Where, O Death, is your sting?

I wrote the below about a week ago after having a particularly vivid dream.  I've actually been having quite a few vivid dreams lately, more so than usual, although I'm not sure the reason why.  Those dreams tend to affect me emotionally and influence my thoughts at the beginning of the day as I recount them to myself and analyze them.     This dream, in particular, led me to much contemplation about death and life that day and I thought I'd share some of it with you.


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I'm thinking a lot about death today.  In my dream last night, for some reason that I am unsure of, I was supposed to die on my birthday.  I ended up having some guy throw knives and throwing stars at me, which I also threw back at him, and some of them injured me, including a knife or two embedded in my head.  For some reason, it was supposed to be, and I was fine with that.  I had a peace about my death that surpassed all understanding.  Yes, I was sad to be leaving my loved ones, but it was okay.  When I saw a good friend of mine, I gave him a hug and started crying, telling him I might not be around much longer, but not telling him why.  I just left him.  I didn't give anyone else at the table a hug because I didn't know them as well, but I was sad that I wouldn't be around to become better friends with them.  When I initially got the knives in the head, I felt as though I wouldn't make it, like I was dying, and like that was how it was supposed to be.  Later on, though, it seemed as though I might actually make it and live past my birthday.  I asked my mother if I should go ahead and die like the original "plan" dictated, or if I should keep living.  She never responded and I woke up before I could find out what the result was (as I always do when there's a possibility of my dying in my dreams).  

I think that part of my dream was about the inevitability of death.  There was a point where myself and a couple other people were fighting a group of "bad guys" in hand-to-hand combat.  We were just about to defeat them, and the death they brought with them, when a second, more numerous wave of fighters on horseback came over the hill.  It then seemed as though our defeat was inevitable.  I'm not sure what exactly that scene transitioned to or what the result of the fight was, but I remember the feeling of doom, and feeling like it was okay.

I want the peace I had in my dream about dying.  In some ways, I think I do have that peace.  Over and over again, I've been seeing verses about the life to come after this one, about the fact that there will be no more pain, no more sorrow, no more weeping.  Right now, that sounds wonderful.  To be in a place where the joy is never ending, where we will be in direct fellowship with God, and the cares and sorrows of this world will pass away is something for which I desperately long.  I want to live like I am dying, to not fear death but to embrace it.  I heard a song this morning with the line "we were born to embrace not except it."  I'm not completely sure what "it" they were talking about, except for maybe suffering, but there is some part of me that wants to relate it to my death.  Not that I want to die or that I would ever kill myself.  I know that God has work left for me to do on this earth until He determines that it is time to take me away.  I want to die for something much greater than myself and want my death to point others to Christ and to bring Him the praise and glory.  That's what I want for my life, and I want no less for my death.  

The Touch of the Master's Hand

I know this may seem like a rather inane thing to write about after not writing for so long, but I believe there is more to the story than at first meets the eye.  Another marvelous work of art by the master artist Leonardo da Vinci has been discovered.  It is the beautiful portrait of a young woman, aptly entitled La Bella Principessa, or, in the modern English vernacular, The Beautiful Princess.  The drawer of the masterpiece was discovered not merely through the typical examination of technique and artistry, but it was something much more compelling that caused art experts to declare it a pukka work of art attributed to da Vinci.  A finger and palm print were found on the drawing, prints that matched others on known works by da Vinci.  The indisputable evidence of a fingerprint caused the painting's value to suddenly jump from around $19,000 to somewhere in the neighborhood of $150,000, solely because of who created it. 

Seeing the article on the drawing got me to thinking that this story could be more than just one of misplaced credit for the creation of a chalk, ink, and pencil drawing.  I've been told that since God the Father is the King, it makes me a princess, a princess like the one in the picture.  What gives me my value?  The fact that God the Master Artist has left his fingerprint on me in the process of creating me and I am His.  Were the drawer of the portrait merely a "common" artist as had previously been thought, the drawing's worth would have been very minimal.  It is because of who masterminded it, sketched it, and brought it to fruition and life that changed everything.  So many times our existence as human beings is attributed to chance and Mother Nature.  However, God's fingerprint in the design and beauty with which He created us is a clear mark and unmistakable evidence that we are his workmanship and, because of that, we are priceless. 

