To a Christian committed to Scripture, the title of this post may seem to be a foolish question. Of course the Fall is relevant! My pastor said so in our adult Sunday School class! This hypothetical response may be stretching things a bit, but the Fall has become a forgotten doctrine in many circles. Our culture believes it is nothing more than a myth. What better example of this reality is there than the mass murder in Tucson this past weekend? Note the press coverage of the event. Everything from mental illness to a dysfunctional family to radio talk-show hosts is being blamed for these tragic shootings. Such responses provide a lesson that is crucial for your children to grasp: […]
Current Events
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America is a nation searching for answers, following the shooting this weekend in Arizona. At least six people were killed, including a Federal Judge and a nine-year-old girl. Among the fourteen others who were wounded in this assault was U.S. Representative Gabrielle Giffords, who was shot in the head. The Congresswoman was holding a public event called “Congress on Your Corner,” at a Tucson supermarket. The event was patriotic and peaceful. Yet, for reasons unknown at this time, a young man chose to bring death and terror to the gathering.
Another election is over. More change is on the way. But what about hope? Will the changes brought about by this mid-term election bring hope? For many, the answer to this question is, “Well, we hope so.” In this sense, yesterday’s election is like every other election. Political change creates hope, but it seldom delivers satisfying change. Not unexpectedly, the aftermath of the 2010 elections offers as much uncertainty as it does hope. One reason for this is that political hope is based upon the ability of people to deliver on promises that are impossible for them to fulfill. Hope in the wisdom and plans of men in a fallen world will always disappoint. True hope only comes from the […]
< p class=”MsoNormal”>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. Drilling for oil in undersea deposits is a challenging task. These deposits may lie several miles below the ocean floor. So how is God directly involved? First, He is the one who placed the oil in […]
The 2010 Winter Olympic Games are in their final week. The performances have once again been tributes to the skill and dedication of those who participate in the games. The sacrifice has been huge. As the numerous NBC personal vignettes testify, many of these athletes have given their whole lives to reach for Olympic glory. It is a heady goal to be acknowledged as the best in the world–to win the gold medal. For many at the games, it is enough just participate in the Olympics, to compete with the best, even if they don’t win the gold. The glory of the Olympics compels these athletes as well. But there is a problem with pursuing Olympic glory. In the pursuit […]
A second snowstorm within three days has brought the mid-Atlantic region of the United States to a halt. This region contains the nation’s centers for finance, business, and government. In some instances, even snow plows have been kept off the roads because conditions are too dangerous for plowing. So far, Washington D.C., Baltimore, and Philadelphia have had record amounts snowfalls. The news media have provided extensive coverage of the disruptions caused by the snow. Questions are being asked of politicians and meteorologists about the significance of these back-to-back storms. But one question is not being asked, and that is the most important question of all. Does God have your attention?
Snow is blanketing the East Coast this weekend in record amounts. Hundreds of thousands of homes are without power. Work will be disrupted for companies, small businesses, schools, and even the government. Thirty inches of snow simply cannot be ignored. Once again, the power of man quickly pales in comparison to the power of God. The scientific explanation of how snow occurs is not complex. The right combination of moisture, temperature, and a low pressure system will result in snow. However, small deviations in any of these three variables can result in ice or rain instead of snow. The convergence of just the right factors results in major storms like the one occurring now. For some this is a random […]
This headline is from a recent edition of the London Daily Mail online. The rest of the headline reads: Scientists create sperm and eggs from stem cells. Here are a few quotes from this article: The U.S. government-funded research also offers the prospect of a ‘miracle pill’ which staves off the menopause, allowing women to wait longer to have a child. Scientists at Stanford University in California found the right cocktail of chemicals and vitamins to coax the cells into becoming eggs and sperm. The American team used stem cells taken from embryos in the first days of life but hope to repeat the process with slivers of skin. The skin cells would first be exposed to a mixture which […]
The recent wild fires near Los Angeles have prompted the news media to return to a favorite theme concerning natural disasters. On-line news sites such as USA Today and Fox News referred to the out-of-control California fires as angry; USA Today ran a headline on September 1 that labeled the largest of the fires as very angry. As the fires began to be less intense later on Tuesday, CNN reported that Mike Dietrich, the U.S. Forest Service’s incident commander, said, “I feel a lot more optimistic today than I did yesterday. Yesterday I characterized the fire as ‘angry,’ today I’m going to characterize it as “cranky. “
Today is September 11, 2009. “Are you safe?” seems like a good question to consider on the 8th anniversary of the Al Qaeda attack. I remember the morning of September 11, 2001. I left the house early to follow my son to the mechanic’s shop where he was to have some work done on his car. I was listening to the radio as we drove through the countryside. The local talk station was playing on my car radio. About half way to the mechanic’s, the morning talk show host interrupted his discussion of some local topic to report that apparently a small plane had just flown into one of the towers of the World Trade Center in New York. The […]