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Your body is a computer controlled machine.Every function your body performs requires software. Walking, talking, hearing, digestion, seeing, learning and more... Software does not write itself. It requires a programmer. We are born with many “factory” installed programs. Even babies can learn, breath, think, eat and digest food. Instructions are sent from the brain to various parts of the body. Many subsystems, like hearing, heartbeat, taste, touch, smell, respiration, and growth, function without conscious thinking. Other functions happen as the result of the decisions we make. Arms, fingers, eyes, legs and toes respond to instructions sent from the brain as a result of our decision making processes. The trillions of tiny cells we are made from require DNA instructions to function and replicate. We still do not know how cells manage to group themselves into complex organs like eyes, hearts, ears and lungs. What or who is the maestro? Evolution teaches that all this can happen by chance, but information and probability science proves that to be absurd. Changing even a small percentage of the letters on this one page would render the entire message incomprehensible. DNA code is much more fragile and must be perfectly accurate. Your body consists of various atoms, molecules, cells and organs. But having all the components assembled and all the required code in place still does not create life; a dead frog has all that. No combination of prebiotic soup, evolution, luck and time can explain how a non-living thing becomes alive. God says He breathed life into his creation. He says He caused man to become a living soul. Jesus said, “I am the way, the truth and the life.”
Evolution ExplainedOne day a 6 year old girl was sitting in a classroom. The teacher was going to explain evolution to the children. The teacher chose a little boy.
TEACHER: Tommy do you see the tree outside? A little 6 year old girl
spoke up and inquired if she could also ask the boy some questions. The teacher
agreed and the little girl asked the boy:
Evolution sure is creativeIf you think man invented the airplane, you must be a bird brain. If you think man invented the submarine you’re like a fish out of water. If you think man invented sonar, you must have bats in your belfry. If you think man invented computers, you must be brain dead. If you think man invented the camera, you must be blind. If you think man invented the microphone, maybe you’re not listening. If you think man invented wireless communication, you haven’t got a prayer.
On the other hand, there is one thing man did invent all by himself, completely out of thin air… the theory of evolution.
The reason God said he numbers every hair on your head
is because he didn't think you'd understand if he
said he phosphate from nucleoside triphosphate to nucleoside diphosphate to form guanosine triphosphate thus providing the energy for every cell in your body.
Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall Humpty Dumpty had a great fall All the king's scientists and all the king's men Couldn't put Humpty together again. (Maybe they just didn't have the right technology.) I have a friend who is a genius. He has actually invented a machine that can input a scrambled egg (along with a few other ingredients that the device itself needs to function), process this stuff, and produce a new perfectly formed egg. In fact it does not even need to start with a scrambled egg. It can input a variety of different substances and still produce a perfectly formed egg that will hatch, just like a regular egg, into a new machine that can do the same thing. He calls it a Biological Integrated Reproduction Device. - Not only that; it can fly! This guy is so smart, he has earned the nickname "God". All his friends call him that. I often get to wander around his lab and examine some of his other neat stuff. There seems to be no end to the exotic and interesting things he invents. It is so incredibly fascinating that I know I wouldn't mind hanging out with him as much as I could. Now, if he had a few little things that I could do around the lab to partake in creating some of these inventions, I'd be having more fun than you could imagine. I plan to spend a lot of time there when I retire. You know what they say, "A great way to ruin your retirement is to sit around and do nothing." The best part is, he is not one of those smarty pants guys that can't stand to have us dummies hanging around asking questions. He has a great attitude; like someone who really enjoys teaching people things. I have never once felt like he just wished I would just go away. Someone told me he once invented a talking snake. I thought, "Whoa, I'd have to see that." But then since I have seen his B.I.R.D. thingy, maybe its not so hard to believe.
In the 1970’s British astronomer Sir Frederick Hoyle set out to calculate the mathematical probability of the spontaneous origin of life from a primordial soup environment. Applying the laws of chemistry, mathematical probability and thermodynamics, he calculated the odds of the spontaneous generation of the proteins required by one of the simplest known free-living life forms on earth – a bacterium. Hoyle and his associates knew that the smallest conceivable free-living life form needed at least 2,000 independent functional proteins in order to accomplish cellular metabolism and reproduction. Starting with the hypothetical primordial soup he calculated the probability of the spontaneous generation of just the proteins of a single amoebae. He determined that the probability of such an event is one chance in ten to the 40 thousandth power, i.e., 1 in 10 40,000. Prior to this project, Hoyle was a believer in the spontaneous generation of life. This project, however, apparently changed his opinion 180 degrees. Mathematicians tell us that if an event has a probability which is less likely than one chance in 1050, then that event is mathematically impossible. Such an event, if it were to occur, would be considered a miracle. Consider this: To win a state lottery you have about 1 chance in ten million (107). The odds of winning the state lottery every single week of your life from age 18 to age 98 is 1 chance in 1029,120. Therefore, the odds of winning the state lottery every week consecutively for eighty years is more likely than the spontaneous generation of just the proteins of an amoebae! And having all the proteins still does not give us a functioning amoebae! It is a little like having computer hardware without any software. P.S. The difference between 1029120 and 1040,000 is a number with 10,880 zeros! “In the beginning God created…” any other concept is pure fantasy! Please click here to see True Origin for more details. (also see their home page for a more great creation science articles)
BORN TO BE WILDThere has been much debate concerning the homosexual lifestyle as to whether it is a choice or a genetic phenomenon. When I heard the arguments, my initial opinion was that it was a matter of choice. While I could not imagine choosing it for myself, I rationalized that there could be some who had pushed the envelope of sexual experimentation to the point where they got into some really kinky activities. And then found themselves addicted to them. I could understand that. As a Christian, I have always thought that homosexuality was bad for society in general and was clearly against God’s commands (clearly against His ideal) and therefore sinful. (see Leviticus 18:22 and following for a whole list of things that are bad for society) Many people have expressed doubt that such things are bad for society. But, it is very easy to make this determination. Simply ask this question, “What if everyone did it?” Would society be better or worse? Obviously there would be no children and therefore no next generation if everyone became gay. In addition, AIDS would run rampant. Now, that would be a bad thing, wouldn’t it? It seems to be reasonably logical that some people are born blind or deaf and God does not hold them accountable for it. Some people are born black and that certainly is not a sin. These physical properties are not choices. They are beyond one’s control and cannot be changed. Certainly God does not label people as sinners because of birth defects, gender or race. So if he condemns those who engage in activities like sodomy, adultery and drunkenness then the desire for it cannot be the result of genetics. They must have begun as choices. Those who make sinful choices may eventually find themselves unable to change. Some of these choices are made at a very young age and last a lifetime. However, God did not leave us without hope, please read on… I am convinced that at least some homosexuals prefer to believe they were born that way because it gives them a certain measure of guilt relief, just as some choose to call alcoholism a disease for much the same reason. I have even heard the argument that, “God made me this way