Earth 2.0

Does this affect your worldview?
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20070424/D8ON8OSG0.html

For many Christians, the notion that we are the only planet with life is crucial to a biblical worldview. After all, if there is life on other planets (and that remains a huge IF for now) there would be some question about the biblical story of creation in Genesis...or would there?

Consider:

Genesis 1
The Beginning
1 In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.
2 Now the earth was [a] formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.

3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.

6 And God said, "Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water." 7 So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. 8 God called the expanse "sky." And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.

9 And God said, "Let the water under the sky be gathered to one place, and let dry ground appear." And it was so. 10 God called the dry ground "land," and the gathered waters he called "seas." And God saw that it was good.

Notice "the earth" is singular, and it certainly appears to be referring to our planet, not many of them. Additionally, the planet God created (and would later create Man to rule, posessed dry ground and waters he called "seas".

So, Genesis 1 describes our planet, but does it rule out other planets? Verse 1 indicates that he first created the "heavens" which might be interpreted as the entire universe, including other potentially habitable planets.

So what about life? Well life comes in many forms, we know through Scripture that we are created in God's image and given dominion over the rest of creation. If we ever do discover life on another planet, my belief is that it falls under the "rest of creation".

The question that is really tough to answer would be: What if we discover intelligent life on another planet? That opens a can of worms that I don't believe we can answer through scripture.

After all, wouldn't that intelligent life also need and be offered a Savior?

Interesting questions to ponder.

Additional reading material (for better or worse):
http://www.arn.org/docs/williams/pw_christianityspaceandaliens.htm http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0506301.htm
http://baliset.blogspot.com/2005/10/can-i-be-christian-and-believe-in.html#links



Read full post here!

Java Jesus

What is the connection with coffee and the church today? We have somehow gotten the notion that Jesus is not truly high and lifted up, unless we are high and lifted up from a good ole cup o' joe on Sunday morning. Why does every church have a coffee bar or even an all-out coffee shop?
There are several churches in our area that actually have coffee franchises (Starbucks, Deidrichs) onsite. This only feeds my personal disgust with the Christian consumeristic mindset. Maybe these various churches are not actually doing wrong to provide coffee. Coffee is not inherently wrong. But, coffee is not a fool proof marketing tool that brings people to God. Only the Holy Spirit can do that! I can see that, perhaps, coffee provides an opportunity for fellowship, but come on....have we taken this too far? Can we not experience true Christian community without a tall decaf cafe mocha?

A friend and I were recently discussing this matter over e-mail. She served as a missionary in the Middle East for 2 years and I believe her husband served in Russia and then in the Middle East later. She shared this, "my husband says it's because Starbucks is more successful than the gospel so we trick people into being interested by providing a similar atmosphere. There are believers dying in the name of Jesus across the globe...dying for the spread of the kingdom and we sip coffee at church? Don't get me started." Yes, we are so into being hip and cool. Another of my concerns is the current move toward church growth movements and marketing ploys that devalue the essential message of Christ. Coffee is ok, but Java + Jesus is not necessary for salvation. And, we unshamedly spend (I too am guilty of this) $3 on a hot chocolate or latte, while missionaries around the globe are barely making ends meet trying to share the love of Christ to all. Have our priorities gotten out of whack? Shouldn't God's amazing grace, the sacrifice of Christ and the agape love of the church be what draws people into the light from darkness? Why isn't the church, God's people, the community of faith --- as warm and inviting as Starbucks and as sweet and rich as an overpriced cup of coffee? Shouldn't we, as Christians, give more to enable the gospel of Christ to be preached in all nations and take care of our own missionaries, pastors, etc?

One last thought, Brad has said that coffee at church gives the impression that you aren't even awake or aware when you come to church to worship God. Can we shake our caffiene addiction long enough to worship God? We need to be dependent on him, not a cheap legal stimulant.

Am I the only one who thinks Java + Jesus is a strange marketing ploy?

Read full post here!

Me Church

Watch this satirical video about the church today. Somehow we have gotten the idea that church is about ME not GOD.

Read full post here!

"hatching" a new life

http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/04/05/japan.baby.hatch.ap/index.html
This is a difficult topic because I agree with what the community is doing to try to provide a place for parents of unwanted children to bring them, however it's just the situation as a whole that saddens me.We might agree that these "hatches" are certainly better than a bathroom in a shopping mall, or worse still - the garbage. But where is the humanity in any of this? How do the precious cries of a newborn not strike the chords of love and protection in even the most callous parent's heart? Not that our so-called "Christian culture" doesn't share it's own lack of respect for the sanctity of human life, but I believe the next to last paragraph does give some insight into this alarming trend in Japan:

With no law against abortions and no clear religious taboos in predominantly Buddhist Japan, the procedure is readily available and widespread.

