Have you ever
experienced a heartbreak
00:00:31.66\00:00:35.73
or a loss that
you were convinced
00:00:35.76\00:00:37.71
simply could never be fixed
00:00:37.74\00:00:39.82
and you said to
yourself, this is it,
00:00:39.85\00:00:42.55
I'm just going
to have to endure,
00:00:42.58\00:00:45.11
to live with this hurt forever?
00:00:45.14\00:00:48.93
When the war in Iraq
was in its early stages,
00:00:48.96\00:00:52.00
perhaps you remember,
00:00:52.03\00:00:53.08
when the very first
reports of American deaths
00:00:53.11\00:00:55.15
began to hit us
in our national soul.
00:00:55.18\00:00:58.12
I remember watching the night
00:00:58.15\00:00:59.32
that a man looked
into CNN's TV cameras
00:00:59.35\00:01:02.26
and he was talking with tears
in his eyes to the president.
00:01:02.29\00:01:05.48
His world was destroyed,
00:01:05.51\00:01:07.54
his name was Michael Walters Bay
00:01:07.57\00:01:09.53
and his 29-year-old son Kendall
00:01:09.56\00:01:11.69
has just been
killed in the conflict.
00:01:11.72\00:01:14.67
Kendall was married,
he had a 10-year-old boy
00:01:14.70\00:01:18.56
and now this grieving
grandpa looked into the camera
00:01:18.59\00:01:21.34
and he said, "Mr.
President, that chair he sat
00:01:21.37\00:01:26.69
in at Thanksgiving
will be empty forever."
00:01:26.72\00:01:32.50
And at a time like that,
00:01:32.53\00:01:34.12
people who say they
have a Christian faith
00:01:34.15\00:01:36.41
have to really dig
deep and ask ourselves this.
00:01:36.44\00:01:41.68
Does Christianity have an answer
00:01:41.71\00:01:43.56
for this
heartbroken grandfather?
00:01:43.59\00:01:46.18
I mean, we say we
serve a wonderful God.
00:01:46.21\00:01:48.57
But is he also a mighty God,
00:01:48.60\00:01:51.44
a mighty enough God
and creative enough God,
00:01:51.47\00:01:56.20
to fill that empty
chair some day soon
00:01:56.23\00:01:59.21
and make Thanksgiving
Day a time of joy again?
00:01:59.24\00:02:03.33
I mean, I think
about that grandpa
00:02:03.36\00:02:05.17
and I think about that
10-year-old son Kenneth
00:02:05.20\00:02:08.36
who doesn't have a dad anymore.
00:02:08.39\00:02:11.13
You know, the very
first verse in the Word of God
00:02:11.16\00:02:14.11
has some incredibly good
news for the Walters Bay family.
00:02:14.14\00:02:18.45
You say it with me.
00:02:18.48\00:02:19.52
I'm sure you know it, don't you?
00:02:19.55\00:02:20.84
Genesis 1:1, "In the beginning
00:02:20.87\00:02:23.83
God created the
heavens and the earth."
00:02:23.86\00:02:27.97
Well, you probably already
knew that verse by heart,
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but Genesis 1:1
happened a long, long time ago.
00:02:30.18\00:02:35.46
You're wondering
well, how does this help
00:02:35.49\00:02:37.24
a little fourth-grader
Kenneth right now in 2003
00:02:37.27\00:02:41.58
who doesn't have a dad anymore
to assist him with his homework
00:02:41.61\00:02:45.20
or to help them learn
how to catch a football?
00:02:45.23\00:02:49.11
We did a Voice of Prophecy
radio series a few years back
00:02:49.14\00:02:51.74
and we got such a blessing
00:02:51.77\00:02:53.22
from a terrific
Christian bestseller,
00:02:53.25\00:02:55.63
"How Now Shall We Live?"
00:02:55.66\00:02:57.43
by former Watergate
prisoner Chuck Colson
00:02:57.46\00:03:01.85
and his writing
partner Nancy Pearcey.
00:03:01.88\00:03:04.85
Well, Colson
tells a simple story
00:03:04.88\00:03:06.81
about a dad and a daughter.
00:03:06.84\00:03:08.74
They were going to Disney World.
00:03:08.77\00:03:10.95
How many of you have been
down the I 95 here in Columbia
00:03:10.98\00:03:14.19
and seen Mickey Mouse?
00:03:14.22\00:03:15.69
Yes.
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Well, this dad, his
name was Dave Mulholland.
00:03:16.89\00:03:20.66
And he was there
with a purpose in mind
00:03:20.69\00:03:22.40
and it wasn't to ride
the dumbbell flying elephant.
00:03:22.43\00:03:26.35
He was concerned about his
15-year-old daughter Katie.
00:03:26.38\00:03:30.47
See, she was a
high school student
00:03:30.50\00:03:31.94
just starting to kind of,
you know, stretch her wings,
00:03:31.97\00:03:35.12
seemed like she was starting
00:03:35.15\00:03:36.26
to fly off in all
the wrong directions.
00:03:36.29\00:03:39.68
Dave and his wife had
found pot in her purse one day
00:03:39.71\00:03:44.27
and that was a big crisis.
00:03:44.30\00:03:46.62
She and her friends were getting
00:03:46.65\00:03:47.72
into some things
that they shouldn't.
00:03:47.75\00:03:50.14
But the most
serious thing of all
00:03:50.17\00:03:51.89
was that she was kind of
just drifting away from God.
00:03:51.92\00:03:55.28
She didn't think Christianity
was relevant anymore.
00:03:55.31\00:03:58.56
Her friends kind of shrugged off
00:03:58.59\00:04:00.22
religion as kind
of useless and stupid.
00:04:00.25\00:04:02.86
Her science classes in
school made it plain that
00:04:02.89\00:04:05.97
well, the Bible was just
00:04:06.00\00:04:07.13
a potpourri of
fables and urban legends.
00:04:07.16\00:04:10.62
In fact, the way
00:04:10.65\00:04:11.74
that Chuck Colson
puts it in his book,
00:04:11.77\00:04:14.39
he says these Christian parents
felt they were losing her
00:04:14.42\00:04:19.53
to a secular world
smugly satisfied with itself
00:04:19.56\00:04:23.13
and deeply hostile
to their own world.
00:04:23.16\00:04:26.60
So Dave was kind of hoping
00:04:26.63\00:04:29.84
that by going
down to Disney World,
00:04:29.87\00:04:32.35
in between all of the
exhibits, all the rides,
00:04:32.38\00:04:34.91
maybe they just
have a little chance
00:04:34.94\00:04:36.37
to do some serious
father-daughter talking about,
00:04:36.40\00:04:39.20
you know, the big things.
00:04:39.23\00:04:42.12
Oh, but then, disaster.
00:04:42.15\00:04:44.96
They went to an
incredible exhibit
00:04:44.99\00:04:46.87
and Disney does it the best.
00:04:46.90\00:04:49.63
It was called the Living Seas
and there with all the sights
00:04:49.66\00:04:53.60
and digital Dolby surround sound
00:04:53.63\00:04:55.85
the way only Disney
geniuses can do them,
00:04:55.88\00:04:58.12
the narrator came
on in the darkness
00:04:58.15\00:05:00.53
with his resonant
voice of authority
00:05:00.56\00:05:02.68
something like this.
00:05:02.71\00:05:03.98
Imagine a place
00:05:04.01\00:05:05.32
sometime in the
endless reaches of the universe
00:05:05.35\00:05:08.45
on the other side of a galaxy
00:05:08.48\00:05:10.14
of a hundred
thousand million suns.
00:05:10.17\00:05:12.75
In this tiny corner
of the universe deep
00:05:12.78\00:05:15.66
within the cluster of
slowly forming planets
00:05:15.69\00:05:19.27
is a small sphere
of just the right size.
00:05:19.30\00:05:22.92
A sphere just the right
distance from its Mother star
00:05:22.95\00:05:27.29
and then this Bill
Nye the Science Guy
00:05:27.32\00:05:30.21
hit his daughter and himself,
the dad, with a punch line.
00:05:30.24\00:05:35.20
A spark of light
expanded into a thunderous,
00:05:35.23\00:05:38.54
crashing flood of stars
exploded and galaxies formed.
00:05:38.57\00:05:42.38
In other words, a big bang!
00:05:42.41\00:05:46.95
A universe just jumping
into existence all by itself.
