Where’s the Ladder?

Nothing was going right in his life. He had lied to his father, stolen from his brother and now that brother had made plans to kill him. He had left the security of the home where he had been raised and was headed to a foreign land, hoping to find a wife there. As night approached he decided to sleep out in the open, found a rock to use for his pillow and fell asleep.

The dream that he had was no ordinary one. It was one given by God. He saw a ladder which extended from earth on which he lay and reached the top of heaven. On this ladder, angels were ascending and descending, and at the top of the ladder was God who blessed him and gave him three special promises. When he woke up, he realized that he had received a message from God. He named that place Bethel, which in Hebrew means “the house of God.”

That ladder was not mentioned again for nearly two thousand years. When Nathanael confessed that Jesus was the Son of God, the Lord responded, “Most assuredly, I say to you, hereafter you shall see heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of Man” (John 1:51). The importance of that ladder and its meaning is obvious. The ladder which reached from earth to heaven was Jesus Himself!

What can so easily be overlooked is the significance of the name Jacob gave the place where he had the dream. That ladder began at Bethel and reached to heaven. Since Bethel means the house of God, the message is obvious. The path to heaven goes through Bethel. It goes through the house of God.

The story becomes complete when we establish the identify of the house of God. Paul’s first letter to Timothy leaves no doubt. “These things I write to you, though I hope to come to you shortly; but if I am delayed, I write so that you may know how you ought to conduct yourself in the house of God, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and ground of the truth” (1 Tim. 3:14-15). The house of God is the church of the living God. The ladder reaching from earth to heaven is the Lord. To “climb the ladder” you must begin at Bethel, the house of God. To climb that ladder you must begin at the church of the living God. In one brief story, God forever shows the importance of the church. The entrance into heaven begins at Bethel!

On the practical level, think of how this relates to our work here at the house of God, the church of the living God. Do you see this place as a portal to heaven? Do you see it as the place where the ladder to heaven touches the earth? How do you see it? More importantly, how does God see it?

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Warning: The Following Products are Dangerous to Your Soul

Introduction

Salesmen. We are truly surrounded by them—especially this time of year. They pitch their products on billboards, catalogs, infomercials, and through every form of available media. Their only objective is to push the product and make a sale. Men and women spend years in school to learn exactly what phrases to use, and what displays will work best to the market their merchandise. Good salesmen can take a lackluster product that performs well below any guarantee and convince individuals that they “need” one. Most people have experienced that queasy feeling of being sold a product by a slick salesman, only to later realize that the product did not live up to expectations. And so our closets and garages are filled to capacity with things that were sold by successful pitchmen.

While these products may make a dent into checking accounts or take up excessive storage space, they are, for the most part harmless. But consider products that individuals sell that possess a price much higher than any checking account balance. Have the “garages and closets” of our spiritual lives also become cluttered with material that is unneeded or unwanted—or worse, harmful? Not all of the products that Christians buy into are healthy. Sadly, many individuals are more selective of items that are worn outside the body, than spiritual information that they take inside the body. As a result, many individuals unknowingly compromise their relationship with Christ and their Almighty Creator. The salesmen often come with outstanding credentials, long resumes, and may be standing in your pulpit. However, the product that these men leave you with will not only erode away the foundation of your faith, it will eventually jeopardize your soul.

The product for sale is evolution. While most Christians would never openly consider accepting evolutionists’ teachings, the “product” offers a compromise that allows Christians to believe in God and an ancient Earth. In the face of what many believe is “overwhelming” scientific evidence, and not wanting to offend either “religious fanatics” or evolutionists (in the name of “political correctness”), many Christians feel intellectually intimidated, and therefore buy into concepts and theories which try to “marry” the two. There are many ways Christians have tried to incorporate millions of years (i.e. Day-Age Theory, Gap Theory). By compromising and fusing scientific allegations with the Scriptures, Christians believe they will find a safe “middle ground.” However, the ground on which they are standing is not only treacherous, but also soul threatening!

