Hello dear ones, I hope today’s episode and post find you doing well! I’m really excited about the 65th episode of Tulips & Honey. I had the privilege of being joining once again by Jasmin Davis, who is not just brilliant at decorating but also just brilliant! She’s talking to me today about evolution, creation science, and how Christians should respond to these viewpoints. Below I’ve included a timestamped outline as well as links to more information about Jasmin and her beautiful home decorating. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to see last weeks MEGA list, I’m going to link to it here. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
TS 00:05:20 – Is it important for us to have an answer to these issues for our children?
TS 00:07:10 – What is a scientific theory?
TS 00:09:15 – Can you explain the difference between an actual scientific theory such as gravity and evolutionism?
TS 00:13:00 – Has there ever been any actual evidence found for Macro Evolution?
TS 00:16:00 – How should Christians think about the secular “green” movement, and the inconsistency of fighting for polar bears instead of letting natural selection happen?
TS 00:17:30 – How do you address Evolution with your children?
TS 00:18:45 – Will you be teaching your children both sides of the debate?
TS 00:21:45 – Were you already saved during college and did you face any issues when addressing evolutionism vs creationism
TS 00:22:55 – Will you encourage your daughters to have this conversation when or if they go to college?
TS 00:24:22 – What was the best evidence you have heard for Creationism?
TS 00:36:00 – Is Evolutionism a theological issue that should be addressed at church?
TS 00:37:45 – What resources do you recommend for learning about Creation Science?
Hello, dear ones, I hope this post finds you all doing well! I found this beautiful hymn from Isaac Watts to be very encouraging to read. I am so blessed by all these old hymns, reading them reminds me of the historical body of Christ that has come before us. What a great day we live in where we have such access to all these songs! I hope this will bless each of you, as it blessed me. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Away from every mortal care, Away from earth, our souls retreat; We leave this worthless world afar, And wait and worship near Thy seat.
Lord, in the temples of Thy grace, We bow before Thee and adore; We view the glories of Thy face, And learn the wonders of Thy power.
Whilst here our various wants we mourn, United prayers ascend on high; And faith expects a sure return Of blessings in variety.
Father! my soul would still abide; Or, if my feet must hence depart, Still keep me, Father, near Thy side, Still keep Thy dwelling in my heart.
Hello dear ones, I hope this post finds you all doing well! I was blessed to have my sweet husband join me on the program to talk about how we met, eventually getting married, coming to faith after we began traveling for his work, and eventually starting this podcast. He did some of my favorite impressions, and funny accents, throughout the episode and the blooper reel is my absolute favorite! I hope this episode will be fun for old listeners and informative for all the new subscribers. I want to thank my husband for stepping out of his comfort zone and coming on the podcast, I know it’s not something he’d ever do if it wasn’t for me begging asking him. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
On this new Tulips and Honey episode, Lauren and Kristin answer your questions on Christian yoga, idolatry, worship, angels and Satan, Adam, Genesis, sin, and the person and work of Jesus.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode
The dangers of Christian yoga.
The danger of blending other religions with biblical Christianity.
The danger of idolatry
What biblical worship is and why it matters.
Christian Liberty and celebrating the Holidays.
The nature of violence in the Old Testament.
Adam, sin, and the person and work of Jesus.
The nature of angels and Satan.
Asking theological questions and humility.
Recommended Resources Mention in This Episode
Link to Kristin Everett TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@xtin.rose?
Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Tulips and Honey via iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or YouTube. If you like what you’ve heard, please consider leaving a rating and sharing it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @LaurenHereford, on Facebook, Instagram, or via email to share your feedback.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Tulips and Honey.
We were blessed to have a few days to finally take a trip somewhere, anywhere. Bismarck is a wonderful little city, but we’ve been stuck in quarantine so long we nearly forgot how to travel. One of the fun things about homeschooling is the ability to go on trips like this whenever we feel like it, since we don’t need to wait for days off of school. However, this year has been a bit of a homeschooling trip flop so far! Usually we’ve seen half a dozen museums by August, so we attempted to make up for some lost ground by visiting the South Dakota Geological museum. We also went to drive through Bear Country in Rapid City where the bears are walking around outside next to your vehicle. It was all fun and games until Mr. Forckle, our new puppy, decided he was going to bark at the bears the entire time. Aren’t puppies so precious? With that high pitched bark and puppy breath? It was actually really cute, he was just trying to warn us of imminent danger.
We stayed in a little cabin in the Black Hills, where we talked about the history of the area and the Wild West. During some hiking we saw mule deer, a beautiful wood pecker, and chipmunks galore! It was really hot, and we ended up cutting the trip short, but we had such a great time. Learning through conversations is my favorite way to teach homeschooling, especially when Kayliegh is getting to interact with her surroundings. We had to stop at the museum gift shop, of course, where she found some great rocks and her dorky mother bought another fossil. I’m really excited about this one! I’m going to talk about it a bit on the MEGA live list today.
I know, I know…it’s not Friday. It’s Saturday. Unless you’re not reading this on Saturday, in which case it could be any day of the week really. Either way, we had a bit of an adventure driving home to North Dakota. Most of the highway from SD to ND consists of tiny two lane streets. These streets stretch between the beautiful rolling hills and miles upon miles of uninterrupted cattle grassing. You don’t see power lines, phone lines, or gas stations for most of the drive. You also hardly notice the large reservations you drive through on the way north. Those reservations all have COVID check points now, something we didn’t have to drive through to get to the Black Hills so we were certainly taken by surprise. We have an out of state license plate, so we were not allowed through their land. Instead, we traveled what was undoubtedly some of the most beautiful country we’ve seen, an hour or more out of the way of home. Thus, my carefully constructed plan to arrive home with exactly enough time to unload the truck, go live, and then get everyone to bed, was wrecked.