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother's womb.  I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place.  When I was woven together in the depths of the earth, your eyes saw my unformed body.  All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Psalm 139:13-16

Life, Love, and the Pursuit of a PhD

I am currently at a time in my life where the choices I make very well may influence the course that the rest of my time here on earth takes. Do I find a job? Which job? Do I go to grad school? Which grad school? Do I stop after my M.S. or continue on to get my PhD? Sometimes the choices seem overwhelming.

I need to stop racing forward and simply pause and breathe at times like these. At times like these, I need to go back to the foundation of my existence and realize that no matter the choices I make, they don't matter so much so long as God and pleasing him day by day is my focus in life. After all, what else matters in the end? Jobs can be lost, friendships can fall apart, and happiness is fleeting.

Many people say that Ecclesiastes is a depressing book to read. I, rather, find it a very peaceful and reassuring portion of scripture. No matter how hard I work here on this earth and how much I strive to be the best that I can be in my chosen profession, even should I fail at that, this world and all that it is and stands for is but dust in the wind. There is nothing new under the sun and there is a time for everything. I need to make my life matter for eternity, not just for this temporary world, where I and what I do will be forgotten before long. I want to live for the line, not just the dot.

Does that mean I give up on accomplishing anything with my life? No indeed. Does that mean I should not work hard to excel at the things I attempt? No indeed. It does mean, however, that my own praise and my own glory should not be my driving force. Instead, God's praise and God's glory should be all that matters. No matter the choices I make and the steps I take in life, that is what will endure.

Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men

Colossians 3:23

Merry Christmas!

But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Luke 2:10-11 (NIV)

Quote of the Day

"About 1340 Petrarch climbed a mountain, Mount Ventoux, in the south of France just to climb it -- something new."

- Francis Schaeffer in his book "How Should We Then Live"

Is God Blowing Bubbles?

H.G. Wells wrote an intriguing story entitled "The Island of Dr. Moreau". In it, Dr. Moreau is a scientist whose desire is to create human beings out of animals. On a small island in the middle of the Pacific, he experiments on one animal after another, each time trying to make something that is a little more human. He performs surgery on the creatures to change their appearance and mannerisms to become somewhat human like, then teaches them to speak and therefore think as humans. However, his experiments go terribly wrong as the Beast Men, as his creatures are called, revert back to their animal ways and end up being the cause of his death and destruction.

The story is narrated by Prendick, a man who, through various circumstances, becomes stranded on the island with Moreau, Moreau's assistant Montgomery, and the Beast Men. It is through his eyes that we see the tale of unfold. At first he knows nothing of what is occurring on the island, but he soon learns and finds he has no choice but to trust Moreau, even though he is repulsed by what Moreau is doing. Wells painted Dr. Moreau as being the "god" of his island. Dr. Moreau creates the beings that populate the island in "his" image, gives them laws to live by, and punishes them when they fail to follow those laws. After Moreau is killed by one of his creatures, the other Beast Men see that he is dead, but in order to maintain order Prendick informs them that he is not really dead, but has merely changed his shape for a time. He tells them, "'For a time you will not see him. He is...there'--I pointed upward--'where he can watch you. You cannot see him. But he can see you. Fear the Law.'" Is this not the very thing that we are taught about our own God? That he is "up there" somewhere and is watching us, so we should fear him and obey his law? The "god" Moreau even has a priest to preach his rules to the Beast Men. There is a certain gray-haired Beast Man that is known as the "Sayer of the Law". This law gives a list of things that they should not do, such as crawl on all fours, suck up drink as animals, or eat flesh or fish. It also includes sayings about Moreau, their creator, such as "His is the Hand that makes," "His is the Hand that wounds," "His is the Hand that heals," "His is the lightning-flash," "His is the deep salt sea," and "His are the stars in the sky." If this is not the description of a god, I don't know what is.

