The Young Earth Before Sin

Whenever I read about creation in Genesis, I like to take what I read and try to make it tangible. I try to imagine being there. Creation itself is very difficult to do this with because there is not enough detail and I don't have the ability to accurately imagine some of it. But when God's Spirit led Moses to write about the pre-flood earth, many details were included. So let's open it up and take a little trip into the pre-sin, pre-flood earth.

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The land was all one mass, namely a super-continent we call Pangea, and the terrain looked very different. If you look at a current world map you can easily see how some of it fits together, for example, the western coast of Africa fits the contours of North and South America's east coast.

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A foggy mist kept everything watered instead of rain. Yes, it didn't rain on the earth until the great flood 1656 years from Adam's 1st year. Imagine a land where most everything grew freely without human intervention. God did not give Adam the task of tending the whole earth. Instead He gave him a garden to tend from which he and his wife would get food.

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Now Eden was a large mountainous country. For simplicity, let us imagine two mountain ranges in Eden, with a river running between them to the east. On the eastern border of Eden was where God planted the garden. The whole of Eden was not the entire garden. Whether the garden was flat or rolling terrain, we know that in the garden or toward the eastern edge of it the great river divided into four out-going riverheads.

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The Pishon skirted the whole land of Havilah. The Gihon goes around the whole land of Cush. The Hiddekel (or Tigirs)travels towards the east of Assyria. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

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Considering that the flood totally wiped out any remembrance of the Pishon and the Gihon, it is logical to assume that the modern Tigris and Euphrates are not the same rivers that existed in the garden of Eden. However, they could be in the general locality of the pre-flood rivers. The origins of both rivers are in the Turkish mountains today, which makes me wonder if that was the region of the garden. What Moses writes about the lands bordered by these rivers is very specific, but the flood appears to have erased the signs of these early lands.

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The garden was special because God cultivated it personally, planting in it things for the man and woman to eat. We do not know how far apart the Tree of Knowing Good and Evil and the Tree of life were, but I imagine that they were not side by side. Apparently both trees were recognizable, possibly even set apart by themselves with boundaries. The fact that they had not eaten from the Tree of Life makes me also think they were not in the garden very long.

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The trees and plants were all super-grown by God on that first week, so that the garden was ready for man on the day he was created. Also all living things were created with some physical age. Adam and Eve were not infants the day they were created. I imagine they were created in the prime of their youth. However, I believe Adam's age of 130 years at Seth's birth, was his relative age from creation.
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Since death entered the world through sin, this world was totally free from death. Adam could have gone below the water to decide what to name the fish and not have died. The world was also free from pain. Having children would have been a pleasure for Eve. Thorns, thistles, briers, and stickers did not exist. Neither did poisonous animals. The closest thing to death was the consumption and digestion of the fruits and vegetables and plants that Adam and Eve ate. But no blood was shed.

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God's whole plan for putting the "forbidden" tree in the garden is hard for me to understand. By the time God had rested on the seventh day, satan had already been cast down from heaven. Since we know that satan is always accusing and slandering God's ways, it is possible that satan was trying to disqualify God by coaxing the man and woman to eat the forbidden fruit. Whatever the case, the forbidden fruit is not the the only odd-ball in the garden. The legged serpent, fallen cherub, satan himself, was also in the garden. I am still not sure of God's ultimate plan for allowing satan in the garden, unless the Lord was going to show the devil after the first angelic judgment that He would have a free-will creature that would choose to worship Him alone.

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We know that the climate must have been temperate for Adam and Eve to have been naked in the garden and to not have cared. Also, neither of them seemed the least bit concerned about the serpent talking to them. Did other animals also talk, or did they just not know to be suspicious when this one did talk? There were also what we call dinosaurs alive back then. How could they be extinct when death entered the world through Adam?

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We must also remember that this is just a piece of our past. Paul wrote in Ephesians 1:4, "He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world." So we were in God's mind even before creation. The innocence of the pre-sin earth did not last very long.

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---Johnie

From Darkness to Light

Yesterday afternoon I changed the brake pads on the van. When I pulled off the first wheel, to my surprise, I had uncovered a large black widow spider living on the brakes. I called the kids over there and showed it to them, warning them of black widows. Attached is a photograph I took of this unwanted traveling companion just before I killed it.

Now I never would have dreamed that a spider could have lived in such a place, especially since it gets so hot there from the friction, but there it was! It was apparent that it was pretty well off from its size and extensive web works. Hidden from the world behind a wheel, it lived out its mission to kill lost and unsuspecting bugs. Before I finally knocked it to the ground and squished it, I just watched it for a while. Even while I was taking its picture, it was oblivious of my presense and kept working on strengthening its web.

There is no telling how long we have been driving around with a black widow. My youngest daughter asked me if it could have laid eggs in the van. That is a scary thought! Darkness is a magnet for creepy things. If you roll over an old log, you will find roaches, centipedes, and scorpions. But the light repulses these creatures and they flee from it.