So today you’ll have a Saturday MEGA list! And I’ll be geeking out over my newest fossil, as well as giving some great recommendations, updates, and shout outs. I’m going to be sharing some of the fantastic work on hermeneutics done by David Knight at Exposit the Word, some listener questions, and some other great stuff as well. I hope you can join me over on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, or even Instagram today at 3:30 CST. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
Years ago I was invited to attend a “salvation party” for a young lady who had just made a profession of faith in Christ. I’ll call her “Anne”. It was the first time I had heard of such a party. Out of profound curiosity and my heart for Anne, I went. We gathered at a local restaurant, with cake and gifts in tow.
I noticed the people most excited were the ones throwing the party, the ones who had witnessed to her. Anne sat appearing unsure and distant.
One could think she was just an introvert who didn’t like the fuss of a party, or that it was a bit too silly for her taste- I would have agreed with her. Perhaps she was thinking what I was thinking….is she…. saved? I silently prayed for her and tossed around in my head the question, “how did anyone really know she was saved when she was saved a few days ago?” I mean, salvation is worthy of celebration, don’t get me wrong, yet she had just come to faith and from what I was hearing and seeing from her there was no fruit, no evidence, and most noticeably, no joy.
Sadly, a brief amount of time later, she fully returned to her old lifestyle with limited interest of anything Christian. I would gather with the ladies who had been ministering to Anne and would hear concerns of how she was hard to get a hold of, not desiring to go to church, any church, and no longer interested to meet with them for Bible study. It all seemed to be too much for Anne.
I may not have been entirely surprised but my heart hurt. After the gentle urging from those who had been discipling her and celebrating her salvation, she withdrew further and pushed every single Christian out of her life. It was growing apparent that her salvation wasn’t true. I can imagine the embarrassment she might have felt- leading these people to believe she was saved, having a party and investing so much time in her, being told she shouldn’t question her salvation, being embraced and encouraged as a Christian, not having those convictions herself and not being able to honestly walk the walk– I would imagine she just wanted to run and hide.
I decided to bring it up with the few that encouraged her salvation party and asked why they were so sure Anne was saved. They quickly responded with, “she said she believed in Jesus!” “She asked for forgiveness!” “She was remorseful and sincere!”
But did she really WANT Jesus? Was it true repentance? Did they convince her or was she convicted?
I believe it’s important to clarify that we don’t have to doubt a profession of faith from someone and tell them we cant believe it until they start showing consistent fruit. That’s not supported in Scripture. The problem is the premature celebrations and confident declarations of what has happened in someone else’s heart, especially when not looking at the glaring inconsistencies in their behavior. We prayerfully hope for the genuineness of their faith while discipling them, loving them and reminding them to examine themselves.
“Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you—unless indeed you fail the test?” 2 Corinthians 13:5
In Scripture, we read about people being saved, and with fervor for the Lord and His Word, they follow Him. They desire to know His Word, to know Him, and obey Him. We also read false followers can look the part at first but then drop the half-hearted desire to follow Christ as soon as the road gets a little bumpy or when the world lures them back into the cesspool of empty pleasures and promises.
“These are the ones who are beside the road where the word is sown; and when they hear, immediately Satan comes and takes away the word which has been sown in them. In a similar way, these are the ones on whom seed was sown on the rocky places, who, when they hear the word, immediately receive it with joy; and they have no firm root in themselves, but are only temporary; then, when affliction or persecution arises because of the word, immediately they fall away. And others are the ones on whom seed was sown among the thorns; these are the ones who have heard the word, but the worries of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the desires for other things enter in and choke the word, and it becomes unfruitful. And those are the ones on whom seed was sown on the good soil; and they hear the word and accept it and bear fruit, thirty, sixty, and a hundredfold.” Mark 4:15-19
I remember telling those who loudly proclaimed of Anne’s salvation, no one should have to be convinced this hard to follow Christ and to read his Word if they are truly saved. No true Christian will bolt and hide from anything truly Christian. No true Christian will have to be taken by the hand and pulled into church.
Even though the lady lacked good fruit, they still refused for a while to believe that they may have been presumptuous. “Perhaps”, they said, “she needs to just be encouraged more in her salvation.” Sadly, they already did that to her when they shouldn’t have. Now she was running harder away from Christ.
A few years later, I saw “Anne” standing up in front of a church to give her testimony and to be baptized. It seemed those ladies had been able to reach her again and “encourage” her. I hoped perhaps she had finally come to faith and repentance. Yet as soon as she opened her mouth, my heart sank. I noticed in her testimony she seemed to be looking for Jesus and a feeling of salvation in her baptism. Not sure how this passed the test of the leadership when they met with her prior, that’s another story for another day. And just like before, she vanished shortly after. The ladies tried again to encourage her in her salvation. She was being pulled by Christians, without being led by the Holy Spirit.
