Is God Above Time?

Perhaps I am the only one who has noticed this, but have you ever seen someone who claims that God has created everything, and so believes that God is above things like time itself? I have a difficult time getting my mind around this concept, and because this belief creates some strange anomalies, I thought I would bring it up on the Blog for discussion. First, I think this is an important topic, because it reveals more about Who our Creator is, and not to pick on anyone who has this understanding of God. The more we grow in our knowledge of Who God is, the better it is for us.

 

Genesis 1:1 is the starting point for this discussion: In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. While this means that God created everything in the universe, and the three heavens (see my previous blog posting on this, the 3 Heavens means the sky and every visible thing above it in our galaxy; the unseen world around us which is the domain of angels and demons; and the traditional heaven, home of God and angels). So while Genesis 1:1 speaks of God creating all material things in our universe and on earth, it does not specifically speak of God creating time.

 

But just because there is no explicit mention that God is over/above time, does this mean that God is within the same time stream as we are? There are several interesting verses on this: first, God is called the Alpha and Omega, the first and the last, the Beginning and the End (Rev. 1:8, 22:13; Isa. 41:4, 44:6, 48:12). God is also described as "immortal" and the "King of Ages" (1 Timothy 1:17). But what does it mean to describe God as the Beginning and the End, immortal, and the King of Ages? Does this mean that God is outside of time?

 

Why I ask this is that I have seen other people (and even myself) use prayer that relies on God being above time. As an example, do you think we should pray for the salvation of someone who has already died? Asking that God send an evangelist to someone on their deathbed, when perhaps they died last year? Or worse yet, perhaps someone has prayed that Adolf Hitler would have had an evangelist witness to him on his deathbed? Do these sorts of prayers, praying for God to change something that has taken place in the past, make any sense? Somehow, I think by making prayers like this we are diving into the realm of the Science Fiction hit 'Terminator' show and movies, rather than having a clear understanding of God's nature.

 

Perhaps prayers like this make sense if God is above time. But if time is merely a measurement of the beginning going towards the end, time being just the line from the first day of Creation (Genesis 1:1) to the final Judgment Day, then it is not insulting for us to say that God as in the same moment as we are. Time would then be merely a description of where we are on God's timeline for His Creation. Now, let me bring up a few verses that touch on this subject - We see in Hebrews 1:3 that Jesus is described as the "exact representation" of God the Father. And when Jesus was on earth, He moved through time growing up from a baby and growing older. Jesus didn't just 'pop' onto earth as a 30 year old man, as perhaps someone who was above time may have done. And of course, in Genesis Chapter 1 we see God creating the universe and everything in it over the course of one week's time, and not at just one moment. And one final thought, we see in 2 Peter 3:8 that for the Lord "one day is as a thousand years, and a thousand years as one day". And so, once again God is described as being within some sort of time cycle, with the Lord having days and years, just as mankind does, with His perspective being what is different.

 

I apologize if this topic is too philosophical for anyone out there reading this. But I think it is an admirable goal to grow in our knowledge of Who God is, and so I ask these questions in hopes that we learn more about God through the study of these verses. For me, I find comfort in thinking of God as being in this same moment as I am, and seeing the same tragic things and the same victories as I do. It makes God a little too weird for me to think of Him as being outside of time, although if someone can give me a good reason to think so, I trust I can change my opinion on this. I hope you will let me know what you think about this. Thanks.

What’s Up with Stem Cells?

I wanted to pass along information on human stem cells that I have found helpful from several sources, including Dr. Francis Collins' 2006 book entitled 'The Language of God'. Dr. Collins, you may remember was the head of the Human Genome Project that was the first group able to sequence the human genome. He also identifies himself as a Christian, and his book is on evidence for belief in God from a scientist's perspective. The book is interesting for a number of reasons. But he also has a good section on the stem cell debate that I found helpful, and I wanted to pass it along, in hopes that it helps your understanding of the issue better.

 

Stem cells are found in all multi-celled organisms. Although all human cells have the entire DNA instruction book in them, there is something special and unique about stem cells. A stem cell is one that carries within the potential to develop into several types of cells. As an example, the bone morrow's stem cells can turn into a red or white blood cell, a bone cell, and even under the right environment, it can turn into a heart muscle cell.

