Category Archives: Truth Matters

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The Brother of Jesus on the Logic of Sin

“But each one is tempted when, by his own evil desire, he is dragged away and enticed. Then, after desire has conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.” – James 1:14-16

We have all experienced the logic of sin James lays out in this passage. Memorizing it and quoting it (out loud) when confronted with what we know to be sin will help us overcome in that moment (cf. 1 Cor 10:13). That was what Jesus did when he responded to Satan’s lies with an “it is written…” (Luke 4).
How is your arsenal of “it is written’s?” Anything for the Holy Spirit to bring to mind?
I’m reloading mine. If Jesus needed to hide God’s word in his heart (Psalm 119:9-11), then certainly I do!
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Our Great Need for Spiritual Transformation

“The greatest need you and I have – the greatest need of collective humanity – is renovation of our heart. That spiritual place within us from which outlook, choices and actions come has been formed by a world away from God. Now it must be transformed.” – Dallas Willard

If we want to be transformed, we must aim at the heart (Prov. 4:23). And to get at the heart, we begin with the mind (Romans 12:1-2).
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Jonathan Morrow and Sean McDowell Interviewed on Point of View for Is God Just a Human Invention?

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Yesterday Sean McDowell and I had the privilege of being on Point of View Radio with Kerby Anderson and Penna Dexter. Here is our interview (2 hours). The question of God is up for public debate…are you ready to engage?


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The Miracle of the Origin of Life

Nicholas Wade, science writer for the New York Times, summarizes the current state of affairs regarding origins of life research:

“Everything about the origin of life on earth is a mystery, and it seems the more that is known, the more acute the puzzles get…The chemistry of the first life is a nightmare to explain. No one has yet devised a plausible explanation to show how the earliest chemicals of life — thought to be RNA, or ribonucleic acid, a close relative of DNA — might have constructed themselves from the inorganic chemicals likely to have been around on the early earth. The spontaneous assembly of small RNA molecules on the primitive earth ”would have been a near miracle,” two experts in the subject helpfully declared last year.”

Lest you think this is an argument from ignorance, it is from what we do know about DNA and proteins and amino acids and the early earth’s atmosphere. Chance or luck is out. And there is no self-organizing principle / law that made this “necessary” in any sense of the word.

Oxford Atheist Richard Dawkins on the Origin of Life (from Expelled):

Richard Dawkins: We know the sort of event that must have happened for the origin of life.

Ben Stein: And what was that?

Richard Dawkins: It was the origin of the first self replicating molecule.

Ben Stein: Right, and how did that happen?

Richard Dawkins: I’ve told you, we don’t know.

Ben Stein: So you have no idea how it started.

Richard Dawkins: No, no. Nor has anyone.

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Jesus on the Bible

One of the biggest reasons you can trust the Bible is that Jesus did. He affirmed the writings of the OT (Matt 5:17-18; John 10:34-36; Luke 24:25-32) and promised what would become the NT (John 14:26; 16:12-14). And if Jesus is who he claimed to be and God did in fact raise him from the dead, then his testimony is powerful evidence that the Bible is truly God’s word to us (2 Tim 3:16-17 cf. 2 Pet 1:20-21). Trusting the Bible is not a blind leap of faith, it is an entirely reasonable thing to do.