Mar 19, 2012
Susan Magdalane Boyle (born 1 April 1961 is a British singer who came to international public attention when she appeared as a contestant on the TV programme Britain’s Got Talent on 11 April 2009, singing “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Misérables. Her first album was released in November 2009 and debuted as the number one best-selling album on charts around the globe.
For by grace you have been saved through faith. —Ephesians 2:8
Pressed into service in the Royal Navy, John Newton was dismissed for insubordination and turned to a career trafficking in slaves. Notorious for cursing and blasphemy, Newton served on a slave ship during the cruelest days of trans-Atlantic slavery, finally working his way up to captain.
A dramatic conversion on the high seas set him on the path to grace. He always felt a sense of undeservedness for his new life. He became a rousing evangelical preacher and eventually a leader in the abolitionist movement. Newton appeared before Parliament, giving irrefutable eyewitness testimony to the horror and immorality of the slave trade. We also know him as the author of the lyrics of perhaps the best-loved hymn of all time, “Amazing Grace.”
Newton described any good in himself as an outworking of God’s grace. In doing so, he stands with these great heroes—a murderer and adulterer (King David), a coward (the apostle Peter), and a persecutor of Christians (the apostle Paul).
This same grace is available to all who call upon God, for “in Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of His grace” (Eph. 1:7). By Philip Yancey
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see.
T’was Grace that taught…
my heart to fear.
And Grace, my fears relieved.
How precious did that Grace appear…
the hour I first believed.
Through many dangers, toils and snares…
we have already come.
T’was Grace that brought us safe thus far…
and Grace will lead us home.
The Lord has promised good to me…
His word my hope secures.
He will my shield and portion be…
as long as life endures.
Yea, when this flesh and heart shall fail,
and mortal life shall cease,
I shall possess within the veil,
a life of joy and peace.
When we’ve been here ten thousand years…
bright shining as the sun.
We’ve no less days to sing God’s praise…
then when we’ve first begun.
“Amazing Grace, how sweet the sound,
That saved a wretch like me….
I once was lost but now am found,
Was blind, but now, I see. —Newton
Lives rooted in God’s unchanging grace can never be uprooted.
Luke 1:26-38
Do we fully understand what it costs the kingdom of God when we live with a restricted commitment to Christ? Countless souls may never hear the good news, much-needed Christian workers may never put feet to their faith, and prayers that would have been answered are never uttered.
But we are wholly surrendered to God . . .
1. When we say, “No matter what I want, Lord, Your will be done.” We start by acknowledging His right to be in control of our lives. Then we follow, even if He leads us where we don’t want to go.
2. When we stop bargaining with God. Our prayers often sound like this: “Lord, I am willing to do what You say if only You first help me [or heal me, or give me success in this venture . . . ]” As sinners condemned by our own nature and helpless to save ourselves, we have no basis for negotiation with God. He redeemed us with the shed blood of His Son and made us part of His family. Our allegiance to Him is to be wholehearted.
3. When we let go in order to receive from God. Complete surrender means we willingly give up our independence, self-determination, and personal preferences (Matt. 10:39). By doing so, we position ourselves for an outpouring of God’s maximum blessing, full usefulness in His service, and deep fellowship with Him. Because we are an open channel ready for God’s use, nothing obstructs the flow of His Spirit through our life and work. We will receive more than we ever give up.
What has the Lord brought to mind that you haven’t truly yielded to Him? Won’t you kneel and surrender it today?
“Although the fig tree shall not blossom, neither shall fruit be in the vines; the labour of the olive shall fail, and the fields shall yield no meat; the flock shall be cut off from the fold, and there shall be no herds in the stalls: Yet I will rejoice in the LORD, I will joy in the God of my salvation.” (Habakkuk 3:17-18)
It is easy to be happy and cheerful in times of prosperity, when one has all the comforts of an affluent lifestyle and everything seems to be going well. The testing times come, however, when these material comforts are somehow taken away, and one feels defeated and all alone.
Except for God! Whatever else may fail, God “will never leave thee, nor forsake thee” (Hebrews 13:5). Since we still have the Lord (assuming we have trusted Him for forgiveness and salvation through Christ), we can always “rejoice in the LORD, . . . in the God of my salvation.”
