lost & found

Common Descent - Part 2

2012-01-27T10:42:00.000-08:00

Darwinian evolution predicted that organisms that share physical features will also share genetic information in common but genetic research has shown the opposite. Here is how one article recently published in the journal New Scientist puts it,

For much of the past 150 years, biology has largely concerned itself with filling in the details of the tree. "For a long time the holy grail was to build a tree of life," says Eric Bapteste, an evolutionary biologist at the Pierre and Marie Curie University in Paris, France. A few years ago it looked as though the grail was within reach. But today the project lies in tatters, torn to pieces by an onslaught of negative evidence. Many biologists now argue that the tree concept is obsolete and needs to be discarded. "We have no evidence at all that the tree of life is a reality," says Bapteste. That bombshell has even persuaded some that our fundamental view of biology needs to change.

Why Darwin was wrong about the tree of life
21 January 2009 by Graham Lawton

The article goes on to state that the evidence from DNA suggests that life is interrelated horizontally and not just vertically - like a spider web rather than the root system of a tree. This is not what genetic scientists expected if life evolved from a common ancestor. The article then attempts to explain this anomaly. Genetic material is not only transferred through reproduction but also on the sly by means of Horizontal Gene Transfer (HGT). This is supposed to occur in three way:

1) endosymbiosis
2) viruses
3) hybrids

I don't know enough to weigh in on the discussion but it will be interesting to see what comes of these new discoveries. Who would've thought that we'd see the day when evolutionary biologists would call 'the tree of life obsolete!

It's History

2012-01-24T08:30:00.000-08:00

History is the memory of past events and it is a battlegroundwhere important questions are answered. I was once told by a history prof that "there is no room formetaphysics in history." I disagree! If the job of ahistorian is to do more than simply collect facts but also to make sense ofthem then history must enter realm of metaphysics.

History has always been twisted by evil men to justify their actions. Nazihistorians wrote thick ‘scholarly’ articles that tried to prove that the Aryanrace was the most pure and powerful of all the races and that Christianity actually hadits roots in Aryan civilization instead of Semitic. In similar fashion, Mao used a naive western journalist to whitewash the darkhistory of the Chinese Communist Party and turn the Long March into a nice piece ofpropaganda. Mussolini drew on the glories of the Roman empire to justify his expansioninto Africa. Ahmadinejad denies the holocaust in order to justify his vitriol against theJews. The Palestinians have woven a very elaborate history of oppressionthat ignores their own aggression and ignores the massive diplomatic andmilitary failure of their leadership.

There is something remarkable - and all together unnatural - about the history found in the Old Testament. Compare the history of Israel to any othernational history and you will immediately notice that theirs isuniquely a history of failure! In theExodus account alone, Israel is said to have tested God eleven times in thedesert. Even the most significant failures of Israel’s greatest kings arepreserved in painful detail. Those who wrote and preserved the books that make up the Old Testament didnot glory in their past in a way that made them proud.

However, as timewent on, some religious groups in Israel began to revise their history to feedtheir ego's. The Book of Jubilee, written early in the 2nd century massively revised OT history to remove some of the more glaring scandals. It was this kind of historical revisionism that John the Baptist, the most fiery and confrontational prophet to walk thehills of Judea, warned the religious leaders of his day against.

"You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not think you can say toyourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' I tell you that out of thesestones God can raise up children for Abraham. Matthew 3:7-9

There has recently been some talk of American exceptionalism. Gingrich referred to it in his victory speech in South Carolina in the context of the Federalist Papers, the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence. Ginrich and others are trying to shore up patriotism in the spirit of Reagan but from what I have seen and heard (admittedly not that much), they miss what it is that makes any nation special. What is the point in saying, "We have John Adams, James Madison, Alexander Hamilton and Thomas Jefferson as our father!" and make no mention of Christ? America needs another John the Baptist but he would probably lose his head to a dancing girl.

The only thing that makes a nation exceptional is the degree to which it experiences and reflects the grace of God. The only healthy kind of patriotism is the kind that results in deep humility and gratitude to God - everything else is hubris. Together with Israel we must "look upon him whom we havepierced."

Maale Amos to Ein Gedi

2012-01-21T09:30:00.000-08:00

While in Israel, a friend from school and I did a hike from Maale Amos, in the heart of the Judea mountains to Ein Gedi on the Dead Sea. A Bedouin fellow gave us ride for a small part of the way and his son showed us around their camp. You can see in the video how he was able to get the attention of his flock. Reminded me of Jesus words, "My sheep hear my voice..."

Along the way we visited the remains of one of the most isolated of the Byzantine monasteries in Judea. What would drive a person to sleep on a stone bench and eat next to nothing for their life time? I know some say that these men came out of such pagan environments and had been so deeply affected by it that this was the only way they could find peace. I don't know. They could not have been following the example of Jesus - he spent almost all of his time with people - with the exception of the temptation. It is ironic that Jesus went into the desert to be tempted but the monks seem to have gone there to escape temptation.

The area we walked through is likely where Jesus went when he was tempted in the desert. It is a very solitary place... I was given a GPS (thanks Mom and Dad!) before I went to Israel and it turned out to be a better gift than they probably know. Although I didn't have any maps for it, I had three points entered into it: the start, the end, and one land mark along the way. Just knowing where you are and where are going is huge help - even if you can't see the mountain in between.

We ended up walking through En Gedi park at night. It was a little unreal walking through one of the best preserved Chalcolithic temples in the world by moon light. I can see why David chose that area to hide from King Saul. He probably took his flock there as a shepherd and spent many a lonesome and sleepless night in that country. He was brave when no one else was watching. Why not let a lion take one of the lambs? No one will know any differently. It is interesting that both Moses and David were shepherds before they became kings. Later, Ezekiel would lament that his people were like sheep without a shepherd and Micah looked forward to a day when out of Bethlehem would come one who would be a 'shepherd for my people Israel'. The Shepherd has come although his voice quiet now - so quiet.

Timed Exposure of Chalcolithic Temple overlooking the Dead Sea

The spring at Ein Gedi

Roman Fort on the Plateau above Ein Gedi

YC

2012-01-16T06:50:00.000-08:00

Ive been working on a website for the youth curriculum that I hope will bring together in one place all we've learned from teaching it at camps and youth group.

The goal has been to keep the curriculum within 11 sessions that are about a half hour each. I might be pushing that a little with some of them. And it needs a 12th session.

Here it is:

http://www.arcbronze.com/lostandfound/
Password: lost

I put a password on it to keep search engines away. Hopefully that works ok. There are a few images on the site that I do not yet have rights for.

Atonement

2011-12-01T08:05:00.001-08:00

Joel Kramer in J'lem just came out with a new short video on Atonement. It is well worth watching.

http://sourceflix.com/the-sacrifice-preview/

Kyle Bass on the Economy

2011-11-27T21:53:00.001-08:00

The lady conducting the interview clearly had her ideas about where the interview should go. She seemed unable to grasp the fact that the spectacular failure of the West is due, in part, to government policy that has created such imbalances.

However, I didn't think Kyle Bass did a very good job of explaining why the CDS market provides a useful service except perhaps, for companies hedging against fluctuations in commodity prices. But should Greek banks be allowed to buy insurance on a Greek sovereign bond default when the financial system is essentially a ward of the state? And does it matter that many of the institutions that issue these CDS's are themselves on a life line from the government and cannot possibly make good on the CDS's that they issue.

They call this financial engineering but I don't know an engineer who would create a monster like this. It is all way to complex and interconnected. At some point, the temple will be cleansed...or as Kyle Bass put it, we will atone for past profligacy.

Capitalism without bankruptcy is Christianity without hell...

Buying gold is just buying a put against the idiocy of the political cycle. It's that simple!

Suzanna on Faith

2011-11-25T20:31:00.000-08:00

In his early years, John Wesley was heavily influenced by the English philosopher, John Locke. This influence is evident in a letter he wrote to his mother.

"I call faith an assent upon rational grounds;because I hold Divine testimony to be the most reasonable of all evidencewhatever. Faith must necessarily, at length,be resolved into reason.”

His mother, Suzanna, responded to Wesley in what I think is one of the clearest descriptions of faith,

"You aresomewhat mistaken in your notions of faith. All faith is an assent, but all assent is not faith. Some truths are self-evident, and we assentto them because they are so. Others,after a regular and formal process of reason by way of deduction from some selfevident principle, gain our assent. Thisis not properly faith but science. Someagain we assent to, not because they are self-evident, or because we haveattained the knowledge of them in a regular method by a train of arguments; butbecause they have been revealed to us, either by God or man, and these are theproper objects of faith. The truemeasure of faith is the authority of the revealer, the weight of which alwaysholds proportion to our conviction of his ability and integrity.”

The Menorah

2011-11-21T17:30:00.001-08:00

But there will be no gloom for her who was in anguish. In the former time he brought into contempt the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali, but in the latter time he has made glorious the way of the sea, the land beyond the Jordan, Galilee of the nations. The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shined. Isaiah 9:1-2

One of the earliest and most detailed representations of the menorah is found on the Arch of Titus in Rome. Carved in relief in one of the panels on the arch is a scene from the Roman Triumph after Jerusalem was destroyed in 70 AD. It shows the menorah together with the table of shew bread and the silver trumpets being carried on the backs of Roman soldiers through the streets of Rome. For centuries, the menorah on the Arch of Titus was a symbol of defeat for the Jewish people but it has since been reclaimed by Israel as their state emblem. It remains the closest connection we have to the actual menorah that stood in the 2nd temple.

Click to view slide show

Instructions for the construction of the menorah are found in the books of Leviticus and Numbers.

It was patterned after a flowering almond tree with a trunk, branches, buds and blossoms. The almond tree is the first to blossom every spring - its profuse delicate white blossoms are among the first signs of spring.

The menorah was hammered from gold - a material whose inimitable luster and sheen, its rarity and its incorruptibility made it the material of choice for the inner sanctuary of the tabernacle and for the menorah.

Its seven branches recall to mind the created order when it existed perfect and whole. As a measurement of time, the seven day week is the only cycle of time that is not determined by nature but has its origin in G-d

As the sole source of light in the Holy Place, the menorah "mediated through the eyes" what the priestly blessing said with words. (1)

May YHWH bles[s]
you and
[may he] keep you.
[May] YHWH make
[his face] shine ...

(source Wikapedia ‘Ketef Hinnom’ This text was recently discovered etched into sliver leaf and rolled up into a tiny scroll - It dates to 600 BC - the oldest extant text of the Bible)

The menorah was a symbol of light and life and finds its ultimate meaning in Jesus. The apostle John said of Jesus, "In him was life, and that life was the light of men. (John 1:4)

Click to view slideshow

This menorah is a fully functioning oil lamp that stands 24 inches tall and weighs 54 lbs. It is cast from bronze at a premier art foundry in Israel. Each of the bronze lamps has a removable bronze cover that holds a wick in place.

Symbols from Jewish coins are incorporated into each of the panels of the base. Many of the symbols come from the 1st Revolt or Bar Kochba Revolt coins. Items that were used in the temple service are incorporated into the lower tier of the base while agricultural symbols were incorporated into the upper tier.

	The omer cup was used in the grain offerings in the temple. It is found on the Great Revolt coins together with the words "Shekel of Israel". (First Revolt Shekel, Year 1) Then the priest shall take from the grain offering a memorial portion, and burn it on the altar. It is an offering made by fire, a sweet aroma to the LORD. Leviticus 2:9
	Silver trumpets were used to signal 'break camp' and 'call to assembly' and later were blown in the temple during the sacrifices. (Bar Kochaba, silver zuz, 133/134 CE) Make two silver trumpets for yourself; you shall make them of hammered work; you shall use them for calling the congregation and for directing the movement of the camps. Numbers 10:2
	This juglet was used in temple service. It likely contained the oil used to refill the menorah. (Bar Kochba, Eleazar the Priest, silver zuz, 132/133 CE) "Command the children of Israel that they bring to you pure oil of pressed olives for the light, to make the lamps burn continually. Leviticus 24:2
	Bronze tripods were used in the temple service. This one is shown flanked by two palm branches. (Herod, prutah) Each stand had four bronze wheels with bronze axles, and each had a basin resting on four supports, cast with wreaths on each side. 1 Kings 7:30
	The three string lyre used in temple. (Bar Kochba, middle bronze, 132/133 BC) Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn. Psalm 57:8
	Basket with the Lulav (young palm frond, myrtle and willow) and Etrog (a type of citrus used in the celebration of Succot) 'For the Redemption of Zion' is inscribed on the face.(First Revolt, 1/8 Shekel?, Year 4) "On the first day, you must take for yourself a fruit of the citron tree, an unopened palm frond, myrtle branches, and [that grow near] the brook. You shall rejoice before God for seven days." Lev 23:40
	The palm branch was a common motif on coins minted by the Herodian dynasty as well as on the Great Revolt and Bar Kochba revolt coins. The palm branch was part of the Succot celebration. (Herod Antipas) And you shall take for yourselves on the first day the fruit of beautiful trees, branches of palm trees, the boughs of leafy trees, and willows of the brook; and you shall rejoice before the LORD your God for seven days. Lev. 23:40
	The pomegranate features prominently on Great Revolt coins along with the words "Holy Jerusalem". Pomegranates were woven into the hem of the robe of the High Priest and incorporated into the capitals of the two pillars of the temple. (First Revolt, Half Shekel) And upon its hem you shall make pomegranates of blue, purple, and scarlet, all around its hem, and bells of gold between them all around...Ex. 28:33
	Both Josephus and Tacitus mention a giant golden vine with grapes the size of a man attached to a huge trellis beside the temple. (First Revolt prutah, Year 3) He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes. Genesis 49:11
	Cluster of Grapes. One of the Seven Species mentioned in Deut. 8:8. (Eleazar the Priest, Sliver Zuz, 132/133 CE) When they reached the Valley of Eshcol, {23 Eshcol means cluster; also in verse 24.} they cut off a branch bearing a single cluster of grapes. Two of them carried it on a pole between them, along with some pomegranates and figs. Numbers 13:23
	Barley is one of the Seven Species mentioned in Deut. 8:8. (Herod Agrippa, bronze prutah) For the LORD your God is bringing you into a good land-- a land with streams and pools of water, with springs flowing in the valleys and hills; a land with wheat and barley, vines and fig trees, pomegranates, olive oil and honey; a land where bread will not be scarce and you will lack nothing... Deut. 8:7-9
	A Lily or Rose of Sharon. (Alexander Jannaeus, prutah, circa 78 BCE) I am a rose of Sharon, a lily of the valleys. Song of Solomon 2:1 Images are from Handbook of Biblical Numismatics

(1) "keenest ofall our senses is the sense of sight, and that consequently perceptionsreceived by the ears or by reflection can be most easily retained in the mindif they are also conveyed there by the mediation of the eyes." Cicero, De Oratore

The Prodigal and the Prostitute

2011-11-21T07:01:00.001-08:00

There was a man who had two sons. The younger one said to his father, 'Father, give me my share of the estate.' So he divided his property between them. "Not long after that, the younger son got together all he had, set off for a distant country and there squandered his wealth in wild living. Luke 15:11-13

-------------------
He was down to his last shekel and burned with unslakable desire. He fingered the coin in his pocket and finally gave it to the prettiest girl he could find, a temple prostitute, for one final fling. The girl he purchased was not like most of the prostitutes he had slept with. There was a certain sweetness behind her brazen face and haughty look. And for just a brief moment, he thought he saw her move with real grace rather than with the mincing steps of a prostitute. She could have been a queen, he thought.

She led him by the hand to a dirty little room at the back of the shrine. But as they stood opposite each other, something quite out of the ordinary happened. They both took a step back, as though pulled a part by some unseen force, and sat down - he on a rickety old stool and she on the edge of the bed - and they began to talk.

Who was she? Where was he from? Their questions crossed and they both smiled. Each saw in the other a stranger in whom they could confide and each had a story to tell!
The man started first,

He had been born into privilege but longed to see and experience the world. He moved to the city and made 'friends' with the popular crowd. He reveled in the freedom he found from the restraints his fathers fuddy-duddy religion had imposed on him. But before long, his lust for wine and woman consumed his entire inheritance. "It was no small amount!" the man said, emphasizing to the girl, just how much he had been given. But it was gone, he had no skills and had made all the wrong connections. Every decent person in town avoided him. Friendless and still filled with an empty ache, he decided to put an end to it all. But not before he had spent his last shekel... And that is what led him here.

And what about her? he asked. More curious than ever about this girl who sat quietly listening to him and who seemed to be able to empathize with him.

She sat quietly for a while and then began, with great effort, to tell her story.

She was an orphan girl born to parents who were the scum of society. They left her to die in a basket in a backstreet. But in a turn of events that she cannot explain, she was provided for by . She was given beautiful clothes to wear, fine jewelry, a warm bed made with real goose feathers - she looked down unconsciously at the bed she was sitting on - everything a girl could want. As time went on, the love between them grew and they were engaged to be married. "She was to be a queen!" she said. She looked up and her dark eyes flashed when said 'queen' as though to somehow convince the man that what she said was really true. The man just nodded his head. Then her eyes returned to their downward gaze and she continued in tones just barely audible. Just before the wedding, she met another man - a real scoundrel. She left the king for that fat, ugly, old man. After less than year, he left her and the child she had by him and now she was here.

Both sat there speechless, horrified by the tale the other told. Neither could explain their actions. There was no logic in it! And they did not try to make any excuses. Each saw in the other, just how far they had fallen.

"Look at me!" said the prostitute, "I am a used woman and have thrown away my youth. I have lost my only chance for love."

"And what about me!" said the prodigal, "My father gave me money that belonged to my grand father and my great grand father but I have spent it all in less than a year. I cannot even remember how! And what is worse, I have brought disgrace on my families name."