Christians who are willing to accept an Earth that is billions of years old see nothing wrong with children’s books on dinosaurs that discuss their extinction taking place millions of years ago. Neither do these individuals blink an eye when they read about the millions of years represented by the so-called geologic timetable. However, the damage caused by allowing this mindset of “millions of years for Creation” into their homes is nowhere near as catastrophic as the deathblow their views deliver to the rest of the Bible. By treating the Genesis account of Creation like a myth, every reference to that account must then be called into question. I invite you to read the fine print on these “products” in view of the Scriptures, in hopes that no one else will buy these tainted products.

Progressive Creation

In trying to pinpoint the core principles of Christianity in his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis took a great effort in presenting “an agreed, or common, or central,” view of “mere” Christianity (1996, p. 8). These common points were the minimum requirements that Lewis felt one must hold to be considered a Christian. In 1998, William Dembski published a book titled Mere Creation in which he tried to establish what issues “minimally must be included under a doctrine of creation” (p. 13). Instead of accepting the Bible as the literal word of God and evaluating the scientific evidence, however, Dembski suggests: “Rather than look for common ground on which all Christians can agree, propose a theory of creation that puts Christians in the strongest possible position to defeat the common enemy of creation, to wit, naturalism” (pp. 13,14). Thus, compromises are made in an effort to build a “strong” theory, and the accuracy of the Bible is forgotten. Progressive creation is a theory that wholly embraces many such compromises in an effort to strengthen itself in the eyes of men.

Progress is from the Latin progredi (pro-forward + gradi-to step) meaning to go forward, proceed, or advance (Traupman, 1981, p. 246). As the name contends, progressive creation affirms a creation by a supernatural intervention by God in natural history—it is a hybrid of the Day-Age Theory and Theistic Evolution. As such, this theory contends that God may have worked also through existing material and natural processes to come to the end result we see today. Progressive Creationists also believe that creation is progressive—that is, it proceeded forward in a step-like manner. The last defining characteristic of Progressive Creation is that it happened over unlimited time. Thus, believers speculate that creation could have occurred over six-literal solar days, or over billions of years. This lack of definition of time allows Progressive Creationists to embrace both the biblical account and scientific evidence, which alleges that the Earth is much older than 10,000 years.

While Gap Theorists insert millions of years between Genesis 1:1 and Genesis 1:2, progressive creationists take another approach. Millions of years are inserted by changing the meaning of “day” in the creation account from a single 24-hour rotation of the Earth, to a long, indefinite period of time and then having God step in and progress creation at various intervals. Historically speaking, the term “progressive creation” was first used by the Presbyterian theologian, Charles Hodge (1797-1878), a contemporary of Darwin. In his book Systematic Theology Hodge wrote: “There is, therefore, according to the Scriptures, not only an immediate, instantaneous creation ex nihilo by the simple word of God, but a mediate progressive creation; the power of God working in union with the second causes” (1892, Vol. 1, p. 557). While Hodge may not have advocated a position of “progressive creation,” he certainly breathed life into this new concept.

While there is little agreement among Progressive Creationists, they generally hold to the following beliefs:

  • The “Big Bang” theory is interpreted as God’s way of producing stars and galaxies through billions-of-years of natural processes
  • They believe that the Earth and Universe are billions of years old.
  • They contend that the days of Creation were overlapping periods of millions or billions of years.
  • They hold that bloodshed and death have existed from the very beginning of creation, and as such, were not the result of Adam’s sin. They believe man was created after the vast majority of Earth’s history of life and death had already taken place.
  • They believe that the flood of Noah was local, not global, and therefore it had little effect on the Earth’s geology.

