When 170,000 copies of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species with Ray Comfort’s Introduction are given away at universities around the country, atheists plan to be waiting for them. But they don’t know the identity of the universities the books will be given out. Comfort said. “The reason atheists are finding nothing is because every school that is being visited is a closely guarded secret. We don’t want to cause a disturbance. We simply want to get books into the hands of students across the country.” Others advised those who see the books being handed out said, “Cut out the intro in front of them, leave it on the table and take the book.” Another said, “Get them to sign [the] book, thank them, and then make some devastating point that will shatter them forever.” See http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit “Press kit” for textual, audio, and video sound bites.

Some students aren’t too happy that 170,000 copies of a special edition of Charles Darwin’s On the Origin of Species will be freely given away at 100 top U.S. universities this November. One student wrote: “efforts at UC Berkeley will be met with unilateral resistance.” An atheist added: “You people are the scum of the earth. Your introduction is nothing but lies, misquotations, misrepresentations, slander and bias. I am personally donating every penny I can afford to help release a bible with a 100 page Introduction doing the same thing, we will hand this out at all your top religious universities and churches around the nation. If there was a hell you people would rot in it for eternity. With the utmost contempt, Shawn Truesdell.” See http://www.livingwaters.com/origin/presskit “Press kit” for textual, audio, and video sound bites.

To the editor:

John Chisham’s response to Dr. Gehle’s recent letter confirms his true intentions at the “celebration event” of the origin of species. It is evident that this is a one-sided debate that was not organized by both parties that appear to be represented.

If John truly wanted an open and useful debate, then his group would have asked scientists prior to the announcement of the event if they would be willing to join and co-organize such a discussion.

I’m sure John will state that “scientists” will be present, but evolution is a biological topic and being a scientist does not make one an expert in biology; and many professionals that have biological training rarely have any in topics of evolution.

If John wanted a true debate, then his group would have looked for a biologist in the area, such as Dr. Gehle, that is well known for his views on evolution.

Instead, I would expect John will bring some professionals that match his own views, which makes me wonder how many of the numerous religious leaders he will bring that support evolution and believe that this intelligent design nonsense is an affront to both Christianity and evolution.

Keep in mind that the theory of evolution never once states that God does not exist as many creationists would have you believe. Science sets out to explain the natural world, and in those parameters, there is no scientific way to prove or disprove the existence of a supernatural God. Explaining things without God does not necessarily make God unnecessary. If we had a God-o-meter, we would use it!

As for the text, simply go to a bookstore or online and compare Ray Comfort’s 150th anniversary edition with the legitimate version. Ray Comfort’s is abridged, or code for selectively edited.

When reading the 50 page introduction by Ray Comfort, you can see more of the logical fallacies used by his followers.

There are comments that Hitler bases his views on evolution and that Darwin showed disdain towards women. I’m not exactly sure how these argue the data supporting evolution, but if that is the direction they want to take, then maybe we can discuss the numerous passages of Mein Kampf in which Hitler believes he is acting in accordance with God’s will. Should we also discuss the racism and oppression by the church throughout history as well?

Keep in mind that scientific merit is based on data and evidence, unlike pseudoscience which bases its merit on personal credibility.

If anyone is interested in logical fallacies, please attend this event and look for the following: appeal to authority; quote mining; argumentum ad hominem; argumentum ad ignorantiam; strawman; argumentum ex silentio; fallacy of false alternatives; ignoratio elenchi; naturalistic fallacy.

As for me, I’m still trying to figure out why the enzyme that pulls nitrogen out the atmosphere and fixes it into a useful form for life is designed so that it does not work in the presence of oxygen.

Tony J. Greenfield

Marshall

My response?

I invited every science professor at SMSU regardless of background to participate in this open forum. What are they afraid of? Instead of proving their theory in public scientifically, they prefer to write opinion letters attacking me personally. They must think that they cannot deceive the thoughtful public the way they have deceived the students they have taught for all these years. I hope and pray that they will attend and actually participate in a thoughtful, even handed open forum that we have prepared. But of course, it is easier to attack me personally and teach from an ivory tower with no disagreement or debate from young people who have already been indoctrinated.

