Last Sabbath of 2025

Thus the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.

 And on the seventh day God ended His work

which He had made; and He rested on the seventh day

 from all His work which He had made.

And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it:

because that in it He had rested from all His work which God created and made. 

Genesis 2:1-3

But the seventh day is the sabbath of the LORD thy God:

in it thou shalt not do any work,...For in six days the LORD

made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is,

and rested the seventh day: wherefore the LORD blessed the

sabbath day, and hallowed it. 

Exodus 20:10,11

And I saw another angel fly in the midst of heaven,

having the everlasting gospel to preach unto them

 that dwell onthe earth, .... Saying with a loud voice, 

Fear God,

and give glory to Him; 

for the hour of His judgment is come: 

and worship Him that made heaven,

and earth, and the sea,

and the fountains of waters. 

Revelation 14:6,7

Sin and the Sinner

"The sinner cannot be convinced of his guilt unless he understands what constitutes sin. 

A terrible doom awaits the sinner, and therefore it is necessary that we know what sin is, in order that we may escape from its power. John says, "Whosoever commits sin transgresses also the law; for sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). "Sin is the transgression of the law" (1 John 3:4). "I had not known sin, but by the law" (Romans 7:7).

God has not separated from you,

 but your sins and your iniquities 

have separated your soul from God. 

You are sin-sick, and you need a physician. 

Look into the mirror, God's holy law, which is the only standard of righteousness. 

It is the sin detector. 

Q: Will you see your sins in the light of the law? 

Q: Will you have faith in Jesus as the sin-pardoning Savior? 

The royal law is before you, and you must meet its requirements. 

It is the only standard of righteousness; it measures your life and your character..... the precious blood of Jesus alone will cleanse from every spot and stain of sin.

The sinner must be made to feel that he is a transgressor. 

Christ dying upon the cross of Calvary is drawing his attention. 

Q: Why did Christ die? 

A: Because it was the only means for man to be saved. 

He took upon Himself our sins that He might impute His righteousness to all who believe in Him.
The awakened sinner is pointed to the law he has transgressed. 

---It calls to him to repent, yet there is no saving quality in law to pardon the transgression of law, and his case seems hopeless. 

---But the law draws him to Christ. However deep are his sins of transgression, the blood of Jesus Christ can cleanse him from all sin." 

E.G.W.

IN the NEWS - "Merry Christmas" from allah

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. John 15:18

"Morning Star News noted that Muslims “from outside Jayasampurna village, Serang Baru Sub-District, Bekasi Regency near Jakarta blocked the congregation of the Huria Kristen Batak Protestant Church (Huria Kristen Batak Protestant, HKBP) from celebrating Christmas at a prayer post near the Green Cikarang housing complex.”

Local cops and a goggle-eyed crowd watched as “dozens of Muslim men and women holding hands to form the human chain, making anti-Christian comments and shouting the jihadist slogan ‘Allahu Akbar [God is Greatest).’” 

One of the most mistranslated phrases in the entire world, “Allahu akbar” does not actually mean “God is greatest,” or the difficult-to-contest alternative “God is great,” which is the establishment media’s favorite way of misrepresenting what is actually being said.

“Allahu akbar” really means “Allah is greater,” that is, the deity of Islam is superior to, and has won a victory over, whatever God the infidels may be worshiping at any particular time or place. In Jayasampurna village, the Muslims were proclaiming that Allah had defeated Christianity, and thus they were in the right to prevent the Christians from engaging in their false worship.

The Qur’an tells Muslims that they are the instruments of Allah’s wrath, through whom he punishes the unbelievers: “Fight them, and Allah will punish them by your hands, and he will lay them low and give you victory over them, and he will heal the hearts of people who are believers. And he will remove the anger of their hearts.” (Qur’an 9:14-5)

Consequently, the Muslims who were blocking the door to the church likely thought of themselves as committing a righteous act, allowing Allah to use them to punish the wayward Christians. And punish they did: “The Muslims held back and pushed members of the church as they struggled to make their way to prayer post for Christmas services.” PJMedia

IN the NEWS - Indian Christians feeling the Wrath of "Rama"?

