Saturday, December 25, 2010

Merry Christmas, 2010

Merry Christmas to you. We saw lots of animals at Hosanna's Christmas Eve service. We had a nice evening seeing my family last night. We ate oyster stew and lots of Christmas cookies. We watched 'Monty Python and the Holy Grail' after we opened presents. And my son was as excited as I've ever seen him, from his grandparent's gift of a Nintendo DSI. It has a camera, voice recorder, and of course, the games. Right before bed, he explained that Santa might bring him some more DSI games. I asked him how could Santa know that Elijah was going to receive a DSI from his Nana and Papa? He said, simple dad, he sees you when you're sleeping, he knows when your awake. He just knows these things.

Have you thought about the phrase "have a Merry Christmas"? This thought is all over the place during Christmas-time. Here's a few examples off of the top of my head – have a holly, jolly Christmas. Joyful, joyful we adore you. It's the most wonderful time of the year. Joy to the World, etc… So why is having a "Merry Christmas" such a big theme at this time of year?

Yes, I know this time of year is hard for a number of people, especially for those who have lost loved ones during the preceding year. And the pressure of wrapping up work year-end reports and projects, and the culture driven drive to find the "perfect" gift for those close to us, is upon us all. So with all these things working against us, why should Christmas time be a time of joy and merriment?

If there is any chance for joy during this time of the year, it is only in Christ Jesus. This message of joy to the world was clearly provided by angels to the shepherds at the first Christmas:

And the angel said to them, "Fear not, for behold, I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord. 12 And this will be a sign for you: you will find a baby wrapped in swaddling cloths and lying in a manger." (Luke 2:10-12).


 

So the baby Jesus, the Lord come to Earth, the Savior, is the "good news of great joy" for us. And don't miss the point made by the angels at the end of verse 10 – this joy is for all people, not just Christians. So my hope for you this Christmas is that we be given more light, more smiles, more laughter, more joy for us, through the remembering of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ's birth. So go out there and have a Merry Christmas!

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Displeasing the Lord

We are coming to the last week before Christmas here at the Wolff homestead. All of Peggy and the children's shopping is completed. And what about me? I haven't even started yet. So it looks like a busy week ahead for me.

My wife's the best. My wife received recognition this past week on a local radio station (KTIS, which is a Christian Contemporary music station). Here is what she did: she saw that a neighborhood teenage boy was wearing clothes totally inappropriate for this Minnesota winter. He was always wearing shorts, and his tennis shoes were torn along its sides. The boy's mother is a single working mom, and she was stressed out because she didn't have the time or money to help her son out. Peggy learned that the boy didn't have any winter clothes. So Peggy took the kid out to a store that has nice clothes for dirt cheap prices, and was able to get him new winter clothes, a new pair of shoes, without breaking the bank. The boy was happy and grateful. But the mom was so relieved and thankful, that she had to let others know what Peggy had done. So she called the radio station and let them know what a wonderful act of love that Peggy had shown. Peggy has the best heart around, and it is so cool that she received this 'shout-out' from someone she helped.

For today's topic, I wanted to bring up a story from 2nd Samuel which caught my attention. 2nd Samuel deals with King David, after he rises to become King of Israel. David is expanding Israel's borders by defeating the pagan city-states neighboring Israel. And God's hand is with him – he achieves victory after victory. God's relationship with David was special – God's Word describes him as a "man after God's own heart". God loves David. But we see from the story of David and Bathsheba, how God's relationship works even with those whom He loves. During this particular spring described in chapter 11, David decides to stay home instead of going out to lead his armies. He's lounging on a couch, and decides to take a stroll on the King's roof. While out on this stroll, he sees a young lady taking a bath. And even though David has lots of wives and concubines, he asks after this beautiful woman. David learns that she is married to one of his soldiers, Uriah the Hittite (what's a Hittite?) And he still takes her, and has sexual relations with her. You know the story from here – Bathsheba becomes pregnant, and David ends up ordering the death of his faithful and honorable soldier Uriah. One sin leading to many other sins. It's a tragic story.

But the verse that caught my attention is 2 Samuel 11:27, which says: "the thing that David had done displeased the Lord." David displeased the Lord? I think I am like most Christians in thinking that my sins are always covered by God's Grace. My sins are placed on the Cross, and covered by the Blood of Jesus. Grace is a wonderful doctrine that is so freeing, my actions don't make God love me any greater or less in providing me with my salvation. But then I see someone like David who is a Bible hero, and greatly loved by God, but David still "displeased" the Lord. I'm not sure that this verse truly brings out the emotion of God from what David had done. You know, David committed a sexual sin, lied, and eventually caused the death of an honorable man. "Displeased" just doesn't seem to accurately describe what God is feeling here. A couple of other Bible translations describe it as "David had done was evil in the sight of the Lord" (NASB), or even "the Lord was angry at what David had done" (CEV), I think this brings out God's feeling a bit more clearly. God was angry and though He loved David, God was going to do something about it.

So for today's believers, can we make God angry like King David did, even though we are covered by the Blood of Jesus? Well, of course! If you need a New Testament verse, let's go to Revelation 3:19, which says:

"I correct and discipline everyone I love. So be diligent and turn from your indifference." (NLT)

These verses show that being in a relationship is difficult. Our actions hurt and even make others angry. And being in a relationship with God is no different. God wants the best for us, and He acts to help grow us into the righteous people that He wants us to be. So my take away application is this – are you willing to ask God if there is anything in your life that is making Him angry? Let us appreciate God's Grace enough to not view sin with "indifference". Have a peace-filled and thankful ending week of Christ's advent. /s/Tom

Saturday, December 4, 2010

What was the Best Gift You’ve Given?

As we are buried in 6" of snow here in Burnsville, I am starting to get in the Christmas spirit. A week ago, I sat out in front of the Microcenter store for 45 minutes on a cold, Back Friday morning, getting a gift for one of my children. With this, I am thinking about the whole idea of gifts, and I kicked around the idea of the best gift that has been given. So I will ask those of you who visit my Blog – what was the best gift that you have given?

This topic came up when my friends and I were talking about an appropriate response for a really good gift – what is more important: to receive a "thank you", or to see the Recipient truly enjoying the gift as much as you hoped.

Isn't this an easy one? Of course, we expect our children to have the good manners enough to say "thank you". But isn't it much more important to see them actually enjoy the gift, and take real pleasure in using the gift. When I was growing up, there are a few gifts that bring back special memories. The time I woke up early and found a toy baseball player. It had a stand to hold the baseball, and if you hit his head, he swung and popped the baseball. I was sitting there for an hour, playing with this toy, while the rest of my family was sleeping. It was great and a pure moment of joy for me.

Another favorite Christmas gift my family received was an early Apple computer. The computer was connected to our television, and so the whole family played a murder mystery game called "Cranston Manor", with everyone shouting out clues we saw and things we should try. And then my brothers and I played a game called Olympic Decathlon. This crazy game had you pound the keyboard arrows to move the Olympic runner – so the faster you pounded the keys, the faster your athlete went. We spent many hours in front of that computer, and it left me with many happy memories from that time in my life. We also went through many keyboards from playing the Decathlon game!

I don't even remember if I told my father "thank you" for those gifts. But I know he saw the happiness his gifts brought to us. And I am sure that was more important to him – to see his gift received with joy. Which brings me to the point of this post – what does God want from us in response to His Gift of salvation through Jesus' death on the Cross? Jesus' sacrifice in our place is the Best Gift given to humanity, and so it is an important question - Does God expect us to just say "thanks", and then not do anything with this Gift? Yes, saying "thank you" is important, but it can't be nearly as important as having an appreciation of this Gift? Perhaps even a life changing appreciation.

So my take away application is this – what should our response be to God's Gift of His Son? How should we should we show our acceptance and appreciation of this Gift? As we go through this Christmas 2010 season, I hope this post helps you in thinking of ways that we can show our heavenly Father our true gratitude. In Christ, /s/Tom

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Elijah – Flashback to 2001

Praise to our God Who cares about us, is loving, Who heals, and is Lord of Hosts and of miracles. Here is portions of a letter of thanks I wrote on the birth of our son Elijah, back in September 2001: Peggy and I were blessed with the birth of our baby son, Elijah on September 2, 2001. Elijah is a blessing from God, and we want to thank the Lord for showing His power through this pregnancy. And we also wish to thank the many people who prayed for us, and provided us with encouragement during this long pregnancy. Elijah's story is one of many prayers and God's love.

    On December 29, 2000 we took a pregnancy test, and it came back with a light 'positive' result. Peggy immediately obtained a prescription for Progesterone, which helped us with our two other successful pregnancies. But Peggy started bleeding/spotting almost immediately.

