Category: Resource Notes

            This week, on May 1, we mark a pagan holiday which has been celebrated from the most ancient of times until the present.

The European Druids celebrated May 1 as “Beltane”, a holiday named after their god “Bel” and the word for fire, “Tane.” On Beltane all fires were extinguished except for the sacred fires of the Druids, which were then used to start new fires. The ritual actually traces back to Babylon, as does the name of the pagan god “Bel.”

Another ritual of Beltane was celebrated by gathering around the “May Pole.” The pole actually represented the Cosmic Axis, or North Pole, and this type of celebration has been found as far away as the North American Indians. The pole is also a Phallic symbol, similar to the Egyptian obelisk, echoing the pagan claim that their god is the “Seed of Woman” (See Gen 3:15), a title which belongs only to Jesus Christ.

Another feature of the May 1 celebration is its position 52 days, or one seventh of a year, from the Summer Solstice, an important pagan worship date and the focal point of the ancient Stonehenge monument. The day 52 days after the Summer Solstice, August 15, is also a Druid holiday known as Lughnasa. Interestingly, these dates are also celebrated by the Mayans, and form the structure of their 260 day, or five sevenths of a year, calendar. The Egyptians also built a 52 day period into the Great Pyramid, although their periods are tied to the Winter, not summer, Solstice.

These amazing connections between Babylon, Egypt, the Druids, and the American Indians are merely one of many examples worldwide of common cultural practices. For those who understand that the Bible presents an accurate history of humanity, it is a simple matter to trace those beliefs back to the time when all humanity was gathered into one place: Babylon. It was the event we call the Tower of Babel, actually a civil war, which scattered the people and their practices across the earth. And it was God who sent Jesus to save humanity from the false religion born in Babylon.

Next week we can celebrate a Christian May Day where we recognize the goodness and mercy of God as He has poured out his grace on our societies. The National Day of Prayer, May 7, gives us the opportunity to thank God for His mercies and humble ourselves to pray for our nation.

The lesson of May Day is the provable reality of God’s word. Let us learn our lesson and pray that our nation will not go the way of the Babylonians, Egyptians, Druids, and Mayans who turned away from God on May Day.

            For years some scientists have been using Carbon 14 dating to undermine the Biblical timeline of History and attack the truthfulness of the Bible. Now they are having to rethink their arguments.

The Carbon 14 dating method measures the amount of the radioactive Carbon 14 isotope in organic material and, comparing it with modern levels of Carbon 14, productes an age based on the radioactive decay of Carbon 14. This dating method is assumed to be good for 40,000 years, and produces very old dates for archeological sites.  However, it also produces dates which clash with historical dates derived both from Biblical information and other historical and archeological sources.

The problem with Carbon 14 dating is simply that the current levels of Carbon 14 are much higher than past levels of Carbon 14, and this produces a much earlier date than the actual date.  Based on the more  accurate data about past Carbon 14 levels, one scientist documented 15,000 findings and found that none were over 7000 years old, and that many were about 4500 years old, the date of the worldwide catastrophe we call Noah’s Flood. Thus , for example, an American Indian artifact claimed to be over 11,000 years old may really be only 3,000 years old.

Now archeologists are joining in the criticism of the Carbon 14 dating system. At a recent meeting, a noted archeologist observed that “In some circles it has been a crime to cast doubt on the accuracy of radiocarbon dating.” Nevertheless, this scientist showed conclusively that radiocarbon levels fluctuate from season to season and vary with location, providing erroneous age readings. When added to historical fluctuations in Carbon 14 levels, the whole Carbon 14 dating method becomes very suspect.

The reason that some scientists cling to the inaccurate Carbon 14 system is simply that it produces results which are much older than actual. They fear that the real dates would be more in line with Bible history, and they would rather be wrong than give up their Anti-Biblical bias (See our Blog of 1/21/2015 “The Battle Over Biblical Archeology”). Their problem is that the more Science learns about the past, the more it supports the Bible (See our Blogs of 12/31/2014 “Looking Back to Look Ahead” and 4/15/15 “God of the Universe”).

