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Friday, March 12, 2010

The second “day” of creation!

So what does the bible say happened in, and around that second “day” of creation? Again I will be taking the “Ywm” or “yom” word used in the Hebrew as meaning “period”, not day for this discussion. 

 

Let’s look at what the writings say. . .


 
“And God said, ‘Let there be an expanse between the waters to separate water from water.’ So God made the expanse and separated the water under the expanse from the water above it. And it was so. God called the expanse ‘sky.’ And there was evening, and there was morning—the second day.”[1]

 

So let’s compare this to the current scientific theories of the formation of water on our Earth. The scientists say that the large amount of the water that is found on the Earth would have come from the original nebula that provided the material for the proto-planets that collided to form Earth.  

The hot mushy sloppy volcanic type Earth poured out gasses from its core
, and an initial atmosphere rich in carbon dioxide (that is a pretty heavy gas) would have keep the water all over the Earths surface despite the temperatures being an estimated 230 C or thereabouts.


 

The scientists say this was happening about 4.4 billion years ago (give or take a fair bit, since their estimates vary depending on the year and who is doing the calculations).  Then adding to this, comets, asteroids, and water rich meteorites would have come smacking down onto the baby Earth releasing water vapor that would condense and form water.  Not a nice environment!


 

The water would have slowly absorbed some of that carbon dioxide and the water vapor would have formed dense clouds covering around our Earth and obscuring any Sun that might have been able to be seen through the remaining dust of the nebula.


 

Now, water related sediments have been found in about 3.8 billion year old sediments.[2] Nitrogen starts to become the main part of the “second” atmosphere. The Earth is still warm enough to have an ocean despite the much lesser solar radiation hitting it.


 
So how does this tie into our bible?

 
Perfectly!

 

God points out that the first thing he does after establishing the Earth is to separate the waters from the waters, the ocean from the clouds, in the very different atmosphere sky.


 

3000 years ago God wrote this down! The bible is no fairy tale. It is a simple representation of facts for people to remember and re-tell. It has to be simple, how else could simple man have understood what I have just explained.


 

Also, lets be sure of this. . .science has still got some of it wrong!


 

Also please remember that the bible is there to show us God loves us, and not to explain how he did things before we were here. Nevertheless God has imbedded a simple tale of explanation for those of us interested to follow it.


 
Cool, isn’t it?



[1] Genesis 1:6-8 NIV

[2] B. Windley: The Evolving Continents. Wiley Press, New York 1984

Fri, March 12, 2010 | link          Comments

Thursday, March 11, 2010

Avatar the movie, and the Garden of Eden


A good deal of thanks needs to be given to James Cameron for putting this film together.
The 3D effects are well done, but that is not what makes it a good movie. In summary terms, it’s good because it follows an age old theme of good triumphing against overwhelming evil by the intervention of a spiritual type force.

avatar.JPG

Yes, you know where I am going! I love these themes. But before I go there a quick summary of what the movie is about. A guy, Jake, who is in a wheelchair gets the chance to inhabit the body of a strange creature on another world in the attempt to infiltrate the home environments of these creatures.

In an Adam meeting Eve in the garden of Eden type of encounter, he meets a women Neytiri who gives him great knowledge of the world he is inhabiting. They connect in with a goddess called Eywa (who in Earth terms would be called mother Earth but who comes from their world).



There is a wonderful theme of being close and intimate with nature and the goddess.


 

The humans are evil and the Na’vi (the blue people from this other world) are warned to keep away from the humans. They don’t and greed for a mineral unobtanium results in them attacking the home world of the Na’vi. Jake has to get all the Na’vi to fight them off and this is not enough and he appeals to Eywa who in a miraculous way decides to take side (apparently she doesn’t normally) and eradicates the attackers.

 

Whether James Cameron understands this or not he has created a world that comes from the innermost emotions and social tensions of man.

