Seeking celebrity status is dangerous for Christian leaders. Examples abound where well-known Bible teachers have made the teachings of Christ a mockery as they paraded their odd views on network television and in leading Christian magazines. It should repulse the Christian public, but too often many are duped into following those who promote error.
Balaam the prophet, as noted in Dr. Henry Morris III’s feature article, was a good example of how dangerous it is to pursue fame in God’s work. Balaam was known for getting answers from God. But caught up with his own notoriety, he pursued a course of action with Balak that God deemed reckless. It took divine intervention to get Balaam to wake up and stop a course of action that would dishonor God and God’s people, and put Balaam himself in mortal danger. At least Balaam’s donkey knew enough to take God at His word.
Sadly, many well-known scholars who profess the Bible to be God’s Word openly denigrate the Bible by filtering the supernatural text of Scripture through purely naturalistic concepts like evolution, with all of its ramifications for descent from a common ancestor, the Big Bang, millions and billions of years, and so on. These academic experts, who profess Christianity and even status as evangelicals, attempt to dialogue with atheists by minimizing or avoiding factual details revealed through Scripture. Dr. James Johnson illustrates this point in his article "The Failed Apologetic of the Wedge Strategy."
Christians casting doubt on the Scriptures in the name of what science has supposedly "proved" is not a new tragedy. Since the 1800s, during which the influence of Charles Lyell and Charles Darwin took center stage, Christian scholars have increasingly placed the fallible musings of man over the inspired words of God, pushing them and their followers into outright unbelief. Think about the many families who eventually stopped reading the Bible because "respected scholars" told them that science had proven Genesis wrong. Read more about "Doubt Versus Unbelief" in this month’s article by Dr. John Morris.
Science as God intended will always honor the Creator, and ICR’s science staff continues its bio-origins research here at the ICR campus in Dallas. Keep up to date with their research efforts each month in Acts & Facts. This month, Dr. Nathaniel Jeanson continues to tackle the issue of supposed human-chimp genetic similarities.
Dr. Rhonda Forlow serves as the K-12 Education Specialist here at ICR and this month reports in vivid detail on her work with Prestonwood Baptist Church in launching its 2011 Creation Expo VBS. Nearly 7,000 kids were impacted with the message of the Creator. Read her account on pages 18-19.
And before the summer is over, take advantage of our Annual Summer Sale. Look for savings up to 80 percent on classic creation books. Visit www.icr.org/store and click on Summer Specials, or call 800.628.7640 to order directly. Supplies are limited, so call today!
August is the month when vacations are ending and school is starting. I trust part of your year-round routine is to keep ICR in your prayers. The ministry of God’s Word doesn’t go on vacation, and so we need your faithful support and intercession to uphold our efforts. Thanks for remembering, and for reading.
* Mr. Ford is Executive Editor at the Institute for Creation Research.
Cite this article: Ford, L. 2011. The Donkey Strategy. Acts & Facts. 40 (8): 3.
