Explore the Christian Natural Health Podcast

Brad & Starla Walker have 8 kids and live on their 15 acre homestead in Southern Indiana, just outside of Louisville, KY. There they garden, raise livestock, homeschool their children, and operate their family business, Abby’s Elderberry. They have personally experienced the benefits of elderberry for years and jumped at the opportunity to take ownership of Abby’s in late 2022. Since that time, they have shipped their products to 48 states and have about 20 retail locations to date.To check out Abby's, see https://abbyselderberry.com/You can also follow Brad and Starla's podcast, The Fruitful Family Podcast on any podcast player or on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC9WSfaFiQDqIGO27mq1yYIg

Why Pray?We live in a fallen world where bad, evil things happen -- and they are not God's fault (more on how this fits in with the concept of biblical sovereignty in the podcast called "Why Bad Things Happen from a Biblical Perspective": https://www.naturecurefamilyhealth.com/why-bad-things-happen-from-a-biblical-perspective/).The bottom line is that we are now in enemy-occupied territory. Jesus conquered the enemy when He rose from the dead, taking the keys of Hades with Him (Rev 1:18), but He hasn't yet taken possession of the earth He won back, because "He is not slow concerning His promises, as some count slowness, but is longsuffering toward us, not willing that any should perish but that all should come to repentance" (1 Peter 3:9).So it's still the case that because God gave the earth to men, He cannot legally intervene Himself without a man on the inside. He needs a human to invite Him to intervene, just like a landlord can't just enter a property he's leased to someone else without an explicit invitation.Yet God wants us to bring His kingdom and His will on earth. This is why Jesus included "Thy Kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven" in His template prayer when the disciples asked him to teach them to pray (Matt 6:9-13). Prayer is the only way God can intervene on earth legally. That is why prayer is so important.How and What to PrayJesus' model prayer teaches us the components and structure of a good prayer. It gives us the principles."Our Father in heaven, Hallowed be Your name" -- so we start with praise, with how big and awesome God is, before we ever say anything about our problem (https://www.naturecurefamilyhealth.com/effects-of-praise/)."Your Kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven." This is the very next broad-strokes recommendation: prayer is about letting God do what He wants to do in the earth, but He needs us to partner with Him in order to do it."Give us this day our daily bread." This is the specifics of the above as they pertain to you. Later in that same chapter, Jesus made the point that if you keep your focus on His kingdom, He'll just take care of these little details of what you need anyway (Matt 6:33)."And forgive us our debts, as we forgive our debtors." I think Jesus included the request of forgiveness because He was still teaching the disciples at the tail end of the Old Covenant. We don't have to pray this part anymore--Jesus died for the sins of the world (1 John 2:2). But we are still to forgive others their sins against us (https://www.naturecurefamilyhealth.com/how-to-forgive-pastor-david-peterson/)."And do not lead us into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one." Putting this together with what James says in James 1:13-15, God doesn't tempt us, but when we are tempted, it's our own desires that entice and lead us away to sin and death. Paul also tells us that when this happens, God will make a way of escape (1 Cor 10:13). But it's up to us to take it (James 4:7), with God's help."For Yours is the Kingdom and the power and the glory forever. Amen." This template prayer starts and ends with praise (https://www.naturecurefamilyhealth.com/effects-of-praise/), because that is the attitude of faith--focusing on how big and magnificent God is, rather than on the size of our problems. Later in His ministry, Jesus clarified,"For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe that you receive them, and you will have them" (Mark 11:23-24).That's the key to powerful, effective prayer--believe first, and then receive. Scripture qualifies this promise elsewhere--you can't "name and claim" just anything in prayer using this verse. James tells us that if we ask and we do not receive, it might be because "you ask amiss, that you may spend it on your pleasures" (James 4:3). John tells us, "And this is the confidence we have in Him: that if we ask anything according to His will, He hears us. And if we know that He hears us, in whatever we ask, we know that we already possess what we asked of Him," (1 John 5:14-15).Paul tells us in Romans 10:17 that "faith comes by hearing, and hearing by the word of God." The scriptures with the promise for what you are believing for are your seeds (Matt 13:18-23). They tell you what God wants for you, for those you love, and for the world around you. Your part is to hear that word, and ask and believe God for it. In so doing, you're planting it in your heart. Then, you have to make sure that little seed is well-tended and cared for, and isn't choked out by "the cares of the world or the deceitfulness of riches." If you "keep it in the midst of your heart," then it will become "life to those who find them, and health to all their flesh" (Prov 4:22).If you can find the promise in scripture for what you're asking for, then you don't have to beg God to give it to you; in the Spirit realm, it's already yours (Eph 1:3), just waiting for you to claim it, like an escrow. That's why you can have faith that it's coming--but you do have to ask first (Matthew 7:8, James 4:2).Paul taught this same pattern for prayer in Phil 4:4-8. He writes, " Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say, rejoice!... Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things." We start with rejoicing, end with thanksgiving, and keep our minds stayed on the positive hope of the promise(s) we're believing for.

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum is a board certified internist and nationally known expert in the fields of chronic fatigue syndrome, fibromyalgia, sleep and pain. He has authored numerous books including the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic! (now in its 4th edition). He is the lead author of numerous studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and one study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. He also developed the popular free smartphone app "Cures A-Z." Dr. T lives in Kona, Hawaii.To learn more about Dr T, you can email him at fatiguedoc@gmail.com or see vitality101.com or endfatigue.com

• His love is everlasting.
  • Isaiah 49:15-16: “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should have no compassion on the son of her womb? Even these may forget, yet I will not forget you. Behold, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands"
  • Isaiah 54:10: "For the mountains may depart and the hills be removed, but my steadfast love shall not depart from you, and my covenant of peace shall not be removed,” says the Lord, who has compassion on you."
  • Jer 31:3 "The Lord appeared to him from far away. I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”
  • Psalm 136:26: "Give thanks to the God of heaven, for his steadfast love endures forever.”
  • Deut 7:9: "Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations”
  • Psalm 36:7: "How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.”
  • Psalm 52:8: "But I am like a green olive tree in the house of God. I trust in the steadfast love of God forever and ever.”
  • 2 Thess 3:5: "May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and to the steadfastness of Christ.”
  • Psalm 63:3 "Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you.”
  • Psalm 103:8, 11, 17 "The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love… For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him… from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him.”
  • Psalm 48:9 "We have thought on your steadfast love, O God, in the midst of your temple.”
  • Lamentations 3:22-23: "The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.”
  • Exodus 34:6 "The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness”
  • Psalm 36:5 "Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens, your faithfulness to the clouds.”
  • 2 Chronicles 6:14: “Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven or on earth—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way.”
  • Psalm 86:15: "But you, Lord, are a compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness.”
  • 2 Thess 2:16: "May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope, encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word."
• Nothing can separate us from His love because the Holy Spirit is the one who pours it into us and He will manifest himself to us.
  • Romans 5:5: "And hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us."
  • Romans 8:37-39 "No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
  • John 14:21 "Whoever has my commandments and keeps them, he it is who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and manifest myself to him.”
• He knows us intimately.
  • Psalm 139:1-18: "Lord, You have searched me and known me. You know when I sit down and when I get up; You understand my thought from far away. You scrutinize my path and my lying down, And are acquainted with all my ways.Even before there is a word on my tongue, Behold, Lord, You know it all.You have encircled me behind and in front, And placed Your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; It is too high, I cannot comprehend it. Where can I go from Your Spirit Or where can I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there; If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, You are there.If I take up the wings of the dawn, If I dwell in the remotest part of the sea, Even there Your hand will lead me,And Your right hand will take hold of me. If I say, “Surely the darkness will overwhelm me, And the light around me will be night,” Even darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. For You created my innermost parts; You wove me in my mother’s womb. I will give thanks to You, because I am awesomely and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. My frame was not hidden from You When I was made in secret, And skillfully formed in the depths of the earth;Your eyes have seen my formless substance; And in Your book were written All the days that were ordained for me, When as yet there was not one of them. How precious also are Your thoughts for me, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the sand. When I awake, I am still with You."
• We are his children because we believe in Jesus.
  • 1 John 3:1 "See what kind of love the Father has given to us, that we should be called children of God; and so we are.”
  • John 16:27 "For the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God."
• All the love that we have comes from Him.
  • 1 John 4:19: "We love because he first loved us.”
  • 1 John 4:7-8 "Beloved, let us love one another, for love is from God, and whoever loves has been born of God and knows God. Anyone who does not love does not know God, because God is love."
• Love is who He is and He abounds in it.
  • Psalm 86:15 "But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.”
  • 1 John 4:16: "So we have come to know and to believe the love that God has for us. God is love, and whoever abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him.”
  • Eph 2:4: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us"
  • Eph 3:17-19: "So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.”
• We know He loved us because He sacrificed himself for us.
  • Gal 2:20: “…the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me."
  • John 3:16: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.”
  • Romans 5:8: "But God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”
  • Eph 2:4-5: "But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ”
  • John 15:13: "Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends.”
  • 1 John 4:9-10 "In this the love of God was made manifest among us, that God sent his only Son into the world, so that we might live through him. In this is love, not that we have loved God but that he loved us and sent his Son to be the propitiation for our sins.”
  • Titus 3:4-5: "But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit"
• When we understand His love and abide in it, we will not fear.
  • 1 John 4:18 "There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.”
  • Galatians 5:6: "For in Christ Jesus neither circumcision availeth anything, nor uncircumcision; but faith working through love."
  • Isaiah 41:13: "For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, “Fear not, I am the one who helps you.”
  • Luke 12:7 “Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
  • Deut 33:12: "Let the beloved of the Lord rest secure in him, for he shields them all day long, and the one the Lord loves rests between his shoulders.”
  • 1 Pet 5:7 “...casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.”
  • John 15:9: "As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love.”
• God has good plans for us and delights over us with singing.
  • Jer 29:11 "For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope."
  • Zeph 3:17 "The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”
  • Psalm 139:17-18: “How precious and weighty also are Your thoughts to me, O God! How vast is the sum of them! If I could count them, they would be more in number than the sand.”

