When Faith Dies

Posted January 21, 2026January 23, 2026
by petebeck3

The saddest thing that can happen to us is if our faith dies because we feel betrayed in some way by God, by life, or by someone we trusted. Our ability to trust is like a beautiful flower that can be rather easily crushed at times. Often little children illustrate its fragrant bloom. Unhappily, faith or trust can be very difficult to restore, if it is destroyed.

Although faith can be rather fragile, the kind of faith that is anchored in God is as tough as iron.

Real faith, the faith that comes from God, is a gift from the Lord.

For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, 9 not of works, lest anyone should boast. Ephesians 2:8–9 (NKJV)

It does not originate in us; although, we participate in using and growing it. This God-faith does not depend on our strength and grows stronger when tested in the fires of life.

Consider it all joy, my brethren, when you encounter various trials, 3 knowing that the testing of your faith produces endurance. 4 And let endurance have its perfect result, so that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. James 1:2–4 (NASB95)

Faith in people, institutions, fairness, and equity may die a slow and painful death or be snipped off in an instant.

But the faith in God that comes from God can weather any storm or adversity.

I have been crucified with Christ; it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me. Galatians 2:20 (NKJV)

We never know for sure what kind of faith we have until it is tested.

If we go through a great difficulty that challenges us to our core and our faith dies as a result, perhaps we did not have the kind that comes from God. Perhaps it was merely our best attempt at trusting God and was not up to the task. Maybe God wants us to turn to him in desperation, asking him to impart his kind of faith to us.

We were created by God to believe in him and his promises. Until we find our rest in doing that, we will never be satisfied.

Everyone of us who comes into this world and participates in the mystery of life must believe in someone and something. If betrayal or disillusionment strip away our faith in God, we will lose our anchor and purpose.

If we are not anchored in God, the storms of life will shipwreck us. (1 Timothy 1:18-19)

The Bible defines faith in a mysterious way. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews wrote:

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen. Hebrews 11:1 (NKJV)

The English word “substance” is the rendering of the Greek word hupostasis, which means substance, steadiness, or assurance. Other translations use the English words “reality” or “assurance.” The general idea is that our faith proves or points to an assured hidden reality that cannot yet be seen. The faith-filled (faithful) person reasons that if God makes a promise or statement, it must be true. We are not waiting to find out if it is true. We know it immediately…by faith.

Faith knows God’s promise is true right now, even though we might have to wait for it to “come true,” perhaps for a long time.

The Greek word for hope is elpis, which means a confident expectation that something will come to pass, no matter how long I must wait. It is very similar to faith. Some call it stretched out faith. Faith know it has the promise the moment it receives the promise.

Hope keeps that faith alive until the promise becomes our experienced reality.

The English word “evidence” is derived from the Greek word elegchos, which means a proof or test. Our faith “tests” or “proves” what is in our hearts. Do we believe God or not? Some say that it also proves the reality of the thing for which we hope, but do not yet see. My own experience with faith is that its presence in our hearts causes us to “know” that what we believe for will indeed come to pass. It is a supernatural thing. It can be faked in front of other people, but inside we know if we have it or not.

We put faith in all sorts of things, starting with our parents. Children trust their parents’ word, unless and until that trust is betrayed. My wife and agreed that to lie to our young children would be a serious thing, even if it were about such seemingly benign things as Santa Claus and the Easter bunny. I believe that, if we lie to our kids about Santa, it may lead them to later question if Jesus is just another version of Santa? If the Easter bunny is not real, was Jesus’ resurrection? I am convinced that we should be very careful not to take advantage of the faith of little children.

As we mature, our experience with disappointment and disillusionment grows. Many adults become quite cynical (or “hard-hearted” to use the biblical term). This cynicism can invade all our thinking, even toward God and the Bible. This is an evidence of a dead or dying faith. A hardened heart is the most dangerous condition a person can have.

For this reason they could not believe, for Isaiah said again, 40 “HE HAS BLINDED THEIR EYES AND HE HARDENED THEIR HEART, SO THAT THEY WOULD NOT SEE WITH THEIR EYES AND PERCEIVE WITH THEIR HEART, AND BE CONVERTED AND I HEAL THEM.” John 12:39–40 (NASB95)

Our hearts can become so hardened that we object to the mere possibility that the Bible is true. The world thinks that the more educated we become, the more reason we have to reject God and the Bible. This may be an outright atheism or merely a rejection of those parts of the Bible we find objectionable for moral or intellectual reasons. The latter is perhaps more insidious because it is not generally recognized as hardness of heart.

Plenty of people reject parts of God’s Word without denying their faith in Christ.

God gave us a deeply seated need to believe. If our hearts are not hard, it is easy for us to believe him and his words. Adam and Eve were duped by a master deceiver into doubting God and believing a lie. Ever since then, people often find it easier to believe a lie than the truth. Knowing this, politicians routinely sling “mud” at their opponents. They understand many will believe their lies.

Children who are blessed with godly parents, who take their responsibility to disciple their children seriously, have a distinct advantage in life. Such parents teach their children to trust in God and his Word. Most children will follow in their parents’ footsteps of faith. Eventually they will face their own decision points in life and must decide if they will continue on that path of faith as adults. We have God’s promise that they will.

Direct your children onto the right path, and when they are older, they will not leave it. Proverbs 22:6 (NLT)

Children who do not have such a godly heritage will have to be intercepted by God somewhere along the path of life if they are ever to know what it means to trust God. Thankfully, that is exactly what the Holy Spirit does as the administrator of the New Covenant. He secretly works to bring to faith those chosen by God from before the creation of the world.

But we are bound to give thanks to God always for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God from the beginning chose you for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and belief in the truth, 14 to which He called you by our gospel, for the obtaining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 2 Thessalonians 2:13–14 (NKJV)

It is my firm conviction that once we put our faith in our Lord Jesus, the Holy Spirit works inside us to cause us to continue in that faith and loyalty to Christ. Some call this the perseverance of the saints. By his grace we will persevere in faith to the end.

