I dare you to look ...

The Contrasting Religions of Creation and Evolution

by John D. Morris, Ph.D.*

The often-asked question "Do you believe in evolution?" expects the answer "Of course!" Don't only ignorant yokels have any doubt? But polls consistently reveal that a great majority of Americans do not believe in the evolution of all life forms from a common ancestor. Why isn't evolution something you can know for sure, not just something in which you can believe?

As always, it helps to define terms. First, evolution is the "descent from a common ancestor" model, the idea that all of life came from more primitive forms. Humankind came from an ape-like ancestor that came up through the mammals from an original rodent-like creature. All mammals came from early reptiles and amphibians, which all came from fish. And the fish came from some marine invertebrate like a snail or starfish, which had still earlier evolved from single-celled life.

Thus, a more revealing question might be "Do you believe your ancestors were fish, as evolution teaches?" Or, "Are you a mutated rodent-like creature?" Fewer people would be inclined to answer, "Yes!" Despite several generations now of aggressive evolution-only teaching in the public school classroom, most people just know that they didn't come from a fish or a rodent or a starfish. They can choose to believe they have an animal ancestry, but few do. It just isn't believable. Thankfully, it isn't the only alternative explanation for origins, and the other is not only more believable, it's more appealing.

Dr. Michael Ruse, perhaps the most eloquent spokesman for evolution today, has admitted:

Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion--a full-fledged alternative to Christianity, with meaning and morality. I am an ardent evolutionist and an ex-Christian, but I must admit that in this one complaint…the literalists are absolutely right. Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today.¹

Christianity has its God and its revealed truth. It tells us our origins, who we are, where we came from, the meaning of life, and where we're going after we die. It tells us how to live and how to make life decisions along the way. Created in the image of God, we have great worth in His eyes, and great standing before Him as we appropriate His gift of redemption, a great destiny to perform on earth, and life with our loving and righteous Creator/Savior after death.

Evolution answers these same questions differently. We are and come from the universe's chemicals that have self-organized into unlikely forms over eons of time. Single-celled life transformed itself into higher forms until finally the human animal came along. As higher animals, we have incorporated animal behavior into societal norms and even "religious" beliefs. The only true meaning to life is survival and reproduction, and life's highest goal is to pass on one's genes more efficiently than others. After life, we simply cease to exist.

As Dr. Ruse explains, "Evolution is a religion," and not a science at all. It might be best understood as a worldview, a way of thinking and making sense of the world around us. Some, such as Eugenie Scott, have called this worldview "philosophical materialism," a religious claim of naturalism that holds that nature is all there is. There is no supernatural Being who has ever interfered with the natural order of things. Surely this is a religious claim regarding all of reality.

And surely it's not the only or the best such claim. As constitutional attorney Wendell Bird has pointed out: "Evolution is at least as religious as creation, and creation is at least as scientific as evolution." Creation is also more believable.

Reference

1. Ruse, Michael. Saving Darwinism from the Darwinians. National Post, May 13, 2000, B-3.

* Dr. Morris is President of the Institute for Creation Research.

Cite this article: Morris, J. 2008. The Contrasting Religions of Creation and Evolution. Acts & Facts. 37 (11): 13.

This article was originally published November, 2008. "The Contrasting Religions of Creation and Evolution", Institute for Creation Research, http://www.icr.org/article/4157/ (accessed October 31, 2008).

Trust part 2

Why are you cast down, O my soul? And why are you disquieted within me? Hope in God, for I shall yet praise Him my Savior and my God! Psalm 42:5

I'm broken as I write this, because last night about 11:45pm we lost Meshach. I'm saddened but thankful that his Mama, Paige was petting him as he left. We loved that little monkey and wished he wasn't gone but he was obviously in pain. It's hard because we could fear that we didn't do all we could for him. Hindsight is 20/20 and when we thought he was getting better and he wasn't. I am glad he was with us than in a noisy kennel somewhere. I know he knew we loved him. I don't know absolutely where animals go when they die but I'm sure it is better.

