Gods Creation, 100 / evolution, 0
WHY DID T. REX HAVE TINY ARMS?

Few animals capture the imagination quite like Tyrannosaurus rex. It's one of the most recognizable dinosaurs in the world. Towering over the landscape with a massive skull and bone-crushing jaws, one feature has puzzled scientists for decades: those tiny little arms.

A new study claims to have solved the mystery.

After examining the skulls and forelimbs of dozens of meat-eating dinosaurs, researchers found that species with larger, more robust skulls generally had smaller arms. From that relationship, they proposed that as these dinosaurs supposedly changed over millions of years, the head gradually became the primary weapon while the forelimbs became less important.

It's an interesting observation, but does that explanation really follow?

The study identified a relationship between skull size and arm size. It didn't discover how that relationship came to be. Instead, the evolutionary story is added afterward because that's the framework through which the evidence is being interpreted.

But there's another explanation that's much simpler.

Think about a playground teeter-totter. If one side becomes much heavier, the other side has to compensate or everything falls out of balance. A two-legged dinosaur faces the same engineering challenge. Its head, neck, torso, hips, legs, tail, and forelimbs all have to work together to keep its center of gravity exactly where it belongs.

A massive skull combined with equally massive forelimbs would place tremendous weight toward the front of the animal. Something else would have to compensate. The tail would need to become larger, the hips would need to change, or the body would become increasingly unstable. Suddenly those tiny arms don't seem strange at all. They make perfect engineering sense as part of a balanced, integrated body.

The researchers also describe the arms as "reduced" or "vestigial," yet they still don't know exactly what purpose those arms served. History has shown why we should be cautious with that conclusion. Again and again, structures once dismissed as evolutionary leftovers have later been found to perform important functions.

The difference ultimately comes down to where we begin.

If evolution is the starting point, then every feature must somehow be explained through millions of years of gradual change. But if we begin where Scripture begins, with God as Creator, then coordinated engineering is exactly what we should expect. The Bible tells us God created every creature according to its kind during Creation Week. From that perspective, T. rex wasn't a work in progress. It was created as a complete, fully functional animal whose skull, arms, legs, hips, and tail all worked together from the very beginning.

The word "dinosaur" wasn't even invented until 1842. Before that, these incredible creatures would simply have been known as dragons, great beasts, or perhaps even among the kinds of magnificent animals described in passages like Behemoth in the book of Job. Whatever name people used, they were part of the "very good" creation God made during Creation Week.

The tiny arms of Tyrannosaurus rex aren't evidence of a failed evolutionary experiment. They are another reminder that God's creation displays remarkable engineering, thoughtful design, and purpose, even in places where scientists are still searching for answers.

“One of these days some simple soul will pick up the Book of God, read it, and believe it. Then the rest of us will be embarrassed. We have adopted the convenient theory that the Bible is a Book to be explained, whereas first and foremost it is a Book to be believed (and after that to be obeyed).”

Leonard Ravenhill | Why Revival Tarries

Kingdom Carriers | Beyond the Uniform

Around midday on Wednesday, I was making my way to the hospital chapel for our weekly time of fellowship and prayer.

As I approached, I noticed a gentleman from our security team sitting quietly inside.

From a distance, the uniform caught my attention first.

But then I noticed something else.

He was reading his Bible.

I had seen him around the hospital before. We had exchanged greetings in passing, but we had never really stopped to talk.

This time I did.

I introduced myself, and he told me his name was Tama.

I explained that a few of us gather in the chapel every Wednesday around midday for fellowship and prayer, and that he would always be welcome to join us.

As others began arriving and our fellowship was about to start, I sensed Tama would soon need to return to his duties.

So before he left, I excused myself for a moment and brought him a copy of Kingdom Carriers.

He received it gratefully.

I watched briefly as he looked at the front cover, turned it over, and began reading the back.

Then he returned to his duties.

That was it.

No long conversation.

No dramatic ending.

And I don't know what God will do with that brief encounter.

But afterwards, one thought stayed with me:

At first I saw a uniform. When I stopped, I met a brother.

How easily we identify people by what we first see.

The uniform. The occupation.
The position. The label.

But Jesus consistently looked beyond what people did and saw the person standing before Him.

Perhaps there are people we pass regularly whose faces we recognise, but whose names we have never learnt.

Sometimes a Kingdom encounter doesn't begin with preaching.

It begins by stopping long enough to see the person.

Wednesday reminded me:

There is always more to someone than the uniform they wear.

I sowed a small seed.

What happens next belongs entirely to God.

All glory and honour belong to Him.