For I am confident of this very thing, that He who began a good work in you will perfect it until the day of Christ Jesus. Philippians 1:6 (NASB95)

If, however, our faith in God dies, for whatever reason, we will most likely put our faith in something or someone else. We cannot help believing, even if ironically our faith is that there is nothing worth believing. Such an unprovable position acts as justification for a whole group of people to condemn themselves to a joyless life and a hopeless eternity.

The devil also works hard to hobble the faith of God’s children.

The same liar who deceived Adam and Eve is busy trying to sully our simple faith in God.

But I fear that somehow your pure and undivided devotion to Christ will be corrupted, just as Eve was deceived by the cunning ways of the serpent. 2 Corinthians 11:3 (NLT)

The apostle John told his readers to stay away from idols. An idol is anything that detracts from God’s glory, hinders our faith, and works to deceive us.

Anything we believe that fights against simple faith in God and his Word is from the devil.

My question for you, the reader, is this. Has your childlike faith in God’s Word died? Do you think you have become too mature in your understanding to believe as a young child? Have you allowed the devil to convince you that it is okay to use a more “nuanced” interpretation of the Bible that permits you to reject a simple straightforward understanding? If so, I encourage you to ask the Lord to restore your childlike faith.

Share this post...

Is It Reasonable to Believe as a Child?

Posted January 15, 2026January 16, 2026
by petebeck3

The longer I live, the more convinced I am that God wants us to receive the words of the Bible with the faith of a child. In fact, it is becoming increasingly necessary for us to do so because deception is so rampant.

Jesus said that childlike faith is the only way to know God.

At that time Jesus answered and said, “I thank You, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that You have hidden these things from the wise and prudent and have revealed them to babes. 26 Even so, Father, for so it seemed good in Your sight. Matthew 11:25–26 (NKJV)

Wisdom and prudence are godly characteristics. Why would God hide truth from the wise and prudent, and why would Jesus give thanks for his doing so? This may seem rather confusing unless we realize he spoke of those who are wise in their own eyes but lack the humility of a child.

Children simply believe what we tell them, unless we have lied to them in the past.

But God never lies; so, there is no reason for us not to believe his words.

“God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent; Has He said, and will He not do it? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 (NASB95)

Why is it then that we sometimes assume that God does not mean what he said? Do we really think he sometimes says something that he does not expect wise and intelligent people to believe? Apparently we often do. Is this wisdom on our part or unbelief?

As adults, we hate when someone deceives us, especially when money is involved. We never want to be anybody’s fool. Since we live in a world full of deception, we learn to sift through information

coming our way to try to separate what is true from what is not. We do our best to protect ourselves from human trickery, which is good and necessary, but the unfortunate fallout is that we may learn to approach the Scriptures that way, too, oddly thinking that God may be trying to fool us, too.

One of the things that God highly values is when we simply believe what he says and act upon it. In other words, we trust that he is not trying to deceive us.

And it is impossible to please God without faith... Hebrews 11:6 (NLT)

Such simple faith was something Abraham possessed. Paul wrote about him.

In hope against hope he believed, so that he might become a father of many nations according to that which had been spoken, “SO SHALL YOUR DESCENDANTS BE.” 19 Without becoming weak in faith he contemplated his own body, now as good as dead since he was about a hundred years old, and the deadness of Sarah’s womb; 20 yet, with respect to the promise of God, he did not waver in unbelief but grew strong in faith, giving glory to God, 21 and being fully assured that what God had promised, He was able also to perform. 22 Therefore IT WAS ALSO CREDITED TO HIM AS RIGHTEOUSNESS. Romans 4:18–22 (NASB95)

God asked this man to simply believe that he would give him a son, in spite of the fact that he and Sarah were past the age to have children. It was scientifically impossible for Sarah to conceive at her age. For a long time Abraham clung to God’s promise, waiting patiently for it to come to pass, but eventually he grew weary and reasoned that God expect him to do something to make this promise happen. Resorting to human reason produced an Ishmael. Simple faith received an Isaac, the child of promise.

During the long years of waiting, Abraham’s faith had nothing to lean upon except God’s promise and character. That should be enough for us, too.

God named him “father of a multitude” when he was childless. People must have thought he was an utter fool until Isaac was born.

God does not mind placing his people in the position of being thought foolish or being misunderstood as a test of our loyalty to him.

Being willing to embrace the scorn and contradiction of unbelievers is part of the cost of having childlike faith. It is a price we are expected to pay as Christ’s disciples. I wonder if we have ever considered the pain God may feel when we scorn placing our trust in him?

Historians say the Age of Reason extended from the late 17th century through the 18th. This period profoundly influenced the world and continues to do so. The main characteristics of this era are summarized below.

Primacy of reason and empiricism — Knowledge derived from observation, experimentation, and rational analysis, rather than faith or authority.
Skepticism toward tradition — Questioning religious dogma, superstition, absolute monarchy, and inherited privileges.
Ideals of liberty, equality, and progress — Advocacy for individual rights, tolerance, fraternity, constitutional government, and separation of church and state.
Optimism about human potential — Belief in education, science, and reform to create a better society.
Secularism and deism — Many favored a non-interventionist God or natural religion over organized doctrine.

During this age, trust in human reason skyrocketed, often at the expense of faith in God and the Bible. Although, elevating reason in this way seemed like something new, the truth is that it was as old as Eden. The serpent convinced Eve that his words were more reasonable than God’s. The Lord gave us the ability to reason, but it is only beneficial when it is submitted to God and his Word.

God has ordained that certain important matters elude our power of reason and must be apprehended spiritually with the faith of a child.