However, this god that Wells created has no room in his heart for love or mercy. He cares nothing for his creatures' pain. He creates them in pain to live out a life of agony as he forces them to follow laws that directly go against their innate animal desires. They have strong urges to follow their animal desires, and yet are bound by the laws he gave them to make them more human, like him. Everything Dr. Moreau does is merely to satisfy himself and his own whims and curiosity, with no real reason behind what he is doing. Prendick makes the observation that once the creatures were created in the laboratory, suffering through intense pain during that process, their tortures didn't end there as they were released to live on the island and made to continue in a life of agony. "Now they stumbled in the shackles of humanity, lived in a fear that never died, fretted by a law they could not understand; their mock-human existence began in an agony, was one long internal struggle, one long dread of Moreau--and for what?" H.G. Wells seems to be trying to make an analogy of our own existence. We are created by God in his image, we have sinful human desires but are given a moral law that is meant to restrict those desires and make us more like God and to live more in conformity to his nature. Wells' idea seems to be that God created us merely to make us suffer through our lives following this law as Dr. Moreau did his Beast Men--for no real reason. Is our existence really as pitiful as Moreau's Beast Men? Why did he create us in the first place? Does God really care for us?

Montgomery, one of the characters in Wells' book, asks, "Are we bubbles blown by a baby?" This seems to be the very question that H. G. Wells is putting to the reader: "Is the god who made us merely playing with us? An infantile creature who could care less about the bubbles that he creates and then pops, merely to satisfy his own whim?"

Cause, Effect, or Affect?

The following may not have much coherence or make much sense, but please bear with me. I am thinking "out loud".

I heard a speaker the other night say that, since Jesus has authority over all of history, he caused the bad things that happened, including the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center. Does God cause bad things, or does he allow them to happen? And if he allows them to happen, does that mean that he is not in complete control? Are the bad things things that God does since he controls everything, or are they the result of the evil in this world and our fallen, sinful human nature? The Bible says that God works things out for the good of those who love Him, but does that mean that he takes the bad situations that we cause and uses them for good, or does that mean that he causes the bad things and still uses them for good? A god that caused bad things to happen to the people he created does not seem like a very loving god, but more like a child with a magnifying glass killing ants on a sidewalk for the fun of it. There are also situations where something that we perceive as being bad at the time ends up being a very good thing when we look back on it, although perhaps not something that is on the same scale as the World Trade Center attack. Are large scale "bad" things viewed differently by God than things that we see as being on a smaller scale, such as loosing a job or a loved one?

Genesis 50:20: "You intended to harm me, but God intended it for good to accomplish what is now being done, the saving of many lives." That is what Joseph said to his brothers after they sold him into slavery and he ended up being able to save all Egypt from being victims of a terrible famine. Did God make the brothers sell Joseph, or did he just use the situation without causing it in the first place? If he made the brothers sell Joseph, doesn't that mean that he didn't allow them free will?

When Job is suffering from intense illness and the loss of his children and all his possessions, his wife comes up to him and tells him to "Curse God and die!" Job replies, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" (Job 2:10) In Job's story, God does not cause the bad things that happen to Job, but instead allows the devil to do them to Job, with set limitations. Is this how things really happen? If so, the devil influences people, and not God, to do bad things and God allows them to do those things. However, people still have the ability to make the choices for themselves and have free will and can only be influenced.

God could cause things to happen that influence our decisions by influencing the decisions of others in a very complicated web of influence and decision making. But he would also know what those decisions ended up being in advance since he is beyond the restraints of time. I once heard it said that when we make a choice to follow God, it is like us choosing to open a door and God is on the other side saying "I have chosen you." So does God use our choices, and causes things to happen that make these choices work out the way he wants them in the end?

It is all very confusing...and I think my brain is about to explode. I think it is safe to say that God is much bigger than I am, and it is a good thing that he understands everything, because I definitely don't.