The realization of all that they had done; the moments of selfish, grasping pleasure, all the pain they had caused others, the emptiness; all of it overwhelmed them. They had nothing more to say to each other, no words of comfort. They just sat quietly until the rays of the sun no longer flooded through the opening in the ceiling of the shrine. The room was almost dark before the girl finally got up and lit a lamp. For the first time the man noticed that the room was filled with small statues. Judging by their exaggerated features, they must have been idols of Aphrodite and Ishtar. He had never really noticed how ugly and disfigured they looked until now. He turned his attention to the girl, clearly visible now by the flickering light of the lamp. He was startled by the change he saw. Her heavy make-up had run and she looked a mess but the hardness in her face was gone. It was as though at some point, while the room was still dark, she had removed a mask. He began to feel a little self conscious.

As he and stood up to go, the girl took the shekel from a small cloth bag and returned it to him.
"Thank you," she said.

He was the first one to pay the price but resist her charms and now she thought he stood a little straighter. He was still dressed in rags but behind all that, she saw a noble man.
"Maybe we will meet again!" she said to him.

I doubt it, he said with a sad smile.

He had a long journey ahead... and just one shekel left to return to his father.

So he got up and went to his father. "But while he was still a long way off, his father saw him and was filled with compassion for him; he ran to his son, threw his arms around him and kissed him. "The son said to him, 'Father, I have sinned against heaven and against you. I am no longer worthy to be called your son. "But the father said to his servants, 'Quick! Bring the best robe and put it on him. Put a ring on his finger and sandals on his feet. Bring the fattened calf and kill it. Let's have a feast and celebrate. For this son of mine was dead and is alive again; he was lost and is found.' Luke 15:20-24

And the girl?

Therefore, behold, I will allure her, and bring her into the wilderness, and speak tenderly to her. And there I will give her her vineyards and make the Valley of Achora door of hope. And there she shall answer as in the days of her youth, as at the time when she came out of the land of Egypt. Hosea 2:14-15 ESV

Yet I will remember the covenant I made with you in the days of your youth, and I will establish an everlasting covenant with you. Ezekiel 16:60

Priests of Egypt

2011-11-18T08:52:00.001-08:00

The rites and ceremonies of the Egyptians provides an interesting contrast with the Torah. Some of the ceremonies are similar but only in a shallow way. The spirit of the laws and ceremonies are as far apart as the two poles. Here are few quotes from Pierre Montet's book 'Eternal Egypt':

The daily rites were performed by priest who had been specially trained for this function; these were the uab, or pure ones. Theirs was a physical rather than a spiritual purity. They were circumcised, shaved the hair from their heads and bodies, washed frequently, were dressed in linen robes and, if they had intercourse with a woman had to wash before entering the sanctuary. They were not obliged to be celibate, or lead a life of austerity. An inscription on a stele runs as follows: 'O priest of Ptah, do not refrain from eating and drinking, from getting drunk or making love, from spending days in joyous celebrations, or following the dictates of your heart day and night. After all, what are the years we spend on earth, however numerous?"

Thy [priest of Egypt] did not preach any particular moral code, and ancient Egypt offers no example of a priest reproaching a Pharaoh with having committed an injustice, in the way the High Priest rebuked David....

I think Montet makes a mistake though as it was Nathan the prophet that rebuked King David and not Zadok or Abiathar the High Priests. The point is taken though.

Montet describes another ceremony:

Every morning the priest entered the holy of holies and made sure that the door was bolted. he would then open the door, and see the god who was supposed to have slept. he would wake him up, present him with his various garments, head-dresses and insignia, and proceed to dress him. After the god had been dress, he ate his first meal; he would have two or three more during the day, like human beings.

What a contrast this is to Yom Kippur!

Martyn Loyd-Jones in 1964 and 1980

2011-11-12T08:01:00.001-08:00

I have been reading a book on the church and its attitude towards Israel. It is written by a reformed theologian who rejects amillenialism and replacement theology. He references a sermon preached by Martyn Lloyd-Jones in 1964-65 in which Lloyd-Jones interprets Rom. 11:25-32 in the tradition of Luther or Calvin or even Augustine.

Where do you find any reference whatsoever to the land of Palestine or of Israel in this section. Where is there any mention of the restoration of the Jews to the land? Where is any mention of jerusalem as such and the reigning there of the Lord for a thousand years?

That was Martyn Lloyd-Jones in 1964. This is Martyn Lloyd Jones in 1980, one year before his death.

To me 1967, the year that the Jews occupied all of Jerusalem, was very crucial. Luke 21:43 is one of the most significant prophetic verses: 'Jerusalem,' it reads, 'shall be trodden down of the Gentiles until the time of the Gentiles be fulfilled.' It seems to me that that took place in 1967 - something crucially important that had not occured in 2000 years. Luke 21:43 is one fixed point. But I am equally impressed by Romans 11 which speaks of a great spiritual return among the Jews before the end time. While this seems to be developing, even something even more spectacular may be indicated. We sometimes tend to foreshorten events, yet I have a feeling that we are in the period of the end.... I think we are witnessing the breakdown of politics. I think even the world is seeing that. (Future Israel, Barry E. Horner)

Martyn Lloyd Jones was probably one of the most influential preachers of his day yet he had enough humility change his position on a significant topic. D.A. Carson also writes about an interview with Martyn Lloyd Jones shortly before his death. I think it speaks to the wisdom of this man.

"A few weeks before he died, someone asked him how, after decades of fruitful ministry and extraordinary activity, he was coping now he was suffering such serious weakness it took much energy to move from his bed to his armchair and back. He replied in the words of Luke 10:20: "Do not rejoice that the spirits submit to you, but rejoice that your names ware written in heaven." In other words, do not tie your joy, your sense of well-being, to power in ministry. Your ministry can be taken from you. Tie your joy to the fact you are known and loved by God; tie it to your salvation: tie it to the sublime truth that your name is written in heaven. That can never be taken from you. Lloyd-Jones added: "I am perfectly content."

Here then is a practical test as to whether the excellence I pursue is really for the glory and praise of God or for my own self-image. If the things I value are taken away, is my joy in the Lord undiminished? Or am I so tied to my dreams that the destruction of my dreams means I am destroyed as well? Paul's pursuit in prayer of what is excellent is not idolatrous; rather, it is bound up with praising God. He would have understood the ancient Irish hymn:

Be Thou my vision, O Lord of my heart,
All else but naught to me, save that Thou art;
Thou my best thought in the day and the night,
Waking and sleeping, Thy presence my light."

(A Call to Spiritual Reformation, D.A Carson)

Remembrance Day

2011-11-11T22:27:00.001-08:00

A heartfelt thank you to the soldiers who risk their lives for our freedom.

Menorah

2011-10-07T18:40:00.000-07:00

The menorah, cast and assembled, almost ready for the patina. It was cast in 17 parts and soldered together!

Salvations Song

2011-09-04T20:24:00.000-07:00

Then I heard every creature in heaven and on earth and under the earth and on the sea, and all that is in them, singing: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" The four living creatures said, "Amen," and the elders fell down and worshiped. Revelation 5:13-14

Apollo 8

2011-09-04T11:55:00.000-07:00

I am high in the sky, and still I do not see the face of god. Gherman Stepanovich Titov - Russian Cosmonaut

I don't see any god up here. Yuri Gagarin - Russian Cosmonaut

On December 21, 1968 America launched three of its best men 1/4 of a million miles into space. Their mission was to orbit the moon - for the first time. Their ride was a Saturn V rocket! I remember seeing one as a kid at Cape Canaveral. The Saturn V is made of 5.6 million parts screwed, bolted, welded, riveted and soldered together in the shape of a giant Sharpie. It took 7.5 million pounds of thrust produced by an engine that burned 17,000 tons of fuel a second for this flying skyscraper to escape earths gravitational field and send the space module on its way to the moon. To harness all this power the rocket was equipped with a computer with less processing power than a modern day calculator!

There was a lot that could go wrong on a launch like this. The astronauts privately figured they had a 1 in 3 chance of not surviving and a 2 in 3 chance of not making it to the moon. At any rate, the insurance companies would not insure them! (haha, no pun intended) They had good reason not too. The last Saturn V rocket nearly vibrated to pieces on take off and entered orbit in the wrong direction! And of course the tragedy of Apollo 1 was a tragic reminder of the risks involved when that much fire and fuel are together in one place.

Despite the risks, the launch went perfectly. After three days the capsule entered the moons orbit exactly as planned. Now, the primary task of the astronauts was to photograph the surface the moon and look for potential landing sites. Public relations were also an important part of mission (after all, they flew to the moon on tax dollars!) and so a broadcast back to earth was scheduled for Christmas Eve. The broadcast would be the most widely listened to broadcast in broadcast history. What were the astronauts supposed to say on this momentous occasion? "Do something appropriate," was all the instruction they were given from NASA. Astronauts were notoriously poor at describing what they saw. Some of their briefings were considered a 'rhetoric disaster'... so it is somewhat surprising that NASA didn't take a more active role in the broadcast.

The space module lost contact with earth as it disappeared behind the moon. It was a tense period. As one astronaut noted, "once in space hardly an hour would pass without a fresh opportunity for disaster." Floating quietly through space on the far side of the moon without a glimpse of the earth was a lonely experience. For the first time man felt homesick, nor for a street address, but for a planet! Imagine then, what it was like when Borman caught a glimpse of the earth through one of the small windows in the capsule as they round the backside of the moon!

Borman: Oh my G-d! Look at that picture over there! Here's the earth coming up. Wow, that is pretty!
Anders: Hey, don't take that, it's not scheduled.
Borman: (Laughter). You got a colour film, Jim?
Anders: Hand me that roll of colour quick, will you-
Lovell: Oh man, that's great!
Anders: Hurry. Quick...
Lovell: Take several of them! Here, give it to me...
Borman: Calm down Lovell.

The photograph taken by Anders became known as 'earthrise'. Curiously enough, the photograph was not scheduled and seemed to have taken everyone by surprise. The focus of the planners had been on the moon. That was, after all, what the entire program was about - to get man to the moon. Yet, for those watching the broadcast on Christmas Eve, it was the planet earth that was the focus of attention. After a general description of their conditions on the module, Frank Borman addressed the citizens of earth,

For all the people on Earth the crew of Apollo 8 has a message we would like to send you,

The three astronauts then took turns reading from the first chapter of the book of Genesis.

In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. And the earth was without form, and void; and darkness was upon the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God moved upon the face of the waters.

And God said, Let there be light: and there was light. And God saw the light, that it was good: and God divided the light from the darkness. And God called the light Day, and the darkness he called Night. And the evening and the morning were the first day...

Since Copernicus published, On the Revolution of the Spheres, the earth has been demoted from the center of the universe to just another planet. The theory of Copernicus was further adopted by scientific materialists to argue that the earth was not placed in a privileged place in the universe by God but happened there by chance (this is the Copernican Principal as opposed to the Theory). This philosophy allowed the possibility of life elsewhere in our galaxy. In the famous Drake equation, Frank Drake hypothesized that there were likely 10 million communicating civilizations in our galaxy alone. "I feel certain that we can find them now." wrote Drake. By 1966 Drake's views where regarded as orthodoxy. Prestigious physicists such as Carl Sagan became vocal advocates of the SETI program that scanned the skies for signs of intelligence. With this in mind, it is somewhat ironic that when man finally arrived in space and was able to look back at earth from 250,000 miles away, an achievement heralded by asto-futurist and scientific humanists as the next great step in human evolution, it actually had the opposite effect. People on earth were not looking out at the stars or at the moon - they were captivated by that lovely shimmering 'blue jewel' - bright, full of life, filled with the hopes and dreams of people yet no bigger than a persons thumb when held up against the dark vacuous ocean of space. From this perspective, the earth actually did seem like a very special place. Maybe life is a miracle after all? For many who listened to William Anders, Jim Lovell and Frank Borman as they read from Genesis, the ancient truths revealed in that text stripped away all pretense to knowledge and power. Having reached the heights of technological achievement, they chose to reflect on the beauty and the wisdom and the power of God. This was America's finest moment.

"As is stood in sunshine on this barren world somewhere in the universe looking up at the cobalt earth immersed in infinite blackness, I knew science had met its match. What I saw was almost too beautiful to have happened by accident." Apollo 17 astronaut Gene Cernan, Earthrise, Robert Poole

Therapy

2011-08-28T22:17:00.000-07:00

A counseling session - Bob Newhart style!

No, no, we don't go there... just stop it!

If this doesn't work, there is a cutting edge therapy that I just learned about. A fellow came up to me in the Mahane Yehuda market in Jerusalem and asked if I wanted to video him getting stung by bees? I asked him why I'd want to do that!? He insisted that it was a form of therapy - that a sting increases seratonin levels in the blood. Natural Prozac!

The Ancient Paths - The Good Way

2011-08-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Stand at the crossroads and look; ask for the ancient paths, ask where the good way is, and walk in it, and you will find rest for your souls. Jer. 6:16a

Do not be like Israel who said,

"We will not walk in them." Jer. 6:16b

The author of Hebrews seems to have Jer. 6:16 in mind when he warns,

"Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your hearts as you did in the rebellion, during the time of testing in the desert, where your fathers tested and tried me and for forty years saw what I did. That is why I was angry with that generation, and I said, 'Their hearts are always going astray, and they have not known my ways.' So I declared on oath in my anger, 'They shall never enter my rest.'" Heb. 3:7-11

Graduating

2011-08-23T12:44:00.000-07:00

ESV Proverbs 21:1 The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will.

They are letting me graduate... or I should say one very kind lady in a cubicle on the top floor of a building on a campus has decided... you've done enough!

Hurrah!

Common Descent - Part 1

2011-08-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Biola hosted a the debate between John West from the Discovery Institute and Karl Gilberson from Biologos called "Can a Christian be a Darwinist?" You can find it here. In the debate, Gilberson often appealed to 'the scientific consensus', that great bastion of orthodoxy outside of which live ROUS, flat-earthers and other miscreants. To belong to this consensus, one must repeat the creed inscribed throughout their sacred texts, "Common descent is a fact of natural history." Anyone who questions this dogma is, as Gilberson put it, "from the hills of Alabama" - as though this were the ultimate insult.

The theory of common descent is a interpretive framework that makes diversity and complexity a function of mutation and selection. Stephen Gould likened the process to the path a drunk takes from the wall of the bar to the street gutter. Change happens, the outcome is inevitable; the drunk will end up in the gutter and life will lurch from one form to another.

It is a theory that comes from looking at too many wall charts. Every sensible person feels that natures secrets cannot be explained by such a process. Walk through the maple forests along the Niagra Escarpment in October, and the drunk man lying in the gutter choking on his vomit is restored to his proper place as an object of pity. But is there any 'scientific' proof that would call into question 'common descent'? I am not a scientist but I remember a discussion from one of my biology classes that has always stuck with me. It had to do with the molecule lignin.

Lignin is what gives strength to the stems of plants without compromising its ability to transport water to its outer branches. A complex molecule synthesized by plants in an equally complex process, lignin has a higher strength to weight ratio than steel. The emergence of lignin is thought to have represented a major leap forward for plant life in the evolutionary scheme. But this has recently been called into question by the discovery of lignin in a species of Red Algae. This find was... well, as one researcher put it, striking!

Monolignols [lignin] have previously been identified exclusively in terrestrial plants and have never been implicated in aquatic algal development; their presence in a marine red alga is, therefore, striking.

Land plants were thought to have evolved from green algae, not red algae, and lignin was thought to have been a later development that only came after the evolution of mosses, liverworts and hornworts. In the tree below, the species with red boxes around them contain lignin. The one at the very bottom is Calliarthron - a species of Red Algae that also contains jignin. It is separated by a vast distance in terms of its relationship to terrestrial plants.

The authors of the paper note the implications of this discovery.

The discovery of polymerized hydroxycinnamyl alcohols [lignin] within the cell walls of red alga has major evolutionary implications. Because monolignol synthesis is exceptionally complex, it seems unlikely that Calliarthron and terrestrial plants evolved monolignol biosynthesis and polymerization completely independently.

It is 'unlikely' that lignin evolved separately (or at all for that matter) - about as 'unlikely' as someone winning the Indy 500 hammered. Thankfully the authors of the paper do not leave us in the dark regarding this mystery.

We speculate that lignin biosynthetic pathways may have functioned in the common unicellular ancestor of red and green algae, protecting cells from microbial infection or UV radiation and in Calliarthron, lignins may orient the fibrillar scaffolding that guides CaCO3 deposition.

If I understand correctly, they are saying that a unicellular ancestor of red and green algae had the ability to produce lignin even though it had no need of two of the major advantages that lignin is manifestly well designed to provide - strength and water transport. The authors suggest that the unicellular organism used lignin for protection from UV radiation or microbial injection. I suspect this'd be like saying that the new superalloys used in jet turbines were initially developed by Henry Ford for the bumper of his Model T. Even if we were to assume that a unicellular ancestor of algae evolved to produce lignin, it is incredible to think that it was not expressed in land plants for another 1 billion years, nor was it expressed in any other variety of Red Algae that we know of except one, Calliarthron. Now that is conservation!

Ultimately, the whole concept of a tree of life is flawed. It seems to me that the great variety of life is better compared to the spectrum of light. Classifications can be imposed and are useful to a point (ie. red, yellow, green and blue...etc) but to add a time element and infer evolutionary relationships is to say that blue must have evolved from green, green from yellow and yellow from red because that is how they run together in a rainbow.

My information is from here: Discovery of Lignin in Sea Weed Reveals Convergent Evolution of Cell-Wall Architecture

Pensee 332

2011-08-14T14:08:00.000-07:00

Pascal with his usual insight,

If a single man had written a book foretelling the time and manner of Jesus' coming and Jesus had come in conformity with these prophecies, this would carry infinite weight. But there is much more here. There is a succession of men over a period of 4,000 years, coming consistently and invariably one after the other, to foretell the same coming; there is an entire people proclaiming it, existing for 4,000 years to testify in a body to the certainty they feel about it, from which they cannot be deflected by whatever threats and persecutions they may suffer. This is of a quite different order of importance. (332) Pascal - Pensees

Klassen Ranch

2011-07-28T12:11:00.001-07:00

Klassen Ranch from ARC on Vimeo.

