Intelligent Design and Biblical Scripture

Scientists want to answer the question, is there life out there in the universe? Do you think astronomers want detailed measurements of eight solar system planets or limited measurements of 1,000 exoplanets?

Fortunately, they have both; unfortunately, those limited measurements don’t yet provide a definitive answer regarding the presence of life—at least not for all the exoplanets. However, as the number of known exoplanets grows, so do the number of tools scientists develop to assess the likelihood of extraterrestrial life.

One new tool combines the limited information gleaned from exoplanet data and the detailed information from our solar system to assess the relative probability of life existing on various planets. Five categories of information—geophysics, substrate, energy, temperature, and age—accessible by current technology (or by straightforward inference from that data) provide the basis for evaluating an exoplanet’s potential capacity to host life.

Geophysics and substrate overlap at some level (for example, a planet’s density will influence whether it is a gas giant or rocky planet), but they also contain independent information. Thus, proper characterization of an exoplanet’s relative capacity to host life must include both categories. Geophysics relates directly to an exoplanet’s density and eccentricity, two observable properties. Substrate refers to an exoplanet’s differentiation. Gas giants (all atmosphere) and small rocky planets (with no atmosphere) represent the least differentiated class. Planets with a solid surface and simple atmosphere reside further up the scale. The most differentiated bodies resemble Earth—a rocky surface, standing bodies of liquid, and a complex atmosphere.

Energy accounts for the two quantities available to drive the chemical reactions required by life. On Earth, many organisms ultimately derive energy from the Sun’s radiation via photosynthesis. However, others extract energy from chemical gradients present in the rocks composing Earth’s crust. So, energy includes the amount of stellar flux received by the planet and the “redox” molecules available.

Temperature characterizes where the temperature of the planet’s surface and subsurface falls in the range dictated by liquid water. Age accounts for the fact that the development of life here on Earth required a vast amount of time until the planet could support human (or even multicellular) life.

Depending on starting assumptions about the optimal values for these categories, one can calculate a biological complexity index (BCI) where higher BCI values indicate greater likelihood of supporting life. For example, one group of researchers found, based on the assumptions they made, that around 1.5% of exoplanets have a higher BCI than Europa and just under 1% exceed the value for Mars.1 Remember though, despite scientists’ optimism that one or both of these bodies might have hosted life at some point, no evidence exists to indicates that either one ever did.

High BCI values will help focus future searches for life’s signatures by identifying the most likely candidates on which to expend precious telescope resources. More important, in my opinion, is the potential to evaluate different assumptions about how common life is in the universe. Changing the starting assumptions will lead to different BCI values so measurements of any life signatures will validate or falsify different rankings. I plan to show some specific examples of how this might work in a future article.

The importance of this research is not primarily the BCI values associated with a given exoplanet but the framework it develops to guide future research. The framework includes the currently available information from exoplanet searches but is flexible enough to incorporate data that future projects expect to measure—like atmospheric composition, cloud cover, surface chemistry, rotation rate, etc. If God truly designed Earth to support human life (and I believe He did), then a framework like these BCI calculations will help provide scientific evidence in support of that assertion. (JZ,RTB)

*** Will Myers

The word “apologetics” comes from the Greek word “apologia,” pronounced “ap-ol-og-ee’-ah.” It means, “a verbal defense.” It is used eight times in the New Testament: Acts 22:1; 25:16; 1 Cor. 9:3; 2 Cor. 10:5-6; Phil. 1:7; 2 Tim. 4:16, and 1 Pet. 3:15. But it is the last verse that is most commonly associated with Christian apologetics.

” . . . but sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you, yet with gentleness and reverence” (1 Pet. 3:15, NASB).

“Apologetics is the work of convincing people to change their views.”

Therefore, Christian apologetics is that branch of Christianity that deals with answering any and all critics who oppose or question the revelation of God in Christ and the Bible. It can include studying such subjects as biblical manuscript transmission, philosophy, biology, mathematics, evolution, and logic. But it can also consist of simply giving an answer to a question about Jesus or a Bible passage. The latter case is by far the most common and you don’t have to read a ton of books to do that.