00:05:46.98\00:05:50.77
No God, no creator,
00:05:50.80\00:05:52.60
no divine heart of love
making a world in six days,
00:05:52.63\00:05:56.25
just a one in a
trillion evolutionary luck
00:05:56.28\00:06:01.65
and now Dave Mulholland
was really sure he was sunk
00:06:01.68\00:06:06.61
but he took his daughter outside
00:06:06.64\00:06:08.58
and he bought
her an ice cream cone
00:06:08.61\00:06:10.00
and they sat
down on a park bench
00:06:10.03\00:06:11.78
and he tried to cut through
00:06:11.81\00:06:14.15
what they'd just heard
and try to figure it out.
00:06:14.18\00:06:17.47
Katie, I'm sure you're asking,
00:06:17.50\00:06:20.20
is there a God out there
who can do all the things
00:06:20.23\00:06:22.64
the Bible says he can do or
did we just slowly find our way
00:06:22.67\00:06:26.71
here tonight to
Columbia, South Carolina,
00:06:26.74\00:06:29.28
all by ourselves
by millions of years
00:06:29.31\00:06:31.69
of upward
evolutionary migration?
00:06:31.72\00:06:36.46
And what this dad on
that Disney World bench
00:06:36.49\00:06:39.65
tried gently to
explain to his girl
00:06:39.68\00:06:42.84
was an immutable
law of the universe
00:06:42.87\00:06:46.80
that everything that is designed
00:06:46.83\00:06:50.17
has a designer.
00:06:50.20\00:06:53.90
That's it.
00:06:53.93\00:06:55.99
I mean, if you're
driving along Interstate 90
00:06:56.02\00:06:58.80
with your family on a vacation
up there in South Dakota
00:06:58.83\00:07:03.37
and you suddenly look
up and you see the heads
00:07:03.40\00:07:05.58
of all four US presidents
carved out in the granite,
00:07:05.61\00:07:09.45
no one with a brain says to
their family, oh, look kids.
00:07:09.48\00:07:13.20
Look what the wind
and the rain and the snow
00:07:13.23\00:07:15.13
and the eons of
time and the erosion
00:07:15.16\00:07:17.48
of drip, drip,
drip caused to show up.
00:07:17.51\00:07:19.56
Why there's
Washington and there's Lincoln
00:07:19.59\00:07:21.48
and there's
Jefferson and even Roosevelt
00:07:21.51\00:07:23.72
all by blind luck.
00:07:23.75\00:07:25.81
No, you don't say that.
00:07:25.84\00:07:27.85
You know that an
architect named John G. Borglum
00:07:27.88\00:07:31.70
came by with a
pretty big rock hammer
00:07:31.73\00:07:33.96
and a designer's vision.
00:07:33.99\00:07:37.69
You know, a good 200 years ago,
00:07:37.72\00:07:40.04
English
theologian William Paley,
00:07:40.07\00:07:42.95
he posed it this way,
00:07:42.98\00:07:45.41
"If you're walking along a beach
00:07:45.44\00:07:47.85
and suddenly you bend over
00:07:47.88\00:07:49.98
and you pick up
a beautiful watch
00:07:50.01\00:07:52.43
ticking away and
keeping good time,
00:07:52.46\00:07:54.17
you don't say to
yourself, amazing
00:07:54.20\00:07:56.36
what the waves
and the pounding surf
00:07:56.39\00:07:58.27
will fling together if you
just let enough centuries go by.
00:07:58.30\00:08:01.68
Wow, a really nice Rolex.
Thank you very much, currents.
00:08:01.71\00:08:06.02
Thank you, tides.
00:08:06.05\00:08:07.30
You know, I think
I'll just keep this.
00:08:07.33\00:08:09.29
No.
00:08:09.32\00:08:11.24
If you're smart,
you'll take out your Bible
00:08:11.27\00:08:14.58
right there on the beach
00:08:14.61\00:08:16.34
and you'll read
from Isaiah 40:26.
00:08:16.37\00:08:19.51
"Lift up your eyes on high,
00:08:19.54\00:08:22.25
and see who
created these things,
00:08:22.28\00:08:24.71
who brings out
their host by number.
00:08:24.74\00:08:27.23
He calls them all by name,
by the greatness of His might
00:08:27.26\00:08:31.40
and the strength of all
His power, not one is missing.
00:08:31.43\00:08:35.80
Amen.
00:08:35.83\00:08:38.26
Ladies and gentlemen,
00:08:38.29\00:08:39.39
what an increasing
number of scientists
00:08:39.42\00:08:42.04
are now conceding is kind
of a brand new field of study.
00:08:42.07\00:08:47.06
It's called ID.
00:08:47.09\00:08:48.35
Anybody know what that
means? Intelligent Design.
00:08:48.38\00:08:54.81
But that's even more
true is this dad Disney World
00:08:54.84\00:08:57.67
talks to Katie about
the fact that he is her dad.
00:08:57.70\00:09:00.92
I mean, folks, having a
child you talk about design.
00:09:00.95\00:09:06.63
Starting off with
just two tiny cells
00:09:06.66\00:09:10.52
and then for nine months,
those cells multiply and divide
00:09:10.55\00:09:13.96
turning into all the
right clusters of more cells,
00:09:13.99\00:09:18.34
organs, blood,
lungs, heart, brain, skin,
00:09:18.37\00:09:21.35
entire systems and
then Dave Mulholland
00:09:21.38\00:09:23.99
is right there
in the delivery room
00:09:24.02\00:09:25.34
and his wife and he are
Lamaze breathing like crazy,
00:09:25.37\00:09:27.82
you know, hyperventilating,
pushing, counting down
00:09:27.85\00:09:30.96
to the big moment
and then all at once,
00:09:30.99\00:09:34.34
you see this little life emerge.
00:09:34.37\00:09:38.07
It has a face,
little scrunched up face
00:09:38.10\00:09:41.21
with two eyes, a nose, two ears
00:09:41.24\00:09:44.29
and a very noisy
little mouth and vocal cords.
00:09:44.32\00:09:47.35
And daddy says to himself,
00:09:47.38\00:09:50.37
this is a designed miracle.
00:09:50.40\00:09:54.09
Amen.
00:09:54.12\00:09:55.23
This child is
fearfully, wonderfully made,
00:09:55.26\00:09:59.10
marvelous are the works
of God as Psalm 139:14 says.
00:09:59.13\00:10:03.78
In fact, Dave
said to his daughter
00:10:03.81\00:10:07.15
as they sat there eating their
Disney World ice cream bars,
00:10:07.18\00:10:11.32
he said, "Katie, precious Katie,
00:10:11.35\00:10:15.13
everything I know
about the universe
00:10:15.16\00:10:17.11
including my
incredibly beautiful daughter
00:10:17.14\00:10:20.38
indicates to me that somebody
designed it, created it."
00:10:20.41\00:10:27.35
Now this ID concept,
this intelligent design,
00:10:27.38\00:10:31.55
by the way, is something now
that many branches of science
00:10:31.58\00:10:35.66
are conceding
now and even using.
00:10:35.69\00:10:39.87
Some of you who may be into
the attorneys or legal field,
00:10:39.90\00:10:43.19
how about forensic science?
00:10:43.22\00:10:46.53
You know, when
police find a body
00:10:46.56\00:10:48.29
like they did
just recently there
00:10:48.32\00:10:49.99
in the West, Lacy Peterson.
00:10:50.02\00:10:53.32
Their first question is,
"Was this death the result
00:10:53.35\00:10:57.74
of natural causes or foul play?"
00:10:57.77\00:11:01.43
In other words,
an intentional act
00:11:01.46\00:11:03.68
by an intelligent being.
00:11:03.71\00:11:06.13
So pathologists
perform a battery
00:11:06.16\00:11:08.07
of fairly straightforward
tests to get an answer.
00:11:08.10\00:11:12.60
Those of you who
watch "Law and Order: CI",
00:11:12.63\00:11:15.84
which I understand, I guess,
stands for Criminal Intent.
00:11:15.87\00:11:20.70
Well, you see
this Detective Goran
00:11:20.73\00:11:23.52
who looks into the carpeting
for some sort of little clues,
00:11:23.55\00:11:27.26
or he sees a
little thread of this
00:11:27.29\00:11:28.89
or a bit of fluff over there
00:11:28.92\00:11:30.20
and, you know,
he's looking for exactly
00:11:30.23\00:11:32.77
what the title says, intent.
00:11:32.80\00:11:35.77
Some person behind the evidence.
00:11:35.80\00:11:39.80
So, friend, do we buy
this pillar of the faith
00:11:39.83\00:11:43.84
that God is our creator?
00:11:43.87\00:11:48.53
Not too far from where I live
00:11:48.56\00:11:50.10
is a Christian researcher
by the name of George Barna.