    So I prayed and attempted to fast. I wanted some credit for the healthy birth of this child, and so I reasoned that if I fast, I will have earned this baby son I had prayed for during the past three and a half years. God has to listen to me when I fast, right? But on the day I fasted, Peggy brought home a Big Mac extra value meal for lunch, and I weakened. The next day, New Year's day of 2001, Peggy passed some blood clots. We were both convinced that she had miscarried, and that we had lost another baby (We had suffered six previous miscarriages). I should have known better than to think God zaps babies because I ate a Big Mac!

    But God's power and our son Elijah are both strong. During the next week, to see if she had miscarried, Peg took blood tests on two different days to see the HCG levels. When the test came back that the levels were increasing, this showed she was still pregnant.

    Although the pregnancy was a blessing in testing our perseverance in prayer, we were dealt several tough battles from this pregnancy. Peggy was put on partial bed rest beginning in February 2001. She was still bleeding/spotting, and it turned out that she had a 'sub-chorionic hemorrhage'. This was a small spot by the gestational sack, which often grows larger and causes miscarriages. The first doctor we saw said that it was "fifty-fifty" whether Peggy would miscarry from this hemorrhage. But God's power shone through, as He listened to the prayers of such saints as the people in my Bible study, men's group, Peg's women's group, our family members, and the people at church. On March 2nd, Peggy had her fourteen week ultrasound, and the hemorrhage was completely gone. Praise God the healer and great Physician! And wonderfully, Peggy no longer had to be on bed rest.

    But the Periontologist (a specialist in high-risk pregnancies) and ultrasound technician that were present during the ultrasound discovered another problem. I emphasize that it was a specialist doctor and the ultrasound technician here because they were very careful in checking what they discovered - there are supposed to be three vessels between Peggy and the baby, two going in to the baby and one taking waste out. During the ultrasound, they saw that there was only one cord, instead of two feeding the baby. The artery going to the baby and the one bringing waste out. Talk about life hanging by a thread! This is also a sign that the baby could later have a heart defect. But this is God's story, and so we asked for more prayers. Praise God Who is sovereign.

    On April 17th, Peggy had a 'level 2' ultrasound, which is a more detailed look at the baby. During this ultrasound, we learned that the baby was healthy, and that there were no heart defects. We also saw that all three vessels/cords were present between Peggy and the baby. The third blessing was that we saw that the baby was a boy.

    Now, I don't want to give the impression that our pregnancy experience was a stroll through the park. Peggy was in a great deal of pain right from the start. She had two hernias, back pain, sciatic nerve pain, and increased weight from the bed rest she was on, and so this was a hard pregnancy for my wife. But through this Jesus was our foundation and He shined and carried us through. Somehow the hernias disappeared. And the summer turned out all right, because of friends in the neighborhood that helped keep our girls busy. During the nine years we lived in our neighborhood, there were few playmates for our children. While over the summer two new families moved in with children of the same age.

    Adding to Peggy's pain in the beginning of the second week of July, she started having irregular contractions. These were often strong enough to double her over with pain. But because Elijah was sitting so high in the uterus, the contractions were not effective in moving him out. So Peggy went through constant contractions, taking away her sleep, along with the considerable pain throughout her body. Only the Lord could provide us with the strength to get us through this past summer. (I hope you don't mind my adding myself in the last sentence. It's not easy being the husband during a pain-filled pregnancy, too). J

    Because of Peggy's pain, I prayed that after Elijah's lungs and anti-bodies developed, that he be delivered early. I thought I heard God's voice saying that Elijah would be delivered at 37 weeks. This would be a delivery date around August 15th. However, when this date passed it was clear that the Lord's answer was that we should wait. His timing is perfect.

    Which leads us to the end of August 2001. Peggy's contractions continued, but starting in the final week of August the contractions became regular. Every ten to fifteen minutes, she would have a contraction. On Saturday night (September 1st), the contractions came together as close as every three to five minutes, and so we went into the hospital. But we received what we thought was terrible news when they took an ultrasound, at approximately 9:00 p.m. Elijah had his head up near Peggy's ribcage – he was in a breach position. When the doctor arrived, she did a second ultrasound not fifteen minutes later. This time, Elijah had his head near the birth canal, but his legs were horizontally across Peggy's stomach. He was doing flip-flops!

    We were blessed with a wonderful, caring doctor – Dr. Suzie Cho. She explained to us the different ways we could give birth to this somersault baby, and Peggy decided on having a c-section. We scheduled the c-section for the next morning at 8:00 a.m.

    When the next morning arrived, they did one last ultrasound. Sure enough, the little stinker got in perfect position for a normal delivery. The doctor and I talked to Peggy to have her consider canceling the c-section and having a normal delivery. But Peggy was not to be swayed. Peg had fears about delivering the baby. Her fear was that there would be trouble if the she went through with the delivery. So she chose the c-section, and good thing she did. It turned out that Elijah was 9 pounds, 8 ounces, which is a big baby. And when they did deliver him, he had the umbilical cord around his neck. Both hands were also blue, and so it was fortunate for the baby that he was delivered in this way. If Peggy had waited the two weeks until his due date, who knows what they umbilical cord's cutting off of Babe-E's circulation would have meant for him.

    So on September 2, 2001, Elijah Carr Wolff was born. He is healthy, strong, and beautiful. Mom, Dad, and the sisters have fallen madly in love with our Babe 'E'. It's easy when he's such a good child. Thank you again for your prayers, and praises to our heavenly Father for the many blessings He has provided. To us all.

Final note – I count 5 miracles in the birth of my son. And, let me add that Elijah is a healthy, strong boy who has no heart defects, or any other health issues. Except for, perhaps his inability to listen when Mom and Dad ask him to clean-up! My hope is that this helps you in seeing God's love and power. God answers prayer, and gives us who delight in the Lord, the desires of our heart (Psalm 37:4). /s/Tom Wolff


 

Saturday, November 6, 2010

Retreat Today

Hi everyone,

My wife and I are attending a Holy Spirit Retreat today at Hosanna church. We are hosting an Alpha group, and so we would appreciate your prayers for our time at this retreat. Also, please remember my Mom who has pain in her side, and will not be able to see a doctor until Tuesday. Here is my prayer that God's Power connects to the needs of our Alpha guests. /s/Tom

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Utterly Depraved?

I am a bit down this weekend. OK, so I am not at all depressed at the thought of the end of the political ads coming this Tuesday. But part of my being down is how hard the economy has hit my family and others, and how slow any recovery appears. And this weekend, as I allow this darkness to seep into my soul, I was hit by a quote from Martin Luther. Here’s his quote:

The works of God, though they may always look evil and have the appearance of being very bad, are yet in fact works of eternal merit.

As I chewed on Marty’s quote (that’s how close I am to the founder of Protestantism, I can call him Marty), I thought about how some people (not naming names, but their initials are Ed and TJL) see everything done by God as wrong. Even evil. And I suppose that why this quote initially caught my attention. The Heidleberg Disputation provides further explanation and insight into Martin Luther’s quote, and it states:

Heidleberg Disputation: That the works of God are unattractive is clear from what is said in Isa. 53:2, »He had no form of comeliness«, and in 1 Sam. 2:6, »The Lord kills and brings to life; he brings down to Sheol and raises up.« This is understood to mean that the Lord humbles and frightens us by means of the law and the sight of our sins so that we seem in the eyes of men, as in our own, as nothing, foolish, and wicked, for we are in truth that. Insofar as we acknowledge and confess this, there is »no form or beauty« in us, but our life is hidden in God (i.e. in the bare confidence in his mercy), finding in ourselves nothing but sin, foolishness, death, and hell, according to that verse of the Apostle in 2 Cor. 6:9-10, »As sorrowful, yet always rejoicing; as dying, and behold we live.« And that it is which Isa. 28:21 calls the »alien work« of God »that he may do his work« (that is, he humbles us thoroughly, making us despair, so that he may exalt us in his mercy, giving us hope), just as Hab. 3:2 states, »In wrath remember mercy.« Such a man therefore is displeased with all his works; he sees no beauty, but only his depravity. Indeed, he also does those things which appear foolish and disgusting to others.
This depravity, however, comes into being in us either when God punishes us or when we accuse ourselves, as 1 Cor. 11:31 says, »If we judged ourselves truly, we should not be judged by the Lord«. Deut. 32:36 also states, »The Lord will vindicate his people and have compassion on his servants.« In this way, consequently, the unattractive works which God does in us, that is, those which are humble and devout, are really eternal, for humility and fear of God are our entire merit.

Tom’s Wrap:I know this is a lot to put your mind around, especially on a weekend morning. Especially on a day when our blood is pumping for the anticipated sugar fix that is coming later on (Halloween, and all). But here is my take. I think what Luther and the Disputation are getting at is not so much how God’s ways can only be viewed over the long-term, and over many years when everything will be put it order. Instead, I think it is more likely pointing toward man’s utter depravity and God’s holiness and righteousness. When I say man’s utter depravity, I mean that every inclination of our heart is to do the sinful, rebellious, self-centered action. While God’s actions cannot possibly be understood by us for what they truly are. God’s actions alone are of “eternal merit”, as Luther describes.

