by Pat Franklin
We were in England's West Country recently and stopped for a picnic lunch at Charmouth in Dorset, which is known for its many fossils. Despite the cold, rainy weather, there were lots of dog walkers and fossil hunters.
In the fascinating rock shop there, we saw the famous ichthyosaur fossil found in a nearby cliff at Easter, 2000. It is just the head, and it is scary! Imagine swimming along in Charmouth's beautiful bay and seeing that monster coming at you! I am very grateful that they are extinct. The head alone is about 5 ft long and the whole body would be about 40 ft. No doubt it ate a lot. The monster of the cliff.
We know that scientists refer to an 'extinction event' when they say 95 percent of species on earth were destroyed, leaving their fossilized bones behind as evidence. As Bible believing Christians, we know that this worldwide 'event' was in fact the Flood of Noah, about 4,500 years ago.
That was like no flood before or since, and God promised that never again would He destroy the world with water, setting the rainbow in the sky as a sign of His promise. The wholesale destruction was accomplished when the watery canopy which then protected the earth fell, the great rift cracks were torn open, releasing immense volumes of water from beneath the earth and thousands of volcanoes began erupting at once. The evidence of all this is right here on the planet, but most academics today will not even consider the Flood as the cause of it all.
The good news is that many, yes MANY, academics DO consider the Flood, and find that true science confirms precisely what the Bible says happened.
To research it for yourself, go to www.creation.com and get their brilliant Creation magazine, the biggest bargain in publishing history, in which many Phd's in many fields of science present the evidence for a young earth (about 6000 years old) and a worldwide Flood.
They also believe the rest of what the Bible says including God's provision of a Savior, Jesus Christ, who shed His blood so that our sins can be forgiven - if we trust in Him. The Bible makes it clear that sin is so awful and so offensive to God that there is no forgiveness without the shedding of blood. The blood of sinful men would not be acceptable, so God Himself had to become a man to provide His own holy, sinless blood as a sacrifice for the sins of all who believe in Him.
Dear readers, that is the way God did it. He made a way for us to get back into His good books by sending His Son. It is so simple, so easy, available for all who will turn to Him. Jesus said a child could do it; 'Suffer the little children to come to Me...' You too could do it, even today.
Here is a good prayer, one I said in 1981 in the privacy of my bedroom. It changed my life and it changed my eternal destiny from hell to heaven. I had started reading the New Testament, and realized it was all completely true. Over the course of a couple of weeks I read the gospels of Matthew and Mark, and I was halfway through the gospel of Luke when I said this prayer:
'Oh dear Lord Jesus, I believe You are the Son of God and You became a man and did all those miracles. You died on the cross for my sins. You took the punishment I deserved. You were buried and You rose from the dead on the third day. Please forgive all my horrible sins (I named every one I could remember) and make me one of Your people.'
I hope that readers out there who want to know the truth will not take my word for it, or anyone else's, but will read the New Testament for themselves and ask God to show them the truth. Faith is not a blind leap in the dark; it is possible to read the scriptures for yourself and know - really know - that they are true and totally reliable. Jesus said to ask and you WILL receive, seek and you WILL find; knock and the door WILL be opened.
