Walking with God: Lessons from a Pastor's Heart - Chapter 4: Beware of Myths | Pastor Pablo Morales

Welcome to ECB's weekly sermon podcast. ECB is

an international church in Bangkok, Thailand,

with dozens of nationalities worshiping together.

We invite you to connect with us from wherever

you are through our website ecb .asia or our

mobile app. And now we pray that you are blessed

by this week's sermon. This series of walking

with God was a reflection. on different topics

from our apologetics trip to England. And as

you know, in the previous studies, we have talked

about several of the things that we did. And

we have reflected in lots of different topics.

Some of you wanted to go to the trip. You couldn't

do it. And some of you have asked me, can you

please teach us about it? I want to learn. Can

you show me pictures? I want to see. So that's

why we have spent this month going through some

of the key elements of what we learned. So the

idea is an environment in which we are reflecting

together. Almost as if we were drinking some

coffee together and talking, reflecting. And

in that sense, this series is a little bit different

from others. And what I want you to get from

this study is to beware of myths. Myths, as the

Bible talks about myths, is the idea of false

beliefs. I remember that when I was a kid, I

heard a joke that I find so funny. And it was

about this scientist that was studying fleas.

So he decides to study fleas' behavior, and he

places this little flea on a little glass container,

and he says to the little flea, Flea, jump! And

the flea jumps, boing. So he writes in his notebook,

when the flea is told to jump, it jumps. And

then he decides to remove two legs, ping, ping.

And now he says to the flea, flea, jump. And

the flea goes, boing. So he's surprised and he

writes, you know, when the flea has only four

legs and is told to jump, it jumps. And then

he decides, to try again and goes, ping, ping.

And now he says, flea, jump. And the flea, very

weakly goes, ping. Just a little jump. He's surprised.

So he writes, when the flea has only two legs

and is told to jump, it jumps. And then he gets

curious. So he decides to do it one more time.

It goes, ping, ping. And says, little flea, jump.

And nothing happens. And now he's more curious.

So he says a little bit louder, little flea,

jump! And nothing happens. It doesn't move. So

he decides to say one more time, but very loud,

little flea, jump! And nothing happens. So he

writes conclusion. When the flea has no legs,

it becomes deaf. Told you it was funny. That's

a myth. It sounds like it's true, but it's not.

It could be based on good observations, but wrong

conclusions. And it's funny when it's a joke,

but it's not funny when we build our lives on

a myth, cultures on a myth. And what is interesting

is that the Apostle Paul talks about this very

clearly to us, followers of Jesus. He says to

Timothy, very specifically about this topic.

Now, Timothy was his apprentice. We met him a

couple of studies ago. Timothy was a young believer

that worked with the Apostle Paul. He went into

his third missionary trip together. And then

the Apostle Paul, when he returns to Jerusalem,

enters the last stage of his ministry. He's going

to go from Jerusalem now. He's going to go in

prison. Eventually, he's going to end up in Rome.

And when he is in prison, the Apostle Paul will

write two letters to Timothy. That's how close

they were. And we have those two letters in our

Bible, New Testament, 1 and 2 Timothy. And if

you go to chapter 4 of both letters, what is

interesting is that the same chapters, chapter

4, has the same warning. In 1 Timothy chapter

1 Timothy 4 · chapter mention

4, he tells Paul, he tells Timothy, the Spirit

clearly says that in later times, some will abandon

the faith. Why? Some followers of Jesus will

abandon the faith. Why? Well, they will follow

deceiving spirits and things taught by demons.

Oh, he says, there's going to be spiritual oppression

against the Christian faith because there's going

to be false teaching that is going to originate

in darkness. And that false teaching is going

to deceive some followers of Jesus. Such teachings

come through hypocritical liars whose consciences

have been seared as with a hot iron. There's

going to be people Who are going to be used,

not by God, but by the enemy to introduce deceptions.

And those deceptions are going to cause some

people to abandon the faith. That's the warning

in the first letter. Very clear. False beliefs

will infiltrate and you have to be aware of it.

But in the second letter to Timothy, also chapter

4. He says it a little bit more extensively,

and this is what he says. In the presence of

God and of Christ Jesus, who will judge the living

and the dead, and in view of his appearing and

his kingdom, I give you this charge. Oh, wow,

that sounds pretty heavy. It's like you open

the letter, you know, it's the last letter he

will ever write. And now you open it and it says,

Timothy, this is not a greeting of. Hey, Timothy,

how are you doing? It's like, Timothy, in the

presence of God and Christ Jesus, who will judge

the living and the dead, and in view of his appearing

and his kingdom, I'm going to give you this charge.

