Life is Good!

This post has been inspired by a comment by Jewish Atheist. and subsequent comments to his post about relative truth.

How has life improved over the last 200 years...

200 years ago - Marriages are arranged and people do not choose who they want to marry...
Now - Divorce, divided homes, and single mothers having to work multiple jobs just to make ends meet only to have their kids addicted to drugs because they weren't able to be there to raise them as needed.

200 years ago - Physical, emotional, and sexual abuse in families...
Now - Physical, emotional, and sexual abouse in families

200 years ago - A sixth grade education would practically guarantee you a good job and success in life
Now - Someone with a Master's degree works as a manager at McDonalds by day and a bartender by night just to make ends meet, not to mention the student loans they have to pay off.

200 years ago - Up at daybreak to begin the day working in the fields, in the family business, in the home, etc.
Sons of a working age helping their fathers learning to be men, take care of a family and a home, and preparing for adulthood.
Girls helping their mothers in the homes, learning to be a good mother and wife, from their mother, and preparing for marriage one day. God to bed at sundown or maybe a little later if they stay up by candle light.
Now - Most moms and dads work all day. Kids get dropped off at daycare or school for the day so that someone else (in most cases the government) can raise them. Not having any real idea what it means to be a man or woman because mom and dad spend what little free time they have golfing, watching tv, talking on the telephone instead of spending time with them. Even then they get pushed off to the TV, videogames, homework, etc.

200 years ago - People often died relatively young due to sickness & disease or accident. The rich could afford a good doctor to help them. Those that did live to see old age were revered by their society and helped to raise future generations.
Now - Most people live to ripe old ages only to be stuffed into nursing homes and at times abused by overworked and underpaid orderlies while their children wish that they will just die so that they can get what's left of their money after the nursing homes suck away what's there. Meanwhile, healthcare costs rise ever higher and higher so that there becomes a gap between those who can afford good healthcare because they are either rich enough to afford it or poor enough to be able to accept a mediocre coverage by the government Medicare/Medicaid system.

200 years ago - When a boy turned anywhere from 13-16 or 17 he goes through a rite of passage. He is no longer considered a child and is now considered a man. He has been trained and raised to know how to take care of a family and work the family job and it is time for him to live that out. At about 16 or 17 years old he reached puberty at which time he chooses or is chosen for him a young lady to be his wife. When a girl hits puberty at around 15 or 16 she gets married. She has been given in marriage or has chosen who she will marry. She has been trained all of her life how to be a good wife and mother and now she is prepared to do it.
Now - At 11-14 a girl or boy are still in school getting an "education" so that they can be "trained" and "prepared" for life. They live their teenage years knowing that they are adults, wanting to live that out, trying to make that happen, only to be pushed back by a socety that tells the "oh, your not ready" when the reason that they're not ready is because that society has not prepared them. They are sexually frustrated because their bodies have gone through a sexual metamorphasis but they have no outlet for it. So they either bury those sexual frustrations or act out on them. In the process of acting out on them, it messes them up sexually. Sex becomes a "fun thing to do" with no serious thought given to the implications of what their acting out will mean for them in the future (an inability to remain faithful to one spouse, a lower sex drive and sexual satisfaction, STD's, etc, etc, etc, etc, etc,.....

Believe you me, i could and probably will go on, and on, and on, and on this way. But due to time sake i have to finish up here. Yeah, life is good all right!

Evolution & Racism

There has been something that has been bothering me lately about the concept of evolution. How can a person who is a serious evolutionist not be a racist. If you believed that all people are simply evolved animals and different species evolve in different ways to adapt to their environment, than each race must (by the theory of evolution) be genetically different, and thus some better than others for our current society.
It's like the evolution theory of the different species of dog or horse. Some dogs are good with children but poor at being guard dogs (golden retreivers come to mind), others are good at protecting/fighting but poor with people (doberman pincers as one example). Obvioulsy these are stereotypes but you get the point. Some horse species are better pack horses and others are better racers. Then there are some that are just mediocre at most things. According to evoltion each species has "evolved" to a different set of circumstances and has different characteristics. Thus according to evolution, some races must be "better" or "worth more" to certain situations. Their value comes in their ability and genetic makeup not in their being or origin.
According to creation, on the other hand, man is formed in the image of God, and He breathed the breath of life into us. He created us for a purpose, thus we have value. It doesn't matter what race you are, you are valued by God and thus should be valued by others. When God did choose a people to call His own, it was because of what they did (or the father of the people did). When God rejected a nation/people it is because of what they chose to do or not do, not what color or genetic makeup they were.
Now obviously, all of those who have called themselves "Christian" in the past have not always acted this way. Even now there are those who call themselves "Christian" and seek to justify racism. That doesn't change the fact that God created man (thereby all races) in His image and likeness, thus all of His children are of value to Him.

Explosive Questions to Disastrous News

A friend of mine at work found this article and pointed it out to me.

"Divers inspecting the ruptured levee walls surrounding New Orleans found
something that piqued their interest: Burn marks on underwater debris
chunks from the broken levee wall"

"When he surfaced and showed the evidence to his superior, the on-site
Coordinator for FEMA stepped-in and said 'You are not here to conduct an
investigation as to why this rupture occurred, but only to determine how best to
close it.' The FEMA coordinator then threw the evidence back into the
water and said 'You will tell no one about this.'"

"a military forensic specialist determined the burn marks on the cement chunks
did, in fact, come from high explosives"

"military-grade UNDERWATER high explosives"

If this is really the case, than it helps bring some clarity to some of the questions that i have had about the post-Katrina flooding. "The levee ruptures in New Orleans did not take place during Hurricane Katrina, but rather a day after the hurricane struck"
Unfortunately this also raises a whole lot of other questions.

I do not know the sources of all of this information well and have not confirmed its accuracy.

edit 09-13-2005: I took a few minutes to look at the source of the article and was quite shocked at how racist the author is. When i pointed it out to the friend of mine who had pointed me to the article origionally it shocked him as well (he had reached the article through a link from another site). Needless to say, neither i nor this friend of mine support the racist notions stated by the author in his other posts. I would hope that those who have been reading my blog for a while would know that already, but for newcomers and those that don't know it i am stating it outright.

Our New Computer!

Well now, this is my first post with our new computer. Our old e-machines (*cough*CRAP*cough*) was dying a slow, painful (espcially for us) death. We bought our new one from Dell online. We probably never would have bought a computer direct from the manufacture but friends of ours had a really nice online coupon that greatly reduced the price for us. Otherwise i would have just bought one from BestBuy or built it myself (it's been awhile since i've gone that route).

I'm rather enjoying having what i want opened up, open when i ask it to, and not having to worry about the computer crashing randomly on us because of problems with the memory. It's also nice to have a flat panel monitor on our desk instead of the old HUGE emachines monitor with the broken lighted e button. It's still not all the way set up (the speakers aren't installed), but it's up, running, and in the process of be customized to my liking. Talk about fun. I may try messing around with some things i've wanted to do for a while like getting openoffice and a few other interesting programs.

Hopefully, next we will be getting broadband access. It's something we've wanted to do for a while now, but where we are living it the options are so limited and the prices just don't make it very feasible. But with the monopoly that our phone company has in the area and it costing up $50 just for local and basic long distance service (before the 10 cent per minute charge) VOIP is so very tempting.

Fun with "H"

When our second daughter H was born back in April it really changed the dynamics in our house. Before L (who will be 2 in October) had been our sole child and had had mommy and daddy's full attention. We tried to prepare L for H's arrival so it wouldn't be such a shock to her system, but even we weren't fully ready for all the changes. It's interesting how we have changed and adapted. When H was born i started spending focused time with L trying to help prevent her from being jealous of her sister and trying to get her involved in her sister's life. My wife had to spend a good deal of time taking care of H, so i took over more with L. It's funny because as of a month or two ago i began to realize that maybe i was spending too much time with L and not enough with H. This was further brought to light when, about 3 or 4 weeks ago, both my wife and my sister commentied that i don't really spend very much time with H. (To my defense, it's quite a bit harder to be actively involved with an infant than a 1 1/2 year old) So i have tried to spend more time with H lately.

Well, something happened on Saturday (i think it was Saturday morning) that has stuck with me all weekend. I was playing with L just tickling her, throwing her up in the air, and just having a good time playing with her, when i looked up to see H watching me. When she realized that i was looking at her she got this huge excited look on her face and started kicking excitedly. So i said, "Hi 'H'", and went back to playing with L. A couple of minutes later i made it a point to see what H was doing. When she realized that i was looking at/watching her she got all excited again. So i said "Hi 'H'. Are you having fun kicking in there?", and went back to playing with L. A couple of minutes later i looked up again to see what H was doing and as soon as she realized i was looking at her she got really excited again and began kicking furiously. So i said, "alright, i get the point". I grabbed her out of the swing and began playing with her as well. She had such a blast.

