TED (life story)

IS EVOLUTION TRUE?

Ted thought that all there was to being a Christian was living a good life. After seeing a video, he realised that there was a contradiction between God creating the world and the world being produced by the evolutionary processes of time, chance and error (mutation). Ted now realises that Jesus is the author of life and that the good news is that Jesus is the only way to salvation and forgiveness. One of the side benefits of receiving God's grace was that Ted overcame the grief of the death of his son and his dependence on cigarettes and beer.

False sense of security

Before I became a believer in Jesus Christ, I thought that I was a Christian. I acknowledged that there was a God but I thought by simply living a good honest life I would go to heaven. Before I became a believer I had an unhealthy dependency on beer and cigarettes and swore a lot. I didn't believe that there was an eternal Hell because I thought God was all about 'love' and that he wouldn't judge people in such a way. I'd heard of the Gospel, but I didn't know what it was.

Uncertainty and dissatisfaction

My wife, Pam, started going to Church, and I kept doing the things that I thought were important to me in my backyard at home. One day Pam asked me to go to Church with her, but I wasn't at all interested. After being asked many times, I thought that I would surprise her and I said "yes". I began to look for something to satisfy me. I kept on reading the Bible but I found that I had difficulty in understanding it. My children became involved in a Christian Youth Group, and one night I went along and watched a video on "Evolution versus Creation". The speaker in this video showed that the theory of evolution did not stand up scientifically and contradicted what the Bible said.

The term 'evolution' is referred to here as the process in which non-living material supposedly became living and increased in complexity to produce living things (including humans) over millions of years by mistakes in the genes (mutations) and the process of natural selection.

The laws of science contradict the theory of evolution

Where is the conclusive scientific evidence for evolution? Where are the convincing missing links or the overwhelming evidence that mutation (random errors in the genetic code) makes a living thing more complex? Science (e.g. second law of thermodynamics) and plain common sense tell us that things NEVER go from simple / disorganized to complex / organized without a plan / code / intelligence. The process of evolution has no such plan / code / intelligence. Your untidy (disorganized) room will never become more organized by chance and time. It will only become more organized if an intelligence (yourself, your mother or father!) has a plan and actually organizes it. The law of biogenesis says that "living things only come from living things" and evolution contradicts this by requiring living things to come from non-living things. No one has ever found one case that contradicts these two laws (second law of thermodynamics and biogenesis). Natural selection can never produce any new genes and mutation can never bring about the complexity and the miracle of the human body, no matter how much time it has! Mutations are almost always harmful, and at best neutral. If the human body was produced by natural processes (time, chance, error) which has no plan / code / intelligence, it would be a far, far greater supernatural miracle than the miracle that occurred when God created our world! The theory of evolution is not an undeniable scientific fact and is flatly contradicted by science and common sense!

The term 'natural selection' is "the process in which better adapted organisms survive to pass on their genes to their offspring". It does not produce new genes and therefore cannot lead to evolution.

The Gospel told

For the first time in my life, I saw things from a very different perspective. I started asking some serious questions about the world and myself. It was at this time that Pam shared the Gospel with me. I heard the Gospel message and it changed my life forever! Romans 3:23 in the Bible told me; "Yes, all have sinned; all fall short of God's glorious ideal." This would then mean that there is no hope for you and me. But wait, as I read on it says in Romans 3:24-25 that "God declares us 'not guilty' of offending him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in His kindness freely takes away our sins." "For God sent Christ Jesus to take the punishment for our sins and to end all God's anger against us. He used Christ's blood and our faith as the means of saving us from his wrath. In this way he was being entirely fair, even though he did not punish those who sinned in former times. For that person was looking forward to the time when Christ would come and take away his sins." This means that if we truly and genuinely believe this in our hearts, God pardons us from our sin and we become fully accepted by Him. We can have a personal relationship with Him, awesome! I am able to talk to the Creator of all things, seen and unseen, WOW! This is confirmed to me in Romans 10:9-10 where it says; "For if you tell others with your own mouth that Jesus Christ is your Lord and believe in your own heart that God has raised him from the dead, you will be saved." "For it is by believing in his heart that a man becomes right with God; and with his mouth he tells others of his faith, confirming his salvation."

The big question - "Is evolution true?"

