2008 July archive at Ray Fowler .org

Archive for July, 2008

Who Makes the Wind Blow?

Published at July 31, 2008 in Science and God. 0 Comments

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The Bible says, “[God] makes His wind blow” (Psalm 147:18). How do we interpret this in light of modern science? Vern Pothyress explains:

Many people believe that some kind of God exists. But to them He seems remote. For practical purposes science, they think, has replaced God. The wind blows because of differences in air pressure. The nightly weather report explains it. And what the nightly weather report doesn’t explain, the expert scientists could explain and explain in massive detail until your eyes glazed over.

So was it just a primitive mentality when the Bible said that God made the wind blow? No. The scientists still deal with the same God, the God who rules the wind. What the scientists investigate is the regularity and faithfulness of the way in which God makes His wind blow. He is so faithful and so consistent that you can write mathematical equations to describe it. And of course the mathematical equations come from man’s mind being in tune with God’s mind, and having the privilege of thinking God’s thoughts after Him.

From the article: He Makes the Wind Blow (HT: Between Two Worlds)

News and Notes - 7/30/2008

Published at July 30, 2008 in News and Notes. 2 Comments

Oldest blogger dies. Olive Riley, the world’s oldest blogger, died earlier this month at the age of 108. Olive lived in Australia and began blogging in February 2007. I blogged about her last fall here: News and Notes - 9/6/2007

Clean snake. Mara Ranger of Gorham, Maine found an 8-foot long python in her washing machine. She was reaching into the machine when she felt something move. “I jumped back and all of sudden its head starts coming out of the washing machine and it looked huge,” Ranger said. She closed the lid on the snake and called animal control. The snake got into her washing machine by crawling through the pipes from outside.

I shot my mower. A Milwaukee man was charged last week with shooting his lawn mower with a sawed-off shotgun. He was frustrated with the mower because it wouldn’t start. “It’s my lawn mower and my yard, so I can shoot it if I want,” he told police. Apparently not. He is charged with a felony count of possessing a short-barreled shotgun and a misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct while armed.

An Absentee God?

Published at July 28, 2008 in God. 2 Comments

Christian author Dinesh D’Souza debated prominent atheist Christopher Hitchens last October in New York. During the debate Hitchens raised a point for which D’Souza had no immediate answer.

Here’s what Hitchens said. Homo sapiens has been on the planet for a long time, let’s say 100,000 years. Apparently for 95,000 years God sat idly by, watching and perhaps enjoying man’s horrible condition … Then, a few thousand years ago, God said, “It’s time to get involved.” … Here is the thrust of Hitchens’ point: God seems to have been napping for 98 percent of human history, finally getting his act together only for the most recent 2 percent? What kind of a bizarre God acts like this?

D’Souza recently found a satisfying answer put forth by Erik Kreps of the Survey Research Center of the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research.

An adept numbers guy, Kreps noters that it is not the number of years but the levels of human population that are the issue here. The Population Reference Bureau estimates that the number of people who have ever been born is approximately 105 billion. Of this number, about 2 percent were born in the 100,000 years before Christ came to earth.

“So in a sense,” Kreps notes, “God’s timing couldn’t have been more perfect. If He’d come earlier in human history, how reliable would the records of his relationship with man be? But He showed up just before the exponential explosion in the world’s population, so even though 98 percent of humanity’s timeline had passed, only 2 percent of humanity had previously been born, so 98 percent of us have walked the earth since the Redemption.”

It is amazing to think that 98% of all humans who have ever lived were born into this world after Christ came. But however you crunch the numbers, the Bible insists that God sent his Son at precisely the right time. “When the time had fully come, God sent his Son, born of a woman, born under law, to redeem those under law, that we might receive the full rights of sons.” (Galatians 4:4-5)

HT: Challies

Little Batman

Published at July 26, 2008 in Video and Television. 1 Comment

Why so serious? If your kids are too young to go see The Dark Knight, sit down and watch Little Batman with them instead. These are just too cute. Of course, you know your kids are going to want a little Batmobile of their own.

