Flat Tires and Flat Faith

There once was a man who discovered that the pressure in one of his car tires was low.  So, he pumped the tire up and re-checked the pressure with his best gauge.  He could once more drive confidently, assured of continued safe driving ahead.

The next day, he wondered how the pressure in the tire was holding up.  Was there a leak?  What caused the pressure to drop in the first place?  Should the tire be checked by a professional, or replaced?  So, our diligent owner went out and checked the pressure once more.  The reading on his tire gauge was perfect, so he went back to his normal activities with a restored peace of mind.

But, the following day he felt compelled once more to check the pressure in the tire.  After all, the tire had lost pressure once, it might happen again.  Happily, he discovered that the tire pressure was perfect.  Well, nearly perfect.  "Close enough for today," he thought.  "But, tomorrow I'll check it once more."

This went on a few more days, until our intrepid pressure-checker discovered to his horror that the tire had once again lost pressure and needed a couple pounds of air.  In a panic, he went to the local auto shop to have the tire replaced.  No matter how much they checked, they could find nothing out of the ordinary, and yet he insisted on tossing the problem tire away and soon drove away with a brand new tire and refreshed peace of mind.

Hmmm...

Is this how you treat your faith?  Do you keep wondering if you are a Christian, or if you are saved?  Do you constantly check yourself against the Scripture and worry yourself into the certain knowledge that you need to repent once again and seek salvation once again?

The Bible tells us that once we are soundly saved (through repentence of sin, along with faith and trust in the One True Savior Jesus Christ) we are eternally saved.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you," - 1 Peter 1:3-4 

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."
- Hebrews 7:25

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."
- 1 John 5:13

Do we need to check ourselves and sometimes repent of sin revealed by the Holy Spirit?  Of course.  This is called growing in sanctification and is actually evidence that you are soundly saved!  


If you have discovered a new conviction and are struggling to glorify the Lord by drawing closer to Him, then you can rest assured.  These are not the feelings of a lost sinner who finds excuses and dismisses sin as "not as bad as..." someone else's sin.  There is no need to worry that your faith is flat or convince yourself that you were never truly saved in the first place.

Stop checking the tire and rest in God's promises.

Flat Tires and Flat Faith

There once was a man who discovered that the pressure in one of his car tires was low.  So, he pumped the tire up and re-checked the pressure with his best gauge.  He could once more drive confidently, assured of continued safe driving ahead.

The next day, he wondered how the pressure in the tire was holding up.  Was there a leak?  What caused the pressure to drop in the first place?  Should the tire be checked by a professional, or replaced?  So, our diligent owner went out and checked the pressure once more.  The reading on his tire gauge was perfect, so he went back to his normal activities with a restored peace of mind.

But, the following day he felt compelled once more to check the pressure in the tire.  After all, the tire had lost pressure once, it might happen again.  Happily, he discovered that the tire pressure was perfect.  Well, nearly perfect.  "Close enough for today," he thought.  "But, tomorrow I'll check it once more."

This went on a few more days, until our intrepid pressure-checker discovered to his horror that the tire had once again lost pressure and needed a couple pounds of air.  In a panic, he went to the local auto shop to have the tire replaced.  No matter how much they checked, they could find nothing out of the ordinary, and yet he insisted on tossing the problem tire away and soon drove away with a brand new tire and refreshed peace of mind.

Hmmm...

Is this how you treat your faith?  Do you keep wondering if you are a Christian, or if you are saved?  Do you constantly check yourself against the Scripture and worry yourself into the certain knowledge that you need to repent once again and seek salvation once again?

The Bible tells us that once we are soundly saved (through repentence of sin, along with faith and trust in the One True Savior Jesus Christ) we are eternally saved.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me; and I give eternal life to them, and they will never perish; and no one will snatch them out of My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand. I and the Father are one." - John 10:27-30

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to obtain an inheritance which is imperishable and undefiled and will not fade away, reserved in heaven for you," - 1 Peter 1:3-4 

"Therefore He is able also to save forever those who draw near to God through Him, since He always lives to make intercession for them."
- Hebrews 7:25

"These things I have written to you who believe in the name of the Son of God, so that you may know that you have eternal life."
- 1 John 5:13

Do we need to check ourselves and sometimes repent of sin revealed by the Holy Spirit?  Of course.  This is called growing in sanctification and is actually evidence that you are soundly saved!  


If you have discovered a new conviction and are struggling to glorify the Lord by drawing closer to Him, then you can rest assured.  These are not the feelings of a lost sinner who finds excuses and dismisses sin as "not as bad as..." someone else's sin.  There is no need to worry that your faith is flat or convince yourself that you were never truly saved in the first place.

Stop checking the tire and rest in God's promises.