It's like, oh, I better sit down and start reading

this thing, because this is not just a funny,

how are you doing text. What is it? Timothy,

preach the word. Be prepared in season and out

of season. Correct, rebuke, encourage, but do

it with great patience and very careful instruction.

And I'm going to tell you why. For the time will

come when people will not put up with sound doctrine.

Instead, to suit their own desires, They will

gather around them a great number of teachers

to say what their itching ears want to hear.

Let me read that section again. Timothy, you

have to teach the word and do it carefully because

there's going to be a time. And the time is coming.

When people will not put up with sound doctrine,

instead to suit their own desires, they will

gather around them a great number of teachers

to say what their itching ears want to hear.

And they will turn their ears away from truth

and turn aside to what? Myths. The time is coming

when myths, not truth, are going to become so

popular because lots of people are going to believe

it and lots of teachers are going to be teaching

it. And not only will it be popular, but it will

be persuasive because all these teachers and

all these people believe it, so it must be. True,

maybe the flea is deaf. And because it's popular,

persuasive, people will start feeling the pressure

to believe it. Because if I'm surrounded by people

who believe it and I'm the only one that doesn't,

that's hard. But Timothy, Beware of myths. The

time is going to come where people won't care

about truth anymore. But you, you be different,

Timothy. You keep your head in all situations.

Just because it's popular doesn't make it true.

You keep your head in all situations. And if

it becomes hard because you feel like a fish

swimming against the current, endure hardship.

Do the work of an evangelist. Discharge all the

duties of your ministry. Timothy, you stand for

truth. And sometimes it's going to be hard. But

truth matters. As for me, I'm already being poured

out like a drink offering. I'm at the end. You're

at the beginning. The time for my departure is

near. I can feel it. I have fought the good fight.

I have finished the race and I have kept the

faith. But remember, some won't keep it because

of the myths. Now there's in store for me the

crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous

judge, will award to me on that day and only

to me. but also to all who have longed for his

appearing. And this is the section where the

Apostle Paul repeats the concern and the warning,

beware of myths. Myths in this context is this

Greek word mythoi, which is a false belief. It's

a false worldview. It's a false structure of

belief system that is faulty. And we followers

of Jesus are called by the apostle himself to

be aware of that because at some moments you

will be in that journey of discerning truth from

myth. And that journey is not always clear and

sometimes it is wrestling. And the sad thing

is that it will cause many people to be deceived.

Many people to walk away from the faith and many

people will be then harmed because of it. And

I have gotten to meet some of those people that

walked away from the faith only to come back

later to the Lord saying, I was duped. I was

deceived. Now I really know the truth. And it's

hard because that time of being away from the

Lord, away from the faith, could be years. Could

be decades. Beware of myths. And just to give

you a glimpse of some of this, see the contrast

that the Apostle Paul talked about to Timothy.

Truth is... Given by the Holy Spirit because

the Holy Spirit is the spirit of truth. And he's

the one that inspired the scriptures. So if you're

walking with God, you're walking in close intimacy

with the Holy Spirit. Therefore, truth will matter

to you. And sound doctrine will matter. The teaching

has to be biblical. It has to be right. I'm not

just going to give it away because it sounds

right. It's a biblical. Sound doctrine matters.

And that will have the effect of setting you

free because truth sets us free. And it will

strengthen your walk of faith, your walk with

God. But myth, on the other hand, it does not

come from the Holy Spirit. It comes from deceiving

spirits, says Paul. It's a false narrative. It's

a myth. It's not really true. It may sound true,

but it's not. And it's going to deceive people.

And you will know the outcome. It's not from

God because he will take you away from the Lord,

not closer to him. Beware of myths. And from

the beginning, from the time of the Apostle Paul,

even to the time of our time, two areas that

are constantly under this space of different

ideologies trying to compete with biblical narrative.

It's the idea of origins and the idea of identity.

It was true for the Apostle Paul as it is for

us. Let me give you just a glimpse of this in

three passages as I read them. The first one

is the beginning of the Gospel of John. If you

are reading John, if you are a follower of Jesus,

this is what John starts saying. Let me read

it two times. First time now. In the beginning

was the Word. And the word was with God. And

the word was God. He was with God in the beginning.

Through him all things were made. Without him

nothing was made that has been made. In him was

life. And that life was the light of all mankind.