00:11:50.13\00:11:54.34
He reminds us of this truth.
00:11:54.37\00:11:57.29
He says, "Without
a biblical worldview,
00:11:57.32\00:12:01.70
all the great
teaching goes in one ear
00:12:01.73\00:12:04.51
and right out the other."
00:12:04.54\00:12:06.22
There's no intellectual pegs
in the mind of the individual
00:12:06.25\00:12:09.48
to hang these truths on
00:12:09.51\00:12:10.97
that we're talking
about from night to night.
00:12:11.00\00:12:12.75
They just pass right on
through, they don't stick,
00:12:12.78\00:12:15.36
they don't make a difference.
00:12:15.39\00:12:17.25
And then Chuck
Colson goes on to suggest
00:12:17.28\00:12:19.35
that any
worldview is only as good
00:12:19.38\00:12:21.92
as an answer to
three basic questions.
00:12:21.95\00:12:24.85
Question one, where did
we come from and who are we?
00:12:24.88\00:12:30.65
Well, the Bible answers
00:12:30.68\00:12:31.93
that question
with the word creation.
00:12:31.96\00:12:35.18
Genesis 1:1. And who are we?
00:12:35.21\00:12:37.80
We're the sons and
we're the daughters of God.
00:12:37.83\00:12:41.57
Well, question number two,
00:12:41.60\00:12:43.38
what has gone
wrong with our world?
00:12:43.41\00:12:46.65
Well, the Bible's
answer to that is the fall,
00:12:46.68\00:12:50.60
a serpent in the
garden, Satan, sin, death.
00:12:50.63\00:12:56.06
Question number three,
what can we do to fix it?
00:12:56.09\00:13:01.95
There our answer is
nothing. We can't do anything.
00:13:01.98\00:13:08.80
But Christianity's answer
is Calvary, Jesus loving us,
00:13:08.83\00:13:14.70
dying for us,
coming soon to rescue us.
00:13:14.73\00:13:17.37
And, friend, we either
take the Bible's worldview
00:13:17.40\00:13:20.88
or we have to settle
for something as a big word
00:13:20.91\00:13:23.19
the theologians
call existentialism,
00:13:23.22\00:13:26.64
which basically
says, well, life is absurd,
00:13:26.67\00:13:30.83
it's meaningless and
that the individual self
00:13:30.86\00:13:34.97
must create our own
meaning by our own choices.
00:13:35.00\00:13:39.24
Or we can pick
another big theological term
00:13:39.27\00:13:41.34
called post-modernism,
00:13:41.37\00:13:43.89
which thinks, well,
there are no eternal truths,
00:13:43.92\00:13:47.76
no overarching realities except
00:13:47.79\00:13:50.01
what you and your
friends decide is right for you
00:13:50.04\00:13:52.84
on May 3, 2003 in
the year of nobody.
00:13:52.87\00:13:57.97
Recently the NABT,
00:14:00.97\00:14:03.08
that's the National
Association of Biology Teachers
00:14:03.11\00:14:06.16
announced that,
and I am quoting,
00:14:06.19\00:14:08.84
"All life is the
outcome of an unsupervised
00:14:08.87\00:14:13.93
impersonable, unpredictable
and natural process."
00:14:13.96\00:14:20.42
Does that give you
confidence tonight?
00:14:20.45\00:14:23.48
Well, friend, I
find it interesting
00:14:23.51\00:14:26.03
that even the
world's best scientists
00:14:26.06\00:14:28.56
are conceding something.
00:14:28.59\00:14:31.20
It's called another technical
term, the Anthropic principle.
00:14:31.23\00:14:36.23
Jim McClintock,
Jim Mayor I should say,
00:14:36.26\00:14:38.99
my colleague at seminary.
00:14:39.02\00:14:41.80
Sam Base in the
Herald here tonight.
00:14:41.83\00:14:43.80
He'll remember from Greek
00:14:43.83\00:14:45.42
where that word
Anthropic comes from.
00:14:45.45\00:14:49.43
But we get a few stats
about this Anthropic principle,
00:14:49.46\00:14:52.30
we'll get back to
that in a minute, Jim.
00:14:52.33\00:14:53.85
From Pastor Bill Hybels
00:14:53.88\00:14:55.11
of the Willow
Creek Church in Illinois.
00:14:55.14\00:14:57.44
Now he and Mark Middleburg
wrote this book entitled,
00:14:57.47\00:15:00.07
"Becoming a
Contagious Christian"
00:15:00.10\00:15:02.91
and he gets some help
00:15:02.94\00:15:04.26
from the men and
women in the lab coats
00:15:04.29\00:15:06.57
who tell us these fantastic
fascinating statistics.
00:15:06.60\00:15:10.51
For instance, if you
were to raise or lower
00:15:10.54\00:15:15.30
the universe's rate of expansion
00:15:15.33\00:15:17.30
by just one part per
million, there would be no life.
00:15:17.33\00:15:22.31
In fact, I've read
that the force of gravity
00:15:22.34\00:15:26.21
has to not only be right
00:15:26.24\00:15:28.42
but right to within one
part in 10 to the 60th power.
00:15:28.45\00:15:34.06
That's a lot of zeros.
00:15:34.09\00:15:37.47
If the average
distance between the stars
00:15:37.50\00:15:40.09
were any greater,
there'd be no planets,
00:15:40.12\00:15:43.92
any smaller, there could be
00:15:43.95\00:15:45.72
no planetary
orbits necessary for life.
00:15:45.75\00:15:50.81
Here's one for you, if you
were to just jigger slightly,
00:15:50.84\00:15:53.75
please don't do this at home
00:15:53.78\00:15:55.55
but if you were to
try to jigger the carbon
00:15:55.58\00:15:57.42
to oxygen
ratios on planet Earth,
00:15:57.45\00:15:59.62
there'd be no
one here to breathe
00:15:59.65\00:16:01.35
and we couldn't meet
again tomorrow night.
00:16:01.38\00:16:04.48
If you were to tilt
earth's axis just slightly,
00:16:04.51\00:16:07.56
one direction, we'd
all freeze to death.
00:16:07.59\00:16:11.14
You go the other
way even one degree
00:16:11.17\00:16:14.16
and we'd instantly burn up.
00:16:14.19\00:16:18.04
Now a few years
ago, Jeannie and I
00:16:18.07\00:16:19.84
and Phil Draper
were on a mission trip
00:16:19.87\00:16:23.21
with some of our
Voice of Prophecy team,
00:16:23.24\00:16:24.42
we went to the Philippines,
00:16:24.45\00:16:26.02
I honestly thought
someone had tipped the earth
00:16:26.05\00:16:28.40
toward the sun a few degrees,
or at least our hotel room.
00:16:28.43\00:16:32.17
And the same day
00:16:32.20\00:16:33.26
the air
conditioning our van broke down.
00:16:33.29\00:16:36.21
But friend, listen, this planet
was designed by a loving God
00:16:36.24\00:16:41.87
who wanted you and
me to be here tonight.
00:16:41.90\00:16:44.43
Amen.
00:16:44.46\00:16:46.15
Do you know that
we are absolutely
00:16:46.18\00:16:48.18
the perfect
distance from the Sun?
00:16:48.21\00:16:51.10
93 million miles.
00:16:51.13\00:16:52.60
You learn that
in the fourth grade.
00:16:52.63\00:16:55.11
Any closer, that
wouldn't be good,
00:16:55.14\00:16:57.96
any farther away and it
wouldn't just be a cold winter,
00:16:57.99\00:17:00.52
it'd be all winter as in
deep freeze for the human race.
00:17:00.55\00:17:05.57
Oh, and what about
this thing they call DNA?
00:17:05.60\00:17:09.65
You talk about design,
00:17:09.68\00:17:11.83
all of the scientists and
genome researchers know it
00:17:11.86\00:17:15.57
but let me make it
even more personal for you.
00:17:15.60\00:17:18.92
You know, folks,
someone must've gone
00:17:18.95\00:17:22.68
to an awful lot of
effort to make things just right
00:17:22.71\00:17:26.34
so that you and I
could be here and enjoy life.
00:17:26.37\00:17:29.49
Folks, listen, modern
science points to the fact
00:17:29.52\00:17:32.69
that we must
really matter to God.
00:17:32.72\00:17:37.24
By the way, did you know
00:17:37.27\00:17:38.94
that the origin of
the word Anthropic,
00:17:38.97\00:17:42.54
Jim, it comes from a
Greek word called what?
00:17:42.57\00:17:44.80
Anthropos. Anthropos.
