Broken Promises

- Part I: The statistics

This article is meant to be read before you read the purity pledge we put together in  January 2008.  We encourage you to read it afterwards.

In today’s world, you’re shamed if you do, and shamed if you don’t.  If you do remain sexually pure before marriage, “you’re probably one of those judgmental goody-goods, and a freak of nature with no hormones”.  And if you don’t, let’s just say you’re going to have more than the “B word” label on your back.  But most of the time, it’s harder on those that do.  Sad isn’t it?

Consider this though – You’re not only pledging this merely for your sake, or your future husband’s sake only – but for God.   He watches your every move 24/7 non-stop.  Don’t think He’s going to just not pay any attention to your actions.  This is painful to Him because He paid the price for your sins, yet,  you’re not putting forth an effort to stop sinning and purify your lifestyle.

After researching this topic, we found some interesting statistics from different sources -

Some information found on Guttmacher.org gave some insight on statistics:

The statistics found that nearly 46% (half of all 15-19 year olds in the U.S.) have engaged in sexual activity at least once.

“Each year, almost 750,000 women aged 15-19 become pregnant. Overall, 75 pregnancies occur every year per 1,000 women aged 15-19; this rate has declined 36% since its peak in 1990.”

…And nearly a 3rd of all teen pregnancies end in abortion.

It went on to say that “Teen pregnancy rates are much higher in the United States than in many other developed countries-twice as high as in England and Wales or Canada, and eight times as high as in the Netherlands or Japan.”

In 1994, more than half of teenagers in the United States were virgins until at least 17 years old.

“-Nationally, nearly one million young women under age 20 become pregnant each year.  That means close to 2800 teens get pregnant each day. (Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996).

-Approximately 4 in 10 young women in the U.S. become pregnant at least once before turning 20 years old.( Facts in Brief: Teen Sex and Pregnancy, The Alan Guttmacher Institute, New York, 1996).

-Teen childbearing alone costs U.S. taxpayers nearly $7 billion annually for social services and lost tax revenues. (Kids Having Kids: Economic Costs and Social Consequences of Teen Pregnancy, Prebecca Maynard (ed.), The Urban Institute, Washington, DC, 1997).”

A more recent Guttmacher report said, “Teens are waiting longer to have sex than they did in the past. Some 13% of females and 15% of males aged 15-19 in 2002 had had sex before age 15, compared with 19% and 21%, respectively, in 1995.”

Could this decline be because of the purity pledge movement?  We did more research to find out the effectiveness of purity pledges…

In one article we read, the Washington Post reported a study found that “premarital abstinence pledges were ineffective“.  In 2001, Janet E. Rosenbaum concluded that 82% of people that pledged abstinence before marriage, broke those promises.

Theresa Tamkins of CNN Health reported,

“As many as one in eight teens in the United States may take a virginity pledge at some point, vowing to wait until they’re married before having sex. But do such pledges work? Are pledge takers more likely than other teens to delay sexual activity? A new study suggests that the answer is no. While teens who take virginity pledges do delay sexual activity until an average age of 21 (compared to about age 17 for the average American teen), the reason for the delay is more likely due to pledge takers’ religious background and conservative views — not the pledge itself.”

On the other hand, another article (from abpnews.com) reported that a study found that ” Christians who pledge abstinence outlast non-pledgers”.

The article also said -

Byron Weathersbee, interim chaplain at Baylor University in Waco, Texas, analyzed such sexual-purity pledges and sex education in a Christian context as the focus of his doctoral dissertation. He surveyed young married couples in Texas Baptist churches to examine how — and how much — churches made an impact on their sexual behavior. Of the young Christians surveyed, six out of 10 who made sexual purity pledges abstained from sexual intercourse until marriage. But only three of 10 who didn’t take a formal pledge remained chaste. All of the surveyed individuals — who had been married less than five years — professed faith in Christ. Of that figure, 99 percent attended church, 84 percent said they grew up in church and 87 percent grew up in a two-parent home. Even so, 62 percent of the males and 65 percent of the females engaged in sexual intercourse before marriage, Weathersbee discovered. Nine out of 10 who acknowledged sexual activity prior to marriage never took a True Love Waits purity pledge. “To a large degree, we’re missing it,” Weathersbee said. “The young people are receiving the data, but they’re not translating it into values that result in a lifestyle of purity and holiness.” The strength of the True Love Waits emphasis lies in the way it involves parents, a supportive network of peers, the church as a whole and the community at-large in emphasizing the importance of a pure lifestyle, Weathersbee said. The overall sexual abstinence movement — both faith-based and secular — clearly has reaped positive benefits, said Richard Ross, who pioneered the True Love Waits program in 1993. “The fact is rates of teenage sexual activity rose for 20 unbroken years. Then came True Love Waits and, from that, the broader abstinence movement. From that moment on, rates of teenage sex have dropped every year for 12 unbroken years,” he said.

While that is a more positive view of this issue, don’t forget about that 82%.  Wake up call, anyone?  I think so. Another article,  “A Right Perspective: Purity pledges useless without support” (written by Marilyn Loeffel), from commercialappeal.com states:

Columnist Ellen Goodman recently wrote about the futility of abstinence-only education: “It turns out,” she said, that counting “‘virginity pledges’ … as proof that teens will abstain … is like counting New Year’s resolutions as proof that you lost 10 pounds.”

