Here is an interesting article called "The War Against Girls", a good book review of "Unnatural Selection" by Mara Hvistendahl.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702303657404576361691165631366.html?mod=WSJ_hp_mostpop_read#printMode

Here's an excerpt:

"Despite the author's intentions, "Unnatural Selection" might be one of the most
consequential books ever written in the campaign against abortion. It is aimed,
like a heat-seeking missile, against the entire intellectual framework of
"choice." For if "choice" is the moral imperative guiding abortion, then there
is no way to take a stand against "gendercide." Aborting a baby because she is a
girl is no different from aborting a baby because she has Down syndrome or
because the mother's "mental health" requires it. Choice is choice."

Here is another interesting article called "The Search for the Historical Adam".

http://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/article_print.html?id=92509

It summarizes the state of the continuing controversy about whether God created the human race directly in the persons of Adam and Eve, or whether God "used evolution" over millions of years to bring us to where we are today.  The same compromises and arguments are occurring, with the theistic evolutionists / progressive creationists / old-earthers saying "it really doesn't matter" and the rest of us Bible-believers saying "it really does matter."

The article is unfortunately biased toward the theistic evolution point of view, but it does spotlight the incredible pressures in the intellectual spheres in the creation/evolution discussion these days.

Great quote from Tim Keller -

"[Paul] most definitely wanted to teach us that Adam and Eve were real historical figures. When you refuse to take a biblical author literally when he clearly wants you to do so, you have moved away from the traditional understanding of the biblical authority.  If Adam doesn't exist, Paul's whole argument - that both sin and grace work 'covenantally' - falls apart. You can't say that 'Paul was a man of his time' but we can accept his basic teaching about Adam. If you don't believe what he believes about Adam, you are denying the core of Paul's teaching."

And finally, a closing quote from the most awesome book of all, the Bible... Ephesians 1:3-12.   I see so many of my nonChristian friends inwardly hungry for significance (especially men) or for love (especially women), all day long... vainly seeking in this or that activity or place.  If only they could know and experience our great God!  ...the God who loves us fiercely, beyond measure, and will never stop loving us, and Who has called us to true, eternal, significance through being adopted by Him:

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we would be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will, to the praise of the glory of His grace, which He freely bestowed on us in the Beloved. In Him we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of our trespasses, according to the riches of His grace which He lavished on us. In all wisdom and insight He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will, to the end that we who were the first to hope in Christ would be to the praise of His glory."

I was thinking today that the miracles recorded in the Bible as being performed by God actually seem quite "optimal".   If they were 'stronger' (e.g. ?) they might be more 'impressive', but less 'believable'.  If they were 'weaker' (e.g. 'God healed my back pains'), they might be more believable, but less impressive.  But such as they are (e.g. healing of a man born blind), they have the optimum balance of strength and believability.

If they were more observable/regular (e.g. 'anyone who goes to the top of the mountain of zinzibar at full moon will be healed of all diseases') or more universal (e.g. if Jesus healed ALL lepers throughout the world, not only those who came to him and asked for healing), they might be more quickly taken for granted and despised.   If they were less observable (e.g. if Jesus had not appeared after His resurrection to hundreds of credible eyewitnesses), they would be less believable.

They are also quite different than the occult/sorcery miracles.   If you read/watch a typical wizardry story or movie, they're all about power for the sake of impressing people and/or waging war...  casting spells on people, forcing people to do what you want them to do, adjusting life to give oneself more luxury.   But the miracles of God were typically items of rescue, provision, and healing.  People in dire straits who were about to be slaughtered unjustly, or about to die of some irreversible illness, or lacking food/water, or drowning, or whose only son had just died, etc, called out to God for help, and God performed a miracle to help them.

Beautiful.  True.  Beautiful that they are true.

John Horgan recently said on his blog at Scientific American magazine that secular scientists still have no good theory for how life could arise from non-living chemicals.  "Don't tell the creationists," he says!  (as if we aren't fully aware...)   The main contenders for abiogenesis theories these days are self-catalyzing RNA molecules (whose problems Horgan lists, and Stephen Meyer enumerates in his book "Signature in the Cell"), and "Panspermia", the idea that life on earth must have come from somewhere else in the universe.  Panspermia merely pushes the problem somewhere else, of course.

