Monday, August 27, 2007

Walter Martin on Richard Dawkins:*

He who is pregnant with evil and conceives trouble gives birth to disillusionment. He who digs a hole and scoops it out falls into the pit he has made. The trouble he causes recoils on himself; his violence comes down on his own head. Psalms 7:14‑16


I am so tired of critics pointing to all the so-called “failures” of Christianity through the ages. The truth is that Atheism and Agnosticism are responsible for more deaths than all the religious wars down through history!

In Germany, two men known as Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels produced a philosophy called Dialectical Materialism, which is known today as Communism. In the first fifty-odd years of its existence, that philosophy destroyed—in real human lives—more than a hundred million people. They did that in fifty years! Ten million Baptists alone died in Russia under Stalin, just because of that philosophy.

Many philosophers say that Christianity is illogical and irrational. There used to be a saying in Germany when Frederich Nietzsche was alive: “God is dead. Nietzsche.” They wrote it all over the walls because Nietzsche was trying to prove that Christianity, Judaism, and the Bible were mythology.

When Nietzsche died, they changed the sign to: “Nietzsche is dead. God.” And that’s exactly what happened; he departed the premises and God still remains. The philosophists succeed only in confusion and in refuting each other. They have been doing nothing but causing problems for almost two thousand years. Christianity is not illogical or irrational—the philosophers are.

You don’t have to work yourself to death trying to refute philosophers, they refute each other. In the end, they all come back to the same thing: They don’t know. They’re all Agnostic. That’s why Paul tells you in Colossians to beware. "Beware lest anyone cheat you through philosophy and empty deceit, according to the tradition of men, according to the basic principles of the world, and not according to Christ." Colossians 2:8-9

The arrogant philosopher Nietzsche so influenced Adolph Hitler that he brought about the persecution of the Jews on the grounds they were an inferior race. Hitler believed the Germans were the Arian supermen of Nietzsche’s philosophy. Six million Jews were eradicated on the basis of this line of reasoning. Communism and Nazism have managed, in the last fifty-odd years, to wipe out twenty times more people than Christianity is accused of in the last nineteen hundred years! Atheism is the great, beneficent helper of mankind? Let history be the judge of that!




*(Okay . . . this is exactly what my father would say if he were still here and had to listen to Dawkins blathering on about the failures of religion)

Sunday, August 19, 2007

Evangelicals Tell China: Enough!


Red Alert has hit America . . . spiritually and physically.

I don't know about all of you, but after this latest recall of toys, I'm personally through with buying from China. Whenever possible, I will try to purchase American made or American grown products. The sad thing is, greedy businessmen and politicians have sold out the American public (including their own families), and now it takes some footwork to find and buy any products with the Made in USA label.

I'm going to give it a try, though, and I hope a few thousand of you will, too.

Here's just a brief review of China's recent track record:

1. Chinese toothpaste killed hundreds of people in South America due to the antifreeze chemical diethylene glycol substituted to save money. Americans were advised to throw away any toothpaste they purchased stamped with the names of certain U.S. Cities (this is the only way we had of knowing that the toothpaste we put into our mouths morning and night came from China).
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec07/china_07-03.html

2. Chinese cough syrup (containing the same poisonous chemical) killed dozens of people in Panama—at least 260,000 bottles were on store shelves.

3. Toys and baby bibs poisoned with lead were stocked in and recalled from who knows how many stores in America; Thomas the Tank Engine and a Mattel recall of over 9 million toys is still going on due to lead poisoning. The media suggested parents bring their children in for a medical checkup if they owned any of these items.

4. 450,000 Chinese tires were recalled because they fell apart on the freeways.

5. Pet foods in North America were recalled (on a massive scale) due to the poisonous plastic additive melamine . . . but not before hundreds of pets died.

6. Chinese seafood including Shrimp and Southern Catfish were refused by the FDA because of pollutants (carcinogens and dangerous antibiotics).
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/15/opinion/15grescoe.html?ex=1187668800&en=41132155fbd68d35&ei=5070

How does China deal with this? They shake their proverbially fist at us and deny, deny, deny. Eventually, when the damage has piled up so high that even they can’t deny it, Chinese police track down a scapegoat and execute him (short, and not so sweet, but 100% effective).