Experience has shown that those who accept, and defend, progressive creationism often come to believe more in evolution and less in creation as time passes. This does not seem to be the exception, but rather the rule. As Davidheiser has concluded:

“Threshold Evolution” leads to much real evolutionary belief. How much evolution do these people accept? One of the men says of his belief in progressive creationism that he encounters a primary difficulty—he must exercise faith to believe in a certain amount of creation! Others admit that their view requires considerably more evolutionary belief than they would have been willing to accept a few years previously. In other words, it leads to evolutionary beliefs and away from creation. It establishes another compromise which is injurious to the Christian faith… (1973, 3:52-53).

Is progressive creationism theistic evolution? Both call on God to start creation. Both accept evolution (in varying amounts). Both accept the validity of the geologic age system. Both postulate an old Earth. Where is the difference, except that progressive creationism allows God “a little more to do”? Both systems put God (theos) and evolution together. By any other standard that is theistic evolution. Friends, this compromise in beliefs may be appealing to the ears, but it is damning to the soul.

Conclusion

Salesmen abound. And while they may quickly point out that the only difference in their product and the Genesis account of creation is time, this is not a trivial point. By inserting millions of years into the creation account (whether it be before, during, or after the 6 days of creation), these conmen are discrediting the Word of God and calling the inspiration of the Bible into question. Pitchmen will come and go, but the products they leave behind can have lasting effects. Make sure you are familiar with the fine print before you bring anything these men are selling into your home.

REFERENCES

Davidheiser, Bolton (1973), “Theistic Evolution,” And God Created, ed. Kelly L. Seagraves (Sand Diego, CA: Creation-Science Research Center), 3:49-53.

Dembski, William A. ed (1998), Mere Creation: Science, Faith, and Intelligent Design (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity).

Hodge, Charles (1892), Systematic Theology (London: James and Clark & Co.), three volumes, 1960 reprint.

Lewis, C.S. (1996), Mere Christianity (New York: Simon and Schuster).

Traupman, John C. (1981), The New College Latin and English Dictionary (New York: Bantam).

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Same Sex Marriage Approved in Every State

It seems like every week there is another effort by those who are seeking to legitimize the practice of homosexuality in America. While 30 states have a constitutional amendment prohibiting same-sex marriage, there is an ongoing effort to create a nation approving this practice. At least six states now recognize these “marriages” and efforts continue in most other states to change existing laws.

What is being overlooked by those seeking to change the definition of marriage in this land, is the larger picture. Suppose that every state and the Supreme Court of the United States decreed that these arrangements were legal. What difference will it make in reality? Suppose that in the future the efforts of these groups especially among the younger generation, create a nation where the polls show that very few have any disdain for same-sex marriage. What difference will it make in reality?

The reality is that there is law which overrules any law in any city, county, state or nation. It is the law of the One who created this world and all that is in it. When Adam was lonely, the Creator did not create another man. He created a woman to be the one who completed man. Did not the omniscient Creator know what Adam needed? He did not create Adam and Steve, He created Adam and Eve. He affirmed that man was to leave his father and mother to cleave to his wife—not to his significant other or his partner!

The first cities we know of where homosexuality was approved by their citizens date back to the days of Abraham. Whatever laws governed the behavior of Sodom and Gomorrah could not change God’s original plan. There was an outcry for those cites which reached to heaven. God described it as “great and . . . very grave” (Gen. 18:20). He showed His disdain for such actions when he sent fire and brimstone to annihilate them. They are His eternal example of how heaven regards such actions. Jude says it best, “Sodom and Gomorrah . . . having given themselves over to sexual immorality are gone after strange flesh are set forth as an example suffering the vengeance of eternal fire.”

It seems some have lost sight of those cities which God set forth as an example. They are doing all they can to make America identical to Sodom. They have forgotten the example given by God. They see only the smaller picture of getting this society to sanction their sexual perversion.
The larger picture is when the “sexually immoral . . . shall have their part in a lake of fire and brimstone” (Rev. 12:8).

