Those Dinosaurs!

Have you noticed how we love to get excited by dangerous, aggressive ideas and concepts? Dinosaurs seem to enliven the imagination of every young boy and girl!

 

One of the more amusing things I have heard is a badly informed Christian parent saying to a child that dinosaurs didn’t exist! I find that rather amazing since we definitely have bones of these creatures by the hundreds of thousands. Folk, lets get it straight, dinosaurs did exist! Anyone who says otherwise is being foolish and it’s no wonder that this type of archaic thinking causes people to deride those who make such poorly uniformed statements.

 

Now when they existed is more a matter of opinion than fact because as of yet all the facts have not agreed with each other. We do have a plethora of evidence in bones, but the timing we get from them is at best approximate.

 

The Christians who want to reject dinosaurs because they believe in a young earth cannot do so due to the bones. Instead they indicate that these animals are much younger than scientists agree they are.

Sorry, but I side with the scientists here because, lets get it straight, the same technologies we use to date our bible, to do medical work today, and many other activities that use radiometric tools are the ones used to date these ancient animal bones. (At least the science is the same). These are reliable tools folk!


Now dating with them only gives approximate dates, but these approximates are still to be believed if they are within their given and known variations.

 

It’s a bit like you answering your son or daughter of 2 when they ask what time it is, you will say 3-o-clock instead of 2:48pm but you are not deliberately lying! You are answering within established social parameters. The answer is correct given the abilities of those present.

The scientists do their best to get a good approximation and know the variations but don’t always pass it onto people like us because we don’t have the depth of knowledge to understand the detailed answer. It doesn’t make it wrong! We need to go and study if we want more information!

 

Now, that said, we must also be honest and point out the scientists are also wrong! A few years ago a well documented find of human and dinosaur footprints were found in the same rock strata. i.e. they were the same age! This means the scientists don’t yet have it all right. Apparently  a series of 14 human footprints with at least 134 dinosaur tracks were discovered in the bed of the Paluxy River(you can read up on this on the internet), near Glen Rose, Texas.

 

Sadly, because we have bad scientists in this world as well as good, these are now damaged. It is believed a group of evolutionists went out with chisels and destroyed this, but not before photographs were taken and eye witnesses had viewed them (It’s interesting the evolutionist suspects have refused polygraph tests, but the eye witnesses have taken them).
 

 

This, I think, is an example of the false emotion around this issue! Why can we not accept facts and try to put them together instead of polarizing and trying to make out the other party is idiotic?

 

Okay, time to come off my soapbox and get onto discussing dinosaurs. Here is a rough time scale for dinosaurs for discussion . . .

 

 

Now the interesting thing that we discussed previously is that the bible seems to indicate man started being formed before the plant time and finished just before man was put into the Garden of Eden (See Gen 1 and Gen 2 accounts in the bible).

 

The diagram above shows that vertebrates and mammals were around together with Dinosaurs. We know God was still busy forming man during that time, so where is the argument if we accept that? (Note, I am not saying I accept that, but rather that this is an interesting argument!).

 

What we as Christians do know is that we don’t have absolute knowledge only God does. Scientists would agree we don’t have absolute knowledge, but non-Christian scientists don’t agree God has the knowledge or exists. That’s okay, we are allowed to disagree but still love each other and enjoy our diversity!

 

As a conclusion to this section, let’s look at an interesting account in Job, the biblical “leviathan” in Job 41. Here a creature is described! See what you think. I think it describes a dinosaur far more accurately than any other creature known so far.

The fire out the mouth thing is a bit confusing since as of yet we have to find some creature that did that. However hearing the number of dragon legends around the world, there had to be at least some creature that could at least have been mistakenly considered to have fire coming out its mouth. (My wife thinks that it is breath being exhaled by these huge creatures on a cold morning, being viewed by simple, terrified people. Perhaps she is right, but that doesn’t cause sparks or coals does it?)