Trust in the LORD with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6

I quoted this section of Proverbs in the previous post before we had lost him. You've often seen this quoted on plaques etc. This is so much easier when you don't have reason to doubt a decision. It's also easier if you still have hope. I don't really understand why ... We prayed that he would be OK and God for whatever reason said "no". It's hard to understand. The thing about God is that He has already proven Himself faithful to us. He's proven Himself trustworthy. Even when I don't understand I trust Him. God is big enough and loves us enough even when we question Him. Christian's still have problems & trials. Jesus said when we have trials, not if.

Though He Slay Me I will Trust- "Though he slay me, yet will I hope in Him;" Job 13:15

The good news is He isn't trying to slay us. He loves us.

So, I would be really easy to think this whole situation was a nightmare and wish we'd never brought him home but I am so thankful that we had him as long as we did. He was a huge blessing to us and I would do it all over again. We are going to miss him terribly but know God will the loss for our good. Your Mama And Papa love and miss you little Meshach!

Please watch this. It's true!

Trust part 1

Hey guys. Yesterday was a yucky day. Meshach our little blue (brown) puppy has been really sick. He started throwing up Saturday and called the vet on Sunday but couldn't get an appointment until Tuesday at 1pm. He wouldn't eat and whenever he drank water it would come back up in a few moments. He started to be able to hold down water Sunday night so we thought he was getting better. Monday he was really bad off, he had what looked like blood in his pee and was really listless, so we called and they said we could come and wait to see if something came available (3-5 hour wait). So we went, thankfully it was only about an hour and a half. They tested both puppies and didn't really find anything but bacteria. So he gave him a shot and us some drops with vitamins and medicine. Once again we thought after the shot he would start to feel better. He still wouldn't eat. He could hold down water. This morning he was worse than ever. He hasn't eaten for a bit. He weighs 1 pound and a couple ounces and Shadrach (the "Blue Merle") is 2 pounds 7 ounces. He is looking skinny but it doesn't take much if you only weigh a pound. So when we got up this morning he was so weak he couldn't even stand up and when I stood him up he stumbled sideways and can't stay on his feet. We knew he had to eat so we watered down some canned puppy food and put it in a squeeze mustard bottle. We held his mouth open and squirted it in. He's still not doing very well. Shadrach on the other hand is a moose. He's pretty much fearless which isn't that smart with two grumpy old bachelor dogs around. He has even begun to eat the Boyz dry dog food.
As I had said earlier yesterday was a bad day but it was also a good day. We have begun to prepare ourselves that baby Meshach may not make it. We don't want him to go and it will be very sad if he does but yesterday I was able to give him completely to God. You may think he is just a dog but he has helped me have a small taste what it is like for a parent with a critically ill child. I know how quickly, he's only been with us a week, but I have fallen in love with him. Shadrach was kind of the one I bonded with right away when we visited them but Meshach stole my heart when I got to spend time with him. He is such a sweetheart. Gentle, cuddly and affectionate. I can't imagine what it is like for a family to lose a human baby. This sure doesn't compare to that but it made me think. In the process giving Meshach to God I had to come to grips with the fact that everyone in my life is only there by the grace of God. He is in charge and he knows best. I may not understand and I can even disagree but no matter what I trust Him. Yesterday was also the day I surrendered Paige to Him as well. We had a scare a few months ago. Paige had to undergo some tests and a procedure. I was a wreck. I don't think I have ever prayed so much. Everything turned out to be ok but it gave me some fear for the future. It really wasn't resolved until yesterday. Paige is God's as well. He knows I need her but He knows best. I find comfort in the passage

Trust in the LORD with all your heart,
And lean not on your own understanding;
In all your ways acknowledge Him,
And He shall direct your paths. Proverbs 3:5-6 (NKJV)

Please keep Meshach in your prayers and us as well. Love ya'll, m

p.s. funny stuff below!!!