so if he condemns me for being the way I was made then he is the most evil monster imaginable”. One young man on the radio even said, “I sincerely asked God to take away my homosexual desires and he didn’t. Therefore it must be something that cannot be changed.” After listening to many people who are very adamant about this “born that way” idea, I decided to reevaluate my stance. I thought long and hard about my worldview in light of God’s biblical description of reality. I also factored in some of the scientific evidence I had learned along the way. As a computer programmer, I knew that certain “software” does come pre-installed from the factory. That "software" may consist of the operating system, drivers and/or firmware required to make the hardware work. Other programs (of the users choice) are installed later. It would be reasonable to equate instinct to “factory supplied” code and our chosen behaviors as “user installed” programs. For example, the ability to see is not something that must be learned. It is factory installed. However, speech is something that must be learned. Selfishness seems to come quite naturally while self-discipline and courtesy must be learned. Some animals are born wild and cannot be tamed. No matter how much they are “trained” the wild nature still remains. Others can be domesticated and taught to obey our wishes. I suppose there are some people who feel they were “born to be wild” and cannot change. Thus we get habitual criminals that cannot seem to stay out of jail. We see elephants that seem to be perfectly tame circus performers until they suddenly turn on their trainers and stomp them to death. All of these observations relate to the nature of the “beast”. And the behavior that follows, while undesirable, is often something that the “beast” cannot control. Some natural activities are constructive and some are destructive. Some can be overridden or suppressed, while others seem to rage on completely out of control. I think everyone would agree that the natural ability to logically solve problems is a good thing. While the uncontrollable urge to murder others is not. The chosen activity of helping the poor would be a good choice. To choose to use drugs is not. Some things have both good and bad aspects. I am sure Stevie Wonder’s parents were sad when their son was born blind. But few would argue that his blindness did not contributed to his career choice and musical abilities. By contrast, subjecting oneself to chemotherapy will make you tired, nauseous and bald. On the other hand, if it destroys your cancer cells, then it was a good thing to do. Playing this the other way around, suppose someone steals your car. Bad, right? But what if you were destined to be in a fatal accident and cheated death because of it? What if a man buys a piano for the elderly widow who lives upstairs and is then killed when it falls through the ceiling? Maybe all we can say is that choices have consequences and only God knows what the end results will be. Maybe this is why the Bible says all our good works are as filthy rags. And anything that is not done of the Spirit is sin. For only God can tell us what choices will turn out for good. Maybe that is one reason the Bible says we are to pray without ceasing. And in all our ways, to acknowledge Him. I wonder if sometimes the consequences of our choices are not critically important and so God is silent. But when He does speak out against a behavior I think we do well to listen. When He says to do something or to not do something, it is bound to be very important for our well being. Let’s take some of the Ten Commandments for example. “Thou shalt not steal.” Why? - Duh! ‘cause maybe the one you stole from will kick your butt? Actually, I think it has to be more important than that or God would have just let you get your butt kicked and your lesson would be learned. No, I think He was trying to paint a much broader picture. A society that allows stealing to run rampant will ultimately breakdown into anarchy. Likewise concerning “Thou shalt not commit adultery” has much broader ramifications than getting clobbered by a jealous husband. Look at the wide angle, long-term results. We get unwanted babied followed by abortion. Venereal disease. Divorce. Hatred. Heartbreak. Arguments and law suits over property and children. And when the adventure of some taboo sex act wears off, we look for bigger thrills and then we get, prostitution, pornography, kinky sex, sadomasochism and sex murders. None of this is good for society. And I am sure I am only touching the tip of the iceberg. That is why God spoke up and said "Don't". In Matthew 19:8 Jesus said, "Moses permitted you to divorce your wives because your hearts were hard. But it was not this way from the beginning. So marriage was supposed to be permanent, but we couldn’t stick with the program because our “hearts” were hard? I can understand that. I have always liked the saying: “Two unselfish people do not get a divorce.” Isn’t selfishness what really causes a marriage to breakup? If two unselfish people are intent on satisfying the needs of each other, mutual bliss will be the result. On the other hand, when individuals begin to focus on themselves and their own desires (at the expense of the other) then marriages run into trouble. The question is whether this is something that “normal” people can control. Is it natural to be selfish or unselfish? Do you think a baby has to be taught to say, “MINE!”? Obviously we all want to get our share and will normally do whatever it takes to insure that we reach that goal – even at the expense of the one we “love”. But would that state of marital content put a stop to adultery? Hardly. Some people seem to think that people, put in a good environment, will naturally become good. I think that is naturally stupid. Take a look around. Why do we need millions of laws to make people do what’s right if doing right is its own reward? Children must be taught (under duress if necessary) to be good. It is natural to cheat, steal, lie, covet, gossip, swindle, bend, fold and mutilate. Have you ever seen a law that says, “Rob a bank. It’ll be fun”? Of course you haven’t. We don’t need laws to encourage bad behavior, only laws to spell out the consequences of wrong behavior. But who decides which is which? The government? Do they know best what’s good for you? The majority? Situational ethics? Who judges the billions of circumstances that affect the ethics of millions of situations? I submit that only God is qualified. In a way, we were born to be wild. There is a "sin nature" that is passed on from generation to generation; traceable all the way back to Adam and Eve. So in a sense those who have fallen into the trap of homosexual behavior never had the power to so "no" in the first place. That power only comes from God; our Father. Just as an earthly father wants to teach his children to be good citizens, God also loves us and will teach us right from wrong if we really want to know. He will never force it on us because he has given us free will. We have to submit to Him to become enrolled in the program. He has provided a litmus test for entrance into His school. No one is qualified to be admitted on their own merits. We must accept the free gift of cleansing and salvation by accepting His son Jesus as our savior. Then God sends us our own personal tutor known as the Holy Spirit who alone has the capability to give us the power to say "no" to wrong doing and "yes" to what is right and the wisdom to know the difference between the two. Some will look at their lives and say, "I am sick and tired of my condition. I want to improve it. I cannot do it myself any more than I could pull myself up by my boot straps." Then they will turn to God for help. Others will say, "I am fine the way I am. I am having fun. I do not need or even want God to interfere with my life or tell me what to do. I just want God to leave me alone." If they continue with that arrogant, prideful attitude throughout their life, God will grant them their wish and when they die they will be eternally separated from Him and assigned a "place" away from Him where they can live alone forever. Since our bad choices in life are usually made at an early age and tend to become ingrained in our lives to the point that we cannot break their grip, it is best to receive Jesus and get enrolled in God's school while we are young and malleable. It is a well known fact that small children can learn things much faster than us "old dogs". The longer you wait the more difficult it will be to admit that you have lived a defeated life full of mistakes and bad choices. Some people find it impossible. Their pride, one of the most self-destructive of all sins, forces them to "stick to their guns" to the very end. Thanks be to God that he gave his Son to die in our place, a most gruesome death on a cross, the horror of which can break the most stubborn heart and allow us to turn from our selfish ways and be saved - at any age.
