Reasons Why I Believe in God

I’m working on my website, using Windows Live Writer for the formatting and links, so I thought I might as well post it as a blog while I chew it a while and see if I want to put it on my website yet.

I set out to condense my home page, but I think I made it longer. There is a lot of talking involved in explaining why you think a magic fairy made the universe.

Edited to add: I forgot I formatted it for a certain width. It won’t work here in the blog the way I have it set up. Anyway, I have my hard work here on the internet for safe keeping until I upload it for real.

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It all began with a book recommendation… From as far back as I can remember, I was taught that life on earth came about by a process of time and chance. It was all I had ever known. In 1996 I met some people who told me the scientific evidence does not support what I had always believed. Of course, I knew that they were ignorant. What I believed was scientific! What did they know! But, they were very confident in what they believed. They basically dared me to read a book to see if they were right. I fought it for months, but, I ended up deciding that it wouldn’t hurt to read just one skinny book that they recommended. So here I am paying money to have a website just to tell people why I believe in God. If you want to know what happened between then and now, check out My Testimony. When I say at I am an ex-evolutionist, I am using the term “evolution” only as the supposed major changes from the beginning of life: Fish to amphibians to reptiles to mammals and birds. Most of what people call “evolution” can more accurately be called genetics – variation within species. Creationists have no disagreement with the fact that there can be variety within types of animals, different sized beaks in Darwin’s finches, for instance. The only question is whether those small variations show that all live forms are related. See my page: What is a Species?. There is a lot of misinformation about what a creationist believes. I’m going to try to explain part of it here. First off, not all scientists are evolutionists. Many scientists who believe in God as creator do research and publish their work in peer reviewed scientific journals. (If somebody tells you otherwise, they are misinformed or dishonest.) However, scientists who believe in creation cannot publish evidence that disproves evolution in “peer reviewed” scientific journals as the peers who do the reviewing are evolutionists. If you are reading this website, you probably do not believe in God as creator and reject creation. Does that make it not true? No. The evolutionists who peer review the journals similarly reject any articles which are against evolution. But, to a Bible believing creationist, it is irrelevant if a journal run by evolutionists does not print an article opposing evolution. That would make sense, wouldn’t it? It is not different than if a magazine about cats, peer reviewed by cat lovers, rejected articles saying that dogs are better than cats. It is their belief. It is not a fact. So, what happens to the scientific articles that creationists write that disprove evolution? Do they get thrown away? No, they get published as books. Like all scientific papers, they have citations pages in the peer reviewed scientific journals. Some of the published information in the evolution science journals actually will support a creationist view. For instance, evolutionist Stephen Jay Gould published  "The Return of Hopeful Monsters," in Natural History, vol. 86 (June/July 1977). In this article, he says there is no evidence to support the theory of evolution in the fossil record. He said this because he was promoting a new theory of evolution called Punctuated Equilibrium.. But, that theory says that evolution happened in giant leaps, instead of small steps, leaving no evidence. A creationist would say that there is no evidence for evolution in the fossil record evolution did not happen. Since I was recommended that first, skinny book, I have read many more. If you want to see the whole list see my page: Book List. These are not all of the books I have read on this topic, but they are that I recommend most wholeheartedly. That list of recommended books was getting so long, that I have decided to condense all of my recommendations into the books listed below. Basically, I  have condensed my whole site into this one page. If you read these books, you will know exactly what I believe and why:

My top 11 Favorite books:

