Biblical Numerology

I found a video on GodTube trying to tie Barack Obama to the prophecies in Daniel 11. Okay,I'll wait until you are done laughing....done? Good. Numerology is using number in the Bible to find information. I'm not sure what to actually say about numerology. One thing for sure is that number are important and God has used many numbers over and over again like 2, 12, 24, and 40. Not to mention the number that show up in nature. Factors of 2, 3 and Pi show up everywhere when you try to mathematically model the world. Does this mean anything? I'm not sure. It could be just God signing his creation. Some people think the numbers in the Bible is God sending secret messages to us. Some even believe we can figure out the time the world will end, or the identity of the antichrist, or future events. I have found that many people who study numerology in an attempt to unravel mysteries, often miss the plain truths of scripture. Watch this to see what I mean:

"Religuous" is Ridiculous

Bill Maher has been very clear as to what he believes "religion" is. He is wrong. I can't speak for other faiths but I can categorically assert Christianity is not about embracing the end of the world or wishing for death. It's about embracing and hanging on to life the only way possible: Jesus Christ. All the evils of the world montaged at end of Maher's movie can be traced to only one source: sin. If you want to be free of it faith in Jesus is the only way. Maher expresses the exact opposite of what the Bible says. Trust in God is the answer not doubt. Faith is not equivalent to shutting off your brain and not thinking. God has given us enough evidence that your faith can be based on reason. His and Christopher Hitchen's definition of faith is wrong. The Bible does not give us all the answers, just enough so that we can put our faith in the right place. I disagree with the following video in more ways that I can count. None of his arguments stand up to any kind of scrutiny.



One of the most important problem I see that Maher has is that he believes that he is angry that it appears that Christians believe that we have the answers. He thinks that we think we are better than those who confess that they don't know. To be honest, we know that we are not better than anyone else. It's only because of God's grace and mercy that we know what we do. We know what happens when someone dies only because God told humanity what happens.
So much of what the Bible teaches can substantiate by archeology, history, and science. As for everything else it cannot be refuted.

C'mon Now, We Gotta Be Fair

On James White's Blog, he made the following brilliant observation:

I noticed some of the websites/blogs I read regularly were complaining about this banner that has been hung in Nazareth:

I have not the slightest complaint about Muslims hanging this banner. This is Surah 112, Al-Ikhlaas, "the Purity." It is as close as you can get to a creedal statement in the Qur'an. I have referenced it often on this blog and in my YouTube videos. As such, if I were a Muslim, I would want Christians to know what the Qur'an says about Isa (Jesus), and hanging a sign with that text on it would be just as valid as my hanging a sign outside an Islamic event with a text such as the Carmen Christi (Phil. 2:5-11) or John 1:1 and 18, or something like this. I would, however, like to point out a few rather obvious things. First, the hanging of the banner once again reminds us of the fundamental nature of Islamic theology: at its core it is defined by its opposition to the central assertions of Christianity. Though Islam has promoted its own mythology about how all the prophets were Muslims and Jesus and the apostles were Muslims, etc., the fact is Islam comes six hundred years after Christianity, and as such, had to fight to define itself as the "newcomer." Its scriptures give witness to this battle. Notice, for example, Surah 5:116-117:

And behold! Allah will say: "O Jesus the son of Mary! Didst thou say unto men, worship me and my mother as gods in derogation of Allah'?" He will say: "Glory to Thee! never could I say what I had no right (to say). Had I said such a thing, thou wo uldst indeed have known it. Thou knowest what is in my heart, though I know not what is in Thine. For Thou knowest in full all that is hidden. Never said I to them aught except what Thou didst command me to say, to wit, 'worship Allah, my Lord and your Lord'; and I was a witness over them whilst I dwelt amongst them; when Thou didst take me up Thou wast the Watcher over them, and Thou art a witness to all things.

The essence of Islam as a denial of Christian belief cannot be ignored. Which leads us to my second observation. In the large portion of the world's nations Christians would not be granted the freedom to hang a sign similar to this one. Surely in no Muslim nation would they be allowed to, and in many Western nations today, a riot could quite possibly break out if it happened. Some places in France, or in England, would be very inhospitable places were a Christian to engage in such an act. Yet, if a Muslim chose to show up, say, outside one of our events with a sign bearing Al-Ikhlaas, how would we respond? We'd go witness to him! We would want him to know the Gospel, and we would make sure he realized that the sign he was carrying shows that his prophet contradicted himself! We would proclaim the biblical truth of the relationship of the Father and the Son, and make sure he realized what we really believed. But no true Christian would ever threaten the man, would never wish ill upon the man. We would pray for him and for his salvation. So at this Christmas season, pray that the Gospel would go forth with great power into the hearts and minds of the Muslim people. Oh Lord of the harvest, save these precious people! Reveal the glory of Christ to them, and bring them to yourself!

I thought it was important to post the whole thing. What is important to remember is that we can't silence Muslims just because we don't agree with them. That is what many try to do to us. Dr White is correct. Instead of crying foul because a Muslim challenges our faith, we should be able to stand up to them and explain what we believe and why we believe it. Anyone who honestly investigate the Bible will have to agree that it is unassailable. The Quran...not so much. If we stand for the truth, God will not let us down.

Apollo 8 Christmas

I found the video on YouTube. On Christmas 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 celebrated Christmas as they orbited the moon. They read the book of Genesis. What better way to celebrate Christmas?