My friend, Dr. John Frerich, wrote this response:

To the Editor,

I have read with interest the concerns expressed by Professor Vaughn Gehle on the upcoming “celebration” of the publishing of Darwin’s “On the Origin of the Species.” The professor takes great pains to direct readers to “The Clergy Letter Project.” I read it and have actually conversed several times over the years with the originator of this letter and effort to lead churches throughout the country to proclaim an annual “Evolution Sunday.” Professor Zimmerman would likely recognize my name and recall our conversations.

The Clergy Letter Project is a public relations effort to get churches, originally in Wisconsin, and later throughout the country, to “get on board” with the notion that science and religion are not in conflict, but more specifically to teach evolution as scientific fact. As a scientist myself, I find no conflict between the Christian faith and science. In fact, many scientific principles can be found in the Bible long before they were “discovered” by man through science. In the same way the 27 books of the New Testament were “canonized” by the actual eyewitnesses to the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ long before the Catholic Church declared them to be “canon,” principles such as the earth being a sphere in shape and the importance of hand washing were established long before science could explain these things.

The central problem for the Christian is God’s Word. 2 Timothy 3:16 declares, “All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, for training in righteousness, so that the man of God may be adequate, equipped for every good work.” Other references make clear this book is not a book of suggestions, or good ideas, but the “living Word of God.” In Hebrews 4:12, it declares, “For the Word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart.”

The Clergy Letter Project states, “While virtually all Christians take the Bible seriously and hold it to be authoritative in matters of faith and practice, the overwhelming majority do not read the Bible literally, as they would a science textbook.” Throughout His entire ministry, Jesus Christ repeatedly referred to the Word of God, the “Old Testament,” not as allegory but as fact: “Have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage of the burning bush;” “Because of the hardness of your heart he wrote you this commandment (on divorce). But from the beginning of creation, God made them male and female. For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, and the two shall become one flesh;” and so on. He used it as literal truth.

There is within the body of professing Christianity a movement away from the authority and sovereignty of the Word of God. Within the Emerging Church, which insists we must “reinvent Christianity,” doubt has been elevated to a most-admired status. But we see in God’s Word these cunning words of the one most opposed to God Himself: “Now the serpent was more crafty than any beast of the field which the LORD God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Indeed, did God say, “You shall not eat from any tree of the garden?”’”

You see, Satan is the original source of doubt and temptation. This is the source of the various compromises within professing Christianity today such as the growing acceptance of homosexuality within some quarters as a biblical practice, creating a furor within many denominations. “Did God say?” is the key question. Can God be trusted in all things, in all He does, in all He says?

The Clergy Letter Project is a public relations effort to turn the hearts of believers from the truth and veracity of God’s Word and replace it with “human knowledge, fully harmonious with religious faith.” Jesus likely had this in mind when He said, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written, ‘This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far away from Me. But in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the precepts of men.”

The Bible-believing Christian is left with this huge problem: In Romans we read, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned…Nevertheless, death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come, “ and “For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God.”

The problem? God says that there was no death in His creation until the sin of Adam in the Garden. No microbes dying, no “transitional forms” dying, no death. Man, in his defiance of God, postulates there must have been “billions of years” of evolution from tiny, unicelled organisms to the complex humans of today. Only one can be right in this matter and it is not a matter of setting reason and logic aside. As for me, I will stick with the One who gave His life and took it back up again after suffering the wrath of His Father in my place, so that I might have the “right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name.” He has a far better record of truth and behavior than men. He said. I believe.

Dr. John Frerich

To date, in this debate, the number of letters published by scientists attacking me personally and this event: 3 letters published responding to this: 1.

