DIOS VE ALMAS

DIOS VE ALMAS

De tiempo en tiempo se torna muy difícil para nosotros pensar espiritualmente. Es muy natural ver a alguien y sacar conclusiones por lo que vivimos, pero amigo  mío Dios ve almas. Para nadie es un secreto que hay algunos países donde el asunto del racismo es un pecado de cada día pero no es eso lo peor sino que cientos de personas no lo ven como pecado, ¡Eso sí es preocupante en extremo!. 

DIOS VE ALMAS

DIOS VE ALMAS

Recientemente en un viaje misionero a Nicaragua, uno puede entender que este país es uno de los más pobres del continente Americano. Es realmente doloroso cuando extranjeros sufren muchos abusos únicamente por no pertenecer a ese país determinado independientemente si está ahí legal o ilegal (No estoy Justificando la ilegalidad) el trato debe de ser un trato de respeto y amor, por la sencilla razón que se trata de un alma. La condición de un esclavo es otro ejemplo vívido. En el Nuevo Testamento el Espíritu Santo nos ha dejado la carta a  Filemón para provecho nuestro, aunque Onésimo era un esclavo Filemón debía tratarlo y recibirlo como hermano en Cristo, Pablo confiaba que iba a hacer más de lo que le había escrito (V21), ¡Cuan bello ejemplo para nosotros!. Realmente debemos aprender a no ver lo externo de las personas sino a ver almas. 

La Iglesia de Jesucristo de los Santos de los últimos días (mormones), creen que los negros son hijos de Lucifer y que jamás podrán alcanzar salvación, note:

     “Y la piel de los lamanitas era obscura, conforme a la señal que fue puesta sobre sus padres, la cual fue una maldición sobre ellos por motivo de su transgresión y su rebeldía en contra de sus hermanos, Nefi, Jacob, José y Sam, que fueron hombres justos y santos”. (Libro de Mormón, Alma 3:6)

Parece ser que el libro de mormón tiene un fuerte conflicto con la Biblia la verdadera palabra de Dios inspirada. Aquel Simón de Cirene que ayudó al Señor Jesus a llevar su pesada Cruz al calvario, muy probablemente sea de quien se refiere Lucas en Hechos 13:1 “…Simon el que se llamaba Niger…” quien era uno de los maestros de la Iglesia en Antioquia. La raíz de la traducción de la palabra “Niger” concluimos de la misma manera que lo hace Adam Clarke, él dice que, era Simon el Negro. Tal vez por su contextura, color de cabello o de piel como sobrenombre era llamado Simon el Negro. Era también el padre de Alejandro y Rufo (Marcos 15:21) y Rufo luego pasaría a ser parte de la Iglesia del Señor (Romanos 16:13). ¿ Un negro en la Iglesia, y aparte maestro de la Iglesia en Antioquia con Hijos Negros? … Seguramente esa no era la iglesia mormona sino la Iglesia de Cristo en Antioquia,  ni tampoco el Dios de los mormones. El libro de mormón se contradice porque no viene de Dios por el contrario la Biblia no se contradice porque no contiene errores y al Dios a quien sirvo no hace acepción de personas( Hechos 10:34-35).

Con todo algunos se empeñan en marcar la diferencia donde Dios no lo hace. Al principio Dios solamente creo a la raza humana; al hombre, pero después de la dispersión en Babel (Genesis 11), tenemos la diferencia de idiomas pero no de raza, porque seguimos siendo la raza humana. En el pasado la segunda guerra mundial fue causada por hacer creer a un país que eran una raza superior al mundo (Alemanes) y me pregunto: ¿cuantos cristianos hoy en día se sienten superiores a otros en este sentido?Tal vez por el país donde viven, por el color de piel, por los recursos económicos, por la educación etc… Dios no se impresiona por ningún titulo nuestro. La salvación de Dios no está basada en ninguno de estos méritos sino más bien en la obediencia que cada persona le muestre a El, cada individuo elige por sí mismo (Josué 24:15; Isaías 7:16; Ezequiel 18:20; Mateo 23:37; Apocalipsis 22:17) y gracias sean dadas a él porque este es el caso.

La Iglesia del primer siglo también atravesó varias dificultades para correr la cortina de diferencias exteriores a saber;Gentiles y Judíos. Pablo se dirige a corregir este pecado  Efesios 2 y Colosenses 2 aborda el tema ampliamente mostrándoles que la pared de división, Cristo la había eliminado en la cruz. La carta a los romanos es casi en su totalidad dirigida en este misma dirección. Nosotros debemos de amar a las almas más allá de los que veamos al exterior, Recuerde Dios ve almas. A causa del maravilloso amor de Dios para todos los seres humanos, Él no desea que nadie perezca, sino que todos procedan al arrepentimiento (2 Pedro 3:9; cf. 1 Timoteo 2:4).“Y si invocáis por Padre a aquel que sin acepción de personas juzga según la obra de cada uno, conducíos en temor todo el tiempo de vuestra peregrinación”.1 Pedro 1:17

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Singing to the Lord

Singing to the Lord

Singing soothes the soul, some say.  But, how does it soothe the soul?  Well, singing is the expression of the heart.  For a Christian, it is the singing to the Lord for saving our souls.  What more do we have that we can sing more glorious about?  I have seen Christian individuals rocking and rolling down the streets as they sing out loud to Metallica or Britney Spears about lusting, fornicating with others, getting their next high or attempting to deceive others.  But, when was the last time those Christians sang for the glory of God?  Or have they ever?

