"DON'T MIX GOSPEL WITH QURAN." TRUTH & ERROR CAN'T WALK TOGETHER! Sermon Title: "Let the Light Shine: Preaching in Truth, Not in Mixture" Text: John 1:5, 2 Corinthians 4:4, 2 Corinthians 6:14, John 17:17 Beloved, I want to speak to you today about how we carry the Gospel. The screenshots you shared are a burden for truth. The heart of the message is this: The light of Christ is enough. Do not mix it with darkness. 1. THE BATTLE OF PREACHING: LIGHT VS DARKNESS John 1:5 — “The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.” We are in a battle. The person in the message said it well: "I see your battle of preaching with unbelievers." But the battle is not won by compromise. It is won by light. Jesus is that Light. When we preach, we are not arguing opinions. We are bringing light into dark places. And John says the darkness has not overcome it. It cannot. It will not. The enemy’s strategy is to blind. 2 Corinthians 4:4 — “The god of this world has blinded the minds of unbelievers, to keep them from seeing the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ.” Satan is called "the father of lies" in John 8:44. His job is to keep people from seeing Christ. So our job as preachers is not to negotiate with darkness. It is to shine brighter. 2. NO FELLOWSHIP BETWEEN LIGHT AND DARKNESS 2 Corinthians 6:14 — “Do not be unequally yoked with unbelievers. For what partnership has righteousness with lawlessness? Or what fellowship has light with darkness?” The message warns: "avoid to mix gospel with Quran teachings." Why? Because truth and error cannot walk together. Truth sets free - John 8:32 Error confuses - Mixing truth + falsehood creates confusion in yourself and in those who hear you. The apostles never mixed the Gospel with other religions to "make it easier." Acts 4:12 — “There is salvation in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given among men by which we must be saved.” God of the Bible is enough. His Word is enough. His Spirit is enough to draw men. We don’t need to add to it. Revelation 22:18 warns us not to add or subtract. 3. THE HOLY SPIRIT AND THE WORD: OUR ONLY WEAPONS The message asks: "Why can't you only let your preaching be guided by Holy Spirit?" Because the Spirit and the Word never contradict. John 17:17 — “Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.” John 16:13 — “When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth.” The Holy Spirit does not lead us to dilute the Gospel. He leads us to preach Christ crucified. 1 Corinthians 2:2 — “For I decided to know nothing among you except Jesus Christ and him crucified.” The apostles preached in the power of the Spirit, and thousands were saved. They did not need another book. They needed the Name of Jesus. 4. BE ROOTED, OR THE ENEMY WILL DECEIVE The message reminds us of Jesus in the wilderness. Satan quoted scripture too, but twisted it. Matthew 4:1-11 “Satan is cunning and can use scriptures if you are not steadfast in thy faith.” When we add to the Word, we give the enemy ground. Truth + false = false. But when we remain rooted in truth, we overcome him just like Jesus did: "It is written..." Ephesians 6:17 — “...the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God.” That is our only offensive weapon. APPLICATION: 3 CALLS FOR US TODAY Be marked by God: Like Revelation 14:1, let the Father’s Name be on your forehead. Live holy so your preaching has authority. Preach the pure Gospel: Use Scripture only. Let the Holy Spirit do the convincing. John 16:8 Pray for unbelievers: The problem is not that the Bible is weak. The problem is blindness. So we pray 2 Corinthians 4:6 — “For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” CLOSING PRAYER Father, sanctify us in Your truth. Your Word is truth. Forgive us for times we tried to help You by adding to Your Word. Fill us with the Holy Spirit so we preach with boldness

PROVERB OF THE DAY (Proverbs 9) 1. Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; 2. She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table. 3. She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city, 4. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 5. “Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed. 6. Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding. 7. “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. 8. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 9. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. 12. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.” 13. A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing. 14. For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city, 15. To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way: 16. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 17. “Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18. But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.