Dr Ardeshir Mehran is a psychologist, behavioral researcher, business leader, and leadership coach with a doctorate and masters from Columbia University. He is a keynote speaker, a marathon runner, and the author of the book, “You Are Not Depressed; You Are Unfinished.”For thirty years, he has been on a quest to pinpoint what depression and anxiety actually are, why they persist, and why executives and high archivers have such high levels of depression and anxiety. His science-based work shows how to “use” depression and anxiety to live a soaring life instead of allowing them to use you.He lives in The Bay Area/San Francisco with his family.To learn more about Dr Mehran, see www.humanworkstudio.com You can get his book, “You Are Not Depressed; You Are Unfinished," here.

When we think of meditation, a lot of us think of chanting and things affiliated with other religions--but at its core, that's not what it is. Meditation can simply be calming the mind by disciplined focus on some external stimulus, like your breath, your heart, or the ambient sounds around you... and if your mind is scattered and flitting from topic to topic, there is certainly great physiologic value in this, as it will get you out of "fight or flight" and into the parasympathetic "rest and digest" state. Also, if your mind is too loud, it makes it all but impossible for you to hear the voice of the Holy Spirit--so quieting your mind through this form of meditation is valuable for that reason as well.Biblically, though, meditation is more than just quieting your "monkey brain." That just gets you back to neutral. Rather, biblical meditation involves focused thought upon an idea long enough for you to get a picture in your mind of what you're contemplating. We all do this all the time; it's just a matter of what we're thinking about. Andrew Wommack likes to say that if you know how to worry, you know how to meditate. Worry is meditation upon something negative. Paul tells us what we should be meditating on in Philippians 4:8: "whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy--meditate on these things."The reason this is so important is because scripture tells us that our thoughts determine what we believe, just like planting seeds will determine what kind of harvest we get. Proverbs 23:7 says, "for as a man thinks in his heart, so is he." We can act contrary to what we truly believe for a short period of time, but what we think in our hearts is who we really are, and it will come out eventually. This is why Jesus said that the most important parable He ever taught was the Parable of the Sower (Matt 13:3-23). In the parable, the "seed" is the Word of God, and soil is the hearts of the listeners. It's the state of the soil which determines how well that seed will grow and produce a harvest. There are other possible seeds besides God's word, though--in the parable, there were thorns and tares in one type of soil, too. Jesus later defines these for us as "the cares of this world and the deceitfulness of riches" (Matt 13:22), which can choke the Word such that it becomes unfruitful. Those sound like typical sources of worry to me.Think of thoughts in general--any type of thought--as a potential seed that can eventually bear a harvest if you plant it and cultivate it (or meditate upon it until you can see it in your mind). A stray thought here or there can't do this any more than a seed can without the right environment for it to grow--which is why we're told in scripture to take our thoughts captive (2 Cor 10:5). Think of this like weeding the 'garden' of your heart. If you don't want the harvest, then pluck up the plant before it can bear fruit--or, better yet, avoid exposing yourself to the seed in the first place, if you can control it. This isn't always possible, but we can choose what we watch, what we listen to, what kind of church we go to (one that preaches faith or unbelief), and what kind of people we spend time with. "Bad company corrupts good character" (1 Corinthians 15:33)--so if you surround yourself with people who are negative, complaining, undisciplined, or any other negative character trait, most likely it'll rub off on you eventually. Those people influence how you think, and unwittingly this plants "seeds" in your heart that will eventually bear a harvest, if they are allowed to do so.It takes discipline to control our imaginations, of course. Just like the Second Law of Thermodynamics describes entropy in the universe (which means that left to themselves, all systems go from order to disorder), so the tremendous power available in our minds will accomplish nothing if we don't focus it appropriately. Worse, if we use our imaginations for an actively destructive purpose like worrying, we might end up with exactly what we're essentially "believing" for. A medical example of this is the placebo versus the nocebo effect: about 30% of people (probably those who are most "suggest-able") in clinical trials will typically get better even if they're given a sugar pill rather than the actual medication being tested, because they believe it will help them. Their minds make it work. The nocebo is the same principle in reverse: if you believe something will make you worse, it very well might, even if the substance itself is neutral.This is the whole concept behind affirmations, or positive confessions: say something long or often enough, and eventually it'll sink down into your subconscious mind, and you'll start to believe it--even if you don't at first. Not what we superficially say, but what we truly believe, determines how we will act. Other religions and spiritual traditions jump onto this too, in books like "The Secret"--because it's a neutral principle which can work for us or against us. It's just part of the way God set up the world. In Genesis 11:6, speaking of the Tower of Babel, God says, "If as one people speaking the same language they have begun to do this, now nothing they imagine to do will be impossible for them." This was a negative story, but it illustrates the principle as God made it. Jesus said the same thing on the flip side when the disciples were amazed that the fig tree withered when he cursed it: "Have faith in God. For assuredly, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be removed and be cast into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart, but believes that those things he says will be done, he will have whatever he says. Therefore I say to you, whatever things you ask when you pray, believe you receive them, and you will have them." (Mark 11:23-24). When I was a kid, I read this verse, took it at face value, and commanded the mountain outside my bedroom window to be cast into the sea. Nothing happened, of course... but I also didn't expect anything to happen. That's the 'caveat'--you have to actually believe what you're saying, like Jesus did.And that's why it's so important for you to "guard your heart with all diligence"--because out of it literally "spring the issues of life" (Proverbs 4:20-23). But not immediately; as with any plant, harvests come "first the blade, then the head, after that the full grain in the head" (Mark 4:28). Gardening is hard work; you have to constantly plant not just what you want, but you have to prepare the soil, water the seed, and pluck up competing weeds that might steal the nutrients from your fledgling little plant and choke it. It's just like that with our minds. That's why biblical meditation--using a positive imagination to picture what we want, to visualize God's promises coming to pass--is so important.Here's an overview of some of the Hebrew and Greek words in scripture translated to meditate (or to imagine, speak, ponder, etc), their context, and how they help to back up this idea.

• HAGAH: meaning to meditate, speak, imagine, study, mutter, utter, muse, devise
  • Joshua 1:8: "This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate H1897 therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success."
    • Notice that God didn't tell Joshua to just read the book of the law. He told him to meditate on it day and night, to the point where it's coming out of his mouth continually. That's what was required for him to truly follow what was written. That's what was necessary for him to prosper and have success.
  • Psalm 1:2-3: "But his delight is in the law of the LORD; and in his law doth he meditate H1897 day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither—whatever they do prospers."
    • These are the results of meditating on God's word... versus:
  • Psalm 2:1: "Why do the heathen rage, and the people imagine H1897 a vain thing? The kings of the earth set themselves, and the rulers take counsel together, against the Lord and against His Anointed, saying, 'Let us break Their bonds in pieces and cast away Their cords from us.' He who sits in the heavens shall laugh; the Lord shall hold them in derision..."
    • The ungodly use this same principle of meditation to produce evil. This psalm shows that it won't ultimately work for them, but only because God will step in in the end, just as He did at the flood when the imaginations of men's hearts were only evil all the time (Genesis 6:5) and then when the men of the repopulated earth tried to build the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:6). Psalm 2 looks ahead to when God will step in again, as described in the book of Revelation.
  • Psalm 35:28: "And my tongue shall speak H1897 of thy righteousness and of thy praise all the day long."
  • Psalm 63:6: "When I remember thee upon my bed, and meditate H1897 on thee in the night watches."
  • Psalm 71:24: "My tongue also shall talk H1897 of thy righteousness all the day long: for they are confounded, for they are brought unto shame, that seek my hurt."
  • Psalm 77:12: "I will meditate H1897 also of all thy work, and talk of thy doings."
  • Psalm 143:5: "I remember the days of old; I meditate H1897 on all thy works; I muse on the work of thy hands."
    • Consider the fact that the man who wrote these psalms started out a shepherd boy, the youngest of his brothers and some speculate that he was even illegitimate--and he became the greatest king Israel ever had, to the point where the Messiah was called by his name, "Son of David" (Luke 18:38). And much of what we know about meditation comes from him.
  • Psalm 38:12: "They also that seek after my life lay snares for me: and they that seek my hurt speak mischievous things, and imagine H1897 deceits all the day long."
    • And yet, David knew that his enemies were using this same principle against him. He spent some 13-17 years on the run from these enemies (we don't know how old he was when he was anointed king, so we don't know exactly how long). It certainly looked to him like they were winning for quite awhile. Fortunately, David persisted in envisioning and trusting and believing in God's promises coming to pass, even when everything seemed to be against him, and circumstances went from bad to much worse. In 1 Samuel 30:1-6, David had finally fled with his men out of Israel altogether, and was dwelling in the land of his enemies, when their city (Ziklag) was burned to the ground, their wives and children and everything they had stolen, and his men turned on him and spoke of stoning him. The natural human response to this would have been to give in to emotions of despair, but instead David "strengthened himself in the Lord" (1 Sam 30:6). You know that this took incredible discipline on his part, to fix his thoughts on what God said and not his current circumstances. Some believe that David encouraged himself by writing Psalm 61 after Ziklag was burned. The result was that not only did David and his men recover everything that was taken from them, but within days, he was crowned king--at long, long last.
  • Prov 15:28: "The heart of the righteous studieth H1897 to answer: but the mouth of the wicked poureth out evil things."
    • Back to the idea of entropy: cultivating our minds to produce righteousness, wisdom, and a positive imagination doesn't just happen. We have to study. We have to do this work. This is the process of being transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).
  • Prov 24:1-2: "Do not be envious of evil men, nor desire to be with them; For their heart studieth H1897 destruction, and their lips talk of mischief."
    • The point here is that while the righteous studies wisdom and godly principles, the wicked are doing just the opposite. They too will reap what they sow (Gal 6:7).
• YETSER: imagination, form, framing, purpose, conception.
  • Genesis 6:5: "And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination H3336 of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually."
  • Genesis 8:21: "And the LORD smelled a sweet savour; and the LORD said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake; for the imagination H3336 of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more every thing living, as I have done."
  • Deut 31:19-21: "Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel. For when I shall have brought them into the land which I sware unto their fathers, that floweth with milk and honey; and they shall have eaten and filled themselves, and waxen fat; then will they turn unto other gods, and serve them, and provoke me, and break my covenant.And it shall come to pass, when many evils and troubles are befallen them, that this song shall testify against them as a witness; for it shall not be forgotten out of the mouths of their seed: for I know their imagination H3336 which they go about, even now, before I have brought them into the land which I sware."
    • God knew long before the Israelites ever disobeyed Him that they would disobey. You can argue that this is because God is omniscient and knows the end from the beginning, and that's certainly true too--but this verse shows that God knew it (at least in part) because he could see what they were imagining. He knew their thoughts would determine their actions. This is exactly what happened in Numbers 13, when the Israelites sent the twelve spies into the Promised Land. God had promised to give them the land, but the spies returned with a "negative report". It wasn't an untrue report, mind you--the spies reported that the land was full of giants, and it was. Only Joshua and Caleb recognized that while true, that fact was irrelevant. What they should have been focused upon was God's promise that He would give the land to them, regardless of its current inhabitants. But the ten spies' negative report produced fear in the hearts of the people, and that entire generation never got to experience God's intended blessing for them. They died in the wilderness--all except for Joshua, who became the leader after Moses, and actually led the people in forty years later, and Caleb, who at eighty-five years old, was just as strong as he'd been in his forties (Joshua 14:11). He took the mountain of Hebron where the most intimidating Canaanites lived for his inheritance (Joshua 14:6-15).
  • Psalm 103:14: "For he knoweth our frame; H3336 he remembereth that we are dust."
    • The word 'frame' is also the word elsewhere translated meditation or thoughts, so it's not speaking just of the physical frame. The context here is speaking of our sins, and God's compassion upon us for our weakness. In other words, none of this is easy. God knows that. He pities us and has compassion upon us.
  • Isaiah 26:3: "Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind H3336 is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee."
    • I love this verse. It gives us the recipe for peace. "Perfect peace" in Hebrew is actually shalom shalom shalom: the word for peace written three times. The translators presumably didn't know how else to translate that but "perfect." David modeled this for us at Ziklag, intentionally turning his mind to the Lord. Jesus modeled this for us when sleeping on the boat in the middle of the storm (Mark 4:35-41). Abraham modeled this for us when he kept his mind on God's promise of a child and not the impossibility of his and Sarah's circumstances (Romans 4:18-22). It's not easy, but the result is shalom shalom shalom.