Grace and peace,

Jacob

Kingdom Carriers (Free Download)

https://books2read.com/u/mlJqo7

Website

https://www.jacobisaac.co.nz

Victory Belongs to the Lord

Scripture

Judges 7:2 (NKJV)
And the Lord said to Gideon The people who are with you are too many for Me to give the Midianites into their hands lest Israel claim glory for itself against Me saying My own hand has saved me

God Works Best When We Rely on Him

Judges chapter 7 continues Gideon’s story at a surprising moment. Gideon has gathered an army to face the Midianites but God says the army is too large. This seems backwards. Yet God’s concern is not military strength but spiritual clarity. If Israel wins with overwhelming numbers they may believe the victory came from themselves.

God reduces the army in stages until only three hundred men remain. The purpose is clear. The victory must point unmistakably to God. When success cannot be explained by human strength God alone receives the glory.

This chapter teaches that God sometimes removes what we rely on so that we learn to rely fully on Him. Weakness in our hands becomes strength in God’s hands. What feels insufficient is often exactly what God uses to display His power.

For believers today Judges 7 reminds us that God is not impressed by numbers resources or human ability. He desires hearts that trust Him completely. When we depend on God rather than ourselves He works in ways that leave no doubt that He alone brought the victory.

Reflection Questions

1. Am I relying more on my ability or on God’s power

2. Has God ever reduced something in my life to strengthen my faith

3. How can I give God full glory for the victories I experience

Prayer

Lord God help me to trust You fully and not rely on my own strength. When You remove what I lean on teach me to lean on You instead. May my life point to Your power and may You receive all the glory for every victory. In Jesus name Amen.

Need to know.
WHY DID GOD COMMAND MOSES TO MAKE A BRONZE SERPENT?

At first glance, God's command may seem confusing. Why would He tell Moses to make a bronze serpent—the very image of what was harming the people?

The answer reveals one of the most powerful pictures of salvation in the entire Bible.

When the Israelites rebelled against God, fiery serpents entered the camp, and many people were bitten because of their sin (Numbers 21:4–9). When they repented, God provided a way for them to be saved. He instructed Moses to make a bronze serpent (not gold) and place it on a pole.

Numbers 21:8 (NKJV) says:

"Then the Lord said to Moses, 'Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a pole; and it shall be that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, shall live.'"

The bronze serpent had no healing power of its own. It was not an idol to be worshiped or a magical object. Healing came because the people trusted God's promise. Looking at the bronze serpent was an act of faith and obedience. Those who believed God and looked were healed. Those who refused remained under the consequences of the serpent's bite.

Most importantly, the bronze serpent was a prophetic symbol pointing to Jesus Christ.

Jesus Himself explained its meaning:

John 3:14–15 says:

"And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of Man be lifted up, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life."

Just as the Israelites looked to the bronze serpent and lived, we look to Jesus Christ, who was lifted up on the cross, and receive forgiveness and eternal life through faith in Him.

The serpent represented the curse and the judgment brought by sin. Christ, though completely sinless, took our judgment upon Himself so that we could be saved.

As 2 Corinthians 5:21 declares:

"For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him."

God did not ask Israel to trust a piece of bronze. He asked them to trust His word. The bronze serpent was simply the sign He appointed to point people toward His saving power—a sign that ultimately pointed to Jesus, the true Savior of the world.

