Absolute Devotion

G. Thomas Sharp • May 24, 2019

Luke quoted Jesus in Luke 14:26-27 and presents an essential and challenging fact in the process. He starkly tells us that if any man comes to Jesus and professes to be His disciple and devoted follower, and does not hate his father and mother, his wife and children, his brothers and sisters, even his own life that he is lying to God, himself and all that hear him! I admit that on first reading this prohibition seems extremely harsh and tremendously challenging, but it must be understood that genuine discipleship and worship requires absolute devotion and obedience that allows nothing slipshod or casual associated with his relationship and devotion to Jesus.

It is eye-opening that the Greek word translated “hate” is miseo (pronounced mă·sā´ō) and has a rather broad range of meaning. In Matthew 10:22, 24:10; Luke 6:22, etc., it essentially means to hate, or to exhibit animosity toward someone or something. In Romans 7:15, the meaning is an adverse feeling toward or for evil. Another connotation is seen in Matthew 6:24 that indicates the acceptance of one thing and the rejection of another, (and obviously, all of the above meanings will ultimately yield this effect).

However, the use of this word in Luke 14 is extremely forceful, and actually “by comparison,” infers that as an act of worship we must love Jesus more than anything or anyone else. Jesus is saying, in effect, that if we love our mother, father, wife and children more than Him, we are idolaters and cannot be His disciple (and this needs further commentary that present space will not permit). Nevertheless, this austere devotion and obedience is a commonly held position believed by all obedient believers!

Moreover, this is the underlying intent of the first four commandment listed in Exodus 20:3-8! No other gods, no graven image, not taking the name of the LORD in vain and keeping the sabbath holy, ultimately, is a means meant to protect the ultimate worship of Jehovah God! The commonly held notion that we must make Jesus a part of our lives or that we must include Him in our actions and thoughts is a travesty in the highest sense of the word. He must be our reason, our goal and our primary objective! This explains why Biblical creation, especially now, is so important because it explains why evolution in any form is so desperately evil! Any so-called “scientific” form of evolution is a terribly potent religious form promoting a mesmerizing idolatry, and it does so with a vengeance!

The prophet Isaiah explains the rationale for this statement. In Isaiah 40:8 he explains, “I am the LORD: that is my Name: and my glory will I not give to another, neither my praise to graven images.” Giving credit to any philosophy that explains origins by rejecting the intelligence, sovereignty, authority and creatorship of Jesus Christ must be the exceeding sinfulness of sin!

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September/October 2025 Printed Newsletter

October 2, 2025

Flooded Marine Reptile

By Matt Miles • October 2, 2025

The Flood during Noah’s day was a devastating judgement against the sin and wickedness of the time. Most people focus on what the Lord did as He saved the eight people and animals on the Ark. Yet while they were being saved, the Flood destroyed the earth and left behind some remarkable things. Geology around the globe shows water burial of plants and animals. Many of the animal remains show signs of drowning and then burial. One particular reptile that shows this is the Ichthyosaurus. From what we can understand, water was her home for everything in life, even giving birth to live young. This well designed creature may even help us trust the Word of God when it comes to the history of the Flood. In our Mobile Museum of Earth History we exhibit a research replica of an ichthyosaur called Stenopterygius quadriscissus . She is from Holzmaden, Germany and is one example of hundreds that have been found in the area. The reason we can so confidently state this fossil is a “her,” when we rarely know for sure about fossil animals, is because she is pregnant. She has three babies present with her remains: one under her tail, one in or near the birth canal, and one still inside. Our fossil is in situ, which means the fossil remains in the rock matrix it was buried in. So, the presence of momma and babies are how they were buried and not articulated in some manner after excavation. This is important to show the rapid, watery burial that must have taken place to lock this scene in the fossil record. The Flood trapped organisms all over the world in different life positions. Sometimes the fossils left behind have shown eating, hunting, sleeping, swimming, nesting, or drowning. When it comes to ichthyosaurs around the planet, there is a significant number of females that seem to be pregnant. They have been found in the fossil record on at least four continents. A fair assumption would be that Ichthyosaurs had a certain time of year they mated and gave birth to young, much like sea turtles today that nest from late spring to late fall depending on the region around the world. So it should come as no surprise that we find pregnant ichthyosaurs all around the world as the Flood lasted an entire year. It would have buried the females that were pregnant near their location of habitat. Evolutionists maintain that ichthyosaurs lived tens to hundreds of million years ago and each of the mothers found in the fossil record just died while giving birth. This is difficult to support in a millions magnitude time scale. That would mean every time a disaster happened, millions of years apart, the right conditions existed to quickly bury ichthyosaurs that just so happened to be pregnant. It just might take some “faith” to trust that “miracle” would happen over and over again through eons of time. Or you can have faith that the Word of God’s history is correct with a judgement of man’s sin bringing global devastation through the Flood during Noah’s 600th year of life. The Word of God is trustworthy, with even the fossil record showing us glimpses of historical evidence in support of our faith. I’m so thankful we don’t need blind faith to trust our salvation! Blessings.

Our God Whom We Serve Is Able

By Ryan Cox • October 2, 2025

14 Nebuchadnezzar spoke, saying to them, “Is it true, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego, that you do not serve my gods or worship the gold image which I have set up? 15 …if you do not worship, you shall be cast immediately into the midst of a burning fiery furnace. And who is the god who will deliver you from my hands?” 16 Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-Nego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. 17 If that is the case, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and He will deliver us from your hand, O king. 18 But if He does not, let it be known to you, O king, that we do not serve your gods, nor will we worship the gold image which you have set up.” Daniel 3:14-18 In the 6th century BC, three young men stood up for their faith in the one true God, for which someone attempted to kill them. Today, in the 21st century AD, one young man was gunned down for his faith in the one true God. And sadly, Charlie Kirk is not the only one. According to The Esther Project, martyrdom for the cause of Christ is commonplace around the world ( theestherproject.com/statistics ). On average: 322 Christians are killed monthly. 214 churches or Christian properties are destroyed monthly. 772 forms of violence (beatings, kidnappings, etc.) against Christians are committed monthly. 100,000 to 160,000 Christians are killed annually in the 21st century. 1.093 million Christians were martyred between 2000 and 2010. And more than 70 million Christians are believed to have been martyred since the 1st century, with more than half killed in the 20th century alone under communist and fascist governments. And how should Christians respond? Peter wrote, “ if anyone suffers as a Christian, let him not be ashamed, but glorify God in this name ” (I Peter 4:16). Jesus took this a step further; He told us, “ …love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you ” (Matthew 5:44). Now, as Shawn Grant, minister at Kissimmee Christian Church, FL, preached on the Sunday following the assassination, th at may not be what you want to hear right now, but that is what Jesus has told us we must do. Why? So the world will see the difference Jesus makes! The night of and the days after the assassination, businesses did not have to board up their stores. Police and soldiers did not have to be deployed. There were no riots, no property damages, no police spat upon – only tears, prayers, and a witness to the world that Jesus is the answer. So noticeable is this to the world, there were more international press requests for the Charlie Kirk memorial service than are requested for Super Bowls. Within seven days of his death, Kirk’s ministry Turning Point USA had received over 54,000 campus chapter requests. And most importantly, scores of videos of young people considering or even deciding to give their lives to Jesus have been posted to social media platforms.