-------------------------<BrethrenVoice>------------------------- [which seeks to be guided solely by the NT Biblical pattern, facilitates free flow of Christian info. To God be the glory!] [eMail Moderator: brethrenvoice-owner@...] [<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> Archives/Read online: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ezmlm.cgi] <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> <29 October 2002> Contents: --------- 1) <Devotional> "I got out of bed for this?" - Ravi Zacharias 2) <Science> "Are we alone in the universe?" (Pt-1/5) - Dr Ray Bohlin 3) <Prophecy> "The Redeemer's Return" (Pt-65)- A.W.Pink 4) <Special> "A request from Russia" - Aleksandr Ermanov 1) <DEVOTIONAL> <SLICE-OF-INFINITY> "I GOT OUT OF BED FOR THIS?" Ravi Zacharias I recently saw a bumper sticker that read: I got out of bed for this? Like much in our pop-culture, the superficial says something profound. With a cynical jibe, this bumper-sticker expresses an honest quest: Why did you get out of bed this morning? The bumper-sticker covertly implies agnostic frustration. What is your response-why did you get out of bed this morning? Why do you get out of bed any morning? You know, if we are attentive to our souls, we can hear this question being asked of us-at times in whispers and at times in roars-so we do well to answer. Is it just habit that goads us to throw off the covers and face the day? Did duty do the prompting and coax us out of bed? Maybe love did-love of a child, love of a mate, or even love of ourselves. We all have ample reasons not to: fears, laziness, distaste for our work-so why do we get out bed in the morning? The extentialist philosopher Jean Paul Sartre located this question at the center of all philosophy. He phrased the question thus: Why not commit suicide? You see, he knew that all the philosophizing in the world means nothing if you don't answer the question of purpose. So too, all the fame and success in the world means nothing if you haven't answered the question of your purpose. What are you here for? Why are you here? What does it matter what you really do? You know, friends, all these questions are bound up in the question: What is it all for? What is the universe for? One cannot construct meaning for the parts without the meaning of the whole. You see, if we are a cosmic accident, then no amount of romanticizing about ourselves can dress up our meaninglessness. The whole must be for something. I believe it is. We are the handiwork of a loving God who made us with a longing for Him and for His purpose. That is the answer to our question. Jesus said this when He said that what God wants most from us is for us to love Him with all our hearts, our souls, our minds, and our strength. You know, this is not a dry thing. It is not a contrived thing. It is the purpose of our creator. C.S. Lewis said it well, "God designed the human machine to run on Himself." (Footnote 1: C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity) May God be that fuel that impels you from your bed every morning. That way, every morning can be a good morning, a God morning. May you awaken to that truth and thrill. --- Copyright (p)(c) 2001 Ravi Zacharias International Ministries (RZIM). Reprinted with permission. A Slice of Infinity is a radio ministry of Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. _______________________________________________________________________ 2) <SCIENCE> ARE WE ALONE IN THE UNIVERSE? (PART-1 OF 5) LIFE ON MARS?* Dr. Ray Bohlin There was great excitement in the media when a group of scientists from NASA announced they had found evidence of life on Mars. Their evidence, an alleged Martian meteorite, was vaulted to center stage, and everyone from CNN to Nightline ran special programs with interviews and video footage of the scientists and their prized specimen. President Clinton was so excited by the announcement that he praised the U.S. space program and took the opportunity to establish a bipartisan space summit headed up by Vice President Al Gore to study the future of U.S. space research. Aren't we already doing that? Anyway, clearly this announcement took the country by storm. Some of the scientists were embarrassingly gushing about how significant these findings were. The media frenzy was prompted by the early release of an article from the journal Science, the premier scientific journal in the U.S. The article was due out the following week, but Science decided to release it early because it had leaked out. Here's what the excitement was about. A group of scientists had studied a meteorite that had been found in the ice of Antarctica. Previously, it had been determined that this meteorite had originated on Mars by studying the gaseous content of glass-like components of the meteor. The gas composition matched very well the atmosphere of Mars. This conclusion seems reasonable. So, they presumed they had a meteor from Mars. Next they looked for evidence of life on and in the crevices of the meteor. They found two types of molecules that can form as a result of life processes, carbonates and complex molecules called polyaromatic hydrocarbons or PAHs. They also found shapes in the rock that resembled those of known microfossils on Earth. Microfossils are fossils of one-celled organisms which are rather tricky to interpret. Well, what does this mean? Obviously, the NASA scientists felt the things just mentioned provided ample evidence to conclude that life once existed on Mars. However, the chemical signs could all be due to processes that have nothing to do with life, and the supposed microfossils are 100 times smaller than any such fossil found on Earth. Other groups that studied this same meteorite concluded that either the temperature of formation of the chemicals was far too high to allow life (over 700 degrees C) or that other chemical signals for life were absent. John Kerridge, a planetary scientist from the University of California at San Diego, said, "The conclusion is at best premature and more probably wrong." But listen to the concluding statement in the paper in Science: Although there are alternative explanations for each of these phenomena taken individually, when they are considered collectively, particularly in view of their spatial association, we conclude that they are evidence for primitive life on Mars.