Participants: 1. Amy Sheppard<\br> 2. Chester Clark III<\br> 3. Christina Harris<\br> 4. Clifford Goldstein
Series Code: 09GYC
Program Code: 09GYC000014
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00:12 This year in light of the theme that the Executive
00:15 Committee chose for GYC, we also decided it was 00:18 the appropriate time for us to take a unashamed 00:22 stance on our believe in a literal six-day 00:25 creation as supported by the Bible and the 00:28 Seventh-day Adventist church. 00:30 Now as a movement a seventh day Adventist young adults, 00:34 we want to support our church in every way possible. 00:38 And in every one of its fundamental beliefs, including 00:41 the belief in a literal six-day creation. 00:43 Now we decided to approach this, not by looking at it 00:47 in a scientific way, there are plenty of DVDs and 00:50 websites, books and a lot of other resources you 00:53 can get to educate yourself on why science actually does 00:57 support what the Bible tells us of where our origins are. 01:00 However we wanted to give you a different perspective 01:03 of why creation is important to us as Seventh-day 01:05 Adventists in different aspects of our lives. 01:08 So what you are going to be doing is hearing from four 01:12 different people, a student, a theologian, a scientist, 01:16 and a voice from the General Conference about why 01:18 creation is important to us as Seventh-day Adventists. 01:22 And our goal for this is not just understanding why 01:25 creation is important, and becoming more firm in our 01:28 own personal stance on that, but also understanding how to 01:31 approach this issue with people who we don't agree with. 01:34 People who believe differently than we are in a way that 01:38 is winsome and that will bring glory to our Creator. 01:41 I believe that creation is important to students 01:44 for a very specific reason. 01:46 I think that creation shows us, in the Bible, our source 01:49 of our identity and our value. 01:51 In Genesis it says, "God created man in His own image, 01:55 "in the image of God created He them, male and female 01:59 "created He them. " 02:00 Now as a student at a public university I know that many 02:04 times people don't tell us our value comes from the fact 02:07 that we are created beings. 02:09 Rather they tell us our value comes from the grade 02:11 we can get in our class. 02:13 I'm not saying that it is not important for us as 02:15 students on campuses, whether they be Adventist or 02:18 public universities, not to be trying to get the best 02:21 grades in our classes, but we as Seventh-day Adventist 02:23 young people know that our strongest sense of identity 02:26 does not come from the grades we get in the class, 02:28 but rather from the fact that God is our Creator and 02:31 He made us in His image. 02:33 Ellen White writes in the book, Education, "the world does not 02:36 "need so much men of great intellect as of noble character" 02:40 So while it is important for us to study hard, 02:42 I look to creation is the ultimate source of my identity 02:45 and my value, knowing that if my grade comes back not 02:48 the way I expected, I may need to work harder, but it 02:51 doesn't diminish my value in God's eyes. 02:53 Now there is a second reason why believe creation is 02:56 important for students. 02:58 It is because students deal with it every single day. 03:01 Now I grew up in the Adventist church and went to a Seventh-day 03:05 Academy, in Berrien Springs Michigan. 03:07 I had a biology teacher who knew that not all of his 03:10 students will go to Adventist universities, but knew 03:13 even the ones that went to Adventist universities may 03:15 encounter evolution in the future. 03:17 So what he did is he taught us not just creation, but he 03:21 informed us of arguments we would encounter for 03:25 evolution, and then he went through step, by step, by step, 03:28 showing us why they did not make sense. 03:30 With all that evidence clearly laid out in front of me, 03:33 I could not help but believe in creation. 03:36 Not only is the Bible very clear about where we come 03:39 from, to me the evidence for evolution did not build up. 03:43 So when I found myself instead at a secular University 03:46 as an undergraduate student, imagine my surprise when I 03:49 started hearing people, who said, they believed in evolution 03:53 The first one I remember was a good friend of mine, 03:56 she was someone I was actually having Bible studies 03:59 with and she comes to me one day, there was a theme 04:02 semester on evolution on our campus. 04:04 They were talking about why evolution was so important 04:06 and how great it was that we reached some 04:08 wonderful anniversary for it. 04:10 So they had special classes at the University that semester 04:13 dedicated solely to studying evolution. 04:15 My friend enrolled in one of these classes. 04:17 She comes home to me and tells me one day, you know what? 04:20 My professor says you're dangerous, I'm like why 04:25 would I be dangerous? 04:27 She says because you believe in creation. 04:30 I was taken back, how could you believe that me, someone 04:34 who believes in creation is dangerous? 04:36 Don't you know that evolution actually gives the under 04:39 pinning of justification for such horrors as the Holocaust, 04:43 but it didn't say that, I thought it, I didn't say it. 04:46 In another class, I was sitting and waiting for the 04:50 class to begin, it was a history class, not a science 04:53 class a student comes running into the classroom and 04:57 says Professor, professor I just read in the newspaper 05:00 that the majority of Americans do not believe they 05:03 evolved from monkeys. 