PROVERB OF THE DAY (Proverbs 9) 1. Wisdom has built her house, She has hewn out her seven pillars; 2. She has slaughtered her meat, She has mixed her wine, She has also furnished her table. 3. She has sent out her maidens, She cries out from the highest places of the city, 4. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here!” As for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 5. “Come, eat of my bread And drink of the wine I have mixed. 6. Forsake foolishness and live, And go in the way of understanding. 7. “He who corrects a scoffer gets shame for himself, And he who rebukes a wicked man only harms himself. 8. Do not correct a scoffer, lest he hate you; Rebuke a wise man, and he will love you. 9. Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be still wiser; Teach a just man, and he will increase in learning. 10. “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, And the knowledge of the Holy One is understanding. 11. For by me your days will be multiplied, And years of life will be added to you. 12. If you are wise, you are wise for yourself, And if you scoff, you will bear it alone.” 13. A foolish woman is clamorous; She is simple, and knows nothing. 14. For she sits at the door of her house, On a seat by the highest places of the city, 15. To call to those who pass by, Who go straight on their way: 16. “Whoever is simple, let him turn in here”; And as for him who lacks understanding, she says to him, 17. “Stolen water is sweet, And bread eaten in secret is pleasant.” 18. But he does not know that the dead are there, That her guests are in the depths of hell.

Although the revivals in Toronto and Pensacola cooled off decades ago, heresy hunters still find fault with these moves of God. One cessationist recently wrote a post labeling the Brownsville Revival “God’s Fire Mixed With Strange Fire.” How would he know the difference if the gifts of the Spirit supposedly ended when the original apostles died? Critics make too much of a fuss over manifestations. They should examine the results of someone who might have fallen to the floor and shaken uncontrollably. Many have testified of loving Jesus more. Jesus said in Matthew 7:20 (NLT), “Yes, just as you can identify a tree by its fruit, so you can identify people by their actions.”

Gods Creation, 100 / evolution, 0 HOW DID FISH AND PLANTS SURVIVE NOAH'S FLOOD? One of the most common questions skeptics ask about Noah's Flood is, "How did freshwater fish survive if the oceans mixed with freshwater?" Closely related is another question: "How did plants survive being underwater for months?" The question sounds difficult at first, but when we look at the evidence, it turns out there are several reasonable answers. First, fish were never on the Ark. Scripture tells us that the Ark was built to preserve land-dwelling, air-breathing animals and birds (Genesis 7:14-15, 21-23). Aquatic creatures already lived in the water and would not have required transportation aboard the Ark. The assumption behind the objection is that freshwater and saltwater species could not survive major changes in salinity. Yet many living creatures today demonstrate remarkable adaptability. Estuarine animals regularly experience dramatic swings in salt concentration as river water mixes with seawater. Tidepool organisms endure continual changes as tides come and go. Some fish spend part of their lives in freshwater and part in saltwater. Salmon hatch in freshwater streams before migrating to the ocean. Eels do the reverse, reproducing in saltwater but maturing in freshwater. Atlantic sturgeon move between both environments, while related sturgeon species live entirely in freshwater. Across the animal kingdom, numerous fish groups contain both freshwater and saltwater representatives. This suggests that the ancestors of modern fish may have possessed a much broader tolerance for changing salinity than many specialized species do today. After the Flood, populations could have become increasingly adapted to particular environments, losing some of their original flexibility over time. Even today, the physiological differences between freshwater and marine fish are often matters of degree rather than completely different systems. Fish regulate water and salt through their kidneys, gills, and body chemistry. Some sharks, for example, alter