We, too, were once hiding in the darkness just like this black widow. Peter wrote, "proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light." John said in 1 John 1:5, "God is light and in Him is no darkness at all." Before the light of God shone in our hearts, we loved the darkness, but we know the hope of God's grace and have passed from dead to living, from blind to seeing.

Now as much as I don't like black widows I have to remember that God created them and that our God is a redeeming God. I believe that one day in the future, closer and closer it comes, that Jesus will shine a special healing light on the poisonous spiders and heal them from their treachery. Romans 8:21 says, "creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God." This is the time when babies will play with the once poisonous serpent, and the lion will sleep with the lamb without attacking it. This is the long-awaited 1000 year reign of Christ, in which the devil is bound and He is the sovereign ruler of the earth.

Praise God who conveyed to us his heart transforming love and will one day also heal this earth!


---Johnie

Belief vs. Truth

Farfour the mouse was a very loved children's TV character. His dying grandfather bequethed him with a deed to some land along with the key to the land. Grandfather warned Farfour that the terrorist Jews would try to get the deed and the key, but he made him promise to never give it to them. That's right. Farfour, known as Martyr Mouse, is a real Palestinian muslim children's show character. He is eventually interrogated and beaten by a hard-hearted Jew who wants the deed and key to the Palestinian land. But Farfour obeys his grandfather and doesn't give it to them. A young girl narrator then informs the viewers that Farfour died in prison a martyr. Throughout the show the Israelis and Jews are called terrorists.

There are brainwashed people all over the world that believe all sorts of strange things. Farfour stands out as a warning to all of us that it is very easy for people to believe something that is not the truth. It is okay to question what we are taught and to personally understand the meaning of the scriptures. Let me give you two examples.

1. The lie: God made homosexuals the way they are it is normal. The result: Some churches are letting them flaunt their lifestyle in the church, even ordaining homosexual priests. The Truth: Romans 1:26-27 "For this reason God gave them up to vile passions. For even their women exchanged the natural use for what is against nature. Likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust for one another, men with men committing what is shameful, and receiving in themselves the penalty of their error which was due."
2. The lie: Keeping women out of the pulpit is wrong. The result: Men are giving up their leadership rolls to women and are becoming spineless, quiet and passive instead of spiritual leaders. The Truth: 1 Timothy 2:12-14 "And I do not permit a woman to teach or to have authority over a man, but to be in silence. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not deceived, but the woman being deceived, fell into transgression."

Now it doesn't matter what we believe if it is contrary to the word of God. The church has taught many bad things in the past to justify sinful behavior. In the 1400's it was that you could buy forgiveness from the church. In the mid-1800's it was to justify slavery of heathens.

Paul admonished us in 2 Corinthians 13:5, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you are disqualified."

Are you reading the Bible? Are you checking out what you are taught? Take a deep look inside yourself and ask the hard question, "Are the things I believe truth or lie." Ask the Holy Spirit to help you see any area in you that is false and to expose it to the light.

---Johnie

Plumbing Woes

Today has not been a fun day. Last night the shower backed up. I thought it was because of too many things draining at the same time. This morning I thoroughly cleaned it. Right after I cleaned it, it backed up again with the flush of a toilet. The toilet also backed up. So did the bath tub. I decided to try the other toilet just to see if it would work. Nope! I needed a royal flush, but the cards were stacked against me.

I sent Joyce and the kids on to church so that I could take care of this situation like a man. "How does a man take care of a situation like this?" you may ask. Well, that's a good question. A man's not afraid to get his hands dirty. A man will face the enemy face to face. A man recognizes that it was for such a time as this that he has made a thousand tool purchases because a man's motto is "Be Prepared." Well, okay, it is the Boyscouts' motto, but it is a motto that resonates in my mind every time I walk into Lowe's or Sears.

All my tools were very easy to find because yesterday I needed to change the brake pads on the van. I was just positive that I had an extra set out in the shed (be prepared). However, I could not locate them on account of my shed's personal problem. It isn't really big enough to hold everything that's in it, but all of which is totally necessary (be prepared). So everything just kind of got piled into it in a rather random, chaotic way. It was so full that it was dangerous to enter. So how were my tools easy to find?

I entered the dangerous version of the shed to find the brake pads. I kept tripping over things that were in my way, but I could not find the brake pads. I finally decided to take everything out of the shed and reorganize it, that way I could find what I needed. I emptied the floor of the shed which was a monumental task, and stacked it around the backyard, also a monumental task. That is how I so easily found my tools. I can clearly see now that the backyard is about the right size of the shed I need to hold all my stuff.

First I plunged with my super-sucker plunger for a while. Since everything was backed up I just went around and plunged this for a while, and then plunged that for a while, but when nothing drains, you know you have to advance from the plunger to the sewer snake!

The sewer snake is my least favorite plumbing tool because it goes deep into the sewer lines to do its job, and then you have to handle it. But a real man won't shy away from the really dirty stuff. This also did not work, and now I stink.