05:05 And the professor said, are you serious? 05:07 In this day and age. 05:09 Me, coming from this Adventist Academy that had well 05:12 prepared me to see that it was intellectually credible 05:15 to be able to believe in creation could not believe that 05:18 the professor could still believed in evolution. 05:20 But again I did not confront her on this, and the reason 05:23 was this, I learned in my time that at a secular campus 05:26 the best way to win people to Jesus is not to get into 05:29 arguments, it's not try to bash things over their head, 05:32 it's not to blast people or to demean them. 05:34 Instead is having that noble character, the upmost aim 05:38 that we have, even above trying to find the best grade 05:41 in the class so I just continue to live out my life. 05:45 At the end of that semester I had the highest grade in 05:48 this professors class and she called me into her office 05:51 to talk about my academic future. 05:53 She wanted me to pursue research in the same line she 05:56 was going on, she was a historical anthropologist. 05:59 So evolution was something very close to her heart. 06:02 When I told her I did not want to study anthropology and I 06:06 didn't want to study certain types of historical culture. 06:10 I wanted to study the history of religion I wanted 06:12 to write my thesis on Seventh-day Adventist. 06:15 She was completely blown away, but I know that 06:18 it definitely made her second guess the fact only 06:21 unintelligent people would believe in creation, 06:23 because there sitting in her office was the most 06:25 intelligent person in her class, that semester, 06:28 who believed in creation. 06:29 Now I'm talking from the perspective of a public 06:32 University student, and I know that, that is something 06:35 that is not necessarily encouraging for all us because 06:39 we want to send our students to the Adventist 06:41 Universities, but the truth of the matter is the vast 06:43 majority of Adventist students are on secular 06:46 universities, furthermore even the students who go to 06:49 Adventist universities are not guaranteed not to have 06:52 their faith challenged in whether or not creation is 06:55 actually a valid theory to believe in. 07:01 Even for those students who to go to Adventist colleges 07:04 for undergrad, but they want to become a professor in 07:07 a Adventist university or college, they will most 07:09 likely have to go to a secular University at some point in 07:12 their academic career in order to obtain a higher degree. 07:15 So at some point the vast majority of Adventist students 07:18 whether they go to secular universities, where they go 07:21 to Adventist colleges and universities will confront 07:23 evolution in the classroom. 07:25 Their belief in creation will be challenged. 07:28 A couple decades ago there was a group of the Adventist 07:32 students who went to a secular University to gain their 07:36 education to come back to Adventist colleges and 07:38 universities, and those professors, or those students 07:41 then who are now professors and they took the bait. 07:44 They bought into the idea of evolution, they bought into 07:46 the idea of a higher criticism and that is why now we 07:49 are having debates within our own church about whether 07:52 creation or evolution is the valid theory upon which we 07:55 know our origins come from. 07:57 But I am here to tell you today that there is a new 07:59 generation of Adventist students, a new generation 08:02 of Adventist students both on secular campuses and on 08:05 Adventist campuses who are not ashamed in the gospel 08:08 and who are not ashamed of the fact the Bible teaches 08:10 that we were created in six days. 08:13 This new generation of Adventist students is going to 08:16 re-import that truth back into our church. 08:19 Our current students are the future of how our church will 08:21 continue to approach this issue. 08:23 So I want to leave you with a challenge, for the 08:27 nonstudents I ask that you please pray and encourage 08:30 those who are students, especially students on secular 08:33 campuses and also for the ones on Adventist campuses. 08:35 Pray for the things that they are going to encounter 08:38 every day, the challenges they will face, 08:40 encourage them and give them phone calls. 08:42 Let them know that you are supporting them in 08:43 what they are doing. 08:45 Students be on your guard, study, study twice as hard 08:49 as every other student out there. 08:51 You are not supposed to just master the material that 08:53 you have for your class, but you also have to study the 08:55 Bible to see how it compares with what your professor 08:57 is telling you, so you can discern truth from error. 09:00 Know what you believe and be unashamed in that belief. 09:03 Finally let's all present Jesus accurately and winsomely 09:06 so that when people see us they have a clear picture 09:10 of who Jesus is and they would rather get to know 09:13 who this Creator is. 09:17 I have been asked in just a few minutes to share a GYC 09:21 perspective on evolution and creation from a theological 09:24 perspective, and I would like to just point your 09:26 attention to page 28, of the Spirit of GYC statement. 09:30 Because really we would not have to read much more than 09:34 this to see were GYC stands on the issue of origins. 09:37 If we look at the last one, number 10, we see 09:41 that GYC defends the biblical teachings of the 09:45 Seventh-day Adventist church. 