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Ken Williams Ministries
QUARTERLY NEWSLETTER
Copyright 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries
All Rights Reserved
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Winter 2010 (December -February) Vol. 3, No. 1
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Bible Study
"Finding Jesus in Joshua"
(Yahshua in Hebrew)
By Ken Williams
In our Christian Bibles, Joshua is considered to be a book of history. It continues the story of the Children of Israel as Joshua takes over from Moses, and leads the people into the Promised Land. But Joshua is also a prophet, and is considered so in the Hebrew Scriptures. Therefore Joshua takes his place as the first book of the Prophets in the Jewish Scriptures.
In Joshua we will seen a intance when Jehovah (Yahweh in Hebrew) appeared to and spoke to Joshua. We will also see how Joshua is like Jesus in many ways.
Joshua is like Jesus, in that he triumphantly led his people into the Possession - the Promised Land. He foreshadows the One who will bring "many sons to glory" (Hebrews 2:10 and II Corinthians 2:14 NKJV). Joshua succeeded Moses, and won the victory which Moses could not bring. Jesus fulfilled the Mosaic Law, winning the victory, which was unreachable by the Law alone. Notice this contrast: "For the Law was given through Moses, but grace and truth came through Christ Jesus (Yeshua HaMashiach)" (John 1:17 KJV). "For the Law of the Spirit of life in Messiah Jesus has made me free from the Law of sin and death" (Romans 8:2 NIV). Don't get me wrong. This does not suggest that a person can go out and live a life of sin because he or she is no longer under "The Law." The fact is that believers in Messiah have "The Law of Moses" written on their hearts" and are now free to life a life of victory under what the New Covenant calls "The Law of Christ (Messiah)."
True, we don't have to go into a Temple and offer blood offerings for our sins, as required under the Law of Moses. We no longer have to go through a human priest, as required in the Old Covenant. The Lord Jesus fulfilled all of that through His "once for all sacrifice for sin." Jesus faced this question about keeping the Torah (The Law). He told the religious leaders of His day "Don't misunderstand why I have come - it isn't to cancel the laws of Moses and the warnings of the prophets. No, I came to fulfill them, and to make them all come true. With all the earnestness I have I say: Every law in the Book will continue until its purpose is achieved. And so if anyone breaks the least commandment, and teaches others to, he shall be the least in the Kingdom of Heaven. But those who teach God's laws (The Torah) and obey them shall be great in the Kingdom of Heaven (Matthew 5:17-19 LB). Under the New Covenant, God's Law is written in our hearts. We obey out of love and intense admiration for the One "who gave Himself for us." In addition, we have the Holy Spirit of God dwelling within us as believers, empowering us to live holy lives before our Wonderful Lord.
But let's move on to a story from Joshua, which points to Jesus. It is the story of Rahab the harlot, found in chapter 2. This was a woman who was outside the fold of Israel (God's people, chosen to be priests and reveal the True God to the nations of the world). She lived in a wicked city, which was so wicked and rebellious against God that He was about to destroy the city and the people who lived in it. Rahab was involved in a wicked occupation that God deplored. But this sinful woman came to faith in the God of Israel. The people of Jericho had heard the stories of how God had miraculously preserved His people in the wilderness, and then given them one military victory after another over enemies much stronger then themselves. Spies from Israel entered the city one day. When the authorieies heard of it, they set out to catch them so they could be put to death. Rahab the harlot hid them on the roof of her house under stalks of flax. After the authorities had left, she let the spies down over the wall by a scarlet rope, but not before getting a promise that she and her family would be spared the judgment of God. Rahab left her occupation, joined the camp of Israel and embraced Israel's God as her God.
Notice how completely God forgives when one repents. Rahab, the converted harlot, is the great-great grandmother of King David, and is in the line of Jehovah, Yeshua HaMashiach (Jesus the Messiah). The Scriptures record, "Salmon begot Boaz of Rahab, Boaz begot Obed by Ruth (another non-Jew taken into the House of Israel), Obed befot Jesse, and Jesse begot David theking" (Matthew 1:5-6).