An Arachniphobe's Nightmare

A state park in northern Texas is home to a recent phenomenon that will send shivers up the spines of any sane, spider-fearing citizen. There is a network of spiderwebs enveloping several trees and bushes along a 200 yard long stretch of trail within the park. It seems that this giant network of web-spinners is very rare and entomologists have yet to discover what has caused these particular spiders to do what they have done. Being an avid spider fearer/hater myself, I found watching a video of the phenomenon to be rather disturbing. There was one part in particular that caused me great worry. At the end of the video, a lady had one of the eight-legged construction workers of terror crawling on her hand and she was calmly asking it if it was going to bite her. I wanted to tell her, no, yell at her to drop it, kill it, squash it, and run! That is one part of nature that I have no desire to experience. I will postpone any further plans to travel to Texas or any portion of the southern United States until those...things...are gone. Until further notice, I am moving to the Arctic, the only place of safety on earth where there are no insects or arachnids of any shape, size, or form.

First Hurricane of the 2007 Season

Hurricane Dean is quickly spinning towards the Gulf Coast as the first Atlantic hurricane of the year. It has already devastated several of the islands in the Caribbean and is predicted to make landfall in eastern Texas, a region that just endured tropical storm Erin and has sustained heavy rains and flooding throughout the year. Flooding is definitely a potential problem in this area as Dean brings more heavy rains.

All of this seems so far away as I look out the window and listen to the lightly falling rain outside. To me, it is refreshing and pleasant, but to the people in Texas and throughout the Caribbean, it is a hazard that they could definitely do without.

Update: It looks as though Texas will miss the brunt of this storm...but still be praying for those in this storms path as it tracks through Mexico. Also pray for those in the Caribbean who have already experienced the strength of Dean as they repair their homes and the lives that were so rudely interrupted.

Reeeassons

There are so many times when I wonder "why me?" or "why now?". I am of the opinion, though, that nothing happens that does not have a reason. We do not know at the time what that reason may be and, in fact, we may never know, but, nevertheless, there is one. When I have an experience that makes me want to just crawl into bed, cry uncontrollably, and pity myself like there is no tomorrow, I have to remind myself that there is a reason and I do not have to live in a hopeless state. When I lose a loved one for seemingly no reason, when I make a decision that seems to be completely wrong at the time, or whenever life seems to fall down around me, it definitely helps to know that life is not just a pointless random sequence of events but rather a meaningful story with many minor characters and plots along the way that are all woven together into one beautiful, if not sometimes tragic, tale, much like a Charles Dickens novel. Who is there who can say that the experiences that seem tragic right now will not make them stronger and able to live life to the fullest in the future or to help someone in a way for which only that experience would equip them. I find myself looking back at some of the more difficult times of my life thus far and seeing that, as bad as they were, good did come from them in the end. There are still many times that I look back on and wonder "why?", but I have to be content with the fact that I may never, and probably will not ever, know the answer.

Killing Them Softly

Since I have been so lax in posting for the last several months (in fact, it has been almost half a year!!!) I have decided to post something I wrote some time ago, but never posted. Life and death and the line between the two have been on my mind a lot lately, and so this post is still very relevant to me at this time.

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A very hot topic in our society today is that of euthenasia or physician assisted suicide. Should people be allowed to request the doctor to put them out of their misery?

There are pros and cons on each side. First of all, nobody wants to go on living in pain, but should that be a reason to kill someone? We put dogs out of their misery when they are dying and are in pain, but should be be able to do the same thing to people? Personally, I think that people's lives are worth so much more than that of any dog. God made people, not animals, in his image and it is people, not animals, that he sent his Son to die for. People and their lives are infinitely precious, but when you do not see it from a spiritual viewpoint and you believe that we are really no better than animals and we evolved through natural selection exactly the same way that the animals did, that argument goes out the window. If you don't believe in God and don't believe that human life is precious since God made it that way, there is no reason to keep people alive.

There is also the argument that each person should have control over not only their life and their health, but also their death. People get to have input in pretty much everything having to do with their health. However, people did not create people. People do not get to choose how or when they come into the world, should they be able to then choose how they leave it?

