So Many Distractions, So Little Time
Those of us involved in biblical creation science apologetics ministries are subject to distractions, as are other Christian ministries. We need to do a sort of balancing act between possibly neglecting some things that are important to our readers (or viewers, or listeners), and indulging in our personal preferences. Another area we need to keep in balance is to avoid "tunnel vision", where we spend so much time on our area of specialty that we neglect good biblical teaching in other areas.
Let me give you an example. There's a Page on Fazebook that purports to be a presuppositional apologetics ministry, but is bringing every topic horse out of the coral and riding it for a while. Some of the subjects are important, but making dozens of posts each day on a variety of topics (including pet doctrines like annihilationism, quantities of political posts) — people can feel hammered on. I've seen Pages that claim to be biblical creation science ministries do much the same thing. People have even complained on Pages that lost their focus, "I thought you were here to talk about such and so".
A couple of things so y'all don't disunderstand me. First, the occasional off-topic post for a specialized site or Page can be fun, and there are times when it's necessary. Second, if a site or ministry is more general and not claiming to emphasize a specific area, that's quite different.
There's a heap of information floating around the Internet about more topics than this child can ever imagine. It's a mixed blessing. We can find out something we need or want to know (such as how to ride a bucking bronco), but there are many sites with erroneous and even false information. Sometimes, someone will get a notion about a theological topic and ask a question of someone who deals with those things. (I'll allow that I've been asked questions that I have no idea how to answer, and have to refer the questioner elsewhere. Sometimes, they get a mite cranky about that, but not too often.) Again, don't get me wrong, I've been asked questions that are out of my area of specialty and the person seemed genuinely distressed, so I would answer if I could. Also, I do like to help people when I can.
Some people are lazy, expecting people to be their errand boys so they don't have to use a search engine. Other times, we have atheists and evolutionists who demand answers to their questions and challenges, but are usually being manipulative time-wasters. Want to know about someone else that had to deal with attempted manipulation and distraction? See Nehemiah 6:1-19.
There are people who get confused or upset about various things on teh interwebs, such as various conspiracy theories. We have work to do, and shouldn't be cluttering something such as a creation science site with items about the Anunnaki (our reptilian masters from outer space), 9-11 "inside job" nonsense that has been thoroughly debunked, stories about "suppressed evidence" that is from dubious or satirical sources where the Smithsonian has destroyed giant skeletons, space aliens in Area 51 collaborating with the US government, suppressed evidence about being able to control the weather, and so on. People get alarmed as well as distracted by these conspiracy ideas, but Christians need to remember that God is in control.
Ian Juby was asked about the giant skeletons, and he pointed out some things that people should do in these instances. Mainly, check the sources. I followed the link given to him that went to a dubious source, which gave another dubious source that copied the first one, further source links until finally, it rested on World News Report Daily. This site makes is intended for humor and satire. Sad that people believe so much on the Web without doing investigation.
I've had my say. So, to give you something good:
Let me give you an example. There's a Page on Fazebook that purports to be a presuppositional apologetics ministry, but is bringing every topic horse out of the coral and riding it for a while. Some of the subjects are important, but making dozens of posts each day on a variety of topics (including pet doctrines like annihilationism, quantities of political posts) — people can feel hammered on. I've seen Pages that claim to be biblical creation science ministries do much the same thing. People have even complained on Pages that lost their focus, "I thought you were here to talk about such and so".
A couple of things so y'all don't disunderstand me. First, the occasional off-topic post for a specialized site or Page can be fun, and there are times when it's necessary. Second, if a site or ministry is more general and not claiming to emphasize a specific area, that's quite different.
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| Image credit: Morguefile / jdurham |
Some people are lazy, expecting people to be their errand boys so they don't have to use a search engine. Other times, we have atheists and evolutionists who demand answers to their questions and challenges, but are usually being manipulative time-wasters. Want to know about someone else that had to deal with attempted manipulation and distraction? See Nehemiah 6:1-19.
There are people who get confused or upset about various things on teh interwebs, such as various conspiracy theories. We have work to do, and shouldn't be cluttering something such as a creation science site with items about the Anunnaki (our reptilian masters from outer space), 9-11 "inside job" nonsense that has been thoroughly debunked, stories about "suppressed evidence" that is from dubious or satirical sources where the Smithsonian has destroyed giant skeletons, space aliens in Area 51 collaborating with the US government, suppressed evidence about being able to control the weather, and so on. People get alarmed as well as distracted by these conspiracy ideas, but Christians need to remember that God is in control.
Ian Juby was asked about the giant skeletons, and he pointed out some things that people should do in these instances. Mainly, check the sources. I followed the link given to him that went to a dubious source, which gave another dubious source that copied the first one, further source links until finally, it rested on World News Report Daily. This site makes is intended for humor and satire. Sad that people believe so much on the Web without doing investigation.
I've had my say. So, to give you something good:
CMI regularly receives enquiries from Christians fretting over conspiracy theories (such as the ‘LooseChange’ 9/11 theory) and doomsday scenarios (such as overpopulation leading to mass starvation, or global warming ending life as we know it). Generally the enquirer wants to know whether what they’ve heard is true, and if it is, what they should do about it. In today’s feedback Andrew Lamb responds to an enquiry from Robyn M of Queensland about weather control claims made by scientist Tom Bearden, which involve both doomsday and conspiracy aspects.Nope, not here. You can finish reading by clicking "Conspiracy and doomsday scenarios: should Christians be worried?"
I was prompted by another Christian website (Cutting Edge – an end times sort of ministry) to purchase a book that would give insight into the scalar technology that is supposedly in the hands of Russians/Japanese et al and its imminent use against the West in a WWIII scenario. The book is very technical and involves a lot of quantum physics I think and way above my head. The author is T.E. Bearden who has a whole paragraph of qualifications and he makes some startling statements. I have been a subscriber to creation ministries all my Christian life and in fact your ministry was most instrumental in my conversion and I have the greatest respect and regard for your integrity and wonderful ministry. My query is: Do you know of T.E. Bearden and his assertions and/or “energetics”, “bioenergetics” and “psychoenergetics” or “scalar interferometry” (weather control amongst other horrors). He quotes E.T. Whittaker and others from the past and says this science has been around for a long time but is being ignored by the West. As I said, the book is beyond my understanding and quite disturbing if it’s true. I would really appreciate if you could give me any information at all as to the validity of these claims. The book is called “Oblivion – America at the Brink”.Dear Robyn
Thank you
Robyn M