I was asked two questions in my Creation Science Class this week. Here they are along with my answers.
Q) 1. What amazing fact about the human body did you find?
Q) 2. Are there traits or behaviors that are uniquely human?
Well let’s start with what I gleaned about me on the World Wide Web.
Here are some marvels I have discovered about the Human body. Approximately 26 Trillion cells of the human body are replaced every 28 days. The ability to manufacture an almost complete new body is one of the mysteries of human physiology. Here are some other facts I discovered about the machine I call me.
First, the stomach’s digestive acids are strong enough to dissolve zinc. Fortunately for us, the cells in the stomach lining renew so quickly that the acids don’t have time to dissolve it. Second, the lungs contain over 300,000 million capillaries (tiny blood vessels). If they were laid end to end, they would stretch 2400km (1500 miles). Third, human bone is as strong as granite in supporting weight. A block of bone the size of a matchbox can support 9 tons – that is four times as much as concrete can support. Four, each finger and toenail takes six months to grow from base to tip. Fifth, the largest organ in the body is the skin. In an adult man, the skin covers about 1.9m2 (20sq ft). The skin constantly flakes away – in a lifetime each person sheds around 18kg (40 lb) of skin. O K, kind of gross. Sixth, is when you sleep, you grow by about 8mm (0.3in). The next day you shrink back to your former height. The reason is that your cartilage discs are squeezed like sponges by the force of gravity when you stand or sit. Seventh, the average person in the US eats 50 tons of food and drinks 50,000 liters (11,000 gallons) of liquid during his life. Eighth, each kidney contains 1 million individual filters. They filter an average of 1.3 liters (2.2 pints) of blood per minute and expel up to 1.4 liters (2.5 pints) of urine every day. Nine is one I find amazing: the focusing muscles of the eyes move around 100,000 times a day. To give your leg muscles the same workout, you would need to walk 80km (50 miles) every day. Number ten is that in the time span of 30 minutes, the average body gives off enough heat to bring a half gallon of water to boil. The eleventh thing is a single human blood cell takes only 60 seconds to make a complete circuit of the body. (How exactly they know this they did not say, I could not find the research) The twelfth thing was that with humans, the eyes receive approximately 90 percent of all our information, making us basically visual creatures. Thirteen, the female ovaries contain nearly half-a-million egg cells, yet only 400 or so will ever get the opportunity to create a new life, with a gestation of 38 weeks.
Humans like me I am told are “bipedal primates” belonging to the species Homo sapiens which is Latin for "wise man" or "knowing man". Yup that’s me. Another classification used is Hominid, a primate of the family Hominidae, of which Homo sapiens is the only extant (not extinct) species. They are, or should I say I am, the only surviving member of the genus Homo. I am told I have a highly developed brain, capable of abstract reasoning. A good example would be the theory of Evolution. I am also capable of communicating through a verbal language or several in fact since the time of Babble. Then there is my capacity for introspection or plainly stated self-examination. This is the heart-felt look at whether I am living morally according to what I “feel” is appropriate. Last but not least there is my incredible ability for problem solving. Show me a problem and through the thought process of my highly evolved mind I can do anything. I like to think of it this way: I can do all things through me who strengthens me. At least that is the gospel they taught me in public school.
I further learned from my extensive studies that evolution has blessed me with erect body carriage which frees my arms for manipulating objects. How cool am I? This allowed me as an evolved Homo sapien to make “far greater use of tools than any other species”. I wanted empirical proof so I tested this theory. I gave my dog Pavlov a hammer and some nails and told him to go build himself a house from the lumber in my back yard. As of yet he hasn’t put one stick of lumber up. All he has done is chew on the hammer. Apparently Pavlov has some evolving to do.
I have also come to understand that my human ancestors originated in Africa. This was shown to be true by Mitochondrial DNA and “fossil evidence”. If fossils say so we know it’s true. I guess this means I can no longer tell people that I am Native American from Caughnawaga (Gă-hnă-wă-'ge) translated, “at the rapids”, part of the Five Nations, the Iroquois. No, from this day forth I will identify myself as African.
My research showed me that like most “higher primates”, humans are social by nature. However, humans are uniquely adept at utilizing systems of communication. Cell phones, television, radio, printing press, smoke signals, cave paintings, beating a log with a stick, are all good examples of how we as “higher primates” communicate. We also have a desire for self-expression, and the exchange of ideas. We, unlike the rest of the “higher primates”, are able to organize and even show a need for organization in our lives.
We humans have created diverse, complex social structures. Many of these structures or groups are composed of many cooperating and also competing factions. They range is wide, from families, clans/tribes to nations. There are church groups, clubs for people with addictions, political groups, etc. This is our need to belong and have identity through the acceptance of others.
From our social interactions we as “higher primates”, (I really love that term) have established a wide variety of values, social norms, rituals, and religious superstitions which together form the basis of human society. Humans like me also have a well known appreciation for beauty and aesthetics which, combined with the human desire for self-expression, has brought us cultural innovations such as art, literature and music.
Humans are noted for their desire to understand and influence their environment, (control issues, wanting to be their own God). We seek to explain and manipulate natural phenomena through science (evolutionists make it up as they go along), philosophy (people too screwy to have a rational thought), mythology (those screwy people who have a similar mental state as the philosopher but need something more supernatural), and religion (people who don’t understand that God has done it all and are attempting to work their way to righteousness). This natural curiosity led to the development of advanced tools and skills, which are passed down culturally. Humans are the only extant species known to build fires, cook their food, clothe themselves, and use numerous other technologies. Isn’t Evolution wonderful?
Now for what I learned from the Bible…I will start with the first thing I ever learned about me. Jesus loves me this I know, for the Bible tells me so. Little ones to Him belong. They are weak but He is strong.
God spoke the world I live on into existence about 6,000 years ago. Why? Well I have to admit sometimes I wrestle with the why of it all. The real answer is that man was created to praise, worship and ultimately bring glory to a most worthy God. We are made in the image of God with certain similar attributes. Some say that we were made triune: body, soul, and spirit or physical, intellect, and an everlasting spirit that will hopefully fulfill its purpose and spend eternity in the presence of God. We are creative like God, and we are social. We are able to have relationships with others like God does. We have compassion for others and we are jealous just like God. Though not yet in our glorified form we shall be more than this physical façade some day. We shall transcend and be like Christ in similar form. There is no other living creature made like me. There are those that have similarities to my appearance, but none of these animals are capable of having the Spirit of the Most High indwelling them as I do. There is one significant way we are truly different from our Creator, that being that we have sin in us. Thanks be to God, He has made an escape from its consequence for us through Christ the Lord. Some other things the Bible has taught me are as follows.
All mans heart is evil, Human nature is corrupt. “9 The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick (wicked); who can understand it?” Left to our own devices we would rather flee from God then seek Him. “6All of us like sheep have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; but the LORD has caused the iniquity of us all to fall on Him.” When we do acknowledge God we attempt to approach Him through our own righteousness, in our man-made religion. 8For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith—and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God— 9not by works, so that no one can boast. 10For we are God's workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Eph. 2:8-10) Then James clarifies what religion truly is. “27Religion that God our Father accepts as pure and faultless is this: to look after orphans and widows in their distress and to keep oneself from being polluted by the world.” (James 1:27) Without His mercy we would be forever separated from Him. “13But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.” (Eph 2:13) By His power we and our very universe are held together. “16For by him all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. 17He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” (Col 1:16-17)
Thank you, God for knitting me together in my mother’s womb, for truly, I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Life from life which comes from God
“You can’t get something for nothing”
“Life only comes from life.” Louis Pasture
Professor David DeWitt posed a very good question.