Still doubt creation event
POSTED: November 12, 2009 Save | Print | Email | Read comments | Post a comment
To the editor:

Last Thursday, my letter was published decrying an upcoming campus “celebration” as a stealth Creationist event sponsored by an unknown professional Creationist group. Based on my past observations of the dishonesty of professional Creationists (the description of which was edited out of the letter), I predicted that the event would be very different from its advertisement – a trashing of a straw man version of evolution and presentation of a false dichotomy: one cannot “believe” in both evolution and Jesus. I want to emphasize, since that emphasis was lost from my original letter, that this small group of individuals whom I am calling “professional Creationists” includes people like Kent Hovind and Ken Hamm who travel around the country spreading disinformation about science, preaching a message of intolerance, and throwing out that false dichotomy.

On Friday, John Chisham (local organizer for the event, and thus likely not a professional Creationist, but very quick to defend them) published a letter proclaiming the legitimacy of the event while calling evolution a “fairy tale.” Q.E.D.

My purpose for this letter is to deal with the most egregious lie of the professional Creationist: that false dichotomy. This lie is doubly dishonest because it misrepresents evolution AND it implies that one cannot be both Christian and a supporter of science. Contrary to the dichotomy’s implication, evolution is not a theory, a religion, or a “world view” that must be believed. Evolution is an observable phenomenon of nature. The definition I use in my classes is “change in a population over generations of time.” Notice that evolution “says” nothing about the origin of life (contrary to the professional Creationist canard repeated by John Chisham in his letter), nor does this simple description of the phenomenon tell us how and why evolution occurs.

Provisional answers to those how and why questions are found in the theories ABOUT evolution. The two that most readers will be familiar with were both proposed by Charles Darwin: the theory of natural selection and the theory of common descent.

As for the lie that one cannot be a Christian AND understand and appreciate evolution, that is disproved by the Clergy Letter Project. There are currently more than 12,000 signatories to the letter (www.butler.edu/clergyproject/Christian_Clergy/ChrClergyLtr.htm) This letter affirms that there is NO conflict between an appreciation and understanding of God’s Works (of which evolution is a part) and faith in God’s Word. This is the message I wish to spread, and the reason I support the letter as a scientific consultant. I encourage all to read it. That reading will be much more enlightening than the upcoming “celebration.”

Vaughn M. Gehle, Ph.D.

Science Department chairman

Biology professor

Southwest Minnesota State University

Marshall

My Response:
Dear Editor,
I would like to call out Dr. Gehle, because he has repeatedly accused me in public, in this paper, of being dishonest.
He states this most clearly with ad hominem attacks on people who are professional creationists, lumping me together with them, a guilt by association argument that deflects from the purpose of this celebration. This is not going to be a trashing of a straw man argument, which is the very reason Dr. Gehle and all of his colleagues as well as his students were and are invited to this event. Rather, it will be an open forum, where both sides of the issue and the science behind it will be discussed.
My public question for Dr. Gehle is this: Why are you so afraid of both sides being presented? If evolution, rightly called a theory is so very rock-solid, then why do you fear an open forum where special creation is presented as a viable alternative theory? I thought that campuses were places where education was open to all points of view. In this case, we will present both sides fairly and will allow people to come to their own conclusion. Is this not what a University is for?
Lastly, Dr. Gehle accused me of stating that one cannot be an evolutionist and a Christian. That is another red herring, I never said that. I actually believe in micro evolution, which is a reasonable stand and can be proven scientifically. My objection is the idea that somehow there is common ancestor from which all creatures developed. If that were so, fossils of transitional forms would fill all our museum space.
It is my hope that Dr. Gehle will be brave enough to engage in a face to face discussion with other scientists and community members at our open forum November 17th at 7:00 PM at SMSU.

On November 17th, 2009, we are holding a special event, an open forum that has the goal to present both special creation and evolution that coincides with the anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. To this end, I sent the following letter to local science professors:

Dear Professors,

I would like to take this chance to personally invite you and your students to a special event celebrating the 150th anniversary of the publication of Charles Darwin’s Origin of Species. This event will be held on November 17th at 7:00 PM in the upstairs of the SMSU Student Center, the main lobby area.

