Some folks spend much of their lives just waiting for God to do something in their lives. Even professed believers seem to simply tread water, spiritually, without getting around to actually living the life God has for them, even when they seem sure it’s out there. We basically understand who God is. We seem to know what to do. Yet we do nothing, or at least very little. Therefore, our spiritual lives always seem to feel “almost” or “not quite” and we settle for that compromise. But we know He’s out there and that He has something better for us if we were just willing to take that extra step of faith. This is my reminder to all of us that we need to take that fateful step. If you’re one of those people who have been nodding your head as you read these words, right now might just be the time to get started. I wrote this little prayer of revelation and submission recently and you are welcome to claim it as your own. Don’t hold back. That better life with God is just around the corner and it begins with a few simple words: “Lord, let my life begin in earnest today.” Let it begin!
Let it Begin
There was a moment late this morning
It came upon me without warning
When I heard God’s voice and felt His mighty hand
In that moment, in that hour
As He revealed His love and power
I knew we had to draw a line there in the sand
And these are the words that I prayed:
“Lord, let my life begin in earnest today”
There wasn’t smoke, there wasn’t mirrors
There were no witnesses or hearers
But when I opened up my eyes just then I knew
That it was time I started living
The life that God was freely giving
The one I’d waited long enough to get ‘round to
And these are the words that I prayed:
“Lord, let my life begin in earnest today”
I had all the information
And it was just procrastination
Which had kept me from the life I’d been called to
So I pledge my heart and soul now
To follow Jesus daily somehow
To live each moment just as He would have me do
And these are the words that I prayed:
“Lord, let my life begin in earnest today”
By Frank Carpenter ©
Thursday, August 25, 2005
Wednesday, August 17, 2005
We Shall Never Forget
Last Friday New York City officials, in response to a lawsuit brought by survivors, released 12,000 pages of transcripts related to the morning of September 11th. Those transcripts included text from police and fire department radio calls from that morning, as well as interviews of firefighters in the days immediately following the events of that fateful day. As I read some of the quotes I simply began to cry, remembering how I felt as I drove to work and heard the story unfolding on the news. When we watched the towers crumble, live, for the first time I was overcome with grief and rage. Worse yet for me, I was on the brink of a serious and as yet undiagnosed coronary blockage which caused my anguish to make me physically ill due to a lack of oxygen. What amazed me most these last days, as I have relived some of those moments, is how quickly we have forgotten the emotions of September 11. For days and weeks and months afterwards our national mantra became, “we shall never forget.” We did. We have forgotten our grief, our anger, our anguish, our patriotism … and our resolve. We have forgotten the images of the planes crashing into the towers, of desperate citizens jumping to their deaths rather than being burned alive, of the two towers toppling down. On that day we all swore that the world would never be the same, that we would never be the same. Are we? To refresh our memories I wanted to share a few things. First, here are two comments made by firefighters over their radios which I believe are especially poignant:
“Send every available ambulance, everything you got to the World Trade Center,” a firefighter calls from engine 1. “Now!”
“Just at that point, my radio came clear as day, ‘Imminent collapse. This was a terrorist attack. Evacuate.’”
Also, let’s review the casualty statistics once again. Here are how many people we lost at each attack venue:
In the Twin Towers 2595
Flight 11 92
Flight 175 65
In the Pentagon 125
Flight 77 64
Shanksville
Flight 93 45
A total of 2, 986 people lost their lives that day. Yet, that is only part of the story. Based upon that unthinkable number, consider how many widows, orphans and widowers were left, along with how many people must have lost sons, daughers, mothers, fathers, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and so forth. The impact to families, congregations, corporate staffs, neighborhoods and the like makes for a staggering set of permutations, not to mention the emotional effect on the rest of us all these thousands of miles away. As we digest those numbers, let us remember that more Americans were killed on September 11th than we have lost in three years of armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. As an additional point of reference, only 2, 403 Americans were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, in stark contrast, the victims of the attacks on September 11th were all civilians, which makes their mass murder all the more heinous. No, we really should never forget.