We salute the courageous Scientists and Archeologists who challenge the Anti-Biblical Orthodoxy of their peers. Let us pray that God’s truth will prevail and that proofs of the accuracy of the Bible history will continue to be discovered by truth seeking Scientists.

And may the attempts to destroy the faith of believers by false, Anti-Biblical, Pseudo-Scientific theories be exposed. Let no weapon formed against us prosper.

                Scientists thought it would only be just a matter of time before they found life in the Universe. Instead, they keep finding God.

About fifty years ago scientists launched the Search for Extra Terrestrial Intelligence (“SETI”), thinking that there were vast numbers inhabitable planets in the Universe. But then science itself began to intervene as more was discovered about conditions necessary for life. Instead of only two factors needed for life as they thought 50 years ago, there are over 200. Statistically, that means that life is impossible. Not surprisingly, after 50 years of looking no intelligent life has been found by SETI.

In fact scientific discoveries have now proven that the very existence of the Universe is virtually impossible. If just one of the many variables in the Universe was off by 1 part of a number 5000 times the U.S. National Debt there would be no stars. The odds against the Universe just happening by chance are the same as flipping a coin with heads coming up 10 quintillion times in a row. Some scientists have even proposed the ridiculous idea that here must be an almost infinite number of parallel universes to get around the obvious conclusion that life and the Universe did not come to be by chance.

No, we do not live on a speck of dust planet circling around an insignificant star. Our planet was made to support our life, and so was the Universe we live in. And more and more scientists are beginning to believe that the Universe was designed by a super intelligent Creator because there is no other rational explanation.

God does not need scientists to confirm the Biblical truth that He made the Earth and the Universe. However, it is nice to know that our scientists are beginning to learn enough to begin to understand the awesome God we serve.

Perhaps now they can take the next step and come to know the God who so carefully and lovingly made our Universe.

Let us pray that they will respond to the God of the Universe.

            This year as we come up to Resurrection Sunday, April 5, we will once again celebrate the power of indestructible life.

Our first parents, Adam and Eve, brought death into the human family by following Satan into rebellion against God. People became slaves to Satan because of their fear of death, and Satan ruled the world by the time Jesus came. But Jesus came to destroy Satan and death, itself, and bring abundant life to His followers. Satan thought he could kill Jesus, but the empty tomb of Easter morning proved the life of Jesus to be indestructible. Jesus is alive!

And not only Jesus. The indestructible life He had, He passed on to His followers. Infused with that life, they turned from quivering cowards into bold evangelists, turning the world upside down. Satan could kill their bodies, but the fear of death was gone, as the indestructible life given by Jesus continues forever. The indestructible life made an indestructible army to advance the Kingdom of God. And, from Roman Emperor Constantine’s surrender to Christ to the survival of the Church in Communist China, the power of indestructible life has prevailed over God’s enemies.

Satan’s only success have come when he lured Christians into forgetting the indestructible life by focusing on the destructible fleshly life and the corresponding fear of death. Such Christians find themselves trapped in a joyless existence. Often they are tempted into joining Satan’s rebellion, believing that the world can bring back the life they have abandoned. History is littered with failed Kings, clerics, nations, and people who have lost their way.

And yet, despite the many failures, the Church still stands as a testimony to the indestructible life of Jesus and the indestructible life He gave to His people.

This Easter, let us give thanks for the indestructible life of Jesus who bought indestructible life for us. God knows our genetic code. He knows our thoughts and memories. When this fleshly body ceases to function, He has prepared an indestructible body for us.

Thank you Lord, for our indestructible life

And may we bless others who can find God and join us in our indestructible life.

St. Patrick’s Day, March 17, is recognized as an Irish celebration, but in fact the whole Christian world owes a large debt to St Patrick.

Brought to pagan Ireland as a slave, Patrick escaped and returned to his home in Roman Christian Britain. However he was unable to forget the lost souls of Ireland and returned to evangelize the island. The Pagan wizards and priests were no match for the man of God, and the whole island was Christianized as the result of his efforts.  For this he is rightly honored as the evangelist of the Irish.

