Volume II, Issue 8
Volume II, Issue 8
www.midwestapologetics.org
Welcome to the monthly Midwest Apologetics newsletter. Each issue is designed to keep you informed on the latest news concerning the ministry and provide timely articles to help strengthen your faith. Be sure to check out our website for articles, book reviews, and answers to some of the tough questions concerning the Christian faith.
Leukemia, the Lord, and Long Ages
As most of you have heard, I was diagnosed with leukemia on July 12 and have been receiving ever since. I spent the first month in a hospital and have already been through my second round of chemotherapy. I am going in for a bone marrow biopsy on Monday, September 11 to see how effective this round of chemo has been.
During my battle with this disease I have heard many people say to me that we don’t know why these things happen but God has a plan for you. I certainly agree with the second half of this statement but must take issue with the first half. You see, if one holds a biblical worldview then he should know exactly why these things happen.
God created a perfect world and mankind messed it up bringing the curse upon the world. Since Adam’s sin, this world has been full of death and suffering. God promised that those who sinned would die. Six thousand years of history have demonstrated that we are sinful and deserve God’s righteous judgment.
I am also a sinner and deserve to die. In fact, I am fortunate that God has allowed me to live this long. Knowing these things, since being diagnosed with leukemia, I have never asked “Why me?” Instead I have wondered, “Why not sooner since I deserve death?”
This got me thinking. Could an old earth creationist (someone who believes God created everything over a period of billions of years) satisfactorily answer the question as to why God allows these things to happen? Not at all!
The old earther believes the fossil record provides evidence of billions of years of earth history. Fossils that are allegedly tens of millions of years old have been found with evidence of cancer and many other maladies. From this viewpoint, death, disease, and suffering must have been around long before Adam sinned. This means that these horrible things were part of the creation that God called “very good” (Gen. 1:31) and He is responsible for them.
I have been through some pretty rough times in the past two months. If I were an old earth creationist I would constantly be questioning why God would think cancer is “very good.” I know from personal experience that cancer is an awful thing. What kind of God would say that it is “very good”? This certainly is not the way God is described in Scripture.
Many people have asked me why the young earth/old earth battle is such a big deal to me. It’s not practical, they say. It most certainly is practical. While battling leukemia I know that I serve a God who created a perfect world that we messed up rather than one who created death and suffering as part of the creation. Why would anyone want to serve a God who likes death and suffering? It doesn’t get more practical than that.
Since being diagnosed with leukemia, several people have been asking me if we have any financial needs that they can help us out with during this time. Until now, we have not asked for any financial help although many of you have been very generous by sending gifts (Thank you!). My school has just begun to take up a collection to help us cover our financial needs. If you are interested in donating to this fund, please send your donation to:
Tri-State Christian School / 11084 Hwy 20W / Galena, IL 61036. (Be sure to include Tim’s name in the memo line of your check – thank you for your kindness and generosity)
In our last newsletter we reported on the recent expedition of Dr. Bob Cornuke of Base Institute to the Middle East. Cornuke and his team discovered a large petrified wooden object that could possibly be Noah’s Ark. Of course, we need to wait for further expeditions to see what this object really is.
One question immediately came to my mind. This object was discovered on a mountain in Iran. Most ark expeditions have focused on Mt. Ararat in Turkey. How can Cornuke believe this might be the ark when it is so far away from Ararat? Well, he provides some compelling biblical evidence for this on his website. Please see www.baseinstitute.org/noah.html for more on this exciting story.
We will continue to keep you posted on this and many other items of interest to the Christian faith in upcoming newsletters.
All speaking events have been put on hold due to Tim’s leukemia. He is currently working on a talk based on his experiences. Please contact us if you are interested in hearing his testimony blended with a message about thinking rightly about God and His Word.
Health permitting, Tim will be speaking at Living Waters Bible Camp in Westby, WI on November 10 – 11.
If you would be interested to have Tim speak at your church, school, youth group, etc. please email us for more information.
Please pray for the following items this month:
- Cari G. – diagnosed with leukemia, had a bone marrow transplant on September 5th. Please pray that her body will begin to heal itself as a result of this new bone marrow.
- Josh A. – diagnosed with Burkitt’s Syndrome (an agressive form of cancer). I met Josh and his wife during my stay in the hospital. He is younger than me and has four young children.
- Gayla S. – the niece of a close friend of Midwest Apologetics has recently been intellectually convinced of the Christian faith but needs to take that step of faith to place her life in Christ’s hands. Please pray that she will take that next step.
- Tim – has been dealing with the effects of chemotherapy. Currently, his health is pretty good but he still has two more rounds of chemo in the near future. The results of his next bone marrow biopsy should be known on September 18th. Please pray that both the hematological and molecular tests will be negative. This will mean that the leukemia is in full remission.
As always, if you have any questions, comment, concerns, corrections, ideas, prayer requests, etc., please email us and let us know. Also, thank you for your prayers. Please continue to keep us in your prayers throughout this month.
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