When is enough, enough? The USDA revealed recently that at least 50% of our apple juice is imported from China, so our children drink Chinese juice on a daily basis. Did you know that? It's the stuff of nightmares. Where does our sweetener for cereal come from? How about the sweeteners for fruit Snacks, fruit rollups, etc? Do these big American food companies import their ingredients from China? You bet. Do they tell us about it? Nope. (The San Diego Union Tribune
http://www.signonsandiego.com/uniontrib/20070701/news_1n1china.html) Until recently, they never even bothered to test the food ingredients coming from China to make sure they were safe!

I've had it with America's way of doing business and with China's contempt for human and animal life. I can't do much about the first at the moment, but I guarantee you, I'll be making a list of American manufacturers and their products. I know they're not perfect either, but at least we can keep a closer eye on them.

According to the NY Times, living without Chinese products has become nearly impossible. "Sara Bongiorni knows this now. She decided that her family would try to live an entire year without using products that were made in China, and her findings are detailed in a new book, “A Year Without ‘Made in China’: One Family’s True Life Adventure in the Global Economy.”

“There’s no way you can live anywhere near a normal life without buying things from China,” Ms. Bongiorni says. She notes, for example, that nearly all telephones and cellular phones are made there.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/08/weekinreview/08martin.html?ex=1187755200&en=af8fd57d00211b31&ei=5070

She goes on to say, “a creeping unease washed over me as I sat on the sofa and surveyed the gloomy wreckage of the holiday [Christmas]. It wasn't until then that I noticed an irrefutable fact: China was taking over the place.

It stared back at me from the empty screen of the television. I spied it in the pile of tennis shoes by the door. It glowed in the lights on the Christmas tree and watched me in the eyes of a doll splayed on the floor. I slipped off the couch and did a quick inventory, sorting gifts into two stacks: China and non-China. The count came to China, 25, the world, 14. Christmas, I realized, had become a holiday made by the Chinese. Suddenly I'd had enough. I wanted China out.”
http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1220/p09s01-coop.html

When will Americans say, “Enough!?” When will we want China out? What have we done to ourselves and to our children?

We need to demand that all imported products be labeled with the name of the country that made them--especially all food products (or food-related products). We need to tell our government, "Enough, already!"

Ever wonder who makes your plastic food wrap? How about those plastic bags or Tupperware you store your food in—or how about baby bottles and teethers? You guessed it: Made in China.
http://www.kyrieology.com/drupal/health/plastics

Have you noticed how quiet our government is about all of this? Where is President Bush and why isn’t he sitting on the edge of his desk talking to Americans about it? Part of the job of a great President is building a relationship with the people. I was young when Reagan was the President, but I remember how impressed I was with the fact that he thought the American people were important enough to actually talk to—he acted like we might have a brain or two inside our fashionably foiled heads.

I am disappointed in President Bush (and I voted for him) and deeply disappointed in America when it comes to China. But I guess any country would have to think twice about public relations when their friendly enemy owns $1 Trillion of their debt.

That's right—China owns almost 50% of American debt—$1 Trillion out of $2.2 Trillion.
http://www.senate.gov/~clinton/news/statements/record.cfm?id=269895


So what can you do about all of this?

Email your State Senators and give them an ear full:
http://www.senate.gov/general/contact_information/senators_cfm.cfm

Contact your Governor and your State Legislators and tell them you've had enough:
http://www.usa.gov/Contact/Elected.shtml


We are not powerless . . . Grass Roots America is powerful.

Here's a good start for Made in the USA products (if you have any interesting links, email me at
jill@waltermartin.com and I'll post them):

1. Take a look at Made in the USA sites and products here
http://www.madeinusa.org/

2. Check out Hartstone Pottery
http://www.hartstonepottery.com/ a pottery manufacturer actually located in America (Where were your plates and glasses made? Three guesses . . .)

3. You'll find some interesting things at Treehugger.com (including info on glass "Tupperware"
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/11/qa_glass_tupper.php

4. And last but definitely not least—buy local organic products whenever possible—and support your local Farmer’s Market.


It's not too late to protect our families and be good stewards of this poor, polluted planet. We have entered Red Alert status physically and spiritually. It’s time to make some changes.

Thursday, August 16, 2007

Update on the Frank Pastore Interview:

Things went well--thanks for your prayers. For those of you who might be wondering about the sequence of events leading up to our resignation from EMNR (Evangelical Ministries to New Religions), here are the facts:

November, 2004 - Christians meet and worship with Mormons at the Salt Lake City Tabernacle

August, 2005 - After conversations with many EMNR members we posted our resignation letter http://www.waltermartin.org/forms/EMNR_Resignation.pdf. This was based on the fact that the Board of EMNR would not hold Craig Hazen accountable for his actions at Salt Lake City (Craig was a member of the EMNR Board at that time). Some of the EMNR members tried to do so but others agreed with Craig Hazen's actions.