Paul wrote about this.

But the natural man does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned. 1 Corinthians 2:14 (NKJV)

We adults have been taught from childhood to lean upon our wits. As a consequence, many of us also learned how to avoid obeying God’s Word when it seems unreasonable to us, just as Eve did. We think it is okay to manipulate the words of the Bible to suit us.

The Pharisees knew the Bible better than anyone. As part of their education, they memorized the first five books of the Old Testament. Not surprisingly, they often looked down on others who had less knowledge. Tragically, however, their great knowledge did not translate into great faith. They failed to recognize their Messiah when he stood in front of them!

If our study and knowledge of the Bible does not produce childlike faith, we have wasted our time and sentenced ourselves to a greater judgment (James 3:1). The more we know, the greater our responsibility.

Jesus condemned the Pharisees for manipulating God’s Word to make it say something different from what God intended.

And He said to them, “Rightly did Isaiah prophesy of you hypocrites, as it is written: ‘THIS PEOPLE HONORS ME WITH THEIR LIPS, BUT THEIR HEART IS FAR AWAY FROM ME. 7 ‘BUT IN VAIN DO THEY WORSHIP ME, TEACHING AS DOCTRINES THE PRECEPTS OF MEN.’ 8 “Neglecting the commandment of God, you hold to the tradition of men.” Mark 7:6–8 (NASB95)

I believe we can define ungodly traditions of men as any interpretation of the Bible that nullifies or twists its intended meaning.

Before we come down too hard on the Pharisees, we need to understand that this is a very human tendency going back to the garden. We probably all do it to some degree or another. It is humbling for us to realize this. May we all have the faith of a child and simply believe what God has said. In a world full of deception, this is our firm anchor.

Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path. Psalm 119:105 (NASB95

Share this post...

The Day the Sun Stood Still

Posted January 13, 2026January 14, 2026
by petebeck3

There was a day long ago when the sun stood still, but time did not. It was a most unusual day that lasted much longer than other days. It was the day that Joshua commanded the sun not to go down until the battle was finished.

Then Joshua spoke to the LORD in the day when the LORD delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, “O sun, stand still at Gibeon, And O moon in the valley of Aijalon.” 13 So the sun stood still, and the moon stopped, Until the nation avenged themselves of their enemies. Is it not written in the book of Jashar? And the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and did not hasten to go down for about a whole day. Joshua 10:12–13 (NASB95)

I think it is safe to say that most people will regard this account as mythical, even some who say they believe the Bible. They likely will assume that either it did not happen at all or whatever did take place was misinterpreted by a primitive pre-scientific people who did not yet realize that the sun’s apparent motion in the sky is caused by the earth’s approximate rotation speed at that latitude of 875 mph. Rather than be embarrassed by having to admit the Bible is wrong on this point, heliocentric Christians will try to explain things some other way.

So why did the Holy Spirit have Moses write about this day in the Bible? I am assuming my reader agrees that every word of the Bible was inspired by God. (2 Timothy 3:16) Here are a few possible reasons that come to mind.

It illustrated God’s total control over his creation, showing that he is not the far-away disinterested God of the Deists.
It showed that God allows humans to command nature at times when it is in agreement with his will, as when Jesus stilled the stormy sea.
It demonstrated that God was assisting Joshua and the Israelites to conquer Canaan.
In his foreknowledge, God knew it could be used later to refute the heliocentric lie.

This passage completely contradicts heliocentrism, if we believe the Bible is 100% true.

Heliocentrism holds that the apparent motion of the sun and moon are actually caused by the rotation of the earth. This contradicts the Bible’s claim that the sun runs a circuit over the earth and its rising and setting are due to visual perspective. (Psalm 19:6)

One can, no doubt, find information online that claims to refute the above video’s assertion, which requires us to choose which “authority” to believe. Ultimately, this forces us to decide whether it’s God or men. We know that men lie, but God never does. (Romans 3:4)

Since our chosen text, Joshua 10:12-13, clearly says the sun and moon stood still, those who accept the presupposition that the earth rotates on an imaginary axis must come up with some kind of alternate solution. Here are two possibilities.

The earth stopped rotating. This somewhat fits the heliocentric model, at least with respect to the sun. However, it would require the 1000 mph spin of the earth at the equator to come to a dramatic stop, setting off enormous tidal waves and earthquakes and throwing people and animals into whatever remained anchored to the ground, killing them instantly. In addition, although this solution would solve the problem of the sun appearing to stand still, it would not explain the stillness of the moon, for it is said to revolve around the earth. Therefore, not only would the earth to stop its rotation, the moon would have to cease orbiting the earth. Since this contradicts the clear meaning of the text and seems unnecessarily complex, I will throw this one out.
God can do anything. This is what people have said to me after I point out the contradictions that accompany the first “solution.” I believe this is an ill-disguised attempt to hide from the truth. While it is generally true that God can do anything, and we can agree that God need not explain how he does something, one thing God cannot and will not do is lie. Since the Bible says that the sun and moon stopped moving for several hours, that must be exactly what happened. Saying that God can do anything does not mean that the text ceases to mean what it says. Therefore this is no solution at all, which leave us with the simplest explanation – that
it happened exactly how the Bible said it did, proving that heliocentrism is a lie.

Martin Luther, a contemporary of Copernicus, was a principal leader in what is called the Protestant Reformation, in which one of the rallying cries was “sola scriptura,” meaning that the Bible is the highest standard for truth in all matters. He refuted the astronomer’s claim simply by referencing the above quoted passage from Joshua, regarding which he made the following statement.

In the midst of the cataclysmic upheaval called the Protestant Reformation, which rearranged nations and delivered people from the bondage of Roman Catholic doctrine, the devil instituted his own religious “counter reformation” spearheaded by the Jesuit order. Additionally, the scientific community underwent its own revolution, which Copernicus, Galileo, Kepler, Newton, and others spearheaded. These men, unlike Luther, had a much lower regard for Scripture, if any at all.