Lesley Sumrall :
Smith Wigglesworth knew these pioneers who were British intimately. He knew the pioneers of Pentecostalism. He often ministered with the Jeffreys, Donald Gee, Howard Carter, T.B.
Barratt of Norway, Stanley Frodsham, and most of the others I have mentioned.
Of a truth, he was born in very favorable times, surrounded by unusual men who blessed and inspired one another. And, like many other great men, he came from a humble beginning. Much of this has been told in detail in Frodsham's books and in books by others about Wigglesworth .He was hardly known beyond his hometown of Bradford until he was forty-eight years old when he received the Pentecostal experience at Sunderland under the ministry of Episcopal Vicar Alexander Boddy and his wife. Until this time, Wigglesworth was a plumber and assisted his wife, Polly, in a mission. She did the preaching, and he greeted people at the door, passed out books, and counseled at the altar.
From the time Wigglesworth was six years old, he helped support his family, first by pulling turnips then by working in a factory with his brother and his father. Because he was deprived of an education, he never learned to read until he was an adult. In fact, his wife taught him to read. In later years, he said that he never read anything but the Bible.
Wigglesworth was converted at eight years of age at a Wesleyan Methodist Church. At ten, he changed to the Church of England and was confirmed. He was sixteen when he went to the Salvation Army. At twenty he moved to Liverpool to work. He won hundreds to Christ, particularly the poor children who lived near the docks. He fed them from his salary and preached Jesus to them.
At twenty-three, Wigglesworth returned to Bradford, where he made his home for the remaining days of his life.
There, he opened his own plumbing business and met the young lady who was to become his wife.
Wigglesworth received healing from a ruptured appendix. As a result, he said that God gave him great faith to pray for people suffering with appendicitis. He began his healing ministry before he was baptized in the Spirit. He usually concluded his sermons by praying for the sick.
Polly Wigglesworth died before her husband began to be well-known and to preach extensively in other countries. In his later years, he became one of the best-known evangelists in the Pentecostal movement.
He was accused of being "rough" with people, but he was never accused of being weak in faith.
Of course, I heard about him long before I ever met him.
In Sidney, Australia, a pastor asked me, "Have you ever met Smith Wigglesworth?"
I said, "Not yet. I'm on my way. I'm going to find him somewhere. I have heard of some of the miraculous things that happen in his unique ministry."
The pastor said, "He was here in my city recently, and did we ever have a time! I took him to one of the fanciest restaurants to have lunch on Sunday. When we came into the restaurant, someone took his coat and hung it up for him. He looked around like an eagle. Only wealthy people ate in this restaurant. Instead of sitting down, he took a fork and began to hit the side of his glass with it. Bing! Bing! Bing! Bing!
Everybody stopped eating.
"Here was Wigglesworth, a handsome-looking man, beating his water glass. Then he raised his hand and said, 'Ladies and gentlemen, I have noticed since arriving here that none of you prayed over your food. You resemble a bunch of hogs to me. You just jump in and eat without giving thanks to the One Who provided it for you. Bow your heads, and I'll pray for you.'"
The pastor told me, "I could have crawled under the table very easily and gotten out of the way so people wouldn't see me. Wigglesworth raised his hands and prayed for those people. Before we left the restaurant however, two families came over and got saved. Then I was ashamed of myself for not being as strong as Wigglesworth."
Wigglesworth's ministry centered on salvation, healing, and the baptism of the Holy Spirit. He was strong in character and created his own atmosphere wherever he went.

After receiving the baptism of the Holy Spirit, the Lord spoke to Wigglesworth to prepare a banquet for the poor, the lame, and the blind. He secured tickets and hired two people to
go throughout the city and find the afflicted, the tormented, and the crippled and bring them to a supper he would provide at the mission.
He often said the sight of those suppers was beyond description, and that this was the happiest time of his life. The mighty healings that took place during those times increased
Wigglesworth's faith.

During the 1920s, he came to America on severalevangelistic tours. The first time I heard any specific details of his ministry was in San Francisco before starting around the world with Howard Carter.
I was preaching at the Glad Tidings Tabernacle, which seated more than three thousand people.
People said to me, "Have you met Smith Wigglesworth?"
I said, "No, not yet," and they told me he had been there in the same tabernacle where I was preaching. They told me of a cancer patient brought to the healing service.
Wigglesworth went down the line, saying, "What'sup?"
British-ese for "What is wrong with you?"
When he got to this man lying on a bed wearing only a little hospital gown that tied in the back, Wigglesworth asked the doctor with the man, "What's up?"
The doctor explained that his patient was dying of cancer.
Wigglesworth asked, "Where is it?" and the doctor replied, "In his stomach."
The evangelist promptly balled up his fist and hit the man in the stomach so hard the man appeared to die. His hands fell off the bed, and the doctor began to scream, "He's dead! He's dead!"
He looked up at Wigglesworth and said, "You've killed him! The family will sue you!"
Wigglesworth calmly looked at the doctor and said, "E's 'ealed." He talked with a Yorkshire accent, not pronouncing his "h's."
He did not stop but kept on walking down the line praying. About ten minutes later, the man came down the line behind Wigglesworth on the platform. He had stood up, moved the doctor to one side, and was walking around in that funny little hospital gown with his backside hanging out before more than three thousand people!
He did not have one thought for his appearance, however. He had his up hands over his head and was screaming, "I'm healed! I'm healed!"
Even the doctor had developed faith. He was right behind the sick bed yelling, "He's healed! He's healed!"
The man caught up with Wigglesworth and said, "I have no pain. I feel wonderful inside. I have energy I have not had for I don't know how long," but Wigglesworth never even
turned around to look at him.
He just said, "Well, thank God for it," and went on praying for people. It was no big surprise to Wigglesworth. He already knew the man was healed.

That was the first time I had heard a detailed story of Wigglesworth's ministry, although I had heard about him since I was a small boy. After hearing this story, I thought, "Say! Someday I want to meet him."