Horgan tries to claim that his naturalistic approach is more "honest", however.  Here's a quote:

"Creationists are no doubt thrilled that origin-of-life research has reached such an impasse..., but they shouldn't be. Their explanations suffer from the same flaw: What created the divine Creator? And at least scientists are making an honest effort to solve life's mystery instead of blaming it all on God."

If the divine Creator God had a beginning, then yes, He would need a cause.  But since He is eternal and never had a beginning, He needed no cause.

A naturalist might say, "You believe in an eternal God, I believe in an eternal universe.  We both believe in something eternal, but at least I can see the universe, whereas I can't see God.  My position is more rational because I'm building my beliefs on the available observable evidence."

There are three problems with this.  First, according to observable scientific principles such as the laws of thermodynamics, all the matter/energy in closed systems is constantly moving into a less-usable state (higher entropy).  So if the universe was really eternal, it would have already come to a "heat death", a cold, homogenized "stew" of molecules evenly distributed everywhere.  The fact that there's still lots of usable energy around (e.g. the stars) indicates that it had a beginning, some finite time ago.  (Someone might postulate a constantly exploding-and-contracting universe that has been 'reborn' an infinite number of times every few billion years with no loss of energy...  but how "observable" would that theory be?!?  That's about as observable and rational as postulating that an invisible 'Flying Spaghetti Monster' created the universe!

Second, which Cause better explains the world we see around us?  If all life arose from nonliving chemicals, then morality is merely an illusion, as are also consciousness, choice, love, and rational thought itself.  Furthermore, are all design inferences inherently "dishonest", as Horgan seems to imply?  Suppose I found a scrap of paper stuck under my front door one day, with the following text: "Dear Tim, I think you're cute. Signed, a secret admirer."   I could attribute this object to three types of causes (or a mixture) - necessity, chance, or design. 

• "Necessity" would be, for example, a secret miniature printing press buried behind a trap door in my wall which stealthily swung into action in the middle of the night and stamped out such a note every few years, inserting it beneath the doorstep before lapsing into hibernation again.  That would explain the paper, but the chain of causality would next move to "where did the printing press (a more complicated object than the note) come from?"
• "Chance" would be, for example, the hypothesis that the wind just so happened to blow a pencil and a scrap of blank paper out of the trash dump on the other side of the city, and just so happened to rub the pencil against the paper as they tumbled down the street, and just so happened to form legible english letters and words which created a coherent set of sentences, and just so happened to insert the paper under my front door during the night.   Is it possible?  Sure.  What's the probability?   A lot bigger than the probability that one self-replicating cell would form by chance...
• "Design" would be the hypothesis that some unknown "intelligent agent" wrote and delivered the note.

If I inferred design, would that be a "dishonest" inference?  Would it be irrational?  Would it be "unscientific"?  Would Horgan say, "No no no, you must keep trying to think up a way that it could have happened by chance!  You must keep making an honest effort to solve the mystery of the note's origin by postulating non-intelligent causes, rather than blaming it all on some unknown intelligent agent!"

Third, there is indeed real-world evidence for the existence of the Biblical God.   Jesus of Nazareth was born at the prophesied time and place, performed miracles and taught about (and in accordance with) the God of the Old Testament, was killed, and then raised to life again and was seen by hundreds of people.   While God is currently invisible, He has provided ample historical evidence of His existence and character to those who take the time to investigate...

Two and a Half Topics Tonight...  Economics, Forgiveness, and the Connection between them...

1.  Here is a nifty graph showing the income and expenses of the current United States federal budget, at a glance.  It comes from this link, of a financial consulting group's analysis of the USA as if it were a corporation: http://www.businessinsider.com/mary-meeker-usa-inc-february-24-2011-2

That huge entitlement load, and huge $1.3 trillion deficit (the difference between spending and income) does not even take into account the fact that tens of millions of Baby Boomers are about to retire and start tapping into Medicare.