Book Review: Signature In The Cell, by Stephen C. Meyer

According to the book of Genesis, "In the beginning, God created..." the heavens and the earth, the sun, the moon, and all vegetation.  Next, He created the birds and the creatures of the sea.  Then the animals, and finally man and woman.

According to the Bible, none of this took millions of years and none of it formed haphazardly out of some mythical primordial soup.  God created the earth and all that lives upon it in all of its amazing variety by speaking it into existence or, as in the case of man, forming Adam from the ground and breathing life into him.

Some people do not believe what I have just written.  "Where," they demand "is the proof?"

Stephen C. Meyer dishes out hundreds of pages of proof in his comprehensive recounting of years of research and discovery in the well documented book, Signature In The Cell: DNA And The Evidence For Intelligent Design.

Well, sort of.

You see, the proof that Stephen C. Meyer has so carefully documented is NOT that God created everything, but that living creatures exhibit clear evidence of having been very, very carefully designed.  Such design is amazingly intricate, and appears to have many of the elements that are engineered into advanced computer systems (including data encryption and dual-purpose use of information).

Mr. Meyers is well qualified to write on this subject, having spend approximately twenty-five years wondering about or investigating the origin of life.

Meyer is a one-time oil exploration geophysicist who graduated with degrees in physics and geography.  By chance, Mr. Meyer overheard a discussion between some of the scientists who were about to participate in a conference on how life originated on earth.  They openly discussed how "they did not have an adequate theory of what they called "chemical evolution"".  In other words, they had no idea of how life began, and yet they were quite certain there was hope in some undiscovered combination of primordial soup and energy.  This chance encounter changed the course of Mr. Meyer's career, led to his Ph.D in the Philosophy of Science, and launched his own quest of discovery.

His book recounts key discoveries leading up to the documentation of the DNA double-helix, and then goes into remarkable detail about what science knows about the inner workings of what some would call the simple cell.

Simple it is not.  The simplest of living cells is filled with what can only be described as information storage and retrieval systems, protective walls, waste management, energy distribution schemes, and numerous micro-machines to ensure that everything works as it should.  The cell even includes processes for error detection and correction as all of this work takes place.

The book is also filled with amazing facts and figures to help you understand that there is almost zero chance that the oft-repeated cause of life (that is, "time and chance") is correct.  Take for example the calculation that a 'simple' amino acid (not life, but a building block necessary for life) could become assembled into a working form by random interaction in a primordial soup that consisted of all the necessary parts.  The odds are calculated to be 10 to the 164th power.

This is an enormous number.  To understand just how enormous this number is, the number of particles (that is, protons, plus neutrons, plus electrons) in the observable universe is a mere 10 to the 80th power.

Do you begin to see the difficulty?  And this calculation was for the accidental formation of one of the most simple building blocks required for life.

The book is also filled with clarifications on what is traditionally taught in public schools.  For example, he reveals that there is actually zero evidence for the primordial soup that is included as so many textbook lessons and the basic requirement for even a chance for early chemicals to gel together.

A Simplified Diagram of DNA Replication

To me, as a trained computer scientist, the most fascinating part of the book was found near the end and in the epilogue.  Most of you might get your fill with all the history, the look at the inner workings of the cell, the in-depth discussions of DNA splicing and dicing, how RNA requires DNA which requires RNA to produce amino acids, which require RNA and DNA, etc.  However, for me, the face that so much of what scientists are now discovering involves data storage, system management, data encoding, encryption, decryption, and data sharing was simply amazing.

In his chapter of summation on the theory of Intelligent Design, Meyer four overwhelming evidences that have no rival in the traditional world of Darwinian evolution or materialism (the world view that claims, essentially, that life arose spontaneously from non-life).

In addition, Dr. Meyer leans upon his many years of investigation and debate to document and refute the most common arguments against his theory.  Rebuttals are thoughtfully (or scientifically) offered against arguments such as: this is not science; that future research might surpass ID as a better explanation; that ID is simply a position that is argued by people who do not understand 'real science'; Hume's famous argument against ID; and the often repeated challenge by atheists and agnostics of, "then who created the Creator?"

Clearly a book packed with this much information cannot be thoroughly covered in a short review, so  I will summarize by saying that you really should read this book, especially if you have family or friends who dare to discuss how the "simple" cell could have spontaneously created itself.

Finally, however, we must remember that the power of salvation is not in a well researched and documented book that demonstrates that the best known theory for life on earth is an Intelligent Designer, it is the gospel.  Books such as this may help break through some resistance, get an atheist or agnostic to rethink their suppositions, and even reinforce what we read in the Bible.  However, without the recognition of our sin before a Holy God, a repentant heart and a faith in the Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, even this fine book is just a stack of paper that will wither and fall apart.

Book Review: "What Is The Gospel?" by Greg Gilbert

It is unfortunate that a critical problem faced by Evangelical Christians today is answering the question: What is the Gospel?

It's not that we don't have an answer, the problem is there are a wide variety of them.