Apologetics can be defensive and offensive. Phil. 1:7 gives us instruction on the defensive side, “For it is only right for me to feel this way about you all, because I have you in my heart, since both in my imprisonment and in the defense and confirmation of the gospel, you all are partakers of grace with me.” 2 Cor. 10:5 gives us instruction on the offensive side: “We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ.” The apologist can and should defend his reasons for believing (1 Pet. 3:15). But he can also go on the attack. He can seek out those who oppose Christianity (2 Cor. 10:5). Of course, he should be prepared to do this beforehand, and all apologetics is to be done with gentleness.

Apologetics is the work of convincing people to change their views. In this, it is similar to preaching because its goal is ultimately the defense and presentation of the validity and necessity of the gospel. It is an attempt to persuade the listener to change his beliefs and life to conform to biblical truth and to come to a saving relationship in Christ.

Basically apologetics can be evidential (often called “classical”) or presuppositional. Evidential apologetics deals with the evidence for Christianity: Jesus’ resurrection, the biblical manuscripts, fulfilled prophecy, miracles, etc. Presuppositional apologetics deals with the presuppositions of those who oppose Christianity because presuppositions affect how a person views evidence and reason.

Some areas of debate within Christian apologetics deal with the use of evidence, reason, philosophy, etc. Should the apologist use only those criteria acceptable to unbelievers? Are we allowed to use the Bible as a defense of our position, or must we prove Christianity without it? Is reason alone sufficient to prove God’s existence or Christianity’s truth? How much should reason and evidence be used in light of the Scriptures’ teaching that it is God who opens the mind to understand? What part does prayer, using the Bible, and the sinful nature of the unbeliever play in witnessing? How do these factors interrelate to bring an unbeliever to faith? The questions are easy. The answers are not.

Jesus chose one highly-educated religious person as an apostle. That was Paul. The rest were fishermen, a tax collector, a doctor, etc. They were normal people of the day who were available and willing to be used by the Lord. They were filled with the Spirit of God, and they were used as vessels of God. God uses all things for His glory. So, we do apologetics by faith.

The Lord has called every Christian to be ready to make a defense of his faith. That means you are called to give reasonable answers to questions regarding Christianity. Now, this does not mean that you must have a Ph.D., or that you have to go to seminary. However, it does mean that you should be willing to at least give an answer for your beliefs. If you find you cannot, then prayerfully take it to God and start studying.

What do you study?

You could pray and ask the Lord to teach you what He wants you to know. Ask Him to give you a burden for something to learn. It doesn’t matter what it is. Just ask. Whatever you become interested in is what you should learn about because it is probably something God wants you to know for later use. It is like having tools in a tool shed. The more you have, the more you can accomplish.

Another way to find out what God wants you to study is through circumstances. Let’s say that a Jehovah’s Witness comes to your door and debates the deity of Christ with you, and you find you don’t know how to defend it biblically. In that case, you know you need to study biblical verses that teach Jesus is God in flesh. Or maybe a coworker asks you how you know the Bible is true? If you don’t have an answer, pray, and start researching. Go to a Christian bookstore and get some books on the subject. Talk to your pastor. You’ll learn.

Sometimes God will make a verse or subject in the Bible “come alive” to you, and it might strike you as odd or interesting. You could get a commentary and read up on it. You could ask others about it. In so doing, you are preparing yourself through learning to be ready to answer questions and point people to the truth. You’d be surprised how many details God can use to help you in your witness even through those apparently odd times when verses suddenly “come alive.” (MS,CERN)

*** Will Myers

In 1885 a steel cube with a deep incision around it and two rounded edges was found in a block of coal from a foundry owned by Isidor Braun of Vocklabrock, Austria. It was determined that only a human could have made it. Some think it was made by a machine.
(We are not the first, by Andrew Tomas)

In 1912 a large clump of coal was taken from a mine near Wilberton, Oklahoma. It was too large to go in the furnace, so it was broken open. Inside the clump of coal was an iron pot. The impression left by the pot was photographed and many have seen it.
(Creation Research Society Quarterly vol. 7, No. 4)

In June, 1841 workers were blasting near Dorchester, Mass. They found a bell-shaped metal container with inlaid silver flowers designed by a gifted artist.
(America’s Ancient Treasures, 1971)

These are only three of many examples of human artifacts found in coal that evolutionists claim was formed about 300,000,000 years ago.
Why have we not seen this evidence before?

