passage: “Now no chastening seems to be joyful for the present, but painful; nevertheless, afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness to those who have been trained by it.” That verse alone should often be enough to satisfy sincere questioners, particularly when examined in the light of Romans 8:28: “And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose.”
 
Alas, there are many who simply dismiss what Scripture has to say about any subject. I know; I was one of them until the Lord softened my heart with sorrow.
 
In such cases, perhaps a secular story would be more helpful. The late Christian apologist Ravi Zacharias shared an excellent tale in one of his riveting university Q&A sessions. Based on Mideastern folklore, the story went something like this:
 
A man’s horse ran away. His neighbor came to him and said, “Bad luck that your horse has run away.”
 
The man said, “What do I know of these things?”
 
But a week later, the horse came back, with 20 wild horses in his wake.
 
The neighbor said, “Good luck – you now have many more horses.”
 
The man said, “What do I know about it?”
 
Trying to tame one of the new horses, the man's son was kicked, and his leg was broken.
 
The neighbor said, “Bad luck, your son’s leg being broken.”
 
The man said, “What do I know about good luck and bad luck?”
 
A few days later a bunch of thugs came by in search of able-bodied young men for their gang. They were about to kidnap the man's son. But when they found out that his leg was broken, they left him behind and moved on to the next house.
 
The neighbor said, “What good luck that your son’s leg is broken!”
 
With this one little series of events, Ravi reminded his listeners that we do not know what lies ahead. Instead of denying God’s goodness (or his very existence) because He failed to live up to our little ideas of right and wrong, we would be wise to wait until we stand before Him, face to face. Then, if we still care about such things, we can ask Him to explain Himself. We will no doubt learn that, in every case, He had perfect reasons for doing, or failing to do, what we expect of “a good God.” 
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On cannibals, courage and dying to self

11/13/2020

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I’ve heard this sentiment time and time again in today's covid 19 era: “Well, sure, our safety’s in the hands of a sovereign God, but He doesn’t want us to take stupid chances.”
 
A masked friend said something like this to me just the other day. And if I hadn’t been biting my tongue, I would have told her, “Rubbish!”
 
The reason? I’d just finished reading The Story of John G. Paton, or Thirty Years among South Sea Cannibals (Compass Circle, 2019, originally published around 1892).  
 
Born in Dumfries, Scotland, in 1824 and raised by devout parents in the Reformed Presbyterian church, John G. Paton became a passionate homeland evangelist in his youth. Then, as a young man, he was introduced to the pioneering missionary work of the Rev. John Inglis in the New Hebrides–a South Pacific archipelago now known as Vanuatu, with at least some of its islands once famously populated by tribes of cannibals.  
 
Paton spent most of his adult life on two islands there, first Tanna and then Aniwa. In spite of disheartening disease and deprivation, terrifying attacks by violent and well-armed locals, and many narrow escapes from death, he managed to learn the native languages, to translate key parts of the Bible into these tongues, to teach many to read, and ultimately to lead many to the Lord.
 
Heartily recommended to our Bible study group by our favorite church historian Dr. David Saxon and his wife Jamie, The Story of John G. Paton is a remarkable book on many levels.
 
Most superficially, it’s astoundingly well-written—not at all what I expected from a 19th Century missionary whose only formal training appears to have been as a manufacturer of stockings. What’s more, it wasn’t at all graphic on the subject of cannibalism; thankfully, he left that abomination to the reader’s imagination.
 
Far more important, this missionary demonstrated beautifully how to live out Jesus’ instructions for the Christian walk: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23, NKJV). Paton’s passion was bringing these bloodthirsty pagans to Christ, whatever the personal cost; and indeed, by the end of his ministry, it was said that the entire island of Aniwa had claimed Jesus as Savior.
 
Through countless trials, Paton exhibited a level of agape love, patience and courage that could only have come from the indwelling Holy Spirit. It was his love of all men that attracted so many once-hostile natives, and his unrelenting patience and courage that allowed him to stay the course through personal tragedy and devastating illness.

