Internet Monk: For Smart Guys Like Me

Here's a good piece written by Michael Spencer, the Internet Monk. Michael is quite good at thoughtful and thought-provoking blog posts. This one gives us that and so much more. Here's a money quote:

I’ve told myself I’m smart, or at least smart-er than someone else, on more than a few occasions. For example, despite their training and expertise, major league umpires are almost always wrong in comparison to my observation of the same third strike pitch.

Actually, when it comes to claims of intelligence, I’m quite a skeptic. I’ve had professors that were world class and couldn’t stick to a simple syllabus or balance a checkbook. I’ve been around smart people who didn’t know how to bathe, comb their hair or change their shirt.

Enjoy!
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New Birth in Central Asia!

This morning I received the following email. B. and C. are friends of ours who work in Central Asia. They have been over there since early spring of this year. Praise God for their work and dedication in serving the people in a Muslim country. Their email below tells the story of the first conversion they’ve been witness to since arriving. On account of the danger in getting kicked out of the country, B. tells the story without using “Christianese” which is why it may sound a bit odd at times in the email. And of course the name of the lady is not disclosed because she risks her very life by giving her life to Christ. Please pray for this woman, who is beginning her new life, and for B. and C. who are laboring in a very barren land.

Subject: Great news
Date: Tue, 17 Jul 2007 13:28:02 +0600


Dear Friends,

We have some great news that we wanted to share with you right away. On Sunday, B. visited a local fellowship and taught from the old part of the Book. It was a lesson filled with symbols that pointed to our Master. There was a lady there, S, who had come for the first time. S’s sister had been sharing the truth with her, but S had not yet chosen to accept it. B. used some pictures to help explain what he was teaching. Unbeknownst to B., S had seen some of these pictures four years ago, but at that time did not understand them. Now, she was seeing the same pictures and understanding them.

After the lesson, one of the other ladies sat and talked with S and explained the good news. Then, S said that she wanted to join the family! B. and other leaders talked with her to make sure that she understood. When B. asked S what she wanted the Master to do for her, she said, “Give me peace.” A few moments later, S became a daughter of the King. Yeah!!!! During the meeting, S had a troubled look on her face, but after making her decision, S dramatically changed. Her face was lit up with a big smile. She looked like a new person. She is the first person we have seen join the family since we have arrived.

Please lift up S. She has made a very courageous decision. Her family and friends will not appreciate it, and are likely to persecute her heavily. It will be difficult for her to persevere and grow. Ask the King to protect and encourage her. Ask that she will read the Book that was given to her and grow. Ask that she will become strongly connected with the fellowship in her village.

Thank you for lifting us up and our work here. Every person who has remembered us to the King and who has given their support helped to bring S into the family. Thanks for your part in this great work!

B. & C.

Epiphany #3

In my life I have had two different times where there have been world-shattering shifts in my ethos. These shifts were landmark changes in the way I viewed the world around me, as well as myself. I won't go into the causes behind these previous shifts, but personally I view them as more like a "recovery of truth" than any kind of philosophical breakthrough or anything. I say this because the end result put me in a place where I wasn't alone, just in more of a minority than I had been before. In other words, there were plenty others who had made the same journey.

Epiphany#1

My first mind-bending world change came when I discovered Reformed Theology. Someone took the time to sit down with me and show me how my misconceptions were illogical, and how I had misunderstood, or just plain failed to think about the doctrines I thought I believed in. Today, I drink up the teachings of John Piper, and bask in the greatness of the old Reformation writings of John Calvin and Luther, and I feel as if I can say to them with a smile and a wink, "I'm one of you. I get it." There's great security in that.

Not that my ultimate security doesn't come from God alone. I wouldn't be able to say I'm Reformed if I didn't believe that. But nonetheless, there is a comfort in solidly and definitively being able to say I belong because I believe this, and being able to tell you why I believe it. Not dogmatically, not arrogantly, but confidently, intelligently, and gently if asked about what it is I believe.

Epiphany #2

My second world-shift came when I realized that there's more to life than being a Republican or Democrat, more than being conservative or liberal. Television and today's media has made it very hard to come to this realization. Everything is polarized and charged slap full of rhetoric, so much so that there's very little actually being said, much less anything being done. The more this became evident to me, the less I was pleased with my chosen-by-birth political party that had been draped over me my entire life. But looking over the fence to the other side, I saw more of the same. I was not going to be content choosing the lesser of two evils, and so I left all of America's bi-polar disorder behind.

