A striking thought occurred to me tonight while viewing Thomas Road Baptist Church's Virginia Christmas Spectacular for the second time. It dawned on me during the portrayal of Jesus' life and ministry here on earth.
A scene in the production displays several classical New Testament stories. It begins with the woman who touched Jesus' robe in order to be healed from her bleeding. The action on stage then switches to include the confrontation between the Pharisees and Jesus over a woman "caught" in adultery. The scene closes with the portrayals of a leper being healed, a dead girl being raised, and if I remember correctly, a blind man being restored his sight.
The aspect of all these miracles that really stirred my heart and mind, however, came through the dialogue being spoken in each instance and the physical (yet also symbolic) nature of what was taking place. I'll begin examining these as I come across the actual texts in Scripture, so bear with me if they're out of order from what I mentioned above. There are two in particular on which I wish to focus.
Firstly comes the cleansing of the leper. Leprosy is a disease that, as quoted from the production, catches a man "between life and death." Matthew 8 contains the story of this leper. Notice that the leper first came to Jesus after hearing about what He was capable of doing, and that the leper had faith in Jesus' power. He did not ask Jesus if He could cleanse him, Matthew 8:2 reveals that the leper stated matter of factly, "Lord, if You are willing, You can make me clean." The leper had complete faith that God could make Him well. What was Jesus' reply? Verse 3 records it as being, "I am willing; be cleansed." So what's the important point here? The leper came to Jesus with faith, and God was willing to cleanse him.
The second instance I wish to investigate is found in Luke 8:40-48. In this portion of text, a woman experiencing prolonged, severe hemorrhaging forces her way through the crowd in order to touch Jesus' robe and be healed. Again, notice that she had faith in Jesus' power to heal her. She knew that all she had to do was touch Him. Notice also the contrast here between the leper: the leper asked Jesus to touch him and heal him, and the woman shoved her way through the crowd and reached out to touch Jesus herself. The one asked Jesus to touch him and cleanse him, while the other just reached out and touched Him herself.
I think these two miracles in particular reveal something deep about seeking God. I need more time to think about it, but I wonder now if all of the miracles Jesus performed in the New Testament almost serve as "real life" parables to illustrate other deeper concepts besides just physical healing or restoration.
It seems that these two instances of healing reveal truths about salvation and spiritual cleansing. Each of us is infected with a disease -- a disease of the soul. Like leprosy, it catches us between true life and true death. We also suffer internal bleeding. Blood is often associated with the heart, and most of us have experienced at least one traumatic heartbreak in our lifetimes. If not, it's on the way. The point is, the only way we can be cured of our spiritual leprosy and our hemorrhaging hearts is by Jesus' touch.
There seem to be two ways of accomplishing this end, however. As illustrated by the woman, we can just force through the crowd that represents everything in our lives holding us back from Jesus. Sometimes, though, we reach places in life where we need to earnestly approach God and ask for His cleansing touch. Either way, Jesus' power is greater than any disease we have of the body or soul. We need Him to heal our spiritual infirmity and loneliness. No scientist or pharmicist in the world can develop a medicine to cure the sickness of sin. Like leprosy, it rots away our souls catching us between life and death. Like hemorrhaging, it makes our hearts bleed with no end. The only thing that can cure us is to experience Jesus, to either reach out or let Him reach out to make us whole.
~Tribal~
Friday, December 07, 2007
Monday, October 15, 2007
Brokenness, Harlotry, and the Example of the Glowstick . . .
Lately, I have been broken. My barely alive heart has been driven through with a knife and twisted in circles again and again and again. I have gone more emotions and feelings than I knew existed. Most of you know this from either just conversations with me or from the last post I wrote. Regardless, in the matter of two days, my brokenness and weakness have turned into being my greatest source of joy, peace, and comfort.
I'd imagine most reading this post have experienced some varying degree of brokenness in life. Sometimes one comes to a point where he or she emotionally and spiritually cannot go on . . . it literally becomes impossible to do so alone. That is exactly how I felt for most of this past month and a half. A verse to the new Demon Hunter song "Fading Away" illustrates exactly how I felt throughout this nightmare:
"It’s in this wake that I find myself
Losing the will to resume this hell
When every breath is a dying wish
It’s harder to follow the point of this . . .
This broken place that I call my home
Is deep in the sorrow that I have sewn
And I can’t erase what is in my heart
I want it to finish before it starts."
I had never seriously entertained suicide, but there were definite moments in this past month and a half where my "every breath [was] a dying wish." I just prayed for God to take me home and end all my pain. Obviously, I am still here, and I am now thankful that He did not answer those despairing prayers.
Johnnie Moore just finished a series a couple weeks ago in Sunday morning Campus Church about the book of Hosea. I have never had a sermon or a series of sermons so impact my life and so directly speak to me as this one on Hosea has. I won't get too much into the details of the book, you can read that yourself, and I highly suggest that you do.
The basic premise of Hosea is that Israel as a nation goes astray from God and literally prostitutes herself to other gods. So in an attempt to woo back His wayward beloved, God appoints the prophet Hosea to deliver a message. It begins with listing everything Israel has done to offend God's perfect love, but goes on to fully display God's perfect love in His taking her back as His bride once again. Ultimately, God displays His love for His people in the only way He can. Since Israel wants to prostitute herself to other gods, God lets her have her way, and reap the consequences of her own decisions. God allows Israel to self destruct in order to draw her back unto Himself again. Hosea 2:6-7 entails God speaking to His chosen prophet:
"Therefore, behold, I will hedge up
Her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so
That she cannot find her paths.
She will pursue her lovers, but she
Will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not
Find them.
Then she will say, 'I will go back to
My first husband,
For it was better for me then than
now!'"
Verses 14 and 15:a go on to further explain:
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.
Then I will give her her vineyards
From there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope."
God is saying that He will lead His wayward people into the desert in order to offer them hope - even hope from the valley of Achor! The valley of Achor was the place where adulterers were led to be stoned to death by their people. It was a place of no hope for the sinful. It was where they were taken to meet their end. God is saying that He will even use the valley of Achor, a place of absolutely no hope, as a very door of hope to His adulterous people. He will show them mercy and love.
God then goes on to proclaim in verses 16 and 19-20:
"'It will come about in that day,'
Declares the Lord,
'That you will call Me Ishi (my husband)
And will no longer call Me Baali (my master) . . .
I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in
Righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
And I will betroth you to Me in
Faithfulness.
Then you will know the Lord.'"
God seeks to have such a relationship with us where we can call Him our husband. He wants that intimacy with us, and that is the true relational intimacy we were created to exist for. If we rebuke that intimacy, turning away to other lovers (anything else that we allow to take God's place in our lives), God will break us in order to save us. Hosea chapter 5:14b-15 declares:
"I, even I, will tear to pieces and go
Away,
I will carry away, and there will be
None to deliver.
I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt
And seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly
Seek Me."
So how does this relate to my brokenness and suffering, and how does this practically apply to the life of you the reader? I fully realize now how much I had prostituted myself to other lovers. I had exalted God's creation above God Himself, and had replaced His space in my life with something else. I was also involved with some things I should not have been involved in. In order to save me from the sinful road of bad consequences I was following down, God had to take me into the wilderness. I was led through a spiritual desert. I was in the valley of Achor, but God took me there in order to provide me with a door of hope. I was taken to a place of no hope in order to arrive at an opportunity for new life. God had to break me and tear me apart, and then turn His back on me in order to grab my attention until I acknowledged my guilt. That was the missing element. And now that I know and acknowledge, for the first time in a month and a half, I have hope and joy. Not happiness, mind you, but joy, which is even more encompassing and more lasting. C.S. Lewis once wrote that pain is "God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." The book of Hosea stands as illustration of this principle, and my life now exists as a testimony to this concept.
Sunday night I attended a 10:30 prayer vigil on the lawn in front of the little campus chapel called Glowstick. I did not really know much about it prior to going, and I really had no clue what to expect. I was invited by a co-worker, but had heard my SLD mention it before. So I went just to check it out.
Glowstick is a group of students who meet weekly to pray for brokenness of hearts for the things of God. As soon as I was told this, I knew it was where I needed to be. Firstly, we prayed for a student Robert who's grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer, who's best friend just died in a car accident, and who on top of all that is shipping to Iraq in a week for a second tour of duty. I felt so selfish after meeting this young man. Why was I of all people complaining so much. I felt like I almost did not have a right to ask for prayer after hearing that.
Anyway, the name Glowstick comes from, ironically enough, the concept of a glow stick. You need to break a glow stick in order to make it shine. Not just a little bit either, you must totally twist and turn and break that glow stick in order to get it to glow. God breaks and bends and twists our hearts, if we earnestly seek Him, so that we may know our own weakness apart from Him. It truly is when we are weak and broken that God gives us strength beyond what we ever dreamed possible to endure. He prunes us so that we can grow out into an even more beautiful vine - He breaks us so that we can brightly glow with His message of hope, love, and salvation to a dying world.
~Insense
I'd imagine most reading this post have experienced some varying degree of brokenness in life. Sometimes one comes to a point where he or she emotionally and spiritually cannot go on . . . it literally becomes impossible to do so alone. That is exactly how I felt for most of this past month and a half. A verse to the new Demon Hunter song "Fading Away" illustrates exactly how I felt throughout this nightmare:
"It’s in this wake that I find myself
Losing the will to resume this hell
When every breath is a dying wish
It’s harder to follow the point of this . . .
This broken place that I call my home
Is deep in the sorrow that I have sewn
And I can’t erase what is in my heart
I want it to finish before it starts."
I had never seriously entertained suicide, but there were definite moments in this past month and a half where my "every breath [was] a dying wish." I just prayed for God to take me home and end all my pain. Obviously, I am still here, and I am now thankful that He did not answer those despairing prayers.