Francis Bacon popularized the “two books” metaphor, saying that God wrote Scripture to reveal His will, and the book of nature to reveal His works and power. He warned against “unwisely mingling” them by using biblical texts to “dictate” natural philosophy. He advocated studying both, but keeping their domains separate. This sounds eerily like the modern argument of separation of church and state. When a trick works, Satan reuses it.

If you want to learn more about this devilish strategy, I recommend that you watch the Heliosorcery documentary.

Satan and godless men refuse to acknowledge God’s sovereignty over all truth. He claims to “own” science, education, media, and government. God can have Sunday school.

Sadly, we Christians bought the lie and currently believe that moral truth and “the gospel” are the only things concerning which we need to be concerned, not realizing that God’s truth in the Scriptures extends to every area, including cosmology. You may wish to read my article entitled The Counter Rebellion to learn more about how to overcome this satanic strategy.

It should be clear to us that such an argument as Bacon’s justifies rejecting as untrue anything in the Bible that does not agree with so-called science.

This is exactly what German theologians did a couple of centuries later when they eliminated the miraculous from the Bible to try to sift down to the “historical” Jesus.

The separation of “religious” truth from physical reality is something with which the biblical authors were unfamiliar.

For them, and us, all truth is God’s truth. The Bible does not pretend only to speak about moral and metaphysical matters. Is Jesus’ bodily resurrection a metaphysical metaphor or did it actually happen? It cannot be explained scientifically, but the Bible says it took place. If we can reject what the Bible says about the sun and moon, we can reject whatever we like, including the resurrection. It is definitely a “slippery slope.”

Joshua’s command to the sun and moon spoken so long ago challenges our loyalty to God’s Word today.

Oh, that modern Christians regarded the Bible with as much reverence as did the Reformers! How I wish that we would esteem the Holy Scriptures more than what goes for science! Let us repent, if we have bowed our knee to that false god. Let us choose to honor the Lord and his Word rather than seek the world’s approval.

Click here to see my other articles on biblical cosmology.

Share this post...

The Counter Rebellion

Posted January 12, 2026January 13, 2026
by petebeck3

The introduction of heliocentric cosmology was a blasphemous rebellion against God’s and the Bible’s authority. This may shock you because we have been taught from childhood that the earth is a spinning globe hurtling through space at about a million miles per hour locked into an impossible elliptical orbit around the sun. Under this system, Helios or Sol, which are alternate names for the sun, is the center of what is called our “solar system,” holding the earth in its power and giving life to all things.

This way of describing the heavens and earth is an outright contradiction of what the Bible teaches in Genesis Chapter One and throughout the rest of its pages.

Satan, according to the Bible, led a revolt in heaven against God’s authority and apparently convinced one-third of the angels to follow him to perdition. (Revelation 12:3-4, 9) How he convinced them to throw away what they had in heaven is beyond me, but he must have been quite convincing.

The devil always uses deception to pull people (and angels) away from God and truth, and history shows that he is very good at it.

Paul called him the “god of this world” (2 Corinthians 4:4) because he rules over the hearts of the unredeemed using authority usurped from Adam. The first man’s decision to believe the serpent instead of God brought humanity and all creation into degradation and perversion. I wrote a series to explain this and how God will completely restore all things, which is entitled, The Cosmic War. I encourage you to read it.

Our Lord Jesus stripped all authority from Satan by dying on the cross and afterward rising from the dead. (Colossians 2:15 and Matthew 28:18) Nevertheless, that deceiver wants everyone to think that he still rules. He wanted to receive glory as God, but was defeated (Isaiah 14:12-16). He is still working to obtain man’s worship through the heliocentric “soul-lure” system. By convincing people that the earth is controlled by the sun, along with other “planets” named after false gods, he uses a blasphemous “object lesson” through which virtually every child in school is taught that he still controls the earth. You see: Helios and Sol are alternate names for Satan, too.

To accept the heliocentric lie requires us to believe that the Bible is an outdated document, written by primitive pre-scientific people, that is hopelessly out of sync with reality.

When we believe this lie, we align ourselves with the Great Deceiver, the “father of lies,” as Jesus called him, who deceives the whole world. (John 8:44, Revelation 12:9)

Through creation rights, however, the earth has always been the Lord’s. (Psalm 24:1, 89:11) He founded it upon the waters never to be moved, no matter how many lies the devil tells us.

The earth is the LORD’s, and all its fullness, The world and those who dwell therein. 2 For He has founded it upon the seas, And established it upon the waters. Psalm 24:1–2 (NKJV)

Even though Satan usurped Adam’s authority, he never officially owned the earth, and it is not, nor ever has been, fully under his power. The sun is not the center of anything. The Scripture tells us it is smaller than the earth and runs a prescribed circuit in the heavens. (Psalm 19:6, Joshua 10:12-13) Nevertheless, if Satan can convince people that the heliocentric lie is true, it accomplishes several things for him.

It convinces people not to trust the Bible fully, thus undermining its authority.
It opposes the reality and near proximity of heaven and brings God’s very existence into question. If he is not enthroned atop the firmament, as the Bible teaches, he must be “somewhere out there,” if he exists at all. That this theory has this effect is illustrated by the great number of astrophysicists who are declared atheists and despise God.
It provides the basis for corollary lies, such as evolution, the Big Bang, aliens, and destruction by comets, asteroids, etc..
It encourages us to be afraid and feel lost and hopeless. It tells us that we are insignificant specks in a incomprehensibly vast and dangerous universe, heading toward who knows what. (This is called the Copernican Principle.)

The false religion of heliocentrism was resisted initially by Reformation leaders, such as Luther and Calvin, but eventually it gained traction and now holds a favored status in the world and, ironically, in the church.