I point all the above facts out not only in memory of those lost, but also that we, as a people, may keep our eyes on the ball as we continue to combat this elusive enemy across the globe. For the self same Islamic fanatics, related to the Al-Qaeda network, were not only responsible for September 11, they are behind many of the American casualties we are currently experiencing in Iraq. They were behind the Madrid bombing and the most recent bombings in England. These people aren’t satisfied with military targets. They are after you and me and our children and our very way of life. We really cannot afford to forget.
Four years down the road, we’ve made a great deal of progress, but the London bombings should serve as a reminder that what began on September 11th is still far from over. Our enemy is still at the gates, more likely right amongst us. I encourage you to go back and review some of the quotes and images from that dreadful morning so that the nature of our enemy may remain in the forefront of your thought as you discuss war and civil liberties and prisoner treatment and troop reductions and all those other related issues which flood our current events.
… and never forget.
“Send every available ambulance, everything you got to the World Trade Center,” a firefighter calls from engine 1. “Now!”
“Just at that point, my radio came clear as day, ‘Imminent collapse. This was a terrorist attack. Evacuate.’”
Also, let’s review the casualty statistics once again. Here are how many people we lost at each attack venue:
In the Twin Towers 2595
Flight 11 92
Flight 175 65
In the Pentagon 125
Flight 77 64
Shanksville
Flight 93 45
A total of 2, 986 people lost their lives that day. Yet, that is only part of the story. Based upon that unthinkable number, consider how many widows, orphans and widowers were left, along with how many people must have lost sons, daughers, mothers, fathers, grandparents, grandchildren, aunts, uncles, cousins, friends and so forth. The impact to families, congregations, corporate staffs, neighborhoods and the like makes for a staggering set of permutations, not to mention the emotional effect on the rest of us all these thousands of miles away. As we digest those numbers, let us remember that more Americans were killed on September 11th than we have lost in three years of armed conflict in Afghanistan and Iraq combined. As an additional point of reference, only 2, 403 Americans were killed in the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. However, in stark contrast, the victims of the attacks on September 11th were all civilians, which makes their mass murder all the more heinous. No, we really should never forget.
I point all the above facts out not only in memory of those lost, but also that we, as a people, may keep our eyes on the ball as we continue to combat this elusive enemy across the globe. For the self same Islamic fanatics, related to the Al-Qaeda network, were not only responsible for September 11, they are behind many of the American casualties we are currently experiencing in Iraq. They were behind the Madrid bombing and the most recent bombings in England. These people aren’t satisfied with military targets. They are after you and me and our children and our very way of life. We really cannot afford to forget.
Four years down the road, we’ve made a great deal of progress, but the London bombings should serve as a reminder that what began on September 11th is still far from over. Our enemy is still at the gates, more likely right amongst us. I encourage you to go back and review some of the quotes and images from that dreadful morning so that the nature of our enemy may remain in the forefront of your thought as you discuss war and civil liberties and prisoner treatment and troop reductions and all those other related issues which flood our current events.
… and never forget.
Tuesday, August 09, 2005
A Monkey's Uncle
Back in the news once more is the old creation versus evolution conflict. Last week President Bush stepped feet first into the debate between Darwinian evolution and “intelligent design,” saying both should be given equal standing in the nation’s science classrooms. Intelligent design is the theory that the development of the natural world has been influenced by a higher being of some sort. This same week, the History Channel began airing “Ape to Man,” a documentary which explores the history of evolutionary theory and those who have sought to prove it. Finally, this morning USA Today ran an article entitled “Intelligent Design Smacks of Creationism by Another Name,” which basically says, like so many other media sources, that evolution is scientific fact and creation is merely religious fiction. In short, neither is a theory. I am certainly no expert in this area, but I would like to make a few comments thereto.