Then I went to New Zealand and Australia and heard more stories, including the incident in the restaurant, which only increased my desire to meet this man. When I met him I was not disappointed. He was just what I expected him to be from all that I had heard about him from the people of the nations I had visited, where he had conducted meetings.
Some ministers found Wigglesworth too strong in faith, and that frightened them. Also, he was strong in rebuking them for not having any faith. I loved him and his attitude against sin and sickness. In fact, the stories had not been enough to really tell me what the man was like, nor can any book written about him do Smith Wigglesworth justice.
- Dr Lester Sumrall (Pioneers Of Faith)

The Mice in the Piano

Pastor Joseph Clark
August 12, 2026

“He who denies the existence of God, has some reason for wishing that God did not exist.”

—Saint Augustine

“Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But whoever disowns Me before others, I will disown before My Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 10:32–33

The Mice in the Piano

Once upon a time, there were two little mice. They were brothers, and they had lived their entire lives inside a piano. It was the only world they had ever known.

Their parents and siblings had died of old age, leaving the two brothers as the last members of their family. They spent their days exploring their strange little world and listening in wonder to the beautiful music that constantly filled the piano.

They could not see where the music came from.

Their parents had taught them that the music was produced by a great and mysterious being who lived beyond their understanding—the one who played the piano.

The two mice loved to think about this great player. They talked about him, wondered about him, and delighted in the beautiful music he produced.

Then, one day, one of the mice went exploring.

When he returned, he was thoughtful and unusually serious.

“There is no great player,” he told his brother. “It is all a myth. I have seen the inside of this piano. The music is produced by wires, hammers, strings, and mechanisms. I have seen them with my own eyes!”

The brothers abandoned their belief in the great player.

They were convinced that they had finally discovered the truth. They understood the mechanisms of the piano, and therefore they believed they had explained away the musician.

They examined the wires, hammers, strings, and mechanical workings repeatedly. The more they learned about how the piano worked, the more confident they became that there was no need to believe in a player.

But they had overlooked something very important.

Knowing how the piano works does not explain who is playing it.

And so, while the two mice congratulated themselves on their newfound wisdom, the great player continued to play.

The mice simply could not see him.

The Limits of Human Understanding

There is an important lesson in this little story.

Human beings are intelligent. We have learned extraordinary things about the universe. We have explored the depths of the oceans, walked on the moon, examined the microscopic world, mapped the human genome, and discovered astonishing laws governing the physical universe.

But our ability to understand something does not mean that we understand everything.

The Bible repeatedly reminds us that humility is essential when approaching God.

Jesus said:

“Unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.”

—Matthew 18:3

He also said:

“Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven.”

—Matthew 19:14

And again:

“Whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.”

—Luke 18:17

Jesus is not telling us to abandon reason or become intellectually childish. Rather, He is calling us to humility, trust, and dependence upon God.

Scripture says:

“Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.”

—Matthew 18:4

The Christian life begins with recognizing that God is God—and we are not.

“For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

—Ephesians 2:8

And:

“The righteous shall live by faith.”

—Romans 1:17

Faith is not a rejection of reason. Faith recognizes that human reason has limits.

Living in a Skeptical Age

In 1897, Francis Pharcellus Church wrote his famous response to eight-year-old Virginia O'Hanlon concerning her question about Santa Claus. Church observed that people can become skeptical of anything they cannot see or fully comprehend.

Although Church was writing about Santa Claus—not God—the broader observation is worth considering.

We live in an age that often treats what can be measured as though it were the only thing that can be real.

But there are many things we accept as real without seeing them directly.

We cannot see gravity.

We cannot see thoughts.

We cannot see love.

We cannot see electricity itself.

Yet we observe their effects.

Likewise, Christians believe that although God cannot be placed under a microscope or reduced to a laboratory experiment, His existence can be considered through the evidence of creation, reason, morality, human consciousness, history, and ultimately the revelation of Jesus Christ.

The fact that we cannot see God with our physical eyes does not prove that God does not exist.

The mice could not see the piano player either.

That did not mean he wasn't there.

When People Mock Our Faith

A close friend of mine, an Archbishop, once told me a humorous story from his childhood.

He had been at a park with his mother when he ran over excitedly and told her that the sun was actually a star and that the stars in the sky were also suns.

His mother, apparently overwhelmed by the complexity of the information, responded with a blunt declaration that, in essence, the sun was the sun and the stars were the stars—and that was the end of the discussion!

Sometimes we can become uncomfortable when someone challenges what we believe.

That is particularly true when people we respect dismiss Christianity as foolishness.