00:17:44.83\00:17:47.28
I haven't been to the
seminary for a good many years
00:17:47.31\00:17:49.28
so most of these
linguistic tidbits
00:17:49.31\00:17:50.93
I do have to get out my
great big fat Greek dictionary
00:17:50.96\00:17:54.33
but the word anthropos
is one of the first words
00:17:54.36\00:17:56.36
I ever learned in Greek.
00:17:56.39\00:17:57.60
It actually means human being.
00:17:57.63\00:18:01.00
And that's it,
this Anthropic principle
00:18:01.03\00:18:03.66
that scientists talk
about simply reiterates
00:18:03.69\00:18:07.30
that God cares
about human beings
00:18:07.33\00:18:10.44
and has built this
world just for our survival.
00:18:10.47\00:18:16.10
Oh, here's an important PS
for us to prayerfully consider.
00:18:16.13\00:18:20.01
The Bible earnestly
invites us to worship God
00:18:20.04\00:18:25.33
precisely because
he is our creator.
00:18:25.36\00:18:28.94
Did you know that?
00:18:28.97\00:18:30.27
In fact, right in the
heart of the Book of Revelation,
00:18:30.30\00:18:33.09
which is God's last day
message for this generation,
00:18:33.12\00:18:36.00
that mighty first angel
00:18:36.03\00:18:37.85
of Chapter 14
has this invitation,
00:18:37.88\00:18:40.43
"Fear or respect
God and give Him glory
00:18:40.46\00:18:44.42
because the hour of
his judgment has come.
00:18:44.45\00:18:47.74
Worship Him, notice,
who made the heavens,
00:18:47.77\00:18:50.75
the earth, the sea
and the springs of water."
00:18:50.78\00:18:54.50
Back in Chapter 4,
00:18:54.53\00:18:56.53
we find a mind
boggling scene in heaven,
00:18:56.56\00:18:59.26
where all the holy
beings who have never sinned
00:18:59.29\00:19:02.02
worship him
constantly and they say this
00:19:02.05\00:19:04.51
in verse 11 of Chapter
4, "You are worthy, oh Lord,
00:19:04.54\00:19:08.86
God, to receive
glory and honor and power."
00:19:08.89\00:19:11.77
And why?
00:19:11.80\00:19:13.40
"For you have created
all things and by your will
00:19:13.43\00:19:16.92
they were created
and have their being."
00:19:16.95\00:19:20.25
You know, I'll let
you in on a tiny secret.
00:19:20.28\00:19:24.02
In this same
book I just mentioned
00:19:24.05\00:19:25.92
that Colson wrote,
Colson quotes from a physicist.
00:19:25.95\00:19:32.00
Any physicists out here tonight?
00:19:32.03\00:19:34.44
This physicist you know,
his name is Heinz Pagels,
00:19:34.47\00:19:38.78
he authored a report
entitled, "A Cozy Cosmology"
00:19:38.81\00:19:43.31
and it appeared in
the Sciences Magazine.
00:19:43.34\00:19:47.63
You know what this
physicist suggests?
00:19:47.66\00:19:50.81
He says this, and this is not
00:19:50.84\00:19:52.58
a religious person
or a religious magazine.
00:19:52.61\00:19:55.42
He says, "If
our universe appears
00:19:55.45\00:19:58.71
to be tailor-made for life,
00:19:58.74\00:20:01.56
the most
straightforward conclusion
00:20:01.59\00:20:03.24
is that it was tailor-made,
00:20:03.27\00:20:05.57
designed, created
by a transcendent God."
00:20:05.60\00:20:10.12
And then this physicist
quietly confesses that,
00:20:10.15\00:20:13.49
you know, in their
hearts many scientists know it
00:20:13.52\00:20:17.87
but they kind of find
that conclusion unattractive
00:20:17.90\00:20:21.65
and so they twist
their own logic into pretzels
00:20:21.68\00:20:24.40
coming up with things like
a theory of multiple universes
00:20:24.43\00:20:27.53
to get around the problem.
00:20:27.56\00:20:29.84
In Pagels' own words,
and I'm quoting it again,
00:20:29.87\00:20:32.89
"It is the closest that
some atheists can get to God."
00:20:32.92\00:20:37.19
In other words,
"Atheists are squirming
00:20:37.22\00:20:40.02
every which way to
avoid the obvious."
00:20:40.05\00:20:42.17
Some of you scientists
might recognize this name,
00:20:45.29\00:20:47.50
the well-known
astronomer, Sir Fred Hoyle.
00:20:47.53\00:20:50.57
He once calculated
that the odds of life
00:20:50.60\00:20:53.77
just showing up, just
sparking itself into existence
00:20:53.80\00:20:58.53
would be the same as lining up
00:20:58.56\00:21:01.18
many, many, many blind people,
in fact, here we go again,
00:21:01.21\00:21:04.74
10 to the 50th power this time.
00:21:04.77\00:21:07.76
Now that's a lot of
people out there in a row.
00:21:07.79\00:21:10.64
All blind and then giving
00:21:10.67\00:21:12.90
each of them a
scrambled up Rubik's Cube
00:21:12.93\00:21:16.02
and having all gazillion of them
00:21:16.05\00:21:18.44
solve it at
exactly the same moment.
00:21:18.47\00:21:20.61
So you tell me, would
you like to put your faith
00:21:23.92\00:21:27.52
in those visually challenged
people with the Rubik's Cubes
00:21:27.55\00:21:31.74
or maybe with a billion monkeys
on a billion word processors
00:21:31.77\00:21:35.80
trying to randomly pound
out a Webster's dictionary?
00:21:35.83\00:21:39.64
Or would you like to trust
00:21:39.67\00:21:43.04
what it says in
my hymn number 88,
00:21:43.07\00:21:45.80
in my church's
official hymnal where it says,
00:21:45.83\00:21:48.36
"I sing the mighty power of God
that makes the mountains rise,
00:21:48.39\00:21:54.85
that spreads the
flowing seas abroad
00:21:54.88\00:21:57.18
and built the lofty skies."
00:21:57.21\00:21:58.88
You tell me.
00:21:58.91\00:22:02.17
In his book,
"Believe in miracles
00:22:02.20\00:22:05.05
But Trust in Jesus,"
00:22:05.08\00:22:06.76
Pastor Adrian
Rogers, I've heard him speak.
00:22:06.79\00:22:09.83
He tells about a student
who came up to him one time
00:22:09.86\00:22:12.21
and he said, Pastor
Rogers, I've got a question.
00:22:12.24\00:22:15.36
Pastor Rogers, do you believe
00:22:15.39\00:22:16.47
that there's
life on other worlds?
00:22:16.50\00:22:19.47
I don't know what you
folks think about that,
00:22:19.50\00:22:21.82
although the Bible
doesn't specifically seem to say
00:22:21.85\00:22:24.73
but Pastor Rogers
gave him an answer
00:22:24.76\00:22:26.41
and he said,
"Well, young man, no,
00:22:26.44\00:22:28.48
I don't think there
is life on other worlds."
00:22:28.51\00:22:30.50
"What?" The kid said.
00:22:30.53\00:22:32.68
"You think all the life
00:22:32.71\00:22:34.89
there is in the universe
is right here on earth?"
00:22:34.92\00:22:38.20
"Uh-huh."
00:22:38.23\00:22:39.61
And the kid just shook
his head, he said, "No way.
00:22:39.64\00:22:42.60
No way. I mean,
how can that be?"
00:22:42.63\00:22:44.05
And he launched into a great
big sermon to Pastor Rogers
00:22:44.08\00:22:46.81
about how there are just
so many trillions of planets
00:22:46.84\00:22:49.77
and stars and
galaxies and milky ways,
00:22:49.80\00:22:51.94
all spinning light years
with 20 zeros after them.
00:22:51.97\00:22:56.74
I mean, you talk about ID,
00:22:56.77\00:22:58.43
you talk about
intelligent design.
00:22:58.46\00:22:59.91
And this kid, well,
he gave Pastor Rogers
00:22:59.94\00:23:02.19
quite a little Genesis 1 sermon.
00:23:02.22\00:23:04.61
And then he said
to Pastor Rogers,
00:23:04.64\00:23:06.78
"You mean to tell me,
00:23:06.81\00:23:07.85
you think God went
to all that trouble
00:23:07.88\00:23:11.43
and then just put life
on one tiny little world?"
00:23:11.46\00:23:16.01
And Pastor Rogers said
to him, "What trouble?"
00:23:16.04\00:23:19.92
Don't you just love that answer?
