Was the flood universal?

Was the flood of Noah's day universal? Did it cover the whole earth? Or is the Genesis flood account a myth based on a local flood? While the scientist denies the possibility of a universal flood and the modernist scoffs at such a preposterous idea, the Christian must choose to either compromise or stand firm. Is there evidence by which Christians may substantiate their claims? If we believe the Bible there is. Here are a few simple thoughts.

1. It was the purpose of God to destroy the entire human race (except Noah's family) from off the face of the earth. Read Genesis 6:12-17. A local flood would not have fulfilled God's purpose of judging the entire population for their sinfulness.

2. If the flood had been local only, the ark would have been unnecessary. God could have simply told told Noah to leave the area before the flood came and return when the flood waters abated.

3. The terminology used throughout the account indicates an event of universal proportions. In Genesis chapters 6 through 8 (if I counted correctly), "the earth" is used 34 times; "every" 14 times; "everything" 11 times; "all flesh" 8 times; "all" 7 times; "filled" and "whole" twice. An expression such as "under the whole heaven" (Gen. 7:19) cannot be reduced to a local area.

4. To cover the Ararat mountains, whose highest peak is almost 17,000 feet, would require a universal flood. Water seeks its own level. The whole earth would have been covered at least to that depth/height.

5. God's promise to Noah after the flood (Gen. 9:11) is a promise of universal rather than local application.

You don't have to believe in a universal flood if you choose not to. But you can't reject a universal flood without denying the words of the Bible. Which will you do?

Singing tomorrow

A Sacred Harp singing will be held tomorrow (d.v.) Saturday the 31st at Cowden Hall at Southwestern Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas. Starts around 9:30 am.

(Not so) Old Baptist quotes

Referencing I Cor. 1:1-18, C. B. Scott wrote, "although Paul plainly states he did not baptize 'all' of the people who made up the Church of God at Corinth, it is also evident he assumed 'all' of them had been baptized by someone."

"I have heard it said that the individual churches are the highest ecclesiastical authority on earth. The truth is that individual churches are the ONLY ecclesiastical authority on earth, established as such by the highest ecclesiastical authority in heaven, Almighty God." -- Excerpt from "A Little Leaven Leavens the Whole Lump", by Lynwood Jacobs in Zion's Landmark, Vol. 108 No. 10, August 1975

Something new

Was looking at the following in It's Not a Language, It's Not Prayer, and Now It's Not Private Either and thought it worth repeating.

My father used to warn me that if I thought I discovered something in the Scriptures that was new, something that no one had ever seen before, I had better be careful. "Don't run too far ahead of the pack," he would say, "or you might discover that you aren't even on the right trail." That was and remains good advice. Though our practice is determined and regulated by Scripture and not experience or history, we nonetheless need to ask why a fence is where it is before we tear it down. -- Hershael W. York

Sorry politics again.

H.R. 1, The text of the Economic Stimulus Bill. Read it and weep....

Or jump for joy if you think this is our salvation.



Say it ain't so, Joe. Or Nancy. Or somebody.

According to House speaker Nancy Pelosi, (spending millions on) "contraception -- will reduce costs to the states and to the federal government."

Something rotten

According to Marcellus (in Shakespeare's Hamlet), something is rotten in Denmark. Maybe. But to me it seems like the smell is coming from Washington, DC.

According to current news reports, the President has warned Republicans that they need to quit listening to talk-show host Rush Limbaugh "if they want to get things done". Now that can be spun into several different garments, but I hate to hear that kind of rhetoric at a time when some Democrats in Congress are speaking of reviving the so-called "Fairness Doctrine". Last year, then candidate Barack Obama's press secretary wrote that the Senator "does not support re-imposing the Fairness Doctrine." I suppose time will tell.

Under the "fairness doctrine" the FCC required broadcasters to present "controversial issues of public importance" in a fair and balanced manner. Who could complain about that? Free speech advocates, that's who! Broadcasters were required to provide time for opposing viewpoints. In practice, for example, a Christian radio station, existing expressly to provide information and inspiration from a Christian viewpoint might be required to give time to an anti-Christian viewpoint on "controversial issues of public importance". More likely, in practical terms, if push comes to shove this will result in stations avoiding the requirements to broadcast specific opposing views by nixing both sides.

The concern, at least on one side, is demonstrated in Steve Rendall's article The Fairness Doctrine: How We Lost it, and Why We Need it Back. "Hidden" near the bottom is what I believe is the true "problem" (fear). Rendall writes, "The most extreme change has been in the immense volume of unanswered conservative opinion heard on the airwaves, especially on talk radio. Nationally, virtually all of the leading political talkshow hosts are right-wingers...The same goes for local talkshows." Too bad the average talk-show listener, for whatever reason, prefers to listen to the conservatives. Let's be "fair" and put some talkers on the air whom listeners don't want to listen to! Again, the practical effect will not be the hearing of both sides, but the muting of both sides. But I am sure that will pass the test for the proponents of the (un)fairness doctrine.

