"...I'm with Him!"

"...I'm with Him!"
I am doing some background on this Mars Hill with Mark Driscoll and I have to share this - RIGHT ON!

Be forewarned, however, that the Mars Hill in Lansing, Michigan is not on my "OK" list...  This one is in the Seattle area, expanding into some others. 

Freedom of the Press

http://www.icr.org/article/6209/



A paraphrased summary of the article in the link is that a "scientific" journal violated its own policies for fear of their own reputation, quashing a legitimate, mathematical rebuttal to the evolutionary development of DNA.

This seems to be a well-documented occurrence lately - anyone who questions the apparently infallible theory of evolution is ostracized from academia and openly ridiculed. Apparently, there is a certain restraint in place for discussing ideas?

In my way of thinking, truth stands the test of time and will outlast all contrary opinions, regardless of who may question it.  It seems that increasingly, science has become more of a faith based democracy that refuses to audit its own ideas honestly.  

Lately, I hear phrases like "scientific consensus" or "uncertain science" and I just have to cringe.  It's as if a particular answer must be found regardless of the evidence - or lack of evidence - and the conclusions are found with a tally of the votes instead of honest confirmation of the data.  

Furthermore, it is also common for periodicals to confidently present artistic impressions of evolutionary links as though they are settled fact with no other possible conlusions. The evidence is not only very often circumstantial, but the resulting theories are in turn also circumstantial and circular in their logic. How is it that artistic license has become such an integral part of scientific presentation? How is it that we aren't more skeptical, particularly after a long history of frauds and corrections?

Spiritually speaking, we have to be careful to study and verify the truth as well.  God has chosen to reveal Himself in Creation and through His word, the Bible.  In spite of the pollution of sin, all present Creation speaks of His wisdom, intelligence and completeness.  The Bible speaks to this specifically, revealing to anyone who will study it the details needed to understand our need to be cleansed completely from sin.

Real truth is self-evident to those who are willing to accept it.  Some just refuse to accept it.  How does that old saying go, "The one who is argued against his will is of the same opinion still."?  

With that horrible thought in mind, the Bible is clear that we are not to violate our own conscience, or that of a fellow believer.  It is clear that we are instead to remain rooted in the faith - accepting the truth of the Word above all else...  

1 Timothy 1: 5 through 7 is one place that warns us:
   

The goal of this command is love, which comes from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith. ⁶ Some have departed from these and have turned to meaningless talk. ⁷ They want to be teachers of the law, but they do not know what they are talking about or what they so confidently affirm.

With that in mind, search the truth heartily.  Keep the essentials firm and avoid digressing into the pitfalls that Paul mentions here.  Don't get caught just making someone else's case, be convinced yourself of the truth - study and prayer are so essential that the early church elders set themselves apart from serving the daily needs of the church just for that purpose.

Where arguments do arise, it is imperative that we make our case honorably, convincingly and winsomely - as Christ would.  With our brothers in Christ, we must be very careful not to mis-lead, or to offend their conscience.  Truth will stand without our pride to bolster it.  Be prayerful in discussions, careful in words.  Public disputes are ugly to the unbeliever... ...petty arguments are not profitable to anyone.  

There are times when Paul fights openly and with fists bared (see Galatians) and others where he submits himself to the advice of the elders in Jerusalem.  As far as I can tell, the bare fists come out with those doctrines that contradict the pillars of the Gospel.  So many times, though, we get caught fighting the bad fight - over genelogies and old wives tales. 

God help me to curb my tongue to suit Your purposes and Your kingdom alone...

Maybe I should change the title of this post...

Local flora...

I got a special treat today - our five year old (who just lost her first tooth yesterday) wanted very badly to help me cutting wood today.  She had to talk very adamantly to convince me, but once there I was really impressed - she didn't want to be around the loud saw, but otherwise, she got right down to business whenever I stopped it.

We were rained out twice, but between working and ducking weather, we were treated to this little number.  I think it is Cypripedium montanum sometimes called the Mountain Lady’s Slipper.  I have not seen many of these - only one or two, perhaps, but it is not a terribly rare species.  There are a certain number of related species of this type of orchid that are rare - even endangered... ...don't pick them or disturb them.  I'm pretty sure that the attorney general will visit you. 

Keep your eyes open right now while they are in bloom if you want to see one.

Creator

Fresh off of an invigorating conversation about Creation with friends, it occurs to me that if God is not the Creator, then He is not infinite, nor is He powerful enough to absolve sin and death nor could He make us new. 