00:23:23.36\00:23:26.08
"What trouble?"
00:23:26.11\00:23:28.38
Listen, the Bible tells us
that when it comes to creation,
00:23:28.41\00:23:33.58
God does great things
00:23:33.61\00:23:36.70
but they're not
hard things, not for Him.
00:23:36.73\00:23:40.23
Jeremiah 32:17 tells us
00:23:40.26\00:23:43.37
that God isn't overextending
Himself when he creates.
00:23:43.40\00:23:47.84
"Ah, sovereign Lord,
you have made the heavens
00:23:47.87\00:23:51.28
and the earth by
your great power,
00:23:51.31\00:23:53.92
your great power
and outstretched arm.
00:23:53.95\00:23:56.47
Nothing is too
hard for you." Amen.
00:23:56.50\00:24:00.27
And let's put up
on the note board
00:24:00.30\00:24:03.16
for you scientists here tonight
00:24:03.19\00:24:05.86
the first law of thermodynamics.
00:24:05.89\00:24:09.01
Remember what that is?
The conservation of matter?
00:24:09.04\00:24:12.34
Actually, folks, it works
in favor of the power of God.
00:24:12.37\00:24:17.06
Chuck Colson again, I'm quoting,
00:24:17.09\00:24:19.14
"Matter cannot just pop into
existence or create itself."
00:24:19.17\00:24:24.05
Oh, but friend,
matter can pop into existence
00:24:24.08\00:24:28.48
when God clears
his throat and says,
00:24:28.51\00:24:32.32
"Let there be a world." Amen.
00:24:32.35\00:24:37.08
There's a real cute
little Reader's Digest story,
00:24:37.11\00:24:40.17
my wife buys those and I
hardly have time to read them
00:24:40.20\00:24:42.21
but there is a story about--
a great little story about
00:24:42.24\00:24:45.72
all the great
scientists of the earth
00:24:45.75\00:24:47.75
with their
gene-splicing lasers now.
00:24:47.78\00:24:50.04
They looked up the sky
00:24:50.07\00:24:51.35
one day and they
said, "You know what, God?
00:24:51.38\00:24:54.51
God, we really
don't need you anymore.
00:24:54.54\00:24:57.19
You say you're
the creator of life.
00:24:57.22\00:24:59.18
Well, now we've caught up.
00:24:59.21\00:25:01.92
You make people,
we can do it too."
00:25:01.95\00:25:05.36
And they went ahead
in the Readers Digest
00:25:05.39\00:25:07.37
and challenged God to
a man-making competition
00:25:07.40\00:25:11.07
to be televised on ESPN.
00:25:11.10\00:25:13.73
And, you know,
God didn't get angry.
00:25:13.76\00:25:15.90
You know, when we have questions
00:25:15.93\00:25:17.06
or even when we challenge Him,
00:25:17.09\00:25:19.18
He patiently demonstrates
His power and His plan.
00:25:19.21\00:25:23.57
So God said to the men in
their lab coats down there,
00:25:23.60\00:25:26.28
"All right, let's do it.
00:25:26.31\00:25:29.50
I'll make a man out of
dirt again and you do the same."
00:25:29.53\00:25:35.34
Oh, so the DNA experts
00:25:35.37\00:25:37.24
they immediately
rolled up their sleeves
00:25:37.27\00:25:38.96
and got down on their knees
00:25:38.99\00:25:40.39
and began scooping up some soil
00:25:40.42\00:25:42.22
for their test tubes
and their petri dishes
00:25:42.25\00:25:44.46
and God gently but
firmly said to them,
00:25:44.49\00:25:46.52
"Just a minute,
boys, not so fast.
00:25:46.55\00:25:50.07
Rule number one,
you get your own dirt."
00:25:50.10\00:25:53.71
Well, that's a fun story.
00:26:02.34\00:26:06.49
But maybe you'll
say, wait a minute,
00:26:06.52\00:26:10.06
what about the
mutation of species
00:26:10.09\00:26:12.25
over great spans of time?
00:26:12.28\00:26:14.70
I mean, isn't that an
argument for evolution?
00:26:14.73\00:26:19.27
But as I read some of
the scientific journals
00:26:19.30\00:26:21.86
and maybe you have too,
00:26:21.89\00:26:23.38
maybe you've
discovered that most mutations
00:26:23.41\00:26:26.97
are like typos in a report
or bugs in a computer program.
00:26:27.00\00:26:31.56
They don't make
things slowly better,
00:26:31.59\00:26:33.59
instead you have
a downward spiral
00:26:33.62\00:26:36.31
into mistakes and nonsense.
00:26:36.34\00:26:39.58
In fact, that's the
second law of thermodynamics
00:26:39.61\00:26:42.71
that our universe is slowly
wearing down, disintegrating.
00:26:42.74\00:26:47.32
It's not spiraling upward into
higher levels of complexity.
00:26:47.35\00:26:51.71
And Colson writes in his book,
00:26:51.74\00:26:53.89
"The same is true of
errors in the genetic code.
00:26:53.92\00:26:58.48
Most mutations are harmful,
often lethal to the organism.
00:26:58.51\00:27:03.73
So that if
mutations were to accumulate,
00:27:03.76\00:27:06.59
the result will be more likely
00:27:06.62\00:27:08.10
to be
devolution than evolution."
00:27:08.13\00:27:12.88
Would you like that?
00:27:12.91\00:27:15.33
Luther Burbank, the
great genetic researcher,
00:27:15.36\00:27:18.24
he coined an
expression or law called,
00:27:18.27\00:27:21.01
here we go to science again,
The Reversion to the Average.
00:27:21.04\00:27:26.83
Reversion to the Average.
00:27:26.86\00:27:29.36
Most organisms he
reports, stay true to type,
00:27:29.39\00:27:32.93
they don't stray
from the blueprint,
00:27:32.96\00:27:35.55
variations tend to
be very, very minor.
00:27:35.58\00:27:38.83
In other words, most
monkeys seem to stay monkeys.
00:27:38.86\00:27:45.65
I remember last year,
00:27:45.68\00:27:46.79
we Californians have a
couple of baseball teams there
00:27:46.82\00:27:49.90
when the San
Francisco Giants Barry Bonds
00:27:49.93\00:27:52.39
started off last
year's baseball season
00:27:52.42\00:27:54.98
with two home
runs in the first game
00:27:55.01\00:27:57.20
and two in the second game.
00:27:57.23\00:27:58.90
Wow, I mean,
extrapolating off of that,
00:27:58.93\00:28:02.22
in a 162 game
season you could figure
00:28:02.25\00:28:04.77
that Barry Bonds could
hit 324 dingers a year.
00:28:04.80\00:28:09.97
But, no, he just came
up at the end of the season
00:28:10.00\00:28:13.36
with 46 just like about always.
00:28:13.39\00:28:17.67
Little pops of
excitement happen here and there
00:28:17.70\00:28:21.00
but when all is said and done,
00:28:21.03\00:28:22.35
the reversion to the
average always happens.
00:28:22.38\00:28:26.86
My friend David Smith
back there in California
00:28:26.89\00:28:29.11
was a big Los
Angeles Dodger fan.
00:28:29.14\00:28:32.00
Count on it, when
you get to October,
00:28:32.03\00:28:33.64
most Dodgers are going
to be batting about 223
00:28:33.67\00:28:37.10
and the team is in third
place, every year without fail.
00:28:37.13\00:28:42.12
You fans out there in
Wrigley Field, Fenway Park,
00:28:42.15\00:28:45.18
you know about
the same thing too.
00:28:45.21\00:28:47.07
You see, it's the same
00:28:47.10\00:28:48.60
in the scientific
world around us too.
00:28:48.63\00:28:52.17
Now one scientific
arena of real challenge
00:28:52.20\00:28:57.16
comes with things
like "carbon-dating"
00:28:57.19\00:29:00.73
and the half-life of
radioactive material,
00:29:00.76\00:29:04.22
the perchloric
halos and so forth.
00:29:04.25\00:29:07.00
Or the layers
of the Grand Canyon
00:29:07.03\00:29:08.79
where a scientist will say,
00:29:08.82\00:29:10.46
"Well, according
to this timeline,
00:29:10.49\00:29:12.58
if you
extrapolate mathematically,
00:29:12.61\00:29:15.61
the world is X number
of millions of years old."
00:29:15.64\00:29:20.15
And listen, I'll be
the first to confess
00:29:20.18\00:29:21.79
that I don't have
all of the answers.