The 1 Corinthians 11:31 verse is powerful. If we were able to judge ourselves properly, then there would be no need for God’s judgment. My final takeaway is this: think about Nehemiah’s response upon learning of Jerusalem’s destruction. His response to the Sovereign God allowing Jerusalem to be destroyed and disgraced? He “sat down and wept”, and then pleaded for forgiveness of Israel’s sin (Nehemiah 1:4-6). As we face trouble and battles, and as we see the pain that the economy’s devastation is taking all about us, I hope we don’t ask “where is God”? Instead, I hope we trust in the holy and righteous Sovereign God, and what He is doing through this time. I praise Your holy name Lord God, /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, October 23, 2010

Death for All

We recently discussed the topic of sin in the Men's Group I have breakfast with every Thursday morning. I found our discussion helpful, and so I wanted to write about this same topic this morning. First, what is sin? It's a big word, and the traditional description of sin is "missing the mark". But I prefer the Pastor Keller (Reason for God) definition of sin as not simply doing bad things, it is putting good things in place of God. Think about it, God gives us good things in this world, things like food, sex, work, and others, etc. But sin is when we take these good things and put them in place of God. Sin is seeking to become one-self, and to get an identity apart from Him.

OK, I hope everybody gets two points on sin that are foundational for the Gospel, the Good News of Jesus Christ: We are all sinners, and that Jesus came as the world's Savior to pay the price for our sins: death on the Cross. But does this mean that our sins deserve to be punished with the Death Penalty? Sure, Osama Bin Laden deserves the death penalty. Yes, Hitler and Stalin, but why should my sins deserve the just punishment of death? Yeah, maybe my sins deserve 2 or 3 years in prison, but DEATH? C'mon, the death penalty should only be given to those who have murdered, or done realllly bad things. But not me, right?

So I wrestled with this issue a few years ago, and I decided to start by looking at the 10 Commandments (Exodus 20). Yes, I have honored my father and mother, I don't steal much, I've never murdered, and those commands on coveting other people's property are kind of slippery, so I felt ok looking at my sinfulness looking at most of the 10 Commandments. But then I started looking at the portion of the Commandments that dealt with God – No, I don't always Honor the Sabbath, and no, sometimes I take the Lord's name in vain. And the First Commandment of Honoring the Lord our God, and having no other gods beside Him, was the one that stuck with me. What was I putting in place of God? Yes, I am prideful, and being logical is very important to me. And being able to spend my time doing what I want is very important to me. But was I putting these in place of God? I think this is what Pastor Keller was getting at with his definition of sin as taking "good things and putting them in place of God".

But do I really deserve to be put to death for not honoring God? So I did some Bible work to look up the punishments that ought to be given to someone who violates the 10 Commandments. And I discovered that for any violation of a single Commandment, the Death Penalty should be given. Here is my breakdown:

1st and 2nd Commandments (Honor God and No Idols): Deut. 13:6-10; Lev. 20:1-5

        Those who draw others away from God – Deut. 13:6-9

        Those who lead others to idolatry – Deut 13:1-5, 18:20.

Witchcraft, consulting spirits, necromancy, divination, sorcery, augery, soothsaying Lev. 19:26, 20:6; Deut 18:10-16;

3rd: Taking Lord's Name in Vain: Lev. 24:10-14;

4th: Break Sabbath: Exod. 31:14-15, 35:2; Numbers 15:32-36;

5th: Honor your Parents: strike your parents, punish with deathExod. 21:15; curse parents, death penalty Ex. 21:17, Lev 20:9; Those who are disobedient to their parents: Deut. 21:18-21, Rom. 1:30-32;

6th: Murder: Intentional – Ex. 21:12-14; Numb. 35:9-28; Deut. 19:4-13; cause miscarriage Ex. 21:22-25;

7th : Adultery punished with deathLev. 20:10; Deut. 22:22-24; rape Deut 22:25; incest – Lev. 20:11, 12, 14, 17, 19-21; Deut. 27: 20-23; Lev. 20:11, 14; Homosexuality – Exod. 22:19, Lev. 18:22-3, 20:13, :15-16; Prostitution Gen. 38:24, Deut 22:21-26, Lev. 19:29, 21:9; Bestiality Ex. 22:19, Lev. 18:23, Deut. 27:21.

8th: Thou shall not steal – restitution plus interest Ex. 22:1-4, Lev. 6:4-5; if can't pay back what was stolen, thief is sold into slavery – Ex. 22:1; kidnapper of a person – death, Ex. 21:16, Deut. 24:7; Death for all thieves, Zech. 5:4; Thieves will not inherit the kingdom of God – 1 Cor. 6:9-10;

9th: Thou shall not bear false witness: whatever was intended to be done to victim of false witness, should be done to liar – Deut. 19:15-21; Death – Zech. 5:4; Rev. 21:8, death for lying to Church, Holy Spirit (Ananias and Sapphira): Acts 5;

10th: Thou shall not covet – Deserves death - Rom. 1:28-32.

And so, by checking into the punishments for sinning against the 10 Commandments, I discovered I did not deserve 2 or 3 years of jail time for my sins, no, instead I deserved death. You cannot flagrantly disobey and dishonor the God, Maker of the Universe without there being a consequence. This is what makes God a holy God, who deserves to be feared. And so, this list helped me better understand what the Apostle Paul meant when he wrote that the wages of sin was death (Romans 6:23). And of course, this helped me understand the debt that was owed when Jesus took the punishment that was owed for my sins, when He died on the Cross. He died to save me from the punishment that my sins deserved. My sins are paid for, I don't need to feel guilty about what I have done. And the extra bonus is this – Jesus' death and resurrection also provides us with the freedom so that we don't have to keep on sinning. Praise God for His plan and the giving of Jesus as a sacrifice in my place!

I hope this post was helpful for you in better understanding what sin means and deserves. But enough of this theological stuff. Go Vikings against those stinking Packers playing on Sunday night. And my favorite Halloween candy? Reese's Peanut Butter cups – what's yours? /s/Tom

Sunday, October 3, 2010

A New “Earth” Found?, and other topics

Good morning. I wanted to address last week's news story about a "new" Earth, as well as another topic. First, the New Earth – this is a planet scientists discovered that has similar conditions to that of Earth, and may be able to support life. Here's the story from Sept. 30 CNN:

  1. A New Earth Found?    Gliese 581g may be the new Earth. A team of astronomers from the University of California and the Carnegie Institute of Washington say they've found a planet like ours, 20 light years (120 trillion miles) from Earth, where the basic conditions for life are good. "The chances for life on this planet are 100 percent," Steven Vogt, a UC professor of astronomy and astrophysics says. "I have almost no doubt about it." The planet is three times the size of Earth, but the gravity is similar. Dr. Elizabeth Cunningham, planetarium astronomer at the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, says the discovery is a huge deal. "It could have liquid water on the surface," she said. "That's the first step to find life." …

    But if we did - we'd find some other things familiar. The atmosphere and gravity are similar to Earth, and if you're from the polar regions, you'd definitely feel right at home. Scientists say the highest average temperature is about -12 degrees Celcius (10 Fahrenheit), but they point out that the planet doesn't have a night and day - one side continually faces the star and the other side faces the darkness of space. This means one side is blazing hot and the other freezing cold. But Cunningham also called it a Goldilocks planet – it's not too cold, and it's not too hot, it's just right for water to form.

    Tom's view – in the past I have shown skepticism on the chance of life being found on another planet. I based this on the exceptional number of unique characteristics that Earth has in which to support life. Not just water, but other things like the right force of gravity, a right sized moon, the right speed of rotation, the right atmosphere, etc. But now that this other planet was found, with a temperature of 10 degrees, that does not rotate, and because Gliese 581g has two of these conditions: the possibility of water on the planet along with a similar gravity, Professor Vogt states that there is a 100% chance that life will form. A body of water is all that it takes for life to form on a planet? Hmmm, I may be wrong, but it seems that life is little more difficult to create than having just a body of water. It's interesting to me that they are able to discover the possibility of water on a planet 20 light years away, and that they make a good guess as to its gravity. Science is amazing, but the quote that there is a 100% chance that life will form on Gliese 581g, is clearly overstated.

  2. Clues to God's Existence. I have been asked before what evidence is there to support God's existence. I believe that Intelligent Design is the best position to explain life on Earth. I may be wrong, but when it comes to either a naturalist explanation (like Darwinism) or a supernatural one, it seems to me that the supernatural explanation makes more sense. And the evidence of how Darwinism actually works, continues to support my understanding. As one writer submits, don't we have "astronomical numbers of organisms" in the real-world data collected in the cases of malaria, HIV and e-coli? In these cases, Random Mutation + Natural Selection produced only trivial changes and no other evolutionary processes came into play at all, despite strong selection pressures. In the case of e-coli, the data were produced in the lab over the space of about a decade. Isn't it likely that we'll have more and more sets of data of this kind as medical science proceeds? Why keep telling stories about how a Lexus evolved from a Ford and a Volvo when you can go inside the Lexus factory and actually observe workers assembling parts produced entirely in Japan?

