Author Archives: Duane Caldwell

About Duane Caldwell

Duane has served in many different capacities including pastor, elder, project coordinator and flight instructor. He is an ordained minister of the gospel of Jesus Christ by the Evangelical Church Alliance and holds a Master of Divinity from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, a Trinity International University school and a BS in Aeronautics from Parks College, St. Louis University.

Left Behind: The Biggest Sign after the Eclipse

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Total Solar Eclipse, April 8th, 2024, NASA

Total Eclipse April 8th, 2024, NASA

In 2017 we traveled down near St. Louis to be in the path of totality for the eclipse that year. It was such a wondrous, awe-inspiring event that, when my wife asked if we were going to do it again this year, I thought, “How many more chances are we going to get?” (It turns out that the next one viewable in the States is in twenty years). So, with no further debate needed, I said, “Yes, we’re going.” No matter that hotels were doubling and tripling their fees for the occasion, traffic was predicted to be horrendous and Indiana, our destination for viewing, declared a state of emergency to make sure they had enough emergency services available.

The free solar glasses the hotel gave upon arrival, knowing why most people were there, didn’t make up for the highly overpriced room, but the event itself more than compensated for it. At the moment of totality I was once again filled with awe, wonder and amazement. The moon, appearing to be the exact same size as the sun, smoothly slid in front of the disc of the sun and perfectly covered it. This allowed the sun’s corona to be viewed with the naked eye, eclipse glasses off, with the sun no longer a blindingly bright light but a dark circle. I’m no photographer, and my phone and camera are a few years old, but here is the modest picture I took: Continue Reading

Risen – A Reflection on the True Messiah

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A Resurrection Day Meditation
Risen -2016

From considering false messiahs, a type of the Antichrist in the previous article, to this article which, for this resurrection day (a holiday commonly called Easter), we move on to considering the true Messiah.  On Easter day Christians commonly  say to each other:

Jesus Christ is risen!
He is risen indeed!

So we will consider the true messiah in the context of the 2016 movie Risen, a movie that explores the question: what would you do if you had personally seen both the death of Yeshua [1] and then, a number of days later, saw him alive and well and spoke with him, whose touch you felt and in whose presence you ate  and asked him questions. Would that finally move you to faith? Though that question is aimed at skeptics, doubters and unbelievers, the movie also provides encouragement for believers which we’ll get to.

Without going into all the tenets of the Christian faith, like the gospels, this movie gives you ample evidence to believe this section of the Nicene Creed, which is at the heart of the Christian faith and what we’re considering today:

For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered death and was buried. On the third day he rose again in accordance with the Scriptures;

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Dune 2 – Reflections on a Secular Messiah

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Dune 2

I went to see Dune 2 this past weekend. I went to enjoy, not take notes for a review, so I don’t consider this a formal movie review. Rather, it’s an informal reflection on themes in this and other movies that deal with control of the world and those who vie for that control, whether those who would control it are presented as a messiah (as in Dune) or a megalomaniac (as in most other Sci-Fi and Fantasy thrillers). Continue Reading

Q25 Faith is believing without evidence, Right?

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Thomas sees the risen Jesus. That evidence causes him to believe. – The Bible Episode 10 “Courage”

Thomas sees the risen Jesus. That evidence causes him to believe.
– The Bible Episode 10 “Courage”

“Faith is believing without evidence, right?” Wrong! Emphatically wrong. Those who want you to believe faith is believing without evidence are either ignorant (but well meaning) Christians, or more likely – those like atheists and Satan and those deceived by them–all who will be spending eternity in hell. Such want you to be just as foolish as they are by condemning yourself along with them by believing this foolish platitude. Don’t fall for it. Faith is not “believing without evidence.” On the contrary, Christians believe because of the evidence.  Continue Reading

Q22 – Is There Really Any Such Thing As Truth?

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Serpent tempting with apple

There is an obvious answer to this question, and the only reason to ask this question in the first place is to attempt to deny that obvious answer. But attempts to deny the obvious are self-contradictory. So the humanists and atheists and other “ists” who believe they are the masters of logic and reason show their foolishness when they attempt to deny the obvious answer to this question. They are the perfect example of the foolish idolaters identified in Romans chapter 1:

“Although they claimed to be wise, they became fools and exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images made to look like mortal man and birds and animals and reptiles.”
(Rom 1:22-23 )

Those who fall into the trap of repeating this foolish question from supposed wise philosophers and thinkers do not realize that they have fallen into a form of idolatry. That is because the idol is hidden from their view. It is made possible by their own ability to think, reason and question. Such thoughts become idolatry when the thinkers place the conclusions from their thoughts above the clear declarations and revelations of God and God’s word. Anything that displaces God from his rightful place is an idol, so those asking “is there any such thing as truth?” are really expressing a form of idolatry, akin to saying “is there any better god than this calf idol?”.

