The Undiscovered (Underwater) Country

Our Creator is wonderfully imaginative. I was overwhelmed with a sense of awe by the majesty of the Architect of our world with the Discovery series Planet Earth several years ago. Although the producers (and commentary) was clearly from an evolutionary bias, I watched the strange and amazing creatures of our planet with an eye toward the intricate design of our wondrously intelligent and creative God.

A new movie by the producers of Planet Earth (and its movie counterpart "Earth") is making its debut April 22, 2010. The movie, Oceans, will explore the amazing marine life that exists in the depths of the oceans of our world. In an exploration of our planet, the oceans are truly an undiscovered country with new life and phenomenon continually being uncovered. According to USA Today, scientists recently discovered "hydrothermal vents" miles below the ocean's surface where life teems in the "warm, mineral-rich fluids" of the volcanic rifts despite extreme underwater pressure.

There are great treasures yet to be discovered in the deep places of our planet. Yet, there are even greater treasures to be found in the "depths" of God. It is upon these "deep places" that we must prioritize our focus.

In the book of Proverbs, "wisdom" for living your life is personified as if it were a person. Wisdom is described this way in Proverbs 8:22-27, "The Lord possessed me [wisdom] at the beginning of his work, the first of his acts of old. Ages ago I was set up, at the first, before the beginning of the earth. When there were no depths I was brought forth, when there were no springs abounding with water. Before the mountains had been shaped, before the hills, I was brought forth, before he had made the earth and its fields, or the first of the dust of the world. When he established the heavens, I was there…" (ESV).

Wisdom (personified) was set in place by God even before the depths of the oceans and the treasures that it holds. Much greater are the treasures of a life wisely lived than all the magnificent creatures that swim in the great deep. Too many people today live lives of foolishness and folly. God desire that we live wisely, "And now, O sons, listen to me: blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction and be wise and do not neglect it…For whoever finds me [wisdom] finds life and obtains favor from the Lord" (Proverbs 8:32-35).

Better Felt than Told Religion?

Some claim that their faith-relationship with God is "better felt than told." This phrase is used to mean a variety of things. One potential connotation is that there is a component to a life-walk with God that cannot be adequately explained until one has personally experienced it. Certainly there is an "experiential knowledge" to our faith. The Scripture says, "Oh, taste and see that the Lord is good!" (Psalm 34:8). The Hebrew writer affirms that we must "taste the heavenly gift" and "the goodness of the word of God" (Hebrews 6:4-5). Evangelistically, we encourage people to "come and see what God has done" (Psalm 66:5; John 1:39). Peter specifically says that we must always be ready to give an "answer" (Greek-apologia, a defense or explanation) of the hope that lies within us. In context, Peter is discussing giving an answer to those who basically ask, "How can you have such confidence and hope in the midst of persecution?" We must be ready to give a personal explanation to anyone who asks about what God has done in our lives. Telling our personal story of how we came to faith and the difference Christ has made in our lives is an example of evangelism modeled for us in Scripture (John 9:25). Paul often gave his "personal testimony" as a means of explaining his faith evangelistically (Acts 22:1-21; 24:10-21; 26:1-23). On these three occasions Paul gave his "defense" (apologia) by giving his personal faith story. Many who are seeking truth in our postmodern context today are more convinced by personal experiences than by logical reasoning. Subjective experience is not a full-proof approach to evangelism, but it is one that was used by Paul and is often very effective in our current environment.

Skeptics of the Christian worldview, however, will not be persuaded by "warm and fuzzy" stories of Jesus' impact upon your life. After all, personal experiences vary from person to person and don't really prove the truthfulness of anything. Jesus said that we can "know the truth" by being diligent students of God's revealed truth (John 8:31-32). God expects us to direct our analytical abilities toward the evidence of truth he has provided, reason correctly from that evidence, and arrive at God's absolute, unalterable truth (Romans 1:20-21; Psalm 119:89). Paul often used logical reasoning in an attempt to "persuade" people to believe the truth of God (Acts 9:22; 17:2-3; 18:4; 24:25). While "personal testimony" can be effectively used in personal evangelism, Christians must also be prepared to give a well-reasoned explanation of the truth-claims of Christianity. Objective truth must be "proved" from the evidence God has given from nature (Psalm 19:1-3) and from his word (John 8:31-32; Acts 17:2-3).