Are you singing to your Lord?

Are you singing to your Lord?

We are to glorify God because He is.  We are to glorify Him in our voices, raising our voices high enough to lay them before His throne.  But, some believe that they do not need to sing out.  That, singing praises quietly so no one will hear you, is acceptable.  But, is it possible to love Jesus without singing out of how wonderful he really is?  Do we show God our greatest potential in our singing?  Now for others, I have seen some sing with so much love toward God, that it makes them cry.  But, why is it that some songs have us crying before his throne for the love that we have toward him?  Perhaps, it is because we love Him so much.  Perhaps it is because we realize how hopeless we are without him.  Perhaps, it is because of how joyous living with Him in eternity will be.  Perhaps, our thoughts are as Moses’ feet when he was told to take off his shoes because he was on holy ground.

You know, the book of Psalm says many things.  But, it is vital to consider their works as songs and see how the writers depended greatly on God, his love, his faithful love for man and his care for us.  For that, they sang out with their heart, understanding what God is and the relationship they are to have with Him.  This is important because so many either do not know how to have a relationship with God or have never had one.  It is therefore saddening to consider that some Christians have hardened their hearts enough that they have become calloused toward singing out with their heart, not embracing the Christ who died for them.

It amazing me how much God loves our voices.  God created them and designed them with such a vast range of notes to use.  So let’s use them!  Let us sing out in worship.  Let us sing out to Him as we drive down the road and allow Him to fill us with unspeakable amounts of joy as we live faithfully before Him, as we walk closely next to Him toward the end of this life and into Paradise wherewith we shall be one day in Heaven with the gentle Shepherd who has helped us to find out way.  Let us all sing to the Lord.

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Definition of a Miracle

Biblical Definition of a Miracle

How many of you heard a commercial on the radio or saw a Christmas movie on the television in which the Christmas season or Christmas itself was referred to as “a time of miracles”?  Usually, what is meant by statements like that is that Christmas is a very special time.  In like manner, many of us have visited new parents who are holding their precious gift from God that was just born and have heard the baby referred to as “a miracle.”  Again, what is usually meant is that babies are very special, and they are.

Unfortunately, using the term “miracle” in such a way, while seemingly harmless, is one of several ways in which misconceptions about miracles are founded in the denominational world of Christendom.  Many who profess to be Christians believe, as shown above, that a miracle happens to them whenever anything special takes place in their lives.  However, the miracles one reads about in the Bible are not defined in such ways.

Start at Genesis and continue on through the pages of Scripture to the New Testament, and you will read about miracles being done from time to time by some of God’s people.  You will also read of God himself performing miracles directly.  Yet, each and every one of the miracles described in the Bible are acts which violate the known laws of nature and science which God put into place when he created this world and universe.  Not one time is a biblical miracle defined or described as nothing more than an event which is special in a sentimental way, as is often the case today.

Moses parting the Red SeaConsider the miracles we read about in the Old Testament.   God giving Joseph the ability to accurate interpret people’s dreams and predict the future (Gen. 40-41).  God causing a bush to burn and yet not be consumed in front of Moses, and then giving Moses the ability to turn his staff into a serpent and instantaneously make his hand leprous by simply putting it inside his cloak (Ex. 3-4).  God giving Moses the ability to part the Red Sea simply by raising his staff out over the water (Ex. 14).  Bitter water made sweet by Moses simply by throwing a log in it (Ex. 15:22-25).  God raining bread from heaven and causing water to come from a rock simply by Moses striking it, and Israel defeating Amalek in battle only when Moses would have his hands raised (Ex. 16-17).  God causing the walls of Jericho to collapse simply by having Israel march around the city for a week and then shout and blow trumpets (Josh. 6).  God answering Joshua’s prayer to have the sun and moon stand still so that Israel could win the battle against the Amorites (Josh. 10).  Many more could be cited, but notice that they all have one thing in common.  They all violate the laws of science and nature.  That’s what makes these events miraculous in nature.