The church fell so hard for Satan’s heliocentric deception that some Christians, who claim to believe the Bible, will fight against anyone who calls for the restoration of a proper reverence for God’s truth in the matter of cosmology.

Our willingness to abandon God’s Word in this matter derives from placing too high a regard for what is called “science.” We have been brainwashed to “Trust the Science,” the mantra used to push us into allowing the government to inject an unproven mRNA concoction into our bodies. True science is proven by experimentation. Astrophysics, by definition, is theoretical. Anything pertaining to origins is pure speculation, yet the world believes the declarations of the priests of science are real science, and so does much of the church.

The false god of science has been so enthroned in the hearts of many Christians that we have embraced the lie that the Bible cannot possibly mean what it clearly says regarding the creation and nature of the heavens and earth.

We have assumed that we have the right, no, the duty, to reinterpret God’s holy Word and twist it to agree with the words of men.This is nothing less than a worship of human reason.

A vast number of people believe that if something does not seem reasonable to us, it is okay to reject it as being false, even if God said it. Thus we reject God’s sovereignty over all things pertaining to truth, in effect calling him a liar. In matters of cosmology, most of the church presently stands opposed to God’s Word. This should make us tremble before a holy God.

For My hand made all these things, Thus all these things came into being,” declares the LORD. “But to this one I will look, To him who is humble and contrite of spirit, and who trembles at My word. Isaiah 66:2 (NASB95)

A proper reverence of God will lead us to humbly admit that we do not know very much at all and must rely on God’s written Word and the Holy Spirit to apprehend truth and identify deception.

Some ask why is this issue important? Does it really make any practical difference? I must confess that such a question astounds me. I have concluded that there are only a few reasons why anyone would ask it.

We believe biblical cosmology is false and to identify ourselves with it is a personal embarrassment and it is also defamatory to the church.
We believe it is not relevant to life and is a distraction from the gospel message.
We believe the truth is unknowable; so, any debate will be fruitless.

Regarding the first point, if biblical cosmology is not true, it undermines the entire Bible, not just Genesis Chapter One, and thereby undermines the credibility of the gospel message

The Bible teaches that God created the heavens and earth together in a hierarchical or layered structure with heaven above and the earth beneath, separated by a solid firmament. The twelve-part series below should convince you. Bryan Ezzo shows how the entire Bible from Genesis to Revelation consistently confirms the same version of the heavens and earth presented in Genesis.

We believe God told Adam how he made heaven and earth, which he passed on to his progeny. This probably accounts for an almost universal belief in this framework historically, before the pagan Greeks introduced the concept of a spherical earth. This heaven-earth structure is assumed and repeated all through the Bible. For example, here is a reference to the tiered structure of creation that Paul gave us.

Therefore it says, “WHEN HE [Christ] ASCENDED ON HIGH, HE LED CAPTIVE A HOST OF CAPTIVES, AND HE GAVE GIFTS TO MEN.” 9 (Now this expression, “He ascended,” what does it mean except that He also had descended into the lower parts of the earth? 10 He who descended is Himself also He who ascended far above all the heavens, so that He might fill all things.) Ephesians 4:8–10 (NASB95)

Moses, who wrote Genesis, believed it. King David believed it. Ezekiel believed it. Jesus believed it, and so did Paul. Therefore, if we reject biblical cosmology, we must also reject the rest of the Bible.

Surely calling the church to repent for believing a lie that so contradicts the Bible is important!

And are we saying that the only truth that matters is gospel truth? Are we saying that God does not care if we are deceived in other areas? Surely not! Another name for Jesus is The Truth. All truth matters. Deception is always evil. It is vitally important for us to know and believe the truth about everything, especially something so fundamental as the world in which we live.

Concerning point number two, I have been questioned whether believing in biblical cosmology is essential to salvation. The answer obviously is negative because one can get into heaven having all sorts of misguided ideas. However, what we believe about cosmology is not inconsequential to the gospel. To be saved, it is essential to believe that Christ rose from the dead and to confess that he is the Lord. (Romans 10:9-10) The gospel reestablishes Christ’s lordship one person at a time.

Recognizing Christ’s lordship is the essence of what it means to become a Christian. Surrendering to his Lordship in every area of life is the essence of discipleship.

He is not only the Lamb of God who takes away our sins; he is also the Lord of Lords.

Jesus never made it easy for prospective disciples. He made it clear that following him would cost us everything, even our lives. Why then do we try to make it easy for people to come to Christ by avoiding something a little controversial that is clearly taught in Scripture? Are we afraid our listeners will reject Christ because of a refusal to believe what the Bible says? Perhaps this is just the sort of test we need to see if we are serious about following Christ. Or maybe we simply are embarrassed to admit publicly that we believe the Bible in this area? Just a thought. Are we not committing the same error as “seeker sensitive” churches that refuse to address controversial topics, such as abortion? Will not this “consumerist” approach to the gospel likely fill our churches with people who have never been challenged to surrender everything to Christ the Lord? Are we making disciples or converts? Perhaps our reluctance to challenge others is because we have refused to submit that area to the Lord. Therefore, I believe that we need not “protect” people from the challenge of bringing our cosmology under Christ’s and the Word’s authority.

Regarding the new birth, God takes us as we are, but works to transform us into Christ’s image by changing how we think.

And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect. Romans 12:2 (NASB95)

The literal meaning of the Greek word metanoeo, which is translated “to repent” in English, is “to change the mind.” As we grow in our knowledge of God’s Word, he expects us to alter how we think about all sorts of things to bring our ideas into alignment with God’s truth.

If we are to proceed as a disciple or “learner,” we will be asked to surrender every thought or idea to God’s truth in the Bible.

