Weeping in the New Year
"Be wretched and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned to mourning and your joy to gloom" (James 4:9).
While millions partied and puked the New Year in, I slept. But going to bed at a normal hour was not the only thing I did to ring in 2011. In recent weeks, I have been weeping and praying for God to move in great power in my own heart, and the in the hearts of others in my church and community to reverse the wretched condition of our souls.
Now, if weeping and mourning does not sound like anything you're interested in, if you claim the name of Christ, you had better reconsider. Isaiah foretold Jesus would be a "man of sorrows, acquainted with grief." How sadly ironic, then, that those of us who say we're His followers are given to doing everything possible to avoid sorrow and grief. Why, we do not even grieve over our own sins. Instead, we flaunt them on facebook.
I cannot help but wonder what a Youth Ministry that truly understood the gravity of sin would look like. Would games, activities, and super team-building object lessons still have prominence? Or, would teens be meeting together to weep and pray for revival together on their knees, confessing their sins to one another and begging for some genuine accountability in their lives?
Fun and games. Smiles and laughter. Nothing wrong with them in their time and place, but friends, this is what the church and her ministries now center on and relish above all else! Meanwhile, neighbors and friends plunge into hell every day. People starve. War rages. Sin is promoted in governments and in school houses.
So, in 2011, what will make you weep? What will finally bring you to obey James 4:9 on your knees?
There are many things over which I weep, but in the weeks ahead I want to hone in on one BIGGIE - the ongoing indoctrination of thousands of young students in the Satanic lies of the religion known variously as Darwinism, Atheistic evolution, naturalism or materialism. Whatever the label, the source remains the same - the Father of Lies (John 8:44).
Darwinian evolution is not science. It is a religion, dare I say a cult. It is atheism. It is faith in naturalism. I shall in weeks ahead offer words from the mouths of Darwinists themselves (and Darwin himself) to prove my assertion. But for now, let me begin by quoting from an 8th grade public school textbook titled Science Explorer (Pearson Prentice Hall, 2005).
Chapter 1 "Scientific Inquiry" lays the foundations:
"Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence they gather" (p. 6, emphasis original).
"In science, a hypothesis must be testable" (p. 7, emphasis original).
So, I understand from this that science deals in evidence and in testable propositions. Fair enough.
Fast forward to Chapter 8 "A Trip Through Geologic Time." Section 5, "Early Earth" states:
"Scientists hypothesize that Earth formed at the same time as the other planets and the sun, roughly 4.6 billion years ago" (p. 338, emphasis original).
Wait a minute! Time out! How is it that scientists "hypothesize" about something that is not testable?!? On page 7 this science text flatly stated a hypothesis must be "testable." Therefore, the claim that the earth is 4.6 billion years old, or got its start "roughly 4.6 billion years ago" is not a hypothesis. It is an anti-hypothesis. What scientist was around 4 billion years ago to put this assertion to the test?
If this is the best "science" we have to offer our kids, then is it any wonder our students simply cannot compete in the global markets? This is not science. This textbook has just violated the law of non-contradiction (do they still teach logic in schools?). This is senseless. Absolute non-sense.
Funny, the statement about the earth's age is not even a true hypothesis! It is simply an opinionated sentence. And, tragically, it is a false sentence. It is a lie, and it came from the "father of lies."
Oh, but this is just the tip of the iceberg in this so-called science textbook. Stay tuned . . . we're just getting started.
"For in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that is in them" (Exodus 20:11).
by Keith McWhorter