The Garden they initially meet in, is like Eden(though maybe a bit more violent), there is initially only a male who is joined by a female (Adam and Eve story). Man is evil (aren’t we often that way). Evil destroys the idyllic life and they then have to struggle for existence! God sent Adam and Eve out the garden to work for a living. Lot's of parallels in the story and the truth!


 

Jake, Neytiri and the Na’vi need Eywa to survive. We need God to survive. Eywa does not often intervene in major ways the affairs of the Na’vi as God does not intervene in major ways in the affairs of man.


 

However when the Na’vi are about to get destroyed, Eywa intervenes. Similarly God intervenes in numerous times in our history. The flood, Babel, and most importantly, Jesus coming!


 

The intervention gives the Na’vi new hope for live and a renewed world connected to Eywa. Jesus gives us new hope for a new life connected to the living God.


 

It’s a good movie, but the reality we live in is so much better.

However the movie reminds us God wants us to look after the environment and live in a renewable way with it. It reminds us we are sustained and given true joy in life by Our Father, God. It reminds us God wants a loving relationship with us.


 

That’s why I like the movie Avatar! Let's keep our planet healthy and free of Evil!


 

Have a great day!

Thu, March 11, 2010 | link          Comments

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Marriage or just living together

Statistics state that

 “unmarried cohabitations overall are less stable than marriages.  The probability of a first marriage ending in separation or divorce within 5 years is 20 percent, but the probability of a premarital cohabitation breaking up within 5 years is 49 percent.  After 10 years, the probability of a first marriage ending is 33 percent, compared with 62 percent for cohabitations.”[1]
 

When we add to this the reported figure that about 40 to 50% of couples in North America are divorced, it begs the question

 
“Why even get married?”

 

In Canada where I live it appears as if the only non-Christian reason for getting married is to get the same last name and in so doing reduce the stress of naming your child and your child having to explain the complex non-married relationship.

 

So, it seems as if there is no real economical reason to get married, but there may be others. .
 

 

Marriage was not something that was provided by God for us so that we could make promises to each other that could be broken. A Christian marriage is a THREE way relationship. The husband and wife once joined are placing themselves under the authority and jurisdiction of God himself. That is the real reason to get married. Any other is non-biblical and you may just as well use a court or just live together.

 

You see, it’s not the law that can make a marriage work! It’s not even the wife, or the husband! It’s how much the wife and husband are willing to listen to what God says and do it! Rebellion against God is the first step in divorce, and adultery is a close second.

 

God says “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.”[2]

 

The bible is quite clear that adultery occurs when a MARRIED person has sex outside marriage. Jesus extended this for men (who are great at having mental images of sexual activities) as follows”

 "You have heard that it was said, 'Do not commit adultery.'But I tell you that anyone who looks at a woman lustfully has already committed adultery with her in his heart.”[3]


So from a Christian perspective once you get into that relationship with God and your spouse that is called marriage, you are expected to keep eyes and thoughts off the wrong sexual stuff. Quite the challenge?

 

What about those who don’t get married? Well if you aren’t a Christian, you only need to consider marriage once you become one. God has no guidelines for people who are not Christian, but I do believe that he honours non-Christians who ask to fall under his marriage agreement, even if they are not believers. So, it’s your call!

 

Marriage is not to entered into lightly because it is meant to never be undone! Arguing that you didn’t marry a sick person so you don’t want to be married to them isn’t a valid Christian argument. We have this little promise to God of “until death us do part!” Money disagreements are easily sorted out if you follow God’s rules. I don’t hear too much marital argument when both in the marriage agrees the first money belongs to God, and when both pray about it and look for guidelines in the good book and try to stick to them. I hear stacks of issues where people don’t do that! And there is lots of money advice in the good book.
 