09:47 Now believe number 6 of the 28 fundamental beliefs and 09:50 together with the response of affirmation from creation 09:54 was more recently voted by the General Conference 09:57 Executive Committee, clearly states that Seventh-day 10:01 Adventist believe in a literal recent creation in 10:05 6 continuous days before which there was not life on Earth. 10:10 We also believe in a literal global catastrophic flood. 10:15 Now if we could go up the list to statement number 4. 10:19 We also, at GYC, believe in a vibrant worship experience. 10:24 Do you see that? 10:25 Now Revelation 4:11 clearly states that the basis of all 10:32 true worship is in the Creatorship of God. 10:36 It says for thou art worthy O Lord to receive glory, 10:40 and honor, and power, for thou has created all things 10:44 and for thy pleasure are and were created. 10:47 We move up to number 2 of The Spirit of GYC, it says 10:52 that GYC respects the gift of prophecy, the Spirit of 10:57 Prophecy, as an authoritative and inspired source of 11:02 council and inspiration. 11:04 Now Spirit of Prophecy of course is part of the 11:07 Adventist fundamental beliefs. 11:09 Number 17, Ellen White clearly confirms the biblical 11:13 account of a recent creation and a global flood. 11:17 But if we look at number one, this is the real issue 11:20 here, the first statement in The Spirit of GYC, is a 11:24 respect for Scripture as the foundation and test of 11:27 all teaching and practices. 11:31 This is where the controversy lies my friends, do we 11:35 believe in the Bible as the inspired word of God or not? 11:39 We at GYC are not ignorant of the controversy and the 11:43 challenges to the inspired creation account. 11:46 According to the documentary hypothesis the Pentateuch 11:51 was not written by Moses, but was a late creation of 11:55 four separate authors. 11:57 They are nick-named, or initialed as J,E,P,and D. 12:01 The Yahwist, the Elohist, the Priests and the Deuteronomist 12:07 and according to this theory, Genesis chapter 1 and 2 12:11 are from two different sources written about 100 years 12:15 apart and they are perceived to be contradictory. 12:18 Now do we buy that at GYC? Audience: no! 12:21 No we do not, these critics some even within the blogs and 12:26 websites and educational centers of Adventism, blatantly 12:30 overlook the credible and scholarly dismantling of the 12:34 J, E, P, and D theory by eminent authorities and Jewish 12:38 scholars such as Umberto Cassuto. 12:41 It is no such secret that eminently qualified scholars 12:45 may disagree, and we at GYC choose to side with those 12:48 scholars whose conclusions uphold the testimony of 12:52 Scripture rather than disagreeing with it. 12:55 Can I hear in Amen? Audience: Amen! 12:57 This is because we are disciples of a man named Jesus. 13:01 And His teachings we hold in preference to all of the 13:04 scholarly dissertations that theologians may bring. 13:07 We know what with delight that Jesus apparently saw no 13:10 contradiction between Genesis chapter 1 and Genesis 13:13 chapter 2, for in Matthew chapter 19, He not only quoted 13:17 from both of them, in the context of Moses writings, 13:21 but also obviously believed both accounts to be 13:25 accurately rendering divine actions and statements. 13:29 And I quote from Jesus here in Matthew 19, he says, 13:32 "have you not read that he which made them at the 13:36 "beginning made them male and female," that's a direct 13:38 quote from Genesis 1:27. 13:41 And the same one said, and He is quoting now from 13:45 Genesis 2:24, "for this cause shall a man leave father 13:50 "and mother and shall cleave to his wife and they 13:52 "twain shall be one flesh. " 13:55 Jesus quoted from both chapters 1 and 2 practically 13:59 in the same breath. 14:00 Somehow Jesus didn't get the J,E,P,D documentary 14:04 hypothesis memo. 14:06 I can already hear the reply of some of our friends, 14:09 but Jesus wasn't a theologian, this is true. 14:15 Jesus was not a theologian, He was God. 14:19 Jesus was the Theos Himself. 14:23 On the authority of Jesus own words, GYC will maintain 14:28 that Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 are both accounts of the 14:32 same creation, inspired by the same Holy Spirit, written 14:36 by the same Moses, and that the contradictions perceived 14:40 by the critics can easily and consistently be 14:43 harmonized by those who have a heart to do so. 14:47 Another favorite assertion, of those who choose not to 14:50 place their faith in Scripture is that the Bible is not 14:54 a historically reliable document. 14:57 But they blindly overlook the fact that the Bible 15:00 writers, each succeeding Bible writer refers to previous 15:04 writers accounts as if they were historically factual. 15:08 David refers to the creation account when he says, 15:12 "by the word of the Lord were the heavens made and all 15:15 "the host of them by the breath of his mouth. " 15:17 "let all the earth fear in the Lord, let all thee 15:20 "inhabitants of the earth stand in awe of him, for he 15:22 "spake and it was, he commanded and it stood fast. " 15:26 David also refers to the plagues of Egypt, the parting 15:29 of the Red Sea, and the pillar and cloud of fire, 15:31 water from rocks, manna from heaven, and disease from 15:34 lusting after flesh food. 15:36 Isaiah refers to divine Theos creation as the 15:40 origin of the universe. 15:42 Paul refers to the account of the wilderness wanderings. 15:45 Stephen appeals to the stories of Abraham and the 15:48 succeeding patriarchs of Joseph and the famine in Egypt, 15:51 of Moses and the burning bush, of the plagues and the 15:54 Red Sea, and of the 40 years of wandering. 