As Joshua and the Children of Israel crossed the Jordan River on dry ground during flood stage, God communicated with Joshua on several different occasions. We are not told how God spoke to him. But when we come to chapter 5, it says that Joshua left the camp and went out alone to take a look at the City of Jericho. It says, "As Joshua was sizing up the city of Jericho, a man appeared nearby with a drawn sword. Joshua strode over to him and damended, 'Are you friend of foe?' 'I am the Commander-in-Chief of the Lord's army,' he replied. (Immediately Joshua knew with whom he was speaking). Joshua fell to the ground before him and worshiped him and said, 'Give me your commands.' 'Take off your shoes,' the Commander told him, for this is holy ground.' And Joshua did" (Joshua 5:13-15 LB). Joshua had no question as to who this Man was. He knew very well the commands not to worship any thing or any man. Yet he fell down before this man, because he recognized Him as God. This Man (God in the flesh - Jesus - Yeshua) then proceeds to tell Joshua the plan for taking the city of Jericho. The plan was idiotic by any human standard. However, when God was finished it would be evident to everyone that this was not man's work, but God's doing.
God spoke to Joshua on a number of other occasions in an audible voice. However, He did not appear to Joshua in person as He did on the road to Jericho.
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SCIENCE (OR THE LACK THEREOF)
"The Motivation Behind the Theory of Evolution"
By Ken Williams
In the early 1900's, two men claimed to have found ancient bones in a gravel pit near Piltdown Common in Sussex, England. The bones, dug up by Charles Dawson, an amateur geologist, were declared by Martin A. C. Hinton, keeper of the Zoology collection at the British Museum, to be "The Missing Link." It remained the central most positive proof that the Theory of Evolution was scientifically correct. However, in 1953 it was proved that the Piltdown Man was actually a hoax. The jaw was really that of an orangutan. It had been filed down; some parts removed, and chemically treated to make it appear to have great age. Parts of the skull were human and parts from other animals. What would make an otherwise reputable man try to pull of such a hoax? And what would make school science books, and otherwise reputable scientists continue to proclaim the authenticity of Piltdown Man for another ten years after the hoax was revealed?
Have you ever heard of Nebraska Man? A fossilized tooth found in Nebraska was sent to Dr. Henry Fairfield Osburn, head of the Department of Paleontology at New York's American Museum of Natural History. From this single tooth, a drawing of an entire prehistoric ape/man was drawn. Only five years later it was discovered that the tooth was actually that of what was thought to be an extinct wild pig. Although it was still later discovered that the type of pig from which to tooth came, still exists in South America. Why would someone make up a complete ape/man from one tooth and proclaim it as proof of evolution?
In an earlier essay, we reviewed the book Buried Alive, by Dr. Jack Cuozzo. A professor of Orthodontics, Dr. Cuozzo went to Europe and Israel to X-ray the skulls of Neanderthal Man found in many museums. What he discovered was that in every case, and in every museum, the jaw bone was set 35 millimeters in front of the TMJ, making the jaw protrude, and the lower teeth come up in front of the upper teeth to make it look more ape-like. Dr. Cuozzo said that when he placed the jaw bone back into the proper socket, the Neanderthal heads were the same as any human heads today. This appears to have been a conspiracy, since it was exactly the same in various museums in half a dozen countries. What would make otherwise honorable scientists be so dishones when it comes to trying to prove evolution?
Sir Julian Huxley, the most outspoken proponent of evolution during the 20th Century, was interviewed on PBS just a few months before his death. He was asked why he had dedicated his life to promoting evolution, and why so many scientists jumped at evolution as an explanation for the origin of the species. You would expect a long, involved, scientific answer from such a man. His answer was, "I suppose the reason that we leapt at the 'origins' is that the idea of God interfered with our sexual morays." This great man of science admitted that evolution has little to do with science and everything to do with God. In his statement, he basically said that if there is a God, then He has the right to tell us how to live. I almost feel like I have to add a, "Duh," at this point. Huxley's rush to promote evolution was because of his dislike for the idea that there might be a God.