Truth has come under attack in our postmodern culture. By definition, "truth" is an established fact that shows the reality of something. Truth is objective meaning that it is not dependent upon individual experience, but instead is an absolute standard to which all people are accountable. God's word claims to be this objective, absolute truth (John 17:17). If we don't pursue truth and use our logical abilities to arrive at God's truth, we are "without excuse" and will find ourselves the recipients of God's wrath (Romans 1:18-23).

We must love God and seek him with both our hearts and our minds (Mark 12:30). Let's tell others of what God has done in our lives personally. But may we also be prepared to logically defend the truthfulness of God.

The Beginning of a New Life

As many of you experienced parents can surely understand, Michelle's mind and my mind have both been consumed these days with thoughts of our firstborn child that is steadily developing. If God continues to extend his grace toward us, our baby will make his entrance into this world sometime in June (Yes, we found out this past Tuesday that it will be a baby boy!).

Christians sometimes quibble over the biblical definition of a "miracle." I understand that childbirth is not a supernatural event since it occurs within the natural laws set in motion by God in the beginning. Precisely, miracles are events that occur outside of natural laws. However, in the sense that we are overwhelmed by the amazing creative ability of God to form a new life, that power is nothing short of "miraculous." Only God can create life and when we see it happening before our very eyes we see the direct power of our Almighty God! God speaks to us through the work of his hands when we look to the starlit sky, a radiant sunset, a brilliant rainbow, and certainly when we look into the eyes of a newborn child (cf. Psalm 19:1).

When I first saw the ultrasound video of our little child, the words of Psalm 139:13-16 jumped right off the page and into living color, "For you formed my inward parts; you knitted me together in my mother's womb. I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made. Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well...Your eyes saw my unformed substance...." Thanks to medical science I was able to do something that once only God was able to do--see the unformed (and developing) substance of my baby boy. Anyone that has looked at an early ultrasound of a baby should recognize the truthfulness that human life has already begun. God recognizes human life as having begun within the womb, "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you" (Jeremiah 1:5).

Life in all its forms is truly amazing. It is a wondrously curious event to see a seed sprout into stem and leaf. Still more staggering is to see the joyfully independent life that springs forth from a newborn colt or a spunky little puppy. But there is something more staggering about God's power to infuse a human soul into the flesh and bones of a developing human being. Human science may be able to explain human anatomy and physiology but it is at a loss to explain how a human being has a spirit (or soul) unlike all other animal life. The writer of Ecclesiastes said it well, "As you do not know the way the spirit comes to the bones in the womb of a woman with child, so you do not know the work of God who makes everything" (11:5, ESV). It defies imagination and moves me to tears to consider that the picture on the ultrasound screen is a human life that has begun and will continue throughout eternity. I shudder at the weight of the responsibility God placed upon our shoulders as parents to train our child to come to know Him.

We can become so accustomed to our created surroundings and the events that take place in our world that we don't take time to consider the amazement of it all. There is nothing like seeing a newborn baby to give you spiritual clarity. I like the quote attributed to Albert Einstein, "There are two ways to live: you can live as if nothing is a miracle; you can live as if everything is a miracle." Although one might go too far with this quote, I choose to live my life seeing the power of God all around me and give him all the glory!

Where is this Global Warming?

Propelled by the threat (perhaps hysteria) of supposed man-made global warming, the American cultural has been convinced to "go-green." From political statements, marketing tactics, and even one church I know installing an earth-friendly heating system, we now seem to be much more conscious of protecting our environment. The advocates of global warming have cooled down in recent weeks as a massive cold front has held an icy grip on the South-eastern states. As a result, one top United Nation's global warming proponent is now going to the opposite extreme and is predicting the beginning of a "mini ice age" (see FoxNews.com's report "30 Years of Global Cooling Are Coming, Leading Scientist Says" on January 11, 2010).

The increased concern of protecting and preserving our environment is a good thing. In fact, it is a divine directive. One of the responsibilities given to mankind is to be a steward and keeper of our earthly abode (see Genesis 2:15). God has given this environment, its creatures, and natural resources for mankind's use (cf. Genesis 2:11-12, 16-17; 3:21; 9:3). Yet, God is displeased when we blatantly abuse his creation (cf. Deuteronomy 22:6-7; Exodus 23:11; et. al.).

