Computer Vacation

I apologize for not posting recently. I have two computers that are on vacation - meaning they won't work. I am having problems with sudden crashes after only a few minutes of working. I am having problems with my monitors working. It's frustrating, but what can I do? I hope to be back posting soon... /s/Tom

The God Particle

Hi everyone,

It's been busy around our home this summer. I've turned 50. We've ended the regular season of Elijah's baseball season. Our home (and my car) is without air-conditioning. This means we've been visiting other family-members (those with air conditioning or by a lake) a lot recently. And so, I have not been writing on my blog. I hope you will understand.

The God Particle or the Higgs boson has received some media attention this past week because of the reports that the Higgs boson was "discovered". Sample news report here. ""I think we have it," said Rolf-Dieter Heuer, the director general of CERN, the multinational research center headquartered in Geneva. The agency is home to the Large Hadron Collider, the immense particle accelerator that produced the new data by colliding protons." Scientists hope that the Higgs boson is the invisible part of most of the universe that gives it mass.

A couple of items on this. First, it is premature to call this a discovery, at this point. I like this video which gives a little more explanation than the news article can provide - Higgs Boson explanation / http://vimeo.com/41038445. If you have 7 minutes, and want to learn a little more about the topic, check it out.

Next, is an interesting article on why there is strong resistance by scientists to calling the Higgs boson the "God Particle". Here is an excerpt:

… In an interview with NPR, Victoria Martin, a lecturer in physics and astronomy at the University of Edinburgh and a former student of Higgs, explained why scientists don't like the "God Particle" term.

SIEGEL: I want to ask you about this particle's nickname, the "God particle." What did Higgs, who've I've read is an atheist, think about the nickname the "God particle"?

MARTIN: I'm sure - I actually haven't ever asked him this directly, but I'm sure he doesn't like it. Almost all particle physicists detest that name. ...

So the name stuck and I think it's fine because then people know what we're talking about. But secretly, all of us hate the name, the "God particle." …

Article here. And if you want a silly joke that combines religion and the Higgs boson, here you go:

A Sydney Morning Herald
piece collects the jokes:

A Higgs boson walks into a church, according to one joke which did the rounds. "We don't allow Higgs bosons in here!" shouts the priest. "But without me, how can you have mass?" asks the particle.

May God bless you this week, with all of His Glorious blessings. Amen, /s/Tom Wolff

Tom Believes in Man-made Global Warming

I watched Al Gore’s ‘Inconvenient Truth’ last night, and I was impressed by it. BTW, Google has it available to watch online for free, while Comcast charges$4 for it. A movie of this importance, Comcast should not be charging any money for. But this aside, in today’s post I want to summarize the top three reasons why man-made Global Warming is true, and why we must immediately do something about it. The problem is a simple one. There is a clear correlation between the amount of Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and Earth’s rising temperatures. The first question on this topic is whether or not the Earth is really getting warmer. The fact that the 10 hottest years ever measured have all been in the last 14 years makes this point obvious. NASA confirms that nine of the 10 warmest years in the modern meteorological record have occurred since the year 2000, including 2010 which tied for the warmest year ever measured. So yes, Earth is getting warmer. So this brings me to the next question, is this increase in Earth’s temperature caused by man? A couple of reasons suggest to me that it is: First, the huge strain caused on Earth by the world’s population increase. And second, the correlation between measured Carbon Dioxide in the atmosphere and the Earth’s increased temperatures. First, to show the huge population growth on Earth, take a look at this http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:World-Population-1800-2100.png Graph from Wikipedia. In 1930, the Earth had 2 billion people. Today, there are over 7 Billion people. In just one lifetime, there has been a 350% increase in Earth’s population. I like how Al Gore put it – there is a collision of our civilization and the Earth. An important issue is the pressure that this massive increase in people upon the Earth upon the world’s food and water supply. But this population growth also increases electricity and fossil fuel consumption, which is one of the major components of the increase in Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels. When there is more CO2 in the air, the atmosphere traps more of the sun’s heat instead of allowing it to escape. In other words, more pollution means higher temperatures on Earth. And all of this flows through the large population increase that has taken place over the past 80 years. On the second point that shows Global Warming is man-made, the correlation of Carbon Dioxide atmospheric levels and the Earth’s temperatures is firmly established. Scientists have been studying the CO2 levels for some time, and the when combined with the Earth temperatures measurements, there is an eerie connection between the two. Deforestation, use of fossil fuels, power plants, vehicle emissions, all plays a significant part in this rise of CO2 levels. Al Gore on a riser showed how scary the increasing Carbon Dioxide levels will become over the next 50 years. My final point is that the Earth is showing the effects of Global Warming. We see the retreat of the glaciers. We see oceans becoming warmer. We see the ice disappearing off of Kilimanjaro, the Alps, the Himalayas, and in the Glacier National Park. We can see with our own eyes the impact of Global Warming, and if it continues there will be a massive human displacement. Imagine if New York, San Francisco, Florida, Shanghai, and Calcutta all become flooded from melting ice caps. The world could not handle 100 million refugees, and the chaos that this would cause would be terrible. It is time for us to act before it is too late.