We have a serious problem. Either humans have been around a whole lot longer than the evolutionists claim, or the world is a whole lot younger than evolutionists want to admit. Either way, the geological time-table suddenly becomes inaccurate and irrelevant.

*** Will Myers

Unwarranted researcher involvement consistently characterizes the prebiotic simulation studies carried out over the last 60 years. Even though these experiments are designed to validate a naturalistic explanation for life’s origin, they end up demonstrating the necessity of intelligent agency in creating life from inanimate matter. Yet, many in the scientific community continue to resist any suggestion that life’s origin stems from supernatural work. As a means to build a bridge with these skeptics, we apply the concept of hypernaturalism as a means to address the concerns of the scientific community

When I’m out speaking on behalf of RTB, one question I often hear is, how did God create the first life? Did He just “zap” the first organisms into existence? Or did He bring about the origin of life by some other means?

A recent guest article by theologian Daniel Dyke and physicist Hugh Henry proves helpful in addressing this question. Our guest authors introduced the concept of hypernaturalism, which they define as the extraordinary use of natural law by an omnipotent God. When God acts in a hypernatural way, He employs the laws of nature and natural phenomena in an extraordinary manner—with respect to timing, location, and magnitude—to accomplish His will. In their framework, hypernaturalism stands distinct from “supernaturalism,” in which God always operates outside the laws of nature. Nevertheless, a hypernatural act is as much a miracle as a supernatural one.

Hypernaturalism in the Laboratory

In a sense, God, though the only being capable of supernatural acts, is not the only one who can engage in hypernatural activity. Human beings can, as well. Consider the work of an organic chemist in the laboratory. These scientists set up a glass apparatus to contain the reaction of interest. With care they add the appropriate chemicals, in a specific order. They adjust the reaction temperature, control the composition of the headspace above the reaction, and regulate the reaction’s pH. In other words, chemists, operating within the laws of nature, manipulate chemicals in extraordinary ways to accomplish a specific goal (in this case the generation of desired chemical compounds).

In fact, this type of activity is typical for origin-of-life researchers who perform prebiotic simulation experiments. Origin-of-life investigators labor to understand how undirected chemical and physical processes could have generated life. Obviously, they can’t go back in time and directly observe the chemical evolution that many believe took place on early Earth. Thus, they have no choice but to perform lab experiments with the overarching goal of recapitulating life’s origin. At the very least, the hope is that the experiments will provide some understanding of how life could have conceivably emerged on Earth via evolutionary processes.

Intervening in “Natural” Processes

The problem is that scientists carrying out laboratory experiments are not passive observers of undirected processes. Instead, they become active participants who (1) design the protocol; (2) assemble the apparatus; (3) supply the media and reagents for the experiment; (4) adjust the initial conditions and regulate them throughout the study; and (5) monitor the course of the chemical and physical changes usually by withdrawing material from the apparatus. In other words, they interject themselves into experiments designed to demonstrate how life can emerge without assistance.

If poorly executed or too extensive, this involvement runs the risk of making the experiment artificial; it no longer reflects the presumed evolutionary events thought to have occurred on early Earth. Instead it reflects what is possible if an intelligent agent (in this case, the researchers) orchestrates physicochemical processes. Of course, this result is undesirable from a naturalistic viewpoint because naturalists believe that the physicochemical processes thought to have spawned life would have proceeded without any outside intervention from an intelligent agent.

As I discuss in my book Creating Life in the Lab, unwarranted researcher involvement plagues the design and execution of virtually every prebiotic simulation experiment performed to date. For example, physicist Paul Davies notes that researchers investigating the RNA world hypothesis (one of the most important ideas in the origin-of-life discussion) face significant challenges.