Sadly this lady wasn’t the first person I saw being prematurely lauded as a Christian. In a Bible study I had been a part of for years, a new lady came in and listened to the Gospel. She cried as it was presented to her. The study leader decided to lead her in the sinners prayer, doing the “repeat after me” thing.
The lady repeated the prayer with such emotion that it moved me, I must admit but after the prayer, the leader declared she was now saved. The way it was said was off-putting. “Welcome to the family!” He exclaimed.
She was overjoyed. After a few times of coming back to the study, we noticed the joy soon faded and she quickly darted fast and far away from anything truly Christian. My heart sank as the months/years went by and she seemingly sprinted harder from the Lord.
I wish those two women were the only false conversions I’ve witnessed over the years. It’s heartbreaking to see one profess then slip away, yet it’s even more heartbreaking to see it being encouraged by Christians who should know better. They seem so eager to see these precious souls saved and to share with the world all about it that they fail to realize they may have encouraged a false convert to believe something that wasn’t true.
You’ll find in most evangelical churches every single child in a particular family are baptized. Like clockwork, each of their children around the age of five wanted Jesus. First off, what small child in church doesn’t say that? You are likely not to find one. The parents continually remind them that they are Christian and to take communion despite very little, if any, fruit. Then in their teen years they are given emotional highs in youth programs and camps and being told those highs, those tears, are the work of God in their hearts. Christ is this super amazing cool Lord. Three weeks later or so, no more highs and no more interest in Christ. It saddens me to see the leadership getting in front of the church shortly after these kids make an emotionally driven profession and proclaiming they are in Christ, HAULLELUIA!
Such exuberant and immediate declarations without a stitch of real fruit.
One church leader used passages such as Acts 2:40-42 to explain why they believe we are to immediately celebrate professions and declare them saved:
“And with many other words he solemnly testified and kept on exhorting them, saying, “Be saved from this perverse generation!” So then, those who had received his word were baptized; and that day there were added about three thousand souls. They were continually devoting themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”
Actually, that passage makes my point exactly. Notice the phrase, “Continually devoting”.
A Christian will drop the world and follow Christ. The will devote themselves to Him. They will not have to be forced to worship the Lord, to care about His Word, to gather with other believers or to desire to live for Him. They will be devoted to the truth. They will desire to be baptized out of obedience. They will devote to the Gospel. Sure, they will need from other Christians direction, clarity, and encouragement to know better how to live for Christ, but they will be willing and ready.
It’s also important to note what was going on at the beginning of the Church age, with Apostles uniquely moved by the Holy Spirit, isn’t exactly how it’s going to look, or necessarily should look, in the Church today.
If a person knows the Gospel, seems to really desire to follow and obey Him and wants to baptized, that’s wonderful. They should be baptized under the leadership of a sound church and be spurred on to good works.
There is no way we can read the heart of any person, we are not God (1 Kings 8:39 and Acts 15:8) but there is fruit that should show, especially in time. There needs to be fruit of a changed life, changed perspective on sin, changed relationship goals, changed motives…etc. When the people in Scripture came to true faith, they devoted themselves to the ways of Christ. They didn’t need to be continually convinced and coerced to follow Him. The fervor to serve Him was evident. They picked up their cross. They grew in love and good works. They had hope and joy.
So why do some church leaders feel compelled to decree and declare a professor’s salvation? Why, when some of these professing Christians show no real fruit or when giving warning signs, christians around them sweep it under the rug and dismiss them, excusing it without question or discussion?
Some pastors seem to hear the supposed salvation successes and frequent baptisms in other churches, as well as, reading passages such as the one above and believe that is what they are supposed to be experiencing in their own ministry. Perhaps it stems from not seeing people saved and transformed so instead of trusting God and just being faithful with the preaching of the Word, they want to force the round peg in the square hole. They want Acts 2:41-42 to be their experience so bad that they neglect to remember the obvious – salvation comes when the Lord chooses it to. It’s all to be done in His timing and in His way.
“For by grace you have been saved through faith; and that not of yourselves, it is the gift of God;” Ephesians 2:8.
“for our gospel did not come to you in word only, but also in power and in the Holy Spirit and with full conviction; just as you know what kind of men we proved to be among you for your sake.” 1 Thessalonians 1:5.
Some leaders are weak in their own faith and begin to wonder where God is when the land seems barren. They are desperate to see movement, to see life. Many times they fabricate conversions without even knowing it.
With that all said, we have to remember we can’t always know if someone is a false convert. Judas Iscariot fooled the other eleven (John 13:21-22), Simon fooled Philip for a time with his deep interest and desiring to be baptized (Acts 8:9-24).
Matthew 13:28-30 explains that it can be impossible to tell the difference. Tares look almost identical to the wheat until the head matures. That’s the devil’s scheme – to plant tares in the Church and grow discord.
The most sufficient way to protect against tares is Truth. The whole, hard, sufficient, and unwavering Truth. Be diligent, discerning, and dogmatic. Truth reveals hearts.
“Therefore many of His disciples, when they heard this said, “This is a difficult statement; who can listen to it?” But Jesus, conscious that His disciples grumbled at this, said to them, “Does this cause you to stumble? What then if you see the Son of Man ascending to where He was before? It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing; the words that I have spoken to you are spirit and are life. But there are some of you who do not believe.” For Jesus knew from the beginning who they were who did not believe, and who it was that would betray Him. And He was saying, “For this reason, I have said to you, that no one can come to Me unless it has been granted him from the Father. As a result of this many of His disciples withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore. So Jesus said to the twelve, “You do not want to go away also, do you?” Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have words of eternal life. John 6:60-68
The tares will not count the cost, will not stick around to follow Christ into the difficult places.