 

Anyhow, I am taking the NASB version since that tries to be accurate regarding the translation of the words from the original text. This is what it says:

 

 ¹"Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook?
         Or press down his tongue with a cord? 
    ²"Can you put a rope in his nose
         Or pierce his jaw with a hook? 
   ³"Will he make many supplications to you,
         Or will he speak to you soft words? 
    ⁴"Will he make a covenant with you?
         Will you take him for a servant forever? 
    ⁵"Will you play with him as with a bird,
         Or will you bind him for your maidens? 
    ⁶"Will the traders bargain over him?
         Will they divide him among the merchants? 
    ⁷"Can you fill his skin with harpoons,
         Or his head with fishing spears? 
    ⁸"Lay your hand on him;
         Remember the battle; you will not do it again! 
    ⁹"Behold, your expectation is false;
         Will you be laid low even at the sight of him? 
    ¹⁰"No one is so fierce that he dares to arouse him;
         Who then is he that can stand before Me? 
    ¹¹"Who has given to Me that I should repay him?
         Whatever is under the whole heaven is Mine. 
    ¹²"I will not keep silence concerning his limbs,
         Or his mighty strength, or his orderly frame.
    ¹³"Who can strip off his outer armor?
         Who can come within his double mail?
    ¹⁴"Who can open the doors of his face?
         Around his teeth there is terror. 
    ¹⁵"His strong scales are his pride,
         Shut up as with a tight seal. 
    ¹⁶"One is so near to another
         That no air can come between them. 
    ¹⁷"They are joined one to another;
         They clasp each other and cannot be separated. 
    ¹⁸"His sneezes flash forth light,
         And his eyes are like the eyelids of the morning. 
    ¹⁹"Out of his mouth go burning torches;
         Sparks of fire leap forth. 
    ²⁰"Out of his nostrils smoke goes forth
         As from a boiling pot and burning rushes
    ²¹"His breath kindles coals,
         And a flame goes forth from his mouth. 
    ²²"In his neck lodges strength,
         And dismay leaps before him. 
    ²³"The folds of his flesh are joined together,
         Firm on him and immovable. 
    ²⁴"His heart is as hard as a stone,
         Even as hard as a lower millstone. 
    ²⁵"When he raises himself up, the mighty fear;
         Because of the crashing they are bewildered.
    ²⁶"The sword that reaches him cannot avail,
         Nor the spear, the dart or the javelin. 
    ²⁷"He regards iron as straw,
         Bronze as rotten wood. 
    ²⁸"The arrow cannot make him flee;
         Slingstones are turned into stubble for him. 
    ²⁹"Clubs are regarded as stubble;
         He laughs at the rattling of the javelin. 
    ³⁰"His underparts are like sharp potsherds;
         He spreads out like a threshing sledge on the mire.
    ³¹"He makes the depths boil like a pot;
         He makes the sea like a jar of ointment. 
    ³²"Behind him he makes a wake to shine;
         One would think the deep to be gray-haired. 
    ³³"Nothing on earth is like him,
         One made without fear. 
    ³⁴"He looks on everything that is high;
         He is king over all the sons of pride."

So, whatever you believe, all I would like is for us to give others the benefit of the doubt, and to love them with the love of our Lord.

 

We were not there and since they are not here, it is less important than making sure we live life with integrity, purpose and love of others isn't it?

.... 

Ever found a child who found it difficult to believe there was a God?

 

I guess we consider that a silly question! I mean kid’s believe in goblins, fairies, dragons and superman, so of course they would believe there is a God right?

 

Okay, so as they grow up they are continually amazed by what is around them, the variety, diversity, complexity and the question they all ask is “who made the….”

 

They want to know who made the sky, the clouds, the moon, the sun, the dogs etc.

 

It’s a natural question because God built us to ask it! He answers it with the wonder around us. Unfortunately, the kid grows up and finds that there is not only good, but there is bad as well. In a little while they realize the bad extends into themselves when they do something they know is wrong!

 

How do they know it is wrong?

Is it because inherent in every person is a knowledge we are to love those around us and not do things that damage that love? We are disappointed by those around us, and ourselves, while at young age. Here is where the Christian and non-Christian family advice varies quite a bit!
 

As Christians we firstly tell our kids that God made the world! Non-Christians cannot give an explanation because its too complex for the little brains but they try anyhow, and confuse the small growing soul with facts they cannot yuet understand.

Then the non-Christian cannot explain where the bad comes from and just explain some people are bad without a reason why!

While children are simple, they are not stupid and they get the message that there are bad people, and then knowing there are, and that they did something bad, they conclude they are a "bad person"!

Then, the non-Christian parent has to explain that people are both good and bad, and this again confuses the poor little one even further because the obvious question is “why?” and the parents cannot answer!

 

Christians do have it so much easier because God prepared a message that is for everyone!