Richard Lewontin ("Billions and Billions of Demons," The New York Review, January 9, 1997, page 31, emp. In orig. except for the last two sentences. Article is a review of Carl Sagan's book, Billions and Billions, Random House, New York 1997) writes, "Our willingness to accept scientific claims against common sense is the key to an understanding of the real struggle between science and the supernatural. We take the side of science in spite of the patent absurdity... We are forced to our adnerence to materialism ...no matter how counter-intuitive, no matter how mystifying to the uninitiated. Moreover, that materialism is absolute, for we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."
Let's dissect those statements. First, he says that this is a struggle between science and the supernatural. That is an incorrect statement. It is a struggle of those within the scientific community who accept godless evolution, and those in the scientific community who accept the possibility of the supernatural. Remember from our earlier essays that evolution is not science. It is one interpretation of scientific facts. Second, based on his desire to eliminate God, he makes five very unscientific statements:
* He accepts evolution's claims "against common sense."
* He accepts evolution "in spite of its patent absurdity."
* He accepts evolution "no matter how counter-intuitive it is."
* He accepts evolution "no matter how mystifying" it is.
* He concludes: "we cannot allow a Divine Foot in the door."
Where could anyone find a more clear definition of "blind faith?" Notice that he accepts "scientific claims." Scientific claims are interpretation of evidence. Claims are not science. Facts are science. Creation Science is not a science either. It is the same thing as evolutionary science. It is the interpretation of scientific facts. But I believe that Creation Science has a much better and more rational interpretation of the facts than does evolution.
Richard Dawkins of the University of Oxford is one of the most influential people in the world in terms of what is taught to our children as science. Many say that Dawkins has taken up the mantle of Huxley. In his book, The God Delusion, 2006, Houghton Mifflin, page 36, Dawkins writes, "I am attacking God, all gods, anything and everything supernatural, wherever and whenever they had been or will be invented."
What motivated the Piltdown Man hoax? I believe it was man's war against God. What motivated the Nebraska Man hoax? When you realize that Dr. Osborn actually wanted to use it as evidence in the 1925 "Scopes Monkey Trial" challenging the law prohibiting the teaching of evolution in Tennessee, you begin to understand the motivation. What motivated the museums of Europe and Israel to misrepresent the skulls of Neanderthal Men? Was it the drive to prove evolution at all cost, so the religion of Atheism would prevail?
I am reminded of two passages of Scripture. The first is in Psalm 14:1, where King David wrote, "The fool hath said in his heart, there is no God" (KJV). The other is from Romans chapter 1. "Yes, they knew about Him alright, but they wouldn't admit it or worship Him or even thank Him for all his daily care. And after awhile they began to think up silly ideas of what God was like and what He wanted them to do. The result was that their foolish minds became dark and confused. Claiming themselves to be wise without God, they became utter fools instead" (vs. 21-22 LB). Skipping down to verse 28; "So it was that when they gave God up and would not acknowledge Him, God gave them up to doing everything their evil minds could think of. Their lives became full of every kind of wickedness and sin, of greed and hate, envy, murder, fighting, lying, bitterness, and gossip. They were backbiters, haters of God, insolent, proud braggarts, always thinking of new ways of sinning..." (vs. 28-30 LB). These passages need no additional explanation.
What then is the motivation for the promotion of evolution? According to God's Word, the motivation is a hatred for God. Based on the above paragraphs, that is very apparent!
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AMERICAN HISTORY (As it used to appear)
George Washington
By Ken Williams
The subject of this essay is George Washington, the first President of the United States under the Constitution. What you will read on this page used to be included in our school history books, but you won't find it there anymore.
George Washington was born into a very godly home. Both his mother and father were dedicated Christians. His father died when George was only eleven years old. His mother continued the family practice of spending one hour in prayer and Bible reading each morning and each evening. She taught young George the Bible, and he memorized large portions of it. George claimed a living faith in Jesus Christ, which molded his life and his service to his country.