In a way, I agree. Signing a piece of paper at a religious teen rally is positive peer pressure. Such a promise isn’t worth the paper it is written on unless it is reinforced with support. I’ve attended emotional, hyped-up functions where teens are pressured to do what their friends are doing, sign a purity pledge, without seriously contemplating what they are promising. Often that flimsy pledge goes out the fogged-up window of the back seat of a car.

She later writes (in the same article)

When my oldest daughter was 16, she asked for a purity charm for her necklace. It was a key with an engraved heart. We gave it with our commitment to be there for her in every area of her life, not just to preach about chastity. We warned her of the influences that would try to chip away at her innocence. At her wedding, she presented her husband with her necklace and told him it was the key to her heart. Her younger sisters looked forward to getting their purity rings on their 16th birthdays. The ring is a constant reminder that they can give away their purity only once. They can be like other girls any time they choose to, but those other girls can never be virgins again. The purity rings and loving parenting worked for us. Tween recording stars the Jonas Brothers have taken a ribbing for wearing purity rings. Hollywood is licking its lips, anticipating that these young people will break the pledge. I hope the Jonas Brothers don’t turn out like the Spears sisters, but keep their pledge and remember how to blush.

I have to say I agree with Marilyn Loeffel, and her perspective of the purity pledge issue – you have to mean it, you have to care about whether you truly want to make a pledge about this. Like all vows, you have to solemnly stand by what you commit to.  Or, you’re a liar who doesn’t keep your word.  It’s true, and there’s no going around that one.  But what if you messed things up, and regret it?  You’ve always got forgiveness from God, but you can’t just break promises, and have the mindset “Oh, I’ll ask forgiveness later, God loves me anyway”. Your faith without good works, is dead. (James 2:17.) Denise Jonas, the mom of the Jonas Brothers, had some interesting things to say about character in a July 2009 Good Housekeeping article.

“We wanted everyone to feel joy in the presence of our children,” Denise says.  “To me, there’s nothing more frustrating than being around a child who’s annoying.  We taught our kids proper manners.”  Denise’s methods:  consistency, boundaries, and constantly “reinforcing good conduct until it was behavior.  Because they’re going to be adults a lot longer than they’re children.” “…Nor is Denise naïve about the temptations young rock stars face—even if the young rock stars in her family wear purity rings, symbols of a commitment to remain virgins until marriage.  Denise says the boys never meant to be standard-bearers for the premarital-chastity cause; this was a private decision each made that has become very public.  ‘They’ve been criticized for proclaiming things they never proclaimed,’ she says. ‘And what’s the criticism?  They don’t want to go out there giving everyone an STD?  What’s so terrible about that?’…..She’s realistic about the challenges…..’They are men.  They have desires…But it’s just about growing up and learning what it means to be in a relationship.’” “The boys acknowledge that their mother can be painfully straightforward about the young women they bring home.  ‘People always ask, ‘What’s a girls have to do to get your attention?’ says Joe.  ‘She has to be good to Mom.’ And for her part, Denise tries to stick to just one non-negotiable quality for any future Jonas daughter-in-law:  ‘She must sincerely and totally love my son!’” Denise and Kevin Jr. and the family go to church, they live a life of service, and spending time together.  “Denise and Kevin Sr. also try to prepare their boys for deeper success—a loving marriage—by modeling good behavior…..What she does is constantly show her boys that ‘marriage isn’t 50/50.’  The rule she lives be:  ‘Marriage is really giving 100 percent of yourself, and not expecting anything back.’  It is also about loving someone for the attributes that he has.  ‘(My husband) is not the best about bringing home presents, but he’s selfless.’” Good Housekeeping, July 2009

Bristol Palin, 18, former Alaska governor Sarah Palin’s daughter, launched an abstinence campaign a few months after her baby Tripp was born in Decemeber 2008.  People have reportedly bashed her for these efforts, including her ex-fiance’ Levi Johnston, as he is quoted as saying in an interview,

“I don’t just think telling young kids, you can’t have sex, it’s not going to work.  It’s not realistic…”

Ben Horowitz from the New Jersey Star-Ledger wrote a title column, “Bristol Palin Should Stop Promoting Abstinence“.  Some people think that her supporting abstinence means she resents having a little baby to take care of.  To me, it’s obvious that she does not want other unprepared and irresponsible teens to get pregnant and want an abortion, or face the trouble taking care of a baby with all the ridicule and hurt you can get from other people, even loved ones.  (In her case she was blessed, as her parents supported her decision in keeping her baby.)  She is being told by writers around the country to “stop trying to be a role model because you messed up” basically.  Abstinence and saving yourself for marriage, the obviously “safer” way to go, is viewed as some sort of fairy tale to people, and somehow it’s “unrealistic”.  Saving yourself from possible STDs, heartache, pain and shame is just “too impossible” for real teens to avoid… My question is, why is it that today, people think teens are incapable of keeping a promise?  Will power goes a long way, but so many teens today throw it out the window.  But why?