 

So, should we get married? For Christians, the answer is definitely yes! God loves us and wants the best for us. Listening to God (our parents who love us as well), and prayerfully developing the right loving relationship with someone is great! When it reaches that stage that we are thinking of lifelong commitment, try and get some solid pre-marital teaching (this has been shown to help marriages), and then check with your parents as to what they think of the person. Ask them for honesty and be prepared to be hurt. It may not be what you expect. They love you and will warn you if you are making a mistake. Ignore their advice and you are already moving into hot water that you are boiling yourself!

 

When you get married, think about the fact that it’s a three way relationship. Discuss with your future life partner how you will both respond to that relationship and if you are in agreement and understand how God wants you to submit to him then go for it!

 

I can say a Christian marriage is superb under these circumstances. Unfortunately too many people skip the steps chasing short term happiness only to find pain and long term disillusionment. Law cannot keep us together only God can!

 

Hey, let's go and have a great day and enjoy loving relationships with others. We can as Christians, because we keep sexual attraction at home, for our wives(or husbands).

 

Have a good one!

Wed, March 10, 2010 | link          Comments

Tuesday, March 9, 2010

Do we still “need” God?

I often hear people say the
 
“God is not longer needed today!”, or “hey, we don’t need God!”
 


If I lived in Haiti or Chile or Turkey over the last while I don't think this would be my statement.
The Earthquakes have devastated peoples lives and living conditions. Prayer to God is moving people around the world, to have compassion and do things. That's what should do as Christians! We need to have a loving relationship with God and love others enough to do something. Have you contributed to helping people in these areas. Just a little money helps. Let's do it!

So God has the ability to decide the times and places of events. He influences people to help others, changing their lives. This includes events in our lives!
 

Then I hear people saying

“the bible is full of things we must not do or else…it is a negative book!”


Hmmm, lets investigate that.
 . .

When a mother says to a child, “don’t do that. . .” it is definitively a negative statement, but it’s for a positive effect isn’t it (I’m talking of a loving kind mother).

“Don’t put you finger into the electrical socket. . . Don’t put that pot off the stove. . . Don’t use drugs they will hurt you”,

are all statements that are negative, but are for our protection aren’t they.

In fact, by not saying these things we would be responsible for the pain that incurs in some way wouldn’t we.

We need to say something if we love someone! Even if they reject us for doing so! It's the loving thing to do isn't it?

We want our family and friends to avoid doing the wrong things. Not all of these are to enable them to avoid pain either. Think of the child who has stood on a piece of broken glass that is in now their foot. “hold still, we want to take the glass out. It will hurt for a little while then it will be better” is an example of pain we inflict on loved ones. It's not malicious, it's loving! Even though the two year old may not understand our actions before we do them! 

Sometimes short term pain can be necessary to avoid long term harm!
 Why then do we start to act up when God does the same for us?

We are so often like that immature child rebelling against the guidelines that will make their life better. Why? Why do we choose to hurt ourselves?
 

God’s sacred writing has proved  to be of eternal value and has stood the test of time through to today.


If we try to understand what God has said about living successfully today, and we understand why our heavenly Father has said these things (at least understand as much as our human minds are capable of), then they preserve our life! They protect us from evil people who want to destroy us. Isn’t that great!
 

So today things may not be going the greatest for us!
Perhaps we are tired, sore, in anguish, feel lost!

God wants to rejuvenate us, come alongside us with compassion, allow us to learn great lessons that will help us live successfully, and give us purpose.
 


That’s the way I want to go about life today, it's how I hope you will be helped today. Perhaps it's time to start to try and understand Gods word.  

Start reading towards the end of the book. John 1:19 onwards. You will discover a really loving and amazing God.

Then we can live our days successfully. That's what I want! What about you?

Tue, March 9, 2010 | link          Comments

Monday, March 8, 2010

The first “day” of creation!


So what does the bible say happened in and around that first “day” of creation? I will be taking the “Ywm” or “yom” word used in the Hebrew as meaning period, not day for this discussion and if you follow me for a little while you will see why!

 

Let’s look at what the writings say. . .