00:29:21.82\00:29:24.87
And that it does take
an expression of faith
00:29:24.90\00:29:28.75
to trust in God's word
00:29:28.78\00:29:30.70
over the theories
of the geology labs.
00:29:30.73\00:29:35.31
There's a
wonderful Christian writer
00:29:35.34\00:29:36.53
we often quote on our
broadcast, C.S. Lewis.
00:29:36.56\00:29:40.40
Well, C.S. Lewis once
had a dialogue with a friend
00:29:40.43\00:29:43.84
and he said to him, "Okay, look,
00:29:43.87\00:29:47.19
if you put
sixpence into a drawer today
00:29:47.22\00:29:52.34
and then you put
sixpence into a drawer tomorrow,
00:29:52.37\00:29:55.22
that same drawer and
then the day after that,
00:29:55.25\00:29:58.86
you look inside, what
are you going to find?"
00:29:58.89\00:30:03.18
One shilling, right?
00:30:03.21\00:30:05.54
And his friend picked up
on the point, "Yes," he said,
00:30:05.57\00:30:08.25
unless someone
else has gotten in there
00:30:08.28\00:30:11.02
and tampered with the drawer.
00:30:11.05\00:30:12.68
And boom, C.S. Lewis
nailed the lesson home.
00:30:12.71\00:30:16.33
"It's the same in
science," he said.
00:30:16.36\00:30:18.63
The laws work in a certain way
00:30:18.66\00:30:21.31
unless there is
interference or upheaval
00:30:21.34\00:30:25.72
or let's say for instance,
00:30:25.75\00:30:28.00
a flood that
devastates the planet
00:30:28.03\00:30:31.32
and throws the numbers off.
00:30:31.35\00:30:34.51
That's just something
to think about, isn't it?
00:30:34.54\00:30:38.22
I want to tell you tonight
that I believe this book.
00:30:38.25\00:30:43.59
Amen.
00:30:43.62\00:30:45.32
Do you know,
ladies and gentlemen,
00:30:45.35\00:30:46.55
that even Charles
Darwin himself said,
00:30:46.58\00:30:49.99
you can either
believe in my theories,
00:30:50.02\00:30:52.84
in Darwinism or you
can believe this book.
00:30:52.87\00:30:57.47
But he said the two
ideas are mutually exclusive,
00:30:57.50\00:31:01.30
you can't mix them up,
00:31:01.33\00:31:02.77
you can't blend
them, they do not coexist.
00:31:02.80\00:31:08.77
I said last night,
00:31:08.80\00:31:09.94
Jeannie and I were out
walking yesterday and today,
00:31:09.97\00:31:13.22
saw some little box turtles
out in the woods here, gorgeous.
00:31:13.25\00:31:17.99
If you're out on a
walk and you see a turtle
00:31:18.02\00:31:21.44
up on a fence
post what do you know?
00:31:21.47\00:31:25.89
Somebody came along, right?
00:31:25.92\00:31:28.90
That turtle did not
get up there by himself.
00:31:28.93\00:31:32.80
And, you know,
I see the evidence
00:31:32.83\00:31:36.61
in this sin
scarred beautiful world
00:31:36.64\00:31:40.41
that we live in
and I say, you know,
00:31:40.44\00:31:41.77
somebody came here,
somebody passed through.
00:31:41.80\00:31:46.48
A powerful God did all of this.
00:31:46.51\00:31:49.68
In fact, even the
animals in our backyard
00:31:49.71\00:31:51.53
and buzzing around
our hummingbird feeders
00:31:51.56\00:31:54.07
are a vibrant testimony to
the creative power of somebody
00:31:54.10\00:31:57.86
who came through here,
made all of these species,
00:31:57.89\00:32:00.95
birds that can
migrate and return
00:32:00.98\00:32:02.60
to San Juan Capistrano the
same day every single year,
00:32:02.63\00:32:07.20
whales and salmon that
traverse the great depths,
00:32:07.23\00:32:10.79
honeybees that build honeycombs
00:32:10.82\00:32:12.89
that are a marvel
to science and design.
00:32:12.92\00:32:17.17
You know, the next
time Eddie Murphy plays
00:32:17.20\00:32:19.11
that Dr. Dolittle character
who can talk to the animals,
00:32:19.14\00:32:23.00
I wish he'd ask some of them
00:32:23.03\00:32:24.89
how they do these
amazing God-inspired things.
00:32:24.92\00:32:29.65
But we already know the
answer, don't we, Dr. Dolittle?
00:32:29.68\00:32:32.76
Because the testimony is
right here in front of us
00:32:32.79\00:32:35.76
in the Book of Job, Chapter 12,
00:32:35.79\00:32:38.51
"But ask the animals
and they will teach you,
00:32:38.54\00:32:42.09
or the birds of the
air and they will tell you
00:32:42.12\00:32:44.78
or speak to the earth
and it will teach you,
00:32:44.81\00:32:48.24
or let the fish of
the sea inform you.
00:32:48.27\00:32:50.54
Which of all these does not know
00:32:50.57\00:32:53.17
that the Lord has done this?"
00:32:53.20\00:32:55.67
Amen.
00:32:55.70\00:32:57.56
But now let's take
another step further,
00:32:57.59\00:33:00.73
if you can see the
Bible version of events
00:33:00.76\00:33:03.62
and say, all right,
God did make the universe,
00:33:03.65\00:33:08.95
then we still have to
know what does it mean to us?
00:33:08.98\00:33:15.21
God made a world where
our brave young men and women
00:33:15.24\00:33:18.39
could get blown up and
killed by other men and women.
00:33:18.42\00:33:21.43
Does God care about that?
00:33:21.46\00:33:24.57
I want you to remember
00:33:24.60\00:33:26.58
that God creates
because he does care.
00:33:26.61\00:33:31.81
Clear back in the 26
verse of Genesis Chapter 1,
00:33:31.84\00:33:35.05
God said, "Let us make man
00:33:35.08\00:33:38.54
in our image
after our likeness."
00:33:38.57\00:33:42.27
You see, God made
us for fellowship.
00:33:42.30\00:33:45.65
He made us because He loves
us and is interested in us.
00:33:45.68\00:33:50.12
Way back there in the
tumult of the Old Testament
00:33:50.15\00:33:52.37
where there
weren't computer guided
00:33:52.40\00:33:54.25
JDAM smart bombs
and Apache helicopters
00:33:54.28\00:33:57.53
but still a lot of
warfare and bloodshed
00:33:57.56\00:33:59.63
and empty seats at
Thanksgiving dinner table,
00:33:59.66\00:34:02.66
King David wrote in Psalm 100:3,
00:34:02.69\00:34:06.62
"Know that the Lord is God.
00:34:06.65\00:34:09.23
It is He who made
us, and we are His,
00:34:09.26\00:34:12.96
we are His people,
the sheep of His pasture."
00:34:12.99\00:34:17.18
Again, that's why,
ladies and gentlemen,
00:34:17.21\00:34:20.75
we actually owe him our worship
00:34:20.78\00:34:25.37
whether we choose to be
wise enough to do it or not.
00:34:25.40\00:34:29.05
So if you do
believe that God loves us
00:34:29.08\00:34:31.27
as it says in John 3:16,
"For God so loved the world,"
00:34:31.30\00:34:34.55
and again, in 1 John
chapter 4:8, "God is love."
00:34:34.58\00:34:38.08
And Jeremiah 31:3,
"Yes, I have loved you
00:34:38.11\00:34:41.06
with an everlasting love."
00:34:41.09\00:34:43.99
But I think you need to accept
00:34:44.02\00:34:46.11
that His love and
His creative power
00:34:46.14\00:34:48.66
and His creative interest
in you are all absolutes.
00:34:48.69\00:34:55.23
One thing I hope
with all of my being
00:34:55.26\00:34:57.10
to put before you in
this series of meetings
00:34:57.13\00:34:59.59
is how eternal and how
real God's love is for you
00:34:59.62\00:35:03.28
at this very moment in time.
00:35:03.31\00:35:05.63
And that if you enter
into a relationship with Jesus
00:35:05.66\00:35:08.61
as your creator
and your redeemer,
00:35:08.64\00:35:12.20
then you can
feel safe and secure
00:35:12.23\00:35:14.86
and you can feel
protected in that relationship.
00:35:14.89\00:35:17.90
Friend, if you
get saved tonight,
00:35:17.93\00:35:20.43
if you accept Jesus as the
Lord who made you and loves you,
00:35:20.46\00:35:25.43
then you can
know that you have it,
00:35:25.46\00:35:29.50
you can know that
salvation is yours.