And the light shines in the darkness. And the

darkness has not overcome it. You continue reading

chapter one of John and you will realize, oh,

he's talking about Jesus. The word became flesh

and lived among us and we have seen his glory.

And he starts introducing who Jesus is in the

gospel of John. So let me read it again, but

I'm going to replace the word, the word by the

word Jesus. So that the meaning becomes a little

bit clearer as you're reading it. In the beginning

was Jesus. And Jesus was with God. And Jesus

was God. And Jesus was with God in the beginning.

By the way, this is one of the reasons why we

believe in the Trinity. Jesus is God. God is

not Jesus. God is Father, Son, Holy Spirit. But

Jesus is God. The Father is God. The Holy Spirit

is God. Jesus was with God at the beginning.

And he himself was God. Jesus was with God in

the beginning. And through Jesus, all things

were made. Without Jesus, nothing was made that

has been made. In Jesus was life. And that life

was the light of all mankind. The light shines

in the darkness and the darkness has not overcome

it. Truth or myth? Was there a beginning? And

did Jesus create? And Jesus is God? And he came

therefore to the world he created to save us

and redeem us to himself. Truth or myth? You

see, if you're a follower of Jesus, you say,

well, this is true. Some people will look at

you and say, you're believing in a myth. If I'm

a follower of Jesus, I have to realize that the

Bible says Jesus is creator. Therefore I was

created. We humans were created by God. And Jesus

is God. And through him everything was created.

Nothing would exist without him. That was created.

I believe that. Because it's there. And I believe

in Jesus. And I want to agree with everything

that Jesus says. And in the gospel, Jesus speaks.

And one day, Jesus is approached by the religious

leaders and they ask him a question about divorce.

And Jesus answers to them using the scriptures,

the various scriptures that Paul is telling Timothy

that he has to teach well. And Jesus answers

that question with this answer. He tells the

people at the beginning of creation, God, Made

them. What? Male and. Female. At the very beginning

of creation. Haven't you read this? God made

them male and female. And for this reason. A

man. Will leave his father. And mother. And be

united to his wife. Not to his partner. But to

his. Wife. His. Wife. And the two will become.

One flesh. So there are no longer two, but one

flesh. Marriage is a change of identity. From

two, now we are one. And this means that there

was a beginning, wasn't it? And in that beginning,

God created, didn't he? And at the beginning

of that creation, he created humans, didn't he?

And he created us. Male and female, didn't he?

And he is the one that designed the idea of marriage

to be the union for life between a male and a

female coming together and becoming one flesh.

That is our understanding of marriage and that

is our understanding of gender. Why? Because

Jesus said it. And he's quoting Genesis. Hmm.

True or myth? Ah, now you're getting a little

bit uncomfortable. Beware of myths. They will

sound popular. Lots of people will believe it.

But I can tell you something, the flea is not

deaf. And the Apostle Paul, It's warning us that

we're going to be hearing myths and we have to

be careful that we really pay attention to the

scriptures. Not only I want to agree with what

Jesus says, but I also want to agree with what

the apostles taught. If the apostles taught it,

I want to agree with them. And I'm not trying

to simplify hermeneutics. I know that biblical

interpretation sometimes is complex. There's

the Greek, the Hebrew, the translation, the nuances,

etc., etc. I understand that. But within that

context, I want to agree with Jesus and with

the apostles. And there's a moment in which the

apostle Peter is warning us about false teaching.

And he says, look, there will be people that

will deliberately forget. That happened a long

time ago. What? Well, they will deliberately

forget that long ago, by God's word, the heavens

came into being and the earth was formed out

of water and by water. And by these waters also

the world of that time was deluged and destroyed.

Wait. Did God speak? And things were created

by him just speaking? Yes. And at the beginning,

the earth was covered with water? Yes. And the

ancient world was destroyed, deluged by water.

And just as it happened then, Is going to happen

in the future. By the same word. That created

the heavens and the earth. The same word. That

destroyed that ancient world with the water.

The same word. The present heavens and earth.

Are reserved. For fire. Being kept for the day

of judgment. And destruction of the ungodly.

There's a future judgment coming and the earth

will be destroyed by fire? Yes, just as it was

destroyed by water before. By the very word that

God spoke. Wow. True or myth? Did God really

speak and things came into being? Just like that?

Ah, you see what I mean? There are things the

Bible teaches that sometimes we are struggling

with because now we have an abundance of teachers

teaching us things that we want to hear. And

without realizing it, we can turn into myths.

