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12 March 2009

Creation vs. Evolution in Latvia



200 years after the birth of Charles Darwin, Latvia is divided when it comes to deciding what to believe about the origin of life. According to this Diena news article, when asked which position residents believe, 43% of Latvia's population answered that God (Intelligent Designer) created life on earth, 32% believe life on earth showed up by natural processes of evolution (Darwin's theory), 25% said it's hard to say or had no answer.

It's not hard for me to say. As I wrote on my facebook status on Darwin day, I'm not fooled by the arguments of evolutionists who suffer from the Darwin delusion. It really is a ridiculous theory that atheists BELIEVE and preach as scientific fact, but when you hold them to their own definition of science they cannot claim anything about the origin of life on earth because it was not observed or tested in a lab. Life does not spontaneously appear from non life. You don't get order and design out of a big bang. What caused the big bang? Atheists cannot account for the laws of physics, logic, thermodynamics that they rely on, but these laws can best be explained by the Law Giver. If there is a creation, there must be a Creator. The irreducible complexities of everything from DNA to the human body to the solar system cannot be accounted for by "billions of years gradual changes". With a little common sense and sceptical inquiry you can spot many serious problems with such a theory. What came first the chicken or the egg? How did a new species evolve and reproduce with out a mate? You cannot prove that one set of bones ever had any offspring much less is related to some other species!

The Bible gives us the most reliable answer to "where did everything come from?" in Genesis 1. God told us Himself that in the beginning, He created the heavens and earth and everything that is in them in 6 days. And it was all very good. God should get the credit for the great things He has done.

So then why do many believe in evolution and not the Creator? I think Jesus answered this best in John 3:19-20 "And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil. For everyone who does evil hates the light, and does not come to the light, lest his deeds should be exposed."

The problem is sin, man's rebellion against God's authority. Adam brought sin into the human race as a result death entered the world because God is faithful and holy. Even though God gave us a conscience and the 10 commandments, no one has lived up to them. Even though what can be known intuitively about God is evident to us in creation, men have chosen to worship created things (giving credit to nature rather than God), being willingly ignorant (that means dumb on purpose) in order to suppress the truth because if they acknowledge God, then they have to answer to Him and they don't want to turn from darkness to light because they love their sin too much.

The solution is actually what they are running from: the light, the truth, the nature of God being just yet merciful. When someone stops running or fighting against God and turns to hear what God is saying, the heart can be changed. Jesus Christ came into the world not to condemn the world (the world was condemned already) but to save the world. We deserve the wrath of God but Jesus died in our place so that we could be saved. We must all die but Jesus is the Way the Truth and the Life, we can come to the Father through Him. You must repent (have a change of mind, heart and life) and believe (trust in, rely on, cling to) Jesus Christ as both LORD and Savior. Then you will be born again spiritually, and you should grow in new life and one day enter eternal life in the kingdom of God. That is the good news of the gospel.

But if so great an offer of salvation is neglected, all that's left is a fearful expectation of judgment. Hell is real, it's painful, tearful, and eternal. No one knows the day of their death or the day when Jesus will come back to judge the world. Therefore God is now commanding everyone everywhere to repent, leave your sin, follow Christ. Darwin is dead. Jesus is alive - believe in Him.

Pray for the Lord to give us an opportunity to speak to more people on Creation vs. Evolution in Latvia. I know that the teaching of evolution has tripped many people up and it must be confronted with Biblical truth and good science. If we want people to take the gospel seriously then they must be able to take the Bible seriously, starting with Genesis. There are many here who are still undecided when it comes to the origins question, if only they had more knowledge it wouldn't be so "hard to say". The proverbs say that people perish for lack of knowledge. If they know the truth then the truth will set them free!

06 March 2009

Prayer update March 2009

  1. For our two church services (in Riga and Ogre). Pray that all the believers will grow in the knowledge of Christ as Brenten teaches through the Old Testament.
  2. For evangelism. We have been met with many hard hearts. May God convict of sin, open eyes, grant faith and repentance and the fruit of changed lives.
  3. For Women's ministry. One of the women coming to Bible study is not a Christian yet. Pray she'd surrender and the other women keep growing in truth and love.
  4. For our health. We are finally healthy after a month of sickness. Pray we may stay healthy through the rest of winter.
  5. Pray that Brenten would find time this month to study for his Latvian drivers liscence test.