Richard Dawkins, Woody Allen, Isaac Asimov, Mark Twain, Carl Sagan, and many others have expressed skepticism toward Christianity or belief in God.

But Christians should not respond with anger or hatred.

We should respond with grace.

Forgive them. Pray for them. Love them. And share the Gospel with them.

The Apostle Peter instructed Christians:

“Always be ready to give an answer to anyone who asks you for the reason for the hope that is in you; yet do it with gentleness and respect.”

—1 Peter 3:15

That is an important distinction.

We are called to defend the faith, but we are not called to be quarrelsome.

Jesus said:

“If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet.”

—Matthew 10:14

And He warned:

“Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls before swine.”

—Matthew 7:6

There comes a time when we must recognize that arguing louder will not make someone believe.

Our responsibility is to faithfully proclaim Christ.

The Holy Spirit is responsible for changing hearts.

What About Suffering?

One of the most common objections to belief in God is the existence of suffering.

People ask:

“How can I believe in a loving God when there is so much suffering in the world?”

This is a serious question, and Christians should never dismiss it with a shallow answer.

The Bible itself contains people crying out to God in the midst of suffering. Job asked difficult questions. David cried out in the Psalms. Even Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

Christianity does not pretend that suffering is imaginary.

Instead, Christianity tells us that suffering exists in a fallen world and that God entered that suffering Himself through Jesus Christ.

The cross is Christianity's answer to the claim that God is indifferent to human suffering.

God did not remain distant from our pain.

He entered our world.

He suffered.

He died.

And He rose again.

The Apostle Paul writes:

“For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us.”

—Romans 8:18

C.S. Lewis famously described pain as God's “megaphone” to a deaf world.

Suffering does not prove that God does not exist. For many people, suffering instead becomes the very circumstance that drives them to ask the deepest questions about meaning, morality, mortality, and God.

What About Hell?

Another question frequently asked is:

“How can a loving God send people to Hell?”

The Christian answer begins with the extraordinary love of God.

Jesus said:

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life.”

—John 3:16

God offers salvation freely through Christ.

The Gospel is not a message that God delights in condemning people. It is a message that God has provided a way of salvation.

Jesus came to seek and save the lost.

The seriousness of judgment is precisely what makes the offer of salvation so important.

God does not force anyone to love Him.

The Gospel calls us to repent, believe, and receive the grace of God.

Faith and the Evidence of Creation

The universe raises enormous questions.

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Why does the universe possess order?

Why are the laws of nature intelligible?

Why does human consciousness exist?

Why do human beings possess an awareness of moral obligation?

Science can investigate how many things work. But questions concerning ultimate meaning and purpose extend beyond the laboratory.

The Christian does not believe that science is the enemy of faith.

Quite the opposite.

The universe is intelligible because Christians believe it was created by an intelligent God.

The laws of nature can be investigated because Christians believe those laws reflect an ordered creation.

The human capacity to reason can be used to explore the universe because Christians believe human beings were created by God.

Science can tell us much about the mechanisms of the piano.

But science alone cannot answer the question:

Who is playing the music?

Believers in the Scientific Community

Christianity has never belonged exclusively to the uneducated or uninformed.

Throughout history, many highly accomplished scientists have believed in God.

Among them are figures such as:

Isaac Newton, whose work transformed physics and mathematics.
James Clerk Maxwell, one of the great figures in electromagnetic theory.
Gregor Mendel, whose experiments established foundational principles of genetics and who was also an Augustinian friar.
Georges Lemaître, a Catholic priest and physicist whose work on an expanding universe helped establish the foundation of what became known as Big Bang cosmology.
Francis Collins, physician-geneticist and former director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, who has publicly identified as a Christian.
Charles Townes, Nobel Prize-winning physicist and inventor of the maser and co-inventor of the laser, who was an openly religious Christian.

These examples do not prove Christianity simply because these scientists believed.

But they do demonstrate something important:

Faith in God is not incompatible with intellectual achievement.

A person does not have to abandon intelligence in order to believe in God.

Nor does becoming a Christian require someone to stop asking questions.

Christians should welcome honest questions.

The Problem With the Piano Mice

The two mice made a fundamental mistake.

They confused an explanation of the mechanism with an explanation of the ultimate cause.

They discovered the wires.

They discovered the hammers.

They discovered the strings.

They discovered the machinery.

And then they concluded:

“Therefore, there is no piano player.”

But that conclusion did not logically follow from their discovery.

In fact, their discovery of the piano's complexity could have led them to ask an entirely different question:

Who designed this?

And that is the question we must ultimately ask about our universe.

Where did everything come from?

