So what! Since evolution is true, I know you are wrong...

Many people with the evolutionary mindset refuse to listen to any evidence presented against their position. Here are some basic truths that simply cannot be refuted, as given by Tim Stout in his pamphlet How Science Shows There MUST Be A Creator.

1. Biological chemicals fall apart much faster than they could ever spontaneously appear! This behavior is the outworking of the laws of chemical equilibrium. Therefore, for a person to believe in a natural origin of life, he needs to reject the laws of chemical equilibrium.

2. Consider the very common enzyme, succinate dehydrogenase, which is comprised of a string of over 1,100 amino acids. The probability of getting this particular amino acid sequence, by chance, are 1 in 10^1,100. (that's a 1 with 10 thousand zeros after it).  Natural selection would be useless in gradually bringing about its initial formation, because natural selection does not choose between the better of two failures. Therefore, to believe in a natural origin of life a person needs to ignore the laws of statistics.

3. A living cell is essentially an information-driven machine. must have all. All of the components of a cell must performing properly right from the very beginning, not gradually over time. Otherwise, it does not work, period, end of story. This is the exact opposite of a gradualistic evolutionary processes. Therefore, to believe in a natural origin of life, a person needs to reject basic principles of information-driven machines.

The evidence is so powerful that anyone can see it who is willing! We can present the evidence, but only God can make it take root and grow (1 Corinthians 3:7). Because of these truths, we need to be relying on God to work in the hearts of those to whom we speak, to make things clear, and not to rely on our own efforts.

(based on Timothy R. Stout, Responses to the Testimony, published in Creation Matters, a publication of Creation Research Society, Volume 16, Number 5, September/October 2011, to appear at http://www.creationresearch.org/creation_matters/pdf/2011/CM16%2004%20low%20res.pdf)

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Bible Receptions into the Red Zone...of the Columbian civil war

Russell powers up his Cessna 170 and accelerates down the runway for takeoff. He distributes Christian literature and Bibles in Colombia's red zone by dropping them from his airplane in bags suspended beneath
small parachutes.

Russell also meets directly with FARC guerrilla leaders. Recently, his daughter Alethia traveled with him to a guerrilla camp, where she met about 10 female guerrillas. The women had become Christians through Russell's ministry, but they could not tell the other guerrillas and kept their Bibles carefully hidden.

"They love Christ and are members of a violent movement," Alethia says. "It is hard to reconcile. But they just don't know another way. If they leave the guerrillas, they will be killed. My father has taught me not to judge them, just to love them and be a witness and leave the rest up to the Holy Spirit."

(excerpted from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, December 2011)

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Human Rights Lawyer jailed in Iran for defending Christian Pastor

Mohammad Ali Dadkhah, was sentenced to nine years in prison in July 2011 for "actions and propaganda against the Islamic regime." He is co-founder and spokesperson for the Defenders of Human Rights Center (DHRC), was sentenced by Branch 15 of the Islamic Revolutionary Court on 3 July, to nine years in prison, a ten year ban from teaching in universities, a ten year ban from practicing as an attorney, $300 in fines, and five lashes. Dadkhah’s charges were, “cooperation in the soft overthrow of the regime,” “propaganda against the regime,” “interviews with some media outlets,” “distortion of members of the regime,” “dark portrayal of the state of cultural heritage,” and “compiling the book ‘Writing and Reporting’”, which was published by the DHRC. For more about this brave Iranian human rights lawyer see International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran's web page.

What finally drove the Iranian regime to punish a lawyer so severely? Dadkah had the audacity to defend Iranian house church Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani. Nadarkhani, who has remained in prison since his arrest in October 2009, was convicted of apostasy for converting from Islam to Christianity and for encouraging other Muslims to convert to Christianity. Nadarkhani was sentenced to death by hanging in November 2010 afi:er a regional court in Rasht convicted him of apostasy.

Iran's Supreme Court reviewed the case on appeal in July 2011 and ordered the lower court to reinvestigate the apostasy charge. The lower court ruled that Nadarkhani was Muslim at birth and ordered him to "repent" of his Christian faith. The pastor replied, "Repent means to return. What should I return to? To the blasphemy that I had before my faith in Christ?" The judges said, "To the religion of your ancestors, Islam." Pastor Nadarkhani then replied, "I can not." At press time, he remained in prison.

Iranian Christians say the government has targeted Pastor Nadarkhani because of the rapid growth of his house church, which now includes more than 400 believers. Pray for Pastor Nadarkhani as well as his wife, Fatemah, and their two sons. Pray that our Iranian family will be encouraged and emboldened by his witness. Pray that lawyer Dadkhah would be released, and that God would raise up other brave lawyers in Iran to defend the defenseless, followers of Jesus.

(excerpted from Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, December 2011)

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Gurinder turns from drugs to Jesus

"Gurinder*, a Punjabi Sikh man who had moved from India to live in a Western country, was troubled by drug addictions for a number of years but he could have never been prepared for the stroke he was to experience in December 2010. He had heard me speak about Jesus on numerous occasions but was never receptive. The stroke kept him in the hospital for six months and then he was transferred to a rehabilitation centre. Gurinder's left side was totally paralyzed as his arm and leg would not move. I continued to visit him, share about Jesus and pray for him.

"About two months ago I went to see him and he had a smile on his face (I don't remember seeing this smile before!). Gurinder told me that he had prayed to receive Jesus and that he wanted to follow him. His left leg began to work again and I saw for the first time a happy man who was once weighed down in addiction.

"Gurinder's arm is still not working but he has found a spiritual healing.

"He went home about four weeks ago but now the family will not let me talk to him or see him. PRAY for an open door to visit Gurinder and for total healing."

(from a Christian newsletter, November 2011)

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See, Here is Water

It can be difficult for those of us raised in an established church in the free world to imagine someone being baptized outside of a church building with no significant examination of faith beforehand.

In areas of severe persecution, some believers still have difficulty finding someone to baptize them. In Egypt and Malaysia, many mainstream church leaders are afraid to baptize a Muslim convert to Christ. They will only baptize those from a non-Muslim background. Likewise, in the four communist countries of Asia, more than 80 percent of baptisms are illegal because of government restrictions. Believers there have to function "outside the box:' so they are sometimes baptized in a barrel!

When Philip baptized the Ethiopian eunuch on the side of the road (Acts 8), the Lord had already prepared the Ethiopian's heart by leading him to read the prophecies about Jesus. Perhaps the man felt the urgency to be baptized because he didn't know if he would ever meet another Christian who could baptize him. Consequently, he exclaimed to Philip, "See, here is water." They stopped the chariot and he was baptized on the spot. The man would soon be returning to Ethiopia, where the apostle Matthew, according to Church history, was later nailed to the ground and beheaded under orders from King Hytacus.

This kind of situation led two zealous Muslim converts recently to ride their small motorcycles to the ocean and baptize themselves. They believed they needed to go under water three times, so they got a lot of saltwater in their mouth. But they rejoiced as they sought to be obedient to Christ's commandments.

I recently witnessed the baptisms of 20 Muslim converts to Christ in a Muslim nation. They had sewn their own baptismal robes. Their exuberance, delight and overflowing joy washed over me like the water pouring off of them. In their country, there is no church building where they could be safely baptized.

Making use of the primitive means available is not about being different; it's about finding a way to obey God.

(excerpted from Tom White Voice of the Martyrs newsletter, November 2011)

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