We don’t need to be a rocket scientist to know that this world is wonderfully complex and believe it was made by a God (How is another story!). So we tell our little ones God created it, then when they find out people are bad, we tell them that people do selfish and nasty and silly things because there is evil in the world that is put there by a bad person called Satan.

We explain we cannot see Satan, like we cannot see God, but we can see the effect he has on us by the bad things that happen. For example due to wanting things that aren’t ours, wanting things others have, and people being nasty to others.

Then, when the child realizes they are also part of this we explain that God send his baby boy Jesus to come to us so that if we believe in God and let his Spirit do things for us, he excuses the bad things and they are forgotten like they never happened so we are good again!

 

Children get this!

 

That’s why Paul could say in Romans 1:18 to 19

 

“The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of men who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse”

 

God made it simple so that we would be without excuse! It’s us who go and push truth away and fabricate rationalisations to excuse our bad behaviour. (We have been taught how to do it by un-godly people in our past and often don’t have the courage to honestly look into these things).

 

God’s power and eternal nature is not in dispute (simply look into the heavens and realize each star is putting out the power of our own sun, and that we are looking back millions of years to sun’s that have come and gone, and who’s light is only reaching us now!)

 

I am without excuse and God says everyone knows these things in their heart.

Why are we so scared as humans to face truth and love?

Maybe we need to think about that today J .

Have a great day!

 

 

....
How many times do we think that someone who says they “have faith” are actually “naïve!”?

 

I get this all the time!

The first thing people try out on a person of faith is normally a question (which the media, schools, and institutes of limited integrity have pre-programmed them to ask) like “so do you believe in evolution?” or “how old do you think the Earth is?” or “Does your faith accept people of same sex relationships?” etc.

  The answers to these questions can be found in my blogs (see the listing for topics) and I think we can safely conclude that the “having faith” and adequately answering of these questions are totally compatible!

On average a well educated person of faith can usually not only answers these question but could putout harder ones, such as

“So how come science has not yet proposed any adequate way that life could originate in pre-historic times?,

or

“the bible suggested the big bang prior to science in that it said everything has a beginning, since man cannot prove anything from before time, why is it so impossible that God who says he is timeless didn’t do that creation?”

and others.

 

We don’t do generally say this to non-Christians as christians though do we? Why not?

 I think it’s because we have a different focus, one on helping and loving others, not trying to brow beat them into conforming to our thoughts.

We don’t want spin or confusing facts, we want simple understandable and effective help for those around us!

 

We should accept everyone as they are without prejudging them! Moslems, Buddhists, homosexuals, drunkards, prostitutes, businessmen, politicians, lawyers, criminals and anyone else who comes to a true Christian for help can be sure of compassion (not gullibility, but compassion J )

 

We want to help, but need to know the needs others have!

We don’t always have the resources, but out of what we have, we will try to help! This is because we are not ashamed of the good news that Jesus put out for everyone who wants to know it. We are happy to discuss it with anyone because we know that if people just open a crack up in their lives to God and ask him for help, he will take that opportunity . If they have courage to trust him, things will start to change!

 

We know that God powerfully intervenes in lives!

Perhaps not with spectacular show grabbing miracles that the public critiques of Christians would like to see, but with gentle life changing support and love, and guidance from the God who made the universe!

We know the message is for everyone. God is right! We know that we don’t always understand the details, but we know that having chanced all to give God control of our lives and having seen the power of his work and the changes made, we know it to be true personally. That’s faith!

It's hard not to want to influence others towards this good by manipulating them, but God said we cannot and should not! Manipulation is the way of the media, television and often people who write ssome chool textbooks, but Christians are called to a higher standard! We have to let others use their free will and not intervene (like our Heavenly Father does)

We trust in something we know to be true but cannot prove! That's faith! Like the faith you have that the light in your bedroom will go on if you toggle the switch! (Now that is something that sometimes fails, but God never fails!) Faith is good since it allows us to move onto other things that are inportant without worrying needlessly. (Do you worry that each time you switch on the light in your bedroom, that it will not come on, I sure hope not!)

 

By reading the good news Jesus had recorded in the sacred writings of the books of our bible, we get to know how we can also be right in how we live. It shows how we can be right towards others, and live for others. The love God has for us is sacrificial, i.e. he gives up lots to love us! He wants us to follow his example.

So don't think being a Christian is a free ride, far from it, its a fast exhilerating and supremely special ride, but it will require us to sacrifice things along the way. Sometimes its our pleasurable but bad habits, nasty attitudes and laziness! The return is great however!