This will be an open forum ‘Town Hall’ style discussion. It will focus on the continuing debate between those who believe that an Intelligent designer created not only humankind, but all the creatures of the earth, and the earth itself and those who hold to the theory of Evolution and/or the appearance of the universe from another set of circumstances. I do not know personally what view you as scientists hold to, but we have also invited and confirmed a scientist who holds to a special creation point of view. It should be a vibrant and interesting discussion. In the town hall style forum, there will be no view that is held up as ‘right’, rather, we will have the opportunity to discuss our points of view as well as scientific facts and allow our audience to make up their own minds concerning the topic.

Topics will include, but are not limited to:

* DNA
* macroevolution and microevolution
* old earth vs. young earth
* the Cambrian Explosion
* Social implications of special creation vs. evolution
* Scientific method
* the missing link/transitional forms

This will be a great academic opportunity, with students, professors, doctors, and curious community members who are trying to form an opinion about this discussion, and the implications of it to the way in which they view the world. It is our hope that you will not only come and participate, but that you will encourage your students to do so as well. The first 100 audience participants will receive a FREE special 150th anniversary edition of The Origin of Species. For your participation, we will also provide you with a copy as well.

We hope that you will honor us with your presence, and that you will encourage your students to come and participate.

Sincerely,

John B. Chisham
Campus Leader, CCNSMSU

Today, a letter was published in our local editorial section, in response to the invitation:

To the editor:

Monday, I received an email inviting me to a “celebration” on campus of the 150th anniversary of the publication of Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”. Reading further through the email, I realized this upcoming event will NOT be a celebration of Darwin’s painstakingly obtained insights into how the biological world works. Rather, it will be a celebration of ignorance cloaked in a veil of dishonesty – a Creationist event sponsored by professional Creationists.

My evidence for this is my history observing Creationists and the publicity email’s advertised gift of a “FREE Anniversary edition of THE ORIGIN OF SPECIES.” From the picture in the email, I see this is not the official Anniversary edition of Darwin’s book, no, this is the Ray Comfort (a professional Creationist) butchered edition of Darwin’s book. The Amazon.com reviews of Comfort’s “work” indicate that these “Celebrations” and free book give-aways are occurring on campuses across the nation.

Apparently, the professional Creationists are hitting the road with their traveling medicine show of ignorance and lies. My experience with these shows is that there is a canned sequence of canards thrown out in quick succession. Here is a summary from Kent Hovind’s (another professional Creationist) “show”: the information in DNA cannot have evolved, therefore Jesus. Microevolution is only change within kinds and macroevolution has never been observed, therefore Jesus. “Belief” in evolution is the root cause of all societal ills, therefore Jesus. There are no transitional fossils, therefore Jesus.

In response to the myriad court cases that have been lost by professional Creationists, telling them repeatedly that they cannot teach their religious beliefs in public schools as “science,” a new tactic has been advocated: pretend they are not talking about God and instead speak of an “intelligent designer.” (Have I mentioned the dishonesty of professional Creationists?) Here is my prediction about what anyone attending the upcoming “Celebration” is likely to hear: the information in DNA cannot have evolved, therefore, Jesus intelligent designer. Microevolution is only change within kinds and macroevolution has never been observed, therefore Jesus intelligent designer. “Belief” in evolution is the root cause of all societal ills, therefore Jesus intelligent designer. There are no transitional fossils, therefore Jesus intelligent designer.

Anyone wishing to attend the “Celebration” feel free to use the above as a checklist. If the professional Creationist also mentions the Big Bang or the impossibility of the origin of life, feel free to yell out “Yahtzee!”

As for me, I will be doing something much more productive with my time; contemplating my navel lint springs to mind.

Note: In the interest of full disclosure, I am submitting this this letter to the SMSU Spur. Also, in response to the inevitable criticism that I am “anti-Christian”, I want to note that I am a volunteer scientific consultant for the Clergy Letter Project (www.butler.edu/clergyproject/rel_evol_sun.htm). I am NOT anti-Christian, I am anti-”liars-pretending-to-be-Christians.”

Vaughn Gehle

Marshall

This website that he writes about refers to a group of liberal, mainline churches who do not believe that the Bible is the Word of God, especially that the Genesis account is anything more than a morality poem, with characters that never existed. They celebrate Darwins Birthday and try to line up the Origin of Species (false science) with the Bible.