Johnnie Moore just finished a series a couple weeks ago in Sunday morning Campus Church about the book of Hosea. I have never had a sermon or a series of sermons so impact my life and so directly speak to me as this one on Hosea has. I won't get too much into the details of the book, you can read that yourself, and I highly suggest that you do.
The basic premise of Hosea is that Israel as a nation goes astray from God and literally prostitutes herself to other gods. So in an attempt to woo back His wayward beloved, God appoints the prophet Hosea to deliver a message. It begins with listing everything Israel has done to offend God's perfect love, but goes on to fully display God's perfect love in His taking her back as His bride once again. Ultimately, God displays His love for His people in the only way He can. Since Israel wants to prostitute herself to other gods, God lets her have her way, and reap the consequences of her own decisions. God allows Israel to self destruct in order to draw her back unto Himself again. Hosea 2:6-7 entails God speaking to His chosen prophet:
"Therefore, behold, I will hedge up
Her way with thorns,
And I will build a wall against her so
That she cannot find her paths.
She will pursue her lovers, but she
Will not overtake them;
And she will seek them, but will not
Find them.
Then she will say, 'I will go back to
My first husband,
For it was better for me then than
now!'"
Verses 14 and 15:a go on to further explain:
"Therefore, behold, I will allure her,
Bring her into the wilderness
And speak kindly to her.
Then I will give her her vineyards
From there,
And the valley of Achor as a door of hope."
God is saying that He will lead His wayward people into the desert in order to offer them hope - even hope from the valley of Achor! The valley of Achor was the place where adulterers were led to be stoned to death by their people. It was a place of no hope for the sinful. It was where they were taken to meet their end. God is saying that He will even use the valley of Achor, a place of absolutely no hope, as a very door of hope to His adulterous people. He will show them mercy and love.
God then goes on to proclaim in verses 16 and 19-20:
"'It will come about in that day,'
Declares the Lord,
'That you will call Me Ishi (my husband)
And will no longer call Me Baali (my master) . . .
I will betroth you to Me forever;
Yes, I will betroth you to Me in
Righteousness and in justice,
In lovingkindness and in compassion,
And I will betroth you to Me in
Faithfulness.
Then you will know the Lord.'"
God seeks to have such a relationship with us where we can call Him our husband. He wants that intimacy with us, and that is the true relational intimacy we were created to exist for. If we rebuke that intimacy, turning away to other lovers (anything else that we allow to take God's place in our lives), God will break us in order to save us. Hosea chapter 5:14b-15 declares:
"I, even I, will tear to pieces and go
Away,
I will carry away, and there will be
None to deliver.
I will go away and return to My place
Until they acknowledge their guilt
And seek My face;
In their affliction they will earnestly
Seek Me."
So how does this relate to my brokenness and suffering, and how does this practically apply to the life of you the reader? I fully realize now how much I had prostituted myself to other lovers. I had exalted God's creation above God Himself, and had replaced His space in my life with something else. I was also involved with some things I should not have been involved in. In order to save me from the sinful road of bad consequences I was following down, God had to take me into the wilderness. I was led through a spiritual desert. I was in the valley of Achor, but God took me there in order to provide me with a door of hope. I was taken to a place of no hope in order to arrive at an opportunity for new life. God had to break me and tear me apart, and then turn His back on me in order to grab my attention until I acknowledged my guilt. That was the missing element. And now that I know and acknowledge, for the first time in a month and a half, I have hope and joy. Not happiness, mind you, but joy, which is even more encompassing and more lasting. C.S. Lewis once wrote that pain is "God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world." The book of Hosea stands as illustration of this principle, and my life now exists as a testimony to this concept.
Sunday night I attended a 10:30 prayer vigil on the lawn in front of the little campus chapel called Glowstick. I did not really know much about it prior to going, and I really had no clue what to expect. I was invited by a co-worker, but had heard my SLD mention it before. So I went just to check it out.
Glowstick is a group of students who meet weekly to pray for brokenness of hearts for the things of God. As soon as I was told this, I knew it was where I needed to be. Firstly, we prayed for a student Robert who's grandmother was just diagnosed with cancer, who's best friend just died in a car accident, and who on top of all that is shipping to Iraq in a week for a second tour of duty. I felt so selfish after meeting this young man. Why was I of all people complaining so much. I felt like I almost did not have a right to ask for prayer after hearing that.
Anyway, the name Glowstick comes from, ironically enough, the concept of a glow stick. You need to break a glow stick in order to make it shine. Not just a little bit either, you must totally twist and turn and break that glow stick in order to get it to glow. God breaks and bends and twists our hearts, if we earnestly seek Him, so that we may know our own weakness apart from Him. It truly is when we are weak and broken that God gives us strength beyond what we ever dreamed possible to endure. He prunes us so that we can grow out into an even more beautiful vine - He breaks us so that we can brightly glow with His message of hope, love, and salvation to a dying world.
~Insense
Monday, October 08, 2007
Existential Despair Revisited
Sometime ago I wrote a post on existential despair and what Albert Camus has termed to be the "absurdity" of life. I was at a point in my life where I was just fed up. Life seemed dull, mundane, and bitterly painful in the area of relationships.
Things have now come full circle, and I again am experiencing the same troubles and hurts. Life really is absurd. Unlike a year ago when I visited this topic, I did not have to stand and watch a good friend walk down the street as he ran away from home, but I nonetheless am becoming familiar with life's absurdity once again.
I'm 250 miles away from home on the side of a remote mountain with no really close friends or family within a five hour drive. I'm alone in a strange new world where I wake up every morning, go to classes, go to work, go to classes again, then do homework, then finally sleep, only to repeat the cycle all over again. My university learning experience has reduced from a starving hunger for knowledge to a boring drudgery in order to maintain the necessary honors program 3.5 gpa (which might not be possible thanks to BIO 200).
My friends from home and high school are now scattered all across the country, some never to return to sleepy Dallastown, PA. There are some very friendly peers here at Liberty, but I have yet to connect with anybody in a deep, long lasting friendship. Many students here already know others that they spend time with and stay in their own little "cliques."
Worse than anything I have experienced thus far in my life, however, is how I still cannot seem to find that one meaningful relationship with a young lady that I so desperately crave. I thought I had it. I thought my future was secure, my life set in place, and the perfect best friend that anybody could ever ask for by my side. I turned out to once again be sorely wrong.
I expected that when somebody made a promise, they'd keep it. I kind of had this thing where if somebody said something, I kind of took it for granted that he or she actually meant it and would abide by it. I never in a thousand years imagined that everybody is the same. I sincerely thought that some people were different . . . one person in particular.
Now I'm left with all the shattered pieces of my broken heart on the floor. I'm left with a soul merged and fused with the soul of another person who is through with me. Like a festering wound in an arm or a leg, I need to amputate that part of me out before I'm wholly infected with a disease that can kill me. The hard part is, I cannot do it myself. The universe was created in such a fashion that something about a deeply attached relationship actually does fuse the souls of two people together. The process was created by God Himself, and it was never meant to have to be torn apart. Man cannot do it himself. It takes the strength of God to undo something He created to be.
It's so hard amputating that wounded part of soul out of me, because the only way it can be done is if I allow God to work at it over time. It can't come overnight unless there was never anything fused together to amputate in the first place. God is the only one that can do it, and all I can do is sit back like a helpless, wounded soldier in war and watch the Master Surgeon work. Like an infantryman who must just lie there and endure the pain of a limb being sawed off, all I can do is sit back and endure as God is at work sawing a festering, wounded part of my soul off.
Healing is going to take some time. It is a slow, gradual crawl towards normalcy. I find that my problem, though, lies in actually letting God do the healing. My heart is in pieces on the ground. I try to gather the fragments up in my hands to lift them up to God to let Him work, but my hands are too weak. They shake so much that all the pieces quickly slip out of my hands and spill back onto the floor again where they came from. When I can actually get all the pieces and lift them to God, some part of me at the last minute wants to hold on and do it myself. I know it will never work, but I can never seem to make my head knowledge apply to my heart and my actions.
I do not change my originally presented view a year ago that absurdity and pain are meant to stir us to search and desire something deeper. In the long run, all I can hold onto in my loneliness is that any earthly relationship is ultimately merely a Platonic shadow of God's love for me. It's the only thing that keeps me going and the only reason I'm still here.
I have, however, finally realized after a year of thought, reflection, and experience what exactly it is that causes life to be so absurd and painful in the first place - sin. It is like a disease that has slowly worked its way through the cosmos. Everything it touches turns to dust and crumbles to the ground in decay. From dust we are made and to dust we return. It has even left its damaging impact on earthly romantic relationships. No earthly relationship is ever going to equal or substitute God's love and desire for us His creation.
One thing I have come to realize about God more than anything in this past year of ups and downs is the nature of God's relationship with us. I credit this discovery almost wholly to the genius of Mr. Cleary, but I am sure he would say (and probably correctly) that the idea existed long before he was aware of it. The idea is this: that God's relationship to each of us is like a romantic love relationship.
In Eden, God and man were in perfect unity and fellowship - God and man were quite literally married to one another (in fact I would argue that the earthly version of marriage between a man and a woman is another Platonic shadow of this original form). When man sinned, he was unfaithful in marriage, and was forced into divorce from God. The rest of scripture then is the love story of God trying to woo back His unfaithful bride once again. Israel is His chosen people, the group through which He would work to eventually woo back the entire world (or at least try to). Christ's death on the cross is the ultimate show of romantic love ever experienced in the created universe. Indeed, it is the greatest possible display of romantic love ever, everywhere.
His bride spit in His face, cursed Him, exalted herself above Him, and He does the last thing one would expect of an abused husband - He gives His life in order to provide hope of reconciliation to His wayward beloved. He is that obsessed and in love with humanity that He paid the ultimate price in order to restore a degree of union and fellowship once again.