Blessings and Curses

2011-07-04T03:47:00.000-07:00

Blessings and Curses in Leviticus:

Israel was Blessed,

I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, that you should not be their slaves. And I have broken the bars of your yoke and made you walk erect.

But the Mosaic covenant was conditioned on obedience,

If... you will not listen to me... I will break the pride of your power, and I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain...

The ultimate consequence was exile. "And you will be scattered to the nations..."

End of story then? No.

If they confess their sins... if then their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob... Isaac and Abraham... and I will remember the land.

Blessings at Dawn

2011-07-02T13:29:00.000-07:00

In Jewish tradition blessings are said at dawn each morning. The prayer book of Rab Amram Gaon contains 18 blessings.

Blessed are thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe, who hast given to the cock the mind to distinguish between day and night,

who opens the eyes of the blind.
who clothest the naked.
who settest free them that are bound.

Another one of the blessings has been widely discussed,

Blessed art thou, O Lord our God, King of the Universe,
who hast not made me a heathen,
...who has not made me a slave,
...who hast not made me a woman."

The blessing is attributed to Rabbi Judah from end of 2nd century. Many versions of the blessing exist. For example, a longer version was found in the Cairo Genizah,

"Blessed are you our God, King of the Universe, for having created me a human being and not an animal, man and not woman, Jew and not Gentile, circumcised and not uncircumcised, free and not a slave, pure and not impure".

The blessing echoes an earlier Greek blessing attributed by Plutarch to Plato as he was dying,

Plutarch, in his Lives, Caius Marius, 46, attributes to the dying Plato an act of thanksgiving to Fortune for having been created a man, and not an animal, Greek and not barbarian. (F. Manns, Jewish Prayer in the Time of Jesus, 118)

Diogenes Laertius attributes a similar saying to Socrates,

Hermippus in his Lives refers to Thales the story which is told by some of Socrates, namely, that he used to say there were three blessings for which he was grateful to Fortune: first that I was born a human being and not one of the brutes; next that I was born a man and not a woman; thirdly, a Greek and not a barbarian.

These prayers are remarkably contrasted by Paul (1st century AD) in Col. 3:11 (cf. Gal. 3:18)

There is no Greek or Jew here,
circumcised or uncircumcised,
foreigner or Scythian,
slave or freeman.
Rather, Christ is everything in all of You.

This statement contained the seeds which ultimately brought about the emancipation of women and slaves.

(source: F. Manns, Jewish Prayer in the Time of Jesus, 1994 Franciscan Printing Press)

Nations and Nationalism

2011-06-29T12:29:00.000-07:00

I have been reading an interesting book by Amos Oz in which he interviews different segments of Israeli about their attitudes towards the land of Israel. One of the main problems he tries to address is how to reconcile his support for Zionism with his negative views on nationalism. The two seem to be mutually contradictory. In one place in the book, he recounts an address he made to a group in Ofra (this was the first 'settlement' established in Samaria). He writes,

We can all agree, without difficulty, that what Zionism means is that it is good for the Jewish people to return to the Land of Israel and it is bad for that people to be scattered among the nations. But from that point on - we disagree....

This is the place to make my first shocking confession-others will follow. I think that the nation-state is a tool, an instrument, that is necessary for a return to Zion, but I am not enamored of this instrument. The idea of the nation-state is, in my eyes, "goim naches" - gentiles delight. I would be more than happy to live in a world composed of dozens of civilizations, each developing in accordance with its own internal rhythm, all cross-pollinating one another, without any one emerging as a nation-state: no flag, no emblem, no passport, no anthem. No nothing. Only spiritual civilizations tied somehow to their lands, without the tools of statehood and without the instruments of war.

Amos Oz readily admits that his vision of a world without nation-states is an utopian dream; that in the real world he is, "forced to play the game of nations", but he feels like a "old man in a kindergarten."

His words remind me a little of John Lennon's song,

Imagine there's no countries
It isn't hard to do
Nothing to kill or die for
And no religion too
Imagine all the people
Living life in peace

Since the unspeakable horrors of WW2 the West reacted to fascism by pretending that culture is neutral and irrelevant. This is an experiment that is ending badly as European nations will readily admit. The struggle to maintain an open and friendly society and yet maintain ones culture and laws is not new. For example, in Against Apion Josephus tried to defend his people against charge of being a closed society by arguing that the Greeks where no different than the Jews in this regards,

Plato also especially imitated our legislator [Moses] in that he enjoined his citizens to pay to nothing more attention than to this, that every one of them should learn their laws accurately; as also that they should not have foreigners mixing with their own people at random, but that the republic should be pure, and consist only of those who obeyed the laws.

Apollonius Molon failed to consider this, when he accused us of not admitting those who have their own preconceptions about God, and having no fellowship with those who choose to observe a different way of living to ourselves. For this method is not peculiar to us, but common to all men, not to Greeks only, but also to men of the greatest reputation among the Greeks.

From what Ive read of Amos Oz so far, the debate that Josephus was engaged in two centuries ago is alive and well today.

Ebay HaNachal

2011-06-19T06:55:00.000-07:00

NaNach 1 from ARC on Vimeo.

Pascals Memorial

2011-06-12T23:56:00.000-07:00

Pascal was a brilliant guy. At just 19 years of age he invented an adding machine to help his dad with his work collecting taxes for Louis XVIII. His little box full of gears and levers became known as the Pascaline, the first functional calculator. In honor of his invention a programming language was named after him in the 1960's. Pascal's machine was a small commercial success, 20 of them would be made, but Pascal's interest shifted to a scientific controversy that raged in his day: "Can a vacuum exist in nature?" His opponents, the Scholastics, reasoned that a vacuum could not exist based on certain assumptions about the nature of the world. But Pascal wasn't convinced. Why did the Scholastic's use reason to explain a natural phenomena that should be explained by physical means? With this in mind, Pascal conducted a series of experiments that conclusively proved that a vacuum could exist. (He had his brother-in-law carry a barometer up a mountain to prove the air has mass just like anything else) Today, units of atmospheric pressure are called 'pascals' in recognition of his discovery. Pascal is also famous for 'Pascals triangle' - as every high school student knows from algebra class. Pascals work on conics contributed to the discovery of calculus and his theories of probability, along with those of others, led to the formation of the first insurance agency. He also developed the first public transit system for Paris.

By his early thirties, Pascal was a star in the salons of Paris. But he had grown disillusioned with the empty and vain lifestyle of the honnet homme, the educated gentleman. Lonely, physically sick and having nearly driven his carriage off of a bridge, Pascal began to think more seriously about spiritual matters. One night while reading John 17, he had an experience that would bring about a profound change in his life. The impression was so vivid that Pascal scribbled some lines on a scrap of paper which he sowed into a shirt pocket. It was later found by accident after his death and would become known as Pascal's Memorial. It offers a unique glimpse into the soul of Pascal during a difficult period in his life.

The year of grace 1654, Monday, 23 November, Feast of Saint Clement, Pope and Martyr, and of others in the martyrology, From about half past ten in the evening until half past midnight.

Fire

“God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,

not of philosophers and scholars.

Certainty, certainty, heartfelt, joy, peace.

God of Jesus Christ. God of Jesus Christ.

My God and your God.

Thy God shall be my God.

The world forgotten, and everything except God.

He can only be found by the ways taught in the Gospels.

Greatness of the human soul.

'O righteous Father, the world had not known thee, but I have known thee.'

Joy, joy, joy, tears of joy.

I have cut myself off from him.

They have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters.

'My God wilt thou forsake me?'

Let me not be cut off from him for ever!

'And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.'

Jesus Christ

Jesus Christ

I have cut myself off from him, shunned him, denied him, crucified him.

Let me never be cut off from him!

He can only be kept by the ways taught in the Gospel.

Sweet and total renunciation.

Total submission to Jesus Christ and my director.

Everlasting joy in return for one day's effort on earth

I will not forget thy word. Amen

(Pascal, Pensees 913)

The Memorial wasn't meant to be understood by anyone other than himself. But it is clear that over a period of two hours that night, Pascal exchanged human wisdom and philosophy for the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. He had read the likes of Montaigne and the French deists but emphatically turned his back on them. In place of the theoretical God of Descartes, the unmoveable First Mover of Aristotle, Pascal chose Jesus Christ, "the object of all things, the center towards which all things tend." (Pensees 449)

The Dragon!

2011-06-09T09:51:00.000-07:00

We shall not cease from exploration
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.

TS Eliot

A little boy went out to play in his backyard. It wasn't long before he became bored with that small, confined area and wandered off across the countryside in search of something more interesting - like a dragon! But the dragons were hiding that day and even giants were hard to find although he did see a pterodactyl. With evening fast approaching, he turned back for home, his wooden sword swinging uselessly by his side.

He could see the lights of his house flickering against the grey hills. Behind them, tall mountains with their heads in the clouds retreated toward the horizon. Only then did the boy see the dragon. And no ordinary one, but a big, fire breathing dragon whose fat body covered the entire hillside behind his house!
All he could do was stand there, frozen in place by its pitiless, unblinking eye. Then like a great hero, he pulled the sword from the loop by his side and prepared for battle. The dragon reared up, brilliant streaks of yellow and orange, purple and red lit up the sky, and then it fled leaving darkness behind it.

The boy hurried home with a slightly longer stride and a new respect for those familiar hills around his house. It had taken a long journey for him to see the dragon in his own back yard!

Parsimony vs. Economy

2011-05-14T11:08:00.001-07:00

I have read of some budget proposals in Canada that call for cuts strait across the board. Edmond Burke calls this approach 'parsimony'. I like this word - parsimony. It sounds like something Id like to have with my apple pie.

Parsimony

1. Unusual or excessive frugality; extreme economy or stinginess.

2. Adoption of the simplest assumption in the formulation of a theory or in the interpretation of data, especially in accordance with the rule of Ockham's razor.

Parsimony is what every Scotsmans, Dutchman and Conservative is accused of... and what the Obama administration cannot be accused of. But according to Burke, we should seek economy and not parsimony.

Mere parsimony is not economy, it is separable in theory from it and in fact it may or may not be a apart of economy according to circumstances. Expense and great expense may be an essential part in true economy...

Economy is a distributive virtue and consists not in saving but in selection.
Parsimony requires no providence, no sagacity, no comparison, no judgement but mere instinct, and that not of the noblest kind... The other economy has larger views. It demands a discriminating judgement and a firm sagacious mind.

The longer we avoid difficult decisions, the more difficult it will be to avoid parsimony down the road. We could decide that rather than make painful budget cuts, we will inflate our way out of our problems. But this would be truly parsimonious.

Burke on Temperate vs. Hot Reform

2011-05-14T10:17:00.000-07:00

In 1780 Edmund Burke was appointed to the lucrative position of Paymaster to the forces. At this time, paymasters were allowed to lend out excess money in their accounts at interest, thus taking risk with and profiting from public money (does this sound familiar anybody?). Burke put an end to this practice and accepted a salary that was 1/8th his predecessors! He did this despite serious financial problems that left him in perpetual debt his entire life.

Burkes most notable accomplishment during this period was the 1780 economics reform aimed at reducing Britain's annual budget deficits of 14 million pounds. At the center of the reform was the bloated Crown Civil List. Burke sought to reform this list by:

Abolishing useless offices
Diminishing royal authority over distribution of pensions or secret service funds
Asserting control of parliament over civil service

In a famous speech to parliament, the Father of Conservatism, described the difference between 'temperate' vs. 'hot' reform.

Genuine reform, in order to reduce abuses, must be accomplished gradually, the reformer sounding the lead all along the way.

Early reformations are amicable reformations with a friend in power.

Late reformations are terms imposed upon a conquered enemy.

Early reformations are made in cool blood.

Late reformations are made under a state of inflammation.

In that state of things the people behold in government nothing that is respectable.They see the abuse and they will see nothing else. They fall into the temper of a furious populous provoked at the disorder of a house of ill fame. They go to work by the shortest way, they abate the nuisance, they pull down the house.

Are we too late for temperate reform? And is there another Edmund Burke out there?

ET

2011-04-29T05:34:00.000-07:00

NASA recently announced a breakthrough discovery in regards to 'the search for extra terrestrial life'. When the announcement was made, the buzz on the internet was that a Mars Rover had finally discovered a microbe on Mars or something to that effect. I had to ask myself, what difference would it make to my beliefs if they actually did find microbial life on Mars or elsewhere? It would definitely present a quandary.

As it turned out, the announcement was about the discovery of a bacteria that used Arsenic in place of Phosphate in its bio-chemical processes. That life is able to adapt to such harsh environments would seem to make it all the more likely that life should be found elsewhere if it evolved. True, lack of evidence in no evidence at all (unless you are in the field of archaeology) but it remains that the SETI people should be asking the hard questions.

I came across this old telegram dated to 1924 when the orbits of mars and earth placed them in relatively close proximity to each other. It was thought by some astronomers that life from Mars might possible make contact with us at that point.

WASHINGTON-ALASKA MILITARY CABLE AND TELEGRAPH SYSTEM
TELEGRAM

RECEIVED AT 1308 1ST AVENUE, SEATTLE, WASH.

18RD B 78 GOVT DUPE

RD PUGETSOUND WN AUG 22 1924

GOVT COMDT 13 NAV DIST

SEATTLE WN

7021 ALNAVSTA EIGHT NAVY DESIRES COOPERATE ASTRONOMERS WHO BELIEVE POSSIBLE THAT MARS MAY ATTEMPT COMMUNICATION BY RADIO WAVES WITH THIS PLANET WHILE THEY ARE NEAR TOGETHER THIS END ALL SHORE RADIO STATIONS WILL ESPECIALLY NOTE AND REPORT ANY ELECTRICAL PHENOMENON UNUSUAL CHARACTER AND WILL COVER AS WIDE BAND FREQUENCIES AS POSSIBLE FROM 2400 AUGUST TWENTY FIRST TO 2400 AUGUST TWENTY FOURTH WITHOUT INTERFERRING WITH TRAFFIC 1800

SECNAV WASHN DC

257P

From here

The First Devo

2011-03-05T23:16:00.000-08:00

This verse caught my attention this morning,

And Isaac went out to meditate in the field at the eventide: and he lifted up his eyes, and saw, and, behold, the camels were coming. Gen 24:63

The word meditate is 'shuach' and is always used in reference to meditating on the laws or the works of God. Interestingly, this word is never used with God as its direct object... we meditate on his laws and his works but not on God. These were Hebrews - not Brahmans.

Why is it so hard to meditate and to pray? In the hour of trial the disciples fell asleep. I think somehow it is true that we are tired because we do not pray, rather than that we do not pray because we are tired.

I like Matthew Henry's Commentary on this verse:

1. Meditation and prayer ought to be both our business and our delight when we are alone; while we have a God, a Christ, and a heaven, to acquaint ourselves with, and to secure our interest in, we need not want matter either for meditation or prayer, which, if they go together, will mutually befriend each other.

2. Our walks in the field are then truly pleasant when in them we apply ourselves to meditation and prayer. We there have a free and open prospect of the heavens above us and the earth around us, and the host and riches of both, by the view of which we should be led to the contemplation of the Maker and owner of all.

One

2011-01-26T06:25:00.000-08:00

Today we usually associate persecution with narrow minded bigots, ie. radical Islam, etc. But intolerance is a knife that has cut both ways. Individuals who otherwise prided themselves on being inclusive have resorted to some of the most intense persecution. There was just a one idea they couldn't tolerate - 'One'.

Jews in the Hellenistic Period and the Influence of American Culture on Jewish Americans

Happy Thanksgiving

2010-11-26T05:06:00.000-08:00

You may have thought that gratitude comes from the heart but according to this MSNBC report, scientists now think that thankfulness has its source in our genes. Science aside, I cannot personally think of a more callous report to make at Thanksgiving time or a more sure way to rob the holiday of its festivity. But the march of modernism must continue until the spirit of man is crushed and destroyed! Let there be no mistake oh you superstitious masses, you are programmed to do good because if you do good then you will be more successful and more likely to pass on your 'goodness' genes to your progeny.

-----

Serving turkey sandwiches to the poor one day out 365 could very well be explained by evolution... but true selfless love cannot be explained so easily. For these Berkley scientist's it does not exist. As the school teacher / sociologist said to a group of kindergartners, "The big question is, what makes people happy?"

But true love does not have its source in man but in God. And neither does joy. I have seen this sacrificial love and joy in the lives of others. Their testimony speaks much more strongly than any scientific paper.

Just as a final note, one has to wonder how they get away with calling it science? How can one possibly falsify their conclusions?

Happy Thanksgiving everybody!

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Dawkins on Turnips

2010-11-26T00:00:00.001-08:00

I listened to a lecture by Richard Dawkins tonight in which he equated those who believe in special creation with holocaust deniers. According to Dawkins, all intelligent men must accept that they have descended from turnips. As I listened to him, I couldn't help thinking of Antiochus IV preparing to sacrifice a pig on the holy altar in Jerusalem. I know that sounds strange but it is Hanukkah and the arrogance of Dawkins lecture provides some basis for comparison with Epiphanus. I for one feel fairly insulted by this association with a turnip. However, in the spirit of our age, I have tried to focus on the positive aspects of his message and to find some common ground. I think I've succeeded. Both Dawkins and I both believe that a vital connection exists between human beings and turnips - that we both need each other. I will try to explain...

The turnip, of the leafy green variety, a tuber, excluded from high society, has the ability to harvest light energy from the sun and use this energy to split one of the most stable molecules in existence... water. It accomplishes this tricky and dangerous task with the help of a complex molecular machine called the chloroplast. Even my textbook can't hide its admiration for what the chloroplast can do.

"...the splitting of water is the most thermodynamically challenging reaction known to occur in living organisms. Splitting water in a laboratory requires the use of a strong electric current or temperatures approaching 2000 deg Celsius. Yet a plant cell can accomplish this feat on a snowy mountainside using only the energy of visible light." 1

By splitting water, the turnip plant takes what it needs from water (the 2H+ ions and 4e-) and releases what is left over... oxygen. In addition to light, the turnip also absorb CO2. By absorbing CO2 and releasing O2, the turnip does a great service to those of us who need O2 and release CO2. But the turnip plant does much more than scrub the air. It uses the energy harvested from the sun and the carbon absorbed from the air and makes turnips!