• SIYACH: meditate, seek, pray, commune, muse, ponder.
  • 1 Chronicles 16:9: "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him, talk H7878 ye of all his wondrous works."
  • Psalm 77:6: "I call to remembrance my song in the night: I commune H7878 with mine own heart: and my spirit made diligent search."
  • Psalm77:12: "I will meditate also of all thy work, and talk H7878 of thy doings."
  • Psalm 105:2: "Sing unto him, sing psalms unto him: talk H7878 ye of all his wondrous works."
  • Psalm 119:15: "I will meditate H7878 in thy precepts, and have respect unto thy ways." (and repeatedly throughout Psalm 119)
  • Proverbs 23:7: "for as he thinks in his heart, so is he."
• Hope
• YAHAL: wait, tarry, trust, hope, be patient. Hope can be considered positive imagination. It's the precursor for faith (Hebrews 11:1).
  • Romans 8:24-25: "For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it."
  • Psalm 42:5: "Why art thou cast down, O my soul? and why art thou disquieted in me? hope thou in God: for I shall yet praise him for the help of his countenance."

• Greek dianoia = mind, understanding, imagination
  • This is a command. It's not merely talking about intellectual study, though of course that's part of it. What starts out as an intellectual exercise eventually becomes the mental picture of what we see on the inside.
  • Matthew 22:37: "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind."
  • Eph 1:18: "The eyes of your understanding G1271 being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints"
  • Eph 4:18: "Having the understanding G1271 darkened, being alienated from the life of God through the ignorance that is in them, because of the blindness of their heart"
  • Col 1:21: "And you, that were sometime alienated and enemies in your mind G1271 by wicked works, yet now hath he reconciled."
  • Heb 8:10: "For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, saith the Lord; I will put my laws into their mind, G1271 and write them in their hearts: and I will be to them a God, and they shall be to me a people"
  • 1 Peter 1:13: "Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind, G1271 be sober, and hope to the end for the grace that is to be brought unto you at the revelation of Jesus Christ;"

• Greek logismos: thought, imagination, reasoning, judgment
  • "Casting down imaginations, G3053 and every high thing that exalteth itself against the knowledge of God, and bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ"
• A few more examples of this principle in action:
  • Genesis 13:16: God showed Abram the dust of the earth as a symbol of his descendants, and the land of Canaan that would be filled with them.
  • Genesis 15:5: God showed Abram the stars as a picture of his descendants
  • Mark 6:41: before feeding the 5000 with five loaves and two fish, Jesus looks up (ANABLEPO), seeing into the unseen realm, and gives thanks. (2 Cor 5:7: we walk by faith, not by sight... and this works because that's where all the spiritual blessings already exist (Eph 1:3).

Jack Dell’Accio, CEO & Founder of Essentia, has been focused on analyzing sleep for over 20 years! Of most importance to Jack is the impact of restorative sleep in terms of recovery from disease, prevention of disease, longevity, and performance. Jack has worked with some of the world's top athletes to optimize their recovery and performance. Through the years, he has worked directly with health gurus, professional athletes and teams in the NBA, NFL, MLS, and over 25% of active NHL players on creating healthy sleep performance. Essentia’s organic mattress has been recognized by several internationally renowned organizations including the Mayo Clinic’s Well Living Lab. Essentia has been named the #1 foam mattress by Consumer Reports for 7 consecutive years. Now, Jack is proud to present the results of a double-blind sleep study of professional athletes which proves Essentia can extend the time spent in REM and Deep Sleep cycles by 20% to 60%!To learn more about Jack and Essentia, see myessentia.com

Nate Birner graduated from Michigan Lutheran Seminary in 2003, and has been fitness coaching since 2005. He left the church entirely for most of his career in fitness. Multiple (and sometimes traumatic) injuries and surgeries slowly revealed to Nate that he had made fitness into an idol in his life. Now he has a more balanced approach to health and fitness, and owns a strength training gym in Cedar Park TX called Fit Goal Culture. Nate is using his new book, "God's Fingerprint on Fitness,” to encourage Christians struggling with their health and weight to take steps towards fitness, and to encourage fitness enthusiasts and coaches to lead their clients to take steps toward a deeper relationship with God.To learn more about Nate, see natebiner.com, where you can also download the first chapter of the book. You can also follow him @natebirner on Instagram.

Dr. Afton L. Hassett is an Associate Professor and Director of Pain and Opioid Research in the Department of Anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. She is a principal investigator at the Chronic Pain & Fatigue Research Center who has over $14M of research funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Viewed as a leader in the field of chronic pain and resilience, she recently gave the Keynote address at the 2023 Pain Consortium Symposium on Advances in Pain Research for the NIH. While studying established treatments for chronic pain and developing new approaches is her passion, her frustration is that exciting research discoveries rarely make it to the people who could benefit the most. Thus, Afton’s mission was to write Chronic Pain Reset to bring evidence-based strategies from research and academic medical settings directly to people who live with chronic pain with the hope that they will gain new tools to lead more rewarding lives with less pain.To learn more about Dr Hassett, see aftonhassett.com You can get her book, Chronic Pain Reset, here.

• How to deal with stressful situations: pray and then let God's peace rule:
  • Pray and thank God for the answer in advance, and you will have peace: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus." Philippians 4:6-7
  • Col 3:15: "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful."
  • 2 Thess 3:16: "Now may the Lord of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The Lord be with all of you."
  • Fearing circumstances is not from God: 2 Tim 1:7: "For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid (give us a spirit of fear), but gives us power, love and self-discipline."
• If you are weary, let God refresh you:
  • "Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you." 1 Peter 5:7
  • Matthew 11:28-30: "Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”
• Hope, faith, and trust which comes from love are antidotes to fear:
  • Believe you have it before you pray: Hebrews 11:1: "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see."
  • When you understand His perfect love, you will trust: 1 John 4:18: "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love."
  • Luke 1:37: "For no word from God will ever fail."
  • Psalm 56:3: "When I am afraid, I put my trust in you."
  • Isaiah 40:31: "but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint."
  • "Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me." John 14:1
  • "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid." John 14:27
• God delivers from fear and rescues from the trouble that besets you:
  • Psalm 55:22: "Cast your cares on the LORD and he will sustain you; he will never let the righteous be shaken."
  • If you trust, you will flourish no matter the circumstances: Jeremiah 17:7-8: “But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.”
  • Heb 13:5-6: 'God has said, “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you.” So we say with confidence, “The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?”'
  • Psalm 34:4: "I sought the LORD, and he answered me; he delivered me from all my fears."
  • Psalm 34:17: "The righteous cry out, and the LORD hears them; he delivers them from all their troubles."
  • "So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand." Isaiah 41:10
  • Joshua 1:9: "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged, for the LORD your God will be with you wherever you go.”
  • Isaiah 35:4: "say to those with fearful hearts, “Be strong, do not fear; your God will come, he will come with vengeance; with divine retribution he will come to save you.”"
  • Psalm 23:4-6: "Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever."
  • "When anxiety was great within me, your consolation brought me joy." Psalm 94:19
  • "And God is able to bless you abundantly, so that in all things at all times, having all that you need, you will abound in every good work." 2 Corinthians 9:8
  • Proverbs 3:5-6: "Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight."
• God will meet your needs as you seek Him:
  • "Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothes?" Matthew 6:25
  • "Consider the ravens: They do not sow or reap, they have no storeroom or barn; yet God feeds them. And how much more valuable you are than birds!" Luke 12:24
  • "Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own." Matthew 6:34