Consider how difficult it is to withdraw "entitlements" once they're given.  Look at Greece's protests about its 'austerity measures', and Wisconsin's public sector union protesting governor Walker's budget cuts and collective bargaining limits.  It takes a VERY bold politician to cut entitlements for the sake of being fiscally responsible, knowing that millions of people will be outraged at the loss of their handout money.

Pennsylvania governor Corbett recently announced $850 million in budget cuts, trying to balance the PA state budget.  Rather than being hailed as a bold politician trying to put PA back on a financially sound footing, he is being widely castigated.  Penn State president Spanier said "Abraham Lincoln is weeping today", trying to lay the blame for Abe's tears upon the cuts, rather than upon the previous tragic escalation of yearly deficits and ballooning debt which inevitably always causes weeping when the debts come due.

2. Here's a quote from Mary Poplin about unforgiveness and how it is harmful to your own health:  Holding a grudge against someone is "like drinking poison and hoping that the other person dies."   How unfortunately true!

And how fortunately true the opposite!  God gives us the grace to freely forgive those who hurt us (who believe in Jesus), knowing how much we have been forgiven.   It seems like I have encountered a lot of nonChristian friends lately who have been talking about how angry and full of hate they are toward someone who has hurt them.   Not only do they see no need to forgive and "love their enemies", but they DON'T WANT to forgive them.

For us, though, who have been forgiven completely by God through Jesus Christ for all the sin and evil and corruption in our lives, how can we not forgive those who insult us and hurt us?   We have caused God SO much pain; we have messed up our and others' lives SO much, yet He forgave us fully and completely - forever.   He himself paid the penalty for our sins.   In light of this, how fitting and natural it is for us to forgive those people who hurt us.

3. What's the connection between the struggling economy (national debt, unemployment, gas prices, layoffs, job pressures) and the love and forgiveness that we followers of Jesus Christ are free to dispense in all directions because of the love with which He has loved us?

Simply this - in times of darkness the light shines more brightly.

Everyone is starting to 'feel the pressure' more and more these days, because of the bad deficit-growing entitlement-expanding financial decisions made by certain political leaders.  The pressure 'trickles down' into all jobs, into family interactions, into classrooms, into sidewalk interactions, etc.   In times when the veneers of civility and niceness are stripped away and people scrabble to survive, those of us into whom God has poured His lavish, rich, indescribably awesome love and approval through Jesus Christ can be beacons of joy and love and hope to others who are still stumbling around outside in the darkness.

"You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden; nor does anyone light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on the lampstand, and it gives light to all who are in the house.
"Let your light shine before men in such a way that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father who is in heaven."
-- Jesus Christ, Matthew 5:14-16

Will God send people to Hell?

I came across this interesting blog post tonight, about "why we need God's wrath" - http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/kevindeyoung/2011/02/26/to-hell-with-hell/

Besides the reasons Kevin DeYoung mentions, one other huge reason which is discussed in Glenn Miller's article here ( http://christianthinktank.com/whyjust.html ) is simply that God is love, and He keeps His promises.

When you love someone (with Biblical "agape" love), by definition it means you care about that person and seek their best interest.   If something threatens to harm that beloved person, you are immediately automatically opposed to whatever that thing is.  That thing becomes your enemy.

Thus, true love automatically includes a willingness to fight against anything that would hurt the beloved.

Here is a lengthy excellent quote from Glenn Miller's article, quoting many Scriptures and then one comment of his at the bottom.