That is what's keeping me going anymore. I have nothing else. I'm alone on a mountain with 10,000 people who mostly don't even care that I exist. I've been left by the one person who had meant everything to me, my absolute closest friend; my family and other friends are a five hour drive away (providing I don't get lost in the dark woods again with a dead GPS and a dying cell phone - there's some absurdity if you're interested in that story). I have nothing or nobody except for God Himself. At least I can say that there is no better lover, and there is nobody who has done more to show me His love than God Himself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"To live without hope is to cease to live." --Fyodor Dostoevsky
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
~Insense
Things have now come full circle, and I again am experiencing the same troubles and hurts. Life really is absurd. Unlike a year ago when I visited this topic, I did not have to stand and watch a good friend walk down the street as he ran away from home, but I nonetheless am becoming familiar with life's absurdity once again.
I'm 250 miles away from home on the side of a remote mountain with no really close friends or family within a five hour drive. I'm alone in a strange new world where I wake up every morning, go to classes, go to work, go to classes again, then do homework, then finally sleep, only to repeat the cycle all over again. My university learning experience has reduced from a starving hunger for knowledge to a boring drudgery in order to maintain the necessary honors program 3.5 gpa (which might not be possible thanks to BIO 200).
My friends from home and high school are now scattered all across the country, some never to return to sleepy Dallastown, PA. There are some very friendly peers here at Liberty, but I have yet to connect with anybody in a deep, long lasting friendship. Many students here already know others that they spend time with and stay in their own little "cliques."
Worse than anything I have experienced thus far in my life, however, is how I still cannot seem to find that one meaningful relationship with a young lady that I so desperately crave. I thought I had it. I thought my future was secure, my life set in place, and the perfect best friend that anybody could ever ask for by my side. I turned out to once again be sorely wrong.
I expected that when somebody made a promise, they'd keep it. I kind of had this thing where if somebody said something, I kind of took it for granted that he or she actually meant it and would abide by it. I never in a thousand years imagined that everybody is the same. I sincerely thought that some people were different . . . one person in particular.
Now I'm left with all the shattered pieces of my broken heart on the floor. I'm left with a soul merged and fused with the soul of another person who is through with me. Like a festering wound in an arm or a leg, I need to amputate that part of me out before I'm wholly infected with a disease that can kill me. The hard part is, I cannot do it myself. The universe was created in such a fashion that something about a deeply attached relationship actually does fuse the souls of two people together. The process was created by God Himself, and it was never meant to have to be torn apart. Man cannot do it himself. It takes the strength of God to undo something He created to be.
It's so hard amputating that wounded part of soul out of me, because the only way it can be done is if I allow God to work at it over time. It can't come overnight unless there was never anything fused together to amputate in the first place. God is the only one that can do it, and all I can do is sit back like a helpless, wounded soldier in war and watch the Master Surgeon work. Like an infantryman who must just lie there and endure the pain of a limb being sawed off, all I can do is sit back and endure as God is at work sawing a festering, wounded part of my soul off.
Healing is going to take some time. It is a slow, gradual crawl towards normalcy. I find that my problem, though, lies in actually letting God do the healing. My heart is in pieces on the ground. I try to gather the fragments up in my hands to lift them up to God to let Him work, but my hands are too weak. They shake so much that all the pieces quickly slip out of my hands and spill back onto the floor again where they came from. When I can actually get all the pieces and lift them to God, some part of me at the last minute wants to hold on and do it myself. I know it will never work, but I can never seem to make my head knowledge apply to my heart and my actions.
I do not change my originally presented view a year ago that absurdity and pain are meant to stir us to search and desire something deeper. In the long run, all I can hold onto in my loneliness is that any earthly relationship is ultimately merely a Platonic shadow of God's love for me. It's the only thing that keeps me going and the only reason I'm still here.
I have, however, finally realized after a year of thought, reflection, and experience what exactly it is that causes life to be so absurd and painful in the first place - sin. It is like a disease that has slowly worked its way through the cosmos. Everything it touches turns to dust and crumbles to the ground in decay. From dust we are made and to dust we return. It has even left its damaging impact on earthly romantic relationships. No earthly relationship is ever going to equal or substitute God's love and desire for us His creation.
One thing I have come to realize about God more than anything in this past year of ups and downs is the nature of God's relationship with us. I credit this discovery almost wholly to the genius of Mr. Cleary, but I am sure he would say (and probably correctly) that the idea existed long before he was aware of it. The idea is this: that God's relationship to each of us is like a romantic love relationship.
In Eden, God and man were in perfect unity and fellowship - God and man were quite literally married to one another (in fact I would argue that the earthly version of marriage between a man and a woman is another Platonic shadow of this original form). When man sinned, he was unfaithful in marriage, and was forced into divorce from God. The rest of scripture then is the love story of God trying to woo back His unfaithful bride once again. Israel is His chosen people, the group through which He would work to eventually woo back the entire world (or at least try to). Christ's death on the cross is the ultimate show of romantic love ever experienced in the created universe. Indeed, it is the greatest possible display of romantic love ever, everywhere.
His bride spit in His face, cursed Him, exalted herself above Him, and He does the last thing one would expect of an abused husband - He gives His life in order to provide hope of reconciliation to His wayward beloved. He is that obsessed and in love with humanity that He paid the ultimate price in order to restore a degree of union and fellowship once again.
That is what's keeping me going anymore. I have nothing else. I'm alone on a mountain with 10,000 people who mostly don't even care that I exist. I've been left by the one person who had meant everything to me, my absolute closest friend; my family and other friends are a five hour drive away (providing I don't get lost in the dark woods again with a dead GPS and a dying cell phone - there's some absurdity if you're interested in that story). I have nothing or nobody except for God Himself. At least I can say that there is no better lover, and there is nobody who has done more to show me His love than God Himself.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
"To live without hope is to cease to live." --Fyodor Dostoevsky
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
~Insense
Thursday, July 19, 2007
Funny Little Story
Alright, so perhaps fun little story is a misnomer....the story's not really that fun...but I thought it was pretty cool. So with my summer job, I get to go to a lot of cool places and see a lot of cool things and hear a lot of cool talks. Today was a talk that I was not especially looking forward to. It was one on the Big Bang given by a recent Nobel Laurette who happens to be the very first NASA civil servant to receive one. Woopty do. For someone with a degree in astrophysics, I really don't like astrophysics talks...they're fundamentally boring....especially ones on things I don't think hold any water...such as the big bang. I disagree with it on both scientific and theological grounds, but that's another topic for another time...would make this short story into a very long winded story. Anyway, so not really lookin forward to this one...and true to form, I struggled to stay away through it. Anywho, so it's over, and it's question and answer time...someone asked a question about the capabilities of the James Webb Space Telescope, the telescope that will replace Hubble....After the speaker answered the question, the director of the National Space Science and Technology Center, the place where the talk was being held, told a little story that was clearly anti-Christian...I'd heard it before, was offended before, and was offended again. It goes something like this. The principle investigator for Hubble was trying to convince Congress to fund it and was explaining how far it could see. The head of the committee, who was an ordained minister, asked, "Now hold on just a second. You're saying that Hubble can see creation?" To that, the PI replied, "Oh no no no Senator, you misunderstood. Hubble will be able to see the universe one nanosecond after it left that hand of God." (you see, the person telling the joke put special emphasis on the fact that the man asking this question in committee was a minister in order to show just how incredibly dumb and gullible he thinks Christians are for believing in Creation...hence the reason I'm completely offended....cause it's not a fair joke...and well, I think he's the fool for not believing in Creation). So the director than said that the James Webb Telescope would be able to see the hand of God itself (again, clearly poking fun at the notion of creation...not so much in words, but in the way he said it).
So here's where the cool part comes in. The speaker, a man who won the Nobel prize for his work in studying the Big Bang then replies, and I quote, "Well, anyone who has eyes can see that Hand all over the place."
I don't know if many of the people in the room got it or heard it, but it was awesome. Quite the come back, and not from the source I would have expected. I don't know what the faith or background of the speaker is...but he very clearly believes that the universe was created...he sees it being created through the big bang, but he, a man who has devoted his life to studying the universe says plain as day, "you're clearly a fool if you believe that this all just happened on it's own."
Anyway, that's it. Keep the faith!
~AndyJams~
So here's where the cool part comes in. The speaker, a man who won the Nobel prize for his work in studying the Big Bang then replies, and I quote, "Well, anyone who has eyes can see that Hand all over the place."
I don't know if many of the people in the room got it or heard it, but it was awesome. Quite the come back, and not from the source I would have expected. I don't know what the faith or background of the speaker is...but he very clearly believes that the universe was created...he sees it being created through the big bang, but he, a man who has devoted his life to studying the universe says plain as day, "you're clearly a fool if you believe that this all just happened on it's own."
Anyway, that's it. Keep the faith!
~AndyJams~
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
Encouragement
Those who know me know I'm a runner. Always have been. Well, not always. But in first grade, we had a track meet, and I ran in the 100 meter dash..and won! From that day on I was a runner. Granted, that was the last time I've ever gotten first place...but I still run. Round about 7th grade, my first year of junior high track, I learned sprinting wasn't the sport for me...too slow off the blocks...I'd been running cross country since 6th, so long distance it was. There is a point to all this, I swear. Just giving you a bit of background for kicks and giggles. So basically, I've been a runner in some capacity for most of my life. I really do love it. It's especially great this summer. After a long day I'm able to go back to my room and then go pound out the troubles of the day, both professional and personal. The pain, exhaustion, sweat dripping in my eyes (especially in this climate where it's customarily in the mid to upper 90s every day), and cotton mouth replace any emotional troubles with easily manageable physical troubles, leaving all of my mental, emotional, and spiritual capacities open to focus on God, to pray, and to listen to what He has in store for me (the future is going to be fantastic, I'm sure of it!)