If the world hate you, ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. John 15:18

"A Hindu extremist mob in northern India last month assaulted two Christian couples and an attorney for several hours, accusing them of forced conversion, sources said.
In Harayana state’s Titoli village, five miles from the city of Rohtak, the mob forced one of the Christians, a pastor, to set fire to a heap of Bibles while the Hindu extremists recorded videos that immediately went viral, resulting in 32 complaints to police.

Pastor Jehovah Das, 65, and Vinod Masih, 42, along with their wives had been invited to a Christian family’s home in the village to pray and bless the arrival of their second child on Nov. 7, sources said.
About 10 to 12 members of the Arya Samaj (Noble Society), a Hindu reform movement, found out about the Christians’ visit. They phoned several of their associates and gathered a mob of about 50 people that barged into the house.
“They began to beat us with slaps, punches, elbows, kicked us with their legs and held us hostage,” Masih told Morning Star News, adding that they beat the Christians from 10:30 a.m. until 3 p.m.
The Hindu extremists, whose number had then reached 80, searched their car, pulled out all Bibles and tracts and cast them onto the ground into a heap. They shot videos that showed the two couples, disoriented and in shock, forced to repeat that they intended “conversion” in the village and that they would never return.
The mob kicked the Bibles and spoke disrespectfully about Christ, Masih said.
Pastor Das was made to write a letter of apology that the video shows in his hand. A member of the mob then took a bottle of flammable liquid from the hands of a boy standing with the mob and forced

three of the Christians to sprinkle it on the Bibles and literature. After forcing Pastor Das to set the Bibles on fire, the mob then shouted praises to the Hindu god Rama.
The mob dragged the Christians to their car and locked them inside.
“We were locked in our car for two hours – we were not allowed food, water or to relieve ourselves during this time,” said Masih.
While held hostage, Masih’s wife Reena called attorney Satish Arya for help. Arya, who once belonged to the Arya Samaj sect, has been a practicing Christian for five years. He quickly drove 10 kilometers (six miles) to reach Titoli village.
“While on my way to the village, I called the police helpline and informed them about the hostage situation and requested that any inquiry against the Christians be taken up in the police station, and that they should not let the mob take the law in their hands,” Arya told Morning Star News. “Police assured me that they will arrive soon.”
When Arya reached the village, he saw that the Christians were gathered at one area and about 20 to 25 Hindu women were assaulting the two Christian women.
“They were slapping the Christian women, pulling their hair, punching them. The scene was terrible,” said Arya. 
Arya stood at some distance waiting for police, but they did not arrive, he said. The mob called police, and responding officers soon arrived, he said.
One of the Hindu extremists noticed Arya and the words, “Jai Masih Ki [Praise the Lord]” written on his car’s back window, and about 12 of them approached and asked about his background. They quickly learned that he was a Christian.
Arya told them that he was an attorney and insisted that they take the Christians to the police station and let officers, rather than the mob, question them.
“I objected to their act of holding the Christians hostage for four hours and questioned their inhumane behavior,” Arya said.
Wearing his black court robe, he was dragged to the site where the other Christians were being beaten and was assaulted.

“They tore my black gown, my shirt and my innerwear,” he said. “They stripped my upper body and continued to beat me for 25 minutes, and that too in the presence of the police.”
The mob proposed that they put all five Christians in a car and set them on fire within, and Arya told them the law would not spare them for such a horrendous act.
A man from among the Hindu mob somehow managed to set Arya free, and the attorney left and called his wife, asking her to bring him a fresh set of clothes.
Officers responding to Arya’s initial helpline call finally arrived, detained the Christians and took them to the police station, sources said. After Arya went to a doctor and received first aid, he then went to the police station.
“By the time I reached the police station, the Christians were pressured to give a written statement that they did not want to press charges against the mob and promised that they would not enter that village in the future,” he said.
Arya wanted to take legal action, but when he held a meeting with the host family in Titoli village, he learned Hindu residents had threatened to drive them from the area if they sided with the Christians." MSN

IN the NEWS - Appears a "Ruler" Punished Evildoers

....or to rulers as sent by Him, 

for vengeance on evildoers, 

and praise to them that do well. 

1 Peter 2:14 DBY

"President Trump announced Thursday that the U.S. military hit ISIS terrorists in Nigeria targeting Christians with “numerous” deadly
airstrikes.