Some spirits are "phishers" of menI am sure you know how easy it is to inadvertently go to a wrong web page. Accidentally typing one character incorrectly can divert you to a porn sight instead of the page you wanted. Some "phishers" with evil intent send out emails pretending to be a bank or some other legitimate site only to get you to click on a link to their "look alike" web page which turns out to be a scam. Once they have you in their grasp, they can then get your personal information and use it to steal your identity and rip you off. Paypal, by contrast, sends out warning emails telling us to be careful of such trickery and to not click on any email link even if it looks like it is a genuine Paypal notice. They recommend that we ignore any embedded links in any email and instead type the proper web address directly into our browser. This way we can insure that we arrive at the genuine Paypal site. The same thing can happen when people play around with the "internet" of the spirit world. We must be very careful before we invite some unknown spiritual entity into our lives and we better be sure we are getting the true Spirit of God and not some demonic counterfeit. The Bible warns us: "...Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light." This is why God set it up in such a way as to ensure that we are not "scammed". When God tells us in the Bible that "Jesus is the way the truth and the life and that no man comes to the Father but by him." He is not being narrow minded. He is just trying to make the path safe and secure so we can be sure we are inviting the "real" Spirit of God to come into our lives and teach us the real truth. Spiritual "cyberspace is a very dangerous place. So to be sure you don't get scammed, don't trust every spirit that tries to come into your life. Test them against the Word of God. We all know we need God's help and advise. Like the internet, He has a wealth of information that can be of substantial benefit. But be careful. You can't even see spirits let alone fight one that turns out to be bad. That is why it is imperative that we come to to God by coming through Jesus first. Only then can we be sure we find the right link to the true God who loves us. Jesus is the real thing! You can trust Him. He died for you. Would an evil spirit do that?
Democratic logic? Are they brain washing our youth or what?One morning I heard this line of “reasoning” on the radio: The caller… (college age, male, democratic liberal) said… Bush’s tax cuts are helping the rich the most. (s-o-s) Host: Do you realize the rich pay the most and as such, should naturally get the larger reduction? Not only that, but the rich are the ones who create jobs. Have you ever heard of a poor person hiring anyone? Caller: Well, I just think they need to pay their fair share. Host: They already pay (he said) over 70% of their income. How much do you think is fair? Caller: They should pay enough so everyone can have decent housing, food, clothing, health care etc. Me: Isn’t that communism? Why should I go to work and then give my hard earned money to someone who refuses to work? “It’ll be a cold day in Hell… you can be sure… I’ll rot in the grave before I’ll let that happen.” Ha ha ha ha ha! <- the rant of a lunatic. Unfortunately we are already being taxed and forced to do exactly that right now. Note: Robin Hood robbed from the rich and gave to the poor... he was still a thief! (And for the rich, as a percentage of income, the pain is even worse.) Sadly, that means there is a built-in incentive to remain poor! (Unfortunately, when businessmen choose to remain “poor” that translates into a stagnant economy and fewer jobs.) You see, the “smart” thing to do is to remain poor because then “they” give you free money! You get welfare checks and food stamps and health care and housing and … on and on it goes. I guess “they” won’t be happy until everyone is at the same level of poverty. (except for the democratic elite, of course.) Gee, won’t that be nice? Then America can be just like all the 3rd world countries were the standard of living is so low that no one wants to live there. (I suppose, when that happens, it will solve our illegal immigration problem!) Question: Who will all those “guest workers” work for? Hey, I know, we’ll give them government jobs and then we’ll tax the rich to pay for them! Next piece of “logic?”… Caller: Yes, Saddam was evil, but we should have built a UN coalition before going into Iraq. Host: Play the tape… a cut is played of Bush’s State of the Union speech naming the vast array of countries that are already involved in helping us in Iraq. (there were about 15 named plus 17 more unnamed) Caller: Yeah, but I question the level of involvement of those countries. Some have only sent a hand full of troops. It is not fair that the US should have to contribute the lion’s share of the effort! Me: What?... Didn’t he just say the rich should pay more because they have more? If not, I guess he thinks we should just let terrorism continue unchecked while we wait for all those disinterested countries to line up behind us. But then, why should they? Their countries are not being threatened. They can just sit back and enjoy the free ride. After all, the United States can afford it! Let the rich take all the risks, eh? The caller apparently feels that rich people should be thrown to the dogs because they have the audacity to work hard and become rich. And yet he finds fault with poor countries who feel the same way about us. He thinks they should be expected to pitch in and “pay their own way”. Sadly, just like the lazy poor mentioned above, those countries expect the “rich” to do more than their fair share. Is it fair that only our boys should have to fight and die and thereby provide free protection for the sorry asses of countries that won’t lift a finger to protect themselves? I say… “France! Germany! We saved you once. Now you’re on your own. Good luck!” And the same goes for free loaders who refuse to paddle their own canoe. Here is a welfare plan that actually works: If you won’t work, you won’t eat! 2 Thessalonians 3:10
dOING THE RIGHT THINGThere was a man who owned a small but fairly prosperous business. From time to time he would hire young men who had lived rough lives and needed a little help. One of these “projects” in particular turned out to be a real challenge. His rough edges consisted of lying, stealing, foul language and a terrible temper. He came from a broken home and had spent many hours alone teaching himself how to grow up. He lived in a small apartment and currently had no living relatives. The owner could sense that this young man had never been shown any real love in life and so he decided to do his best to help him see a better way. There were times when the kind-hearted owner was ready to give up, but he kept struggling; trying to get the young man to respond to his numerous acts of kindness. One day he had an idea. Knowing that the young man had never experienced any real “family” things, he decided to invite him to come along on a three-man fishing trip. The “crew” would consist of the owner, his only son and the young man. Both of the boys were about 17 at the time. The son was also the owner’s sole heir and would eventually inherit the business. The young man knew this and despised him for it. Mostly he only agreed to go because he was hoping there would be some free beer. So the day came and there they were; out on the ocean in the owner’s boat. It wasn’t a large boat, only about 25’ or so, but well suited for the occasion. The outing was going fairly well until the young man and the son got into an argument. Push came to shove and the next thing the owner knew they were both in the water. Now this particular area had plenty of fish that attracted more than a few sharks. The owner knew this and ran quickly to the edge of the railing. He was horrified to see two large fins already approaching the young men. To make matters worse there was only one harpoon on board which meant he could only save one of them. His first thought was to spear the shark that was going for his son. He raised the harpoon into the air and took careful aim. As he was about to throw it he saw his son shaking his head “No!” and pointing frantically at the other shark. Without hesitation the father turned and threw the harpoon with all his might killing the second shark just before it reached the young man. As he pulled the boy to safety the other shark attacked his son and immediately turned the water red with his blood. The shark dove with his prey. There was no hope for rescue. The decision the father made that day was the most difficult and heart-breaking choice he ever had to make. He took the young man in an embrace and wept bitterly for what seemed like forever. Then he thought, “No! I came out here today to save this young man from an empty life that was headed for certain destruction. I cannot allow this tragedy to prevent that.” Placing his hands on the young man’s shoulders, he looked him straight in the eyes and said, “I know my son is dead. Although my grief seems unbearable, I find myself wanting to take the love I had for him and give it to you. I know you couldn’t see it at the time, but his dying wish was for me to save you first. He gave up his life for you and I’m sure he would approve of what I am about to say. As sincerely as I know how, I ask you to step into my life and let me be a part of yours. If you will accept me as your father, I will adopt you as my son. Everything I had intended to give him I will give to you.” To the owner’s great surprise the young man replied, “Old man, you make me sick. I don’t care that your son is dead. He got what he asked for. I don’t need your charity or your pity. I’d rather take my chances out there with the sharks than to have anything to do you so get your hands off of me and leave me alone!”- If you were the father what would you do? . . . . . . . . . . . Yeah, me too, but the kind of love this father had wouldn’t allow for that. If you were the young man what choice would you have made? Have you ever had to make a choice like that? Are you sure? Something to think about: John 3:16 For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only son (allowing him to be killed by those who are by nature opposed to God) that whoever would believe in (trust, accept) him - should not perish, but have everlasting life. I Peter 1:3-5 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, and into an inheritance that can never perish, spoil or fade--kept in heaven for you, who through faith are shielded by God's power until the coming of the salvation that is ready to be revealed in the last time. Have you accepted this free gift? (This offer is yours for the asking. It is not subject to change, but it does expire when you do.) Happy Ending: Three days after this seemingly tragic event… the son walked triumphantly out of the water onto a nearby beach. He was wearing a brand new sharkskin belt and a shark’s took necklace. He proceeded to perform the original version of the Rocky Balboa victory dance. He has given hope to the hopeless ever since. Where, O death, is thy sting?