    Well, I am reading a book by Pastor Timothy Keller entitled "The Reason for God", and it has a good way of describing "clues" of God. These are not proofs of God's existence. But instead they are strong clues that point to His existence. Divine fingerprints if you will. Here are a few:

  • Big Bang. Scientist Francis Collins writes, "15 billion years ago, the universe began with an unimaginably bright flash of energy from an infinitesimally small point. That implies that before that, there was nothing. I can't imagine how nature, ion this case the universe, could have created itself. And the very fact that the universe had a beginning implies that someone was able to begin it. And it seems to me that had to be outside of nature." Everything we see is 'contingent', meaning that there is a cause outside of itself. Why should the universe be any different? This makes a lot of sense to me, but it certainly is not a proof;


     

  • The Cosmic Welcome Mat. Keller: Everything about physics from the speed of light, the gravitational constant, the strength of weak and strong nuclear forces – must all have values that together fall into an extremely narrow range. This is called the "fine-tuning" of the universe, that makes it appear that the universe was prepared human beings. It seems as though there were a large number of dials that all had to be tuned to a narrow setting, and they all were turned to that setting. Again, this is not a proof. I'm sure there is a theoretical chance that there are billion upon billions of unobservable other universes out there. Yeah, sure. But the one universe that we can see, tells us that someone has made sure that life be created on Earth. The clues point to a Creator.


 

  • Love. Yes, it is possible that chemical reactions in our brain create an attraction to another person. But that doesn't tell half of the story. Chemical reaction doesn't explain my wife's love of someone like me who can be grumpy, selfish, and not give her the attention of love back to her that she deserves. Yet, she still loves me. Chemical reactions seem as a laughable explanation for love. We have free choice to love others in our life by our actions, or to make selfish, unloving choices to those around us. We don't get to blame our genetics for our choices.


 

And of course, God's example of sending His Son as a sacrifice to pay for all of the World's sins is the best example of love. The Gift of Jesus' sacrifice was made to allow people to be in relationship with God. No one is forced to believe or accept this gift. But if it is accepted this is the beginning of a grand adventure. A relationship with the Creator of the universe, who gives us jobs to do – to help others, and provide glory to God. And the relationship gives us what we need, peace, growing is purity, growing in our faith and knowledge of the Creator. It's a great plan, and it's open to everyone.

Thanks for those who email me with comments. May God bless you this week with His joy and peace. /s/Tom

Sunday, September 19, 2010

Difference Between Darwinism and Intelligent Design, Part 2

My thanks to TJL and Edward Oleander for their comments to my last post on the difference between Darwinism and Intelligent Design. I wanted to spin-off one of the issues raised from their comments on the fossil record, and more specifically the fossil record of the "Cambrian Explosion". Edward Oleander writes:

  1. Very few creatures get fossilized. … By looking at how modern species are spread out, it is possible to estimate that the vast majority (perhaps as much as 95%) of species never left any remains behind at all.
  2. The Fossil record records very little data about soft tissues.

It appears Edward O. is drinking the Kool Aid of Richard Dawkins. As the Arch-Bishop of Darwinism Richard Dawkins notes: "It's as though they (the Cambrian fossils) were just planted there, without any evolutionary history" (Dawkins 1996: 229). Dawkins doesn't claim to know why there is so little pre-Cambrian fossil evidence but he suspects "it might be that many of these animals had only soft parts to their bodies: no shells or bones to fossilize" (Dawkins 1996: 230).

The Fossil Record.    So let me start by making clear what the Cambrian Explosion fossil record is, then both sides can suggest why the record is the way that it is. The Pre-Cambrian fossil record is from the Ediacaran, and an example of the sort of fossils is the Treptichnus pedum, which is a segmented, soft-bodied worm (a brief description and picture is found in Wikipedia here.) And from this worm, in a period as short as 5-10 million years, we have as Time Magazine describes "worms and flies, mice and fish". And most interesting, is the fact that in the Cambrian Explosion we see the appearance of all of life's basic body plans found in nature today are here: bodies with heads, tails, and appendages (this is from pbs.org). We get crab shells, the skeletal structure of fish, with eyes, fins, gills and mouths. We have the air breathing ability of mice, and their tails, paws, and teeth. We have the birds, with their ability to fly, with wings, feathers, and tails. We have insects. And the Darwinist claim is that this all arose from this soft-bodied worm.

So. to aid our discussion, let me ask a few questions:

  1. Why have no new body plans for life arisen after the Cambrian Explosion?
  2. The Darwinist claim is that there are few fossils, and the fossils provide little detail about "soft tissues". So I want to know what exactly you are claiming is missing: is it all of the transitions from (for example) the Trept Ped worm to the crab and its' shell? Or is it all of the transitions from the Trept Ped worm to the first fish, PLUS all of transitions from the fish to the Crab and its' shell?
  3. Why is that all of the same transitions are missing from the fossil record all over the world? The Cambrian Explosion shows the same record throughout the world.
  4. Think of all of the new parts of life created in the Cambrian Explosion. Here's just a few:
  • All of the life's Body Plans;
  • The brain;
  • Wings and limbs, feet and fins;
  • Shells;
  • The spinal column;
  • From an asexual reproductive system to a sexual reproductive system, along with the creation of the womb, placenta, etc. to sustain the newborn life;
  • Teeth and the digestive system;

I could go on. So I will, the blood system, antibodies, muscles, the ability to walk on four feet, and two feet, the five senses all working together with the brain, and all of this comes from the Trept Ped worm? There's much more, but let me stop here.

And so, my question to the Darwinists out there, what is there in life that leads you to think that this kind of rapid change in the DNA of these creatures. Specific examples are demanded in your answer.

Thanks in advance to anyone who adds to the discussion. My final thought is this – we all have to live with the "truth" of our worldview. We cannot one day decide the truth of the Tooth Fairy, and then live in full acceptance of the Tooth Fairy's power and existence. But alongside the need for "truth" in our lives, is the question how is your worldview helping you? With the big questions that we all have, like Why are we here? What's the meaning of life? What am I supposed to do with my life Today? I think Christianity is the best way to have both "truth" and those large questions of life answered. Ask me if you would like more details on this. May God bless your health, your relationships, and provide you with sufficient provision, In Jesus the Messiah's name, Amen. /s/Tom

Sunday, August 29, 2010

The Difference Between Intelligent Design and Darwinism

Summer is coming to an end, and my family and I went to Elko speedway for the first time last night. I had no idea of what to expect, but we had a blast. They have a great community feel to it, where it seems like there are a lot of people who know each other, who support their drivers, and who enjoy partying. On to today's post, which is my attempt to explain the main difference between those who believe in unguided evolution (Darwinism) and those who believe in Intelligent Design. So let's get started:

  1. Intelligent Design. Most of those who believe in Intelligent Design start with the foundation that there is some sort of Creator responsible for our universe, Who I will refer to as God. All evidence is then viewed in light of the assumption of God's existence and direct responsibility for the creation of our world and life around us. With this foundation, we have the following evidence to support our acceptance of the Intelligent Design position:


     

  • Big Bang. The universe has a start, and the best explanation for this start is that there is a Creator God who caused this to take place. The massive amount of energy squeezed into an impossibly small space sounds like a supernatural event to most people. Energy doesn't just appear out of thin air, right? And the resulting order that came out of the Big Bang which led to the creation of a life-sustaining planet, again points to God. Anyone who looks at the start of our universe and does not assume God's Hand as the cause of it, must do some serious mental gymnastics to get around all of the surrounding problems where random forces are assumed as the cause;


 

  • Fossil Record. Sudden appearance, sudden disappearance. No intermediate transitions. This is the fossil record. And this is the record that caused the now departed Harvard Professor /Darwinist Stephen Jay Gould to come up with his theory of punctuated equilibrium. Darwinism is supposed to make small changes over great periods of time, resulting in things even as great as a species change. But Professor Gould's theory looked at the evidence and postulated that some unknown force caused a great deal of change to take place in a very short period of time, which could explain the creation of new structures (like an eye or brain) and even new species. The fossil record evidence is a serious problem for anyone who holds to traditional Darwinist beliefs;


 

  • Mutation Rate / Complex Structures. E Coli has been studied for over 44,000 generations by Professor Lenski. Malaria infects 500 million people a year, and the malaria replicates in an ill person until there are 1 trillion malaria cells. And science has thoroughly studied what happens when these cells reproduce over their short life-spans. Especially with malaria, given the number of these cells and the number of people effected, it is an easy analogy to make for those who hold to an Intelligent Design viewpoint that over the whole lifespan on Earth, we are able to see in the battle against malaria what the Darwinist force of random mutation can actually do, as if the history of life was being replayed before us. And the result? Not much. Mutation can create a resistance to an anti-biotic designed to fight malaria. But the mutation rate is far too low to do anything useful. As an example, in order for the malaria cell to develop resistance to chloroquine ( a common early drug used to fight malaria), it takes a change in just two amino acids. How easily does this take place? Oh, about 1 in 10²⁰ of the malaria cells that have reproduced. Infinitesimally small, right? There just isn't enough mutations taking place to cause what Darwinists think evolution can do.