As far as biochemists can see, it is a long and difficult road to produce efficient RNA replicators from scratch…This conclusion has to be that without a trained organic chemist on hand to supervise, nature would be struggling to make RNA from a dilute soup under any plausible prebiotic conditions.1

Bridging the Gap between Science and Design

In my view, the work in prebiotic simulation studies provides empirical evidence that life cannot arise from simple chemical compounds without the work of intelligent agents who employ the laws of nature and natural phenomena in an extraordinary manner to produce a desired result. The Judeo-Christian scriptures describe humans as made in God’s image. If that is the case, then it could be said that when we step into the lab to run chemical reactions that we are mimicking, albeit imperfectly, the Creator’s hypernatural activity. In this light, these studies could give us a glimpse into how God may have created the first life-forms. Perhaps God functioned like a divine organic chemist when He brought life into existence.

I believe this proposal could help dissolve some of the philosophical barriers between many scientists and the belief that life stems from the work of a Designer. A remarkable number of researchers agree that unwarranted researcher involvement bedevils the design and execution of prebiotic simulation experiments—yet they persist in resisting any suggestion of a theistic explanation for life’s origin. One key reason for this resistance is a poor view of creationism and the Intelligent Design Movement. Many scientists see any appeal to the work of a Designer as an appeal to the supernatural and, thus, a strict violation of the principle of methodological naturalism, the philosophical framework undergirding the scientific enterprise. According to this view, all scientific models require mechanistic explanations. Any appeal to the work of an intelligent Agent is forbidden because if a Designer brought life into existence “supernaturally,” then there would be nothing for scientists to study.

However, I’d argue that hypernaturalism could eliminate the dichotomy between natural process chemical evolution and intelligent design. Based on hypernaturalism, we could posit that the Creator made use of physicochemical mechanisms to bring about life’s emergence. In this schema, the Creator does not suspend the laws and processes of nature (which He Himself designed and put in place) to create life, but rather works through these laws and processes. Thus, it is possible for scientists to investigate the origin-of-life question within the framework of methodological naturalism, even if life’s emergence is understood to be a miracle.

For a more detailed treatment of the origin of life and hypernaturalism go here.

Subjects: Prebiotic Chemistry

Dr. Fazale Rana

In 1999, I left my position in R&D at a Fortune 500 company to join Reasons to Believe because I felt the most important thing I could do as a scientist is to communicate to skeptics and believers alike the powerful scientific evidence—evidence that is being uncovered day after day—for God’s existence and the reliability of Scripture. Read more about Dr. Fazale Rana

FALLEN WORLD: this answers the question of why do bad things happen to good people. The world is so noisy that we can not hear God most of the time. God is continuously warning of danger and directing our path in each person’s spirit.

God knows everything from beginning to end in one instant. We live our lives so that we experience and learn what God desires we know. God could have created all of us as robots who questions nothing, but we would not have learned about God our Creator; we would have not learned that we must absolutely obey God, our Heavenly Father. For disobedience separated us from God which lead us unto the curse of death. Regardless of how good is your bible toting Grandma, we all are under the curse of death; can not hear God over the noisy world, and have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. Your Granny is at the top of being good relative to social norms, but we all are in the same boat; thereby, bad things happens to good people. After all, the Son of God was crucified in this world, and this was very bad.

God appears cruel at times, but God doesn’t want anyone to miss out on the glory that He has waiting for those who love and obey Him. The hardship that we experience is small in comparison to the unimaginable gifts awaiting each of us. Receiving Eternal Life is only the beginning of God’s Glorious Life. No one can match God’s gifts.

We are learning to resist the temptations of the devil as Jesus did so that we won’t repeat what Adam and Eve did.

*** Will Myers
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June 2, 2014
By Dr. Hugh Ross

Imagine an Earth without plate tectonics. We might envision fewer natural disasters—no tsunamis in India, no earthquakes in Japan, no volcanic eruptions in Iceland. Sounds nice, but it would be more accurate to picture something like the surface of Mars or Venus—barren and hostile to life. Though sometimes disruptive to human civilization, the movement of Earth’s crustal plates is vital for creating a hospitable environment. Life requires tectonics—and it turns out that tectonics requires life, too.

Origin-of-life researchers have established that photosynthetic life first appeared 3.83 billion years ago,1 but geophysicists have yet to establish more than a rough date for the origin of plate tectonics. Bit by bit, researchers have uncovered clues to the history of Earth’s life-sustaining plate tectonics. The picture they’ve pieced together reveals that the onset of this globally distributed phenomenon was a gradual process that required carefully orchestrated and well-timed events—including the introduction of distinct life-forms at specified times.