25 Facts About the Human Genome1. The genome is the complete list of coded instructions needed to make a person. 2. The 4 letters in the DNA alphabet – A, C, G and T – are used to carry the instructions for making all organisms. The order (or sequence) of these letters holds the code – just like the order of letters that makes words mean something. Each set of three letters corresponds to a single amino acid. 3. There are 20 different building blocks – amino acids – used in a bewildering array of combinations to produce our proteins. The different combinations make proteins as different as keratin – in hair – and hemoglobin – in blood. 4. The information in one cell would fill a stack of paperback books 200 feet high. 5. The information in one cell would fill two hundred 500-page telephone directories. 6. Between humans, our DNA differs by only 0.2%, or 1 in 500 bases (letters). (This takes into account that human cells have two copies of the genome.) 7. If we recited the genome at one letter per second for 24 hours a day it would take a century to recite the book of life. 8. If two different people started reciting their individual books at a rate of one letter per second, it would take nearly eight and a half minutes (500 seconds) before they reached a difference. 9. A typist typing at 60 words per minute (around 360 letters) for 8 hours a day would take around 50 years to type the book of life. 10. Our DNA is 98% identical to that of chimpanzees. (currently thought to be closer to 94%) 11. The estimated number of genes in both humans and mice is 60,000-100,000; in the round worm (C. elegans), the number is approximately 19,000; in yeast (S. cerevisiae) there are around 6,000 genes; and the microbe responsible for tuberculosis has around 4,000. 12. The function of the vast majority of DNA in the human genome - 97% - is still unknown. 13. The first chromosome to be completely decoded was chromosome 22 at the Sanger Centre in Cambridgeshire, in December 1999. 14. Each of our cells is packed with 6 feet of DNA. The structure is only 0.0004 inches across and would easily fit on the head of a pin. 15. There are 3 billion (3,000,000,000) letters in the DNA code in every cell in your body. 16. There are 100 trillion (100,000,000,000,000) cells in the body. 17. If all the DNA in the human body was put end to end it would reach to the sun and back over 600 times (100 trillion x 6 feet divided by 93 million miles = 1200). 18. 12,000 letters of DNA are decoded by the Human Genome Project every second. 19. If all 3 billion letters were spread out 1mm apart they would extend 3,000 km – or about 7,000 times the height of the Empire State Building. 20. If all 3 billion letters were spread out 3mm apart they would extend 9,000km – more than twice the length of the Mississippi river at 3,779km. 21. One gram of DNA would stretch out to 186 million miles. 22. The data in one gram of DNA would fill a trillion CDs. 23. A trillion CDs would cover a football field 2300' high and it would take 31,688 years for someone to count them. 24. The human body contains approximately 600 grams of DNA. (About 1.3 lbs) 25. The DNA in a human body contains about 3,000 trillion gigabytes of data.
I don't see any signs of intelligent design here, do you? snerk Random chance could put this together, right? double snerk No wonder the one who has said in his heart, "There is no god." is called a fool.
Digital CopiesHave you ever made photocopies or copies of cassette tapes and observed the deterioration of quality that results when you try to copy a copy? This decrease in fidelity gets worse as we continue to make copies from previous copies until eventually the result becomes completely distorted. The information contained in the original object is gone. Today modern science has given us machines that can perform digital reproduction. We can copy a picture or a song using this equipment and make perfect copies of the original. Subsequent copies are every “bit” as good as the first. This is one reason why the recording industry would prefer that we didn’t have this capability. It took man many years to recognize the inherent problems with analog equipment and to come up with the “digital” solution. Prior efforts to create quality copies focused on improving the fidelity of the analog signals by improving the quality of the recording equipment. In fact, had it not been for the development of computers, we may never have stumbled on this infinitely better idea. In the early 1950’s scientists discovered that cell reproduction in living systems is controlled by digital information stored in a molecule called DNA. A copy of this information is made when cells “split” to form new cells. (To prevent defects and possible malfunction or death, the copy needs to be exactly the same as the original.) DNA provides the “program” that controls this. It directs proteins to cut the DNA strand in half, length wise. Then each half is attached to an exact “digital” duplicate of itself. DNA even contains code that looks for and corrects errors to make sure an exact copy is produced. We should not marvel that God knew better than to use analog methods for cell reproduction and opted to go “digital” from the very beginning. Remember He invented self-replicating flying machines; how many billions of years ago? How could blind evolution have produced this?