Anyway, so to the point. I was running around the pond this evening when I made a realization. Another runner passed me going the other way, and without thinking we both made eye contact at the same time, I waved, he gave me a thumbs up, and we went on our separate ways. I've never seen him before, and I very well might never meet him again. Complete strangers with completely different backgrounds, histories, beliefs, ideologies, everything, and yet without a second thought or pre-determined notion or bias we each gave each other encouragement. It seems inconsequential I understand. What's a thumbs up? I'm not running a marathon, I'm not lost or stranded. Never once in my run did i stray more than a mile from my room, and never once was I more than a shout away from help if necessary. I wasn't disheartened or thinking about quitting early. So sure, in this particular case, I was in no need of encouragement. But I received it none the less. It made me smile quietly to myself because this isn't a singular occurrence. This happens whenever I pass a runner whilst I'm running. I assume that most every runner everywhere knows this same feeling. It's a brotherhood. We're all in the same boat and we all support each other without a thought. Isn't that great? Shouldn't that be the case everywhere with everything?
It made me think of something else remarkable. I'm a great giant space nerd, and I follow each space shuttle mission closely. This summer I've had the ability to spend an especially large amount of time following the STS-117 mission, spending most of the day with NASA TV on in the background. If you listen in to the communications between Houston and the astronauts on orbit, most especially during space walks. They are always positive, always complimenting each other, even on the minor things. "That was a great job there on tightening that restraint bolt." "That's an excellent camera view you're giving us." "Thanks for the wonderful support today from the ground crews." "Thank you so much for playing that song for our wake up. It's especially meaningful for me." "Excellent job on the thermal protection system inspections today." It's constantly like that. I honestly don't know if they do that because they do that or if they do that because they've been trained and instructed to communicate that way. Does it really matter either way though? When push comes to shove, there is constant support, nary a negative remark, and because of that (or at least largely because of that) the crews come home safely every time with a successful mission every time.
I'm not sure what all that means, or even what the point of me writing about it. It just occurred to me and it made me happy, so I thought I'd share it. Do yourselves a favor. Interact with those around you in a positive manner, no matter what. I can guarantee you'll be happier for it.
~AndyJams~
Anyway, so to the point. I was running around the pond this evening when I made a realization. Another runner passed me going the other way, and without thinking we both made eye contact at the same time, I waved, he gave me a thumbs up, and we went on our separate ways. I've never seen him before, and I very well might never meet him again. Complete strangers with completely different backgrounds, histories, beliefs, ideologies, everything, and yet without a second thought or pre-determined notion or bias we each gave each other encouragement. It seems inconsequential I understand. What's a thumbs up? I'm not running a marathon, I'm not lost or stranded. Never once in my run did i stray more than a mile from my room, and never once was I more than a shout away from help if necessary. I wasn't disheartened or thinking about quitting early. So sure, in this particular case, I was in no need of encouragement. But I received it none the less. It made me smile quietly to myself because this isn't a singular occurrence. This happens whenever I pass a runner whilst I'm running. I assume that most every runner everywhere knows this same feeling. It's a brotherhood. We're all in the same boat and we all support each other without a thought. Isn't that great? Shouldn't that be the case everywhere with everything?
It made me think of something else remarkable. I'm a great giant space nerd, and I follow each space shuttle mission closely. This summer I've had the ability to spend an especially large amount of time following the STS-117 mission, spending most of the day with NASA TV on in the background. If you listen in to the communications between Houston and the astronauts on orbit, most especially during space walks. They are always positive, always complimenting each other, even on the minor things. "That was a great job there on tightening that restraint bolt." "That's an excellent camera view you're giving us." "Thanks for the wonderful support today from the ground crews." "Thank you so much for playing that song for our wake up. It's especially meaningful for me." "Excellent job on the thermal protection system inspections today." It's constantly like that. I honestly don't know if they do that because they do that or if they do that because they've been trained and instructed to communicate that way. Does it really matter either way though? When push comes to shove, there is constant support, nary a negative remark, and because of that (or at least largely because of that) the crews come home safely every time with a successful mission every time.
I'm not sure what all that means, or even what the point of me writing about it. It just occurred to me and it made me happy, so I thought I'd share it. Do yourselves a favor. Interact with those around you in a positive manner, no matter what. I can guarantee you'll be happier for it.
~AndyJams~
Tuesday, June 26, 2007
Leading with Soul
I'm a reader. Didn't used to be, but I love it now. I'm reading a book right now that my father recommended I check out called Leading with Soul by Bolman and Deal. The idea behind it is that in order to be a good leader, you need to explore your own spirit and soul, and include those elements of your being intimately in every facet of your life, be it love, hobbies, and your work. A lot of people make the mistake of taking their work and sealing it off from the rest of their life. They can be open and free enough at home around friends and family, but when they show up for work it's all business. After all, it's inappropriate to talk about such things at work, right? WRONG! If you want to be a good leader, if you want your organization to succeed and grow, you need to include this. You and those who work for you must share yourselves, share stories, share legitimate caring. A lot of evangelicals refer to this as "being real." Show up to work ready to care, not just to yield power.
I'm not doing a very good job of describing it, but trust me, it's fantastic. It's basically a parable that follows the spiritual growth of Steve under the mentorship of Maria. As you follow the events and stories you learn from their example. Every now and then there will be an interlude where the authors delve deeper into the mysteries they writing about. It's not exactly the lightest reading, but it's quick reading, and it is definitely meaningful. There are a lot of great things to quote, but there was one that I just read that I think is particularly worth mentioning here. It's a excerpt that describes what Kierkegaard refers to as a "knight of faith."
This figure is the man who lives in faith, who has given over the meaning of his life to his creator, and who lives centered on the energies of his maker. He accepts whatever happens in this visible dimension without complaint, lives his life as a duty, faces his death without qualms. No pettiness is so petty that it threatens his meaning; no task is too frightening to be beyond his courage. He is fully in the world on its terms and wholly beyond the world in his trust of the invisible dimension. The knight of faith then represents what we call an ordeal of mental health, the continued openness of life out of the death throes of dread.
That is a powerful description of what I feel a Christian should be. I argue that a true follower of Christ is a Knight of Faith in Christ. If you call yourself a Christian, ask yourself, does this excerpt describe you? Probably not. That's a lot to live up to! I'm pretty sure it doesn't fit me. I'd like to think I have a pretty good faith, and I've had a lot of personal experiences and chances to learn and see that have helped me to grow closer to God then I ever dreamed possible, but still...I fear, I complain, and quite frankly death makes me uncomfortable (even though I'm confident I'll be spending eternity in Heaven). I often fall victim to pettiness, and I often find myself not trusting God...I mean, I trust Him, don't get me wrong...but then sometimes, I'll try to take over. "Sorry God...I gave this to you to take care of...but I don't especially like the way that's going for me...so I think I'll take the helm again if you don't mind." I'm not proud of the fact, but it's true. Is that true for you?
I'm not worried though. I may not be the ideal Knight of Faith...but I'm at least a Page Boy of Faith...maybe even a Squire of Faith if I might be so bold. That's what rocks about God...well, one of the many things that rocks about God (a lot of people also make the mistake of focusing only on the salvation of Christ and base their walk with Christ on that, when there's so so much more to our Savior...salvation is just the first baby step...but the love, the friendship, the warmth, the sweetness, in other words, the Spirit, the "Walk with Christ"...that's where it's really at for me, that's what it's really about...salvation was just part of the love Christ has for us, not the only facet of Christ as many people make the mistake of thinking). Anywho, I went off on a tangent again...and I forget where I was going. Um..um...oh yeah. That's one of the things that's awesome about our God. Perfection never was a requirement. I think truly Christ is the only Knight of Faith, the only man who has achieved such faith and trust...granted...He's God, so maybe He cheated...but the fact remains. The greats of our faith, the saints, many of the popes, the apostles, the martyrs...those approach being a Knight of Faith...definitely Squires. The rest of us...those who are trying, who are reading, learning, growing in our faith, we're the page boys. All are essential for the jousts to go forward.
I suppose a better question is this. Are you trying to be a Knight of Faith? Are you at least on the road to becoming a Knight of Faith? Are you doing your best? Then you can safely call yourself a follower of Christ. God never asked that we be perfect. He only asks that we try. Not on the path? On the wrong path? Want to be on the path to becoming a knight? I highly encourage it. It's well worth the effort. Talk to your friends. I'd like to think that you know at least one Christian to talk to. If you don't, fare enough. Find a church. I know you can find a church. Talk to anyone in that church. I assure you that they'll be more than willing to talk to you. If they're not willing, well, God save their soul, because they are in spiritual trouble.
So that's kind of rambling and twisting and turning...but that's the best I can do with the topic...tis how my brain follows ideas. But yeah, Leading with Soul. Read it. It's good.
~AndyJams~
I'm not doing a very good job of describing it, but trust me, it's fantastic. It's basically a parable that follows the spiritual growth of Steve under the mentorship of Maria. As you follow the events and stories you learn from their example. Every now and then there will be an interlude where the authors delve deeper into the mysteries they writing about. It's not exactly the lightest reading, but it's quick reading, and it is definitely meaningful. There are a lot of great things to quote, but there was one that I just read that I think is particularly worth mentioning here. It's a excerpt that describes what Kierkegaard refers to as a "knight of faith."
This figure is the man who lives in faith, who has given over the meaning of his life to his creator, and who lives centered on the energies of his maker. He accepts whatever happens in this visible dimension without complaint, lives his life as a duty, faces his death without qualms. No pettiness is so petty that it threatens his meaning; no task is too frightening to be beyond his courage. He is fully in the world on its terms and wholly beyond the world in his trust of the invisible dimension. The knight of faith then represents what we call an ordeal of mental health, the continued openness of life out of the death throes of dread.