And myths are popular. They're persuasive, but

they're not true. And therefore, my job as a

follower of Jesus, and so is your job as a follower

of Jesus, is to make sure that we create environments

where we can engage with truth and discern it

and wrestle with it. Because whatever we end

up concluding, we want to make sure that it is

biblical and true. And because I believe these

things, all these passages that I read today,

I believe them because they are clear. And for

me to try to dissect them and reorganize the

words and give them a whole different meaning,

it makes me uncomfortable because it feels like

I'm trying to manipulate the scriptures to make

them say what I want to hear them say. And that's

the wrestling that we find ourselves in. Have

you been there? Have you questioned in moments,

I wonder if that's really true. Am I being deceived

or is that really true? I sit in the Bible, but

did that really happen? And now in that space

of tension is a reality of the walk with God.

The walk with God at moments will require that

we discern truth from myth. And sometimes that

space is going to be Disorienting. And because

I believe these things, I remember that since

my kids were little, we would spend time reading

the scriptures and then there are people that

have published books with beautiful illustrations

and stories about the Bible. And this was one

of them, Jesus Storybook Bible. And we read it

to all of our kids. nighttime, and we'll go one

by one, chapter by chapter, retelling the story

from Genesis all the way to the life of Jesus.

Creation, the fall, the history of salvation,

Jesus coming, and then Jesus redeeming his people.

So it's, of course, with creative license. It's

not word by word, but it's summarizing the story

of the Bible. with beautiful illustrations and

very poetic writing. So our kids grew up hearing

the word through this. Now that we were in England,

we went to the British Museum, British Library,

engaged with biblical archaeology, with textual

criticism. And then we also went to Charles Darwin's

home to engage with his life. I had a couple

of science sessions with a scientist who is the

president and CEO of Creation Ministries International.

And we engaged in a little bit of this space.

So when we went to Charles Darwin's home, I bought

a couple of books, but one of them was a children's

book. And I started reading it, and I thought,

oh, wow, this reminds me of the book I was reading

my kids. Not because it's the same content. but

because it's targeting children. Would I buy

this book and then start telling my children

this story? And it starts with volcanoes, that

there's gases, there's nothing that exists, there's

no life on earth. It doesn't start with the world

covered by water. No, no. There are volcanoes

and gases and no life. And from the very beginning,

you realize, okay, these two stories are not

compatible. And I remember reading when I was

doing my doctorate, the book Sapiens, History

of Humankind. And from the very first page, it's

like, wait, this version of history is not compatible

with what I believe. The framework, at least,

of it. And that's when you start realizing that

there's a narrative that is different from the

scripture's narrative. About origins, about where

we come from, about where the universe comes

from. And therefore, as I'm engaging in those

spaces, I have to start asking, truth or myth?

Am I believing a myth, and maybe that's the truth,

and I'm being deceived and ignorant? Or, this

is the truth, and that's the myth. How do I know?

How about origins, for instance? One of the most

dominant frameworks of origins that we know today

is known as Darwinian evolution, the origin of

the species. And that's why we did this part

of the trip, to really understand it better.

And if you are a parent that has children who

are wrestling with some of these questions, then

this study is for you. If you're on a journey

in which you're wrestling with some of these

things, and you want to be an educated Christian,

not an ignorant, just Bible -thumper, you know,

then this study is for you. It's a space to engage

with important questions. So when we went to

Charles Darwin's home, this is the home from

the backyard, beautiful place, amazing area,

very intelligent guy, lots of good studies. But

several of the things that he taught, which have

become popular and mainstream beliefs today,

they originated in his writings. And this is

the statue that is right there at the main stairwell

of the Museum of Natural History. And what we

know from Darwin is that he had a worldview on

things that he asserted. So one of them is that

he lived in a time in which the scientific establishment

believed that the universe was eternal. No beginning,

no end, no big bang, nothing like that. For about

300 years, the scientific establishment believed

and taught that the universe was eternal. Because

the idea that it would have a beginning sounded

too much like... Yeah, the Bible. So the idea

that the universe would have a beginning was

not something that people will entertain. So

he believed that during that time. And actually

that belief continued until the time of Einstein.