 

First, there are two types of stem cells: embryonic stem cells and adult stem cells. The adult stem cell's importance is that they replenish and maintain a normal turnover of blood cells, skin and intestinal tissues. While embryonic stem cell potential remains untested, adult stem cell treatments have been used for many years to treat successfully leukemia and related bone/blood cancers through bone marrow transplants. The use of adult stem cells in research and therapy is not controversial when compared to embryonic stem cell research, because the production of adult stem cells does not require the destruction of an embryo.

 

So why are scientists so interested in using embryonic stem cells for their research? The embryonic stem cells are taken when there are between 50 to 150 cells after conception, which is very early in the embryo's development of between 4 to 5 days old. At this stage the embryonic stem cells are phenomenally flexible. They can develop into each of the more than 200 cell types of the adult body when given the right kind of stimulation for a specific cell type. But when the stem cells are taken, the embryo is killed. Let me leave this moral and ethical question on the side for now. If we can develop effective use of the stem cells, what can the research really do? And how can stem cells help out? If a friend of yours has Parkinson's Disease, they have the disease because neurons of a particular part of the brain have died prematurely. If you have a family member that is on a donor list for a liver, kidney, or even a heart transplant, it is because those organs are damaged and cannot repair themselves. I hope you see the almost fantastical hope that stem cell research can provide: instead of requiring transplants, regenerating a person's damaged organ is the promise of stem cells. The hope is that a person with Parkinson's Disease, can have the damaged brained cells repaired, regenerated, and brought back to life. Stem Cells could be the fountain of youth for any damaged organ. This is what is exciting so many people in the stem cell research field.

 

But what about the Embryonic Stem Cell debate, and the moral and ethical issues I raised earlier? If you take an embryo's stem cells, you destroy the embryo, and ends its life. Should we still go forward with embryonic stem cell research? Before you get all twisted up on this issue, it looks like scientific advances have already outpaced the issue. You may have seen an important news story last November. But let me bring it to your attention again. Researchers have turned skin cells into stem cells, with the same ability to develop into any of the 200 human cell types. The discovery is breathtaking:

Stem Cell Breakthrough Is Like 'Turning Lead Into Gold'

 

http://www.wired.com/medtech/stemcells/news/2007/11/skin_cell

 

In an unprecedented feat of biological alchemy, researchers have turned human skin cells into stem cells that hold the same medical promise as controversial embryonic stem cells.

Two teams of researchers -- one led by Kyoto University's Shinya Yamanaka, the other by the University of Wisconsin's Junying Yu -- used a virus to add four new genes to skin cells. Thus transformed, the reprogrammed cells became capable of changing into nearly any cell type in the human body. Embryonic stem cells also have this ability, and may someday be used to cure degenerative diseases, grow new organs and even replace limbs…

 

So will this mean an end to the Stem Cell debate? Don't count on it. There is too much money already invested, and frankly some groups are more interested in the research and money involved to ignore the possibilities of Embryonic Stem Cell research. So keep an eye out for more news stories on this topic. I hope the resources I have summarized have given you a better handle of the subject.

 

Sources Used: Dr. Francis Collins, 'The Language of God'; Wikipedia, Stem Cells, Adult Stem Cells, Embryonic Stem Cells; News article from Wired Magazine (citation shown above.)

Our Wonderful Children

Our Wonderful Children – yes, Peg and I have four terrific children: Asia age 13; Z. Maggie age 11; J. Olivia age 10; and Elijah age 6. I thought I would take the time to give you a quick update about each of them.

 

Our oldest child Asia is still doing great at school, where she made the 'A' Honor Role for 7^th Grade at her Junior High School. She is a typical 13 year old, as far as I can tell, but something mysterious has happened to her this year: she is reluctant to share much about any friends of hers that are boys. Instead, I hear constant threats by Asia saying that she will get her sisters if they reveal anything to Peggy or I. So far, the threats have worked. And so, we only get a few, sporadic stories that are like pulling teeth out for us to get. Otherwise, I am amazed at how this sweet 13 year old is so responsible, with her having to catch a bus at 6:50 in the morning. She does this without any help from us parents. And she does most of her school work on her own as soon as she arrives home, and with asking only for help on the toughest of homework.