The Cell _ A Poem

Yes, some people are amazed at the vastness of the universe, the countless galaxies around us, with a tiny glimpse seen in the night sky above us. The magnitude of the space, the time it took to create all of this, and the likelihood that it all originated from a single point and at a single moment of time. Yes, the universe is an amazing creation, and humbling to the insignificance of man.

But for me, what is more of an attraction is the world of biology. The world of the cell is astounding in that there are soooo many cells in just the human body. Cells make up each organ and the tissue in the body and are the basic functioning piece of the organ or tissue. The human body has approximately 250 trillion cells with approximately 35,000 chemical reactions taking place per second within each of these cells. Think of what this means – 250 trillion cells each having 35,000 chemical reactions per second. And all of this takes place in the great majority of us for decades. We all like a fast processor for our computers, right? How about something that is faster than the world's fastest supercomputer? Interpreting a DNA program and translating it through a code into a physical molecule, the cells collectively function at almost a thousand times the processing speed of IBM's Blue Gene/L state-of-the-art supercomputer. This information processing in one human body for just one function exceeds by some 25 percent the total computing power of all the world's 200 million personal computers produced every year. Vast numbers of cells, incredible speed, incredible efficiency, and it all works seamlessly, effortlessly, and yes, beautifully for the life of its host. I think the cell has to be the most amazing piece of God's Creation. So give me the cell over the universe when you want to be amazed by the power, beauty and creativity of God the Creator.

But because we can't see the cell, like we can see the universe, it is hard for us to grasp how big and vast the cell and its activities are. I have always thought that a good way to help with this problem is to use some kind of an analogy, although is there any way to compare something to the cell's DNA structure? But even with this shortcoming, here is a nice "poem" that tries to compare a cell and its activities to a city:

Imagine miniature cities aswarm with bustling centers of activity, factories, powerhouses, post offices, libraries, trash collection and recycling, quality control, railroads and architecture, import/export centers, communication networks, and transport vehicles.

These cities organize themselves from seed cities, according to a complex negotiation process that assigns them their duties and location.

Some cities specialize in manufacture and export, some in signal processing, some in reclamation or storage, some in warfare, and some preserve the heritage of the whole nation and pass it on.

Each city has no mayor or aldermen or police.

Its multitudinous minions are self-directed, self-replicating wonders and each city cooperates with its neighbors to maintain balance, order, and peaceful exchange for the good of the nation.

Some cities pick up and move, patrolling the highways, some stretch enormous distances to maintain communication, and some link shields to form the nation's boundaries.

Some denude themselves and serve the rest by carrying oxygen to all.

Some live to divide, some adopt a fixed identity and never reproduce again.