George Washington took the oath of office on a Bible, and then kissed it. His deep faith was evident in his inaugural address in which he said, "It would be peculiarly improper to omit in this first official act, my fervent supplication to that Almighty Being who rules over the universe, who presides in the councils of nations, and whose providential aid can supply every human defect." Later, in the same inaugural address, he said, "I shall take my present leave, but not without resorting once more to the Benign Parent of the human race in humble supplication, that since He has been pleased to favor the American people with opportunities for deliberating in perfect tranquility, so His Divine blessing may be equally conspicuous in the enlarged views that temperate consultation and wise measures on which the success of this government may depend."
Following the inauguration, Washington led Congress down the street to church for a two hour worship service.
Each evening during his presidency, Washington would go into his study at 9:00. There he could be found on his knees, with a Bible open on the chair before him, and he could be heard reading and praying aloud for one hour before retiring for the night. He rose every morning at 4:00, went into his study and spent another hour with his Lord.
Jeremiah Smith said of Washington, that he brought to the presidency "all the mildness and force of Christianity. He brought religion with him into office and did not lose it."
Sunday, or the Sabbath, as he called it, was given over entirely to the Lord, both during his military career and later as president. He would not travel unnecessarily on Sunday, nor would he receive any visitors. He was a faithful member of the Episcopal Church. He attended services both Sunday morning and Sunday evening.
Washington collected written sermons, and on the rare occasions he could not get to church, he would sit down and read one of the sermons to his wife, Martha.
We said Washington would not receive visitors on Sunday. There was, however, one visitor who came to the Washington home each Sunday night following church services when Congress was in session. It was Mr. Trumble, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, who was described as one of the mostly saintly and pious men of his time. The two would go into the study and there they would pray and share together the things of the Lord. This was common knowledge to the people of Washington's day; and for 150 years afterward it was a part of our written history. However, it has long since been censored from our school books.
We mentioned the Speaker of the House in the last paragraph. Did you ever wonder how those early members of Congress knew what kind of bills to submit for consideration, and then to pass? Here's an eye-opener. A member of Congress would rise to the floor and recommend a bill for consideration. He would usually say, "I read in the Bible last night...and the Lord showed me," and then he would explain his bill. He would then read or quote the passage from the Bible, and propose the bill. Another congressman would then stand up and say something like this, "Well, if it's in the Bible, then we ought to pass it." Others would make similar comments; the vote would be taken and the bill passed. You can go to the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C. today; go back and look at the old legislation, and you will find chapter and verse from the Bible for every bill passed.
George Washington, a general during the Revolutionary War, first President of the United States under the Constitution, but first and foremost he was a dedicated Christian who lived his faith every day.
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REPORT:
Our Fall 2009 Tour
In October my wife and I took our Fall tour. Wednesday evening, October 14th, we were in Greenville, Illinois, home of Greenville College. The following evening we were in Zanesville, Ohio. Sunday we visited Westminster Presbyterian Church in Lancaster, Pennsylvania in the morning and an evening service at Calvary Fellowship in Lancaster. Monday I had the privilege of presenting a one hour gospel concert to about 200 residents of a large retirement community in Lancaster. I was explaining our involvement in the establishment of an Hispanic congregation at our church in Bentonville, Arkansas, when I remembered that there were a number of retired missionaries in the audience. I asked how many people spoke Spanish. Eight to ten hands went up. My next to last song was "How Great Thou Art," so, I sang the final chorus in Spanish:
Mi corazon entona la cancion
Cuan grande es El, Cuan grande es El.
Mi corazon entona la cancion
Cuan grande is El, Cuan grande is El.
Then on Tuesday we were in Lehighton and Weissport, Pennsylvania. We arrived back in Arkansas the following Saturday afternoon.
Thank you for your prayers. We praise the Lord for what was accomplished. Pat, who has some major health issues, did very well on the trip, actually better than she is sometimes here at home.
While in Lancaster, Pat and I had the opportunity of having lunch with two members of my high school graduating class: Fred Schneider and Dr. John Eshelman.
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CLICK BELOW TO VIEW PREVIOUS NEWS LETTERS:
Summer 2010- Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
Spring 2010 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
Fall 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
Summer 2009 - KenWilliams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
Spring 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
Winter 2009 - Ken Williams Ministries Quarterly News Letter
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