“They went out from us, but they were not really of us; for if they had been of us, they would have remained with us; but they went out, so that it would be shown that they all are not of us.” 1 John 2:19.
We don’t get to declare the hearts of those who make a profession. We aren’t to be their conviction. Their salvation is between them and the Lord. We encourage what the Scripture says about salvation, we urge them to go to Lord in repentance and faith and we trust the Lord to save whomever He saves. And fruit matters. Simply professing means nothing, especially when there is no cost.
If we play the role of persuader and declarer we may very well encourage tares to ignore the constant nagging in their conscience that there is a problem with their relationship with the Lord. The embarrassment of admitting the truth to all those who celebrated their salvation in a “rebirthday party” could prove to be their biggest stumbling block.
Have joy in someone’s profession of faith but know only the Lord can see the heart. Everyone must work out their salvation.
Above is an article written by Gina Cook, Gina and Tami write Through the Narrow here at Tulips & Honey Hub. They’ll be posting articles every other Tuesday. Both are published authors, you can find Tami’s book here, and Gina’s book here. We’re blessed to have them apart of our team, and pray their writing will be as edifying to you as it is to us. – Lauren Hereford
Hello beloved, I hope this post finds you all doing well! I am very excited about today’s episode. I had the absolute joy of talking with Allie Beth Stuckey from Relatable, discussing her new book You’re Not Enough and That’s Okay. I’ve still been so behind on everything that I’m supposed to be doing, still trying to get caught up and getting back into the flow of homeschooling after having COVID, so I am very thankful that this episode was recorded way back in March. If you watch on Youtube you’ll notice that my equipment is different, hopefully it won’t be too weird, it was weird for me during the editing. It was also exciting to see how many things have changed over the past several months! My husband has done a fantastic job of making the podcast a new gifting opportunity, after 12 years of marriage it gets a little difficult to find things to buy one another so he’s got a whole new hobby to gift me in. The mic, headphones, new computer, new lights…it’s made a huge difference. But you won’t see, or hear, that in this episode because it was recorded way back before all that. Also, I was so nervous/excited to talk with Allie that I didn’t do a very good introduction.
Allie was so gracious, very fun to talk with, and even though she had a lot going on she gave me even more time than her publishers had promised so I hope our conversation will be a blessing to you all. I’ll be posting a book review on Wednesday, although you’ll all pretty much know my opinion after watching. Below I’ve included a timestamped outline as well as links to more information about Allie and her new book. Also, if you didn’t get a chance to see last weeks MEGA list, I’m going to link to it here. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
TS 00:02:10 – Allie shares her testimony
TS 00:04:30 – How Allie became Reformed
TS 00:08:00 – How did you decide to bring your Reformed faith into your podcast?
TS 00:15:00 – We start talking about the book
TS 00:16:30 – What was the purpose for this book?
TS 00:22:30 – How is this effecting women?
TS 00:30:00 – What is the best way to addressing women stuck in the self-love movement?
TS 00:37:00 – Do you have any future projects?
TS 00:39:45 – Have you ever tried Roasted Grasshopper’s, if not would you?
If you’d like more information about Tulips & Honey check out my website: 5Solas.Online My store: https://www.spreadshirt.com/tulips-ho… or my Patreon here: https://www.patreon.com/Tulipshoneyhub For questions, comments, recommendations, prayer requests, you can contact me on social media or via my email biblicalbeginnings@outlook.com
I had the privilege of talking with Alan from the Polite Leader Youtube channel, and we chatted about a lot of different topics. He was gracious enough to tell his testimony, talk about his work on exposing Word of Faith teachers, and also give some background into how he creates his videos and what’s coming next for his channel. It was such a fun conversation, I was encouraged by his heart for the body of Christ, and the work he is putting into creating videos that will educate and edify all of us. He was also incredibly kind enough to do a shout out for the program on a recent video on his channel, and I’m overwhelmed by the response from his listeners.
I’m looking forward to hearing Alan’s podcast, and his upcoming series through NAR teachers. I hope you’ll all join me in praying for him and his work online. Also, don’t forget if you’re watching on YouTube to stick around for the blooper’s reel at the end. It’s my favorite part of the editing process. Below I’ve included a timestamped outline of the episode, as well as some links to find the Polite Leader. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
TS 00:08:00 – What originally motivated you to begin creating content on YouTube, and how have you found that you’ve been able to use this platform to glorify God and edify the Church?
TS 00:11:00 – How do you respond to hate mail or ugly comments?
TS 00:19:45 – How did you decide on the top ten worst teacher’s and which one was the most surprising to research?
Recently you finished your list of worst teachers:
Now, the first thing you should know is, I’m no Scientist or Scholar so just remember that when reading this. I am going to take you through my own research in studying the questions that I’ve had about the creation of the World.
I got to pondering God’s work in creation and what some of the writers might have been wondering. How could ancient writers of the Bible know so much about creation if they were just ordinary men? How could they have written about them in such detail and accuracy without the aid of the Lord truly telling them what to write?
We can look around and know there is a God that created all that we see but the details in which the ancient writers describe things can only be known because God told them.
In Romans 1:20~ For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Psalm 19:1 ~ The heavens declare the glory of God, and the sky above proclaims his handiwork.