That image of H getting all excited when she realized that i was looking at her, wanting me to play with her, and how all of this played out has stuck with me and imbedded itself into my head all weekend. Needless to say, H has been getting great deal more attention from me this past weekend.

10, Now 11, Major U.S. Disasters Possibly Connected to U.S/Israel Relations?

My wife brought this to my attention. I had heard about it previously but had forgotten about it. I have believed for a long time that the U.S.'s prosperity has been connected to it's relationship with Israel. Well, aparently many of the U.S.'s major disasters are related to our foreign policy with Israel as well (no big surprise to me).

Truth-or-Fiction has an article on Ten Major U.S. Disasters on Dates Significant to Treatment of Israel - Truth! The article is, "A list of ten dates on which there (were) important events related to Israel along with natural disasters affecting the United States. The implication is that the U.S. had better pay attention to decisions about Israel...or else" As the critics say "going through all the events in a particular span of years and finding apparent correlations doesn't mean they were connected." I don't know if i would fully agree with the critics about this under normal circumstances, but it also looks like we're living out number 11 right now.

Hurricane Katrina developed during or directly following the recent evacuation of Gaza Strip which was supported by the U.S. government. As a result of hurricane Katrina all of New Orleans is being evacuated and cleanup is going to take months to years with the costs into the billions.

A coincidence? Maybe, but i learned a long time ago that more often than not, coincidences rarely ever are. Just something to ponder for the day.

An Angry Rant!

WARNING - This post may not be suitable for all people. I am currently rather angry and this post (while it will not contain swearing) will be a very serious rant. So be warned that you may not like what i have to say, but this is a very real and serious issue to me.

I'm still writhing a little from a previous comment that i had to deal with on a previous post, but i wanted to touch on something that is very close to my heart.

It makes me very angry when i consider that the government finances an education system that is insulting, degrading, and spits in the face to anyone who takes religion and their religious beliefs seriously. It is insulting that our education system forces us to learn about evolution which, with its MANY flaws, is very anti-religious (some would say that evolution and religion can co-exist without conflict, but those who actually believe that and are Christian either don't understand evolution very well, or don't understand Christianity very well). Our country is founded on the freedom of religion, not the freedom to force anti-religious rhetoric down the throats of every child and young person in the country, so that they can then turn around and insult us and our children for not accepting that rhetoric as undenyable fact! This is a government that guarantees a quality education to every citizen and then when those citizens don't want to have to have their children listen to their rhetoric and do choose an alternative, they are still forced pay to have their neighbor be taught it, while at the same time having to pay out of their own pockets in order for their child to receive an education that is not prejudiced against them.

This is a problem that exists and is supported on all levels of the educational system, from grade school to state funded colleges. I am sick and tired of sitting back and listening to the rhetoric that places science and education as gods in our society and then claims that it separates church from state. When an alternative is brought forth that seeks to bring some balance to the problem and show that what has been forced on us is not as perfect as society would like us to think, it is criticized, rejected, and its supporters insulted. Now that's what i call a free country!

Do i have a reason to be angry? You bet i do!

Science/Research DOES NOT EQUAL The Truth

Funny, but i could have sworn i've been saying the same thing for a long time now.

John Ioannidis, an epidemiologist at the University of Ioannina School of Medicine in Greece, says that small sample sizes, poor study design, researcher bias, and selective reporting and other problems combine to make most research findings false. But even large, well-designed studies are not always right, meaning that scientists and the public have to be wary of reported findings.

Basically the article states that the findings of less than 50% of research studies are accurate.

Public Library of Science Medicine (DOI: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0020124) as taken from this article.

Back to "Home" School

I was rather impressed with this article What Does 'Back to School' Mean for Home-Schoolers? by ABC News. It looks at ways that homeschoolers are dealing with going back to school, the students views on it, how homeschoolers are dealing with some of the criticisms toward homeschooling, and how more and more people are approaching it. I wish these kinds of resources existed when we had started. Since my mother was the first in our community to do it, i guess that that's not so surprising.

Some thoughts about homeschooling...

Public schools receive a certain amount (of money) for each student each day that that student is in school. That goes to paying for books, teachers, salaries, buildings, testing, etc. Why couldn't a percentage of that money go to the parents of homeschoolers to help them pay for school materials and the cost to them to teach their kids at home? Those parents still pay property tax that goes to pay for their child's education, and when the children aren't in public school the money that would be used to pay for their child's education doesn't go to the education system at all. So why shouldn't parents be able to utilize some of that money to improve their own children's education, while some of that money still being used to help the education system provide resources for the parents (ie gymnasium, playground, testing, etc.)? This would give the schools more incentive to help the parents rather than feeling like they are getting screwed out of the money that they need to run the schools. Both sides win and hopefully begin to be willing to cooperate more.

Also, as a therapist working with court ordered youth in an inpatient psychiatric facility, it greatly concerns me when i hear about "homeschooled" kids that aren't really being taught anything. I think that homeschoolers should have to have the same required testing as public school children. To have parents say, "I'm homeschooling my children" and then just letting their kids do whatever they want just doesn't work. It puts a bad taste in people's mouths about homeschoolers in general even when they are doing a good job, and is personally insulting to me as someone who was homeschooled for part of their education (4th - 8th grades). Well, that's more than enough for that rant.

Good article by the way.

"My Favorite... Wiffee!"

My wife has now joined the blogging world. Her page is titled Lori's Random Thoughts. She blames me for "pressuring" her into it, but even if that is true, i know she will enjoy it when she gets going. One more name to put on the friends, family, and other list. Actually, i will probably be adding two today as i recently found out about my little sister's blog. So those should be up soon.

"Let There Be Light"

This whole not causing debate thing is going to be much harder than i think i anticipated. I hope this doesn't turn into a major debate, but i wanted to answer Jewish Atheist's question brought up at the end of the comments to my last post

JA comments, "I've always wondered what people who believe in a young Earth think of how starlight has reached earth from millions of lightyears away."

Hopefully, i can answer that question without starting a major debate. As soon as i read this comment my initial reaction was, "what's to stop a God that can instantaniously create the stars from instantaniously threading that light all the way to earth?", but i've always hated answers like that. It somehow seems like a cheap and un-thought-out answer to a serious question. I've heard people use this kind of answer to this kind of question as well as in dealing with the fossil record and other arguments. It may be true and possible, but it doesn't really answer the question. It more says i have no idea, but i have to answer somehow so this is my go to answer. It's possible, it's accurate, but it's also very cheap. That doesn't mean that it isn't right though. Anyways....

This time as i was thinking about the threading thing, it seemed like someone was whispering something in my ear (i love it when that happens as it usually means that what comes next totally changes how i view a problem or situation). It was something that reminded me of some recent contemplations i had had about the creation story. The more i thought about it, the more sense it made (actually i didn't need to think about it for very long before it made complete sense). Oh, boy, i could go in so many different routes with this. Which one do i choose? If i talk about the poetic nature of the creation story it brings some real beauty and structure to it but will greatly extend an ever longer post. If i talk about my current contemplations about the uniqueness of the passages concerning day's one and four, it could provoke some real thought and fun (maybe not so debating) conversation....

I think for space and time's sake i will have to go the simplest route. So this will be a simple answer but hopefully it will clearly answer the question. Light (day 1) was created before the sun, moon, and stars (day 4). It existed and can exist outside of their control (but it currently doesn't). The sun, moon, and stars give light it's charge. It has direction and flow as directed by these celestial bodies. Thus it did not necessarily have to travel from them. The light existed. The celestial bodies gave it direction. So it doesn't necessarily have to have origionally come from the stars, it is just following the path led by them. I don't know if that answers your question or not, but that was as simple answer to the question as i could make it. Hope it helps.

Closing up the Debate Shop

I really hate to do this, as i have really enjoyed debating with all of you. But unfortunately, i have to stop being actively involved in some of these debates (AKA not stirring up trouble, if that is going to be possible). I'm finding that these debates are consuming way too much of my free time, work (what i'm getting paid to do), family time, and energy. I haven't had such a blast in a long time, and i haven't been this intellectually stimulated since grad school.

Unfortuantely, as much fun and stimulating as this has been, i need to focus on other, more important (or so i'm led to believe) things, like a job, family, sleep, you know those other things. Being completely exhausted and yet staying awake for an hour after going to bed every night as my mind processes arguments, discourses, debate points, where i read or heard this or that so as to have verifiable resources for those who demand them, and such is usually not the best thing in the world.