Here are a few quick examples you can easily find, have probably heard, or may use yourself:

• Jesus died for your sins, if you believe in Jesus, you will be saved.
• If you are a good person, and you live your life the best way you know how, then the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross will allow you to enter heaven.
• If you believe in your heart, and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you are saved.

Are any of these correct?  Are any of these dangerous?

Put simply, any description of the gospel that misapplies or misstates the salvation message of the Bible is both wrong and dangerous.

How do we solve the problem?  Ad Fontes!  (To the sources!)  Specifically, to the books of the Bible.

This is the job Greg Gilbert tackles so very well in his remarkably well-written book, What is the Gospel?   The pages of this book are soaked with Scripture to ensure  he presents a clear and thorough Biblical understanding of the Gospel.

Our pastor summarized this book well when he described it as "comprehensive, yet concise."  To give you an idea of the accuracy of this description, the book is relatively small at only about 8 by 5 inches and 121 pages, yet the list of Scripture used in the book is three columns wide spanning more than two full pages.

After an introduction and opening chapter devoted to explaining the problem he hopes to solve, along with a brief retelling of how the apostles preached the good-news, Gilbert systematically constructs a Biblical explanation of the gospel by building four key layers: God the Righteous Creator, Man the Sinner, Jesus Christ the Savior, and Response: Faith and Repentance.

Along the way, Gilbert dismantles the popular perception of God as some old man who spends most of his time in some imaginary garden in the sky, or as a benevolent janitor ready to sweep your mistakes under the rug.  He reveals God for who He is: The Holy, Righteous, Creator who has the right and duty to judge all mankind.  Once you realize this truth you would be wise to evaluate how you might fare during such a judgment.

The good news of the Gospel, as Gilbert meticulously spells it out, is that even the worst offender of God's law can receive God's complete forgiveness.  Not because of any deed or work done by you, but purely based on knowing the truth, repenting of your sins, and putting your complete faith and trust in the risen savior, Jesus Christ.

I highly recommend this book.  It is a resource for the most studious Christian as well as those who do not understand what Christianity is all about.  

Pastors would do well to ensure their elders, deacons, and others in the church have studied this book.  One way to assure fellowship is to agree on doctrine.  The study of What is the Gospel? would go a long way toward settling turf battles in many congregations.

Evangelicals would do well to read this book and use it as a guide for sharing the gospel with the lost.  Then, get a few spare copies to put in the hands of non-believers for later study.

Deeper Conference 2010 Recap, Part 4: Mark Spence

Immediately after Ravi Zacharias spoke at the 2009 Deeper Conference, Kirk Cameron remarked, "I'm glad he's on our side."

I feel the same way about Mark Spence.  I am so glad he is a soldier of the Lord, armored up and out in the fields.

Not because he, like Zacharias, is someone who can engage the loftiest of intellectuals with multi-syllable words I can't define, but because he has been on the front lines of evangelism, has probably heard it all, offers practical advice, and projects a humble disposition.

For the 2010 Deeper Conference, Spence tackled the question frequently used as they Atomic Bomb of Objections: If God is so good, why does evil exist?

As Christians we are told to be ready to give a defense for our faith and to preach the gospel routinely.  If you strive to be faithful in these areas, you will eventually have this question fired at you as the questioner looks on with a hint of disgust because so many bad people get away with so much.  The question may be mixed with an air of certainty that you cannot answer this timeless puzzle.

It is unfortunate that more Christians are not primed and ready with a Biblical response, such as the answer Spence shared with the audience and that I now reveal to the readers of this blog.  Ready?

Jesus.

Yes, the answer to evil is Jesus.  But it probably will make little sense unless I share a bit more from the talk given by Spence.

There are a couple keys to answering this question.  First, understand that the person who asks this questions recognizes that evil exists.  In this age of relativism, this is an important factor to recognize.  Secondly, the person agrees that evil should be punished.

People need to understand that evil is the absence of good (much the same way that darkness is the absence of light and cold is the absence of heat).  Without a standard for good, the concept of evil is meaningless.  The concept that "morality has evolved" is meaningless.  There is no foundation.  (See the article I wrote on this topic, Do Good?  What Does That Mean?)

What most people don't like about this truth is that the breaking of God's moral standard means they have to admit they were wrong, and they should be punished by the God who will stand in judgment.  This is one thing they fight against as they try to deny God's existence.  But the answer for them, as we know from Scripture, is answer given by Spence for Evil: Jesus.

Jesus paid the price for sin.  This is the good news of the gospel, and the answer to evil.  All that is required is to repent and put your full faith and trust in Christ as Savior.  Evil will continue to exist, but it has no hold on you.

Finally, Spence gives a question that you can ask your non-believing friend who wants to know about the question of evil:  If God was to fully handle the problem of evil at Midnight tonight, where would you be as 12:01?