To make a long story short, it took a real plumber to clean out the main sewer drain line. The problem: Roots. Good indoor plumbing is one of the most cherished possessions in all the world. Once you've used indoor plumbing, you have a tough time even using a port-a-potty.

I can think of several scriptures that this whole plumbing crisis brings to mind. In Mark 7:18-23, Jesus tells his disciples, "whatever enters a man from outside cannot defile him, because it does not enter his heart but his stomach, and is eliminated, thus purifying all foods?” And He said, “What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.” I can hardly wait for heaven where we won't have to deal with stinky toilets anymore. Now that I have gotten dirty and smelly, does God get repulsed by me? No, but I believe that our plumbing and sewer is a good reminder of how repulsive and stinky our sin is to our holy God.

Sin is not some force that we cannot fight that therefore overtakes us. To sin or not to sin is a choice that we have to make. A follower of Christ doesn't have to sin. Paul wrote to the messed up church in Corinth, "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it." Pray that God will help you be holy and that you would recognize and use all of the escapes He provides for you to get out of temptation without sinning. So flush out that mind as often as you shower or bathe, and wash your heart from evil as often as you thank God for your plumbing.

"Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things."
-Philippians 4:8


---Johnie

Test the Spirits

Mardel Christian Bookstore was my first full-time employer, and while there I learned that there are a lot of different Bibles to choose from. I also quickly learned that there are impromptu Bible teams that have transcendent translation wars.


"Don't shoot the messenger - or the stockboy!" I often felt like an easy target putting different Bible versions on the shelf. In fact, just having a Mardel name badge on my shirt was as good as an invitation to a Bible Awareness Confrontation. (My own words for an uninvited argument.) I was often subject to hearing why one version was "superior" and the others were Satanic. It didn't do any good to argue with them. That would only get them impassioned with some "in your face" tactics.


Usually they were promoting the Authorized 1611 King James Version Bible. Once it was a local pastor's very own "superior" translation. That was what he encouraged his congregation to use because he knew it was right. Then there were those who had to have an Apocrypha in their Bible. They usually were quiet and sincere without making a big fuse that there were only two shelves dedicated to Catholic Bibles.


We had a very large poster hanging over the Bible section that had John 3:16 written out in about 12 different Bible versions. Just having that poster on the wall might have been the instigator of some of the confrontations that happened, but it made me wonder, "Why do I trust the Bible that I read?" In 1 John 4:1, we are told to "test the spirits" and to be cautious of who to believe. Some are false prophets, but is my Bible one of them! These are good questions that are okay to ask.


I am by no means an expert on all the different Bibles, but I can tell you that all Bibles written in English are translations, revisions, paraphrases, or inventions.


A translation is one that tries to be as true to the early texts as possible, word-for-word (ex. KJV) or thought-for-thought (ex. NIV).


A revision works off of a translation with the goal of making it more understandable while still referring back to the manuscript(s) to keep it consistent (NKJV). However, even some revisions get revised to keep up with the times, so keep that in mind.


A paraphrase is an easy-to-read interpretation of a translation or a revision. The Living Bible and the English Bible fall into this camp as they often get tagged for inaccuracies. This type of Bible often compromises the translation in order to keep the attention of the reader or hearer. I say hearer because it often targets children. (I remember how much I personally enjoy the English Bible version of Elijah challenging the prophets of Baal.)


An invention Bible, if you can really call it a Bible, is usually a paraphrase or revision that does not intend (on purpose) to keep the original intent of certain scriptures so that their particular "agenda" is advanced. The New International Version rewrites gender specific verses to be gender neutral. "Sons" becomes "children" and so on. Another invention is entitled "An Inclusive Version". I will just quote a promotion statement about the AIV from the innvista website:

As the church does not believe that God is literally a father and understands "Father" to be a metaphor, "Father" is rendered in this version by a new metaphor, "Father-Mother." When Jesus is called "Son of God" or "Son of the Blessed One," and the maleness of the historical person Jesus is not relevant, but the "Son's" intimate relation to the "Father" is being spoken about, the
formal equivalent "Child" is used for "Son," and gender-specific pronouns referring to the "Child" are avoided. This version uses "the Human One" as a formal equivalent to "the Son of Man."

I think I'll back away from this quote so that I don't get hit when the lightning strikes! I could go on, but just remember that invention Bibles twist the Scriptures for their own perverted uses.


The Bible I always quote from is the New King James Version, but I will grab the concordance and look up the original text as I study, too. Also I use the Interlinear Bible which has the King James version translation next to the original Hebrew or Greek right next to an English "word-by-word" translation. I will also read a verse or passage in several different versions (KJV, NIV, NASV) to get a better idea of what is meant. I will study larger passages to get a contextual understanding of what is happening in the story line.


"Beloved, do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits, whether they are of God; because many false prophets have gone out into the world." So look on the spine of your Bible or on the title page and see which type of Bible you are using. You may be surprised by what you find!



---Johnie

Campfire on the Shore

I really like going to the lake and watching the waves lap up on the shore. But what beats that is going to the lake in the early morning! The killdee will scurry along the edge of the water pecking at bits of food. The doves' cooing song is serenading the sunrise while a white crane relaxes near the cat-tails.