 

Our beautiful Maggie is now 11 years old. She is in the 6^th Grade, and doing well in school. She is one kid who never seeks help for studying spelling words, or her homework. And she does a good job with it. Maggie recently came back from a four-day overnight school trip that the 6^th grade went on. And she had a fabulous time: the word on the street is that Maggie was one of the bravest kinds when going over a High Ropes Course. With this, she was 35 feet up as she walked on a single rope, and held on to two other ropes. She is a brave one! And to show you her wonderful heart, she recently had a friend who went in for surgery. Maggie was there for her friend on the day of the surgery, and she spent all of her allowance on gifts for her friend. She is a sweet girl, that one!

 

Miss Olivia is battling a Science Fair project these days. She is a smart kid with her project testing the heart rate of a number of people as they listen to different kinds of music. She originally had 13 different kinds of music with which she was testing people's heart rates. But as next week's deadline is approaching, her Mother convinced her to use "only" 10 different kinds of music. Olivia is now living on our lowest level, and learning that the lack of cleanliness can no longer be blamed on her brother/sister. She continues practicing and taking seriously her clarinet, and is an amazing artist. She did the most wonderful water paint picture of the scene off of our room's balcony when we were in Mazatlan this past December. Each week I see pictures that just amaze me. She has her Mother's talent, which is saying something!

 

Young man Elijah is enjoying kindergarten. He is a favorite of his teacher, and as I learned at last week's school carnival, of several of the young girls in his class. One felt comfortable enough to come sit next to us while we ate so she could be with Elijah. Very nice! And Elijah is enjoying a new website called Toontown. From the amount of time he is spending on it, there must be something more to it than what I've seen. But it is amazing to me that a 6 year old can wheel around on the Internet, use a mouse, and enjoy games. And yes, I hear parent's groans – I do have him on a restricted access account for the Internet. And of course, Elijah is also a bright kid like her older sisters. He is a natural at math, and is now trying to learn to read anything that is put in front of him.

 

Which brings me to what we hope is a blessing that may take place in the future. We have been told that we be receiving computers for each of our children. All these computers with wireless Internet connections. The kids were so excited that 3 out of the 4 immediately cleaned their rooms so that they could have the computers in their room, once they were ready. And it was fun to see their faces when they were told about it - smiles from ear to ear! And Peggy and I are excited too – the line that forms behind our computers each morning and after school is long at times. But this is too exciting for all of us. Thanks, and may God continue to shower all of your families with His blessings and love.

Part of Noah’s Ark Discovered?

Now remain calm about the following February 5^th news story. A one yard piece of petrified wood was recently produced that is drawing some attention. It is claimed to be a part of a much larger piece that was found in a Mount Ararat cave. But please remember that we need to know more about this, before we give it any believability. Here is a portion of the story:

 

Noah's Ark nestled on Mount Ararat

Web posted at: 1/19/2008 5:50:44
Source ::: The Peninsula / BY SATISH KANADY

Dogubayazit (Turkey's Iran-Armenian Border) • For the first time in the seven decade-long history of the search for the legendary Noah's Ark, a Turkish-Hong Kong exploration team on Tuesday came out with "material evidence", to prove that the Ark was nestled on Mount Ararat, Turkey's highest mountain peak bordering Iran and Armenia.

A panel of experts, comprising Turkish authorities, veteran mountaineers, archaeologists, geologists and members of Hong Kong-based Noah's Ark Ministries International, also displayed an almost one-metre-long piece of petrified wood before the media and specially invited international experts.

The experts claimed it to be a part of a long structure they had unearthed during their February-August 2007 exploration. "It is for the first time in the history of the Ark search that an exploration team is getting a material evidence and graphic documentation. This makes it not only a the significant breakthrough in the Ark-search, but one that is supported with the most substantial evidence in recent history," the panel said.

The revelation is expected to open up a fresh chapter in the ongoing debates in the scientific community on the search for Noah's Ark.

Narrating the genesis of their exploration on Mount Ararat, the mount which has a direct reference in Holy Quran (Mount Judi) and Bible, the panel said the search team had made several foiled attempts before unearthing the evidence at an altitude of 4,500-metres of the estimated 5,165 metre volcanic mountain.