But his legacy of a Christian Ireland blessed far more people than just the Irish. Even before his death in 461 AD the Roman Christian Britain of his boyhood was being overrun by the Pagan Angles and Saxons. Soon the British and Irish switched roles: The newly Christian Irish sent missionaries to the newly Pagan Britain. And in about a century the Anglo-Saxons were Christianized. So the British saved the Irish so the Irish could save the British.

An even more remarkable turn about occurred as the European continent fell into chaos during the time known as the Dark Ages. The formerly barbarian, unlettered Irish were able to save countless manuscripts from destruction and became the custodians of the civilized Western worlds’ knowledge. They also expanded their evangelistic efforts into Europe, bringing about a revival of Christianity in France and Italy. Thus, Patrick’s Irish followers became a beacon of learning and hope in the Dark Ages, helping preserve the centers of European Christianity as well as its British and Irish outposts.

Alas, the Irish were not immune to the instability of their times, as they were first invaded by the Vikings and then colonized by the ungrateful English. After the Reformation they were persecuted for their Catholic faith and allowed to starve in the horrible famine of the 1840’s. The Island remains divided between the Catholic Republic in the South and the Protestant North.

It is ironic that these two peoples, still divided over religion, owe their Christian faith to the other: The Irish to the British Patrick, and the British to the Irish missionaries. Yet, there is progress being made to reconcile these peoples. Several years back we at Corporate Prayer Resources made a Prayer Journey to Ireland and saw our and many other prayers answered as a peace process began in Northern Ireland. There are also continuing reconciliation efforts underway between the Catholics and the Protestants to heal this terrible division.

As we look forward to this St Patrick’s day, the best way to honor St. Patrick would be to pray that there would be reconciliation, forgiveness, and peace between his British homeland and his beloved Ireland, and between Catholic and Protestant.

And may it be so.

            On March 10, 1528 Martin Luther published a book which changed the course of history. And not for the better.

His book, “The Book of Vagabonds and Beggars,” proposed that the State should establish a social welfare system to replace the Church in caring for the poor. Up until that time the Church had made care of the poor a centerpiece of its ministry. Giving to the poor was seen as a sign of Christian virtue and a sign of spiritual vitality in the Church.

Luther’s proposal was based on the idea of the State Religion, which had been a fixture of Christian life since the days of the Roman Empire (see our Blog of 2/25/15 “The Sword and the Spirit”) . In his view the Religious State should meet personal needs while the State-Sponsored Church should restrict itself to spiritual activities. This idea took hold throughout Protestant Northern Europe as the State began taxing citizens to pay for relief for the poor. It was the beginning of the modern Welfare state.

Luther failed to take into account the possibility that the Religious State would quit being religious, pushing the Church out of community life. Beginning with the French Revolution, the State began to see itself as the source of Welfare not just for the poor, but for the whole society. With Godliness marginalized in secular States, the State itself became a substitute for God in the socialist, national socialist, and communist philosophies. Leaders like Lenin, Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, and Mao gained power by promising to use the godlike power of the State to bring prosperity to the masses. What came instead was poverty and death.

The ghost of Luther’s bad idea still haunts the world today. The Welfare States of Greece, Italy, and Spain are facing financial collapse, and their European neighbors are not far behind. In countries like Venezuela ruthless leaders destroy their national economies to buy power from the masses. Even the rich United States is marching toward a crisis as its Welfare State become unsustainable. No one knows what will happen with these nations become unable to keep their Welfare promises.

What Luther and the modern Welfare States have forgotten is that God will not share His Glory with usurpers. Like the a gods of Egypt humbled in the Exodus, God has shown that the socialist, communist, and Welfare states are not the gods of provision they claim to be. It is not a question of if, but when, failure will occur. The real question remaining is what the Church will do about it.

We must pray that the Church will rise up to the crisis and the opportunity coming from the collapse of the Welfare State. The crisis will come as people’s needs are no longer met by Government, and social order breaks down. The opportunity comes if the Church follows God’s admonition to care for the poor, revitalizes Church institutions for the poor, and creates a Godly order in the midst of chaos.

Let us pray that the people will once again look to God as their source as they one did before Luther’s bad idea led us astray.