So i will try to close up my arguments today ...hmmm... or maybe over the weekend... - (slaps hand) stop it, you must spend time with your family. - Well anyways, i will try to close up my arguments today, and maybe later i can come back and debate some more.

This doesn't mean that i won't be around and commenting on stuff. It just means i will try to not cause too much of a stir. :-( (Try being the key word)

A Rebuttal in a Long and Arduous Debate... Just the Kind of Think i Enjoy

In response to A Request for JC Masterpiece Regarding Evolution posted by Jewish Atheist.

By the way, in direct response to "I think it is simply because he has been taught only one side of the story, not because he is close-minded", no person can ever attend a public school of any sort and not know about the theory of evolution. It's the problems with that theory that most people are not really told about in school.

That's an interesting article and i appreciate the gesture. Unfortunately, i have done enough research and research papers in my years of undergraduate and graduate work to know that science is far, far from infallible.

All you have to do is look at all of the times the "missing link" between ape and man has been found. In one case it was the tooth that was thought to be some supposed human ancestor. It was given to Dr. Henry Fairfield Osbom, the head of the department of palaeontology at New York’s American Museum of Natural History. He thought it might have been a tooth from a "missing link". A drawing of what the "missing link" and his wife could possibly have looked like appeared in the Illustrated London News in 1922. Later it is quietly discovered that that tooth wasn't really any sort of link at all, but rather it was the tooth of a wild pig. Of course this was swept under the rug. In spite of the fact that the origional article had posted in a major newspaper, the short rebuttal appeared in a scientific journal that the general public would not read. Hmmm, i wonder why that was?

The past century is strewn with absolute proofs of "missing links" only to have those "missing links" later proven to be false. This kind of thing happens all the time. Science and scientists prove something only to turn around a couple of days, few months, a century later and someone comes along and "proves" that the last person was wrong.

I thought that his quote from the Quotations Page, Quotes of the Day for August 22 applies beautifully to this concept;

"Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you're being had."

Michael Crichton, Caltech Michelin Lecture, January 17, 2003
US author & screenwriter (1942 - )
I thought that this quote was perfect as it summs up the nature of science, scientific studies, and research beautifully.

Needless to say i take many scientific journals and studies with a grain of salt. Oftentimes there is possibly some truth in what they say, but just as with bad exegesis of the Bible, people tend to read into the facts what they want to.

It's funny sometimes when i think about it because so many people put so much faith in science that those people treat it like a god even when it's falicies lay right in front of them, and to some people science is their god. I've seen the same thing with education, religion (that the religion itself and not God is the god), the concept of love, and especially money. The more i've thought about this idea the more that i agree with what one of my professors said once. Everyone has their own gods that they worship. It doesn't matter that they aren't made of metal and people don't physically bow down to them. They are their own gods none the less. (not an exact quote, but you get the idea)

Aparently i'm playing the "i'm an alienated minority" crap

This is a post in response to the post and comments coming from Jewish Atheist and some of the readers of his blog (read: not necessarily his viewpoint). I normally have a very good time reading his posts and debating about things with him and others. Please read the post and converstion that has come from it before reading this blog as not doing so will drastically take this out of context.

Read any major newspaper. Watch any major news station, except FOX News. Watch just about any major movie distributed by the major distributing companies and you will see beyond a shadow of a doubt that anyone with a conservative Christian view is treated like a loon. Your posts and the sources that you quote show this all the time. Even a major insurance company (i think it was allstate if it's that important for you to have absolute undenyable proof of this you can research it yourself as you appear to have plenty of time to do that kind of thing) recently fired a man because he spoke out against homosexuality on a forum on his own time and completely anonymously without ever making mention of his work or the company. When companies look for someone to fire/lay off they tend to first fire married WASP (White Anglo-Saxon Protestant) men with children because they are least likely to get sued that way. Almost any time a politician makes a statement of faith they get criticized by the media and the government. Just look at the attempts to bring conservative Christians to balance out the extremely liberal Supreme Court (or do you need research to back that up too).

Yes i know that Jews have been treated unfairly by many people. But as you yourself have even stated as a Jew you used to look solely for Jewish buisnesses to support. In the business world Jews are the most successful buisnessmen in the world. Which i understand in the context of the Bible. They are God's chosen and blessed people.

Those movie distribution companies that i griped about earlier are owned almost exclusively by Jews. Which is why Mel Gibson had such a difficult time finding a distributor for The Passion of the Christ (if you need research to support this statement as well, see my comment earlier). If it had been a movie about a major Islamic, or Hindu, or any other major religious figure, there would have been very little resistance.

I have no real problems with Jews. My cousins are Jews and i rather enjoy spending time with them.

I don't deny that Jews have been treated unfairly, but if anyone thinks that conservative Christians aren't persecuted they have turned a very blind eye. More Christians have been killed/martyered in the world in the last 100 years than have in the 1900 years previously combined. To say that conservative Christians are not persecuted is rediculous.

Long Weekend

Please keep us in your prayers. ... well, the oldest one just woke up so this will have to really be short. My wife and i are both really drained. We had been planning on going to visit some friends over the weekend when out youngest one (4 months) came down with, of course now i can't remember the name, i want to say it's called... oh yes crupe. She has been throwing up all weekend. On top of that my wife and other daughter have not been feeling well either. We, more she than me, have been up most of the night the last few nights taking care of the two of them. So now i'm going to work extremely exhausted on one of the days when i need to be most focused. Thankfully my sister decided to pay us a visit today as it became her day off this week due to scheduling changes, so my wife will have some help and maybe get some rest. I'd tell you how that is a mini-miracle but i don't have time. Either way, please as you read this offer up a quick prayer for us. Thanks.

Oh, and also for one of my other sisters, Christie, who is having a really hard time with marriage problems and such.

Why Evolution Fails: The arguments and research

I haven't posted on this topic for a bit now. After some of comments that were left on previous posts in this series i realized that i had really hit some nerves for a couple of people. I had decided that since many posters seemed to think that the only way that what i have to say could be anywhere near true is if i had multiple sources to quote to back me up. So i was going to do a bunch of research for each post and find lots of pages and people whose views backed up my beliefs, but then i realized that with the limited time i have to actually do this is limited to about 45 minutes to an hour max in the mornings on weekdays and a little more time on the weekends (i'm not getting paid in any way and when i am at work i have work that i need to get done and can't sit around all day researching on the internet. My job actually requires me to do something after all). Added to that is the fact that i could do all kinds of research and find all kinds of support for what i say, but then the writing becomes about "the experts" and their opinions vs. other "experts". Now that's exciting isn't! So i've decided to keep doing what i'm doing the way that i'm doing it.

If commenters are going to demand that i backup what i say with "expert opinion" and "research" in order to argue the "expert opinions" and "research" that they use to support their side, then they can. Eventually i will do and add the research, but for now i just don't have the extra time. I want this to be an excercise in writing and an outlet for me to express my views and opinions.

I will not close the comments on my posts so those who agree and disagree with me can still state their opinions and views, but understand that just because you or i can find "experts" and "research" to support our views does not make it correct. I may have to write a post on why "science", "research", "experts", "statistics", etc. are not infallible as they like to act like or think that they are.

A Father's Presence

I willo attempt to post 2 posts in one morning.... a difficult task indeed given the limited amount of free time i have in the morning. But here goes.

Around 2 this morning i woke up to crying. This time it was our older one (22 months old), Leah. I didn't want her to wake the baby, Hannah, so jumped out of bed and quickly went into their room. Thankfully Hannah hadn't woken up. I went over to Leah's bed sat down next to her and told her that it was all right, i was there. She immediately stopped crying and went back to sleep. But i stayed there for a couple of minutes just the same stroking her back.

It's been amazing watching my two little girls grow. I've learned almost as much from them as they have from me. But the thing that really struck me this morning is how she just needed my presence. Everything was alright once daddy was there. I didn't need to rub her back, but i did anyways. I didn't need to rock her to sleep. I didn't need sing her a famous daddy made up song. I just needed to be there. My presence was all that she really needed to make everything all right so she could go back to sleep in peace.

It's amazing because that's the way that i usually am too. Things tend to get stressed out at times. I tend to get irritated and frustrated and part of me just want to scream and cry, but all i need is the presence of my Father. Just spending time in his presence makes all of the stresses and cares of the world seem unimportant and a whole lot easier to deal with. It is in His presence that i find the peace and rest that i need.

Well so much for time to post a second post. I guess that i'll have to do it tomorrow.

Thoughts on Psalm 19

I realized yesterday as i was looking over my site that my blog seems to be being consumed lately by the evolution issue at the expense of everything else. So to break up the monotony, and give myself a break, i wanted to look at a Psalm that i seem to have been reading quite a bit of lately. There's too much there to post everything so i will just go over some excerpts.