[begin quote from Glenn Miller's article] -

One: God's justice (relative to punishing evil with the stated consequences) is generally related to God's anger, wrath, or "hatred" in the Bible. Although God is often caricatured as being belligerent, quick-to-anger (instead of slow to anger), easily upset about the most trivial matters, and petty in His demands to avoid His wrath, perhaps it would be helpful to survey briefly the explicit statements of what He actually "hates". Consider a few passages:

• How do these nations serve their gods, that I also may do likewise?' 31 "You shall not behave thus toward the Lord your God, for every abominable act which the Lord hates they have done for their gods; for they even burn their sons and daughters in the fire to their gods. (Deut 12)

• The Lord tests the righteous and the wicked, And the one who loves violence His soul hates.(Ps 11.5)

• There are six things which the Lord hates, Yes, seven which are an abomination to Him: 17 Haughty eyes, a lying tongue, And hands that shed innocent blood, 18 A heart that devises wicked plans, Feet that run rapidly to evil, 19 A false witness who utters lies, And one who spreads strife among brothers .(Prov 6.16ff)

• Says the Lord. "I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams, And the fat of fed cattle. And I take no pleasure in the blood of bulls, lambs, or goats. 12 "When you come to appear before Me, Who requires of you this trampling of My courts? 13 "Bring your worthless offerings no longer, Incense is an abomination to Me. New moon and sabbath, the calling of assemblies-I cannot endure iniquity and the solemn assembly. 14 "I hate your new moon festivals and your appointed feasts, They have become a burden to Me. I am weary of bearing them. 15 "So when you spread out your hands in prayer, I will hide My eyes from you, Yes, even though you multiply prayers, I will not listen. Your hands are covered with blood. 16 "Wash yourselves, make yourselves clean; Remove the evil of your deeds from My sight. Cease to do evil, 17 Learn to do good; Seek justice, Reprove the ruthless; Defend the orphan, Plead for the widow (Is 1)

• "For I, the LORD, love justice; I hate robbery and iniquity. (Is 61.8)

• I hate, I reject your festivals, Nor do I delight in your solemn assemblies. 22 "Even though you offer up to Me burnt offerings and your grain offerings, I will not accept them; And I will not even look at the peace offerings of your fatlings. 23 "Take away from Me the noise of your songs; I will not even listen to the sound of your harps. 24 "But let justice roll down like waters And righteousness like an ever-flowing stream. (Amos 5.21)

• These are the things which you should do: speak the truth to one another; judge with truth and judgment for peace in your gates. 17 'Also let none of you devise evil in your heart against another, and do not love perjury; for all these are what I hate,' declares the Lord." (Zech 8.16)

• Take heed then, to your spirit, and let no one deal treacherously against the wife of your youth. 16 "For I hate divorce," says the Lord, the God of Israel, "and him who covers his garment with wrong," says the Lord of hosts. "So take heed to your spirit, that you do not deal treacherously." (Mal 2.15)

• Then say to the household of the king of Judah, 'Hear the word of the Lord,O house of David, thus says the Lord: 12 "Administer justice every morning; And deliver the person who has been robbed from the power of his oppressor That My wrath may not go forth like fire And burn with none to extinguish it, Because of the evil of their deeds. (Jer 21.11)

• Then the word of the Lord came to Zechariah saying, 9 "Thus has the Lord of hosts said, 'Dispense true justice, and practice kindness and compassion each to his brother; 10 and do not oppress the widow or the orphan, the stranger or the poor; and do not devise evil in your hearts against one another.' 11 "But they refused to pay attention, and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. 12 "And they made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words which the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore great wrath came from the Lord of hosts. 13 "And it came about that just as He called and they would not listen, so they called and I would not listen," says the Lord of hosts; 14 "but I scattered them with a storm wind among all the nations whom they have not known. Thus the land is desolated behind them, so that no one went back and forth, for they made the pleasant land desolate." (Zech 7.8ff)

Can you see the pattern here?!

God hates treachery, violence, cruelty, callused hypocrisy-things that knowingly (not accidentally) destroy people, community, safety, trust, joy, innocence, and beauty. This is not minor ritual 'infractions' nor petty stuff! The human race simply cannot exist without large amounts of decency, loyalty, and social justice.

Ever authentic human being should scream in outrage at crimes against the elderly, at vandalism of the poor, at oppression of the disadvantaged, at domestic violence, at greed and power-oriented oppression and marginalization, at child abuse (and at the child sacrifice of the false religions Israel adopted from her neighbors!), at institutional hypocrisy that remains arrogantly insensitive to the real needs of real people...Moral outrage by moral agents (us) at moral atrocities is a mark of moral authenticity-why would we expect the Author of moral agents to be 'less moral' than we?