That is a powerful description of what I feel a Christian should be. I argue that a true follower of Christ is a Knight of Faith in Christ. If you call yourself a Christian, ask yourself, does this excerpt describe you? Probably not. That's a lot to live up to! I'm pretty sure it doesn't fit me. I'd like to think I have a pretty good faith, and I've had a lot of personal experiences and chances to learn and see that have helped me to grow closer to God then I ever dreamed possible, but still...I fear, I complain, and quite frankly death makes me uncomfortable (even though I'm confident I'll be spending eternity in Heaven). I often fall victim to pettiness, and I often find myself not trusting God...I mean, I trust Him, don't get me wrong...but then sometimes, I'll try to take over. "Sorry God...I gave this to you to take care of...but I don't especially like the way that's going for me...so I think I'll take the helm again if you don't mind." I'm not proud of the fact, but it's true. Is that true for you?
I'm not worried though. I may not be the ideal Knight of Faith...but I'm at least a Page Boy of Faith...maybe even a Squire of Faith if I might be so bold. That's what rocks about God...well, one of the many things that rocks about God (a lot of people also make the mistake of focusing only on the salvation of Christ and base their walk with Christ on that, when there's so so much more to our Savior...salvation is just the first baby step...but the love, the friendship, the warmth, the sweetness, in other words, the Spirit, the "Walk with Christ"...that's where it's really at for me, that's what it's really about...salvation was just part of the love Christ has for us, not the only facet of Christ as many people make the mistake of thinking). Anywho, I went off on a tangent again...and I forget where I was going. Um..um...oh yeah. That's one of the things that's awesome about our God. Perfection never was a requirement. I think truly Christ is the only Knight of Faith, the only man who has achieved such faith and trust...granted...He's God, so maybe He cheated...but the fact remains. The greats of our faith, the saints, many of the popes, the apostles, the martyrs...those approach being a Knight of Faith...definitely Squires. The rest of us...those who are trying, who are reading, learning, growing in our faith, we're the page boys. All are essential for the jousts to go forward.
I suppose a better question is this. Are you trying to be a Knight of Faith? Are you at least on the road to becoming a Knight of Faith? Are you doing your best? Then you can safely call yourself a follower of Christ. God never asked that we be perfect. He only asks that we try. Not on the path? On the wrong path? Want to be on the path to becoming a knight? I highly encourage it. It's well worth the effort. Talk to your friends. I'd like to think that you know at least one Christian to talk to. If you don't, fare enough. Find a church. I know you can find a church. Talk to anyone in that church. I assure you that they'll be more than willing to talk to you. If they're not willing, well, God save their soul, because they are in spiritual trouble.
So that's kind of rambling and twisting and turning...but that's the best I can do with the topic...tis how my brain follows ideas. But yeah, Leading with Soul. Read it. It's good.
~AndyJams~
Sunday, June 24, 2007
The World's Best and Brightest
Here's a short one.
I have the great privalege of working at Marshall Space Flight Center, one of the NASA centers most inimately involved in the current and future manned space flight programs. One side effect of living and working so closely with so many people who are so invested gives me an interesting vantage point. The Space Shuttle Transportation System is the most complicated machine ever built by man. It takes thousands and thousands of people giving of themsevles to keep these machines working perfectly. The visible point of these people include the corps of Astronauts, made up of our nations best and brightest: scientists, engineers, soldiers, and even high school teachers (keep an eye on STS-118 launching in August!). On Friay, June 22nd, the space shuttle Atlantis touched down safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, brining an end to the very successful 14 day STS-117 mission. So who cares? Besides me that is.
Every morning of a shuttle mission, a special song is played for one of the members of the crew. The morning of flight day 11 was "Reedemer" by Nicole C. Mullen, selected for Pat Forester by his family. Pat Forester is an astronaut. Pat Forester is a Christian.
The crew took up a new space station expedition member and brought home Suni Williams, who first joined the space station crew in December. She now holds both the female endurance record in space, the first person to run the Boston Marathon from space, and also the female record for most hours in space walk. During her stay on station she wore a necklace which could be seen floating about her. It's medalian? A cross. Suni Williams is an astronaut. Suni Williams is a Christian.
I don't really think this needs any more explination. These are just two stories of many of the members of the Astronaut Corps, made up of the very best and brightest our nation has to offer. The majority of them are active Christians. What does this mean? I think it speaks volumes.
Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
and Who told the ocean you can only come this far?
and Who showed the moon where to hide 'til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?
Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives yeah
The very same God that spins things in orbit
runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to bring me victory
Now I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer, He lives
To take away my shame
And He lives forever, I'll proclaim
That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He gave
But now He's alive and
There's an empty grave
And I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer,
I know my Redeemer
I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
I know that I know that I know that I know that I know my redeemer lives
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
I Know I know
He lives He lives yeah yeah I spoke with him this morning
He lives He lives, the tomb is empty,
He lives I gotta tell everybody
~AndyJams~
I have the great privalege of working at Marshall Space Flight Center, one of the NASA centers most inimately involved in the current and future manned space flight programs. One side effect of living and working so closely with so many people who are so invested gives me an interesting vantage point. The Space Shuttle Transportation System is the most complicated machine ever built by man. It takes thousands and thousands of people giving of themsevles to keep these machines working perfectly. The visible point of these people include the corps of Astronauts, made up of our nations best and brightest: scientists, engineers, soldiers, and even high school teachers (keep an eye on STS-118 launching in August!). On Friay, June 22nd, the space shuttle Atlantis touched down safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California, brining an end to the very successful 14 day STS-117 mission. So who cares? Besides me that is.
Every morning of a shuttle mission, a special song is played for one of the members of the crew. The morning of flight day 11 was "Reedemer" by Nicole C. Mullen, selected for Pat Forester by his family. Pat Forester is an astronaut. Pat Forester is a Christian.
The crew took up a new space station expedition member and brought home Suni Williams, who first joined the space station crew in December. She now holds both the female endurance record in space, the first person to run the Boston Marathon from space, and also the female record for most hours in space walk. During her stay on station she wore a necklace which could be seen floating about her. It's medalian? A cross. Suni Williams is an astronaut. Suni Williams is a Christian.
I don't really think this needs any more explination. These are just two stories of many of the members of the Astronaut Corps, made up of the very best and brightest our nation has to offer. The majority of them are active Christians. What does this mean? I think it speaks volumes.
Who taught the sun where to stand in the morning?
and Who told the ocean you can only come this far?
and Who showed the moon where to hide 'til evening?
Whose words alone can catch a falling star?
Well I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
All of creation testifies
This life within me cries
I know my Redeemer lives yeah
The very same God that spins things in orbit
runs to the weary, the worn and the weak
And the same gentle hands that hold me when I'm broken
They conquered death to bring me victory
Now I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer, He lives
To take away my shame
And He lives forever, I'll proclaim
That the payment for my sin
Was the precious life He gave
But now He's alive and
There's an empty grave
And I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
Let all creation testify
Let this life within me cry
I know my Redeemer,
I know my Redeemer
I know my Redeemer lives
I know my Redeemer lives
I know that I know that I know that I know that I know my redeemer lives
Because He lives I can face tomorrow
I Know I know
He lives He lives yeah yeah I spoke with him this morning
He lives He lives, the tomb is empty,
He lives I gotta tell everybody
~AndyJams~
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Easter Meditation
With so many challenges these days being leveled against the Resurrection of Christ, most recently the resurgence of interest in the finding of "the Jesus family tomb," I think it worthwhile to take some time to outline the reasons why Christians should, and do indeed, believe in this essential miracle. Most non-believers treat the subject as a matter of faith, but in reality, believing in the Norman conquest or the death of Socrates requires no less faith. How do we know about Socrates? We know of him because of his writings, other people's writings about him, and the oral passage of information about him between generations. How do we know the Norman conquest happened, and that it happened like it did? We rely, again, on writings about it and by people who were a part of it, as well as the oral tradition. One hundred percent of scholars believe in Socrates and in the Norman conquest of Great Britain. Why is the Resurrection somehow different?
The key piece of evidence that Christians cite for belief in the Resurrection is the testimony of Scripture. Most non-believers shun such proof, but it remains proof nonetheless. Not only did the disciples see the resurrected Christ, but so did hundreds of others. There's also the small issue of all the dead who were resurrected and entered the city of Jerusalem, and of all the people who saw that take place. Again, the temple curtain was split in two, and people saw that as well. The temple curtain being torn is no little deal. We are talking about a rather large and rather thick piece of cloth. So, in spite of the first hand accounts, the numerous written records, and the oral legacy, some people still refuse to believe, even though it is as historically proven as the Norman conquest!
Conspiracy theorists will argue that Christ's body was stolen from His tomb to merely give the appearance of a Resurrection. I don't know how they could explain the eyewitness accounts and the other events detailed above, but it is very illogical to come to the conclusion that His body was moved. After all, who would benefit from it? The Jews of the time certainly would not have done it, because they wanted to discredit Christ's claim as being the Messiah, remember? Relocating His body would not help to discredit their claims, it would work violently against them. The Romans would not have stolen His body. For a long time the Roman empire viewed Christianity as a dangerous sect that needed to be controlled and squelched. If they had Christ's body, they could have openly destroyed the church's foundations before the early Christians even got started. The only group of people remaining is the apostles themselves. Most of the apostles died very painful and shaming deaths because they would not denounce their faith. If they had known Christ really was not resurrected from the dead, why would they be so bold about their beliefs in the face of an oppressive empire and suffer such painful deaths over a lie?
The only logical conclusion that anyone can draw from all of this is that Christ really did raise from the dead like He said He would. If this is the case, He really is who He said He was, and everything He said is the truth. If everything He said is the truth, then, why do we treat it as something that is not important? C.S. Lewis argued it best. Either He is who He said He is, He is just some mentally crazy man (on the level of a "poached egg" I believe Lewis says), or He is a liar. Many praise Him with, "Well, I believe He was a good moral teacher, but I don't believe He was the Son of God." There can be no middle ground. A man cannot be a liar or a lunatic and be history's greatest moral teacher. He would either be crazy, an absolutely evil person, or God. If He is God, doesn't that mean we should devote one hundred percent of ourselves to Him? I pray that each and every one of you has an amazing Easter, and that we can all reflect on our faith and take it a little more seriously.