15:56 James recounts the Old Testament stories of Abraham and 15:59 the sacrifice of Isaac, of Rahab and her treatment of 16:03 the spies in Jericho, of Elijah and 31/2 years of 16:06 drought, and that in answer to his prayers. 16:10 Peter speaks of the fall of Lucifer and his angels, 16:13 of Noah and the flood, of Lot and Sodom and 16:16 Gomorrah, of Balaam and his talking donkey. 16:19 Jesus Himself expresses His belief in the Old Testament 16:23 account of creation in Matthew 19, of the flood in 16:26 Matthew 24, of Sodom and Gomorrah, Lot and his wife in 16:30 Luke 17, of Moses and the brazen serpent in John 3, 16:33 of the manna in the wilderness in John 6, of Jonahs 16:37 three days and nights in the belly of a fish, 16:39 of Nineveh's repentance, and the Queen of Sheba 16:41 testimony in the time of Solomon in Matthew 12, of Cain 16:45 killing Abel and even the location of the stoning 16:47 of the prophet Zachariah in Matthew 23. 16:50 If the historicity of the Old Testament Scriptures is meant 16:54 to be called into question, somebody forgot to tell David, 16:59 Isaiah, Peter, Paul, Stephen, James, and Jesus Himself. 17:03 I say if the Old Testament Scriptures are historically 17:08 reliable enough for Jesus, they are historically reliable 17:12 enough for GYC, what do you say? 17:14 Audience: Amen! 17:15 But let's not forget GYC's motto: an army of young 17:19 people on a mission to proclaim, what? 17:22 The three Angels messages to the whole world in this generation. 17:27 In the three Angels messages, God's last message for planet 17:31 earth, the message for our time. 17:34 There is abundantly clear reference to the truth 17:38 regarding origins. 17:40 Turn with me in your Bibles to Revelation 14, you see 17:44 my friends God is never caught by surprise. 17:47 He who inhabits eternity, knew that in 2009, the issue 17:52 of origins would challenge the very fiber of the faith of 17:57 Christianity and the authority of the Scriptures. 18:01 But He also knew that the Bible would not be left 18:04 without its defenders, that there would be a people, 18:07 and even an army of young people who would call the 18:11 Christian world back to faith and trust in the Bible 18:14 as inspired word of God. 18:16 John the Revelator declares in Revelation 14:6, 18:20 "and I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven 18:23 "having the everlasting gospel to preach unto the earth. 18:27 "To them that dwell on the earth, every nation and 18:29 "kindred and tongue and people saying with a loud voice" 18:32 What kind of voice? A loud voice. 18:35 "Fear God and give glory to him for the hour of his 18:39 "judgment as come and worship him that made heaven and 18:42 "earth and the sea and the fountains of waters. " 18:45 This first Angels call to the true authentic worship quotes 18:50 from the 4th commandment, the Sabbath commandment. 18:54 It includes the triad of heaven and earth and seas. 18:57 It's used in Exodus 20:11, it must necessarily remind us 19:02 of the declaration of that verse which says in 6 days 19:07 this earth was created. 19:10 But curiously enough in the last phrase John departs 19:14 from his text, Exodus 20: 11 refers to the heavens, 19:18 the earth, and the seas and all that in them is. 19:22 But in Revelation 14, John says the heaven, the earth, 19:27 and the fountains of waters, of course all that in them 19:32 is includes everything. 19:34 While by specifying the fountain of waters, John isolates 19:39 only one aspect of what the fourth commandment 19:42 says that God created in 6 days on this globe. 19:45 Why does John take the pains to single them out and to 19:49 include them in the first Angels message? 19:51 Genesis 7:11 contains the answer. 19:56 The Bible says in the 600th year of Noah's life, 19:59 the second month in the 17th day of the month, the same 20:03 day where all the fountains of the great deep broken up, 20:06 and the windows of heaven were opened. 20:08 Yes God made the fountains of waters, and the Bible 20:12 declares that the time of Noah's flood, they were opened up 20:16 with all their destructive fury. 20:18 God's last day, end-time people, have a last day end time 20:22 message to take to the world, and that message includes 20:25 the truth about the recent creation of life on this 20:29 world in 6 literal continuous days and the 20:33 catastrophic destruction of the world, and the Mabool, 20:36 the global flood at the time of Noah. 20:38 Yes, GYC supports the position of the Seventh-day 20:42 Adventist church which we believe to be the position 20:45 of the Bible regarding creation. 20:48 Yes, GYC is determined to be an army of young people on 20:52 a mission to carry the three Angels messages to the 20:56 world in our generation, including the message of a 21:00 recent fiat creation and a catastrophic global flood. 21:04 And by God's grace, and with a loud voice, GYC young 21:07 people are going to do their part to invite every 21:11 nation, kindred, tongue and people to worship the 21:14 Creator who in 6 days made heaven and earth, 21:17 seas and fountains of water. 21:19 Without a clear teaching on the issue of origins, 21:23 we cannot be true to the Scriptures. 21:25 We cannot be true to the teachings of the Seventh-day 21:28 Adventist church, we cannot be to true to our own spirit of 21:31 GYC document or our own motto. 21:33 We cannot take these three Angels messages to the 21:37 world in this generation. 