All of this just-right timing and fine-tuning testifies of God’s handiwork in designing a planet capable of supporting advanced life.

The Road to Sustained Tectonics

The gradual process leading up to sustained plate tectonics began as early as 3.9 billion years ago when proto-subduction and subduction zone melting began.2 Then, from 3.8 to 3.0 billion years ago, Earth’s crust evolved from just a few small isolated plates to a collection of plates, both large and small, that encompassed the entirety of the planet’s surface. Crustal slabs altered by subduction began to appear 3.6 billion years ago.3 Recently, researchers analyzed mineral inclusions in diamonds that indicate a compositional shift occurred in the mantle 3.0 billion years ago,4 simultaneous with a major alteration in Earth’s geodynamics.5 This shift and alteration mark when plate tectonics became a globally distributed, aggressive, sustained phenomenon.

Studies in geophysics have also revealed that the process of tectonics onset appears finely tuned, with many events helping to stimulate crustal movement. Below are some important examples.

Three to four billion years ago, higher radioisotope abundances in the planet’s interior raised the mantle’s temperature and, thus, lowered the mantle viscosity,6 eventually leading to more frequent breaks in Earth’s crust.
From 3.5 to 3.8 billion years ago, giant asteroids and comets bombarded the planet,7 generating variations in the thickness and density of Earth’s crust. These variations resulted in local crustal stresses, which contributed to subduction initiation.8
Geochemical, petrological, and geological data reveal that Earth’s mantle has been hydrated continuously throughout the past 3.8 billion years.9 Therefore, the mantle was much drier 3–4 billion years ago, which helped ignite plate tectonics by lowering the viscosity difference between the crust and the asthenosphere (the mantle’s upper 150 kilometers).
The presence of iron- and sulfur-based anoxygenic photosynthetic life 3.80–3.85 billion years ago led to abundant black shale deposits. Radioisotope decay in these shales—which concentrate heavy radioisotopes, especially those of uranium—produced a high heat flow that, combined with a buoyancy greater than that of seafloor basalts, weakened the crust around the shales.
About 3.5 billion years ago, the continental nuclei of the Pilbara, Australia, and Kaapvaal, South Africa, cratons (“an old and stable part of the continental lithosphere”) formed as thick volcanic plateaus. These cratons generated local dynamic stresses that could have stimulated tectonic activity.10
But among all these factors, one of the most intriguing is life’s influence on tectonics. It took abundant life persisting from 3.8–3.0 billion years ago to chemically transform the atmosphere, crust, and mantle sufficiently so that plate tectonics could be sustained at a global level (such as the black shale example above). Only once the continents were fully in place, with abundant life inhabiting both oceans and land, did plate tectonics become sustained.11 (And it will remain sustained until the brightening Sun raises Earth’s surface temperature 60° Centigrade above its present level.12)

Implications for a Creation Model

Why do the first 830 million years of life history look the way they do? One reason, I believe, is because the Creator desired to make advanced life and all preceding life-forms necessary to prepare Earth to accomplish this goal.

Unless life was on Earth as early, as diverse, and as abundant as the planet’s physical and chemical conditions would permit, sustained, aggressive, globally manifested plate tectonics would never have been launched as soon as just 3.0 billion years ago. And without plate tectonics, Earth’s surface never would have attained the conditions necessary for the survival of advanced life before the Sun became too bright for any thing to survive. Life as diverse and abundant as possible throughout the past 3.0 billion years is also necessary to maintain plate tectonics at sufficiently high levels. But it also takes continued high-level tectonics to sustain life throughout the past 3.0 billion years.

The exacting synergy between life and tectonics throughout the past 3.8 billion years testifies of a Creator who is able to create and maintain just-right life in a just-right environment at just-right times. It also testifies of the magnitude of His care and love for humanity.

Subjects: Plate Tectonics

Dr. Hugh Ross

Reasons to Believe emerged from my passion to research, develop, and proclaim the most powerful new reasons to believe in Christ as Creator, Lord, and Savior and to use those new reasons to reach people for Christ. Read more about Dr. Hugh Ross.

