Tag Archives: creation

Weeds or Standards

Posted on by
1

Church it is time!  As Pentecost approaches, I think it is time for a check-up.  This post has been stirring inside of me for a while but a verse in Psalm 74 finally put a voice to what I have been feeling.

This started with a “kingdom parable” in Matthew 13: 25.  Good seed was sown, but while we were asleep the enemy came in and sowed weeds. The master of the field had an unusual response – leave the weeds alone so you do not pull up the wheat!  And all of the gardeners said, “What!”  And all the church people said, “But that is not how I read the Bible, my doctrine must be correct.” 

Weeds – a plant that is not wanted were it is.  Unfortunately, that is a huge definition when it comes to plants.  I have cut down some huge weeds because I did not want that tree there.  But I quit fighting the false dandelions in my lawn just because they are pleasant to look at when in bloom.   Another example is penny and dollar wort, I don’t like them in my lawn and they are a pain in a garden/flower bed.  To get rid of them I can pull them up or poison them.  One method may work in a flower bed and the other may be okay in the lawn, but it is a decision that must be made carefully.  Oh, if those plants are in a sand dune they are wonderful at helping establish the stability of the dune along the beaches here in south Texas. 

The weeds the enemy has sown come in many shapes and sizes.  Throw in the human condition of pride and it can be war in the printing presses.  The “weed” that set me off is found in Genesis 1. The problem was not that God created the world, a Christian should agree to that, but how long it took and how it was done.  I have followed this argument for many years.  Some of this “weed pulling” comes from what Study Bible you use.  So, the Church of my Living God has battled itself for truth and let evolution take over the education system!

The verse in Psalm 74 that divided weeds from standards is #4.  “Your foes roared in the place where you met with us; they set up their standards as signs.” (NIV) Pick your favorite translation the meaning is clear!

Acts 2:36 needs to be a common point for all Christians – Jesus is Lord and Christ.  Unfortunately, weed seeds have been sprinkled into the rest of Peter’s sermon, that first birthday of the Church!  Verse 40 holds the last part of this post. “Save yourselves from this corrupt generation.” Church, they are in our meeting halls – roaring their standards.  New Age thought has been brought in, and we have let postmodernism change definitions in the Church.  Postmodernism works by changing (usually it is a slow change) the meaning of words!  Words they are changing or at least trying to change – Father God, Jesus, Christ, love, sin, family, and others!  The Great Commission has not changed and that needs to be the work of the Church.  Asaph is credited with writing Psalm 73 to 83; as I have read them recently, many sound like prayers against the foes of God and the Church of Jesus.           

Additional Thoughts – fellow Christians should not be an enemy, you may not agree with them on everything; the Seed is still good; Jesus has confidence in the Seed/Plants even with weeds trying to suck the life from the plants’ roots; Jesus still wins in the end! 

The Bible and Science – The Second Law of Thermodynamics

Posted on by
2

Romans 8:20-21 20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope 21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. (NIV)

As a Christian who teaches science I look at the world and see the beauty that is there, but I frequently think of the physical laws, or the components of the object, and become even more in awe of what God has done.  The Second Law of Thermodynamics speaks to what is happening to Creation as a whole entity.  The Second Law refers to entropy or the concept that everything starts in its highest state of order, and progresses to a state of disorder.  (Mom’s know that this is true because the playroom always needs cleaning!)  Okay, that makes sense.

Evolution, however, is the opposite of the Second Law of Thermodynamics.  In evolution, the main idea is that everything started in chaos, and is now headed to a state of perfection.  The best evolution can offer is a state of equilibrium.

Look at verse 21 and notice a different story.  The only thing evolving there is a born again child of God.  He finds us in a “state of decay” and brings us to freedom and into His glory.

∞Father, thank You that we go from glory to glory and that we are looking more like Jesus every day.

The Bible and Science -When Nothing Is Something!

Posted on by
Reply

When Nothing Is Something!

hst_hourglass_nebula_smallI recently watched an episode of Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman the title was Nothing. What they were exploring was the emptiness of space and even the concept of the space between electrons. The total thought of the show was that because of “dark matter” that maybe the emptiness of space may not be empty instead it has energy in it. Now I know many people are reaching for the mouse to find something else to read while saying this is a Bible Study blog. Please hang in there and finish reading. The reason I am commenting on this is that after Mr. Freeman opened with a slight miss quote of Genesis 1:1 he basically said that science had their own “god” and their own “beginning.” I wanted to know how “NOTHING” was replacing God. I also found it aggregating that the next scene was Freeman as a boy in an old country church holding a Bible trying to figure out what true nothingness felt like. His point was he could not.

The main point that the panel of experts made was that there is a lot of nothing in the universe; which is correct. Another point is that our idea of nothing/empty for space is not completely correct; since we see light from distant stars and galaxies there is light energy passing through it. So what the science community is doing is redefining space/time and our concept of “nothing.”

Some of the things they discussed were: 1. There was something before the big bang, 2. The states of things before the big bang were at a “higher level” than afterward, 3. “Empty” space is filled with energy that should have the potential to destroy the universe and 4. That this energy/waves are causing the universe to expand. It may sound strange but these do not disprove God and some actually agree with Scripture: 1. The thought that something was there before the big bang agrees with Genesis 1:1; the Spirit of God was hovering over water in an empty world. 2. The different “levels” sound like the Second Law of Thermodynamics that basically states that systems start in order and proceed to a state of disorder. A perfect creation becoming what we see now on earth agrees with that Law. 3. The idea that the universe is filled with energy and some of those energies are canceling each other out is a constant symbolism in the Bible an example of this is found in Colossians 1:12 + 13 where the inheritance of the saints is referred to as the “Kingdom of Light” and that we have been rescued from the “dominion of darkness.” The idea that these energies could destroy the universe is echoed in Isaiah 34: 4 where stars of heaven will be dissolved and fall and the sky will roll up like a scroll. 4. This idea is not really Biblical but preachers have been using it for a long time; the light should just keep going so the phrase is “when God spoke to light into being it started and is still going.”

To see the show: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WbRvHbtB9AQ, This site is not endorsed by NASA and to see more images please go to http://www.freeimages.co.uk/galleries/space/nebula/index.htm