Genesis Chapter 1

     Genesis chapter one is a very controversial chapter and is commonly targeted by atheists in an attempt to disprove the rest of the Bible.  The thought process seems to be that if you can disprove that God created the world, then you can disprove that God exists entirely.  The issue with this is that they have helped the Biblical creation account more than they have hurt it.  I will follow with an in depth study of Genesis chapter one using the New American Standard Bible, which is agreed upon by most scholars as the most accurate word for word translation from Hebrew/Greek to English that we currently have available.

Jonah and the Whale

     In the book of Jonah we read a story about a man named Jonah who was supposed to go to Nineveh in order to warn them of God's wrath and to urge them to change their ways.  Jonah, however, decides that the people of Nineveh did not deserve God's grace and ought to be damned as a result of their disobedience.  Thinking theses things, Jonah ran from God and took a ship in the opposite direction.  A storm ends up raging over the ship that he was on and the crew starts asking why they are in this storm.  Jonah then admits that he has disobeyed God and he is thrown overboard.  When Jonah is thrown overboard, a whale catches him in its mouth, carries him to Nineveh, and spits him on the shore.  While Jonah was in the whale, he recognizes God's sovereignty and realizes that God showed him grace even when he refused to show the people of Nineveh the same grace.  Jonah, then goes to Nineveh and warns them of God's wrath and they change their ways.

Science or Christianity: Why Not Both?

     We see a common trend between scientists and theologians in the world today and it seems to be a competition of who is right and who is wrong.  This is a major issue because neither side will ever when because they are looking at two separate issues: the scientists are concerned with how and the theologians are concerned with why.  You can't argue against how with why any more than you can argue against why with how.  Imagine two parties examining a mouse trap and the first is studying how the mouse trap is built and how it works, whereas the second is studying why it was built in the first place.  Now lets assume that they come to a realization about how and why the mouse trap was built.  It was built with a block of wood, a spring, and some metal (there are obviously more details, but lets keep it simple) and when a plate is pushed down the spring releases the metal and it smashes into the wood.  The purpose of the mouse trap is to kill a mouse.  Now how ridiculous would it be for the first group to tell the second group that it is not meant to kill mice because it is wood, a spring, and some metal and it only clamps down when it is moved; it would be equally ridiculous for the second group to tell the first that it doesn't clamp down and kill the mice, it just kills them.  Do you see how ignorant this sounds?  This is an extreme example, but it is exactly what is going on today.  The scientists know for a fact that the earth is more than 6,000 years old, but they have no idea why it came to be in the first place and try to use how the earth is more than 6,000 years old to prove that God doesn't exist.  The theologians are just as bad; they try to tell scientists that the world has to be 6,000 years old because God created it.  Neither of these arguments make any sense, but you may say, "The Bible clearly shows that the world is 6,000 years old because Jesus lived 2,000 years ago, Adam lived 4,000 years before that and God says He created the world in 6 days in the Bible.  My response to that is that God does not say anything in the Bible.  The Bible is inspired by God, not spoken or written by God and the Bible even says so itself*.

What Christianity Is: Faith or Works?

     Many people try to separate faith and works thinking that you have to earn God's favor or that just faith in Christ is enough to be a Christian.  Those who believe that we have to earn God's favor tend to be harsh and judgmental towards others.  However, those who believe that we only have to have faith tend to be overly sympathetic and accepting of sinful acts.  What I believe to be the correct choice is the middle ground: faith and works are the only way to Christianity.

The Difference Between Pastors and Evangelists

      I hear so many "pastors" in the church today speaking about how wrong some Christians and other leaders of the church are for being on the other side of a topic within Christianity and it really bothers me.  Pastoring a church is not about making sure that everyone believes just like you do because the fact is that everyone's beliefs vary slightly because no one has the same understanding or experience as anyone else.  An Evangelist is concerned with whether others share there beliefs or not, not a pastor.  Many "pastors" seem to be more concerned with people agreeing with their belief system than they are of spiritual growth.  The position of a pastor is to help the members of his/her church grow spiritually, not to tell them how they should believe and condemn them when they don't believe that way.  The job of the evangelist is to bring people to their own understandings.  Many "pastors" will argue against this idea by using the shepherd parables from the Bible*.  They will say that it is their job to keep the sheep pointed in the right direction, however, a shepherd is to feed and nourish his sheep to facilitate growth as well as lead the sheep in the right direction.  This "right" direction doesn't mean that the pastor has to conform the congregation to his belief system, but it does mean that he has to give them a general direction and that it is ok for them to waver back and forth because they are all going to the same place as they are all his sheep.  The shepherd is also supposed to protect his sheep, but this doesn't mean that we shouldn't have freedom to explore ideas, it means that the pastor is to be careful of what he allows in his church.  I believe that a great example of the position of a pastor is my Resident Chaplain (RC), Jake.  Jake is a Calvinist and doesn't believe that we have free will to choose God; he believes that God chooses us.  This does not stop Jake from leading Bible studies on our floor and speaking into our lives whether we agree with Calvinism or not because his job is to help us grow in Christ, not to impose his beliefs on us.  Pastoring is not about cloning your own beliefs, but it is about raising up a generation of strong Christians to change the world!  Evangelists on the other hand are the ones who are supposed to bring people to Christ.  Unlike pastors, they are not dealing with people who are already Christians, but are dealing with those who have yet to come to Christ.  Therefore, evangelists are meant to bring people to their own beliefs in Christ and help lead them into a church where they can make their own assumptions about scripture and grow into a healthy relationship with God.

*1 Peter 5:2-4 "2 Be shepherds of God’s flock that is under your care, watching over them—not because you must, but because you are willing, as God wants you to be; not pursuing dishonest gain, but eager to serve; 3 not lording it over those entrusted to you, but being examples to the flock. 4 And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive the crown of glory that will never fade away."