    And the problem of complex structures was analogized by Professor Behe to a mousetrap. Darwinism believes small changes take place that can lead to create something new. But inside the cell, even the simplest of structures require many parts, self assembled, and all working together at the same time. And the addition of 1 piece provides no benefit to the organism, until all 10 (or however many are needed) pieces are put together. Darwinist belief is that any improvement or benefit will be passed on to the next generation. But without a benefit, the change will be lost. You know, like a mousetrap. You can't catch a mouse with just a board and a spring. It takes all of the parts assembled before there is a working mousetrap. In other words, there is no benefit to a creature to just having 2 of 10 pieces. Adding this to the extremely low mutation rate, and it is hard to see why anyone would believe in random mutation as the creative force behind Darwinism.


 

  1. Darwinism. Which leads me to Darwinism, which has the following foundation:


     

  • Naturalism. According to Darwinists, every cause has a natural effect. Claimed Supernatural events are unproven, and cannot be repeated.
  • Similarities in Structure / Chromosomes. You look at an ape and it kind of looks like a less 'evolved' human. A fin looks like a wing which looks like a hand. I get it. And there is similarity in the chromosomes of humans and other animals. For example, humans have one fewer pair of chromosomes than chimpanzees – a human has 23 pairs, while a chimpanzee has 24. Scientists can look at the chromosomes and say that the chimpanzee chromosome 2 a and 2 b somehow fused together into a large chromosome 2 in humans. And this genetic evidence supported the Darwinist's belief in common descent, that in the Tree of Life all species came from one ancestor. And the crowning claim of Darwinism that humans are nothing but evolved monkeys.


     

    But the Darwinists were tied to the theory Darwin's mechanism for change by Random Mutation, which science has shown to be impotent. The mutations in the genome take place too slowly, and certainly cannot account for the large differences in life. And so, this is the essence of the differences between Darwinists and Intelligent Design – Darwinists see similarity and assume a natural, non-supernatural connection will be found that accounts for this similarity, and all of the changes in the life around us. While in Intelligent Design, we see the evidence before us, and make the claim that natural mechanisms cannot account for these changes. Darwinists have theory, and rely on circumstantial evidence. While in Intelligent Design the evidence of the fossil record and the limitations of change within the genome show that something else is responsible for the difference between a monkey and a human, as well as the other life in the world around us. And although it is not part of Intelligent Design, most assume it can point to God as the responsible Agent.


     

So that is my conclusion, Darwinists have theory, and rely on circumstantial evidence. While in Intelligent Design the evidence of the fossil record and the limitations of change within the genome show that something else is responsible for the difference between a monkey and a human. And although it is not part of Intelligent Design, most assume it can point to God as the responsible Agent. Let me know if you would like to add or correct anything for either of the positions discussed. Thanks. /s/Tom Wolff

Saturday, August 21, 2010

God is Sovereign, Part 2

"…. Thy Kingdom come, Thy Will be done on Earth as it is in Heaven…" (Lord's Prayer, Matthew 6:10). With this simple, yet powerful prayer, Jesus taught His followers that God's Will is only done where His Kingdom is present. And so, in this post I will discuss several Bible verses that raise the possibility that Satan has sovereign power over the Earth. In addition to the petition in the Lord's Prayer that God's Will be done through the coming of His Kingdom, we have the confrontation between Jesus and Satan in the story of the temptation in the desert (Matthew 4:1-11). Satan tempts Jesus with three different temptations, but it is the third that I want to focus upon – where Satan takes Jesus upon a high mountain, and showed Jesus all of the kingdoms of the world, and said "all these I will give you, if you fall down and worship me." What was the temptation? Think of how many people Jesus could have helped – illness, disease, famine eradicated. The end of wars. The pain of this life could be lifted. I think Satan was preying upon Jesus' compassion with this temptation. Yet Jesus stood firm and quoted the Old Testament command - 'You shall worship the Lord your God and him only shall you serve.'  (from Deut. 6:13.)

The conclusion I want to draw out from this Third Temptation of Christ is that Satan has authority and control over all of the kingdoms f Earth. This is supported by other verses in the Bible such as his being given title of 'god of this world' (2 Cor. 4:4, Job 9:24, John 14:30); And that he is the prince of the powers of air (Ephesians 2:2). So what sort of power does Satan over the world? Is Satan's kingdom at war with God's Kingdom?

Let me raise two other verses on this topic – first, is a verse from Daniel chapter 10, which I have raised several times before in my blog. In this story we have Daniel a prophet of God praying and fasting to God. An Angel is immediately sent by God in response to these prayers – See, Daniel 10:12: "Fear not, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand and humbled yourself before your God, your words have been heard, and I have come because of your words…" But the Angel's response was delayed for three (3) weeks even though it was God's Will that the Angel come to Daniel. The reason for the delay? An unseen demonic spiritual force referred to as the "the Prince of the kingdom of Persia" battled the Angel until the arch-Angel Michael came and defeated this demonic "prince". From this story, we see that Satan's kingdom can temporarily delay God's Will through attacks upon the servants of God. And so, it is not God who is attacked, but God's faithful servants. And this battle caused a short delay in God's Will (an answer to Daniel's prayers) from being answered.

Another interesting story of the spiritual warfare taking place around us is contained in 2 Kings chapter 3. The villain in the story is Mesha the king of Moab. The Good Guys were the divided kingdoms of Israel – where Israel is divided into the northern and southern kingdoms, yet they joined together with the king of Edom and set out to destroy all of the cities and villages of Moab. Would they win? A prophet of God Elisha son of Shaphat was asked and he told the kings that God "will also give the Moabites into your hand…" (2 Kings 3:18). They received confirmation of this prophecy with God's provision of water for their armies. And the combined forces overthrew all of the Moabite cities (v. 25). But then comes the interesting party of the story – the combined armies surrounded the last Moabite city, Kir-hareseth, which appears to be the Moabite capital. And our villain, Mesha, the desperate king of Moab took his 700 tough swordsmen to try and break the siege but they failed (v. 26). He then took his eldest son, and…, well, let's read how God's Word describes it:

Then he (Mesha) took his oldest son who was to reign in his place and offered him for a burnt offering on the wall. And there came great wrath (NIV describes it as a great "fury") against Israel. And they withdrew from him and returned to their own land. (v. 27)


 

What?! God's Will of destroying all of Moabite cities was prevented by Mesha's sacrifice of his son to the Moabite god, Chemosh. And I like the way the NIV describes it, as a "fury" coming upon the combined forces, and the Moabite was saved. Despite God's prophecy through Elisha, that God would give the Moabites into the combined force's hands, the sacrifice of king Mesha's son caused some sort of force and impact to save the Moabite city of Kir-hareseth. What was this fury or wrath that defeated the combined force's armies? Well, this is a subject of some dispute, but my take is that this was a powerful demonic attack brought about by the sacrifice to the Moabite god Chemosh. And this somehow prevented God's Will of the destruction of Moab from taking place.

Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the Lord. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 23:24 – ESV)


 

So, how do I put together the verses in my last post on God's sovereignty, and this beautiful verse from Jeremiah 23:24, that describe God as an active God, involved in all parts of our lives throughout the whole Earth, with the verses on Satan's power (and his allies), that have demonstrable power against the servants of God? I think that is the key – they can only battle the servants of God. The enemy can only delay the implementation of God's plan, not thwart it. But God's Will is carried out. Well, that is what is on my mind this week. May God bless you with His peace (shalom) this week. In Christ, /s/Tom


 

Sunday, August 15, 2010

Sovereignty of God

Congratulations to my nephew and his wife who were blessed with a boy they named Timothy Robert last night. It's great to hear that everyone is doing well after the childbirth.

I wanted to post this morning on the topic of the sovereignty of God. The Bible makes clear that God is Creator of everything in heaven and on Earth (Genesis 1). Here are but four of the dozens of verses proclaiming that God is Sovereign (Rules with supreme authority having controlling power over all that takes place in heaven and on Earth): Dan. 4:25, :35; Romans 9:15-23; 1 Timothy 6:15; Revelation 4:11.