The other day my boss, who knew that my mother died recently, inquired as to how my dad was doing. I said, “Under the circumstances, OK, I guess.” He asked, “Was he religious?” I said he was and we both agreed that “religion” can be a source of hope during such times. Then the boss, whose wife also recently died, said, “I have hope.” (He said that he had sensed the presence of God during his wife’s funeral and was beginning to believe that God did exist.) I made a comment about how there are all kinds of “hope” and the conversation ended. As I thought back over what was said, I realized that there really are ALL kinds of hope. I began to think of some of the different forms that hope can take. In a minute or two a fictional story came to mind. It follows: There was a man who set out to do some research on “People who had been run over by trains”. He found that very few people who died were killed by trains or in railroad accidents at all. In fact, of all the various ways that people died in or around the railroad, only a few had actually been hit by a train. And of those who had been run over, most were deemed to be suicides. He was starting to feel better already. You see, he was homeless and spent a lot of time around the railroad yards. He certainly hoped that he would never be run over by a train. In fact it was becoming a phobia. However, now that he had done this research, his hope was stronger than ever that he would never die this way. The odds were against it. Later that day, as evening approached, he unrolled his sleeping bag and began to prepare for a good nights sleep. (That was something he had found hard to get ever since he began worrying about dying under the wheels of a 20 ton locomotive.) Yes, he had now found reasons to substantiate the “hope” that he would be safe… So he laid down on the tracks and went to sleep. Truly there are all kinds of hope; well founded and otherwise. What was the flaw in his logic? When he put his hope in the statistics did he forget to consider the additional circumstance of placing himself in a dangerous situation? Obviously we can see that hope alone, without all the facts, is actually false hope. Many people with this kind of hope are actually self-deceived. For example: a gambler may go to the race track and read all the statistics on “his” horse. He may be convinced that he can’t lose, but in all honesty, the most he can say is, “I hope I win.” How many times have you heard someone say, “I hope to go to heaven when I die.”? Do they have any basis for saying that? What is their hope based on? Is it just some kind of wishful thinking? The Bible says that faith is the “substance of things hoped for”. Doesn’t it seem logical that hope can only turn into solid faith when we have enough facts to support it? When traveling by airplane, I can say I hope this thing will fly or I can have faith that it will. What is the difference? I suppose that having the knowledge that air travel is quite safe and that most planes do not crash, allows my flimsy hope to become a more solid faith. Now, when it comes to Heaven or Hell, I do not want to have hope; I want to have rock solid Faith! Where can I get it? What facts will I need in order to achieve this kind of faith? May I take a moment to explain why I believe that I have the proof necessary to justify this kind of “faith”? First of all I know someone who is an authority. He is someone who has been to the grave and returned. He performed many incredible miracles to substantiate His credentials. He made predictions about the future that came to pass in every detail. Now, when He says, “You must be born again to see the kingdom of Heaven.”, I believe that He knows what He is talking about. Suppose I need to get my car fixed. I can take it to “good ol’ Gus” and “hope” he will stumble on the problem and be able to fix it. Or, I can take it to a factory trained mechanic at the dealership and have a bit more “faith”. So it is in life. (Especially concerning things as important as salvation and eternal life.) When we need expert advise, we need to find an expert. Now here is the weird part: We have to put our “faith” in Jesus and Him alone, before He gives us rest of the information to convince us that we did the right thing. We must swallow our pride, admit that we’re lost and trust Him for salvation. We need to “sit down on the chair” not knowing if it will hold us up. Then we find out that we made the right choice. The proof is in the “putting”! So, how do we do that? We must first realize that our good works can never get us into Heaven. As long as we continue to trust in the good things that we have done, we will only be able to “hope” God will let us in. However, deep down in our hearts we know that even two rights don’t cancel a wrong. The first time you sinned, you proved you were a sinner. A bell can never be un-rung! Fortunately there is a way out. Although the penalty for sin is death, Jesus, who never sinned, paid that penalty for us. All we need to do is put our trust in Him and receive the free gift of forgiveness. Then we will see our “hope” turn into true “faith”. We will no longer be trusting in our own works, but rather in His. The Bible says when we do that, God comes to live in us by His Spirit. Then He begins to teach us the rest of the “facts” so we can finally say, “I no longer “hope” for Heaven; I know I’ll be there!”. You’ll begin to see the “Creator” behind the creation. You’ll see Him do things in your life that can’t be explained as coincidence. You’ll find that there is more evidence to support the Bible, the truth of Jesus and the existence of God than you ever imagined. You’ll find that you actually want to love your neighbor as yourself. And its all free! So put your checks and wallets away… So why wait? Invite Jesus to come into your life to be your Lord, Savior and Friend - right now. He will come in and save you. All you have to do is ask. He is still alive, you know. He rose from the dead after 3 days just as He said He would. (500 people saw Him alive afterward.) All of your life, He’s been patiently waiting for this very moment. He stands at the door of your life and knocks, but you must invite Him in. Where you will spend eternity depends on what you do right now... Hey! Get off the tracks!
Revelation 18 Who says the Bible doesn’t talk about America? After this I saw another angel coming down from heaven. He had great authority, and the earth was illuminated by his splendor. With a mighty voice he shouted: "Fallen! Fallen is Babylon the Great! She has become a home for demons and a haunt for every evil spirit, a haunt for every unclean and detestable bird. For all the nations have drunk the maddening wine of her adulteries. The kings of the earth committed adultery with her, and the merchants of the earth grew rich from her excessive luxuries." Then I heard another voice from heaven say: "Come out of her, my people, so that you will not share in her sins, so that you will not receive any of her plagues; for her sins are piled up to heaven, and God has remembered her crimes. Give back to her as she has given; pay her back double for what she has done. Mix her a double portion from her own cup. Give her as much torture and grief as the glory and luxury she gave herself. In her heart she boasts, 'I sit as queen; I am not a widow, and I will never mourn.' Therefore in one day her plagues will overtake her: death, mourning and famine. She will be consumed by fire, for mighty is the Lord God who judges her. "When the kings of the earth who committed adultery with her and shared her luxury see the smoke of her burning, they will weep and mourn over her. Terrified at her torment, they will stand far off and cry: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, O Babylon, city of power! In one hour your doom has come!' "The merchants of the earth will weep and mourn over her because no one buys their cargoes any more-- cargoes of gold, silver, precious stones and pearls; fine linen, purple, silk and scarlet cloth; every sort of citron wood, and articles of every kind made of ivory, costly wood, bronze, iron and marble; cargoes of cinnamon and spice, of incense, myrrh and frankincense, of wine and olive oil, of fine flour and wheat; cattle and sheep; horses and carriages; and bodies and souls of men. "They will say, 'The fruit you longed for is gone from you. All your riches and splendor have vanished, never to be recovered. ' The merchants who sold these things and gained their wealth from her will stand far off, terrified at her