References:
Craig E. Manning, Stephen J. Mojzsis, and T. Mark Harrison, “Geology, Age and Origin of Supracrustal Rocks at Akilia, West Greenland,” American Journal of Science 306 (May 2006): 303–66; Kevin D. McKeegan, Anatoliy B. Kudryavtsev, and J. William Schopf, “Raman and Ion Microscopic Imagery of Graphitic Inclusions in Apatite from Older than 3830 Ma Akilia Supracrustal Rocks, West Greenland,” Geology 35 (July 2007): 591–94.
Steven B. Shirey et al., “A Review of the Isotopic and Trace Element Evidence for Mantle and Crustal Processes in the Hadean and Archean: Implications for the Onset of Plate Tectonic Subduction,” in When Did Plate Tectonics Begin on Planet Earth?, eds. Kent C. Condie and Victoria Pease, Geological Society of America Special Papers 440 (2008): 1–29; David Bercovici and Yanick Ricard, “Plate Tectonics, Damage and Inheritance,” Nature 508 (April 24, 2014): 513–16.
Shirey et al., “A Review of the Isotopic,” 1–29; Bercovici and Ricard, “Plate Tectonics,” 513–16; Ali Polat, Peter W. U. Appel, and Brian J. Fryer, “An Overview of the Geochemistry of Eoarchean to Mesoarchean Ultramafic to Mafic Volcanic Rocks, SW Greenland: Implications for Mantle Depletion and Petrogenetic Processes at Subduction Zones in the Early Earth,” Gondwana Research 20 (September 2011): 255–83.
Steven B. Shirey and Stephen H. Richardson, “Start of the Wilson Cycle at 3 Ga Shown by Diamonds from Subcontinental Mantle,” Science 333 (July 22, 2011): 434–36.
Vinciane Debaille et al., “Stagnant-Lid Tectonics in Early Earth Revealed by 142Nd Variations in Late Archean Rocks,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 373 (July 2013): 83–92.
Jeroen van Hunen and Arie P. van den Berg, “Plate Tectonics on the Early Earth: Limitations Imposed by Strength and Buoyancy of Subducted Lithosphere,” Lithos 103 (June 2008): 217–35.
William F. Bottke et al., “An Archaean Heavy Bombardment from a Destabilized Extension of the Asteroid Belt,” Nature 485 (May 3, 2012): 78–81; B. C. Johnson and H. J. Melosh, “Impact Spherules As a Record of an Ancient Heavy Bombardment of Earth,” Nature 485 (May 3, 2012): 75–77.
Javier Ruiz, “Giant Impacts and the Initiation of Plate Tectonics on Terrestrial Planets,” Planetary and Space Science 59 (June 2011): 749–53.
J. Korenaga, “Thermal Evolution with a Hydrating Mantle and the Initiation of Plate Tectonics in the Early Earth,” Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth 116 (December 2011): id. B12403, DOI: 10.1029/2011JB008410.
Svetlana G. Tessalina et al., “Influence of Hadean Crust Evident in Basalts and Cherts from the Pilbara Craton,” Nature Geoscience 3 (March 2010): 214–17; Gary Byerly et al., “An Archean Impact Layer from the Pilbara and Kaapvaal Cratons,” Science 297 (August 23, 2002): 1325–27.
C. Grigne and P. J. Tackley, “The Effect of Continents on the Initiation and Configuration of Plate Tectonics,” in EOS Transactions of the American Geophysical Union 87, no. 52 (2006), Fall Meeting Supplement, Abstract T52D-02.
A. Lenardic, A. M. Jellinek, and L.-N. Moresi, “A Climate Induced Transition in the Tectonic Style of a Terrestrial Planet,” Earth and Planetary Science Letters 271 (July 15, 2008): 31–42.
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How many of you can join me in saying you have had a few too many of those Romans 7 moments: I do what I don’t want to do but I do it anyway, even though I know I must not do it (my paraphrase)! And how many of you have also wondered desperately where those thoughts inside your head come from? And perhaps you have also asked yourself how on earth could you think those thoughts, and wondered why you keep saying and doing what you know makes you feel sick in your mind and body?

