New Ben Stein Movie and Thoughts on Science

I just saw a trailer for a documentary Ben Stein Expelled. The movie looks at the way scientist who question Darwinism are treated. It looks like it should be good, and hopefully it will get people thinking.

Imagine what could be accomplished if, instead of trying to throw God out of science, scientists in every field were tuned into what God was willing to show them about their area of study. Look at the accomplishments of one such man, George Washington Carver. He is quoted as saying, "When I was young, I said to God, God, tell me the mystery of the universe. But God answered, that knowledge is for me alone. So I said, God, tell me the mystery of the peanut. Then God said, well, George, that's more nearly your size."

He went on to discover 300 uses for the peanut, 118 from sweet potatoes, and several other discoveries from other plants. His work and research continues to influence work in botany today.

What might happen if scientists asked God similar questions today about renewable fuel or cures for diseases? Instead it seems some are more concerned with keeping God out of science because allowing him in would go against the theories they hold. This seems contrary to the very nature of what it means to be a scientist. One of the reasons science is important and exciting is because it encourages us to look closely at the world and think and rethink about what we see. If we start censoring this based on what someone concludes from looking, eventually we may stop looking and discovering.

Expand Your Vocabulary; Change the World

Logophiles have a fun new way to help give rice to the poor. FreeRice.com donates rice to the needy around the world with every vocabulary question you get correct. My current high score is 42, but I'm working on reaching 50. What level can you get to? Click on the bowl of rice and find out. (see the sidebar).
Speaking of the sidebar, there is a new banner there that says "know love act". Clicking this will take you to blood:water mission. This organization works to "tangibly reduce the impact of the African HIV/AIDS pandemic, to promote clean blood and clean water in Africa, and to build equitable, sustainable and personal community links." Click on the link, learn more about them; hey maybe even donate some money.

Miracle God

I want to feel you like ‘lectricity
coursing through my body–
Half eyes whole,
tainted blood clean.
My mere wishes twisted into faith,
Or divine dictation scribbled onto my soul?
I’ve stumbled down this road before,
Circling my doubt, tripping on uncertainty,
Never knowing if I
squeeze just one more ounce of faith out–
will you be
coursing through my body like lightning?
Mute man singing,
Lame man running.
Is it me or America that you hate?
Leaving longing faithless, leaving prayers tattered.
Maybe if I were a better man,
Maybe if we had more faith,
Maybe if I prayed more,
Maybe if we sang longer, louder, stronger
Maybe then you’d be shivering down our spines,
Leaving our wheel chairs to dance alone.
Barren woman weaning,
Dead man leaping.
Does your silence mean you’re angry?
Or do your miracles fade in the light of our TV screens?
Should I head for Africa or Asia or Argentina
To feel you like the sea thundering through me,
To see you growing hands like magician’s scarves?
(I can’t afford the airfare)
Are our needs less tantalizing, are our dead less tragic?
Are their prayers more potent, are their pleas more pleasing?
Are there things we need to change so you will
Heal lame bodies,
cure cancerous souls?
Or are we those you’ve destined to always be grabbing,
but never reaching the goal?
I want to give up, to go back to not believing,
But even more
I want to feel you like ‘lectricity,
Coursing through my body,
To see you flood America with miracles
Like when you walked in Galilee,
Deaf man hearing,
blind man seeing,
diseased man dancing,
possessed man praising.
dead man raising,

You moving through me.

The Longing

Your terrifying joy enraptures me with longing.
I need the hush of holiness exploding in me,
quieting my silence with your thundering song–
“Jesus” whispered like a butterfly’s wing
storming through my desert heart,
wetting, drenching, deluging all my tears
into diamonds of honest praise.

Read my name from the palm of your hand.
Or let me crouch there tracing holiness with my finger,
Drunk from the glorious sobriety of it all
I could fade into the lines of your finger,
Or be swept away with the angels in praise.

