Opus 2024-061: Effect and Cause

I heard a noise at the back door.  My wife had left to fulfill responsibilities at church and I wondered who was coming in.  It was her.  She had forgotten her Bible.  Last week when I was called on, at the last minute, to lead the Wednesday night service, I took my visiting friend along.  When we got there he confessed that he had not brought his Bible.  That is a terrible failure for a King James Only man.  

In reality it is not a surprise.  One reason that many people do not bring a Bible to church is because they don’t find that they need it.  Sometimes that is because they are spoon fed by a Power Point presentation that shows them all the pastor wants them to know in the translation that fits his sermon.  Another reason is that often the preacher says nothing that has to do with the text being used.  I know that I sometimes close my Bible half -way through the sermon because it is obvious that I won’t need it.  

It is a sad statement about the Christian church.  It is sad that pastors work that way.  It is a shame that the laymen put up with it.  There may be no avenue to address it.  If that is the case then bring your Bible.  Open it to the text given or some other useful passage.  Spend the time reading and meditating.  It is likely that listening will do you no good.

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Opus 2024-060: Dependent Clause

One of the devices that has made its appearance in the church is the formula, “He is risen.  He is risen indeed.”  It is what we celebrate on the day that has come to be called Easter.  It is the core of the hope that Christians have.  For the most powerful statement on this you should read I Corinthians 15 starting in verse 12.  There are many key verses you could pick out, depending on your need for the day.  Let me lift out this one,

(1Co 15:14 KJV)  And if Christ be not risen, then is our preaching vain, and your faith is also vain.

What Paul is saying is that if Jesus did not rise from the dead then all of your doctrines and beliefs are empty nonsense.  If Jesus did not rise, you are not saved because that means He was a fraud.  It is also key, read further down, that you understand that this was a physical resurrection.  It was not just a spiritual event.  Although Paul talks about the new type of body we will have it is still a physical body.  We will not spend eternity as spirits floating around in the ether.

I am officially old.  Okay.  Got it.  So what?  I will enjoy my grandchildren as long as God lets me do so in this life.  Once I am gone, and I hope they notice, I will look forward to all the joys of eternity in the presence of God.  I assume that will include my grandchildren but that will depend on whether they come to faith.

So rejoice.  

He is Risen!

He is Risen, indeed!

We who believe will also be risen.  I hope to see you there.

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Opus 2024-059: The Food Chain

In the first chapter of Genesis, God gives the plants for us to eat, and the animals for us to rule over, but he does not present the world itself to us as a possession. He gives it to us to manage.  Perhaps a rental or a lease agreement might be more in your line of thinking.

There is a clear hierarchy.  People are to be at the top.  Everything else exists to provide for our needs.  You might be compelled to die for your pet in a moment of temporary insanity.  There is a reason why your dog would be willing to die for you, again and again.  They recognize the pecking order even if humans don’t.

My theory is that Adam and Eve were vegetarians.  That changed with Noah.  God changed the ground rules.

(Gen 9:3 KJV)  Every moving thing that liveth shall be meat for you; even as the green herb have I given you all things.

Notice that the herbs were “even as.”  That is before.  Now meat is on the menu.

This is just one of the areas that genuine Christianity is at odds with our contemporary culture.  We are not here to serve Gaia.  Gaia is here to serve us.

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Opus 2024-058: Name that Tune

I don’t think that any of the modern worship songs would be recognized by anyone on the old game show Name That Tune.  I didn’t watch it much but I have a memory of an orchestra beginning to play a song and the contestants were supposed to slap the button to “Name That Tune”.  They had one mode where they would bid on how many notes it would take them to name it.  Modern “praise music” is so monotonous that it would be hard to tell the difference, especially if they had to leave out the accompaniment.  On many of the songs the only thing memorable is the crazy riffs on the lead guitar or the wild drum solo.  Even those get to be dull because they tend to rely on the same cool stuff they used before.