 
In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth.[1] 


Today we take it as a given that there was a beginning, but for many years scientists didn’t agree, they believed the universe had always existed and was going through a cycle of changes. It is only recently with the Hubble telescope and others that we could look back through the light coming to us after it had traveled many millions of years through space and determine that there was a beginning.  God knew this all along! To make sure we knew, he knew this, he got ancient man to write it down about 3000 years ago! The scientists tell us our universe started about 13.7 billion years ago! Now that’s quite a while back!

 

So let’s look at the next verse.


 
Now the earth was formless and empty, darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was hovering over the waters.[2] 


I have described this previously, how the nebula or “dust” cloud differentiated as gravity clumped it together.  The Sun explodes into existence at the center of this dust, hydrogen, helium and other chemicals mix. The earth forms in the swirling dust from very large asteroids that hit into each other making planets. 

There had to be lots of water since our earth gets its water from this original nebula. The bible says God’s Spirit was there in this beginning!

 

The bible says. . .


 
3 And God said, "Let there be light," and there was light. 4 God saw that the light was good, and He separated the light from the darkness. 5 God called the light "day," and the darkness he called "night." And there was evening, and there was morning—the first day.[3] 


So this Sun that lit up in the middle of this mess was the first light, and God wanted man to know this light by the term day. This is still that same term “ywm” or “yom” and we know this didn’t take twenty-four hours! The darkness around it was called night. Since we didn’t exist yet, I guess we need to take God’s words and accept them as he has the author rights to them!

 

Now this is interesting stuff because I think that this description fits what we know of the first part of the creation of the Earth and Universe pretty well! It is amazingly accurate knowing that it was written before science existed, when people though the Earth was flat, and that you could perhaps fall off the edges! This was written over 3000 years ago and it had to be remembered for years before it was even written down. How amazing is it that it is even close to accurate! What a miracle! Then we get some bigwigs in the science field who mock it! Where do they get off doing that! Science hasn’t even had it right for 100 years, never mind 3000years!

 

If you follow another religion I would really like you to investigate your creation story and compare it to the known scientific facts. I find many of these are not all close to the logically accepted reasoning of today! At least the biblical story is close! In fact it’s so close, it’s as if ancient man had known the creation progression himself, but we know he had no way of knowing. Only God could!

 

Now that’s an interesting thought for today isn’t it?



[1] Genesis 1:1 (NV)

[2] Genesis 2 (NIV)

[3] Genesis 1`:3-4 (NIV)

Mon, March 8, 2010 | link          Comments

Sunday, March 7, 2010

God through the ages, the same yesterday, today and tomorrow?


Have you ever asked yourself if God changed over time? Today I want to take a look at some of the historical events over human existence and investigate if God changed or whether he was just being a loving God, reacting to how we changed.

 

Let’s go back in time to before 10,000B.C., to the time Adam and Eve were around and the years after that but before 10,000BC. We find initially God and man walked and talked together. God just wanted a loving relationship with man! There was an ability for mankind to take eternal life, but we screwed up and chose evil. God protects us by making sure we can’t have an evil eternity by taking this hunter gatherer group and putting them outside the idealistic life where they just picked fruit from trees to stay alive.

 

Now man had to work! Work was hard! Farming started around 9,000 to 8,000 B.C. Archeological finds support this. However we also know that mankind had become evil. Cain had killed Abel and had been set away to wander the earth. God wanted to keep those who were obedient and loving towards him separated from those that rejected his love. God just wanted a loving relationship with man.

 

Unfortunately we find Cain wants to rebel further. See Genesis 4:17 for the biblical comment. Mankind moves into groups and sets up cities. This started in the stone or “Neolithic” age! Cities start to form and by 6000B.C. we have evidence of Jericho, a city in the Middle East. Most of the cities start around 300 to 2000B.C. Cities like Ur, Uruk, Mari, Ugarit, Nineveh, Babel and Akkad spring up. Writing starts in 3400B.C. (defines the start of History!) and the Bronze age starts in about 3200 to 1200B.C. Man in Cities is evil and defies God.