“Why it is Evolutionary scientists don’t try to bring dead people back to life?”
This would be much easier, instead of trying to get all the molecules together in the right order from nothing. Wouldn’t it? You could just start with something that was dead. Wouldn’t this make more sense because all those molecules are already in the right order?
They don’t do this probably because they know this is preposterous, and unobtainable. Everyone knows that when life is gone you can’t recover it. I’m not talking about the heart stopping and someone gets a jumpstart. Or the drowning victim has their lungs cleared of water. I’m talking dead, with no chance for reanimation.
Or why is it that science isn’t spending all its time and money on keeping people from aging so they can live forever, like a fountain of youth? Again this would be silly of them and they are quite aware of this.
Yet there are so many eggheads –of the Evolutionist kind-spending all their time and resources on trying to make for themselves life from nothing. Imagine they want us to believe that non-living molecules coalesced to become living cells. Who said Evolutionists have no faith. It takes more faith to believe this then it does to believe the Genesis account.
Now I ask don’t you think life from something would be easier then life from nothing? I think that is a good assumption.
So if science knows that it is impossible to reanimate the dead then why in the name of God would they futilely attempt to create life from nothing?
Oh yes, maybe it’s because if they can show life started in a random way by nothing then they can say that they have proved there is no God. Then they can live their selfish sin-filled life without guilt or condemnation from others. So they conduct all types of experiments that attempt to disprove there is a creator behind this all. Such silly people!
If they really want to show that life can be made out of nothing then logically they should perform their experiments using nothing. You know in an empty vacuous space. The way I see it, these scientists are already cheating at the experiments. Why? Well because they are using water and gases, along with electrical charges, all of which are something. By the way all these things were created by God out of nothing, cool huh? Silly scientists go make your own things out of nothing.
Oh wait that’s what started all this.
“Life only comes from life.” Louis Pasture
Professor David DeWitt posed a very good question.
“Why it is Evolutionary scientists don’t try to bring dead people back to life?”
This would be much easier, instead of trying to get all the molecules together in the right order from nothing. Wouldn’t it? You could just start with something that was dead. Wouldn’t this make more sense because all those molecules are already in the right order?
They don’t do this probably because they know this is preposterous, and unobtainable. Everyone knows that when life is gone you can’t recover it. I’m not talking about the heart stopping and someone gets a jumpstart. Or the drowning victim has their lungs cleared of water. I’m talking dead, with no chance for reanimation.
Or why is it that science isn’t spending all its time and money on keeping people from aging so they can live forever, like a fountain of youth? Again this would be silly of them and they are quite aware of this.
Yet there are so many eggheads –of the Evolutionist kind-spending all their time and resources on trying to make for themselves life from nothing. Imagine they want us to believe that non-living molecules coalesced to become living cells. Who said Evolutionists have no faith. It takes more faith to believe this then it does to believe the Genesis account.
Now I ask don’t you think life from something would be easier then life from nothing? I think that is a good assumption.
So if science knows that it is impossible to reanimate the dead then why in the name of God would they futilely attempt to create life from nothing?
Oh yes, maybe it’s because if they can show life started in a random way by nothing then they can say that they have proved there is no God. Then they can live their selfish sin-filled life without guilt or condemnation from others. So they conduct all types of experiments that attempt to disprove there is a creator behind this all. Such silly people!
If they really want to show that life can be made out of nothing then logically they should perform their experiments using nothing. You know in an empty vacuous space. The way I see it, these scientists are already cheating at the experiments. Why? Well because they are using water and gases, along with electrical charges, all of which are something. By the way all these things were created by God out of nothing, cool huh? Silly scientists go make your own things out of nothing.
Oh wait that’s what started all this.
Evolution: Survival of the Fattest--Penguins
What is the role of Natural Selection vs. luck in the survival of baby Emperor Penguins? It looks like Natural Selection kills off the stupid, weak, old and sick. Fate kills off those whose mommies get eaten by leopard seals. Either way, they all die in the end. I don’t understand the difference between Natural Selection and luck. Which is it that gets you eaten by a leopard seal? Which is it that puts you on the outside of the pack when the winter storm comes? Which is it that gave you a little more to eat than the other guy so that you had enough to hold you over for the four month fast? This movie preached both natural selection and luck by the looks of it. I don’t believe in either Natural Selection from an evolutionary perspective or luck. I believe in a Creator God who sustains and maintains them and allows them to die in His own time. If His eye is on the sparrow, I know He’s watching over those penguins.
Now for my Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of the March of the Penguins: as told by as told by Morgan Freeman and me.
This is the Emperor Penguin story of their long 70 mile walks of “love” over the ice of Antarctica. It is presented as if the penguins were a tribe of nomadic people living on the southernmost continent of the world. Several penguins will not survive. It started out like Romeo and Juliet love story for the masses, but it ended up as a tragedy. Some of you will get that. The Destination is the same every year but their path is different every time. It is 58 degrees below zero when the sun is out.
It hasn’t always been like this - apparently at one time Antarctica was a tropical lush green paradise, with ground cover, densely forested, and teaming with life. At least that’s what Morgan tells us. Trees and grasses were replaced with ice. (How do they know this and who has seen it, I’d like to know?)
“The original inhabitants all died or moved on long ago. Well almost all of them. Legend has it that one tribe, stayed behind.” Is this the stubborn Emperor Penguin tribe of Antarctica or are they the tribe from the sea? They spend 8 to 9 months on the ice, but Morgan claims that their home is really in the sea. Which is it?
“Perhaps they thought this change in the weather was only temporary.” Does this statement make any sense? If the continental drift occurs at a millimeter per year rate, at least that is what they told me in earth science class, how then could these “thinking penguins” have thought the cold weather to be temporary. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Morgan goes on to say they have made their home here on the coldest darkest driest windiest place on earth. First he says millions of years, and then later he states their mating walk has been going on for thousands of years. Quite a difference in times here don’t you agree? I smell inconsistencies.
It’s a story of survival life over death but wait, there’s more, it’s also a story of “love”. How beautiful. Like most love stories it begins with an act of “utter foolishness”. What? I want to see the utter foolishness. Morgan never does explain what the utter foolishness is.
The Emperor penguin is a BIRD who lives in the sea, but not really, he lives on the ice and feeds from the sea. Morgan tells us this bird does not fly. Oh, maybe this bird is in a transition stage here. Maybe he is evolving into a mammal like a dolphin. Or from bird to fish – but wouldn’t that be devolving? Or, maybe because he walks the 70 miles to his breeding ground, he is in transition stage and will evolve into the marathon runner…Boston species I hope, they’re my favorite.
This trek that begins in March at the beginning of winter is Natural selection’s way of insuring that only the strongest that make the journey will live out this love story. “Maybe they are guided by some internal compass” – that part might be the truth. Or maybe God has created them with a really good memory. Every one of them arrives back at the place it was born.
