Two years ago in November I climbed into the most unlikely place for an intense debate, a hot tub in a hotel in Portland, Oregon. The water was a bit hot, so as I waited for my body to adjust to the temperature I caught some interesting conversation. I can’t recall exactly what the topic was, but a father, son, and daughter-in-law were discussing something about evolution.

It wasn’t too long before I posed my first question, and plunged into an hour-and-a-half-long discussion with a college professor. 5 minutes in, his daughter-in-law got out saying something along the line of, ‘this is beyond me’. His son followed a few minutes later with a shake of his head and a, “Have fun guys.” Maybe it was beyond her, but apparently it wasn’t for the skinny 15 year-old that was set to overcook himself in the tub.

After that debate I discovered that believing in evolution for this man lead to some very corrupted views of God. The consequences were frustrating. First off we fell to debating, you guessed it, evolution. As we went along I discovered he was a ‘Christian’ and believed in God.

When I learned that, I was a little setback for a moment. Then I started pounding him with questions. Did he believe that God created the world? Firstly, no, but after following him all the way back to the big-bang, I asked, “Who created that first tiny everything-molecule?” He smiled, and pushed his hand slowly back and forth over the foam, “Well,” he said, “I guess you could say God created that.”

This is the first major consequence of believing in evolution and believing in God. You use God as an excuse to what cannot even be theorized. As long as there can be a theory other than God, there will always be one. But bring it back down to something where you absolutely have no idea, and, “Oh, I guess God did it.”

That reflects on the type of God you believe in. Honestly. My next question was, “Who is God to you then?” So he started metaphorically, “I think God could be explained as a presence, a universal being, a… something, a power, a presence of good.” I looked at him for a long moment while I pushed my hair back off my forehead.
“Do you believe in Jesus Christ? You said you were a Christian, what does that mean?” He replied, “I believe Jesus came to bring a good message to the world and to change how people thought. Etcetera.” After explaining some of my disagreement with him, I asked, “Have you read the Bible?”

“Yes!” he quickly replied, “every book of the Bible, all the way through.” Then in addition, “except for Revelation, I don’t believe Christians ought to know where they are going, or about the future like that.” As I thought some confused thoughts, I replied, “Well then, what do you believe happens after you die?” He replied, “I believe in re-incarnation…” “You believe you’ll come back as an ant,” I finished for Him. “Well,” he said, “not necessarily as an ant, you could come back as a human, or an animal yes.”

I shook my head in disagreement, “What can I say? I have a much greater hope for my future than that. I believe when I die, I will be given the gift of eternal life, because of my Savior Jesus Christ who died for us, for the whole world. The bible teaches this. Christ taught it. I’ll believe it.”

I’ll confess, I know I wasn’t talking to a theologian. But, the consequences of believing in evolution are almost certainly to destroy your God. Why? Because a God that isn’t your creator is what? An ethereal presence maybe? A good something? A presence? Or who is He? Is He the creator, ruler, and savior of the universe? Is he interested in our personal lives? Or do we reincarnate as our nephew’s cow? You see, the reason why the choice between God and evolution is so clear is not because of theories. Yes there are theologians that do believe in evolution, and have all the theory worked out. The choice is not distinguished by theories—it’s distinguished by your source of truth.

If the Bible is not taken as the source of right, of unequivocal truth, then what stops somebody from developing theories for everything? Evolution, in my mind, is greatly responsible for the spreading disease of relativism. Theories, theories are all that exist. Or are they? Is there a greater purpose, a greater source, and a greater end to the Christian life? Thank God there is.

The choice lies clear, it’s not a presumption. God or Evolution? God and His Word, or man and his word?

Mat 6:24 No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

And may I add, you cannot serve God and evolution. It is not an accusation, it is a basic principle. If you serve the goals of the theories of corrupted humanity, you do not serve the living God. You cannot.

As for me, I will follow God—and debate evolutionists.

What is God’s will for my life? This is a question we should all ask, a question we should all want an answer to. What… who… when… where… the unknowns. And it’s that aspect of the indefinite that provides our lives with another special and exciting dimension. It’s an opening for trust. It’s the explanation of faith. It unfastens an opportunity for reveling in God’s revealed will, and anticipating the road… beyond the bend.

What does it really mean to desire God’s will above all else in our lives? In answer to this question I go back to what desiring God’s will really means in its essence. Before we can truly desire to know God’s will, we must abandon our own selves in faith. The essence of ‘desiring God’s will’ is ‘trusting Him’, regardless of what he reveals. For what would His will mean to us if he were one that we would doubt? Without trust, God’s will would mean absolutely nothing, because… the evidence of it is not seen. Sometimes I start imagining to myself how it would be if there were some cut and dried way of discovering God’s will. Some way that could be mapped out and given to everybody to follow. Some way where there would not be any questions, some way where we knew God’s will for our lives from the start. Something… that would make us all just as the Israelites again.