And finally, seemingly unrelated, what's up with the continual blaring of and barking about the TV digital converter box change? It seems one can't turn on the TV without a politician or someone else in a commercial warning of the change from analogue to digital, or else something scrolling across the TV about it. Supposedly by February 17 of this year, all television stations will broadcast in digital only -- though Democrats in the Senate have introduced a bill to delay the transition from February to June. Who cares? Oh, but "the elderly and the rural poor" will be without a converter box and unable to receive any TV broadcasting. Senator Jay Rockefeller says, "We risk leaving those who are most reliant on over-the-air broadcast television for their information literally in the dark." If they are left in the dark, perhaps they want to be. It won't be because they haven't seen the change mentioned on their TV's. (Perhaps they're not watching them.)

I'm a generally trusting sort of guy, but have become quite cynical when it comes to our Federal government. What are you guys doing? Why are you so concerned? Are you putting something in that little box? Shades of 1984? If you're really all that concerned, why not buy some converter boxes, throw them in the back of your limo, and start bringing them around to us? Oh, never mind. Just stay away from us and leave us alone. If you could just do that, we'd appreciate it.

Today's word

Nixie [nik-see] -- a letter or parcel that is undeliverable by the post office because of an incorrect or unreadable address.

A Biblical timeline from creation

The following is one way to approach estimating the age of the earth, adding and comparing the ages of the patriarchs, reigns of the kings and other dates mentioned in the Old Testament.

1656 years from the sixth day of creation until the flood.
620 years from the flood until Joseph was sold into slavery.
(2276 years from the sixth day of creation until Joseph was sold into slavery.)
430 years sojourn in Egypt.
40 years journey to Canaan.
450 years period of Judges.
40 years reign of Saul.
40 years reign of David.
40 years reign of Solomon.
369 years existence of the Southern Kingdom (Judah).
40 years captivity.
483 years (of Daniel's 70 weeks) till the coming of Christ.
4238 years from Creation to Christ.

Obviously there are variations of interpretation and addition. For example, when do the 430 years of affliction start? If started with Abraham instead of Joseph then approximately 4048 years from Creation to Christ.

[Note: I got the period of Judges by adding the servitude years plus the years of rest. Some students believe there could be some overlap in the different judges' years. I got the years of Southern Kingdom by adding the reigns of the kings, but also cross-referencing them against their reigns compared to the reigns of the Northern kings. And then there is when the 70 weeks hit in reference to Christ -- his birth? triumphal entry? etc.]

Does God really know ALL things?

Job 23:10 - But he knoweth the way that I take...
Psalm 147:5 - Great is our Lord, and of great power: his understanding is infinite.
Proverbs 15:3 - The eyes of the LORD are in every place, beholding the evil and the good.
Acts 15:18 - Known unto God are all his works from the beginning of the world.
Hebrews 4:13 - Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
I John 3:20 - For if our heart condemn us, God is greater than our heart, and knoweth all things.

Does God really know ALL things?

Baptist history proof

I love Baptist history. The main problem with it, used as proof, is that it proves we have believed all kinds of things.

Differences are not necessarily personal

"Dr. [Tom] Ascol believes ... that Limited Atonement is biblical. Personally, I don't know how on earth he comes to that conclusion, but I believe that he does. Now, here's my choice: I can take offense that Tom would believe such a thing or would say such a thing, or I can shed all of this twenty-first-century victim mentality, grow up a bit, and reconcile myself to the fact that people just disagree about these things. People aren't trying to offend me; it is just that their ideas offer me the opportunity to take offense any time I so desire...I can acknowledge that in doing so Dr. Ascol is not going out of his way to denigrate me. He's trying to promote his ideas. Where our ideas differ, a contest of ideas may well ensue. Ideas matter and are personal, so there will likely be some personal feelings involved. But Dr. Ascol does not advance his ideas in order to attack those who disagree. The attack upon those who disagree is merely a consequence of his passionate advocacy of his ideas." -- Bart Barber on Praisegod Barebones blog, Monday, December 1, 2008

Old Baptist quotes (7)

"It is not strange...that those who have no deep, inward experience of Christ formed in the soul, through faith, should fall an easy prey to a mechanical regeneration through baptism and to the delusion that in partaking the wafer they really partake of Christ. The untaught and thirsty of the desert plains readily follow every mirage." -- J. B. Gambrell in the introduction to Baptist Refreshments, according to the Scriptures, L. R. Burress, Nashville, TN: Marshall and Bruce Co., 1915, pp. 4-5

"Some justify the divisions of Christians by appealing to the right of religious liberty, which allows men to worship as they please. True, before men, the worshipper is justified in the exercise of his own will, but before God the worshipper is taught to pray, 'Thy will be done on earth'." -- L. R. Burress, p. 12

"A moment's thought will convince us that the eternal individual existence (eternal children) error makes void every operation of grace. One never lost will not have need of a Saviour. God could have known an eternal child, but could never have foreknown one." ---Elder C. H. Waters, 1906.

Changing of the guard

Isaiah 6:1-4 -- In the year that king Uzziah died I saw also the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up, and his train filled the temple. Above it stood the seraphims: each one had six wings; with twain he covered his face, and with twain he covered his feet, and with twain he did fly. And one cried unto another, and said, Holy, holy, holy, is the LORD of hosts: the whole earth is full of his glory. And the posts of the door moved at the voice of him that cried, and the house was filled with smoke.