{1} In plain English, there are reasonable non-life explanations for each of the evidences presented, but we just think that they mean there is life on Mars. The evidence is very equivocal and was challenged by many other scientists, but the media did not report that as fully. But maybe they are right! In fact, there is one simple explanation that is consistently ignored by media and scientists alike. If there really is, or has been, life on Mars, what could that possibly mean for evolution, and more importantly, does it somehow refute creation? We'll look at that next. [To be concluded] --- [Copyright © 2002 Probe Ministries - This file is the sole property of Probe Ministries. It may not be altered or edited in any way. It may be reproduced only in its entirety for circulation as "freeware," without charge. All reproductions of this file must contain the copyright notice and this Copyright/Reproduction Limitations notice.]_____________________________________________________________________ 3) <PROPHECY> "THE REDEEMER'S RETURN" (PART-65) THE RECOVERY AND REVIVAL OF THE BLESSED HOPE ITSELF Arthur W. Pink .... 9. Because the Church Epistles plainly teach that ALL believers will be raptured at the time of our Lord's Return. In Rom. 8:30 we read, "Whom He justified, them He also glorified." Glorification is co-extensive with justification. This is admitted by all: the point at issue is- Will all be glorified at the same time? We answer, as surely they will. Do we not read "We shall all be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye" (1 Cor. 15:51, 52)? "We shall all be changed" at the same moment, for the passage continues "At the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we (all living believers) shall be changed." In 1 Cor. 15:22, 23 we read, "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive. But every man in his own order: Christ the firstfruits: afterward they that are Christ's at His coming." Note particularly the words, "They that are Christ's at His coming." How simple! how all-inclusive! how blessed! It is not "They that are faithful or worthy." It is not "they that have attained some high standard of moral excellence." It is not "they that have been unusually diligent and successful in service." But "They that are Christ's." That is all. It is simply a question of belonging to Christ, being one of His people. In 2 Cor. 5:10 we are told "For we must all appear before the judgment-seat of Christ; they every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad." That un-faithful believers are not excluded from this appearing before the Bema of Christ is clear from 1 Cor. 3--"Every man's work shall be made manifest: for the day shall declare it, because it shall be revealed by fire; and the fire shall try every man's word of what sort it is. If any man's work abide which he hath built thereupon, he shall receive a reward. If any man's work shall be burned, he shall suffer loss: but he himself shall be saved; yet so as by fire" (1 Cor. 3:13-15). There will be some in that day who will "suffer loss," nevertheless, they will be present at the Bema with their fellow-believers and furthermore, they will be "saved." How remarkable it is that these comprehensive assurances are found in the Corinthian Epistles--addressed to a church whose moral condition was the worst of all the churches addressed by the apostle Paul, as if to anticipate this modern heresy of limiting the Rapture to spiritual believers! In 1 Thess. 4:16 we read, "And to you who are troubled rest with us, when the Lord Jesus shall be revealed from heaven with His mighty angels ** when He shall come to be glorified in His saints, and to be admired in all them that believe." Observe once more the universality of such a promise, and note, too, its simplicity and how it turns back to first principles. Our Lord is to be admired in all them that believe. All is traced back to simple faith. It is not at all a question of worthiness or attainments. The same simple heart trust in Christ which delivered us from the wrath to come, shall most certainly secure for every saint a participation in the Rapture and a place in the Millennial Kingdom, for this last quoted passage carries us forward to the Millennium itself. [To be concluded] _______________________________________________________________________ 4) <SPECIAL> "A REQUEST FROM RUSSIA" ALEKSANDR ERMANOV BOX 2490 ROSTOV-NA-DONU 344111 RUSSIA email: ermanov@... Dear friends I am a Russian. I am 33. I am a Christian. I trust in God and Jesus Christ. I love God. I go to Fundamental Evangelical Baptist Christian Church. I receive your BV <GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> bulletin via e-mail. I am interesting [interested] about Christians and life in different countries. I would like to correspond with other Christians. Please publish this my message in your BV<GLEANINGS-FOR-THE-DAY> bulletin. I hope to hear from other brethren from different states also. May God keep you. Yours in Christ Aleksandr Ermanov _____________________<BrethrenVoice>_____________________ Subscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-subscribe@...> Unsubscribe, eMail:<brethrenvoice-unsubscribe@...> FAQs/Faith Statement, eMail: <brethrenvoice-faq@...> <BrethrenVoice> Home: http://associate.com/digests/brethrenvoice/ <eFellowship> Home: http://groups.msn.com/BrethrenChristiansForum/ "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith." 2 Cor 13:5 "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free." Jn 8:32 _______________________________________________________