00:35:29.53\00:35:31.58
John 5:24 is one of my favorite
verses in all of the Bible,
00:35:31.61\00:35:34.86
I hope to put it
up on the screen here,
00:35:34.89\00:35:36.40
it has Jesus saying
this to his friends,
00:35:36.43\00:35:39.18
says it to me,
Lonnie, says it to Jim,
00:35:39.21\00:35:42.14
says it my wife
Jeannie, to Connie
00:35:42.17\00:35:43.80
and the rest of our team here.
00:35:43.83\00:35:45.68
He said, "Friend,
I tell you the truth,
00:35:45.71\00:35:48.37
whoever hears my
word and believes Him
00:35:48.40\00:35:51.87
who sent me has eternal
life and will not be condemned.
00:35:51.90\00:35:58.41
He has crossed over
from death to life."
00:35:58.44\00:36:04.76
And the Bible
doctrine of creation
00:36:04.79\00:36:06.81
also makes it
clear, doubly clear
00:36:06.84\00:36:10.86
that a God with that much love
00:36:10.89\00:36:12.98
and that much power
just will not let you go.
00:36:13.01\00:36:17.90
You're His, you can
know that you're His,
00:36:17.93\00:36:21.05
you can know that your
salvation is safe with Him.
00:36:21.08\00:36:24.01
Notice this in Romans
8:38, "I am convinced,
00:36:24.04\00:36:29.46
" Paul writes, "that
neither death nor life,
00:36:29.49\00:36:32.43
neither angels nor demons,
00:36:32.46\00:36:33.94
neither the present nor
the future nor any powers,
00:36:33.97\00:36:36.98
neither height nor
depth nor anything else
00:36:37.01\00:36:39.42
in all creation will
be able to separate us
00:36:39.45\00:36:42.06
from the love God that is
in Christ Jesus our Lord."
00:36:42.09\00:36:45.63
And what does that have to
do with our grieving father
00:36:49.12\00:36:52.91
whose son was
lost there in the dust,
00:36:52.94\00:36:54.68
in the blood of Iraq?
00:36:54.71\00:36:57.68
Simply this, the
creative power of God
00:36:57.71\00:37:02.92
is enough to bring
young Kendall Waters Bay
00:37:02.95\00:37:06.90
back to life again.
00:37:06.93\00:37:09.45
That chair at the
great banquet table
00:37:09.48\00:37:12.57
doesn't have to be
empty for all eternity
00:37:12.60\00:37:15.44
because the same
creator who brought those cells
00:37:15.47\00:37:18.63
together the first
time can easily do it again.
00:37:18.66\00:37:23.26
There's a wrenching, wrenching
story in the Los Angeles Times
00:37:23.29\00:37:26.23
written by Nora
Zamichow about how these young,
00:37:26.26\00:37:29.71
young men of ours and young
women over in the military,
00:37:29.74\00:37:34.94
they had to make wills
00:37:34.97\00:37:36.49
before they headed out
over to the war theater.
00:37:36.52\00:37:39.15
You know,
there's something obscene
00:37:39.18\00:37:40.76
really about a 19-year-old
soldier making out a will.
00:37:40.79\00:37:45.28
Writing down well,
who's going to get my boom box
00:37:45.31\00:37:49.16
and my dirt bike
and my Playstation.
00:37:49.19\00:37:52.36
I mean, these are just kids.
00:37:52.39\00:37:55.03
They weren't giving
away Wall Street portfolios
00:37:55.06\00:37:57.30
and luxury
yachts and Lenox china.
00:37:57.33\00:38:00.44
In fact, some of
the soldiers joked that,
00:38:00.47\00:38:02.73
well, Uncle Sam
paid them so little
00:38:02.76\00:38:05.03
there was hardly
anything to give away.
00:38:05.06\00:38:07.94
But those jokes were hiding
00:38:07.97\00:38:09.64
the pounding pulses
of those young marines,
00:38:09.67\00:38:12.56
the tears of their
brides and sadly already
00:38:12.59\00:38:17.43
some of those wills are having
to be put into effect now.
00:38:17.46\00:38:21.98
But, friend, God promises
00:38:22.01\00:38:24.12
to make it right one
of these days, doesn't He?
00:38:24.15\00:38:26.31
Amen.
00:38:26.34\00:38:27.41
Isaiah 26:19, it says,
00:38:27.44\00:38:31.42
"But your dead will
live, their bodies will rise.
00:38:31.45\00:38:36.80
You who dwell in the dust,
wake up and shout for joy."
00:38:36.83\00:38:40.56
I, from time to
time have subscribed
00:38:43.56\00:38:46.08
to Newsweek
magazine and Anna Quindlen
00:38:46.11\00:38:48.18
is a wonderful
columnist in Newsweek.
00:38:48.21\00:38:51.03
Anna Quindlen
describes a bad Monday
00:38:51.06\00:38:53.54
that she had with her
daughter a little while back.
00:38:53.57\00:38:56.69
You see, first
of all, on that day
00:38:56.72\00:38:58.61
they went to a funeral.
00:38:58.64\00:39:01.18
Well, that was bad
but then a cell phone call
00:39:01.21\00:39:05.03
had them rushing to the hospital
00:39:05.06\00:39:06.61
where another
friend was in the valley
00:39:06.64\00:39:08.36
of the shadow of death.
00:39:08.39\00:39:10.28
And right after that
it was a trifecta of tears
00:39:10.31\00:39:12.63
because their cat was poisoned.
00:39:12.66\00:39:15.67
So they were speeding to
the vet's to deal with that.
00:39:15.70\00:39:19.40
Well, finally it was bedtime.
00:39:19.43\00:39:22.18
What a day.
00:39:22.21\00:39:24.36
And Anna, the
good mom that she is,
00:39:24.39\00:39:26.00
she tucked her little
girl and she put her into bed,
00:39:26.03\00:39:28.92
she said to her very,
very quietly, "Well, honey,
00:39:28.95\00:39:32.23
this was a tough, tough day.
00:39:32.26\00:39:36.03
But, sweetheart,
look at it this way,
00:39:36.06\00:39:38.68
we'll never go
through a day like this again.
00:39:38.71\00:39:43.49
That was Sept 10, 2001, Monday.
00:39:43.52\00:39:49.23
September '10 and
the Quindlen family
00:39:49.26\00:39:52.48
lives in New York City.
00:39:52.51\00:39:54.82
The very next
morning we all know
00:39:54.85\00:39:57.61
how death invaded our
world like never before
00:39:57.64\00:40:00.09
and in Miss Quindlen's words,
the day America's mind reeled,
00:40:00.12\00:40:04.66
its spine stiffened
and its heart broke.
00:40:04.69\00:40:10.96
Some of you here tonight
00:40:10.99\00:40:13.09
or watching at our
various downlink sites,
00:40:13.12\00:40:16.00
you might have had a
loved one in those twin towers
00:40:16.03\00:40:20.25
or in the pentagon or in
one of those four planes.
00:40:20.28\00:40:24.70
When the hijackers' plane
00:40:24.73\00:40:26.07
sliced into that
World Trade Center,
00:40:26.10\00:40:28.32
someone you loved
was just suddenly gone,
00:40:28.35\00:40:32.43
in one fiery moment,
gone, wasn't anything left,
00:40:32.46\00:40:36.22
no traces, no DNA,
no cells and no record.
00:40:36.25\00:40:40.21
I mean, we all read
00:40:40.24\00:40:41.29
how those firefighters
truly New York's finest,
00:40:41.32\00:40:44.89
they started to
write their names
00:40:44.92\00:40:46.23
and their
social security numbers
00:40:46.26\00:40:47.51
on their own forearms
00:40:47.54\00:40:48.67
just in case someone later
00:40:48.70\00:40:50.42
had to hunt through
rubble for their remains.
00:40:50.45\00:40:54.25
But here your
loved one is simply gone,
00:40:54.28\00:40:57.92
nothing is left
for God to work with,
00:40:57.95\00:41:00.51
how can He clone
them or recreate them?
00:41:00.54\00:41:04.29
Well, friend, let not
your heart be troubled.
00:41:04.32\00:41:11.01
Does God need a
lab? Does God need DNA?
00:41:11.04\00:41:16.28
Did He make Adam out of DNA?
00:41:16.31\00:41:18.91
Or can He just speak the word
and have the person you love
00:41:18.94\00:41:22.60
and miss so much
instantly come back to life?
00:41:22.63\00:41:26.38
Maybe they were lost at sea,
00:41:26.41\00:41:28.75
maybe they've been
resting in a casket
00:41:28.78\00:41:30.42
for many years now.