...

If you had known what these words mean, 'I desire mercy, not sacrifice,' you would not have condemned the innocent. (Matt 12.7)

God is passionate about people, especially the innocent and "little" ones. His cry to us to show mercy instead of religious routine should (1) reveal His passionate heart; and (2) reveal the coldness of our own...This is no ad hoc religious rule we are discussing here-it is the very passion of God for people.

...

 Outrage and lament are the proper, sensitive, and morally appropriate responses to injury and oppression.

I suspect that "forgiveness" of moral injury, if not preceded by moral outrage or confrontation over the unjust injury, is nothing more than selfish apathy, insensitivity to the rights and worth of the victim(s), or fear of confronting the oppressor/treachery...

[end quote from Glenn Miller's article]

Very well said.

Here are two interesting articles I came across tonight.

1. The first is a spicy commentary about a prediction Donald Miller wrote for CNN about religious trends in 2011.   http://teampyro.blogspot.com/2011/01/open-letter-to-donald-miller.html
I read Donald's book "Blue Like Jazz" a couple years ago, and I think Frank Turk's comments are right-on.  Frank makes great points about the true gospel (of repentance and forgiveness, truth and love) that Jesus Christ preached.  Jesus was an "extremist"... a "radical"... in the best possible way...

2. The second one is about how Francis Chan recently left his 4000-member California church because he felt it was becoming too focused on him rather than on Jesus Christ.  http://religion.blogs.cnn.com/2010/12/22/%e2%80%9cchristian-famous%e2%80%9d-pastor-quits-his-church-moves-to-asia/
Here's a quote from the article:
In his world of big conference crowds, multiple services each week, and instant access to social media, the notion of pastoral care had begun to change. His fame was straining his work as a pastor. “When there is a large constituency, there’s a lot of voices,” he said. “It makes you arrogant or it makes you want to shoot yourself. When thousands of people tell you what they think, how can I be quick to listen, like the Bible says? I don’t want to be a jerk and tune everyone out. At the same time you, can’t love every single person and answer them.”

Francis is so right about that.  And I highly admire him for his action.  The whole idea of the salaried pastoral "job" is not quite Biblical, it seems to me (though pastoral/elder roles are Biblical and voluntary financial gifts to assist them in their work are Biblical)... as are the large buildings and other trappings of modern institutionalized "church".  (For more thoughts, see my posts on Steve Atkerson's book 'House Church', e.g. http://tim223.xanga.com/725607096/house-church-reading-notes-ch10-20/ ).

Fame sometimes comes, as God's gifts attract attention.  But the modern church paradigms tend to put more pressure on pastors/elders than God intended for them to bear.  They are asked by Western culture to be CEOs of veritable religious corporations, spending their energies on building projects and christian community center programs, instead of God's charge that they take care of His people.  They are asked to be the man at the top of a pyramid of authority and honor, instead of God's paradigm:  "Do not be called leaders, for One is your Leader, that is, Christ."  Matthew 23:10

Joshua Harris commented in the above article on Francis Chan's decision: "...Not every pastor of a big church should leave.”  Whether or not Joshua is right, I suggest that every pastor of a church should seek to multiply himself; to work himself out of a job; to disciple and raise up other men to lead and teach and preach... and disciple others.

Taking a paid job as "pastor" or "clergy" in a Western institutionalized church is not necessarily evil, and I have been blessed by the friendship and preaching and mentorship of many such men over the years.  But it is a dangerous position, filled with perils and pressures that are unnecessary and not required by the Biblical plan for God's Church.

All of that to say, I admire Francis Chan for his action, and I pray that God will use him with even greater effectiveness in the future as he serves smaller groups of people.  May his desire be granted: that people interacting with him would come away thinking not about him, but about Jesus Christ.

2011....

What is the "big picture" of your life?   What metanarrative do you believe that your life fits into, making sense of your life and where you are going afterward?