So if there is anyone who could have authority other than God, it would be Satan. Satan is called the god of this world - 2 Cor. 4:4, John 14:30. He is also called the adversary (Job 1:6-7, 1 Pet. 5:8). And so, the initial question I ask is this: is Satan the adversary of God, or as is more likely, the adversary of humans?

And so, to answer my initial question, Satan is the adversary of mankind and not the adversary of God. This is made clear in other verses describing Satan and his activity:

He seeks to cause evil    John 13:2,27, 1 Tim. 4:1

He seeks to secure or trick people to worship him; Luke 4:6-8, 2 Thess. 2:3-4

He seeks to make men renounce God    Job 2:4-5

He seeks to undo God's work in people's lives Mark 4:15, Matt. 13:19,38, Luke 8:12-13

He seeks to steal, kill and destroy    John 10:10

He attacks through thoughts    1 Chron. 21:1, Matt. 13:37-39, Acts 5:3, 2 Cor. 10:5

The people of the world are his children    Acts 13:10, 1 John 3:10

They do his will        John 8:44, 2 Cor. 12:7

He possesses them    Luke 22:3

He blinds them        2 Cor. 4:4

He deceives them        Rev. 20:7-8

He ensnares them        1 Tim. 3:7

He confuses them        1 Cor. 14:33

He causes distress and trouble    1 Sam. 16:14

He makes evil attractive    Gen. 3:6

He tempts thru lack of self control in sex    1 Cor. 7:5

And so, from these Bible verses, I have shown that Satan is an adversary of all people, believers and unbelievers alike. I make this my first step in showing that God is Sovereign over the universe. If there is interest, I will show and deal with at least three sets of verses where Satan attacks the work of God more directly. But I will still try to make the point that despite these verses God is Sovereign despite the activity of Satan in the world. For God's glory, /s/Tom


 

Sunday, August 8, 2010

Judging Others

Ask a person on the street whether someone should judge their personal behavior, and I bet many will come up with a response inspired by Jesus – people should judge not, lest they be judged. The reason for this is obvious – who wants others looking down their noses with judgment of the private done in the privacy of their home. No one likes a finger wagger, right? Anyway, I am thinking about Jesus' teaching at the Sermon on the Mount telling us that we should not judge lest we be judged (Matthew 7:1), and how this fits in with other New Testament verses. For example, there are a few other verses that teach something different, like 1 Corinthians 2:15 (the spiritual person judges all things…) And so, with this post I will try and piece these verses together.

Local Pastor John Piper is writing some great posts on his blog – and he's writing frequently, so check him out here. But he recently wrote on this topic that is of interest to me – judging others. Pastor Piper wrote on the benefit of a Church being able to judge its own members. Here is his post:

But now I am writing to you not to associate with anyone who bears the name of brother if he is guilty of sexual immorality or greed, or is an idolater, reviler, drunkard, or swindler—not even to eat with such a one. For what have I to do with judging outsiders? Is it not those inside the church whom you are to judge? (1 Corinthians 5:11-12)

It is dangerous not to be judged. We need other people to judge us, with righteous judgment (John 7:24). We need accountability. If we don't have Christian friends that are close enough to confront us when our lifestyle doesn't match our confession, then we ought to tremble.

The type of judgment I am referring to is not generated by a desire to look down on others for the sake of feeling superior—a condescending disposition. Rather, it comes from a tender disposition of love. It comes from a Nathan who is willing to tell David to repent and turn to God (2 Samuel 12).

We should fear God in light of the sin that can deceive and destroy us. We should not fear the judgment that comes from friends in the church which helps us to fight sin. This is grace!

It is immeasurably more safe to be a part of a local church that watches for our souls. Praise God for the safety that is in the righteous judgment of his people. It is grace from heaven! (Pastor John Piper, Desiring God post).

So the message from the 1 Corinthians 5:11-12 verse (above) is that Christians are not to judge non-believers, but we are to be accountable to someone in the Church. This could be a Pastor we confess our sins to, a small group, or any other Christian who has sound judgment, a clear understanding of God's Grace, and wisdom in handling the battles we are facing. Pastor Piper does a good job in drawing out the importance of this in his post. But Christians should not, and need not judge others outside the Church. God has this job, and doesn't need any help! Anyway, here are a few other verses dealing with the topic of judging others:

John 7:24 - Do not judge by appearances, but judge with right judgment.


 

Romans 2:1-2
Therefore you have no excuse, O man, every one of you who judges. For in passing judgment on another you condemn yourself, because you, the judge, practice the very same things. 2 We know that the judgment of God rightly falls on those who practice such things.


 

1 Corinthians 2:15 -
The spiritual person judges all things, but is himself to be judged by no one.


 

1 Corinthians 4:3-5
But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself. 4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me. 5 Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God.


 

James 4:11-12
Do not speak evil against one another, brothers. The one who speaks against a brother or judges his brother, speaks evil against the law and judges the law. But if you judge the law, you are not a doer of the law but a judge. 12 There is only one lawgiver and judge, he who is able to save and to destroy. But who are you to judge your neighbor?

From these verses, I think Christians need to focus on love. Christians need to stay away from judging the actions of non-believers. It turns off the non-believer from "religion" (see this CNN news story of author Anne Rice quitting Christianity, but not quitting Jesus.) I'm not sure how this works in real life, so maybe you can help me with this. As an example, does this mean we should not protest outside of an abortion clinic? Exercising love for the unborn fetuses seems to be more important than hurting someone's feeling by use of the protest "judgment". But I don't know, and I certainly am not certain of this. So if there are any thoughts on this, I would be interested in hearing from you. May the Lord bless you with growing knowledge of God through Christ our Lord, /s/Tom

Monday, August 2, 2010

Odds n’ Ends (15)

Here are a few stories / reports that I have recently found:

1).    A Dog Has 1st Amendment Rights to Bark? Story here. Dogs and cats have been given the right to free speech — in Massachusetts anyway. 

A law that went into effect on July 21 bans surgical devocalization — the cutting of animals' vocal cords — except in cases of medical necessity. The procedure is commonly referred to as "debarking" when it's done to dogs.

The measure was signed into law by Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick. A violation carries up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $2,500.

2).    Ayatollah Khamenei Declares Himself the Representative of Muhammad on Earth – and that He's the 12th Imam. Story here. Iran's Supreme Leader has reportedly issued a fatwah, or Islamic edict, demanding that people obey him as the earthly 'deputy' of both the Prophet Muhammad and Shi'ism's mysterious 12th Imam.  He also accused the U.S. and Britain of sowing division among Muslims and of fomenting the recent mosque bombing in Sistan-Baluchestan.  Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has created a stir after apparently issuing a religious edict Tuesday claiming ultimate spiritual powers on Earth.  Iranian media reported that he told followers that they must 'obey him' as the "representative of the Prophet Muhammad and [Shi'ism's] 12th Imam on Earth…..'" Isn't it better if someone else declares you to be the 12th Imam? And I believe I'm right in saying that a portion of Muslims believe that the 12th Imam is a sign of the impending end of the world (sorry, no cite for this comment.)

3).    Scientists Find Most Massive Star. Story here. LONDON – A huge ball of brightly burning gas drifting through a neighboring galaxy may be the heaviest star ever discovered — hundreds of times more massive than the sun, scientists said Wednesday after working out its weight for the first time. And here is the cool part: it's burning itself off with such intensity that it shines at nearly 10 million times the luminosity of the sun.

4).    9 Year Old Boy Finds Skeleton of New Human Ancestor. 60 Minutes story here. In case you missed this 60 Minutes report this past Sunday, an archaeologist and his son discovered 5 human fossils in a cave around Johannesburg. The fossils date back to being 1.9 million years old. I don't understand how the fossils could be dated, when the cave was an excavating site that used explosives. The archaeologist claims to have found a "new" species.

5).    Stop Global Warming – Eat Bugs! Story here. Here is the crazy Global Warming story of the day: The Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN has held a meeting in Thailand on the subject of using insects for food and plans a 2013 Summit on the subject. The UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is formally considering recommendations in a paper suggesting greater consumption of insects as a way of limiting global warming. Well, if that's all it takes to save the planet. Hey wait! I love my burger and steak. No way, UN, no way.


 

Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Predestination?

Hi everyone. I'm starting to like our new dog Humphrey (half lab and half Great Dane). Last night we had a break in to a house that is four houses down from ours. It's nice to know that our big dog is here to discourage any ne'er-do-wells in our neighborhood. His big bark should scare away even the most determined bad guys. We had a wonderful time last weekend up at Gull Lake – the kids did lots of boating / tubing. We did some shopping. And it was great spending time with my family. Kelly, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

So, now that I am relaxed and in an easy-going mood, I thought I would take on a light subject, predestination (does sarcasm show up in a blog post?). But I am going to do this from a story that I have never seen discussed as dealing with the topic of predestination – the story by Jesus of the Rich man and Lazarus.