Morgan makes it sound like there is some almost mystical drive that brings these birds 70 miles in to the center of this ice block, and then says that it is because the ice here is thickest and thus lasting longer when the ice melt occurs. Has evolution taught them this or has God given them the basic intelligence to carry out self preservation?
“We don’t really know what they are looking for in a partner. We only know they are looking.” HUH? “We also know when they found what they’re looking for. They are monogamous sort of they only mate with one partner per year.” Huh? Did somebody write a new dictionary? I guess this is the new worldly meaning for the word monogamous and not the Biblical version of the word.
Females fight over males for mates. O.k., this is a lot like dating as I remember it. So in their quest for a mate there are some similarities. This is the great love story that only lasts a season. Yes they really do resemble the Hollywood version of love and monogamy. Yes, here they are certainly like worldly, sinful man in that respect.
Morgan goes on to say that for the next 8 months the paired penguin couple will participate in an ancient and complicated affair. Yup, that sounds just like Hollywood too. “If successful they will have an egg to tend to, and the brutal winter will do everything in its power to destroy the egg.” This statement is an attempt to give nature a human-like status in its description, thereby lessoning man’s status as the image of God.
“The lone penguin will have no chance to make it on his own. He will simply fade away, absorbed by the great whiteness.” Does this mean that the others survive because they are fit or because they are many? The group is said to be “like another organism altogether, when it huddles for protection from the severe weather.”
Such concern is shown for the tiny beating heart that is in the shell. Not just from the “parents” but also from Morgan. These penguins appear to be more caring then many people do about their off spring at this stage of development. Funny Morgan speaks about the tiny beating heart of the penguin in the shell, yet life in human women is said to be a non-life at this stage of development.
“In natures most incredible and endearing role reversals, it is the male penguin who will stay with the egg for more then two months”, as the female goes off to pursue her career. No not quite, it is to eat before she dies.
The males go without food for over 125 days, all for the survival of their offspring. Maybe a better title would be Stand of the Male Emperor Penguin. Many males simply succumb by this point to the 3 months of fasting. Usually it is the older males who fall to the hunger. There are still many days of hunger to go.
When the females walk back to the water it is now a longer trek because the Winter has pushed the new ice edge further from where it was when they came aboard the ice. It was pretty cool to learn that they can hold their breath for over 15 minutes and can reach 1700 foot depths. When the leopard seal kills a mother (female penguin), it takes two lives; the life of the mother and the chick that will never be fed.
“The male penguin at the brink of starvation may have to leave his CHILD if the mother does not return soon or he will die.” I love the use of “Mother”, “Father”, “Child”, “Baby”, “Family”, as though these penguins were human. These human labels are used as though the penguin had an emotional family bond. That rhetoric might work if Morgan didn’t say the “father” driven by hunger may have to abandon his little baby if mommy doesn’t return soon.
“But miraculously, there is one secret weapon against the chick’s death from hunger, a milky substance that the male has been holding for this sole purpose.” It has been stored in his throat for this very moment. This will keep the chick for a day or two.
“The mothers step up their return as if sensing the urgency. (Or maybe they just have more strength from eating.) The mother sees her chick for the first time and at last the family is together.” How touching. I do not believe there is any emotion between the penguins involved here as the narrator tries to make it sound like there is. With the soft music it’s almost like a Christmas homecoming on movie.
Now, the little baby gets transferred from the feet of the father and Daddy waddles to the sea to eat. This is just after Daddy and baby sing a little song together so that they will be able to recognize one another by call, when Daddy returns from a hard days work on the sea. The dear “Daddy severs the bond and heads to sea. Of course this is not easy to do.”
Now it has been over 4 months that dear ole Dad has gone without food. Up to half of the males body weight has gone and he still has to trek 70 miles back to the sea. The chick is now left with the female to face the winter storms. Some chicks may not survive the first storm. The females find their dead chicks. I’m wondering how the females find their chicks. I wonder because earlier Morgan stated that the penguins only recognize their chicks by their call and not by sight.
For the mother the loss of the chick is “unbearable”. She then goes to her psychologist and has a counseling session to elevate the emotional trauma. Having lost her own chick she copes with her loss by attempting to steal another chick. In late August the females who have not lost their chicks leave to feed again, without even saying good bye. I guess now the chicks are old enough the bond has been severed? Apparently age plays a factor in emotional ties in the penguin species.
When the male returns and finds his chick the reunion is a “joyful one’. How they can tell it’s joyful they do not say, just that it is a joyful reunion. For the next several months the male and female take turns going back and forth retrieving food that is then regurgitated to the chick. “Eventually the family can spend some time together.” Father sits by the fire smoking his pipe, and junior rides his tricycle around while mother cooks fish stew.
By November the ocean is a couple hundred yards off the breeding ground and the “family” is about to breakup and go on their separate ways. The tribe jumps in the water (their real home) and will probably never see each other again. The chicks are left now to fend for themselves. How wonderful this love story of our distant cousins, these birds of the sea. The birds spend the next four years at sea then in their fifth year they return to write their own love story.
And they all live happily after ever.
In a nutshell: melodramatic, emotionally manipulative dribble. Eighty minutes and seventeen seconds of my life I will never be able to recover.
Now for my Mystery Science Theatre 3000 version of the March of the Penguins: as told by as told by Morgan Freeman and me.
This is the Emperor Penguin story of their long 70 mile walks of “love” over the ice of Antarctica. It is presented as if the penguins were a tribe of nomadic people living on the southernmost continent of the world. Several penguins will not survive. It started out like Romeo and Juliet love story for the masses, but it ended up as a tragedy. Some of you will get that. The Destination is the same every year but their path is different every time. It is 58 degrees below zero when the sun is out.
It hasn’t always been like this - apparently at one time Antarctica was a tropical lush green paradise, with ground cover, densely forested, and teaming with life. At least that’s what Morgan tells us. Trees and grasses were replaced with ice. (How do they know this and who has seen it, I’d like to know?)
“The original inhabitants all died or moved on long ago. Well almost all of them. Legend has it that one tribe, stayed behind.” Is this the stubborn Emperor Penguin tribe of Antarctica or are they the tribe from the sea? They spend 8 to 9 months on the ice, but Morgan claims that their home is really in the sea. Which is it?
“Perhaps they thought this change in the weather was only temporary.” Does this statement make any sense? If the continental drift occurs at a millimeter per year rate, at least that is what they told me in earth science class, how then could these “thinking penguins” have thought the cold weather to be temporary. Blah, blah, blah, blah, blah.
Morgan goes on to say they have made their home here on the coldest darkest driest windiest place on earth. First he says millions of years, and then later he states their mating walk has been going on for thousands of years. Quite a difference in times here don’t you agree? I smell inconsistencies.
It’s a story of survival life over death but wait, there’s more, it’s also a story of “love”. How beautiful. Like most love stories it begins with an act of “utter foolishness”. What? I want to see the utter foolishness. Morgan never does explain what the utter foolishness is.
The Emperor penguin is a BIRD who lives in the sea, but not really, he lives on the ice and feeds from the sea. Morgan tells us this bird does not fly. Oh, maybe this bird is in a transition stage here. Maybe he is evolving into a mammal like a dolphin. Or from bird to fish – but wouldn’t that be devolving? Or, maybe because he walks the 70 miles to his breeding ground, he is in transition stage and will evolve into the marathon runner…Boston species I hope, they’re my favorite.
