So What’s the Difference?

ctf • July 1, 2015

Forty years ago, Fritz Ridenour wrote a little book by the same title as above. It was a guide to the key differences in the world religions that one was bound to encounter in the walk and witness as a Christian. Nowadays, perhaps we need another such book to tell the differences between denominations or perhaps even between the factions within them. Better yet, we should have a guide to identifying the sources of errors versus sources of truth in the church of the world today. Oh wait. That guide is the Bible.

Essential to Christianity must be the virgin birth and the resurrection. But what good are these, unless original sin is also an historical fact? If there was no Adam, and he did not sell out our race, then why did Jesus have to die? If there are “many ways to God” or “ways to Heaven,” then why did Jesus say that He was the only way? Or is the biblical record of the words of Jesus false?

All of these are important questions, exactly because they define the tenets of the faith. But now, most churches and/or their members have rejected at least one of these essentials. Now is not the time for the Church to cave on the Gospel (which is the power of God unto salvation) when the world is burning and our race is dying. What race? Adam’s race. The human race. There is no other but this one. And it comes in all skin colors. (I’m not talking about a “rainbow.”)

All old-earth positions of compromise against a straightforward read of the Bible involve a denial of the doctrine of original sin. They include death as a part of the world but before sin came into the world. This goes exactly against the instruction of Jesus and the teaching of Paul. Time was, these heresies might have merited little more than a chuckle. Now they have become “bedrock” of many an anemic faith. Meaningless, powerless, and without the authority of God, these errors have robbed the church of her power (the Gospel) and many believers of their joy (yes, and even of their salvation!). I won’t mince words now, since the last battle has begun (just watch the news).

So, what do you do? “The Bible, the whole Bible, and nothing but the Bible, so help me God” is still a pretty good mighty fortress against this toxic tide. So stick with what has worked as effect against the devil and his lies for thousands of years before our time.

Keep thinking and keep reading,  DrJ

By Bob Dugas May 23, 2025
NS-29 Launch
By Matt Miles May 22, 2025
As many of you may know, I appreciate space. Not space around me, although the older I get the more I appreciate that as well. The things in the heavens fascinate me and have for a large chunk of my life. I love working with our telescopes, allowing people to see for themselves objects that the Lord made on the 4th day of history. When I was younger I followed our Space Shuttle program, and over the years I have had the opportunity to see a couple of those shuttles around the country. Now it is great to see all the renewed interest in exploring the heavenly creation. I know most of it is for evolutionary reasons, yet over and over again something is discovered that points to the trustworthiness of God’s Word. After all, we are to study His creation as Genesis 1:28 states. On a recent trip to El Paso, it occurred to me that Blue Origin’s launch facility is in west Texas somewhere. After some quick searching I realized we were within an hour and half of it, and there was a rescheduled launch window during the time of our meeting. So, with some persuading of my colleagues, we arose early one morning to make the launch. We made it with just minutes to spare. It was spectacular! The whole launch to just beyond the Karman Line (space boundary, 62 miles/100km) and return of the rocket and capsule is about ten minutes total. While Blue Origin is best known for its New Shepherd rocket that carries paying customers to space and back with the biggest windows ever in a capsule, this NS-29 launch was purely experimental with a payload of instruments to measure simulated lunar gravity. Even though it was not a Saturn V, Space Shuttle, Starship or Falcon launch, it was great to hear and feel a launch for the first time, from blast off to the sonic boom return. It has piqued my desire to see a bigger launch now. As I began to reflect on what I experienced, the Lord reminded me of His design. Earth, our home planet, is so well designed for life. There is literally nowhere in all the universe like it. Yet He gave us the ability to discover creation beyond it. The only reason we can launch rockets and do space exploration is because He set it up in an orderly way. Physics works because He established it to work in a predictable fashion. As much as we may never understand everything in the universe from our position here, it works on an ordered reality that is reinforced by God’s Word. This is what drove Sir Isaac Newton in his understanding of physics. He wrote, “The motions which the planets now have could not spring from any natural cause alone but were by an intelligent Agent.” Evolutionists may come up with theories about the origin of things in the heavens, but over and over again they are being shown through experimentation and observation to be wrong. The Lord set the order of everything in the beginning and sustains it by His Word (Hebrews 1:3). So as you look to the heavens tonight, gaze into the depths of space and observe the different facets the Lord placed up there for our eyes (Genesis 1:17). Peer through a telescope at the lesser light of the moon with marvel and anticipation of further human study in the coming years. Check out the amazing observations being made by the James Webb telescope from deep in space. All of these place a perspective of how awesome our Creator is and how much we depend on Him. Our design becomes more and more obvious with every discovery, yet in our universe we appear so minuscule and fragile. Thanks be to God that His infinite focus has, is and always will be here on us! Blessings.
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