the concentration of urea in their blood depending on whether they inhabit saltwater or freshwater environments. Sawfish moving into freshwater can dramatically increase urine production while reducing blood urea levels. Another possibility is that the Flood waters were not uniformly mixed everywhere on Earth. Freshwater naturally floats on top of saltwater because it is less dense. Modern bodies of water often contain distinct layers separated by what scientists call a halocline, a sharp boundary between waters of different salinity. It is entirely possible that regions existed during and after the Flood where freshwater and saltwater environments remained sufficiently separated to allow many aquatic species to survive. Not every marine creature survived the catastrophe. In fact, the fossil record points to massive destruction in the oceans. Roughly 95% of fossils are marine organisms. This is exactly what we would expect if the Flood began with the breaking up of the "fountains of the great deep" (Genesis 7:11), unleashing catastrophic upheaval beneath the seas. Turbidity, temperature changes, volcanic activity, and violent sediment movement would have devastated countless marine ecosystems. What about plants? Many terrestrial plants reproduce through seeds, and seeds are remarkably resilient. Studies have shown that numerous seeds can survive extended exposure to both freshwater and saltwater. Others may have survived within floating mats of vegetation, which likely covered large portions of the Flood waters. Still others could have been preserved aboard the Ark among Noah's food supplies and animal feed. Interestingly, Charles Darwin conducted experiments showing that seeds could survive long periods in saltwater. His goal was to explain how plants spread across oceans, but the same observations demonstrate that many seeds could have survived the Flood. The survival of plants and fish during Noah's Flood is not the impossible problem critics often claim. Modern biology reveals numerous examples of organisms capable of tolerating changing environments, while the catastrophic nature of the Flood itself explains why so many creatures perished and became fossilized. The real surprise is not that some fish and plants survived. The real surprise is how many clues in the natural world still point back to a global catastrophe exactly like the one described in Genesis.

Romans 14:19  Let us therefore make every effort to do what leads to peace and to mutual edification.  We conclude our month learning about peace with a reminder that everything we do should lead to peace and mutual edification. Paul was addressing a church community that was mixed and who were arguing over little things like eating meat or holy days. Some of the believers in the Roman church followed strict routines while others lived with total abandon. Paul was reminding them that their personal choices did not define who they were in God’s kingdom.  As believers, we must make an active and intentional effort to build relationships within our community that are harmonious and help one another grow spiritually. Arguing over minor opinions and preferences was irrelevant in the greater scheme of things and did nothing to help their spiritual growth.  We need to remember an important point - peace does not just happen. It doesn’t happen by accident. It requires us to put in effort. It requires us to work hard. We must exercise self-restraint. And over everything we need to choose love instead of trying to prove our point or win disagreements. Building up one another was more important than trying to be “right.” Paul said let us do whatever leads to mutual edification, to make every effort. He was reminding us that we need to make every effort, not just some effort. And every action would be meant to strengthen another person in their faith. We have to set aside our personal rights and freedoms if those behaviors and actions hurt fellow believers. We are not to be the cause of division within our community.  Today, and every day after, let’s make every effort to build one another up and strengthen the faith of others. Let’s set aside ourselves - our personal need for edification or gain, and put their needs ahead of our own. And in everything we do, strive for peace and balance within your home, your life, your community, and your church.  #TEENS4JESUS #devotion #dailydevotional #christianteens #DailyBibleVerse

💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 APOSTOLIC PASTOR CONFESSES DIFFICULT FOR ME TO WRITE THIS APRIL 27, 2006 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 Dear Reader, This letter is very difficult for me to write. I really don’t know where or how to start. So I prayed to the LORD GOD ALMIGHTY that He leads me with the correct words and proper attitude and the right direction with which to have this letter flow. I pray that the Holy Spirit leads me and guides me in this letter so HIS NAME may be glorified. Let me give you a small resume of my life. I was born Catholic and educated in their grade schools, high school and two years of Catholic college. I lived thirty six years of Catholicism before I had a relationship with GOD. I was baptized in Jesus name June of 1983 in the San Jacinto River under Highway 59 north of Houston, Texas, by Brother Tommy Hodges. I received the HOLY SPIRIT January, 1984, at Deer Park Pentecostal Church (Pastor Possey) under the evangelistic preaching of Brother Hightower. In 1989, with the blessing of Pastor Kilgore of Life Tabernacle my wife and I left for Philadelphia, PA. GOD had us start the Jesus Name Ministries church which we have been pastoring for the past sixteen years. I never comprised on the name of Jesus. One day this past summer (2004) my wife, Linda and I were camping. Linda went to bed and I was scanning the radio stations about mid-night on Sunday. I stopped at a station where a preacher in Georgia was preaching. In his preaching he stated that he was Apostolic and preached Acts 2:38 in a way I never heard before. Repent and be baptized every one of you in the NAME of YAHWAH Messiah for the remission of sins. This caught my attention and my anger and my curiosity. I jotted down his phone number and put it in my wallet, planning to call and investigate this strange NAME of YAHWAH. I investigated the Philadelphia library, to my surprise; I found many scholarly Bible writers wrote on the oldest and most used NAME OF GOD. I didn’t know where this investigation was going to take me. All I know is that I love truth. I spoke several times on the phone with this strang Yahwah preacher and his wife that were from Georgia, Jerry & Kathy Kirk. They sent me some Biblical historical materials to read and pray for the guidance of the Holy Spirit. In our adventure for truth with these materials and the immense information from the library, I was taught some surprising facts that the Catholic Church and the Apostolic church never taught me. 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 THE FOLLOWING TRUE FACTS ARE WHAT I FOUND 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 1. YHWH (pronounced YAHWAH by all Jewish rabbis) is GOD and GOD alone. 2. YHWH is found 6,832 times in the TANACH. 3. Paul the Apostle always referred to the TANACH to show that YHWH was the Messiah. 4. The TANACH is nothing more than our equivalent to the Old Testament. 5. That the NAME of GOD, YHWH (YAHWAH) was first used in Genesis 2:4 and last used in the Old Testament Malachi 3:23. 6. The Hebrew Apostles scriptures were stolen by a church (circa 126-136 A. D.) and translated into Greek and the original Hebrew New Testament scriptures were destroyed. 7. Jesus is only a new name of 393 years. In the King James 1611 A.D. the NAME OF THE SAVIOR in the Christian world was Iesous. The letter ‘J’, according to Webster did not exist until after the mid-1650. 8. A scholarly Biblical fact is that YHWH (YAHWAH) was taken out of our New English editions and hidden by only using the word LORD. 9. Genesis 4:26 at the time of Seth men began calling on THE NAME of YHWH (YAHWAH). 10. Genesis 12:8; 13:4, 21:33 Abram at Bethel called upon THE NAME of YHWH (YAHWAH). 11. YHWH (pronounced YAHWAH by all Jewish rabbis) is GOD and GOD alone. 12. Genesis 26:25 Isaac called on THE NAME of YHWH (YAHWAH). 13. YHWH is HIS NAME and only name. Elohim (Lord of Lords) is HIS title. EL (God) is HIS title. Emmanuel GOD with us is a sentence. 14. Exodus 6:3 GOD tells Moses HIS NAME is YHWH (YAHWAH). 15. Deuteronomy 6:4 YHWH our GOD is ONE. 16. Isaiah 63:16 YHWH our Father, Redeemer and HIS NAME is from everlasting. 