~Tribal
The key piece of evidence that Christians cite for belief in the Resurrection is the testimony of Scripture. Most non-believers shun such proof, but it remains proof nonetheless. Not only did the disciples see the resurrected Christ, but so did hundreds of others. There's also the small issue of all the dead who were resurrected and entered the city of Jerusalem, and of all the people who saw that take place. Again, the temple curtain was split in two, and people saw that as well. The temple curtain being torn is no little deal. We are talking about a rather large and rather thick piece of cloth. So, in spite of the first hand accounts, the numerous written records, and the oral legacy, some people still refuse to believe, even though it is as historically proven as the Norman conquest!
Conspiracy theorists will argue that Christ's body was stolen from His tomb to merely give the appearance of a Resurrection. I don't know how they could explain the eyewitness accounts and the other events detailed above, but it is very illogical to come to the conclusion that His body was moved. After all, who would benefit from it? The Jews of the time certainly would not have done it, because they wanted to discredit Christ's claim as being the Messiah, remember? Relocating His body would not help to discredit their claims, it would work violently against them. The Romans would not have stolen His body. For a long time the Roman empire viewed Christianity as a dangerous sect that needed to be controlled and squelched. If they had Christ's body, they could have openly destroyed the church's foundations before the early Christians even got started. The only group of people remaining is the apostles themselves. Most of the apostles died very painful and shaming deaths because they would not denounce their faith. If they had known Christ really was not resurrected from the dead, why would they be so bold about their beliefs in the face of an oppressive empire and suffer such painful deaths over a lie?
The only logical conclusion that anyone can draw from all of this is that Christ really did raise from the dead like He said He would. If this is the case, He really is who He said He was, and everything He said is the truth. If everything He said is the truth, then, why do we treat it as something that is not important? C.S. Lewis argued it best. Either He is who He said He is, He is just some mentally crazy man (on the level of a "poached egg" I believe Lewis says), or He is a liar. Many praise Him with, "Well, I believe He was a good moral teacher, but I don't believe He was the Son of God." There can be no middle ground. A man cannot be a liar or a lunatic and be history's greatest moral teacher. He would either be crazy, an absolutely evil person, or God. If He is God, doesn't that mean we should devote one hundred percent of ourselves to Him? I pray that each and every one of you has an amazing Easter, and that we can all reflect on our faith and take it a little more seriously.
~Tribal
Friday, March 23, 2007
Swindle Of A Lifetime
For those of you who have read my article "The Real Inconvenient Truth," here, in its entirety, is the documentary that I referenced. It is entitled The Great Global Warming Swindle and features many prominent scientists who disagree with the "church of global warming" (the co-founder of Green Peace is even interviewed in the film). Only a day or two after I discovered that this documentary was on the web, I came across a NASA article that essentially backs up the main theory proposed by Swindle's director (interestingly enough, this documentary has a very sound scientific basis -- unlike the documentaries that some make about global warming for purely financial and political gain). I have not yet had time to watch the full video, but just by watching the first segment (approximately six minutes long) one's attitude towards the subject certainly is forced to go up against some new perspectives. Lastly, here is the article where I first heard about this documentary. It provides a more compact summary of the new theory as well as snippets of interviews with the director. All of this is well worth your time to check out.
~Tribal
~Tribal
Wednesday, March 14, 2007
A Take on the Truth of Love
I’m going to talk a little bit about love today…I’ve talked about it before, and I’ll talk about it again, for I am a hopeless romantic and am therefore dominated by love. This was brought on by Sunday’s sermon at church (March 11th). My pastor is doing a Lenten sermon series on loving one another, and in this entry I’m going to talk a little bit about what I got out of it.
Let’s agree on something straight out…our culture hard core overuses the word love. Raise your hand if you’re guilty of saying one of these…”I looove chocolate,” or “I love my job” (equally appropriate for our overuse of hate, but that’s another topic all together…and since I don’t really care for hate, I probably won’t talk about it anytime soon…sorry to all the hatemongers out there). I certainly am…guilty of the first at least….I dunno about the second….but there are people out there who are I’m sure. What’s this got to do with anything? Good question I just asked vicariously for you.
What about this one? “I feel like I love [insert significant person of said feelings here].” Hmm, tricky tricky. Let’s get to that later…I’m not really fully prepared to answer it now, but hopefully by the time I get to the end of the entry I’ll have figured out how to address it.
Let’s first take a look at what love is. Where shall we look? Why, to God for guidance silly billy, that’s where we should always look…although if any of you are like me, that’s easier said than done…why consult God first and then act when you can act first and than maybe when it’s convenient for you ask God, or just…um…well, just keep on acting? Something we all should be working on methinks, me included. (By the way, when I say we, I mean we Christians…if you’re not a follower of Christ, you should be…Jesus loves you and wants to be your friend, so you’d best wise up and make friends with the Creator of the Universe pronto, lest you are caught in a freak gasoline fight accident or something…but I’m way off topic now, and this parenthesis is way to long, so I’m going to stop it). It’s really tough giving stuff to God...and I don’t understand why. We’ll be quite quick to trust our lives to something made by man…I’ve flown on an airplane four times in as many weeks, and I’ll be on an airplane again in two more weeks….trusting my very life to the maintenance workers, the pilots, and the airplane….and I do so without thinking twice….so shouldn’t I trust God all the more, who certainly won’t ever fail me? I think so…but it is tough.
Now you ask a Christian, “What is love?” and the Sunday school answer is “Love is patient, love is kind, etc, etc, etc.” I Cor. 13 would have been my first answer too. And all that is very very true, and quite honestly beautiful…one of the most beautiful versus in all of the Bible, but I’m not entirely sure that that particular chapter addresses the question at hand. Let’s take another angle.
Jesus told his disciples that they must love one another. Can you just up and love someone? I would argue yes, with Christ, you can. Love is not just an emotional response, but something you must want, you must will, and to which you must say yes! Love is not about what you prefer, or what I prefer, but about subordinating yourself to the will of the Savior Christ. Here’s where I think I’m comfortable addressing that ever hairy, “I feel like I love him/her!” I certainly believe, and know from experience (some wonderful, some painful) that love can grow from just plain pure feelings (I don’t want to sound like I’m saying feelings are stupid…feelings are awesome, and I’m very glad that God decided to invent them…what I am saying is that love transcends what feelings are…love is so much higher, so much bigger, so much stronger….it’s like comparing a musical on Broadway to a musical at a local theater…the local theater’s great fun, but can it really touch what’s possible on Broadway?) Romantic love more often than not grows out of attraction or admiration. It doesn’t have to be physical attraction either, though that is a leading starting point of love and indeed is also often a feeling mistaken for love. Let’s look at Robin Hood (I prefer the animated Disney version myself) where the pretender Prince John appears to be the lion in power, but the true king is Richard the Lionhearted. In this analogy, Prince John is physical attraction, and King Richard is love…one is pretending and indeed mistaken for holding the power of the other. Nothing wrong with physical attraction…God made it, and in the words of a pastor at a Christian youth festival I attended many man years ago, “It’s a great ride”…but it’s not love. Physical attraction is not the only culprit. Emotional attraction or even spiritual attraction can grow into love, just as they can be mistaken for love. We must be careful to choose love over lust, to make sure that our feelings of attraction form into love, and not into lust, for the former is the way of God, and the latter is the way of the world.
So I ask you, can you truly actually love without God? I say no. Perhaps I’m wrong, and I welcome discussion…for discussion = fantastic…but in my experience and from what I’ve learned from the Bible and the Holy Spirit, you can really only truly ever love someone, be it parent, child, brother, sister, friend, or significant other, if you love them through Christ. What do you think about it?
~AndyJams~
Heroes, Pirates and Talking Donkeys
The following is an excerpt entitled "Heroes, Pirates, and Talking Donkeys" from a recent Stand True E-News update written by founder Bryan Kemper. It's worth a read in my opinion and addresses some good points. For those of you who do not know about Stand True's Christ-centered pro-life ministry, you can check them out under our links section, but we highly encourage everyone to pay them a visit.
"I usually try and sleep when I fly, but this last week I could not sleep for the life me on the flight to the west coast. I picked up a newspaper and read about three movies coming out this May, all of which are the third movie in their respective series.
The article really intrigued me as it talked about the amount of money each of the movies' preceding installments had made, and how much they expected the new ones to make. All three are to be released over a three week period, and they are expected to make over a billion dollars combined in US box office totals alone.
I guess when you combine the exhilaration of a half-man, half-spider superhero flying around New York with pirates and zombies terrorizing the high seas, and a sarcastic animated talking donkey, it should be quite an exciting month.
So, millions of people will start lining up in May to spend about $20 a person on a night at the movies. They hope to be taken away in the story and thrilled by the action. Two hours later they will probably leave wishing that there really was a great hero that could always be counted on to save the day. Kids will be begging their parents to buy hundreds of dollars of toys, just so they can reenact the story, until their parents have a headache.
Just another average weekend in America. Of course, they could have gotten even more action, adventure, and drama, even a hero that saves the day, for free if they wanted too. They could have gone to church. That's right, church. Where we learn from the ultimate adventure book with the most amazing stories. Where we learn of a hero that truly does save the day, and offers us eternal salvation.
So why do we spend so much money on movies to take us away when we have such an amazing resource at our hands already? Maybe it is because so many churches have replaced the Bible with light, fun, fluffy stories. Maybe it is because, at so many churches, you end up hearing more about the pastor's weekend than the Gospel of Christ.
I have heard reports that teach us if we truly want church growth then we need to follow certain formulas for success. We need to keep the sermons under 30 minutes or we will lose everyone. We need to keep the sermons light and mellow so we don't offend anyone. We need to make church modern and relevant or no one will want to come.