After reading that, I wondered, did any of the writers of the Bible ever think that what they were writing sounded crazy? Maybe they were a tad confused about the facts on certain stories and didn’t grasp what they were writing down, like in Genesis, with the creation of the Earth? How could they know the Earth was round or flat? Could they have been writing things down and thinking, “Uummm, this can’t be right”.
They had no way of testing many things to prove it right or wrong. No one could have known back then if the Earth was round or flat. I decided to do some research on all this and see how many things were described in Scriptures that were proven true only in recent years.
*Is the Earth Round?
So, what about the Earth being round or flat? Click on this link below we see it’s been a lifelong belief for centuries.
‘The flat Earth model is an archaic conception of Earth’s shape as a plane or disk. Many ancient cultures subscribed to a flat Earth cosmography, including Greece until the classical period, the Bronze Age and Iron Age civilizations of the Near East until the Hellenistic period, India until the Gupta period (early centuries AD), and China until the 17th century.”
“The Israelites also imagined the Earth to be a disc floating on water with an arched firmament above it that separated the Earth from the heavens.[13] The sky was a solid dome with the Sun, Moon, planets, and stars embedded in it.[14]”
The image above is an Imago Mundi Babylonian map, the oldest known world map, 6th century BC Babylonia
“Curiously, many astronomy textbooks credit Pythagoras (c. 570–500 B.C.) with being the first person to assert that the earth is round.1 However, the biblical passages are older than this. Isaiah is generally acknowledged to have been written in the 700s B.C. and Job is thought to have been written around 2000 B.C. The secular astronomers before the time of Pythagoras must have thought the Bible was wrong about its teaching of a round earth, yet the Bible was exactly right. It was the secular science of the day that needed to be corrected.”
This video above talks of the earlier beliefs of a flat Earth and how the idea grew to become around Earth. Although this is not a video that is based on Christian views or writings it does show how many believed the Earth thousands of years ago to be flat and then later changed the belief it to be round. God described how the Earth was round but 1,000 of years ago the world described how it was flat.
In Ray Comforts’ book, “How to Know God Exists,” Ray says, “The Book of Isaiah was written between 740 and 680 B.C. This is at least 300 years before Aristotle suggested, in his book, “On the Heavens”, that the earth might be a sphere. It was another 2,000 years later (at a time when science believed that the earth was flat) that the Scriptures inspired Christopher Columbus to sail around the world.”
Even though many started to believe the Earth was round back then they still had no way of proving it till resent years.
Isaiah 40:22 says, “It is he that sits upon the circle of the earth”.
Now, some that believed in the flat Earth believed that this verse was talking of a flat circular Earth, kinda like a frisbee.
Again in Ray Comforts book, “How to know God Exists”, Ray talks of the earth floating in space: “At a time when it was believed that the earth sat on a large animal or a giant (1500 B.C.), the Bible spoke of the earth’s free float in space: “He…hangs the earth upon nothing” (Job 26:7)“.
Ray points out how Scriptures say the Earth floats in space when most believed odd ideas of something holding it up. It is clear today Scriptures is correct and the Earth is in fact just floating in space and “hangs on nothing”, just as the Bible teaches. We’ve proven it true through technology and inventing rockets to go into space and take pictures to show it is not propped up or carried by any animal and most importantly that it is a circle (a spiracle orb).
We see further that Genesis hints to spherical Earth in this following verse because it says “light separates day from the night”.
In Genesis 1:4~ And God said, “let there be light in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years,”
Imagine for a second, if the Earth was flat and floating like a frisbee in water, slowly floating in a circular motion, to my understanding we wouldn’t have both day and night but we would just have day forever or night forever. Flat Earthers believe that we have night because the sun goes behind the mountains. Today, we know that’s not true just simply by flying in an airplane far above the mountains. For example, staying within the borders of America, flying just a few states away, shows how we can start out flying in the daytime and it turns dark after a couple of hours because the obvious happened, it became night time not because a mountain was in the way of the sun and blocked it and not because the flat Earth flipped upside down but because it’s an orb and it rotated away from the sun.
Revelation 7:1~ After this I saw four angels standing at the four corners of the earth, holding back the four winds of the earth…”
Revelations talks of four corners of the Earth which became another reason to cause many to believe the Earth to be flat, with corners. However, in examining this verse closer we see that John was only using symbolic speech to describe the “four directions” just as we see on maps and compasses with north, south, east, and west. It’s not much of an argument though in proving the Earth to be round in my opinion.
As I pondered the directions mentioned, another verse came to mind, the verse that talked about God’s forgiveness because that one talks of directions as well. I looked it up and realized this verse makes the point of a round Earth…for me at least. The verse Psalm 103:12 uses two of the cardinal directions. It reads, “as far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us.”
When we look at that verse it is speaking of a span of distance that is infinite. North and south only go so far till it stops. If you start out flying from the North Pole southward and just keep flying south eventually you would reach the South Pole and once there all of a sudden you would be flying north until of course, you reach the North Pole again. However, if you were to travel east going around the Earth and keep going in that eastward direction you would always be going east. It would never stop and the same with the west, you will forever be going west and it would never stop.
The purpose of that verse is to show us that the forgiveness of God is forever, it doesn’t stop which is why in His infinite wisdom He chose to say, “as far as the east is from the west” and not “as far as the north is from the south”. This way we can know for certain we have been restored to the Lord.