17. Revelation14:1 The Lamb writes THE NAME OF FATHER on their foreheads. To me, this would be water baptism in the NAME OF YHWH). 18. Malachi 2:10 One Father, One God created us. 19. Zechariah 14: 9 YHWH (YAHWAH) is KING, YHWH is ONE and HIS NAME ONE. 20. Matthew 28:19 Baptize in THE NAME of the FATHER, SON and HOLY GHOST. 21. FATHER IS YHWH (Isaiah 63:16) 22. The SON IS YHWH Messiah. (John 5:43 23. I come in THE NAME OF MY FATHER) 24. The HOLY GHOST IS YHWH (John 14:26 Comforter, 25. The Father will send in MY NAME YHWH Messiah) 26. Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized in THE NAME of YHWH Messiah for the remission of your sins. 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 Where did the Iesous or Jesus come from? It comes from Zeus - the Greek god. In Spanish Jesus is pronounced hey-Zeus. The name Jesus can’t be reconciled to be a Hebrew name. 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 1. ONE GOD YHWH (YAHWAH) Deuteronomy 6:4 2. ONE NAME YHWH (YAHWAH) Zechariah 14:9 3. ONE SAVIOR YHWH (YAHWAH) Isaiah 43:3,11 4. ONE REDEEMER YHWH (YAHWAH) Isaiah 44:6 5. ONE MAKER YHWH (YAHWAH) Isaiah 54:5 6. ONLY ONE can bear THE NAME of YHWH (YAHWAH) and it was HIS SON YAHWAH Messiah. By the way approximately 393 years ago there was no J in the English alphabet. His name was lesous, Which is Greek, NonHebrew, MisTranslated, ManMade Inspired. Too many people bear the names of Jesus, Joshua, Yahoshua (common names). These names could not have been THE NAME OF THE SAVIOR; HE came in THE NAME OF HIS FATHER. Jehovah and Jesus are the perverted names of GOD and not HIS TRUE NAME. YHWH only could be HIS NAME. Thank GOD that Jesus Name Apostolic’ have the right principle of ONE GOD, one baptism and one name. But now let us receive HIS TRUE NAME YHWH (YAHWAH). We come to GOD in a process of levels of truth, paganism to Catholism to Protestant to Trinity Holy Ghost filled to Jesus Name Apostolic to YAHWAH Apostolic. GOD is taking a church out of a church and re-establishing HIS RIGHTFUL NAME to HIS people. Please be part of it. Out of 100 of our assembly we had 20 to receive HIM in water baptism and 80 to refuse the revelation of HIS TRUE NAME. I lost all teachers and all musicians. But that is all right because HIS NAME is still YHWH (YAHWAH) and I am called by HIS NAME. I want to please GOD and I do not want to please man or an organization. Straight is the gate and narrow is the way and few will choose HIS NAME. In critic of the book “In the Name of Jesus” Dr. David K. Bernard gives a very poor presentation in defense of the name Jesus. Let us go to chapter four, Dr. Bernard has no clue that there are YAHWAH Apostolics, the ONLY TRUE ONE GOD, ONE PEOPLE OF THE NAME OF YAHWAH. Biblical scholars all recognize as truth that the TANACH (Old Testament) has THE NAME YHWH 6,832. Also agreed upon is that Jehovah is an erroneous translation of YAHWAH mixed with Adonai. If you keep this in mind then we know the GOD of the Old Testament is YHWH and because HE changes not (Malachi 3:6) we know HE is the GOD of the New Testament. Let us talk about the name Yahoshua. Yahoshua is Hebrew and English translation is Joshua. So the Messiah, according to this knowledge should have been named in English as Joshua Christ. According to the thesis of Doctor Bernard he states on page 36 that Yahwah of the Old Testament manifested HIMSELF in the flesh to be our SAVIOR. THE SAVIOR stated in John 5:43 “I come in THE NAME OF MY FATHER. How can GOD change HIS NAME? He cannot. The legal name of my wife is Linda, it means pretty but her name is not pretty, it is Linda. Psalm 54:1 Save me, 0 GOD, by YOUR NAME. THE NAME OF GOD is YAHWAH; we are saved by HIS NAME. What do we not understand with this statement? Again Matthew 1:23 Emmanuel (with us is GOD) what do we not understand with this statement? I am in agreement with Doctor Bernard that YAHWAH was manifested in the flesh and that baby was called YAHWAH the Messiah, the same NAME AS HIS FATHER. Isaiah 63:16 YOU, 0 YAHWAH, are our FATHER, our redeemer, THY NAME is from everlasting. It does not say anywhere that the false name of Jesus is everlasting, only YAHWAH. The second argument of Dr. Bernard makes no sense whatsoever because in his argument he believes the Hebrew Apostles called the Messiah by the name Iesous - Jesus - Joshua. The Messiah was known as YAHWAH. The Word Hallelujah is universal. YAHWAH