Food Laws ... it's really funny

The Living Room

Of the beasts of the field, and of the fishes of the sea, and of all foods that are acceptable in my sight you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of the hoofed animals, broiled or ground into burgers, you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of the cloven-hoofed animal, plain or with cheese, you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of the cereal grains, of the corn and of the wheat and of the oats, and of all the cereals that are of bright color and unknown provenance you may eat, but not in the living room.

Of the quiescently frozen dessert and of all frozen after-meal treats you may eat, but absolutely not in the living room.

Of the juices and other beverages, yes, even of those in sippy-cups, you may drink, but not in the living room, neither may you carry such therein.

Indeed, when you reach the place where the living room carpet begins, of any food or beverage there you may not eat, neither may you drink.

But if you are sick, and are lying down and watching something, then may you eat in the living room.

Laws When at Table

And if you are seated in your high chair, or in a chair such as a greater person might use, keep your legs and feet below you as they were. Neither raise up your knees, nor place your feet upon the table, for that is an abomination to me. Yes, even when you have an interesting bandage to show, your feet upon the table are an abomination, and worthy of rebuke. Drink your milk as it is given you, neither use on it any utensils, nor fork, nor knife, nor spoon, for that is not what they are for; if you will dip your blocks in the milk, and lick it off, you will be sent away. When you have drunk, let the empty cup then remain upon the table, and do not bite it upon its edge and by your teeth hold it to your face in order to make noises in it sounding like a duck; for you will be sent away.

When you chew your food, keep your mouth closed until you have swallowed, and do not open it to show your brother or your sister what is within; I say to you, do not so, even if your brother or your sister has done the same to you. Eat your food only; do not eat that which is not food; neither seize the table between your jaws, nor use the raiment of the table to wipe your lips. I say again to you, do not touch it, but leave it as it is. And though your stick of carrot does indeed resemble a marker, draw not with it upon the table, even in pretend, for we do not do that, that is why. And though the pieces of broccoli are very like small trees, do not stand them upright to make a forest, because we do not do that, that is why. Sit just as I have told you, and do not lean to one side or the other, nor slide down until you are nearly slid away. Heed me; for if you sit like that, your hair will go into the syrup. And now behold, even as I have said, it has come to pass.

Laws Pertaining to Dessert

For we judge between the plate that is unclean and the plate that is clean, saying first, if the plate is clean, then you shall have dessert. But of the unclean plate, the laws are these: If you have eaten most of your meat, and two bites of your peas with each bite consisting of not less than three peas each, or in total six peas, eaten where I can see, and you have also eaten enough of your potatoes to fill two forks, both forkfuls eaten where I can see, then you shall have dessert. But if you eat a lesser number of peas, and yet you eat the potatoes, still you shall not have dessert; and if you eat the peas, yet leave the potatoes uneaten, you shall not have dessert, no, not even a small portion thereof. And if you try to deceive by moving the potatoes or peas around with a fork, that it may appear you have eaten what you have not, you will fall into iniquity. And I will know, and you shall have no dessert.

On Screaming

Do not scream; for it is as if you scream all the time. If you are given a plate on which two foods you do not wish to touch each other are touching each other, your voice rises up even to the ceiling, while you point to the offense with the finger of your right hand; but I say to you, scream not, only remonstrate gently with the server, that the server may correct the fault. Likewise if you receive a portion of fish from which every piece of herbal seasoning has not been scraped off, and the herbal seasoning is loathsome to you, and steeped in vileness, again I say, refrain from screaming. Though the vileness overwhelm you, and cause you a faint unto death, make not that sound from within your throat, neither cover your face, nor press your fingers to your nose. For even now I have made the fish as it should be; behold, I eat of it myself, yet do not die.