Why is there something rather than nothing?

Why does the universe operate according to discoverable laws?

Why does consciousness exist?

Why do we have an innate sense that some things are genuinely right and others genuinely wrong?

And perhaps the greatest question of all:

Who are we, and why are we here?

The Christian answer is that we are creatures made by our Creator.

We are not accidents without purpose.

We were created by God, for God, and ultimately for relationship with Him.

We Are the Mice

There is another lesson in the story that we must not miss.

Perhaps the greatest danger is not being ignorant.

Perhaps it is believing that we know everything.

We are the mice in the piano.

We live inside a universe vastly larger and more complicated than our minds can fully comprehend.

We see only a fraction of reality.

We understand only a fraction of what exists.

And yet we sometimes look at the small portion we understand and confidently declare that nothing exists beyond it.

The Bible reminds us:

“For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways, declares the LORD.”

—Isaiah 55:8

And:

“Oh, the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and how inscrutable His ways!”

—Romans 11:33

The proper response to a God who is greater than our understanding is not arrogance.

It is humility.

It is worship.

It is faith.

The Music Continues

The two mice eventually stopped believing in the piano player.

They became convinced that they had explained everything.

But outside their tiny world, the musician continued to play.

The music never stopped.

The fact that they could not see him did not mean he was absent.

And perhaps that is where many people find themselves today.

They have examined the mechanisms of the universe.

They have learned about physics, biology, chemistry, mathematics, and astronomy.

They have become fascinated by the machinery.

But they have never stopped to ask whether there is a Creator behind it all.

The Christian message is that there is.

His name is Jesus Christ.

He is not merely an idea, a philosophy, or a comforting story.

He is the Son of God who entered human history, died for our sins, and rose from the grave.

And He calls every one of us to respond.

Jesus said:

“Whoever acknowledges Me before others, I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 10:32

The question is not merely whether we believe that God exists.

The deeper question is:

What will we do with Jesus Christ?

The piano is playing.

The music is all around us.

The question is whether we will remain convinced that there is nothing beyond the wires and hammers—or whether we will humble ourselves, listen carefully, and seek the One who is playing the music.

Do not be so certain that you have explained the piano that you never look for the Player.

—Pastor Joseph Clark

Hearken unto thy father that begat that begat thee, and despise not thy mother when she is old. -- Proverbs 23.22

Honor your parents. Your life depends on it. Parents will weaken with age, but you still should honor them. God ordained parents, and He handpicked yours. He generously reward those who honor parents, but He will destroy rebels.

God planned for children to arrive in life helpless, so they do. He also planned they would grow to successful maturity under the affectionate care, instruction, and rule of parents. But this wise family relationship also depends on children honoring their parents.

God created the offices of father and mother, but He also chose the very persons who are your father and mother. When the great God brought you into existence, He did not ask you or your parents. He planned and executed a blind date for the three of you based on His perfect knowledge of all circumstances and possible outcomes of the arrangement. Humble yourself before your God-chosen parents. Obey them. Honor them. Love them.

Proper growth and maturity to face life, the orderliness of society, and the peace of homes depend on honor to fathers. It is dangerous times when this basic standard is compromised.

Daily life with a father for 20-30 years exposes you to his faults and weakness, which can lead to familiarity. But the God of heaven has a warning for you --I choose that man who brought you into existence, and I expect you to listen to him and obey him as you would Me. Do not let familiarity dull his honor, because I chose him as a god for your life. If you despise him, you despise Me.
And I will not accept such scornful rebellion.

The thing you should be content about is your father. God chose him.
God chose his ability, education, wealth, intelligence, looks, personality, opportunities, successes, and failures for His own glory and your perfection. No other father would have worked as well for you. The eternal counsel of heaven connected you two, and any discontentment or disrespect from you is treason against the design of a benevolent and sovereign God.

Hearken to your father. Listen to him, and obey his advice. He knows more about life than you can grasp, even if it were explained to you. He knows you better than you know yourself. He cares about you and your future more than you do. Your
short-term of things is foolish and vain. His affection for you, his desire for your success, his sense of responsibility, and his experience and knowledge come together to form his advice. Save yourself a great deal of pain in life and judgment from God -- hearken unto your father.

With age your father will lose his strength and wisdom, but he is still the one God chose to beget you. His declining abilities are no grounds for you to disrespect him.
He might not have the power any longer to enforce his rule, but by this time you should be more conscious of his authority and right over you than ever before.
Respect him in old age out of principle and thankfulness, rather than out of childish fear or habit or necessity.