Psalm 19.
1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
And the firmament shows His handiwork.
2 Day unto day utters speech,
And night unto night reveals knowledge.
3 There is no speech nor language
Where their voice is not heard.
4 Their line has gone out through all the earth,
And their words to the end of the world.
In them He has set a tabernacle for the sun,

As i said, this psalm has been one that i have gone back to again and again. As you can guess, this has been a bit of an influence for my current discussion. The concept is just so undenyable. When i look at the world andthe complexity of it all, even just the sky (our atmosphere) it is amazing how complex it is and has to be to sustain life on this planet. It is a beautiful work.

7 The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul;
The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;
8 The statutes of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart;
The commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 The fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever;
The judgments of the Lord are true and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold,
Yea, than much fine gold;
Sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb.
11 Moreover by them Your servant is warned,
And in keeping them there is great reward.

Every time i read this section it reminds me of a song with these verses as the lyrics that we used to sing at camp. I have a note in my Bible referencing that it is a song that i know. The problem is that because i know it as a song, i see it as that song and the words begin to lose meaning to me at times. But, when i ignore the tune and just focus on the words, i have found that they have such amazing meaning. "The law of the Lord is perfect, converting the soul; The testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple;" They are more than just words. At first glance they appear to be commands, but in reality they are really promises to us.

14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight,
O Lord, my strength and my Redeemer.

I have this verse underlined in green in my Bible.
I have a four color pen that i use for study. I underline a text in black if it is semi-interesting and i want to highlight it as such.
I underline in blue when what i read really has some meat or truth in it that i want to highlight (the previous passages are underlined in black and blue)
I underline in red when i have a note about what is there. When it is a song i put a musical notation in red next to the passage. When another scripture and it reference or bring better meaning to each other i either use green arrows or write the reference in red. When i have interesting notes i write them in red next to the passage. You get the drift.
However i use green when what i'm reading is of such significance that it directly applies to my life at the time, is of high importance, and/or i want to memorize it. In this case it is all three.

This passage is my desire for my life right now. That what i say and think be acceptable. That my mind be focused on the things above and not on the things of this earth that distract me and pull me away from God. "Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart
Be acceptable in Your sight," For you are "my strength and my redeemer". Even in this is a promise. I can't do this on my own. He gives me strength and redeems me from my failures, mistakes, and sin. In Him i trust.

Why Evolution Fails: The Basic Premise II

Well, i wasn't planning on doing another post on this issue, Jewish Atheist brought forth an argument that i wanted to deal with. He pointed me in the direction of the TalkOrigins website which attemts to counteract some anti-evolution views. According to the TalkOrigins website, what they think i'm talking about is referred to the second law of thermodynamics. Maybe that is what i'm referring to, maybe it isn't. I didn't take this concept from that law. I took this concept from processing and understanding the world around me, and as such attempting to understand why what i see in reality seems to go directly against what evolution teaches. If someone else attributes this to the second law of thermodynamics, than so be it. I have done no such thing. But, for the sake of argument (which i rather enjoy sometimes) i will discuss this concept and what TalkOrigins talks about. (oh boy this post could get long)

Jewish Atheist stated "This is a fundamental misunderstanding of the law of entropy, which states that on averagecomplexity decreases. Locally, it's obvious that complexity can increase. Anytime a plant combines CO2, water, and sunlight to make sugar, complexity increases within that plant." I'd say that this is a pretty clear description of what was said on the TalkOrigins website, so to save alot of complex explanation and extremely complex post i will go with this.

Obviously there are times and places where elements and processes become more complex, such as the plant producing sugar by combining CO2 and H2O and a sperm and an egg combining and using the resources around it to over time develop an adult human. Thus that must mean that my argument is clearly nullified. Absolutely not. Simple systems are able to change without alot of serious outside help thus becoming more complex or simple relatively easily. However, this does not work the same way with complex systems such as the complex single celled organism discussed earlier, the human body, the universe, etc. In order for a complex system to exist it must grow and develop using a plan. However when that plan has completed that complex system begins to break down, thus the complexity breaks down into simpler systems. Without outside processes/help/plans the nature of complex systems falls to decay.

... Uh oh, i'm running late. I have to go to work. I will have to finish this later or tomorrow morning.

Why Evolution Fails: The Basic Premise

What is the basic premise of evolution? Basically, evolution states that life on earth has evolved over billions of years from simple single celled organisms to our complex environmental, social, religious, etc. systems, and that these systems are continuing to develop. It is survival of the fittest. As time goes by in order for life to survive it has had to continually adjust to a changing environment and a changing world. Those who don't adjust (evolve) die away and are replaced by others who do.
According to the evolutionary process we were once primates (having evolved along some line from a single celled organism) and over time we adjusted, evolved, and became man.

So what's the problem with that? In one word it's "decay". The idea that life has become more complex over time goes entirely against the nature of the universe. The term "Half-life" is used to describe the decay of radioactive material. Stars gradually burn out over time or are sucked into black holes. People and animals grow old and die of old age if they are not killed. The planets' compas/orbit gradually decays. Everything in both life and nature breaks down into simpler elements. Metal rusts, meat rots, trees decay, etc., etc., etc.

In order for evolution to work the opposite must be true. Evolution of life requires that things become more complex over time. After all, humans are more complex than apes. Apes are more complex than single celled organisms. There's no doubt that animals and people can adust to changing environments, but for them to become more complex requires something more than is possible simply by "chance" At it's very simplist it requires intervention by an outside force. Just look at the world around you. Do buildings build themselves or are they built and maintained by people. What happens if they're not maintained? They end up falling apart and then down. Our universe is like an unimmaginally complex mechanical clock. It is gradually unwinding and will eventually stop running.

This is a difficult thing for many people to accept because in order to accept this reality one must accept that something first created and then wound the clock. Some more powerful being put the universe into motion which in turn has many implications that many people don't want to have to recognize and accept. Thus it is easier to believe the lie that "there is no creator" than to live with the implications that there is.

Why Evolution Fails: The Origins of Life II

This post picks up directly where the last one stopped. It was supposed to be an edit that extended the previous post, but it got to be too long for one post. So if you're coming in new, than please read the previous post.

... Even if that were somehow entirely randomly possible, there would need to be more than just one type of cell. After all, there are plant cells, and then there are animal cells. Both are similar in some respects, but ultimately they are extremely different.

Next the step from single celled organism to structured simple organisms multiplies the problem exponentially. Even just by multiplying itself and somehow the multiplied cells attaching themselves to each other in a cooperative fassion (as opposed to fighting and ultimately destroying each other) still results in the organism that is just a random blob with no real structure. In order for these randomly formed cells that somehow attached themselves to each other to work together to create even a simple structure would require some sort of a design or plan. In order for there to be a design and a plan, there has to be a designer/planner. Unfortuantely, this is something that this randomly formed simple single celled organism is just not capable of on it's own.

This doesn't even touch on the exponential complexaties of even a simple complex organism. As the organism becomes complex it begins to need specialized cells for things like a circulatory system and other systems that must all work perfectly in conjunction with one another in order for the organism to not fail from the onset.

Thus, the basic principles of the origins of life and even simple organisms are simply too complex to have formed on their own and at random.

Why Evolution Fails: The Origins of Life

Let me set up a hypothetical synario for you. Let's say you go out into a wilderness. This wilderness is a great expanse full of dust, rocks, wind, sand, and heat. It's a very beautiful place, but it's a very wild place. Even though it is a wilderness it is also a very rich place. The rocks and ground are full of metal and ore. It has some of everything. Let's say you go riding through this barren and foreboding place on horseback and a few miles into the ride you catch something out of the corner of your eye. Upon closer inspection you find that it is a laptop computer. It's kind of old and covered with dust. You open it up and try to boot it up. It turns on at first but then fails after a few seconds. What would you assumption of this synario be? Would you assume that someone else had been there before and dropped and left their laptop there accidentally, or would you assume that all of the elements, the wind, the dust, the ore in the rocks, the sand, and everything else just randomly came together accidentally or on their own to form this laptop computer? That would be ridiculous wouldn't it!

Now, let's take a step back. What if the laptop computer that you came across was more advanced than anything you would see out right now? It is faster, more secure, with a bigger hard drive, and better OS (operating system), and in better condition than anything that you could buy. What would your assumption be then? What if this ultimate computer was able to repair itself when it was broken and build more of itself, from the elements around it, in an attempt to be able to do more things. Would you assume then that this advanced computer accidentally came to being on it's own from the materials in the wilderness? Not possible.

