Community Baptist Church - Harvest Alabama

Prayer: Whatever the problem, prayer can help. James 5:16 tells us "... The effectual fervent prayer of a righteous man availeth much." If you or someone you know needs prayer, Request Prayer from the Community congregation and visitors to this site through our Prayer List.

That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. Romans 10:9

Come now, and let us reason together, saith the LORD: though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool. Isaiah 1:18

Visitors: We hope to have included the text and sound (Hear Pastor, Music) information you need to decide to visit us. If you have any questions, please phone us or use the contact form.

Visitors and Members of Community Baptist Church: Attend church regularly as advised in Hebrews 10:25 "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another:..." In addition to attending church regularly, all Christians should study the Bible. At this Bible study link, you have the choice of many versions of the Bible you can read online, search and even listen to some versions. Pictures from Recent Services

No Sunday night service on July 4, Christmas eve, Christmas day, fifth (5^th) Sunday of the month or Homecoming (usually 3rd Sunday in September).

Members of Community Baptist Church: We value you. Your presence at services enriches both the service and you. Financial report for period ending 12/31/2007 now available at Members Section.

Children: Community Baptist loves children. One way we show our love for children is through our Protecting Kids page that displays pictures of missing children, an Amber Alert Ticker, a search for sex offenders where you live (includes all states in the United States) and provides a link to an abduction prevention video.

Ignoring God is like investing with a chance of making a profit of only 1 in 10⁴⁰ (1 chance in ten thousand trillion trillion trillion).

Why this analogy? You wouldn't invest in a company with only 1 chance in ten thousand trillion trillion trillion of making a profit. Then why would you choose to believe our universe supports life by chance (without God) when the chance of that is 1 in ten thousand trillion trillion trillion? This is only one parameter needed for supporting life. When other parameters needed for life are considered, the probability for life by chance is even lower. The Reasons To Believe article A Precise Plan for Humanity points out that to support life, the ratio of gravitational force constant to electromagnetic force constant cannot differ from its value by more than one part in 10⁴⁰ (one part in ten thousand trillion trillion trillion). For comparison, consider identification of a person using DNA. The chance of identifying the wrong unrelated person (identical twins have the same DNA) is less than 1 chance in 10¹⁰(10 billion) (see July 2005 article Science on the Case). Therefore, the probability life by chance (without God) is tiny compared to the probability for the well accepted process of correct identification of a person using DNA.

Reference: Robert H. Dicke's "Dirac's Cosmology and Mach's Principle," Nature 192 (1961), 440-41.

In April 2004, probability of 322 parameters needed for life without divine miracles was computed as less than 1 chance in 10²⁸²(million trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion trillion). For a discussion of this computation, see Probability For Life On Earth. Since the April 2004 computation, this May 31, 2005 webcast discussing Galactic carbon and oxygen abundance design* adds 4 more parameters needed for life without divine miracles, increasing the total number of parameters needed to 326 and decreasing the probability even more. For comparison, consider identification of a person using DNA. The chance of identifying the wrong unrelated person (identical twins have the same DNA) is less than 1 chance in 10¹⁰(10 billion) (see July 2005 article Science on the Case). Therefore, the probability life originated without divine miracles is tiny compared to the probability for the well accepted process of correct identification of a person using DNA.

* Note: This webcast discussion requires FREE Real Player (look for "Free Download". This is the "Basic Player").

The scientific community does not have a plausible explanation of how life originated by natural means. If there were such an explanation, why would the “The Gene Emergence Project” of 113 Hedgewood Drive, Greenbelt, MD, a 501(c)3 science and education foundation, be offering the $1,000,000 Origin-of-Life Prize “... for proposing a highly plausible mechanism for the spontaneous rise of genetic instructions in nature sufficient to give rise to life.” “The Gene Emergence Project” has no religious affiliations of any kind. The papers submitted for the prize will be judged by nearly 200 judges from universities and institutes in over forty countries.

This interpretation is inspired by the words of St. Augustine of Hippo (354-430) "We must be on our guard against giving interpretations which are hazardous or opposed to science, and so exposing the word of God to the ridicule of unbelievers". The earth is approximately 4.57 billion years old (see Missing Solar Neutrinos Found) and the universe approximately 13.7 billion years old (+/- 0.2 billion) (see Big Bang Buttressed). This interpretation is presented here to help show science agrees with the Holy Bible. Age of heaven and earth is not important. It is quite possible many of the Community Baptist congregation do not agree with this interpretation, because, it is not critical to our belief in God, Jesus Christ, inerrancy of the Bible and receiving salvation.