On the other hand anyone who heard and sang Amazing Grace for the first time would remember it the next time. They may not remember the words, but it would be familiar to them as a significant piece of music.  They would eventually internalize it and sing it when they were plowing the south 40.

I am aware that there are some contemporary worship songs that are memorable.  The big problem is that the “worship bands” don’t like to use them.  If the ink is dry or it has been around long enough to appear in printed and bound form then it is not contemporary enough.  It might do them well to spend some time in Proverbs,

(Pro 24:21 KJV)  My son, fear thou the LORD and the king: and meddle not with them that are given to change:

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Opus 2024-057: Tired of the sunrise

As I sit here enjoying the morning, I begin to wonder how much more glorious it will be in eternity.  I wonder if I will ever get tired of watching the sunrise.  It will be more glorious, more colorful, more of everything.

With that in mind, it occurred to me that I am not tired of watching the sunrise now.  The earliest I can remember really getting overwhelmed by a sunrise was the morning I was coming down the grapevine to an awesome panorama of California’s central valley.  I was probably around 18.  So using that as a possible beginning, I figure it is been over 58 years since I began enjoying sunrises and I still love them.

I don’t think I will ever run out of sunrises to enjoy, or the excitement of watching them develop.

In eternity, assuming that sunrises are still available, I might be able to choose the location of my sunrise.  I might be able to watch the sun come up from the top of Mount Everest.  I can certainly go back to the beach of Maui, and revisit the meadow in the mountains.  There are vistas everywhere that I can see.

Maybe I will be able to witness some of the creative acts of God.

I could title this death thoughts.  You certainly have a different perspective on death and eternity when you are coming from a position of a believer in Jesus Christ.  It brings to mind Paul’s statements about death.  

(1Co 15:55 KJV)  O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?

Great thoughts as we approach the celebration of the Resurrection.

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Opus 2024-056: Fathers

God is not an absentee father.

One of the most obvious problems creating our social messes of today is the absence of fathers in the home.  It is one of the major contributors to violence and crime.  It seems to apply across the board, yet we hear no official acknowledgment from the elites.  They don’t want to admit that the policies that started with Lyndon Johnson’s War on Poverty drove fathers out of the family, discouraged marriage and made people dependent on the government.  

How has that been working for you.

It is time for the church to step in and start teaching.  How do you teach men about fatherhood if they had no contact with a father?  That is a major question.  It is also why the Bible is useful because it refers to God as our Father and gives us something to teach.  

God did not create and leave.  He did not die.  He is not present and ignoring responsibility.  God is involved and provides the only solution for those who serve Him.  He is constantly involved in creation.  He meets with worshipers on a constant basis.  The written word He caused to be developed gives principles, standards and examples of behavior.  The lessons are there for those who want to learn.

Of course that is always the big question.  Are people willing to learn?  Another important question is “Are we willing to teach by word and example.”

You may never be president or famous but you can be a good example for those around you.

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Opus 2024-055: Deep questions

If a lion ate a house cat, would it be called cannibalism?  Just asking.

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Opus 2024-054: Potential Promise or Empty Hope

Consider this promise that many have drawn encouragement from,

(Jos 1:8-9 KJV)  This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success.  Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.

This documents Joshua speaking to the nation shortly after the death of Moses and before they enter the promised land.  It involves Joshua asserting his position, reminding them about the promises of God in the past and preparing them for the move that was ahead.  Some would say it does not apply to us because it is OT.  Can we consider it a promise?  Is it just a principle for us today?  Is it something that does not effect us in any way?

These are normal questions when studying the Bible and seeking understanding.  I think it is important to start with the historical context.  That helps us not only understand what is being said but what it means.  The boldness and confidence that is being promised seems to specifically refer to Israel as they move out in obedience to the command of God.  It is not a promise of success if they turn around and work hard to establish a pottery factory in Egypt.  It applies to moving forward and across the Jordan.  There is an obvious application at that place.