If you are a Christian who thinks that God can be less than Creator, then I question that your god can be enough to be Savior.

Harsh?  No.  Blunt? Yes.  True? Think with me. 

The trinity is shown in Genesis 1 making everything from nothing - and it was good.  By Genesis 3 man has sinned.  In Genesis 6, God destroys all life on land - save the few on the ark.  Sin is a huge problem that cannot be removed simply by judgment or punishment.  When God does judge the Earth eternal hell is where all evil is sequestered, and God creates a new heaven and a new earth.  Judgement for sin is eternal.  New creation is necessary, and it must be completely set apart from all sin, all corruption.

If He cannot create anew, then He cannot rid the world of sin and we are in such a case completely hopeless.

Post Edit:
Craig added a comment to this that sheds a little more. 

And I believe this is exactly what is meant when Colossians calls Him the first born of all creation. He is the first to resurrect, under His own power. Thus proving that He can indeed accomplish what needs to be done. The making of all things new. The promise is finally fulfilled in Rev.5:21. "Behold, I am making everything new"


(I get really excited at the "am making" part - He didn't say "have made" but "am making" - as though it will not stop from then on . . .)

Colosians 1:15-16, which Craig mentioned above is precisely one of the verses that attributes Creation to Christ.

The Son is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn over all creation. ¹⁶ For in him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things have been created through him and for him.

I have heard others explain the term "firstborn of all creation" not as an indication of His birth order, however, being intended to show preeminence instead.  He is above all of Creation.  The term in this case would have positional connotations of birthrite, royalty, etc.  I am not a Greek scholar, so my looking at it only comes back with "first born" the way it would ocur to me in my own vernacular.

John 1:1-4 was in my brain while thinking this through.

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. ² He was with God in the beginning. ³ Through him all things were made; without him nothing was made that has been made. ⁴ In him was life, and that life was the light of all mankind.

Not only was Christ there during the act of creation, He was a necessary part of it.

John MacArthur points out in a recent sermon, that as the Creator who made everything, He is also fully capable of un-making them, which He will according to the Bible. 

There is one thing that I have yet to look at more deeply yet.  There is a scope of creation that is eternal - particularly that which is spritual.  This of course includes people, and also the angels.  The agony of Hell is intended first of all for the fallen angels - which do not die as far as I can tell - but will contain those people who refuse to turn to the lordship of Christ as well.  That is also eternal...

Creation is just a fascinating thing to me.  And, unfortunately for you who have to read these posts, fascinating things seem to take more words to talk about them.  I hope that it is half way engaging in spite of all the words...

Creation

Anyone who has known me for a while, understands that I have a certain fondness for the outdoors.  By rite of fatherly and husbandly duty, much time is not spent in the forests and mountains these days, but every-day living in this area is like living in some vacation-destination spot anyway.  So, it is natural for me (pardon the pun) to philosophize about "natural" things - the way things are and the way they came to be.

I have always been a convinced Creationist - which is to say that I believe that God created the Earth and everything that exists apart from Himself in a span of 6 24 hour periods (which we know as days).  The Bible states this plainly and positively - actually excluding all other possible explanations.  The fossil record backs the Bible up.  The present materials all around us attest to it.  Yet, we are inundated with "scientific conclusions" that not only question Creation, but also directly and overtly conflict with it.

Science itself, which I consider to be the pursuit and proving of truth, does not actually conflict with the Bible.  It's just that many of the present conclusions presented to us in our text books, periodicals or other media today are not really scientific.  Much of what we see is beatiful 3D renderings, animations, paintings or what have you that are at most something of a guess.  At worst, many have been proven faulty or fraudulant, in some cases decades ago.  Lest you think me unfair, I will also propose that the Biblical origin is not truly scientific either.  No scientist observed it.  No one can repeat it.  No one can prove it the way you would in some experiment.  But the Bible is not wrong.  Everything around us points to the Creator simply by its very existence, let alone the complexity, beauty and function.

"Natural" or rather "Supernatural" evidence is all around us.  I have had more than one person tell me that they just couldn't believe that "God could just do all of this".  I have replied to them, "Congratulations, your faith is greater than mine, because I can't believe that all this could just make itself."  It must have started somwhere, somehow.  There is a watchmaker, a computer geek or an artist for every watch, electronic device or painting, yet we humans think that we just happened somehow?  Really?

You see, the issue of origins is not about the true facts for anyone.  Facts are all present for all of us to see.  The issue is instead entirely about the interpretation of the facts.  The facts are all around us. How you interpret them and where you place your faith is instead at issue.