21:39 This is our position, we see no other options, 21:42 May God help us be faithful and true. 21:48 My name is Christina Harris, and I have a Ph. D. 21:51 in organic chemistry. 21:52 Right now I'm a research chemist and I work for a 21:56 company that does contract work for a pharmaceutical 21:59 companies in the United States and abroad. 22:01 Soon I will be making a transition to work at Weimar 22:04 college, I will be the professor of chemistry there. 22:07 I'll be teaching general chemistry, organic chemistry, 22:11 and biochemistry, but my first job was with the company 22:15 named Pharmacia Upjohn which later became a part of Pfizer. 22:19 When I first started there I was praying that God would 22:23 give me some opportunities to witness. 22:25 After a few days, I was in my lab doing my research, 22:29 a colleague came in and told me he had just accepted the 22:32 Lord as his personal savior. 22:34 He wanted to know if I had any Bible studies he could 22:37 use because he knew I was a Christian. 22:39 So I gave him the first couple of the Discover Bible 22:44 Study Guides, and one of those covers the topic of 22:48 creation, and it tells about scientists who were 22:52 creationist like Isaac Newton, and gives us reasons why 22:55 we could believe in what the Bible says about creation. 22:59 A few days later he came back by my lab and was telling me 23:02 how much he enjoyed those studies. 23:05 He said to me, he kind of whispers and says do you 23:08 really believe in the creation and the flood? 23:11 And I said yes I do. 23:14 He had never met a scientist or an educated person that 23:18 accepted what the Bible said about creation and the flood. 23:21 And it is unfortunate that many scientists have largely 23:25 rejected the biblical account of origins. 23:28 We see that Satan still lurks at the tree of knowledge, 23:32 but we need not be deceived if we cling to God's word. 23:36 One passage taken from the book Education that I 23:40 found very inspirational to me and has helped me hold 23:44 on to my belief reads as follows. 23:48 Ellen White writes, "since the book of nature and the book 23:52 "of Revelation bear the impress of the same Master 23:55 "mind, they can not but speak in harmony. " 23:58 "By different methods and in different languages, they 24:02 "witness to the same great truths. 24:05 "Science is ever discovering new wonders, but she brings 24:09 "from her research nothing that rightly understood conflicts 24:14 "with the Divine Revelation. 24:15 "Inferences erroneous drawn from facts observed in 24:20 "nature have however lead to supposed conflict between 24:24 "science and Revelation. 24:26 "In the effort to restore harmony, interpretation of 24:30 "Scripture has been adopted that undermines and destroys 24:35 "the full force of the word of God. 24:36 "Millions of years, it is claimed, were required for the 24:41 "evolution of the earth from chaos and in order to 24:45 "accommodate the Bible to this supposed Revelation of science, 24:49 "the days of creation are assumed to have been vast 24:53 "indefinite periods covering thousands or even millions 24:57 "of years, such a conclusion is wholly uncalled for. " 25:03 It is interesting that we as scientists have done this 25:07 the idea of spontaneous generation, that life could come 25:11 from nonlife was rejected and disproved back in the 19th 25:15 century, one of the scientists was a chemist and later he 25:20 developed into one of the early microbiologists, Louis Pasteur. 25:24 In 1864, he received an award from the French National 25:31 Academy of Science for his work in disproving 25:34 this theory of spontaneous generation. 25:38 When he received his award, he said in his speech 25:44 "never again will the theory of spontaneous generation 25:49 "recover from the mortal blow received by these 25:52 "experiments," but unfortunately that mortal wound was 25:57 healed and has gotten a facelift and has now come back 26:02 as what we call a-biogenesis, or chemical evolution. 26:06 As an organic chemist I work with chemicals all day long 26:10 and some of the molecules that I make exist in cells but 26:15 they never result in life. 26:16 The living cell is not just a bag of chemicals waiting 26:20 for the right combination to come together to make life. 26:23 So how can we witness at work, about our beliefs in creation? 26:29 Well the first thing I always think about is, 26:32 what is my influence at work? 26:34 Am I a faithful worker? Do I demonstrate excellence 26:39 in the workplace? 26:41 Do I work with and eye single to the glory of God? 26:44 And something I learned early on in my career, 26:47 that has given me a long for peace at work, 26:51 is that my boss is not my boss! 26:53 My boss is God, and if God is pleased with my work, 26:59 my employer will also be pleased with my work. 27:03 The second thing we can do is that we can be in the 27:06 world to remind people that this theory that Darwin 27:09 has proposed is not a done deal. 27:13 Naturalistic evolution requires that atoms organize 27:17 themselves into increasingly complex and beneficial 27:20 ordered arrangements and this does not happen 27:23 without an acting agent. 27:26 So we can engage our colleagues with some simple 27:29 questions, a lot of times Jesus asked questions, 27:33 not because He didn't know the answer, but to lift 27:36 people higher and help them see the bigger picture of 27:40 their place in His world. 27:42 To Elijah He says, what are you doing here? 27:45 And to Job He says, where were you when I laid the 27:48 foundations of the earth? 