God’s Word is the ultimate arbiter of what is true and false. Anything that contradicts what the Bible says is by definition a lie. Any refusal to surrender to the authority of God’s Word is an act of defiance similar to Eve’s transgression.

Look to God’s instructions and teachings! People who contradict his word are completely in the dark. Isaiah 8:20 (NLT)

Discipleship requires us to surrender all things to the Lord Jesus and acknowledge his authority and rule over everything in life, including our ideas about the cosmos.

When we contradict the Bible’s teaching on the cosmos, insisting that the Bible cannot be true in light of what “science” tells us, we take an unfortunate detour off the discipleship path. We cease to “continue” in Christ’s teachings, which is one essential mark of a real disciple.

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings. 32 And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” John 8:31–32 (NLT)

Therefore, I conclude that while embracing a biblical cosmology is not essential to initial salvation, it may become essential on our discipleship journey.

God makes allowances for our ignorance and overlooks much when we are deceived, but, once we know the truth, we must make a decision. Will we let go of a rebellious God-defaming lie or stubbornly cling to it? Will we prefer what is called “science” over God’s Word?

Regarding whether biblical cosmology is relevant to everyday life, it is said by some that whether we believe it or not, we still have to get up and go to work each day. I think that anyone who makes such a statement has to believe the Bible’s cosmology is not true. Otherwise, how could we not realize that uncovering one of the greatest lies ever told is not highly important and changes how we look at the world.

Spiritually speaking, ever since coming to the realization that the firmament is real and God’s throne is right above us, it changes how I look at the world in which we live. We cannot but be awed by a Creator who benevolently observes his creation from on high. Here is a link to some personal testimonies of people who have come to faith after accepting the truth of biblical cosmology.

Regarding the third point, whether the design of the heavens and earth is truly knowable, this is where faith comes to the forefront. I have been told that my belief in the true shape of the earth is a religious belief, rather than a rational one. I do not think the person who said that realized the irony of his words. All of life is somewhat mysterious and requires us to approach it by faith. That is why God said that without faith it is impossible to please him. (Hebrews 11:6) Even atheistic astrophysicists acknowledge that what is called “science” requires that we employ faith. The big question is faith in what or whom?

A vast number of people today, it seems, have more faith in “science” and in their own opinions than in God’s Word.

So, yes, my conviction that biblical cosmology is true is a matter of faith, but it also agrees with observation and common sense; whereas, many of the claims of “science” in relationship to heliocentrism require us to abandon common sense and accept the words of so-called experts.

(Please note that our tech companies warn us not to question heliocentric orthodoxy. If it is indeed "scientifically proven," why do the ranks of those who disbelieve it continue to grow?)

Whether you agree with me or any other person about biblical cosmology is not really important, but whether we agree with God is.

Ultimately, this is an issue that requires each of us to stand individually before God and answer a huge question. Do I believe what the Bible teaches about cosmology or not? I think that God is calling us, the church, to repent for participating in the satanic heliocentric rebellion. Even though most of us got caught up in it unwittingly, once we see the truth, we have a responsibility to be active in the counter-revolution.

If this article has sparked your interest, I hope you will read more of my articles and investigate these matters for yourself.

Share this post...

Bible Teaching Videos

Posted January 5, 2026March 6, 2026
by petebeck3

Back to Resource Page

Share this post...

2026: Will the Church Finally Ditch Her Pagan Boyfriend?

Posted December 29, 2025January 3, 2026
by petebeck3

2024 was a year of surprise for me. Imagine having your entire frame of reference for understanding the world in which we live turned upside down! Quite unexpectedly that happened to me and many others. As a result, I asked the Lord Jesus to forgive me for believing a major satanic lie for 72 years. This was necessary because believing that lie came at the expense of my disbelieving parts of the Bible. For someone supposedly committed to teaching God’s Word, this was a serious transgression. As a result, I have a new and growing love for the Bible and an even greater appreciation for its truth. I take every word quite seriously now and refuse to “shrug away” difficult verses and passages.

God wants us to believe what he says even if the world thinks his Word is quite unbelievable.

The Greek word for repentance is metanoeo and essentially means to change how we think. I had been thinking incorrectly about the world in which we live for almost my whole life. This was not really my fault because, from a child, I had been trained by our education system, the media, and adults who were likewise deluded to think within a false paradigm. Master manipulators, like magicians, understand how to direct our minds to think in a certain way. (An excellent documentary on how this was done can be accessed by clicking here.)

The brainwashing to which I had been subjected worked so well that I had no idea that my way of seeing reality directly contradicted what the Bible says.

I was so convinced that the framework for understanding the universe that had been pounded into my brain was true that I refused to consider that it could be incorrect. Contradictory information was conveniently filed as “too hard for me to figure out,” “leave that to the experts,” or “save for later.” As a result, I more or less glossed over certain Bible passages, such as Genesis Chapter One, Joshua 10, Psalm 19, and many, many others, because they seemed to contradict my ingrained version of reality. I reasoned that “God can do anything” and some things are just too mysterious for me to understand and went merrily on my way, not realizing that I was missing the obvious.

Nevertheless, like many others who are victims of this high level of brainwashing, I still said that I believed that the Bible is 100% true. Trying to juggle this apparent contradiction in my mind required that I either interpret some scriptures as mere poetry or metaphor or simply put them on “the back burner,” accepting that for the time being I simply did not understand how to think about them.

Like countless others, I thought I believed the entire Bible while at the same time holding a belief that flatly contradicted Scripture at a most fundamental level.

But God…! But God saw fit to remedy this awkward situation and deliver me from this great deception. When the Lord finally opened my spiritual eyes, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I clearly saw that for over seventy years I had not truly believed what the Bible says about cosmology the study of the heavens and earth.