Yet this is what evolution teaches. A single living cell is more complex than the most complex supercomputer in the world. And yet, we are expected to believe that in some ancient primordial ooze this single celled organism that is more complex than the most complex supercomputer somehow created itself with no outside help.

Well, on a side note, this writing thing is quite a bit harder than i thought it would be. I started out this post attempting to write about the problems with the basic premise of evolution, and instead ended up writing about the origins of life. Ah well, the basic premise will have to wait for another day.

Why Evolution Fails!

I am going to attempt to do a series on.... are you ready?... here it comes... "Why Evolution Fails!" (i bet you never saw that one coming) We will have to see how this goes. I have a habit of starting things and not completing them... something about having ADHD or something. So if too much time passes and i haven't finished the series, just give me a holler.

Anyways, the series should include, but is not necessarily be limited to, the following topics.

The Origins of Life
The Premise of Evolution
The Fossil Record
Footprints in the Mud
Carbon Dating
Mount St. Helen's

This series has been inspired by a post, comments, and discussion from "... and now for something completely different"

An Angry Person

It's funny, I'm beginning to realize more and more that i am an angry person. I am angry at society. I am angry at the world. I'm even angry at myself! I think i have every right to be angry considering the trash i see our society feeding us, teaching us, and doing whatever it can to instill in us so we can pass that same trash down to our families, kids, etc. Anger seems reasonable doesn't it? I have every right to be angry. After all God gets angry. The Bible is full of examples of God's wrath and anger. The destruction of Sodom & Gamorah; The great flood; The Israelites coming out of Egypt and the whole "Let My people go!" routine. It's all there. It's all pretty clear. We have been created in the image of God and God is angry. So that makes it alright.... right?

That's the funny thing about anger. The more i see anger, and the more i work with people that have anger, the more i recognize and agree that anger usually has a source. Oftentimes the root of anger seems to be fear and hurt. People become angry because someone or something has hurt them and that hurt, or the fear that that hurt may occur again, expresses itself in anger. It is a defense mechanism that we use to protect ourselves. I am hurt so i will attack whoever or whatever could make me feel pain to prevent myself from having to go through it again.

Anger is helpful, and it's even healthy at times. However, if we let anger and bitterness build up inside of us it makes us angry and bitter people. Our lives begin to revolve around it. Which leads to... "the dark side of the force"... a life mentality of anger and bitterness. And, that is not a good thing.

Off hand, it's interesting to note that anger and pride seem to go hand in hand... but that's another post for another time.

CAUTION: Society at Work

I was really annoyed yesterday. I was at work, went into the school office and while i was there the new therapist came in. The new therapist noticed this sign on the office managers desk. Of course the office manager was very proud of her sign and showed it off. I wasn't so impressed. I had seen it before and of course it had bugged me. I wanted to say "That's funny because if men defined work like women do we'd still be stuck in the dark ages" or something of that effect, but i just mumbled something incomprehensible about women's definition of work and went on because ultimately if i had made a comment i would likely have gotten into trouble.

Isn't it funny... not so much... that if a woman says something insulting about men it's called a joke and tends to get comments like "That's so true". However, if a man insults women he's called rude, sexist, and/or inappropriate. If i had posted a sing like that only the other way around at my desk it could get me either severely reprimanded or fired. Why is that? Why is it that in our society it's all right for women to treat or speak like men are crap, but no man is allowed to do the same? Needless to say, i have more than a few ideas.

But what bothers me more than that these kinds of social acceptabilities exist is what kind of effect this has on our growing young men. What does it tell them? "It's all right for women to put down and insult men, but not for men to say anything negative about women." Why is that? Because masculine tendencies and behavior are wrong? Because men are somehow less and deserving of insult? Every single boy and young man that goes into that office is there because how they are expressing themself, as a guy, is considered by society to be inappropriate and unhealthy. How do things like that sign help them to improve themselves?

Development or Acheivement

The other day i was talking to someone who had a printed t-shirt. You know the kind... with spiffy slogans that are supposed to be cool/cool looking. Well, it took me a minute to understand what it was saying because it was using those funky < signs that you used in math and could never remember whether they meant "greater than" or "less than". So after a minute or two i figured out that this t-shirt was saying "action is less than development is less than acheivement" or as origionally printed

action < development < acheivement.

(At least i think the first word was action) It took me all of about 10 seconds to realize how messed up that was. Sure i agree for the most part that action is less than development and acheivement, but the idea that development is somehow less than acheivement seemed somewhat misleading.

To put this into perspective let me give you a couple of examples.
Attempting to memorize and learn more scripture < (is less than) successfully reciting John 3:16 100 times.
Practicing, learning, and then losing a game of soccer against a team of pro's < beating a group of 6 year olds at kickball (assuming of course that you're over the age of 9).
Attempting to lose 10 pounds and only losing 8 when you're 20 lbs overweight < sucessfully eating a whole chocolate cake.
Putting all of your effort into a game then losing is less than putting some effort into it, cheating, and acheiving victorious

These examples are obviously less than perfect and arguments could be made the other way, but you get the drift.

The point of all of this (well, one of them anyways) is that quite often we have slogans for ourselves, whether we wear them on our shirts or make them our life mottos, that we don't really think through. They sound good and seem good in concept but in reality they cause problems at the expense of ourselves and those around us. And the funny thing is that our society oftentimes teaches us these unhealthy mottos/themes/slogans without thinking about the consequences. Take the t-shirt manufacturer. The idea that development is less than acheivement sounds cool on a t-shirt, but what is it really saying?

Got eBay? Take 2!

Well, while Lori was bummed about her little project not working the way that she had planned she she came up with a great new idea. She spent all last night taking all 10 of her solid color jars, dividing the flowers up, and created sample jars of 120 flowers each covering the entire Prima "Got Flowers?" spectrum. She figured that many people would rather buy one sample jar with all of the colors than dole out $6 or more for 120+ of just one color (with 3 shades).

No one on e-bay had done this and she knew that it was a great idea and that many people would want them. So she got it all ready and was only waiting to figure out what postage would be before posting them. She planned on posting them after church this afternoon. Well, she got on right after lunch and, low and behold, someone had already taken her idea. Boy was she bummed. So now both of her great ideas were either undoable or taken.

Well, she still posted them, and within about a half-hour she had an initial bid on them. So time will only tell whether this will work out for her or not.

By the way, she has two auctions going now for these sample jars. The first is a five day auction, and the second is a seven day auction.

Got eBay?

Well, my wife was really excited recently. She really enjoys scrapbooking and has gotten some of these Prima "Got Flowers?" in a jar. Well, most places are sold out of them due to high demand, so she was looking at them on eBay. She realized that she could actually make a little bit of a profit if she bought a case and sold them "buy it now" style. (She wanted to do it listed as "buy it now" because when these flowers go for the normal auction they tend to go for a good deal less.) So we talked about it for awhile and decided that even if it didn't work out and she did lose money on it, it wasn't going to break the bank or anything.

So she ordered these flowers and was really excited about them coming and venturing into the world of eBaying for profit. She took the pictures of the flowers and planned what she was going to write. She was all set to go and started posting when she found out... she couldn't do "buy it now". Our eBay rating had not yet reached the required minimum. She was devestated. So now she has to sell them auction style, thus at this rate she may or may not cover her initial expense. She posted an auction for 35 large Mixed Brights and 35 large Mixed Vintage (pictured above).

However, she has decided to be a little creative and try something that hasn't been done yet that is almost guaranteed to succeed... in theory. So we will see.

Time & Priorities

There's quite a bit on my mind, as usual, but i'm having a hard time accessing it, as usual again. Do you ever have that problem? It's all there, ready to get to, ready to access, and yet you just can't reach it. I feel like a hard drive with a bad sector. The information is there, but i just can't get to it. Fun, ain't it!

One of the things i have been thinking about lately is how we live our lives in our time and priorities. It's easy to get going in life, get into the groove of things, and get upset that we don't have time to do one thing or another. Whether it be posting in our blog, reading a book that we started but haven't finished, getting work done, taking care of things around the house, or any number of a hundred other things that we would like to do but don't quite get around to. We only have a certain amount of time to get everything done. Yet every person has the same amount of time in a day, the same number of days in a week, and the same weeks in a year.

What separates the average Joe apart from the C.S.Lewis's, George Bush's, and Billy Graham's is (among many other things) how they spend their time. A great writer spends their time learning about and processing the subject that they want to write about, and writing. Oftentimes this comes at the expense of other things such as family, friends, and entertainment. Anyone can write a book. Anyone can become a politician. Anyone can become a preacher. Anyone can do any of these things if they are willing to take the time.