27:50 We can ask thoughtful questions that can lead others to 27:54 see the inconsistencies in evolutionary arguments 27:57 that they hold while at the same time remembering that 28:01 we don't have to take them on the whole journey, 28:03 our influence can be their starting point. 28:05 For example, we can ask, have you considered which came 28:10 first, DNA or the protein needed by the DNA which can 28:15 only be produced by DNA? 28:17 Is it possible that similarities in design between different 28:22 animals prove a common Creator instead of a common ancestor? 28:27 Or laboratory work suggests will chemicals do not arrange 28:32 themselves into complex information bearing molecules 28:36 such as DNA without guidance from human experimenters, 28:41 however in Neo Darwinism that these molecules developed 28:45 over a long period of time by chance without any 28:50 Creator, how can this be? 28:54 For awhile the Neo Darwinists have had the upper hand. 28:57 In the 1970s Professor Dean Kenyon found it increasingly 29:02 difficult to find evidence for actually observed 29:05 evolutionary change and actual transitional fossils for 29:09 him to use in his lectures. 29:13 So he began to question his own viewpoints on origins 29:17 and eventually came to the realization that 29:19 his beliefs were incorrect. 29:21 I was an assistant professor at Western Michigan University 29:25 for a while, and my office was adjacent to one 29:28 of the faculty in evolutionary biology. 29:31 One day a junior faculty member came to him and was 29:34 relating how a student had challenged him during class 29:37 over the issue of origins. 29:39 The professor was really discouraged and upset and angry 29:44 and he said at one point where did these kids come from? 29:48 I suppose he was angry because he wasn't able to 29:53 disprove, or to counter the student's arguments. 29:57 Neo-Darwinism teaches that our lives are brief and 30:01 inconsequential in a cosmic scheme of things and that 30:04 life has no ultimate purpose because there is no heaven 30:08 and there is no hell and there is no afterlife. 30:10 Week by week we see the world becoming more polarized, 30:14 but now is not the time to keep our worldview silent. 30:19 At first Queen Esther hid her origins, but when the 30:24 opportune and crucial time came she disclosed her position 30:28 and God will reveal the best time and the best method 30:32 and setting for our witness if we will just ask Him to. 30:36 You may find that some people may actually agree with 30:40 you, or there may be some co-workers that are not as sure 30:43 as they seem to be. 30:45 As we see in the events of prophecy unfolding around us, 30:49 we need to remember that we are here for such a time as this. 30:57 For those of you who know a little bit about my story 31:02 a secular Jew and I became a Seventh-day Adventist. 31:09 You have no idea of the vast, vast, vast chasms that 31:15 I had to cross to come from being a secular Jew to an 31:21 Adventist, in a sense I had to be broken, broken into 31:27 tiny little pieces and put back together again to make it fit. 31:33 I think if you ask the folks at GC, who know me, 31:37 they probably wonder, even after 26 years, how good of a fit 31:41 it really is, and it is not so easy on both sides. 31:46 I mean me adjusting to Adventism, so many Republicans, 31:51 I had to say that to razz Justin McNeil on that a 31:55 little bit, and I'm sure my wife is probably home 31:59 watching this on the computer and shaking her head saying, 32:01 Oh no Cliff, don't go down that road, don't do that. 32:05 But anyway the point though, the point though in all 32:08 this is whatever the cultural differences or whatever, 32:13 the bottom line is folks that you are stuck with me. 32:18 Because I can't be anything else other than a Seventh- 32:24 day Adventist. Audience: Amen! 32:26 Here's the thing, there is just one reason, and one 32:31 reason alone that I am in an Adventist. 32:35 One reason and one reason alone that I am here. 32:39 That is the doctrines, that is the teachings of this 32:43 church, I believe that this is present truth and that no 32:47 one else in the world is preaching this message, 32:49 in all due respect, no one else is even coming close. 32:54 I talked about that in my seminar on the remnant. 32:59 It is these truths, these wonderful present truths that 33:04 we have been given. 33:06 This is what keeps me here and nothing else. 33:10 Now I'm not saying, I'm not saying that we all have to 33:14 agree on every doctrinal point. 33:16 I mean you should have seen some of the e-mails, 33:19 I understand GYC leaders got inundated with e-mails. 33:23 People saying don't bring Clifford Goldstein here. 33:26 Don't bring him in here, that's nothing I'm the editor of the 33:30 Sabbath school quarterly, I'm use to that stuff. 33:33 But the funniest was, I've been accused of everything 33:36 and the best one is one of my friends at GC came back 33:39 from Florida and he said Cliff, somebody down there 33:43 was telling me you are a Jesuit infiltrator. 33:46 You know the Jewish Jesuit Clifford Goldstein, 33:49 a Jesuit infiltrator. 33:51 I don't know do we attract them or create them? 33:54 I don't know, anyway there is going to be some amount 33:58 of disagreement, there is going to be some amount of 34:02 latitude, we are not all going to see things the same 34:07 way, but the question I ask, the question I am asking 34:12 is at what point, at what point does somebody hold 34:18 some beliefs that cross a line? 34:20 That cross the line and take them out of the Fellowship. 