People say that if a person is mentally ill or is depressed and they want to have their life ended they shouldn't be allowed to. Why? Shouldn't they still have control over their life since it is their's and they are basically animals anyway. Why should we care if they choose to end their own life prematurely. Even if they are not in pain physically, emotional pain can hurt excruciatingly, so shouldn't they be allowed to be put out of their misery, too? They say that those receiving the physician assisted suicide would be going to die anyway, but aren't all people going to die anyway sooner or later? What if they desire for it to be sooner, much sooner, than it most likely would have been if they had allowed it to happen naturally?

Making doctors who are supposed to be physicians and healers into killers is also a disturbing thought. They are supposed to be doing all they can to help you and save your life, not end it. Giving them the power over life and death is not what is supposed to happen. Only God should have that power. Anything that is done to end one's life is final and has eternal consequences. Once you are dead you are dead. There is no turning back once the act is taken. If we are to love others, why are we to take away their life, even if they ask us to. Life is the most precious possession any of us have here on earth. If Bill Gates was told that he could either keep his billions of dollars and die or give it up and live, I am pretty sure that he would choose life. Life is something that no one other than God, the creator and supreme ruler, should be able to take away from a person.

Spiderman 3

Yesterday morning, at approximately 12:06AM, I had the priviledge of being one of the first Americans to see the latest blockbuster, Spiderman 3. I had seen and loved both of its predecessors, so needless to say I had high hopes for this movie. It met and exceeded my expectations.

I am a person who doesn't like to be merely entertained but wants to be challenged and to over think things that aren't supposed to be. Spiderman 3 is one of those movies that may seem like it is just entertainment and a good flick for wasting an afternoon, but as I often do I saw so much more than that.

One of the new villains introduced in the movie was an alien being known as Venom. Venom would latch onto a host as a parasite and would then bring out the worst in that host. When it found Peter Parker, it became his new black Spidey suit. Whenever he would wear the suit he not only became more powerful, he became a rude, obnoxious beast of a man. Normally subdued, nice, friendly Peter suddenly was the man of the hour who would do what he wanted, say what he wanted, and be the last person anyone would want to be around. Likewise, when Peter tore the suit from himself after he became disgusted by his own behavior and saw how it was hurting those both himself and those around him, Venom then latched itself onto photographer Eddie (played by Topher Grace) and brought out his inner evil as well. He would do anything he could to kill Spiderman/Peter Parker. But, contrary to Peter's eventual throw away of Venom and it's evil, Eddie embraced it and, when given the chance to be rid of it, he would not let go and instead held onto it even though it meant his doom and his death. He didn't want to let go of the power that it gave him and the good feeling that he got from it. Peter Parker admitted that it felt good to wear the Venom suit, but he was able to give it up when he realized that it was destroying him. When he tried to save Eddie from his eventual fate, though, Eddie would not listen. It felt too good and gave him too much power that he wasn't ready to get rid of.

Venom could very well be Satan and sin. It latches onto us and brings out the worst in us, a sinful nature that is already innate in us. It destroys us and hurts those around us, and yet it feels good because it means that "we" are in power and we can do whatever we want no matter the consequences. We have two choices of what do do with the venom that infects us: give it up with God's help or keep it and go to our death holding on until the very end. The vibration of the bell and pipes was the only thing that could defeat Venom and keep it in check. Likewise, God is the only one that can save us from our sin and keep it in check. Without him we can work at pulling the sinful suit off as much as we please, but it won't do a thing. Once we pull one part off, it latches onto another part of us. We can't be rid of it.

You never thought Spiderman was so theological, did you?

Give thanks for health, strength, family, friends, salvation, cranberries...

There are many things to be thankful for at Thanksgiving, not the least of which it turns out are cranberries. The small red fruit that graces many tables around the country every Thanksgiving has a great many health benefits including fighting cancer, preventing plaque formation on teeth, treating urinary infections, and dealing with stomach ulcers. It may also increase levels of good cholesterol while simultaneously decreasing the levels of bad cholesterol. Who would think that being healthy could taste so good!