Does the principle have application to us today?  I would say “Yes”, but would require a few conditions that bring it into the historical context.  We can consider these words as promises if we are venturing forth on a path God has sent us on.  Each individual would have to work that out for themselves but I think it is a safe statement.  It would be shaky if you tried to say that being bold and courageous would help us be successful in ungodly pursuits.

In interpreting the OT, can statements be precise promises to the receiver and at the same time be general principles for us today?  I would think so.  If we don’t understand the Bible that way then there is very little for us other than historical interest.  The general principles would be to study the written word, contemplate what it says and means, apply it, and live in confidence that God will see you through.  I hope your understanding goes that far.

It is also a point to observe what these verses do not say.  There is no promise of salvation here.  This is for the practical issues of how to live in righteousness.

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Opus 2024-053: Get Past the Ritual

Worship is exercising a relationship, not going through a ritual.

Think of how you might start your day.  When you brush your teeth it is a ritual.  You develop habits based on a certain way of brushing so that you hit all the quadrants.  You don’t need to think except to make sure that you put toothpaste on your brush and not Preparation H.  When it comes to getting dressed you enter a different zone.  If you are retired and have nothing going on then a ritual can suffice.  If you are going out to breakfast with your wife there are a lot of things to consider:  What does she want me to wear, is this too tight, will this pattern show if I dribble, you know, things like that.  It is a combination of mindless activity, which foot does this shoe go on, and careful consideration.  The minute you walk into her presence it all becomes “think carefully and watch your step”.

Like any relationship, worship has its ups and downs.  Some days are glorious and some days, to be honest, are boring.  Kind of like marriage or parenting.  Like any relationship you get out of it what you put into it.  

God is a person.  We are created in His image.  This is normal.  He is not a machine that just requires the right buttons to be pushed and some oil once in awhile.  If I am bogged down I think about the conversations He has with people in the Bible.  What does that tell me about Him?  If you focus, then praise and thanksgiving will come.

As some commercial once said, “Try it.  You’ll like it.”  It might also change your life.

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Opus 2024-052: Jeremiah Goes Trans

There are certain things that have always been accepted as leg pulling.  Remember the snipe hunts organized on Spin and Marty of the Mickey Mouse Club?  We used to do that at camps and it was amazing how often it worked.  Have you ever sent someone after a left-handed monkey wrench?  I know someone who was sent out for headlight oil, and he went.  The current idea that men can have babies and monthly periods should be in that genre of entertaining tall tales.  The problem is there seem to be people who believe it.

We are being told that men can have babies.  What you may not know is that the idea is not original for the woke college graduates.  Jeremiah prophesied this thousands of years ago,

(Jer 30:6 KJV)  Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with child? wherefore do I see every man with his hands on his loins, as a woman in travail, and all faces are turned into paleness?
(Jer 30:7 KJV)  Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: it is even the time of Jacob's trouble; but he shall be saved out of it.

Yes, you read that right.  What should worry you is that the term “Jacob’s trouble” is often assumed to mean the great tribulation.  In other words it is an indication that the end is here.

Many people speculate on the end times.  They set dates for the return of Jesus.  They write books and start new denominations.  Israel is a nation again.  We are waiting for the temple to be rebuilt.  And now we are waiting for men to have babies but I think it is presented more as a result of the tribulation than a sign.

It brings whole new meaning to the term Jacob’s Trouble.

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Opus 2024-051: Be a Lifeline

One reason liberals don’t have a sense of humor it’s because they are so ignorant.  Many times when I am looking at memes I have to stop and stare a while until I get the connection and then it’s funny.  If I don’t have a background I never get it.  One example of this problem for me is I’m seeing more and more memes that focus on celebrities or movies I don’t follow.  I will never get the joke on that.  I am ignorant there.  I just move on.

Keep in mind that ignorant does not mean stupid.  I am not stupid but when it comes to all the flap about Taylor Swift.  I not only don’t know, I don’t care.  Of course I could educate myself.  Sometimes I do that by asking questions of my children or others who care about certain topics.  I will try to listen and understand.  At the back of my mind is always the possibility that I am totally wrong.  It is a possibility but not a probability.