Job, for example, lost all his possessions, then his children, finally his health, and even his wife turned against him. Yet he could say: “The LORD gave, and the LORD hath taken away; blessed be the name of the LORD” (Job 1:21).
God has commanded the Christian: “In every thing give thanks: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you” (1 Thessalonians 5:18). Not for everything, but in everything!
This has always been one of the greatest testimonies a Christian can give to an unbeliever—the testimony of a life rejoicing in God’s salvation even in the midst of trouble. This was the example of Christ Himself, “who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God” (Hebrews 12:2). “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory” (2 Corinthians 4:17). HMM
Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?—Hebrews 1:14.
NEAR you in sympathy the angels stand,
Their unseen hosts encompass you around,
Strong and unconquerable the glorious band,
And loud their songs and hymns of victory sound,
And near you, though invisible, are those,
The good and just of every age and clime,
Who while on earth have fought the self-same foes,
And won the fight through faith and love sublime;
Let not the hosts of sin inspire a fear,
For lo! far mightier hosts are ever near!
JONES VERY.
WITH every evil: overcome, and every new likeness of Christ inwardly put on, you are brought more completely within the circle of the great cloud of witnesses, the myriads of angels in full assembly, and the spirits of good men made perfect; their strength passes mightily into your soul and their peace is laid brightly within the heart. This is one of the essential elements of our strength
when we are supported and buoyed up in doing the Divine will. You are not marching alone. You feel it; you know it. Visible or invisible, a mighty host is with you; you are marching with them in countless and serried numbers; one spirit moves the whole and lifts their feet, and they keep step to the same music. EDMUND H. SEARS.
What things soever the Father doeth, these also doeth the Son likewise. John 5:19
The LORD giveth wisdom: out of his mouth cometh knowledge and understanding.
—I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Wait on the LORD: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart. — My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness.
Them that are sanctified by God the Father. — He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one: for which cause he is not ashamed to call them brethren.
Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD. — The fulness of him that filleth all in all.
I, even I, am the LORD; and beside me there is no saviour. — This is indeed the Christ, the Saviour of the world.
Grace, mercy, and peace, from God the Father and the Lord Jesus Christ our Saviour.
Proverbs 2:6. Luke 21:15. Psalm 27:14. 2 Corinthians 12:9. Jude 1. Hebrews 2:11. Jeremiah 23:24. Ephesians 1:23. Isaiah 43:11. John 4:42. Titus 1:4.
Hereby perceive we the love of God, because he laid down his life for us. 1 John 3:16
The love of Christ, which passeth knowledge. — Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that, though he was rich, yet for your sakes he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be rich. — Beloved, if God so loved us, we ought also to love one another. — Be ye kind one to another, tender-hearted, forgiving one another, even as God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven you. — Forbearing one another, and forgiving one another, if any man have a quarrel against any: even as Christ forgave you, so also do ye. —For even the Son of man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister, and to give his life a ransom for many. —Christ … suffered for us, leaving us an example, that ye should follow his steps.
Ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you. —We ought to lay down our lives for the brethren.
Ephesians 3:19. John 15:13. 2 Corinthians 8:9. 1 John 4:11. Ephesians 4:32. Colossians 3:13. Mark 10:4,5. 1 Peter 2:21. John 13:14,15. 1 John 3:16.
Sept 2011
Dr. Michael Rydelnik recounts his own personal journey of discovery. Little did he know that his efforts to find evidence to dissuade his mother from her faith in Jesus, would in fact lead him to the Jewish Messiah
If you . . . remember that your brother has something against you . . . —Matthew 5:23
This verse says, “If you bring your gift to the altar, and there remember that your brother has something against you . . . .” It is not saying, “If you search and find something because of your unbalanced sensitivity,” but, “If you . . . remember . . . .” In other words, if something is brought to your conscious mind by the Spirit of God— “First be reconciled to your brother, and then come and offer your gift” (Matthew 5:24). Never object to the intense sensitivity of the Spirit of God in you when He is instructing you down to the smallest detail.
