When I was only 5 years old in 1971 (Oops❗️π Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) we owned a new house with a big back yard that hadn't been landscaped yet, so it was all still dirt. I wasn't in school yet and one early autumn day it had poured rain most of the morning. It stopped just before lunch and Mom put me in my pink, rubber boots and let me go outside for a while. I sat on the back step to enjoy the sun that had just come out.
A neighbor kid came over into our yard (a common thing back then) and started putting his hands into the different puddles left by the rain. I watched him with fascination. Then he came over to me, held up his two muddy hands and said,
“Look, Laura-Lee, one hand is covered in black mud and the other hand is covered in brown mud. Which muddy puddles are you going to put your hands in?”
“None of them.”
“Why not?”
“Because I'm not stupid.”
I had completely refused to engage in a stupid act, even though he continued to try to get me to do it.
π
My older brother, Jim, was highly intelligent, with a very high IQ. He had the ability to read quickly and retain information and he also had the drive to learn and a penchant for science. In fact, when he was just 9 years old in 1973 (Oops❗️π Accidentally outed Jim's age on the internet. - Don't tell him I did or he'll be sore at me), Mom bought us an entire set of scientific encyclopedias and I mean the kind for ADULTS. Jim would spend hours reading through them.
Later, when he became a Christian, he read the Bible in the same way.
Jim also thinks systematically and is very articulate, so it's not a surprise to hear he was asked more than once to participate in a debate of Christian Science versus the Theory of Evolution.
Yet he always declined with the answer,
“No. Why would I lower myself to debate something that stupid?”
But there were several times an Atheist would waylay him somewhere and try to bait him into the argument. I'm assuming they were under the belief that if they could convince Jim it would be a feather in their cap.
One time somebody did this and Jim just let him speak his piece for a few minutes, while people started noticing and gathering around. When the guy had run out of steam, Jim answered with conviction,
“If YOU want to believe you came from monkeys, fine. But I know the truth. I'm a person, created by God in His image and I come from Adam and Eve.” π€¨
Then he left.
I've looked back on that and wondered if more people were converted by that one statement, spoken with surety, than all the debates he would have undertaken (and won).
In 1980, when Carl Sagan came out with his TV miniseries, “The Cosmos: A Personal Voyage” non-Christians took it as a joke. I remember many stand-up comedians would launch into their “Billions and billions and billions…” Carl Sagan impersonation to big laughs.
But then the Christians got involved and decided to “fight fire with fire” (so to speak) and DEBATE Atheists on their own terms by using (not the Bible) but scientific facts and, in doing so, we elevated their ridiculous beliefs by making it something worth our time to debate. What we should have done was FLUFF it off π¬ π and move on to something worth talking about.
I am not anywhere near as smart as Jim, in fact my intellect is quite average, but I have an insatiable desire to know things, which has propelled me forward. I became interested in Archeology at the age of 9 years old in 1975 (Oops❗️πAccidentally outed my age on the internet again) because we lived near the Badlands in southern Alberta, which is Dinosaur Bones HQ for North America. That led me to learning about Geology and Biology. I also became a Christian in 1978, a month before my 12th birthday (Oops❗️π Accidentally outed my age on the internet again) and started to read and study the Bible.
Like Jim, I think systematically and express myself well, but unlike Jim, I DID debate the Theory of Evolution on several occasions. But as the years passed (Okay. DECADES passed), I began to see the logic behind what Jim had said and agreed with him (Please don't tell him or I'll never hear the end of it. π)
I also came to realize the great fallacy of debating the Theory of Evolution because it is a debate that will never end. It will go on because it is based on opposing BELIEFS and not science.
The three main disciplines of science that Atheists use as their basis are Archeology, Geology and Biology, all of which can be interpreted and manipulated in many different ways to suit a specific person's bias.