“Tonight, at my direction as Commander in Chief, the United States launched a powerful and deadly strike against ISIS Terrorist Scum in Northwest Nigeria, who have been targeting and viciously killing, primarily, innocent Christians, at levels not seen for many years, and even Centuries!” Trump wrote on Truth Social.
“I have previously warned these Terrorists that if they did not stop the slaughtering of Christians, there would be hell to pay, and tonight, there was,” the president continued."
NYP

Creation Moment 12/27/2025 - KCC2 protein Learning Switch

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex!

Psalm 139:14 NLT

"Scientists discovered that altering levels of the KCC2 protein can dramatically change how the brain forms reward associations.
New research from Georgetown University Medical Center shows that the brain’s ability to link cues with rewards can shift depending on the activity level of a specific protein. This process helps us decide when to respond to signals that lead to beneficial outcomes and when to ignore cues that reinforce harmful behaviors, such as those involved in smoking addiction.

“Our ability to link certain cues or stimuli with positive or rewarding experiences is a basic brain process, and it is disrupted in many conditions such as addiction, depression, and schizophrenia,” says Alexey Ostroumov, PhD,. “For example, drug abuse can cause changes in the KCC2 protein that is crucial for normal learning. By interfering with this mechanism, addictive substances can hijack the learning process.”
The investigators found that shifts in learning can arise when levels of the KCC2 protein change. When KCC2 levels drop, dopamine neurons tend to fire more often. This increase in dopamine activity can promote the formation of new reward links. Dopamine neurons are specialized nerve cells responsible for producing and releasing dopamine, a neurotransmitter involved in reward, motivation, and movement.
In addition to tracking how changes in KCC2 affected the speed of neuron firing, the team discovered that synchronized bursts of activity among neurons could unexpectedly boost dopamine release.
“Our findings help explain why powerful and unwanted associations form so easily, like when a smoker who always pairs morning coffee with a cigarette later finds that just drinking coffee triggers a strong craving to smoke,” notes Ostroumov." 

msn

IN the NEWS - CULTURE OF DEATH: CULTURE OF WICKEDNESS

Rescue those who are being taken away to death; hold back those who are stumbling to the slaughter. 

If you say, Behold, we did not know this, does not he who weighs the heart perceive it? 

Proverbs 24:11-12

"Illinois residents with terminal illnesses may choose to end their lives on their own terms under a law Gov. JB Pritzker signed.
Legalized medically assisted suicide takes effect in September 2026 to give the Illinois Department of Public Health and other medical participants time to develop “stringent processes and protections” for implementing the provision, according to the Democratic governor’s office.

It is also known as “Deb’s Law,” honoring Deb Robertson, a lifelong resident of the state living with a rare terminal illness who has pushed for the measure’s approval and testified to the suffering of people and their families wanting the chance to decide for themselves how and when their lives should end.
“This legislation will be thoughtfully implemented so that physicians can consult patients on making deeply personal decisions with authority, autonomy, and empathy,” Pritzker said after signing the measure in Chicago.
Sponsoring Sen. Linda Holmes, a suburban Chicago Democrat, said both her parents died of cancer.
The Illinois House approved the measure 63-42 in late May at the end of the legislative spring session. The Senate didn’t take it up until October, when it was approved 30-27. In both chambers, there were prominent Democratic “no” votes.
“Assisted suicide plunges Illinoisans with disabilities and other vulnerable people into conversations about death, instead of the care and support they deserve from their medical teams,” said Matt Valliere, the group’s president and CEO.
Deb Robertson, the retired social worker from suburban Chicago who gave a name to the law, thanked Pritzker for signing the law providing “the full range of end-of-life options.”
Here’s the bottom line: autonomy is real, but limited. You don’t choose your birth, and you don’t choose the length of your days. That’s in God’s hands. When a nation makes autonomy absolute—when it bows to it as an idol—there’s no logical stopping point. If death on demand is a “right,” then eventually everyone qualifies.
This is what’s unfolding in America. 

Not compassion. 

Not dignity. 

Just the machinery of a society convinced that killing is caring."

Fulcrum7

Creation Moment 12/26/2025 - Windkessel

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! 