And that very facet was something I was observing the other evening. “The Israelites had everything they could ask for. They lived under the physical shadow of God. God dwelt with them physically. They had every evidence; they had every proof they needed, and yet they doubted God.” Until now it was something I simply couldn’t comprehend. They were given the privilege of witnessing God in tangible reality. They heard him, they felt him, and they took him for granted. “How could they?!” But the answer lies in one single statement. They had no faith. For faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. (Heb 11:1) Regardless of whether we can see God or not, regardless of whether we know… how could we ever believe Him without placing our trust in Him? Why would we even be here today, desiring to know His will?

To truly desire God’s will, culminates in one word: trust. And then there are the two aspects of it… trusting to ask, and trusting the answer. And this is what the topic is, ‘knowing God’s will’. We all know how to ask questions. But when we ask them of God, we really desire an answer—or we should. But one thing that I have too often found myself doing, is putting my own stipulations and expectations on the answer. Most of us wouldn’t do that consciously, but are we asking God the question in total trust, willing to accept the answer, whatever it is? Asking God can only be done when we truly are ready to trust any answer He may give us. But this is where we all have questions. How can we be sure it is God speaking? I’ll be totally honest with you. I really am looking forwards to hearing what those who have more experience listening to His answers have to say. I have never experienced God’s voice more than once in the same way. Therefore I could not say, do this, do that, and get the answer. But an interesting excerpt from an article by Winkie Pratney fits here very well. Let me share it with you.

God has three answers in guidance – (1)”Yes” (2) “No” and (3) “Wait”. We cannot have a demanding attitude towards God. Sometimes there must be delays. Our lives are bound up with others, and many times God has to wait until they are ready (or until we are), before giving us the go-ahead. “Wait” is the most difficult of all answers, but sometimes it’s the most necessary. Here is the test of a love-slave. (Psalm 62:1,5, 33:20, 25:5, 27:14, 40:1, 130:5, 37:7; Isaiah 40:31, 49:23; Hosea 12:6; 1 Chron.28:9)

Reading this excerpt reminded me immediately of my parent’s testimony of God leading them together. The story… well, whoever decides to embark on listening to it is in for a late night—if you get what I mean. In other words, it really won’t fit on this page. But the Yes, No, and Wait were very real answers in that story. I know a lot of you will probably want to hear it now that I mentioned it, since this is a subject that we all face at one time or another, but for now I’ll just say this. “Wait can be the most difficult of all answers. But yet it can also be one of the most rewarding! Amen!”

But wait is only that if we are asked to wait. When we are delivered the command to move ahead, to step forwards, to do, to act, we cannot stand idle. This excerpt from a sermon by Charles Spurgeon strikes the question in a way that can only be done by such a man.

His will is done in heaven instantly, and without hesitation. We, I fear, are given to delays. We plead that we must look the thing round about. “Second thoughts are best,” we say, whereas the first thoughts of eager love are the prime production of our being. I would that we were obedient at all hazard, for therein lies the truest safety. Oh, to do what God bids us, as God bids us, on the spot, and at the moment! It is not ours to debate, but to perform. Let us dedicate ourselves as perfectly as Esther consecrated herself when she espoused the cause of her people, and said, “If I perish, I perish.” We must not consult with flesh and blood, or make a reserve for our own selfishness, but at once most vigorously follow the divine command.

Trust, obedience, action… this sums up the core of the topic. May we stand on our path, ready for instruction, ready to obey, ready to wait, ready to be, and ready to act. May we stand before our Lord without baggage, without terms, fully open to his guidance. Above all, may His will be done in our life… as it is in heaven.

Let us pray the Lord that we may do His will on earth as it is done in heaven; that is, joyfully, without the slightest weariness. When our hearts are right, it is a glad thing to serve God, though it be only to unloose the latchets of our Master’s shoes. To be employed by Jesus in service which will bring us no repute, but much reproach, should be our delight. If we were altogether as we should be, sorrow for Christ’s sake would be joy: ay, we should have joy right along, in dark nights as well as in bright days. Even as they are glad in heaven, with a felicity born of the presence of the Lord, so should we be glad, and find our strength in the joy of the Lord.—C. H. Spurgeon

As usual this has already been printed. The best of my articles tend to get printed before I blog them. Oh, and remember: © Copyright, details at the very bottom of this page.

Ok, I’ve been wanting to do one of these for a while. But I finally got around to trying out some editing and here’s my first try at a Podcast.

It’s so hard to sound natural. To me it sounds ‘read’, my dad said it sounded like I had a chip on my shoulder. Oh well, it’s a first try. And forgive the recording quality, it’s all audioblogger has to offer. Next time I’ll think up something better for the music theme.

Those of you who have more experience… any tips at sounding more natural?

The Value of Opposition (1.5mb)
The Value of Opposition (400kb) for the dialupers like me

And no, I’m not planning on doing this regularly.

And also, expect something on Calvinism coming up.