First, a quick definition of 'predestination'. Divine predestination means that God has a purpose that is determined long before it is brought to pass. It implies that God is infinitely capable of planning and then bringing about what he has planned (Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology (Elwell). It especially is used by those of a Calvinistic background as dealing with the topic of those who are predestined to be saved – the elect, having nothing to do with their merit or anything to do with their actions. God's grace and mercy is wholly responsible for anyone being saved.

Here is the story I would like to discuss - Luke 16:19-31 (ESV) 19 "There was a rich man who was clothed in purple and fine linen and who feasted sumptuously every day. 20 And at his gate was laid a poor man named Lazarus, covered with sores, 21 who desired to be fed with what fell from the rich man's table. Moreover, even the dogs came and licked his sores.

22 The poor man died and was carried by the angels to Abraham's side. The rich man also died and was buried, 23 and in Hades, being in torment, he lifted up his eyes and saw Abraham far off and Lazarus at his side. 24 And he called out, 'Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus to dip the end of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am in anguish in this flame.' 25 But Abraham said, 'Child, remember that you in your lifetime received your good things, and Lazarus in like manner bad things; but now he is comforted here, and you are in anguish. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been fixed, in order that those who would pass from here to you may not be able, and none may cross from there to us.'


27 And he said, 'Then I beg you, father, to send him to my father's house— 28 for I have five brothers—so that he may warn them, lest they also come into this place of torment.' 29 But Abraham said, 'They have Moses and the Prophets; let them hear them.' 30 And he said, 'No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent.' 31 He said to him, 'If they do not hear Moses and the Prophets, neither will they be convinced if someone should rise from the dead. (English Standard Version (Wheaton)).

Tom: so here are a few notes about this story. Jesus describes heaven as "Abraham's side" or Abraham's bosom". From v. 22, what exactly are the angels carrying? Lazarus' body, his soul, or something else? And when the rich man in purple (hopefully not a member of the Viking's team) was dead and buried, it is his soul that is in 'Hades'. Lazarus' anguish in Hades is in flame with a great thirst, which is something that appears to be never ending. Jesus does an excellent job in showing the anguish, torment and misery of what it means to be judged and cast into Hades.

But I wanted to draw out something that is perhaps too obvious from the story. What is the Rich man in purple's response when he sees that there is no escape from his torment? The Rich man asks Abraham to send Lazarus to his house where his 5 brothers live. His hope is that seeing a resurrected person (i.e., Lazarus) who would tell them about the torment that the rich man in purple was in, that this would save his brothers from their hellish destination. Abraham's response was that if they ignored the Old Testament books of the Law and Prophets, then they would not be persuaded by seeing someone who was raised from the dead.

Of course, Jesus tells the story to show the hardness of the human heart where even after Jesus' resurrection, he would still be rejected in Israel. But the main point I wanted to draw out was that at least from the perspective of the rich man in purple, he believed his 5 brothers had the free-will to see evidence and to have their hearts turn to God. Abraham shoots down his hope by explaining that the Scriptures are enough for anyone to accept, and so even a miraculous resurrection would not save them. And so, for me the story seems to revolve around the importance of human free-will and choice when it comes to living our lives: when we live our lives without God, then we start on a path that means that our hearts are hardened to the point where even a miracle shown in front of us will not be accepted. And when we read and accept the Scriptures, we are allowing God to work in our lives. This will have eternal consequences. The emphasis in verse 31 is that the brothers should "hear" Moses and the Prophets. This looks to me as Jesus saying that people should choose to hear, with the emphasis on "choose". If it was fully God's will on whether his 5 brothers would receive salvation, then wouldn't the Rich Man's response be to beg God asking for mercy upon his brothers?

Before I am called a heretic, or a Pelagian, or something worse, I want to reassure any readers out there that I understand God alone is responsible for our salvation. But there seems like there is also a bit of room for human responsibility, otherwise Christ's judgment is meaningless. Anyway, I hope I have given you something to think about. Have a great week in Christ - /s/Tom

Friday, July 16, 2010

New Computer Issues

I'm sorry that I haven't posted recently. I am transferring files from my old computer to the new one, and one of the issues I am having trouble with is blog posting. Well, here is my attempt at a post:

It's been an eventful past month – Asia hanging out with a friend who is a boy; Asia coming home from a friend's house, and a couple of middle aged guys stalk / harass her (she was fortunate enough to get away from them.) And Asia's new friend sat down with me and asked 'permission' from me to ask her out on a date (wow!, this was a cool kid.) We've seen the movies Twilight, Marmaduke, Despicable Me, and Airbender in the last 6 weeks. Oh, and yes, we have a new pet dog in our house, Humphrey the Great Dane mix. Don't ask…don't ask how this could happen.

Work is going well. We are healthy. We are down to 1 puppy. And we will be going on vacation to brother and sister's cabin soon. I'm looking to seeing family and having some time off. Well, let's see if I can really post this… Here goes nothing.

Monday, June 28, 2010

Back from Wisconsin

Most of my family and I have returned home from a long weekend at the in-law's cabin in Wisconsin. It was a nice relaxing weekend watching the four dogs we brought up play, go on walks, and wrestle, and run around. With the rain, I spent some time putting together a jigsaw puzzle. The family shopped and had fun at the lumberjack festival in Heyward. It was great spending time with family!

Weird small-world meeting - the time we staid at is about 500 people big. When we attended mass, one of my clients from Edina was there. They had known my in-laws for over 30 years and never knew the connection. Now that's a weird coincidence.

Sunday, June 13, 2010

Best Rock Male Vocalists – 1980’s

Happy Birthday to my daughter Olivia, who with this day is now a teenager. We will be celebrating by going bowling as a family, and anticipating the big day tomorrow. What you don't celebrate June 14th Flag Day like we do? Oh yes, it will be my 48th birthday on June 14th.

For today's post, I thought I would write about one of my favorite topics – 1980's Rock n' Roll. And this time I will try and order the best male vocalists of the 1980's. So let's get started!

  1. Robert Palmer;    I have placed my favorite crooner at number one, the late, great Mr. Palmer. His early work was much more focused on his great singing, and if you would like an example of his work during his early years seek out "Every Kinda People" – it's awesome. And of course, when he became popular his vocals really shone through during his rocking years with songs like 'Addicted to Love', 'Bad Case of Loving You (Doctor, Doctor)', and his work with the Super-Group Power Station. He's the best!
  2. George Michael;    George Michael was much more than the pretty face in Wham. His soulful voice owned the charts in 1986. I don't know why with such a great voice he wasn't able to have much more success, but such is the way of life. His almost-mystical voice in songs like 'Faith' shows that he deserves this spot;
  3. Michael Jackson    Now that Michael's estate has passed $1,000,000,000 in sales since his passing, we know that he still has something magical with his music. Although I don't consider him a super-great vocalist, his songs are so great that he has to be ranked near the top;
  4. Rod Stewart    This may surprise you that I think this highly of Mr. Stewart's vocals. But his cover of Robert Palmer's 'Some Guys Have All the Luck' is amazing. Robert Palmer's version is nothing like what Rod Stewart did with the song, and it showed by becoming a number 1 hit. His version of Van Morrison's 'Have I told You Lately' was less impressive, because it eliminated the spiritual aspect to the song, yet it still became number 1. He has an amazing gift for interpreting songs, which is why I placed him at Number 4;
  5. Bono;    OK, how can I put someone this high who made his performing name 'Bono Vox', is Latin for Good Voice? Well, I listen to the passion and emotion of songs like 'With or Without You' and 'Sunday, Bloody Sunday', and it's easy to see why he has to be considered alongside the best;
  6. Boy George;    The singing 'Boy looks like a Girl' shares a birthday with me (and Jeanne K.) has some great chops. When I first heard 'Do You Really Want to Hurt Me', I knew this was a great vocalist. His voice was pure and filled with an element of soul/blues. It's too bad that he wasn't able to keep his singing career going;
  7. Paul Carrack;    The journeyman rocker was the great sultry, smokey, bluesy voice of groups like Ace, Squeeze, and Mike & the Mechanics. He had a not-so impressive solo career did produce the stellar 'I Need You', but you probably know him better as the lead singer in songs like 'Tempted", 'Silent Running', and the ancient 'How Long'; Too bad he didn't stick it with Squeeze, just as they were starting to become "the" next big thing, he left them, and they were never the same without him. The Carrack Collection only has 8 songs, but it has all his best from wherever he put his considerable singing talents to work – check it out!
  8. Don Henley;    The voice of many great Eagles' songs, as well as a solid solo performer. He has that special 'it' when it comes to singing a song with emotion. 'The Last Worthless Evening' is one of my favorites from him;
  9. Stevie Wonder;    Over 4 decades of wonderful pop / Rhythm and Blues. His voice is made fun of by those who try and impersonate him, but you hear his great gift in songs like 'Chemical Love';
  10. Chris Isaac;    Love him! He has that bluesy kind of country voice, that rings pure. 'Wicked Game' and 'Don't Make Me Dream About You' off of his best work in 'Heart Shaped World' CD are wonderful. And his subtle fun personality helps make his songs in concert even better;
  11. Darryl Hall;    The greatest 'blue-eyed soul' performer, and the better half of Hall & Oates. Great voice. Great pop songs. I can listen to him all day. Good song that shows his talent: 'She's Gone'. And I always crank 'Sara Smile';
  12. Belois Some;    OK, I'm going off the board with this one. Belois is a synth / dance music maestro from the 1980's, with the music overshadowing his great pipes. His song 'Some People' is great. So here is a great voice that you've never heard of!