Now, looking at this verse to support whether the Earth is round or flat we see that because God uses the directions to make the case for how far He removes our transgressions from us, then it does make a strong case for a spiracle Earth. If the Earth was flat then saying “as far as the east is to the west” wouldn’t be very far because it would eventually stop at the edge of the Earth just as the other directions would. With a flat earth, you can obviously see by the image below that for God to tell us that He forgives us as far as the east is to the west would not make much sense.
It wasn’t until modern times that we could know for sure the Earth was round because we were able to send rockets into space and see it was in fact round and see that it rotated, and see that nothing was holding it up. The Bible was right.
*The Creation of Light on The Earth
Genesis 1:3-5~ And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness. God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And there was evening and there was morning, the first day.
Take note here that God hadn’t created the Sun, Moon, or Stars yet until the 4th day. The darkness was mentioned from the start of creation (in Genesis) as God says, “The earth was formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep.” Nothing is said about where the light was brought from or anything about the darkness even, only that God spoke light into existence and then separated it from the darkness.
In Job 38:18-20, God Challenges Job… “Have you surveyed the extent of the earth? Tell Me, if you know all this. Where is the way to the home of light? Do you know where darkness resides, so you can lead it back to its border? Do you know the paths to its home?”…of course Job couldn’t have known any of this.
I can’t help but imagine how confused the writer was when writing this because God had them record as one of the first things created was light yet when they write about the fourth day God sounds like He repeated Himself and talks of light again. This time saying, “let there be lights in the expanse to separate the day from the night”. Here God is explaining that the light will come from the Sun and the Moon.
So, my thought is, did they ever wonder where the light came from on the first day? They knew God spoke and said, “let there be light” but from where did it come from? Or in God’s Words, as God questions Job by saying, “Where is the way to the home of light?” The answer: From God Himself. For the first three days of creation, He was the light just as it says in John 8:12~ “Again Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”
God will also be the source of light for the new Earth as well, as said in Revelation 22:5~ “There will be no more night. They will not need the light of a lamp or the light of the sun, for the Lord God will give them light. And they will reign forever and ever”
*The Creation of Stars
Genesis 1:14-19~ “And God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night. And let them be for signs and for seasons, and for days and years, and let them be lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light upon the earth.” And it was so. And God made the two great lights—the greater light to rule the day and the lesser light to rule the night—and the stars. And God set them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, to rule over the day and over the night, and to separate the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. And there was evening and there was morning, the fourth day.”
When we look into the night sky depending on if it’s a clear night or not, we can only see so many stars with our naked eye. With a telescope we are able to see much more however the people back then didn’t have telescopes. Telescopes weren’t invented yet as this link below explains.
“The telescope traces back to early makers of eyeglasses and lenses. In the 1400s, glasses were used widely across Europe. These lenses were not powerful, not polished, and not clear. Due to their imperfections, they were not useful for astronomic observation.”
Psalm 147:4 tells us that “He counts the number of the stars, He calls them all by name.”
How great is God to be able to count the stars and name them, what fear that should produce in us out of respect and aw?
I can just see them looking up at the night sky counting as many stars as they possibly could (which some claimed the human eye can view about 1,000 ) and then looking at the sand and knowing they couldn’t possibly count each piece of sand and that there were way more sand particles than what they saw in stars. When compared to each other, the two probably don’t even seem equal. Did that make any sense to them? Today we could see the planets and galaxies and so many other billions of stars and comets and other things through telescopes. I’m sure, for them, knowing that Scriptures say in Jeremiah 33:22, “host of heaven can’t be numbered, or the sand of the sea measured” made them wish they had a way of seeing all those stars.
Another interesting fact God points out about stars is in 1 Corinthians 15:41 ~ “There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars: for one star differs from another star in glory”
This verse uses the example of stars all being different. I’m sure this had to be perplexing for them as they looked at the stars from Earth, all the stars look like sparkly spots in the sky, without a telescope, how could they have known the stars could be so different in size or color? But it’s recorded in Scriptures and again this wasn’t a known fact until modern times.
*The Wind Having Weight…
Scriptures tell us wind has weight in Job 28:25~ “When he gave to the wind its weight…”
Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains Job 28:25 this way: “To make the weight for the winds – That is, to weigh the winds and to measure the waters – things that it would seem most difficult to do. The idea here seems to be, that God had made all things by measure and by rule. Even the winds – so fleeting and imponderable – he had adjusted and balanced in the most exact manner as if he had “weighed” them when he made them. The air has “weight,” but it is not probable that this fact was known in the time of Job, or that he adverted to it here. It is rather the idea suggested above, that the God who had formed everything by exact rule and who had the power to govern the winds in the most exact manner, must be qualified to impart wisdom.”
When this was written in Job it was not discovered or understood yet how wind or air had weight.
*Creation of Water in Scriptures
We read about another question that God asks Job 37:16 ~ “Dost thou know the balancing of the clouds, the wondrous works of him which is perfect in knowledge?”
Good question! Did Job know how the clouds balanced in the sky? Probably not. I wonder what they knew about the clouds as far as how the clouds held water? Clouds can look so different from one day to the next but, just like what we see today, I’m sure they understood rain came from clouds but how it worked was probably a whole different question. Did they understand that very small droplets of water make up clouds and when they remain small, they float but if they join together with other droplets, they get heavier and become rain? Did they know that wind and temperature play a part in the reason it rains a lot or a little? They didn’t have the technology we do today so I’m sure that they had questions about it.
