Where Credit is Due

Tuesday we went on a field trip to the San Diego Wild Animal Park. At the beginning of the tram tour the guide told us that the cheetahs were "elegantly designed for speed." I appreciated the nod to the Designer; but, alas, it was to be short lived. In the next 20 minutes we must have heard the word adaptation at least 100 times. Giraffes adapted long necks due to the intense competition for grasses as a primary food source.

I do understand that there is a certain amount of resident "variability" in the genetic information of all living things. But I think the tour guide was either tacitly or intentionally teaching Lamarckism - the inheritance of novel traits acquired through use or disuse of body parts. Giraffes stretched for leaves, and little by little their necks grew longer, and their offspring inherited the new genetic information for longer necks. A cat gets his tail slammed in a door, and her kittens are born with crooked tails - an oversimplification to illustrate that Lamarckism is a failed theory. This stuff just does not happen. Charles Darwin promoted his own version of Lamarckism called pangenesis which was also proven false with later experimentation. He even proposed a feedback loop from the environment to somatic cells to sex cells to offspring - all false.

While the zoo folks have repeated this nonsense to one another so often that they believe it in spite of the evidence, it is - at the very least - annoying to those of us who would just like to enjoy our visit, without all the brain-washing.

On the other hand, Sunday we had a wonderful lunch at church - smoked brisket, sweet and spicy beans, and cole slaw. Our amazing God has filled the earth with plants and animals according to His ingenious design that every living thing should reproduce "according to its kind" as stated 10 times in Genesis chapter one and proven by billions of experiments each year. (Ask any farmer.)

They even taste good when you cook them. It did not have to be that way. And it did not happen by chance or by accident. We should praise Him for it. "Yet he did not leave himself without witness, for he did good by giving you rains from heaven and fruitful seasons, satisfying your hearts with food and gladness." Acts 14:17 (ESV)

Ephesians 6:17 - The Helmet of Salvation

"And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God." 

From John MacArthur's Commentary on Ephesians:

When the coal truck delivered a ton of coal on the sidewalk in front of her house, a little London girl took her small shovel and began carrying the coal into the basement. When a neighbor man who was watching told her, “You’ll never be able to get it all in,” she replied, “Oh, I will sir, if I work long enough.”

The test of a person’s character is what it takes to stop him. Some people retreat as soon as the first shot is fired, while others fight through battle after battle with no thought of giving up. Satan will try every means to discourage and deter us, reminding us of defeats and dangers and setting every possible object in our way to destroy our assurance in Christ. The Lord allowed Satan to strip Job of every good thing he possessed except his life, yet that man of God declared, “Though He slay me, I will hope in Him” (Job 13:15). The book of Job demonstrates the character of true saving faith in revealing that it is not connected to what benefits and blessings a person has or loses. Job’s helmet deflected every blow against him, and he maintained his faith in God’s love and care.

Six Evidences for God's Existence

An article by a former atheist. I like this; check it out.

Quieting a Noisy Soul

On our trip back east our friend Bobby Sass told us about "Quieting a Noisy Soul;" it's a seminar series my Jim Berg, dean of students at Bob Junes University. I purchased it from Amazon for under $100, and Toni and I have been previewing it this week - we like it a lot.

From the website: "Quieting a Noisy Soul is a unique multimedia program for personal growth and change combining DVD video sessions, an audio CD for daily meditation upon applicable Scripture passages, an mp3 CD for convenient review of the seminar sessions, and a powerful interactive study guide that aids your personal application of the seminar truths. No Christian program provides such a comprehensive, structured means to saturate your mind with the truths of Who God is and how He intends for those truths to deliver you from your guilt, anxiety, anger, and despair."


I plan to use this as our Sunday evening curriculum after we finish our current series. Visit the QANS website.

Another Phase of Life

With each new phase of life I realize how little I actually know by experience. Over twenty years ago God gave me what would prove to be one of the greatest treasures in my life. He changed my life. And last week I had to wave good-bye to him. As I watched Ben's car disappear in the distance I cried my heart out, and for hours a scene kept looping through my mind of that happy little 4-year-old boy - shirtless, barefoot, with sun-bleached hair - calling out to me with glee in that sweet little kid voice. Where did the time go?

I know I always teach that we are raising them to leave us, but I don't think I ever really accepted that it would happen to me. He's only gone away to college. But he's a continent away. And he's starting his own life. Wow.

Thank you Lord for blessing me with Ben. Please take good care of him.