The citizens of the United States of America approach this inagural day with mixed emotions. There is the historic occasion of our first black President. For Democrats, there is the joy of controlling the House, the Senate and the White House. For Republicans, there is the despair of once again being the minority party across the board nationally. For independents -- who knows? Their emotions may run the gamut. Though not exactly the same, Americans face change as did the Jews who had lost a king who reigned 52 years.

Isaiah saw the Lord. He was high and lifted up. He was still on the throne. He was its fullness. Seraphim adored Him continuously. He was holy, holy, holy. The whole earth was full of His glory.

That has not changed. American politicians will change. World leaders will change. World problems will change. But God is still on His throne. Holy, Holy, Holy. Amen.

A Biblical TV Guide

But shun profane and vain babblings. II Timothy 2:16

Beware of false prophets. Matthew 7:15

Flee fornication. 1 Corinthians 6:18

Neither yield ye your members as instruments of unrighteousness unto sin. Romans 6:13

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you. James 4:7

Abstain from all appearance of evil. I Thessalonians 5:22

Do not they blaspheme that worthy name by the which ye are called? James 2:7

What are you watching?

Strong's opinion

"The Revelation 20:1-10 passage constitutes a part of one of the most figurative books of Scripture. It ought to be interpreted in a manner that does not contradict the plainer statements of Scripture." -- Paraphrase of A. H. Strong from his Systematic Theology

Jesus' charming name

Jesus, I love Thy charming Name,
'Tis music to mine ear;
Fain would I sound it out so loud
That earth and Heaven should hear.

Yes, Thou art precious to my soul,
My Transport and my Trust;
Jewels to Thee are gaudy toys,
And gold is sordid dust.

All my capacious powers can wish
In Thee doth richly meet;
Not to mine eyes is light so dear,
Nor friendship half so sweet.

Thy grace still dwells upon my heart,
And sheds its fragrance there;
The noblest balm of all its wounds,
The cordial of its care.

Philip Doddridge, 1717.

In Memoriam

Funeral services for A. D. Munsinger are scheduled for 2:00 p.m. Thursday, January 15, 2009 at Autry Funeral Home Chapel, in Jacksonville, Texas. Bob Goodnight, Adrian Neal and Kevin Gentry will be holding the services. Visitation will be 6:00-8:00 p.m. Wednesday, also at Autry Funeral Home. Burial will be at the Taylor Cemetery in Gallatin. Bro. Munsinger is survived by his wife, four children, friends and other family.

Brother Munsinger has been a friend of our family since before I was in our family.

"Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord."

Parallels between Philippians 2 and John 13

Some of the parallels between this hymn (Philippians 2:5-11) and Jesus washing the disciples feet (John 13:1-17) are intriguing:

John 13:4 - He riseth from supper, and laid aside his garments...
Phil 2:7 - But made himself of no reputation...

John 13:5 - ...he poureth water into a bason, and began to wash the disciples' feet.
Phil 2:7 - ...and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men.

John 13:12 - So after he had washed their feet, and had taken his garments, and was set down again...
Phil 2:9 - Wherefore God also hath highly exalted him, and given him a name which is above every name

John 13:13 - Ye call me Master and Lord: and ye say well; for so I am.
Phil 2:11 - And that every tongue should confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.

Old Baptist quotes (6)

"Does God put a premium on ignorance in the ministry? We know the he has no use for the pride of learning, but neither does he care for the arrogance of ignorance." -- A. T. Robertson, Baptist author and educator

"Go directly to the Bible for truth. If truth is accepted second-handed, a man will find himself like the carpenter that sawed each board by the one had just sawed instead of by the first board every time." -- Clem Boggs, United Baptist preacher, Lawrence County, Kentucky

Being a carpenter by trade, I especially liked this illustration. When I cut rafters, every rafter was marked and sawed according to the pattern. It could have become quite a mess to mark the next one by the one I had just sawed instead of going back to the pattern. The Bible gives the pattern. We need to go back beyond what is a copy of the pattern to the pattern itself, to be sure we are cutting correctly.

The kingdom and priesthood of Christ.

PSALM 110 PART 2
L. M.

Thus the great Lord of earth and sea
Spake to his Son, and thus he swore:
"Eternal shall thy priesthood be,
And change from hand to hand no more.

"Aaron and all his sons must die;
But everlasting life is thine,
To save for ever those that fly
For refuge from the wrath divine.

"By me Melchizedek was made
On earth a king and priest at once;
And thou, my heav'nly Priest, shalt plead,
And thou, my King, shalt rule my sons.

Jesus the Priest ascends his throne,
While counsels of eternal peace,
Between the Father and the Son,
Proceed with honor and success.

Through the whole earth his reign shall spread,
And crush the powers that dare rebel;
Then shall he judge the rising dead,
And send the guilty world to hell.

Though while he treads his glorious way,
He drinks the cup of tears and blood,
The suff'rings of that dreadful day
Shall but advance him near to God.

Isaac Watts (1674-1748)
The Psalms of David, 1719