the merge

I don't know about you, but this video convinces me that there DEFINITELY is a conspiracy...ok, maybe not. But it definitely proves that not everyone who has a thought should express it.

This video also lays a good foundation for promoting basic science competency in our skools!

Has anyone else heard about Rick Warren's approach to political discussion between the candidates? Check out this article for more.

Here are some quotes:

"This is a critical time for our nation, and the American people deserve to hear both candidates speak from the heart – without interruption – in a civil and thoughtful format absent the partisan 'gotcha' questions that typically produce heat instead of light," Warren said on announcing the event, called a Saddleback Civil Forum.

His questions will focus on how the candidates lead and make decisions and will cover five topics: leadership, stewardship, worldview, compassion issues, and their vision for America.

"This can be important as a model for a religious leader who is bipartisan in reaching out to find out about candidates," says C. Welton Gaddy, head of the Interfaith Alliance, in Washington, which has criticized some uses of religion in the campaign. "He's putting himself on center stage at a critical moment, with a tremendous amount of responsibility riding on his shoulders."

I am impressed with this approach. Giving each candidate a chance to speak, and allowing them the time to express themselves. Do I believe they will be completely honest? They are, of course, still politicians speaking during a campaign...so no, not completely. But I do admire the attempt to get civil discourse from both political parties represented in the church.

What do you think?

If you are watching the Olympics you are watching history in the making. Michael Phelps looks unstoppable as he pushed to a fifth gold medal and a fifth world record.

I love watching athletic excellence in action. I loved watching Lance Armstrong as he dominated the Tour de France, and I think Phelps is to the pool what Lance was to the bike.

The Men's 4x100 relay has to be the greatest race in history. Michael Phelps took the American Record, and his teammate Lezak caught the World Record Holder to give the American team the gold medal. Earlier this week, the French said they were going to "smash the Americans." It was exciting to see the quietly confident American team put those words to rest.

One of Michael's teammates gave him the best compliment. When asked what it was like swimming on a team with Michael Phelps, the teammate responded. (I am paraphrasing) "I feel honored, but the best thing about Michael is that he recognizes this as a team thing and not just an individual thing."

It would be easy to focus on your own personal glory and forget that you are part of a team.

I am almost finished with Bill Bryson's book A Short History of Nearly Everything. Bryson includes a quote from leading scientist Dr. Tattersall: "One of the hardest ideas for humans to accept is that we are not the culmination of anything. There is nothing inevitable about being here. It is part of our vanity as humans that we tend to think of evolution as a process that, in effect, was programmed to produce us."

The quote is aimed a people who think that modern humans are the ultimate goal of all humanity and that evolution was steadily moving toward us. But this is also a sad statement of atheistic evolution.

As Christians, wherever you stand on the creationist---evolutionist scale, there is more to our existence biblically than this statement allows. The theological arrangement of Genesis 1 and Genesis 2 places human beings as the pinnacle of God's creative work. Genesis indicates a direct human connectivity to the purposes and will of God because of this unique God and Human relationship. We are not special in our own right, but as being made so by our Creator.

I don't believe as Christians we can remove God from any explanation of science and creation. I don't believe we have to be tied to only one explanation of how things have developed in creation, but I certainly believe that whatever and however it developed God was part of it.

I am still amazed at how much of scientific explanation of the creation and how the world works is based on skant evidence and a lot of bias, opinion, and theory. It almost as though they are looking at a blade of grass and extrapolating and describing the entire ecology of the earth.

I just read an article by William Lobdell on the LA Times website about how being a religion reporter led him away from the church and, ultimately, God. I am assuming, based on information found elsewhere, that it is an excerpt from an upcoming memoir.

Here is a quote:

WHEN Times editors assigned me to the religion beat, I believed God had answered my prayers.

As a serious Christian, I had cringed at some of the coverage in the mainstream media. Faith frequently was treated like a circus, even a freak show.

I wanted to report objectively and respectfully about how belief shapes people’s lives. Along the way, I believed, my own faith would grow deeper and sturdier.

But during the eight years I covered religion, something very different happened...

Be sure to read the rest of the article here.

The rest of the article is a shortened explanation of how researching and reporting on various churches and scandals led him away from the church and God. As I read, I found myself sad for him, feeling the need to wring the necks of many in the church, and remembering a time when I was very much in his shoes...except that I couldn't let go of my faith.

I felt more like the Eskimo in the holding cell from his story.

What do you think?

Over the past few days, I have been reading Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything. In his typical travelogue humorous style, Bryson gives a whirlwind tour of science history and development. The book is an attempt to make some pretty deep and muddy science more understandable and accessible to the general public.

At the end of chapter 11 Bill Bryson states, "The upshot of all this is that we live in a universe whose age we can't quite compute, surrounded by stars whose distances we don't altogether know, filled with matter we can't identify, operating in conformance with physical laws whose properties we don't truly understand."

What I get from this statement is this...if we think that science holds all the answers and is the final authority for determining truth we are sadly ignorant.

I don't, by any stretch, believe we can disregard science, but I am amazed science's imprecision. The more that is known, the more scientist know they don't know and don't understand, and many theories and statements are made based on scant research and data. The very nature of scientific philosophy is one of development, growth, change, and correction.

We need more research. We need more experiments. We need more science. Science cannot be our only measure of truth...because scientific truth is always changing with each new discovery.

What do you think?

Here some other things I have written on science.
Evolution Sunday
Intelligent Design
Intelligent Design 2

I heard Randy speak in 2004 at an evangelism conference in Dayton, Ohio. He lived only a few miles from me when I planted a church in Kansas City, but never got around to contacting him. I spent several days a few years ago reading through every article on his blog...Randy if you see this I am not a stalker and I DO have a life.

Anyway...

I was reading a post from his blog the other day and it is worth reading. Check it out here.

His 7 year-old son said, "Just because you're okay doesn't mean you didn't get hurt."

What great wisdom!

Since moving back to Dayton, I have found a great new pizza place...Classic Pizza. In fact, I go there more often than any of the other places I used to crave when living in Kansas City.

Now the owner is a hero...He helped capture a bank robber!

This Saturday I will be drug through the mud...playing volleyball. This is a big event in Dayton, and looks to be a lot of fun. Peace, Love, and Mud!