Like most people, I thought that, when it came to the origins and nature of the heavens and earth, the Bible was written by people with a pre-scientific understanding and has no “scientific” merit. In other words, to put it bluntly, it was not true. Therefore, its words had to be properly “interpreted” to fit into “scientific truth.”

I had been duped by the devil into accepting what I now realize is a pagan version of the universe designed to hide God’s glory and lead people to believe there is no God, or, if there is, he is distant and quite unknowable.

After the Lord opened my eyes, as a Bible teacher, it became my unwelcome responsibility to warn others, especially the church, which is the future bride of Christ, that it is time for us to awaken to this mind-numbing deception. Sadly, most of the church is not open to this warning and strongly opposes it.

Most people believe that the commonly accepted cosmology is intellectually unassailable, not understanding that it is a house of cards waiting for the wind of the Spirit to bring it down.

We have been brainwashed to so revere the “religion of science” that we believe it transcends the words of the Bible, forcing us to twist the meaning of the Scriptures into saying something quite different than its authors intended. We are so in love with our current views on astrophysics that anyone who dares to oppose is deemed to be crazy, unstable, deceived, or, worst of all, that modern overused pejorative, a “conspiracy theorist.” Having endured such contradiction for the last year and a half, and knowing full well how much the church loves her pagan astrophysics, I ask you to nevertheless consider what follows. Don’t kill the messenger! Here we go….

The church, which is Christ’s future bride, has surrendered part of her soul to a pagan boyfriend.

We do not realize we have done this and will fight “tooth and nail” anyone who so accuses us. We think this boyfriend is benign, having good intentions. We think he is truthful and quite helpful in our pursuit of knowledge. Little do we realize that this imposter is cleverly working to undermine our relationship with Jesus and destroy our credibility in the world’s eyes.

This cosmic liar has successfully seduced Christ’s intended into rejecting the Bible’s words regarding God’s creation.

He has so thoroughly deceived us that we stridently defend his pagan cosmology, all the while professing an unreserved love for the Scriptures. This detestable being is Satan himself, dressed up in a lab coat, posing as teacher of confirmed scientific truth. Only he could befuddle us into such self-contradiction and lead us down a path that has resulted in our bowing down to the globe idol and worshiping him, Helios, the sun god, without realizing what we are doing. (I am choosing my words carefully and not resorting to hyperbole. If you take the time to click on the various links and read the associated articles, you will understand in more detail why I think as I do.)

We largely have underestimated the powerful attraction of Satan’s lies and the exhilarating allure of the tree of knowledge.

In addition, we have failed to appreciate mankind’s propensity to be led astray.

God created us to believe him and his Words. If we reject them, we will believe a lie. We must believe something. Contrary to the claims of “proven” science, most of life is still a mystery that only God can unravel for us.

Even with the safeguards of God’s written Word and the indwelling Holy Spirit, most of us have embraced this cunning cosmological lie. Once we realize this, it produces humility and serves to strip away the arrogant pride so common among the highly educated.

Instead, God chose things the world considers foolish in order to shame those who think they are wise. And he chose things that are powerless to shame those who are powerful. 28 God chose things despised by the world, things counted as nothing at all, and used them to bring to nothing what the world considers important. 29 As a result, no one can ever boast in the presence of God. 1 Corinthians 1:27–29 (NLT)

The apostle Paul warned us, Christ’s intended – the church, against being beguiled by Satan’s craftiness and drawn away from a simple devotion to our future groom, the Lord Jesus, and his holy Word.

For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin. 3 But I am afraid that, as the serpent deceived Eve by his craftiness, your minds will be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ. 2 Corinthians 11:2–3 (NASB95)

Using the same strategy as he used with Eve in the Garden, Satan has succeeded in convincing many of God’s people that the words of the Bible cannot be fully trusted.

He convinces us, as he did Eve, that God did not mean what he appeared to say. He tricks us into believing that we are smarter than the authors of the Bible and are able to figure out origins and cosmology for ourselves, thanks to modern science. The old heresy of Gnosticism, salvation through higher knowledge, takes many shapes. Today’s Gnostic mantra is “Trust the Science.” Science has become the religion of choice for many. When it comes to cosmology, a large portion of Christ’s bride has concluded that the Bible, especially Genesis, is a simplistic document written by a primitive “pre-scientific” people.

We think we have been enlightened enough to realize that God never meant us to actually believe his words in Genesis Chapter One. Now we understand he only meant for us to glean spiritual meaning from that book. This is a dangerous precedent, however, because it begs the question, “When, then, does the Bible become literally true, and who decides?.”

We have adopted the satanic sophistry of believing that God communicates truth while being untruthful.

The devil wants us to imagine that coming to such a conclusion makes us “deep” thinkers, when in reality it converts us into fools.

Claiming to be wise, they instead became utter fools. Romans 1:22 (NLT)

The simple truth is that God never lies. He says what he means and means what he says.

God is not a man, that He should lie, Nor a son of man, that He should repent. Has He said, and will He not do? Or has He spoken, and will He not make it good? Numbers 23:19 (NKJV)

Either Genesis Chapter One is absolutely true, or we should not trust the Bible at all.

We cannot have it both ways, which Satan knows, but he has deceived the bride-to-be into thinking we can eat our cosmological cake and still stick to our pure diet of God’s Word. Like Saul of old, we have not fully obeyed God while insisting we have. God might ask his church, what is the meaning of this heliocentrism? Who told you the earth revolves around the sun? God did not.

How did Christ’s intended fall from its noble position of defending the integrity of the words of her beloved at any cost during the Protestant Reformation? Why did we scrap “Sola Scriptura” for “Sola Scientia?” This radical shift resulted from the introduction of a mesmerizing new cosmology at the inception of what historians call the Scientific Revolution. Placing the sun (Helios – Satan) at the center of creation is a diabolical lie, which emerged to counterattack the newfound reliance on the Scriptures fostered by the Protestant Reformation. (The documentary entitled Heliosorcery lays this out brilliantly.)