“First be reconciled to your brother . . . .” Our Lord’s directive is simple— “First be reconciled . . . .” He says, in effect, “Go back the way you came— the way indicated to you by the conviction given to you at the altar; have an attitude in your mind and soul toward the person who has something against you that makes reconciliation as natural as breathing.” Jesus does not mention the other person— He says for you to go. It is not a matter of your rights. The true mark of the saint is that he can waive his own rights and obey the Lord Jesus.
“. . . and then come and offer your gift.” The process of reconciliation is clearly marked. First we have the heroic spirit of self-sacrifice, then the sudden restraint by the sensitivity of the Holy Spirit, and then we are stopped at the point of our conviction. This is followed by obedience to the Word of God, which builds an attitude or state of mind that places no blame on the one with whom you have been in the wrong. And finally there is the glad, simple, unhindered offering of your gift to God.
Neandertals
The study of ancient DNA (aDNA) is currently all the rage in the field of genomics, with more and more researchers jumping into the fray. Despite the fact that many problems still plague the field, several new research papers are claiming that scientists can now detect and study Neandertal genome sequence in modern human DNA databases using only electronic tools.1,2
The consensus among secular researchers in the field of human origins is that Neandertals represent an ancient group of humans who—despite a few early controversies to the contrary—are now believed to have widely interbred with other humans across Europe and parts of Asia. The acceptance of this idea is what led several different research groups to develop electronic methodologies that would allegedly ferret out the many different introgressed Neandertal DNA regions in modern human genomes.
In two recent studies, both research groups took slightly different approaches. One group used a two-stage strategy. In the first step they attempted to map out the areas of the human genome sensitive to variation among different modern global people groups. They then compared those regions to the Neandertal reference genome and determined whether any matches occurred more significantly than by chance alone. In their conclusion, they state that “35-70% of the Neandertal genome persists in the DNA of present-day humans.”1
The second group combined three different sources of genetic variation to identify patterns of alleged Neandertal ancestry. Like the previous study, they also utilized Neandertal DNA genomic sequence as a reference. If all three sources of variability came back positive and also matched Neandertal, then the segment was demarcated as being Neandertal in origin. As in the other study, they did this for the many modern human genome variants represented across the globe. This group was less committal about the extent of the Neandertal genome persisting in modern humans but did say that “we identify multiple Neanderthal-derived alleles that confer risk for disease, suggesting that Neanderthal alleles continue to shape human biology.”2
Although these studies demonstrate the widespread mixture of Neandertal DNA at varying levels among modern humans, there are several problems with these studies. The first is that our knowledge of the Neandertal genome is based on only a few individuals—only one of which has a complete and well-developed genomic sequence.3 How can you use the DNA sequence of just one or a few individuals to make such broad-ranging statistical assertions about the modern genomes of humans across the globe? The second problem is that the researchers had to use multiple statistical models and then apply a “majority rule” approach to deciding which outcome was valid and which wasn’t. Clearly, there were many cases where the decision of the DNA segment could have gone either way—essentially meaning that it is all human DNA anyway.
From a creationist perspective, these studies really add very little to the already clear genetic evidence showing that the Neandertals are nothing but another variant in the human lineage derived from the eight individuals who survived the global Flood as recorded in the book of Genesis. Because the remains of these archaic humans are found in burial sites in caves rather than in flood sediments, we can therefore infer that their age is no more than about 4,000 years—not the 40,000-plus years typically given by evolutionists.
by Jeffrey Tomkins, Ph.D.
References
1.Vernot, B. and J. M. Akey. Resurrecting Surviving Neandertal Lineages from Modern Human Genomes. Science Express. Published on sciencemag.org January 29, 2014.
2.Sankararaman, S. et al. The genomic landscape of Neanderthal ancestry in present-day humans. Nature. Published on nature.com January 29, 2014.
3.Prüfer, K. et al. 2014. The complete genome sequence of a Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains. Nature. 505 (7481): 43-49.
* Dr. Tomkins is Research Associate at the Institute for Creation Research and received his Ph.D. in genetics from Clemson University.
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