This trek that begins in March at the beginning of winter is Natural selection’s way of insuring that only the strongest that make the journey will live out this love story. “Maybe they are guided by some internal compass” – that part might be the truth. Or maybe God has created them with a really good memory. Every one of them arrives back at the place it was born.
Morgan makes it sound like there is some almost mystical drive that brings these birds 70 miles in to the center of this ice block, and then says that it is because the ice here is thickest and thus lasting longer when the ice melt occurs. Has evolution taught them this or has God given them the basic intelligence to carry out self preservation?
“We don’t really know what they are looking for in a partner. We only know they are looking.” HUH? “We also know when they found what they’re looking for. They are monogamous sort of they only mate with one partner per year.” Huh? Did somebody write a new dictionary? I guess this is the new worldly meaning for the word monogamous and not the Biblical version of the word.
Females fight over males for mates. O.k., this is a lot like dating as I remember it. So in their quest for a mate there are some similarities. This is the great love story that only lasts a season. Yes they really do resemble the Hollywood version of love and monogamy. Yes, here they are certainly like worldly, sinful man in that respect.
Morgan goes on to say that for the next 8 months the paired penguin couple will participate in an ancient and complicated affair. Yup, that sounds just like Hollywood too. “If successful they will have an egg to tend to, and the brutal winter will do everything in its power to destroy the egg.” This statement is an attempt to give nature a human-like status in its description, thereby lessoning man’s status as the image of God.
“The lone penguin will have no chance to make it on his own. He will simply fade away, absorbed by the great whiteness.” Does this mean that the others survive because they are fit or because they are many? The group is said to be “like another organism altogether, when it huddles for protection from the severe weather.”
Such concern is shown for the tiny beating heart that is in the shell. Not just from the “parents” but also from Morgan. These penguins appear to be more caring then many people do about their off spring at this stage of development. Funny Morgan speaks about the tiny beating heart of the penguin in the shell, yet life in human women is said to be a non-life at this stage of development.
“In natures most incredible and endearing role reversals, it is the male penguin who will stay with the egg for more then two months”, as the female goes off to pursue her career. No not quite, it is to eat before she dies.
The males go without food for over 125 days, all for the survival of their offspring. Maybe a better title would be Stand of the Male Emperor Penguin. Many males simply succumb by this point to the 3 months of fasting. Usually it is the older males who fall to the hunger. There are still many days of hunger to go.
When the females walk back to the water it is now a longer trek because the Winter has pushed the new ice edge further from where it was when they came aboard the ice. It was pretty cool to learn that they can hold their breath for over 15 minutes and can reach 1700 foot depths. When the leopard seal kills a mother (female penguin), it takes two lives; the life of the mother and the chick that will never be fed.
“The male penguin at the brink of starvation may have to leave his CHILD if the mother does not return soon or he will die.” I love the use of “Mother”, “Father”, “Child”, “Baby”, “Family”, as though these penguins were human. These human labels are used as though the penguin had an emotional family bond. That rhetoric might work if Morgan didn’t say the “father” driven by hunger may have to abandon his little baby if mommy doesn’t return soon.
“But miraculously, there is one secret weapon against the chick’s death from hunger, a milky substance that the male has been holding for this sole purpose.” It has been stored in his throat for this very moment. This will keep the chick for a day or two.
“The mothers step up their return as if sensing the urgency. (Or maybe they just have more strength from eating.) The mother sees her chick for the first time and at last the family is together.” How touching. I do not believe there is any emotion between the penguins involved here as the narrator tries to make it sound like there is. With the soft music it’s almost like a Christmas homecoming on movie.
Now, the little baby gets transferred from the feet of the father and Daddy waddles to the sea to eat. This is just after Daddy and baby sing a little song together so that they will be able to recognize one another by call, when Daddy returns from a hard days work on the sea. The dear “Daddy severs the bond and heads to sea. Of course this is not easy to do.”
Now it has been over 4 months that dear ole Dad has gone without food. Up to half of the males body weight has gone and he still has to trek 70 miles back to the sea. The chick is now left with the female to face the winter storms. Some chicks may not survive the first storm. The females find their dead chicks. I’m wondering how the females find their chicks. I wonder because earlier Morgan stated that the penguins only recognize their chicks by their call and not by sight.
For the mother the loss of the chick is “unbearable”. She then goes to her psychologist and has a counseling session to elevate the emotional trauma. Having lost her own chick she copes with her loss by attempting to steal another chick. In late August the females who have not lost their chicks leave to feed again, without even saying good bye. I guess now the chicks are old enough the bond has been severed? Apparently age plays a factor in emotional ties in the penguin species.
When the male returns and finds his chick the reunion is a “joyful one’. How they can tell it’s joyful they do not say, just that it is a joyful reunion. For the next several months the male and female take turns going back and forth retrieving food that is then regurgitated to the chick. “Eventually the family can spend some time together.” Father sits by the fire smoking his pipe, and junior rides his tricycle around while mother cooks fish stew.
By November the ocean is a couple hundred yards off the breeding ground and the “family” is about to breakup and go on their separate ways. The tribe jumps in the water (their real home) and will probably never see each other again. The chicks are left now to fend for themselves. How wonderful this love story of our distant cousins, these birds of the sea. The birds spend the next four years at sea then in their fifth year they return to write their own love story.
And they all live happily after ever.
In a nutshell: melodramatic, emotionally manipulative dribble. Eighty minutes and seventeen seconds of my life I will never be able to recover.
Sunday, August 2, 2009
Praying for Things - ALL things
Jim Sammons from Texas has a Financial Freedom Seminar I listened to. I’ve made some changes in my life since I listened to it. Sammons’ teaches that God has given us what we have and that we are responsible for it and will account for the way we use what He gave us. I have heard this before but not quite the same way.
He teaches that we should put our faith in God and pray for things before we just run out and buy them. This is the difference, in that we should seek God for it before we run and just make a purchase. This was a change from the way I was taught: that we were in charge and that the decision of what to buy was solely up to us. For instance, if I am making 50 k a year and my wife makes about the same then it should be in God’s will if I run out and purchase a 300 k Home. Hey the bank (World) says I am qualified, so why think twice?
Sammons states that before we make any decisions we should be on our face before God and ask of Him; whether it is a home, a car, or anything. Again this was foreign to me and to most Christians I’ve spoken to. I decided to do this. I’m not going to say I’ve been perfect at it but I am making good strides.
I had been putting on a little weight because I had been working a little more. You know spending more time in my patrol car. Oh and there was the two semesters of school where all I did when I was not in work was read, read, and then, yes sir, read just a little more. I was about twenty pounds heavier then I should be. 18 lbs. to be exact, fatter then I had ever been in my life. So when school was over I began to run a couple miles around the block. Sadly at the same time the rainy season began. It was a little hard to run in the rain. We live on a dirt road and when it rains it gets too muddy to drive down our road, never mind walk. So, I thought it would be healthy for me to get some type of exercise machine. I began to look into treadmills and then elliptical machines.