is literally the same in every tongue (universal). George W. Bush is introduced as George W. Bush throughout every language and country. His legal name does not change to the language of the people. His name is the same (transliterated) in every language. THE NAME OF YAHWAH is pronounced literally and universally. On page 37 Dr. Bernard states unequivocally the early church baptized in Jesus Name but later says that the name Jesus evolved from lesous in the Latin/Greek Hebrew. Did the Apostles say Joshua, Yahoshua, Iesous or Jesus? My GOD does not change names like we do clothes. Just what is HIS NAME for salvation? Is it Jesus, Iesous, Yahoshua, Joshua? Could it be so simple that it is YAHWAH the Messiah? Isaiah 47:4 as for our REDEEMER, YAHWAH of Armies is HIS NAME, the Holy One of Israel. 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 Isaiah 42:5-16 YAHWAH opened the eyes of the blind. Verse 13 YAHWAH shall go forth as a mighty Man (The Messiah). Isaiah 43:10.12 YAHWAH declares HIMSELF to be the servant (the Messiah) I, even I, am YAHWAH and beside me there is no SAVIOR. YAHWAH is calling, “Come out of her“. Yes, GOD was merciful to save us in our ignorance even if we did not know HIS NAME. Leave that heathen man made philosophical name of Iesous, Jesus. Psalm 86:9 all nations whom thou hast made shall come and worship before thee 0 YAHWAH and shall GLORIFY THY NAME. Psalm 145:21 My mouth shall speak the praise of YAHWAH and let all flesh bless HIS HOLY NAME forever and forever. Thank you for your attention, Pastor Paul J. Prodoehl Acts 2:38 Repent and be baptized in THE NAME of YHWH Messiah for the remission of your sins. You can call us for prayer at (713) 494-2164 Or at 713-494-2012. . CHECK OUT THE FACEBOOK YAHWAH APOSTOLIC MINISTRIES 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜 LOVE YOU ALL & SHALOM 💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜🍒💜

continuation chapter two 2.1 Today, let us talk about the gritty, determined, thoroughly human work that is required to be free from sin. On the path to perfection, there are roles to play. God's grace is the wind—a magnificent, roaring, endless gale of generosity, a hurricane of holy help. But we, my friend, must raise the sail. And raising a sail is not done by sitting in the hull, thinking positive thoughts about wind, and declaring, "I am a sail-raiser in Jesus' name!" It involves pulling ropes, untying knots, climbing masts, and probably getting a splinter or two in places you'd rather not mention. It involves calluses, not cushions. The sailor who refuses to touch the ropes but insists he's "trusting the wind" will stay in the harbor forever, growing barnacles on his bottom, and eventually becoming a tourist attraction: "Come see the Man of Faith, who believed so hard the boat hasn't moved in forty years." ‎ ‎Let me paint you a simple picture, so absurd that its truth will be unavoidable. It's like a parable, but with more malaria. ‎ ‎Imagine a man struck down by a severe case of malaria. His body is a furnace; his joints ache as if he's been tenderized with a mallet wielded by a very enthusiastic chef. He prays to God for healing. "Lord, with all my faith, I believe You will heal me!" he cries from his sweat-drenched bed, voice cracking with the kind of sincerity that makes angels pause and take notes. Then, the doctor arrives—a miracle in itself, a human being trained by human knowledge, arriving on time—and places the anti-malarial tablets on the bedside table. Little white pills of possibility. And the man refuses them. He waves a feverish, trembling hand and says, "No, no, take those abominations away. If I take the medicine, I'm not trusting God completely. That would be putting my faith in pharmaceuticals, not in the Almighty. My faith alone is enough. I'm just going to rest in the finished work of the cinchona tree. I'm going to 'stand on the Word'... from a horizontal position... while hallucinating from the fever." And he rolls over, shivering, smiling the smile of the profoundly deluded, the smile of a man who has confused stubbornness with sanctification. ‎ ‎Now, tell me, what will become of that man? We all know the tragic punchline. His faith will be sincere. His prayers will be genuine. His theological position on divine healing will be impeccably orthodox, with all the