"The structure was discovered in the interiors of an unusual cave. The 11.5m wide and 2.6m high white wooden texture was revealed after removing thick layers of volcanic ash on the cave wall," panel members said at a press conference.

One of the underlying issues in the search for the Ark is the proper identification of its wood fragments. A petrographic examination carried out by the Applied Geoscience Centre of the Department of Earth Sciences, University of Hong Kong, identified the object as a petrified wooden structure, the panel said...

 

The full story can be found at:

http://www.thepeninsulaqatar.com/Display_news.asp?section=local_news&month=january2008&file=local_news2008011955044.xml

Drug Resistant Staph Stinks!

Hi everyone,

 

I had surgery earlier today. It came totally out of the blue, and in fact, I was perfectly fine and healthy only one week ago. But last weekend I I started getting little red spots on both of my legs. One of the spots on my calf was becoming sore last Sunday. And all of the sudden last night it grew to a palm sized infected spot, with a scary white center.

 

Last year, I went through a battle with MRSA, drug-resistant staph. But this was on my other leg, and I completed all of the drugs that the Infectious Disease specialist doctor had prescribed. Thanks to my beautiful wife, who made sure I went back to the Infectious Disease clinic (I was just going to see my regular doctor). They acted so quickly. They numbed me up and removed the infected sore. And so, here I am back home and on the mend.

 

The doctor told me that it is very difficult to completely remove drug-resistant staph. So I am on antibiotics for now. But she also mentioned that there is a great deal of progress being made. And because it has come back for me, they will start some of these new treatments to see if the MRSA can be totally removed. So until then, your prayers are coveted and appreciated.

Dr. Dobson Attacks Senator McCain

Yesterday, on Super Tuesday, Dr. James Dobson made a very strong statement on the nationally broadcast Laura Ingraham show (here in the Twin Cities it is on the Patriot, AM 1280). He again made clear that he would not support Senator McCain, but his comments go even further. Here are Dr. Dobson's personal comments about the reasons he cannot support Senator McCain:

 

"I am deeply disappointed the Republican Party seems poised to select a nominee who did not support a Constitutional amendment to protect the institution of marriage, voted for embryonic stem cell research to kill nascent human beings, opposed tax cuts that ended the marriage penalty, has little regard for freedom of speech, organized the Gang of 14 to preserve filibusters in judicial hearings, and has a legendary temper and often uses foul and obscene language.

I am convinced Sen. McCain is not a conservative, and in fact, has gone out of his way to stick his thumb in the eyes of those who are. He has sounded at times more like a member of the other party. McCain actually considered leaving the GOP caucus in 2001, and approached John Kerry about being Kerry's running mate in 2004. McCain also said publicly that Hillary Clinton would make a good president. Given these and many other concerns, a spoonful of sugar does NOT make the medicine go down. I cannot, and will not, vote for Sen. John McCain, as a matter of conscience.

But what a sad and melancholy decision this is for me and many other conservatives. Should Sen. McCain capture the nomination as many assume, I believe this general election will offer the worst choices for president in my lifetime. I certainly can't vote for Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama based on their virulently anti-family policy positions. If these are the nominees in November, I simply will not cast a ballot for president for the first time in my life. These decisions are my personal views and do not represent the organization with which I am affiliated. They do reflect my deeply held convictions about the institution of the family, about moral and spiritual beliefs, and about the welfare of our country. " (emphasis supplied.)

 

So Dr. Dobson, perhaps the leading evangelical Christian voice in America, has clearly stated that he will not support or vote for Senator McCain because of his anti-family positions. This is yet another conservative voice, including Rush and David Limbaugh, Dennis Prager, George Will, and Charles Krauthamer, attacking Senator McCain. Senator McCain's response today was for conservatives to settle down. He will speak to conservative group CPAC tomorrow, and this will be interesting, as he snubbed their group last year. Stay tuned, the excitement is just starting!

The Internet is Cool!