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Off in the distance a boat's silhouette rides the gentle waves. The sound of the lapping waves and the crisp breeze refresh my spirit. One of my favorite things to do is think on how much Jesus loved mornings on the shore, too. That's right! John gives us a glimpse of what Jesus did in His spare time.

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Let me set the stage for you. Look at the picture above and imagine a boat in the foreground and you are squatting on the shore of the Sea of Tiberius (Galilee) next to a campfire. The smell of smoke and grilled fish is in the brisk air. Now if you listen, you can hear a few disgruntled voices traveling across the water as if they were just a few feet away. Seven men with zero fish still casting their nets in the ninth inning. The last thing they want is for someone to ask them, "Have you caught anything?"

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Now you hear the voice of a man calling out to the boat, "Children, do you have any food?"

"No," is their sad response. A dove coos as the light of dawn paints the eastern horizon. The crackling fire is sending up waves of mouth-watering fragrance out to the boat. The men pull in their nets despairingly apparently one last time.

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The beachman's voice then speaks words that would only stir the souls of certain men, "Cast the net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some." Then you see why Jesus spent the night on the beach fishing by a nice fire. They cast out the hundredth time, expecting another empty net, and this time they couldn't pull it in it was so full!

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One of the men excitedly drops the net he was holding and grabs his tunic and pulls it over his head. The other six keep pulling and fighting the bulging net. Unflinchingly, he jumps into the water and swims to shore. This wasn't about food anymore. This was about purpose.

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Peter felt like he was worthless to Jesus since he denied Him during Jesus' trial. And when was the last time he went fishing? Since he had been following Jesus, he had left his father's nets. Wholeheartedly he followed Jesus. But now he was struggling within his soul. He was no hypocrite. He knew what he was and he wasn't going to make any excuses. He was a backstabber and unfit to be included in any post-resurrection plans Jesus wold have.

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Go on and read the rest of this beautiful story. It's in John 21. This isn't just Peter's story. No, it is also yours. This is the story of second chances for us. We must remember that we don't really have anything to offer God. "But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) God doesn't look around and say, "What I need are some perfect people so that I can use someone I approve of." No, instead he looks around and says, "They are so lost, mixed up and messed up! Son, you know what is the only way we can save them," and Jesus nods in solemn agreement.

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This is the mighty love of our God! It is the kind of love that we don't work for, and that will wait all night on the beach just for us, and cook up a breakfast just for us. It is the forgiveness that is mixed with unbudging truth. It is a teaching love that helps us understand that it is all about thanking God for what we could never do, and then living out what we've come to know.

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So where are you in this picture really? Are you still pulling in empty nets, or are you walking along the beach with Jesus? Are you just now jumping in the water, or are you having the most wonderful fish breakfast you've ever had?

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Read this story and let Jesus ask you the questions. You will find a true friend in Jesus.

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---Johnie

A Higher Standard

Today on NPR a woman who goes by Lo (Living Oprah) was telling how she based her life on the teachings of Oprah Winfrey. I've got to tell you I was disappionted to a new level of disappointments. Before she does anything she asks herself, "What would Oprah do?" She is trying to live for one year by the precepts of Oprah. On her website, Lo wonders, "will I trully find bliss if I commit wholeheartedly to her lifestyle suggestions?"

Now I have heard the catch-phrase "What Would Jesus Do?" (WWJD) for around a decade now, but I think it has mostly become an identifying cliche more than a way of living. Not that it is a bad saying, but like most other catch phrases, it quickly became over-used.

Well, what would it look like if I asked myself "What would Oprah do?" before I made all my decisions? If she was perfect, then she would indeed be a good standard. But if she is not perfect, then she will be a bad standard and I will mess up in at least every way she messes up.

In John 13:13-17, Jesus taught the disciples saying, "You call Me Teacher and Lord, and you say well, for so I am. If I then, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that you should do as I have done to you. Most assuredly, I say to you, a servant is not greater than his master; nor is he who is sent greater than he who sent him. If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them." If your teacher is flawed, then you also will be flawed. However, Jesus was perfect in every way. In God's eyes, Jesus is our standard. He is the perfection we are measured against.

We know we can never measure up on our own. I have heard it said that sin is like the Grand Canyon between sinful us on one side and our holy God on the other. No matter how hard we try to get to God our efforts will always fall short. But the cross of Jesus bridged the gap between us and God. Only the sacrifice of Jesus will enable us access to the Father.

In 1 Timothy 2:5-6, Paul wrote, "For there is one God and one Mediator between God and men, the Man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself a ransom for all." When we confess and cry out to the Lord to save us, from then on God the Father sees us as holy through His Son Jesus. The way we live affects how usable we are for Him.

So whether you say the words "WWJD" or not, stay focused on the only standard that matters, Jesus Christ. Just as Jesus said, "If you know these things, blessed are you if you do them."