Part II: The root of the problem

I truly believe the answer can be found in spiritual weakness…accompanied by the feeling of a malnourishment of love and purpose, perhaps.  If your spiritual side is strong, it will cater to your physical side.  People forget how our spirituality is like life-support.  When you cut yourself off from it, you lose an extra sense of morality and the ultimate power and love of God.  When you lack the assurance of the love of God, you are more inclined to seek out other things in life to make you feel better.  Sort of like a drug.  You go to this drug, because your spiritual “life-support” isn’t taking the pain away because you’re not allowing it to be a real part of your life, the way it is intended to be.  Let’s be honest.  Teens today are depicted as unstable, insecure and “awkward” most of the time.  Parents and even mentors of teens treat the entire adolescent stage as this sort of “disease” that will heal itself up if left alone.  Either that or it’s like they have this alien living in their house and among them that will one day wake up as “one of them”. (An adult, that is.) Seriously, you might come across a few very mature teenagers,…

WORKS CITED

1. Teenage sex and pregnancy statistics http://www.guttmacher.org/pubs/fb_ATSRH.html, http://www.soundvision.com/Info/teens/stat.asp

2.  Rob Stein, The Washington Post Staff Writer (December 29th, 2008; Page A02 ) http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/12/28/AR2008122801588.html

3. Marilyn Loeffel , Memphis Commercial Appeal – (Wednesday, January 14, 2009) http://www.commercialappeal.com/news/2009/jan/14/right-perspective-purity-pledges-useless-without-s/

4. Ben Horrowitz, The New Jersey Star-Ledger (Thursday, May 7th, 2009) http://www.nj.com/parenting/ben_horowitz/index.ssf/2009/05/bristol_palin_should_drop_role.html

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Feminism VS. Femininity

FEMINISM VS. FEMININITY

The difference…And why it matters.

While looking around on the internet, we came across a site titled “feminist.com”.  On their site, it is quite evident (as the title aptly words it) they are a support group for feminists.  A page on their site had letters from guests and visitors, and among those hundreds, we found some rather interesting messages written by women all over the world – Including one from a 14 year old girl.  Her message reads as follows:

“Hey! I’m only 14 but I totally support what ya’ll are doing here. And I thank you for having the guts to stand up for women’s rights. I was just wondering if there is anything I could do to help, I know I’m young but I would really like to help somehow! And I wanted to show my gratitude for all your efforts to help women all over the world! Well, I have to go but please send me any information that you can about helping!

Sincerely, Jennie Hawthorne “

Another letter from a young woman was this:

“My name is Rachael Anderson and I am currently a senior at Boston College. I just wanted to e-mail you and let you know how much I learned and will continue to learn now that I have found your site. I am currently taking an Intro. to Feminisms course, and was told about www.feminist.com. This week we had the opportunity to write a few different activist letters to government officials to benefit women, and our regular journal would be a shorter length. Along with doing that and using your source for the information I just wanted to let you know how quick, easy, understandable, and informative I found your website to be. Keep up the good work.

Sincerely, Rachael Anderson “

These are the women of tomorrow. Those are their opinions. What do they believe?  Rather, do they know what they believe?
Where is the woman of yesterday?  The one that stood strong in her place and duties, and had strong convictions and a firm belief in God.  Where is that woman?  Is she still around today?  If she is, and if you know her…You are blessed.

Feminism is growing and becoming popular from when it first “premiered” – formally, that is, with the women’s suffrage movements.  (Though, let’s be fair and mention that the idea of feminism has been around for ages.) It seems to be a new idea though, and historically, you didn’t hear of women in control of power until just in the last 150 years.  So, in course of history, the feminists and their ideas today are new – but like feminism’s (dare we call it) big brother, the theory of evolution, these movements somehow continue to thrive.  It’s supported all over the place.  Even colleges include it as course studies, and respect it as an important,  ground-breaking movement.  Young women are now constantly being filled with this idea that women are not being treated equally as men are.  Through that, abortion has been legalized throughout different countries, and women have been constantly trying to prove that they are not weaker vessel in comparison to men.
The truth is, women and men are the same equal worth, but we differ in purposes – we are designed differently, any normal human eye can see that much.   We’re complete opposites in many respects, but men and women are compatible with each other.

God knew what He was doing from the beginning – why can’t even Christian women and girls trust His plans for their futures?  Women are feeding their minds with the doubt and pressure that the feminism movement has scarred them with.  The desire of (not to mention the fear of not) representing their “kind” in the world as meaningful and important.

There are many ways in which God can work through us, but it doesn’t mean we must prove to the world we are capable of doing things men can, and deserve to get the same titles as them.  Of COURSE women can do these things, but it is not God’s plan or purpose in our lives, to embark on new things.  Satan has found yet another way to mess things up – and this time, he’s selected this perfect way of configuring it.

We all know that God had something in mind when he designed Eve.  He specifically had Eve in mind for Adam.  He also had other women in mind as well.  Today, being feminine and the way all of us girls naturally are, is frowned upon by several people – including, well…Other women.  (Feminists, obviously.)    It is pretty evident that women are the weaker vessel, physically, but what was God seriously thinking, when He created us?  Do we really have a special purpose set apart from men?

Today, you probably have plans.  Especially you younger girls and teens.  (And perhaps, even those adult women who have high expectations for their futures as well.)  We each have different personalities, and sometimes it’s a challenge to reflect our natural femininity that we’ve been given.  It doesn’t always mean you should give up some of your high hopes for the future – God has set apart special missions for us all – but we need to use our minds, and follow what God has for us.  It takes time, and extreme patience, to find out what God has instore for us.  We women have so many great ideas, don’t we?  We have plans to prove people, (especially men) that we are capable of doing things on the same level, and that we shouldn’t be thought of as a  poor, weaker race of humans.
It all goes back through time…The idea of the modern feminist, is well, modern.  The whole idea is recent and new! (Just like…evolution, for example.) It’s new, and it’s also a new spiritual battle.  But, unfortunately, this battle is for women. And only women can fight this battle.  Why?  Because, simply put, it’s an ATTACK on women, femininity, and God’s original plan for them.  But, it should be mentioned that men have a lot on the line in this matter as well, and they can affect and fight against this new movement of feminism.  Feminism is trying to take over the leadership of the man, which God set before the woman.  It’s easy to not like that idea.