Being in the mind/brain business, these challenges have held intense fascination for me and have been the object of much of my research. So, here is a very brief explanation of how I see this working from a scientific and scriptural standpoint. The understanding of this concept has helped my patients, as well myself and my family, over the years (for a deeper and fuller explanation, see my current books and watch out for my new books!).

As you well know, you are a triune being: you are spirit, you have a soul and live in a body. You are also created in His image and are therefore perfect, with the instilled knowledge of knowing right from wrong and the massive responsibility and gift of being able to choose (Ecclesiastes 7:29; Deuteronomy 30:19). So, it’s not who we are that is the problem; it’s who we have become through the choices we make.

As you know, when we are born again, our spirit is renewed and reconnected to God. But we still have to work at building our “listening skills” to the Holy Spirit through our intuition.

Your spirit is your “true you,” created perfect in God’s image. Your Spirit has the dimensions of intuition, conscience and communion. It’s in the intuition part of our spirit that we know. Our soul is our intellect, will and emotions – our mind – and is designed to be led by the spirit. It is with our soul that we understand what the mind knows. Our mind is what our brain does and the brain falls in the realm of the body. Our body does the will of the spirit and the soul. So the choices of our mind manifest in the physical nature of the brain as physical thoughts that impact the health of our body, mind and spirit. For a deeper understanding of spirit, soul and body, I recommend a book by Watchman Née called “The Spiritual Man”.

As mentioned above, the free will that God has given us plays a massive part in this “Romans 7 issue”…where we do what we know full well that we shouldn’t do. This ability to choose has implications (Deuteronomy 30:19). Thinking and choosing produces real physical structures in the brain that are made of proteins and chemicals. In other words, mind (soul) manifests in body (physical thoughts), which in turn impact the soul and the spirit…all three are linked and affect each other. So, if you choose wrong, it becomes a physical reality in your brain, and if you don’t get rid of these physical thoughts, you will live into them and operate from them. This is because everything we do and say is first a thought and comes from a thought. These are the “bad habits” that we think of as being part of who we are. And although biologically and mentally they may have become part of who we are through our choices, they are the toxically wired in part, not the “true you”!

The overriding design structure of the brain supports introspection and self-reflection – how could it not be so considering the great piece of advice in 2nd Corinthians 10:3-5 “…bring all thoughts into captivity to Christ Jesus”? This is an introspective skill arising out of self-reflection. We are supposed to check the results of our choices and the impact these choices and thoughts have on our physical body, mental health and spiritual development, because our design does not accommodate for bad choices. Bad choices, which become toxic thoughts, which become poor mental and physical health will cause weakened spirits with a deadened intuition unable to heed the voice of the Holy Spirit, as well as set up very negative cycle of “doing what we know we shouldn’t but we do anyway”. Remember, thoughts are real and occupy ‘mental real estate’! As you go through life, you are moment by moment – as a thinking being – thinking, choosing and building thoughts. You are designed to build good thoughts because you are “wired for love”. So when you make bad choices you are creating protein structures that oppose the natural laws of the brain and are therefore toxic, creating a vulnerability in your body for disease. Over the years we can literally wire in bad thought pathways (which are actually mini-universes), making them a toxic part of our biology, and it is from these learned, unnatural thought universes that we will operate…this is a bad habit, indeed!

But we are not victims of toxic cycles! Like Paul says in Romans 7: thank God for the work of the cross! Both science and scripture confirm we are able – and designed – to change our minds for the betterment of our spirits, souls and bodies. And, by perfect design, this too is our choice.

FATHER’S DAY – Sunday June 15th

Spoil your Earthly Father

Some Scriptures for Father’s Day

Genesis 18:19

Exodus 20:12

Deuteronomy 1:29-31

Psalms 127:3-5

Proverbs 23:22-25

Ephesians 6:1-4

Psalm 103:13

If you are a Dad, or if you ever had a Dad we hope these scriptures will encourage you.