	The Young Earth by John D. Morris, PhD The author, a geological engineer, describes the geological systems of the earth and shows that they have been made within thousands, not millions, of years.
	By Design: Evidence for Nature’s Intelligent Design – The God of the Bible by Dr. Jonathan Safarti, Dr. Jonathan Safarti, a chess champion, as well as a scientist, uses logic, as well as science, to talk about aspects in living things with indicate the need for a designer.  This book is about “Intelligent Design”, but by a Christian
	Darwin’s Black Box: : The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution by Michael J. Behe The author is a biochemist at Lehigh University. He examines the cell close up and describes all of the inner workings. He compares the cell to a large city with food delivery and trash pickup. He coins the term "irreducible complexity" and concludes that life on earth was intelligently designed.
	Darwin’s Enigma by Luther D. Sunderland In 1859, in the book Origin of the Species, Charles Darwin said: "Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms". Now over 100 years later, Sutherland wrote letters to at the world’s largest museums and asked each one what fossils of transitional forms they had in their collections. None of the paleontologists had a fossil of a transitional form.
	Bones of Contention: A Creationist Assessment of Human Fossils by Marvin L. Lubenow This book analyzes all of the hominid fossils. The appendix has a very detailed discussion of the dating of the fossil skull KNM-ER 1470. The science journal "Nature" is where the researchers published their research regarding this skull and their papers in "Nature" are quoted extensively. According to the many quotes from "Nature" it took a period of ten years to date this one fossil skull. This skull caused a big controversy in the scientific community and that’s why it took ten years for them to agree. This ten year process is detailed step by step using the words of the researchers, themselves. There were many dates given by the various radiometric dating techniques. The scientists could not agree on the "right" date of the many that were given by the various techniques. The author shows that a lot of the science related to the fossils and evolution is subjective.
	Buried Alive: The Startling Truth About Neanderthal Man by Jack Cuozzo The author, an orthodontist, went all over Europe into the back rooms of the largest museums and examined actual fossil skulls of Neanderthals. Most museums only have cast copies of the skulls and most scientists have never seen a real one. He got permission to x-ray the skulls and there are pictures in the book. He shows that the skulls have been put together improperly with the jaw jutting out. Because of the belief in evolution the jaw has been put in a more ape like fashion in all Neanderthal skulls. Then, these improperly assembled skulls were copied and sent museums all over the world.
	Icons of Evolution: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong by Jonathan Wells, Jody F. Sjogren This book talks about the supposed evidence for evolution as taught in text books. The author describes in detail the Miller-Urey experiment, Darwin’s tree of life, Darwin’s finches, the horse series, Haeckel’s embryos, peppered moths, and several other topics. This author is one of the men interviewed in the book above entitled Case for a Creator: The: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God
	Case for a Creator: The: A Journalist Investigates Scientific Evidence That Points Toward God by Lee Strobel The author was an atheist journalist. When his wife became a Christian he went all over the USA and interviewed scientists and others about why they believed in God. After a period of time he came to believe in God and became a Christian, too. This book has the interviews that convinced him. Two of the men he interviewed, Jonathan Wells ( Icons of Evolution:: Science or Myth? Why Much of What We Teach About Evolution is Wrong ) and Michael Behe (Darwin’s Black Box: The Biochemical Challenge to Evolution ), wrote books that are on this reading list. My story is similar to Strobel’s. I was so excited to see that God’s existence can be proven scientifically I made this website to tell others.
	In Six Days: Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation Edited by John F. Ashton PhD. Read "In Six Days" Online This might be my favorite of all the books on this list. The editor compiled papers by fifty scientists. Each chapter is by a different scientist who gives aspects from each field that cannot be explained by purely physical means. Each scientist gives the reasons why he believes that God created the universe, the earth, plants and animals in six days as the Bible book of Genesis describes. It has detailed scientific explanations. There is a sequel to this book entitled On the Seventh Day:: Forty Scientists and Academics Explain Why They Believe in God which is listed below.
	On the Seventh Day: Forty Scientists and Academics Explain Why They Believe in God Edited by John F. Ashton PhD. This is the sequel to the book In Six Days: : Why Fifty Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation discussed above. Forty scientists and academics explain why they believe in God
	Many Infallible Proofs: Evidences for the Christian Faith by Henry M. Morris This book has many scientific evidences for the belief in God. It discusses evidence for a world wide flood which caused the fossil record and the large amount of buried foliage that became gas, coal and oil. It has a chapter on The Bible and Science which lists things that were in the Bible before science knew about it, including the circulation of blood, the water cycle, the shape of the earth and the number of stars. The Bible verses for each are listed.

 

(Disclaimer: I am set up with Amazon.com as an Amazon Associate. They pay a very small percentage of sales to the person who hosts links to Amazon.com. I have a couple of dollars on credit. But, as they only cut checks in $100 increments, I can honestly say I have never made any money on the sale of any book I recommend, and I never expect to in the future. The only reason I am set up this way  is because it is the only way I can ever know if anybody ever buys a book I recommend.) Online Resources The following items may be read in their entirety online: Books The Answers Book One Blood: The Biblical Answer to Racism In Six Days: Why 50 Scientists Choose to Believe in Creation Refuting Evolution Refuting Evolution 2 Why Won’t They Listen? Booklets Adam’s Rib: Creation & the Human Body Does Carbon Dating Disprove the Bible? Evidence for a Young World Is There Intelligent Life in Outer Space? The Seven C’s of History Six Days or Millions of Years? Where Did Cain Get His Wife? Where Did the ‘Races’ Come From? What Really Happened to the Dinosaurs? Why Is There Death & Suffering Videos Online Creation Videos

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I am very thankful that my dog, Belty, is here with me – filling the house with really stinky gas fumes today.