Einstein believed the universe was eternal until

the evidence showed him something different and

he changed his belief. But that's how recent

that belief was. He believed that the Bible was

a myth, that salvation by faith in Jesus is what

he called a damnable doctrine, that Christianity

is a myth. He did not know biochemistry. He did

not know about DNA. It had not been discovered

yet. He did not understand mutations. He didn't

understand how they worked. And he did not know

about epigenetics, how the genes turn on and

off different functions and traits that we know

just from recent. Scientific studies. This was

the framework that he came from. And he wrote

many of these things. I have mentioned some of

those in the previous studies, but I want to

show them to you in case you were not in those.

He writes in his autobiography, I have gradually

come by this time to see that the Old Testament

from its false history of the world was no more

to be trusted than the sacred books of the Hindus

or the beliefs of any barbarian. The Bible is

not true. The Old Testament is not true. Jesus

is not true. You cannot trust the Bible. It's

a myth. And not only that, he says, I can indeed

hardly see how anyone ought to wish Christianity

to be true. It is a damnable doctrine. For him,

the idea of Jesus being the word at the beginning

and becoming flesh and having to believe in him

to be saved from your sins. was nonsense, something

that needed to be condemned. And then he writes

in a letter to a friend who was a famous botanist

during that time, and he was the head of the

Kew Gardens, beautiful botanical garden. Have

you never been there before? Take a trip, if

you are in England, go to the Kew Gardens. Beautiful

place. But it is in this letter that he starts

writing about his ideas about origin. And you

know, something funny happened because I was

doing some of my research and reading this letter

in a moment when I was sitting next to my wife

and I'm using my phone to start reading the letter

and she looks over and she says, What is that

dear hooker? So I had a little bit of explanation

to do. And because that's the last name. J .D.

Hooker. And that was also an English lesson for

me on that day. But this is what he writes to

him. He says. As his friend. But if. and I know

this is a big if, but what if we could conceive

in some warm little pond with all sorts of ammonia

and phosphoric salts, light, heat, electricity,

et cetera, all these things present, that a protein

compound was chemically formed, ready to undergo

still more complex changes. At the present day,

such matter would be instantly devoured, but

at the beginning, right? Or absorbed, which would

not have been the case before living creatures

were formed. If that happened at the very beginning,

a warm little pond somewhere, and all these things

happening, maybe the first protein that became

the first cell, just like that, by accident,

maybe. And I know that's a big what if. And this

is where that idea came from. And that reminded

me of the book, the children's book that I told

you about. Because that's how it starts at the

beginning. Let me read it from the screen here

because I cannot read it from there. But it says,

then in the deep dark ocean, you are the kids

now, okay? Then in the deep dark ocean, something

amazing happened. In warm water, near underwater

volcanoes called black smokers, some tiny, tiny

floating bits came together. And these bits were

so small that you couldn't possibly see them.

They could have dropped from space or bubbled

up from under the seabed, and they form the beginning

of life on earth. That's how life started. Not

because there's someone that is life in himself

called Jesus. No. Just somewhere in the ocean,

tiny things. And these tiny things, then the

first life was just an incredibly small, shapeless

blob. And we call that shapeless blob a cell.

And as time passed, cells lived together making

sticky, slimy mats that grew into mounds as big

as pillows. Lots of cells together now. Some

cells started using sunlight, water, and gas

in the air to help them grow. Cells multiplied

into billions. And so the seas clouded with lots

of new kinds of life. Some cells puffed out an

invisible gas called oxygen. And that's where

oxygen comes from. Miraculously filling the air.

which completely changed the air and even the

color of the planet, and circling the globe,

the oxygen turned black rock shades of yellow,

red, and brown. Even so slowly, over millions

of years, cells got more complicated, and they

filled with special parts that helped them do

new things. Some began to live together, even

inside each other. As the air filled with oxygen,

some cells began to use it to grow and grow.

So this new gas changed living things forever.

Cells grew into all kinds of weird and wonderful

shapes and sizes. And some of these became the

first animals alive on earth really began to

get going. It just took a few million years to

get to this point. I'm a theologian. I studied

biology and chemistry in high school. That was

my major. So I'm not really a scientist. So maybe

there's something I don't understand. Maybe Darwin

was right and this book is telling the truth.

And I have to reinterpret it how I read John

1 and Genesis. Or, It's something I do not know?

What is it? I want to know truth. Well, so I

remember that one of the most loud and vocal

scientists who was promoting this worldview is

Richard Dawkins. He wrote the book, The God Delusion.

And actually he was interviewed in a documentary

called Expelled, No Intelligence Allowed by a

Jewish -American guy, famous, his name is Ben

Stein. And he goes and he does this documentary

to understand this idea of intelligent design

and evolution and everything. So I went back

to that documentary to maybe, maybe Dawkins could

give me some insight on this. Because I want

to know true. So listen to the interview with

me for a second and see what we learn from the

experts on this topic. Hello, Professor Dawkins.