34:24 What point can we say, we love you, we care about you, 34:28 but you have crossed a line. 34:31 And folks if evolution hasn't crossed that line, nothing 34:39 has, nothing has, to me to think that you can meld the 34:45 teachings of evolution with Adventism it is surreal to 34:52 me, it is surreal to me. 34:54 You can't be an evolutionist and a Seventh-day Adventist. 34:59 Pick one, pick the other, but have the moral honesty and 35:03 integrity and the intellectual honesty and integrity to 35:08 not perpetrate the myth that you can do both. 35:11 You have all heard of the new atheists, these writers. 35:16 I have read all of them, Sam Harris, Christopher 35:21 Hitchens, Richard Dawkins, Daniel Denit, 35:24 and Dawkins is by far my favorite. 35:27 He is hilarious, his book 'The God Delusion' was very 35:30 well written, it was funny and I enjoyed every minute 35:33 of it, I mean the arguments, I mean he's a great writer 35:36 and I really think Richard Dawkins is someone who is 35:40 fighting conviction, I really think he is. 35:43 I mean he arguments against the existence of God is 35:46 juvenile, it's like who created God kind of thing. 35:54 But Dawkins had one point that he was very clear on. 35:58 Dawkins was clear, he had nothing but disdain. 36:02 He had nothing but disdain for the scientists who claimed to be 36:08 evolutionists and at the same time claim to be Christians. 36:13 He called them the Neville Chamberlain school of science 36:18 you know he was honest enough, Dawkins was honest enough 36:23 to see that evolution destroys everything that the Bible 36:28 stands for, and it's pretty sad when Richard Dawkins, 36:33 who I kind of call him the Mohamed Ata of the atheist 36:38 apologetics when he's got more intellectual honesty's 36:42 then some professed Seventh-day Adventist. 36:45 But people say it's science Cliff, it's science. 36:49 I'd say to somebody, if you are struggling with these 36:53 issues, if you're struggling with the Lord and I know 36:58 the power and the lure of that. 37:00 I plead in the name of Jesus, spend some time, spend 37:05 some time reading the philosophy of science. 37:09 It is fascinating to read the philosophy of science, 37:13 scientists disagree on even what science is. 37:17 They disagree on whether science compared to pseudo 37:21 science compared to good science, compared to bad 37:24 science, they don't agree. 37:26 They disagree on what constitutes a scientific proof. 37:30 They disagree on whether science can ever really prove 37:33 anything, some say yes and some say no. 37:36 They disagree on the percale evidence, raw data 37:40 can even prove a theory. 37:43 They disagree whether any evidence could ever be called 37:46 raw data at all. 37:48 They disagree on the scientific method. 37:51 They sometimes even disagree if there is anything you could 37:57 really call a scientific method. 38:00 If you are wrestling with some of these issues, 38:03 take this down, Google the teaching Company. 38:07 Google the teaching Company and get yourself a lecture 38:11 by Dr. Steven Goldman, he's probably an agnostic and 38:15 probably an atheist, and probably an evolutionist. 38:19 Stephen Goldman get his series on 'Science Wars. ' 38:23 It will open your eyes to a lot of things. 38:26 You see the point is in our culture the popular idea of 38:30 science is somehow the sacred mold of knowledge. 38:33 Somehow science is the last word on truth and that is 38:38 simply not true, and nothing has opened my eyes to that 38:42 more than reading on the philosophy of science. 38:46 You know it is funny, there's a joke among physicists, they say 38:51 all true science is physics, everything else stamp collecting 38:56 Now I don't want to get in all that debate, but here is 39:00 the point though, two of the most foundational 39:04 teachings of modern physics, of modern science is 39:08 quantum theory and general relativity. 39:11 They are foundational, they are fundament, they have been proven 39:14 to degrees that are astonishing and yet here's the thing. 39:18 In physics these two teachings blatantly contradict each other. 39:25 It would be like saying if you believe in the Sabbath, 39:27 the Sabbath you can't believe in the state of the dead. 39:30 So these fundamental teachings of science are blatantly 39:33 in contradiction of each other. 39:36 So the question is, meanwhile we have folks that are 39:39 going to make a shipwreck of their faith, or lead our 39:43 young people to perdition based on some fanciful speculation 39:48 about what happened to some proposed proto R and A, 39:53 in the African savanna 2.5 billion years ago. 39:59 If you are struggling with this, I plead, think through 40:03 the implications of this. 40:06 If evolution is true, if evolution is how we got here, 40:11 the book of Genesis is a joke. 40:14 If you can read evolution in Genesis I can read Marxism 40:17 and reincarnation and voodoo into it as well. 40:22 Think of the mockery it makes of the plan of salvation. 40:26 How does this work again, God uses a process of violence 40:30 selfishness and dominance of the strong against the weak 40:34 in order to create a morally flawless being who falls 40:38 into a state of violent selfishness and dominance strong 40:42 over the weak, a state from which he has to be redeemed 40:46 from or else face final punishment. 40:48 The Bible tells me Christ came to destroy death, the 40:52 very means that God used to create life to begin with. 40:55 Can someone please explain to me how that works? 41:00 How do you fit the second coming in, how do you fit 41:06 evolution in with the second coming? 