But how many great people have given up on becoming a great social figure in order to become a great person in their home? How many possibly great world leaders have given that up to instead be great parents and spouses, serving in their homes? And how many great parents and spouses have given that up to be great television watchers, videogamers, internet junkies, and gossipers? It's all about time & priorities...

...Just something to think about.

More Mumblings

Warning: Boring Expanation - if you don't want to read it just skip to the mumblings below

Often times what peope intend to say and what the listener hears are 2 different things. Usually this is corrected by people's brains translating confusing mumbles into coherent sentences.
Sometimes those translations are accurate, sometimes not so much so. Consider some misquotes by the media and others that are unintentional (although many times they are intentional). For those who's brains don't translate as well due to hearing problems, or their having trained their brain to catch those "mumblings" it can lead to some interesting consequences. So here are some of the more interesting "mumblings" i've heard recently.

What i hear:
"It has a frog detection system"
What was supposedly said:
"It has a fraud protection system"

What i hear:
"My foot is target and i got a sticker on it"
What was supposedly said:
"But i worked really hard to get the sticker off it"

What i hear:
"(incomprehensible mumbles)... grandpa on the back of her head"
What was supposedly said:
"It looked like she had something on the back of her head"

What i hear:
"We should call her and ask her if she got picked up by a straying can"
What was supposedly said:
"We should call her and tell her she'll get picked up by a strange man"

Social Changes

Today's society is changing and growing so fast that each new generation is leaving the previous generation in the dust. For instance the current generation will never know a world without the internet. To them IM, music download, and instant access are the norm and to be expected. This is just one example, and I'm sure you could come up with a few on your own.

Well, my question to ponder for the day is this:
Are these exponentially rapid changes from generation to generation really heathy for our society and lives, or are they causing more problems than they are solving?
Just something for you to think about.

Mumblings

I have a hard time hearing things at times. It's not that i'm hard of hearing so much as i have a hard time understanding what i'm hearing. When people don't enunciate well i have a hard time understanding what they say. While this can be really annoying sometimes, it also makes for some interesting mix-ups. Here are some examples of how this works.

What i hear:
"I need to get somethin' pudin' mouth"
What was supposedly said:
"I need to get something to put in my mouth"

What i hear:
"I'm embossing my bottom teeth"
What was supposedly said:
"I'm flossing my bottom teeth"

I say "supposedly" because i know that sometimes other people actually are mumbling and do say strange things when they do.
More to come...

Can of Worms!

Have you ever felt like you had just opened a can of worms...

God, i am feeling really frustrated right now!

You knew that by doing what you were doing it was going to open that can of worms...

I really don't know what to do right now God!

Someone else was pushing you to do what was going to open that can of worms that either didn't think that, or didn't realize that this wasn't going to be as easy and straightforward as they thought and wanted.

What now God?

I was fighting it and trying to avoid it like the plague, and yet all i could come up with is excuses for not getting it done.

AAAAAArrrrrrrrrgggggggghhhhhhh!!!

It's not that it didn't need to happen, because it did. But, now everything has gone from settled and semi-stressed to massively stressed and all over the place.

God, you know how much i hate these kinds of things!

I hate feeling like i'm burning bridges and creating major problems for myself and others, especially when it is unnecessary (not that this wasn't necessary eventually).

God, You know I hate causing major problems for myself and others.

I just don't know what to do right now. I feel like a deer caught in the headlights; unable to move forward, unable to go backwards, but if i stay where i am, i'm road kill.

Lord, please give me the wisdom that i need to make the right decisions.

It's just so aggrevating and frustrating because i knew that something like this was going to happen. I let myself not just walk right into it, but bring it into being.

What am i doing? What are you doing? Whose fault is this God? Did i create this problem for myself? Is this part of some plan You have? What is going on!?!

I don't know what to do right now, and i hate not knowing!

Yes, i know God. When you have shown me what's going on, i have tried to make it happen in my own power instead of trusting in and obeying You, and that always ends in a major mess. But... aaarrrggghhh!... You know how much i hate this kind of thing! What am i/are we supposed to do?

At this point, all i/we (myself & my family) can do is pray and attempt to make the right choices.

Lord, give me... no wait, give us the wisdom we need to sort through the mess and take the right steps. We know that no matter what happens, you're in control. Thank You. In the name of Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen

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"He who builds the house..."

Psalm 127
A Song of Ascents. Of Solomon.

Unless the Lord builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;
Unless the Lord guards the city,
The watchman stays awake in vain.
It is vain for you to rise up early,
To sit up late,
To eat the bread of sorrows;
For so He gives His beloved sleep.

Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord,
The fruit of the womb is a reward.
Like arrows in the hand of a warrior,
So are the children of one’s youth.
Happy is the man who has his quiver full of them;
They shall not be ashamed,
But shall speak with their enemies in the gate.
(NKJV)

It's funny (as in "hmmmm" not "ha, ha") how you can read something so many times and still when you come back to it you understand it on a whole different level. It's like, "OK, i got it". Then you see it three years later and it's like, "Whoa! Now that is something else entirely"

I guess in reading this Psalm in the past i had always seen this chapter as two different sections. The first being about God's protection and seeking Him, while the second being about how children are a blessing from God. But the reality is that it is all one Psalm. It's not two different section on two different topics. It's speaking about the family and how it is important. Replace "house" and "city" with "family" and you get the drift. The Psalm goes from having a little bit of meaning to me, to applying almost entirely to my life.
Don't get me wrong, i understood these principles long before reading this chapter this morning. It's just amazing how in reading God's Word you tend to find so many deeper layers and meanings than you realize at first. It's easy to read it and say, "Yeah, OK. I got it". When in reality it goes so much deeper and works on so many levels.

Festivals, New Moons, & Sabbaths as Prophecy?

So let no one judge you in food or in drink, or regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come, but the substance is of Christ.
Colossians 2:16-17 (NKJV)

Nothing overly exciting, but to take something out of topic/reference, there was something that i noticed here. Paul is talking to the church in Colosse about not getting stuck in legalism when he makes this statement; "regarding a festival or a new moon or sabbaths, which are a shadow of things to come". It's an interesting statement that Paul makes here. Basically, from what i can tell, this is saying that the festivals, new moons, sabbaths (important Hebrew days) are more than just reminders of things that have occurred in the past or should be done because God required it in the law. But this states that they are also prophesies concerning the future.

For example, Passover represents the day that the angel of death "passed over" the houses of the Hebrew people and brought about the rescue of the people from Pharoh's hand. Meanwhile it was also a prophecy and representation of Christ, His coming, and His purpose. The second example is The Feast of Pentecost (feast of weeks or first fruits). It was initially a reminder that God is the provider of the harvest. Thus the first fruits belong to Him. In Acts 2:1 the Pentecost brings new meaning in that it sees the "First Fruits" of the resurrection of Christ and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit.

What's interesting is that it appears that Paul is saying that the Hebrew festivals, new moons, and Sabbaths are prophesies for the future (shadow of things to come). Thus there is more there than meets the eye (not surprising considering) even beyond the then current fulfillments (see the previous examples). So what new festival/new moon/Sabbath fulfillments are still in store for God's people?

Stem Cell Research (Part II)

To make myself feel less guilty about not posting in a while, i have decided to turn this into a 2 part post.

Are there other alternatives?
That would be the really important question. Embryo's are not the only place that stem cells exist. A scientist can harvest stem cells from numerous other areas such as adult blood, bone marrow, and umbilical cords from newly born babies. There are also other ways of producing embryonic type stem cells without having to worry about killing an unborn child (This month's Wired magazine has an article about this here). As far as i can tell the biggest reason for using embryonic stem cells instead of these other alternatives is that as of right now we know how to harvest ESC's and the other areas still need a little more research to be fully viable.

Why is there such a big focus on ESC's when there are so many more ethical ways to obtain stem cells?
I really think that there are only 2 real reasons for this.
1) As stated before, as of right now ESC's are easily harvested and mostly ready for research and use. Attempting to explain the finer points in this argument is currently beyond my exhaustion factor and current research knowledge. So i will leave that to others.
What i really want to bring to light is the second reason.
2) The controversy factor. ESC's are controversial. As such they garner all kinds of attention when you talk about them. The media wants to focus primarily on them because in doing so they get the attention. After all, who wants to write a story about the benefits of umbilical cord stem cells that will garner only a little bit of attention when you could write a controversial story about a controversial topic like ESC? After all, more readers means more money. On top of that, with the majority of the media being liberal, ESC support means more support for their own pro-choice and anti-pro-life agendas.
So, where does the real problem lie?