At this time I was also listening to Dr. Broggi who was teaching about many things. One that was convicting me was that I should take all thoughts captive. This teaching combined with the financial teaching from Sammons provoked me to get on my knees and while I was praying for others I began to pray for these things I wanted. This too, by the way, was strange for me. I mean to pray for something I wanted and not something I was in need of. This was something I was taught as being selfish and wrong. You know, praying for something that was not a need but a “selfish want”. Anyway, I made a list too. On my list I prayed for salvation for certain people I knew. I prayed for the physical needs of family and friends. I prayed for protection for many and I prayed for the will of God in my life. Then I finished my list with the things I wanted. I did not tell anyone of what I wanted except my wife. Hey I tell her everything. This is the part where it got “cool”.
I have seen God answer prayers throughout my life and I praise Him for it. This however was different, at least the way I see it. I asked God for a treadmill. I asked God for an elliptical machine. I did not care which one, I just asked Him to grant me something I could get healthy with. I advised my wife that I was praying for these things. She came home from work and said that one of the women she works with was trying to get rid of a $1,300 dollar elliptical. Maria said that the girl was asking $400. We went to look at it and the foot rest was loose but it worked well. The young lady took of another $25 dollars because of the loose foot rest so we purchased it. This machine was used probably more as a clothes rack then an exerciser. I took it home and praised God for it. I used it for two weeks and lost about 10 lbs in that time.
I was still praying for a treadmill because I really love to run. Ha! That’s a bold faced lie. I run because I know it’s the only way to keep you in shape for running. Let’s face it, as a police officer sometimes I have to run. Then when you get to where you are running, you still have to have enough stamina to fight, or you might get your butt kicked or even worse. Three weeks went by and I was speaking to my friend Michael about my new elliptical. I was telling him about the weight loss (14 lbs.) and how tough these machines were to workout on for 50 minutes. As I was speaking, another friend said, “Hey Jim, my mother has a treadmill she bought about two years ago. The thing cost her close to $2,000 dollars. It just stopped working and she doesn’t know why. Would you like it?” I said, “Yes, I would love it”.
I went to his mom’s house the next day and took the Pro series treadmill to its new home. I did a little trouble shooting on it and figured out the power supply board was the problem. The machine actually had a self diagnosis program, which I learned by searching the model on line. I looked up the circuit board on line and found the board for $190 dollars. So guess what I did, I prayed again. I asked God to help me get this board somehow or get this broken one fixed.
Then I remembered Nick. He works for Motorola. Nick is the guy who keeps the radios and in-car computers working for the Sheriff’s Office where I work. I called Nick and explained what I had and what the problem was. Nick said to bring the board by. So I did. Nick called me a couple days later and said that he believed the problem was that two Zener diodes were blown. He stated that if I got the diodes he would replace them. I did, he did, and then I placed the repaired board back in the treadmill. That night I ran two miles on my new Pro series treadmill. The two diodes cost me $2.60 cents, shipping was $9.80 cents. The grand total for my $2,000 dollar treadmill was $12.40 cents.
God is good to me and I thank him for that. He provides me with all I need and even with things that I want. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This is not to mention the $2,000 dollar ride-on Toro-with grass catcher-lawnmower I received free from a coworker when he found out that my one year old push mower died. I didn't ask, I just prayed. God is amazing…amazing.
He teaches that we should put our faith in God and pray for things before we just run out and buy them. This is the difference, in that we should seek God for it before we run and just make a purchase. This was a change from the way I was taught: that we were in charge and that the decision of what to buy was solely up to us. For instance, if I am making 50 k a year and my wife makes about the same then it should be in God’s will if I run out and purchase a 300 k Home. Hey the bank (World) says I am qualified, so why think twice?
Sammons states that before we make any decisions we should be on our face before God and ask of Him; whether it is a home, a car, or anything. Again this was foreign to me and to most Christians I’ve spoken to. I decided to do this. I’m not going to say I’ve been perfect at it but I am making good strides.
I had been putting on a little weight because I had been working a little more. You know spending more time in my patrol car. Oh and there was the two semesters of school where all I did when I was not in work was read, read, and then, yes sir, read just a little more. I was about twenty pounds heavier then I should be. 18 lbs. to be exact, fatter then I had ever been in my life. So when school was over I began to run a couple miles around the block. Sadly at the same time the rainy season began. It was a little hard to run in the rain. We live on a dirt road and when it rains it gets too muddy to drive down our road, never mind walk. So, I thought it would be healthy for me to get some type of exercise machine. I began to look into treadmills and then elliptical machines.
At this time I was also listening to Dr. Broggi who was teaching about many things. One that was convicting me was that I should take all thoughts captive. This teaching combined with the financial teaching from Sammons provoked me to get on my knees and while I was praying for others I began to pray for these things I wanted. This too, by the way, was strange for me. I mean to pray for something I wanted and not something I was in need of. This was something I was taught as being selfish and wrong. You know, praying for something that was not a need but a “selfish want”. Anyway, I made a list too. On my list I prayed for salvation for certain people I knew. I prayed for the physical needs of family and friends. I prayed for protection for many and I prayed for the will of God in my life. Then I finished my list with the things I wanted. I did not tell anyone of what I wanted except my wife. Hey I tell her everything. This is the part where it got “cool”.
I have seen God answer prayers throughout my life and I praise Him for it. This however was different, at least the way I see it. I asked God for a treadmill. I asked God for an elliptical machine. I did not care which one, I just asked Him to grant me something I could get healthy with. I advised my wife that I was praying for these things. She came home from work and said that one of the women she works with was trying to get rid of a $1,300 dollar elliptical. Maria said that the girl was asking $400. We went to look at it and the foot rest was loose but it worked well. The young lady took of another $25 dollars because of the loose foot rest so we purchased it. This machine was used probably more as a clothes rack then an exerciser. I took it home and praised God for it. I used it for two weeks and lost about 10 lbs in that time.
I was still praying for a treadmill because I really love to run. Ha! That’s a bold faced lie. I run because I know it’s the only way to keep you in shape for running. Let’s face it, as a police officer sometimes I have to run. Then when you get to where you are running, you still have to have enough stamina to fight, or you might get your butt kicked or even worse. Three weeks went by and I was speaking to my friend Michael about my new elliptical. I was telling him about the weight loss (14 lbs.) and how tough these machines were to workout on for 50 minutes. As I was speaking, another friend said, “Hey Jim, my mother has a treadmill she bought about two years ago. The thing cost her close to $2,000 dollars. It just stopped working and she doesn’t know why. Would you like it?” I said, “Yes, I would love it”.
I went to his mom’s house the next day and took the Pro series treadmill to its new home. I did a little trouble shooting on it and figured out the power supply board was the problem. The machine actually had a self diagnosis program, which I learned by searching the model on line. I looked up the circuit board on line and found the board for $190 dollars. So guess what I did, I prayed again. I asked God to help me get this board somehow or get this broken one fixed.
Then I remembered Nick. He works for Motorola. Nick is the guy who keeps the radios and in-car computers working for the Sheriff’s Office where I work. I called Nick and explained what I had and what the problem was. Nick said to bring the board by. So I did. Nick called me a couple days later and said that he believed the problem was that two Zener diodes were blown. He stated that if I got the diodes he would replace them. I did, he did, and then I placed the repaired board back in the treadmill. That night I ran two miles on my new Pro series treadmill. The two diodes cost me $2.60 cents, shipping was $9.80 cents. The grand total for my $2,000 dollar treadmill was $12.40 cents.