Jesus walking on waterWe see the same thing with the miracles we read of in the New Testament.  God causing a virgin to be pregnant with Jesus, itself a fulfillment of a prophecy made hundreds of years earlier (Matt. 1:18-21; cf. Is. 7:14).  Jesus instantaneously healing every disease and affliction among the people, including paralysis, epilepsy, those oppressed by demons, lepers, discharges of blood, blindness, the mute, those with withered hands, and even raising the dead (Matt. 4:23-24; 8:1-4, 28-34; 9:1-8, 18-34; 12:9-14).  Jesus giving his twelve apostles the ability to do the same (Matt. 10:1-4).  Jesus calming a terrible storm simply by speaking and walking on water after feeding thousands of people with only five loaves of bread and two fish (Matt. 8:23-27; 14:13-33).  God raising Christ from the dead on the third day after his death on the cross (Matt. 28:1-10; Rom. 1:4).  The Holy Spirit descending on the apostles on the day of Pentecost and giving them the ability to speak in other languages (Acts 2:1-21), as well as healing the lame (Acts 3:1-10), causing the instantaneous death of those who had lied to them and God (Acts 5:1-11), healing the sick by simply having their shadows fall on them (Acts 5:12-16), and healing paralytics and raising the dead (Acts 9:32-43).  Again, many more examples could be cited, but notice once more than all of these events violate the laws of science and nature.

As people who will have to give an account for every careless word we speak (Matt. 12:36-37), we are commanded to speak the truth in love (Eph. 4:15) as oracles of God (1 Pet. 4:11), and God’s Word is truth (John 17:17).  Therefore, when we speak of miracles we need to speak of them the same way that God speaks of them in his Word…not as special, sentimental events which come about naturally like the birth of a child, but rather as signs and wonders done by God through men which violate the laws of nature.

Snake handling in churchesFurthermore, if we are to speak the truth about miracles done by God through men, we must also proclaim that they no longer takes place today.  There are several denominations whose adherents claim to perform miracles, but careful examination of what they do combined with comparisons made of biblical miracles shows their claims to be counterfeit.  The different types of miracles are listed by Paul in his letter to Corinth, in which he calls them “spiritual gifts” (1 Cor. 12:1-11).  Two of those gifts were miraculous wisdom and miraculous knowledge (v. 8).  Knowledge (what one knows) and wisdom (the ability to use correctly that which one knows) are obtained naturally through education and experience; thus, miraculous knowledge and miraculous wisdom would come instantaneously, without having taken the time to grow in them via education and experience.  Paul also mentions faith as a spiritual gift (v. 9).  This is not the faith which comes naturally through the hearing of God’s Word (Rom. 10:17), but rather is the type of faith needed to do something miraculous like move a mountain (1 Cor. 13:2; Matt. 17:20).  Today, the only way anyone obtains wisdom and knowledge is through natural means, and many people who have strong faith in their ability to perform miracles have attempted to move mountains, only to no avail.

Falling unconsciousPaul then lists gifts of healing and the working of miracles as spiritual gifts (vs. 9-10).  Those who claim to miraculously heal the sick and perform other types of miracles today do so quite differently from how Jesus and the apostles miraculously healed people and worked miracles back in biblical times.  Today, those who claim to do miraculous things to other people usually ask them to “wait a while” before they “begin to feel the effects” of the miracle.  Usually the only “miracle” done instantaneously is causing someone to “lose consciousness” by touching them on the forehead.  (This writer once visited a charismatic church and saw someone fall to the ground in the aisle, apparently having miraculously lost consciousness; it was interesting to observe the “unconscious” person shifting on the hard floor trying to find a more comfortable position!)

Paul also listed prophecy and distinguishing between spirits as spiritual gifts (v. 10).  Prophecy is not only the miraculous foretelling of the future, but also literally means “to speak on behalf of someone else.”  Today, prophecy takes place naturally whenever we preach and teach nothing more than God’s Word (2 Tim. 4:2; 1 Pet. 4:11); by doing so we are “speaking on behalf of” God.  Those who attempt to miraculously prophecy by predicting the future have always been proven to be false prophets when their prophecies fail to come to pass (Deut. 18:20-22).  The distinguishing between spirits refers to the miraculous power to automatically know what is in a person’s heart, a power Jesus had (John 2:24-25) and which was exercised by Peter in the incident with Ananias and Sapphira (Acts 5:1-11).  Obviously, such a power doesn’t exist today.  How many times have we been sure about what a person has been thinking or planning, only to be proven wrong?

Speaking in babblings rather than tonguesPaul then listed tongues and the interpretation of tongues as spiritual gifts (v. 10).  These are perhaps the most misunderstood and erroneously defined miraculous spiritual gifts in the list.  Those who claim to miraculously speak in tongues today say they are doing so when they speak nothing more than gibberish.  They are not speaking Spanish, German, Mandarin, etc., but rather nonsense babblings and gobbledegook.  However, the miraculous speaking and interpreting of tongues in biblical times was nothing more than the ability to suddenly speak in an actual, societal language or interpret it, without having first studied and learned it naturally (Acts 2:6-8; 1 Cor. 14:10-13).  Having tasked the early Christians with the awesome task of preaching the gospel to all nations, the miraculous ability to speak these nations’ languages would be very expeditious to the fulfillment of that task.