THE AMAZING ADVENTURES OF LITTLE BATMAN

This fan film is based on the 1966 Batman TV series where a very young Bruce Wayne takes on the famous, pint-sized villains of Gotham City. Directed, shot and edited by Joe Valenti of Valenti Vision Films and produced by Jordan Wachtell.

In Part 1, the Dynamic duo discover Gotham’s latest jailbreak!
(Video length: 9:48)

In Part 2, the Dynamic duo discover the criminals’ secret hideout!
(Video length: 7:16)

In Part 3, the Dynamic duo are about to be finished off!
(Video length: 8:46)

See related posts:

Codex Sinaiticus Online (and P46)

Published at July 26, 2008 in Bible. 0 Comments

(Mark 1 archive: BL folio: 217b scribe: A)

For the first time ever, Codex Sinaiticus is available to read and study online.

Codex Sinaiticus is one of the most important books in the world. Handwritten well over 1600 years ago, the manuscript contains the Christian Bible in Greek, including the oldest complete copy of the New Testament. Its heavily corrected text is of outstanding importance for the history of the Bible and the manuscript – the oldest substantial book to survive Antiquity – is of supreme importance for the history of the book.

Only portions of the Codex are available right now, but by next July the entire Codex will be available, along with transcription, translation and search functions. (You can also read portions of Codex P46 online at the University of Michigan Library. P46 contains the earliest surviving copy of the Letters of Paul.)

There was a time when you would have to travel the world to study manuscripts like these in a museum. Hopefully we will continue to see the digitization of manuscripts made available to all for research and study.

Related article: Scholars Plan to Reunite Ancient Bible Online

God’s Providence in the World

Published at July 25, 2008 in God. 1 Comment

John Piper provides the following sample of scriptures bearing witness to God’s complete providence in governing the world.

“I have commanded the ravens to feed you there” (1Kings 17:4)
“The Lord God appointed a plant and made it come up over Jonah” (Jonah 4:6).
“God appointed a worm that attacked the plant, so that it withered” (Jonah 4:7).
“I will send swarms of flies on you and your servants” (Exodus 8:21).
“He summoned a famine on the land and broke all supply of bread” (Psalms 105:16).
“He gave them hail for rain” (Psalms 105:32).
“He spoke, and the locusts came” (Psalms 105:34).
“The Lord will whistle for . . . the bee that is in the land of Assyria” (Isaiah 7:18).
“The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord” (Proverbs 16:33).
“Even the wind and the sea obey him” (Mark 4:41).
“He removes kings and sets up kings” (Daniel 2:21).
“Even the unclean spirits, and they obey him” (Mark 1:27).
“He upholds the universe by the word of his power” (Hebrews 1:3).

What a comfort it is to know that God governs all things in the world, both big and small.

Living Together Before Marriage Series

Published at July 24, 2008 in Marriage. 4 Comments

Here are links to all four posts in the Living Together Before Marriage series:

What If We Already Lived Together Before Marriage?

Published at July 24, 2008 in Marriage. 0 Comments

Living Together Before Marriage Series:
● Statistics on Living Together Before Marriage
● Scriptures on Living Together Before Marriage
● Living Together Without Sex
● What If We Already Lived Together Before Marriage?

“What if we already lived together before marriage?” This is a question I am sometimes asked when presenting the scriptural and statistical reasons for not living together before marriage. If the Bible says not to live together before marriage, and statistics demonstrate a high correlation of undesirable outcomes for those who do, what if you already lived together before marriage? Is it too late for you? Is there anything you can do? The answers are: “No, it is not too late,” and “Yes, there is something you can do.” God reveals himself in the Bible as a God of grace, and even when we fail, we can still trust God to help us.

First of all, as far as breaking God’s commands in this area, we must understand why God gives us his commands in the first place. God gives us his commands to protect us from harm and to lead us in the way that is right. So even God’s commands are an example of his love and grace to us. However, God’s greatest expression of love and grace was given at the cross. When we break God’s commands, we sin against God, but God offers us forgiveness through his Son, Jesus Christ. When Jesus died on the cross, he paid the penalty for our sin. When we confess our sin to God, putting our faith and trust in Christ, God forgives us and cleanses us. So if you lived together before marriage, the first thing you should do is simply confess your sin to God and put your trust in Jesus Christ who died for your sin.