Since when do we need to make the Word of God relevant? Maybe if people were offended by hearing the Gospel, they might see that they need repentance. Maybe we need to think about the things that we are willing to sit for hours to see before we complain about the length of church (football, concerts, movies).
I am not saying that we should not go to movies, although I will probably get a dozen e-mails telling me that there is nothing wrong with movies and I need to chill out. What I am trying to say is that maybe if we brought the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ back to church then we would not need gimmicks or special books and reports on how to keep churches relevant. The fact is the Word of God is just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.
So have fun this summer and go see a movie, I know I will. But, when you are calling all of your friends to ask them if they want to see a guy in tights fly around the city and save the day, ask yourself if you have invited them all to church to learn about a man who died to save us for eternity."
~Tribal
"I usually try and sleep when I fly, but this last week I could not sleep for the life me on the flight to the west coast. I picked up a newspaper and read about three movies coming out this May, all of which are the third movie in their respective series.
The article really intrigued me as it talked about the amount of money each of the movies' preceding installments had made, and how much they expected the new ones to make. All three are to be released over a three week period, and they are expected to make over a billion dollars combined in US box office totals alone.
I guess when you combine the exhilaration of a half-man, half-spider superhero flying around New York with pirates and zombies terrorizing the high seas, and a sarcastic animated talking donkey, it should be quite an exciting month.
So, millions of people will start lining up in May to spend about $20 a person on a night at the movies. They hope to be taken away in the story and thrilled by the action. Two hours later they will probably leave wishing that there really was a great hero that could always be counted on to save the day. Kids will be begging their parents to buy hundreds of dollars of toys, just so they can reenact the story, until their parents have a headache.
Just another average weekend in America. Of course, they could have gotten even more action, adventure, and drama, even a hero that saves the day, for free if they wanted too. They could have gone to church. That's right, church. Where we learn from the ultimate adventure book with the most amazing stories. Where we learn of a hero that truly does save the day, and offers us eternal salvation.
So why do we spend so much money on movies to take us away when we have such an amazing resource at our hands already? Maybe it is because so many churches have replaced the Bible with light, fun, fluffy stories. Maybe it is because, at so many churches, you end up hearing more about the pastor's weekend than the Gospel of Christ.
I have heard reports that teach us if we truly want church growth then we need to follow certain formulas for success. We need to keep the sermons under 30 minutes or we will lose everyone. We need to keep the sermons light and mellow so we don't offend anyone. We need to make church modern and relevant or no one will want to come.
Since when do we need to make the Word of God relevant? Maybe if people were offended by hearing the Gospel, they might see that they need repentance. Maybe we need to think about the things that we are willing to sit for hours to see before we complain about the length of church (football, concerts, movies).
I am not saying that we should not go to movies, although I will probably get a dozen e-mails telling me that there is nothing wrong with movies and I need to chill out. What I am trying to say is that maybe if we brought the Word of God and the Gospel of Christ back to church then we would not need gimmicks or special books and reports on how to keep churches relevant. The fact is the Word of God is just as relevant today as it was 2,000 years ago.
So have fun this summer and go see a movie, I know I will. But, when you are calling all of your friends to ask them if they want to see a guy in tights fly around the city and save the day, ask yourself if you have invited them all to church to learn about a man who died to save us for eternity."
~Tribal
Friday, March 09, 2007
1 Kings 3
This has been featured in my aim profile for a while now....and I decided it was Insense worthy, so here it is.
I learned an interesting truth recently as I was reading in I Kings 3. In vs 5, God says to Solomon, "Ask! What shall I give you?" Solomon asks not for riches or fame, but for wisdom to judge as God is just. In vs 12, the LORD says, "behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you." Why is this special? God gave Solomon a wise and understanding heart, not a wise an understanding brain...true wisdom, Godly wisdom, comes from the heart, the source of Love. In that way, I propose that Love is true widsom, and all else is folly.
"Love is a many splendid thing! Love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is Love!"
A high five goes to the first person who can tell me where I got that from.
~AndyJams~
I learned an interesting truth recently as I was reading in I Kings 3. In vs 5, God says to Solomon, "Ask! What shall I give you?" Solomon asks not for riches or fame, but for wisdom to judge as God is just. In vs 12, the LORD says, "behold, I have done according to your words; see, I have given you a wise and understanding heart, so that there has not been anyone like you before you, nor shall any like you arise after you." Why is this special? God gave Solomon a wise and understanding heart, not a wise an understanding brain...true wisdom, Godly wisdom, comes from the heart, the source of Love. In that way, I propose that Love is true widsom, and all else is folly.
"Love is a many splendid thing! Love lifts us up where we belong! All you need is Love!"
A high five goes to the first person who can tell me where I got that from.
~AndyJams~
Thursday, March 08, 2007
The Real Inconvenient Truth...
I was recently confronted by former Insense writer ice-t (who also happens to be the "Opinions" editor of our school newspaper, The Beacon) about doing an article to be published in The Beacon over the heated issue of global warming. It is slated to be featured side by side with an article of a more liberal persuasion in the forthcoming issue, but I find it worthwhile to post the piece here in the meantime. I will be sure to pass along my opposing colleague's work as well when the issue is actually released. Until then, enjoy my half of the special:
By now I’m sure that anybody who even remotely pays attention to the media is aware of Al Gore’s Oscar success with his recent documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Global warming seems to saturate political and scientific discussions everywhere, but is the theory that man is responsible for such climate changes scientifically sound? Is the earth really undergoing “global warming” as a result of human civilization’s increased industrialization?
While Al Gore and the environmentalist crowd in America are busy counting their political and monetary gains, a group of eminent scientists and climatologists are set to air a television special in the UK entitled The Great Global Warming Swindle. Proponents of global warming claim that increased atmospheric CO2 levels are responsible for the temperature increase, but Swindle’s director Martin Durkin argues, among other things, that temperature increase is actually responsible for increased CO2 levels. Studies of ice age temperatures show that increases in CO2 levels come, on average, 800 years after major increases in earth’s temperature.
No students here at Dallastown High School would remember this, but ask any teacher: the big scare of the sixties and seventies was global cooling. Between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, the average temperature of the earth actually decreased. Ironically enough, CO2 levels were consistently increasing. In 2003, NASA’s Global Hydrology and Climate Center released a graphic which shows the changes in the earth’s climates spanning back to 1979. While some areas are observed to have grown progressively warmer, other areas of the earth have actually grown cooler since 1979. Once again, however, CO2 levels were and are continuing to rise everywhere, meaning that temperature change should have uniformly risen all over the globe as well if that is the true cause for global warming.
So since some serious holes have now been punched in the classical interpretation of global warming as a result of man, what other theories exist to account for these undeniable changes in earth’s temperature? Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark claims in his book The Chilling Stars that cosmic rays cause clouds to form and thus block the sun’s most violent rays, reducing global temperature. Former New Scientist magazine editor Nigel Calder has recently released a book in which he argues that this theory is at the true core of the global warming controversy. He argues that since solar winds bat away many of the cosmic rays responsible for cloud cover, and since our sun is currently in the most active phase it has been in for a thousand years, this is the real reason behind the earth’s temperature increase. The change in climate is a direct result of a double knockout delivered by the natural life cycle of our sun: increased amounts of solar winds result in less cloud cover on earth, while at the same time the sun’s increased intensity means even more harmful rays penetrating the atmosphere. The undeniable result is an increase in global temperature.
What goes up must come down. The earth has undergone many temperature changes in its long history, and it is sure to undergo many more. It is the natural cycle of things. Leave it to man to think that he is powerful enough to be the cause of every single change in creation. While some may spend all of their time and effort trying to stop the earth’s temperature from rising another degree in the next one-hundred years, I think my focus is better placed elsewhere in a country where 1.6 million babies are annually slaughtered by abortion and where terrorist organizations can freely and illegally cross our borders.
Check back later to read the other side of this debate as carried out courtesy of The Beacon...
~Tribal
By now I’m sure that anybody who even remotely pays attention to the media is aware of Al Gore’s Oscar success with his recent documentary An Inconvenient Truth. Global warming seems to saturate political and scientific discussions everywhere, but is the theory that man is responsible for such climate changes scientifically sound? Is the earth really undergoing “global warming” as a result of human civilization’s increased industrialization?
While Al Gore and the environmentalist crowd in America are busy counting their political and monetary gains, a group of eminent scientists and climatologists are set to air a television special in the UK entitled The Great Global Warming Swindle. Proponents of global warming claim that increased atmospheric CO2 levels are responsible for the temperature increase, but Swindle’s director Martin Durkin argues, among other things, that temperature increase is actually responsible for increased CO2 levels. Studies of ice age temperatures show that increases in CO2 levels come, on average, 800 years after major increases in earth’s temperature.
No students here at Dallastown High School would remember this, but ask any teacher: the big scare of the sixties and seventies was global cooling. Between the 1940’s and the 1970’s, the average temperature of the earth actually decreased. Ironically enough, CO2 levels were consistently increasing. In 2003, NASA’s Global Hydrology and Climate Center released a graphic which shows the changes in the earth’s climates spanning back to 1979. While some areas are observed to have grown progressively warmer, other areas of the earth have actually grown cooler since 1979. Once again, however, CO2 levels were and are continuing to rise everywhere, meaning that temperature change should have uniformly risen all over the globe as well if that is the true cause for global warming.