Be patient with your liberal friends, if you have any.  Their condition may be curable and you may be the only lifeline they have.

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Opus 2024-050: DEI theology

We all have been seeing meme posters where artificial intelligence has been creating pictures that are historical nonsense.  Think of Henry the VIII as a black man.  The same has been done with Elizabeth I, George Washington and so forth.  They have redone portraits of Hannibal so that he has decidedly black African features.  This is based on the ignorance of history and geography.  Hannibal was from Carthage on the north coast of Africa.  While he probably was not a blond, blue eyed Vandal, I think it was too early in history for that, he was at darkest a Palestinian.  

This is not totally new.  If you were to go to the churches of Ethiopia you would find that the murals on the wall have a black Jesus and black disciples and so forth.  I have no trouble with that.  I understand you see the same pattern in Asia.  When you look at renaissance art of Bible stories you see people dressed in renaissance clothing.  This is a natural thing for people who want to feel at home and comfortable.  In itself it is not evil.  It becomes evil as a tool of political correctness.

If you need to make Hannibal black, more power to you.  There is at least the possibility that his DNA would show some black African.  If you are black and your name is O’Toole and you want to make Saint Patrick black, enjoy yourself.  At least we know that Patrick was a slave at one point and your social theology says only black people were slaves.  It makes a kind of sense.

That being said, please don’t let your insecurity and ignorance portray Abraham Lincoln or George Patton as black.  If you embrace that you are embracing a lie and once you start down that path there is no heading you off.

This nonsense will only stop if we speak up when we see blatant ignorance.  Do it gently if you can but make sure you have a get away plan formed ahead of time.  These people do not like the truth or anyone who speaks truth.

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Opus 2024-049: Humor Correlation

I  am relatively sure that my grandchildren will grow up to be conservatives.  I would say that heredity and environment would be strong indicators but I know too many children from good families that have lost their edge.  What gives me confidence is they have a sense of humor.

Maybe you have not noticed but liberals don’t have a sense of humor.  It seems to be true of many women too.  That may be why soccer moms seem to like Biden.  A sense of humor must begin to develop very early in life.  It requires more than the generous use of four letter words and slapstick antics.  At least that is true of what I consider humor.

I guess they would say I don’t know what is really funny.

They are wrong.

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Opus 2024-048: Firsts: Pepita

In my quest for relevance, flexibility and novel experiences I tried a new restaurant.  The prices seemed a bit high but in this age of Bidonomics I can’t seem to find a dollar menu any more.

The fare offered two types of chicken fried steak.  They were the same price.  I could not figure out the difference from the description.  The second one was called Pepita Crusted Chicken Fried Steak.  I asked and the answer had something to do with ground up pumpkin seeds.  Time to live at the high octane level.

There are times when I am grateful that I do not have a discerning palate.  One of the things that you food snobs never consider is that I have a much wider range of range craft I can enjoy.  You miss much of it because it isn’t subtle enough.  In this case the offering tasted good but I could not figure out what nuance was delivered by the ground up pumpkin seeds.

And I didn’t even ask for it to be well done.

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Opus 2024-047: A New Movement Needed

What are we going to do about the coup going on right in front of our eyes.  There must be some solution other than violence.  Violence would remove the elite trying to destroy the republic but would only replace it with another junta if history teaches us anything.  Look at the French Revolution rather than the American.  France was much more typical and had a lot in common in what we are seeing in our country today.

What are we to do?

We need to start with prayer.  If you are not a believer go ahead with your “good thoughts”.  I don’t suppose it will hurt anything.  I also don’t suppose it will help much.  

Then what?

It occurred to me that we might need a little cultural appropriation.  It might be time to resurrect the Civil Rights Movement.  The original was targeting a specific group of Americans who were being denied their basic rights as citizens.  Now the goal of the elites is to destroy the rights of everybody.  It may be time to resurrect the approach.

