Sermon Select
Timothy: A Conscientious Plodder 9/5/99
I Thessalonians 3:1-3
Jesus Christ has had a loyal legion of followers on every continent in every age. The Bible chronicles the experiences of some of the first century stalwarts. Our distance from them diminishes their flaws and dramatizes their favorable qualities. However, in every age loyalist have had one thing in common and Paul was the penman who penned the announcement of it when he wrote: “We told you when we were with you that we would suffer tribulation…” (I Thessalonians 3: 4).
We are blessed and made bold by their example in the face of deprivation, destitution, distress, disaster, and difficulty. They were plodders. They looked neither to the right nor the left but kept on course. Theirs was a long obedience in the same direction.
Jesus said, “If any man will come after me let him take up his cross daily, and follow Me” (Luke 9:23). What a purpose giving invitation this is. It frees one of boredom and relieves one of monotony.
Our identity with Christ is noted in the word translated “follow.” It means to walk so closely behind that when the person leading removes his foot from one spot the following person puts his foot in that spot. In that proximity there is room for only one cross. Christ said we are to take up our cross and follow Him. If there is room for only one cross and we are to take up our cross that means the cross Christ carried is our cross.
It is not unreasonable to envision Christ struggling under the cross and physically plodding along on His way to Calvary. When we follow Him we become members of the “Society of Plodders.” What a wonderful fraternal order it is.
One of my favorite plodders of a more modern era is George Washington Carver. He was born a slave near Diamond Grove, Missouri. As an infant he along with his mother were stolen by a band of night raiders. It is said his master bought him back in exchange for a horse. He plodded along paying his way through college at Iowa State College by doing janitorial work, taking in laundry, and cooking.
He started a collection of fungus that grew to over 20,000. This earned him national fame. He came to Tuskegee University in Alabama in 1896. His discoveries were numerous.
“When I was young, I said to God, ‘God tell me the mystery of the universe,’ but God answered, ‘That knowledge is reserved for me alone.’ So I said, ‘God tell me the mystery of the peanut.’ Then God said, ‘Well, George, that’s more nearly your size.’ And He told me.”
During his illustrious career this slave child made more than 300 products from the peanut. More than 118 products from the sweet potato and 75 from pecans.
In 1916 this plodder was named a Fellow in the Royal Society of Arts in London, an honor given few Americans.
In 1951 the George Washington Carver Monument was established on 210 acres of Missouri farm land in his honor. By the time of his death some 18 schools had been named in his honor. He was a productive plodder.
Contemporary sports figures are dramatic examples of plodders. Lance Armstrong overcame cancer’s death sentence to win the world of cycling’s most grueling contest, the Tour de France. He said, “I am responsible to tell my story. To encourage others to fight on.” He plodded the often debilitating path of cancer.
Jim Abbot was born without a right hand. Courageously he concentrated on his left and minimized the absence of a right hand. He overcame his limitation to become quarterback of his high school football team. He excelled in baseball batting 427.
In Korea he was a pitcher on the U.S. Gold Medal baseball team.
He broke into the major leagues with the Angels in 1989. He pitched in 263 major league games. In 1991 he was 18 – 11 with an ERA of 2.89. Most remarkably of all while pitching with the New York Yankees this one armed phenomenon pitched a no- hitter.
He said, “My career wasn’t always great, but it was wonderful.” What a productive plodder!
Plodders know toward what they are plodding. They have an objective, goal, or gateway. Create an environment that keeps yours before you.
Strategically placed post-it notes can be used as self-reminders. Post them on your refrigerator, in your bedroom, at your place of play, work, or business.
Record your statement of calling or goals on cassette tape and replay it for yourself often.
Put them on the screen saver of your computer.
Isaac Newton was asked how he discovered the law of gravity and replied, “By thinking about it all the time.”
What are the spiritual goals toward which you are plodding. State them, record them, and repeat them to achieve them.
For examples of traits of a conscientious plodder turn to your New Testament. Timothy is tracked in his faith from his childhood. From him we can learn additional traits of a plodder.
HE WAS A LEARNER
Timothy was evidently reared in a single parent home. His mother and grandmother are identified but no reference is made to his dad (II Timothy 1: 5). Both his mom, Eunice, and grandmother Lois were followers of Christ who served as his maternal mentors.
From infancy they taught him Scripture (II Timothy 3: 15).
Scripture is a curriculum for a course of a joyous life well lived. That is true because it comes from God.
“All Scripture is given by inspiration of God…” (II Timothy 3: 16).
Meaning, “Every single part of the whole is given by God.” I have studied textual criticism, form criticism, and higher criticism, which as most often taught are designed to destroy one’s confidence in Scripture. It only confirmed my confidence in it as God’s Word.
A perfect God would have had no problem giving us a perfect Bible. Every single part of it is given “by inspiration of God.” This means “every single part of the whole is breathed out by God.” As we exhale breath from our lungs so every part of the Bible proceeded from the mind of God.
If you want a faith that keeps on keeping on “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth” (II Tim 2:15).
HEAR God’s Word, READ God’S Word, STUDY God’s Word,
MEMORIZE God’ Word, MEDITATE on God’s Word, DO God’s Word.
Establish a personal program of daily Bible study. Set aside a time and place to go through this regimen.
Inevitably you will miss a day. If so don’t quit. If you miss a meal do you give up eating all together? No, you look all the more forward to the next one and resume. Do the same in Bible study.
Note the advantages of studying Scripture.
It is “profitable for doctrine,” that is it deals with forwardness.
It is affords “reproof,” meaning it relates to falsehoods.
It is suited for “correction.” Apply it for faltering.
It is reliable “for instruction in righteousness. It guides us in making God first.
Plodders need instructions on the right route.
Let God’s Word be your standard for life. Many people are looking and listening to learn what’s “in.” The “everybody is doing it” mantra is a mandate for meritocracy.
That sage, President Harry Truman, who defied the polls said: “How far would Moses have gone if he had taken a poll? What would Jesus Christ have preached if He had taken a poll in the land of Israel? What would have happened if Martin Luther had taken a poll? It is isn’t polls or public opinion of the moment that counts. It is right and wrong and leadership.”
One plodding after the heart of God gets marching orders from the Word of God. Timothy did.
A LABORER
Paul describes Timothy as his “fellow laborer” (I Thes. 3:2).
In the day when the dignity of labor has been debased we do well to have a Labor Day on our national calendar to pay tribute to those who labor.