right Greek words footnoted. And his funeral will be well-attended, with people standing around the casket whispering, "He's in a better place now," which is true, but he could have been in a better place here, too, namely alive and swallowing tablets. God, in His extravagant wisdom, provided the healing agent within the bark of that tree, hidden away for centuries like a love letter waiting to be opened by a scientist with a microscope. Grace grew the tree in some distant jungle. Grace guided the chemist who isolated the compound. Grace mixed the ingredients into a stable pill. Grace delivered the tablet to a pharmacy near you, probably via a truck driver named Grace, who was listening to Amazing Grace on the radio. But the man has a critical, indispensable role: he must rise from his bed—however feebly, however dramatically—pour a glass of water, lift the tablet to his lips, and swallow. Without that tiny, trembling act of human cooperation, the prayer, however beautiful, however poetic, however theologically sound and beautifully alliterated, ends in a coffin. Healing requires a partnership, a duet, not a solo performance with God as the backing track and man as the passive audience member waving a lighter. ‎ ‎The struggle with sin operates on this very same divine principle. We pray, with great passion, with the kind of fervor that makes our prayer partners slightly uncomfortable, "Deliver me from this anger! Free me from this lust! Pry this greed from my cold, clutching fingers! Break the chains, Lord, break every fetter!" And then, having prayed, having exhausted ourselves with holy vocabulary, we lie back on the spiritual mattress and wait for the lightning bolt. We fold our hands over our chests like a corpse in training. But the prayer is the diagnosis, not the prescription. It's the X-ray, not the surgery. We must then pick up the "anti-malarial tablets" for the soul. The prayer opened the pharmacy; now you have to swallow the medicine. But we'd rather have the prayer than the pill, because the prayer feels spiritual and dramatic, while the pill just feels like hard work and you have to remember to take it three times a day with meals. ‎ ‎Now, what on earth are those tablets? Let me show you through another picture, because I'm in a parabolic mood and the paint is still wet. ‎ ‎You can own a library that groans under the weight of books on hydrodynamics. You can fill entire shelves with volumes on the physics of floating, the history of the backstroke, the biographies of Olympic champions. You can memorize the chemical composition of chlorine and write a doctoral thesis titled "The Ontological Significance of Buoyancy: A Theological and Biomechanical Analysis of Not Sinking." Your thesis can be peer-reviewed by the top swimming theologians of our time. You can attend lectures given by the world's greatest swimmers, sitting in the front row, nodding along to their PowerPoint presentations on breathing technique and the proper angle of hand entry. You can even acquire a certificate of swimming theory, beautifully framed in gold leaf, stating that you have believed in the principles of buoyancy with your whole heart and have successfully completed 120 credit hours of thinking about water. You can wear a T-shirt that says "I'm a Swimmer" with a little fish symbol. But the moment a mischievous friend—or an act of God, or a slippery pool deck—throws you into the deep end, that theoretical knowledge becomes spectacularly, hilariously useless. The books won't inflate and save you. The diploma is not a flotation device. The framed certificate will not turn into a life preserver and gently cradle you to safety. There is one thing, and one thing alone, that bridges the chasm between theory and survival: you must get in the water. You must flail, swallow a horrifying amount of chlorinated liquid, come up spluttering and embarrassed with your dignity floating somewhere near the diving board, and practice the strokes yourself. Again and again and again. The knowledge of swimming has never mastered a single stroke for a single human being. It has never pulled anyone to the side of the pool. It just sits there in the books, looking profound and smelling faintly of mildew, while the drowning man sinks to the bottom, his head full of elegant theories about the physics of arm rotation.

