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Battle for Unborn Hindered by Pro-lifers
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Exploring Intelligent Design
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Christian Ministries around the country have made Intelligent Design a popular theory among believers. However, this enthusiasm is not shared within the scientific community.
It is the general consensus among scientists that Intelligent Design is not science! Is this true?
Is Intelligent Design(ID) a good idea even for Christians to believe? Could it one day become accepted by science and then backfire on us?
We wanted to take a stab at the debate and shed some new light on the subject. This article by CRN explores some of the issues surrounding ID.
"Intelligent Desin." Is it Science?
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iPhone Bible / iPod Touch Bible (Updated)
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Update: The new home for the mobile KJV Bibles is iBibleZ.com! Stay tuned for updates.
The CRN webmaster has finally gained possession of an iPod Touch, allowing the development of the iPhone Bible. Because the iPhone and the iPod are so similar, the iPhone Bible is an iPod Touch Bible, too.
Screenshot of iPhone Bible / iPod Touch Bible
If you own an iPhone or an iPod Touch, follow the link to preview the beta iPhone Bible!
iPhone Bible / iPod Touch Bible
The CRN web app iPhone Bible / iPod Touch Bible will not work in Internet Explorer, as it was designed for Safari. You should experience the interface on the iPhone first hand. If you have an iPhone/iPod Touch, or have a friend who owns one, point Safari to iBibleZ.com/iphone/. Follow the demo link to get started.
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Importance of Faith
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Poor Job. He lived in a time where God seemed to do very little, and when the times got tough, he had one really big question.
"Where is God?"
The questions poured from his mouth, and friends near by seemed to have no answer.
It is a true story from the Bible. Job was a rich man with a big family and many children. They wanted for nothing, and he sacrificed to God regularly. Not only did he sacrifice for his sins, but he would do extra to cleans the sins of his children, just in case.
Job believed nothing would ever go wrong for him. He was righteous, he had God on his side, he had this big family to keep him company. He even went the extra mile with God by sacrificing more than needed. Why would anything go wrong?
But it did. His whole world feel apart. Bad weather and earthquakes took out all his riches and killed all of his children in one day. It was a test, spawned by Satan himself, to find out if Job was righteous out of wealth or out of character.
Job was destroyed. And just when he thought things couldn't get worst, he got sick. And God was silent. Job felt alone and abandoned. But to add insult to injury, his close friends began to blame Job for his own hardships. He was called sinful, greedy, and neglectful. An innocent man, lost his riches, his family, his health, and his respect.
So what did he do? How did he handle the situation? Was he strong? Was he full of faith? At first, he was. But as the hours turned to night, and days into weeks, he was truly shaken. He was on the verge of losing faith.
That is so like many of us today. When we see the hardships we question our faith and wonder where God is. Why doesn't he heal, where is the easy life? Why doesn't he return and show his face when we need him most?
Job even wondered what the point is. Listen to his words against God:
Job 19
6 Know then that God has wronged me,
And has surrounded me with His net.
7 “If I cry out concerning wrong, I am not heard.
If I cry aloud, there is no justice.
8 He has fenced up my way, so that I cannot pass;
And He has set darkness in my paths.
9 He has stripped me of my glory,
And taken the crown from my head.
10 He breaks me down on every side,
And I am gone;
My hope He has uprooted like a tree.
11 He has also kindled His wrath against me,
And He counts me as one of His enemies.
Job 30
19 He has cast me into the mire,
And I have become like dust and ashes.
20 “I cry out to You, but You do not answer me;
I stand up, and You regard me.
21 But You have become cruel to me;
With the strength of Your hand You oppose me.
22 You lift me up to the wind and cause me to ride on it;
You spoil my success.
23 For I know that You will bring me to death,
And to the house appointed for all living.
Even though deep down he knew God was there, nothing made since. He felt attacked by God, even though behind the scenes it was the devil who brought harm.
How should Job have handled himself? Faith. It is easier said than done, but let's think about it.