Your mother was introduced to you in the prime of her life. She was attractive, energetic, and intelligent. It was carrying you and bringing you up that dulled those traits. Her body gave you every nutrient for growth for nine months before you were born, and for nine months or more after you were born, and you cried for her after being born, as if you still needed and wanted that lifeline.

She loved you and did more for you than ten wives could or would. She patiently adored, pampered, praised, and doted on you in ways a wife will not.
She was a tirelessly servant in providing food, clothing, bedding, and countless other comforts for your existence, though you never gave her even a "thank-you" for years.
She suffered through your infatuation with girlfriends, who combined and squared would never do as much for you.

But as she gets older, taking care of you and then worrying about you, she will lose more strength and wit. She will fear things she once mocked. She will forget names, places, and how to do simple tasks. She spent herself caring for you, and now there is little time left. What will you do? Ignore her in her weakened condition, or give her greater glory and honor and care?

If you hurt her in any way in her old age, the God of heaven will take retribution now and in the world to come. If you do not take fully take care of her in old age, then you have denied the religion of Jesus Christ and are worse than a pagan infidel, no matter
what church you attend, or what Bible version you read.

If you are a child, you have just read your duty. Let it be your great pleasure to attentively heed your father's advice, whether in his presence or on the other side of his grave.
What should you do this very day to honor your aging mother? See to it quickly.
If your parents are far away, you can call, text, email, mail or visit.
If they are inaccessible, what about your in-laws? If you have honored your parents,
what about any grandparents?

If you are a Christian, you have another Father far greater than your earthly father, Almighty God Himself. He has done more for you than all natural fathers combined. You owe Him all the reverence and obedience you can possibly muster. You call on Him frequently, every time you need or want help, and He has never failed you a single time.

Guidelines for living.
August 12th, 2026

Do Miracles Happen Today?

I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to the Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask anything in my name, and I will do it. John 14:12‑14



If God really is supernatural, should we think it strange when the miraculous occurs? Put more personally, can we trust God for that which has no human explanation today? Or should we simply conclude that God put the world into operation, then withdrew, leaving our world to run itself? There is one thing for sure. The twelve men who walked with Jesus experienced a great deal of the supernatural, for Christ, according to the Gospels, touched blind eyes and men saw. He cleansed the lepers. He unstopped deaf ears, and the lame walked. This, of course, was very unsettling to some of the people who were present, especially the religious leaders who were convinced that God could, but to actually see it, was alarming and distressing. How could they account for it?

Paul explained, when he wrote to the Corinthians, “God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them …” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Paul’s explanation was that God’s power was manifest in the life and person of His Son, Jesus Christ. Miracles were not any problem because they believed that when Christ did something miraculous, God was working through Him. It’s also a historical fact that miracles were prominent in the early church. After the day of Pentecost, Peter and John went to the temple and there encountered a lame man. “We don’t have any silver and gold,” Peter explained. “But we’ll give you what we have. In the name of Jesus Christ, rise up and walk.” And the man got to his feet and walked, leaping and praising God.

Luke, the historian for the early church said, “And they were continually devoting themselves to the Apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread, and to prayer. Everyone kept feeling a sense of awe, and many wonders and signs were taking place through the apostles.” Later in the Book of Acts he wrote, “Many signs and wonders were taking place among the people; and they were all with one accord in Solomon’s portico.” Mark closes his Gospel saying, “And they went out and preached everywhere, while the Lord worked with them, and confirmed the Word by the signs that followed.”

Unquestionably, these early Christians simply expected the supernatural. They had nothing yet had everything. What they had then, the church seems to have lost today! Now, were those miracles confined to the days of the first century alone? Some believe so; they never see anything more miraculous than a common cold going away in three days. Yet others believe the words of Hebrews 13:8, which says, Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and they expect God to meet them in ways that offer no human explanation. From its inception, Christianity has been cradled in the supernatural, and it can only follow that this very nature and character should be the same today.

To His disciples in the Upper Room, the night before the crucifixion, Jesus said, “I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these, because I am going to my Father. And I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask anything in my name, and I will do it“ (John 14:12‑14). Do you believe that? Then believe that God can do and will do that for which there is no human explanation. As the songwriter put it, “I believe in miracles.”



Resource Reading: 2 Corinthians 5:11-21

Let's talk about it.
Peter’s Vision & God’s Dietary Laws: How Could the Churches Get This So Wrong?

There's a teaching in Christianity that totally contradicts what scripture itself says. It is more than just taking it out of context. They teach that when a sheet full of all kinds of animals came down from heaven and a voice told Peter to kill and eat, the ancient dietary laws were thrown out right then and there. According to the Church, the line between clean and unclean animals was erased, making all meat ok to eat. This is taught so much that people don't even question it. But Peter himself tells exactly what the vision meant, and his answer has nothing to do with food.