---Johnie

Growing Young

Almost every material that is useful has gone through a purification process of some sort. Water is filtered and boiled. Crude oil is heated and run through a purification tower to separate the light hydrocarbons from the heavy. Gold ore is heated until the gold melts and then the dross must be removed while it is molten.


Peter wrote in his 2nd letter, "Since you have purified your souls in obeying the truth through the Spirit in sincere love of the brethren, love one another fervently with a pure heart." Sometimes you may feel like God doesn't want you anymore because of how filthy your soul is. You may have gone back to the pig pen and wallowed in the mud and then you look down, and there is no hiding what you've done. If we were God we would totally disown us. But God is not like us.


The Apostle Paul shared this poem with Timothy:

For if we died with Him,We shall also live with Him.
If we endure, We shall also reign with Him.
If we deny Him, He also will deny us.
If we are faithless, He remains faithful;
He cannot deny Himself.

Our God's love is so unlike ours that we find it hard to understand or accept. If He bought you once, you are His for all time. Sure you can live out of His will, and if you are, then you probably feel like God couldn't and won't use you. Well, God is faithful even if we are faithless.

Now, I don't know how God called you. Maybe you walked down the aisle after a sermon. Maybe it was in a concert where you saw your need for a Saviour. Maybe it was during a season of sickness or even the death of a close, dear friend. How did you respond to Him? If you cried out to Him for salvation, then you are His!

Well I have some good news! The gunk that gets all over our souls from sin can be reversed! Here's how:

• Obey the truth - this is like giving your soul a bath; but to obey the truth you must:
• Know the truth - Are you reading the Bible? Praying? Getting Godly Counsel?
• Be sober - (1Peter 1:13-14) Focus on pleasing Christ
• Holy conduct - "Let everyone who names the name of Christ depart from iniquity.”
• Love others - Enemies, strangers, and friends (3 John 1:4-6; Matthew 5:44; 1 Peter 1:22)
• Soften your heart - "Will the LORD be pleased with thousands of rams, Ten thousand rivers of oil? Shall I give my firstborn for my transgression, The fruit of my body for the sin of my soul? 8 He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God?"

Rich Mullins wrote a song called Growing Young, and in it he talked about how sin makes you old and weary, but God has a way of reversing the aging process in your soul.

I've been broken now - I've been saved.

I've learned to cry and I've learned how to pray,

And I'm learning - I'm learning even I can be changed,

And everybody used to tell me big boys don't cry,

Well I've been around enough to know that that was the lie

That held back the tears in the eyes of a thousand prodigal sons.

Well we are children no more we have sinned and grown old,

And our Father still waits and He watches down the road

To see the crying boys come running back to His arms,

And be growing young.

---Johnie

There's a Wall There

"She's not the easiest person to get close to. There's a wall there." Well, I will have to admit that sometimes when I can't understand why someone did something or can't understand a concept, I hear the voice of Kronk from the Emperor's New Groove in my head saying, "There's a wall there." And oh how true it is!

All wisdom, understanding, and knowledge is a gift from God. When humanity gloats in the accomplishments of the day, it is often out of a sense of self-awe and self-reliance. Really, advances in technology are only an opening of the human mind by the Creator.

(Mark 9:30-36)

Jesus to the Disciples: “The Son of Man is being betrayed into the hands of men, and they will kill Him. And after He is killed, He will rise the third day.”

Disciples to each other: I wonder which of us will be the greatest!

There's a wall there.

Dr. Luke wrote in his account of the gospel, "And He opened their understanding, that they might comprehend the Scriptures." (Luke 24:45) They had the Law and the Prophets, but they were reading them in a box, thinking inside a box.

I'm not making a pitch for everybody getting on their knees and asking God to make them smarter people. We got a pretty big mouthful of knowledge when our Father Adam ate the forbidden fruit! Not all knowledge is good.

But we can't understand the ways of God on our own. It takes an act of God for us to understand His word and His ways. When we first came to God through Jesus, He gave us the Holy Spirit to teach us His ways. We saw ourselves in His brilliant light, and were humbled that He would want us!

Sometimes we are like Peter getting our feet washed by the Saviour. Jesus says , "What I am doing you do not understand now, but you will know after this.” We don't know how to respond because we don't understand that God wants to do His work through us. "I should be washing your feet! You can't wash mine!..........What?.........If I don't let you wash my feet, then I'm not yours!.........Well, wash my head, hands and feet then!"

Sometimes we are like the man crying out to Jesus, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” We want to trust Him, but we have a battle raging inside of us:

• He is calling me to walk to Him on the waves, but logic tells me I will sink.


• He is telling us to feed thousands of people, but logic tells us that fives loaves and two fish aren't enough.


• He is telling me that we have too many warriors for this battle, but logic tells me that there is power in numbers.

I hear Kronk's voice again: There's a wall there.

This is where we say, "Lord, I believe; help my unbelief!” Also we must pray that the Helper will open our understanding and help us to comprehend the Scriptures. What impurities are in you? Fear? Pride? Greed? Lust? When we are saved we are new creations, but we are a saved and sanctified spirit that continues to dwell in sinful flesh. As long as we are in this life, there will always be a war raging between our saved spirit and our sinful flesh.

Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 10:3-5, "For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds, casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ." Praying, fasting, loving, being witnesses of the truth, and practicing righteousness, are some of the weapons we have been given to fight the spiritual warfare.

If there is a wall there that is keeping you from obeying God or understanding God's ways, then ask our Heavenly Father to open your understanding so that you can comprehend and be transformed by the renewing of your mind.

---Johnie

Does Legal Make It Right

When my mother was 44 years old, she made a trip to the doctor because she wasn't feeling very good. In fact she was feeling lousy. She had heard about menopause, but could it actually be happening to her? She explained her mood swings and nausea while the doctor examined her. She sat and waited alone in the little room while he went to check some test results that were being run.

When he came back she just had to know. "Well, what did you find out?" she asked him. "Oh, well, Mrs. Levell, you're pregnant," was his answer. She scoffed at him discredulously and with some anger. "How could he joke at a time like this?"

Well, he was right and now 33 years later, here I am. But if you know me, then here's the first reason why: My mother did not have an abortion.

See, the doctor told her that if she tried to have me she would probably lose me and might possibly die herself. Her body just wasn't up to having another baby. He recommended to her that she have an abortion. Wow! What a great mom to fight on my behalf!

Here it is 2008, and how many babies have been exterminated by "doctors" touting "a woman's right to choose"? It is legal, but does that make it right? Abosolutely not! Christians in America sometimes think with a split personality. They know what the Bible says, and they know what God commands us to do, but they keep an ace in the hole when it comes to their legal rights.

In America you can legally have an abortion, legally be a homosexual, legally gamble, legally get drunk, legally be profane, legally have pornography. However if it is contrary to the law of God, then it is sin. Sin separates from God. Sin brings death.

I will speak from my personal experience to tell why our country should totally outlaw abortion. I wouldn't be here if my mother would have taken her doctor's advice. I was unable to speak my will on the subject, so I needed a defender. I could have been murdered. Sure, it would have been in a sterile Nazi-like environment with clean surgical utensiles. Hmmm....why am I not feeling appreciative for their efforts? I wonder.

I like the story of Horton Hears a Who which says, "A person's a person no matter how small." I will also speak now back to that day when I had no voice, no personal defense or protection: I want to live!

Jeremiah 1:5 says, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you; Before you were born I sanctified you; I ordained you a prophet to the nations.” Don't let this democracy get the best of you. If you have been bought by our Heavenly Father through the blood of His Son, then that over-rides all your "legal" rights that a country may give you. Jesus made it clear, “My kingdom is not of this world." We are living for an eternal kingdom where the souls of human beings are the prize being fought for. Speak out against abortion! The murder of the innocent!

Jesus also said, “And I say to you, My friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do. But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear Him who, after He has killed, has power to cast into hell; yes, I say to you, fear Him!"

---Johnie

A Side of Regret with that Decision?

Have you ever said or done something you thoroughly regreted? Well, today I am sharing a poem I wrote several years ago after I had some serious regret issues. Hopefully you can relate. Enjoy!

Manly's Regret by Johnie W. Levell

Out strode Manly with seeds and hoes,
And cut seven rows,
And in each he throws
His seeds as he goes.

With regret in his head
He laid in his bed,
For the seeds that he spread
Were the ground's now instead.

He missed his seeds so
'Til they started to grow,
And his neighbors all wanted to know
Who had the green thumb in the garden below.

All this attention made Manly proud
And he became loud, irritatingly loud.
He up'd his nose to the meek of the crowd
As he showed off his hoes with which he had plowed.

He no longer missed his seeds any more
With so many people in and out his door.
They wanted to see his flowers galore,
But he felt compelled and promised them more.

Yes, he felt compelled and promised each four!

With regret in his head
He laid in his bed
For the promise he said
He would recant instead.

The day finally came when the people arose,
They took up their clippers and each cleared his nose,
And off to Manly's the whole crowd goes -
Twas the whole town of Upright I do suppose.

They came like a storm right through the gate,
Before Manly could stop them, it was too late.
They gave him their "thank you's" at any rate,
Though in his heart he began to hate.

To each who came he began to write
An "I hate you" note that very night,
And lickedy-split he mailed them alright,
Feeling satisfied with wicked delight.

Then a knock-knock came, and he felt quite content,
"No more flowers! Go away!" and away they'd be sent,
But the whole town was there and they were sore bent
On honoring Manly for his kindly present.

With regret in his head,
He laid in his bed
Filled with terrible dread
Once his letters were read.

The Bible tells us in James 1:5-7, "If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask of God, who gives to all liberally and without reproach, and it will be given to him. But let him ask in faith, with no doubting, for he who doubts is like a wave of the sea driven and tossed by the wind. For let not that man suppose that he will receive anything from the Lord; he is a double-minded man, unstable in all his ways."

Manly had some serious issues with not seeing the good in waiting for a blessing or with sharing with others. Ask God for wisdom and he will give it to you. And know that you can trust Him to do what He says He will do.