All are altruistic in their focus, unless the encoded information in the library becomes corrupted, or signals snarl and warp the message, turning self-sacrifice into the endless hunger, rampage and self-aggrandizement of cancer.

Truly we are fearfully and wonderfully made.

 

The Majesty of God

Hi, this week our study group finished reading Pastor Francis Chan's book entitled 'Forgotten God'. However, at the end of the book, he provides the first chapter of another book he has written entitled 'Crazy Love', and I thought this first chapter was great. See if you agree with me. Here is a small portion from the first chapter of Pastor Chan's 'Crazy Love':

Let's begin this book by gazing at God in silence (the chapter's name is 'Stop Praying'). What I want you to do right now is to go online and look at the Awe Factor video (video here: How big are you?) to get a taste of the awe factor of our God. Seriously – go do it.

Speechless? Amazed? Humbled?

When I first saw those images, I had to worship. I didn't want to speak or share it with anyone. I just want to sit quietly and admire the Creator.

It's wild to think that most of these galaxies have been discovered only in the past few years, thanks to the Hubble telescope. They've been in the universe for thousands of years without humans even knowing about them.

Why would God create more than 350,000,000,000 galaxies (and this is a conservative estimate) that generations of people never saw or even knew existed? Do you think maybe it was to make us say, "Wow, God is unfathomably big"? Or perhaps God wanted us to see these pictures so that our response would be, "Who do I think I am?"… (Pastor Francis Chan, portion of chapter 1 – Stop Praying, from his book "Crazy Love').

If you want more here is his Youtube video Chapter 1 of 'Crazy Love', video – Stop Praying.

When I think of the majesty of God, I think of what Isaiah wrote in Isaiah 6:1-7. It's a great scene, Isaiah sees God, and the Seraphim praising Him: Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts. And the temple shakes at the mere words He speaks. And what is Isaiah's response? He trembles at his own unworthiness, as he knows his sinfulness will cause him to die on the spot at seeing God. It's a great visual picture for me that I sometimes use when praying. I like the way Pastor Chan draws me back to humbly think of the majesty of God, and His greatness, and His glory when I think of Him. This first chapter has more, and perhaps next week I will share more from this chapter.

May the Majestic Lord, the Creator, the Lord of hosts, bless you this week. /s/Tom

Where is the Holy Spirit?

Our Thursday Morning Men's Group is reading Francis Chan's book on the Holy Spirit entitled 'Forgotten God'. Pastor Chan raises several serious challenges about Christians and the Holy Spirit. I thought I would share from the book a few of these challenges, and then provide one response that might help us all out. To begin with here are three of those challenges:

• Our bodies are Temples of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19-20). If the Holy Spirit is dwelling in us, then shouldn't there be a huge difference in the lives of a person who has the Holy Spirit living inside of them, compared to the one who does not? (p.32);
  
• By the power of the Holy Spirit, we put to death the misdeeds of the body. Over our lifetimes, the Spirit sets us free from sins we cannot get rid of on our own (Romans 8:2). Is this really happening? (p. 75);
  
• The fruit of the Holy Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self control (Galatians 5:22-23). Who out there can see that they have all of the fruit to a "supernatural" degree? (p. 147.)
  

So these are a few of the challenges that we have dealt with in going through the 'Forgotten God' book. Although dealing with challenges is sometimes fun to do, I was really looking for an answer to these challenges as I went through the book. And here is one answer that Pastor Chan brings up that struck me as particularly helpful. He looks at the Old Testament Prophet Elijah. This is the same Elijah who raised the dead, and called down fire from heaven in taking down the priests of Baal. So was Elijah just a super-spiritual, super-holy miracle worker? That's not what was written about Elijah in the Bible:

Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed fervently… (James 5:17 - ESV)

So Pastor Chan brings out the fact that Elijah did great miracles by God's power, despite his being a normal man with a nature just like ours. The key appears to be Elijah's fervent use of prayer. This is a great take-away application from the 'Forgotten God' book – if we want to see and do miracles for God's glory, perhaps a good starting point is to pray fervently, like Elijah did. Let's focus our energies and time asking for help from the One who has the power to change us, to give us more fruit of the Spirit, and to do mighty miracles. It seems like a great place to start.