How are you? I'm Ben Stein. I'm just sorry to

keep you waiting. How are you? Fine, thank you.

You have written that God is a psychotic delinquent

invented by mad, deluded people. No, I didn't

say quite that. I said something rather better

than that. Oh, well, please tell us what you

said. Please tell us what you said. Well, I would

have to read it from the book. No, please. The

God of the Old Testament is arguably the most

unpleasant character in all fiction. Jealous

and proud of it. a petty, unjust, unforgiving

control freak, a vindictive, bloodthirsty ethnic

cleanser, a misogynistic, homophobic, racist,

infanticidal, genocidal, filicidal, pestilential,

megalomaniacal, sadomasochistic, capriciously

malevolent bully. So that's what you think of

God? Yeah. How about if people believed in a

God of infinite lovingness and kindness and forgiveness

and generosity, sort of like the modern -day

God? Why spoil it for them? Why not just let

them have their fun and enjoy it? I mean, I don't

want to spoil anything for anybody. I write a

book. People can read it if they want to. I believe

that it is a liberating thing to free yourself

from primitive... So religion is a primitive

superstition? Oh, I think it is, yes. So you

believe it's liberating to tell people that there

is no God? I think a lot of people, when they

give up God, feel a great sense of release. And

freedom. Why do you think that? I mean, what's

your dad? What's your scientist? What's your

dad? I think, well, I've had a lot of letters

saying that. There are 8 billion people in the

world, Dr. Dawkins. How many letters have you

had? No, I haven't done that. That's quite true.

Professor Dawkins seemed so convinced that God

doesn't exist. that I wondered if you would be

willing to put a number on it. Well, it's hard

to put a figure on it, but I mean, I'd put it

as something like, you know, 99 % against or

something. Well, how do you know it's 99 %? I

don't. You're saying not 97%. No, you asked me

to put a figure on it, and I'm not comfortable

putting a figure on it. I think it's, I just

think it's very unlikely. What? But you couldn't

put a number on it? No, of course not. So it

could be 49%. Well, it would be, I mean, I think

it's... It's unlikely, and it's quite far from

50%. How do you know? I don't know. I mean, I

put an argument in the book. Well, then who did

create the heavens and the earth? Why do you

use the word who? You see, you immediately beg

the question by using the word who. Well, then

how did it get created? Well, by a very slow

process. Well, how did it start? Nobody knows

how it started. We know the kind of event that

it must have been. We know the sort of event

that must have happened for the origin of life.

What was that? It was the origin of the first

self -replicating molecule. Right. How did that

happen? I told you we don't know. So you have

no idea how it started? No, no, nor has anybody.

Nor has anyone else. What do you think is the

possibility that intelligent design might turn

out to be the answer to some issues in genetics

or in evolution? It could come about in the following

way. It could be that at some earlier time, somewhere

in the universe, a civilization evolved by probably

some kind of Darwinian means to a very, very

high level of technology and designed a form

of life that they seeded onto perhaps this planet.

Now, that is a possibility and an intriguing

possibility. And I suppose it's possible that

you might find evidence for that if you look

at the details of biochemistry, molecular biology,

you might find a signature of some sort of designer.

Wait a second. Richard Dawkins thought intelligent

design might be a legitimate pursuit? And that

designer could well be a higher intelligence

from elsewhere in the universe. But that higher

intelligence would itself have had to have come

about by some explicable or ultimately explicable

process. It couldn't have just jumped into existence

spontaneously. That's the point. So Professor

Dawkins was not against intelligent design. Just

certain types of designers, such as God, said

that they... I'm going to pause there. If you

haven't watched the documentary, I highly encourage

you to expel no intelligence allowed. But, okay,

I get it then. So nobody knows? But maybe aliens

planted the first... And on the other hand, I

have God who says, I was there. I'm your savior.

I created you. I was with God at the beginning.

Which one? True or myth? You see, as we are walking

in this journey of discerning things, we have

to ask these questions. Because once you realize

that it comes from a worldview, an assumption,

that the God of the Bible is all these words

that are so offensive, and yet, I know the truth,

and I'm going to tell you. It makes me uneasy

to try to take that worldview to start interpreting

the Bible through those eyes. Beware of myths.