As I once heard Jennie Chancey (ladiesagainstfeminism.com) put it, “feminism began right in the garden of eden, when Eve ate the forbidden fruit”.  God had a lot of original plans for His creation.  But we’re just too good for them, right?  God had a plan from the beginning, and Adam and Eve changed things a bit…Or, a lot, you should say.  Oh yes, and marriage, and we simply go “pfft, to that!”.  God had a lot of good ideas, but He kept having to alter them for man, His own creation.  Hey, He even had to send a flood to destroy the world because of His OWN creation.  And remember the tower of babel?  He had to split everyone up and give them new languages.
Then He sent Jesus, to cleanse us from our sins.  Don’t you see at what all God has done for us?  He, through time, has done everything possible for His creation.  He honestly does care for us.  But do we care at all for Him, and His ideas and plans?  Or should we just select our own ways, styles, and just say, “You know, God, we don’t need you anymore.  We have our lives that you’ve give us, but hey, we just don’t need you to have these rules and regulations!”.
We’re like little children, not accepting God’s schedule for us.  Always begging for exceptions, and pleading for no punishment for what we have reaped and sowed.

It takes a weak-minded woman to become a feminist…it takes a strong-minded woman to embrace femininity.

Why?  Because feminism is as tempting to us as the knowledge of good and evil was to Eve.  But, any true woman knows deep inside of her, where she should stand.  That is why we can resist falling into the trap feminism has made.  The family – an important, and God-designed thing – is in jeopardy because of…you guessed it, feminism.

Oh yes, and you know…if you kill your own dragons, you don’t need a knight.  Therefore, chivalry is pretty much dead along with the dragon.  (Just in case you were wondering where all the real men went.)

Alright, now, where in the Bible does God express His ideas for women?  Well, in several passages.
Let’s go to probably the most popular chapter women use as reference to the “ideal Christian woman”:

Proverbs 31:10-31

“10Who can find a virtuous woman? for her price is far above rubies.

11The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall have no need of spoil.

12She will do him good and not evil all the days of her life.

13She seeketh wool, and flax, and worketh willingly with her hands.

14She is like the merchants’ ships; she bringeth her food from afar.

15She riseth also while it is yet night, and giveth meat to her household, and a portion to her maidens.

16She considereth a field, and buyeth it: with the fruit of her hands she planteth a vineyard.

17She girdeth her loins with strength, and strengtheneth her arms.

18She perceiveth that her merchandise is good: her candle goeth not out by night.

19She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff.

20She stretcheth out her hand to the poor; yea, she reacheth forth her hands to the needy.

21She is not afraid of the snow for her household: for all her household are clothed with scarlet.

22She maketh herself coverings of tapestry; her clothing is silk and purple.

23Her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land.

24She maketh fine linen, and selleth it; and delivereth girdles unto the merchant.

25Strength and honour are her clothing; and she shall rejoice in time to come.

26She openeth her mouth with wisdom; and in her tongue is the law of kindness.

27She looketh well to the ways of her household, and eateth not the bread of idleness.

28Her children arise up, and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her.

29Many daughters have done virtuously, but thou excellest them all.

30Favour is deceitful, and beauty is vain: but a woman that feareth the LORD, she shall be praised.

31Give her of the fruit of her hands; and let her own works praise her in the gates.”

_ ( Who can look at that verse and say that the woman depicted there was an “enslaved wimp”?)

“‘Unto the woman’, He said, I will greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception; in sorrow thou shalt bring forth children; and thy desire shall be to thy husband, and he shall rule over thee.” – Genesis 3:16

From the “Women” themselves:

(Actual quotes by…actual feminists.)

“The most merciful thing a large family can do to one of its infant members is to kill it.” - Margaret Sanger, founder of Planned Parenthood, in Women and the New Race.

“Marriage has existed for the benefit of men; and has been a legally sanctioned method of control over women…We must work to destroy it.  The end of the institution of marriage is a necessary condition for the liberation of women.  Therefor it is important for us to encourage women to leave their husbands and not to live individually with men.” – The Declaration of Feminism, November 1971.

“…No woman should have to deny herself any opportunities because of her special responsibilities to her children. … Families will be finally destroyed only when a revolutionary social and economic organization permits people’s needs for love and security to be met the ways that do not impose divisions of labor, or any external roles, at all.” – Functions of the Family, Linda Gordon, WOMEN: A Journal of Liberation, Fall 1969

- Obviously, something isn’t right with those views.  Perhaps you think those are just ideas from the ’60s and ’70s…But actually, those quotes are smiled upon by the modern 21st century feminist as well.

Christianity and femininity can still shine through.  One quote, once said by Gloria Steinhem was:

“By the year 2000 we will, I hope, raise our children to believe in human potential, not God.” – Gloria Steinhem, editor of Ms. Magazine.