Here are six short quotes that describe the metanarrative that I have come to believe; one quote from my Savior, the King of Kings and Lord of Lords, Jesus Christ.....  and four quotes from John Newton and one quote from Fanny Crosby.

----------

Matthew 13
44"The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in the field, which a man found and hid again; and from joy over it he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.
45"Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls,
46and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it.
-- Jesus Christ

---------

"I went one day to Mrs. G---'s, just after she had lost all her fortune. I could not be surprised to find her in tears... but she said, 'I suppose you think I am crying for my loss... but that is not the case; I am now weeping to think I should feel so much uneasiness on the account.' After that I never heard her speak again upon the subject as long as she lived.
Now this is just as it should be. Suppose a man was going to York to take possession of a large estate, and his chaise should break down a mile before he got to the city, which obliged him to walk the rest of the way; what a fool we would think him, if we saw him wringing his hands, and blubbering out all the remaining mile, 'My chaise is broken! My chaise is broken!'"
-- John Newton

This is my story
This is my song
Praising my Savior
All the day long
-- Fanny Crosby

"The people of this world are like children. Offer a child an candy and a bank note, he will doubtless choose the candy."
-- John Newton

"The heir of a great estate, while a child, thinks more of a few dollars in his pocket than of his inheritance. So a Christian is often more elated by some frame of heart than by his title to glory."
-- John Newton

"I feel like a man who has no money in his pocket - but is allowed to draw for all he needs upon one infinitely rich. I am therefore, at once both a beggar and a rich man."
-- John Newton

Interesting brief opinion article about contemporary medical ethics, by Cal Thomas (http://online.worldmag.com/2010/12/30/she-told-us-so/)

She told us so

Written by Cal Thomas
December 30, 10:11 AM

Sarah Palin deserves an apology. When she said that the new healthcare law would lead to "death panels" deciding who gets life-saving treatment and who does not, she was roundly denounced and ridiculed.

Now we learn, courtesy of one of the ridiculers - The New York Times - that she was right. Under a new policy not included in the law for fear the administration’s real end-of-life game would be exposed, a rule issued by the recess-appointed Dr. Donald M. Berwick, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, calls for the government to pay doctors to advise patients on options for ending their lives. These could include directives to forgo aggressive treatment that could extend their lives.

This rule will inevitably lead to bureaucrats deciding who is "fit" to live and who is not. The effect this might have on public opinion, which by a solid majority opposes Obamacare, is clear from an email obtained by the Times. It is from Rep. Earl Blumenauer, D-Ore., who sent it to people working with him on the issue. Oregon and Washington are the only states with assisted-suicide laws, a preview of what is to come at the federal level if this new regulation is allowed to stand. Blumenauer wrote in his November email:

"While we are very happy with the result, we won’t be shouting it from the rooftops because we aren’t out of the woods yet. This regulation could be modified or reversed, especially if Republican leaders try to use this small provision to perpetuate the ‘death panel’ myth."

Ah, but it’s not a myth, and that’s where Palin nailed it. All inhumanities begin with small steps; otherwise the public might rebel against a policy that went straight to the "final solution." All human life was once regarded as having value, because even government saw it as "endowed by our Creator." This doctrine separates us from plants, microorganisms, and animals.

Doctors once swore an oath, which reads in part: "I will not give a lethal drug to anyone if I am asked, nor will I advise such a plan; and similarly I will not give a woman a pessary to cause an abortion." Did Dr. Berwick, a fan of rationed care and the British National Health Service, ever take that oath? If he did, it appears he no longer believes it.

Do you see where this leads? First the prohibition against abortion is removed and "doctors" now perform them. Then the assault on the infirm and elderly begins. Once the definition of human life changes, all human lives become potentially expendable if they don’t measure up to constantly "evolving" government standards.

It will all be dressed up with the best possible motives behind it and sold to the public as the ultimate benefit. The killings, uh, terminations, will take place out of sight so as not to disturb the masses who might have a few embers of a past morality still burning in their souls. People will sign documents testifying to their desire to die, and the government will see it as a means of "reducing the surplus population," to quote Charles Dickens.