 

Our Father in heaven wants us to live lives each day that we can be proud of! Doing the right things for each day and treating others correctly that day. Not abusing or pre-judging others but enjoying their presence and trying to help them improve their lives and live right as well. Maybe they will do the same for others after they see the benefits?

 

That way we make this world a bit better each day. That’s what I want to do, are you going to help?
Perhaps you can commit to trying to live life the right way today!

Maybe I am Naïve but it’s sure good to be that way! J

     

....
How many people do you know that are discouraged?

 The labour departments have terms for a group of people called “discouraged workers”.

 This is defined as “a person of legal employment age who is not actively seeking employment”[1]. The person has given up looking for work altogether.

 While we are probably not in that category (although we many be), discouragement can take many forms; shortage of things we absolutely need to succeed, perceived nastiness of people towards us, inability to risk being hurt again, feeling we are the wrong age, sex or that we don’t have enough skills, talents, or social abilities.

 We can all find something in these categories that have held us back or put us down at one time or the other.

 Fortunately not all of us become discouraged! But then, not all of us come under the extreme pressure some of us find ourselves in!

 In the labor field a “discouraged worker” is often classified as “ Marginally attached to the work force”, why?

 Well the person is part of a pool of “hidden skills” that is waiting to help society! When we are discouraged, we are stealing our own talents from a society that needs them. We are not representing ourselves correctly to ourselves and others, and are perhaps appealing to the wrong people to acknowledge us.

 Those of us that are not in this difficult circumstance need to take that great guy, Paul’s advice when he said “I long to see you. I want to make you strong by giving you a gift from the Holy Spirit. I want us to cheer each other up by sharing our faith.”[2]

 Let’s look at that for a moment! Firstly notice we need to want to see the discouraged person in person (not via texting, or email, or phone, or letters).

When we are with the person, we are able to allow Holy Spirit to touch our emotions and mood and bring us to the point of deep empathy with the tperson who needs our help. We have got to go to them, not expect them to come to us.

A discouraged person doesn’t initiate things well do they? So why ask them to? First we must love enough to want to be with them!

 Notice Paul “long’s” to see them, not just a “want” but a “longing”?

How much do we long to see a discouraged person? A lot of us want the opposite, to not be near them!

Why? Is it because they pull our spirits down? I had to face that! I realized that while my spirit droops and wilts a bit, if I am plugged into God’s Holy Spirit, it doesn’t happen as easily.

Instead, I find I lift the spirit of the other person! That’s what a follower of the Christian way should be doing, we need to long to be with those who need our help! We need to long to lift their spirits!

 Next, notice Paul wants the person to be strong! A discouraged person has become weak! What has happened is that the evil, the nasty, and selfish things of life have torn into them and disabled them.
 
 We need to be with them to give them someone to lean on and to enable them to grow in strength.

 They will think they are leaning on us and we are helping them, but if we are wise, we will be leaning on Holy Spirit so that the pressure on us is actually carried by Holy Spirit.

 That’s why Paul says he wants to hand over a gift from the Holy Spirit. It’s much better to have the strength ourselves than to rely on others giving it to us! It’s better for the discouraged person to have the strength of Holy Spirit lifting them, than them relying on us to do it for them.

We can be there being the physical person helping, but when we are powered by the power of the Universe, then we have more energy than the “Energizer Bunny!”

 So we need to go to the person, lovingly help them, and tell them of how God has helped us in similar situations in the past. By sharing how much God helps us we will cheer them up a bit! When discouraged, it may be a struggle to allow others to cheer us but we do appreciate it after a while don’t we.

 To help discouraged people is an obligation! That’s a big word for “social force that binds you to the courses of action demanded by that force”.
 
 We are bound by our Loving Father to help, and in doing so we are helped ourselves.

 

We get a sense of purpose and direction that grows into us and builds us up with a true humble but outgoing spirit powered by Holy Spirit.

We make a difference in our lives and those around us.

We becomes Kings kids, taking charge of our days!

 Let’s go live like a Kings kid today!

 

Have you ever seen that movie “I AM SAM”?

 If you haven’t, I can really recommend it!

It’s the story of a simple minded guy who takes in a woman to give her a place to sleep and ends up with a baby girl, the woman having disappeared into a crowd, never to be seen again.
 
Sam has the mental age of a 7 year old, and as the movie unfolds, we find out that he has an innocence that is contrasted against those around him who are busy with manipulating life to achieve goals.