---Johnie

Postcard from the Past

Every now and then I get this wild streak in me and all I want to do is.......stargaze. Well, it may not sound that exciting, but I always see a satelite or two and even usually a falling star. Those are the same stars God created in the beginning. They are the same stars God showed to Abram. They are the same stars God called each by name. As I lay on the driveway gazing upward, I get a good perspective on how little I am in the universe!

Have you ever thought about how God uses the stars to mark certain events in our earthly history? There is the day to day, month to month, and year to year. But I am thinking about the star that led the magi to baby Jesus. And I am also thinking about things yet to come.

The Bible tells of many outer space heavenly events that will happen in the end times:

• Matthew 24:29 - Immediately after the distress of those days " 'the sun will be darkened, and the moon will not give its light; the stars will fall from the sky, and the heavenly bodies will be shaken.


• Luke 21:25 - There will be signs in the sun, moon and stars. On the earth, nations will be in anguish and perplexity at the roaring and tossing of the sea.


• Revelation 6:13-15 - And the stars of heaven fell to the earth, as a fig tree drops its late figs when it is shaken by a mighty wind. Then the sky receded as a scroll when it is rolled up, and every mountain and island was moved out of its place. And the kings of the earth, the great men, the rich men, the commanders, the mighty men, every slave and every free man, hid themselves in the caves and in the rocks of the mountains.


• Revelation 21:1 - Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea.

Being a scientifically minded "INTJ" personality type, I think about things like "Is that star really there?" and "If there is all this cosmic disruption in the future, did God plan it in the past?"

Nevermind that there is debate on how old the stars are. The light that we are receiving is old light. Even the light from the sun is about 8 minutes old. If you hear someone say that a star is 6000 light years away, that means that the light from that star is 6000 years old! We are seeing the past.

Let me put it to you a different way. If we had a very, very, very powerful telescope out in deep space, and we pointed it back to the earth, we would be seeing our past! And just supposing that it could obtain images of the earth's surface down to 1 meter squared, we could see the tents and flocks of Abraham or maybe even the civilizations that were here on the super-continent before the flood! Our past is out there - an active silent movie of earth's history recorded in reflective light.

Well, let's try to land this plane. Are you living a life worth rewatching? How much time do you spend in living for the things of this world? What are you doing to store up treasure in heaven?

The way we live out our lives affects how we spend eternity. I'm not talking about working to earn God's favor. I am talking about changing the way we live our lives so that we please the Father with our hearts and actions. The clock is ticking down - are you ready?

---Johnie

My Presidential Cup of Tea

Every day I take an 18 minute trip to work and then again 18 minutes back home. Sometimes I travel to and from work twice whenever I eat lunch at the house. It may be a sign of my age but I can't seem to find any of "my" music on the radio, so I end up listening to a lot of talk radio and news. Lately I hear a lot about the "race for president" and how important this next president will be.

The next president will probably appoint four Supreme Court Justices.

The next president will have to end the war in Iraq, and hopefully end more wars than he starts.

There is a 50% chance that the next president will start drawing Medicare while he is signing bills about it.

I know that a lot of people have already made up their minds about who they will vote for, but I still have to add my ten cents. Who would Jesus vote for? I have thought this several times in the last week, and I'm at a loss for answers. If Jesus could have voted back in the day between, say, Herod the Great and Archelaus, who would he have voted for? Would he have voted at all?

Would Archelaus' policies be better for the Roman economy? Would Herod have lowered the taxes? Who would build the next phase of the temple quicker? Could either of them really put a kosher chicken in every pot?

In John 2:23-25, John wrote, "Now when He was in Jerusalem at the Passover, during the feast, many believed in His name when they saw the signs which He did. But Jesus did not commit Himself to them, because He knew all men, and had no need that anyone should testify of man, for He knew what was in man."

I am not saying that we shouldn't vote for the person that we think will lead the country the best, but I am saying that with all the power a president has, none of them are more than ordinary men. They have ordinary problems and have to put their pants on one leg at a time like the rest of us that wear pants!

And as much as we want them to be like us, we must remember what we are like: spirits trapped inside sinful flesh, prone to wander from the God we love. We all know when somebody else messes up big - Jim and Tami Faye, Oral Roberts, Bill Clinton. But we want our leaders to be better than us. We want them to be bold and courageous leaders, always making miraculously perfect decisions, but each time one gets elected, all we get are people just like us.

The Israelites wanted a king and they got someone that looked good! Saul was head and shoulders above the rest, so humble he hid from the crowd at his inauguration, and good looking! But he was hasty, making rash vows, and cared more about looking like a take-charge leader than about obeying the Lord.

We must not forget that regardless of the leadership of a country, God will not be hindered from doing His work. In John 19:11, Jesus even rebutted Pontius Pilate saying, "You could have no power at all against Me unless it had been given you from above." It is the same all over the world today. All presidents, dictators, and leaders, no matter what they think , believe, or say, are under the total dominion of the King of kings. The leaders of the world are akin to many children playing king of the hill on many little hills all on a vast piece of property that belongs to the real King.