If Job were to go on the evidence and forsake it for faith, he would be compelled to believe God was against him. That is what Job did too. He looked around at the injustice of the world and reckoned that it came from God. Then he applied that to himself. He believed God was punishing him.
To make things worst, Job knew he was righteous. He did far more than was expected, yet still he was lowered to dust and ashes just like what should happen to a sinner. The evidence seems to stack against God.
Yet God asks us all that we simply trust him. Trust he is there, trust he is good, and trust he upholds justice. Job was forsaking that trust and going on evidence, and confusing God's works for Satan's.
Not all of Job's friends were accusing him wrongly. He had one friend who looked beyond the evidence and put things in perspective through faith. His name was Elihu. Have a look at his words:
Job 34
7 What man is like Job,
Who drinks scorn like water,
8 Who goes in company with the workers of iniquity,
And walks with wicked men?
9 For he has said, ‘It profits a man nothing
That he should delight in God.’
10 “ Therefore listen to me, you men of understanding:
Far be it from God to do wickedness,
And from the Almighty to commit iniquity.
11 For He repays man according to his work,
And makes man to find a reward according to his way.
12 Surely God will never do wickedly,
Nor will the Almighty pervert justice.
Job 35
13 Surely God will not listen to empty talk,
Nor will the Almighty regard it.
14 Although you say you do not see Him,
Yet justice is before Him, and you must wait for Him.
15 And now, because He has not punished in His anger,
Nor taken much notice of folly,
16 Therefore Job opens his mouth in vain;
He multiplies words without knowledge.
Job 36
15 He delivers the poor in their affliction,
And opens their ears in oppression.
16 “ Indeed He would have brought you out of dire distress,
Into a broad place where there is no restraint;
And what is set on your table would be full of richness.
17 But you are filled with the judgment due the wicked;
Judgment and justice take hold of you.
What a hard lesson to hear. Elihu did not accuse him of deserving what happened, but still pointed out how what happened caused him to doubt God. What was his answer? To wait for God to come through, in faith. Even though he was oppressed, god would deliver him.
After Elihu finished speaking to Job, God appeared! Job demanded evidence, he got it. However, things didn't go the way he expected. For as many complaints as he had against God, Job was in no place to judge God. As it turned out, the evidence had turned against him, and Job was guilty of sin after all. His sin wasn't what caused hardships, but his hardships caused him to sin.
God asked Job, "Would you indeed annul My judgment? Would you condemn Me that you may be justified?" (Job 40:8)
If Job had only looked through the eyes of faith upon God. He would have realized that God doesn't punish the righteous. He would have understood that God was still there waiting to free him from oppression because God loves us all.
When Job demanded evidence, it was more than he bargained for. Not only did the evidence prove Job was wrong about God, it proved Job was a sinner. So Job finally saw his error and said, "I have heard of You by the hearing of the ear, But now my eye sees You. Therefore I abhor myself, And repent in dust and ashes." (Job 42:5,6)
God forgave Job of this sin. Not only did he forgive him, he restored him even though he blasphemed! Job had more riches, family, and respect than ever before. Job's health was restored and he lived a very long, full life.
Job's story had a happy ending. What about ours? What can we learn from Job? From the book of Job, we see a good man who lost it all. When he did, it shook his faith. The apparent evidence was stronger than his faith, and he beat himself up over it.
So let faith rule in our lives. Let faith be the evidence for God, and let faith show us his righteousness. When the hard times come, remember God is righteous no matter how things may appear.
Do not forsake him, do not deny he is there, because one day he will appear to us all in a much bigger way than he appeared to Job. Don't let that proof disagree with your take on the evidence. Faith in God will help us get through. And his grace will bring us out of the hard times.
Faith is what connects us to God. We should keep it that way, not using it as a means to get whatever we want covet. Holding to it even unto death, where we will need it no more. Faith was never meant to be used as leverage against God for selfish gain (Even though we may think our prayers are righteous, God may have a higher reason for not answering. We should trust that God knows what to do better than us.). Instead, let faith bring you closer to God. Let it be all the evidence you need, not the "money for a miracle".
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