How grateful I am that he lived to write about it all: What joy there is to read about the lives of these men and women as they became new creatures in Christ! 
 
Some of Paton’s difficulties have been experienced by many missionaries over the centuries, and continue to this day for the bravest. Just consider such fundamental challenges as learning an unwritten language, transforming it into the written word and translating such foreign concepts as salvation and sanctification to people whose theologies revolved around hatred, revenge and fear.
 
But what fascinated me most about this story was Paton’s fearlessness in the face of circumstances that would have sent most of us packing. His explanation? “As I had only once to die, I was content to leave the time and place and means in the hand of God.”
 
Once, when a group of tribes had banded together for a great feast and decided to include Paton and his early converts among their victims, the Christians locked themselves in the mission house. For many hours, they listened to the rampaging natives tramping about the premises, whispering to each other, listening at window and door.
 
Terrifying? No doubt. But as Paton wrote, “Our safety lay in our appeal to that blessed Lord who had placed us there … He that was with us was more than all that could be against us. This is strength; this is peace: to feel, in entering on every day, that all its duties and trials have been committed to the Lord Jesus, that, come what may, He will use us for His glory and our own real good!”
 
And more: “All through that dreadful morning, and far into the afternoon, we thus abode together, feeling conscious that we were united to this dear Lord Jesus; and we had sweet communion with Him, meditating on the wonders of His person and the hopes and glories of His kingdom. Oh, that all my readers may learn something of this in their own experience of the Lord! I can wish them nothing more precious.”
 
I think John G. Paton would have been perplexed by the timidity of today’s followers of Jesus Christ.  He took plenty of “stupid chances,” after all; what could be more reckless than planting yourself amidst tribes of men and women who would have enjoyed nothing more than executing, cooking and feasting on you?
 
As it turned out, Paton was perfectly justified in entrusting his life solely to the Lord. After completing his earthly duties, he died in the oh-so-civilized world of Australia at age 82.
 
His message to us?
 
“Reader, in your life, as in mine, one last Chapter still awaits us. By His grace, who has sustained me from childhood till now, I would work out that Chapter, and live through these closing scenes. With this book still open before you, I implore you to go alone before your blessed Saviour, and pledge yourself so to live, and so to die, in the service and fellowship of the Lord Jesus, that you and I, who have companied with each other through these pages, may meet again and renew our happy intercourse in our FATHER’S HOUSE.”
 
I can’t wait to meet this most inspiring brother in Christ. In the meantime, I join the Saxons in wholeheartedly recommending his autobiography.

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Looking for life in all the wrong places

10/22/2020

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Here we go again: ​a recent study published in the British Journal of Sports Medicine reveals that any amount of running will reduce your risk of death from every cause imaginable, including cancer and cardiovascular disease. “Even small ‘doses’ of running appeared to improve health and longevity,” the researchers gushed.
 
This would seem to at least partially confirm the findings of  a 12-year Danish study of 1000 healthy joggers, published in 2015. "A light jog a few times a week may help you live longer,” said the Danish researchers. But don’t go crazy, they warned: “Those who jogged strenuously were just as likely to die during the study period as those who were sedentary."

So the latest scientific knowledge returns once again to recommending moderation in all things. But never fear: A year or decade from now, there'll no doubt be another study reserving long life to high-speed, pavement-pounding marathoners.  

What's missing from the ever-changing brilliance of modern secular science? Just this singular fact, noted by King David 3000 years ago: "And in Your book they all were written, The days fashioned for me, When as yet there were none of them" (Psalm 139:16b).

This is why secular science's most heartfelt solutions for extending our longevity are doomed to fail. The truth is that we each have a divinely scheduled appointment with death. And nothing can possibly change it -- not even all the medications or diets or exercise regimens the world can possibly dream up.

But here's the best news: You will live forever. The only question is where you'll spend it. 