 

Ungodly worship starts to occur as people build “mountains of God” or Ziggurats.

Ziggurate.JPG
These were man made mounds or pyramids upon which men went to worship idols or false gods. It is even suggested that since they have the exact same composition as the tower of Babel described in the bible that this tower may have been one of them.


 
God's worshippers however generally only made small alters of uncut stone.

Exodus 20:25 If you make an altar of stones for me, do not build it with dressed stones, for you will defile it if you use a tool on it.


God keeps the Patriarchs and Job separate from evil people. God just wants a loving relationship with his people!
 

People fail God however, they become slaves and he organizes a miracle to set them free so that they can become his people. A theocracy is born! It is estimated Moses left Egypt with the Hebrews around 1466BC. This was still the era of bronze weapons and gold metal working. God wants a nation who love Him. The people however want laws and objects to worship as they had been used to in Egypt. God considers them “stiff-necked” i.e. stubborn but he gives them the law and organizes for the tabernacle to be built as a moving worship place. God just wants a loving relationship with his people! They reject this and chase idols and false gods and grumble. 
 

Once they get into the Promised Land they grumble a lot! They want more leadership and God allows judges to be nominated and around 1375BC. Othniel (judges 3:10) is nominated as a judge. God just wants a loving relationship with His people but they become corrupt and evil.

Civil war breaks out. The judges being human get selfish greedy and evil.
 Then the people ask to have the judges replaced with a King! God warns them they will regret it but they reject him and demand a king.

1 SAMUEL 8:6 But when they said, "Give us a king to lead us," this displeased Samuel; so he prayed to the LORD. And the LORD told him: "Listen to all that the people are saying to you; it is not you they have rejected, but they have rejected me as their king.
 
 

Now God’s chosen people get their Kings. The first one is a bit of disaster, the second David is good, and the third Solomon gets told by God to build a temple! The Hebrews allow the power and majesty of their Kings to pull them into treating God badly and after a while they are almost worse than the nations around them. God has to do something to save them and so he allows them to get a full experience of idol worship but allowing them to be captured by these nations and made into slaves. Israel falls in about 721 BC, followed by the fall of Jerusalem and Judah into captivity in approximately 586 B.C. To put it into perspective the first Olympic games were held in 776B.C. God just wanted a loving relationship with his people but they had to understand his love and know he was good to them. They found this out as slaves but took many years to truly admit this and come back to him.
 

During those years he protected them. The Persian and Babylonian overlords were not allowed to damage their faith as the stories of Daniel and Ester and others show us, Finally they are allowed to return to their land and re-build the temple. God has never rejected them and has kept them safe, even in dire circumstances.
 

Mankind is getting more and more nasty. Iron is becoming common. The Iron Age started in about 1300BC. By now men have great weapons of war and destruction. Alexander the Great captures the Hebrew nation and makes them part of a world Empire.

We have progressed from nations to Empires as the human race. God views this ultimate destructive power and waits as the Greek language permeates every nation. By 327 BC Alexander the Great controls the world and dies a drunken disillusioned death. Then after years of power struggle, the Romans come in (at the Hebrews  invitation) in around 44BC they control the world and have taken over Palestine. They build magnificent roads and have huge powerful armies. They bring relative peace to the world by force! 
 

God then allows Jesus, his son,  to come into this power crazy world and win it by love and the power of Holy Spirit. God just wants to have a loving relationship with his people!
 

John 3:16
"God loved the world so much that he gave his one and only Son. Anyone who believes in him will not die but will have eternal life.  

The people of God form the first church and this church is so powerful that the largest Empire on Earth adopts the Christian religion as the world religion. In 325 A.D. Constantine summoned the First Council of Nicaea, effectively the first Ecumenical Council. The Greek language and Roman roads are the conduits through which the truth about God flows to the world. Latin becomes the church language. These are incredible days! 
 