When a person sees his or her job as a ministry then it takes on a holy glow. When they conceive of themselves as doing what they are doing as though Jesus were their on job boss life sparkles. Then Colossians 3: 23 becomes a by-word for life: “And whatever you do, do it heartily, as to the Lord and not to men.”
Perform and produce to an audience of one, Jesus.
Few figures are as much in the spotlight as athletes in America today. I am pleased to associate with many of the greatest athletes in the world by virtue of being Chairman of the National Board of Trustees of the Fellowship of Christian Athletes. Many of them measure their effectiveness not by boos or cheers of the crowds but by whether they have performed in a manner pleasing to Christ. They know Christ to be plodding every step with them.
John Wooden, perhaps the greatest coach of any sport, who won unprecedented number of National Championships with UCLA, said, “Sometimes I wonder if the Lord isn’t almost as much the coach as I am.”
Tom Landry observed, “Knowing your job isn’t the most important thing in your life relieves a lot of pressure. And because I felt I was doing God’s will in my life, I knew I didn’t have to do it all in my strength.”
Bobby Bowden who has enjoyed unprecedented success with his football program at Florida State, in speaking of his life growing “more Christian- patterned,” said, “At least I hope I have grown in my Christian life through the years. I’ve tried to be a better example to my players.”
Tom Osborne whose Nebraska Cornhuskers ranked among the top 24 in the nation for 30 years, from 1969 to 1998, and 21 times in the top ten, is a man of great personal faith. His newly released book, Faith in the Game, is punctuated with accounts revealing his deep personal faith in the sufficiency of Christ.
Grant Teaff, Executive Director of the American Football Coaches Association, told me he has made a long time study of the crucifixion of Christ because His was the ultimate sacrifice. Any sacrifice he asked of himself and his players was measured against that.
Like these men the labor of Timothy was to establish and encourage people in their faith. Everybody needs strengthening and encouraging. Modern behaviorist Dale Carnegie said, “Three- fourths of the people you will ever meet are hungering and thirsting for sympathy. Give it to them, and they will love you.”
Timothy and Paul, like many today, had an unusually difficult assignment. They were to be living examples of the sufficiency of Christ in adversity. Don’t read I Thess. 3: 3 with glazed eyes: “that no one should be shaken by these afflictions; for you yourselves know that we are appointed to this.”
They were “appointed” to suffer for Christ.
Benjamin Franklin said, “The things that hurt instruct.”
Paul had a thorn in the flesh with which he lived. Timothy had digestive problems. For this reason he was counseled to “take a little wine for the stomachs sake.” Wooooe!
Many take this as license for consuming alcohol noting the Bible says do it. If you are going to be Biblical about it be Biblical about it all the way. The medical standard of the era is revealed in the word “little.” There was a formula for this. Sanitation and water purification in that era wasn’t good. To compensate for this they added one part wine to 20 parts water. So if you are going to use this as your proof text be sure to follow that formula and you won’t become an alcoholic.
HE WAS A LOYALIST
Pollster George Gallup, Jr., concluded in his book Saints Among Us that approximately 13% of Americans live their lives out of deep, authentic, spiritual commitment. He found they are more compassionate, more conscious of God’s presence, and led happier and more joyful lives.
Throughout the Book of Acts Timothy is found being dispatched to a different difficult area to share the love of Christ. He was part of the vanguard that put out the altar fires in the pagan temples and light the gospel torch in the palaces of Caesar. We too have a similar assignment.
Eighty years ago England was the most churched country in the world. Today many churches are closed. Those who do reach people for Christ average baptizing 1?2 person per year.
In 1958 America was the most churched country in the world. Today, 40 years later, we are half-way to where England is.
Loyalist like Timothy must be raised up to plod into the fields that are indeed white unto harvest, over ripe.
Paul described Timothy as “my beloved and faithful son in the Lord” (I Cor. 4: 17). With such identity Timothy was sent to the divided church in Corinth to be God’s instrument of reconciliation. Plodders go where they are supposed to go and do what they are assigned to do.
Timothy’s message and life are confirmed as positive. Paul said, “Jesus Christ, who was preached among you by … Timothy—- was not Yes and No, but in Him was Yes. For all the promises of God in Him are Yes, and in Him Amen, to the glory of God through us” (II Corinthians 1: 19, 20).
There is to be no vacillating. The expression “amen” is an expression of confirmation.
As a leader in the emerging church Timothy was martyred during the reign of Domitian trying to stop an indecent heathen act. Thus, this God-honoring plodded sealed his testimony with his blood.
“Fame is a vapor, popularity is an accident, riches take wings. One thing endures and that is character.” (Horace Greeley)
It’s About Time 1/17/99
Ephesians 5:15-18
Come Alive Bible Page 1712
JESUS CHRIST stepped across the portals of eternity onto the stage of time to demonstrate to us the proper use of time. He was time-conscious. As a child, He said, “I must be about my Father’s business.” “My time is not yet come…” was a statement frequently on His lips. We need to gain His perspective and appreciation for time.
Swiss Clock:
When as a child, I laughed and wept
Time crept.
When as a youth, I dreamed and talked
Time walked.
When I became a full grown man
Time ran.
When older still I grew
Time flew.
Soon I shall find in traveling on
Time gone.
Benjamin Franklin said, “Do you love life? Then do not squander time, for it is the stuff of which life is made.”
We do tend to squander time with trivial engagements. A “U.S. News and World Report” recorded the following use of time. In a lifetime the average American will spend:
Six months at stop lights.
Eight months opening junk mail.
One year looking for lost objects.
Two years unsuccessfully returning phone calls.
Four years doing housework.
Five years waiting in line.
Six years eating.
We would do well to pray with the Psalmist, “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12).
We are born time conscious. If you doubt it take a trip with a young child and you will hear: “Are we there yet? How much longer?”
Unfortunately, too soon we lose the sense of importance to time and begin to waste it.
In His wisdom God described some people in this manner: “Some among you are leading an undisciplined life, doing no work at all, but acting like busybodies” (II Thessalonians 3:11).
An alleged interview with God went like this.
“God what is a million dollars like to you?”
“A million dollars is like a penny to Me.”
“God what is a million years like to you?
“A million years is like a second.”
“God will you please give me a million dollars?”
“In a second.”
Ask the Lord to help you order your time. With just 15 minutes a day in a year you can:
-Read the entire Bible.
-Learn to play a musical instrument.
-Plant and cultivate a small garden.
-Learn a foreign language.
-Become physically fit.
-Write a book.
I. DON’T RELIVE YESTERDAY WITH BITTERNESS THAT STAINS TODAY
Don’t pull yesterday’s clouds over today’s sun.