So if you haven't done so already, why not take some time today to plan your destination for all eternity?  
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Please don't wait another day

10/3/2020

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I recently got the news that an old friend of mine had died. It’s all over: We will never again hear her infectious laughter, ponder her commentaries on the passing political scene, wonder anew at her boundless energy and determination to make the world a better place. Nor will we ever again sorrow over her earthly sufferings, or her growing bitterness.
 
Her friends are left to wonder: Does she still exist out there, somwhere? If so, where? Is she perhaps living in eternal glory, or eternal punishment?
 
I had not seen this friend for quite some time. She had no interest in seeing me, truth be told. Guess it was because I tried, timidly and stumblingly, to tell her about the happily-ever-after joy that is freely available to anyone who repents of his sin, and trusts in Jesus to have paid for that sin on the cross. And tried to tell her how I know that these things are true, absolutely and eternally. 
 
Unfortunately, she was not happy to hear what I had to say. She was in fact furious. Her face was red and her language blue as she stormed out of the restaurant where we’d met for lunch, leaving me with the bill and that sick feeling that I’d said it all wrong, that if only I’d approached it this way or that, we’d still be sitting there, having a wonderful conversation about the afterlife that the Lord has promised.
 
Now she knows the truth, one way or the other.
 
It’s possible that she received Christ before she died. Maybe a genuine believer sat down with her at the hospice—a nurse or a chaplain or the neighbor in the next room. And maybe she was finally frightened enough to listen, to grasp at mankind’s only hope, to heed the call of the “forever” that God has written on our hearts, according to Ecclesiastes 3:11. 
 
But I am left to wonder once again why so many of us are so stubborn about considering eternity while there is still time—and to do so before we become so bitter about life’s hardships that we can't see beyond our personal pain and disappointments.
 
Why do we spend countless hours planning our earthly endeavors, from vacations to careers, families to retirements, and yet refuse to investigate the great questions of eternity? How can we be so blind to what really matters?
 
I know that some of us have come to our own conclusions on this subject by thinking long and hard, or believing what someone we admire has said about it, or simply deciding that no one can possibly know what comes next, so all we can do is hope for the best.
 
Stop!
 
There is a source of authority that is demonstrably true, a volume containing detailed scientific and prophetic information that its authors could not have even imagined apart from supernatural intervention. It’s a divinely inspired work delivering a single cohesive message—this in spite of the fact that it was written over the course of 2000 years by ~40 different authors from all walks of life, from glorious kings to lowly shepherds.
 
That source of authority is, of course, the Bible.
 
Why do so many of us refuse to at least investigate its reliability, its promises, and its warnings, when it’s eternity that’s at stake?
 
Why do we let ourselves get so wrapped up in the things of the next 10 or 25 or 50 years that we have no time left to plan our forevers?
 
Please—if you have yet to receive Jesus Christ, don’t wait another day. Repent and trust in Him now, before it’s too late. 
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The myth of radiometric dating

9/18/2020

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Still think that modern secular science has the age of the earth right at 4.543 billion years, and that this makes the Bible's Genesis account of creation nothing more than myth? Think again. As I explained in Heaven Without Her, it's the "evidence" for an old, old earth that's the myth -- starting with the foundational "facts" of radiometric dating. Consider this excerpt:
 
I found it impossible to keep such discoveries to myself. When visiting with old friends whose news focused on promotions, divorces, affairs and killings in the stock market, I’d respond to any 'what’s new?' directed my way with a report on some great article I’d just read – an article showing that those notorious 'annual' rings in Greenland’s ice cores weren’t really 'annual' at all, for instance, or a piece discussing the Genesis Flood implications of the world’s polystrata trees.

Usually, my friends just laughed at me, which was fine; I couldn’t expect everyone to be interested in these things. But once in a while a buddy with an interest in science would at least feign curiosity about what I had to say.