Concerning Face and Hands

Cast your countenance upward to the light, and lift your eyes to the hills, that I may more easily wash you off. For the stains are upon you; even to the very back of your head, there is rice thereon. And in the breast pocket of your garment, and upon the tie of your shoe, rice and other fragments are distributed in a manner wonderful to see. Only hold yourself still; hold still, I say. Give each finger in its turn for my examination thereof, and also each thumb. Lo, how iniquitous they appear. What I do is as it must be; and you shall not go hence until I have done.

Various Other Laws, Statutes, and Ordinances

Bite not, lest you be cast into quiet time. Neither drink of your own bath water, nor of bath water of any kind; nor rub your feet on bread, even if it be in the package; nor rub yourself against cars, nor against any building; nor eat sand.

Leave the cat alone, for what has the cat done, that you should so afflict it with tape? And hum not that humming in your nose as I read, nor stand between the light and the book. Indeed, you will drive me to madness. Nor forget what I said about the tape.

Complaints and Lamentations

O my children, you are disobedient. For when I tell you what you must do, you argue and dispute hotly even to the littlest detail; and when I do not accede, you cry out, and hit and kick. Yes, and even sometimes do you spit, and shout "stupid-head" and other blasphemies, and hit and kick the wall and the molding thereof when you are sent to the corner. And though the law teaches that no one shall be sent to the corner for more minutes than he has years of age, yet I would leave you there all day, so mighty am I in anger. But upon being sent to the corner you ask straightaway, "Can I come out?" and I reply, "No, you may not come out." And again you ask, and again I give the same reply. But when you ask again a third time, then you may come out.

Hear me, O my children, for the bills they kill me. I pay and pay again, even to the twelfth time in a year, and yet again they mount higher than before. For our health, that we may be covered, I give six hundred and twenty talents twelve times in a year; but even this covers not the fifteen hundred deductible for each member of the family within a calendar year. And yet for ordinary visits we still are not covered, nor for many medicines, nor for the teeth within our mouths. Guess not at what rage is in my mind, for surely you cannot know.

For I will come to you at the first of the month and at the fifteenth of the month with the bills and a great whining and moan. And when the month of taxes comes, I will decry the wrong and unfairness of it, and mourn with wine and ashtrays, and rend my receipts. And you shall remember that I am that I am: before, after, and until you are twenty-one. Hear me then, and avoid me in my wrath, O children of me.

I'm nobody's daddy and now I know why ...

Well ... this is going to be the "new" site where I can let ya'll know what is going on in our lives. I'm sittin' here with the puppies on me. If I am in the house you can be sure that they are on me. Here we are right now.

So I guess I'll get right to the point. Like the title suggests " I'm nobody's daddy and now I know why ... " I really do. I'm not sure I could handle it. I know I'm good with kids but they can always go home. These guys really need a lot of attention. They have taken to screaming if we walk away from them and sometimes we do have to walk away. You know the kind of scream if you are a parent (human or doggie). The I am super furious, your not a very good parent and if you don't come back I may die and Mama will be really mad if she comes home and I'm dead Scream. I get frustrated. I guess you would be weird if you didn't. I've had more pee and stuff than I ever had to handle before. I actually tried to catch pee in my hand so it didn't go on the couch. It's hard and I have to remember that they really want to be with me. They are babies and really depend on me. My buddy David isn't much help, he says, "Wait till they start driving!" Right now they are sacked out on either side. I'm using the laptop but I have been known to sit at the PC with the little dog bed in my lap and two little babies starin up at me until they doze off. It really helps me understand a bit of what parents go through. I know it isn't the same so don't e-mail me. But I understand it better. As I said sometimes it is tough but most of the time it is more glorious for words. Shadrach and Meshach are a true joy. Recently at Verge (a church we go to on Saturday night) and the Pastor answered a question I had always had about God. It was still hard for me to understand why God made us. I know he wants us, but why? Pastor Alan likened it to the reason that parents have children. You had them because you wanted to share your lives with a life that was a little part of you. You know they will screw up, you know they will lie directly to your face, you know that they will be hurt by life. You wanted to love them in spite of all of that. The most amazing thing is that God loves us just like that. See what the bible says about him:

The LORD is merciful and gracious,
slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.
He will not always chide,
nor will he keep his anger forever.
He does not deal with us according to our sins,
nor repay us according to our iniquities.

