Intelligent Design Websites

For those who are interested in seeking alternative scientific views regarding the universe, you can find a list of Intelligent Design links by going to the website below and clicking “Websites”. Thanks to John Staiger in Auckland, New Zealand for the tip. In fact the whole website looks good. Have a look.

New Ben Stein Movie — EXPELLED

This is something every theist should see and promote.  Also check out the movie website here. 

Cultural Engagement: Every Christian’s Obligation

Let me recommend this article on the Crosswalk.com site.

Day Job, Vandalism

To those of you who can’t wait for my next post and hang on every word I write…I apologize for the lack of activity here.  Believe it our not, I have a day job.   There are several other major distractions that I won’t bother you with here.

I have also found out that if you make provocative comments on other people’s blogs that they want you to answer right away.  By the time I get to it, they have forgotten who I am and what I said.   I apologize to you folks as well.

Now for something completely different.  We have had a rash of vandalism in our town to the tune of a half a million dollars in damage.  There are several crimes I just do not understand, cannot comprehend, the motivation for.  Vandalism is one of those.  Anyway, these guys have been caught four “men” (I hesitate to call them that) 18-20 years of age.   Apparently they were bored.  BORED!  Can you believe it?   One or more of them cited the lack of “activities” in our town.  Give me a flamin’ break!

Well, now they can be bored for five years behind bars.

Testing Religion

     With Mitt Romney among the presidential hopefuls, a lot of Mormons (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints) are re-examining their faith and a few are leaving it. It is always healthy to re-examine one’s faith. But what standard are we using? Let me suggest several “tests of faith,” for those leaving one of the hundreds of denominations and cults that claim to be “Christian.”

1. Christ must be the focus. In many religions the church is the focus. It is, “the church does that or the church teaches this.” The focus must be on the teachings and person Jesus Christ and the teachings of the apostles which he sent with His authority. He is the permanent head of His church and no man, no hierarchy can take His place or speak or act on His behalf.
   The teachings of Christ must be followed. Groups that claim to be followers of Christ who hate, persecute, commit genocide, go on “crusades,” torture and kill their fellow-humans, and make wars of aggression against others are not Christian.
2. There must be a standard authority. For Christians, the standard is the revelation of God, specifically, the Old and New Testaments. Before there was a collection of books that today we call the Bible (the word, “bible” is not found in the Bible), there was the Law, history, poetry and prophecy contained in what Christians call the Old Testament (which leads us to Christ) and the gospels, the book of Acts, the letters and the book of Revelation. These manuscripts were circulated among the churches. The existing copies of the books of the Bible (and there are literally thousands of manuscripts and fragments of manuscripts – more than any other ancient book) are extremely accurate. This cannot be said about the books and collections of laws that some religions use as authority.
3. You must have an accurate history. Of course not every fact in any history can be proven – not much you can do about that. But the points of history that can be examined must fit the facts. No one can prove that a huge fish (not a whale) swallowed Jonah or that the pursuing Egyptian army was drowned in the sea. But the existence of the persons and places mentioned in Scripture is so accurate that archeologists (both religious and non-religious) use it to locate the sites they excavate. The languages used are known languages. The people and races mentioned are historically and scientifically accurate. The animals mentioned really existed in the time the accounts were written.
   Some say faith is blind. That’s just not true. Faith in what is not seen is based on what can be seen.
4. You must have prophets whose revelations can be tested for accuracy. If a prophet prophesies something that didn’t happen, he or she is a false prophet. If your religion features a prophet or prophets, check out their predictions for accuracy. Furthermore the prophecies must not contradict what has already been revealed in the standard authority (see No. 4).

Don’t just leave one of the hundreds of denominations and cults for another one! You can be a Christian without joining any denomination or cult. You can simply decide to follow Christ. All He asks is for you to be reconciled to God through Him and by virtue of His sacrifice. If you believe trust and obey Him — that makes you a Christian. For fellowship with others, you can find a group seeking to be just Christians only and gather with them for encouragement and Bible study (see my article on Assembly). They won’t be perfect, but neither am I or you. Are they seeking to apply these four tests? That’s what counts.

Christ’s church has no certain name. He adds to his church those trust and obey Him. This is his assembly, his body, his bride and anyone and everyone can be a member.