There's one more section that it was part of

the intriguing experience of being in England,

which was going to the Museum of Natural History

because we are there. And we're going to this

area that there's a huge blue whale. You can

see the skeleton. Huge room. As big as this room,

perhaps. And you can see the skeleton and everything.

And that's when soon you realize that the belief

is that these whales actually evolved through

millions of years from actually land animals,

mammals. And where did the idea come from? Well,

the idea comes from Darwin himself in his book

on the origin of species. He had a friend that

was describing how he saw a bear swimming with

the mouth open trying to eat insects. And so

he starts thinking, you know, millions of years,

low process, natural selection, mutations, all

this stuff. And he says, I can see no difficulty

in a race of bears being rendered by natural

selection more and more aquatic in their structure

and habits. With larger and larger mouths, till

a creature was produced as monstrous as a whale.

So he starts imagining, maybe whales evolved

from bears. Because I can see the bears swimming,

so maybe after millions of years, develop a little

bit something more, then a little something more,

and a little something more, until it became

that. And that is something that he was ridiculed

at the beginning in the first edition of his

book, so he removed that completely from the

second edition of the book. But that took off,

and that's why they show in museums today that

whales evolved from these animals. And actually,

it's a specific kind of dog type of animal that

they say. So among all of these supposed transition

forms, there's one particular one that is very

interesting. It's called the Rhodocytus. And

the Rhodocytus is the first one that's supposed

to be the link between the... a land animal,

and the tail of the whale because it's the first

one that developed a tail. But I discovered something

that is like, it leaves you speechless. This

is a short video. It's an interview with a guy

who actually discovered this fossil and presented

it and published it. And look at what he says.

Modern whale -type structures in Rhodocetus.

There are not many modifications from Rhodocetus

to the modern whale other than changes in size

of the structures. When this video series was

being filmed on location at the University of

Michigan in Ann Arbor, the executive producer

noticed a discrepancy between museum drawings

of Rhodocetus and the fossils. The reconstruction

of Rhodocetus had a whale fluke, but there were

no fossils of the tail to confirm this. Dr. Phil

Gingrich, the scientist responsible for the discovery

and reconstruction of Rhodocetus, was questioned

how he knew there was a whale fluke on Rhodocetus,

since that part of the fossil was missing. What

was the reasoning that the scientists think there

was a fluke on Rhodocetus? based on the other

pieces of anatomy? Well, I told you we don't

have the tail in Rhodocetus, so we don't know

for sure whether it had a ball vertebra indicating

a fluke or not. So I speculated it might have

had a fluke. Scientist Gingrich also acknowledged

that the flippers were drawn on the diagram without

these fossils. Now, he does not believe this

animal had flippers. Again, his answer was surprising,

since the museum diagrams had flippers on Rhodocetus.

Now, since then, we've found the forelimbs, the

hands, and the front arm, the arms, in other

words, of Rhodocetus. And we understand that

it doesn't have the kind of arms that can be

spread out like flippers are on a whale. And

if you don't have flippers, I don't think you

can have a fluke tail and really powered swimming.

And so I now doubt that Rhodocetus would have

had a flint tail. Many experts consider whales

to be the best fossil evidence for evolution,

but are unaware of these discrepancies. Opponents

of evolution contend that whale evolution is

nothing more than hopeful supposition. If museum

diagrams are redrawn and corrected for various

discrepancies, opponents argue that whale evolution

is non -existent. So you made up the tale because

you assumed it had to be there even though it

wasn't? Yeah. And then you forgot to tell the

museum? They will accumulate teachers to tell

them exactly what they want to hear. That is

a sign of myth that the Apostle Paul wrote about.

I'm not trying to persuade you because I know

that within Christian circles there are so many

different views on these things. But what I'm

trying to do is to remind you of the warning

that the Apostle Paul gave us. There's going

to be myths that are going to replace truth.

And when a scientist comes to her career and

she has to take a walk because she has to feel

that now I have to choose between religion or

science, they cannot go together. That is the

crisis that the myth has created. Because science,

from its inception, was compatible with Christian

worldview. It was not incompatible, but it has

become because of some of these ideologies. So

a person can feel very alone in this journey

because whether the person is a scientist, like

many of them have started questioning some of

these assumptions of materialism that they grew

up with or went to college and learned from,

the experience can be very lonely because am

I the only one that is doubting these things?

Am I the only one that is struggling with these

things? What about dissent? And what I have discovered

is that there's a whole growing sector of scientists

that have walked away from this ideology, Darwinian

evolution, as an explanation of the origin of

species. Some of them, not all of them, but some

of them have become Christians, Bible -believing.