In the middle of his discourse on these miraculous spiritual gifts, Paul acknowledged that not all in the church had these gifts and then mentioned how having these powers was meaningless without love (1 Cor. 12:27-13:7).  He then specifically stated that these miraculous spiritual gifts (citing prophecy, tongues, and knowledge) would “cease” and “pass away” when “that which is perfect has come” (1 Cor. 13:8-10).

God's Word:  "the perfect"Many modern proponents of miracles believe that “the perfect” of verse 10 is a reference to Jesus, which is understandable.  However, the Greek word (teleos) which is translated “perfect” literally means “complete” or “mature.”  This same word is used in the New Testament to refer to God’s Word (Rom. 12:2; James 1:25).  When Paul was writing 1 Corinthians, the New Testament was obviously not yet “complete” or “mature.”  That would change with the completion of Revelation not many years after Paul wrote to Corinth.  Therefore, Paul was stating in 1 Cor. 13:10 that when God’s Word was complete, the miraculous spiritual gifts would cease.  This makes sense when one remembers that miracles were performed by Christ and his apostles and prophets through the power of the Holy Spirit in order to confirm the Word of God which was being proclaimed by them (Mark 16:17-20; Heb. 2:1-4; 1 Cor. 12:1-11; cf. Matt. 12:28).  Once that Word became complete and mature, confirming it through the miraculous would no longer be needed.

Again, we are commanded to “speak the truth” (Eph. 4:15), and God’s Word is truth (John 17:17).  If we are to speak the truth about miracles, we must not only define them the same way the Bible defines them, but we must also acknowledge that they have already served their purpose in the plan of God and no longer take place today.

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Lucy, the Ape

Lucy is No Longer in the Sky with Diamonds

In the Genesis creation account, the Bible describes that all land-dwelling creatures were created on Day 6, with man being the pinnacle of God’s creation. In chapter 2 of that same book, Moses describes the creation of man and woman in detail, informing readers “and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). In verse 20 of that same chapter we find Adam giving names to “all cattle, to the birds of the air, to every beast of the field,” indicating that he possessed the intelligence to name them and understand instructions from God. The Darwinian Theory describes man evolving from some primordial soup, initially carrying a club and living in a cave with not much intelligence. These two theories of origins could not be more diametrically opposed.

The evidence that Lucy was human, is not missing. It doesn't exist.

The evidence that Lucy was human, is not missing. It doesn’t exist.

So which is correct?

Scientific knowledge regarding the origin and antiquity of man is primarily based on fossil discoveries made by anthropologists, such as the world-famous Leakey family. Scientists would uncover fossilized bone fragments and then speculate as to what features the original creature possessed and precisely where it fit on the evolutionary tree of life. Each new discovery was heralded as a major scientific contribution—no matter how fragmented the fossil or how few remains were actually discovered. But as more and more fossils were unearthed, many scientists took delight in designating their finds as entirely new species, providing the scientist with the privilege of designating a new scientific name. While being able to name a new “species” of hominid was beneficial to one’s career, the real advantage came in announcing the discovery of the oldest upright-walking hominid fossil. The race was on to find the “missing link” that led back to a common ancestor that humans allegedly shared with the apes.

On November 30, 1974, Donald Johansson and graduate student Tom Gray loaded up in a Land Rover and headed out to plot an area of Hadar, Ethiopia, known as Locality 162. There they unearthed a fossilized skeleton that was nearly 40% complete. Dr. Johansson named his discovery Australopithecus afarensis meaning “the southern ape from Ethiopia’s Afar depression in northeastern Ethiopia.” The creature earned the nickname “Lucy” from the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” that was playing in the camp the night of the discovery. While there was a great deal of pomp and circumstance offered by the mainstream media when Lucy was first announced, her star does not shine as brightly today. In fact, having over 20 years to examine the fossils, there are several problems wrong with Lucy. For instance:

A. She has curved fingers and ape-like limb proportions (see Stern and Susman, 1983, J. Phy. Anthrop., 60:280) that point toward her being an ape.

B. She has locking wrists—a trait identified in quadrupeds (see Richmond & Strait, 2000, Nature, 404:382-385). Maggie Fox reported in the March 29, 2000, San Diego Union Tribune: “A chance discovery made by looking at a cast of the bones of ‘Lucy,’ the most famous fossil of Australopithecus afarensis, shows her wrist is stiff, like a chimpanzee’s, Brian Richmond and David Strait of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., reported. This suggests that her ancestors walked on their knuckles” (Fox, “Man’s Early Ancestors Were Knuckle Walkers,” 2000, Quest Section, March 29.).