It is good that turnip plants make turnips because most of us aren't photosynthetic. We need to get our energy from a different source and it so happens that a turnip contains a lot of energy... if we can get at. But reducing a turnip back into usable energy is not easy. It requires another kind of cellular power plant... the mitochondria.

The mitochondria is a close counterpart to the chloroplast and uses a similar series of chemical reactions, except in reverse. Rather than splitting water and releasing oxygen, it uses oxygen to reassemble a molecule of water. In the process it releases CO2. Just as it was tricky for the chloroplast to split water, it is also tricky for the mitochondria to put the water molecule back together again.

"A major challenge for investigators is to explain how [oxygen is transformed back into water]. Most importantly, the process must occur very efficiently because the cell is dealing with very dangerous substances; the "accidental" release of partially reduced oxygen species has the potential to damage virtually every macromolecule in the cell." 2

These two little power plants, the mitochondria and the chloroplast, use the waste products and the final products of the other. One splits water and release oxygen, the other uses oxygen and reassembles water. One uses CO2 to create a sugar or starch (ie. the turnip) The other uses sugar or starch and releases CO2. The complementary nature of the mitochondria and chloroplasts and the way they are designed to make use of water, carbon and oxygen demand something that the theory of evolution is unable to provide... a reasonable explanation - preferably one that doesn't include turnips.

1. Carp, G. Cell and Molecular Biology: Concepts and Experiments, 2010 Wiley and Sons

Stuxnet

2010-11-19T05:20:00.001-08:00

I was at a small village in the West Bank a few weeks ago where four soldier were kept posted for security reasons. The soldiers came over to the house where I was staying for the Shabbat meal. It turned out that they were part of an intelligence unit who were at the outpost on a "... mans vacation", as they put it. They usually spent their days at a desk working as programmers but once a year they are given a week of active duty. "What kind of programming did they do?" I asked. And that was about as far as that conversation went.

I thought of them when I read about this Stuxnet worm that is designed to take control of the electronics which regulate the rotation speed of motors. From the report I read, it was almost certainly designed to sabotage nuclear centrifuges. Interestingly enough Iran is having difficulty keeping its centrifuges running and has confirmed that it is battling Stuxnet. Imagine steel cylinders full of costly plutonium spinning wildly out of control and disintegrating...

This was not a program created by a 16 year old kid bored with his homework. Many think that it was designed by a state... possibly Israel. Of course Israel has not confirmed one way or another although, according to the article, several Israeli intelligence officer break out in a big grin when the subject comes up.

The story makes one wonder about what goes on behind the scenes. There was an article in Time about the cyber-battles being fought between the US and China. It seems that in any future war, we may be as reliant on a shadowy group of hackers able to hack into servers and remain there like a bug on a wall, a wrong keystroke betraying their presence to the enemy. And of course, just recently, China hijacked 15% of the worlds internet traffic for 18 minutes, apparently putting secure connections at risk. I am not sure what that means, but you have to wonder that, having become so reliant on the internet for business and gov'n services, what would happen if the internet were compromised? Isn't the very nature of the world wide web - that it is open to all and unregulated - also place it at risk? Or is the internet somehow immune from the Inverse Law of Security and Freedom (ILOSAF)- an increase in security must result in a decrease in freedom.

This discussion is above my pay curve but I think I will buy some gold and short the Nasdaq anyway.

The story is from here

NaNachNachmanMeOman

2010-10-29T20:58:00.000-07:00

I visited a village in the West Bank last weekend. I was wasn't able to video on Shabbat... so I got the beginning and the end of it. The fellow that invited me belongs to a group of Jews who follow the teachings of Rabbi Nachman - a very mystical sect of Judaism that looks for patterns and numbers in the Torah. They hold fervent messianic expectations and one of the highest mitzvots according to Rabi Nachman is to be happy.

3 soldiers from an intelligence unit joined us for Shabbos. Two of them were computer programmers and the third was a Druze. There could not have been a greater contrast between the ultra secular world view of the soldiers and the ultra-religious one of our host. This is a major division in Israeli society but then again, the soldiers still came to the house of an orthodox man for Shabbos.

Clinging to a Cement Wall

2010-10-22T01:40:00.000-07:00

Ive heard it said that our faith is not in one proposition or another but in Jesus. I understand the intent behind this comment, I think I have probably said it, and I think there is some truth to it, but at the same time it can have the effect of making faith impossibly mystical and slippery and a source of real frustration.

Faith needs a proposition - something to be true or false.

Sir Robert Anderson writes of the massive cement piers on the Thames used to unload ships. Each of the piers has a chain on the end for a person who has fallen into the water to grasp. Otherwise, it is possible for a person to drown at the very edge of the pier, even as they try to cling to the cement wall. The drowning person needs a chain, something that can be grasped in the hand and with this they can climb onto the pier. In much the same way, putting ones faith in 'God' or in 'Christ' in a general sense is like trying to cling to a cement wall. God gave the Israelites symbols and ceremonies that were graspable to the hand of faith. In the same way we have the message contained in the Gospel, a message that contains real propositions... (cf. 1 Corin 15:3,4)

"The faith that 'comes by hearing,' brings us salvation and the knowledge of salvation. The faith that springs from abiding in Him and acquainting ourselves with Him, is the secret of a peaceful heart and a holy life. " R. Anderson, The Gospel and Its Ministr

I think that there is more of an emphasis today on faith in the sense of knowing a person to the exclusion of faith in a proposition. But this is like putting the batter behind the pitcher. Although he's on second base, there is no chance of making it to third. (although I guess he could steal a base... ok, maybe that was a bad illustration)

But are we forcing youth in our churches to cling to a cement wall?

Erev Yom Kippur in Mea Shearim

2010-10-17T03:15:00.000-07:00

I think this video was shot a day or two before Yom Kippur. This the kapparot ceremony that was made famous by the orthodox rabi who flew over Eilat in an ultralight with a chicken in order to sprinkle its blood over the city... If I have the story right, the authorities thought it was a terrorist attack and scrambled jets to force him to land.

Most people didn't seem to mind the camera although there was a young fellow cruising the neighborhood who took it on himself to warn me off. I've exacted my revenge by posting a video of his car on vimeo for the world to look at... Now that I think about it, that was a fairly insensitive thing to do. I should probably do Kipparot.

I hate to be intrusive with a camera the size of a canon... but if you are going to get interesting footage then you pretty much have to resign yourself to being hated. On the flip side, I've met a few who, having discovered that I shoot video, invited me to their settlements and asked me to record their message. I will be going to one next weekend. Should be interesting!

Moi Tribe

2010-10-15T12:12:00.000-07:00

This is tremendous! Well worth taking 10 minutes out of your day to watch.

Kipparot

2010-10-08T12:47:00.000-07:00

Here is a explanation of 'kipparot' by one of the rabbis on campus. Ive tried to define a few of the terms that he uses:

Slichot: prayers offered to prepare the heart to repent on erev yom kippur (eve of Day of Atonement)

Kipparot: a ceremony symbolizing atonement in which a chicken is waved over head 3 times

Tshuva: repentance

Rabbi Karo: wrote one of the definitive commentaries on the Mishnah in the 1500's.

Mitzvot: commandments

Atheism of Indifference

2010-10-04T01:04:00.001-07:00

I think the larger question is what Atheism is and is not.... There is a basic difference between the way moderns and medievals look at religion. Medieval religion was a series of propositions about the universe that was either true or false, there is a God; there is not a God; there was a creation, matter is eternal; there is providence there is not providence, there is award and punishment.

For moderns, for a whole variety of reasons, we do not view religion that way. We regard religion as self expression, and subjective experience and the truth of a propostion is owed to the intensity with which it is believed. I happen to think that the medieval way of looking at religion was correct. That whatever religion is, it is a picture of the universe that is either true or false.

...there is another problem which is the atheism of complete indifference. Most Americans are atheists not because they believe that God does not exist but because they spend all their time shopping.

Leon Wieseltier

-------

I thought these were some interesting insights although I am not sure I would want to lift up medieval religion as a guiding light...

Psalm 110

2010-10-03T00:44:00.000-07:00

In Matt. 22:44 Jesus challenged the Pharisees to identify who King David was referring to in the reference to 'my Lord' in Psalms 110.

"'The Lord said to my Lord: "Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet."'

In Psalms 110 it literally reads "Jehovah says to my Adonai..."

But the New American Bible adds 'you' and a comma.

The Lord (Jehovah) said to you, my Lord (Adonai)...

This is clearly an interpretive decision as 'you' is not in any of the manuscripts. No other translation goes so far as to add a word that is not in the originals. By adding 'you' the NAB (not to be confused with the NASB) puts the words of the Psalm into the mouths of court singers and makes 'Adoni' a personal reference to king David rather than to the Messiah.

Was the Psalm written for court singers to extol the power and virtues of King David? Jesus interpretation of the Psalm clearly rules that out. Jesus put the words of the Psalm in the mouth of David and then asks who is the person that David calls 'Lord'? The implication being that the Messiah is not a reincarnation of King David but is greater and sits at the right hand of God.

Psalm 110 contains some similarities to Psalm 2. Both contain references to the world wide rule of the Messiah. A kingdom that was never fulfilled in David.

He will judge the nations, heaping up the dead and crushing the rulers of the whole earth. Psalm 110:6

"I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill." I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, "You are my Son; today I have become your Father. Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery." Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him. Psalm 2:6-12

The boundaries of Israel are clearly spelled out in Num 34. Even the expanded boundaries mentioned in Genesis 15:18 and Deut. 11:24 do not extend past the Nile or Euphrates. Only the Messiah will rule the nations and judge them as was foretold by Jacob.

The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, until he comes to whom it belongs and the obedience of the nations is his. Genesis 49:10

It is interesting also that Psalm 110 contains the only other reference to Melchizedek in the OT.

The LORD has sworn and will not change his mind: "You are a priest forever, in the order of Melchizedek." Psalm 110:4

It is hard to understand how David would receive this kind of praise as he was never allowed to build the temple because of the blood on his hands. But that is more speculative.

And I am not sure what this means.

He will drink from a brook beside the way; therefore he will lift up his head. Psalm110:7

What is clear is that David spoke of one who would judge the nations who he referred to as both Adonai and a Priest in the order of Melchizedek. And that is something to take to heart.

Faith

2010-09-30T23:09:00.000-07:00

Several weeks ago I was asked if there was any chance I would convert to Judaism? How do you answer a question like that? The man asking the question had invited me to a study of Judaism but wanted to make sure that I was open minded enough that he wasn't wasting his time. I asked him first if he would be willing to convert to Christianity? He said that he would be if he was persuaded that it was true... furthermore he said that when he was a college student in Georgia he had 'gone to the altar' after being witnessed to by "Christians who had a gleam in their eye". When he told his Rabi what he had done, the Rabi did not argue with him but told him that, "he owed it to his people to discover why so many Jews were killed on their refusal to convert to Christianity." This quest led him to reject the Christian faith and to become an orthodox Rabi. He told me that he had found in his studies that Judaism was very logical whereas Christianity was not based on reason but on experience. However, if it could be proven to him that Judaism was false and that Christianity was true then he would have to convert.

So what about me, he asked? Could I be persuaded to convert to Judaism?

This conversation got me thinking about the nature of faith. If our faith is only a reasoned response to evidence then we should never be fully persuaded of the truth and should always allow for the possibility that we may be wrong. But this is not how faith is defined in Hebrews 11.

Faith is the substance of things hoped and the certainty of what we do not see.

Faith is not a conclusion reasoned from premises. Neither is faith a matter of probability quantified through experimentation and observation. It is not like a scientific theory that is true until it is shown to be false.

At the heart of faith is revelation.

I think revelation is viewed as an inferior way of knowing. Many argue that reliance on revelation places the human mind into a prison of dogmatism. I respectfully disagree. Take one quick glance at the history of philosophy and tell me that human reasoning alone is not utterly futile. This is freedom? And one has to be a blind, deaf and dumb disciple of science to think that some of what we call science today will not meet the same fate as spontaneous generation, Lamarcks' theory of evolution or the theories of the spheres. Thomas Kuhn has persuasively argued in his book, `The Nature and Structure of Scientific Revolution" that science is prone to seismic shifts as one paradigm is replaced with another. Science is particularly prone to error as it deals with philosophical questions. It is better to take a more humble approach and recognize the distinctions and limitations of each form of knowledge.

Blaise Pascal, the great theologian as well as outstanding scientist, makes some helpful distinctions. Pascal separated knowledge into three orders. These are “the order of nature, the order of mind, and the order of charity.” (Eliot, in. loc) For Pascal it was critical to distinguish between these three orders and to give each its proper place. The order of nature required rigorous experimentation, the order of mind demanded sound reasoning and the order of charity required spiritual understanding and intuition.

Pascal believed that certainty was only possible for those things that belonged to the ‘order of charity’ because they were rooted in God and not in man. Pascal warned that, “reason’s speculation, when cut loose from divine authority, lead people into a junk yard of dead theological platitudes.” (MacKenzie, pg. 41) For Pascal, Gods revelation of himself through Scripture was paramount. This conviction led Pascal to disagree with those philosophers that said that God could be discovered in nature through reason alone. According to Pascal, “It was part of God’s purpose and strategy to give enough light through nature to guide sincere seekers, and enough darkness to keep rebels from being unwillingly bludgeoned into accepting the truth.” (MacKenzie, pg. 91) Natural revelation led genuine seekers to a fuller and more specific revelation of God.

Pascal did not reject reason in matters of faith. He was very interested in the types and prophecies found in the Old Testament, especially as they related to the Jews and to Jesus. He saw in these types and prophecies, proofs that served to confirm the claims made by Jesus to be the Messiah. Pascal even sought to use his mathematical work on probabilities to challenges his readers to consider the repercussions of their decision to believe that God does or does not exist. Pascal said, "You must wager; it is not optional... Let us weigh the gain and the loss in wagering that God exists... If you gain, you gain all; if you lose, you lose nothing. Wager, then, without hesitation, that He exists." (Pascal, Pensees 233)

However, alongside these proofs was a recognition of the limitations of reason. Pascal constantly sought to balance what could be understood by reason with what must simply be recognized as a mystery. “If the truths of Christian religion depended entirely upon reason, it would be stripped of its mysterious and supernatural content. On the other hand, if the principles of reason were offended, then religion became “absurd and ridiculous.”” (Sedgwick, pg. 89)

So how should I answer the Rabi? Can I be persuaded to convert to Judaism?

Well I think it is too late. I have already jumped. Although reason may have led me to the cliff, my leap was a leap of faith based on the conviction that the words of Prophets were fulfilled in Yeshua and that the law is perfected in him. Now that I have jumped, I cannot go back. If a mans wife returns home in the middle of the night and tells him that she was delayed because the car broke down, should he doubt her?

Love... always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres. Love never fails. But where there are prophecies, they will cease; where there are tongues, they will be stilled; where there is knowledge, it will pass away.

Yeah, I know that is a mystical take on faith but then, as Pascal put it, the heart has its reasons of which reason knows nothing. This is knowledge of the first order.

But what do you think?

Pascal, B. Pensees, trans. by A.J. Krailshammer, London: Penguin, 1995

Eliot, T.S., An Introduction to Pensees, by Blaise Pascal, vii-xix, New York: E.P. Dutton & Co., 1958

Krailshammer, A.J., An Introduction to Pensees, by Blaise Pascal, ix-xxx, London: Penguin, 1995

MacKenzie, C. S., Blaise Pascal: Apologist to Skeptics, University Press of America: Lanham, 2008

Sedgwick, Alexander, Jansenism in Seventeenth-Century France: Voices from the Wilderness, The University Press of Virginia, 1977

Oakes, E. T., Pascal, The First Modern Christian. First Things. no95(41) 1999

Botanical Gardens

2010-09-13T07:46:00.001-07:00

Bethesda

2010-09-11T23:46:00.000-07:00

St. Anne is an old Crusader Church built in 1100's. It has amazing acoustics - sound reverberates through the whole building although I think it would be a disaster for anyone trying to preach.

According to Catholic tradition, St. Anne was the mother of Mary and this cathedral was built to mark the place where Mary was born. What is of more interest to me is that it was built at the site of the Pool of Bethesda where the sick would wait for healing just outside of the temple.

John 5:2-9 Now there is in Jerusalem by the Sheep Gate a pool, in Aramaic called Bethesda, which has five roofed colonnades. 3 In these lay a multitude of invalids--blind, lame, and paralyzed. 4 5 One man was there who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. 6 When Jesus saw him lying there and knew that he had already been there a long time, he said to him, "Do you want to be healed?" 7 The sick man answered him, "Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up, and while I am going another steps down before me." 8 Jesus said to him, "Get up, take up your bed, and walk." 9 ¶ And at once the man was healed, and he took up his bed and walked. Now that day was the Sabbath.

The man thought Jesus might help him into the pool. He got much more than that!

Kippur - Part 2

2010-09-09T13:38:00.001-07:00

So we have met with a Rabi here on campus several times since the last post...

If there is one thing I have taken from what has been said about atonement is that there is a general desire to downplay the significance of blood in the ceremonies instructed by God on Mt. Sinai. (I think think is true in Church as well)

The Rabi took us to several passages to show that the blood of a sacrifice was not always necessary for atonement in the OT. There was no sin offering mentioned in Leviticus in which a grain offering could be made if the person could not afford a couple of birds.

Leviticus 5:11 - "But if he cannot afford two turtledoves or two pigeons, then he shall bring as his offering for the sin that he has committed a tenth of an ephah of fine flour for a sin offering. He shall put no oil on it and shall put no frankincense on it, for it is a sin offering.

Another place that mentions atonement apart from a blood sacrifice is in the instructions for taking a census of Israel. A 1/2 shekel tax was to be levied for the maintenance of the temple and so that no plague would break out against the people during the census.