Psalm 139:14 NLT

"Michael Egnor investigated why blood flow into the brain appears out of sync with the heartbeat. His assumption that the human brain is a
designed system inspired him to collaborate with engineers to identify the design principles behind this observation. 

His team discovered that the anatomy of the skull, brain, and blood vessels form a cerebral Windkessel: a system employing bandstop and bandpass filters to generate a steady blood flow into the brain. Without these filters, the pulsing blood flow would burst the brain’s fragile capillaries." 

EN&V

Spurgeon on Christmas

For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, which is Christ the Lord. Luke 2:11

“We have no superstitious regard for times and seasons. 

*Certainly we do not believe in the present ecclesiastical arrangement called Christmas. 

First, because we do not believe in the mass at all, but abhor it, whether it be sung in Latin or in English; 

and secondly, because we find no Scriptural warrant whatever for observing any day as the birthday of the Savior; and consequently, its observance is a superstition, because not of divine authority.

Superstition has fixed most positively the day of our Savior’s birth,

although there is no possibility of discovering when it occurred. … It was not till the middle of the third century that any part of the church celebrated the nativity of our Lord; and it was not till very long after the Western church had set the example, that the Eastern adopted it. … Probably the fact is that the “holy” days were arranged to fit in with the heathen festivals.

We venture to assert, that if there be any day in the year, of which we may be pretty sure that it was not the day on which the Savior was born, it is the twenty-fifth of December. 

Nevertheless since, the current of men’s thoughts is led this way just now, and I see no evil in the current itself, I shall launch the bark of our discourse upon that stream, and make use of the fact, which I shall neither justify nor condemn, by endeavoring to lead your thoughts in the same direction. Since it is lawful, and even laudable, to meditate upon the incarnation of the Lord upon any day in the year, it cannot be in the power of other men’s superstitions to render such a meditation improper for to-day. 

Regarding not the day, 

let us, nevertheless, 

give God thanks for the gift of His dear Son.” 

Charles Spurgeon

Creation Moment 12/25/2025 - Darwinian Blessing of Marxism

Their lives became full of every kind of

 wickedness, 

sin, 

greed, 

hate, 

envy, 

murder, 

quarreling, 

deception.... 

Romans 1:29 NLT

"I heartily wish I was more worthy to receive it, by understanding

more of the deep & important subject of political economy. Though our studies have been so different, I believe that we both earnestly desire the extension of knowledge & that this in the long run is sure to add to the happiness of mankind." 

Charles Darwin to Karl Marx. Darwin wrote this upon receiving a copy of Das Kapital inscribed, “Mr. Charles Darwin on the part of his sincere admirer Karl Marx.” An estimated 148 million people perished under communist regimes.

When He laid aside His perfumed, royal clothing

“All thy garments smell of myrrh, and aloes, and cassia, out of the ivory palaces, whereby they have made thee glad.” (Psalm 45:8) One of the most beautiful of the Christmas hymns (though rarely sung

at Christmas) is “Out of the Ivory Palaces,” telling how the King of heaven left His heavenly home and laid aside His perfumed, royal clothing to enter a world of woe. 

That this 45th Psalm is symbolic in part is obvious, but that it refers to Christ is also..." 

HenryMorris

Creation Moment 12/24/2025 - Nature’s greatest riddles are written upon the Universe itself

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

"Ethan Siegel begins his new piece in BigThink, “The 9 biggest gaps in our understanding of cosmic history,” December 1, 2025, with a remarkable sentence:

"The answers to nature’s greatest riddles are written upon the Universe itself."

Readers may glide past this first sentence, but they should stop and

reflect. That line is a confession, a creed, a secular rewrite of cosmogony, the modern creation myth. 

It tells us (implicitly, of course, as such sentiment would never be explicitly tolerated) that the universe is not simply matter, energy, heat, and light. 

It is a revelation. 

It holds answers. 

It carries meaning. 

It speaks.

It is a text." 

CEH

"Surprising Deeds"

Here is what secular msn news says about Josephus and Jesus.....

"First-century Jewish historian Flavius Josephus is known to have

mentioned Jesus twice in his extensive 20-volume history of the Jewish people. 