C. The microwear on the teeth indicate this creature was tree fruit eater (see Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 358). Alan Walker, a professor of anthropology and biology at Penn State University, believes he might be able to reconstruct ancient diets from paleontological samples. In speaking of Alan Walker’s material, Johanson noted:

Dr. Alan Walker of Johns Hopkins has recently concluded that the polishing effect he finds on the teeth of robust Australopithecines and modern chimpanzees indicates that Australopithecines, like chimps, were fruit eaters…. If they were primarily fruit eaters, as Walker’s examination of their teeth suggests they were, then our picture of them, and of the evolutionary path they took, is wrong (Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 358).

D. Lucy’s rib cage is conical like an ape’s, not barrel shaped like a human’s (see Leakey and Lewin, 1992, p. 193-194). Peter Schmid, a paleontologist at the Anthropological Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, received a replica of Lucy and noted,

When I started to put the skeleton together, I expected it to look human. Everyone had talked about Lucy being very modern. Very human. So I was surprised by what I saw. I noticed that the ribs were more round in cross section. More like what you see in apes. Human ribs are flatter in cross section. But the shape of the ribcage itself was the biggest surprise of all. The human ribcage is barrel shaped. And I just couldn’t get Lucy’s ribs to fit this kind of shape. But I could get them to make a conical-shaped ribcage, like what you see in apes (Peter Schmid as quoted in Leakey and Lewin, Origins Reconsidered, 1992, p. 193-194).

E. The semicircular canals of Australopithecines resemble an ape’s, not a human’s or a transitional creature’s (see Spoor et al., 1994, Nature, 369:645-648).

F. The pelvis of Lucy is not large enough to give birth, leaving one to wonder if she is really a “he” [“Lucy or Lucifer?”] (see Hausler and Schmid, 1995, J. Human Evol. 29:363-383).

This doesn’t stop textbooks or museums from perpetuating the lie. For instance, at the “Living World” located in the Saint Louis Zoo, they have built a shrine to Charles Darwin. As you walk into the “Introduction to the Animals” hall, you are immediately confronted by a life-size animatronic version of Charles Darwin. The area also features a life-size replica of the alleged Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) proclaiming: “This life-sized model shows a likely ancient ancestor of the human family.” However, there were never any feet or hand fossils discovered. The question becomes how can they be so sure about what this creature looked like? According to David Menton from Washington University, the statue is “a complete misrepresentation. And I believe they know it is a misrepresentation.” When asked how in good conscience they could display a creature possessing feet and hands without fossilized evidence, Bruce L. Carr, the zoo’s director of education, declared, “Zoo officials have no plans to knuckle under. We cannot be updating every exhibit based on every new piece of evidence. We look at the overall exhibit and the impression it creates. We think the overall impression this exhibit creates is correct” (St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 22, 1996, p. 1). In other words, the impression supports evolution—let’s just forget what the evidence shows. Donald Johanson admitted:

There is no such thing as a total lack of bias. I have it; everybody has it. The fossil hunter in the field has it…. In everybody who is looking for hominids, there is a strong urge to learn more about where the human line started. If you are working back at around three million, as I was, that is very seductive, because you begin to get an idea that that is where Homo did start. You begin straining your eyes to find Homo traits in fossils of that age…. Logical, maybe, but also biased. I was trying to jam evidence of dates into a pattern that would support conclusions about fossils, which, on closer inspection, the fossils themselves would not sustain (Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 257, 258, emp. added).

He went on to state: “It is hard for me now to admit how tangled in that thicket I was. But the insidious thing about bias is that it does make one deaf to the cries of other evidence” (p. 277).

The evidence clearly demonstrates that Lucy was nothing more than an ape. Entire books have been written about alleged missing links. But what does the evidence really show? One hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin published On the Origins of Species describing the lack of transitional fossils as “the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory,” but explained it by the extreme imperfection of the geological record. He believed that time would prove his theory correct. Grains of sand have indeed passed through the hourglass of time—but those shifting sands have never turned up Darwin’s missing links.

References

Hausler, Martin and Peter Schmid (1995), “Comparison of the Pelvis of Sts 14 and AL 288-1: Implications for Birth and Sexual Dimorphism in Australopithecines,” Journal of Human Evolution, 29:363-383.

Johanson, Donald C. and Tim D. White (1979), “A Systematic Assessment of Early African Hominids,” Science, 203[4378]:321-330, January 26.

Johanson, Donald, Lenora Johanson, and Blake Edgar, (1994) Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins (New York: Villard Books).

Leakey, Richard and Roger Lewin (1992), Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human (New York: Doubleday).

Richmond, Brian G. and David S. Strait (2000), “Evidence that Humans Evolved From a Knuckle-Walking Ancestor,” Nature, 404:382-385, March 23.