Long before Peter ever goes up on that roof to pray, it starts back in Caesarea with a man named Cornelius. Acts 10:1-2 introduces him as a Roman centurion, a devout man who feared God with his whole house, gave generously to the needy, and prayed to God all the time. The entire chapter is deliberately set up around this Gentile from the very first verse. This tells us the vision Peter has a little later wasn't random. Heaven is already moving to reconnect two worlds, and the focus is already on a non-Jewish believer.

While Cornelius's men were on the way, Peter went up on the housetop to pray around the sixth hour, and while they were preparing the meal, he became hungry and wanted to eat. Falling into a trance, he sees a great sheet come down filled with all kinds of four-footed animals, crawling things, and birds. In Acts 10:14, when the voice tells him to rise, kill, and eat, Peter refuses, saying, "Not so, Lord; for I have never eaten anything that is common or unclean." Even with hunger pressing on him and a voice from heaven speaking directly to him three times, the man who is supposedly getting permission to eat whatever he wants still refuses to touch what God called unclean. If the dietary laws were being thrown out, this was the perfect moment for him to give in, but he treats the levitical dietary instructions as binding and never gives in.

After the vision Peter was confused about what it meant. He couldn't figure it out. But when the men sent by Cornelius show up at the gate, the Spirit speaks to Peter, telling him to go down and go with them without hesitating, because God sent them. The arrival of these Gentile visitors matches the timing of the vision on purpose. The Spirit intentionally links the unclean animals in the sheet with the "unclean" Gentiles standing at the gate.

When Peter gets to Cornelius's house, he finally explains the true meaning of the vision in his own words. Talking to the crowd gathered there in Acts 10:28, Peter said to them, "You yourselves know how it is an unlawful thing for a man who is a Jew to join himself or come to one of another nation, but God has shown me that I should not call any man unholy or unclean." This ties the whole account together. Peter doesn't say God showed him it's okay to eat pork and shellfish; he says straight out that God showed him not to call any human being unclean. Peter doesn't stop there. He keeps going in 34-35, saying, "Truly I perceive that God doesn't show favoritism; but in every nation he who fears him and works righteousness is acceptable to him." This is Peter telling us in his own words what the vision was about. It wasn't about animals being acceptable to eat.

It was about people from every nation being acceptable to God. It is worth noting what kind of law Peter is talking about. When he calls it unlawful for a Jew to associate with a foreigner, he is not referring to anything written in the Torah. Nowhere in the Law of God did He ever forbid His people from entering the home of a Gentile or sharing a meal with one. This was a man-made tradition built up over centuries, an extra-biblical command. So the wall the vision tears down was never a wall God put up in the first place.

This explanation is reiterated in the very next chapter. When Peter goes back to Jerusalem in 11:1-3, the circumcision party confronts him, wanting to know why he went to uncircumcised men and ate with them. Peter responds by telling the whole story of the vision from start to finish, landing on the same conclusion. When the believers in Jerusalem hear this in 11:18, they glorify God, realizing that God has also granted the Gentiles repentance.

Two times the vision is explained in the text, and both times the conclusion is strictly about including the Gentiles. On top of that, the Jerusalem believers don't raise a single question or objection about food, proving they understood the matter was about fellowship with people as well.

Looking closely at the story makes it clear what the vision did and didn't change. It changed who Peter could walk into a house with, sit next to, and share a meal with, breaking down centuries of unbiblical man-made tradition. It did not change what YHVH defined as food in Leviticus 11. Years after this happened, the book of Acts still shows the believers keeping the Torah.

The foundation of clean and unclean animals goes back before the covenant at Sinai. We see this in Genesis 7:2 when God tells Noah, "You shall take seven pairs of every clean animal with you, the male and his female. Of the animals that are not clean, take two, the male and his female." Notice that no explanation is given to Noah at all. God speaks of clean and unclean animals as something Noah already understood, generations before Sinai and long before Israel existed as a nation. People often try to claim this difference was only for sacrificial purposes, but the text never states that.

Jesus says in Matthew 5:18, "For faithfully I tell you, until heaven and earth pass away, not even one smallest letter or one tiny pen stroke shall in any way pass away from the Law, until all things are accomplished." As far as I can tell, heaven and earth are still here.

This is one of those things that honestly blows me away, how and why can Christians continue to defiantly and blindly say that the text means something other than what it plainly says?

Ultimately, the vision given to Peter was not a cancellation of God's instructions, but a powerful confirmation of His inclusive truth for all people