Falling Back to Sleep

An exciting annual event will be taking place this weekend that will bring excitement into the humdrum lives of many people. What is this wonderful thing that is going to happen? The end of Daylight Savings Time and the beginning of the last week of October. Don't forget to reset your clocks this weekend as we gain an extra hour of daylight on Sunday morning. That means that all of the sleep deprived people out there will receive the benefit of a whole hour extra of sleep. That is unless it is wasted by staying up an hour later than normal on Saturday night...

This is the final time that the clocks will be set back in October. Beginning next year, Daylight Savings Time will begin the second Sunday in March, instead of the normal April, and will run longer than normal as it continues all the way to the first Sunday in November. Why, it may be asked, is this dramatic change going to occur? Why the attempt to confuse the traditions of time? It was decided by in the Energy Policy Act of 2005 passed by the United States Congress and then signed into law that an experiment would be conducted beginning in 2007 in which Daylight Savings Time would be extended in an effort to decrease energy consumption. If the experiment turns out to be failure and the American population continues to use up energy at its current rate, the Congress has the ability to reset the times back to their original schedule as implemented back in 1986.

Until March, enjoy the extra hour!

Carpe Diem

There is always a fear of the unknown. I would have to say that one of my biggest fears--even bigger than my fears of fire, ladybugs, and spiders--is the fear of possible failure. When I have an opportunity to do something, I always have a voice in the back of my head asking me all sorts of scary "what if" questions, such as "What if I sound stupid?", "What if I can't do what is asked of me?", or "What if I make someone mad?". It is a paralyzing voice that keeps me from seizing the moment and making the most of my life. One of the best quotes I have heard recently was "Better to have tried and failed than to have failed to try." I am not sure who said it, but it is something I have been thinking a lot about lately. I cannot go through life afraid of doing things and holding myself back from a fulfilled life just because I am afraid of failure. There are so many possibilities that are just waiting for me if I just let myself try, fail or not. I will never know the what the results would have been and be continuously regretting not taking advantage of the situation given me with new "what if" questions coursing through my brain: "What if I had done it?", "What if I hadn't waited so long?", "What if I had seized the opportunity?". I am not saying that I should be rash and rush into doing things without giving any thought to the outcome, not at all. I am merely saying that I should not hold myself back due to irrational fears that have more to do with my pride than anything else. I need to learn to seize the day.

Like a Phoenix

Yes, I know it has been just about exactly two months since I last wrote here on my blog, and for that I am very sorry. More to come later...

My Very Educated Mother Just Served Us Nine?

The latest on the raging debate among astronomers as to what exactly constitutes a planet may leave out what has been our solar system's ninth planet for the last seventy or so years. The definition of a planet that has been submitted for a vote to the general assembly of the International Astronomer's Union would demote Pluto to a "dwarf planet" and would leave textbook editors, schools, and solar system modelers scrambling to make changes accordingly. Although Pluto would no longer be a part of our major planetary system as it has been for oh so many years, it will still be out their orbiting our sun exaclty as it has been and will always be looked upon with fondness.

Update: The new definition has been approved and Pluto is now officially a "dwarf planet", although it is really more an "ex-planet".

Felicitations on this Day of Independence!

As you spend the day celebrating with food, fun, and fireworks, don't forget the reason why we have this yearly festival. It all goes back to a Declaration of Independence:

"When in the Course of human Events, it becomes necessary for one People to dissolve the Political Bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the Powers of the Earth, the separate and equal Station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent Respect to the Opinions of Mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the Separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all Men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Happiness--That to secure these Rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just Powers from the Consent of the Governed, that whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these Ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its Foundation on such Principles, and orgainizing its Powers in such Form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness...

...We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the World for the Rectitude of our Intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly Publish and Declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be, Free and Independent States."

John Adams, one of our most prominent founding fathers, wrote the following in a letter to his wife, Abigail, on the day after the Congress voted for the thirteen American colonies to be free from the rule of Great Britian:

"But the day is past. The second day of July, 1776, will be memorable Epocha in the history of America. I am apt to believe that it will be celebrated by succeeding generations, as the great Anniversary Festival. It ought to be commemorated, as the day of deliverance by solemn acts of devotion to God Almighty. It ought to be solemnized with pomp, shows, games, sports, guns, bells, bonfires and illuminations, from one end of the continent to the other, from this time forward forever."