EMNR had nothing to do with orchestrating the event in Salt Lake City, but they knew it was planned. As an umbrella organization set up to mentor individual Christian Apologetic ministries, we felt it was necessary for the board to take a stand and they chose not to do so. There are good men on this board, but a split in board opinions prevented Craig Hazen from answering to the entire membership.

Great news on the radio front--I will be a guest on the Frank Pastore Show (KKLA) this afternoon at 5:00 pm (Pacific). Here's the link for all of you who might want to listen in http://www2.kkla.com/listen/

Frank will have some interesting questions for me directly related to all of you--yes--our blog will step into the spotlight . . . and yes--it has to do with the Mormons and their Christian Apologist friends.

Last night Frank gave me the opportunity to comment on Cultural Apologists like Craig Hazen, Richard Mouw and Greg Johnson. In specific, to defend my father against the slights and well--unkind comments made by them in their continuing quest to buddy-up to the Mormon Church.

For those of you who don't live in the Los Angeles area, Frank Pastore is the afternoon drive-time host whose show won the 2006 National Religious Broadcasters Talk Show of the Year. This is even more significant (and amazing) since Frank reminds me a great deal of my father.

Oh--and stay tuned to the 6:00 pm hour for my good friend and co-author, Kurt Van Gorden (Utah Gospel Mission) who has a few things to say about all of this. Kurt usually ends up in the thick of things with the Mormons (like getting arrested in front of the Salt Lake City tabernacle for handing out tracks on public property.)

It should be interesting.

Wednesday, August 08, 2007

Walter Martin on Experiencing God:

Then Moses said, "Now show me your glory." And the LORD said, "I will cause all my goodness to pass in front of you, and I will proclaim my name, the LORD, in your presence. I will have mercy on whom I will have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I will have compassion. But," He said, "you cannot see my face, for no one may see me and live."
Exodus 33:18‑20


In the Old Testament, when God was taking the Jews through the wilderness after their escape from Egypt, Moses honored and praised God for all the miracles that were done. He gave God all the glory. Moses knew the Lord intimately: he knew Him in the burning bush and he knew Him by revelation. But still, he wanted even more intimacy.


As Moses is talking with God, God tells him that He is pleased with what he’s been doing—he’s been doing God’s will. Moses seizes upon this opportunity. It’s very beautiful, almost like a child talking to a parent. And Moses asks God if He is pleased with him, to “...show me your glory.” What did that mean in the relationship that Moses had with God? What Moses was asking for was to look upon God. In other words, he said, “I want to see you as you really are!” Now, you’d think that a creature talking that way to the infinite Creator would be an affront, but instead God is delighted with the dialogue. He answers, “Right! Tomorrow, come on up to the mountain and I will show you my Glory! But...you can’t look at me, because if you do you are no more.”

I was always intrigued by that. God said, “Come on up, but you don’t know what you’re asking for. You are asking for intimate comradery with deity. You are asking to look into the face of eternity. You are asking to behold all power, all knowledge, all wisdom. You are asking to look at the radiance of the Glory of God’s very nature!” And you just can’t do that, because if He should ever let you see that in your present form, you would be no more. “For no one can behold me and live.”

That’s why in the New Testament, the revelation of God is so intimate for us. That’s why Jesus said, "Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.” (John 14:9) In other words, He was saying, “You are seeing all that God can safely reveal to you now, in the person of the Son.” So, the Lord Jesus Christ is the very intimate glory of God. Hebrews 1:3 says, “The Son is the radiance of God's glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word.”

When we come to know the Lord Jesus as our Savior, we come to experience God in a more intimate way. Moses wanted a more intimate relationship. What Moses was denied, we have beheld—the Glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ!

Thursday, August 02, 2007

Last night, around 6:50 pm I turned on the local news (something I rarely do) and discovered the I35W bridge had collapsed. Kevin and I just sat there in silence--staring at the TV--it was simply unbelievable. We've driven over that bridge countless times over the years, and I had just been on it (in bumper to bumper traffic) ten days ago.

Who could ever have imagined that a major bridge would simply disintegrate? My heart goes out to the families who still don't know what happened to their loved ones, and to the ones who do. In the midst of this terrible disaster, I praise God for all the miracles that happened yesterday, including the school bus with 60 children that made it across the bridge seconds before it collapsed.

Life turns on a dime . . . we can never take anyone or anything for granted because they just might not be here tomorrow.