His work provides an early account of Jesus, including references to an unlawful execution and a man who “did surprising deeds” and was thus sentenced to death by crucifixion by Pontius Pilate." 

msn
This beginning of miracles did Jesus in Cana of Galilee, and manifested forth His glory; and His disciples believed on Him. 

John 2:11

IN the NEWS - Bibles Banned

If the world hate you, 

ye know that it hated Me before it hated you. 

John 15:18

"Tourists entering Nicaragua are no longer permitted to bring Bibles into the country, according to new reports that deepen concerns about religious freedom under President Daniel Ortega’s government.

The U.K.-based advocacy group Christian Solidarity Worldwide (CSW) reported this month that notices posted at Tica Bus terminals in Costa Rica — which operate routes into Nicaragua’s capital, Managua — warn passengers that magazines, newspapers, cameras, and books, including the Bible, are prohibited from entry.
The reported ban arrives amid the continuing crackdown on religious and civil society groups. In the spring, Nicaragua withdrew from the United Nations Human Rights Council after facing international condemnation for what critics described as a systematic assault on human rights, democratic institutions, and religious communities.
Numerous pastors and lay leaders have been jailed or forced into exile, and Church-run charities, schools, and media outlets have been shuttered." 

Aleteia

Jehoshaphat: The road of compromise

And Jehu the son of Hanani the seer went out to meet him, and said to king Jehoshaphat, Shouldest thou help the ungodly, and love them that hate the LORD? therefore is wrath upon thee from before the LORD. 2 Chronicles 19:2

"Jehoshaphat was a godly king of Judah who faithfully served the

Lord, but he made the tragic mistake of forming an alliance with ungodly king Ahab of Israel in fighting against their common enemy Syria.

After all, he reasoned, they were “brothers,” both descended from Abraham, so they could join together in battling the Syrians.

As a result, although God continued to bless Jehoshaphat during his lifetime, this compromise eventually resulted in great tragedy in his family when his son and successor, Jehoram, married Ahab’s wicked daughter Athaliah and then slew all his own brothers, and soon he himself died of a loathsome disease.

The road of compromise eventually ends in a precipice, 

especially in matters regarding the integrity of God’s Word 

and His saving gospel.

The timeless principle for Christians today is given in 2 Corinthians 6:14-15: “Be ye not unequally yoked together with unbelievers: for what fellowship hath righteousness with unrighteousness? and what communion hath light with darkness?...or what part hath he that believeth with an infidel?” 

ICR

Creation Moment 12/23/2025 - Day unto day uttereth speech

The heavens declare the glory of God; and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge. Psalm 19:1-2

"The entire marvelous complex of space/time/matter/energy is

continually “uttering speech” and “showing knowledge,” teaching men and women of all times and places that there is a great Creator God who made it all.
The boundless space, 

the endless time, 

and the innumerable complexities of the matter of the universe

all unite in irrefutable testimony to the God of creation."

ICR

Both Hereditary and Cultivated

Awake to righteousness, and sin not; 

for some have not the knowledge of God: 

I speak this to your shame. 

1 Corinthians 15:34 

"There are very many who claim to serve God, but who have no experimental knowledge of Him. 

--Their desire to do His will is based upon their own inclination, 

-----not upon the deep conviction of the Holy Spirit. 

Their conduct is not brought into harmony with the law of God. 

--They profess to accept Christ as their Savior, 

-----but they do not believe that He will give them power to overcome their sins. 

*They have not a personal relation with a living Savior, 

***and their characters reveal defects both hereditary and cultivated." 

E.G.W.

Creation Moment 12/22/2025 - Hebrews 11:3

Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear. 

Hebrews 11:3

"It needs adding, finally, that our recognition of intelligent and

intentional expressions does not require us to understand everything about their source. We would have no difficulty distinguishing the significance of letters on a page from that of pebbles distributed on a sandy shore, even if we knew nothing about origins in either case. We can declare a functioning machine to be a designed object, whether or not we have any clue about who designed it." 

Stephen L. Talbott, Nature Institute, May 17, 2016

A Note on the 7th Trumpet

"Revelation 10:7 But in the days of the voice of the seventh angel,... 

*These days are doubtless prophetic, meaning years, in harmony

with the time of the sounding of the fifth and sixth angels. 