The day after the writing of Adams' letter, July 4, 1776, was the day on which the Congress convened in what is now Independence Hall and approved the Declaration of Independence. It is that day that we continue to celebrate annually even now, 230 years later.

Happy Fourth of July!!!!

Tolerate the Intolerance?

One of the big issues of our modern world is the issue of "tolerance" and "acceptance", especially of homosexuals. It is not a big surprise when the secular culture preaches the message that homosexuality is no big deal and is just an "alternative lifestyle", but when the church starts to do the same thing I begin to get worried. It is not as though the Bible is not clear on the issue so that it has to be argued and debated among Christians, at least among true, Bible-believing Christians. Here is just a sample of what the Bible has to say:

"Do not lie with a man as one lies with a woman; that is detestable." - Leviticus 18:22

"If a man lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have done what is detestable. They must be put to death; their blood will be on their own heads." - Leviticus 20:13

"Because of this, God gave them over to shameful lusts. Even their women exchanged natural relations for unnatural ones. In the same way the men also abandoned natural relations with women and were inflamed with lust for one another. Men committed indecent acts with other men, and received in themselves the due penalty for their perversion." - Romans 1:26-27

It seems pretty clear to me that homosexuality is not something to be condoned, no matter how much the world and men say that it should be. There is an old saying that says that if you repeat a lie often enough, people will eventually come to believe it. I think that saying can easily be applied to our situation today.

One of the most popular articles on the Yahoo news site this morning was one entitled "God and gays: Churchgoers divided". The entire article made me sad. It makes it seem that the churches are just stubborn and behind the times in changing their views on homosexuality.

"Many, gay or straight, seek a community of souls that welcomes them and shares their sense of the Scriptures and the sacred.

It may mean staying in their church of a lifetime, finding ways to accept - or overlook - teachings with which they disagree.

Most people (72%) have stayed with one religion all their lives, according to a USA TODAY/Gallup survey of 1,002 adults June 9-11. Brian Flanagan, 28, a cradle Catholic, openly gay and studying to be a theologian, says not even an unbroken line of rulings from the Vatican can drive him from his church because what truly matters is the "way it talks about Christ, about God.""

In other words, homosexuals want a church that overlooks the fact that the Bible says that what they are doing is a sin and that just talks about the loving, caring, nice aspects of God. They do not seem to want to deal with the fact that God is also a wrathful God who detests sin of all kinds. There is a penalty for sin: death. That is why Christ had to die, to pay that penalty for those who will accept what he did and repent of their sin and ask for forgiveness. Yet, people do not want to face the fact that what they are doing is sin. They just want a place to go to where they can feel good.

The article also goes on to state that:

"Once, black people, women and homosexuals were viewed the same way by the leading theologians of the times: "They were all cursed by God in Scripture, inferior in moral character and willfully sinful and deserving punishment," says the Rev. Jack Rogers, former head of the Presbyterian Church (USA) and author of a new book, Jesus, the Bible and Homosexuality.

Eventually, most churches found a biblical basis for changing their stance on race and gender but not on homosexuality."

There is a difference between gender, race, and homosexuality. The Bible says absolutely nothing about it being sinful to be a woman or to be black or Arab or Hispanic or Caucasian or oriental. In fact, it is very positive when it comes to women and different races. Just open up your Bible and read it. The Bible is not positive at all, however, when it comes to homosexuality. As I pointed out earlier, it says clearly that homosexuality is a detestable act.

The last section of the article is given the heading "Churches slow to change", as if it is a bad thing. It then points out that:

"The largest U.S. denominations - Roman Catholics, Southern Baptists, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons) and Lutherans in the Missouri Synod - clearly proclaim that homosexual behavior is a sin.

They don't allow a different theological direction, however welcoming individual congregations may be. Change is not on their agendas."