00:41:30.45\00:41:32.30
Friend, that's
not a problem for God
00:41:32.33\00:41:34.68
because He's a creator
God who loves to create
00:41:34.71\00:41:37.98
and recreate life for
those who love and worship Him.
00:41:38.01\00:41:42.66
I want you to say
this great Isaiah promise
00:41:42.69\00:41:44.89
of creative power with me
00:41:44.92\00:41:46.06
as we close tonight
from Isaiah 65:17-18.
00:41:46.09\00:41:49.42
Everyone, "Behold, I will create
00:41:49.45\00:41:53.00
new heavens and a new earth.
00:41:53.03\00:41:55.68
The former things
will not be remembered
00:41:55.71\00:41:58.50
nor will they come to mind.
00:41:58.53\00:42:00.86
But be glad and rejoice forever
00:42:00.89\00:42:03.88
in what I will create,
for I will create Jerusalem
00:42:03.91\00:42:07.75
to be a delight
and its people a joy."
00:42:07.78\00:42:11.35
Amen.
00:42:11.38\00:42:12.83
And for all of you
who have a tombstone
00:42:12.86\00:42:14.60
in your life right now,
00:42:14.63\00:42:16.80
what beautiful words
these are in Isaiah 65:19,
00:42:16.83\00:42:20.37
"I will rejoice over Jerusalem
in take delight in my people.
00:42:20.40\00:42:25.08
The sound of
weeping and of crying
00:42:25.11\00:42:29.34
will be heard in it no more."
00:42:29.37\00:42:31.20
Amen.
00:42:31.23\00:42:32.63
Friend, this is the
first in a three-part series,
00:42:32.66\00:42:35.31
don't miss next week.
00:42:35.34\00:42:36.56
God has a plan, God's in control
00:42:36.59\00:42:38.34
and before we close tonight,
00:42:38.37\00:42:40.14
this good word, in
the end we know who wins.
00:42:40.17\00:42:46.78
Did you know the creator
knows you by name, friend?
00:42:46.81\00:42:50.36
Long before you were born,
He had a plan for your life
00:42:50.39\00:42:54.22
and that your being here tonight
00:42:54.25\00:42:56.14
is a continuation
of that divine plan.
00:42:56.17\00:42:58.92
Listen carefully to
the words of Joey's song
00:42:58.95\00:43:01.15
and take comfort that
He had you on his mind.
00:43:01.18\00:43:06.69
He had me on His mind
00:43:10.38\00:43:14.32
Long before creation was begun
00:43:14.35\00:43:21.57
He had me on His mind
00:43:21.60\00:43:25.42
Long before a bird had ever sung
00:43:25.45\00:43:31.90
And long before
the earth was formed
00:43:31.93\00:43:36.95
Long before the sky and sea
00:43:36.98\00:43:42.89
Before the world was born
00:43:42.92\00:43:46.69
He thought of me, of me
00:43:46.72\00:43:51.86
He even knew my name
00:43:55.58\00:43:59.47
Long before I
ever learned to breathe
00:43:59.50\00:44:06.48
He had me on His mind
00:44:06.51\00:44:10.32
He was thinking of me constantly
00:44:10.35\00:44:17.18
And long before I ever knew
00:44:17.21\00:44:22.48
The plan that God designed
00:44:22.51\00:44:28.47
He thought of me,
00:44:28.50\00:44:32.50
He had me on His mind
00:44:32.53\00:44:39.27
Amen. Shall we pray?
00:44:43.65\00:44:46.82
Mighty God and friendly savior,
00:44:46.85\00:44:49.06
we're so thankful tonight
00:44:49.09\00:44:50.38
that your creative power
demonstrates your saving power
00:44:50.41\00:44:54.26
and also your keeping power.
00:44:54.29\00:44:56.93
Father, we praise you tonight
for the Christians' worldview
00:44:56.96\00:45:01.09
that You lovingly made us
00:45:01.12\00:45:02.53
and are even now
redeeming and restoring us
00:45:02.56\00:45:05.80
and soon You're
going to rescue us
00:45:05.83\00:45:07.72
and make this
world all brand new.
00:45:07.75\00:45:10.01
Help us to
place our trust in you
00:45:10.04\00:45:12.05
and also give our
undying worship to the God
00:45:12.08\00:45:16.82
who knows each of
his children by name.
00:45:16.85\00:45:20.69
I want to take your
response card just now.
00:45:20.72\00:45:24.82
Would you look through those
various options for you tonight
00:45:24.85\00:45:29.82
by way of a prayer
and a personal commitment?
00:45:29.85\00:45:32.32
Row captains,
just pass those down.
00:45:32.35\00:45:34.15
Take a card out and a
pencil if you need it.
00:45:34.18\00:45:36.65
I want to go over
this briefly with you.
00:45:36.68\00:45:38.40
I want you to check one
of those three responses
00:45:38.43\00:45:41.23
while we're still in
an attitude of prayer.
00:45:41.26\00:45:43.24
Pass those right down.
00:45:43.27\00:45:44.34
Thank you, ladies and gentlemen,
00:45:44.37\00:45:45.66
and all the downlink locations
00:45:45.69\00:45:47.14
who should be receiving one now.
00:45:47.17\00:45:48.98
Look at the first one.
00:45:49.01\00:45:51.15
This is what it's trying to
say tonight, listen carefully.
00:45:51.18\00:45:54.34
I believe God not only
has a plan for creation
00:45:54.37\00:45:58.48
but for my salvation
that not only comes by grace
00:45:58.51\00:46:01.62
through faith in Jesus Christ.
00:46:01.65\00:46:05.05
Check that, I hope
everyone can do that.
00:46:05.08\00:46:07.33
Secondly, I open my
heart to Jesus' love right now.
00:46:07.36\00:46:11.21
Thank you for
creating me and redeeming me,
00:46:11.24\00:46:13.64
I give you my life right now.
00:46:13.67\00:46:16.53
Put a check there
beside number two.
00:46:16.56\00:46:18.78
There may be some tonight
00:46:18.81\00:46:19.91
that like to check number three,
00:46:19.94\00:46:21.02
I would like
additional reading material
00:46:21.05\00:46:23.01
to help me learn
more about Jesus.
00:46:23.04\00:46:26.96
Put a check in that and
then as that basket comes by,
00:46:26.99\00:46:30.34
place it there
as Joey continues.
00:46:30.37\00:46:34.45
He even knew your name
00:46:34.48\00:46:38.51
Long before you
ever learned to breathe
00:46:38.54\00:46:45.54
He had you on His mind
00:46:45.57\00:46:49.14
He was thinking
of you constantly
00:46:49.17\00:46:55.55
And long before you ever knew
00:46:55.58\00:47:01.11
The plan that God designed
00:47:01.14\00:47:06.75
He thought of you,
00:47:06.78\00:47:10.87
He had you on His mind
00:47:10.90\00:47:16.87
And so, Father, bless us
00:47:26.23\00:47:27.43
as we close our meeting tonight.
00:47:27.46\00:47:30.08
Thank you that we can
worship a God who cares,
00:47:30.11\00:47:35.60
who has designed us
and who is in control.
00:47:35.63\00:47:42.08
I want you to remember,
tomorrow night's subject,
00:47:42.11\00:47:44.39
"Created for Something Better."
It's part two in the series.
00:47:44.42\00:47:51.22
Tonight, Sunday night
00:47:51.25\00:47:53.80
and then our next
meeting on Wednesday night.
00:47:53.83\00:47:55.99
Be sure you get
them all three together,
00:47:56.02\00:47:58.11
brand new, beautiful.
00:47:58.14\00:48:00.89
What's next?
00:48:00.92\00:48:02.84
Revelation speaks,
Voice of prophecy speaks.
00:48:02.87\00:48:05.42
Thank you for coming.
00:48:05.45\00:48:06.68
Tomorrow night,
"Created for Something Better."
00:48:06.71\00:48:09.86
Don't forget, our
hospitality location tonight,
00:48:09.89\00:48:13.34
all of the downlink
sites as well as here.
00:48:13.37\00:48:15.83
If you have
questions or you particularly
00:48:15.86\00:48:17.41
would like to
meet some of our staff,
00:48:17.44\00:48:18.96
our musicians, myself,
00:48:18.99\00:48:21.29
come on over underneath
the great big indicator
00:48:21.32\00:48:23.96
or on your downlink locations
00:48:23.99\00:48:25.41
where your host
has told you to meet.
00:48:25.44\00:48:28.02
Good night, God bless you.
00:48:28.05\00:48:29.78