I'm no expert in Buddhism, and frequently confuse the beliefs with Hinduism, but my understanding is that they believe in reincarnation - a view diametrically opposed to the Christian worldview of resurrection. Because they believe in reincarnation, life has less purpose, less value because it's only the state of one's consciousness at their death that will determine their rebirth. In contrast, the Christian view of life is that it is a sacred gift from God to be guarded and protected for the short time it is given.

How then do the Buddhists reconcile these selfish actions with their desire to improve their karma? Read full post here!

A jab to all the Christian haters

http://worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=55073

I just thought this was funny. But it is really getting old how frequently our government and many of our fellow countrymen refuse to openly acknowledge who the terrorists are. The guys who flew planes into the Twin Towers and Pentagon were NOT the Gideons for crying out loud!

Note: This is satire. Read the full website to the bottom.

This website was setup by some folks who were upset about their local school's mock terror drill. It was the school's choice about who the terrorists would be that particularly drew the ire of the community...fundamentalist Christians. Yeah...there are so many Christians using car bombs and suicide bomb belts around the world. Given - there have been instances of lunatics using God's name in vain and doing unspeakable horrors, the classic example is the abortion clinic bomber. However, this is not on the nightly news EVERY SINGLE DAY, like those "inspired" by Islam. The simple truth is that Islam has been used to justify countless attacks upon innocent people around the World. But for some reason, American TV shows (with one recent exception) and movies usually portray a terrorist as a wacked-out Christian lunatic. If it were balanced with a true portrayal of the Christian faith, that might be one thing but it's the conscious OVERLOOKING of Islam and the conscious MISREPRESENTATION of Christianity that is just really making a lot of Chrisitians upset. And the signs of frustration are beginning to show. Read full post here!

The more we learn, the smaller we are

Anyone who tries to tell you that "no scientists are Christians" is a misinformed person at best, and at worst - delusional. On the contrary, a large percentage of scientists are not only Christian, but believe their work REINFORCES their faith. This journey has been true in my own life, through my study of human physiology and anatomy (as well as other sciences), I've learned an even deeper appreciation for the Creator. My college training is in Biomedical Engineering, which involves the application of engineering principles to the human body-machine. What I've learned and can prove through analysis is that the human body is designed. I cannot fill enough virtual space writing about the well-known complexity of the human body, and many others have already covered the topic sufficiently (just do a simple search). What amazes me most though, is the beauty of the creation, the way our bodies work in harmony within and also with the world around us.

This is an article by Dr. Francis Collins, director of the human genome project, and a Christian.

http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/04/03/collins.commentary/index.html

The majority of his statements are very revealing and encouragingly accurate.

I had always assumed that faith was based on purely emotional and irrational arguments, and was astounded to discover, initially in the writings of the Oxford scholar C.S. Lewis and subsequently from many other sources, that one could build a very strong case for the plausibility of the existence of God on purely rational grounds. My earlier atheist's assertion that "I know there is no God" emerged as the least defensible.

After resisting for nearly two years, I found it impossible to go on living in such a state of uncertainty, and I became a follower of Jesus.

Just a little umbrage with a few:

But reason alone cannot prove the existence of God. Faith is reason plus revelation, and the revelation part requires one to think with the spirit as well as with the mind. You have to hear the music, not just read the notes on the page. Ultimately, a leap of faith is required.

I'm always leery of this phrase "leap of faith" because it is so often associated with leaping AWAY FROM reason. So I just don't use it. It's very misleading. Faith in God is just faith. The leap is taken when we REJECT faith! It is but a small step to accept the truth of Christ. We are given abundant reams and mountains of tangible evidence for God's existence, power and majesty. We need only to allow ourselves to see the reality around us for what it is, rather than let our rebellious nature try to ignore the truth we are confronted with daily. Faith is only as significant and what you are placing your faith IN. Misplaced faith is meaningless, therefore I rely on the evidence of scripture and all the evidence science provides to testify to the truth of my faith.

Actually, I find no conflict here, and neither apparently do the 40 percent of working scientists who claim to be believers. Yes, evolution by descent from a common ancestor is clearly true. If there was any lingering doubt about the evidence from the fossil record, the study of DNA provides the strongest possible proof of our relatedness to all other living things.

First of all, there is NO - yes NO - proof that the common ancestor theory of evolution is based in any kind of reality. There are simply no fossil records to suggest, much less prove, that species evolve on a macroscopic scale (from one species to another). There are no transitional forms found in any archaeological archives that support this absurd theory, what's more you don't see any transitional creatures walking around TODAY. Is your neighbor a transitional species (well depends I suppose on if you live in California!)? However weird some people are, we're all human. Where is all the evolution today? Has it stopped, and when did it stop? The only basis for evolution in objective science is found in micro-evolution, which involves the adaptation of singular species within new environments. To put it simply, we adapt, we do not and will not become something brand new.

Just observing the world around me through the clean lenses of truth....

Read full post here!