One example was a beautiful and brilliant ad-industry acquaintance I’ll call Carla. The last time I saw her, when I was more than a year into my study, we were lunching at a charming country restaurant that would have qualified as a tearoom for Nancy Drew and her chums. She even looked the part, wearing a smart gray suit and creamy silk blouse. I, dressed in my favorite blue jeans and Packer sweatshirt, did not.

After a half hour or so of discussing the usual (Carla’s job, Carla’s tenuous marriage, and Carla’s favorite hobby) she smoothed her perfect blonde pageboy and asked me what was new in my life. She seemed fascinated as I described all the young-earth evidences I’d been reading about.

“Ah, but you’re forgetting something important," she said when I paused to take a bite out of my sandwich. "Radiometric dating. It proves that the universe is billions of years old – which means it makes all this other stuff you’re talking about irrelevant."

Carla wasn’t the first person to bring up this objection, but this time I was prepared for it. Although it’s not the simplest issue, I had studied it until I understood it well enough to discuss it at least semi-intelligently.

“Really?" I said. "That’s interesting. I mean, I’ve heard and read lots about radiometric dating in the last few months, but you’re the first person I’ve come across who actually understands it. How do you figure it proves vast ages for the universe?"

“Well," said Carla, sipping her coffee and glancing at her watch, "I’m not sure exactly how it works. But it’s well accepted by the scientific community."

“Ah," I said. "Can I share with you a little analogy that purports to show how unreliable it is? Maybe you can tell me where I’m going wrong."

“Sure, okay," she said, sitting bolt upright, ready to jump all over my error.

I shoved my plate aside and, grabbing a pen from my purse, drew a pail on my paper placemat and added a wavy line running side to side near the bottom.

“So, what we have here is a plain old five-gallon bucket containing a gallon of water," I said, pointing to the wavy line with my pen. "It’s a leaky bucket, unfortunately, currently losing about a gallon a year. Okay?"

“Got it."

“So tell me, Carla, how long has our five-gallon bucket been sitting here?" I asked, adding a tree, a barn, and a sun to my sketch.

“The obvious answer would be, let’s see – leaking a gallon a year, one gallon left, I guess we’d say it’s been sitting there for four years. But that’s not necessarily the right answer."

“Why not?" I asked, smiling at her encouragingly.

“Because we don’t know how much water it contained originally," she said, returning my smile and leaning back in her chair.

“And?"

“And? Hmmm. Well, we’re assuming that no water has evaporated."

“Right. What else?"

Carla leaned forward again, frowning a little.

I drew a black cloud over my sun.

“Of course," she said, almost gleefully. "We’re assuming that it hasn’t rained – that no water has been added to it in that time."

“Good. One more."

She squinted down at my picture. Finally, she shook her head. "I give up."

“We’re assuming that the leak rate has been constant over time – that it has always leaked at a rate of a gallon a year, that the holes haven’t become larger from vandalism, say, or smaller from mineral deposits."

Carla tilted her head and nodded. "Good point. But without any more data, of course, we have to make these assumptions, don’t we?"

“Exactly," I said triumphantly. "Which is apparently what happens with radiometric dating."

She stared at me. "How do you figure?"

“Well, I may be wrong, but it’s my understanding that there’s no way to know what the original radioactivity levels were in the rocks being dated … that there’s no way to know whether some radioactive material might have been lost to, for instance, rain and flooding … and that there’s no way to know whether some radioactive elements might have been added by leeching from other rocks, or by daughter isotopes –"

“Okay, enough," Carla said. She wasn’t smiling. "I don’t know enough about this to respond, so you’re wasting your time and mine."

“Okay," I said. "'I was just going to add, 'so they have to make assumptions in each of these areas –'"

“Yes, I get it. And those assumptions can throw off the readings." She checked her watch again and stood up abruptly. “I’ve gotta get going,” she said, taking a twenty out of her purse and tossing it on the table. "Lunch is on the agency. Take care, now."