Evidence of time misspent: 7.5 billion sleeping pills per year, 19 million shaky hands each night reach for help. 11 million Aspirin, 7.5 Billion headaches. That’s 50 headaches/head/year. Two factors that can cause this bitterness:
– Glory behind. Don’t live like a peacock whose glory is behind.
– Guilt behind. In marriage counseling, I find many things that are causing problems happened three or more years ago.
You can’t drive to a desired destination looking in the rear-view mirror. Don’t try to live a progressive life looking back. Learn from the past that you might live will in the present.
II. DON’T WASTE TODAY BY WORRYING ABOUT TOMORROW
Don’t waste today. Let Mary tell you her story and perhaps it will help you get today …. everyday in focus.
Mary says she stood with her brother-in-law and watched as he took out of the dresser drawer a tissue wrapped package. As he unfolded it he said, “This is not a slip. It is lingerie.” It was beautiful silk handmade and trimmed with cobwebbed lace.” He continued speaking of my sister, “Jan bought it when we were going to New York 8 or 9 years ago. She never wore it. She was saving it for a special occasion. Well, this is a special occasion,” he said as he turned and placed it on the bed along with Jan’s other clothes he was taking to the undertaker.
The he turned and looked at me and said, “Don’t ever save anything for a special occasion. Every day you are alive is a special occasion.”
Ever since he said that “Some day” and “One of these days” are two expressions that have lost their grip on me. I awake every morning realizing this is a special occasion.”
Don’t rush by today to get to tomorrow. Even in Sanskrit it is noted: “Look well to this one day, for it and it alone is life. In the brief course of this one day lie all the verities and realities of your existence; the pride of growth, the glory of action, the splendor of beauty. Yesterday is but a dream and tomorrow is but a vision. Yet, each day, well lived, makes every yesterday a dream of happiness and each tomorrow a vision of hope. Look well, therefore, to this one day, for it and it alone is life.”
Philip Dormer Stanhope, the Earl of Chesterfield said, “Know the true value of time. Snatch it, seize it, enjoy every second of it. No laziness, no idleness, no procrastination; never put off until tomorrow what you can do today.”
Don’t get so busy today that you fail to properly use your time. When the text speaks of “redeeming the time” it is appealing for us to get the true value from it. We do this by living each moment filled with the Holy Spirit. If you become so busy you don’t have time for God you are not in compliance with His will for you. That means you aren’t getting done what He wants you to do.
God never frustrates His people. If it appears you have more work than you can do, it is obvious God didn’t give you part of it.
If the devil can’t make us bad he will make us busy.
Dr. Smiley Blanton: “Thousands upon thousands of people either destroy their lives or frustrate them because of their preoccupation with anxiety, fear, and worry.” Don’t worry away your time– redeem it.
I Peter 5:7 “Casting all your anxiety on Him, because He careth for you.”
III. DON’T RUIN TOMORROW BY GUILT CAUSED BY TODAY
I will not do anything today that will mess up tomorrow. Remember a pickle can never be a cucumber again. You can’t unscramble an egg. Sand can’t run uphill in an hourglass.
These vital reasons are given for redeeming the time.
The days are evil. Read the signs of the time with bifocal lenses and you can see the days are evil. Christianity is not a religious escape from history. Our faith is a fortress against the powers and principalities of this world.
It is also an embassy of God’s kingdom set in the midst of a crooked and perverse people.
The moral decay of modern society can never be used as an excuse for lowering our sense of justice, righteousness, and truth.
Redeem the time. HOW? The Scripture answers: “By being filled with the Holy Spirit.”
WHAT does that mean? To be controlled by Christ. Serve Jesus as Lord. “Be not drunk with wine…”
In their worship of the goddess Dionysus, the Greeks used alcohol. They looked at the wine in a chalice and saw the bubbles rising. Movement in the wine caused them to conclude there must be life in the cup. The content of the cup influenced their feelings and behavior. Therefore they assumed the movement in the challenge was caused by a god in the wine. They named that god Bacca.
As Bacca influenced ones walk and talk so does the Holy Spirit. Don’t let your life be under the control of any controlled substance for even a moment. Let it constantly be under the influence of the Lord Jesus Christ.
You can’t fake it. To be filled with the Spirit one must have Christ in the life.
HOW can one be filled?
You don’t have to beg God to do what He wants to do. He commanded us to be filled (vs. 18). It is His will for all of His children to be filled. Remember it means to live the Christ controlled life.
Begin by desiring it: “Blessed are they which hunger and thirst after righteousness for they shall be filled (Matthew 5:6).
Confess and be cleansed: “If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (I John 1:9).
We must model our lives after the life of Christ. John 1:1 gives insight into the punctual nature of our Lord: “Before time began to begin the Word was…” There never was a time when Jesus wasn’t. There was a time when there was no time. Time was a part of creation.
We live “in hope of eternal life which God, who cannot lie, promised before time began” (Titus 1:2). “Before time began….”
There will be a time when time shall be no more. In this brief capsule of time we live and make our decisions regarding eternity.
When the director of the play steps on stage the play is over.
Scripture alerts us to the expediency of immediate response to the love of Christ: “Behold, now is the accepted time; behold, now is the day of salvation” (II Corinthians 6:2).
Do You Have a Great Attitude or a Grrrr-Attitude? 11/28/99
Colossians 2:6, 7
Jesus Christ changes lives. He sweetens spirits, elevates attitudes, gives cause for hope, and inspires gratitude.
In setting the captive soul free He gives wings to optimism, enabling persons to see reasons for rejoicing in the simplest things in life and giving meaning to the most mundane.
Christ gives life meaning and purpose once we give our life to Him. Giving our life to Him means to concede He is who he is and to put our self under His authority and protection.
Colossians 2:6 gives insight into His true nature.
He is the “Christ.” That means He is the “Anointed of God.” He was the member of the Godhead designated to be our prophet, priest, and king.
He is “Jesus,” the historic Savior. The name “Jesus” means Jehovah saves.
He is “Lord.” This title identifies Him as our sovereign authority. It is to Him we owe allegiance and none other.
Colossians 2:9 pulls these three titles together and identifies who He is: “In Him dwells all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.”
The “fullness,” that is, the completeness of God dwells in Christ. The Greek term translated “Godhead” is Theotetos. It doesn’t simply mean the attributes of God were in Christ, but that the very essence, the nature of God. Simply put, He was God. The whole fullness of what God is, His supreme nature in its infinite entirety, is who Christ is. The fullness of God dwelt in Christ bodily form. Simply put, Jesus Christ was God.