In all fairness I shall begin with full disclosure, admitting up front that I am a supposedly narrow-minded fundamentalist Christian who believes that there is a God. And if there is a God, then He may very likely be able to do all manner of miraculous things … up to and possibly including creation. That being said, lets take a quick look at evolution and a few of it’s unanswered questions. First of all, there are two types of evolution. The first is microevolution, the theory that species make modest adaptations over time in response to environment. The great example, of course, would be someplace like the Galapagos Islands, where isolated animal populations have changed slightly over time. An animal with a sharper beak or the ability to run faster may have a greater survival rate and, therefore, live to pass those traits on. Thusly, desert animals, mountain animals and island animals, etc. may vary somewhat due to their varied environments. That seems to make perfect sense. The problem arises when we begin to consider macroevolution, in which species change entirely over time and new species come into being. Sure, there may be enough fossil evidence to argue that perspective convincingly. What is even more difficult to swallow, however, is how something can come from nothing. In other words, how did we make the jump from no life at all to the complex biological systems we call life? This is where evolution begins to fall apart. Even the dinosaurs had hearts and lungs and brains and stomachs and legs and eyes and ears and the whole host of standard equipment issued to carbon based life forms as we know them. All those systems could not develop by natural selection. A heart without a lung or a lung without a heart, and either without blood or a brain fails instantly. Evolution doesn’t answer that question, dealing only with the chicken and assuming somehow the egg just magically appeared. Come to think of it, there would have to be two chickens ... preceded by at least two eggs, in order for life to be sustained. No offense, but that takes more faith than my creation theory. So modern scientific theory goes something like this:
1. First, there was nothing
2. Then, it exploded
3. Somehow, we got the earth … with water and an atmosphere
4. Then rocks came to life, presumably as a single cell
5. That single cell found a way to eat, breathe and reproduce (on the 1st try)
6. Then there were giant lizards
7. They grew hair and opposable thumbs
8. And became us
Now I’ve left out some details, but either way there are a lot of unexplainable gaps in this evolutionary time line. The universe had to start or become somehow. Life had to originate, in some form, from inanimate matter. That life had to develop into complicated biological systems in order to survive, many of which are interdependent and essential for survival in the first place. Then, even assuming that all of the above could miraculously happen, (and it sure sounds miraculous to me) there are still several gigantic leaps towards life becoming us. The whole situation screams intelligent design to me and I think it takes more faith to trust entirely in evolutionary science for answers to the gaps in scientific theory. Complicated systems tend to atrophy rather than specialize unless energy or guidance is applied from outside those systems. That’s what the 2nd law of thermodynamics is all about. How, then, have things become less random and more ordered over time? Food for thought.
I need to make one final comment. Why is it that the narrow-minded people just want creation or intelligent design taught as an opposing theory along with evolution, while the supposedly open-minded people reject all other theories and want it to be illegal and unconstitutional to teach anything but evolution theory? I find that to be highly hypocritical. Perhaps the underlying issue is that if creation is an option then God is an option … and some folks just don’t want a God meddling in their intellectual universe. For if there is a God, especially a creating and influencing God, then man cannot be God. In the end, perhaps it is merely a matter of pride.
If you have wrestled with someone on this issue, perhaps the following poem would serve as a light hearted ice breaker to reopen the subject. It's also great for sharing with high school biology teachers. Anyway, I respectfully submit the following, which I hope may entertain as well as educate.