Thankfully, that hasn’t come to pass – but who says it isn’t still a threat in the looming future?

Priceless Purity would love to hear your thoughts!  What do you think of this discussion?  How important is femininity?  Is it a true gift that God has crowned us with?

Works Cited:

1. Feminist.com http://www.feminist.com/about/wpas_letters.html

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Integrity

Integrity: the quality or condition of being whole or undivided; completeness.

I often see that word and sigh, thinking of a soldier dying for his country or a missionary leaving his family to go reach out to a civilization desperate for the truth of God’s Word. I think of big acts, and famous people who make a difference.  Nobility, bravery and strength – I look on those things and thank the Lord for people who live it out. I look on my own life and think that one day I will have those traits. I look on it as if it’s some distant thing that I cannot obtain until I’m “older” or “more experienced”. We’ve all been preached to about making a difference in the lives of others, but what about ourselves? Are we making changes in our own character? Are we living a life of integrity?

The other day I was in the kitchen eating, watching my amazing mother try to do three things at once: talk on the phone, clean the kitchen and answer questions. As I sat there eating I thought about how I wanted to be like that one day and how one day I’ll be admired for my hard work ethic, etc, etc. I said a quick prayer for an opportunity to come up so I could work on it, and thought nothing more of it. Now, by this point my mom was starting to get overwhelmed so she eventually left the room to continue her phone conversation and I was left to myself in the kitchen. After lunch hours the Clark kitchen isn’t usually spotless and this was no rare occasion. I started to go back and forth in my head about whether I should clean it up or not and I started to make excuses like: I can’t clean up cause what if everyone isn’t done eating? It would be a total waste. Obviously, things needed to be cleaned up, but can you guess what I did? I got up, went straight upstairs and left the kitchen for “someone else” to clean up, thinking: what’s the big deal? I do it all the time. How’s that for integrity?

Now I know you’re thinking you’ve done way worse, and truth is, so have I.  No matter what the situation is though, you have to decide in your heart to do the right thing, and do it.  Sometimes integrity isn’t necessarily choosing right over wrong, it’s choosing right over nothing. It’s making the choice to do the right thing instead of doing nothing at all. It isn’t easy, and in most cases, integrity doesn’t involve being in a big crowd or peer pressure (for me, anyways). It’s in the small things we do…it’s the “quality of being whole or undivided” no matter what situation we’re in. Being moral and choosing the right things in every situation. As Jim Stovall puts it: “Integrity is doing the right thing, even if nobody is watching”. It’s hard.

I was watching a woman run a marathon on tv a few months back and I remember being so struck and inspired by her motivation. She was only halfway through but there was such confidence in her face that she was going to complete it. I’m sure everything in her body was screaming to stop but she didn’t slow down. This woman’s strength and motivation kept her going – not her dreams of having it. I get so caught up in dreaming and hoping for the future that I miss the opportunities I have now. Those are the most important in my life; those are the ones that will build character; and I still ignore them. I keep waiting for a big chance to prove my integrity but to be honest, as I examine how I live, I notice how very little I have. I know that I need to be more faithful to what I know is right…to my gut, to put it bluntly.

“The integrity of the upright will guide them, but the perversity of the unfaithful will destroy them.” Proverbs 11:3 (NKJV)

Like every other Christian on earth, I’ve always wanted to be someone people can trust and look up to…someone who is noble. It’s taken me so long to realize that the choices I make every day are the ones that build my character and it’s not how much time I spend praying before I get up in the morning. It’s purity in mind and in actions…it’s in the little, mundane things we do every day that make us who we are. Once you are confident in this, there will be no need to preach it, because you’re living it out.
Blessings,
-Jillian, Priceless Purity-

It’s a fact

FACT

The Bible withstands the test of time

It’s amazing at how the Bible has been so preserved over time.

The Bible wasn’t written by one idle guy that had nothing to do – several different people were inspired through God to write the different books found in the Bible.  Seriously – all different varieties of people from different parts of the world, contributed to this book.  It took about 1,600 years for the old testament, and about 100 years for the new testament to be written.

Not only that, but the Bible has been translated in more than 2,300 languages and is out there to be read by more than 90% of the earth’s population.

There is no other book in the WORLD – NO other book, – that has survived for that long, or been translated into more languages, than the Bible.

Providential?  I think so.

“The grass withers, the flower fades,
But the word of our God stands forever.” – Isaiah 40:8

Even more amazing is the fact that there is nothing anyone can DO about it.  The Bible is out there to be read, and is being read, by so many people today.  There is no way anyone can get rid of this book.  It stands forever, and I don’t see how anyone can ask for any more proof about the Bible’s accuracy than that.  Nothing to this day has ever outlasted the Bible.  It’s an incredible, and obviously true fact.

According to the British Times newspaper in 1996 -

“Forget modern British novelists and TV tie-ins, the Bible is the best-selling book every year. If sales of the Bible were included in best-seller lists, it would be a rare week when anything else would achieve a look in. It is wonderful, weird … that in this godless age… this one book should go on selling, every month.”

And here’s an old article that was printed in the US periodicle, “TIME magazine” (March 24th, 1961) that also had a say on the matter -

No need to wait for reviews. The book was a runaway bestseller the moment it appeared. The New English Bible, product of 13 years of cooperative scholarship in Britain (TIME, Jan. 13), was put on sale from England to New Zealand last week, and a print order of 1,275,000 copies was obviously not going to be enough. In New York, dealers’ reorders have already accounted for a fifth printing.