Happy Super Bowl weekend to everyone. Go Giants! I wanted to share a very interesting email I received from someone who claims to be writing from Poland, and identifies himself as a believer. No, he did not ask me to handle an estate in his country, or to send him money. J He found me through my blog, and a brief discussion I had in one of my posts about Daniel's prophecies. Although the writer of the email may not actually be from Poland, it appears to me that he is. And his location had nothing to do with the subject of his email: He wrote to me providing me with what he describes as a "short" (12 pages, single space) analysis of Daniel Chapter 11. The thought of someone from Poland writing to me to discuss the Bible is a wonderful thought to me. Wow!

 

But the reason that I am telling you about this, is to discuss one of the topics he raised where he tells me the identity of the "northern king" / Gog / the northern country that will one day attack Israel. The typical Church view, and the Polish writer's view is that Russia is this northern country that will one day in the future lead an attack against Israel. And for those of us who grew up and lived during the Cold War, it is easy to believe that godless Russia could be the leader of a future attack against Israel. This attacker is discussed in the God's Word as being 'Gog' in Revelation 20:8-:15 (the Leader of the Final Battle against Israel); Ezekiel 38-39 (the great Old Testament prophetic chapters describing Gog and Magog leading an attack against Israel); and Daniel 11:36-12:4 (northern king who attacks the "Glorious Land" of Israel). While it may be true that this northern king, known as Gog may indeed be the country of Russia, I wanted to raise at least the possibility that it is not.

 

First, let me briefly summarize why many thoughtful Bible scholars believe that the nation prophetically described as Gog and Magog is really modern day Russia. Remember our starting point is Ezekiel chapter 38 which describes Gog and Magog. In Ezekiel 38:2, Gog is described as the prince of Rosh, Meschech, and Tubal. Some have equated Meschech with Moscow, and Tubal being the Russian city of Tobolsk. Yet, it seems clear that the people of Israel did not know of Russia until the Vikings came to the area in the Middle Ages, and so it seems unlikely that Ezekiel would have known Russian city's names. Several ancient sources (Hesiod, Josephus, and Philo) describe Magog as being a group of people known as 'Scythians'. The famous Roman historian Herodotus apparently wrote that the Scythians lived in present day southern Russia. And so, if Ezekiel's description of Magog means the Scythains, then because they lived in what is now known as modern day Russia, this may mean Russia is Israel's future attacker.

 

But I think there is good reason to read the prophetic attackers from the north as meaning that the attackers are from those parts more directly north of Israel, or modern day Palestine, Syria, Iraq and Iran. I base this on the context of Ezekiel, Daniel, and Revelation's prophecy about northern kingdoms attacking Israel, and what would these writers think was meant by a northern kingdom attacking Israel. This means we should read the end-times prophecies in light of other descriptions of Old Testament books. There are many references of threats to Israel coming from the north. For a short list see, Isa. 5:26-29, 13:1-13, 41:25; Jer. 1:13-15 (and fifteen other references in Jeremiah), Ezekiel 26:7, Zech. 2:6, 6:6-8, etc. And prior to the sixth century exile in Babylon, this typically meant the nations of Assyria, Babylon and Persia. And so, it may be that the prophecies contained in Ezekiel 38-39, Daniel 11, and Revelation 20:8-15 that describe Gog, Magog, or northern kingdoms that will one day attack Israel are the traditional northern enemies of Israel: Assyria, Babylon and Persia. This then means that the northern attackers are the immediate northern neighbors of Israel, modern day Palestine, Syria (Assyria), Iraq (Babylon) and Iran (Persia). Given that these areas today are followers of Islam, perhaps this better explains an unbridled hatred inspired united attack against Israel, that is described as the final battle of Armageddon (Revelation 16:16, 19:17-:21, 20:7-:10, and Zech. 14:2-:4). But I pass these thoughts out humbly, knowing that that the original prophecies of Ezekiel and Daniel were made over 2,600 years ago, and given this, there is room for differing thoughts on whatever position is taken. (I borrowed liberally from the study notes in my Reformation Study Bible for my thoughts on this.)

 

So I am grateful to have received an email from this unknown writer claiming to be from Poland. It helped me to see there are more parts of Daniel dealing with the end-times. And that there is likely a connection between Daniel's prophecy and Ezekiel's prophecy. I find studying the end-times prophecies in the Bible to be exciting, and I hope it was helpful to anyone reading this now. I invite your thoughts on this discussion. Thanks, and may God bless you this day and weekend.