11 ¶ And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, 12 When thou takest the sum of the children of Israel after their number, then shall they give every man a ransom for his soul unto the LORD, when thou numberest them; that there be no plague among them, when thou numberest them. 13 This they shall give, every one that passeth among them that are numbered, half a shekel after the shekel of the sanctuary: (a shekel is twenty gerahs:) an half shekel shall be the offering of the LORD. 14 Every one that passeth among them that are numbered, from twenty years old and above, shall give an offering unto the LORD. 15 The rich shall not give more, and the poor shall not give less than half a shekel, when they give an offering unto the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. 16 And thou shalt take the atonement money of the children of Israel, and shalt appoint it for the service of the tabernacle of the congregation; that it may be a memorial unto the children of Israel before the LORD, to make an atonement for your souls. Exodus 30:11-16

The atonement money was given "so that there would be no plague" when the census was taken. Was this why a plague broke out when King David numbered the people in 2 Sam. 24?

The Rabi also discussed why atonement was made for the altar. The altar cannot sin... so why atonement? It seems that according the commentators, atonement was made for the altar because it is likely that the altar contained material given with impure motives - and thus atonement was made to purify it... and to separate it from the common. (in other words to sanctify it and make it holy)

What I don't understand is the desire to disconnect atonement from the blood of a sacrifice? Leviticus seems to be pretty clear on the matter: (even if there are some general exceptions for the poor)

Leviticus 17:11 For the life of a creature is in the blood, and I have given it to you to make atonement for yourselves on the altar; it is the blood that makes atonement for one's life.

Some other questions that came up:

Was there any significance in the blood applied to the door post and lintel of the house during the Passover feast? No... It was simply a sign of obedience to God and had nothing to do with the sin of the Israelites.

What was the first recorded sacrifice? Cain and Abel.

When was the first recorded death? It was the death of an animal to provide clothing for Adam and Eve. Why did God clothe Adam and Eve? To show his love for them because fig leaves are uncomfortable. Is there significance to Adam and Eves feeling of nakedness and Gods provision of clothing other than purely physical considerations? Could this be considered the first sacrifice?

Anyway, that is the gist of the far ranging conversations that we had...

In finishing off this post, I think there is a danger in focusing only on the atonement sacrifices as though they were the sole purpose of the tabernacle... They were not. The tabernacle was 'the Dwelling Place' where God met with his people.

What was the music like? And what craftsmanship and skill went into the making of the tent and its furnishings? What vivid and meaningful ceremonies - such as the pouring out of water and wine at the feast of Tabernacles or the offering of the first fruit's - were carried out as the people came before God with joy and singing at the appointed feasts? What messages of the prophets were spoken for the first time in its courts?

Psalm 84:10 10 Better is one day in your courts than a thousand elsewhere; I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of the wicked.

This was not a dark and depressing cathedral filled with the chanting of men who sound like they are at the edge of the grave.

But what is clear... and this what all of Rabinic Judaism seems to wish to deny... was that the sacrifice of atonement was at the heart of everything else that occurred in the tabernacle.

As the writer of Hebrews said,

Hebrews 9:22 22 In fact, the law requires that nearly everything be cleansed with blood, and without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.

Matthew Henry - on the burnt offering:

It must be offered at the door of the tabernacle, where the brazen altar of burnt-offerings stood, which sanctified the gift, and not elsewhere. He must offer it at the door, as one unworthy to enter, and acknowledging that there is no admission for a sinner into covenant and communion with God, but by sacrifice...

Kippur - Part 1

2010-09-03T10:33:00.000-07:00

Once a week, after the Ulpan is finished, a visiting Rabi or professor gives a talk on theology, Judaism, etc. With Rosh HaShana (the head of the year) approaching and Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement) soon after, there has been some discussion on kippur... or 'atonement'.

Here are a few notes from the session:

The Rabi has said that the goal of our existence is to be increasingly filled with God's presence. The more we obey God the closer God draws near to us. As far as I understand his concept of salvation, we are saved and are made fit for heaven by our actions. This brought up a question: If God dwells in us based on keeping his commands then what is the purpose and meaning of atonement in the Tannach? Why did atonement figure so prominently in the ceremonies conducted by the priests in the tabernacle?

The Rab knew where this question was going and said that Christians have a concept of atonement that focused on death as the means by which God forgives sin but that this was not correct interpretation of atonement... or of the sacrifices.

According to the Rabi, since the temple has been destroyed, the sacrifices that God finds acceptable are the fruit of our lives - the sacrifices of our lips. So what is atonement?

At this point a religious lady who was a Jew described 'kaparot' , a ceremony in which a chicken is slaughtered on eve of Yom Kippur (The Day of Atonement). She told us that she could not sleep for two nights after she had done 'kapporot.' She told the class that although you can read about it, it is not until you actually do 'kaporot' that it becomes meaningful. It is when you grab the chicken by the wings and feel its heart beating and then realize that you deserved to die instead of the chicken...

What she had described was exactly my understanding of 'kippur'.

The Rabi said that although on the surface atonement appears to have the same meaning to Jews and Christians, that this was not the case. He offered to meet with those of us interested, mostly Christians by this point, to explain atonement further. It was a friendly conversation and it has helped bring the meaning of 'atonement' into sharper focus. I will write more about the results of our second meeting with the Rabi another time. (I am out of time right now)

There seems to be an increasing amount of debate surrounding this word in 'Christian' circles. There have been a number of books written recently that reject substitutionary atonement and refer to the concept as divine child abuse. (I haven't read the books but only reviews)

Such a view denies the unity of God and makes a mockery of the tremendous mystery of the Incarnation.

Tacitus on the Jews

2010-09-01T03:47:00.000-07:00

Reading Tacitus reminds me a little of reading articles written by Hitchens, Harris or Dawkins about 'Christian fundamentalists' except that Tacitus writes with a degree of hatred that can only be understood in the context of that ancient hatred that has been uniquely reserved for the Jewish people.

Tacitus writes of the Jewish traditions,

"Things sacred with us, with them have no sanctity, while they allow what with us is forbidden

[Jewish customs]...which are at once perverse and disgusting, owe their strength to their very badness. The most degraded out of other races..."

What are these customs that Tacitus finds so disgusting?

"They slay the ram, seemingly in derision of Hammon, and they sacrifice the ox, because the Egyptians worship it as Apis."

Tacitus is not disgusted with the sacrifices themselves (he later criticizes them for not offering sacrifices) but with the idea that the Jews offer sacrifices to spite the Egyptians. Is this simply ignorance? Did Tacitus have no understanding of atonement? Or is this just polemics?

What other criticisms did he have?

They practiced circumcision, they do not sleep with foreign women, they do not expose their children, they keep one day for rest and they do not eat bacon.

Is this all that Tacitus can marshal against "the most base of races"?

Among other observations by Tacitus, I thought this one was most interesting,

"The Egyptians worship many animals and images of monstrous form; the Jews have purely mental conceptions of Deity, as one in essence. They call those profane who make representations of God in human shape out of perishable materials. They believe that Being to be supreme and eternal, neither capable of representation, nor of decay. They therefore do not allow any images to stand in their cities, much less in their temples."

While jeering, Tacitus unintentionally described the very aspects of the Jewish faith that make it timeless and profound.

Potash

2010-08-29T11:07:00.000-07:00

At a campus meeting at the U of C, I had an opportunity to ask Alberta's Finance Minister, Ted Morton, why Alberta was selling its natural resource to foreign state owned enterprises. I don't pretend to know much about this subject but I was expecting to get a well informed answer as to why our leaders approved the sale of Conoco Phillips 10% stake in Syncrude to Sinopec for 4.6 billion dollars or why Encana was allowed to sell the equivalent of 20.8 million barrels of oil reserves to STX Energy, an unlisted Korean company... however, the answer I received was along the lines of, "I haven't given that question enough thought to give a proper answer." Our finance minister had not given enough thought as to why we are selling major stakes of our resource to other nations... directly. Does our national sovereignty mean anything at all?

Now BHP Billiton has made a hostile bid for the worlds major producer of potash in Sasketchewan. Next to the oilsands this is one of Canada's most important strategic assets. Although it is true that BHP Billiton is a privately owned corporation, it seems to me that there is something rotten at the heart of our free market system. If, by free markets, we mean the freedom of citizens to build and grow and profit from their work, then I support free markets whole heartily. But free markets no longer belong to citizens but to corporations (or their state owned equivalents). There are many ways in which the interests of citizens and corporations intersect, but the sale of land and resources to foreign nations is not one of them.

See also:

Corporate investors lead the rush for control over overseas farmland

Pascal on Natural Revelation

2010-08-27T02:25:00.000-07:00

In his Pensees Pascal describes his despair at what can be known about God through nature alone:

This is what I see and what troubles me. I look around in every direction and all I see is darkness. Nature has nothing to offer me that does not give rise to doubt and anxiety. If I saw no sign there of a Divinity I should decide on a negative solution: if I saw signs of a Creator everywhere I should peacefully settle down in the faith. But seeing too much to deny and not enough to affirm, I am in a pitiful state...

We are truly in a pitiful state if all we can know of the meaning of 'life' is what we discover through our senses. We look up at the great, majestic trees of the forest and feel that they must be the work of God but then recoil in horror when we watch the grim drama that unfolds on their branches when a parasite takes control of the mind of an ant and causes it, in the last moments of its life, to lock onto a leaf stem with its mandibles and become an incubator for the next generation of deadly fungus.

It would be better that God had not revealed himself to us at all than leave us alone with the light of nature... As Pascal put it,

"I have wished a hundred times over that, if there is a God supporting nature, she should unequivocally proclaim him, and that, if the signs in nature are deceptive, they should be completely erased; that nature should say all or nothing so that I could see what course I ought to follow. Instead of that, in the state in which I am, not knowing what I am nor what I ought to do, I know neither my condition nor my duty. My whole heart strains to know what the true good is in order to pursue it: no price would be too high to pay for eternity."

So nature makes us thirsty but it doesn't satisfy our thirst.

Hey from J'lem

2010-08-25T03:52:00.000-07:00

I am in the middle of the Summer Ulpan... (still not sure what Ulpan means in Hebrew) at the HU. It is has been great fun and Hebrew is a snap... and every evening Arabs, Jews and Christians and even Atheists join together in song and dance.

It is hard to believe that 3 weeks have gone by already! Today marks the middle of the Ulpan (at least today we wrote the midterm today). I have learned a lot since being here:

1. A 110 V clothes iron gets hot quickly when plugged into a 220 V outlet. You can iron a hemp shirt left damp in the dryer for 2 days in a flat 60 seconds. The secret is to always keep the iron moving and to make good use of the steam function. Its a good idea to keep a window open nearby to toss the flaming shirt if you run out of water or absent mindedly (my spell check says that isn't word?) leave the iron rest in one spot for more than a few seconds.

2. Don't be offended if the man behind the falafel stand looks at you like your an imbecile. If someone ordered a hamburger in your country by pointing to different pictures on the menu and saying, "There is a meat, there is a bread, there is a salad and there is a pickle" and then asks "How much to pay for the dog?" well, you'd probably look at them the same way.

3. Pedestrian walks are optional. You have better odds playing Russian roulette with a derringer than you do with Israeli crosswalks. It is best to understand that the white lines painted on the road are a memorial to former pedestrians who thought they had the right of way.

So it has been a good 3 weeks and I am grateful to be here.

I will write more later and post some pics soon.

PS - If you came across this blog by Googling "mindedly" please leave a comment. I would love to hear from you.

Fishing Trip - Summer 2010

2010-08-14T04:45:00.001-07:00

Here is a little video from a fishing trip this summer with my good buddy, Jon Kontz. I am in Jerusalem now and that trout stream has never looked so nice!

Nerzhin vs. Sologdin

2010-06-26T09:07:00.000-07:00

In his book "The First Circle", Solzhenitsyn contrasts the world view of an agnostic and a Christian in the lives of two men, Nerzhin and Sologdin. Both are prisoners in the Gulag trying to make sense of their lives.

Nerzhin has become disenchanted with Communism and has retreated into skepticism. Although he is a scientist working on a top secret project for Stalin, he wants to quit his work and return to hard labour so that he can focus on finishing a book that he has started secretly writing.

Sologdin, on the other hand, is a Christian. In the words of Solzenitzyn "He was a non entity, a slave without rights. He had been inside for twelve years, but because he had been sentenced to a second term, there was no knowing when, if ever, his imprisonment would end. His wife had wasted her youth waiting in vain for him. To avoid dismissal from her present job, as from so many others, she had pretended that she had no husband and had stopped writing to him. Sologdin had never seen his only son-his wife had been pregnant when he was arrested. Sologdin had gone through the forests of Cherdynsk, the mines of Vorkuta, two periods under investigation, one of six months, one of a year, tormented by lack of sleep, drained of his strength, wasting away. His name and his future had long ago been trampled into the mud. All he possessed was a pair of well-worn padded trousers and a tarpaulin work jacket, kept at present in the storeroom in expectation of worse times to come. He was paid thirty rubles a month-enough for three kilos of sugar-but not in cash. He could breathe fresh air only at stated times authorized by the prison authorities. And in his soul there was a peace that nothing could destroy. His eyes sparkled like those of a young man. His chest, bared to the frost, heaved as though he were experiencing life to the full."

The two men volunteered to cut wood for the camp - because they believed it was good for the soul. In between their sessions pulling on the handles of a whipsaw, they spoke about God and the meaning of life.

----------------
Nerzhin sighed.

"You know, I don't even mind acknowledging a Creator, some sort of higher Reason in the universe. I'll even say that I feel it to be so, if you want me to. But supposing I found out that there is no God, would I be any less moral?"

"Undoubtedly!"

"I don't think so. And why do you have to insist, why do all of you always insist, that we must recognize not just God in some general sense but a concrete Christian God, plus the Trinity, plus the Immaculate Conception? Would my philosophical deism be the least bit shaken if I learn that not one of the Gospel miracles ever happened? Of course it wouldn't !"

Sologdin sternly raised a hand with an admonitory finger.

There's no other way! If you begin to doubt a single dogma of the faith, a single word of the scriptures, all is lost! You are one of the godless!"

His hand slashed the air as though it held a saber.

"That's what repels people! All or nothing! No compromises, no allowances made. But suppose I can't accept it in toto? What can I be sure of? What can I rely on? I keep telling-the one thing I know is that I know nothing."

Socrate's apprentice took hold of the saw and offered the other handle to Sologdin.

"Another time then," Sologdin agreed. "Lets cut wood."

Solzenitzen - The First Circle

-------

Solzhenitsyn was exactly right that the dogmatism of Christians is what repels many. Christianity is an "all in" proposition. Faith does not deal in probabilities but is the certainty of things hoped for. But there is a way to get around this strait-jacket imposed by faith. This is by expanding the "the historical-grammatical" interpretation of the text to encompass any meaning a person wishes to give to a passage... within certain, ever expanding, boundaries of course. Part of the tendency towards a mystical/allegorical reading of the text is a reaction against dead orthodoxy.

But there is no need to dispense with a normal hermeneutic in order to recapture the mystery or life of Scripture. Neither does a straightforward way of reading the Prophets and Apostles necessarily dispel ambiguity... if anything, it preserves a legitimate amount of ambiguity. Rather than invent an interpretation, we are forced to leave it wrapped up and left under the tree until "we no longer see dimly as in a mirror" but shall see face to face. In the end, I think we find that what might have been regarded as a straitjacket is really perfect freedom in a world where each person does what is right in their own eyes.

It is easy to forget that, apart from the light of Scriptures, what do we know? Really, what do we know? Do we know that God is One? Do we know that God is Love? Do we know that sin is a corruption of what is good? Do we know that we are created in the image of God and have infinite worth. Do we know that life is sacred? Do we know that there will be a resurrection and a final judgment? Do we know of the Atoning Sacrifice? Do we know of holiness? Do we know of the sanctity of marriage? Do we know of the Christ and the future Restoration of all things? Do we have hope? Do we have any of what we love and cherish now?

Search in vain for the lofty ideals that have served as the underpinning of our stable and peaceful civilization. Look for them in the religions of the Polytheists. You won't find them in the writings of Homer or Hessiod! Yet somehow we modern day Evangelicals, have the impertinence to rise above the Sacred Script and look down on it with frowning and judgment.

Christians are a hairs breath away from Skeptics and have been long before skepticism became fashionable - long before Positivism was trampled into the mud during the time of Europe's troubles. Nerzhin said, "The one thing I know is that I know nothing." Yes, Nerzhin, you are right. We know nothing... without faith. It is faith that makes the difference.

Joe

2010-06-13T21:33:00.000-07:00

Joe.

He was a former roommate... about 26 yrs old.

On the day he moved in, he was beaming from ear to ear. He told me later that he had been on the streets but was trying to make a change in life. He was done with drugs, he said. Joe was scrupulously clean and I could tell that he was thrilled to be living in a decent place. I am not sure who it was that helped him move in. He sometimes spoke of his mother but according to Joe, she was living with a man that didn't like him very much. Joe didn't have a job although he pretended that he worked for a broker selling insurance. That was all a lie. As he later admitted, he was living off of gov'n checques. He spent most of his days laying World War Craft.

On the night I moved out he told me he was in trouble. "My mind is like a Picasso, you know those paintings where nothing makes sense." Joe had a problem with paranoia. He once told me he thought someone was poisoning the water because it had a funny taste. I told Joe that these thing were not real and that he shouldn't mention this to anyone. But he didn't listen. I heard later that he had been kicked out of his place because he accused his roommate of breaking into his room and had screwed a padlock to his door.

He is living in dark, rank basement now and paying about the same rate as he did for the last place. He told me that people somehow know things about him and that there is a conspiracy to keep him from getting a place to live. He doesn't understand that people judge by outward appearances; by the way a person carries themselves and how they speak. Joe never learned those social graces.

The hallway down to Joe's basement suite.

The Kitchen / Laundry room

Joe's Bedroom

Joe said he was something of an artist which, I admit, I doubted. But he gave me this picture the next week - all done with a ball point pen.

I wonder sometimes if there is hope for Joe? Was there hope for the people of Naphtali and Zebulun?