Just when the Bible’s truth was being restored to preeminence, Satan introduced a reverence for “science” to undermine our confidence in God’s Word.

Copernicus did not regard the scriptures as sacred. He, therefore, had no qualms about proposing a radical anti-biblical idea that the earth moves around the sun, which became the center of what is now called the “solar system.” Making the sun the center, instead of the earth, accomplished several things for the devil.

It refuted the truthfulness of the Bible.
It established the sun, Helios or Satan, as the controlling influence over the earth, rather than God.
It reduced the earth to being one of the “wandering stars” (Greek: planetes), the rest of which were named after false gods (fallen angels?).
It destabilized creation by saying that the earth moves rather than the sun, moon, and stars.
It removed heaven, the abode of God, from the picture and gave rise to the even worse errors of evolution and the Big Bang, fostering hopelessness and atheism.
It led to what has become known as the Copernican Principle, that there is nothing special about the earth and humanity, contradicting the Bible.
The fear of the Lord has been diminished because people no longer believe that God is nearby, sitting on his throne atop the firmament, watching everything we do.

At first, the church resolutely rejected these cosmological lies, but over time, as the stalwart defenders of truth died out, the future bride of Christ was eventually swept off her feet by this handsome imposter’s lies.

Today most of the church thinks that the biblical cosmology of Genesis Chapter One is ridiculous. (Selah…let that sink in.)

We imagine that the Bible cannot compete with the wonderful explanations and theories of modern science. Sadly, this reveals that we think the Creator does not understand his own creation or perhaps lied about it because he thought we could not handle the truth.

We try to cover up our betrayal by telling an observant world that we have learned how to properly understand the embarrassing words of our intended by reinterpreting them as poetry or allegory, while at the same time affirming complete faith in the Bible. The world rightly laughs at our duplicity.

This is nothing short of two-timing our intended groom. Jesus knows about our “stepping out” with our “more exciting” cosmic boyfriend who blasphemes Jesus by calling him a liar. We have been so duped that we don’t even trying to hide our unfaithfulness! We think Jesus doesn’t mind at all, not realizing that every time we embrace Satan’s lie, we commit idolatry against the one called the Truth.

The globe is most likely the most prolific idol in history, appearing in classrooms, homes, movies, etc. as a constant reinforcement of our false belief. Christians routinely use the words “planet” and “globe” to describe God’s creation, the earth, without realizing that such language is an insult to the Creator and a public renunciation of Genesis Chapter One. We have accepted our cosmic boyfriend’s accusation that Jesus is an ignorant rube whose words embarrasses us when we are with our highly educated “friends.” Don’t get me wrong, Jesus is definitely the one whom we want to marry and spend eternity, but our “space boyfriend” is way more fun and “affirming” right now.

We have become so mesmerized with our pagan boyfriend’s cosmology that many of us cannot bear to think that Star Wars and other versions of space fiction are bold-faced lies about God’s creation designed to engender in us a desire to abandon our assigned habitation and venture into what the Bible calls “outer darkness,” the realm of the lost. We teach our children to believe this pagan cosmology while also teaching them to believe the Bible is completely true. I imagine it all becomes a little confusing.

It appears to be too humbling for us to concede that we live in a kind of giant terrarium under the watchful eye of the Creator. For some reason we find it more ennobling and God-glorifying to imagine that the earth is an insignificant spinning ball of water hurtling through an infinitely expanding universe. If this lying version of God’s creation, which is a kind of cosmological pornography, brings so much glory to him, why then are so many astrophysicists brazen atheists? Do we think that Scripture gives us a version of heaven and earth that is too small after listening to our cosmic boyfriend? Do we really prefer Satan’s lie over God’s truth?

The true heavens and earth are what bring God glory, not the false version. It is time for us to repent for embracing Satan’s lie!

The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork. Psalm 19:1 (NKJV)

We have paraded our devotion to a pagan cosmology at the expense of our witness to God’s truth before the world.

Many evangelicals shy away from the topic of cosmology, thinking it is a distraction from the gospel. But if are embarrassed about what the Bible says about origins, why should we think that will make the gospel more believable? Why should we expect people to accept our proclamation that Jesus rose from the dead and now rules from heaven as Lord of lords? What heaven? Where is it? How can we prove any of this is true? The Bible challenges us to believe many things that run counter to accepted “science” – Adam and Eve, Noah’s flood, Exodus and the crossing of the Red Sea, the manna in the wilderness, Joshua stopping the sun, David and Goliath, etc.

Why is believing the literal truth of Genesis Chapter One such a “no go?” Is it because we love our pagan cosmic boyfriend too much? Is it because we don’t want our scientific friends to think ill of us? Is it because we don’t really believe the Bible after all?

We have been unfaithful to the Bible and its author regarding cosmology for about 500 years now. Enough is enough! It is time for us to come to our senses and unashamedly return to God’s pure wisdom. My prayer is that 2026 will be the year when multitudes of Christians return to a simple devotion to God and his Word, including Genesis Chapter One. Let us steel ourselves against the ridicule of the world and shamelessly embrace God’s Word. He will be rightly pleased with us if we make this stand!

For whoever is ashamed of Me and My words, the Son of Man will be ashamed of him when He comes in His glory, and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels. Luke 9:26 (NASB95

Prayer

Lord Jesus, forgive me for falling for the devil’s lies. Forgive me for doubting your Word! Forgive me for being embarrassed to let other people know that I firmly believe the truth of all the words of the Bible, not just those that are socially acceptable. Give me strength to stand for your truth, even if I must suffer for it. Holy Spirit, open the eyes and hearts of other believers who still cannot see the truth. Let your bride-to-be repent for her unfaithfulness and become more fully devoted to you. Amen.

Share this post...