torment. They will weep and mourn and cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, dressed in fine linen, purple and scarlet, and glittering with gold, precious stones and pearls! In one hour such great wealth has been brought to ruin!' "Every sea captain, and all who travel by ship, the sailors, and all who earn their living from the sea, will stand far off. When they see the smoke of her burning, they will exclaim, 'Was there ever a city like this great city?' They will throw dust on their heads, and with weeping and mourning cry out: " 'Woe! Woe, O great city, where all who had ships on the sea became rich through her wealth! In one hour she has been brought to ruin! Rejoice over her, O heaven! Rejoice, saints and apostles and prophets! God has judged her for the way she treated you.' " Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a large millstone and threw it into the sea, and said: "With such violence the great city of Babylon will be thrown down, never to be found again. The music of harpists and musicians, flute players and trumpeters, will never be heard in you again. No workman of any trade will ever be found in you again. The sound of a millstone will never be heard in you again. The light of a lamp will never shine in you again. The voice of bridegroom and bride will never be heard in you again. Your merchants were the world's great men. By your magic spell all the nations were led astray. In her was found the blood of prophets and of the saints, and of all who have been killed on the earth." At least this terrorist bomb will take the United Nations down with it
TWISTING THE KING’S ENGLISHI suspect that many who claim to be pro-life may also be pro-choice! It is so aggravating to hear the liberal left muddy the waters of common logic by twisting the meaning of everyday words to suit their agendas. We see it everyday in the use of such words as “affair” rather than “adultery”, “half truth” rather than “lie”, “euthanasia” rather than “murder”, “fetus” rather than “baby” or “life style” rather than “perversion”. You may ask, “How can someone be pro-choice and still hate abortion?” Allow me to suggest that God is pro-choice! Does that surprise you? Has the constant pounding of the liberal left caused you to see the term “pro-choice” as the opposite of “pro-life”? God has put us here and gave us life along with the power to choose. Some of our choices are good, some are evil. Some of them will result in good consequences (both personal and societal) and some will not. Ironically the most important choice we get to make does not concern abortion, but rather where we will spend eternity. (which many consider to be a rather unimportant decision) We get to choose between getting up or sleeping in; eating a hamburger or a salad; driving the speed limit or speeding; stealing or not; killing or not; becoming a Christian or not – the list goes on. The words we use to describe the behaviors are not all that important, but sometimes the consequences of our choices are extremely important. (Rejecting Christ as your savior will land you in Hell) The twisting of terminology, however, can make the decision making process confusing when it is used to tone-down the truth concerning bad choices. There are many who claim to be simply “pro-choice” when in fact they really support abortion in nearly all its forms. Many believe that abortion is the perfect answer to starvation and over-population. Some support it simply for the money they can make. Still others claim that an unloved, unwanted child is better off being aborted. Even mothers-to-be embrace abortion as a way to avoid the “burden” of motherhood. Planned Parenthood demands that any ban on partial birth abortion is “unconstitutional” unless it includes an exception for the health of the mother. This ploy is designed to render a law against such a gruesome procedure impotent. With an “exception” like this, any doctor who really wants to partially deliver a live baby and then kill it can simply decide that the mother’s “mental” health is at risk, perform the murder and collect his fee. Another tactic is to insist on exceptions for incest or rape. And this is good? Why? The baby is not to blame. Why put an innocent child to death? Why not abort the rapist? And please, don’t even get me started on abortion as means of eliminating birth defects. Didn’t most civilized people condemn Hitler for trying to engineer a super race? How soon we forget. What are we thinking? Where have our morals gone? So now, if you are pro-abortion (for whatever reason) you should at least have the guts to admit it. Do not try to hide behind the neutral sounding term of pro-choice. There are only two “choices”. You are either pro-abortion or you are pro-life. You either feel that it’s better to live in a society that allows abortion or you believe that a society that cherishes life is better. As an American, I support your right to choose so I guess that makes me pro-choice. I believe in liberty, justice and “freedom-for-all” which must also include a right to choose. “Give me liberty or give me death” was a poetic way of saying that the freedom to make our own choices is worth dying for. It is a God given right, but He wants you to choose life, to cherish the life He gives and to defend the lives of those who are not capable of defending themselves. Please choose wisely. I don’t want the government to find it necessary to pass laws restricting our freedoms. But when your choices begin to damage the well being of other people or society at large, you must be stopped. Choosing to kill is one of those cases. We value gold because it is hard to come by. Diamonds have value because they are rare. When did we decide that “life” is so easy-to-make that we can hear reports of a mother flushing her “fetus” down a toilet or throwing “it” in a dumpster and not feel like sobbing our eyes out? Abolish Abortion. It’s worse than slavery.
Fear God?
...If I do not believe in cancer (never
actually seen any myself) it can't hurt me and I should not fear it?
I have only heard of cancer (just as you have
heard of God). I have, however, seen what cancer can do. There is plenty of
evidence to prove its existence.
The Bible says it is a dreadful thing to fall
into the hands of the living God.
Here is what is says about why we should fear
Him.
Heb 10:28-31
28Anyone who rejected the law of Moses died without mercy on the
testimony of two or three witnesses. 29How much
more severely do you think a man deserves to be punished who has trampled the
Son of God under foot, who has treated as an unholy thing the blood of the
covenant that sanctified him, and who has insulted the Spirit of grace?
30For we know him who said, "It is mine to
avenge; I will repay," and again, "The Lord will judge his people."
31It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands
of the living God.
God did not send his kid to do his busy work.
He actually came here himself. Jesus was God in the flesh. The reason He
came as a little baby; as the son of God, was so we would be broken hearted
when we realized how our evilness could kill such an innocent one. Nails did
not hold him to the cross, His love is what kept him there. And
every time we
reject His love, the hammer is in our hand. The following story was told by
Jesus before the crucifixion. What do you think was their motive for
doing this?
1He then began to speak to them in parables: "A man planted a
vineyard. He put a wall around it, dug a pit for the winepress and built a
watchtower. Then he rented the vineyard to some farmers and went away on a
journey. 2At harvest time he sent a servant to
the tenants to collect from them some of the fruit of the vineyard.
3But they seized him, beat him and sent him away
empty-handed. 4Then he sent another servant to
them; they struck this man on the head and treated him shamefully.
5He sent still another, and that one they killed.
He sent many others; some of them they beat, others they killed. 6"He
had one left to send, a son, whom he loved. He sent him last of all, saying,
'They will respect my son.' 7"But the tenants
said to one another, 'This is the heir. Come, let's kill him, and the
inheritance will be ours.' 8So they took him and
killed him, and threw him out of the vineyard. 9"What then will
the owner of the vineyard do? He will come and kill those tenants and give
the vineyard to others.
The obvious motive was selfishness. It is
the number one sin of all time. It is exposed in each of us when we reject
God's plan for our lives; preferring our own way instead.