There are people like his lawyer who are so busy the miss important things in life. His lawyers son seems to be almost starved of attention, while Sam spends every happy moment he can with his daughter who gets older every day until she reaches the age of seven.

 She starts to become intellectually older than her dad and yet she loves him with all her heart. We soon find out why! 

Sam is one of those people who never lies and takes people as being basically good! He never assumes a person is not good until he has spent lots of time with them and always seems to experience how the other person feels at times of stress. 

 A good movie because it shows how innocence can be captivating and the happy ending makes us all believe this world can be a better place! 

The question is however whether an innocent approach to life is sufficient.

Is right and wrong aligned with innocence? Can a person be innocent and still wrong in absolute terms? In other words can we think we are innocent, but when we one day face our ultimate judgement where our actions and thoughts are revealed, will we be guilty? 

Right and wrong have little to do with innocence and yet we align the two almost every day. If a person is not found guilt in court they are innocent, and we think that means what they did is right!  

Not necessarily! If a Christian takes another Christian to court and sues him for all his money, with regard to some business deal or contract and wins, leaving the guilty party destitute and in stress to care for his family, God would not consider the accuser innocent!

If a young girl of four years of age innocently fed her sister rat poison what she thought was sugar while playing house with her, she would be innocent in her mind but guilty of seriously endangering her sisters life! The parents who had left the rat poison out innocently, probably would be considered guilty of failing to care for their child by the judge. 

Can we see that there is an absolute right and wrong that is independent of innocence? 

This is why in our sacred writings, Paul says : 1 Corinthians 4:3-5 (New International Version)

I care very little if I am judged by you or by any human court; indeed, I do not even judge myself. My conscience is clear, but that does not make me innocent. It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait till the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of men's hearts. At that time each will receive his praise from God. 

And why in an older part it says

Psalm 16:2

All a man's ways seem innocent to him,
        but motives are weighed by the LORD 

We can have a clear conscience and yet be guilty!

Similarly we can have a guilt conscience and yet be acquitted! Sometimes (rarely) we are too hard on ourselves!

Only God who is supreme can fully know all things and so knows the absolute truth! 

So where does that leave us, how can we know right from wrong? 

The only way is to try and get to understand how God views life and our actions. It comes by spending time with our Father who knows everything and learning just a tiny bit of what he considers important or not. The bible has a lot of advice in that regard!

That’s why he wrote it down for us!  In the end, God has given us a way out of all the guilty situations that we find ourselves in through what he did for us. That’s another story however! 

Sam is loved by those of us that watch the film, to a large extent this is because he is badly treated, yet he forgives and finds the best in others!

Are we ready for our future today? Hear are some interesting statistics from Scientific American, January 2010 Issue, pg 77


 This article describes how if only a few bombs exploded, the dust and ash would extend around the globe in nine days, and within 49 days “would blanket the whole Earth blocking sunlight so that the sky would look overcast perpetually, everywhere.”

 

Over the last few weeks we have seen the damage one volcano can do with it’s ash and dust. This would be far worse!

 If this happens the world would be changed immediately for everyone and then millions would die!
 
Our lives are far simpler to destroy! Often we are the only ones to blame (although, we are often quite good at blaming others!).

 Jesus warns us in Luke 12:35-40 that we must be ready for huge change. Are we?

 We are warned to be ready for things that will go wrong, we must prepare ourselves.
Like a home owner must be ready with a plan of action to ensure they know what to do if a robber enters at any time, we need to be ready with a plan of action for combating evil when it enters our lives at any time. We must be ready with our lives so that if we get taken to meet God, we will be ready! We must be ready to deal with the eventualities of live.

 Sometimes we are so sure of ourselves and the direction we think God wants us to take that we arrogantly step our in what we consider “Faith” before God leads us too.

We build fancy plans and put everything into them and fail to check to see what others are hearing from God. Or we hear them and discount it because they are “not spiritual enough” (how’s that for pride!?) Are we ready for the failure that can come for ignoring God’s guidelines? Where do we measure on God’s scale?

 Lets check ourselves out! Here is a small checklist. . .

     Are we failing to forgive others? See Luke 6:37 and 24:47
     Are we judgmental of others? See Luke 6:37
     Do we fail to meet together? See Heb 10:25
     Do we fail to warn others they could hurt themselves? See Luke 24:47

 

 

Have a great day! An please pray for our planet as well! God needs to help us I think, don’t you agree?