Today's podcast comes from this blog post, How to Stimulate Autophagy to Live Longer and Healthier

Kelly Needham is a servant of Jesus Christ, a student of the Bible and COO of her home, where she lives with her husband, Jimmy, and their five children. She is the author of Friendish: Reclaiming Real Friendship in a Culture of Confusion (Thomas Nelson, 2019) and has been a contributing author to many other books, including Faithful (David C. Cook, 2021) and Beautifully Distinct (Good Book Company, 2020). She has served on staff at multiple churches, serving in youth, college and women's ministry. Kelly currently co-leads a women’s teaching program, training women to accurately handle the word of truth and co-hosts a podcast, Clearly with Jimmy and Kelly Needham. Whether writing or speaking, Kelly’s aim is to convince as many people as possible that nothing compares to knowing Jesus.You can find Kelly's books, podcast, and learn more about her at jimmyandkelly.com

Dr. Alan Bauman is an accomplished hair restoration physician, known for his expertise in treating hair loss and his pioneering work in the field. His state-of-the-art "Hair Hospital" in downtown Boca Raton, FL, covers 12,000 square feet and is recognized worldwide for its advanced hair restoration technologies.His dedication to the field of hair restoration has earned him many accolades throughout his career. He is one of approximately 200 physicians worldwide to have achieved certification from the American Board of Hair Restoration Surgery (ABHRS). He has pioneered numerous technologies in the field of hair restoration.Dr. Bauman's expertise has made him a highly sought-after speaker and guest expert. He has been featured in hundreds of news stories in the media. Dr. Bauman has also been recognized for his contributions to the field of healthcare, receiving the 2022 "Lifetime Achievement Award in Hair Restoration" and being named one of "10 CEOs Transforming Healthcare in America" by Forbes.To learn more about Dr Bauman or for a consultation, visit baumanmedical.com

“Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth.” Psalm 46:10That's a command for all of us, but some of us find it easier to do than others.I do a lot of neurotransmitter testing in my practice: urine testing for brain signaling chemicals, including serotonin, dopamine, norepinephrine, epinephrine, GABA, glycine, and glutamate. I used to simply feed the appropriate pathways with the precursors if they were low, and feed the enzymes for metabolism if one was too high, to try to balance things out. I still do that to an extent, but I've also started to recognize patterns. Sometimes a neurotransmitter test can suggest to me that someone is low in some of the cofactors (vitamins or minerals) for certain pathways. Other times, it can suggest that there's a common genetic predisposition to metabolizing neurotransmitters in a particular way.I also used to do a lot more genetic testing than I currently do (for a variety of reasons, though it can still be useful). Sometimes the genetics can tell me that someone will tend to make an excessive amount of a particular neurotransmitter, or that they don't tend to make enough of it, or that they tend to break it down really fast, or break it down really slowly. That can help inform what I see on neurotransmitter testing, and how I might go about trying to maintain balance, once we've achieved it.There are certain personality types, as well as patterns of thinking, that go along with patterns of neurotransmitters. Serotonin and dopamine tend to be an especially striking see-saw. Those with high (but not too high) serotonin tend to be very laid back and in the moment. Those with high (but not too high) dopamine tend to be very driven, always checking off their to-do list, and then moving straight on to the next thing.Too much of either one, or too little of either one, can lead to a particular type of anxiety or depression. Those with excessively high (but more often excessively low) norepinephrine or epinephrine (together known as adrenaline) tend to be jumpy, and constantly in fight-or flight mode. Usually I see this pattern in people who have been stressed out for a long time.Some of these patterns can be explained by the genetics, but it's also true that neurotransmitters and thoughts are a "chicken-or-egg" scenario: which comes first? We all are familiar with the downward spiral of negative thinking: the more you do it, the harder it is to stop. I think this is why Paul told us to take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ," (2 Cor 10:5), and then to think on "whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." Phil 4:8. We do have a choice--but our habitual thinking makes this easier or harder to do.A few years ago I read a fascinating book called "The Molecule of More" by Daniel Lieberman. It fleshed out not so much the acute imbalances, but the personality types that go with certain patterns. Lieberman categorizes norepinephrine, along with serotonin, oxytocin, and endorphins, as “here and now,” or H&N neurotransmitters, meaning they help with enjoyment of the moment and satisfaction in one’s actual, current experience.By contrast, the neurotransmitter dopamine is all about novelty and desire (it is the "Molecule of More," as in always wanting more). The moment that a pleasure is no longer unexpected, or a goal is achieved, dopamine is quenched. The enjoyment associated with expected pleasures or enjoying what one already possesses requires the H&N neurotransmitters–and certain kinds of people are predisposed more toward one over the other. The highest achievers in history tended to be very dopamine dominant, with all its attendant benefits and pitfalls. They are constantly driven, and usually obsessed with achievement and efficiency–but this also means they are rarely “happy”, where happiness is defined by satisfaction with what they actually have. Many of them are more susceptible to affairs and divorce, because for them, it’s more about the thrill of the chase than the actual relationship. They often care for humanity in the abstract, but have little patience with individual people. But on the plus side, they also are quite resilient to adversity and change, since novelty produces the dopamine spike they crave.On the flip side, those more predisposed genetically to the H&N neurotransmitters tend to be happier and more content, and to have stronger interpersonal relationships, but far less driven to achievement, and less resilient to the stress of change.Lieberman doesn't argue that either is "better" than the other per se; each has their own strengths and weaknesses (and he also makes the fascinating argument that one's political leanings can often be affiliated with certain patterns of neurochemistry, too).If you tend toward the H&N neurotransmitters, you'll find it much easier to "be still and know" that He is God, but you might have a harder time seeking out and performing the good works that He has prepared for you to do (Eph 2:10). If this is you, you'll probably do much better with accountability partners and little hacks to keep you motivated. (Another great book for building habits for success, particularly if you're not otherwise inclined to do so, is "Atomic Habits" by James Clear.)If you tend more toward dopamine dominance, you'll likely be an internally motivated high performer who accomplishes a great deal, but you'll struggle to be satisfied with what you've achieved. (A great book that might help with this mentality is "The Gap and the Gain," by Dan Sullivan and Dr Benjamin Hardy.) You'll also likely find it much harder to meditate, and to stop and enjoy the moment--but you're the type of personality that really needs to prioritize the habit of silence and stillness.I prioritize it by setting a timer on my phone, and five minutes a day, I'll close my eyes and picture myself at the beach with Jesus--sometimes meditating on verses, other times just being there, and bringing wandering thoughts back to the mental sound of the waves. I also tend to multitask--and I enjoy it, but I know it can go too far. I have to be intentional about choosing silence: running outside (when it's not blisteringly hot) without headphones, so that I can pray instead. Sometimes completing rote tasks in silence, and choosing prayer and meditation.Some more verses on this topic:

• "You will keep in perfect peace him whose mind is stayed on You because he trusts in You," Isaiah 26:3.
• "I remember the days of long ago; I meditate on all your works and consider what your hands have done." Psalm 143:5
• "I will remember the deeds of the LORD; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” Psalm 77:11-12
• "My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body." Prov 4:20-22
• "Blessed is the one who does not walk in step with the wicked or stand in the way that sinners take or sit in the company of mockers, but whose delight is in the law of the LORD, and who meditates on his law day and night. That person is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither— whatever they do prospers." Psalm 1:1-3.

Dr Jacob Teitelbaum is one of the most frequently quoted integrative, pain and fibromyalgia medical authorities in the world. He is the author of the best-selling From Fatigued to Fantastic!, Pain Free, 1,2,3!, The Complete Guide to Beating Sugar Addiction, Real Cause Real Cure, The Fatigue and Fibromyalgia Solution, Diabetes Is Optional and the popular free Smart Phone app Cures A-Z. He is the lead author of 8 studies on effective treatment for fibromyalgia and chronic fatigue syndrome, and a study on effective treatment of autism using NAET. Dr. Teitelbaum appears often as a guest on news and talk shows nationwide including Good Morning America, The Dr. Oz Show, Oprah & Friends, CNN, and FoxNewsHealth.Learn more at:

• Vitality101.com
• endfatigue.com
• You can get Dr Teitelbaum's personalized analysis at energyanalysisprogram.com
• You can contact Dr Teitelbaum for information sheets on various conditions at fatiguedoc@gmail.com

The biggest obstacle to faith for a lot of people is this: “If God is all powerful, then why does He cause (or allow) bad things to happen?”

There's something fundamental that we must establish before we ever address this question directly: God is good, all the time (James 1:16-17).  

We know this, at least in part, by what Jesus did. Jesus said that he who has seen him has seen the Father (John 14:8-9), and Jesus went about doing good, and healing all that were oppressed of the devil (Acts 10:38, Matt 15:30, Matt 4:23-24, Matt 8:16, Matt 9:35, Matt 10:1, Matt 12:15, Matt 15:30, Luke 4:40, Luke 10:9).  He never refused healing to anyone who came to Him. He never harmed anyone "for their own good," or put a disease on anyone "to teach them something" or "to discipline them." Not once. In fact, He actively worked against all sickness and disease, to destroy the devil's work (1 John 3:8). He is the same today as He was when He was on earth (Hebrews 13:8).  

God the Father doesn't change either (Malachi 3:6). We know of God's character from His names in the Old Testament. He is Jehovah Nissi (The Lord my Banner - Ex 17:15). He is Jehovah-Raah (The Lord my Shepherd, or My Friend - Gen 48:15, Psalm 23:1, 80:1, Ez 34:11-15). He is Jehovah Rapha (The Lord That Heals, Ex 15:26). He is Jehovah Shammah (The Lord is There - He has not abandoned you: Eze 48:35). He is Jehovah Tsidkenu (The Lord Our Righteousness, Jer 23:6, 33:16). He is Jehovah Mekoddishkem (The Lord who Sanctifies You: Ex 31:13, Lev 20:8). He is Jehovah Jireh (The Lord will Provide, Gen 22:14). He is Jehovah Shalom (The Lord is Peace, Judges 6:24). He is Jehovah Sabaoth (The Lord of Hosts, 1 Sam 1:3, Ps 24:9-10, 84:3, Isa 6:5).