That's not to say that I have become apolitical. On the contrary, I think I've become more political than I was before. I actually feel like again, I know what I believe in and why I believe it, and I can make sense of it, and feel like I know what should be done and what should be said as a result. And again, even though it puts me in a minority, there is comfort and security there. I feel as if I stand on ground which is firm, rather than hang from strings.

Epiphany #3

And so here I am again, on the precipice of epiphany #3. With my doctrinal and political worldviews turned on its head, I stand now bracing myself for a coming storm in the world of the ecclesiastical - how we do church, and why. The turmoil has not yet begun, but it is as if I stand on the plains of my own reality and sniff the air and know a big one is about to let the bottom out. I've been through this twice before, and I remember it vividly. A storm's a' brewin'. The sky is dark and the clouds are churning. I won't take shelter from this one, because this man's parched for truth in this world. And when it rains it pours.

So bring the rain, Lord. Bring it hard. On the other side of the storm, the sky is bright.

Wanna see what's rocked my boat? Here's a good summary of what it's all about.

Click Here:

Can Creationists be "Real" Scientists?

Have you ever encountered someone claiming that any scientist that believes in a literal six-day creation, just as the Bible says, just simply cannot be a real scientist? I have. AiG published an article (an excerpt out of the book War of the Worldviews) today that definitively counters that argument. Here's a snippet:

But is a belief in particles-to-people evolution really necessary to understand biology and other sciences? Is it even helpful? Have any technological advances been made because of a belief in evolution?

Although evolutionists interpret the evidence in light of their belief in evolution, science works perfectly well without any connection to evolution. Think about it this way: is a belief in molecules-to-man evolution necessary to understand how planets orbit the sun, how telescopes operate, or how plants and animals function? Has any biological or medical research benefited from a belief in evolution? Not at all. In fact, the Ph.D. cell biologist (and creationist) Dr. David Menton has stated, “The fact is that though widely believed, evolution contributes nothing to our understanding of empirical science and thus plays no essential role in biomedical research or education.”

^{And the article continues with its conclusion....}

Clearly, creationists can indeed be real scientists. And this shouldn’t be surprising, since the very basis for scientific research is biblical creation. This is not to say that noncreationists cannot be scientists. But, in a way, an evolutionist is being inconsistent when he or she does science. The big bang supporter claims the universe is a random chance event, and yet he or she studies it as if it were logical and orderly. The evolutionist is thus forced to borrow certain creationist principles in order to do science.

Here is the full article.

Response: Common views on Scripture

Recently, I came across an old discourse with a friend of mine concerning the nature of Scripture which took place several months ago. The viewpoints of my friend are so common to the average post-modern man, that I thought I would post this conversation here, so that my responses to these viewpoints could be discussed. Feel free to ask for elaboration, or simply comment, on any these responses.

#1: "In reality I cannot see where any religion can believe that their scriptures are all accurate, foolproof and complete. The Scriptures aren't supposed to be accurate, foolproof or complete."


Response: At the risk of sounding argumentative (I hope you don't take it as such but...), yes they are supposed to be all three, according to what it says of its own self. Now whether you believe that it is all three accurate, foolproof, and complete is entirely seperate matter, but it most certainly claims that the Scriptures are just that. It's a doctrine called the "Inerrancy and infallibility of Scripture."

The 16th Century Protestant Reformer Martin Luther's anthem phrase was Soli Deo, Soli Scriptura, Soli Fidelis (God Alone, Scripture Alone, Faith Alone). Again, I don't mean to say that you must believe this is true, but merely that this is what Scripture says of itself and what those who followed the teachings of Christ (Christians) have believed from the start (as well as Jews for that matter).


#2: "They [the Scriptures] are written by men (and by men I mean mankind, for those liking to be politically correct!) and so are limited to man's understanding at the time of writing."


Response: What Scripture claims of itself, is that it is "God-breathed," - or in other words, God worked through the men who wrote the Bible to communicate exactly and perfectly what he wanted to communicate. It makes logical sense that this should be done this way as well. I say this, because if you think that a God created us, and created man to be his "special creation" and you believe that God desires that man should maintain a relationship with Him, then it only follows that God would give us his Word in a way that it was NOT corrupted by man. If we believe that God seeks to have a relationship personally with us, He must reveal himself to us. In so doing, we are given Scripture, infallible, and inerrant.