Genesis 1:6-8 tells us: “God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” And God made the expanse and separated the waters that were under the expanse from the waters that were above the expanse. And it was so. And God called the expanse Heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, the second day.”
firmament—an expanse: a name given to the atmosphere from its appearing to an observer to be the vault of heaven, supporting the weight of the watery clouds. By the creation of an atmosphere, the lighter parts of the waters which overspread the earth’s surface were drawn up and suspended in the visible heavens, while the larger and heavier mass remained below.
So how could they have understood any of this back then? I’m guessing they didn’t. The balancing of the clouds was not known until modern times when we had the ability and equipment to study it.
* Springs of The Sea
Genesis 1:9-13~ “And God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear.” And it was so. God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered together he called Seas. And God saw that it was good.
Job 38:16-18~ “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea or walked in the recesses of the deep? Have the gates of death been shown to you? Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness? Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth? Tell me, if you know all this.”
We see here that God asks if Job ever journeyed to those places and if he comprehends everything God has done and if Job even knows of all those things. I guess it’s possible some of those things Job could have known about or read about because it was talked about in Genisis with the flood such as the phrase “springs of the deep” but there is no way he could have seen it with his own eyes to verify it, there is no way he could have walked in the “recesses of the deep” or went to see the “springs of the sea”. Most everyone knows today the ocean is very deep and very dark. Job didn’t have any way to go to any of them. It wasn’t as if he could swim down to the ocean floor to investigate it because he wouldn’t be able to hold his breath very long to go all the way to the seafloor. Also, the floor of the ocean is extremely dark so how could he even see the floor or observe anything down there once there. Not to mention the pressure at the bottom of the sea is deadly to humans, Job would not have been able to survive that alone. It’s only been just recently that humans could explore the seafloor thanks to a specially made submarine and confirm that there are springs in the seafloor but even then, we still do not know all there is to know about the sea. Back in Jobs day, there was no way for Job to have experienced any of that personally, it would have been impossible. So, I just wonder again how odd this must have sounded for Job.
*The Earth Will Not Be Moved
Psalm 93:1~ The Lord reigns; he is robed in majesty; the Lord is robed; he has put on strength as his belt. Yes, the world is established; it shall never be moved.
I will end with these scriptures below where God tells us the Earth will not be moved. I know the Earth moves…it turns on its axis as it rotates around the sun. Again, we know this to be true because we have the technology and pictures that show it does but I still just wonder what the writers thought about these verses. God is saying in these verses that nothing is going to happen to the world we live on and noting will cause it to fall apart or knock it out of orbit. This should be comforting to us because when I was much younger my fear was that someday a meteorite could hit us and knock the Earth off its axis sending it flying through space or shake it so badly that we would stop rotating or something to that effect. Yeah, the imagination of a young kid! Below I have scriptures and meaning of each of the verses I quote that shows that God is telling us the Earth is securely in place.
(Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains Psalm 93:1~ “The world also is established – Is firm; is on a solid foundation. It cannot be shaken or destroyed by natural convulsions, or by the power of man. That it cannot be moved – Moved out of its place; overthrown; destroyed. This seems to have been spoken in view of some impending calamity as if everything were to be swept away. The psalmist consoles himself with the thought that the world was firmly established; that no storm or tempest could be so violent as to remove it out of its place. The ground of consolation is the essential stability of what God has ordained.”)
*Psalm 104:5~ He set the earth on its foundations so that it should never be moved.
(Benson Commentary on Psalm 104:5~ Who laid the foundations of the earth who hath founded the earth upon its own bases, or foundations, that is, upon itself, or its own center of gravity, by which it is self-balanced, and by which it stands as fast and immovable as if it were built upon the strongest foundation imaginable, which is a most stupendous work of divine wisdom and power; that it should not be removed — Out of its proper place; forever — Or, till the end of time, when it must give way to the new earth.)
*Psalm 96:10~ Say among the nations, “The Lord reigns.” The world is firmly established, it cannot be moved; he will judge the peoples with equity.
(Barnes’ Notes on the Bible explains Psalm 96:10~ The world also shall be established … – Under the reign of God. The meaning is that the world is fixed or immovable. It has its place, and it cannot be moved out of it. The government of God is fixed and stable. It is not temporary, changing, vacillating, like the dynasties of the earth, but is steadfast and abiding, and is well represented by the earth – so fixed and firm that nothing can move it from its place.)
*Ecclesiastes 1:4~ A generation goes, and a generation comes, but the earth remains forever.
(Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible explains Ecclesiastes 1:4 ~… “but the earth abideth for ever; for a long time, until the dissolution of all things; and then, though that and all in it will be burnt up, yet it will rather be changed than destroyed; the form of it will be altered, when the substance of it will continue; it will not be annihilated, but renewed and refined.”)
God makes sure we know the Earth’s foundation is so strong and solid that nothing can move it. What I found interesting was this video below that shows how Jupiter serves as a shield against danger to Earth. It says, “Without a massive gravity rich planet like Jupiter nearby to draw away asteroids, Earth would be more like an interstellar dartboard”. Not saying Jupiter is the only reason Earth is stable because we know God does this but it’s just amazing how God designed it all to have the planets where they are. I suggest you watch this 5 min video below that shares why the Earth that God created is so amazing and even overwhelming.