Many other scriptures establish His goodness. He is ONLY good. (1 John 1:5, Psalm 84:11-12; Psalm 146:6-10; Psalm 107:9, Psalm 31:19, 1 Tim 4:4-5, Eph 1:3, Romans 8:28, Ps 103:2-5, Ps 145:16-19).

God doesn’t do bad things to His children. Yet He’s powerful enough that for those who trust in Him, He can take even terrible circumstances that were not part of His plan, and bring good out of them.

“And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose” (Romans 8:28).

Those who know their scriptures well may point out Old Testament passages that sound like God, in fact, did do evil things. One example is in 2 Sam 24:1, when it says the Lord moved David (in pride) to count the number of his subjects... and then condemned David's sin in having done so (2 Sam 24:10) and punished him severely for it. Yet the exact same story appears in 1 Chron 21:1, where it says Satan moved David to number Israel. This is a very rare glimpse into what was happening in the spiritual realm in the Old Testament, where there is almost no doctrine of Satan. The primary exception to this is at the beginning of the book of Job; otherwise Satan is only mentioned by name here, and in Zechariah 3:1-2. (He is mentioned in Genesis 3 as "the serpent," of course, and also as Lucifer in Isaiah 14:12 and Ezekiel 28 as well.) The Old Testament had almost no doctrine of Satan because the people had no authority over him under the Mosaic covenant. What good would it do to learn that you have a bloodthirsty enemy, but there is nothing you can do to protect yourself from him? Because of this, in the Old Testament, anything supernatural, good or bad, was attributed to God, whether God was the instigator or not. The New Testament (and the revelation in Job 1:6-12) shows that this is not the case; there is a spiritual war going on, and we have an adversary who hates us. (For more on how God's dealings with man changed with different covenants, I'll link in the show notes to my Blood Covenant biblical retellings duology: Blood Covenant Origins and Blood Covenant Fulfilled.)

So if God doesn't cause bad things to happen, why do they happen? Evil comes about as a result of one of or a combination of three things -- 1) Satan, the enemy of God and therefore of us, who would like nothing better than to see us destroyed:

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I [Jesus] have come that they may have life, and have it to the full” (John 10:10).

1 Peter 5:8 — “Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

A fallen world that will be redeemed one day, but isn’t yet: 

“For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God” (Rom 8:20-21).

and 3) people who are sinners, and either aren’t yet saved or aren’t yet perfected:

“There is no one righteous [apart from God], not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God” (Rom 3:10-11).

But if God is truly sovereign, or all-powerful, even if He doesn't cause bad things to happen, doesn't He at least allow them, for His own purposes--which largely boils down to the same thing? I thought this way for a very long time--that He was like a great General of an army, who sometimes had to make sacrifices for a greater good. Sometimes (sorry), that sacrifice turned out to be you.

On one particular night, sitting in front of my fire alone and in the midst of a major life crisis, the Lord disabused me of this mistaken belief about Him. At the time it was an emotional, intuitive understanding, and the fruit of it--renewed joy, hope, faith, and trust in Him--was one layer of evidence that it was true. It was only later that I studied why this definition of God's sovereignty is also biblically inaccurate. God is sovereign in the sense that He is all-powerful, all-loving, and all-knowing, but He is not all-controlling. God told Adam and Eve not to eat of the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil; they did anyway. Was that God's will? Certainly not! He did everything He could to keep them from doing it, short of making them automatons, when He told them, don't do it. Likewise, any sovereign can set laws that his citizens may not necessarily obey. The US is a sovereign nation and in 1974 the administration set the "National Maximum Speed Law" of 55mph. But many drivers exceeded that speed limit regularly. 

The New English Translation has the word “sovereign” appear more than any other biblical translation (368 times). Not one of the original Hebrew or Greek words connotes the idea that He controls everything that happens. Most of the time it’s just the way they render God’s names.

The word sovereign is often translated from Shaddai (meaning Almighty) when it’s part of God’s name (48 times in the OT). Other times it’s translated from ‘elohiym: supreme God, as a superlative, or ‘elyown, meaning High or Most High. Sometimes it's thrown in as part of the transition of ‘Adonay: an emphatic form of the Lord. Sometimes it's translated from tsaba’, also translated the Lord of Hosts, meaning one who commands an army.

In some cases the word sovereign is used to describe God's characteristics, but in context, it doesn't mean what we typically mean by the word (that His will always happens).

The NET version of 1 Chronicles 29:11 says, "O LORD, you are great, mighty, majestic, magnificent, glorious, and sovereign over all the sky and earth! You have dominion and exalt yourself as the ruler of all." Only this translation uses the word sovereign; the others , translate it Head. This word connotes the idea of a supreme ruler, but not of one who always gets His way. 

Psalm 84:11 is one of my favorites. It says, “For the Lord God is a sun and shield (magen: shield, buckler, protector).” The same verse is translated in NET: "For the LORD God is our sovereign protector." Clearly this doesn't say anything about His will always being done, either.

Sovereign power is also translated as holiness from qadash: "to consecrate, sanctify, prepare, dedicate, be hallowed, be holy, be sanctified, be separate." This word is used in Ezekiel 28:25: "'This is what the sovereign LORD says: When I regather the house of Israel from the peoples where they are dispersed, I will reveal my sovereign power (or holiness) over them in the sight of the nations, and they will live in their land that I gave to my servant Jacob."

Micah 5:4 says, "He will assume his post and shepherd the people by the LORD's strength, by the sovereign authority of the LORD his God. They will live securely, for at that time he will be honored even in the distant regions of the earth.” Sovereign authority is ga'own (exaltation, majesty, pride) shem (name, reputation, fame, glory): thus, better translated “in the majesty of the name” of the Lord. 

Habakkuk 2:14 says, "For recognition of the LORD's sovereign majesty will fill the earth just as the waters fill up the sea." Sovereign majesty here is yada (to know, to perceive, to make known) kabowd (glory, honour, glorious, abundance), also translated “for the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord.”

Of course God's will does not always come to pass. The classic example of this is 2 Peter 3:9: “The Lord is not slow to fulfill his promise as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing that any should perish, but that all should reach repentance,” and 1 Timothy 2:4: “Who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.” Matthew 18:14 also says, “Even so it is not the will of your Father who is in heaven that one of these little ones should perish.” Jesus paid for the sins of the whole world, not just those who are saved. 1 John 2:2 says, “He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not only for ours but also for the sins of the whole world”, and 1 Tim 4:10 says, "That is why we labor and strive, because we have put our hope in the living God, who is the Savior of all people, and especially of those who believe.” But not everybody will be saved, clearly. God gave us free will; He doesn't force us to choose Him, nor does He make any of our other decisions for us, either. Jesus said in Matthew 7:13: "Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction, and many enter through it." God wills it; He paid for it; but He won't get everyone as He would like.

There are other verses that imply the concept of sovereignty (in the sense that when God decides to do something, He does it, and no one can stop Him).  But this refers to God’s right and His power, and says nothing about potential restrictions He places on His right and power one way or the other. Here are a few of those verses:

Job 42:2: “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted.”

Isaiah 46:10: “I declare the end from the beginning and from ancient times things not yet done, saying, ‘My counsel shall stand, and I will accomplish all my purpose.”

Romans 8:28: “All things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose.” (i.e. He can use bad and work it for good.)

So what restrictions did God place on His own power, and why are they there?

God gave dominion of earth to men in the Garden of Eden (Gen 1:26-29)--like the lease on a property, the earth lease. When Adam obeyed Satan instead of God, he gave the earth to Satan, and Satan became the god of this world (2 Cor 4:4). Jesus defeated Satan on the cross, but the earth lease has yet to run out. Even the demons whom Jesus cast out knew that there was a set time when they would be evicted--but it was not yet (Matt 8:29).

Once God had given His word, He had to abide by it. Everything in the universe is upheld by the integrity of His word (Hebrews 1:3). And yet, He still wanted to save us--but we'd locked Him outside of His own world by our choices. He had to find a way to "legally" get back on the inside. He'd given dominion of the earth to men (Psalm 115:16), so He had to become a man, to buy it back--our kinsman redeemer (see the book of Ruth for a true story that is also a parable of this). Jesus did buy it back, but even though He now has the rights to it, He won't take possession of it until He returns. He has delayed only so that all who would will be saved (2 Peter 3:9).

Revelation 5 depicts the moment when the earth lease is finally up. Jesus begins to take possession of it, and to "evict" the evil from the world. Even then, He won't do it all at once, but in progressive steps, because part of the purpose of the Tribulation is to redeem His chosen people, Israel. Indeed, their turning to Him and asking Him to return is a prerequisite for His second coming (Matt 23:39).

Until then, though, God has made "legal" provision for those who follow Him through successive covenants with men on earth who could agree to give Him permission. Prior to Abraham, God had no "legal" right to protect His favorites, which is why the book of Job played out the way it did. But once the Mosaic law came, it laid out blessings for those who followed God, and cursings for those who disobeyed Him (Deut 28)--because sin still had to be punished. The story of the Old Testament shows repeated episodes of disobedience, because the Jews could not follow the Law. God always knew this, of course--Paul's treatise in Romans demonstrates that the point of the Law was to show that all people are incapable of following it. Even so, there were those even in the Old Testament who figured out that what God really wanted was a changed heart (Psalm 51:10, Micah 6:8), not sacrifice (Hosea 6:6). Those few, like Abraham, Moses, Elijah, and David, got to enjoy a real relationship with God, even before Christ.