The original Civil Rights Movement had at least three types of people.  The first was made up of true believers.  That can be taken as a pun if you want.  The original Civil Rights advocates were the abolitionists.  Many of them were devout Christians.  I think that most of the stops on the underground railroad were in the homes of believers.  This of course would cause them to be true believers in man being created in God’s image and thus they would be true believers in the cause of what became known as civil rights.

The second were the Anti-American liberty haters that infiltrated because they saw a way to undermine the Republic.  Their goal was not really to make black Americans equal.  There goal was to drag down the culture and destroy it because it was too open to actual liberty.  These are the same type of people behind the 1619 Project that pushes the lie about the country being founded on slavery.  They were very good at looking pious but these are the people who took the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and turned it into reverse discrimination with affirmative action, quotas and the modern incarnation of Diversity, Equity and Inclusiveness.  Their whole purpose is to divide the country.  At the back of their minds is the old “divide and conquer” mantra.

A Third was made up of party animals.  I remember someone interviewing some young men at an event and asking them why they were there.  They didn’t seem to be the kind that would be supporting the rally.  Their answer?  “Chicks, man, chicks.”  They came for the girls.  There were a good number of people involved in the Civil Rights Movement who were there for the excitement, and yes, I would imagine the chicks.

The resurrection of the movement would need to adopt the non-violent principle.  Anyone who was involved would need to understand that there would be persecution and suffering.  There would also need to be a strong element of faith and prayer led by devout believers.  Would it work?  I don’t know if it would “work” but I am not sure we have any choice.  The alternative is to sink into a morass of totalitarian barbarism.  

Does that mean there would never be an element of force?  No.  Remember how slavery was brought down starting in England and going around the world?  William Wilberforce and his devout Christian friends campaigned for 30 years to get results.  They did it peacefully.  That worked in England but in order to attack slavery around the world the British navy came into play.  It was a form of gunboat diplomacy.  In order to keep from being attacked the countries of the world had to agree to outlaw slavery.  Some places in the world just won’t respond to reason or moral arguments.

I don’t know how it can be organized but until it is we need to keep praying, standing up, speaking out and making a difference in our corner of the world.

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Opus 2024-046: Five to Go

I am at the age when the ranks are thinning.  

I figure I have about five years left.  I have no scientific basis for that but then science often has no scientific basis either.  It is pure speculation arrived at in idle moments.  I think I started thinking about it in my 50's.  My grandfather died at 67.  He was super-sedentary, shaped like a bowling ball, probably had diabetes and did nothing to take care of it.  My father lived to 74, a seven year difference.  He had polio as a child and worked hard all his life.  He had diabetes but dealt with it.

Fast forward in the world of fantasy and “evidence based” research.  I figure I will live to be 81.  That is five years away.  I would not say I am frisky but then I never was.  I am doing well.  I walk every day and so far, as much as I can remember, have always found my way home.  I could live to be 100.  I have an uncle who is 91 and counting.  

However it works out I am convinced that God will call me home when He is ready, not when I have it scheduled.  I can live with that.  I can die with that.  My only request is that it be quick.

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Opus 2024-045: A Not New Idea

I remember at school, where some teacher was presenting a concept that she called paying forward.  The idea was that you would do nice things now for future generations as thanks for what people have done in the past for you.  This was presented like it was a new and revolutionary idea.  In reality, it is just the basis of civilization through the ages.  People do things for their children and grandchildren.  They do things for future generations.  They plant trees they will never harvest from.  They use trash cans even if they are just passing through.

It doesn’t take much to break the chain.  Just one generation of eating your seed grain can doom you to famine.  If enough people live just for today then tomorrow will take care of itself and them.  It will not be pretty.

Sometimes this is expressed in the golden rule.  You either do unto others or don’t depending on how you frame the statement.  The apostle Paul had another way of expressing it,

(Php 2:3-5 NAS77) Do nothing from selfishness or empty conceit, but with humility of mind let each of you regard one another as more important than himself; do not merely look out for your own personal interests, but also for the interests of others.  Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,

It isn’t just a point of philosophy, it is a foundational truth.

Try living that way and become part of the solution instead of the root of the problem.