A land wrapped in darkness like a cold wet blanket. A place of gloom where every song is screamo, every procession a funeral and every glance an accusation.

Those walking in darkness have seen a great light. Isaiah 9:1,2

Elbow River

2010-06-02T21:11:00.000-07:00

Took a few pics this evening down along the Elbow... It is real nice this time of the year. The river run through the middle of the city but I have seen beaver, muskrat, a coyote with her pups and, last night, an osprey. What I haven't seen is any fish rise to the surface... still tempted to try my luck...

Our house for the last 6 months. It has been a great place to stay... i just noticed from this pic that our Christmas lights are still on... I'd better go shut those off.

Virtual Reality

2010-05-26T16:14:00.000-07:00

Thought this was interesting:

So to put it in round numbers, over the next two decades, there is likely to be about a one-hundred fold increase in the amount of available computation capacity. Therefore, anything that can be done with computation will get significantly better, cheaper, and lighter. Robots and machines will become faster and more skillful. Mobile phones/computers will be lighter and have better screens. Cameras will be smaller and much more pervasive and the software for processing their images will be much more powerful. Games and movies will have much better and more realistic animation. Video-conferencing will be much higher quality.

In short, as the physical environment continues to slowly degrade, the virtual environment is likely to get much better. I imagine that will lead people to spend more and more time in the virtual environment. - Source

Technology saves time and has raised the standard of living. We can be thankful for this but that last paragraph scares me a little. I don't know about you but I don't want to become a part of that trend. Although more subtle and less destructive than drugs, it is also more pervasive and difficult to resist.

Miracles and Evidence

2010-05-01T07:06:00.000-07:00

Paraphrased from Sir Robert Anderson "The Silence of God":

Like Nicodemus, we cannot reason our way into the Kingdom of God. We must be born again.

Peter, an apostle of Christ, and acquainted with the miraculous, wrote "we are born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God." It is through the divine Word that we come to know God.

Revelation validates miracles and not vice versa. The apostle Paul wrote, even if an angel from heaven should speak a different Gospel, let him be cursed!

The evidence of miracles is subordinate to the testimony of Scripture.

The evidential value of revelation; an analogy:

An undercover agent is sent on a mission into a foreign country on a mission. His instructions are that he is to enter the country and await an envoy who will provide him with the details of his mission. How is he to know whether the envoy is credentialed? The agent is given a piece of paper that has been torn in half. The envoy will carry the other half.

Jesus is the anti-type to every type in the OT.

"The question, then, is not whether a revelation can be accredited by external evidence, but whether such evidence can avail to accredit a person whose coming has been foretold. And this no accurate thinker would for a moment dispute" A.T.R.

The World is Thus

2010-04-17T22:25:00.000-07:00

You had no alternative your Eminence
We must work in the world... the world is thus
No senior Hanto... thus we have made the world... thus have I made it.

The Mission

I love the whole world

2010-04-17T17:49:00.001-07:00

Fun commercial.

Song needs another line though.

I love above all the One... who made it...

Its History

2010-03-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Just as a follow up to the last post...

What I disagree with in some of my courses is not necessarily what is taught but how. This is especially true in some of my history courses. Rather than approaching history as a discipline some professors teach history as though it were completely subjective. They tend to focus on issues rather than on facts.

I had a really good professor last semester. He had been a colonel in the Israeli Armed Forces back in the day (he was stationed in an outpost on the Bar-Lev line during the Yom Kippur War - in the only one that wasn't overrun). I think all of us feared him a little. I remember once, after a presentation by one of the students, he thanked the presenter, leaned back in his chair and proceeded to give a painfully honest critique of the presentation. It was uncomfortable but at the same time it showed that he took the subject matter seriously and he challenged the rest of us to do the same. Ha, as I think about it, I usually walked out of the class feeling a little dumber than when I had entered.

What I liked most about his class though was that he treated history as a discipline. He believed that objectivity was a worthy goal to strive towards and that there was a methodology that could be learned; there were questions that could be asked:

What are they trying to say? (summarize it in a sentence)
Who are they speaking to?
Where are they speaking from?
Who are they disagreeing with? (the antithesis is usually buried somewhere)
What kinds of sources are they using?

Anyway, there is nothing profound here... but it was refreshing to a have prof that believed that there was a right and wrong answer to historical questions and taught history that way. (In the first lecture he told us, "You will not find these kinds of theorist [Sartre and the like] among serious historians. You will find them among literary critics or philosophers but not historians.") It made for some interesting discussions and good arguments... and was a contrast to some other history classes here at the university. I noticed too, that those of us who were in the class were much more motivated to learn.

I wonder if a part of the problem with the modern education system - as Obama promises to throw more money at it in the States - comes from a lack of desire by students to learn? After all, in a world of relativism, why bother?

Imperialism

2010-03-17T13:56:00.001-07:00

Just listened to a hour long diatribe against nationalism, imperialism and the love of God. Prof blamed all the worlds problems on religion.

But, I shouldn't be too critical... it is not our aim to understand the lives of people who lived in the past or the events they took part in. Why confine ourselves to the narrow discipline of historical studies when we have a more enlightened way of studying the past? We call it 'social studies'. True, by replacing history with social studies, we have lost the art of story telling but we all know that those stories were nothing more than propaganda anyway. What 'social studies' allows that the discipline of history does not, is the opportunity for professor's at universities to shove their pseudo-piety down the throats of their students.

Atheism of Indifference

2010-03-15T17:34:00.000-07:00

The Inner Life of a Cell

2010-02-07T16:32:00.000-08:00

This is great.

The Feast of Tabernacles

2010-01-17T19:57:00.000-08:00

Came across some interesting details about the feast of Tabernacles today in Edersheim's book "The Temple, its Minstry and Services as they were at the Time of Jesus Christ"

This feast was a celebration of the harvest and came on the heels of the Day of Atonement. The feast was on the 15th day of the 7th month which was Tishri. The 15th day being a full moon. As its name suggests, all except those who were sick or old slept in make shift shelters. Basically all of Israel went camping for a week.

There were two central features of the Feast:

1. The first was the pouring of the water taken from the Pool of Siloam through silver funnels that went to the base of the altar. The water was brought from the Pool of Siloam through the water gate... so that is how that gate got its name.

According to the Talmud, "Why is the name of it called, The drawing out of water? Because of the pouring out of the Holy Spirit, according to what is said: 'With joy shall ye draw water out of the wells of salvation."

As the water was poured into a silver funnel that went down into the base of the altar, the music began. As the people sang they waved the boughs of myrtle, willow and palm trees.

Psalms 113-188 were sung. What was it like? How did they sing? What instruments were played? How would it compare to a worship service in our churches today?

Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Let Israel say: "His love endures forever."

Let the house of Aaron say: "His love endures forever."

Let those who fear the LORD say: "His love endures forever."

In my anguish I cried to the LORD, and he answered by setting me free. The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper....

I will not die but live, and will proclaim what the LORD has done. The LORD has chastened me severely, but he has not given me over to death. Open for me the gates of righteousness; I will enter and give thanks to the LORD. This is the gate of the LORD through which the righteous may enter.

I will give you thanks, for you answered me; you have become my salvation. The stone the builders rejected has become the capstone; the LORD has done this, and it is marvelous in our eyes. This is the day the LORD has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.

O LORD, save us; O LORD, grant us success. Blessed is he who comes in the name of the LORD. From the house of the LORD we bless you. The LORD is God, and he has made his light shine upon us. With boughs in hand, join in the festal procession up to the horns of the altar. You are my God, and I will give you thanks; you are my God, and I will exalt you. Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever.

Psalm 118:1-29

Imagine, then, as the singing ended, the voice of Jesus echoing in the temple precincts,

"On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him."

Jesus spoke with such authority that the temple guards did not know what to do. They were later scolded by the religious authorities for not arresting Jesus. Nicodemus, who had spoken with Jesus earlier, reminded that religious authorities, "Does our law judge a man before it hear him, and know what he does?"

Nicodemus words remain applicable today. Do we reject Jesus before we have taken the time to hear from him or find out what he does?

"The stone the builders rejected has become the cornerstone... and it is marvelous in our eyes."

Stuck in a Moment

2010-01-03T23:11:00.000-08:00

8:00 AM - A wave of red lights swept down the 4 lanes of rush hour traffic as thousands of cars came to a stand still. I was in one of them, an old diesel Audi and like most everyone else, I was on my way to work. I looked across to the next lane where a pretty girl in a Corolla was fixing her hair in the rear view mirror. Our eyes met and I think she smiled. And then traffic in her lane started to move and she pulled away.

This was an important day for me. We were to meet with a venture capital firm at 10:00 and the fate of a subdivision rested on it. We had spent months researching manufacturing methods that would allow us to build houses more cheaply... without it seeming so. A revolution was occurring in home construction and we, Filliminister and Sons, were going to be on the cutting edge. We had plans to purchase a large warehouse and begin fabricating wall and floor sections for our new homes. Filiminister and Sons were going to take the division of labor to a whole new level. Framers, plumbers and electricians in the new housing industry would go the way of the cobbler, weaver and blacksmith. It was kind of sad, but hey, this was the world we lived in and who can hold back the tide? Better to go with the flow.

Traffic slowed again and then came to a stop. We sat for what seemed like ages but I think it was really just a few minutes... a few minutes that i could not afford to waste! My Blackberry was lit up like a Christmas tree with incoming messages. I answered some of them but the rest would have to wait. I rested my head on the steering wheel and wished that, for a moment, I lived a hundred years ago, when this road was little more than two furrows in the prairie sod and a traffic jam was two prairie schooners trying to get past each other.

------
8:10 AM - A wind out of the north west cut through my heavy wool jacket. It was cold! Abbigaul had to work a little harder than usual to push through the fresh snow that had fallen the night before. Her ears rotated, some times listening to me and other times, both ears forward and alert. Now one ear was rotated back, only half listening while I spoke mindlessly, "Common ... let's go..." I reached forward and scratched her head. She was young, but willing - of Canadian stock, her lively gait betrayed some Arabian blood.

My thoughts turned to what needed to be done today. I was headed to the post office first thing to mail a couple letters. I hoped that I would find a couple waiting for me. It had been 3 weeks now; about the time it takes for mail to reach the Fort from Boston. After I was done at the post office, I planned to buy a newspaper and breakfast at May's diner. Afterward, I needed to go to the hardware store to order supplies and then I was headed to Jack Filliminster's place where I was looking after the construction of his new house. It was a sprawling ranch house, with oak floors and two large stone fireplaces. All the cabinets and trim were done in the Mission style. It was going to be a beautiful place when it was finished. I hoped that when I was done I'd have enough money to purchase the CPR quarter adjacent to the one I was homesteading on. I pulled a notepad out of my jacket pocket and scribbled a few things I needed to pick up at Goldman's hardware store. Abigaul knew the trail well enough and needed no guidance from me.

The fresh snowfall made the world seem particularly quiet and still. The only sound to be heard was the moan of the wind through the spruce boughs and the quiet rustling of the long frozen willow branches that grew in groves along the frozen creek at the bottom of the coulee. Above us, a giant poplar stood out like a gnarled old skeleton against the dark winter sky that threatened more snow. A Great Owl sat perched on one of its branches looking intently for its next meal but flew away as we approached. It was quiet alright, almost too quiet.

As we came to the crest of a hill, Abigual's ears pricked forward and flattened. She let out a wild terrified snort that sent a cloud of frozen mist into the air, momentarily obscuring the trail in front of us. And then I saw it too. On a rocky outcrop just slightly ahead and not more the 20 feet off the trail crouched a wild cat. Its muscles were tensed like a coiled spring. Mine were just as tense but in a different sort of way - tense in the way that a man with a gun pointed to his head is tense. It was like an old style western face off and I am not sure who moved first. The cat let out a scream that could have turned milk into cream and with one bound it was on us. Abigaul pawed the air and fell back on her haunches. I reached for my Winchester rifle in its scabbard and managed to chamber a bullet before losing my mount, still clutching at my rifle...

---------------

8:20 A.M. - Distant objects came into my field of vision first. I saw clouds floating over head and giant, perfectly formed snow flakes, each one a little different falling out of the sky into my blinking eyes. And I saw people. They were crowded around me. Some might have been concerned but most, I think, were just curious. I heard the voice of a girl speaking. She was the one I had seen earlier driving the Corolla. "I don't know officer, he just hammered the accelerator, veered across the lane and slammed right into the back of me."

The police officer looked down at me. "Are you ok, son?"

"Yes, I think so but where is Abigaul?" I asked. "Is she ok?"

"Abigaul, who is Abigaul? You were alone when we found you." The police officer looked around, "Did anyone see a women with this man?"

"No! No!" I cried, "Not a women!

Abi! Abi!

The officer chuckled, "Ohhhh, you mean your Audi?" "Well, it is a wreck."

Strange...

2009-12-14T18:32:00.000-08:00

I wrote this up in August and never did post it.

------------------
I stopped to fill up my bike with gas and all but a few gallons of it immediately drained out of the carburetor ports.

A fellow from Jamaica came along in an old pick-up and offered to load up the bike and give me a ride home... I was on Memorial and 4th.

Right about the time we got the bike loaded, a police cruiser drove up and began to question my friend. Apparently, someone had reported him for dumping in an alleyway... maybe they thought that was what we were doing with my bike... Though my bike is way too nice to be mistaken that way.

Anyway, on our way to my house, this fellow, probably in his 40's, asked me if I wanted to make some real money? I asked him how so? Half expecting something to do with drugs.

"Yo man, what would you say if I told you that I've seen an angel and that he gave me a picture of a battle between the Lion of Judah and the Dragon?

"Hmm...?" I said. "Have you read the book of Daniel?"
"Oh, yeah, totally. this stuff is strait out of book of Daniel and Revelation."
"So you believe in angels then?"

"Ohh yeah," and he began to tell me about a vision he had.

"It was the most amazing thing. Like falling thousands of feet through air and landing in a huge bed of feather's... my body tingled from the spine to my forehead and the most amazing feeling of peace... it changed my life..."

We spoke some of angels, the end times and future judgment...
By that time we were at my house so I invited him inside. He set up his computer and showed me his picture, which he wanted me to show to professors at the U of C.

It was a sky full of clouds - pretty cool looking clouds.

lol, each day has its own surprises... and opportunities.

Acts 4:13

2009-11-22T07:54:00.000-08:00

Now when the saw the boldness of Peter and John, and perceived that they were uneducated, common men, they were astonished. And they recognized that they had been with Jesus.

The Goose and the Commons

2009-11-21T20:46:00.000-08:00

They hang the man and flog the woman
That steal the goose from off the common,
But let the greater villain loose
That steals the common from the goose.

The Law demands that we atone
When we take things we do not own
But leaves the lords and ladies fine
Who take things that are yours and mine.

The poor and wretched don’t escape
If they conspire the law to break;
This must be so but they endure
Those who conspire to make the law.

The law locks up the man or woman
Who steals the goose from off the common’
And geese will still a common lack
Till they go and steal it back.

English folk poem, circa 1764

Centuries of Darkness

2009-11-04T08:28:00.000-08:00

Peter James and 4 other archaeologist's challenged the conventional dating of the early iron age in their book 'Centuries of Darkness' written in 1992. This is an excerpt from their website,

...in the following year [1993] the famous `House of David' stela was found at Tel Dan in northern Israel. As well as providing the first historical reference (outside the Bible) to David and his house, bolstering the case for the historicity of Solomon, it is also threatening to force a complete revision of Israelite archaeology. Carefully analyzing its original findspot, Rupert Chapman, Executive Secretary of the Palestine Excavation Fund, has concluded that the stela, which can be historically dated to 825-800BC, must have come from a level conventionally dated to the 10th or even 11th centuries BC. If Chapman is right, the dating of Israelite stratigaphy will have to be reduced by as much as two centuries.

taken from here

Housing Crunch

2009-10-23T14:04:00.000-07:00

For those of us visually orientated, this is helpful.

What was the cost of this bubble?

This pictogram does a good job of helping us visualize it. If this is right then the bailout has cost (to date) about 24 times as much as it cost to rebuild Europe after WW2 and 5 times as much as Roosevelt's entire New Deal.

What have we learned?

I don't know. See:

here
here
&
here

Did you know?

2009-10-10T23:43:00.000-07:00

Who says our PM doesn't have a sense of humor!

2009-10-05T21:29:00.000-07:00

A Tough Spot!

2009-09-27T21:39:00.000-07:00

The trail started out broad and well defined but as I climbed out of the trees, it began to narrow and finally disappeared in a jumble of rocks at the base of the mountain. I scanned the rocky slope in front of me and traced a path to the summit. The going was easy at first but as I climbed higher the terrain got a little steeper and I was forced to use an occasional hand hold. But the summit was closer now and I was pretty sure the worst was behind me.

I came to what appeared to be nothing more than a low rising bluff and being so intent on reaching the top, I immediately lodged my boot into a crack in the cliff face and began to climb. The hand holds were solid and so I climbed higher. Somewhere along the way I crossed a threshold where to turn around and go back became more risky than to continue on. Fear began to dampen my enthusiasm but it was too late now. I assured myself that the top could not be that far off. It was still easy rock to scale and so I continued to scramble higher until the ground fell away beneath my feet and there was no turning back!

The hard granite deteriorated into something less solid and the hand holds became increasingly smaller. I was beginning to feel that my place on this mountain was becoming more precarious. But I climbed on! And then a frightening prospect sent a new wave of adrenaline through my veins. I reached out with my hand, grasping for something, anything that would allow me to pull myself up a little higher only to find that the next hand hold was beyond my grasp. I hugged the cliff face and focused on that tiny hand grip and that small part of my boot that was my only purchase on the mountain; and on life.

I looked down. The cars at the trail head appeared smaller than matchbox cars and the landscape stretched out below me looked like a miniature train set. I shouldn't have looked down. My heart was racing now and so was my mind! My fingers started to cramp and the muscles in the back of my legs began to quiver under the strain. Sweat ran down my forehead and off the end of my nose. The world was silent except for the groan's of the wind as it eddied and swirled through the crevasses in the rock; mimicking my own as I struggled to hang on. The reality of my situation began to sink in. All I had to look forward too was a 10 second free fall and then; every bone in my body splintered into a hundred pieces. This was the law of Nature, and Nature was all I believed in.