The phrase “in Christ” is in the emphatic position in the text meaning in Him only does the fullness of God exists. This refutes and disputes claims that we are all little gods.
The text challenges us to “walk in Him” meaning to have a lifestyle becoming of Him. Four participles describe this walk.
ROOTED AND BUILT UP, the first two go together.
– “Rooted” is perfect tense meaning a once-for-all experience.
Sidney Lanier the Poet Laureate of Georgia is known as the “Galahad among our American poets.” He wrote such works as “Songs of the Chattahoochee” and “The Marshes of Glynn.” In the latter he wrote:
“I will fly in the greatness of God as the marsh-hen flies
In the freedom that fills all the space ‘twix the marsh and the skies.
As the marsh-hen secretly builds on the watery sod,
Behold I will build me a nest on the greatness of God:
By so many roots as the marsh-grass sends in the sod
I will heartily lay me a-hold on the greatness of God.”
– “Built up” is a present tense, indicating a continual process. Once rooted we are to keep on growing in Christ.
– “Established” or “strengthened” in the faith is the third participle. It is present tense meaning we are to continue to be strengthened in our faith “as you have been taught.” Our faith is fed by the Word of God being applied to daily experiences.
– “Abounding (or overflowing) with thanksgiving” is the fourth participle.
Thanksgiving is a good preparation time for Christmas. It is a distinctly American holiday. It celebrates no birth, no battle, and no anniversary of soldiers or heroes. It is essentially the celebration of the condition of the heart, a pilgrimage, if you will, into one’s inner self to seek out and find an attitude of gratitude so that we can revere it and rededicate ourselves to living in its grace.1
Thanksgiving is more than a holiday enjoyable as that is. It is to be a lifestyle. If we don’t have an abiding attitude of gratitude we inevitably will display a grrrr-attitude. We become sniveling, complaining, pessimist.
Matthew Henry was one of the greatest writers of Bible commentaries. His life was once threatened and he was robbed. That night he prayed:
“I thank Thee, First, that I was never robbed before;
Second, because altho’ they took my belongings, they did not take my life;
Third, altho’ they took everything I had, it was not much;
And fourth, because it was I who was robbed, not I who robbed.”
That prayer is in keeping with the text that instructs us to give thanks in all things.
We have been instructed to walk by faith not by sight. There are times it seems God is saying to us: “Are you willing to give me thanks for that which I may never give you the privilege of understanding?” That’s faith!
Martin Rinkart, in the early seventeenth century, wrote one of the great hymns of Thanksgiving during the Thirty Years War. He was pastor in a city of refuge during the war. It was a time of famine and pestilence. He buried over 4,000 people in one year, including several family members. It was in that context of tragedy that he wrote one of our well-loved hymns, “Now Thank We All Our God, With Heart and Hands and Voice.”
In our time of prosperity let’s give thanks regularly.
A thankful person aligns self with what is good and ultimately all good things come from God. This means a thankful person is fine tuning self with the most powerful force in the universe and drawing strength by doing so. If you feel a blast of appreciation or a sudden surge of gratitude, translate it into action. Express it!
I was reminded recently how meaningful it is to express thanks by being thanked. I had just delivered the doctrinal address at the Georgia Baptist Convention. As I left the arena a person introduced himself to me and identified himself as the football coach of a large high school in that city. He then told me how I had led him to faith in Christ when he was a teenager. He had left school and come to the arena and had been waiting under the bleachers for me to come off the platform in order to say thanks.
That act of kindness incited in me a desire to be more expressing to others of thanks. Who do you need to thank for any reason? Don’t delay, do it. Don’t excuse yourself by saying “I’m just not an expressive person.” Though that may well be a confession don’t let it be an excuse. Say it. Learn to say the magic words taught by Captain Kangaroo for so many years, “Please and Thank you.” Add to them the crown jewel of gratitude, “I love you.” Some folks find it hard to say, but wouldn’t you regret not having said it if you knew you had just passed up your last opportunity to say, “I love you.”
My wife clipped from “Family Circle” (11\16\99) magazine these reasons for being thankful.
I AM THANKFUL FOR ….
… the mess to clean up after a party because it means I have been surrounded by friends.
...the taxes I pay because it means that I’m employed.
…the complaining I hear about our government because it means I have freedom of speech.
…the clothes that fit a bit tight because that means I have had enough to eat.
…my shadow that watches me work because it means the sun is shining.
…the parking space at the far end of the parking lot because it means I have the ability to walk.
…my heating bill because it means I have been warm.
…the lady behind me in church who sings off key because it means I can hear.
…the piles of laundry because it means my loved ones are nearby.
…the weariness and aching muscles at the end of a day because it means I have been active.
…the lawn that needs mowing, windows that need cleaning and gutters that need fixing because it means I have a home.
…the alarm that goes off in the early morning hours because it means I am alive.
Having shared it before I want to share again my favorite Thanksgiving Poem hoping you will share my appreciation for it.
Today upon a bus I saw a lovely girl with golden hair,
I envied her, she seemed so happy and I wished I were so fair.
When suddenly she rose to leave, I saw her hobble down the aisle;
She had one leg, wore a crutch, and as she passed a smile.
“Oh, God forgive me when I whine,
I have two legs and the world is mine.”
Then I stopped to buy some sweets; the lad who sold them had such charm,
I talked with him, he seemed so glad, if I were late ‘twould do no harm.
As I left he said to me: ‘I thank you. You have been so kind.
It’s nice to talk to folks like you. You see,’ he said,
‘I’m blind.’
“Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two eyes. The world is mine.”
Later, walking down the street, I saw a child with eyes of blue,
He stood and watched the others play; it seemed he knew not what to do.
I stopped a moment, then I said: ‘Why don’t you join the others, dear?’
He looked ahead without a word, and then I knew he could not hear.
“Oh God, forgive me when I whine,
I have two ears. The world is mine.”
With legs to take me where I should go,
With eyes to see the sunset’s glow,
With ears to hear what I should know,
Oh, God, forgive me when I whine.
I’m blessed indeed. The world is mine.
Having received Him we are to “walk in Him.” The expression means to have a lifestyle becoming of Christ. Do you? The Bible exhorts to “Let this mind be in you which was in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2:5).
The encouragement is to let Christ’s attitude be your attitude. Think about things like Christ thinks about them.
We hear much of the atrocities committed by the Nazis in their concentration camps. Much is said about the Jews killed there and few know almost as many Christians died there also. One was Emil Kapaun. On January 16, 1954, the “Saturday Evening Post” wrote of his experience in a death camp.