So since some serious holes have now been punched in the classical interpretation of global warming as a result of man, what other theories exist to account for these undeniable changes in earth’s temperature? Danish scientist Henrik Svensmark claims in his book The Chilling Stars that cosmic rays cause clouds to form and thus block the sun’s most violent rays, reducing global temperature. Former New Scientist magazine editor Nigel Calder has recently released a book in which he argues that this theory is at the true core of the global warming controversy. He argues that since solar winds bat away many of the cosmic rays responsible for cloud cover, and since our sun is currently in the most active phase it has been in for a thousand years, this is the real reason behind the earth’s temperature increase. The change in climate is a direct result of a double knockout delivered by the natural life cycle of our sun: increased amounts of solar winds result in less cloud cover on earth, while at the same time the sun’s increased intensity means even more harmful rays penetrating the atmosphere. The undeniable result is an increase in global temperature.
What goes up must come down. The earth has undergone many temperature changes in its long history, and it is sure to undergo many more. It is the natural cycle of things. Leave it to man to think that he is powerful enough to be the cause of every single change in creation. While some may spend all of their time and effort trying to stop the earth’s temperature from rising another degree in the next one-hundred years, I think my focus is better placed elsewhere in a country where 1.6 million babies are annually slaughtered by abortion and where terrorist organizations can freely and illegally cross our borders.
Check back later to read the other side of this debate as carried out courtesy of The Beacon...
~Tribal
Sunday, March 04, 2007
High Calling
Tis spring break, and for the first time in a very very long time I have some free time to rub together. I've got time to read again, and time to write somethin...which I haven't gotten to do for months. On the flight home from Florida I began reading a book I got for Christmas, High Calling, The Courageous Life and Faith of Space Shuttle Columbia Commander Rick Husband, written by his widow, Evelyn Husband. I'm halfway through, and I gotta say it's faaantastic. For those not in the know, Rick Husband was the commander of STS-107, the fateful space shuttle mission ended in flames and debris as the orbiter Columbia broke apart and burned up over Texas skies on the morning of February 1st, 2003 during re-entry.
Perhaps you don't, but I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and how I found out of the tragedy, and it effected me deeply. I'm a certified space nerd with aspirations of one day being an astronaut myself. For those of you who are not quite so interested in the manned space program as I am, I'll give you a little refresher on what went down that terrible winter day. During launch in late January, the extreme forces involved ripped off a small piece of TPS (thermal protection system) foam from the external fuel tank. This was a regular occurrence and even occasionally ripped off tiles from the shuttle, but it had been happening for over one hundred launches without any problem. This time however, the chunk of foam smashed a large hole in the leading edge of the left wing. During re-entry, the hot ionized plasma that surrounds the speeding orbiter flowed into the wing, vaporizing the superstructure and breaking the wing off. Columbia was reduced to a fireball breaking into pieces within the blink of an eye just minutes before it's scheduled touch-down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Anywho, so why am I talking about all this space mumbo jumbo? Well, the book is the biography of the commander of that incredibly successful mission that ended in such tragedy. But more than facts of his life, the biography is about the spiritual walk of Rick Husband. It is a wonderful book. I've been reading it for two and a half days and I'm half way through it...which for me, a slow reader, is pretty good, and shows how good a book it really is....I can't put it down.
I'm rambling, and I'm not really coming across as eloquently as I would like, so I'll get right down to it...read this book. If you are a Christian, read this book. If you love space flight, read this book. If you are a Christian who loves space flight, then you absolutely must read this book. If you are struggling in your faith, read the book. If you're struggling with love, read this book. It's amazing. One of the things that's so appealing to me is that Rick Husband was not a perfect Christian. I read the biography of Rich Mullins a few years back, and it was inspiring, but Rich Mullins was always a fantastically strong Christian, which for those of us who struggle and stumble, that's actually pretty discouraging. Rick Husband came through struggles and a weak relationship with God and through the prayer and help of friends and a great deal of study of the Word, he began to walk closer and closer until he started to really have a fantastic relationship with Christ. It's really inspiring and quite frankly, helpful. It's encouraging. It gives me hope in a good many areas. Again, I digress. The point of all this is to say that YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!! Every now and then, when I read something especially cool, especially meaningful, or something that strikes me, I'll write it in. I'll start it off here with something on page 97, a transcript of an interview he gave shortly after his first flight to space in 1998 on STS-96.
Many people, reporters especially, have questioned Rick concerning the argument of science versus religion. When he came back from the Discovery [STS-96] mission, he was more than ready to answer their questions. In a taped interview Rick said,
"Even if you look at the universe and all the stars, our solar system--all the order that there is there, and the fact that the planets orbit around the sun, and the way that the different galaxies behave, all the different interactions that are there....I don't believe that's something that just happened by chance.
"Nobody can explain where everything came from and how it all got here. You just take a look around and you see the complexity in so many things and the detail in so many small things; how the simplest cell works, up to a tree, the human being; just the miracle of seeing our children born; and you say, 'This just didn't happen by chance.' If you even take a look at a system like the space shuttle--that is the most complicated and complex flying machine in the world and it didn't happen by chance and it doesn't approach the complexity of a human being. It took a lot of people a lot of time to sit down and think and put together that space shuttle and the entire system. Then to sit and think that the entire universe could have happened just by accident, it doesn't make sense to me.
"It'd almost seem you have to have more faith to accept that it happened by chance than to accept that God created the universe."
[page 97-98 of High Calling by Evelyn Husband, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2003]
This is for you naysayers out there, those who say that only fools and the simple believe that God created the universe, that no thinking man can honestly believe in anything other than the Big Bang, that no person with an IQ greater than that of a pea could think that our world came about by anything but chance...well, Rick Husband did, and he was an astronaut. Perhaps it sounds trite, but he is among the best of the best that our great nation, the best of the best, has to offer. To become the commander of a space shuttle, Rick Husband must be among the very best humanity can offer. And if Rick Husband's strong faith in the Lord makes you think anything less of him and his memory, than you are the fool, and I pity you, and I pray that God have mercy on you.
Anywho, I say read the book, it's fantastic, but I'll put the cool stuff I see in every now and then.
~AndyJams~
Perhaps you don't, but I remember exactly where I was, what I was doing, and how I found out of the tragedy, and it effected me deeply. I'm a certified space nerd with aspirations of one day being an astronaut myself. For those of you who are not quite so interested in the manned space program as I am, I'll give you a little refresher on what went down that terrible winter day. During launch in late January, the extreme forces involved ripped off a small piece of TPS (thermal protection system) foam from the external fuel tank. This was a regular occurrence and even occasionally ripped off tiles from the shuttle, but it had been happening for over one hundred launches without any problem. This time however, the chunk of foam smashed a large hole in the leading edge of the left wing. During re-entry, the hot ionized plasma that surrounds the speeding orbiter flowed into the wing, vaporizing the superstructure and breaking the wing off. Columbia was reduced to a fireball breaking into pieces within the blink of an eye just minutes before it's scheduled touch-down at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
Anywho, so why am I talking about all this space mumbo jumbo? Well, the book is the biography of the commander of that incredibly successful mission that ended in such tragedy. But more than facts of his life, the biography is about the spiritual walk of Rick Husband. It is a wonderful book. I've been reading it for two and a half days and I'm half way through it...which for me, a slow reader, is pretty good, and shows how good a book it really is....I can't put it down.
I'm rambling, and I'm not really coming across as eloquently as I would like, so I'll get right down to it...read this book. If you are a Christian, read this book. If you love space flight, read this book. If you are a Christian who loves space flight, then you absolutely must read this book. If you are struggling in your faith, read the book. If you're struggling with love, read this book. It's amazing. One of the things that's so appealing to me is that Rick Husband was not a perfect Christian. I read the biography of Rich Mullins a few years back, and it was inspiring, but Rich Mullins was always a fantastically strong Christian, which for those of us who struggle and stumble, that's actually pretty discouraging. Rick Husband came through struggles and a weak relationship with God and through the prayer and help of friends and a great deal of study of the Word, he began to walk closer and closer until he started to really have a fantastic relationship with Christ. It's really inspiring and quite frankly, helpful. It's encouraging. It gives me hope in a good many areas. Again, I digress. The point of all this is to say that YOU MUST READ THIS BOOK!! Every now and then, when I read something especially cool, especially meaningful, or something that strikes me, I'll write it in. I'll start it off here with something on page 97, a transcript of an interview he gave shortly after his first flight to space in 1998 on STS-96.
Many people, reporters especially, have questioned Rick concerning the argument of science versus religion. When he came back from the Discovery [STS-96] mission, he was more than ready to answer their questions. In a taped interview Rick said,
"Even if you look at the universe and all the stars, our solar system--all the order that there is there, and the fact that the planets orbit around the sun, and the way that the different galaxies behave, all the different interactions that are there....I don't believe that's something that just happened by chance.
"Nobody can explain where everything came from and how it all got here. You just take a look around and you see the complexity in so many things and the detail in so many small things; how the simplest cell works, up to a tree, the human being; just the miracle of seeing our children born; and you say, 'This just didn't happen by chance.' If you even take a look at a system like the space shuttle--that is the most complicated and complex flying machine in the world and it didn't happen by chance and it doesn't approach the complexity of a human being. It took a lot of people a lot of time to sit down and think and put together that space shuttle and the entire system. Then to sit and think that the entire universe could have happened just by accident, it doesn't make sense to me.
"It'd almost seem you have to have more faith to accept that it happened by chance than to accept that God created the universe."
[page 97-98 of High Calling by Evelyn Husband, published by Thomas Nelson, Inc, 2003]
This is for you naysayers out there, those who say that only fools and the simple believe that God created the universe, that no thinking man can honestly believe in anything other than the Big Bang, that no person with an IQ greater than that of a pea could think that our world came about by anything but chance...well, Rick Husband did, and he was an astronaut. Perhaps it sounds trite, but he is among the best of the best that our great nation, the best of the best, has to offer. To become the commander of a space shuttle, Rick Husband must be among the very best humanity can offer. And if Rick Husband's strong faith in the Lord makes you think anything less of him and his memory, than you are the fool, and I pity you, and I pray that God have mercy on you.
Anywho, I say read the book, it's fantastic, but I'll put the cool stuff I see in every now and then.
~AndyJams~
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