However we fail again! The need for power and control grips the human heart. The church starts to build up it’s own greed and power! Horrifically man wants to control the Church and it’s members! They persecute the Jews. Conversion is attempted by force! Crusades damage the middle east  and the church stoops to making money out of God by selling indulgences! The truth of God is getting lost. God protects this by securing his bible in monasteries and nunneries and allows the dark ages to descend to teach man that without Him, the world is a bad place. The Roman empire is defeated in 476BC. God just wants a loving relationship with his people, but they are selfish, ignorant and nasty!
 

Then there is great invention, the printing press! This allows books to be made easily. The church cannot lock up God’s word and keep it from the people (yes they were doing that!). Now the church re-forms. Groups like the Anabaptists 1518 A.D, Anglicans 1534 A.D., and Lutherans 1520 A.D all reject the hypocrisy and turn to the bible to try and find truth. They do! God just wants a loving relationship with his people, and for a while this happens.
 

Then we fail again! The same drive that allows individuals to search for truth is brought to bear on differences between individuals. The church splits into hundreds of fragments. Theological argument start. Big words become a means to show superiority and to keep people in the dark. Obviously the simple man couldn’t understand these strange and complicated arguments. The church makes us feel inadequate and that only by subscribing to their rules (called doctrines) could we have a good relationship with God. All the time God just wants a loving relationship with his people
 

So where are we today?

We are trying to get out of this latest failure and trying to enable ourselves to have a loving relationship with God
. It’s real tough! People make this simple fact so difficult for us.
 

Perhaps the simplest is to go back to the bible where the guidelines in Hebrews 13 should be followed:
         Keep on loving each other as brothers and sisters. Don't forget to welcome strangers.
         Remember those in prison as if you were in prison with them. And remember those who are treated badly as if you yourselves were suffering.
         All of you should honor marriage.
         Don't be controlled by love for money.
         Remember your leaders
         Don't be carried away by all kinds of strange teachings
         So let us never stop offering to God our praise through Jesus.
         Don't forget to do good. Don't forget to share with others.
         Obey your leaders. Put yourselves under their authority.
         We can do it only with the help of Jesus Christ. Give him glory for ever and ever. Amen.  

Maybe if we do this we will succeed. I want to reject our failures and focus on the good stuff of doing what it says in Hebrews 13, what about you? 
 

I just want to live with our God who just wants a loving relationship with me, and you too!
Sun, March 7, 2010 | link          Comments


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Rift in Evil

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This suspense thriller centers on Kiara, a beautiful young woman pursued by a murderous group of people, who relentlessly and ruthlessly hunt her and her sisters. Kiara has no idea why she is being targeted! When Kiara and her family turn to the law for help, this fails. Her pursuers’ powers reach deeply into the political and law enforcement world. Family support for her dwindles when they too have to flee her pursuers. Can Kiara escape the clutches of both the law and dishonest big business? With the media broadcasting that Kiara and friends are dangerous and subversive, can Kiara clear her name and bring her pursuers to justice?

 

 
  

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 RiftInEvil.gifThe town of Zinaville is dropped into a spiral of evil causing a young man and a beautiful but abused woman to launch into an investigation that unveils an evil conspiracy.

A horrific mining accident results in Joshua Robyn's father being killed. Joshua struggles both with himself and his townsfolk as he tries to make sense of an incomprehensible situation. Is it an accident or a murder? Why is there a seeming link to evil? Why is his work environment suddenly threatening? What is the conspiracy about and what are they trying to do? As action moves dramatically from exotic African grasslands to the heart of North America's cities, the plot unfolds and the pace quickens. Will there be time? Why is a beautiful abused young woman in the center of this plot?

Evil tendrils tighten on their lives and the interplay between the visible and invisible world shows opposing forces at work.

Will there be a rift in evil?

Will they be able to stop the evil in time?

 

 

 
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