To create a coherent picture from jigsaw-puzzle pieces, you have to have all the pieces in hand. Or most of them, anyway; we have learned that it is possible to complete a puzzle even after the cats have fed the dogs a half-dozen or so.

Trouble is, when it comes to biblical Christianity, you aren’t going to get most of the pieces unless you search them out. Jesus has been banned from our public institutions, and the news media are largely silent on any topic that might paint the Bible in a positive light.

Dr. Hitchcock’s book got me to thinking about news coverage of topics related to faith – especially, since it’s sort of my thing these days,  the play given to pronouncements by evolutionists. And here’s the truth: Every couple of weeks, I see or hear a prominent story on some new evolutionary discovery that promises to be the missing link. At the same time, pronouncements about vast ages – the old “millions and millions of years” bit – are presented as fact, with nary an attribution to provide even a hint of opinion being mixed in with fact. 

I grumble to Dave about this regularly over the morning newspaper.

“Listen to this,” I usually begin, forcing him to bear witness to yet another unattributed paragraph or two.

He normally just sips his coffee and nods and buries himself further in the section he’s reading, no doubt hoping I’ll be quiet. Neither of us likes to be read to, especially not from a story we’ll soon have the opportunity to read ourselves, or one we’ve already taken a pass on. But I usually toss such concerns aside when I’m hot on the trail of yet another evolutionary fairy tale.

“What kills me,” I then say, “is that when they finally figure out this isn’t what they thought it was, we won’t see any follow-up stories to let us know we’ve been misled by these clowns. And the clowns themselves don’t care; by that time they’ll have used this alleged discovery to get themselves fat new grants.”

“Terrible,” Dave typically agrees, wise enough to let me run with it.

“And in the meantime, the public is left with the impression that evolution is fact.”

“They should really all be shot, just as soon as possible.”

He doesn’t mean this, of course. But it always makes me laugh, putting an end to my complaint.

But it doesn’t put an end to this problem of the news media presenting paleontologists’ just-so tales as fact. Even when the claims are highly controversial – for example, there’s no small debate raging about whether Lucy was a human relative or simply an extinct chimp – conventional news channels never bother to point it out.

This would be somewhat tolerable if news relating to Christianity received the same treatment: Unquestioning publicity, with no follow up if things turn out to be not quite as they seemed at first blush.

But as long as I’ve been watching, I haven’t seen that happen, not once.

For instance, the ossuary that might have contained the bones of Jesus’ brother James, unearthed in Israel in 2002, was reported on amidst repeated charges of fraud. Whether or not it was genuine didn’t matter; readers were left with the impression that biblical artifacts should be viewed with suspicion that is rarely leveled against evolutionary claims.

Or consider the 2006 discovery of a 400+-foot object in the mountains of Iran, more than 13,000 feet above sea level. Its finders believe it might be the remains of Noah’s Ark. They had it tested by a Houston lab – one that the Smithsonian itself uses – and supposedly learned that it is indeed made of petrified wood, complete with fossilized sea critters buried inside.

I have no idea if this discovery will turn out to be anything more than another false alarm. But what’s really interesting about it to me is the lack of interest it has generated in the news media. For weeks after the initial announcement, which I came across via a Christian news service, I searched the Internet diligently to see how the nation’s big news organizations handled the story.

Surprise: Most ignored it.

Why is that?  A few bones can be declared evidence that we evolved from slime, and the newspapers are all over it; an archeological finding may prove the story of the Genesis Flood true, and it’s greeted with a big yawn.

There’s definitely something wrong here.

–From Heaven Without Her, pages  260-262

Okay, so I’m admittedly obsessed with Adoniram Judson and his wives, missionaries to Burma in the first half of the 19th century. You can read my comments on two books about them here and here. I won’t say much more about them right now (although I intend to reread To the Golden Shore this winter, Lord willing, and reserve the right to say a lot more on the subject by spring).
 
But I didn’t want to close this chapter on my mania without highlighting a fascinating passage from Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons, published in 1855—a passage that underscores the fundamental difference between Christianity and man-made religion. Here, on pages 20-25, author Arabella Stuart provides a fabulous description of the allegedly impregnable Buddhism that Adoniram and first wife Ann encountered when they arrived in Burma. 
 