God is good to me and I thank him for that. He provides me with all I need and even with things that I want. Praise God from whom all blessings flow. This is not to mention the $2,000 dollar ride-on Toro-with grass catcher-lawnmower I received free from a coworker when he found out that my one year old push mower died. I didn't ask, I just prayed. God is amazing…amazing.
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
The New England Primer
I was doing some research into something after listening to a Wallbuilders production on the founding fathers and their ties to Christ. The production can be found on their website, http://www.wallbuilders.com/ I believe the title to the production was “Presenting America’s forgotten history and heroes…” The Wallbuilders site is replete with incredible things to read and research. During the presentation I watched, I was reminded of the New England Primer. The Primer was a little book that was biblical and Christ centered in the way it taught children to read. This book was used for some two hundred years in this country to educate the nation’s school aged children. This book could still be found in some of America’s schools up until about the 1950’s. I heard many conversations about this book along with McGuffey Readers when I was younger. McGuffey Readers I had used but the Primer, I never actually saw one. So I decided to go online to find this little book. Joyously finding it I began to read.
The Primer started with the basics: A, In Adam's fall, we sinned all. B, Thy life to mend, God's Book attend. C, The Cat doth play, and after slay. (I know, they couldn’t think of something more CHRIST centered for C. Well remember that it starts with the lessons for little kids. Then it moves to more weighty things for the older children.) After reading this book I have been persuaded to think that this should be the only book used to teach children along with a math book or two, and maybe a science book that hasn’t been polluted by evolutionary feces. This curriculum in the Primer has more Biblical truth then most sermons given in the majority of churches I have visited. I can also say that it is on equal with some, and more informative then others, of my biblical studies textbooks. One thing in this production I watched that struck me was that John Quincy Adams was taught with this Primer. It went on to tell how Adams became secretary to the Russian ambassador. He gained this position when he was only fourteen years old, wow! They also talked at length about his Christian bearing; believing that this book had much to do with both.
Thinking back to the days of Adams I remember that school houses were one room, with all ages learning together. This illustrates, I believe, the best structure in which little one should be taught. That is if they have to be taught out side the home, a one room class with differing levels of achievements together. This same structure works in the home school too. You know the little ones, being a part of what the older ones are doing because after all, we learn by hearing and seeing and being apart of the action. This one room method makes learning passive and active at the same time. This is the same way a child picks up on the language of its parents and siblings. This is also how the child should be learning about God and His precepts, by the words and actions of others. The examples set by those who are more advanced then us.
Also stated in the production, was that the country has been so “dumbed down”. This can be attributed to the separation of God from Scholastic America. The most drastic and notable event is stated to have happened in 1962-63, with the “separation of Church and State”. This is when our Supreme Court took prayer out of school. Of course this phrase was taken from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. Sadly, it was taken out of context. Jefferson was making a point in this letter that there should never be a separation between the state of government and God, but government should not favor any one religious sect or denomination. Jefferson’s letter was used 80 years before this by the Supreme Court to show that the founding fathers did indeed believe that God should have His place in all areas of government; because He after all established government. Jefferson and many other founders are credited with thousands of writings that prove that they (the founders) believed in a government that could not stand if God, and yes Christ, were alienated from it. Now with this unconstitutional move by the Supreme Court in 1962-63, no more would a child be subjected to the moral direction of the Bible or God and His commandments. The Supreme Court made this decision with out stating any precedent as the Court had always done prior to this event. The schools in America would now attempt to teach children to be moral without the One who is moral. This of course didn’t work and never will work. It was also the beginning of the ignorance overload of the American people. The proof? Just look at the SAT scores; in just one generation the scores on average dropped 80 points using the same test. In America, children were now less learned then their parents. If you think this isn’t so, just give the average high school graduate a check book and ask them to make it balance. They would probably think you meant to keep it from falling over. Many people don’t know the name of the capital of the United States let alone where the District of Columbia is geographically. Biblically speaking, there are multitudes of people who attend churches across this nation who can’t number God’s commandments let alone recite them.
Correlations or coincident: The SAT scores plummeted after 1963 and the countries teen pregnancies skyrocketed. Also noted at this time was the increase in couples living together out of wedlock and divorce. These rates have been steadily climbing without fail since God was suspended from school. Violent crime has also been tracked as being on a steady climb just after these 1962-63 events. Maybe, people, it is because children are missing the guidance of Christ centered teachings like these:
A WISE son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
BETTER is a little, with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith.
COME unto Christ, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and he will give you rest.
DO not the abominable thing which I hate, saith the Lord.
EXCEPT a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
FOOLISHNESS is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it from him.
GRIEVE not the Holy Spirit, lest it depart from thee.
IT is good for me to draw near unto God.
KEEP thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.
LIARS will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone
MANY are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all.
NOW is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
OUT of the abundance of the heart thy mouth speaketh.
PRAY to thy Father who is in secret, and, thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee openly.
QUIT you like men; be strong; stand fast in the faith.
REMEMBER thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
SALVATION belongeth unto the Lord.
TRUST in God at all times, ye people; pour out your hearts before him.
UPON the wicked God will rain a horrible tempest.
WOE to the wicked; it will be ill with him, for the reward of his hand will be given
him.
EXHORT one another daily while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
YOUNG men, you have overcome the wicked one.
ZEAL hath consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten the word of God.
Oh yes, the country is much better off without this stuff in the classroom.
This book the New England Primer is worth the read, for your children as well as for yourself. I wish I had this book when my girls were little. I wish someone had read this to me. God in heaven please forgive my short comings and heal the lack in me from the effects of not having sound teachings when I was young and ripe for it. Soften my heart and please increase my understanding of you Lord and how you want me to think, act and be. Restore if you will my children and heal in them the places I have failed them. Please God, amen.
The Primer started with the basics: A, In Adam's fall, we sinned all. B, Thy life to mend, God's Book attend. C, The Cat doth play, and after slay. (I know, they couldn’t think of something more CHRIST centered for C. Well remember that it starts with the lessons for little kids. Then it moves to more weighty things for the older children.) After reading this book I have been persuaded to think that this should be the only book used to teach children along with a math book or two, and maybe a science book that hasn’t been polluted by evolutionary feces. This curriculum in the Primer has more Biblical truth then most sermons given in the majority of churches I have visited. I can also say that it is on equal with some, and more informative then others, of my biblical studies textbooks. One thing in this production I watched that struck me was that John Quincy Adams was taught with this Primer. It went on to tell how Adams became secretary to the Russian ambassador. He gained this position when he was only fourteen years old, wow! They also talked at length about his Christian bearing; believing that this book had much to do with both.
Thinking back to the days of Adams I remember that school houses were one room, with all ages learning together. This illustrates, I believe, the best structure in which little one should be taught. That is if they have to be taught out side the home, a one room class with differing levels of achievements together. This same structure works in the home school too. You know the little ones, being a part of what the older ones are doing because after all, we learn by hearing and seeing and being apart of the action. This one room method makes learning passive and active at the same time. This is the same way a child picks up on the language of its parents and siblings. This is also how the child should be learning about God and His precepts, by the words and actions of others. The examples set by those who are more advanced then us.