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The Head Bone Connected to the Neck Bone…

I have a childhood memory of a song we sang which was intriguing, but we had no idea about it’s meaning. The words, as I remember them, were, “Head bone connected to the neck bone; the neck bone connected to the shoulder bone; the shoulder bone connected to the back bone; the back bone connected to the thigh bone . . .” It went on and on and finally got to the toe bone and then there was this refrain, “Now hear the word of the Lord.” As kids, we sang it and laughed as we enjoyed it, but had no idea what this song about bones had to do with “now hear the word of the Lord.”

The background of the song is that time when the Jews were taken as captive to Babylon. They had forsaken God and He brought Nebuchadnezzar to destroy the holy city, tear down the glorious temple Solomon had built and bring an end to the presence of God’s chosen people in the promised land. As captives they had lost all hope of ever returning to Jerusalem and restoring the relation to God they once had. They were saying, “Our bones are dry, our hope is lost, and we ourselves are cut off” (Eze. 37:11). God had raised up Ezekiel as His prophet and,  through him, delivered a promise of their restoration.

In a vision, God brought Ezekiel to a valley full of dry bones. In the midst of the bones Ezekiel described as very dry, God asked him, “Son of man, can these bones live?” The Lord then told Ezekiel to say, “O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” When Ezekiel finished his message, “There was a noise, and suddenly a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to bone.” As he watched, the bones not only came together, but  flesh covered them and God’s breath caused them to come alive.

Israel was wrong. The condition of the nation looked hopeless if one forgot the promises of God. Before they were taken captive God had told them what was about to happen and even told them precisely the number of years they would be in that distant land. They were looking at life without faith, and the future is often so bleak. However, the promises of God are far greater than life’s circumstances.

So the next time your life apparently is hopeless, read Ezekiel chapter 37. Stand in the midst of your own valley of very dry bones. Then look away from those bones and look toward the promises of One who cannot lie. In your imagination watch the head bone connect to the neck bone, and the neck bone connect to the shoulder bone . . . Then hear the word of the Lord! “All things work together for good. . . “

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I Did Not Get My Bulletin

The title of this article may not mean much to those who receive this bulletin by email, but it probably does to the hundreds who receive it via “snail-mail.” Two weeks ago we had a computer/printer crisis in the office and have been unable to print and mail the bulletin. We apologize to those who missed the bulletin for the past two weeks, but are thankful that we were able to at least email the bulletin to hundreds.

There are some lessons to be learned from every event of our lives. As I think about the events of the past weeks, I am reminded of the words of James, “You do not know what will happen tomorrow” (James 4:14). How easy it is for us to assume that the events of the past assure the continuity in the future. The one absolute assurance of the future is that God is in control and will be there for us!

I am thankful that we were missed by those who failed to receive the bulletin. Many years ago a deacon said to me, “I don’t know why we even print a bulletin, only 10% of the people who receive it, read it!” I am thankful that my experience is so different from his views. The comments about bulletin articles I have written in the past show that there are many who delight in reading it. Thank you for missing us!

I am thankful that my brethren are so wonderful and understanding. So much of our work revolves around the computer information we have and the failure to have access to it impacted the lives of many. Members at Palm Beach Lakes spent many hours resolving the problem. I marvel at their dedication. I am also so thankful for the patience of everyone as we worked to restore the operation of the office.

I have been reminded of the power of the printed page. The content of the bulletin has an impact on the members at this church. It is a weekly reminder of the sick, of those traveling, of those who are out of town, of those needing an avenue to express thanks and gratitude, of those interested in how the church is doing statistically, of those who want to know of upcoming events and of those who are edified by the articles found in the bulletin. The fact that the Bible has been given to us in a written form is a reminder of the power of words as we read them.

Then there is the reminder of the abiding nature of words when they are printed. A conversation may easily be forgotten and a sermon may not be remembered once one leaves the building, but that which appears in the bulletin can be read again and again, even years later.

Thanks for your interest in this bulletin!

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