Genesis 1:1 states: "In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth." Genesis 1 further states creation was done in six "days". Can these "days" be interpreted as being longer than 24 hours? One of the dictionary definitions for "day" is: a specified time or period : AGE <in grandfather's day>. Also, consider the Hebrew words that were translated as "day", "evening" and "morning". Just as some English words have multiple meanings, so do some Hebrew words. The Hebrew word yowm (also spelled yom) is translated as "day". Yowm definitions: sunrise to sunset; sunset to sunset; a space of time (defined by an associated term); an age; time or period (without any reference to solar days). The Hebrew word bocer (also spelled boqer) is translated as "morning". Bocer definitions: the breaking forth of light; dawn, daybreak or morning; dawning, beginning, or origin. The Hebrew word ereb is translated as "evening". Ereb definitions: the beginning of darkness; dusk, twilight, or nightfall; closing, ending or completion. An acceptable interpretation of creation in Genesis 1 is that there are six time periods of creation, each time period with beginning and ending.

Each creation time period is whatever God wanted it to be, from very short to many many years. The third day of creation contains Genesis 1:12 that states "And the earth brought forth grass, and herb yielding seed after his kind, and the tree yielding fruit, whose seed was in itself, after his kind: and God saw that it was good" [bold type added]. Earth brought forth indicates a natural process. It takes several years for fruit trees to produce fruit. Therefore, the third day of creation had to be more than 24 hours.

Genesis 1 verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23 and 31 contain the sentences "And the evening and the morning were the _____ day" where _____ represents first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth. But, in Genesis 2 when the seventh "day" is mentioned, there is no "And the evening and the morning were the seventh day", implying we are still in the seventh "day" or time period. Since the seventh "day" or time period has been much longer than 24 hours, this further implies the other six "days" or time periods were much longer than 24 hours.

In "The Living Bible", footnotes for Genesis 1 verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23 and 31 are: "Literally, 'There was evening and there was morning, _____ day (or, 'period of time').' " [bold type added] where _____ represents one, a second, a third, a fourth, a fifth and a sixth.

Genesis 2:4 reads "These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that the LORD God made the earth and the heavens," [bold type added]. Here "day" refers to all six creation "days", whatever the length of those "days". If the six creation "days" were 24 hours each, then "day" in Genesis 2:4 would be 144 hours (6X24=144). Since "day" in Genesis 2:4 would be 144 hours with six 24 hour creation "days", this is another indication that "day" can be interpreted as longer than 24 hours.

Comparison of Genesis 1:27 to Genesis 2:18-22 indicates creation days were longer than 24 hours.

On the sixth day, after God said, Let the earth bring forth the living creature after his kind, cattle, and creeping thing, and beast of the earth after his kind, both Adam and Eve were created in Genesis 1:27 “So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.”

In Genesis 2:18-22 “And the LORD God said, It is not good that the man should be alone; I will make him an help meet for him. And out of the ground the LORD God formed every beast of the field, and every fowl of the air; and brought them unto Adam to see what he would call them: and whatsoever Adam called every living creature, that was the name thereof. And Adam gave names to all cattle, and to the fowl of the air, and to every beast of the field; but for Adam there was not found an help meet for him. And the LORD God caused a deep sleep to fall upon Adam, and he slept: and he took one of his ribs, and closed up the flesh instead thereof; And the rib, which the LORD God had taken from man, made he a woman, and brought her unto the man."

Before Eve was created, Adam had to name the creatures the Lord brought him. This would have taken a long time, probably much more than 24 hours. Therefore, since both Adam and Eve were created on the sixth day and it took Adam longer than 24 hours to name the creatures the Lord brought him before Eve was created, the sixth day had to be longer than 24 hours.

"Day" being interpreted as period of time implies "evening" and "morning" should be interpreted as beginning and ending in Genesis 1 verses 5, 8, 13, 19, 23 and 31 that contain the sentence "And the evening and the morning were the _____ day" where _____ represents first, second, third, fourth, fifth and sixth.

Daniel 8:26 states "And the vision of the evening and the morning ..." [bold type added]. The vision Daniel 8:26 refers to is described in Daniel 8:14 as "...two thousand and three hundred days ..." Here "evening" and "morning" mark the beginning and ending of a period much longer than 24 hours.