Also stated in the production, was that the country has been so “dumbed down”. This can be attributed to the separation of God from Scholastic America. The most drastic and notable event is stated to have happened in 1962-63, with the “separation of Church and State”. This is when our Supreme Court took prayer out of school. Of course this phrase was taken from a letter written by Thomas Jefferson. Sadly, it was taken out of context. Jefferson was making a point in this letter that there should never be a separation between the state of government and God, but government should not favor any one religious sect or denomination. Jefferson’s letter was used 80 years before this by the Supreme Court to show that the founding fathers did indeed believe that God should have His place in all areas of government; because He after all established government. Jefferson and many other founders are credited with thousands of writings that prove that they (the founders) believed in a government that could not stand if God, and yes Christ, were alienated from it. Now with this unconstitutional move by the Supreme Court in 1962-63, no more would a child be subjected to the moral direction of the Bible or God and His commandments. The Supreme Court made this decision with out stating any precedent as the Court had always done prior to this event. The schools in America would now attempt to teach children to be moral without the One who is moral. This of course didn’t work and never will work. It was also the beginning of the ignorance overload of the American people. The proof? Just look at the SAT scores; in just one generation the scores on average dropped 80 points using the same test. In America, children were now less learned then their parents. If you think this isn’t so, just give the average high school graduate a check book and ask them to make it balance. They would probably think you meant to keep it from falling over. Many people don’t know the name of the capital of the United States let alone where the District of Columbia is geographically. Biblically speaking, there are multitudes of people who attend churches across this nation who can’t number God’s commandments let alone recite them.
Correlations or coincident: The SAT scores plummeted after 1963 and the countries teen pregnancies skyrocketed. Also noted at this time was the increase in couples living together out of wedlock and divorce. These rates have been steadily climbing without fail since God was suspended from school. Violent crime has also been tracked as being on a steady climb just after these 1962-63 events. Maybe, people, it is because children are missing the guidance of Christ centered teachings like these:
A WISE son makes a glad father, but a foolish son is the heaviness of his mother.
BETTER is a little, with the fear of the Lord, than great treasure, and trouble therewith.
COME unto Christ, all ye who labor and are heavy laden, and he will give you rest.
DO not the abominable thing which I hate, saith the Lord.
EXCEPT a man be born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God.
FOOLISHNESS is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of correction will drive it from him.
GRIEVE not the Holy Spirit, lest it depart from thee.
IT is good for me to draw near unto God.
KEEP thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life.
LIARS will have their part in the lake which burns with fire and brimstone
MANY are the afflictions of the righteous but the Lord delivers them out of them all.
NOW is the accepted time; now is the day of salvation.
OUT of the abundance of the heart thy mouth speaketh.
PRAY to thy Father who is in secret, and, thy Father who sees in secret will reward thee openly.
QUIT you like men; be strong; stand fast in the faith.
REMEMBER thy Creator in the days of thy youth.
SALVATION belongeth unto the Lord.
TRUST in God at all times, ye people; pour out your hearts before him.
UPON the wicked God will rain a horrible tempest.
WOE to the wicked; it will be ill with him, for the reward of his hand will be given
him.
EXHORT one another daily while it is called to-day, lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin.
YOUNG men, you have overcome the wicked one.
ZEAL hath consumed me, because my enemies have forgotten the word of God.
Oh yes, the country is much better off without this stuff in the classroom.
This book the New England Primer is worth the read, for your children as well as for yourself. I wish I had this book when my girls were little. I wish someone had read this to me. God in heaven please forgive my short comings and heal the lack in me from the effects of not having sound teachings when I was young and ripe for it. Soften my heart and please increase my understanding of you Lord and how you want me to think, act and be. Restore if you will my children and heal in them the places I have failed them. Please God, amen.
Monday, March 30, 2009
The Great Need of pray
“Even the greatest of men may be much in trouble. Neither the crown on the king's head, nor the grace in his heart, would make him free from trouble. Even the greatest of men must be much in prayer.
Let none expect benefit by the prayers of the church, or their friends, who are capable of praying for themselves, yet neglect it. Pray that God would protect his person, and preserve his life. That God would enable him to go on in his undertakings for the public good. We may know that God accepts our spiritual sacrifices, if by his Spirit he kindles in our souls a holy fire of piety and love to God. Also, that the Lord would crown his enterprises with success.
Our first step to victory in spiritual warfare is to trust only in the mercy and grace of God; all who trust in themselves will soon be cast down. Believers triumph in God, and his revelation of himself to them, by which they distinguish themselves from those that live without God in the world. Those who make God and his name their praise, may make God and his name their trust. This was the case when the pride and power of Jewish unbelief, and pagan idolatry, fell before the sermons and lives of the humble believers in Jesus. This is the case in every conflict with our spiritual enemies, when we engage them in the name, the spirit, and the power of Christ; and this will be the case at the last day, when the world, with the prince of it, shall be brought down and fall; but believers, risen-from the dead, through the resurrection of the Lord, shall stand, and sing his praises in heaven.
In Christ's salvation let us rejoice; and set up our banners in the name of the Lord our God, assured that by the saving strength of his right hand we shall be conquerors over every enemy.”
Matthew Henry
English non-conformist 1706
Let none expect benefit by the prayers of the church, or their friends, who are capable of praying for themselves, yet neglect it. Pray that God would protect his person, and preserve his life. That God would enable him to go on in his undertakings for the public good. We may know that God accepts our spiritual sacrifices, if by his Spirit he kindles in our souls a holy fire of piety and love to God. Also, that the Lord would crown his enterprises with success.
Our first step to victory in spiritual warfare is to trust only in the mercy and grace of God; all who trust in themselves will soon be cast down. Believers triumph in God, and his revelation of himself to them, by which they distinguish themselves from those that live without God in the world. Those who make God and his name their praise, may make God and his name their trust. This was the case when the pride and power of Jewish unbelief, and pagan idolatry, fell before the sermons and lives of the humble believers in Jesus. This is the case in every conflict with our spiritual enemies, when we engage them in the name, the spirit, and the power of Christ; and this will be the case at the last day, when the world, with the prince of it, shall be brought down and fall; but believers, risen-from the dead, through the resurrection of the Lord, shall stand, and sing his praises in heaven.
In Christ's salvation let us rejoice; and set up our banners in the name of the Lord our God, assured that by the saving strength of his right hand we shall be conquerors over every enemy.”
Matthew Henry
English non-conformist 1706
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Tithing Again!
“Honor the LORD with your possessions, and with the first-fruits of all your increase; so your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Proverbs 3:9–10).
I wonder, do the Proverbs still apply to Christians? Are these the wise words from God’s Holy Spirit? Or were the nailed to the cross? In spite of the obvious blessings that come to those who obey God’s tithing law (from the Old Testament) some still have arguments or questions. Was the idea of tithing an invention of Moses? Was it done away with by Christ Jesus? Was it just for the physical nation of Israel? Long before the Law of Moses was ever codified, Abraham was faithfully paying tithes to God. We read in Genesis 14:17–20 how Abraham honored God’s High Priest Melchizedek after God had delivered his enemies into his hand: “And he gave him a tithe of all (tithe which means 10%).” This is an important example that is usually overlooked or minimized by many. Abraham in the New Testament is described as the father of the faithful (cf. Romans 4:1, 11, and 16). Certainly the father of the faithful is our example in all that he did, even in tithing. Abraham did not tithe only the fruits of his labor, he tithed on a bounty that had virtually been given him by God (like everything we get isn’t from God). So tithing is not merely on the increase of one’s crops or animals as some say, it is on any financial increase which God grants us as His children.