Case in point, you never see Evolutionists challenging MATHEMATICIANS to a debate, because they would be toast. π§¨π₯
(BTW the largest group of Creation Scientists are Mathematicians because it demonstrates God's existence in a way not open to individual interpretation.)
We Validate Evolution by giving it all this attention AND ☝️ I've discovered we can't argue people into Following Jesus.
Now, I'm not saying people don't become Christians from seeing these debates, but it is not because of our profound debating skills or our intimate knowledge of an ocean of scientific data, but because we are quoting from the Word of God, which never returns void. (Isaiah 55:11)
So, I decided to stop debating on this topic and move on to utilizing my time in a more productive way. However, ☝️there were a couple of more times I was asked and I agreed because I felt it was the Lord opening a door for me, but ☝️ I decided to take a different approach. I baked cookies and gave them out to the people who were attending (from both camps).
“I thought you might like something to munch on while you're listening.”
The positive (and amazed) responses I got from my thoughtfulness about the cookies I'm sure made a much greater impact than all my years of debating.
π·π·π¦
When I was 12 years old, in 1978 (Oops❗️π Accidentally outed - WE KNOW, WE KNOW! Get on with it), I first came across this Theory in a short film shown to my class made by the National Film Board of Canada. In this cartoon there were these charming little critters with a horn on their heads (like the kind on a trumpet). There was a Blue pair that held hands standing in front of a blue background. Then the Mommy critter shot out of the horn on her head a Blue baby critter. Then the Blue baby grew up and found another Blue critter, but they moved to an area that had a Yellow background and, low and behold, the mommy Blue critter shot out of her head a YELLOW baby.
This is the essence of the Theory of Evolution that, depending on the environment the critters live in, they will SUDDENLY mutate into another critter that better suits the environment they are currently living in. And over MILLIONS and MILLIONS (and MILLIONS) of years, we have EVOLVED into the FABULOUS critters we are now.
Well, after the film my teacher, Mr. Hughes (who was a proclaimed Atheist) led us in a discussion about the topic. After a while he said to me,
“Laura-Lee, you've been unusually quiet (insert joke here). What do you think about all of this?”
Now, I come from generations of Alberta farm folk and my immediate family had previously lived on a farm so I replied,
“I think it's stupid.” (which made my class mates chuckle)
“Why do you think it's stupid?”
(Pause for effect)
“Because no matter how long a male and female pig tread water, they are NEVER going to give birth to a DUCK.”
My little 12-year-old common sense completely shut down the discussion and we moved on to something else.
Now, if you've been debating the Theory of Evolution up until now, you haven't done anything wrong. I applaud you for taking a stand, but from here on out consider taking another tact. Why not tell whatever Atheist is trying to engage you in an argument the Gospel message.
Tell them, God sent His only Son, Jesus, to die for them on a cross to pay for their sins and ☝️ if we repent (turn away) from our sins and hand our lives over to Jesus, He will forgive us and give us an abundant life. And we won't just receceive a FULL life only in the here and now, but for all Eternity.
(I personally can testify to this)
And, to prove He was God, Jesus rose from His grave and conquered Death once and for all.
Atheists live in profound Darkness and Loneliness and I guarantee that speaking the Truth to them for a couple of minutes will affect them much more than hours of debate.
Just as I have spoken to you…
The Truth with Love,
Always Laura-Lee
"The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full."
John 10:10
π« πΈπΏ
Reverend Billy Crone from Get a Life Ministries (who BTW used to not only be an Atheist, but a Satanist before he gave his life to Jesus) has a great and simple way to describe this ridiculous theory.
Thank you, Pastor Billy, you said it even better than I did about the pigs.
Link Get a Life Ministries with Billy Crone
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Now, as your treat for scrolling to the bottom, here is a song that on the surface sounds silly, but actually reflects what people are feeling underneath.
(Views on YouTube, just for this audio version, is 357 MILLION and 3.7 MILLION Likes)
BLUE (Da Ba Dee Da Ba DIE) by Eiffel 65