Walk over my skin, like the hills of Galilee,
my body heavy with your holiness.
Or camp in the cave of my heart and fade into its crevices,
Cracking my contempt into gratefulness.

I want to be washed away in the silence of your majesty
To be a wave in the endless sea of your praise,
To evaporate into you.

Stricken By God?

A new book, Stricken By God? edited by Brad Jersak looks at the crucifixion and and challenges the typical western understanding of what was happening. For those looking for a book review, you won't find it here since I have not read the book. (I've promised myself that I am not starting another book until I have finished reading all the others I am reading: Dear Birth Mother, Everything Must Change, Dreaming With God, The Shack, Home Learning Year by Year, and Renegade's Magic). I have seen an interview with Mr. Jersak that piqued my curiosity. This led me to do a search where I found some interesting blogs about the Eastern Orthodox view point. (You can see them here, here, here, here and here).
I am still very much in the studying, learning, and questioning phase of contemplating this issue. For those of you who did not click the links to read or watch what this other idea of the atonement is about I will try to sum it up. Basically the western view is that Christ had to die to take the punishment for our sins. God's justice would not allow him to just forgive us, someone had to take the punishment. When Christ took that sin upon himself God had to look away because he cannot look at sin. The Eastern Orthodox view (really, read the stuff I've linked, they explain it better) is that Christ death was a part of the redemption of humankind. Jesus died to ransom us from the devil. Jesus' blood had to be shed so that we could unite with him (by drinking his blood, eating his body). This is very basic, but I think I have the general idea correct.
My main, "but what about..." is Romans 5:9-10 "Since we have now been justified by his blood, how much more shall we be saved from God's wrath through him! ¹⁰ For if, while we were God's enemies, we were reconciled to him through the death of his Son, how much more, having been reconciled, shall we be saved through his life!" If anyone knows how the Eastern church would see this verse, I'd be happy to hear it.
I think the reason I find this so fascinating is that the Eastern Orthodox view point is so alien to me. Suddenly I'm seeing verses I thought I knew in a new light. That is exciting to me. I love it when God says, "Look at this, bet you did not notice that before!" The journey of grappling with unfamiliar ideas is tantalizing enough for me to overcome my fears of falling into "error" and allow God to draw me closer through the journey.
I want to encourage you to join the journey. Take time to read about what Christ did for you. Read view points from a different tradition or denomination than yours. Ask God to guide you in the journey and give you a deeper understanding of who he is.

The Hardest Questions Result In the Best Answers

Today my six year-old said to me, "Ya know sometimes I wonder if God is real. I mean how do I know the Bible is true, I wasn't there,"? I think that if he had asked me this a few years ago I would have immediately launched into reasons to believe. But I did not. Maybe it's because I've gotten used to saying, "I don't know" to his constant questions (usually about science. Thank God his aunt is a chemist!). Or maybe its because I'm in a season of questioning too (Thanks in a large part to Brad Jersak's new book Stricken By God). Whatever the reason I found these scary words coming out of my mouth, "Why don't you ask God to show you he is real?"
Scary for me because of all the what ifs that go through every parents head. "What if he stops believing in God? What if he asks for something so outrageous and God doesn't answer? or what if God does? What if he becomes convinced that another religion is true?" Scary because with those words I gave up control of my son's belief. Without really meaning to, I gave it up to God. He is the one who has to show himself real to Toby. Toby is the one who has to respond. God is the one who has to keep him.
Scary, because with those words my trust in God is put to the test. Do I trust him enough to take Toby on the journey of faith, wherever it may lead? No matter how scary it looks to me? Or how close it skirts to the edge of unbelief?
Years ago some friends and I spent time studying the Bible. We called ourselves "the heresy boys" because we looked at issues that are often (some rightly so) considered heretical. We studied the Bible to seriously look at issues like reincarnation and whether or not hell is transitory. We did not always come to the same conclusions, but, at least for me, the questions led to a closer more secure walk with God.
God is not afraid of the hard questions. He does not shy away from, "If you are loving how can you allow rape, murder, disease?" or "Or why did you call for genocide in the Old Testament?" Or "Where were you when . . ." These questions are scary to us because we are afraid of what the answer might be. What if God doesn't answer? So, we don't ask, or we do and supply a trite answer. But I think God wants us to ask. Not so he can answer all our questions, but so that he can reveal himself to us. He is not afraid of where these questions may lead us, because he is able to keep us. Not only is he able, he is faithful to do so.