 My Really Good Boy Dog Belty (Mom’s Main Man) is having tummy problems today, and it is causing him to pass gas – really exceptionally bad gas – I mean go outside and get some fresh air bad gas. But, I am feeling very thankful right now that my good boy Belty is here with me stinking up the house.

We don’t really know how old he is. He was a stray when we adopted him, and they guessed at about a year and a half old at the time. So, we have done the math ever since.

So, we guess he is 13. He is slowing down. (not fair. He is too good of a Boy.) He is getting old. His system is not all working well any more. His digestive tract, particularly, does not work well any more.

Sometimes he throws up, sometimes his tummy makes a lot of noise, and sometimes he just passes really awful gas.

Today, I am feeling very thankful that my good boy Belty is here with me stinking up the house.

I really dread losing him. I’m over fifty and have outlived several good dogs, but Belty is the best dog in the history of dogs. Here’s a blog I wrote a blog about him: Belty, the best dog in the history of the world.

So why am I writing this blog entry about how I love his stinky gas?

Many years ago, in Ann Landers or Dear Abby, (advice columnists for many years and twin sisters) there were a series of letters from wives whose husbands were snoring so loud that they could not sleep. Day after day, letters complaining about snoring husbands.

Then one day, a letter that has stayed with me all these years. I can’t remember it verbatim, but I’ll never forget the sentiment. This woman wrote in one day and said:

I wish my hubby was alive again so that I could listen to him snore just one more time.

That one statement has really meant something to me in various ways over the years.

So, today, I am very thankful that my good boy Belty is alive and with me, no matter what he is doing.

I love you, Belty Boo. You are the best dog in the history of the world.

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So, there I was, cruising though Windows Live, and up ahead were the words of God….

I was just cruising around with a zillion things on my mind. And then, I saw an update the Gerry had posted a blog titled with a Bible verse. So, I just was sitting and reading his blog and getting reminded what the whole point of things is. Thank you, Gerry!

Since Gerry helped get my mind back on track this morning, I’m going to continue in the same Spirit (get it?) and post my favorite chapter of the Bible. The Book of Genesis sets the whole foundation for life on earth, life with God, the need for Jesus, everything important.

The first chapter of Genesis tells how God made the earth and everything in it. And, yes, I believe it, word for word. (I have a website where I talk about why I believe that there is a God.)

Genesis Chapter 1:

 1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2 Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and he separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day", and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning– the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning– the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good. 11 Then God said, "Let the land produce vegetation: seed-bearing plants and trees on the land that bear fruit with seed in it, according to their various kinds." And it was so. 12 The land produced vegetation: plants bearing seed according to their kinds and trees bearing fruit with seed in it according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 13 And there was evening, and there was morning– the third day.

14 And God said, "Let there be lights in the expanse of the sky to separate the day from the night, and let them serve as signs to mark seasons and days and years, 15 and let them be lights in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth." And it was so. 16 God made two great lights– the greater light to govern the day and the lesser light to govern the night. He also made the stars. 17 God set them in the expanse of the sky to give light on the earth, 18 to govern the day and the night, and to separate light from darkness. And God saw that it was good. 19 And there was evening, and there was morning– the fourth day.

20 And God said, "Let the water teem with living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the expanse of the sky." 21 So God created the great creatures of the sea and every living and moving thing with which the water teems, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 22 God blessed them and said, "Be fruitful and increase in number and fill the water in the seas, and let the birds increase on the earth." 23 And there was evening, and there was morning– the fifth day.

24 And God said, "Let the land produce living creatures according to their kinds: livestock, creatures that move along the ground, and wild animals, each according to its kind." And it was so. 25 God made the wild animals according to their kinds, the livestock according to their kinds, and all the creatures that move along the ground according to their kinds. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, "Let us make man in our image, in our likeness, and let them rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air, over the livestock, over all the earth, and over all the creatures that move along the ground."

27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 God blessed them and said to them, "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish of the sea and the birds of the air and over every living creature that moves on the ground." 29 Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. 30 And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground– everything that has the breath of life in it– I give every green plant for food." And it was so. 31 God saw all that he had made, and it was very good. And there was evening, and there was morning– the sixth day.

Scripture taken from the HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®
Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society.
Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House.
All rights reserved.

 

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