“In his soiled and ragged fatigues, with his scraggly beard and his weird woolen cap, made of the sleeve of an old GI’s sweater, pulled down over his ears, he looked like any other half-starved prisoner. But there was something in his voice that was different —- a dignity, a composure, a serenity that radiated from him like light. Wherever he stood was holy ground, and the spirit within him — a spirit of reverence and abiding faith — went out to the silent, listening men and gave them hope and courage and a sense of peace. By his very presence, somehow, he could turn a stinking, louse- ridden mud hut, for a little while, into a cathedral.
He did a thousand little things to keep us going. He gathered and washed the foul undergarments of the dead and distributed them to men so weak from dysentery they could not move, and he washed and tended these men as if they were little babies. He traded his watch for a blanket, and cut it up to make warm socks for helpless men whose feet were freezing. All one day, in a freezing wind, with a sharp stick and his bare hands, he cut steps in the steep, ice-covered path that led down to the stream, so that the men carrying water would not fall. The most dreaded housekeeping chore of all was cleaning the latrines, and men argued bitterly over whose time it was to carry out this loathsome task. And while they argued, he’d slip out quietly and do the job…
On the day they took him away to his death, the Chaplain himself made no protest. He looked around the room at all standing there, and smiled … ‘Tell them back home I died a happy death,’ he said, and smiled again.”
As they loaded him on the litter he turned to one man named Mike and said, “Don’t take it hard, Mike. I’m going where I’ve always wanted to go.”
That is a great attitude, not a grrrr-attitude.
1 C. Thomas Hilton
God’s Talent Search 2/28/99
Matthew 25: 13 – 30
Page 1451 Come Alive Bible
Jesus Christ gives us all opportunities. What we do with them is our gift to Him.
In each teaching of Christ are many lessons. In the story of the talents is found the principle of aggressively pursuing your opportunities. Jesus wants you to be an achiever. He desires for you to have the fulfilling satisfaction that in all things you have done your best.
The parable of the talents is the story of assets and abilities well used and the tragedy of wasted opportunity. Each of us finds our self typified by one or the other.
Nineteenth-century American poet John Greenleaf Whittier wrote: “FOR ALL SAD WORDS OF TONGUE AND PEN, THE SADDEST OF THESE: ‘IT MIGHT HAVE BEEN!’”
Living up to our potential is the challenge that awaits us with the dawning of each new day. It is a stretching exercise lasting all day every day. Enjoy it.
In the spirit of Whittier’s statement comes the line from the movie “Rocky,” spoken by an aspiring fighter: “I could have been a contender. I could have been somebody.”
The exciting thing about what our Lord expects is not that we be the best at anything, but that we be our best at everything.
Consider the parable in Matthew 25: 13 – 30.
Jesus spoke of the “kingdom of heaven.” It is a term used for the rule of Christ in the lives of His people on earth. All three people in the parable are believers. That is further indicated by the expression the “man traveling,” being a reference to Christ, “who called his own servants.” All three were believers.
A “talent” was not a reference to ability though it is used to illustrate our use of our ability. A talent wasn’t a coin. It was a weight. Balancing scales were used in that day like those depicted as being held by “Miss Liberty.” The value of a talent was dependent upon what was being weighed. If it was a talent of gold it had one value. If lead another.
The fact “talents,” that is a weight of measure are used to illustrate “talents,” that is abilities is a bit confusing. Keep that in mind. Some were given:
I. RISK TAKERS
One was given two talents and one five talents. They had different abilities but similar opportunities. Their numbers of talents was “to each according to his own ability” (Vs. 15).
Each traded wisely and doubled their talents. Both were equally faithful. It doesn’t matter one made five and one two talents. The important thing is both made 100%. To make such gain they had to be risk takers.
A risk taker is a humble person willing to sacrifice his ego. Most people don’t believe that. They think people who venture big and attempt big things are ego centered. Consider this. What is the basis of egotism? It is our own ego. Egotistical people are concerned about themselves, their reputation, their safety, their image. They want to avoid embarrassment or failure. Therefore they play it safe. They don’t want to risk humiliation or discomfort.
The risk taker has to be humble because like a turtle his or her neck is always exposed. The egotist keeps his or her head safe in the shell.
Are you willing to venture for Christ? Will you dare stick your neck out for Him? Will you speak up for Him when all others are mute or critical? Will you work for His cause and run the risk of being criticized?
Our abilities aren’t equal. But our efforts should be.
In the parable one was a:
II. REASON FAKER
The one given the stewardship by his master of one talent buried it. Like the turtle with his head in the sand he wasn’t going to risk anything. Instead he played the now popular “blame game.”
“Then he who had received the one talent came and said, ‘Lord, I knew you to be a hard man, reaping where you have not sown, and gathering where you have not scattered seed. And I was afraid, and went and hid your talent in the ground. Look, there you have what is yours'” (Matthew 25:24, 25).
He was a reason faker. He blamed the master who gave him the talent. He didn’t have his master’s will in mind.
Instead of blaming others thank the Lord for that with which He has entrusted you. One talented person is just as vital, important, and strategic in the kingdom as five talented people.
Lessons of lives unwilling to blame others and cop out are numerous.
Ernestine Schumann was born to poor parents. Her father was Austrian and her mother Italian. As a teenager she aspired to be an opera singer. At age 18 she married. This set in motion a series of heartbreaks. Her husband lost his job. After the birth of their third child her husband Paul left her and the children.
Ernestine went from stage to stage begging for a job. Finally the director of the Hamburg Opera Company hired her for ten dollars a month. With that she had to provide for herself and her children.
Her husband had accumulated significant debts. According to German law the wife was responsible for the debts of the husband. As a result her furniture was taken away.
Destitute and in despair she took her baby in her arms and leading her children set out for the railroad tracks. She knew the schedule and what she proposed would be swift and certain. As the train drew near and blew its whistle she knelt. It was cold and the shivering children began to cry. August her son squeezed her hand. Lotta, her oldest daughter cried, “Mamma, mamma, I love you. I love you. Take me home!”
Love and duty triumphed in her motherly heart and she arose and trudged back to their dreary home.
She became resolute not to bury her talent. She wrote Pollini the director of the Hamburg Opera a letter of appeal and gained an interview. She later recounted the interview.
“Well, I got your letter Heink,” Pollini said, “and I laughed when I read it. It was too funny.”
“Herr Direktor,” I cried, “you say you read my letter and you laughed, because it was funny?”
