This life offers only a window of time to work for the Lord. Youth and old age both offer their own hindrances to service. In many ways, though not entirely, youth should be spent in learning, middle age in doing, and old age in teaching. Many of the greatest servants of the Lord found in scripture began their journey in youth by learning of the Lord and His ways (1 Kings 18:12; Psalm 71:5; 2 Chronicles 34:3; Job 29:4; Ecclesiastes 12:1). As they approached the prime of life, they put their learning to use by serving the Lord (Numbers 8:24-25). As they passed their prime, they would pass their knowledge on to the next generation in hopes the work of God would go on (2 Timothy 4:1-8).

Only in these modern times when science is reaching the later stages of cognitive degeneration could this be news. Thirty years after the Viking 1 and Viking 2 landers failed to detect signs of life on Mars, scientists have decided that the tests were not accurate and it is possible that organic evidence might have been missed. Who cares? I'll tell you who cares. The atheistic scientists are desperate to find life somewhere besides earth in order to boost their evolutionary prejudices. If life developed on Mars, then perhaps this gives credence to the claim that it developed on earth. And, if it developed on its own, then there must be no God. And, if there is no God, then no one will ever have to answer to Him. This is why they pray so hard to a god they do not believe exists that somewhere, somehow, sometime, life might be found on another planet. Me? No sweat. There is nothing in the Bible that says God could not have had some unknown reason for putting some form of bacteria on Mars. If they find it, the scientists will cheer and high-five one another for their brilliance. Up in heaven, God may yawn. Ho-hum.

Recently, I was studying the terrible incident in the life of Simon Peter in which he denied his Saviour three times. On one of those occasions, someone accused him by saying, "Surely thou also art one of them; for thy speech bewrayeth thee" (Matthew 26:73). I was reminded of that verse after reading a 14 December 2006 article on msn.com (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16187129/). The article was entitled "Men and women: Are we wired differently?" A couple of things are of interest in the article.

According to an article in Thursday's "Wall Street Journal," earlier this year on the day Muslims celebrate the willingness of Abraham to sacifice his son on Mt. Moriah (a son they claim was Ishmael), 25,000 sheep in Brussels, Belgium, had their heads turned to Mecca and were sacrificially killed by having their throats slit so that they would die from the shedding of their blood. Many of the Muslims will be eating their sheep for lunch that same day. Although home slaughters are illegal in Belguim, Muslims now make up over 15% of the one million people in the city of Brussels.

In the old days, an atheist might present his atheism as a better alternative to belief; he might even mourn the loss of meaning in life by his rejection of God but claim it to be an honest conclusion. The new atheist, as exemplified by Dr. Richard Dawkins, turns the tables against the believer. The believer is the one who is to be feared. Atheism is needed to calm the God-intoxicated wars and hatred of society (we presume not the kind of atheism purported by China's Mao or Russia's Stalin). Children need to be protected from religious parents. Dawkins calls the religious training of children a "form of child abuse." Believers need to be shunned as stupid and dangerous. We who believe need to prepare ourselves and our children for this kind of attack. It is not around the corner; it is now. Note: information taken from editorial in Friday's "Wall Street Journal."

Who is the antichrist mentioned in the Bible?

Our jaws are getting smaller, more people are having their wisdom teeth removed due to pain and complications, and some people are born without wisdom teeth. Does it say anything in the Bible about de-evolution or adaption?

Groves are spoken against much in the King James Bible and are spoken of much by the New Age disciples. However, they are often ignored in the newer Bible versions. This article considers why.

What is the apocrypha and why was is contained in the 1611 King James Bible? Is the Apochrypha considered part of the Holy Bible?

The Missions Program at Antioch Baptist Church is a worldwide outreach based on faith and prayer.