My response to said letter:

To the Editor:
Recently, you published a letter in response to an invitation to celebrate the anniversary of the publication of the Origin of Species. As the organizer of the event on Nov. 17th at 7:00 PM at SMSU, I would like opportunity to retort this letter:
1. Sir, your evidence is as botched as science that says that the complex living organisms we see today sprang from non-life.
2. Ray Comfort did not edit the book, it is printed in its entirety. It is not butchered, unless the original author did so.
3. We are not hitting the road. All scientists are local, and have been invited despite their views, including all science professors at SMSU and at MHS.
4. Your summary of Ken Hovind lacks credibility. The dismissal of scientific work, just because it includes God proves that you are not a true scientist, rather, it is you who are intellectually dishonest.
5. While you are picking your naval lint, people in the community and from SMSU will be having an open forum to discuss both points of view; special creation and evolution. Facts will be presented from both sides, and audience members will have the opportunity to ask questions, and give input. In the end, everybody will make up their own mind. That is what an open forum is all about, which is how it differs from a classroom where only one point of view is accepted.
Ultimately, It is evolutionists who do not want a dissenting point of view, because when true science is used, Evolution is exposed for the fairy tale that it is.
John Chisham
Marshall

Pray for this event, that God is glorified, and that people will consider the truth of the Bible. The Genesis account is crucial to an understanding of our need as humans. Adam, our federal head, broke covenant and sinned against God. As a result, sin entered the world and death through sin. But immediately after the curse, the promise was given in Genesis 3:15- that sin and death would be crushed through the seed of the Woman. This seed- Jesus Christ- was fully man and fully God. His substitutionary death on our behalf gave us the ability to be forgiven of our sins, indeed to be made righteous in Him.

The Volante – VIDEO: Preaching and Protests.

I had the privilege of joining Shawn the Baptist in South Dakota at two Universities. On Monday, we travelled to USD in Vermillion, and on Wednesday, to SDSU in Brookings. These were campuses where Shawn was forcibly removed from last year, even spending time in Jail after being arrested in Vermillion. We went there, permits in hand, to ‘redeem’ these campuses to the glory of God.

At Vermillion, we met a lot of people who identified themselves as Athiests, but many more who identified themselves as Christians who lived as though Christ did not exist. I think the latter is far worse than the former, as far as dealing with them. At least the Athiest is wrong, but intelectually honest. The Christian is wrong, and dishonest. There was one young lady in particular who said she was born again, but she was a lesbian. She did not agree with the teaching of the Bible in that area, to say the least. She was very proud of her otherwise moral lifestyle. She had ( according to her) really done nothing wrong. She had been saved, according to her, but it seemed like just an add on to her life, a label she kept for herself. Other Christians argued that they could live in a variety of other lifestyles of sin, and still be a Christian. We preached the gospel while we responded to questions with answers from the Bible.

This guy hated our preaching so much he wanted to steal our sign.

All in all, the day at Vermillion was filled with typical things. Christians who objected verbally to our method of preaching the law, warning sinners of a wrath to come. Honest questions, as well as some mocking ones. People who stayed to watch the spectacle, others who listened and learned. I am praising the Lord because the following day, Shawn found out that all the classes were talking about what went on the day before. The fascinating thing is that a professor brought his world religion class to come out to ask questions. Shawn, of course, preached the Gospel while answering their questions. Isn’t God good? Also, there were some Christians who came around and were built up and encouraged in their faith. This letter from a Christian reflects on that:

Hi,
I just wanted to write you and kind of say thank you in a way. I am a born again believer too.. and the last six months or so I drifted away from God and His ways.I feel like this was God at work in my life. When I got into the conversation with you at first I was defensive and wanted to argue with you, but as soon as I heard what you were saying I agree with what you were saying. The feeling I got from listening to you was warmth, I felt like I was back in My Fathers arms again. I just wanted to thank you for relighting that fire inside of me. I may not agree with your approach of sharing the gospel, but you are speaking truth, which is great! I have been praying for you through out the day and the students that you got a chance to talk to. I pray that God will give you the words and wisdom, and that the students would have an open heart to what God wants them to hear. Thanks so much!! I just want this email to be an encouraging email and an email that glorifies God!!! God bless.