May God through Jesus Christ our Lord give you His peace and blessings this week, Amen. /s/Tom

God on Easter

The 4^th Commandment-tells us to honor God's name and that we shall not take it in vain. What exactly is the name of God that we are Commanded not to profane? The name being referred to here is 'YHWH'. In this post, one thing I am suggesting for us is that it is not all of the other names for God that are prohibited by this Commandment. For example God, Lord, Adonai, Abba Father, etc. are names of God that are used in the Bible. Instead, there is something special about the name 'YHWH' that deserves our reverence and respect, along with our special attention.

But Who is this YHWH Who revealed Himself to Moses by speaking to him from a burning bush in Exodus chapter 3? When Moses met God for the first time on the mountain, it was a special place. There was a burning bush, and God told Moses to remove his sandals because it was Holy ground. In this setting, Moses asked God what His name was, but more, He was looking how to describe God. God revealed His descriptive name to Moses. God said "I am who I am", which in the Greek Septuagint for Exodus 3:14 is 'Ego Eimi'. The descriptive name He revealed to Moses shows that He always was, is now, and always will be. God is self-derived. He is eternal. He was, He is, and He will be. (Rev. 4:8).

What about Jesus? I had a friend ask me recently if it mattered whether or not Jesus actually lived or not. Yes, of course it matters whether or not Jesus actually lived. Jesus lived the sin-free life that we cannot. He is our Savior, saving us from the penalty owed from our sin. His guilt free life sacrificed on the Cross was the sin-offering to God, which was made for the world's sins. Through repentance and faith, Jesus' sacrifice allows His sinless righteousness to be transferred to us. This transfer is made to our account before God. Having a fictional Jesus provides us no benefit.

But if God the Father is YHWH, the great 'I AM', then Who is Jesus? John 8:58 reveals Jesus' oneness with God the Father. The scene in John chapter 8 is a group of Jews having one of the most contentious confrontations with Jesus contained in the Scriptures. The Jews argued that their lineage through Abraham provided them with a special relationship with God. Jesus spoke bluntly to them, saying that their father was actually Satan and that their sin-filled lives had prevented them from seeing and accepting the reality of Who Jesus was. They called Jesus a bastard (John 8:41). They called Jesus a horrible insulting name, he was a Samaritan (John 8:48, I guess this is worse than being a Packer fan). They called him a demon-spawn (John 8:48). This is action packed stuff, better than the fights taking place on Jersey Shore. And how did Jesus respond to this barrage of blasphemies and insults? He revealed His true name to them:

Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, before Abraham was, I am." (John 8:58.)

Yes, Jesus revealed to this bunch of slugs what His real name and nature is – He is also the great 'I AM', the same name that God revealed to Moses at the burning bush (Exod. 3:14). It is the same words in the Greek, 'Ego Eimi' as is used in the Septuagint in Exodus 3:14. So Jesus faced with attacks, blasphemies, and vicious lies, responds to them with Truth – He is part of the eternal God, God the Son.

The Jewish children of Satan responded in typical fashion to this claim of Divinity by Jesus - they picked up stones to stone Him (John 8:59). The Jews knew how to treat someone who claims to be God. You stone them!

So getting back to the original question asking whether it is important that Jesus actually lived or not, my response is to ask, does it matter to you in knowing that God Himself came to Earth to live as a human, to help us with the biggest problem humanity faces? God the Father revealed His name and identity to Moses, and this name is 'I AM' (Exod. 3:14). Jesus revealed His name to the Jewish attackers, and this name is 'I AM' (John 8:58). I hope this helps to see Jesus' death on the Cross, and His glorious resurrection on Easter with some additional clarity. He is risen, He is risen indeed! Happy Easter.