The War between Science and Faith

     If you would like to read an excellent, sensible and rational article on the supposed “war” between science and faith, go to Saij’s blog, Good Tithings. For some reason he applies it to Republican candidates but the reference is somewhat beside the point. Tell him Dwight sent you.

Torture

It was interesting to watch Glenn Beck interview best selling author Vince Flynn tonight on CNN. Torture came up in the discussion and it was interesting to listen to them nervously defend it as sometimes necessary. It was a “the means justify the ends” kind of discussion.  It makes me wonder, dude, where did my country go? Americans torturing people? Say it ain’t so!

For years now I have watched my country participate in things, support people and prop up regimes that were definitely on the dark side. I have watched us support the worst of despots, dictators and tyrants simply because they were enemies of our enemies. So, perhaps I shouldn’t be amazed that we’re discussing the relative merits of torture.  I love my country but enough is enough! There is right and wrong and it is never right to do wrong.

Torture is just plain evil. Can you torture information out of a prisoner that will save lives? Yes. Does that make it OK? No. My Master, Jesus, tells us how to treat our enemies (Matthew 5:44; Luke 6:27). How can you reconcile such a teaching with torture?

Maybe the arguments from a Christian standpoint leave you cold. OK, then what kind of a nation are we going to be? Are we going to dive into the cesspool with the same barbarians we seek to bring to justice? I’m with McCain on this one, “This is really fundamentally about what kind of nation the United States of America is.”

See if you agree with Chuck

I’m getting a little tired of hearing that Ron Paul doesn’t stand a chance. I challenge my American readers to read this article by Chuck Baldwin. Dr. Paul may not make it to the White House (don’t count him out yet!) but his ideas will live on. He’s a man whose principles and philosophy need to be taken seriously by lovers of freedom. Thanks to Bob Chapman for alerting me to this excellent article.

Broken Down in Break Week

The best-laid schemes o’ mice an ‘men
Gang aft agley,
An’lea’e us nought but grief an’ pain,
For promis’d joy!

(Robert Burns, To A Mouse, On Turning Her Up In Her Nest With The Plough)

It is Break Week at Sunset (and, consequently at Charamon in Abilene) which includes Thanksgiving. I was looking forward to getting a bunch of stuff done (won’t bore you with the details) but Brenda and I are reluctantly entertaining the worst cold (bacterial, apparently, as opposed to viral) we’ve had for years. Our doctor kindly saw us both and has given us the requisite antibiotics and steroid shots and a breathing treatment for your’s truly.

It would have been satisfying to leave some shamefully neglected tasks in our powerful wake as we plowed through the murky waters of waiting work. But, truly, as Robbie Burns warned, our plans have gone “agley” (whatever that means) and we are left with “nought but grief an’ pain / For promis’d joy!” Oh, we’ll weakly eke out some effort and put paid to a few of the more impatient chores. But a much more glorious and joyful outcome had been anticipated. Bummer!

The Disappearance of Stacy Peterson

This is Stacy Peterson.  Attractive woman.  But what’s the matter with this picture? A 19 year old woman marries a man in his late 40s who’s been married three times before and whose last wife, who feared for her life, drowned in a bathtub. If your answer is “everything,” then you and I are seeing this debacle the same way.

As I listened to the news this morning a flock of questions took flight through my mind. What causes ordinarily responsible people to lose touch with reality? How could she think that this man was a good marriage prospect? Even if he was, shouldn’t she have checked him out more thoroughly? Didn’t she know about the bizarre death of his third wife?  Did her parents/family/friends/confidants warn her about marrying a man twice her age? What was she thinking? Was she thinking at all?

Now, four years later, this young mother has gone missing under suspicious circumstances and is probably decomposing in a shallow grave in some woods. How horrible is that?

I like Joe Muir’s words to young women quoted in Wendy Shalit’s blog Girls Gone Mild he writes:

I…want to encourage each of you to never, ever settle for second best in a relationship, as you deserve the best. It is far better to not be in a relationship, wishing you were in one, than to actually be in one, wishing you weren’t. Be willing, I pray you, to be single for the rest of your life, if that’s what it takes to not settle for second best; as that would be far better than marrying a man who cannot love you.

Amen.