We must be good stewards of the earth and not abuse God's provisions for us. However, we must not fall victim to the doomsday predictions and hysteria of the environmental prophets. Man can abuse the earth and even do great harm (remember the Exxon Valdez oil spill in 1989?) However, we do not have the power to destroy the earth. God has reserved that exclusive right having promised that he will be the one to personally destroy the earth and man cannot subvert his plan (2 Peter 3:7, 12). God has personally "reserved" the destruction of the earth with fire for himself on his predetermined day (2 Peter 3:7). Man cannot preempt God's predetermined plans. Even after the oil spill of the Exxon Valdez, scientists were amazed at the "rapid recovery" of the environment which demonstrates that God has designed the earth as a "resilient ecosystem" and not a "fragile environment" (Doughty, Heaven, pg. 48).

From the beginning God designed the environment and weather patterns of the earth to be cyclical in nature (Genesis 1:14). We should expect that there will be cycles of cold weather and decades of warmer temperatures. In fact, God made a promise concerning this after he destroyed the earth by water in the days of Noah. God said, "While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night, shall not cease" (Genesis 8:22).

While we should be very conscious of the fact that we must be responsible stewards of God's creation, we should not be fearful that we will destroy the earth. God holds that exclusive right. We must be personally prepared for that day (2 Peter 3:11-13). In this way, maybe we should be more concerned with heaven than with earth!

The Edge of Reality

A very interesting news item was presented on the Paul Harvey morning radio program this morning (2/2/09). The GEO600 project in Hanover, Germany has detected a noise in the Universe with their giant wave detector that they cannot explain. This huge measuring device has been searching for gravitational waves--or ripples in space-time caused by things like neutron stars and black holes. But the project has discovered something that they did not expect.

The noise that was detected by the GEO600 project could possibly be the "most important discovery in physics for half a century." Before the discovery, Craig Hogan (pictured left), a physicist at Fermilab in Batavia, Illinois predicted such a discovery. Hogan's explanation is featured in the January issue of New Scientist and has become the most popular news story in the publication's history. You can read the article on their website by clicking here.

According to the article, Hogan is suggesting that the noise is evidence of the place where space-time stops. His conclusion is "If the GEO600 result is what I suspect it is, then we are all living in a giant cosmic hologram." He is suggesting life, as we know it, is being projected by light to recreate a 3D holographic image. The source of the image would be outside of the known Universe. Certainly this hypothesis, if proven, would have huge ramifications in the world of physics. However, would it not also have ramifications theologically?

Paul Harvey Jr. said it well in the broadcast that detailed this discovery. He observed that life as we know it, our very lives themselves, is all being played out on a stage. Meanwhile, what is real is sitting in the darkened theater watching our actions upon the stage of life (cf. Genesis 11:5; Genesis 18:20-21). He then ponders the question, will the audience applaud our performance on the stage or be appalled by us?

Will You Follow the Evidence?

For centuries people believed that Aristotle was correct when he said that the heavier an object, the faster it would fall to earth. Aristotle was regarded as the greatest thinker of all time, and surely he was not wrong.

Anyone could have easily taken two objects, one heavy and one light, and dropped them from a great height and see if the heavier object landed first. But no one conducted this experiment until nearly 2,000 years after Aristotle’s death.
In 1589, Galileo summoned the most educated professors to the base of the Tower of Pisa. From the top of the tower, Galileo pushed off a 10 pound and a 1 pound weight. Both of the objects landed at the same instant. The power of belief was so strong, however, that the professors denied their own eyesight. They continued to say that Aristotle was right.
In matters of your personal faith, do you follow the evidence of Scripture or do you blindly accept what you have always been taught? Do you simply follow the religious traditions of what the church has always done? Do you blindly accept what preachers and church leaders of the past proclaimed? Or are you willing to examine the evidence and go wherever it takes you? As Christians, we must be willing to reexamine our beliefs and make sure they pass the test of Scriptural evidence. “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves!” (2 Cor. 13:5).