In the Genesis creation account, the Bible describes that all land-dwelling creatures were created on Day 6, with man being the pinnacle of God’s creation. In chapter 2 of that same book, Moses describes the creation of man and woman in detail, informing readers “and the Lord God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living being” (Genesis 2:7). In verse 20 of that same chapter we find Adam giving names to “all cattle, to the birds of the air, to every beast of the field,” indicating that he possessed the intelligence to name them and understand instructions from God. The Darwinian Theory describes man evolving from some primordial soup, initially carrying a club and living in a cave with not much intelligence. These two theories of origins could not be more diametrically opposed.
So which is correct?
Scientific knowledge regarding the origin and antiquity of man is primarily based on fossil discoveries made by anthropologists, such as the world-famous Leakey family. Scientists would uncover fossilized bone fragments and then speculate as to what features the original creature possessed and precisely where it fit on the evolutionary tree of life. Each new discovery was heralded as a major scientific contribution—no matter how fragmented the fossil or how few remains were actually discovered. But as more and more fossils were unearthed, many scientists took delight in designating their finds as entirely new species, providing the scientist with the privilege of designating a new scientific name. While being able to name a new “species” of hominid was beneficial to one’s career, the real advantage came in announcing the discovery of the oldest upright-walking hominid fossil. The race was on to find the “missing link” that led back to a common ancestor that humans allegedly shared with the apes.
On November 30, 1974, Donald Johansson and graduate student Tom Gray loaded up in a Land Rover and headed out to plot an area of Hadar, Ethiopia, known as Locality 162. There they unearthed a fossilized skeleton that was nearly 40% complete. Dr. Johansson named his discovery Australopithecus afarensis meaning “the southern ape from Ethiopia’s Afar depression in northeastern Ethiopia.” The creature earned the nickname “Lucy” from the Beatles song “Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds” that was playing in the camp the night of the discovery. While there was a great deal of pomp and circumstance offered by the mainstream media when Lucy was first announced, her star does not shine as brightly today. In fact, having over 20 years to examine the fossils, there are several problems wrong with Lucy. For instance:
A. She has curved fingers and ape-like limb proportions (see Stern and Susman, 1983, J. Phy. Anthrop., 60:280) that point toward her being an ape.
B. She has locking wrists—a trait identified in quadrupeds (see Richmond & Strait, 2000, Nature, 404:382-385). Maggie Fox reported in the March 29, 2000, San Diego Union Tribune: “A chance discovery made by looking at a cast of the bones of ‘Lucy,’ the most famous fossil of Australopithecus afarensis, shows her wrist is stiff, like a chimpanzee’s, Brian Richmond and David Strait of George Washington University in Washington, D.C., reported. This suggests that her ancestors walked on their knuckles” (Fox, “Man’s Early Ancestors Were Knuckle Walkers,” 2000, Quest Section, March 29.).
C. The microwear on the teeth indicate this creature was tree fruit eater (see Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 358). Alan Walker, a professor of anthropology and biology at Penn State University, believes he might be able to reconstruct ancient diets from paleontological samples. In speaking of Alan Walker’s material, Johanson noted:
Dr. Alan Walker of Johns Hopkins has recently concluded that the polishing effect he finds on the teeth of robust Australopithecines and modern chimpanzees indicates that Australopithecines, like chimps, were fruit eaters…. If they were primarily fruit eaters, as Walker’s examination of their teeth suggests they were, then our picture of them, and of the evolutionary path they took, is wrong (Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 358).
D. Lucy’s rib cage is conical like an ape’s, not barrel shaped like a human’s (see Leakey and Lewin, 1992, p. 193-194). Peter Schmid, a paleontologist at the Anthropological Institute in Zurich, Switzerland, received a replica of Lucy and noted,
When I started to put the skeleton together, I expected it to look human. Everyone had talked about Lucy being very modern. Very human. So I was surprised by what I saw. I noticed that the ribs were more round in cross section. More like what you see in apes. Human ribs are flatter in cross section. But the shape of the ribcage itself was the biggest surprise of all. The human ribcage is barrel shaped. And I just couldn’t get Lucy’s ribs to fit this kind of shape. But I could get them to make a conical-shaped ribcage, like what you see in apes (Peter Schmid as quoted in Leakey and Lewin, Origins Reconsidered, 1992, p. 193-194).
E. The semicircular canals of Australopithecines resemble an ape’s, not a human’s or a transitional creature’s (see Spoor et al., 1994, Nature, 369:645-648).
F. The pelvis of Lucy is not large enough to give birth, leaving one to wonder if she is really a “he” [“Lucy or Lucifer?”] (see Hausler and Schmid, 1995, J. Human Evol. 29:363-383).
This doesn’t stop textbooks or museums from perpetuating the lie. For instance, at the “Living World” located in the Saint Louis Zoo, they have built a shrine to Charles Darwin. As you walk into the “Introduction to the Animals” hall, you are immediately confronted by a life-size animatronic version of Charles Darwin. The area also features a life-size replica of the alleged Australopithecus afarensis (Lucy) proclaiming: “This life-sized model shows a likely ancient ancestor of the human family.” However, there were never any feet or hand fossils discovered. The question becomes how can they be so sure about what this creature looked like? According to David Menton from Washington University, the statue is “a complete misrepresentation. And I believe they know it is a misrepresentation.” When asked how in good conscience they could display a creature possessing feet and hands without fossilized evidence, Bruce L. Carr, the zoo’s director of education, declared, “Zoo officials have no plans to knuckle under. We cannot be updating every exhibit based on every new piece of evidence. We look at the overall exhibit and the impression it creates. We think the overall impression this exhibit creates is correct” (St. Louis Post Dispatch, July 22, 1996, p. 1). In other words, the impression supports evolution—let’s just forget what the evidence shows. Donald Johanson admitted:
There is no such thing as a total lack of bias. I have it; everybody has it. The fossil hunter in the field has it…. In everybody who is looking for hominids, there is a strong urge to learn more about where the human line started. If you are working back at around three million, as I was, that is very seductive, because you begin to get an idea that that is where Homo did start. You begin straining your eyes to find Homo traits in fossils of that age…. Logical, maybe, but also biased. I was trying to jam evidence of dates into a pattern that would support conclusions about fossils, which, on closer inspection, the fossils themselves would not sustain (Johanson and Edey, 1981, p. 257, 258, emp. added).
He went on to state: “It is hard for me now to admit how tangled in that thicket I was. But the insidious thing about bias is that it does make one deaf to the cries of other evidence” (p. 277).
The evidence clearly demonstrates that Lucy was nothing more than an ape. Entire books have been written about alleged missing links. But what does the evidence really show? One hundred and fifty years ago, Charles Darwin published On the Origins of Species describing the lack of transitional fossils as “the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory,” but explained it by the extreme imperfection of the geological record. He believed that time would prove his theory correct. Grains of sand have indeed passed through the hourglass of time—but those shifting sands have never turned up Darwin’s missing links.
References
Hausler, Martin and Peter Schmid (1995), “Comparison of the Pelvis of Sts 14 and AL 288-1: Implications for Birth and Sexual Dimorphism in Australopithecines,” Journal of Human Evolution, 29:363-383.
Johanson, Donald C. and Tim D. White (1979), “A Systematic Assessment of Early African Hominids,” Science, 203[4378]:321-330, January 26.
Johanson, Donald, Lenora Johanson, and Blake Edgar, (1994) Ancestors: In Search of Human Origins (New York: Villard Books).
Leakey, Richard and Roger Lewin (1992), Origins Reconsidered: In Search of What Makes Us Human (New York: Doubleday).
Richmond, Brian G. and David S. Strait (2000), “Evidence that Humans Evolved From a Knuckle-Walking Ancestor,” Nature, 404:382-385, March 23.
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¡EXISTE UNA IGLESIA!