Consent makes it OKIs this what America has come to? Recently the general consensus of opinion seems to be that any kind of extramarital, non-standard sex is permissible as long as you are an adult and it is consensual. Monogamous marriage is no longer important; only consent. (Question: does con-sensual sex mean that it is non-sensual?) This promiscuous view of morality creates a ton of problems for those who endorse it. For example, who defines consent? The latest “ruling” handed down to us is that a man can be convicted of rape if the woman revokes her consent and says, “Stop!” at anytime during the sex act. In a similar case, the “infallible” Supreme Court ruled that private, homosexual sodomy (and nearly any other sex act) is constitutionally protected as long as it was consensual. Does that mean your dog can consent to have sex with you and the law can do nothing? How can you prove the dog gave consent? If it bites you during the act, will the courts decide that the animal revoked consent and caused an “acceptable act” of bestiality to become rape? Shouldn’t they simply have the dog put down for being vicious? Can’t we get a similar ruling for women who bite, especially during oral sex? Warning to men: If a woman (or a man) agrees to have sex with you and then while doing it says “stop” or “no” or “don’t” or “I changed my mind.” or “this isn’t what I had in mind.” or “who told you, you could make love?” or “beam me up Scotty” or “bow-wow” etc. at anytime during the act, (even 2 seconds before you reach climax) you had better stop immediately. Mostly because, be further warned, the courts have not specified how much time you have to discontinue “making love” before it becomes criminal “rape”, so you better stop real fast. (And make sure you don’t get anything on her dress.) Dare I predict a run on duct tape in the near future? On the other hand, if she (or he) is saying “don’t” and “stop” repeatedly then you better not stop, but instead give it all you’ve got (hard, fast and furious almost (the courts will decide) to the point of abuse) or you will be forever labeled a sexual wimp who is destined to never be offered “consensual” sex again. Furthermore, some women are so erratic that they might start yelling rape if you did “get off” - and they didn’t. (Note: “get off” can have two meanings here so be sure you have it straight, err, clear because the courts will take the meaning of normal words and tear them to shreds.) In addition, there are women who will actually perform sex “acts” just to get things. (money, jobs, jewelry, a husband, a baby etc.) In which case they never really “wanted” to have “sex” with you at all. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the courts redefine this as rape. The real meanings of words are such wiggly things. Example: If you were asked, “Can you sodomize your wife?”… Would that mean “does she let you?” or “is it legal?” or “is it moral?” or “do you have the stomach for it.” or “is it still called sodomy when married?” or even “does it fit?”. Who can say? Should we let the courts decide everything concerning sex? Where do they get their moral standards? So much to think about… Men: I recommend that you take certain precautions to insure “safe” sex. In addition to using condoms, safe sex, in today’s world, also requires your lawyer. (Note: It is easy to mix these two up. The lawyer is the one in your wallet.) Have him draw up a contract in the usual incomprehensible legalese; defining a binding consent agreement for engaging in explicitly predefined sexual relations. (Be careful the document does not step over the “court defined” guidelines and become pornographic.) It might be desirable to have a clause included where the signer swears to be free of venereal disease, pregnancy, any sadistic/masochistic inclinations, big burly husbands and/or boyfriends etc. Keep copies of this document with you at all times. Then when you see a hot potential sex mate, stroll over, present the paperwork, whip out your pen and say, “would you please sign this?” (What a great pickup line!) If you don’t get slapped, be sure to have it notarized before you proceed. No wonder God said, “Thou shalt not commit adultery.” and “Marriage should be honored by all, and the marriage bed kept pure, for God will judge the adulterer and all the sexually immoral.” Some people think He was just trying to take away our fun. (Although we have turned romantic "love making" into a circus act, I still think those people must have a really warped definition of fun.) Or maybe they think “fun” and “abuse” is the same thing. Can we get a ruling here?
Well now, isn’t that Grand? So the ACLU gets another brownie point from Satan. They convinced the National Park Service to remove some plaques displayed at the Grand Canyon because they contained Bible verses. You see, simply being available to read, (or not), was soooooo… unconstitutional. Here they are: Psalms 68:4 - Sing to God, sing praises to his name; lift up a song to him who rides upon the clouds; his name is the Lord, exult before him! Psalms 66:4 - All the earth worships thee; they sing praises to thee, sing praises to thy name." Psalms 104:24 - O Lord, how manifold are thy works! In wisdom hast thou made them all; the earth is full of thy creatures. The argument was that these words constituted an establishment of religion by the government. You know, it was sort of like putting up a nativity scene on the courthouse lawn at Christmas time. Oh!, that is a terrible no-no! You just can’t use “government” property to promote religion. Religion must be confined to your homes and churches. (I wonder, when did freedom of religion become freedom from religion?) If verses like that offend visitors to our wonderful canyon that's too bad. They can always go home. When did we lose our back bone for standing up for our God? I have to ask, - who says the Grand Canyon is government property? What is government property anyhow? Isn’t it all “public” property that was bought or “taken” from the people? The Grand Canyon was certainly “taken” from us. It was always “public” property ever since the dawn of time. Then suddenly, along comes the “we know what’s best for everybody” government crowd who takes it over by decree. Did that make it “government” property? Considering there are no official government functions taking place there; no courts, no political or executive offices, no legislative activities – how can it be government property? Its upkeep is even paid for with park admission fees. It is less of a government property than a common sidewalk because, at least, tax dollars are used to build our sidewalks. (I suppose now that I have said that, the ACLU will push to make it illegal to talk about God in the “public square” especially if you are standing on the sidewalk.) And what about our money? Doesn’t it clearly say, “In God we trust” on each coin and on all “Federal Reserve” notes? Let’s see now, is our money public property or government property? (I think it must be government property because the government certainly thinks my money belongs to them.) Oh I get it – that “offensive” phrase on our money is a form of advertising for “God”. Well if that’s the case we better just remove those nasty, offensive words right now before it topples our government, destroys our way of life and unravels the entire union. This Bible verse removal idiocy reminds me of a verse from an old rock ‘n roll song called “SIGNS” (slightly paraphrased) And the sign said anyone caught trespassing will be arrested on site. So I jumped on the fence and I yelled at the toll booth, “What gives you the right… to put up a fence to keep me out and to keep God’s creation in?” If God was here he’d tell you to your face, “Man, you must be some kind of money grubbing sinner!” I strongly believe that this wonder of wonders we call the Grand Canyon was put there by God to give us a place to think about Him and ponder his majesty, power and splendor. Of course, public properties need to be protected from vandals and from those who would try to ruin the experience for others. However, I do not think that means we need to make them God-free zones. (not that we could, if we tried) It is absolutely ridiculous that these plaques should be construed as an establishment of religion by the government. They were, after all, donated! I don’t believe any public money was spent to erect or maintain them. That is, until now... you see, your tax dollars are being used to clean these plaques before they are returned to the donors. Doesn’t that make you angry? Isn’t that an outrage? They are taking public funds and deliberately using them to clean some filthy religious symbols. How disgusting! You better call your congress ”person” right now. And yet, to add insult to injury, the Park Service is going to continue referring to certain rock formations using the names of Hindu gods. And that’s OK?!!! What a double standard! Oh, I see, it’s permitted to promote religion as long as you don’t promote the one, true God. Imagine, - naming things created by God after “gods” created by Satan. (For as Christians we know there really are no other “gods”; only puppets invented by Satan to deceive the lost.) Maybe “ACLU” actually stands for Anti-Christian Committee for Lucifer’s Utopia. I can’t help but fear that if we kick God out of our schools, remove Him from the pledge, eliminate His laws from our courts, erase His name off our money, ban the Bible, evict Him from our “lifestyle” and throw Him out of our hearts, soon enough He will say, “Fine, - I’m out of here – good luck!” “You’re going to need it!” What will we do then? Suppose another 9/11 style attack occurs, or a natural disaster strikes and we kneel down to pray for God’s help, - and all we get is a busy signal? I know, maybe we can call the ACLU or FEMA? (Cause, they just “love” Americans and will do anything to “help” you.) I really think the bureaucrats need to eat some humble pie and realize they are only the “caretakers” and not the “owners”. Idea! I think I will donate a nice new plaque (that doesn’t use the God word) to replace the ones the “elite” found so offensive. How’s this?