Even though this strong stance on the issue was made to seem like a bad thing in the context of the article, it made me proud to be a member of the Southern Baptist church. I pray that it will continue to resist the influences of the world and maintain the stand that the Bible is the ultimate authority and that God does not change with the culture. The movement towards the liberalization of the church is not, as the article seems to say, a good thing when it means moving away from the basis of the Christian belief so that the church can be a fun, accepting social club.

God does love homosexuals and yes, we should be accepting of them and loving them as people who, like everyone else in the world, including myself, are sinful and in need of a Savior. However, God does not love homosexuality, and we should not accept it as an acceptable practice, no more than we accept murder, adultery, and stealing.

The Loss of Sense and Cents

I read some of the greatest words of sense that I have heard in a long time while reading the editorials today. Orrin Pilkey talks in his article about the stupidity of rebuilding along the Gulf Coast with the recent experience of the destruction of last year's hurricane season and the knowledge that more big hurricanes are coming in the near future.

"Today, the new hurricane season begins, in a time of rising sea levels and increasing intensity of storms. It makes no sense to simply rebuild and even increase building density after Katrina. It might be difficult to accept, but reconstruction near the beach should be prohibited. Strong consideration should also be given to halting future federal storm bailouts, including taxpayer-supported flood insurance and the handout of post-storm cleanup and reconstruction funds - all of which only encourages rebuilding in the most dangerous locations. Government purchase of vulnerable beach properties, as costly as it might be, would pay off in the long term."

I have been considering almost the same thing ever since the advent of Hurricane Katrina's destruction of New Orleans last year when the question of whether or not to rebuild came up. People have been building along the beautiful shore in a place that is widely known to be venerable and dangerous, and yet they are shocked when their property is destroyed and demand for the government to bail them out year after year. How much longer will it last?

Not long after the Hurricane Katrina vs. New Orleans fiasco last year I was reading Bob Sheets and Jack Williams' book Hurricane Watch. It was a very interesting and insightful read, especially with all of the Hurricane talk in the news and everywhere else at the time. The part of the book that stuck with me the most, though, was where they wrote, pre-Katrina, about what would happen if New Orleans was indeed hit by a large storm. It was scary how well they had predicted the things that would happen, including the impossibility of complete evacuation with the amount of warning that would be available at best, the overflowing of Lake Pontchartrain, the inability of the pumps to handle the direct hit of a hurricane, the flooding of certain parts of the city, and the awful conditions that would be faced by those unable to evacuate the city. The things that happened with Hurricane Katrina should not have been a surprise but were merely the fulfillment of previous predictions.

Yesterday I came across an article in the news that helped move me even further towards the opinion that the city of New Orleans should not be rebuilt, at least not how and where it was. It seems that New Orleans is not only below sea level, but has been and continues to sink even further. The levees that were built were not able to withstand the surge of the storm since they had sunk to lower than they were supposed to be, making the city that much more venerable.

I realize that there are many people who call New Orleans home and do not want to move from there. They want things to go back to the way they were. Perhaps if I were to actually live down there I would have a different opinion. As it is, I have never even visited New Orleans. However, does sentimentality really make for a good reason to rebuild a city with billions of taxpayer dollars when there is a very good chance that it will be facing the same kind of destruction again in the near future? Why do people insist on building multi-million dollar homes, not just in New Orleans, but all over the Gulf Coast in the face of such odds? And why does the government insist on subsidizing it year after year?

The meteorological community is predicting another active hurricane season this year. The news is full of headlines such as "US weather experts forecast above-normal hurricane threat", "Forecaster expects active hurricane season", and "Forecaster sees nine Atlantic hurricanes in 2006". However, people seem to still feel invincible as they rebuild buildings and homes that may have to rebuilt again by the end of the summer. More money will be poured out as people insist on living in places that are almost assured of destruction and then demanding financial aid when that destruction arrives. No, I do not have the answers and solutions to the problem, but I still continue to wonder why people continue to put themselves and their property in the path of such danger and then expect not to pay for that decision. It is as if they have lost their sense and so are willing to lose both their own and the tax payer's cents.