Stem Cell Research

Well, with this new research coming out of South Korea on embryonic stem cell research i thought it important to abnegate the expression of my other current thoughts/concerns on this blog and instead to process and express my thoughts here on the topic of stem cell research (sorry, i just had to find a way to use the google word of the day). Some quick background - Stemcells are cells that can be used to form any type of other cells in the human body. Thus they have the potential to do things like grow replacement organs, such as a perfectly matched new kidney for a necessary kidney transplant, as well as to cure diseases such as alzheimers. So you get the idea, lots of potential.

If there is so much potential for this kind of research, than why is it so controversial?
Stem cell research in and of itself is not so controversial. The problem comes in how we gain access to those stem cells. Embryonic Stem Cells are where the controversy lie. Just to save myself some headache i will call them ESC's. Currently the only way to harvest ESC's are to kill an embryo (aka. abort a baby) and take the stem-cells from the embryo/baby's brain. Thus, the problem is that the research will cost lives to save lives. Now we get into a major moral dilemma. What is the value of a human life? Is it worth it to kill an embryo/baby (who may live to be 80 years old naturally) to help a wealthy 75 year old man be able to live out the last 5 years of his life being able to take care of himself? Well, what if the patient was a 4 year old child with AIDS? Then is it worth it?

Well, i have to go so i will have to finish this post later... Sorry to leave you hanging like this.

E3 Console Thoughts

By the way, E3 stands for Electronic Entertainment Expo. It is probably the biggest annual video games expo on the planet. Every major company makes a big deal about it and this year all three major console companies (Sony - PlayStation, Microsoft - X-Box, and Nintendo) have come out showcasing their new consoles for the next generation which makes this years E3 huge, even for E3. Now with that background out of the way, here are my thoughts on the new consoles.

First off, Microsoft's X-Box 360. From the looks, it is an impressive console. What Microsoft did/is doing with their online plan really puts them over the top.
However, i'm disappointed with the strides the 360 has taken over the original X-Box. In the days of the NES to SNES the processing power doubled. When the SNES was replaced by the N64 the processing power was quadrupled. I kind of feel like the X-Box 360 is a NES to SNES leap. Sony called it the X-Box 1.5 and while i don't fully agree with that statement, that seems to be the case in part. The X-Box 360 is 2 to 3 times more powerful than the X-Box, and it is setting itself up to be more of a multimedia device, which is really good. However, there really isn't anything innovative or new about it. It's not changing the way games are played or bringing all new technology into the system, if anything it seems to be just bridging the gap between a little bit more advanced console and a Microsoft Windows XP Media Center computer. However in doing that while it still makes a darn good console, it looks to make a less than par computer.
It's saving graces are that it has a really impressive online plan (only an extension of the current plan however), and that it is coming out first (this fall).
Personally i will probably never own an X-Box anything due to my qualms with Microsoft's history of breaking in, taking over, and monopolizing. No way will i support that.

Next is the PS3. Sony in conjunction with Toshiba and IBM have developed a new kind of chip called the cell chip. Basically the processor of the PS3 is a combination of 7-8 of these cell chips working together to do all of the multitasking necessary for the next generation of games. It promises to blow away the competition in pure processing power, and it gives the PS3 the ability to multitask in breakthrough ways. The cell chip in and of itself completely changes the way processing is done. To put it into perspective, Intel and AMD (the big two makers of computer CPU's) are developing and talking about their new, revolutionary, duel-processor chips. It's big, 2 core processors in one to make it easier for the computer to multitask! Well, with the cell processor it's more like 7 or 8 cores (or individual cell chips) in one. Overall it looks to blow the X-Box 360 and Nintendo Revolution out of the water with its pure processing power, which means faster, better detailed, and more cinematic games.
One letdown for the PS3 however is its limited/lack of real online plan. From what i can tell, it seems to following the plan of letting the game developers define the experience for their own games. This is good in that it better allows the developers to have full control of their property and it makes online a free service for most games. It is problematic in that it does not promote a real "community" experience for the gamers.
Ultimately, what is really going to make the PS3 is the games. If the game developers don't utilize the processing power of the system, it may prevent the PS3 from becoming the leader of the pack.
The PS3 will probably be my 2nd choice in console. I will most likely wait for the price to drop before i invest in this power machiene.

Finally, the Big N. Nintendo's new console is called the Revolution. It is supposed to revolutionize the way that people play games. The processor is supposed to be comparable to that of the other consoles, but that's not the real star of the system. Nintendo is attempting to revolutionize the way people interact with the games. The controller will be gyroscopic (tilt the controller to change direction), have pressure sensitive squeeze grip controls (reminiscant of stress balls), with an integrated microphone, and another big "revolutionary" concept that will redefine the gaming experience. So far Nintendo has been pretty tight lipped about what this "revolution" will be, but one rumor/speculation is that it will be some sort of 3-D display. Personally just with what's been revealed i'm really excited.
One of the big things that i'm really excited about is the Revolution's promise of backward compatibility. It will be able to play GameCube games as well as being able to download and play the games from the NES, SNES, and N64 systems. Talk about fun.
Nintendo's online plan is also promising to be amazing in that it is being developed in conjunction with IGN/GameSpy (well established online gaming names) to create a true Nintendo community while also being free.
As you've probably guessed, this is going to be my number one choice for console in the next generation.

Disclaimer: This is not a full listing of all of the pro's and con's of these systems. It is not meant to be. This is my personal views and interests only.

Arguing Logic (or is it Logically Arguing?)

Well now. One of the blog sites that i like to visit referred me to this site. It's called
Thirty - Eight Ways to Win an Argument
from Schopenhauer's "The Art of Controversy"
Basically it goes over a list of ways to win an argument, even when the other person is more correct than you are. Here, as an example, is the first tactic in the list:
1 Carry your opponent's proposition beyond its natural limits; exaggerate it.
The more general your opponent's statement becomes, the more objections you can find against it.
The more restricted and narrow your own propositions remain, the easier they are to defend.

As arguing logic (or is it logically arguing?) is one of my favorite things to do, especially when reading (you should see the margins to some of the books i own), i have seen so many of these steps being used by people that i could probably have come up with this list on my own... well maybe not really.
I'm big into logic, so it always really annoys me when writer's logic is, well, more than a little fuzzy. It's always so much fun when i read something that i don't agree with and i break down and annihilate their logic. Sometimes i have so many "but...", "except that...", "no, not really because...", and other arguments that i have to practically yell at myself to stop or i will never finish what i'm reading.
I don't just do this with ideas, concepts, and writers that i don't agree with. Oftentimes when reading things that interest me and that i agree with, but that the author's arguments lack cohesiveness, i will sit there and argue their logic to make it more cohesive. Although, i have also been known to actually be arguing something that i don't agree with, just to get other people thinking. Just ask the Sunday School teacher at the church that i go to.

Disclaimer: I'm not saying that i agree with everything this guy says, it's just funny how often i see people use these and other underhanded tactics to defend their ideas, not necessarily because their logic or ideas are incorrect, but more because they either don't realize what they're doing, or because they are trying to make a point above and beyond what is needed or true (sorry my logic may be a little fuzzy here as i am really tired).

Unbeliever's 23rd Psalm

1) I have no shepard and am in want.
2) My bed is hard rocks and the water is rough and hard to drink.
3) My soul knows no rest;
I go where i will and am continually led astray.

4) I stumble and fall into the valley of the shadow of death and am prey to the predators;
I have no one to lead, discipline, or comfort me.
5) I starve and am driven away when my enemies are near;
No one heals my wounds or provides for my needs.
6) Hardships and tribulation follow me all the days of my life;
And i will spend eternity alone and in torment.

Psalms 23 (UNV - Unbeliever's National Version)

True Worship

Well, another day, another thought. I was talking to someone a couple of weeks ago about the concept of worship and how it applies to us. It's interesting how many Christians seem to think that workship is what we do in the church on Sunday mornings. Well, that's what it is isn't it? Praise and Worship... The praise is the more upbeat songs, and the worship is the slower songs. And a good worship service leaves us feeling uplifted and like God really touched us. I suppose that there is some reality in that, but that's not really an accurate statement.
Matt Redman in one of his songs talks about wanting to return to the "Heart of Worship". In that song he says "I'm sorry Lord for the thing i've made it. It's all about you (not about me)". Matt states that this song came about as a result of a challenge that his head pastor had for him. He had challenged him to go one month leading the worship part of the Sunday service without any singing. It forced Matt to reconsider what worship truly is. The lyrics to the song Heart of Worship was born from that time.

So i guess that that's the challenge. What is worship without singing?

...more on that later

E3, the PlayStation 3 and the Big N's "Revolution"

This Blog is turning into a real Renaissance of categories here -
Christianity & Christian Issues
Movies
Social Issues
Politics
and now Video Games

E3 will be here this week! I am so psyched about it. I won't be there of course, but it will result in the unveiling of the Playstation 3 and the Nintendo Revolution.