“Yes,” he said, and got up and walked toward me laughing. “You asked that I let you sing the big contralto parts –- you? (And he pointed his finger at me). “Why,” he said, “you are nothing! You will never be a first contralto, never — never — never!” and he shook his finger right in my face and laughed again.
“I can make you, maybe, a good comedienne. Yes, that I can do— but first contralto — ach, Gott! Never!”
Ernestine continued: “Oh I was furious! I went up to him close, my face to his, and I said: ‘Herr Pollini, now I will tell you something! I will be the first contralto —- not only of Germany, but I will be the first contralto in all the world! Mark that!”
Ernestine Schumann-Heink did sing again in Hamburg. As first contralto she sang lead roles in Das Rheingold and Tristan. In Chicago she sang Lohengrin and that audience gave her not one standing applause but demanded she return for twenty curtain calls.
Madam Schumann-Heink did indeed become the first contralto of the world because she not only refused to bury her talent but she would not allow anyone else to bury it either.
From the world of sports comes inspiring stories of those who refused to bury their talent. Some even having only one talent.
From Tanzania came John Stephen Akhwari to run in the 1968 Olympics. With his right leg bloody and bandaged he staggered into the stadium more than a hour behind the winner of the marathon. When asked why he didn’t quit long before he said,
“My country did not send me to Mexico City to start the race. They sent me to finish the race.”
Our Lord hasn’t saved us that we might engage in starts and fits of faithfulness but to finish faithfully.
Don’t hide your talent, invest it for the Lord. Don’t keep it to yourself. Give it to Jesus.
In the parable some were —-
III. RECORD BREAKERS
Two multiplied the talents entrusted to them.
It is faithfulness in little things that make or break us. It is the little things of the hour not the great things of the ages that make us.
It is the constant sunbeam not flashing lightening that makes life flourish. It is the calm cool clear water of a quiet stream that refreshes. Not the nosy torrent of a flooded river that quenches thirst.
It is day-in-day-out loyalty to the Lord that makes for a rewarding life.
It really doesn’t matter what talents you have. The important thing is to maximize your opportunities. Each of the faithful ones returned the optimum. The excuse maker, had he been faithful, and the two talented recipients, had they not been faithful would have returned the same.
In sports a person with ability grading 80% who extends a maximum effort will achieve more than a person whose ability grades 90% but only extends a 75% effort. You can be an achiever for Christ regardless of your ability.
In the parable some were:
IV. REVELRY MAKERS
There is joy inerrant and as a result of a job well done. One of the best definitions of happiness I have ever been able to concoct is: “Happiness is a beautiful by-product of a job well done.”
The faithful servants engaged in various delights.
One of the blessings of doing a job well is the satisfaction of having done your best.
Many people live for the weekends, vacation, or time off. When these times of imagined enjoyment finally come they aren’t enjoyed. There is a simple formula explaining why.
We are prepared to enjoy our leisure in direct proportion to the extent we feel we have deserved it.
Some having goofed and worked half-heartedly know they haven’t earned and don’t deserve time off and they don’t enjoy it. These faithful servants had a sense of fulfillment.
Part of their reward was more work to do. We are our most contented when we have a meaningful task. It is challenging and gratifying. Knowing there is more rewarding work to do gives a sense of purpose. Its fulfilling.
The ultimate reward and fulfillment in the parable is found in verse 21: “His lord said to him, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; you were faithful over a few things, I will make you ruler over many things. Enter into the joy of your lord'” (Matthew 25:21).
Joy is the natural result of being a good and faithful servant.
The ultimate joy is reserved to the end. It is heaven.
We must by love be compelled to give our best our all for our Lord.
It was a big and busy street along which the hurrying feet of a poor little newsboy walked rapidly. He had little interest at this moment in selling papers. It was his mother’s birthday and he was on his way to a nearby florist shop. He had fingered the thirty seven cents he had in his right pants pocket. His invalid was his one concern. Traffic ignored the little guy and he ignored traffic.
As he entered the floral shop the owner said, “Thanks, son, but I don’t need a newspaper today.”
“I didn’t come to sell newspapers. I came to buy some flowers. The lad spoke, “You see, mister, Mom’s birthday is today, and I’m going to buy her the best bouquet in the world. I’ve been saving penny after penny and now I’ve even got a nickel. Mister, I’ve got thirty-seven cents and I want the best bouquet in the store. Daddy’s been gone since I was a boy and now my sister is with the Lord. It’s just Mom and me left. She loves flowers. I’ve been saving and I want to take her flowers.”
The man listened attentively to the little urchin and said, “Alright, son, she will have the most beautiful bouquet in this city today.”
Like an artist the florist added bud after bud and wrapped it well.
“How much is it,” said the child, as he confidently put down his thirty-seven cents.
“Let me see,” said the proprietor, “that will be exactly thirty-seven cents.”
As the elated child walked out the florist said, “Remember, tell your mother happy birthday for me.”
Moments later as the quick-footed boy rushed across the street with the flowers partially blocking his vision the sound of the shrieking of heavy steel brakes on the city rail car was heard. The limp body of the mangled child was placed in an ambulance with the flowers and newspapers.
In the hospital the large eyes of the child searched the white room and finally focused on a man standing over him.
“You are a doctor, aren’t you mister?” “Yes, I am.”
The child’s nervous hand felt across the bed where his leg should have been.
“Well, doc, I suppose I didn’t make it did I?” “No.”
In his pitiful condition he said, “Where is that big bunch of flowers?” The doctor handed them to him.
“Doctor,” the boy smiled through tears he tried to keep back, “today is Mom’s birthday and now I can’t bring her these flowers. Would you take ‘em to her? Would you please? We live on the last street in the East-Side Settlement.
“Tell Mother the flowers are only thirty-seven cents worth, but it’s the best I could do … and tell her I love her.”
The trained eye of the doctor saw life slipping away. Seeing the child’s lips move he bent over to try to hear what he was saying. He heard him repeat, “thirty-seven cents worth … not much … but the best I could do … and I love her … love her … love.” The voice went silent and the soul went skyward.
The doctor went to the project searching for the mother. As he entered the hall he heard the mother call out, “Sonny boy, are you home already —-?”
Seeing the doctor she exclaimed, “Doctor, what are you doing here?” “I brought you some flowers. I merely brought them. They are from your son on this your birthday.”
It was hard for the doctor to tell what had happened. Her sturdy faith calmed her broken heart as she asked, “What were my boy’s last words?”
She heard words which became etched in her memory: “Thirty-seven cents’ worth … not much … but the best I could do … and I love her … love her … love.”