That's the simple explanation anyway.

#3: "Each writing fulfills a need at the time of writing, different times have different needs and so the writings can be contradictory."


Response: That's actually one of the wonders of Scripture. It never contradicts itself once throughout it's entirety. I actually use this point to convey my above thought, about where Scripture comes from. The fact that it ISN'T contradictory, DESPITE having been written over a period of thousands of years, and by over 50 different men, from different walks and stations of life, under different circumstances, it is ABSOLUTELY PHENOMENAL that it never contradicts itself. Throughout, from Genesis to Revelation, the Character of God, the Character of Man, and the story of God redeeming man despite our fallen state, is complete, and perfect, from beginning to end. It's mind-boggling. The only explanation, to me, is that it MUST be truly from God, rather than Man. But that's just my conclusion on the matter.


#4: "The stories have been passed through many generations by word of mouth before actually being written down, each generation presents their own interpretation on the story."


This point is only even possibly true, for the first couple books in the Bible, and particularly Genesis. All the other books are written right in the thick of the story, except where noted in the text. At very least they are written a few years after, but always by the eyewitnesses to the events described (with the exception of the Gospel of Luke, which Luke himself notes at the beginning of the book. He writes that he has compiled his facts from eyewitnesses and so forth).

The only books that were written considerably after the fact are the history books of 1st and 2nd Kings, and 1st and 2nd Chronicles, which gives an exhaustive history of the ancient history of the Nation of Israel. But of course, this is exactly the point of those books.. to give a history.. after the fact.

All the others, are very much contemporary of their events.

#5: "The scriptures are translated from their original languages (unless we are fortunate enough to be able to understand the language in question), each translation adds another layer of interpretation into the stories."


Response: We ARE indeed fortunate enough to be able to understand the entire thing in the original languages. The Old Testament books were written in Hebrew, and the New Testament books were written in Greek. We have full copies of each in the original languages, and I can attest personally that the modern translations of all the books of the Bible are very very accurate and easily understood if read in the English translations. Obviously to read and understand the texts in the original languages adds understanding to some of the details, but it does not change the overall meaning and message of the translations.

The biggest hindrance to interpretation, that I have seen, is not difficulties in switching from the Greek and Hebrew, but instead in the lack of knowledge of Scripture as a whole, by the reader. And when you combine this lack of knowledge, with a lack of knowledge concerning the culture, people, and traditions of the original writers and audience of the books, this is where the biggest errors in interpretation are to be found.

I hope I don't sound too argumentative, because it truly is not my intention to be. I simply wanted to clarify some things of which you may not have been aware.

I would love to go into this conversation a little deeper with someone who has the time and the patience to examine the subject honestly and openly. So by all means, question my conclusions and responses.

Setting the Record Staight: The Creation Museum

I’ve been following this project for well over a year now, and I’m very excited about the importance and potential of this facility which finally opened this past Memorial Day weekend, just outside Cincinnati, OH. This is a first-class presentation of history and science that is biblically-based, and it has the evolutionists very concerned. Check out the website for the museum below, but above all, please pray for the impact that this will make across the country, and even around the world. The international media has been taking an interest in this museum, and so should you! This truly is an amazing monument to the Glory of God.

Creation Museum Website

“The Creation Museum, opening May 28, 2007, presents a "walk through history." Designed by a former Universal Studios exhibit director, this state-of-the-art 60,000 square foot museum brings the pages of the Bible to life. A fully engaging, sensory experience for guests. Murals and realistic scenery, computer-generated visual effects, over fifty exotic animals, life-sized people and dinosaur animatronics, and a special-effects theater complete with misty sea breezes and rumbling seats. These are just some of the impressive exhibits that everyone in your family will enjoy.”

Here are some links to some of the media coverage the museum was getting before it even opened:

Newsweek
Fox News
BBC
New York Times

“It’s 60,000 square feet of exhibits are often stunningly designed” (May 24) “[T]here are some extraordinary fossils at the new Creation Museum” (June 4)
—The New York Times’ culture/museum critic Ed Rothstein in two different articles

The museum's director is Australian Ken Ham, who founded the apologetics ministry "Answers in Genesis" in the 1970's.