By way of the Bible, I understand the purpose of God and the purpose of Creation.
...I understand how everything that has its being exists...
...I see that sin mutated and destroyed the whole of Creation...
...I see that the result of sin is death, judgement - the Flood...

I percieve things around me that corroberate the Biblical account of Creation and the Flood...
...I see how "kinds" of living things produce after their "kinds" - staying recognizable in form and purpose over countless generations...
...I see how a firmament (waters over the earth) might have made an ideal environment for every kind of creature extinct or not...
...I see how continents were literally broken up in a catyclismic, world-wide flood...
...I see how fossils by the millions, coal and crude petroleum, natural gasses and other deposits were formed...
...I understand how marine fossils are found in the highest of mountains...
...I understand how mountains and valleys took their shape.  (Use Google Earth or take a flight somewhere - it seems as though someone pulled a plug and the whole pond drained, leaving gouges where the sediment was scoured away in mind-blowing run-off.)

...Perhaps most of all, I see the tremendous effects of sin and death.

The effects of sin affect us daily. We hurt each other, lie to each other, on and on... ...eventually each of us dies.  According to the Bible, death is the result of sin. 

I often see this idea that "death is a natural part of life" on TV or whatever, and I am constantly reminded that, according to the Bible, God didn't intend for us to die. The original creation did not need death. Man and everything around him was orginally "perfect". Sin ruined it. Death was brought to limit sin.

Why is your belief about origins so important? 

Perhaps the biggest reason is the authority of the Bible.  You can take God at His word, as revealed to us in Scripture, or you can reject it.  Those who believe that they can discern away portions, trying to align the Bible to present day "science" (rather, interpretations of observable facts) will find themselves in a conundurum of conflicting and opposite faiths.  Bottom line, if God is not in complete control of finite Creation, then there is no reason to believe that He controls infinite eternity.  If He does not control eternity, then He cannot deal with sin, righteousness and judgment, and, in turn, men are not truly or fully accountable to Him.

However, in the biblical narrative, we are told that God is still in control of all of this.  Not only is there complete accountability, but there is also complete forgiveness.  He made a way to pay for sin Himself - something we could not pay for in a billion years of eternal suffering.  No matter how long we might suffer for our own sins, we cannot fix them.  No amount of self-indulgence, flagellation or penetance can sweep sin away.  But praise be to Jesus Christ, being fully God and fully man, He took on the sins of the world and offers redemption.  It took an eternal, infinite God in the form of a man to take on the sins of millions upon millions of men. 

The simple, brutal truth is that we want to avoid being accountable. We want to be our own boss, but avoiding the issue doesn't get rid of it - whether you are avoiding the issue of your own sin or that or origins of matter.  In order to ignore sin, some have taken this to levels of obsession, rather choosing to believe that advanced alien life seeded earth.  (Forgive, me this, but even if there is alien life, it had to come from somewhere, didn't it?) Pursue the truth in truth and it will lead you to the Truth, who is Christ Jesus.

It just takes some recognition from our part to our need for Him.  He can make you a new creature - all things becoming new.  He is the Creator, after all.  It just won't work any other way.

The Lil' Red Truck

The Lil' Red Truck has a long history in our family - quite possibly more history than I do, though a little clarification from Dad might help me there.

While its not the doll it was when I was a toddler, (and I do remember it back then - have the "thumb" to prove it - sorry Mom) it ain't a rust bucket either.  I gave up on it years ago.  Family and work, and all the other things that keep us busy have kept me from doing much.  My father in law found out about it and pitched in a little jump start to see if we can get the Lil' Red Truck to the parade in a few weeks.

No promises yet, but lots of progress.  Years of sitting are hard on machines that are meant to operate regularly.  Rubber dries out - hoses, belts and seals fail.  Gas left in the fuel system turns into a nasty, putrid stuff that burns more like deisel - worse yet, condensation builds inside the tank and rust accumulates. 

The gas tank had to be drained - the fuel had turned into a green, nasty substance that didn't smell much like gas any more.  I set it aside for fire starting - with mixed results at actually burning at all.  The tank is being cleaned and treated now to neutralize the rust and then to coat the tank.

As I work on this, I am constantly grattified to find that the old ways were simple and reliable. Bolts, not plastic retainers and clips that break fasten nearly everything - and have lots of access to get a wrench in there - usually.


The radiator checked out great - which was a huge relief.  I cannot find the coolant leak yet though - somewhere there is likely some dried-out old seal that has decided to let go - I hope not, but cannot find much so far.