For as high as the heavens are above the earth,
so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him;
as far as the east is from the west,
so far does he remove our transgressions from us.

As a father shows compassion to his children,
so the LORD shows compassion to those who fear him.
For he knows our frame;
he remembers that we are dust.
As for man, his days are like grass;
he flourishes like a flower of the field;
For the wind passes over it, and it is gone,
and its place knows it no more.
But the steadfast love of the LORD is from everlasting to everlasting on those who fear him,
and his righteousness to children’s children,
to those who keep his covenant
and remember to do his commandments.
The LORD has established his throne in the heavens,
and his kingdom rules over all.

Psalm 103:8-19 (ESV)

Amazing. How much he loves us. If you don't know. ASK HIM! He'll let you know.


I see His love in the puppies, in the variety of food He has given us, in Fall. He loves us. I am going to try and love the puppies as God loves us. Heck, I'm trying to love all of you the same way. So if you are a prayin people, pray that He will help me do both.

I think I'd be a better Grandparent. Spoil and go. I love ya! m


p.s. also I hope look really talk the time to look and listen to the things I have posted, I've taken a lot of time to put it out.Comment so I know you were there.

Moving Mountains

So Jesus said to them, “Because of your unbelief; for assuredly, I say to you, if you have faith as a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible for you. Matthew 17:20 (NKJV)

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.
If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing.
If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing. 1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

listen here and read the lyrics below ...



Moving Mountains

by Thrice

I speak in many tongues of many men
Argue with angels and they always win
But I don’t know the first thing about love

I prophesize and know all mystery
All living things are opened up to me
But I don’t know the first thing about love
Know the first thing about love

I have the keys to open many doors
Give all my possessions to the poor
But I don’t know the first thing about love

I’m moving mountains and have faith in me
Have faith enough to caste them to the sea
But I don’t know the first thing about love
I don’t know the first thing about love

all other things shall fade away
Love stands alone and still holds sway
all other things shall fade away

Into the ground into the grave
I give my body up into the flames
And never once did I deny your name
But I don’t know the first thing about love
I don’t know the first thing about love

by Thrice and Dustin Kensrue is the singer

Come All You Weary

Come to Me, all you who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. JESUS from Matthew 11:28-29 (NKJV)

listen here and read the lyrics below ...



Come All You Weary
by Thrice

Come all you weary with your heavy loads
Lay down your burdens find rest for your souls
Cause my yoke is easy and my burden is kind
I’ll take yours upon me and you can take mine
Come all you weary move through the earth
Surrounded by rest stones and kicked out of church
A couple of loaves sit down at my feet
Lend me your ears and break bread with me

Come all you weary
Come gather round near me
Find rest for your souls
(By the rest stones)

Come all you weary, crippled you lay
I’ll help you along you can lay down your canes
We’ve got a long way to go but we’ll travel as friends
The lights growing bright further on towards the end

by Thrice and Dustin Kensrue is the singer

The blog name ...

I got the name from a great song called "Beautiful Scandalous Night". Surprise!!!

it's tough to watch but it's worth it.

Beautiful Scandalous Night



written by Derri Daugherty and Steve Hindalong

Rehab

Hey here is a guilty pleasure. The band Rehab ... I've only heard one song but love it. Man, I never was anywhere near that bad but it brings back memories of times that I am so thankful are over. Just because I'm a Christian now doesn't mean I wasn't an idiot before. If you knew me before you know I'm not lyin'.

It's worth it if you haven't seen it. They won't let me embed it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRC77brGYWs