I hope this causes others to seek God more and to see His glory in all of His creations. To stand in Aw with respect to God in all that He has done. I realize that there are those out there that just don’t believe or have faith in God. With that said, there is still no excuse for them because everyone is shown God’s invisible attributes and power in all that has been created. It boils down to faith.
Romans 1:19-20~ since what may be known about God is plain to them because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.
Hello again, dear ones, I hope this post finds you all doing well! It’s Monday, and that means I (finally) have a new podcast episode dropped and ready for you. Last week was more difficult than I expected it to be, honestly. I thought once I was over the worst of the virus I would get back to going none stop. Unfortunately, COVID is like the gift that keeps giving. As I sit here typing this, I still have yet to recover my sense of smell. I don’t even know how that’s possible, I still have some sniffles but not nearly severe enough to prohibit smell. This virus is so bizarre. The most difficult thing for me, at this point, is the fatigue that comes back suddenly. One minute I’ll be feeling fine and dandy, then BOOM time for a nap. I don’t have time for naps, but my smell-less immune system doesn’t care. Hopefully this week will be an improvement, as far as writing and podcasting goes. For sure, I have today’s episode and it is one that I’m really excited about!
Martin-Luther-Quote
I had the privilege of being joined by two brothers-in-Christ and fellow podcasters, Joseph Knowels and Rueben Rosalez from the Church History Matter’s podcast! It was the first recording I did after getting sick, so I was still a little foggy headed. They were very gracious, and patient, so this should be a fun, educational, and encouraging episode minus the overly excited host. Sorry! I had no idea how much I missed podcasting until I was forced to take a break from it. Joseph, Rueben, and I sat down to discuss the importance of Church History, their testimonies, why they decided to podcast about this topic, what their favorite stories are, and even Eschatology. I had a blast talking to them, and I learned a lot that I didn’t know! I hope you will too, don’t forget if you’re watching on YouTube to stick around for the blooper’s reel at the end. It’s my favorite part of the editing process. Below I’ve included a timestamped outline of the episode, as well as some links to find the Church History Matter’s podcast. You can, of course, listen across all major podcasting platforms such as Podbean, iTunes, Spotify, Google Play, iHeart Radio, Stitcher, and in video form on Youtube. As always, beloved brethren, be good Berean’s and study to show yourselves approved.
On this new Tulips and Honey episode, Lauren and Kristin answer your questions on Christian yoga, idolatry, worship, angels and Satan, Adam, Genesis, sin, and the person and work of Jesus.
What You’ll Hear on This Episode
The dangers of Christian yoga.
The danger of blending other religions with biblical Christianity.
The danger of idolatry
What biblical worship is and why it matters.
Christian Liberty and celebrating the Holidays.
The nature of violence in the Old Testament.
Adam, sin, and the person and work of Jesus.
The nature of angels and Satan.
Asking theological questions and humility.
Recommended Resources Mention in This Episode
Link to Kristin Everett TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@xtin.rose?
Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Tulips and Honey via iTunes, Google Play, Spotify, or YouTube. If you like what you’ve heard, please consider leaving a rating and sharing it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @LaurenHereford, on Facebook, Instagram, or via email to share your feedback.
Thanks for listening to this episode of Tulips and Honey.
Hello dear ones! I hope this post finds you all doing well. Today I want to talk about the 18th Century British minister, and hymn writer, Joseph Hart. He was a fascinating man, and wrote some truly beautiful hymns, including the one I’ve added to the end of this article. What stands out the most to me, when I was researching his life, was the years he spent going back and forth between grevious sin, and conviction. Though he was born in 1712, it wasn’t until 1757 that he would be born again. After that he wrote hymns that reflect a man broken by his own sin, and the grace afforded him by God alone before finishing his race in 1768. Many of his hymns were once quite popular with Calvinistic Nonconformists, however most are forgotten today.
Often times, when we look back on Church History, we see Gods providence in a mans life. The sin, the conviction, the battle, then salvation…and they tell their testimony so that others can know that God’s grace can not be bought or earned. While Joseph Hart lived, it’s clear to see he lives two lives. At first he lived his life for sin, enslaved to it. Then, once he was forgiven and redeemed he lived his life for the glory of God. We see that looking back, because we can see how God finished the work He began in Hart. It’s a blessing for us, as believers still pilgrimaging through this world of Vanity Fair’s on our way to the Celestial City, to see how others have come to hear “Well done good and faithful servant”. We see in this mans life, as we see in so many others, the faithfulness of God. I hope this will be an encouragement to you, beloved, as always, be good Berean’s, and study to show yourselves approved.
Great high priest we view thee stooping With our names upon thy breast; In the garden groaning, drooping, To the ground, with sorrow pressed.
Weeping angels stood confounded, To behold their maker thus: And can we remain unwounded, When we know ’twas all for us?
On the cross thy body broken, Cancels every penal tie, Tempted souls produce the token, All demands to satisfy.
All is finished, do not doubt it, But believe your dying Lord, Never reason more about it, Only take Him at His word.
Lord we fain would trust Thee solely, ‘Twas for us thy blood was spilt; Praised bridegroom, take us wholly, Take and make us what thou wilt.
Thou hast borne the bitter sentence Past on man’s devoted race; True belief and true repentance, Are thy gifts, thou God of grace.
Tulips & Honey 