Stupid Things I've Done - A Prophetic Word

I know this will be hard for some of you to believe, but I've done some stupid things in my life. Allow me to share one of those things with you.
A while ago our bathtub faucet needed fixing. Being the frugal (all right, cheap) person I am I decided to fix it myself. I searched the web for the problem I was having (it was hard to pull open and push closed) and found instructions. Step one of course is to turn off the water. The water valves under the sink do not turn off the water for the tub, so I called my association to ask where the turn off valve was. They told me it was in the front of the building and would turn the water off for all the units, not just mine. I would have to get the city to come and turn it off and I would also have to notify my neighbors of when and for how long the water would be off. Since it was 8 PM I realized that it was not going to get done that night. So, I decided to just look at the faucet to see if there was anything I could do without turning the water off. In my perusal of the web I had found that the stickiness was probably caused by a cartridge that needed to be replaced. I took off the plastic cover of the faucet and used pliers to turn the water on and off. I could not see a "cartridge". Then I saw it. And pulled it out.
WOOOOSH! A torrent of water slammed me in the face. Water is spraying everywhere, the floor, the ceiling, the walls out the door. Pictures are being knocked off the wall. I am drenched. The bathtub is rapidly overflowing. I am desperately trying to force the faucet back into the pipe. Finally after several tries, I do, but then I realize that I can not find the piece that holds it in place (it has been lost in the mayhem). I'm doomed to sit forever holding the faucet in place or to let the water spray everywhere until the entire house is underwater. I prayed, I cursed, I slipped and the faucet shot out of the pipe again. I forced it back in. My arms were getting tired. I realized I needed help.
My wife was at work. The phone was downstairs. The nearest help was my six year old son who was asleep in his room across the hall. I yelled and yelled and yelled. Finally I let go of the faucet and ran into his room and shook him awake. When he saw what had happened he laughed. He later described it as "chaos everywhere".
He helped me look for the missing piece, we could not find it. Finally I jerry-rigged something to hold it in place. I told my son to stay in the bathroom and to yell for me if it came out again. I went downstairs cringing as I saw the soaked ceiling, water pouring out of the light fixture, and the flooded floor. I grabbed the phone and quickly called an all night plumber.
After laughing heartily at me, he graciously told me how to fix the problem, and in the process I discovered the water shut off valve. After a quick change my son and I rushed off to Home Depot to get what we needed to fix the faucet. They did not have it. As we got back home my wife was pulling into the garage. "Wait till you see!" my son yelled before I had a chance to even turn off the van.
Guys, you know your wife loves you when she walks into the kind of disaster my wife saw that day and you live to tell about it.
My wife will tell you that she is not prophetic, but she was that day. She continued to love me despite the damage I had done to the house. She helped me clean the mess I had made and put up with the lack of water that night and the next day. She did not yell at me or tell me how stupid or evil I was. She was very much like God, who when we sin does not condemn us, but cleanses us and forgives us.
Her response is a response the church desperately needs to learn. We have seen many church leaders get caught in sin. This in itself is sad, but the response of the church is tragic. Instead of standing in love with these people, we have often turned our backs on them and even cast them out of our churches. Instead we should be helping them to clean up the mess, loving them even though they did great damage. Staying in relationship with them even though we have to suffer because of their sin. The church cannot grow and mature if we do not learn to work out the problems and difficulties that come about when someone in the body sins. We cannot grow in love if we reject those who sin. We are told to gently restore those who sin (Galatians 6). It's time we started doing this.