Daily devotion for July 29th In The World My prayer is not that you take them out of the world but that you protect them from the evil one. John 17:15 In this section our Lord indicated the great realm of controversy between Himself and Satan, the realm in which Satan finds his activity manifested--the world. Throughout this whole discourse you find two communities in view: the world, which is secular society organized in its antipathy against God; and the church, the body of Christ, God's family. The Lord knew that there would be this conflict. He called a group out of the world--not to be separate from it--but to be a different group. God always sees humanity divided into two categories. Sometimes they are called two kingdoms--the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. Sometimes they are regarded symbolically as two cities--Jerusalem and Babylon. But there are always these two. Jesus, knowing the danger of the world, prays for these disciples. And He points out the reason the world hates them. I say these things while I am still in the world, He says, so that they may have the full measure of my joy within them. Here are men who have learned a source of joy that the world does not know how to produce. The world hates Christians because they have a source of life the world cannot explain. Satan tries to destroy this life. The devil is a murderer, and his aim is to destroy in any way he can through the deceitfulness of the allurements of the world. Jesus, knowing this, prayed for two very important things for these men: He said, My prayer is not that you take them out of the world. Why, then, do we say to new believers, Look, you are a Christian, so get out of the world. Avoid any contact with it, and don't ever get mixed up in it as long as you live. It may be necessary at times for a young Christian to get away from the world for a while, but not to be removed from it! It is a violation of our Lord's prayer when we take ourselves out of the world and build a wholly Christian life with Christian friends and contacts and never go any place non-Christians go but simply isolate ourselves. The result is that the world is left without light--to fall into decay and darkness, with no help at all. But, on the other hand, our Lord was aware that these men needed to be kept from the evil one. So he prayed that they should be kept from the evil one, from contamination by the world and all its deadly delusions. It is so easy to conform to the world, to seek its values and measure your life by its standards. What a deadly thing that is! Our Lord is calling here for men and women who, like Himself, can live in the midst of the world and yet not become contaminated by its life, but be, instead, a source of release to those around. Lord, You have placed me in the world even though I am not of it. But far too often I think and act like one who belongs to the world when, in fact, I belong to You.

A FOSSIL BED OF BIBLICAL PROPORTIONS West Coast Fossil Park at Langebaanweg, South Africa, has become a powerful window into the reality of the Flood and truth of the fossil record. What researchers have uncovered there is a massive fossil deposit spread across a wide area, containing thousands of fossils from many different kinds of animals all buried together. Marine creatures like whales, seals, and sharks are found alongside land animals such as elephants, antelope, and predators, with large numbers of birds mixed in as well. Evolutionists often ask, “If there was a global Flood, where are all the animals mixed together?” Well, here is one of those places where we do find exactly that. This creates a serious problem for the secular timeline. If the fossil record formed slowly over millions of years, animals should be separated by environment and time. Instead, everything is jumbled together in the same layers, as if buried in one overwhelming event. The rock layers confirm it. Thick sediments and large-scale cross-bedding show fast-moving water laid these deposits down rapidly. This is not slow accumulation. This is sudden, forceful burial. Local floods cannot explain this scale, this mixing, or the sheer number of fossils concentrated in one place. This matches what the Bible describes in the global Flood. A world covered by water, ecosystems uprooted, and countless creatures buried quickly under massive layers of sediment. The contrast is clear. The secular timeline depends on slow, orderly processes that separate life over vast ages. The evidence here shows rapid burial and mixed environments. The Genesis Flood explains what we actually see in the fossil record.