Some excerpts:
 
“A curious feature of Buddhism is that one of the highest motives it presents to its followers is the ‘obtaining of merit.’ Merit is obtained by avoiding sins, such as theft, lying, intoxication, and the like; and by practicing virtues and doing good works.  The most meritorious of all good works is to make an idol; the next to build a pagoda … If they give alms, or treat animals kindly, or repeat prayers, or do any other good deed, they do it entirely with this mercenary view of obtaining merit.”
 
Why, one might ask, would a Buddhist want to obtain merit? Stuart tells us:
 
“This ‘merit’ is not so much to procure them happiness in another world, as to secure them from suffering in their future transmigrations in this; for they believe that the soul of one who dies without have laid up any merit will have to pass into the body of some mean reptile or insect, and from that to another, through hundreds of changes, perhaps, before it will be allowed again to take the form of man.”
 
Granted, it seems a silly worldview, especially since there’s absolutely no evidence that it’s true. But if everyone is working towards the goal of not waking up as a cockroach in the next life, at least it must make for a loving and selfless culture?
 
Not exactly, according to Stuart:
 
“This reliance on ‘merit,’ and certainty of obtaining it through prescribed methods, fosters their conceit, so that ignorant and debased as they are, there is scarcely a nation more offensively proud. It also renders them entirely incapable of doing or appreciating a disinterested action, or of feeling such a sentiment as gratitude. If you do them a favor, they suppose you do it to obtain merit for yourself, and of course feel no obligation to you.”
 
The result?
 
“The simple phrase, ‘I thank you,’ is unknown in their language.”
 
Stuart goes on to quote the Foreign Quarterly Review, which reported that the highest rank to which a Buddhist can obtain is “no other than that diseased animal, the White Elephant.”  This creature supposedly houses “a blessed soul of some human being, which has arrived at the last stage of the many millions of transmigrations it was doomed to undergo, and which, when it escapes, will be absorbed into the essence of the Deity.”
 
Stuart concludes her account thusly:
 
“Such was the stupendous system of superstition and ignorance, which two feeble missionaries armed like David when he met the Philistine with ‘trust in the Lord his God,’ ventured to attack, and hoped to subdue.”
 
For many Burmese, this trust was enough. When he died in 1850, Adoniram Judson left behind more than 8000 Burmese converts to Christianity. And thanks in large part to his work, today there are over 4 million believers in Burma (now Myanmar)—approaching 10% of the population (per Christian History, Issue 90, Spring 2006, pages 35-37). That’s an enormous army of men and women who have turned from wishing on White Elephants to trusting in the Lord Jesus Christ.
 
And just think: as believers ourselves, one happy day we’ll get to hear, first-hand, precisely how He set them free!

More than 300 years ago, French mathematician and physicist Blaise Pascal identified the human spirit’s main problem. He called it the “infinite abyss,” and said it can be filled “only by God himself."
 
Pascal was right: life doesn’t work apart from God. It’s not supposed to. He created us for Himself, after all. If we are not walking with Him day in, day out, we are missing our very reason for being.  
 
Until we realize this, our lives can be empty -- or miserable.
 
We may hide it well, even from ourselves, by worshipping idols of our own making.
 
For some of us, that means working long hours, trying to prove our worth through the praises of employers or clients or through steadily growing bank accounts.
 
Others may drown their troubles in alcohol or drugs, or obsess over relationships, especially those involving romantic love.  
 
Then there are those who live for entertainment. That might mean a non-stop merry-go-round of theater, ballet, symphony, films, and literature. It might mean parties galore, or dinner with different friends every night, or Ph.D.-level study of professional or college sports (or both). It might mean traveling to increasingly exotic locales, or reveling in nature, music, art or pets.
 
And don’t forget those who are consumed with health or gastronomy. They may interrogate everything that passes the lips, or shop and cook artfully and extravagantly. (Was the apostle Paul including such folks when he wrote of those whose “god is their belly” in Philippians 3:19?)
 
I’ve only scratched the surface, of course. Turn this way and you’ll see people indulging in frenzies of home remodeling; that way, and you’ll find jam-packed clothes closets larger than most living rooms or gardens filled with small fortunes in exotic plants or kids playing endless video games. 
 
Anything to fill the void.
 
And still, nothing on this earth really satisfies. Nothing comes close to freeing us from Pascal’s “infinite abyss.”
 
I know whereof I write, having pursued some of these idols myself in the decades before Jesus Christ transformed my heart and my life.
 