*But when the trump of God is heard, the sleeping saints come forth from their graves, and the living righteous are changed to immortality, 1 Corinthians 15:52 ...in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye,–and are caught up to meet their descending Lord. 

Under the sounding of the seventh angel a series of events transpires. 

*The events of the seventh angel necessarily cover much time. Among them we find mentioned, 

Revelation 11:18 The nations were angry, 

18 ...and your wrath is come, 

 ...and the time of the dead, that they should be judged, 

 ...and that you should give reward unto your servants the prophets, and to the saints, and them that fear your name, small and great... 

 ...and should destroy them which destroy [margin: corrupt] the earth." 

James White

Creation Moment 12/21/2025 - Your Genetic Pianist

Thank You for making me so wonderfully complex! 

Psalm 139:14 NLT

"Epigenetics has been rising in esteem contemporaneously with the decline of the Central Dogma of genetics (that DNA is the master control in the cell). Just as the pianist gets the applause and not

the piano, the epigenome is now being considered the artist behind the instrument. It’s not that the genome has lost any of its aura, but it cannot do anything without a performer.

Frank Gannon wrote a most interesting essay in the journal EMBO Reports, titled, “The piano and the pianist.” Gannon, an Australian who was the former director of a medical research institute in Brisbane, was not writing about the performing arts. He wanted to introduce a new analogy to overcome “the ubiquitous ‘DNA is the blueprint of life’ interpretation of biology,” repeated by some who downplay the elements in the cell that give an organism its dynamic responsiveness to the environment.

Gannon denies that our health is genetically determined: i.e., if we have a certain genetic defect, we will get the disease. That is not entirely true, he says as he details the analogy.

"The function of each piano is defined by its 88 keys, but different pianos have different tones and timbres. Some pianos have defects that distort some notes. These could be at the little-used periphery of the keyboard or they could be more central. If the middle C was out of tune, it could be very jarring for the listener in a solo lyrical piece but it may be more subtle if it is part of complex chords. More importantly, though, it is the way the pianist plays the piano that will define the outcome as a pleasure or as discordant. Each pianist selects the tempo and the mood and may even compensate for a dud note."

Q: How Does the Analogy Relate to Biology?
Writes Gannon, “If the keyboard is the genetic code, the piano is the epigenetic context that interprets the blueprint of life and varies the outcome.” He discusses specific ways cells “perform” the genome.

--DNA is wrapped in chromatin made of histone proteins that can be tagged with markers like methyl or acetyl groups. 

--Parts can be phosphorylated or tagged with ubiquitin proteins. 

--A host of accessory proteins switch genes on and off, responding to cues from the environment. 

*Indeed, “a growing number of regulatory RNAs create a bewildering combination of possibilities that define the performance of the cell and ultimately of the individual.”

Gannon ends with a cadenza and coda:

"As we analyze the beneficial effects of a healthy microbiome and lifestyle, we are looking for answers to why these work. What does the microbiome in the gut provide the organism with to improve health? What are the molecular consequences of exercise such that the total organism and not just the muscles work better? How does diet modify the health of individuals? How does excess fat impact functions in other tissues? More results and more insights will inevitably highlight the crucial role of the epigenome as the connection between the environment and the genome. The piano remains important, but the pianist will finally move into the limelight."

David Coppedge/CEH

Christmas Myths SERIES PAGE

And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped Him in swaddling cloths and laid Him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn. Luke 2:4–7

Joseph and Mary Could Not Find a Room at an Inn

Dig Deeper: Christmas Myths SERIES: 1: Joseph and Mary Could Not Find a Room at an Inn
Three Kings Visited Baby Jesus on the Night of His Birth

Dig Deeper: Christmas Myths SERIES: 2: Three Kings Visited Baby Jesus on the Night of His Birth

Matthew and Luke

Dig Deeper: Christmas Myths SERIES: 3: Matthew and Luke

December 25

Dig Deeper: Christmas Myths SERIES: 4: December 25

The Bible Forbids the Use of Christmas Trees

Dig Deeper: Christmas Myths SERIES: 5: The Bible Forbids the Use of Christmas Trees

Creation Moment 12/20/2025 - If living things...........

For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. 