Heart to heart … have you ever given Jesus your best, your thirty-seven cents worth?” Do now.
“I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service” (Romans 12:1).
Whose That Swinger in Your Family Tree? 10/24/99
JESUS CHRIST spoke of a future time and said, “For in those days there will be tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of creation which God created until this time, nor ever shall be” (Mark 13: 19).
Jesus believed in creation and was emphatic in saying “creation which God has created.”
Disciples of Charles Darwin “Amen” his statement, defining evolution as “the belief that all animals and plants are descended from some single primordial form.”1
This has led an unknown poet of less lyrical ability than Poe to write:
Once I was a tadpole beginning to begin.
Then I was a frog with my tail tucked in.
Soon I was a monkey swinging from a tree.
Now I am a doctor with a PhD.
The theories of evolution and creation have different roots. One is as much of a science as the other. Without anyone to have historically observed evolution, with no fossil evidence to confirm it, with Mendel’s Laws of heredity to refute it, with no observable evolution now in progress, being unable to devise scientific experiments to demonstrate the process, and with God’s Word to dispute it, evolution isn’t much of a science.
A classical absurdity is the belief that the doctrine of special creation is a religious belief because it is based on faith in the Bible account and the theory of mega-evolution is scientific because it is based on facts. Both can ONLY be accepted by faith.
Consider WHAT IF?
What IF evolution is true and all life forms evolved over millions of years from a single primordial swamp. Why aren’t various stages still observable today? Suppose man was a tadpole 250 million years ago, an ape 100 million years ago, and an ape/man 75 million years ago. All of those creatures are around today. Why don’t we find the same process in action today. Why are there no living intermediate stages? Why aren’t there any specimen of tadpole-apes or ape-men today? Even the kind of primordial swamp we supposedly came from exists today. Why aren’t earlier life forms still evolving into near men? Why are there no fossil evidences that it once happened?
The fruit-fly, Drosophilia, multiplies very rapidly and has been used in countless experiments to try to achieve evolution. Because many generation can be observed in a few years it is a “fast motion” example of what would have been required for there to have been evolution. It has been bred in lavatories for thousands of successive generations. Radiation bombardment of the insect has produced a great variety of mutational deformities, but it always emerges as a fruit-fly.
The idea that man descended from an ape has had many scientific challenges. One has been made by Dr. Geoffrey Bourne, director of the Yerkes Regional Primate Center of Emory University in Atlanta. He is an Australian-born, Oxford educated, cell biologist, anatomist, and nationally respected primatologist. He advocates apes and monkeys are the evolutionary descendants of man.2
He based his “flip-flop” theory on the fact that some fossil evidences indicate that man pre- dated his supposed ape-like ancestors. Leakey’s discoveries reveal man to be older than the apes. This leaves man with no ape-like ancestors.3
If evolution is a fact your family tree should have some interesting personalities in it. Allegedly it does. One inevitable question relates to Adam and Eve. If God created them male and female and they had two sons, where did Cain get his wife?
WHERE DID CAIN GET HIS WIFE?
The Bible doesn’t say it but Cain was probably the oldest son of Adam and Eve. Genesis 14: 7 notes that after Cain killed his brother Abel he left home and went into the land of Nod and “Cain knew his wife, and she conceived, and bare Enoch…”
Adam was 130 years old when Cain was born (Genesis 5: 5). An obscure truth is often overlooked in Genesis 5: 4: “the days of Adam were eight hundred years; and he begot son and daughters.”
Adam lived to be 930 years old. Characteristic of people before the flood changed the atmospheric conditions people live longer lives and were very prolific. If very conservative birth rates are used it can be calculated that in the life time of Adam the earth’s population at the time of Adams death could well have been around twenty million.
There is only one explanation as to where Cain and a lot of his brothers got their wives. Initially they had to marry their own sisters. Remember, this was before disease and genetic disorder had developed as in the modern era and consequently feeblemindedness and deformity was not the rule of that day as it is ours. When created “God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1: 31). That means the genes of Adam and Eve were perfect. Later things began to degenerate.
The laws of incest did not originate until the days of Moses (Leviticus 18 – 20). Approximately 2,500 years lapsed between Adam and Moses. During this time gene degeneration had progressed to the point incest was forbidden.
If it takes faith to accept that account of creation and development, it takes more faith to accept the theory as proposed by evolution. The evolutionists has to answer how could man ever progress to higher forms by mutations, in light of that process being based on everyone’s children being deformed? Mutations which are required in the theory of evolution are genetic deformities. That would not result in higher forms resulting from lower forms.
WHERE DO CAVE MEN FIT IN?
Some suggest there is a cave man swinging somewhere in your family tree. Where does the cave man fit in?
First, there always have been and still are cave men today. In every period of history there have been persons to live in caves.
Most references to “cave-men” relate to Neanderthal man and Cro-Magnon man. A false picture has been painted of them. Reputable anthropologist now acknowledge they were true Homo Sapiens, human beings. They represent extinct tribes no different from present-day tribes.
Their fossil remains are found in the so-called Pleistocene of recently deposited strata. This indicates they lived after the flood.
Archaeological discoveries reveal they were not brutish ape/men. They did fine paintings in their caves, cultivated flowers (which many of us have difficulty doing), and buried their dead.4
We tend to see what we expect to see. Since Darwin postulated his theory of evolution secular anthropologists have been seeking evidence to confirm it. Physical anthropology has been dramatically influenced by subjective factors. Many present the evolution of man as a certainty without objective proof.
George F. Howe, Ohio State University PhD, wrote of our tendency to see what we want to see: “The only information available about each fossil man is the shape of the bones and any tools that may have been buried with the bones. The rest of the picture is merely a figment of the artists imagination. Depending on what the particular artist believes, it would be easy to make the same fossil look either intelligent or non-human.”5
Anthropologist E. A. Hooten says you can take the Neanderthal skull and by adding plaster in the right places you can make it look like “a chimpanzee… a philosopher… so put not your faith in reconstruction.”6
SOME ALLEGED SWINGERS IN YOUR FAMILY TREE
Some who allegedly predated us in the evolutionary process are worth considering.
JAVA MAN, Pitheocanthropus Erectus, was found in Java in 1891 and 1892. The discovery consisted of a skullcap, a fragment of a left thighbone and three molar teeth. They were found over a period of one year scattered over fifty feet in a river bed mingled with debris.