I'd always prided myself on being self sufficient. I'd made my own way in life and forged my own path. I got myself into this fix and I would get myself out of it. Kipling had it right.

If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew to serve their turn long after they are gone and so hold on when there is nothing in you except the will which says to them, Hold on!

But I couldn't hold on. I had been clinging to this rock for hours and my muscles where wasted. Finally, in utter desperation, I began to call for help. No, I am trying to sound stronger than I was. I cried for help.

Do you know what it is like to lose all hope? And do you know what it is like to find it again? Then you will understand how I felt in that moment when a rope came skittering down the rock face and a voice with a strong Swiss accent came echoing down the mountain, "Hold on, son! Hold on to the rope."

It was in that old mountain man's firm grip that I discovered that heart and nerve and sinew were not enough. I needed grace.

Others went out on the sea in ships; they were merchants on the mighty waters. They saw the works of the LORD, his wonderful deeds in the deep. For he spoke and stirred up a tempest that lifted high the waves. They mounted up to the heavens and went down to the depths; in their peril their courage melted away. They reeled and staggered like drunken men; they were at their wits' end. Then they cried out to the LORD in their trouble, and he brought them out of their distress. He stilled the storm to a whisper; the waves of the sea were hushed. They were glad when it grew calm, and he guided them to their desired haven. Let them give thanks to the LORD for his unfailing love and his wonderful deeds for men.

Psalm 107:23-31

For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith-- and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God-- 9 not by works, so that no one can boast.

Ephesians 2:8-9

Abbots Pass - Mt. Victoria

2009-09-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Jon Kontz, a good buddy from Philly, came up for a few days. We spent a couple nights up on Abbots Pass.

Lake Oessa

The AAC cabin where we stayed blends pretty well into the mountainside. It has got to be one the coolest places I have ever slept. Literally!

The night sky with the lights of Calgary in the distance. It was as though every star in the sky was visible that night.

Sunrise - Abbots Pass

Panorama taken on a ridge of Mt. Victoria.

Lake Louise

Part way up Mt. Victoria. It was so windy up there I thought it might take us right off the ridge.

Bit of snow on the way down. Thankfully it let up soon after this picture was taken.

Fishing in the Crowsnest

2009-08-30T23:19:00.000-07:00

A perfect evening on the Crowsnest River.

A Rainbow out of the Oldman River. It took around 30 minutes to bring it in!

A very respectable cutthroat taken on Lynx creek.

Couldn't ask for a better fishin partner!

Grandma and Grandpa Ratcliff

2009-06-29T08:38:00.000-07:00

RATCLIFF, Doris Clarice (nee Baker), November 18, 1917 ~ June 17, 2009 - The family announces with both sadness and joy her death at 91 years of age, in the comfort of Fairvern Nursing Home, Huntsville, ON. Sadly missed because she was such a loving and caring wife and mother; joy because she has left this world for a far better place and we know we will see her again some day. She is survived by her beloved husband of almost 69 years, Floyd, formerly of the family farm west of Stouffville, and three children, MaryLou (David) Hisey, of Huntsville, ON, Malcolm (Doris M.) of Timmins, ON, and Janice (John) Cross of Olds, AB. Doris is survived by sister-in-law, Helen Baker of Stouffville, ON; Shirley Baker of Chester, CT; brother- in-law, Howard (Helen) Ratcliff of Stouffville, ON; sister-in-law Pauline Ratcliff of Stouffville, ON; and sister-in-law Maureen Ratcliff of Huntsville,ON. Doris is predeceased by two brothers, Merlyn and Alan Baker, and sisters, Alma (and husband, Jim) Oldham and Mary (and husband, Keith) Hutchinson. Grandma is fondly remembered by seven grandchildren, Scott, Meredith, Brad, Stephanie, Julie, Andrew and Naomi as a kind and gentle grand- mother. She had six great-grand- children, Jasmine, Cody, Robyn, Ellie, Adelaine and Ethan. A private committal service will be held at graveside of Springvale Baptist Church cemetery on Monday, June 22 followed by a memorial service commencing at 3 PM in the church auditorium. Remembrance donations may be made to a mission of one's choice through the church office. Springvale Baptist Church is located 4 miles west of Stouffville on the family farm.

Ratcliff, Floyd Grenville: April 11, 1917 – July 11, 2009 - The family wishes to announce his peaceful departure in the comfort of Fairvern Nursing Home, Huntsville, ON at the age of 92 to join his wife, Doris (nee Baker) who passed away on June 17, 2009. They were faithful, loving companions for almost 69 years. Dad was such a kind and caring father who will be sadly missed but we are comforted by the thought that he is in a far better place. Formerly of the family farm west of Stouffville, he is survived by three children, MaryLou (David) Hisey, of Huntsville, ON, Malcolm (Doris M.) of Timmins, ON, and Janice (John) Cross of Olds, AB. Floyd is also survived by one brother, Howard (Helen) Ratcliff of Stouffville and sisters-in-law, Pauline Ratcliff of Stouffville, and Maureen Ratcliff of Huntsville. He is predeceased by two brothers, Donald and Charles. Grandpa is fondly remembered by seven grandchildren, Scott (Janice), Meredith (Dave), Brad, Stephanie, Julie, Andrew and Naomi (Troy) and six great-grandchildren, Jasmine, Cody, Robin, Ellie, Adelaine and Ethan. A committal service will be held at graveside at Springvale Baptist Church cemetery on Friday, July 17 at 2:30 PM followed by a memorial service commencing at 3 PM in the church auditorium. Remembrance donations may be made to a mission of one’s choice through the church office. Springvale Baptist Church is located 4 miles west of Stouffville.

memories
-----------------------------

Many of my memories of Grandpa revolve around a small but well equipped shop in his garage. Grandpa was an excellent carpenter and as a young boy of around 12, visiting for the summer, I was his eager apprentice. I think one of our most memorable projects was a live squirrel trap. Grandpa came up with a magnetic trigger that made it work really well. We eventually managed to trap a squirrel but our first catch was two black starlings. I was so excited I carried the whole box inside the house to show Grandma. In the process I released two unhappy starlings in the house. I will never forget Grandma chasing those two birds around the house with a broom! Grandpa's willingness to let me dull every blade and drill bit in his shop gave me an opportunity to discover something I loved and set me on a course for a future career. But more than that, Grandpa was an example of a man I want to follow.

Those who know Grandma, know that she kept a very clean and tidy house where everything had its place. Grandma was a gracious host and very hospitable. For Sunday dinner, Grandma would often put a roast in the oven, set the table with her fine china and invite guests over. Although she added very little spice to her meals, Grandma placed a mean horse radish on the table that instilled a new found respect in her grandson. Her meals were great.

Both Grandma and Grandpa lived during times of tremendous change. They watched the land surrounding their small dairy farm transformed from quiet countryside to suburbia. Once quiet country lanes were paved and then doubled. Their church went from being a small sanctuary that held 125 to one that seated 450 and then over 2000. The culture that they knew and loved changed, morals changed and so did technology. I remember Grandma speaking of some of the changes she saw and how it was sometimes a struggle to respond in the right way. That short conversation has always stuck with me. Grandma was a very astute and thoughtful women whose living faith in Christ constantly shaped her thinking.

Grandma and Grandpa have left us, their grandchildren, with a rich heritage, and I count it a great blessing to have had them as my Grandparents. They will be deeply missed.

A Paraphrase from 1 Peter 1:1-9

Grandma and Grandpa, strangers in this world, from a dairy farm outside Stouffville, Ontario, but at home now, chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, through the sanctifying work of the Spirit, for obedience to Jesus Christ and sprinkling by his blood: Grace and peace are theirs in abundance.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! It is because of his great mercy that we are assured that Grandma and Grandpa passed through death into life because of Jesus ressurection from the dead, and have received an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade that was kept in heaven for them. Through faith they were protected by God's power unto salvation. In this they rejoiced, for though for a little while they suffered grief in all kinds of trials, these have proven their faith genuine, a faith which is more precious even than gold which is not eternal though it is purified by fire, and has resulted in praise, glory and honor to our Lord Jesus Christ.

For him who they loved they now see and him who they believed in they see and are filled with an inexpressible and glorious joy, for they have received the goal of their faith, the salvation of their souls.

Harvard, 2009

2009-06-04T21:53:00.000-07:00

Harvard establishes chair in gay and lesbian studies

Professorship is being billed as a turning point in the prestigious university's history

Harvard University has taken a step towards shrugging off its image as a fusty straight-laced academic institution by endowing America's first named professorship of sexuality.

The chair in lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender studies introduces a discipline still in its infancy into the heart of the country's academic establishment. Its supporters claim that the move by one of the world's most august universities will send a message to other institutions globally that "queer studies", as some call it, has finally arrived....

more here

Harvard, 1880

2009-06-04T21:41:00.000-07:00

I came across this the other day. It was written by George Pellew, the class poet at Harvard, 1880.

We ask but time to drift,
We deem it narrow-minded to excel.
We call the man fanatic who applies
His life to one grand purpose till he dies.
Enthusiasm sees one side, one fact;
We try to see all sides, but do not act.
...We long to sit with newspapers unfurled,
Indifferent spectators of the world.

'Mornings on Horseback' - David Mccullogh

Shoe

2009-05-27T19:58:00.000-07:00

Went for a little jaunt in Kan country the other day. It was great to get out!

The mountain won the day though as there was more snow up there than I thought.

On my way down, I stopped to take a break at the top of a small cliff. I took my shoe off to shake rocks out and ended up dropping it! It rolled down the hill towards the cliff and the only reason it did not go over was a small branch that was growing just at the edge! haha, I would have been in serious trouble if I had lost that shoe as there was a lot rock to walk through on the way down. Besides, that is my favorite pair of shoes.

(shoe in bottom of picture)

Some loose thoughts about Creation and Evolution

2009-03-22T21:01:00.000-07:00

I went to a lecture tonight on the creation / evolution debate at a church here in Calgary. The church was of the new variety with candles and round tables and carefully placed spotlights and projectors and LCD displays. The modern cathedral I guess.

The speaker was probably one of the most educated individuals I have met. He has three post doctorates in dentistry, Old Testament hermeneutics and evolutionary biology... (I think I have that right)

His essential argument, as I understand it, is that evolution is an indisputable fact; that it is right for Christianity to accommodate scientific theory and that to not do so is to set up an unnecessary stumbling block in the way of genuine seekers. Rather than interpret Genesis as historical literature, it should be interpreted as poetic literature. His main defence of this position is the pre-scientific three tier view of the universe that comes out in the writings of the Hebrew prophets.

I thought I would take this chance to think out loud while the ideas are still fresh and maybe things will become clearer as I write.

1. The classification of Genesis as poetic literature is fairly subjective. There is no doubt that the structure of the days of creation are arranged in a very structured way so that the environments are first created and then they are filled. So God created the world in a very structured way. But let’s say that Genesis is a poetic description of the creation of our world.
2. If Genesis 1-3 is an allegory of creation then probably one of the main ideas I would take from it is that death is a foreign intruder into what was an otherwise perfect world.
3. This does not correspond well with evolutionary theory.
4. Death is the vital mechanism necessary for evolutionary theory to operate.
5. Evolution requires that populations coexisted in the past in the same way they do now. One population is held in check by the predatory or competitive pressures of another species or by organisms within the same species.
6. Two observations:
7. This world is incredibly beautiful and complex.
8. Nature can be extremely cruel and at times even perverse.
9.. All of nature is adapted for either defence or attack.
10. Nature red in tooth and claw.
11. These realities make it virtually impossible for us to imagine a world without death.
12. Any account of origins that states that the world was created perfect and w/o death must give a reason for death's intrusion.
13. Genesis attributes death to sin.
14. It is interesting that every aspect of the curse of man and Satan involves a change in nature.
15. Women’s pain in childbirth required some kind of anatomical change.
16. Once useful plants became pests.
17. The serpent would slither.
18. Together these imply a much greater change so that the world we experience today is so different from the original world that we cannot begin to imagine what it was like or explain its dynamics based on our current understanding of biology.
19. Is it possible that the changes induced in the created world as a part of the curse were some form of adaptation? Species were given by God the ability to adapt and change in response to their environment as a matter of survival in a fallen world.
20. Adaptation, then becomes another astounding aspect to the design of life. God made life self replicating, self healing and able to adapt.
21. These characteristics all trace their roots to the genetic code and the truly marvellous way that individual characteristics are coded for by multiple genes.
22. Creation currently groans and is waiting to be redeemed. If it was never perfect and has slowly evolved to its current condition, then it has been groaning for 10-15 billion years. That is a long wait.
23. If massive adaptation is an aspect of the design of life, does it then follow that we should also believe in the descent with modification of all life from molecules?
24. Micro evolution lacks the explanatory power to explain the formation of the first cell.
25. To say that Christians use the ‘God in the gaps’ theory to explain everything that science has not is false.
26. The gaps in macro evolutionary theory are more like oceans. To argue that these ‘gaps’ must have a natural scientific explanation because this is the only kind of explanation that is acceptable is nothing more than methodological naturalism. It is a philosophical belief and is not necessary for good science.
27. All knowledge should lead us to understand how little we know and lead us to the conclusion that we are little children.
28. Knowledge can lead to idolatry.
29. It is possible for a great number of extremely intelligent and well educated people to be very badly mistaken. Much of our current economic crisis was created by very smart people with a thorough understanding of economic theory.
30. Truth is not found in the consensus or in doctorates.
31. The further science deviates from the present, the more arbitrary and uncertain it becomes. G.K Chesterton says it well,
32. An inventor can advance step by step in the construction of an airplane even if he is only experimenting with sticks and scraps of metal in his own backyard. But he cannot watch the Missing Link evolving in his own backyard. If he has made a mistake in his calculations, the airplane will correct it by crashing to the ground. But if he has made a mistake about the arboreal habitat of his ancestor, he cannot see his arboreal ancestor falling off the tree. He cannot keep a caveman like a cat in the backyard and watch him to see whether he does really practice cannibalism or carry off his mate on the principles of marriage by capture. He cannot keep a tribe of primitive men like a pack of hounds and notice how far they are influenced by the herd instinct... Thus while most science moves in a sort of curve, being constantly corrected by new evidence, this science flies off into space in a straight line uncorrected by anything. ‘The Eternal Man’
33. Was the Spirit of Christ evident in words that were spoken?
33. ...Christ, in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge. Colossians 2:2-3

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

2009-03-10T20:40:00.000-07:00

This article caught my eye and is worth a read.

I am not sure if I agree with everything here but it provides an interesting perspective.

The Coming Evangelical Collapse

The Prophetic Word

2009-03-09T22:02:00.000-07:00

This is from David Wilkerson's blog. I came across it on the Drudge Report under the headline "Christian Pastor Warns of Impending Doom" or something like that. I can't remember exactly. So here is the text from Wilkersons blog:

I am compelled by the Holy Spirit to send out an urgent message to all on our mailing list, and to friends and to bishops we have met all over the world. AN EARTH-SHATTERING CALAMITY IS ABOUT TO HAPPEN. IT IS GOING TO BE SO
FRIGHTENING, WE ARE ALL GOING TO TREMBLE - EVEN THE GODLIEST AMONG US.
For ten years I have been warning about a thousand fires coming to New York City. It will engulf the whole megaplex, including areas of New Jersey and Connecticut.
Major cities all across America will experience riots and
blazing fires—such as we saw in Watts, Los Angeles, years ago.There will be riots and fires in cities worldwide. There will be looting—including Times Square, New York City. What we
are experiencing now is not a recession, not even a depression. We are under God’s wrath. In Psalm 11 it is written,“If
the foundations are destroyed, what can the righteous do?” (v. 3).God is judging the raging sins of America and the
nations. He is destroying the secular foundations.

It reminds me a little of some of the things said after Sept. 11. when several ministers (I can't remember who they were) said that Sept. 11 was Gods judgement on America. I guess I have been hearing more of this lately and it has me asking questions and thinking some about what it means to listen to the voice of the Good Shepherd and how that differs from prophetic words like the ones Wilkerson has spoken.

The prophets of the OT often began their message with "Thus says the LORD..." So, what do we do when we hear people today begin their statement with the same line? By what authority are they saying these things? Has God chosen again to speak through prophets like he did in the past? If so, then their words should be marked with the same power and wisdom that marked the minsitry of men like Jeremiah or Isaiah.

And it seems kind of propitious that these statements are made when things already seem pretty bleak and the whole world is talking about it... (another example is the multitude of books that came out about the millenium bug) Go on any financial blog today and you will find a lot scared people making much the same predictions David Wilkerson is... except without mention of God. What is the value of preaching doom when events are already in full swing and the media is having a heyday with it? Wilkerson says that he has been saying the same thing for 10 years... and in fairness, I haven't read his past remarks, however I remain skeptical, not so much of his predictions (maybe things will get that bad... although I choose to remain more optimistic) but the nature of his statement and authority he claims for his words.

Maybe if I get some time I will do a little more homework...

The Evolution of Flight

2009-02-27T14:37:00.001-08:00

This is amazing! These little critters are the fastest moving organism on earth... or at least their jaws are. Apparently they can wind up their jaws like a crossbow and release them with an incredible amount of force, which they sometimes use to propel themselves. It appears that they have yet to evolve stabilizers. lol

Francis Shaeffer - Idols of Peace and Affluence

2009-02-15T15:20:00.001-08:00

I stumbled across some old videos of Francis Shaeffer and thought this little review of recent history very interesting. It is a sober reminder of where we are at today and how empty life is when all we have to live for is ourselves.

So what was left? Apathy. Having been worn out trying to find meaning, forgiveness and love... and failed, all that was left was to go to sleep.

But there is cure for our disease! There is a Doctor.

Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light." Matthew 11:28-30

Capitalism, stimulus and the like

2009-02-06T17:59:00.000-08:00

I just finished watching the Senate debate over the 1 trillion dollar stimulus package. (I know, I need to get a life)

But it is a monumental decision that represents an additional 12,000 debt for every household in the U.S. (if I understand correctly) In Canada we have had our own debate and have similarly chosen to go the route of massive spending.

I guess I can understand the need to inject capital into the financial system in order to keep credit flowing but I lack faith in our govn's ability to spend money efficiently or effectively. At some point we have to take our medicine and the prescription is not more debt.

Robert Reich in his book 'Supercapitalism' points out some of the serious problems that exist with the relationship between the corporate world and the gov'n. He points out that our gov'n has to balance the demands of the 'consumer / investor' with that of the 'citizen'. Each one of us is both. For example, as a citizen, I want my town to have a dynamic downtown core. But as a consumer, I want to have the option of going to Walmart where I can buy things for dirt cheap and as an investor, I want my stock in Walmart to go up. The corporate world will always cater to us as a 'consumer / investor' but only our elected officials can act on our behalf as 'citizen'. But our government often doesn't and this represents a serious problem for democracy. Since the 1970's, corporate lobbying in the Washington has grown into a massive industry that has effectively drowned out the voice of citzen groups.

Ultimately this is a problem for the markets as well. We can no more have healthy free markets without an uncompromised regulator than we can have a good soccer match without a guy on the field with a loud whistle and yellow cards. As much as we might dislike refs as players, we need them and we don't want them hitting the pubs with the opposing team after the game.

While Obama is promising change, I wonder if he is willing to make the kind of change necessary? Putting a 500,000 cap on CEO salaries for U.S. financial institutions that have received bailout funds (which is nearly every major bank in the US) sounds like a good idea but I am not sure. We need the best people leading these corporations but how many CEO's will be willing to take on that kind of responsibility when the pay is no better than that of a lesser position? A CEO at the helm of a multi billion dollar company will get paid more than the rest of us and, hopefully, he will make use of his salary for philanthropy. The size of the salary is not the problem, it is the lack of integrity. I would rather see the gov'n put regulations in place that adjust CEO compensation so that long term success is rewarded rather than year end balance sheets.

At gut level, it doesn't seem right that some people should get paid so much while others struggle to get by. But what are the options in this flawed world corrupted by human nature? When I worked on a communal farm in Israel, I had a chance to see the effects of socialism on a community. When the idealism of the early days wore off, human nature took over and people got lazy. Many kibbutzim today are nearly insolvent. I read somewhere that socialism is misery equally shared whereas capitalism is wealth unequally distributed. That seems to be true.

But capitalism is only a system of economics. It has no heart. And this is where the church has a great role to play. Our society needs at least one institution (in the best sense of the word) that has a heart and that speaks a different language. That reminds its members to, "lay up treasure in heaven where neither rust or moth destroy" and that the true religion which the Lord our God finds acceptable is to "look after orphans and widows in their distress."

You're Already Dead

2009-02-04T06:09:00.000-08:00

I was watching Band of Brothers - 'Carretan' last night and had to write out this conversation that takes place between two soldiers.

Spears: What's your name trooper.

Blythe: Blythe sir, Albert Blythe.

Spears: Do you know why you hid in that ditch Blythe.

Blythe: I was scared.

Spears: We're all scared. You hid in that ditch because you think there is still hope. But Blythe, the only hope you have is to accept the fact that you are already dead. And the sooner you accept that, the sooner you will be able to function as a soldier's suppossed to function...

---------------

Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. Matthew 10:39

door opener (very cool)

2009-02-01T16:06:00.000-08:00

This is Klassen's custom door opener made with an old hydrolic pump and assorted tractor parts. It is truly a piece of workship.

Yoko Bro's Fabrication Ltd.

The Pilgrims Progress

2009-01-29T19:34:00.000-08:00

I just read the Pilgrims Progress for the first time recently and understand now why it is such an enduring classic. Interestingly, at the time it was written, high churchmen put it down as simple and naiive. But I think that is beauty of it. This simple allegory contains more truth than volumes of philosophy because it speaks to joys and struggles of 'everyman'.

Here is my little summary:

An outcast in his own city, Christian seeks the narrow way that leads to the Beautiful Land. He gets off to a rough start when he speaks with Worldy Wise Guy and is led astray. He nearly walks off of a cliff on Mt. Sinai and gets stuck in the Slough of Despondency. Along the way Christian meets a friend and fellow pilgrim, Faithful. Together they face the temptations of Vanity Fair and are not at all sure if they will escape. Faithful is killed there but Hopeful joins Christian and together they climb a mountain where they can look across the valley of death which they had crossed and catch a glimpse of the Celestial City. Later, they take a well worn track that leads to Doubting Castle were they are beaten for days by the Giant Despair. Then, when Christian wants to die and put an end to it all, Hopeful reminds him that there is a key called Promise. It is the only key that can unlock the gates of iron. This Key of Promise can only be turned with Prayer. Later, they cross the enchanted ground that puts the unsuspecting to sleep and have to work at keeping each other awake.

At the end of the journey, the terror of death overwhelms Christian as he crosses the deep Jordan river and loses his footing. But he is helped across the river by Hopeful and together they arrive at the Celestial City, Mt. Zion, the City of the Great King where there is joy in His presence forever...

Well, that is selective and out of order but it is what stuck with me.

No doubt it is complete foolishness to many, but then as John Bunyan writes in his intro,

Art thou for something rare, and profitable?

Wouldest thou see a Truth within a Fable?
Art thou forgetful? wouldest thou remember
From new-years-day to the last of December?
Then read my fancies, they will stick like Burs,
And may be to the Helpless, Comforters.

Would'st thou be in a Dream, and yet not sleep? Or wouldest thou in a moment laugh, and weep?
Wouldest thou lose thyself withou a charm?
And find thyself again without a harm?
Would'st read thyself, and read thou know'st not what,
And yet know, whether thou art blest or not,
By reading the same lines? O then come hither,
And lay my Book, thy head, and heart together.

The New World

2008-12-17T17:45:00.000-08:00

I posted a news article a while ago about a group of Mennonites who were forced to leave their homes and province because their school's curriculum did not meet Quebec's standards...

I just came across another interesting piece in the National Post about a new curriculum being introduced into Quebec schools. It is very ambitious in scope and will be incorporated into students education throughout primary and secondary education.

Here is a link to a video that is basically Quebec gov'n propaganda supporting the curriculum.

I guess it has always been a struggle for me to understand the separation of church and state. If one of the key tasks of the state is to uphold justice and if justice is ultimately rooted in who God is then the idea of separation of church and state is not clear... I think its a legitimate distinction (Luke 20:25) but it's not black and white.

The church has already been pushed out of any meaningful contribution to public policy but now the gov'n is intruding into what has traditionally been the role of the church. Their message is relativism, the religion of secularism. And... attendance is mandatory. Maybe we could make church attendance mandatory as well!

Trudeau once said that the State has no business intruding into the bedrooms of its citizens... but apparently that is the only place that is off limits.

Anyway, read this article from the NP. I think the writer makes some good points.

Return to faith in what?

2008-12-07T17:39:00.000-08:00

People turn to faith in times of trouble but what does that mean exactly? Here is a little video clip and also a snippet from the article in the Washington Post.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/video/2008/12/04/VI2008120401214.html?sid=ST2008120301782

Dave is wary of shamans. Will demons be involved? "I'm a committed Christian," Dave says. "This is not my world."

He eyes the crystals, chimes, ostrich feather and beads laid out on a table like surgeon's tools. "Do I get a lollipop in the end?"

"If you're good," Larry says.

"Define good."

Larry begins by asking Dave to remove his belt, wallet and keys, and to stand, legs spread, prison-style, so that Larry can pass burning sage between Dave's legs. Dave looks down at Larry kneeling: "Talk about blowing smoke up your . . ."

Larry tells Dave to lie face-up on the bed, on a yellow spread printed with pink flowers. A church bell in the street below chimes 10 a.m. Larry says: "Visualize energy coming from God into your palms. Vibrancy." Gong. "Health." Gong. "Peace." Gong.

Fred sits watching, no longer wondering -- "Is this real?" -- as he did in the hot tub days. Since then, Fred's wife was diagnosed with leukemia. In the hospital, Larry performed a healing ritual on her. She went into remission. Now Fred is hoping that Dave will be blessed with remission. Last February, Dave, a father of three, lost a kidney to cancer.

Larry bends over Dave. "You've got a double challenge," he says, "the economic challenge and the health challenge." Dave has just completed chemotherapy. Shamanism grates against his nature, but if believing in it might cure him, he will try.

"Let your mind float, that this completely crazy wacko visualization could be something real, that it could help your body," Larry says, drawing Dave into a trance. "Fake it till you make it."

An hour and a half later, Dave sits up.

While in the trance, Dave had felt Larry brush his face with feathers. "What, did I have a duck on my head?"

Larry pats Dave on the back. "God and the angels, you had the whole gang here," Larry says. "Drink a lot of liquids today."

Dave says he's feeling both strong and shaky. "Back to work," Dave says, threading his belt through pant loops. "Back to reality."

Yamnuska

2008-11-30T08:41:00.000-08:00

Had a chance to take some friends from Iran up Yamnuska last weekend. They are petroleum engineers studying at the U of C for the semester on an exchange program.

Rezza and I with Yamnuska in the background.

A little coffee on the top!
It was a beautiful day... until a cruel wind picked up and nearly froze us in place.

Rhetoric

2008-11-17T17:59:00.000-08:00

rhetoric: emphasizing style at the expense of thought

We live in an age of rhetoric.

The media is full of rhetoric.

So is the church.

Anti-Semitism

2008-11-16T20:25:00.000-08:00

What is the explanation for anti-Semitism? That is the question powerfully asked in this little video.

http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/Page/VideoPlayer&cid=1194419829128&videoId=1226404742423

Why is it that anti semitism is alive and well today after all that has happened in the last 100 years? And it is not just Islamic nations. I caught just a small glimpse of this a while ago when a company in Austria refused to do some prototyping for me. I was told that they did not do 'religious items'... but I am pretty sure what they meant is that they would not do Jewish menorahs!

It is equally difficult to understand the continued preservation of the Jews apart from the promises of God.

Thus says the LORD, who gives the sun for light by day and the fixed order of the moon and the stars for light by night, who stirs up the sea so that its waves roar-- the LORD of hosts is his name: "If this fixed order departs from before me, declares the LORD, then shall the offspring of Israel cease from being a nation before me forever." Thus says the LORD: "If the heavens above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth below can be explored, then I will cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done, declares the LORD." Jeremiah 31:35-37 ESV

1993

2008-10-30T20:32:00.000-07:00

1993

No, its not a date.

And its not money.

Or an address.

Its not a phone number.

Give up?

Well, it's probably the most important number I can think of.

It is printed on two bracelets.

My sister wore one of them and the other...

belongs to Ethan William Johnstone! Born last night, it must have been just a little before midnight.

Mother and son are doing well and we are all very, very thankful.

For pictures go to:

http://www.troyandnaomi.com/

Contentment

2008-10-15T09:31:00.000-07:00

I found myself checking the financial news quite a bit this last week as I watched the markets completely tank (the last few months haven’t exactly been stellar either). And yeah, I felt like tanking too. I guess you never really know how much something is a source of security until it is taken away…

The Bible has a lot to say about money and its real value… as though humans might have a recurring problem in this area. Here are few that have been a challenge to me,

"Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who art in heaven, Hallowed be Thy name. 'Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done, On earth as it is in heaven. 'Give us this day our daily bread. 'And forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. Matthew 6:9-12

And some soldiers were questioning him, saying, "And what about us, what shall we do?" And he said to them, "Do not take money from anyone by force, or accuse anyone falsely, and be content with your wages." Luke 3:14

No servant can serve two masters. Either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and Money." Luke 16:13

Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal . But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. Matthew 6:19-21

But godliness actually is a means of great gain, when accompanied by contentment. For we have brought nothing into the world, so we cannot take anything out of it either. And if we have food and covering, with these we shall be content. 1 Timothy 6:6-8

Two things I asked of Thee, Do not refuse me before I die: Keep deception and lies far from me, Give me neither poverty nor riches; Feed me with the food that is my portion, Lest I be full and deny Thee and say, "Who is the LORD?" Or lest I be in want and steal, And profane the name of my God. Proverbs 30:7-9

Keep your lives free from the love of money and be content with what you have, because God has said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." So we say with confidence, "The Lord is my helper; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me?" Hebrews 13:5-6

For the love of money is a root of all kinds of evil. Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. But you, man of God, flee from all this, and pursue righteousness, godliness, faith, love, endurance and gentleness. 1 Timothy 6:10-11

Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? Matthew 6:25

But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your forefathers, as it is today. If you ever forget the LORD your God and follow other gods and worship and bow down to them, I testify against you today that you will surely be destroyed. Like the nations the LORD destroyed before you, so you will be destroyed for not obeying the LORD your God. Deuteronomy 9:1

Trust and contentment... they are elusive things. To be content with little or much, to be thankful for daily provision's and to trust God with the future.

Fear Fear

2008-10-10T06:40:00.000-07:00

So, first of all, let me assert my firm belief that the only thing we have to fear is fear itself...

...our distress comes from no failure of substance. We are stricken by no plague of locusts. Compared with the perils which our forefathers conquered because they believed and were not afraid, we have still much to be thankful for. Nature still offers her bounty and human efforts have multiplied it. Plenty is at our doorstep, but a generous use of it languishes in the very sight of the supply. Primarily this is because the rulers of the exchange of mankind’s goods have failed, through their own stubbornness and their own incompetence, have admitted their failure, and abdicated. Practices of the unscrupulous money changers stand indicted in the court of public opinion, rejected by the hearts and minds of men.

True they have tried, but their efforts have been cast in the pattern of an outworn tradition. Faced by failure of credit they have proposed only the lending of more money. Stripped of the lure of profit by which to induce our people to follow their false leadership, they have resorted to exhortations, pleading tearfully for restored confidence. They know only the rules of a generation of self-seekers. They have no vision, and when there is no vision the people perish.

The money changers have fled from their high seats in the temple of our civilization. We may now restore that temple to the ancient truths. The measure of the restoration lies in the extent to which we apply social values more noble than mere monetary profit.

Happiness lies not in the mere possession of money; it lies in the joy of achievement, in the thrill of creative effort. The joy and moral stimulation of work no longer must be forgotten in the mad chase of evanescent profits. These dark days will be worth all they cost us if they teach us that our true destiny is not to be ministered unto but to minister to ourselves and to our fellow men.

Recognition of the falsity of material wealth as the standard of success goes hand in hand with the abandonment of the false belief that public office and high political position are to be valued only by the standards of pride of place and personal profit; and there must be an end to a conduct in banking and in business which too often has given to a sacred trust the likeness of callous and selfish wrongdoing. Small wonder that confidence languishes, for it thrives only on honesty, on honor, on the sacredness of obligations, on faithful protection, on unselfish performance; without them it cannot live.

-from FDR's first fireside chat

How did this evolve?

2008-10-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

In bio class today we got into glycolosis. It is an incredibly complex process that I don't understand at all... see chart!

At the end of class, after having described this incredibly complex process, the prof asked us a question.

"I want you to think about this and consider, How did this evolve?"

Good question!

I was looking forward to hearing his explanation but he just left it at that and moved on.

I wonder how many of my class mates actually did stop to think about it. We have spent quite a bit of time already on chemical and biological evolution and sadly, I think most have accepted it as an incontrovertable fact. Certainly that is the way it is has been presented so far.

The Deck

2008-09-25T21:50:00.000-07:00

This is a deck for a customer who wanted something a little different...

The backbone of the deck was a laminated plywood beam that sat on concrete pilings. The step stringers were then lagged to the beam.

We heated the Trex (composite) boards in a makeshift kiln until the boards were almost too hot to touch.

This softened them up enough to bend although we still had plenty of breakage! I owe Dad big for this one.

The sky is falling!

2008-09-22T19:32:00.000-07:00

At least that's the impression I get reading the financial news these days. World changing events are occurring and it is not exactly easy to sit back and watch completely detached...

Anyway, no matter what the stock market does, one thing is for sure, Wall Street will never be the same.

It has been interesting reading some of the guys who have seen this coming all along. They saw this coming but their recommendations have been mostly wrong up to this point despite their solid grasp of the economy and foresight. At first the great fear seemed to be deflation with the flight to the dollar but after the latest round of bail outs, it seems that inflation is our greater enemy... and a flight to gold. Maybe next week it will be deflation again.

The US government has taken an unprecedented role in the markets. They have not only bailed out companies as they did Chrysler, S&L's etc. in days gone by, they have nationalized mortgage lending and assumed massive amounts of debt in the process. Interestingly, the US Gov'n could stand to benefit by having purchased these notes at greatly discounted rates. But as potential beneficiaries of the market the US Gov'n now has a direct interest in seeing real estate prices stabilized... otherwise their debt burden only increases. (by some some estimates to 2 trillion)

Some have highlighted the dangers associated with the govn's latest interventions. Now the institution that has the power to make law also has a direct vested interest in the market. But then again, you could argue that it wouldn't have benefited anyone if the entire financial system collapsed. I don't envy central bankers these days.

Here is an interesting quote,

"The eruption of the U.S. sub-prime crisis has exposed massive loopholes in the United States' financial oversight and supervision," writes the commentator, Shi Jianxun.
"The world urgently needs to create a diversified currency and financial system and fair and just financial order that is not dependent on the United States."

Not sure how the Chinese say this with a strait face when their own economic policies are not exactly sound either (to put it mildly!).

Fishing in the Crowsnest

2008-09-17T21:08:00.000-07:00

A couple weekends ago we got a chance to do some fishing in the Crowsnest area.

It was a classic trout stream with nice ripples, deep pockets and undercut banks. It was trout heaven ... but without any trout.

But later in the afternoon the clouds moved in and the fun began.

It was epic! iv'e never seen anything like it. The entire stream was erupting with rising trout. But they were selective too... They weren't going for our bigger flies. But with the right fly... well with just a few cast's I lost 3 flies on 3 very nice sized trout! And I did manage to land one too.

All around, a great day with good friends.