Aside from spiritual blessings from obedience in the Old Covenant, God wanted good things for His people so much that He built in multiple paths to receive it. He designed the body such that it heals itself. In the law, He also instructed His people on how to work with the natural laws so that their bodies would be healthy. He told them to rest one day per week (the Sabbath). The Old Covenant is full of dietary rules, to eat certain things and not to eat others (corresponding to modern recommendations for health), to quarantine those who contracted contagious diseases, to decontaminate objects that had been in contact with mold, and many other things that would have made no medical sense to the Jews at the time.

More than that, the most common command in scripture is to "fear not." We now know that stress (anxiety, fear, panic, etc) contributes to, by some estimation, up to 90% of chronic illness.

From a practical standpoint for provision, scripture is filled with recommendations to be honest, generous, diligent and not lazy, to diversify our efforts, etc --to work with natural laws of sowing and reaping, so that we might prosper.

In the Old Testament, there are accounts of miraculous interventions for healing, provision, victory, etc--but God always worked through a man who cooperated with Him via the covenant in place at the time. In the New Testament, Jesus was the perfect embodiment of the will of the Father. He healed everyone who came to Him--but the method was often different. In some cases, He healed with a touch (Luke 5:13). In other cases, people touched Him (Mark 5:31), or even the hem of His garment (Matt 14:36). In other cases He merely spoke the word (Matt 8:8, John 11:43). In others He put mud on blind eyes (John 9:6). There was no formula; He met people where they were at, individually.

Then in the New Covenant, Jesus redeemed us from the curse of the law (Galatians 3:13-14), leaving us with only the blessings for those who are in Christ (2 Corinthians 1:20). This means that today, there are many promises for blessing, healing, provision, and victory that we can stand on and receive by faith, whether a sudden miraculous intervention or a slow blessing working with natural laws (which is more common, Mark 4:14, 26-29). God sends His word to heal us (Ps 107:20). We can receive the blessings that are now already ours in Christ (Eph 1:3) by abiding in Him (John 15:7), trusting in Him (Prov 3:5-6, Psalm 91), learning what His word says (Hosea 4:6) and renewing our minds with it (Romans 12:2), casting down all imaginations to the contrary (2 Cor 10:5), and resisting the devil when he tries to lie to us about what is truly ours (James 4:7), by speaking God's word in faith (Mark 11:23), and by forgiving others and ourselves (James 5:16). Since God's word is as a seed, it takes time for the harvest to come (Mark 4:14, 26-29) and we will reap if we do not grow weary and lose heart (Gal 6:9).

What if we fail to do our part and for whatever reason, don't or can't seem to receive this way, though? The earth is still under Satan's control until the earth lease runs out, and it's also still dominated by sinful people. The world itself is still corrupted by sin (Romans 8:19-22). God made provision for us to overcome these things, but there is still much to overcome. Job (who had no covenant to protect him at all) complained to God, "Have you eyes of flesh? or do you see as a man sees?" (Job 10:4). Even in the Old Testament, God pitied us and knew that we are but dust (Psalm 103:14), but then Jesus came and walked in our shoes. He can sympathize with our weaknesses exactly (Hebrews 4:15). When Peter walked on water and then took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink, Jesus still reached out and caught him (Matt 14:28-32). When the disciples feared drowning and woke Jesus, Jesus rebuked the winds and the waves (Mark 4:35-41). If we begin to fear and take our eyes off of Him, He's there for us too, to give us mercy and grace in time of need (Hebrews 4:16). He also gave us the body of Christ to stand with us and bolster our faith with the prayer of agreement (Matt 18:19, James 5:14-15).

We also still have all of the alternative methods to receive God's blessings, as well: all truth is His truth. He gave us principles like sowing and reaping (Gal 6:7) which includes blessing the work of our hands (Deut 28:4-8). He gave us the science of natural laws, including medicine and logic. He promises to give us wisdom for whatever we need when we ask for it (James 1:5-8)--we just have to take Him at His word.

Whatever tragedy may have befallen you in your life, God was not the author of it. He wants good things for you, and not evil (Jeremiah 29:11). He is for you, and not against you (Romans 8:31). If He gave you the very best He had, Jesus, to redeem you and make you His, why would He not also freely give you everything else that is good (Romans 8:32)? He weeps with you in your tragedy (John 11:35). He never wanted this for you. But He can take even that tragedy and bring good out of it, if You will trust Him to do so (Romans 8:28).

God has been much maligned, even in the church. It's convenient and even sometimes comforting, in a twisted way, to say that God must have done, or allowed, some tragedy for some greater purpose of His that we cannot see. But the truth is, the earth is still a battleground, and God is the Hero, not the villain.

He is only good. All the time.

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Dr. Erik Korem has always been driven by a relentless pursuit of high performance. As time progressed, that drive became a purpose — to improve the lives of others in ways they didn’t know were possible. Whether fueling the performance of NCAA athletes or the U.S. Dept. of Defense, implementing one of the NFL's first sports science programs, or coaching Olympic gold medalists, his desire to leave people and places better than he found them is unwavering.Now, as Founder and CEO of AIM7, he’s employing his unique expertise as an applied performance scientist to unleash the true power of wearables in a way that tangibly improves the lives of others. Their proven algorithms analyze users' health data and provide custom recommendations for enhancing the mind, body, and recovery process. Leveraging the science of adaptive capacity, Erik and his team are unlocking a new level of human performance for anyone with a wearable device.To learn more about Erik, you can find him on Instagram and YouTube @ErikKorem

Sam Black is a renowned author and expert in the field of pornography recovery. As the Director of Recovery Education at Covenant Eyes, he brings a wealth of experience to his work, having joined the organization in 2007 after a distinguished 18-year career as an award-winning journalist. Sam is the author of two groundbreaking books: "The Healing Church: What Churches Get Wrong About Pornography and How to Fix It" and "The Porn Circuit: Understand Your Brain and Break Porn Habits." He has also edited 16 other books on the impact of pornography and regularly speaks at parenting, leadership and men's events across the country. Sam's deep knowledge and compassionate approach have helped countless individuals and families find healing and hope.To learn more about Sam, see thehealingchurch.com, or o to the app store and download the Victory App for content!

Let's bypass the idea that DNA, the blueprint for proteins, couldn't come about by random chance. Perhaps the process worked backwards: perhaps the proteins came first.That was the concept behind the Miller-Urey experiment of 1953, in which the chemicals thought to have been present in earth's "primordial soup" (water (H2O), methane (CH4), ammonia (NH3), and hydrogen (H2)) were all combined and subjected to electricity, meant to simulate lightning. Proteins are made of 20 amino acid building blocks, and this experiment successfully produced more than those 20 (there are more possible amino acids than just those used in our own core set). This experiment was heralded as proof of abiogenesis, or the production of life from non-living matter.There are a number of major problems with this, though. First, the amino acids produced in this experiment and in all subsequent experiments like it produce a racemic mixture of amino acids, meaning the orientation of the molecules is a combination of non-superimposable mirror images of one another. This refers to the positions of non-symmetrical components of the amino acids, whether they're on the right or the left side (much like our thumbs on our left and right hands appear on opposite sides, as non-superimposable mirror images of one another). However, in nature, amino acids are almost exclusively in the L-form. Its opposite, called the D-form, causes the subsequently formed protein to mis-fold. Since a protein's 3-D structure is determined by the chemistry of its building blocks, and the structure is critical to its function, this makes a protein built of a racemic mixture of amino acids non-functional and toxic to life.This problem has never been circumvented in the laboratory. But even supposing it were, supposing the early environment beginning with chemicals in the primordial soup might somehow produce only L-form amino acids, we'd still have the information problem. Without DNA instructions to tell the body which amino acids to use in which sequence, the average length of a mammalian protein is about 400 amino acids in length. The probability of each amino acid out of 20 being placed in the correct sequence at random is (1/20)^400. If you plug odds like that into an online calculator, what you get is: zero. The probability is effectively zero. And that's just the random formation of a single protein, assuming the orientation of all the amino acids was somehow magically corrected. A single irreducibly complex cell would require somewhere between 3-500 of those.(And that's not even addressing the entirely separate question in abiogenesis of "what constitutes life." A dead body has all of those functional proteins, but they no longer do anything. Why not? What is the indescribable "something" that they have lost--and thus, what would need to be bestowed upon a spontaneously produced protein to cause it to function, even supposing such a protein could be produced in the first place?)Click here for the last in the apologetics series: The Age of the Earth