Others have just become open agnostics. There's

a whole growing group of scientists that are

saying this does not match what we know to be

true today from the science that we have today.

And it's important that we know that. I'm not

going to spend much time on this, but I want

to mention it to you in case you are in that

journey in which you want to learn more about

these things. One of them is the book Darwin's

Black Box, because that was the first attempt.

That was clearly mentioned from Michael Behe.

He's a scientist who talked about, look, the

cell is a very complicated thing. And you have

all these machines that are irreducible complexity.

There's no way that they can be explained by

natural processes that are completely random.

There are machines at the cellular level. He

has videos on YouTube called The Secrets of the

Cell. Amazing videos. You can watch them with

your kids. to really teach you about what the

cell really is like and why people that are non

-Christians talk about intelligent design because

the idea of intelligence behind these designs

is so loud. Also, there's Stephen Mayer. He's

a very intellectual... guy that writes about

these topics on intelligent design. He has written

some very good books. If you are more like the

intellectual type, I would highly recommend reading

these books. They are not religious. They are

purely scientist books. And he mentions the issues

that now Darwinian evolution is facing and materialistic

worldview is facing because there is a beginning.

Now we know the universe is not eternal. The

universe is finely tuned. There's biological

information that precedes formation. So a cell

being born out of electricity and smoke and all

of these different things just doesn't fly. It

doesn't happen that way. Information precedes

formation. Also, he talks about the Cambrian

explosion, how life appears in the geology all

at once, not slowly through processes. And there's

life fossils that have complex life in them.

The eye appears immediately from early forms.

How do you explain those things unless there's

a designer? Today, we have the problem of dinosaur

bones that have tissue and cells in them. which

defies the idea that dinosaurs were actually

millions of years old. Today we understand that

mutations do not create new information, they

destroy information. And we understand also that

the changes of mechanisms that happen of creatures

adapting to the environment is not because of

the environment per se, but it's written in their

DNA. The DNA has already built in the instructions

to turn on and turn off different features depending

on the environment. So a dog or a bear does not

become a whale. It's written in their DNA. These

are things that scientists are writing seriously

about today. There's these great documentaries,

universe design, produced by a former atheist

that became a Christian. He was a filmmaker,

and he realized people need to know these things,

so he created this documentary. If you were to

watch only one documentary, I would go to that

one. But you have to pay for it because it's

not for free right now. Darwin, The Voyage That

Changed the World is an amazing documentary.

It talks about actually what Darwin actually

experienced on his trip. And then Evolution's

Achilles Heel is a group of scientists that come

and tell you the summary of what are the issues

that scientists are experiencing today that defy

the idea of evolution. And finally, there are

ministries that have become established by groups

of scientists from lots of different fields.

One of them is the Institute of Christian Research,

which is established in Dallas. They're a growing

ministry. And also the ICM, the CMI Creation

Ministry International, which is an international

organization with scientists. They have websites,

they have documentaries, they have articles written

by scientists who do not believe what Darwin

said, but do believe what the Bible says. It's

amazing to see that there are serious scientists

writing all of these things today. Beware of

myths. And if you have not taken time to reason

through these things, I'm here to simply invite

you into that journey. Wrestle with these things.

Because whatever happens, do not let myths take

you away from the faith. You don't have to choose

between God and science. Science will point you

to God. So your journey is going to take you

through different phases. Maybe you're ignorant.

You don't understand these things. They don't

matter to you. Fine. Maybe you're feeling the

pressure of people. Everybody believes it and

you feel the pressure to conform. Or it sounds

so convincing that you are accepting things that

you wouldn't have accepted before. Or you feel

isolated because you're the only one that believes

differently. Or you are in the science field,

your career, and you feel that it can cost you

your reputation or your career. No matter where

you are in your journey, beware of myths. Do

not let false teaching, as popular as they may

be, to deceive you. The flea is not deaf. There's

a different interpretation that is most likely

to be the truth. Lord, lead us into truth. Lead

our children into truth. Help us engage with

things that point us to you. And if anyone is

in wrestling, Holy Spirit, would you lead that

person into all truth? We are here for you, Lord.

And we hear the warning. We listen to it. We

don't want to be ignorant. We don't want to be

dogmatic. We do want to study and learn and know

that what you say is true. In Jesus' name we

pray. Amen. If God is calling you to support

our ministries, you will find giving options

on our website. And remember to join us next

week. God bless you.