41:08 The resurrection of the dead? 41:10 Hey folks, most of the dead are pretty far gone, they 41:14 are pretty far gone is God's resurrection going 41:16 to be a divine Fiat, is it going to be in a twinkling of an eye? 41:20 Or are we going to get to go through the joys and the rigors 41:22 of the survival of the fittest and random mutation and on, 41:26 and on for a few billion years like the first time until we 41:29 finally get a new world where therein dwelleth righteousness? 41:33 Evolution destroys everything we believe and everything 41:37 we stand for, so I plead with anybody, with any young 41:42 person who is struggling, an old person it doesn't matter. 41:44 Think through the implications of this. 41:49 You know a number of years ago I wrote an article, 41:52 I wrote an article called 'Seventh Day Darwinians'. 41:55 In it I made a point I thought was so obvious, I thought 41:59 it was almost redundant. 42:01 In it I made the point that if you truly believe in 42:05 evolution, don't you think the only honest thing to do 42:09 would be to take your conclusions, 42:11 your logical conclusions and not remain in a church 42:16 whose very name, Seventh-day Adventist denies 42:21 the whole idea of evolution. 42:23 Is it too much to ask someone who takes the name 42:26 Seventh-day Adventist to at least believe in what 42:30 the name itself stands for? 42:33 Apparently for some it was too much, and don't even get 42:38 me started, don't even get me started on the lack of 42:43 moral integrity of those who stand in our pulpits, 42:47 and stand in our classrooms and who teach evolution as 42:52 truth to our young people. 42:54 They don't have the right to do that. Audience: Amen! 42:59 David yesterday called it a tragedy. 43:02 You know I understand the need to be redemptive, 43:05 but I asked the question, how many of our young people 43:10 do we sacrifice in the meantime, 43:13 while were trying to be redemptive? 43:16 You know I read the other day someone defending this. 43:20 They said, well the students, or the professors who teach 43:24 the students, see the handiwork of God in nature. 43:28 Big deal! Usama bin Laden could teaches his Jihadists the same 43:34 thing, they could see the handiwork of God in nature. 43:38 Folks, the bottom-line there is good news in all of this. 43:44 The good news in this, and David said it yesterday, 43:48 is that our church, as a whole, as a denomination, 43:53 has not budged 1 millimeter on the teaching of a 43:58 literal six-day creation. 44:00 The intellectually honest among us know what is at stake 44:04 and I believe that the vast, vast majority of our church 44:08 leaders, and a vast, vast majority of our laypeople are 44:12 solid as a rock on this and we will not be budged. 44:16 We will not move on this, as I said I'm in Adventist 44:20 because of its teachings of this church, that is the 44:24 only reason I am here. 44:26 The church has been good to me, has been good to me 44:29 I've been at the GC 26 years, I consider it a 44:32 privilege to be there. 44:33 The day I got there and every day I have considered it 44:36 a privilege to be there. 44:38 The pay is not great, and if the Lord delays, retirement 44:42 scares me to death. 44:43 My wife said you are going to be the one standing at 44:46 Wal-Mart and say, "Welcome to Wal-Mart", not me in 44:48 retirement, so she said you better do something about it. 44:52 The church has been good to me, but no matter how good 44:57 they are, despite all that, I am in Adventist only, 45:01 only, because of the teachings and nothing, nothing is 45:05 more calculated to destroy the teachings of this church 45:10 than evolution which is why I will never stop speaking 45:14 out against it and the idea, the idea that it can 45:19 somehow be incorporated into our message. 45:24 Again, if you are struggling, think of the implications. 45:28 Think of the implications of where evolution will take 45:32 you, but in the end I'm going to say it again and the 45:36 end on this note. 45:37 I guess that's was a slight hint it's time to go. 45:40 Slight hint it's time to go but they'll have to have 45:43 a hook to pull me out. 45:45 But in the end, the bottom line is be an Adventist or 45:49 be an evolutionist, but please, please have the moral 45:54 intellectual integrity not to promulgate the farce that 45:59 you can be both because that's what it is, it's a farce. 46:03 Audience: Amen! 46:30 You scattered the stars with Your mighty hand 46:37 You stirred up the seas and formed the land 46:45 The tenderest blossom, the sweetest rain 46:52 Seem only to worship Your worthy name 46:59 The mountains bow, the forest kneel 47:07 Throughout creation your graces peel 47:13 The joyful songs, all natures sings 47:22 All glory to the King, the King 47:34 Above all else, Your name be glorified 47:44 The heavens ring with wonder and grace 47:52 Almighty God, Your greatness be glorified 48:00 Above all that, Your name be praised 48:22 Scented the flowers with Your gentleness 48:29 You painted the sunrise that covers the land 48:37 The whole creation desire, and intent, 48:43 that makes the Maker a low decent. 48:50 The oceans roared, the wind proclaims 48:57 The majesty of Your holy name 49:05 Your praise rings out throughout the land 49:12 Oh glory to the great I Am 49:24 Above all else, Your name be glorified 49:34 The heavens ring with wonder and grace, 49:40 wonder and grace 49:43 All mighty God, Your greatness be glorified 49:50 Above all that, 49:54 Your name be praised 50:00 Above all that 50:04 Your name be praised 50:13 Your name be praised! |
Revised 2014-12-17