Electrical on these old trucks was all cloth insulated.  Years have apparenlty taken the flex out of the wires and I am a little nervous to work around them, for fear of breaking a wire.  Worse yet, anywhere that there is a splice, it consists of a couple of twists and a bit of tape.  I used to try that with my headphones when the wires shorted out - with pretty poor results.  Some wires are just going to get replaced regardless, I haven't decided whether I want to tackle the whole harness yet.

Here is the gas tank - attached to the running board still.  Dad and K helped me get the last part of this project out from under the truck - definitely nice to have extra hands!

Real Motivation

It is increasingly apparent to me that no amount of internal or external cajoling is effective in true, personal change.  I have always believed this to one extent or another, but in an ever-increasing reality to me, the only real change that a person can hope for is found in their own personal, life-long discovery of the depths of God.

I am prompted to write this after hearing John MacArthur use the same ides as the basis of worship - the deeper the understanding of God the more intense the desire to worship and praise Him.  Worship, not merely being the sum of our musical talent on Sunday morning, is really the living of our daily lives with Him.

"With Him" is a term that I fear may be unappreciated - I mean to say that each day is taken frequently, and constantly to Him as in a conversation - un-ceasing prayer.  Constant awareness and consideration of His presence.

This, and not the persuasion of well-meaning do-gooders, ought to be the foundation of our lives.  One works from the outside in, which is impossible and terrible to live up to.  The other works from the inside out - which is real change based on the relationship with our Father in heaven.

When I remember this, I know that I truly can do all things through Christ; yet all to often, I forget and I do suffer...

G.K. Chesterton

"God is like the sun. You cannot look at it, but without it, you can see nothing else."

San Diego Spring... ...or was it winter?

We have just returned from a very special treat to see Crystal's grandparents who are working in the San Diego area.  It was a wonderful time spending time with family and friends, putting up with close quarters in airplanes and cars, stretching our legs across sandy beaches and scampering away from sneaker waves.  We found that fish tacos can be delicious.  We followed crowds of people through SeaWorld and delighted in the arial displays of trained porpoises... ...and I think we easily shot over a thousand photos.

Here are a few from our first day.  These are from Solana Beach, north of Del Mar and San Diego.  The cliffs shown here are not solid rock, except where workers have installed concrete walls that are carefully and artfully matched to the actual textures and colors of the natural cliffs, and there are warning signs that the cliffs are active... ...I guess that means they are eroding in less than milliions of years.

Seashells by the seashore were on the meager side...

The tide was receding while we were there, but the shallow slope of the sand meant there were lots of "sneaker waves" that had Gigi and Ava running fast...

There was a different hue in the light while we were there.  (No, not the radiation...)  It was very rich, but the marine layer added a lot of green/blue, while the ocean added lots of green.  Before and afters of these are very different, though Crystal will undoubtedly be able to draw more from them.

There is way too much - maybe I'll get to some of it later.  I have a lot of pics that I enjoyed taking and I am trying to learn the editing side too.

New Must Read Added

My boss, an elder brother in Christ has been a constant source of encouragement to me over many years.  He has been more than patient as I (we) struggle through lean times, persevere with new projects and improve old ones.   He has a big picture outlook, while my coworkers and I try to keep up with the details.  He has several huge successes under his belt that bring him broad recognition, but you might not know it to talk to him.  Still, things do affect him - though they are bigger things than I might ever face - and it is reassuring to work for people that are seeking to please the Lord and serve His purposes with their whole life.

I really don't know exactly what happened to me a year or so ago, but suffice it to say that my wife, my boss and one friend in particular have been instrumental while God worked things out with me.  Maybe someday I will have words, but right now, it still feels too close to see it clearly.  I guess I am still recovering...

The point of this post is a book that my boss mentioned a few weeks ago, called Red Sea Rules.  My boss shared the principles that he learned from it and then bought a few copies to hand out - one of which I got and read in one evening.

As I read, it ocurred to me that God had prepared me for this time - using the story of the Red Sea even before things got crazy.  I haven't gone back to look, but I know that I posted a bit about that back then.  The point is that God's purposes will not be thwarted - something we can take comfort knowing. 

I might be trying to get a few copies ordered soon, but for now, here is a link and I will be leaving another in the side of the blog as well... ...normally, I yawn a little with books, but this one is different if you have been anxious, worried and/or depressed, this is a great read! 

I hope that you will put this in your library at least if only for the occassion that it might later be an encouragement for you or your family, and then share it as well?