She was gone before I had the chance to deliver the punch line: that this is probably why radiometric dating so often delivers erratic results, assigning vast ages to materials  known to be young – and that evolutionists routinely discard dates that don’t jive with their long-ages philosophy. As a result, it looks to us laymen like radiometric dating tells a mostly consistent story about an old, old earth.

Nor did I have a chance to thank Carla for lunch, and so far I haven’t had another opportunity to do so in person. My emails to her go unanswered.
​
Not that it’s a big deal. We were hardly close friends, and there’d never really been a business relationship of any importance between us.
​
But to this day it makes me sad that someone committed to the evolutionary idea refuses to entertain any criticism of her theory – especially a criticism wielded by a Christian.

Not long after this incident, I read the book of Matthew, the first of four New Testament gospels. There, in chapter 10 verses 34-36, I found that Jesus had warned His followers to expect such discord, even from those we have been closest to: "Do not think that I came to bring peace on earth. I did not come to bring peace but a sword. For I have come to set a man against his father, a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law; and a man's enemies will be those of his own household."

Strange as it may sound to most people, this passage was immeasurably comforting to me.

(from Heaven Without Her, pages 110-113)
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Why we do not sorrow as do those who have no hope

9/9/2020

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The other day, in combing through a 50-year-old stash of letters in search of a particular missive, I came across a poem typed on a frail, yellowing page.
 
Entitled “The Christian’s Goodnight,” it had clearly been turned out on my mother’s 1938 Smith-Corona manual typewriter. (Is it odd that I’d recognize her typing anywhere?)
 
Wondering if my mom had composed the words herself, I did some research and learned that no, it had apparently been written 150 years ago by a Christian named Sarah Doudney; she had published it in 1871 in a book entitled Psalms of Life. I learned, too, that a number of slightly different versions exist today – including versions set to music attributed to an F.A. and J.E. Sankey.  
 
A few things about this poem are fairly certain: “The Christian’s Goodnight” has been sung at funerals from the Bahamas to Yorkshire, including the funeral of Charles “the prince of preachers” Spurgeon. It is said to be used as a “lowering down” song in some areas, as the casket is being placed in the grave.
 
But even these details are a bit muddled. One commentator called the hymn’s origins and history “tangled,” saying it deserved in-depth investigation.
 
I suppose those details matter less than the message of these lovely (and very biblical) words. Its lyrics are bound to be tremendously encouraging to any Christian who has buried loved ones. After all, as Doudney wrote in introducing the poem in Psalms of Life, "The early Christians were accustomed to bid their dying friends 'Good night!' so sure were they of awakening at the Resurrection morning." And we modern Christians are no less certain of many joyful reunions and happily ever afters.
 
I hope you enjoy these lines as much as I do.
 
The Christian's Goodnight
 
Sleep on, beloved, sleep, and take thy rest;
Lay down thy head upon the Savior’s breast;
We loved thee well, but Jesus loves thee best
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Calm is thy slumber as an infant’s sleep;
But thou shall wake no more to toil and weep;
Thine is a perfect rest, secure and deep
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Until the shadows from this earth are cast,
Until He gathers in His sheaves at last;
Until the twilight gloom be over past
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Until the Easter glory lights the skies,
Until the dead in Jesus shall arise,
And He shall come, but not in lowly guise
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Until, made beautiful by love divine,
Thou, in the likeness of thy Lord shall shine,
And He shall bring that golden crown of thine
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Only Good night, beloved, not farewell!
A little while, and all His saints shall dwell
In hallowed unison indivisible
Good night! Good night! Good night!
 
Until we meet again before His throne,
Clothed in the spotless robe He gives His own,
Until we know even as we are known
Good night!  Good night!  Good night! 
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    Kitty
    Foth-Regner

    I'm a follower of Jesus Christ, a freelance copywriter, a nursing-home volunteer, and the author of books both in-process and published -- including Heaven Without Her. 

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