When life is seen as having ultimate value, individuals and their doctors can make decisions about treatment that are in the best interests of patients. But when government is looking to cut costs as the highest good and offers to pay doctors to tell patients during their annual visits that they can choose to end their lives rather than continue treatment, that is more than the proverbial camel’s nose under the tent. That is the next step on the way to physician-assisted suicide and, if not stopped, government-mandated euthanasia.

It can’t happen here? Based on what standard? Yes it can happen in America, and it will if the new Congress doesn’t stop it.

I agree with Cal Thomas.  The basic problem is that a large and increasing number of Americans is turning away from the Bible as their source of moral grounding and authority.  The Bible teaches that humans are created in the image of God, and thus they may not be killed (except in a few specific punishment scenarios).  Thus it used to be said that humans are "endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights; that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness."  Especially, humans may not be killed for the sake of convenience, whether they are old, sick, unborn, mentally or physically handicapped, or otherwise dependent.

Once one rejects the Bible, human life becomes of similar value to animal life, and one's "right to live" becomes allegedly dependent on other people's consent.   And specifically, the government's consent.  If the government doesn't have the funds to pay for your medical coverage and decides that you are expendable, your "right to live" is theoretically immediately removed.

Here are some recently read books with a short blurb/synopsis, in case you might be interested in reading them too.   My previous set of reviews was September 12, 2009 if you want to read more (use the "Posting Calendar" link at the lower left side of this page).

- Answering Jewish Objections to Jesus, Volume 1, by Michael Brown - great book... addresses a lot of "I couldn't possibly consider Jesus my Messiah, because I'm Jewish, my whole family is Jewish, etc" and "Didn't Christians persecute the Jews for thousands of years?" type questions.  There are an amazing amount of carefully cited references... great resource!  There are three more volumes... I look forward to reading them...

- Genetic Entropy and the Mystery of the Genome by John Sanford - Excellent book.  Thanks to Rich for giving it to me!  The gist is that random mutations are slowly destroying the human genome, little by little, inexorably, and neodarwinian evolution (natural selection + random mutation) is not only unable to create new genetic information, but unable even to maintain our current genome.  This implies that our genome was originally created essentially perfect by an Intelligent Designer, some thousands of years ago.  The book needs some editing to make it a little less redundant, and the pictures are a little corny (sometimes he seems to be aiming for a lay audience, and sometimes for a scientific audience), but overall the points he makes are excellent.

- The Future of Justification, a response to N.T.Wright - by John Piper - great book... closely written theological rebuttal to NT Wright's New Perspective on Paul.  Piper does a good job of showing why justification is God's "forensic"/legal "writing us down NOW as if we're innocent", and how this individual forgiveness-of-sins is the heart of the gospel.   (as opposed to the NPP heresy, which teaches (similar to the RCC) that justification is God's eschatological pronouncement at the end of time that we are "in the covenant community", based on the good works that we've done during our lives through His enabling(/"infusing") power).

- Overcoming Sin and Temptation - by John Owen (new edition by Kelly Kapic/Justin Taylor) - Excellent book!  Deep reading, difficult old english, but great thoughts on putting to death sin by the power of the Holy Spirit.  Overall summary: (1) It is extremely important to be putting sin to death in our lives... "be killing sin or it will be killing you". (2) the ONLY way to kill it is by the power of the Holy Spirit, not by accountability partners, or more Bible reading, or setting rules for oneself, or telling oneself "I'm better than that", or self denial or self-flagellation, or any other type of human-power-based approach to attempting to make oneself more righteous.

- Evolution: greatest hoax on earth - by Jonathan Safarti - All of Safarti's books are worth reading.  This one dissects Richard Dawkins' latest book "Evolution: the greatest show on earth" which claims to present the most powerful and up-to-date evidence in favor of evolution.  Safarti's book carefully goes through Dawkins' claims and dispassionately blows each one out of the water.  It is a "polemical" book, but a rational, evenhanded polemic overall.