The X-Box 360 was unveiled yesterday, not that i'm that interested in it. I'm still really annoyed that Microsoft is even involved in the console gaming market the way that they have taken over and butchered so many other markets. Needless to say i haven't supported them in this gaming generation, and i won't be in the next either. On to more important things.

The new PS3 will be interesting to see. I'm assuming that it will have standard wireless controllers (as is planned for Microsoft and Nintendo), it's expected to have wireless internet (also for the MS and Big N). The really imprortant PS3 things still to unveil are what it looks like, how it plays, and the new (hopefully) controller. The Cell processor promises to really put out some gaming power. It would be a blast to see it in action.

What i'm really interested in (as are many others) is what Nintendo has in store for the Revolution. They've been making some big promises talking about how it's not so important how powerful the system is as that they will revolutionize the way that games will be played. They did it on numerous occasions such as with the introduction of the first wireless controllers and of touchscreen gaming and voice recognition standard in the Nintendo DS. I'm already excited about the gyroscopic controls and pressure sensitivity in the the new controllers, and the latest news is that the Revolution will only be about 1 inch thick. That's pretty thin to hold all of what has been promised including a hard drive. What really has be curious though is what the big "Revolution" is going to be. Rumors point to 3D play in a whole new way, but we have yet to see what's really in store. Only time will tell for sure at this point. So on to the new week and E3.

Real ID Act & RFID

For those who don't know, the house of representatives (and now the senate) passed legislation on a new government ID. It's called the Real ID Act. Basically the idea is that every American will be required to have a special identification card in order to do most things (especially financially) in the US. The ID will have specific personal information, such as name, date of birth, address, picture, etc., and must be machine readable, most likely RFID(Radio Frequency Identification). Every person's personal information will be placed in a national database and they will not be able to do anything without their cards, and the governments knowledge.
Why am i bringing this up? Quite simply this is a major problem. Has anyone heard of "Big Brother" (not the TV show although that's the right concept), or "1984"... how about the movie "The Enemy of the State"?
Basically any semblence of our Constitutional right to privacy goes out the window. In time, the government knows where you live, where you work, when you leave home, where and how you get your coffee (or tea in my case), what you purchased online, what kind of birth control you use, anything they decide is pertinant to "national security" or "your safety". No more worry about identity theft or terrorists, after all the government is looking after you and only wants to protect you... doesn't it?

Thoughts and Ways

Seek the Lord while He may be found,
Call upon Him while He is near.
Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
And to our God,
For He will abundantly pardon.
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
Isaiah 55:6-9 (NKJV)

As i was doing my Bible reading this morning i came upon this chapter in Isaiah. I had been reading the end of Isaiah 52 and through 53 and had been hesitant to go on for awhile due the nature and richness of that passage, but i decided today that it was time to go on. I'm glad that i did, because when i came upon ch. 55 i found some real substance. This is just a nugget of what's there, but i wanted to take note of it.

Let the wicked forsake his way,
And the unrighteous man his thoughts;
Let him return to the Lord,
And He will have mercy on him;
I think that this is interesting because it gives us a definition or understanding of what makes a man wicked or unrighteous and how they are different from one another.
The passage says to let the wicked man forsake his way and the unrighteous man his thoughts. A wicked man is created and defined by his actions and way of life. A wicked man is wicked because of what he does and who he is.
An unrighteous man on the other hand is defined by his thoughts. An unrighteous man may be doing the right things, but his heart and mind are not focused in the proper direction. My thought of this is kind of like the new testament Pharisees. They did the right things, but their hearts and thoughts were not lined up properly. But then that example may be a little bit of an extreme. This i see as many Christians today. We talk the talk and do the right action (go to church, maybe pay tithes sometimes, are involved in men's ministy), but oftentimes it's just a show or an act. We do it to because we want to be a part of something, or we want to be "religious", or because we are supposed to, or because it's what our spouse and family expects.

So what's the difference between the unrighteous man and the righteous man? I think that, that can be answered by looking at the next section:
“For My thoughts are not your thoughts,
Nor are your ways My ways,” says the Lord.
“For as the heavens are higher than the earth,
So are My ways higher than your ways,
And My thoughts than your thoughts.
The difference between the righteous man and the unrighteous man is that the righteous man lines himself up with God. He does not just do what he's "supposed to" do. He understands that God is the very focus of righteousness and he seeks to line himself, his ways and his thoughts, with God, and by doing so to be able to be used by Him.

Lord,
Help me to be a righteous man. I don't just want my actions to be "appropriate". I want my life, my thoughts, my ways to be lined up with You. Help me to be the kind of man, husband, and father that is not just living day to day doing my own thing, but that is lined up with you in thought and way. Give me the wisdom and understanding to be all you have. In the name of Jesus, the Christ, Amen.

Unbelief and Time

Well, it's Cinco de Mayo of 2005, AKA 05-05-05 as well as the National Day of Prayer.
This morning i was attempting to do some Bible reading and i came across this passage:
Background - This passage comes directly after the death and burial of Jesus, the Christ.
Now when He rose early on the first day of the week, He appeared first to Mary Magdalene, out of whom He had cast seven demons. She went and told those who had been with Him, as they mourned and wept. And when they heard that He was alive and had been seen by her, they did not believe.
After that, He appeared in another form to two of them as they walked and went into the country. And they went and told it to the rest, but they did not believe them either.
Later He appeared to the eleven as they sat at the table; and He rebuked their unbelief and hardness of heart, because they did not believe those who had seen Him after He had risen. Mark 16:9-14

It is interesting. The disciples have been with Christ for three years; learning under him, listening to Him speak, seeing Him do miracles, watching Him touch the lives of everyone that He comes into contact with Him one way or another, and even hearing Him tell them what would happen to Him. Even after all of that, when they are informed by some of their own that He is risen and that they have seen Him, the disciples still did not believe what was told them. When Christ appears to the eleven He had to rebuke them for not believing. These are those who would be empowered from on high and lead & build the church, and yet they did not believe even on the witnesses of 2 or 3 of their own.
So i guess that it should not surprise us when other people do not believe in Him when we first tell them of Him. Often it takes time for a person to come to know and accept Him. Unfortunately time and patience are not something that our society or even todays church instills in us. Just something to consider.

Flesh & Spirit

Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Ephesians 6:11-13(NKJV)

At times it becomes easy to forget that we are spiritual beings and not merely this temporary flesh. Our flesh and bodies will eventually be gone, but our spirits are eternal and will last forever. On top of that we are continually in a battle, but it's a battle that exists on a spiritual level and not a physical one. Ephesians 6 talks about putting on the full armor of God in order to fight these spiritual battles. However, it is not very clear how we do this on a daily basis. I have heard a number of different views on how this works, but i'm not convinced that any of them are that accurate or correct. So how do you put on "the whole armor of God"?

How to get started...

I haven't the faintest clue as how to write a book, but then who as a first time writer does?  However, the more i think about it, the more i wonder if i shouldn't start trying to write it now.  I went to go to court with one of my clients and was talking with someone who was doing the transporting.  Somehow we started talking about some of my soapbox issues and i went on for at least an hour and a half just talking about it.  It's funny because i'm usually pertty quiet and am not really that outgoing, so my talking about things with someone for 90 minutes straight is kind of a big deal.  At the same time this isn't the first time this has happened and it probably won't be the last.  But i guess my point is that maybe i should just bring a tape recorder and record one of my converstions with someone then transcribe the conversation to get myself started and the ideas flowing... Well, now i'm just babbling so i may as well just go.  One of these days i will write a post about what my first book is about.

Classics Old and New

It's funny how many "classic" movies i have never see. I just turned on the telly and Hannibal is on. I've seen bits and pieces of it, but never all the way through. It's the same with The Godfather. Considering it is such a guy movie and i am proud of my Italian/Sicilian heritage, you would thing that i'd have seen it all the way through. What other "classics" have a missed? Some i have seen and recommend in no particular order;
Harvey - Hard to find, but definitely an excellent movie
The Passion of the Christ - No comment needed
Star Wars - All currently out... the classics are still the best
The Fiddler on the Roof - My all-time favorite musical. It works so well on so many levels
Short Circuit I & II - Not quite serious classics, but great none the less.
The Matrix - A little over the top, but it really makes you think... the first one does
Rain Man - Now that was a good movie!
Monty Python and the Quest for the Holy Grail - Great comedy classic
The Princess Bride - "Anybody want a peanut?" Too many quotes, too little time!
The Lord of the Rings trilogy - Peter Jackson really did some amazing things. I just wish that he hadn't edited out to his own liking the real ending to The Return of the King

I could go on and on in this list, but i think that i'll stop there.