 

As you can probably see from this list, I have left off some of the most popular 1980's acts. But I do it without regret. I don't think Prince, Billie Joel, Michael Hutchens (INXS), David Lee Roth, Sammie Hagar, Mick Jaggar, Bob Seger, Simon LeBon (of Duran Duran), Peter Wolf (J. Geils), John Mellencamp, and the guys from Journey and Aerosmith should make the list, talented though they may be. And I only had two black singers on the list, but I'm sure I'm forgetting many more. Oh well, help me if you can.

So tell me who your favorite male singers from the 1980's is and why. And if you have some that were left off of my list, I would enjoy hearing from you. Have a wonderful week.

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Smoking and Damage to the Genome

Good morning. We had a fun evening of gaming over at Clay's last night. Sorry, but Blarney was partially eaten.

I came across an interesting recent story dealing with a smoker and the impact smoking has on our DNA: The story is reported here. 50,000 mutations in a tumor, and the complete failure of the error-correcting mechanisms in the DNA, leads to a scary outcome for Mr. Smoker. From the author's calculations in the story, each time the smoker smoked 3 cigarettes, a new mutation in the tumor was created!

One Man, One Tumor, Tens of Thousands of Mutations

Posted by Kristie on May 26, 2010

A team of researchers at Genentech in California compared the genome, all the genes present in DNA, from cells in healthy tissue with the genome of cells in lung tumor tissue from the same patient. This 51 year old man smoked about 25 cigarettes a day for 15 years. Researchers looked at the number of mutations, genetic changes in DNA in this case primarily caused by toxins in cigarette smoke, between the tumor and healthy tissues. What they found was astounding.

Cancer is usually the result of an accumulation of mutations over a long period of time but researchers were not ready for what they found in this patient's tumor tissue. The tumor tissue contained 50,000 genetic mutations in the man's genomic DNA. Researcher Zemin Zhang said his team was so shocked that they rechecked their work to make sure their results were correct.

Zhang calculated three cigarettes per mutation found in the tissue of this patient. See the calculations below:

(25 cigarettes/day x 365 days/year = 9125 cigarettes/year; 9125 cigarettes per year x 15 years =136875 cigarettes; 136875 cigarettes/50,000 mutations = 2.7 cigarettes/1 mutations –round up to 3)…

(Back to Tom again) Here is what I think is a helpful description of how things like a tumor or even cancer can be created in our cells: Cancer is a multistep process. First initiation then promotion. In some (heck a lot) of cases a single point mutation can occur and elude repair mechanisms. At some point a promotion event occurs and that single point mutation is fixed in the cell genome. Once that happens the cell can begin to divide without restraint and the tumor growth begins.

It does not take an accumulation of mutations over time to cause cancer. That some tumors may have an accumulation of mutations may be more a factor of the lack of control over cell division as a result of the initial event/damage to the DNA.

So what does this all mean? I don't have a clue. But it is interesting to me that the researchers tried to tie in the amount of cigarettes with the amount of mutations. I don't think that's how tumors / cancer work (see the comment after the story excerpt.) But if anyone has some helpful additions to this, I would be interested in learning more about it. But for now, if you are going to smoke, smoke only 2 cigarettes, don't touch that third! /s/Tom

Monday, May 31, 2010

The Millennium – Revelation Chapter 20

Happy Memorial Day weekend to everyone. This past Saturday, we went to a wonderful wedding ceremony of my niece Allie and her beau David. It was a beautiful ceremony, and a special reception, because we were able to see so many family members that we've missed. Congratulations to Allie and David.

I have recently read a great book on the Millennium by M Waymeyer called 'Revelation 20 and the Millennial Debate', and I wanted to write a little bit about it. Professor Waymeyer is a graduate of the Masters Seminary in California, and he has provided a clear summary of the three main positions in understanding the Millennium. The opening chapters are written in the form of a class syllabus. This makes it a quick and easy read that provides a good deal of depth of understanding on the various Millennial positions. Another good thing about this book is that it doesn't try and present something new on this topic, instead it is a very good summary of existing thought. Prof. Waymeyer writes from a Pre-Trib / Pre-Millennium position, where Jesus first comes in a Rapture of the Saints, followed by 7 years of Tribulation, concluding in the literal 1,000 year reign of Christ on Earth with the Saints.

He provides a guide to some crucial questions in trying to understand Revelation Chapter 20. The various interpretations of Revelation 20:1–6 seek to answer these five crucial questions:

A.     Is the binding of Satan present or future?

B.     Is the "first resurrection" spiritual or physical?

C.     Is the duration of the thousand years symbolic or literal?

D.     Is the locale of the millennial reign heaven or earth?

E.     Is the chronology of Revelation 19:21–20:1 recapitulatory or sequential?


 

A Summary of Key Interpretive Issues in Rev 20:1–6

   

Issue

Premil

Postmil

Amil

   

Satan's Binding: 

Future 

Present/Future 

Present 

   

First Resurrection: 

Physical 

Spiritual 

Spiritual 

   

Thousand Years:

Literal 

Literal/Symbolic 

Symbolic 

   

Locale of Reign:

Earth 

Earth/Heaven 

Heaven 

   

Chronology of 19–20: 

Sequential 

Sequ/Recap 

Recap 

   


 

From M Waymeyer, 'Revelation 20 and the Millennial Debate'.


 

  1. Is the Binding of Satan happening today or sometime in the future?

    Here, with this initial question, Prof. Waymeyer does a very good job setting out the reasons for accepting the PreTrib view. Let's start by looking at Rev. 20:1-3


     

    1Then I saw an angel coming down from heaven, holding in his hand the key to the bottomless pit and a great chain. 2And he seized the dragon, that ancient serpent, who is the devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years, 3and threw him into the pit, and shut it and sealed it over him, so that he might not deceive the nations any longer, until the thousand years were ended. After that he must be released for a little while. (ESV)


     

    These verses show that an Angel comes from heaven (I believe this is Jesus, see Rev. 1:18, as He is the One with the keys to the Abyss and Hades). This Angel seizes Satan and throws him into the Abyss/pit, shut it and seals the door, so that Satan may not deceive the nations any longer. He is placed in this "jail" for 1,000 years, and then is released for a little while.

    So as shown on the chart (above), the PreTrib view believes this binding of Satan takes place in the future. While Amillennialists believe that Satan is currently bound, so that he cannot deceive the nations. And the Post-Trib view have some understand Satan to have been bound at the time of Christ's victory on the cross, while others see the binding of Satan to represent a future point in time when the successful proclamation of the gospel will have effectively reduced Satan's influence to nothing (Gregg 1997: 457). Because postmillennialists teach that the present age gradually merges into the millennium, the precise time of the binding is not always emphasized in their writings. (This is fn 3 in Waymeyer's book).

    Here are three author's quotes from Prof. Waymer's book that persuasively show that this passage does not mean that Satan is presently bound (as the Amillennialist's believe):

    a.    "The imagery of throwing Satan into a pit and shutting it and sealing it over him gives a picture of total removal from influence on earth" (Grudem 1994: 1117).

    b.     "The elaborate measures taken to insure his custody are most easily understood as implying the complete cessation of his influence on earth (rather than a curbing of his activities)" (Mounce 1977: 353).

    c.    "If a symbolic presentation of the binding of Satan were intended to teach that Satan was rendered completely inactive, what more dramatic picture could be provided than is here portrayed?" (Walvoord 1986: 231).


     

    These writer's are very persuasive to me in showing that we should not interpret Revelation 20:1-3 as saying that Satan is somehow bound today. Yet I have a difficult time embracing the PreTrib view for a number of reasons related to Revelation Chapter 20. But for now, let me raise perhaps this argument, perhaps the best argument for the PreTrib viewpoint, and I will try in my next post and summarize the reasons I still reject the PreTrib view of the Millennium. I think it's important to address the best arguments of a position, to make sure that I truly understand a topic.

Until next time, Praise Jesus our Redeemer and Savior. We can trust that because our God is not a God of confusion, and that His Spirit will lead us into all truth. Have a great week. /s/Tom