¡EXISTE UNA IGLESIA, Y SOLAMENTE UNA QUE PERTENECE A CRISTO!

UNA PROMESA QUE NO FALLO

La Iglesia: Una promesa que no Fallo.

La Iglesia: Una promesa que no Fallo.

Las palabras que se encuentran registradas en Mateo 16:18, ciertamente son unas de las más importantes, quizás en toda la Biblia para el hombre “…edificaré mi Iglesia…” Si la Iglesia no existiera el ser humano simplemente No podría ser salvo. Note con particularidad que más allá de eso la frase revela una promesa que Cristo mismo está haciendo, El mismo iba sin duda alguna a edificar SU Iglesia, una y solo una. El Señor NO dijo: “una de las iglesias” o, “ “alguna iglesia”. Nuestro pasaje en cuestión se encuentra (gramaticalmente hablando) en Singular- posesivo. Es decir; iba a construir la  “I-g-l-e-s-i-a” (una) que le iba a pertenecer a EL. Por Ejemplo: Si colocamos mis anteojos en una mesa y yo le dijera a usted; tome los anteojos que prefiera ¿Cual Sería su respuesta? -Tal vez algo como ¡No existen opciones, más que una! y eso es exactamente correcto en la mesa solo se encuentran los anteojos que le pertenecen a Heiner. Amados amigos Dios NO ha dado el derecho a ningún ser humano para decidir a que iglesia añadirse. El ha establecido una y solo una para poder alcanzar la salvación y cuando alguien obedece el verdadero evangelio de Cristo, el Señor le añade a su Iglesia (Hechos 2:47), no ningún hombre ni siquiera usted mismo sino que es el Señor. 