Later, Jacob promised to serve the God of Abraham and stated: “Of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you” (Genesis 28:22). Still later, when God instituted the Levitical priesthood, He directed that the tithe be paid to them during that time as His human representatives: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the LORD…. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD” (Leviticus 27:30, 32).
As the Apostle Paul explained to the Corinthian brethren: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1–4). Later in this same chapter—talking about this same time period—Paul wrote: “Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents” (v. 9).
So it was Christ they were dealing with back in the Old Testament. Most theologians realize this because there are so many references to it. But many ignore this because of the implication that it was Christ who spoke the Ten Commandments and gave other laws which “Modern Christianity” chooses not to obey. Yes, Christ was and still is the “Word” of God, the divine Spokesman for the Trinity from the beginning (John 1:1–10). So the “Word”—who later became the Christ—is the One who guided and blessed Abraham in tithing to God. And Christ is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, we must not negate or minimize this fundamental example of tithing set by the Abraham the father faithful. In the New Testament, did Jesus Christ abolish this practice? No. He followed it, as did His Apostles. We find no scriptural command to stop tithing, and no indication that the Apostles and the Apostolic Church ceased to tithe. As we have seen, Jesus Christ is the “Word” of God—the one who inspired the Old Testament. As the Word of God, He gave the laws listed in the Old Testament, and then He spiritually magnified and explained them in the New Testament. Christ fulfilled the Law He did not negate it or nullify it; there is a difference between the two.
17. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
In speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, who often made a self-righteous display of strictly keeping some of the smaller points of God’s Law, Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23). Jesus said that spiritual qualities such as mercy and faith ought to be put ahead of carefully and strictly paying tithes on every little plant that might grow in your garden. But Christ said “not to leave the other undone”, meaning not to fail at giving God your full tithes as God commanded.
In Luke 11:42, this same command is repeated in a similar manner—inspired to be placed here also by God’s Holy Spirit. Man would like to regard God’s tithing law as of least importance. But speaking of even the smaller points of God’s Law, Jesus stated: "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19)
If we are looking for an argument, we will always find one. But if we are willing to “hunger and thirst” for righteousness, to obey even the smaller points of God’s Law, we will be blessed for it. (I believe)
I am not trying to present my opinion as Scripture or pass it off with apostolic authority. But I believe there are two types of people who do not fulfill their obligation to tithe. One is the person who is ignorant of the Law and the other is stingy or greedy. Sadly both miss out on the blessing ascribed by the God of grace.
As I have said before, "go ahead rob God, see where that gets you".
I wonder, do the Proverbs still apply to Christians? Are these the wise words from God’s Holy Spirit? Or were the nailed to the cross? In spite of the obvious blessings that come to those who obey God’s tithing law (from the Old Testament) some still have arguments or questions. Was the idea of tithing an invention of Moses? Was it done away with by Christ Jesus? Was it just for the physical nation of Israel? Long before the Law of Moses was ever codified, Abraham was faithfully paying tithes to God. We read in Genesis 14:17–20 how Abraham honored God’s High Priest Melchizedek after God had delivered his enemies into his hand: “And he gave him a tithe of all (tithe which means 10%).” This is an important example that is usually overlooked or minimized by many. Abraham in the New Testament is described as the father of the faithful (cf. Romans 4:1, 11, and 16). Certainly the father of the faithful is our example in all that he did, even in tithing. Abraham did not tithe only the fruits of his labor, he tithed on a bounty that had virtually been given him by God (like everything we get isn’t from God). So tithing is not merely on the increase of one’s crops or animals as some say, it is on any financial increase which God grants us as His children.
Later, Jacob promised to serve the God of Abraham and stated: “Of all that you give me I will surely give a tenth to you” (Genesis 28:22). Still later, when God instituted the Levitical priesthood, He directed that the tithe be paid to them during that time as His human representatives: “And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s. It is holy to the LORD…. And concerning the tithe of the herd or the flock, of whatever passes under the rod, the tenth one shall be holy to the LORD” (Leviticus 27:30, 32).
As the Apostle Paul explained to the Corinthian brethren: “Moreover, brethren, I do not want you to be unaware that all our fathers were under the cloud, all passed through the sea, all were baptized into Moses in the cloud and in the sea, all ate the same spiritual food, and all drank the same spiritual drink. For they drank of that spiritual Rock that followed them, and that Rock was Christ” (1 Corinthians 10:1–4). Later in this same chapter—talking about this same time period—Paul wrote: “Nor let us tempt Christ, as some of them also tempted and were destroyed by serpents” (v. 9).
So it was Christ they were dealing with back in the Old Testament. Most theologians realize this because there are so many references to it. But many ignore this because of the implication that it was Christ who spoke the Ten Commandments and gave other laws which “Modern Christianity” chooses not to obey. Yes, Christ was and still is the “Word” of God, the divine Spokesman for the Trinity from the beginning (John 1:1–10). So the “Word”—who later became the Christ—is the One who guided and blessed Abraham in tithing to God. And Christ is “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). Therefore, we must not negate or minimize this fundamental example of tithing set by the Abraham the father faithful. In the New Testament, did Jesus Christ abolish this practice? No. He followed it, as did His Apostles. We find no scriptural command to stop tithing, and no indication that the Apostles and the Apostolic Church ceased to tithe. As we have seen, Jesus Christ is the “Word” of God—the one who inspired the Old Testament. As the Word of God, He gave the laws listed in the Old Testament, and then He spiritually magnified and explained them in the New Testament. Christ fulfilled the Law He did not negate it or nullify it; there is a difference between the two.
17. "Do not think that I came to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I did not come to abolish but to fulfill.
18. "For truly I say to you, until heaven and earth pass away, not the smallest letter or stroke shall pass from the Law until all is accomplished.
In speaking to the scribes and Pharisees, who often made a self-righteous display of strictly keeping some of the smaller points of God’s Law, Jesus said: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites. For you pay tithe of mint and anise and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith. These you ought to have done without leaving the others undone” (Matthew 23:23). Jesus said that spiritual qualities such as mercy and faith ought to be put ahead of carefully and strictly paying tithes on every little plant that might grow in your garden. But Christ said “not to leave the other undone”, meaning not to fail at giving God your full tithes as God commanded.
In Luke 11:42, this same command is repeated in a similar manner—inspired to be placed here also by God’s Holy Spirit. Man would like to regard God’s tithing law as of least importance. But speaking of even the smaller points of God’s Law, Jesus stated: "Whoever then annuls one of the least of these commandments, and teaches others to do the same, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but whoever keeps and teaches them, he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. (Matthew 19)
If we are looking for an argument, we will always find one. But if we are willing to “hunger and thirst” for righteousness, to obey even the smaller points of God’s Law, we will be blessed for it. (I believe)
I am not trying to present my opinion as Scripture or pass it off with apostolic authority. But I believe there are two types of people who do not fulfill their obligation to tithe. One is the person who is ignorant of the Law and the other is stingy or greedy. Sadly both miss out on the blessing ascribed by the God of grace.
As I have said before, "go ahead rob God, see where that gets you".
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