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The statement that sin is never logical seems obvious enough. If an action is contrary to God's commands we would expect the outcome to less than good. Yet how many times when observing sinful behavior in others do we hear the words, "how could you do that; what were you thinking"?  When one child takes another's favorite toy knowing it will cause trouble, we ask, "Why did he do that?" as if the answer were a mystery. The implication is that if the child had been thinking logically or wisely he would not have taken the toy.  In this case it is easy to see that the child was acting selfishly and not obeying God.  This is not really a knowledge issue but one of disobedience and selfishness. However, when it comes to the behavior of adults it seems that logical, biblical behavior is expected. So we ask the question, "What was the person thinking?"

In a recent post I raised the question about God's involvement with the oil spill in the Gulf. There are at least two perspectives from which to consider this question. The first perspective is to consider if God is actively involved and if he is, to what extent. The second perspective is to consider whether the human agents that are part of this spill could have benefited from considering relevant biblical principles. A related issue is how to follow the direction of Deuteronomy 6:4-7 in talking about the spill with your family.

Oil is gushing from a damaged well in the Gulf of Mexico. British Petroleum (BP) has thus far failed to cap the oil flowing into the Gulf. The U.S. Coast Guard is monitoring the situation. In an address from the Oval Office the President said that he is upset and wants the problem solved. In the meantime fish, birds, and other wildlife are being coated with an oily film. This film is also beginning to cover beaches and wetlands all along the Gulf Coast. Tourism and fishing, vital to this region, are also threatened. The finger pointing is increasing. Questions abound on the economic, political, and ecological fronts. What is to be done about the oil?

I was in the waiting room of a doctor's office this week and the lead story of a magazine caught my attention. The article was entitled Living My Truth. It was written by a popular entertainer and expressed a view of truth that is gaining increasing acceptance in our culture. The idea of a personal truth that can be tailored to fit individual beliefs and experiences is closely connected to the "new spirituality" that has become a popular modern day religion. The concept of living my truth is well suited to justify a broad range of morality and lifestyles. On the surface this mantra appears to be offensive to no one and welcoming of all. This theme is seductive. I can live the way that I wish and still be guided by truth, even if it is only my truth.

A recent study at Yale University has determined that babies, even from birth, know right from wrong.  While this is not a new idea to Bible-believing Christians, it may be unsettling news to those who have accepted the traditional developmental views regarding children. As the author of this study, Dr. Paul Bloom, indicates this marks a radical departure from previous thinking by leading psychologists.  Dr. Bloom notes that such prominent figures from Freud, to Jean Piaget, to Lawrence Kohlberg have long argued that we begin life as amoral animals. Dr. Bloom writes about his findings in a recent New York Times Magazine article called the Moral Life of Babies.  In this article he goes so far as to say that "some sense of good and evil seems to be bred in the bone." Dr. Bloom's studies are significant for at least two  reasons:

Humans have problems seeing the implications of their own actions. We frequently try to solve one problem and inadvertently create other, unintended problems. One classic example is the introduction of Kudzu vines in the South to combat erosion. Today, over two million acres of forested land in the Southern states are covered with the Japanese import. The University of Florida says that "Kudzu will grow over anything in its path (other plants, buildings, road signs) and eventually kill other plants it covers because it blocks out sunlight. Kudzu will also girdle stems and tree trunks, break branches, and uproot trees and shrubs through the masses of vegetation produced. Kudzu has been reported to grow roughly one foot per day once established." This certainly qualifies as an unexpected consequence! This is what humans, with good intentions often do.

News headlines are the most immediate indicators of cultural drift. While they are inconclusive in themselves, they provide insight as to what issues make an impact on people's thinking. Headlines become the topic of water cooler and even playground discussions. That is why it is important for Christian parents to pay attention to headlines. Media headlines are written to attract attention, and they do. Your children will be exposed to headlines and sound bites because these are what people catch on the run as they rush through their day. Children will hear people asking what do you think you think about Tiger? And, of course, they will begin to find out about what people think from their friends at church, at school, or in the neighborhood. They will hear offhand comments by parents and other adults. Based upon these seemingly random series of connections, opinions will be formed and embraced, often without parents even being aware of the process. That is why headlines are important for parents.

Ardi, short for Ardipithecus ramidus, is the newest star in the field of paleontology.  Both National Geographic and The Discovery Channel are promoting this discovery on their websites and television programs.  This announcement is the culmination of research and studies that began in Ethiopia in 1994. Ardi has supplanted Lucy, the previous record holder of the oldest fossil with direct links to modern man.  According to the National Geographic website:

If you fly on an airplane or travel any distance by ship, your safety hinges on what is unseen. This may not sound accurate, since the pilot flying the plane looks through a window and the captain of the ship stands on the ship's bridge to view the waters ahead. But visual recognition, particularly on long journeys, is not the most helpful means of navigation. In fact, trusting what is seen in these situations often leads to disaster. (It is true that ocean-going ships can use the stars for navigation, but modern electronic positioning is the more dominant form.) For successful and safe directions on long trips in this modern era, trusting what is unseen is vital. For a journey to have a pleasant end, it is important to know where you are in reference to where you want to go. Determining the longitude and latitude of one's position is a safe way to determine where you are. If you use a GPS form of electronic navigation, the longitude and latitude coordinates are readily available from your GPS device. This topic becomes more interesting when you understand that these lines of longitude and latitude are arbitrary and unseen.

Some of you may recall the post "Landing on the Hudson: Whose Miracle?" It was written after the emergency landing of US Air Flight 1549 in the Hudson River this past January. There was, amazingly, no loss of life due to the competency and skill of the pilot and the quick reactions of first responders getting to the downed plane. The abundant news reports that followed credited this to almost everyone except the one who really was in control--God. However, if we are going to acknowledge God's power in preserving the lives aboard flight 1549, we must also acknowledge his power over flights that come to a less-than-desirable ending--in particular Air France Flight 447 that was lost off the coast of Brazil.