EXISTIO SOLO UNA IGLESIA EN EL SIGLO PRIMERO

Algunos proclaman ser la única iglesia verdadera, pero no solamente porque yo me desmaye gritando que ¡los caballos vuelan, en realidad los caballos vuelan!. Todo razonamiento correcto demanda evidencias que lo acompañen. En 1517,  Martín Lutero abiertamente se reveló contra el catolisismo y sus distorsiones a la verdad. De ahí en adelante inicia la proliferación del protestantismo. Ninguna denominación puede probar su existencia antes de esa fecha, siendo la más reciente de todas la sexta de los evangélicos, comenzando cerca del año 1900 y los Luteranos los protestantes más antiguos regresando a los 1500’s. Por otra parte la Iglesia Católica Romana de hecho es la más antigua de las denominaciones, regresando al año 300  D.C aproximadamente y la alianza que inicia con el emperador Romano Constantino. La Iglesia de Cristo no responde ninguna de estas fechas más que al año 33 D.C cuando en el día de Pentecostés se predicó la palabra de Dios y una multitud como de 3000 personas obedecieron el evangelio a travez del bautismo (Hechos 2:41). Nadie podía decir algo como ¿A que Iglesia iremos este domingo?, ¿Sabe la razón del porqué?,  Porque no existía ninguna otra, así de simple. Pablo en su carta a los Romanos envía saludos de parte de “las iglesias de Cristo” (Romanos 16:16). Alguien ha dicho: Sí, pero es solo un versículo que lo menciona. Bueno podrá ser un versículo pero está ahí y no podemos arrancar esa hoja de la Biblia, por el lado contrario quisiéramos ver uno, SOLAMENTE UN versículo, que diga: “ os saludan todas las iglesias evangélicas, o católicas, o mormonas, o testigos de Jehová, o bautistas… permítame ahorrarle tiempo, NO existe tal versículo. En el primer siglo existió Una iglesia y solo una, la Iglesia de Cristo. Jesús prometió edificar su Iglesia como antes lo vimos, y de hecho lo hizo. Decir que todas las iglesias llevan a Dios es hacer a Jesús mentiroso porque no estableció una como dijo lo haría, sino muchas. Yo  personalmente no creo que El haya mentido ¿y usted?.

LA LOGICA DEMANDA EXCLUSIVIDAD

“Logofobia”, es el termino correcto que describe la oposición a la lógica.  Dios siempre ha pedido al hombre razonar (Isaías 1:18), la nueva hermenéutica se opone tajantemente a la lógica volviendo al hombre casi insensato. La palabra griega traducida como razonable es logikos, definido por Vine como “ uno que hace uso de sus facultades mentales, razonable, racional”. Con esto mente por favor considere con nosotros:

  1. La Iglesia es descrita como La ESPOSA de Cristo (Efe. 5:22-23; Rom. 7:4;  2Co. 11:2) Cristo mismo enseño la monogamia (Un hombre para una mujer, Mateo 19:4) ¿enseño el una cosa y ahora práctica otra en referencia a la iglesia?¿Tiene el Señor muchas esposas o solamente una?.
  2. Cristo es el pastor de su REBAÑO. Existe solamente un rebaño, una Iglesia (Hechos 20:28; 1Ped. 5:2; Juan 10:16) Decir que existen diferentes rebaños nos traería también a la conclusión que existen otros pastores aparte de Cristo, eso es  profundamente interesante ¿No cree usted?
  3. La iglesia es la FAMILIA de Dios (1Tim. 3:15; Efe. 3:14-15; Hech. 10:2) Está más que claro que Dios no tiene más que una familia. Si esa familia de acuerdo a estos pasajes es la Iglesia entonces, no hay más que una Iglesia. Simplemente no puedo ni siquiera imaginarme a Cristo con muchas diferentes familias.
  4. Un Dios, un camino, una Iglesia. Muchos pueden citar Juan 14:6 de memoria, y están en acuerdo; Cristo es el camino, y ¡hábleme todo el día de Cristo!, no hay ningún problema, Mahoma no salva, ni la virgen solamente Cristo. También El es la verdad, existe una verdad que es la que va a salvar al mundo y todo esto es aceptable y bien visto para la gente pero… ¡Existe solamente una Iglesia!, ahí si NO es del agrado de muchos… Amigos ES IMPOSIBLE separar a Cristo de su Iglesia a como es imposible separar a la Cabeza del Cuerpo (Efe. 1:21-22).  Sí existe un Dios por sobre y sobre todos, Sí existe un evangelio que salva, Sí existe un Señor que se entregó por nosotros, Sí existe un solo bautismo, Sí existe una sola fe y una sola esperanza ENTONCES… EXISTE UNA SOLA IGLESIA, LA IGLESIA DE CRISTO. Y esto se llama “razonar correctamente”.

Algunos pueden observar todo lo anterior presuntuoso y hasta falsamente acusarnos de arrogancia. Sin embargo esto no tiene origen en ninguno de nosotros. El plan de exclusividad de la Iglesia fue de Dios a El le plació en la eternidad pensar en un grupo de personas llamados Iglesia de Cristo, porque iban a ser comprados con sangre por El para salvación (paráfrasis de Efe. 1:3-4), El punto es ¿Porque defender lo indefendible? Entra tanta confusión religiosa y tantas Iglesias y denominaciones de acuerdo a la la Biblia, Existe hoy una Iglesia y Solamente una que pertenece a Cristo. ´El un día regresará por segunda vez  a llevar a su esposa la iglesia que `EL estableció aquel día de pentecostés en Hechos 2. Es mi ruego que usted para ese entonces sea ya parte de la Iglesia de Cristo. 

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