Secondly, as far as the statistics go, people who have lived together before marriage often wonder, “Is there a way of avoiding the undesirable outcomes reported in the statistics?” There are three things we should try to grasp here.

The consequences of sin: We should understand that even when God forgives us, we still often suffer the consequences for our sin. The repentant thief may still have to spend time behind bars. And the couple that lived together before marriage may struggle with certain issues in marriage as a result.
The challenges of marriage: We should also understand that every marriage poses certain challenges. Obviously, we should try to bring as little baggage into a marriage as possible, but we are all sinners, and so we all bring the consequences of various choices into our marriages. And that brings us to the third point, which is:
The power of prayer: I believe that any couple that puts Christ at the center of their marriage and asks God to help them can overcome the particular challenges they face in their marriage, whether those challenges arise from living together before marriage or from some other wrong choices they made along the way. It may not be easy, but God will help you if you ask him.

What if you already lived together before marriage? Confess your sin to God, put your trust in Christ, and ask God to help you. God is a God of grace who will pardon your past and help you in the present. He’s got a pretty good future waiting for you, too!
______________________________________________________________

Well, that concludes this series on living together before marriage. I hope you found the series helpful and encourage you to pass the posts on to others who may benefit from the material. As always, your thoughts and comments are welcome.

Link to all the posts in the series: Living Together Before Marriage Series

Jupiter Over Ephesus

Published at July 23, 2008 in Space. 0 Comments

Here is a beautiful picture of Jupiter over the city of Ephesus.

Astronomy Picture of the Day - July 18, 2008

Explanation: Recorded late last month, this moving skyscape features Jupiter above the southeastern horizon and the marbled streets of the ancient port city of Ephesus, located in modern day Turkey. At the left is a temple dedicated to the Roman emperor Hadrian. The beautiful night sky also includes the arc of the northern summer Milky Way. Lights on the horizon are from the nearby town of Selçuk.

Charles Williams: No More Bargaining

Published at July 22, 2008 in Quotes. 0 Comments

Here is my favorite part in Charles Williams’ fantasy novel, War in Heaven (chapter 12, p. 187). Read it carefully. It is worth pondering.

The Archdeacon made no answer for a minute or two. Then he said, “I will not bargain anymore for anything, if I can help it. How can one bargain for anything that is worthwhile? And what else is worth bargaining for?”

“If one bargained for nothing, would everything be worthwhile?” Kenneth said, but more as a dream than a question.

(Charles Williams was a contemporary of C. S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien and a member of the Inklings. He wrote seven strange but wonderful novels, as well as some poetry and some theological works.)

A Sociologist Reviews UnChristian

Published at July 21, 2008 in Church. 3 Comments

Brad Wright is associate professor at the University of Connecticut where he studies the sociology of Christianity. I enjoy reading Brad’s blog which offers up an interesting mixture of sociological analysis, Christian reflections, great photography and just plain fun.

Brad has written an excellent 13-part review of the recently published book, UnChristian: What a New Generation Really Thinks about Christianity… and Why It Matters, by David Kinnaman (president of the George Barna Institute) and Gabe Lyons (of the Fermi Project). The book is based on research from the Barna Group.

Here are the links to Brad’s series. Part five is especially good as Brad questions the lack of peer-review process in much research on Christianity and the church. Parts seven and eight are also very interesting as Brad compares the supposed “image problem” of Christianity with other groups, such as Atheists, Muslims, Hispanics and Jews. Finally, part thirteen raises the issue of the purpose of applied research on Christianity: Should research on Christianity be primarily useful or accurate? The whole series is excellent, and I encourage you to read through all the posts as time allows.

Review of UnChristian

Summary of Findings

Reactions to UnChristian

What Works Well

Critiquing Research about Christianity

Do Christians have an image problem? Compared to whom?

Comparing the image of Christianity to other groups (I)

Comparing the image of Christianity to other groups (II)

Comparing the image of Christianity to other groups (III)

Have attitudes toward Christianity changed over time?

Age vs. cohort effects

Evangelicals embrace of negative stereotypes