A Monkey's Uncle
When it comes to evolution
I'm never sure what I should think
Am I made in the image of the Lord
Or am I a missing link
Is my form, somehow, transitional
From chimps to something grand
Am I a monkey's uncle or
The work of my Creator's hand
Am I here at the top of the food chain
Because a God has willed it so
Or just by natural selection
How's a primate supposed to know
If his species is an accident
That cell mutation caused
Is there meaning, is there purpose
Or are there only Darwin's laws
Am I superior to all the other
Beasts, both deaf and dumb
Or just a talking ape who lucked out
When he grew opposing thumbs
Hey, since I'm the only animal
Who can think the thoughts I do
I'd like to think that there's a God
Who designed both me and you
That we're not just descended
From some egg or worm or spore
That crawled out of a murky ocean
On some ancient, slimy shore
I really hate to be the one
Who chops down the family tree
But someone's always trying
To make a monkey out of me
By Frank Carpenter ©
In all fairness I shall begin with full disclosure, admitting up front that I am a supposedly narrow-minded fundamentalist Christian who believes that there is a God. And if there is a God, then He may very likely be able to do all manner of miraculous things … up to and possibly including creation. That being said, lets take a quick look at evolution and a few of it’s unanswered questions. First of all, there are two types of evolution. The first is microevolution, the theory that species make modest adaptations over time in response to environment. The great example, of course, would be someplace like the Galapagos Islands, where isolated animal populations have changed slightly over time. An animal with a sharper beak or the ability to run faster may have a greater survival rate and, therefore, live to pass those traits on. Thusly, desert animals, mountain animals and island animals, etc. may vary somewhat due to their varied environments. That seems to make perfect sense. The problem arises when we begin to consider macroevolution, in which species change entirely over time and new species come into being. Sure, there may be enough fossil evidence to argue that perspective convincingly. What is even more difficult to swallow, however, is how something can come from nothing. In other words, how did we make the jump from no life at all to the complex biological systems we call life? This is where evolution begins to fall apart. Even the dinosaurs had hearts and lungs and brains and stomachs and legs and eyes and ears and the whole host of standard equipment issued to carbon based life forms as we know them. All those systems could not develop by natural selection. A heart without a lung or a lung without a heart, and either without blood or a brain fails instantly. Evolution doesn’t answer that question, dealing only with the chicken and assuming somehow the egg just magically appeared. Come to think of it, there would have to be two chickens ... preceded by at least two eggs, in order for life to be sustained. No offense, but that takes more faith than my creation theory. So modern scientific theory goes something like this:
1. First, there was nothing
2. Then, it exploded
3. Somehow, we got the earth … with water and an atmosphere
4. Then rocks came to life, presumably as a single cell
5. That single cell found a way to eat, breathe and reproduce (on the 1st try)
6. Then there were giant lizards
7. They grew hair and opposable thumbs
8. And became us
Now I’ve left out some details, but either way there are a lot of unexplainable gaps in this evolutionary time line. The universe had to start or become somehow. Life had to originate, in some form, from inanimate matter. That life had to develop into complicated biological systems in order to survive, many of which are interdependent and essential for survival in the first place. Then, even assuming that all of the above could miraculously happen, (and it sure sounds miraculous to me) there are still several gigantic leaps towards life becoming us. The whole situation screams intelligent design to me and I think it takes more faith to trust entirely in evolutionary science for answers to the gaps in scientific theory. Complicated systems tend to atrophy rather than specialize unless energy or guidance is applied from outside those systems. That’s what the 2nd law of thermodynamics is all about. How, then, have things become less random and more ordered over time? Food for thought.
I need to make one final comment. Why is it that the narrow-minded people just want creation or intelligent design taught as an opposing theory along with evolution, while the supposedly open-minded people reject all other theories and want it to be illegal and unconstitutional to teach anything but evolution theory? I find that to be highly hypocritical. Perhaps the underlying issue is that if creation is an option then God is an option … and some folks just don’t want a God meddling in their intellectual universe. For if there is a God, especially a creating and influencing God, then man cannot be God. In the end, perhaps it is merely a matter of pride.
If you have wrestled with someone on this issue, perhaps the following poem would serve as a light hearted ice breaker to reopen the subject. It's also great for sharing with high school biology teachers. Anyway, I respectfully submit the following, which I hope may entertain as well as educate.
A Monkey's Uncle
When it comes to evolution
I'm never sure what I should think
Am I made in the image of the Lord
Or am I a missing link
Is my form, somehow, transitional
From chimps to something grand
Am I a monkey's uncle or
The work of my Creator's hand
Am I here at the top of the food chain
Because a God has willed it so
Or just by natural selection
How's a primate supposed to know
If his species is an accident
That cell mutation caused
Is there meaning, is there purpose
Or are there only Darwin's laws
Am I superior to all the other
Beasts, both deaf and dumb
Or just a talking ape who lucked out
When he grew opposing thumbs
Hey, since I'm the only animal
Who can think the thoughts I do
I'd like to think that there's a God
Who designed both me and you
That we're not just descended
From some egg or worm or spore
That crawled out of a murky ocean
On some ancient, slimy shore
I really hate to be the one
Who chops down the family tree
But someone's always trying
To make a monkey out of me
By Frank Carpenter ©
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