- Head, Heart, and Hands - by Dennis Hollinger - Thanks to Tom for lending me this book.  Hollinger makes the point that some Christians are wired to be more "head" (intellectual)-oriented, others "heart" (emotional)-oriented, and others "hands" (practical, gift of helps, social-justice/soup-kitchens/etc)-oriented.  He makes the point that all aspects are necessary, and we need to understand our own selves and be willing to grow in the other two areas.

- The Edge of Evolution - by Michael Behe (a RCC biology prof who believes in common-descent of man and apes, and in an old earth, but not that darwinian evolution can explain all of it) - fascinating in-depth look at what (darwinian) evolution can and can't do, using the specific examples of malaria and sickle-cell anemia resistance to malaria.  Pro: Behe is an expert on this subject, and also tries to make it accessible... he well demonstrates his point that evolution can make small destructive changes to genetic information that sometimes confer "resistance" to a particular disease, but it cannot cross the multiple-improbable-step gap to create new biological features and innovations and genetic information.  It's a little difficult to get through all the biology - I made it about halfway and then stopped for a while.

- Signature in the Cell, by Stephen Meyer - great book!  It's basically about how evolution has no plausible way to create novel genetic information (in our DNA).  Meyer reviews all the theories and shows how they don't work (and contradict each other).  The only reasonable explanation is intelligent design...   The only downside to this book is that it's so long!  If it could be shortened, it would be better.

What interesting books have you been reading lately?

I was reading a book review tonight, of a book titled "The Making of an Atheist:  How Immorality Leads to Unbelief".  The review is by Brian Thomas, in Journal of Creation (http://creation.com/journal-of-creation-243).  Excellent review, sounds like interesting book.

And the thesis of the book sounds deadly accurate.

Looking back over the several atheist friends I have had, and religious friends who gradually drifted away from God into agnosticism/atheism, it seems that that is exactly the path...  namely, it's not that people first become intellectually convinced that there is not enough evidence to believe in God and then decide to enjoy sinful pleasures, but the opposite:  people get enticed, little by little, to indulge in sin... gradually they rationalize it more and more, rather than run back to God and ask Him explicitly for "forgiveness"... (because that would require humbling oneself, admitting that one did what was wrong, admitting that one proceeds onward only by the forgiveness and grace of God)...   eventually, enough of a cancerous "affection for sin" has built itself up in one's heart that one deeply desires that there be no such person as God...  and His blazingly pure standard of accountability.  The intellectual arguments then follow, as the person seeks them out, for the rest of life trying vainly to assuage their guilt by pretending there is no God and no moral accountability.   Romans 1 - people reject God, and then God "turns them over" to foolishness and darkened minds.

When we see this, it is both a warning, and a hint at an antidote.

If you and I want to "abide in Christ" (John 15) forever and avoid the deadly cycle of hardheartedness and unbelief, we must cultivate affection for Christ.   Affection doesn't just happen.   It takes awareness, time, and even effort.   It will require letting go of many beautiful, pleasurable, delightful things in life, to follow after Christ instead when the choice arrives between that thing and Christ.   Growing requires nutrients... such as spending time reading and meditating on God's Word the Bible...  Relationship requires time...such as spending time talking to God in prayer and singing good/scriptural songs and thanking God for stuff...

Someone once said, "Sin will keep you from the Bible, or the Bible will keep you from sin."   While that is slightly too simplistic, it seems true that we are setting the course of our lives every day / every hour with our affections... what we are choosing to love... what we are choosing to delight in.   Delighting in sinful pleasures (whether gossip, judgmentalism, anger, lust, gluttony, or anything else) will dull our affection for Jesus Christ and harden our hearts against Him.... and vice versa...  delighting in Jesus Christ will dull our appetites for sinful pleasures.

"Set your mind* on the things above, not on the things that are on earth." Colossians 3:2

* Greek phroneo:  to feel, to think, to direct one's mind to, to seek, to be obsessed with, to strive for, to deliberately enmesh oneself in, to focus on, to be intent on, to attach one's loyalty to, to take a point of view, to concentrate on, to be concerned with, to set one's affection on, to savour.