In a wikipedia article that listed the “best-selling books of all time“, the Bible tops the list.  It claims that the Bible has had  at least “2.5 billion to more than 6 billion” approximate sales.

So one thing’s for certain – this book, the Bible, has endured the test of time.  God chose to give us His Word through the Bible, and He has preserved it’s truths for all these years, for us.

Doubting God?

Questions, questions, questions!  We always have so many questions.  Some we can seek out the answers to, but others are above our heads and beyond our comprehension.  There’s nothing wrong with you for wondering, we all wonder about God, and His existence.  It’s a normal, human thing.  We were made with a desire to know our Creator.  But sometimes, it becomes a frustrating thing when we rely so much on believing with what our own two eyes can see.  We limit ourselves to physical qualities, and we bring the question of God’s existence down to our lowly, physical realm.  We feel like we must see something to believe it, because, in our world, that’s how things work.  This is how God designed us to interact with each other, and our surroundings.  If you see a person, you know they exist, if you touch a person, that’s even further proof, right?  Well…God is not like us.  We are made in His image, but – we’re His creation.  There’s no way for us to bring God to OUR level.  There’s just no way.  When we challenge God we’re basically saying, “Okay, if there’s a God – GET DOWN HERE RIGHT NOW AND SHOW YOURSELF!”

Now.  Since we are His creation, and don’t contain God’s powerful attributes, etc.,etc., – who are we to question God?  He’s not here for us to be questioned.  Though, He’ll take these questions of yours and answer them in different ways.

He has used this same theme, and mirrored it in His creation at times, too.

We were made for Him, to serve Him alone. *PLOP*

Before delving into what we say though, and our mere opinions, take a look at what Scripture says about God, and His existence….

*SCRIPTURE VERSES GO HERE*

I once passed a church sign one day that said, “Satan’s only tool is deception” I thought about it, and realized how true it was.  That is really all he has, and all he needs to turn us away from the Lord.  I had never thought about how powerful lies and deception can be.

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You have most likely anticipated our answer to this question, but evenso, please read on…

So many people have that question on their minds – even some Christians.  The question of whether the Bible is pure truth is another issue as well.

To those Christians that may be in doubt: we hope you feel reassured after reading this that there definitely IS a God!

Let’s think about the whole concept of science, first. If you deeply consider the entire idea and purpose of science, it’s really to understand the creation around us. To examine how things work, to get a better concept. The one problem with this is, we have such finite minds. We can only know so much, before we get stumped by something. In a way, science doesn’t REALLY exist.  Like mentioned before, it’s really just a tool to use to understand how things work, and how things happen.  Science comes from the thoughts and ideas of man – therefore, it can never be confirmed truth.

Years ago, famous Christian men, such as Sir Isaac Newton and Carolus Linnaeus, developed ways to study the creation. These Christian men opened doors for people to see how complex God’s creation really is. But putting faith in science is also putting trust in someone’s finite mind. An idea can be proven true just as easily as it can be proven false. There are so many good examples for this, when you look over history. People used to believe outrageous things, that today, we understand them as really being “scientifically impossible”. (There was actually a time in history when people thought rotten meat could “evolve” into larvae and rats! Crazy, huh?) So if you believe science has all the answers, remember again that our minds can only go so far. If you believe in a Creator, however, it changes this situation a bit. It would make SENSE to have certain things remain unexplained, or leave scientists confused. “Science” really goes to show how there must be Someone to create such a complex, awesome and interesting world. And even if we don’t have EVERY answer under the sun, we can still be reassured that Someone else does. Over and over again scientists and their theories have been proved false, or undefined. It isn’t really a mystery as to why that is.

And here’s a question for secular scientists out there – why put so much time, trust and effort in something entirely arranged by chance? There is no NEED to, if you don’t believe there is a deeper meaning beneath the surface. While science can be proved inaccurate, the belief that a God exists, CANNOT. The story of the Creation has been passed down from generation to generation – the new idea of evolution, has not.

Because you have not as a person, experienced God, does not mean He is not there. If you have no faith in Him, how could you believe He exists?

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval. By faith we understand that the worlds were prepared by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things which are visible.” Hebrews 11:1-3

The story of creation sounds silly and outlandish to some, only because in today’s standards, that’s impossible.  Since we have knowledge of good things and bad things, because of Adam and Eve’s sins, it smears our views of the world, and ultimately triggers confusion…

“Why then, did God waste His time with creation?”

Ever wonder why God wasted all of this time creating us, and making everything around us?  I mean, come on, what’s the point?  Well, God works in His OWN ways – seperate from our’s.  (Obviously.)  He planned this all for His own reasons.  He loves us, and would hate for us to run around saying that He just wasted His time.  Wouldn’t you be hurt if you spent all your time making someone’s life wonderful, and they respond that it was a waste of time?

“If God’s there, why doesn’t He help me?”