So whether we end up with a democrat or a republican in the oval office, let's remember to trust the God who allowed them to get there, and to pray for them.

Evidence v. Faith

Last Sunday our pastor taught over the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea as described in Exodus 14. He showed a clip from a documentary "The Exodus Revealed" by Dr. Lennart Moller from the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. It detailed evidence of where the Red Sea crossing took place, including coral growth over many wheel and axle shaped formations found in the Gulf of Aqaba on the Red Sea that fit the description of the chariots used then by the Egyptians. I attached a picture of one of the wheels on the sea floor in the Gulf of Aqaba.

I am always excited whenever I hear of new evidence supporting Biblical accounts. I am the type of guy that is always gathering data and finding tangible evidence to connect the dots. So what should Christians expect from all this evidence we find? Do we now believe something we doubted before since we have the evidence? Or do we suppose that if we show the world the evidence of Biblical events that then the world would believe, repent, and be saved?

Just like a bird or a whale praises God with its own special song, researchers and scientists can do the same thing with their work. They go on fact finding missions to bring a passage in the Bible to life with photos, data and hard evidence. It really depends on what their hearts' intentions are. But as more and more evidence is brought to the table you might think that God-ignoring science and history textbooks would see the light and "convert." This however is not the intended goal.

The goal is to bring glory to God by presenting the truth in a world that is full of lies. One of the greatest preachers of righteousness, Noah, didn't even persuade one person outside his immediate family to repent, but he lived out his faith by building a boat that looked useless to the world around him. When the flood waters came I'm sure that all his neighbors said he was right, but it was too late! I would love to see that great boat pulled from its icy home for the whole world to see, but it would change about as many minds today as it did when it was built.

Romans 1:18-19 says, "For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, because what may be known of God is manifest in them, for God has shown it to them." Skip on down to verse 21: "...although the knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened. Professing to be wise they became fools...." Then it goes on to say that God gave them up to their sin because they exchanged the truth of God for the lie, among other things.

If someone wants to sin, then they will dismiss all hard evidence that would bring any hint of impending accountability they owe to their Creator. If macro-evolution offers them the means and freedom they desire to dismiss God in their life, then why would they choose otherwise?

The evidence is gathered in faith and the truth is presented as an offering to God. Those who know God are blessed by it, and those who reject Him are cursed by it. Even without evidence, our God would still be God. God's work in internally changing our lives would be our sufficient evidence. Hebrews 11:1 says, "Faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."

"For I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed unto Him against that day." - Paul, 2 Timothy 1:12

We need to be praying for those who are the called who have yet to come to Him, that they will quickly come to repentance. Also pray for those who are persecuted because of Him.

---Johnie

God or Science?

The other day I saw a show on the Science Channel titled Supervolcanoes. It was talking about a possible erruption of a super-volcao at Yellowstone national park. In the show geneticists were discribinig a discovery they made involving a special type of DNA called Mitochondrial DNA (mDNA).

In studying human DNA they discovered that mDNA mutates on a regular basis over time. I should also note that mDNA is only passed down by the mother to the child. That enabled the geneticists to track with confidence the mutations in the mDNA. They expected to see a constant rate of mutations, but they were suprised to find that the mutations pointed back to a cataclysmic event that almost destroyed the entire human population! One of those interviewed even went as far as to draw an hour-glass shape and to say that from his research there was a large human population, then a "bottle-neck" where most people died, and then a resurgence of human population.

Hmmm.........That sounds vaguely like something recorded in Genesis about a flood.

Genesis 7:23:
"So He destroyed all living things which were on the face of the ground: both man and cattle, creeping thing and bird of the air. They were destroyed from the earth. Only Noah and those who were with him in the ark remained alive."

I am amazed that none of the scientists interviewed even mentioned the flood. They spoke like they had no direction. Science is not a bunch of facts thrown onto a spread sheet. Science was created by God and it is woven throughout all the universe. They may have gathered the facts, but the interpretation of the facts often misses the mark. But why?

2 Corinthians 4:3-6 speaks of life without Jesus and life with Jesus. Without Him, the god of this age, Satan, blinded our minds and veiled the truth. But those who believe in Jesus, those who have been forgiven, have been given sight where they once were blind. "For it is the God who commanded light to shine out of darkness, who has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ."

We have the Holy Spirit of God living in us to show us the truth and to help us understand it. The geneticists did not create the facts, they uncovered them. But it takes God's light and gift of spiritual sight to understand them in truth.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today and forever. Is He the anchor in your life or are you drifting lost at sea? Ask God to open your eyes and mind to understand His truth.

---Johnie
July 5, 2008

Getting Started

Welcome to Johnie's Blog! In it I hope you will be encouraged to grow in your understanding of Biblical wisdom and how it applies to your daily living. I am constantly thinking of things that I would like to share with others, but with no one to share it with. Now I have the means to share what is on my heart with you. Enjoy! ---Johnie