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Opus 2024-044: Madness in the Method

Ritual can add a lot of value to an experience.  I don’t mean habits or routines.  Those are different from rituals.  I deliberately try to set up routines to compensate for my forgetfulness.  They are to avoid disaster.  Ritual is to spice things up.

Take chop sticks for instance.  Chop sticks make Chinese food taste better.  If you don’t believe it, the reason could be you never learned to used chop sticks.  I can’t explain it.  I can’t prove it.  It is still true.  A fork might be quicker but there is a cosmic sympathy that is just not there.

Hand grinding coffee for the French press is a lot slower than pre-ground in a drip machine.  It gives a more satisfying result.  To illustrate this check out all the videos out there proclaiming they have the perfect way to process it.  They use scales to measure coffee and water in grams and timers to make sure you pace is right.  It is all for the perfect cup.

Here are a few of the rituals I value that occurred to me.

Voting in person
Liturgy in worship.
Eating grapefruit with a spoon
Writing with a fountain pen
Reading from a really well made book

There are quicker ways to do things.  In an objective world they would be just as good as the traditional ritual methods.  Sometimes they are.  Sometimes they are not but the trade-off is worth it.  Often the ritual makes life richer.  Sometimes our emotions remember what our mind has forgotten and we are feeling valued memories rather than contemporary experiences.  

You may have your own rituals.  Take the time to enjoy them.  Let the mocking roll off like the advice of a fool.

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Opus 2024-043: Wildflower Watch

The Bluebonnets are making their opening statement.  We have them on the slopes in front of and behind our house.  I am not seeing the carpets of blue that should appear on the road sides.  I don’t know if I should expect them soon or if this is going to be a sparse year.

Either way, the wildflowers seem to be of the opinion that spring is here.

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Opus 2024-042: Inherit the Hot Gas

My enthusiasm for reading was born with the science fiction in the library of my junior high school.  Up until that time I might make it through a Dr. Seuss book.  The works of Andre Norton, Robert Heinlein, Isaac Asimov and so many others caught my attention and there was not turning back.  It helped that this was still in the day that they were writing to entertain not to advance a social agenda.

That has all changed.  I now find it hard to read science fiction, or almost any genre.  As I became more socially and politically aware I began to see the way in which authors would push the mantras of the left.  Nuclear destruction, environmental disaster, climate suicide, homosexuality, eugenics (yes, eugenics):  You name it they were pushing it.  

I recently came across an old paperback from 1977 and thought I would read it.  I assume I had read it before but could not remember.  The title was Inherit the Stars and the author was James P. Hogan, a name I remembered.  The cover blurb was “A Novel about Man’s Place in the Universe”.  Sounded good.  I started reading.

The author wrote well.  The characters and pace were strong enough that you didn’t notice at first that there wasn’t much action.  I was about half way through before it was clear that he was pushing one of the common themes science fiction has been dealing with for decades:  Where did man come from?  You would not believe some of the wild and crazy plots that are used to find an answer.  Actually, they have a couple of answers that all the stories fall into.  They all push and assume evolution but they began to realize that the universe was not old enough to allow for the development of advanced species and intelligent.  Thus they had to turn to other forms of deus ex machina.  The two most popular, as voiced by Richard Dawkins in the documentary Expelled, are crystals and aliens.

Hogan goes with aliens.  He does a good job of making evolutionary theory breath taking, but it gets old after a time.  What you miss is the minor detail that everything being proclaimed is based on theory, not on scientific evidence.  He covers the Cambrian explosion without mentioning it by name.  It is the unexplained appearance of massive numbers of new species with no trace of ancestors in the fossil record.  In all the verbiage it becomes impossible to separate what is actually articulated by the evolutionists and how much Hogan was making up to fill in the gaps.

It is a good example of what we see going on in science today.  At one point, near the climax of a solution I had already figured out, the lead biologist makes this declaration,

“As I have said, all this follows purely as a chain of reasoning from the observations with which I began.  I can offer no evidence to support it.  I am convinced, however, that such evidence does exist.”, p. 208-9

Notice that he admits he has no evidence.  It is all theory and a form of logic.  That is why pure logic is not enough to advance science.  