“I don’t believe in God because He allows bad things to happen to people.  If he’s REALLY there, He’d DO something for me!” – Have you ever heard THAT before?  I’m sure you have!  That’s just plain selfishness.  The fact is, YOU aren’t do anything for Him!  Would you help someone who didn’t care for you?  No, of course not!  Sometimes you’ll hear of people, “Trying out different religions…” – HOLD ON!  TRYING out different religions to find the right one?  People, this isn’t like going to the store and picking out the clothes that fit you the best.  There is truth, and truth usually contains things that we like and dislike – Most people believe what they WANT to believe – you can’t do that, though!  Being a Christian is a hard thing.  You have to deal with so much pressure, and it’s almost a challenge to worship God freely.  Why waste the time trying to worship God then?  If that’s your question, why waste the time WASTING time?  But ponder this for a moment:  If Christianity is just another “religion”, why are so many non-believers so sensitive to this subject?  People go and freely offend Christians, but they wouldn’t go up to a buddhist and say, “In your FACE!” all of the time!  Why do they waste their time bashing Christians?  It’s a bit obvious.  Throughout the ages, Satan uses so many people as tools to turn people away from Christ. Satan doesn’t want you to know Jesus.  HE doesn’t want you to feel God’s love for you.  Satan makes people think they are too smart to believe in God.

Another thing – bad things happen because there is sin.  Bad things happen because we have the KNOWLEDGE of Good and Evil.  You’ll hear people complain about it all the time, that if there was a caring God, He’d help people, and not allow those things to happen.  Sometimes He uses trials testing our faith.  If you have weak faith, you’ll turn away from Him easily, probably.  God wants 100% TRUE Christians, not half-Christians.  You can’t be a Christian “just in case” there’s a God when you die.  You have to dedicate your life to HIM, and be totally sure of what you believe in when you say you believe in God.

Most people think that there are too many Christians in the world, and that it’s all goody-goody.  They’re obviously BLINDED.  There are so many horrible, wicked things that are going on, and yet they say that America, for example, is the “United States of Jesus” – ahh, how I wish that WERE true!  Why countries like America are so great are only because of the founding fathers who prayed so hard for their nation.  It’s like when you’re brought up in a Christian household.  Except, when you’re an adult, you’re free and independent – you try to forget that there’s a God, or just say you don’t believe in one, as an excuse for the things you do that are wrong.  There are so many horrible things going on today.  Don’t agree with me?   Okay, go name 10 bad things, and 10 good things – which takes longer to name?

But you must notice that naturally we don’t want blame, or guilt.  We would rather there not be such a thing as sin.  We would probably live a whole lot easier without laws.  But we all naturally want justice when people do wrong to us.  A world without principles and laws and justice and morals – would be a complete disaster!

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“The story of creation is too fairy tale-ish for me!”

Some people just have a problem believing in creation, and decided they don’t want to believe in the Bible because of the story of how sin entered the world – it’s because it’s almost too hard for us to comprehend since we don’t live like that – we have knowledge of good & evil now, because of Adam & Eve’s sin – we can see impure and pure things.  We have somewhat of a discernment between bad things and goods things.  Whether you’re a Christian or not, you understand when things ARE bad, don’t you?  Everyone feels guilty when they do something wrong – they have the knowledge of good & evil.  If the world was here by chance, why should we care about the good and bad things in the world?  God gives us all a “clue” about things.  Just most people don’t think about it.

But say you’re a Christian, but you just don’t believe in all the Bible.  (Such as the story of creation, the flood, etc.) If  you don’t believe and follow the Bible 100%, then how can you know the parts you believe is real, is really real?!  Some Christians try to mix science and the Bible together.  The fact is, the belief in God isn’t considered very scientific at all.  It’s something so many good Christians get hooked up on, and can’t answer very well.  But when you get right down to it…Evolution isn’t either.  The world EXPLODED into a perfect form.  Everything just HAPPENED to work out by chance.  WAIT.  Nothing can explode into something perfectly like that – that’s not very scientific sounding!  Neither do you see humans evolving from apes.  Or any of that junk that evolutionists believe.  Besides, where do you get these apes that we have today?  Why didn’t THEY evolve into humans?  When you ask an athiest that, they respond with some made-up explanation, in order to support their theory.  So really, evolution is as far-fetched as some may think.  We see drawings, and read books about these crazy things from “pre-historic” times.  Where do they get that information from?

Many scientists insist that they have proof of how old the earth is, by their various techniques, but even THOSE things have been inaccurate.

In fact, none of the ”knowledge” evolutionists tell you is accurate at all.  But the Bible, on the other hand, is full of countless truths.

God is so creative – He’s provided us with foods to eat, ways to communicate (talking, writing, etc.) and has given us awesome friends and family.  Wow…And to think, it all happened by chance!!!  (Um…Not!)

If you go by living in “chance”, anything could happen right?  See, evolutionists don’t really know what they’re talking about.  They just are so used to, and stuck up in certain ways about their beliefs in evolution, that to them, it’s impossible to believe in a God.

Does the Bible contradict itself?

Umm…No.  Read carefully, slowly, and study up on these things before you claim that the Bible is a book full of contradictions.  Atheists think a bunch of crazy men authored the Bible, and set it before all these people to follow – wait a second!  Why WOULD anyone write this entire “hand book” on how to live, for NO reason?  Exactly.  No one WOULD.  The Bible contains actual truths – that includes: fulfilled prophecies, history, wisdom, etc.  Another thing, most atheists that insist the Bible contradicts itself claim it’s PROOF.  Now, before they go any farther…Where’s their proof?  They are usually just quoting other atheist scientists, and such.

People believe in evolution mostly because they believe it’s scientific, and that the Bible is a fairy tale because of the miracles and such.  Sometimes they believe that the people written about in the Bible actually lived, but that everything about God was added in.