Jesus stated he is truth incarnate (“I am the Way the Truth, and the Life, no one comes to the Father except through me.” John 14.6), so to deny there is such a thing as “truth” is to deny the clear declarations and revelations of God, that: Continue Reading

Question Evolution Day 2024 – The Axolotl

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The Axolotl

I’m just getting back from vacation so this year’s Question Evolution Day snuck up on me, but not to worry, I still have an item for consideration for today. Since I’m writing late in the day I’ll keep it short and stick to the theme of the day, namely questions for evolutionists concerning wonders of God’s creation which no version of evolution – whether classic or neo-Darwinism – can explain.

Well, not to the satisfaction of anyone who isn’t wearing Darwin blinders and hasn’t drunk the mind-killing Kool-Aid. You know, the Kool-Aid that allows you to believe foolishness like things which cannot create themselves – such as life and information – somehow managing to create themselves; things like order arising from chaos without an intelligence to order it; like non-material things such as language and consciousness creating themselves from non-living, inert matter, and so on.

So I will merely ask the questions, and leave it up to the Darwinists to provide their best answers. Of course there is no answer to these questions within an evolutionary worldview but the attempt to create one is always entertaining. Most explanations are so obviously foolish and untrue that they are not worthy of a response but on occasion some are misleading enough to warrant a response. We’ll see if we get any on this outing. Okay, enough with the introduction. Let’s get to the topic of the this year’s Question Evolution Day.

The Axolotl

This is another of God’s unique creatures. I had the pleasure of first seeing and learning about it when I  visited Sea Life in Florida last year. The picture above is one I took, as is the poster below, which provides the information for our questions this year. The poster reads: Continue Reading

Q21 How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part2: Theological Considerations

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Jesus - The Way - Wallking on Water

How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part 2: Theological Considerations

As I pointed out in part 1 of this article, followers of Jesus don’t insist on “our” way, we insist on abiding by the truth. That truth is Jesus is the only way to God. There are many signs pointing to that truth, starting with Jesus saying, “I am the way the truth and the life. No one comes to the father except through me.” (John 14.6)

I wrote part 1 of the answer as a Christmas meditation that focused on the signs that point to the one way that God provided: Jesus. As a meditation, it did not go beyong that single focus, but, as I mentioned in that first article, now I want to move beyond that to examine theological and philosophical considerations. These considerations are questions that are not adequately answered by any other religion, making Christianity unique among all religious belief systems. Christianity alone has both the answers to, and makes sense of, the philosophical question of why Jesus is the only way and thus why Christians are correct to proclaim that.

Theological Considerations
Question Number 1: What to do about the Sin Problem? Continue Reading

Q21 How can Christians think their way is the only way? Part 1: A Christmas Meditation

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For Christians this is a very easy question to answer. But first a clarification. It’s not “our way” it’s “the way” and that would be the way of our God and King, Jesus. (Titus 2.13, Rev 19.16) Jesus literally said that he is “the way” (John 14.6). Note that he didn’t say one of many ways, but the way–meaning the only way.

But, this being Christmastime, I wanted to give you a bit more to meditate on. So the meditation part is in this article. Further theological considerations will come in part 2, the follow-up to this article.

Many Signs, One Destination Continue Reading

Q12 – Hasn’t evolution been proved? Why do Christians insist on believing Genesis is true?

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Automobile Evolution

Darwinian evolution: the concept that undirected forces over time can take the most basic elements and turn them into complex objects with a specific purpose – no designer necessary. Does this make sense? Look at the above picture. It’s a German stamp showing an abbreviated picture of car evolution. A similar sequence type picture is used to illustrate Darwinian evolution (below). Does either prove evolution of their respective items?

Evolution icon

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Q11 – Why are Christians so stuck on believing their Bibles instead of science?

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Science Research

We now consider the question, “Why are Christians so stuck on believing their Bibles instead of science.” This is a false dichotomy because Christians do not reject all science. The question either reveals a profound ignorance of the nature of science and the scientific process or implicitly denies that science, by its very nature, is constantly rejecting things as false that were previously thought to be true. Tenets, previously accepted as good science one day, can be rejected as foolish and obsolete the next.

Regarding the nature of God, the question reveals either ignorance concerning God or a denial of the nature of God and the Bible. God is omniscient. He has perfect knowledge (John 21.17, Heb 4.13). He never learns anything because he already knows everything. The Bible is the word of God, breathed out from the omniscient God (2 Tim 3.16) and all it affirms is true (Ps 119.160). Therefore, as expected of knowledge coming from God who is perfect in knowledge, the Bible is wholly true and without error in all it affirms. This is known as the doctrine of inerrancy. Continue Reading