When we preach the Gospel, we do it for the glory of God, humbled by the responsibility and the privilege to preach. It is nice to hear from these students, and encouraging to hear how their walk has been challenged, but whether or not people enjoy what we say, we are ultimately there to give glory to God.

I had the privilege of rejoining Shawn in Brookings on Wednesday, and we preached at SDSU. It was COLD! For a long time, we preached and handed out tracts as students few and far between stopped and listened. Finally, after a long period, we got a crowd, and it kept on growing! This crowd could be characterized as a lot of very religious people who called themselves Christians. What blows me away is how many of these young people give Satan a foothold by justifying and defending their pet sin. Why do we not go to Jesus, and ask him, and plead with him to SAVE us from sin? We had one young man, as a claimed Christian who boasted in his porno and masturbation. His justification? God will forgive him, after all, we all fall short. I wasted my time for YEARS with that justification in smoking pot and committing sexual sin (among others). We can be saved from that by the Gospel! Now, we will never be sinlessly perfect (until heaven) but we will be sanctified and progressively look more and more like Jesus.

It was cold, but we got a crowd!

Shawn the Baptist doing a forum with those who claimed Christianity.

It has been a busy Summer and Fall.

I have had the privilege of spreading the Gospel at Lifelight

Reading from and Preaching 1 Timothy at Lifelight

I have also had the privilege of reading scripture and preaching in the open air at several different locations; most recently outside Christianity?21 where I read and preached through the first three chapters of Romans, 2 Timothy, and John 3. We have also done this Project Ezra outside of the college fair in Minneapolis, and on the local street corner of Main and College.

This week, I have had the distinct honor and privilege of joining up with my good brother Shawn (the Baptist) Holes and his family. The week for us began in Mankato

Shawn preaching his guts out in Mankato

On Tuesday, we had a public forum scheduled called the Big Question at our local University. Of course, we wanted to preach there. Big Mike, the security head at the school, had in the past given me the rules concerning preaching in the open air, and explained that we were welcome there. Now SMSU is much smaller than Mankato, and is mostly contained inside. There is one courtyard where students gather to smoke or to pass through, kind of a short cut. Shawn and I set up shop there. Early on, there was a young lady who asked if Jews were going to Hell. Shawn responded by saying that we all deserve to go to hell, a statement he repeated several times. She responded by running inside and reporting us to somebody that we were offensive and downplaying her faith by telling her she was going to Hell. This one complaint magically morphed into several, and this eventually brought my friend Mike out. Mike moved us out of the area to a less conspicuous spot where fewer people were likely to be offended (and less likely to hear) Knowing we had a presentation later, I did not want to fight with Mike. We continued, and our little crowd followed, including Matt- our friendly Athiest. Matt is a big guy, and commands a presence around the campus. He and I have had several conversations, but this one centered on a little athiest tract he had printed. Funny, the contents sounded like Rob Bells latest ‘The Gospel according To” video. As it was getting bitterly cold outside, and we were losing our little crowd, I invited Mike and all of his friends to THE BIG QUESTION later on that evening. They agreed to come, and, as I found out later, they invited friends!

At THE BIG QUESTION, we only had a turnout of about 30 people, but it was a very vocal group with a lot of questions and comments. Shawn and I tag teamed in a public forum feel. Every answer to every question ended in the Gospel. I introduced this evening in that explaining that we all have worldviews, and that mine is shaped by the Bible, which I believe to be the Word of God, and authoritative. As we had invited philosophy majors, I explained that I believed that there was absolute truth, and that it was founded in God and manifested in Christ.

THE BIG QUESTION at SMSU

To finish this fast and furious week, I got to travel to Minneapolis with Shawn and his family to the University of Minnesota. We set up shop in Northrup Mall, an excellent open air forum with great acoustics. We had several waves of class changes where hundreds of students stopped. We also had a small group of about 20 that pretty much hung around the entire day.