Interpreting the "days" of creation as longer than 24 hours accounts for the tremendous amount of scientific evidence that the earth is very old. On a related note, it is important to show that the amount of time that has passed since Adam was created agrees with scientific evidence. Luke 3:23-38 has a genealogy from Adam through Jesus. This genealogy is not complete, so it cannot be used to compute the period of time from Adam to Jesus. A footnote for Luke 3:23 in the Holman Christian Standard Bible states "The relationship in some cases may be more distant than a son." This is because the Hebrew word for father, 'ab, can mean head or founder of a household, group, family, or clan; ancestor (a) grandfather, forefathers -- of person (b) of people. Another example of incomplete genealogy is Matthew 1:8. It leaves out Ahaziah, Joash and Amaziah between Joram and Uzziah as verified by these verses from the Old Testament with the names highlighted. 2 Kings 8:24 "And Joram slept with his fathers, and was buried with his fathers in the city of David: and Ahaziah his son ..." 2 Kings 11:2 "But Jehosheba, the daughter of king Joram, sister of Ahaziah, took Joash the son of Ahaziah ..." 2 Kings 14:1 "In the second year of Joash son of Jehoahaz king of Israel reigned Amaziah the son of Joash ..." 2 Chronicles 26:1 "Then all the people of Judah took Uzziah, who was sixteen years old, and made him king in the room of his father Amaziah."

See The Genesis Genealogies for an exhaustive discussion of incomplete Biblical genealogies. An interesting comparison from this article shows genealogies in Matthew 1:2-16 and Luke 3:23-38. Both list 14 names for Abraham to David. Matthew list 14 names from David to the Exile, but Luke list 21 names. Matthew list 14 names from Exile to Jesus Christ, but Luke list 21 names. Also note in Matthew Jeconiah (Jehoiachin) is counted in both sections "David to the Exile" and "Exile to Jesus Christ" so the number of names in each of the 3 sections will come out to be 14:

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The original Passover is described in Exodus 12:3-14. It is a celebration of deliverance of the Israelites from Egypt. Lambs are slaughtered and eaten as part of the Passover meal. Of the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, John is the only one that states Jesus is the Lamb of God in John 1:29, 36. Mark's gospel in Mark 14:12, 14, 16 has the Passover meal as the last supper of Jesus and his twelve disciples. In John's gospel, the last supper of Jesus and his twelve disciples is not the Passover meal. In fact, in John 18:28, the Jewish leaders that took Jesus to the judgment hall did not go into the judgment hall because they wanted to eat the Passover meal and going into the judgment hall would have defiled them. Further, John 19:14-15 speaks of preparation of the Passover at the conclusion of Jesus' trial. Why the difference between Mark's gospel and John's gospel? Some Bible scholars believe John's gospel having Jesus crucified during the preparation for Passover amplifies that Jesus is the sacrificial Lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world. The same people, the priests, were responsible for Jesus, the Lamb of God, being crucified at the same time they were preparing the lambs for Passover.

Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbour next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. And they shall eat the flesh in that night, roast with fire, and unleavened bread; and with bitter herbs they shall eat it. Eat not of it raw, nor sodden at all with water, but roast with fire; his head with his legs, and with the purtenance thereof. And ye shall let nothing of it remain until the morning; and that which remaineth of it until the morning ye shall burn with fire. And thus shall ye eat it; with your loins girded, your shoes on your feet, and your staff in your hand; and ye shall eat it in haste: it is the LORD'S passover. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever.

Mark 14:12 And the first day of unleavened bread, when they killed the passover, his disciples said unto him, Where wilt thou that we go and prepare that thou mayest eat the passover?

Mark 14:14 And wheresoever he shall go in, say ye to the goodman of the house, The Master saith, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples?

Mark 14:16 And his disciples went forth, and came into the city, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover.

John 1:29 The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world.

John 1:36 And looking upon Jesus as he walked, he saith, Behold the Lamb of God!

Then led they Jesus from Caiaphas unto the hall of judgment: and it was early; and they themselves went not into the judgment hall, lest they should be defiled; but that they might eat the passover.

And it was the preparation of the passover, and about the sixth hour: and he saith unto the Jews, Behold your King! But they cried out, Away with him, away with him, crucify him. Pilate saith unto them, Shall I crucify your King? The chief priests answered, We have no king but Caesar.