Blessings (Dr. C. Leaf)
Watch EPISODE 13 of my TV series ‘Switch On Your Brain’ to learn how to ‘bring all thoughts into captivity!’ (TBN@11AM CST)

*** Will Myers

ONE WORLD GOVERNMENT: super computers plus the sophistication of the communication systems for distribution and collection of information has given the ability for one government to rule the world. There are two main elements in our society that the average person doesn’t associate with the developing one world government. It’s privacy and religion.
The one world government has plans to invade the inner sanctuary of each person’s mind by using very intimate information about each person. They are planning to be more authoritarian than big brother who is only the first developing phase with the main purpose of collecting the needed private information.

It is not coincidental that the term “political correct” has become popularized recently; but rather, it’s a part of the superstructure of the developing one world government.

Choosing Christianity as an example of religion, we have the fundamental right that God is our Big Daddy in the sky Who we all get answers. The One World Government movement must turn us from God in order for it to slip into the position of God for them to become the totalitarian government. Any accused citizen won’t have the love, grace, and mercy of an Infinite God Who is untouchable and unchangeable. Falling for the propaganda that God is dead or that Christianity is obsolete is a fetal mistake which shall lead to the death of most freedoms and liberties. The One World Government shall become our god; a political machine without most of our human sensitivity and intolerable of any dissension. Christianity has always been saving our freedoms from governmental rules, and not imprisoning our freedom of expression.

There is going to be a one world government whether we like it or not. It shall have it’s benefits; especially for third world countries. What I am concerned about is the authoritarian nature of the government. Such powers in the hand of a few is a dangerous thought. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. The advanced technology shall facilitate authority to the degree of being our parents.

Ephesians 6:12
For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

*** Will Myers
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The Word of God refers to all things in existence. God not only save souls in a spiritual sense but also in a scientific sense and during our daily interactions including politics; all in the name of His Son, Jesus. It’s proper to use the slang, 24/7/365 when referring to God Who is meeting our needs.

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse.

God has given sex to male and female, and the pleasurable act has the glorious reward of a child, but physical sex is not practical among the masses. The masses requires laws as strong as steel to contain the surging winds of public reactions. Historically, the Word of God is the most comprehensive set of civil laws that has longevity and mercy. The Word of God has proven that it is the steel and the glory from God during the pass 2000 years. The Word of God is about life; Jesus, the Son of God Who is our Savior, has all life conserved in Him.

Ephesians 5:23
For the husband is head of the wife, as also Christ is head of the church; and He is the Savior of the body.

Philippians 3:20
For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ,

2 Timothy 1:10
but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,

2 Peter 1:11
for so an entrance will be supplied to you abundantly into the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

2 Peter 2:20
For if, after they have escaped the pollutions of the world through the knowledge of the Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, they are again entangled in them and overcome, the latter end is worse for them than the beginning.

2 Peter 3:18
but grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be the glory both now and forever. Amen.

1 John 4:14
And we have seen and testify that the Father has sent the Son as Savior of the world.

Whatever is bound on Earth is bound in Heaven, and whatever is loosed on Earth is loosed in Heaven. The Word of God gives us the key of what to bind and loose on Earth for the transformation into the Kingdom of God. This is powerful, and solves all problems over time.

Jesus is Lord. Heaven is at hand.

*** Will Myers

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BIBLE IS SAYING: “Come to me and stay with me, God.” This is the statement from the cosmos and the Word Of God Who is speaking always.

Romans 10:21
But to Israel he says: “All day long I have stretched out My hands To a disobedient and contrary people.”

Psalm 19:1
[ The Perfect Revelation of the Lord ] [ To the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David. ] The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.

Psalm 50:6
Let the heavens declare His righteousness, For God Himself is Judge. Selah

Psalm 97:6
The heavens declare His righteousness, And all the peoples see His glory.

Romans 1:20
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse,

1 John 4:4
You are of God, little children, and have overcome them, because He who is in you is greater than he who is in the world.

Matthew 4:4
But He answered and said, “It is written, ‘Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.’”

God is love. Listen to every word that proceeds from the mouth of God and obey, and the Heavens shall be yours.

*** Will Myers

Please “Donate a penny” or any amount to support the ministry’s research and development. Just click the link below:https://www.paypal.com/cgi-bin/webscr?cmd=_s-xclick&hosted_button_id=DKCQUR7YG7W5U