So when you get right down to it…Would you rather take the risk in NOT becoming a Christian, and find out you were wrong, or be a Christian and discover you were right?

Would you rather believe that the world is all by chance – every beautiful day, every wonderful person, every living creature – was ALL by chance?  Or would you rather believe that there is a God, who cares for us, who has given us so many things to provide for us?  It’s your decision…Take your pick!

Some of the strongest Christians are stumped by the simplest questions asked by atheists and agnostics.  Though it may be good to witness to people that need some talking to, don’t go about and show off your faith unprepared.  You’re liable to become “stumped”, if you don’t have any Scripture to back you up.

Remember also to not be wavered into “challenges” or “debates” about God if you yourself aren’t comfortable with the discussion.  If you feel like you don’t have the answers, find the answers, but not in the wrong people or from the wrong sources.  It’s good to be an example, but don’t “show off” your faith in God – you can get into bad situations if you venture into discussing things you haven’t really thought about before.

It’s so easy for a Christian to get stumped now and then by simple questions.  Some of them as simple as asking about where God came from in the first place.  The common problem is our misunderstanding of time and eternity.  God lives in eternity, where there is no beginning as well as no end.  God created time for us, where we have beginning and ending.  It’s really baffling sometimes, but in our finite minds, we can’t possibly have all the answers as to why God created time, or everything we see.  Simply put, we have no RIGHT asking such questions as it is.  There are just some things that aren’t for us living in a world of time to know.

Once there was an atheist that challenged Christians to prove there was a God without the help of their “precious Book”.  This is extremely possible, as a Christian can use science as a tool along with not even having to mention Bible verses, for a debate.  But an athiest cannot prove anything about evolution being true, without the help of their science.  In fact, if you challenged an evolutionist or atheist to do so, there wouldn’t be any way they could.  The fact is, people have always needed something to put faith in, and in their case, it’s science.

“If God did not exist, neither would the atheist.”

The Lord says:
“These people come near to me with their mouth
and honor me with their lips,
but their hearts are far from me.
Their worship of me
is made up only of rules taught by men.

Therefore once more I will astound these people
with wonder upon wonder;
the wisdom of the wise will perish,
the intelligence of the intelligent will vanish.”

Woe to those who go to great depths
to hide their plans from the LORD,
who do their work in darkness and think,
“Who sees us? Who will know?”

You turn things upside down,
as if the potter were thought to be like the clay!
Shall what is formed say to him who formed it,
“He did not make me”?
Can the pot say of the potter,
“He knows nothing”?

- Isaiah 29:13-16

Remember:

God’s ways are higher than our ways.  The whole concept of God is outlandish to us sometimes because we cannot fully understand God, and never will as long as we are on earth

“Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared as yet what we will be We know that when He appears, we will be like Him, because we will see Him just as He is.” – 1 John 3:2

It is hard for us to believe that God has always been around, simply because of us living in a world of time.   He created a world with a beginning, so of course it is hard for us to grasp what eternity really is.

“The fool has said in his heart,
“There is no God.”
They are corrupt,
They have done abominable works,
There is none who does good. ” – Psalm 14:1

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Other sites with very helpful articles and material revolving around the topics of God and creation:

www.AnswersInGenesis.com

www.WayoftheMaster.com

http://www.gotquestions.org/crucial.html

http://www.gotquestions.org/Does-God-exist.html

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Humans are fallible.  That’s a fact.  Read that again and soak it in.  Okay, now, think about that concept – of being fallible.  What that means is, not being “bullseye accurate”, erroneous.

Science and all it

The Principles of Science

The following quoted portion is an excerpt from a page from uic.edu

The Scientific Method The scientific method is a process scientists must follow in determining the workings of the universe. There are five basic components to the scientific method:

1. From observations of the natural world, determine the nature of the phenomenon that is interesting to you (i.e. ask a question or identify a problem).
2. Develop one or more hypotheses, or educated guesses, to explain this phenomenon. The hypotheses should be predictive – given a set of circumstances, the hypothesis should predict an outcome.
3. Devise experiments to test the hypotheses.All valid scientific hypotheses must be testable.
4. Analyze the experimental results and determine to what degree do the results fit the predictions of the hypothesis.
5. Further modify and repeat the experiments.

It is impossible to prove something to be true (this dips deeply into philosophy, but Truth is an ever-elusive principle.) One can create a theory with an overwhelming amount of support, but one valid piece of contrary evidence can strike it down. As such, science and scientific theories are an ever-evolving as new ideas and technologies allow us to create and test hypotheses in new and exciting ways.

So therefore, science is a study, it’s fallible – it’s based upon mere research from very studious men.  Some are right, some are wrong.
An hypothesis is a mere assumption or guess.  Therefore, claiming that there is no God, and that a God would be “unscientific”, can never necessarily be proven as truth.

In our material world you see, we seem to think we have to see something to believe it.  Nevermind the fact that there can be proof, or “fingerprints” all over the place to show something is real, or is there.  See, if we are following along from the biblical perspective, it is clear in the Bible that God is not a visible God.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse. – Romans 1:20

So, if that is the case, how can anyone “challenge” that there is a God?  If it states in the Bible that the God we believe in is, in fact a power not seen, why try to see it?

For [as] the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways, and My thoughts than your thoughts. – Isaiah 55:9