Through everything God made, they can clearly see His invisible qualities—His eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God. Romans 1:2- NLT 

"If living things—things that we manifestly did not design ourselves—bear the hallmarks of design, 

if they exhibit a signature that would lead us to recognize intelligent activity in any other realm of experience, 

then perhaps it is time to rehabilitate this lost way of knowing and to rekindle our wonder in the intelligibility and design of nature that first inspired the scientific revolution. " 

Stephen Meyer

Christmas Myths SERIES: 5: The Bible Forbids the Use of Christmas Trees

"We have often been told that Christmas is a pagan holiday because the Bible forbids the use of Christmas trees. If you have never heard this one before, it might sound rather silly, but those who espouse it seem to have strong feelings about it. The claim is based on Jeremiah 10, where God spoke the following words through the prophet:

Hear the word that the Lord speaks to you, O house of Israel. Thus says the Lord:

“Learn not the way of the nations, nor be dismayed at the signs of the heavens because the nations are dismayed at them, for the customs of the peoples are vanity. A tree from the forest is cut down and worked with an axe by the hands of a craftsman. They decorate it with silver and gold; they fasten it with hammer and nails so that it cannot move. Their idols are like scarecrows in a cucumber field, and they cannot speak; they have to be carried, they cannot walk. Do not be afraid of them, for they cannot do evil, neither is it in them to do good.” (Jeremiah 10:1–5)

If you take just a moment to examine the context of this passage, it

becomes painfully obvious that these verses have nothing to do with Christmas trees. The prophet is in the process of warning the Israelites to not make idols like the Gentiles often did. The trees were cut down and made into idols by craftsmen. This just simply is not about Christmas trees.

Of course, Christmas trees can become problematic if one focuses more on the tree than on the real reason for the season. We need to keep Christ first at all times, including Christmas." 

AIG

Creation Moment 12/19/2025 - Are we living in a simulation?

"Are we living in a simulation? 

This question has garnered massive attention in recent years, with technology tycoon Elon Musk and podcaster Joe Rogan speculating along these lines in a YouTube clip that scored over 10 million

views. Another prominent proponent for this idea is Nick Bostrom, a former Oxford professor and leading advocate for transhumanism (the belief that humans should transform their own nature through technology).

Recent research critiques these ideas, known as the “simulation hypothesis,” on mathematical grounds.

The introduction to Reality+ states, “The central thesis of this book is: Virtual reality is genuine reality. Or at least, virtual realities are genuine realities.” One way to argue for this conclusion is to equate

reality with human perception. But Reality+ adopts a different approach, recognizing that the regularities we perceive in the world suggest an external, objective reality must exist beyond human perception. Otherwise, we’d have to say that facets of the universe we haven’t observed don’t exist.

A Biblical approach to epistemology shows the simulation hypothesis to be self-defeating.
Christian philosopher Peter Williams argues that “the first physical event must have had a non-physical, personal cause outside and independent of itself (and this, of course, is a part of what theists mean by ‘God’).” Only a self-existent, atemporal, transcendent God possesses the attributes required for a self-explanatory stopping point.

Reality+ takes issue with the idea that God is self-existent, asking, “What explains the design of that designer, or of the whole system of designers? Someone might say that God is exempt from explanation, but this looks like special pleading.” 

Special pleading is an informal logical fallacy that unfairly fails to treat similar things or individuals alike by asking for an arbitrary exception for one of them. God, however, possesses unique attributes such that he is not similar to anyone or anything else, precluding special pleading. One of these unique attributes is that God, as the only necessary (or noncontingent) being, is self-explanatory by nature. God is the only legitimate stopping point for the infinite regress.

Noteworthily, Reality+ dismisses the idea that morality stems from God’s commands, on account of the Euthyphro dilemma. This dilemma poses a false dichotomy that either (1) God commands moral actions because they happen to be right, or (2) moral actions are right because God happens to command them. 

In the first case, the basis for morality is outside of God; in the second case, morals are arbitrary. 

However, a third alternative easily answers the Euthyphro dilemma:

Moral actions are right because they are grounded in God’s omnibenevolent character. Again, Christian theism readily withstands the proffered objections.

God’s Word assures us that not only does truth exist, but he also has a name: Jesus (Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. John 14:6)." AIG