This is a really BIG canyon.
It is over a mile deep and averages about 10 miles wide.
It is 277 miles long and the rim goes from an elevation of 7000 ft to over 8000’ above sea level.
That makes it almost a “Canyon in the Sky”. (Denver Colorado is only 5280’ high.)
This means the Colorado river had to run uphill for millions of years to dig this thing out. Which is silly.
If I were you… I wouldn’t piss-off the “One” who actually could dig a ditch like this.
In fact, I would fall at his feet, do some serious groveling and start worshipping Him.
But, it’s your call, We wouldn’t want to be accused of trying to establish your religion.
The Bible says that when the end of this age comes, things will be similar to the days of Noah (the whole world was filled with violence) and also similar to the days of Lot. (who was living in Sodom) Here is how it was in the days of Lot... Lot was distressed over the moral decay of the society in Sodom, but still continued to live there and did not fight against it or move away. (much as many "church folks" in America are doing today.) He even called them "friends". So I guess he wasn't homophobic. And when he tried to tell them that what they were doing was wrong they shouted him down and threatened violence. When the time comes for Jesus to return, everyone on Earth will be going about their routine business when, without further warning, destruction will come.
Years
ago I also began to think about some of the other characteristics of the days
of Lot.
Gen 19:3 ...all the men
from every part of the city of Sodom—both young and
old—surrounded the house. 5They called to Lot,
"Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them
out to us so that we can have sex with them."
6Lot
went outside to meet them and shut the door behind him 7and
said, "No, my friends. Don't do this wicked thing.
8Look, I have two daughters who have never slept with a man. Let
me bring them out to you, and you can do what you like with them. But
don't do anything to these men, for they have come under the protection of my
roof."
9"Get
out of our way," they replied. And they said, "This fellow
came here as an alien, and now he wants to play the judge! We'll treat
you worse than [we're planning to treat] them." They kept bringing pressure on
Lot and moved forward to break down the door.
Paul adds these details in Romans
1:26-27
Check out this link:
and if you dare,
also see the
Little Black Book
You will not believe your eyes.
(warning "Little Black Book" contains offensive material - and our taxes are
paying for it!)
or this one... Luke 13
1Now there were some present at that time who
told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their
sacrifices. 2Jesus answered, "Do you think that
these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they
suffered this way? 3I tell you, no! But unless
you repent, you too will all perish. 4Or those
eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were
more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? 5I
tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish."
What is the probability that something is probably probable?I do not pretend to be a probability expert. But I have often pondered my threshold of where I draw the line between what will probably happen and what probably will not. Certainly some things are certain. The question is what are the odds? If in the normal course of life something happens consistently then it is probable that is will continue to do so. For example the sun coming up each morning. Some things are quite possibly random and unpredictable. Other things might be predictable if we just had more information about the event. I do not think it would be humanly possible to predict the exact order of 10 decks of cards shuffled by a machine. On the other hand it might be possible to predict a coin toss if one knew everything about the weight, force, humidity, original position (heads or tails), wind direction etc.
Other things are more predictable. The chances are good that the person who just rang your doorbell is the same person who called you on the phone and said they would be right over. This can be compounded by the fact that you live 80 miles from civilization and almost no one ever rings your doorbell.
Compound probabilities really can add up. Especially if the events are related to each other as in the above example. Suppose there was more. You knew your friend had a dog and you heard her dog barking just before the doorbell rang. You could see vaguely through the peep hole that it was a female standing at the door who was just about the right height. The friend who called was female. Pretty soon the odds become high enough to cross your threshold and make you confident that you can predict with fair certainty who is at the door.
The laws of probability can also work the other way. If an event is rare it probably will not happen. In addition if a series of events are rare then the probability of all of them happening are the result of the odds against each one multiplied together. Let's say you only get visitors twice a year. The odds of someone ringing your doorbell then are 1 in 182. If 9 out of 10 of your friends are female then there is only 1 chance in 10 that the person at your door is a male. The odds of a male ringing your doorbell on any given day are 1 in 1820. Further if visitors almost always call before dropping by (let's say 99 times out of 100) then there is only 1 chance in 100 that someone will ring your doorbell if no one has called. Total odds: 1 in 182,000.
So we see how the laws of probability compound to help us predict what is likely or not. Keep in mind that all of these are based on what "normally" happens in real life. Is it likely that you will run out of gas on a 1000 mile journey if you only get 10 miles to the gallon and you started out with 3 gallons in your tank and you do not stop to get more? I'd say you better take some good walking shoes. Contrast that to the sun coming up tomorrow as it has since time began and you get the picture.
These concepts can have a profound affect on something called faith. Faith is simply trusting that something is probable. Life insurance companies, banks, doctors and gamblers all use probability to maximize their expectations of success. Do you have faith that you will arrive home safely tonight? Based on the fact that most people will, you probably do have faith that you will also. We exercise faith every time we get on an airplane or sit down in a chair. Faith is almost always based on things we cannot see or test in advance. We play the odds.
Many people have faith in God. They believe that He created everything because it seems probable to them. Others have faith in evolution because they think the evidence supports their position best. This is why intelligent design is at such odds with evolutionary theory. By looking at the odds (which by the way is a scientific field) creationists reject the possibility that any thing could create itself. Complex things are even less likely to create themselves. You never open a can of soup and find a new life form in it. Since billions of cans of soup have been opened without ever once finding a new life form, the odds are at least billions to one that this will continue to be true. But maybe you do not think the odds are high enough to make it impossible.
Although the simplest cell is far more complex than a 747 airplane. I would like to use the airplane to prove a point. How many 747's have ever been found in a can of soup? What are the odds that a 747 could even be shrunk down to fit in a can of soup? How many soup factories have 747's parked near by where one might fall into the soup? How many instances of shrinking large objects have ever occurred in recorded history? I think you can quickly see that finding a 747 in your soup is an absurd impossibility.
And yet people who call themselves scientists actually teach that evolution is a fact when the actual probability of something as unlikely as the first cell coming together by chance is less than finding a 747 in your soup. I have no interest in theories that try to explain how a fish might turn into a frog. I want to know how dirt can turn into the first living cell by chance. Some have calculated the odds and arrived at numbers so large that they are impossible to comprehend. For example 1 in 10400,000 (a number with 400,000 zeroes in it)
This is a number so large that the entire universe could not hold that many electrons even if it were packed solid. Mark one with an "X" and pick it out on the first try! Note, there have only been 1017 seconds since the beginning of the universe.
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