Preaching at the University of Minnesota

My family picked me up for a planned retreat up north to the family cabin, and Shawn travelled on to St. Cloud. However, we met up again at the University of Minnesota on Friday, and our good brother John joined us. The funny thing is, Friday was also his wedding day. He preached for about an hour, and had to leave. I know who he loves! I was a wreck on my wedding day, but he was out sharing the love of Christ on His. I pray that his marriage will also speak volumes about the love of Christ! If his single life is any indication, I have a feeling it will.

Next week, we will spend time in South Dakota where Shawn was arrested last year. Pray for us!

The parachute is a popular illustration among open-air preachers and one-to-one witnessers alike. I make no claim for it myself, but have enhanced its use from the basic ‘put on the parachute to be saved’ comparing it to the word belief in the greek (pisteuo). This illustration is especially helpful if your crowd includes those who consider themselves to be Christians.

The basic illustration goes something like this: Imagine you are on a plane, and the captain comes on to say that he has good news and bad news. The good news is that there is a parachute underneath each seat.

I add this here: If the pilot started and stopped here, you would say ‘how nice, there is a parachute. now let me go back to sleep!’ This is the shortfall of the modern gospel presentation- they tell the good news without the bad news, or they share the good news without stating that there is bad news. Jesus loves you, and he wants to save you! Save me from what?? Everything seems fine…

….the bad news is that we have lost all of our engines and we will soon crash.

My comment? The Bible tells us that it is appointed unto man once to die, and after this comes judgement. It tells us that all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and that the wages of sin is death. We are all in this life crashing and burning because we have all sinned. By the way, by the time that I get to this illustration, I have already gone through the law with the individual or the group.

Now what must you do to be saved in this scenario?

Does knowing about the parachute save you? Does believing that the parachute exists underneath your seat save you?

My comment here is that many people know about Jesus, especially in America and western Europe. They may know quite a lot about him, they may know why he came. They in essence have a mental assent, a knowledge of Jesus and believe He is a historical figure. Is that what the Bible means by belief? Partially.

The illustration continues…no, you must take action. You must get up out of your seat and put the parachute on, strap it across your chest, make sure it is secure and ready. But does adding the parachute to your back save you? Will you be saved from the fall to come just by putting on the parachute and remaining in the plane?

My comment is…of course not! You will die parachute or no parachute if you remain in the falling plane. Many young people go to events, crusades, concerts, evangelism services, and they go forward and pray a prayer and mark a piece of paper and they believe they are now Christians. Then, they go back to their daily lives, their messed-up homes, or hard school or work situation, or they just continue in their sin. I mean, they believed in Jesus from a mental standpoint, acknowledging his existence. They emotionally believed in him, and accepted his message as presented. What is the problem? That is only two thirds of biblical belief-pisteuo. If you remain in the plane with the parachute on your back, you are still going to die.

Matthew 7:21-24 “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. 22 On that day many will say to me, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name, and cast out demons in your name, and do many mighty works in your name?’ 23 And then will I declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.’

No, in order to live, you must believe the parachute exists, place the parachute on your back, and then jump out of the plane. You must change the way you are going (crashing and burning, on your way to death)- this is called repentance-and jump out of your way of life (the plane) placing your full trust in your salvation to that parachute (which is an picture of Jesus).

Belief-pisteuo- in the scriptures is an mental ascent, an emotional response, and a volitional turning from and turning to. It is a belief that encompasses your life, changing it. It is knowing who the Savior is in truth, placing your trust in him, and submitting your will to that Savior.

I always finish this off with a question about where people are in the process. Did you know you were crashing and burning? Did you know about the parachute? (Jesus) Have you put on Jesus, but you didn’t change your lifestyle? Have you placed your full trust in Him by repentance (jumping out of the plane, trusting alone in the parachute?)

I pray that other Evangelists can mold this and use it in your own way to share the good news. Sola Deo Gloria!