The good news is that He’s willing to transform anyone's. We need only seek God; He has promised that, if we do, we will find Him.
 
“And you will seek Me and find Me,” He said through His prophet Jeremiah (29:13), “when you search for Me with all your heart.”
 
When we do this, we can kiss our idols goodbye.
 
Are you ready to find Him? There's no better place to start than the Bible. ​

One of the most wonderful things about being a born-again Christian is the absolute certainty that eternal joy is just around the bend—and that in heaven, we will be reunited with all our beloved believers who’ve gone on ahead.  Here’s what two elderly Christian friends had to say to each other as they faced an imminent, albeit temporary, separation. 
 
They sat in companionable silence for a while, letting their minds drift.
         
Finally, Sadie reached out and took her friend’s hands in her own.
         
“Beulah, my dear, I just wanted to say that you have become my dearest friend in these last few months, and I’m so grateful for you.” She swallowed hard; somehow she hadn’t imagined this as being a difficult monologue. “Will you please remember that?”
         
Beulah’s eyes were wide with surprise.
         
“Sadie Sparrow, are you trying to tell me something? Are you going on ahead?”
         
“I think so,” Sadie said, smiling tenderly at her friend. “I think it will be soon. I feel it in my bones, as my mother used to say.”
         
Beulah squeezed her hands. “Well, that’s just fine, Sadie. I will miss you, but it will only be for a little while.”
         
“That’s right, Beulah. Just a short time, in light of eternity.”
         
They smiled at each other, not attempting to hide the tears in their eyes.
         
“Sadie,” Beulah said finally, “once you’ve had a chance to see Ed and your folks and everyone, would you do me a favor? Find my Norbert, and tell him that I’ll be with him just as soon as I can. And tell him that Bunny’s wonderful. Will you do that for me?”
 
--From The Song of Sadie Sparrow, pages 167-168 

When the question of the age of the earth arises, we are most likely to hear one of two opinions: That the science is settled in favor of billions of years, or that its age doesn’t matter – what matters is ____(insert a favorite cause)______.
 
These responses share an important characteristic: they are both lies.
 
First, the science is far from settled. In fact, the evidence strongly supports a young earth in a universe that’s not even 10,000 years old.
 
For proof, look here. Better yet, check out Jay Hall’s excellent book YES: Young Earth Science and the Dawn of a New Worldview. In it, Hall presents an avalanche of evidence that the old earth model can’t possibly be true – evidence that spans disciplines from geology to paleontology. He discusses the history of various tools and techniques that have been used to promote the illusion of an old earth, and reviews some of the data that are normally downplayed or ignored completely. What’s more, Hall does it all in a uniquely breezy and easy-to-read format that should make it as useful for youngsters as it is for us old folks.
 
Second, the age of the earth, and the universe, is critically important; what we believe about it could determine our eternal destiny because it impacts what we believe about God.
 
Forget everything you’ve heard about all the possible scenarios, from directed panspermia to punctuated equilibrium. In the end, all origins theories fit neatly into one of two possible categories: either the Time Plus Chance formula of evolutionary models, or Special Creation as outlined in the Bible.  Although some scientists would like us to believe it’s so complex that we shouldn’t pretty our little heads over it, there really is no other option; the universe as we know it came into existence either by random chance over vast ages, or it was created fairly recently by an Intelligent Designer.
 
Consider the implications: If any of the Time Plus Chance theories is true, God may or may not exist; He would in fact be irrelevant in any of these scenarios, because everything could have come into being without Him. But if Time Plus Chance is impossible, then Special Creation must be true – and the Intelligent Designer, AKA God, must exist!
 
Which God is the real deal? That’s another study, one that has been covered in many books (including my own, Heaven Without Her). For the moment, if you’re not yet convinced, I hope you will take the time to satisfy yourself on the origins question. And by all means, include YES: Young Earth Science and the Dawn of a New Worldview on your reading list; I think you’ll enjoy it.​

I’ve been reading some great biographies lately, thanks in no small part to the recommendations of Dr. and Mrs. David Saxon of Maranatha Baptist University. Chief among them is To the Golden Shore, the fabulous 1952 story of American missionary Adoniram Judson. But now, coming in a close second, is a book that Mrs. Saxon recommended in particular: Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons (Filiquarian Publishing).
 