There is a bit of a debate amongst believers regarding how to reconcile scripture with scientific claims about the age of the earth. Many assume that the evidence that the earth is millions of years old is water-tight, and therefore we only have three options: find a way to fit millions of years into the Bible somewhere, reject clear scientific evidence, or reject the Bible entirely. Those who do try to cram millions of years into scripture have to do it somewhere in Genesis 1. I've heard this done in two ways. One is the gap theory, which places millions of years in between Genesis 1:1, when God created the heavens and the earth, and Genesis 1:2, when the earth was without form and void. The idea is that earth was created once, destroyed, and then remade in between the verses. There's a fascinating book called "The Invisible War" by Donald Barnhouse that makes this claim fairly compellingly -- but so far as I can tell, even if one were to subscribe to this idea, the earth was still remade in Genesis 1:2--at which point the clock should start over. This won't "solve" the biblical young earth problem.The other possibility uses 2 Peter 3:8, which says that "a day to the Lord is as a thousand years," to extrapolate that a day is also to the Lord as millions of years. Therefore, the six days of creation were actually millions of years apiece.There are a number of philosophical problems with this. In certain places, scripture is poetic and should be interpreted as such. Psalm 91, for instance, says that "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge" (91:4). This is obvious poetry, meant to evoke the image and feeling that God protects us the way a mother hen protects her chicks. It would be absurd to think this means that God has literal feathers. Many of the psalms employ similar poetic imagery, as do many of the prophetic books, Song of Songs, etc. These should be interpreted as poetry, and not as literal historical books.But Genesis is written like an historical book. Genesis 1 is about as clear as it could possibly be that we're talking about six literal days. After each day the scripture says, "so the evening and the morning were the (blank) day," to illustrate that we are talking about 24 hours.Also, Genesis says after each day, "And God saw that it was good." Death is not good; death is the result of sin (Romans 6:23). Sin didn't happen until Genesis 3. If each of the six days of creation was actually millions of years, do we suppose that no creatures died during that entire time? And if death did enter before Adam and Eve ever sinned, then how was creation pronounced "good"? Romans 8:19-22 tells us that even creation groans under the weight of corruption--it too must ultimately be redeemed. When did it become corrupted, if not by sin in Genesis 3?Finally, if Genesis 1 is really a metaphorical abstraction representing millions of years of evolutionary change, what other apparently historical scriptures can be allegorized? Was there really a flood? How about a real resurrection?In short, what can you trust? The Bible is either true or it's not.If the Bible is literally trustworthy, what do we do with all the evidence that "proves" the earth is millions of years old? Does "science" actually prove this?Carbon-14 dating is the best known dating method that most people think of in conjunction with this question. The most common isotope of carbon is C-12, but all carbon-based life forms start out with a certain, albeit very small, amount of the C-14 isotope in life. C-14 is radioactive, which means over time (after death) it decays via beta decay, in which one of its neutrons becomes a proton, turning it into nitrogen. The half life of C-14 decay is only 5700 years, give or take 30 years in either direction. That means it takes roughly 5700 years for half the amount of C-14 that started out in organic material to decay into nitrogen--so you can't use C-14 dating for anything older than 100,000 years. Past that point, there shouldn't be any C-14 left.And yet, some dinosaur bones have been found to still contain C-14 (https://www.icr.org/article/radiocarbon-dinosaur-other-fossils). How is this possible, if they are supposed to be millions of years old?Those who defend the evolutionary time scale will claim that the C-14 must have crept in via contamination.Yet there are even more remarkable findings in dinosaur bones than C-14. Many still contain intact biomolecules (here's a comprehensive list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1eXtKzjWP2B1FMDVrsJ_992ITFK8H3LXfPFNM1ll-Yiw/edit#gid=0). These include hemoglobin and blood residue (https://www.icr.org/article/a-80-million-year-old-mosasaur-fossil), retinal tissue, and skin (https://www.icr.org/article/original-tissue-fossils-creations-silent).Ages at a greater timescale than 50-100K years are determined via radiometric dating of igneous rocks (those formed by volcanic eruption), often using potassium-40, which decays to argon-40. Once the lava cools, the rocks are "born"--and the assumption is that any elements that are in a gaseous state at the time will escape before the lava cools into a solid. Argon-40 is a gas, so once hardened, the igneous rock should start out with no argon. Whatever potassium there is should, over a very long time time, decay into argon-40 (the half-life of this process is 1.25 billion years). Thus, the ratio of potassium to argon can serve as a proxy for the age of the rock.Unfortunately, this isn't always accurate. The igneous rocks formed in the Mt. St. Helens eruption of 1980 were tested using the potassium-argon method, and were dated to be hundreds of thousands of years old. Apparently, all the argon gas did not escape prior to the lava solidifying into rock, making the rocks appear many orders of magnitude older than they really were. Additionally, igneous rock are porous, so gas can diffuse into or out of the rocks, further confounding the process. If this method is so wildly inaccurate for dating a known eruption, how can we trust it for anything unknown?Another common dating method is the ratio of uranium-238 to lead-238. This decay is a 14-step process (not a one-step like potassium to argon), with a half life of 4.5 billion years. Eight of these steps produces a helium atom, so for every one atom of uranium, eight helium atoms should be produced. Because helium escapes from rocks fairly quickly (they are porous, remember), there should be little to no helium left if the rocks were billions of years old. But the RATE project (Radioisotopes and the Age of the Earth) at the Institute for Creation Research determined that some of these rocks had high amounts of helium still trapped in them. This finding is consistent with radioactive decay--it was occurring--but it was inconsistent with the expected 4.5 billion year half life.One possible explanation for this is that half lives might not be as fixed as previously believed. This has been demonstrated for other elements in laboratory experiments: radioactive Rhenium-187 decays to osmium-187 with a 41.6 billion year half life, but if all of Rhenium-187's electrons are experimentally removed, the half life can be sped up to a mere 33 years (https://answersingenesis.org/geology/radiometric-dating/acceleration-of-radioactivity-shown-in-laboratory/). Granted, that was under laboratory conditions--but it does cast further doubt on the absolute nature of half-life decay in general.Other common dating methods are relative, using the date of something "known" to infer the date of something unknown. These involve index fossils--i.e. if the fossil of one creature is found next to a dinosaur fossil from the Cambrian period, scientists will then assume that the previously unknown fossil must be 400-500 million years old. (But then of course the question becomes, were they correct in dating the index fossil?)Paleomagnetism is another possible relative method. The earth's polarity has changed at various times in its history, and the polarity of magnetic rocks reflects earth's polarity at the time they were buried. Scientists believe they know when earth's polarity reversed in the last 10,000 years, so ferromagnetic materials bearing a certain polarity can serve as a proxy for the date of anything found nearby (provided it was estimated to be 10,000 years old or younger). But again, this depends on a lot of assumptions--and there is evidence (https://answersingenesis.org/age-of-the-earth/more-evidence-rapid-geomagnetic-reversals-confirm-young-earth/) that earth's polarity reversed many times, rapidly, over a very short period of time. Creation scientists believed that this was a consequence of the worldwide flood, in which some of the waters came from the "fountains of the deep" breaking up (Genesis 7:11). This sounds very much like shifting tectonic plates, which would have set off volcanic eruptions. Since earth's magnetic field is generated from its churning molten core, it stands to reason that earth's polarity might have been affected by the same process.The Bottom LineWe're bombarded with the narrative that evolution and the "deep time" of earth is established fact, rather than a theory, but it's not true.Majority opinion does not establish a truth--what matters isn't what the majority believes, but whether or not they are right. (The idea that majority opinion equals truth is called the logical fallacy of faulty appeal, or 'the appeal to the many.') Nevertheless, it can be daunting, and perhaps even feel arrogant, for the lay public to challenge the unanimous narrative of the experts.There is, in fact, a large number of experts who do not subscribe to the dominant narrative of evolution as established fact. In April 2020, over 1100 scientists in a vast range of scientific disciplines including chemistry, biology, medicine, geology, and paleontology signed a statement claiming, “We are skeptical that ‘random variation’ and ‘natural selection’ can explain the complexity of life. A serious review of the evidence for Darwinism should be encouraged.” (https://www.discovery.org/m/2020/04/Scientific-Dissent-from-Darwinism-List-04072020.pdf)These voices might be suppressed, but they are out there.Science and religion are not in conflict. God made the universe and everything in it, and science is simply the study of what He made. Psalm 19:1 says, "The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork."All truth is God's truth. True science always points to Him.

Dr. Matt Queen is the L.R. Scarborough Chair of Evangelism ("Chair of Fire") and professor of evangelism at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, where he also serves as Interim Provost and Vice President for Academic Administration. The author of Recapturing Evangelism: A Biblical-Theological Approach (B&H Academic, 2023), Everyday Evangelism (Seminary Hill Press, 2020) and Mobilize to Evangelize (Seminary Hill Press, 2018), in addition to having edited and contributed chapters in numerous other books, Dr. Queen has been published in multiple academic journals and serves as Associate Pastor of Evangelism at Lane Prairie Baptist Church, Joshua, Texas. Additionally, he serves as an evangelism consultant for the Southern Baptists of Texas Convention and regularly leads evangelism workshops and preaches in churches across the country.To get Dr Queen's book, go to thegospelinvitation.com , or for more info about him, see swats.edu

Suzy Griswold is the Founder and President of HealingStrong. Suzy is a 13+ year Thyroid Cancer Thriver. After surgery and conventional treatment failed and subsequent scans revealed lymph node involvement, Suzy ultimately took a very different route to healing that was revealed after much prayer and research.When friends and family noticed the transformation, they asked Suzy to meet with their loved ones. In 2012, Suzy began HealingStrong as a blog post. That was just the start and as she brought together a group of natural thrivers and caregivers in her living room to pray about next steps, the vision for the very first HealingStrong conference in 2013 became a reality. It began a grassroots movement in small group communities that continues today.To date, 450 groups around the US, Canada, and 8 International countries have been a part of HealingStrong. HealingStrong continues to empower, inspire, motivate and equip group participants and members to live more whole and hope filled lives.For more on HealingStrong, the conference, resources, and finding a group, see www.healingstrong.org