Modern anthropologist now consider him to be essentially identical to modern man. The skull is believed to be that of a small woman. The femur is conceded to be completely human. The teeth were concluded not to belong to the other remains.7
PILTDOWN MAN was discovered in the southern part of England by Charles Dawson in 1912 and long called “Eoranthropus” (dawn man). He reputedly lived 100,000 to 500,000 years ago. When found, publicity flooded the world classifying him as being second only to Pithecanthropus Erectus. It was all a hoax. The Smithsonian Institute of Washington, D.C. gives this detail account in “The Great Piltdown Hoax.”
“Careful ‘detective’ work done by Dr. J.S. Weiner, and others, revealed that ‘the lower jaw and canine tooth are actually those of a modern anthropoid ape, deliberately altered (filed down by a joker) so as to resemble fossil specimens.’ The faker had cunningly ‘fossilized’ the jaw and teeth by staining them a mahogany color with an iron salt and bichromate!”8
Piltdown Man was actually an ape that had died 50 years earlier. Yet, today there are still 300 reproductions of him in museums. It is estimated that annually more than one million people visit the American Museum of National History in New York to view Piltdown Man as an ancestor of modern man.
It is worth noting that the entire reconstruction of Piltdown Man was based on one single part of the anatomy, a jaw bone. It was not a complete fossilized skeleton.
Many proponents of evolution live by the philosophy, “Give us a tooth and we will construct the entire anatomy.” Though many fossil remains of complete human beings and apes have been found, not one complete fossil has been found of a supposed lower species of man. All models are based on a few fragments assumed to have looked a certain way.
NEANDERTHAL MAN was found near Dusseldorf on the limestone cliffs of the Dussel River. Since then other skeletal remains have been found across Europe. These are now known to be members of the Neanderthal race of human beings, suffering from rickets caused by a vitamin D deficiency. X-rays of the bones show characteristic rickets rings.9
Two scientists, Straus, and Cave, contend that if Neanderthal Man could be reincarnated and placed in a New York subway — provided that he was bathed, shaved, and dressed in modern clothes — it is doubtful whether he would attract any more attention than some present citizens.10
Living concurrently with the Neanderthal race in Europe was the Cro-Magnon race. They were superior to modern man in size and brain cavity capacity.
NEBRASKA MAN, Hesperopithecus, was fashioned around only a tooth. The tooth was introduced as evidence in the famous “Scopes Monkey Trial” in Dayton, Tennessee in 1925 as proof of evolution. Professor H.H. Newman of the University of Chicago made a monkey out of defense attorney, William Jennings Bryan, with this find. The popularity of this tooth was world wide. The “Illustrated London News” sent reporters over and they published pictures of the male and female of the race.
At a time when a million dollars was a lot of money, Dr. William K. Gregory, curator of the American Museum of Natural History, called it “the million dollar find.”
America’s greatest paleontologist of the day, Dr. William Osborn, placed Nebraska Man at the very bottom of the tree depicting man’s ancestors. At the Scopes trial, William Jennings Brian, with no scientific way to disprove the evidence mused that some day it might even be proven to be a pigs tooth.
Though it was part of the evidence that resulted in evolution being popularized in American education it was two years later determined to be the tooth of an extinct pig. Bryan proved to be a prophet, but the damage was done. The myth of evolution was given creditability.
Much scientific evidence reveals man has basically been degenerating rather than evolving to higher forms. The “Law of Morpholysis” (meaning loosing structure) indicates entropy universally tends to move downward not upward. The principal of deterioration can better be evidenced by facts than evolution.
Every physical characteristic found in the fragments from which man’s alleged ancestors have been constructed can be found in modern human beings. For example, there are many tribes which today resemble the Neanderthal race.
EAST AFRICAN MAN, skull 1470, “Zinjanthropus” was found by Richard Leakey in the Laetolil beds near the shore of Lake Rudolf in Kenya.
This revolutionary find prompted an article in “Science News” to herald, “Because of him (1470) every single book on anthropology, every article on the evolution of man, every drawing of man’s family tree will have to be junked. They are apparently wrong.”11
SKULL 1470 is now accepted as an extinct African ape, (Australopithecus). An evolutionary date of two million has been assigned the skull. “Tiny Lucy” as she was known was supposed to be one of our ancestors.
SKULL KNMR 1470 has now been found by Leakey. It is essentially the same as modern human beings. The skull wall is thin, its general conformation is human, and it is devoid of heavy brow ridges, supra-mastoid crests, and other ape like features.12
The problem is Leakey dates Skull KNMR as being over three million years old. That means this human being predates what have previously been considered man’s ancestors. Maybe the “flip-flop” theory is right! In reality it isn’t. However, these finds refute the idea that we have ape like ancestors in our family tree.
Professor Anthony Ostric of St. Mary’s College, South Bend, Indiana, said in an address to the Congress of Anthropological and Ethnological Sciences, “To say there were pre human ape ancestors transformed into humans is speculative…Man’ unique biophysical and socio-cultural nature appears now to represent an unbridgeable abyss separating him from all other animals, even his closest ‘anthropoid relatives.’
“It is not possible to see how biological, social or cultural forces or processes could transform any kind of prehuman anthropoid or ‘near- man’ into homo sapiens.”13
In your family tree you will find no near-humans. You will find a great variety of human beings each in keeping with his own “kind.”
Jesus’ question is relevant today: “Have you not read, that He which made them at the beginning made them male and female, and said, For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife…” (Matthew 19: 3 – 6.)
1 Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin, p. 253.
2 “Modern People,” Geoffrey Bourne, Vol. 8, April 18, 1976, p. 11.
3 “Christian Life,” “A Case for Scientific Creation,” David A. Kaufmann, June 1977, p. 69.
4 The Remarkable Birth of Planet Earth, Henry M. Morris, Creation- Life Publishers, San Diego, Calif. 1978, p. 46.
5 The Bible, Science, and Creation, Maxwell Coder and George F. Howe, p. 61.
6 Up From the Ape, E.A. Hooten, p. 332.
7 The Bible and Modern Science, Henry M. Morris, Moody Press, Chicago, 1968, p. 48.
8 Genesis and Evolution, M.R. Dehann, Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Mich. 1978, p. 87.
9 “Nature,” Francis Ivanhoe, August 8, 1970, p. 35.
10 “The Quarterly Review of Biology,” W. L. Straus, Jr. and A.J.E. Cave, December 1957, pp. 358, 359.
11 “Science News,” Vol. 102, 1972, p. 324.
12 “National Geographic,” R.E.F. Leakey, Vol. 143, 1973, p. 819.
13 “Los Angeles Times,” October 24, 1973, Part 1-A, p. 5.