First published by Arabella Stuart in 1855, Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons uses multiple sources (in particular, their letters to friends and loved ones) to paint astounding portraits of three remarkable women—women who, one after the other, helped their beloved Adoniram bring the gospel to the people of Burma in the first half of the 19th century.
 
This was not a call to luxury.
 
In the first place, the trip from New England to Burma, via India, took literally months, mostly with no land in sight, via ships we 21st century creampuffs would never set foot on. And once there, they found the accommodations primitive, the climate oppressive, the government often brutal, and the medical care practically non-existent, with no one to help them deal with the illnesses that frequently assailed them and their precious children.
 
The Burman people were not unfriendly, but for a long time, communicating with them was next to impossible. Adoniram and the first Mrs. Judson, Ann, had to learn a new language, complete with a new alphabet; To the Golden Shore shows pages of their writing in this strange new tongue, and it looked to me like a bunch of circles piling up on one another.
 
I don’t know which of the three Mrs. Judsons had the most difficult time.
 
It was Ann who saw Adoniram spending months in a ghastly jail, being hung upside down by shackles night after night. She had to beg, borrow and steal access to him in order to bring him food and consolation—and, eventually, to smuggle in his Burmese Bible translation-in-process for safekeeping against increasingly hostile Burman officials. 
 
The circumstances of Ann and Adoniram’s lives together were horrible by any standards. Yet apparently she did not seek relief from these trials. Instead, as she wrote in a letter home towards the end of her life, “The anguish, the agony of mind, resulting from a thousand little circumstances impossible to delineate on paper, can be known by those only who have been in similar situations. Pray for us, my dear brother and sister, that these heavy afflictions may not be in vain, but may be blessed to our spiritual good, and the advancement of Christ’s church among the heathen.” (Page 78) 
 
Ann died in 1826, leaving a broken-hearted Adoniram to carry on alone. But in 1834, he married Sarah, the widow of George Boardman. The Boardmans had been missionaries to the Karen people, and Sarah stayed in Burma to continue this work after George’s death in 1831.
 
The cruel trials continued for the second Mrs. Judson, with Adoniram’s failing health being the most painful.
                                                     
But Sarah was never without comfort. As she wrote to her husband when he was sent off on a long sea voyage to treat a severe cough, “I hope I do not feel unwilling that our Heavenly Father should do as he thinks best with us; but my heart shrinks from the prospect of living in this dark, sinful, friendless world, without you … But the most satisfactory view is to look away to that blissful world, where separations are unknown. There, my beloved Judson, we shall surely meet each other; and we shall also meet many loved ones who have gone before us to that haven of rest.” (Page 140)
 
As it turned out, Adoniram recovered from this illness. It was Sarah whose health would soon begin to fail. She died in 1845, en route to America for medical treatment.
 
Adoniram married a third time the following year. His new wife was Emily Chubbock, a writer whom he commissioned to write a biography of Sarah. Her Memoirs of Mrs. Sarah B. Judson was published in 1850; her husband was pleased with the manuscript, she said, and she cared little whether anyone else liked it.
 
The third Mrs. Judson also fell gravely ill in the mission field. It was then that she wrote a poem entitled “Love’s Last Wish,” which included these lines:
 
“Thou say’st I’m fading day by day,
And in thy face I read thy fears;
It would be hard to pass away
So soon, and leave thee to thy tears.
I hoped to linger by thy side,
Until thy homeward call was given,
Then silent to my pillow glide,
And wake upon thy breast in heaven.”
 
Emily recovered, however, and her wish to outlive Adoniram was granted.  “Closing Scenes in the Life of Dr. Judson,” her moving account of his last days and his 1850 death, is reprinted in Lives of the Three Mrs. Judsons (pages 154-161)—as is an excerpt from her poem, “To My Husband” (page 167): 
 
“Here closely nestled by thy side,
Thy arm around me thrown,
I ask no more. In mirth and pride
I’ve stood—oh so alone!
Now, what is all this world to me,
Since I have found my world in thee?
 
“Oh if we are so happy here,
Amid our toils and pains,
With thronging cares and dangers near
And marr’d by earthly stains,
How great must be the compass given
Our souls, to bear the bliss of heaven!”
 
Oh, to have the eternal eyes of these three women! But reading about them, as well as scores of others featured in biographies and books on Christian history, has at least shown me that it is possible to truly live for Christ, and for eternity. May we all learn to do just that.