Let's grant for the moment that somehow, the fully functional and the irreducibly complex genetic code necessary for a single eukaryotic, or even prokaryotic cell, came into existence by happenstance (or by panspermia, perhaps, or by an infinite number of parallel universes -- pick your deus ex machina mechanism). Even with a "cheat" like this, could the evolutionary process take it from there?Spontaneous genetic point mutations, in which one of the four DNA base pairs is swapped for another, do occur from time to time, at a rate of around 1.1×10−8 (https://academic.oup.com/genetics/article/156/1/297/6051861?login=false) per base pair per generation (that's one in 100 million). However the vast majority of these are either negative or neutral. They're typically neutral if they occur in the non-coding segment of DNA, which is not used as blueprints for proteins. (We're still not entirely sure what the purpose is of all this non-coding DNA. There was a time when all of it was thought to be "junk," or leftovers from previous evolutionary steps. Now we know that at least some of it serves a purpose: of regulation, saying when a given sequence should or shouldn't be transcribed, where the coding gene begins and ends, binding sites for the transcription mechanism to begin, kind of like the coupling component of a zipper, and things like that. Telomeres, the caps on our chromosomes now known to be one of the determining factors of biological age, are also part of non-coding DNA. Other segments of it protect the structure of the chromosomes so that they maintain their integrity during cell replication. No doubt more purposes will be understood in time, but I seriously doubt any of it will turn out to be "junk").Negative DNA mutations in coding sequences is one of the mechanisms by which cancer occurs. These can be either "nonsense" or "missense" mutations. Nonsense mutations are when a point mutation forms what's called a "stop" codon (where a codon is a set of three base pairs, forming a "word" of sorts.) Rather that continuing to code for a protein, the stop codon in the middle of the sequence would simply prematurely truncate the protein code entirely. Missense mutations occur when a point mutation switches one codon to another... like turning "cat" into "bat" or "rat," with an entirely different meaning. Each codon calls for a different amino acid, so such a mutation may substitute a different one with different chemical properties, which (if those properties are different enough) might contribute to different stereochemistry, or folding of that protein once made. The stereochemistry largely determines the protein's function, so it might be thus altered (and nearly always for the worse)... though there are are redundancies, such that multiple codons call for the same amino acids (there are only twenty amino acids, after all). So it's possible the mutation might be "silent" even if in a coding sequence of DNA, in this case.Environmental factors known to increase DNA mutation rates include things like ionizing radiation (UV, x-ray, gamma ray, etc), and various carcinogenic chemicals. If these mutations occur in germ cells, they can be passed on to progeny, assuming that the mutation isn't rapidly fatal before it can be passed on. In some cases, the resulting "disease" may confer a survival advantage in a given environment--for example, sickle cell anemia, a point mutation that changes the shape of red blood cells. It does indeed cause severe disease, but it also happens to protect against malaria, endemic in Africa. This is probably why sickle cell is far more common in Africa that in other parts of the world.But it's quite a stretch to say that was a "positive" mutation. Sickle cell anemia manifests with recurrent hemolytic crises, in which red blood cells burst, leading to severe low levels in the bloodstream (which means not enough oxygen for the tissues). Red blood cells can also get stuck in small vessels, leading to clots, spleen and liver enlargement, etc. Sure, the mutation happens to have a survival benefit in Africa, but "positive," the way a sudden functioning eye might be? I don't think so.And that's the thing: we can't point to a single known unequivocally positive DNA mutation. The most we can do is identify some "bad" ones that happen to have a silver lining in a particular environment. From there, evolutionists extrapolate (tremendously!) that in the distant past, many such mutations must have occurred--even though we have no evidence that they did, and all evidence we do have seems to suggest otherwise.I've seen some sources that speculate that positive mutations occur about 1/1000 times per generation, though the paper, "The population genetics of mutations: good, bad, and indifferent" (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871823/) makes the point that this is an exceedingly difficult number to quantify, because how one mutation might interact with another, let alone how multiple mutations might interact in a larger organism, is so very complex. Nevertheless, if we go with the 1/1000 number (which seems like as reasonable an estimate as any), since any sort of genetic mutation (a point mutation anyway) is supposed to occur only 1/100 million times per generation, that means a single positive mutation might occur 1/100 billion times per generation. Since earth is estimated to be 4.54 billion years old, and a generation is usually defined to be about 20 years, that's 225 million generations since the dawn of earth's time, by secular calculations.Do you see the problem here? If those estimations are even in the ballpark, there hasn't been enough time statistically for even one unequivocally positive mutation to occur. The universe literally doesn’t have enough time for evolution to occur (unless you introduce multiple universes... and even then, you'd need a near infinite number of them).

Steve Wiideman is the CEO of Wiideman Consulting Company. Specializing in SEO Strategy, Steve likes to organize search into specific disciplines broken down by business model. For natural search, Steve believes in only three fundamental requirements: Relevancy, Visibility and User Behavior. For local search, Data, Landing Page, Citation and Reputation are the keys to success.While serving as an adjunct professor at UCSD and CSUF, Steve is also building the Academy of Search, while volunteering time to help improve transparency and industry standards as an agency trainer.At the forefront of SEO, Steve has a front-row seat to how AI is changing the landscape of various industries.

This week's podcast comes from this blog post: Which Supplements Are Right For You?

Darwin's original tenants of his theory as laid out in his 1859 seminal work, "The Origin of Species," were these: that all organisms evolved from a common ancestor via minor, undirected changes, and that natural selection determines which of those random mutations get passed down to future progeny. Variations that confer a survival advantage allow the creature who inherits it to live long enough to procreate, and pass down that change to the next generation.Darwin successfully demonstrated "microevolution" with his Galapagos finch study, showing that finches confined to a particular island would evolve differently shaped beaks over time, in accordance with their available food sources. Similar processes have been demonstrated within many other species as well, and few would dispute that such microevolution does, in fact, occur. But Darwin then extrapolated this process, assuming that over the eons, such tiny changes could allow one species to evolve into another. Leaving aside the philosophical objections we've already covered in previous episodes, such as irreducible complexity and information theory negating the possibility of this occurring, is there any evidence that it nevertheless did occur? If it did, the fossil record should be riddled with examples of transitional species--some of which might have been "dead ends," but many of which should have been ancestors halfway between one species and another.Darwin himself wrote in "The Origin of Species," "Why then is not every geological formation and every stratum full of such intermediate links? Geology assuredly does not reveal any such finely graduated organic chain; and this, perhaps, is the most obvious and gravest objection which can be urged against my theory. The explanation lies, as I believe, in the extreme imperfection of the geological record." In other words, he figured that in time, and with acceptance of his theory and with scientists all over the globe searching for such evidence, the "missing links" would eventually be found.So, 164 years later, with belief in evolution dominating almost the entire scientific community, have any fossils of missing links been found?A quick YouTube search on evolutionary fossils presents the first arthropod, mollusk, insect, etc as "missing links." They're the "first" because of where they were found in the rock strata (where deeper is older). But all of the creatures presented are part of recognizable classes of creatures alive today, though those exact species are often extinct. This means they're the end of a line; they're not an intermediate on the way to anything we can identify. (Some of the species aren't extinct at all though, and the exact same organism is still alive today. This is what evolutionists call "stasis": no change over millions of years.)The only possible true missing link of which I'm aware is one found in the 1860s, during Darwin's own lifetime, called archaeopteryx. It was a fossil showing characteristics of both a bird and a reptile, and it is the basis of the widely supposed belief that dinosaurs are the ancestors of birds.Larry Martin, paleontologist from the University of Kansas, said in 1985 that archaeopteryx is not a true transitional species, but merely an extinct type of bird. According to wikipedia, twelve such fossils of archaeopteryx have been found, and all around the same area of Germany, encased in limestone. Since only 12 fossils of this same species were found in a very localized area, Martin's explanation makes the most sense. We should have found many more intermediates all over the world, in various stages of transition, if the hypothesis that dinosaurs were the ancestors of birds was correct. (We also wouldn't have expected the two to coexist either, if one were the ancestor of the other, but apparently according to both the Smithsonian and National Geographic, they did.)A few other possible contenders for "missing links" have been found over the years, but the case for each of them has been weak at best.One was the Java Man, found in 1891, supposed to be a missing link between humans and apes. All that was found of it was a skull, a femur, and three teeth. These were later determined to have belonged to three different species.Another was the Piltdown Ape, found in England in the early 1900s, also speculated to be a missing link between apes and humans. In Nov 1953, however, Time Magazine published collected evidence of multiple paleontologists that this ape too was comprised of fossils from three different species. The BBC later called it "the biggest hoax in British history."Peking Man was found in China in the 1920s, another supposed common link between apes and humans. All that was found of it were fragments of skull and teeth.Yet another was "Lucy," found in East Africa in 1974, another supposed common ancestor between apes and humans. Because of the structure of her knees, hands, and feet, which were not at all similar to humans, Dr Charles Oxnard wrote in his book, “Fossils, Teeth, and Sex: New Perspectives on Human Evolution” that Lucy was an extinct species of ape. It would be a decided understatement to say that the fossil evidence for evolution is underwhelming. One possible counter-argument for this is that it is exceedingly rare for an organism to become fossilized in the first place. This is because of the putrefaction of microorganisms, which consume dead organic matter. The Smithsonian Magazine writes that fossilization can occur via a few mechanisms: petrification (of bone, or wood), or from an organism being rapidly consumed by sediment that later turns to rock, tar, or amber, protecting the organic dead material from putrefying organisms. While most living things therefore do not become fossils after death, one would think, if Darwin's theory were true, that there should still be many more intermediates than there are recognizable species today.There's an even bigger problem than the lack of transitionary fossils. The rock strata defies the narrative of painstakingly slow evolutionary changes over a period of millions of years. Instead, even in Darwin's own time, he became aware of, and was troubled by, the contradictory evidence of the Cambrian Explosion, also dubbed the "Biological Big Bang." The deepest strata of rock, beneath the Cambrian, demonstrates only fossils of single celled or simple multicellular organisms. Then, suddenly, the layers of rock believed to correspond to the Cambrian period 13-25 million years ago showed nearly every phyla of animals alive today, fully formed. This is true worldwide of the strata belonging to this period.The Biological Big Bang raises several additional questions. First, what happened in the Cambrian period that allowed so many creatures to become fossilized all at once, when fossils are generally rare? In many cases the fossils found are even of soft-bodied creatures (The Qingjiang biota—A Burgess Shale-type fossil Lagerstätte from the early Cambrian of South China), which should putrefy quickly after death--preservation of these in such exquisite detail would certainly require very rapid burial. Also, land animals appear alongside marine animals in the Cambrian period all across the globe. What could have caused such intermingling of creatures that do not otherwise cohabitate?(A global flood mentioned in Genesis 6 comes to mind.)Darwin wrote in the sixth edition of "Origin of Species": "To the question why we do not find rich fossiliferous deposits belonging to these assumed earliest periods prior to the Cambrian system, I can give no satisfactory answer." Evolutionary paleontologist Stephen J Gould later said, "The extreme rarity of transitional forms in the fossil record persists as the trade secret of paleontology. The evolutionary trees that adorn our textbooks have data only at the tips and nodes of their branches; the rest is inference, however reasonable, not the evidence of fossils." He went on to propose the theory of Punctuated Equilibrium, in which one species makes a large jump rather than the series of tiny changes predicted in classical evolution to explain the deficit of the fossil record, though this mechanism is philosophically even more fraught than tiny progressive changes would have been.Click here for the next in the apologetics series: The Miller-Urey Experiment

This week's podcast comes from this blog post, Hormesis.