I'd never considered that God being the Creator (Creation) could not exist along side the theory of evolution with its millions of years of time and chance. Jesus said that the worldwide flood of Noah was a real event and if Jesus says it, it is good enough for me! "As in the days of Noah, so it will be at the coming of the Son of Man. For in the days before the flood, people were eating and drinking, marrying and giving in marriage, up to the day Noah entered the ark; and they knew nothing about what would happen until the flood came and took them away" (Matthew 24:38,39). The Bible says that GOD created the universe and therefore it was not produced by chance, mistakes (mutations) and millions of years. God did this by speaking. "In the beginning GOD created the heavens and the earth …" (Genesis 1:1). "God said, 'Let there be light' and there was light' (Genesis 1:3). The Bible says that people, following their own evil desires, will mock God and deliberately forget about the judgment of God, which includes the worldwide flood of Noah. "In the last days scoffers will come, scoffing and following their own evil desires … they deliberately forgot that long ago by God's word the heavens and the earth was formed out of water and by water. By these waters also the world of that time was deluged and destroyed …" (2 Peter 3:3,5,6). This theory contradicts what Jesus says and replaces the creative work of a powerful living God with the natural processes of chance, time and errors (mutations) giving no hope or joy to the human spirit.

Overcoming dependency on cigarettes and beer

One of the side benefits of receiving God's grace was that God allowed my dependence on cigarettes and beer to disappear. Believing the truth about who we are, where we came from and where we are going brings with it power to change our lives and live free from addictions.

The testing comes

The testing soon came. Trials came upon me in the form of financial difficulty due to a traffic accident, which happened, believe it or not, on the way to church! There was also another traffic offence which involved going to court to retain my driver's licence. Financially, I was ship wrecked. I was brought very low, to my knees in fact, and went before God with my petition. God answered my prayers, performed some miracles in and out of court and blessed me abundantly. God wants us to trust Him with everything in this life.

Bible students

In 1994, Pam and I were both challenged and hungry to know more about Jesus. We both gave up our jobs. Pam is a nurse, and I was a communications technician. In January 1995, we sold our house interest free to some friends, who are currently paying us back. We sold all our belongings, and went to Bible College in Sydney to study for an associate diploma in ministry. We took three of our children with us, but left our eldest son, Kurt, behind with friends. Kurt was finishing grade twelve at High School.

Youth ministry

In January 1995, we started and ran a youth ministry in a church in Sydney. We really felt the presence of God, the special fellowship, and warmth in our ministry with the church. We had a desire to keep working for God in the lives of young people in the area. Pam did some part time nursing to pay the college fees, as well as keeping an active involvement as a member of a group that warned kids about the dangers of drugs.

The Lord's direction

After obtaining an associate diploma, I desired to further my studies in ministry. I considered enrolling in a theological College to do a Bachelor in Youth Ministry, but I felt that this was not the direction the Lord was leading at this time. Some tough decisions were prayerfully made as we packed up all our possessions in Sydney and headed home to Queensland. We felt, and the Lord later confirmed to us that we needed to re-group as a family and spend quality time with our son Kurt, as well as our three other children.

The biggest loss
Overcoming the grief of the death of a loved one

We were able to enjoy life as a complete family for four months before Kurt was called home to be with the Lord after being killed in a traffic accident on the way home from work one night. Although this was absolutely devastating to us, God showed us that it was definitely part of His plan, and in His perfect timing. Kurt might have lost control of the car, but God was always in control and one day all will be revealed. I give thanks to God the Father, my precious Saviour Jesus Christ, and by the power of the Holy Spirit for the salvation and eternal life, which He has bestowed upon our family. Praise God! I knew that if God could allow me to overcome this tragedy then I was capable of facing anything that life may throw at me.

Continuing on

We have since enjoyed the ministry of the youth in other churches and different areas of our community. Pam has recently been a School Chaplain and I work in a High School as a Technical Support Officer. Working together with the Chaplain in the High School has been beneficial in more ways than one. I am often able to help the students and staff in spiritual matters as well as with their computer questions. It is God who has placed me in the School for His purpose and I look to His leading. I also have a love for extreme weather and electronics, and have built a Christian web site, www.gympieweather.com to proclaim God's "Word on the Weather". We wish to keep serving our Saviour by teaching His Word, and helping to spread His wonderful gospel message to the many who cross our paths, wherever that may be.

"But now ask the beasts, and they will teach you; and the birds of the air, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; and the fish of the sea will explain to you. Who among all these does not know that the hand of the LORD has done this, in whose hand is the life of every living thing, and the breath of all mankind?" (Job 12:7-10).

May you continue to seek and know the true Creator of all things,
Ted

Come to know Jesus

© 2005 Lynton Allan