An example of how science is going could be illustrated by Beaver or Opie.  These were the children on “Leave It to Beaver” and “The Andy Griffith Show”.  Picture either one of the boys doing something genuinely stupid and getting caught.  The adult asks them what happened.  Then the boy would go into a long story about how it happened.  The story has a certain logic to it.  There might even be a remote possibility.  It might touch the real world at one or two points.  However, the adult knows how life works and what the facts show and rejects the argument.  In science we have no adult in the room.  The theories get wilder and the jargon gets more creative and the feces gets piled higher.

Keep this in mind when you hear the next earth shaking revelation from a field that used to generate some respect.  Times are changing.

Hogan, James P.  Inherit the Stars.  New York  Ballantine Books, 1977.

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Opus 2024-041: The Place of Pets

(Psa 8:4 KJV)  What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

I was distracted by the silly cat that I had to deal with and casually wondered if God considered us pets.  That doesn’t work.  I know that they say pets start to look like their owners but I don’t think that is the same concept that Genesis has when it says we were created in the image of God.  That is an awesome thought.

Pets can only go so far and can only be taught so much.  It isn’t their fault.  They are individuals and have personalities but it is like saying that rocks are different.

We are children of God if we have been redeemed.  That includes adoption.  It doesn’t happen when we leave the womb.  It happens when we trust Jesus.  Children don’t just change, they grow and mature.  They are unending in their growth they can go on and on.  Children are created in the image of the parent.  Animals can never live up to that.

If my cat had a physical problem that would cost so much I would have to mortgage the house, I would get a new cat.  Sorry if you feel otherwise.  If it was my child I would be on my way to the bank.

So accept that God put humans in a special category.  He sent His son to die for us.  That never happened for the dinosaurs.  He let them go extinct.  

Maybe He replaced them with cats.  The rabbit trails that could lead to are for another day.  Hopefully it will never come.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-040: Deep Thoughts

I was again sitting on the porch and staring at the beautiful colors of the morning.  It has begun to warm up enough that a jacket and a cup of hot coffee make for a pleasant contemplation.  It dawned on me that what is happening here is I was whetting my appetite for eternity.  A repeated thought I have is, “If it is this good now, what will it be when I have perfect vision and my ears stop ringing?”  If I didn’t have grandchildren to enjoy I might be ready to go.

I could not do this if I were not retired.  I rejoice in the opportunities of retirement.  If you see me I am not necessarily taking a nap and I am not depressed.  I am thinking deep thoughts.  If they turn out to be shallow thoughts then maybe I can at least make them wide.

Sharpen me Lord; get me ready.

homo unius libri

Opus 2024-039: Filtering the Noise

Where do I get my news?

The first visible step is to scan the headlines.  But something else comes first.  Before I look at the headlines to see what I might need to know I have to make sure that my foundations are solid. My foundations start with the word of God.  I consider that to be infallible and holding principles that do not change every week.  On top of the principles of truth I find there I build a foundation of common sense.

With that I add the heritage of my parents and wise people who have given me insight over the years.  There are a lot of people in those categories.  If you are like me you pick up a lot of general knowledge without being aware of it.

I then add all the knowledge I picked up in school; college, seminary, places like that, and filter that through everything before.  To be honest this is done before I start my day.  It is the accumulation of a lifetime.  

At that point I go to the Clickbait.  I look at the headlines and try to discern what might contain truth and what is just plain noise.  I can go through an entire website of headlines and never click on one.  From there I might occasionally actually click on something and begin to read but always with a serious skepticism.

It is amazing how much you can pick up by this type of informal journey.  I may not know all the details, but the people writing all the posts don’t know as much as they act like either.  

Stay awake.  Pray for guidance.  Keep you baloney meter turned on.  It may be difficult but we still need to make informed decisions.

homo unius libri