Starlight & Time: Solving the puzzle of distant starlight in a young universe.

I believe in the absolute authority of the Bible because it is God's word. I also believe in true science using the scientific method ("the collection of data through observation and experiment, and the formulation and testing of hypotheses," http://www.merriam-webster. com/dictionary/scientific%20method). By this definition, not everything that is called science is really science. I do not claim that we can prove anything for certain about the origin of the universe by using science because we cannot observe it happening, and none of us were there when it happened. However, I believe that God inspired men to write down his word, and he was there!

The main point I am trying to make is that the biblical account of creation is true, and because it is true, what we discover today using the scientific method will not contradict it. The Bible says God created the universe in six days. With Adam being the first man, and he was created on the sixth day, the Earth has been figured to be about 6,000 years old; give or take a few thousand, but nowhere near the billions of years that many "scientists" claim. From what is discovered about the Earth today, I have no problem believing that the Earth is that young. When we consider the size of the Universe, however, and how far away the stars are, I had a hard time understanding this: if the stars were created on the fourth day, why are we able to see them? I still believed the Bible, but I couldn't explain this very well.

Starlight & Time: Solving the puzzle of distant starlight in a young universe by Dr. D. Russell Humphreys, Ph.D. really helped me to understand. I would definitely recommend reading this, because it made a lot of sense to me, but I can't promise it will make sense to you. Remember, this is a physicist who believes that the creation account in the Bible makes more sense than the evolution taught in public schools. The basic truth is that time is relative to gravity and distance. Dr. Humphreys quotes Stephen Hawking and explains Einstein's theory of relativity to make this point. For this reason, something that takes 6,000 years on our planet could be equivalent to billions of years in distant space! (p. 37)

(photo from www.amazon.com)

My testimony: 2001-2011

It's amazing to see how God has worked in the past 10 years since I graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute (NTBI)! I remember at that time thinking I was doing pretty well, but the truth is I still had a lot of growing to do. The summer after I graduated I went on a short-term missions trip with Pioneers to Buryatia in Siberia, Russia, and I thought maybe I would be a full-time missionary there, but I needed to pursue further education first. After working as a cook at NTBI Jackson for a year, I went to Appalachian Bible College (ABC) in West Virginia, where I met my future wife, Angelina, and got my Bachelor's degree. Over those years the church in Buryatia had been growing—praise the Lord!—and maybe I wasn't as suited for that ministry as I thought I was...

While I was at ABC I went on a couple missions trips to Utah, and I saw that as a mostly unreached place dominated by the LDS, so my wife and I thought maybe that would be the place for us—but we had to pay off our school loans first. We settled in Columbus, Ohio to wait for the Lord to direct us to the next place. I got a job at Wal-mart nearby our apartment, so I rode a bicycle to work. Six weeks after Angie and I were married, I was hit by a Ford F-250 truck as I was riding my bike. I needed immediate brain surgery, but there were people praying for me all over the world, and after 3 weeks I was able to go home. I wasn't able to work at all for about 6 months after that, but God provided for us in many amazing ways, and I had a lot of time to think. Even though I didn't suffer much injury in the rest of my body, the head trauma did present me with some limitations I didn't have before, so I had to learn what I could do and serve God with that. I realized that much of what I had planned on doing was because I thought it was what I should do, and I didn't really think about whether it was what I was designed to do. Angie helped me a lot with that, and getting hit by a truck helped me get my head on straight, so to speak.

I was so focused on life in church groups and Bible Colleges that I really didn't know anything about real life—and there's a lot more to ministry than getting good grades. God used the "accident" to help me slow down and see what is going on in the world. I learned that I am an intellectual, information guy, and while Angie helps me to care about people more than I used to, I needed to use the skills God produced in me. It was time for me to become a librarian.

Looking back, I could see how God had been directing me towards this all along—I had worked in the library at ABC all 3 years I was there, never knowing what it was preparing me for. I worked for Legal Services for the state of Ohio, and during that time I developed some handy computer skills. I went to Clarion University of Pennsylvania to get my Master’s in Library Science, and I was kind of expecting to become a Young Adult Librarian at a public library somewhere. I worked in the public library while I was in graduate school, and I was amazed at the opportunities I had to share the gospel being a part of that community. Then God worked it out that it was time for ABC to look into getting a new librarian, and everything fit together. I am now the Associate Librarian at Appalachian Bible College, assisting students as they prepare to go into ministry all over the world! I never could have seen this coming—God is totally in control!

Believin' don't make it so

Have you ever heard anyone say, "I can't believe in a God who would _______."? Maybe you've said it yourself. Think about that for a second. God is who he is and who he has always been, and what anybody believes about him doesn't change a thing. If you believe with all your heart that it will be a sunny day, does that make any difference at all whether it will rain or not? God has revealed to us who he is through the world he created, and in more detail through his Word, especially in what we read about his Son, Jesus Christ--that is who God is. Often people try to reach beyond that to make God more like a human so we can understand him better, but it doesn't work like that. True, all humans are created in God's image, so all life is precious, but we are just a shadow which has been distorted by sin. We are commanded NOT to try to create God in our image (Exodus 20:4-6).

God is infinite, which means for all eternity there will be more learn about him and his ways. For now we have the Bible. The Bible is full of both clear truth and mystery. From the beginning the only way God gave people to be made right with him is by faith. Every human who ever lived--except for Jesus Christ--is a sinner who commits sin. Jesus came to Earth from Heaven to die to take the punishment of every person on Himself. Even that is something we cannot imagine. Because Jesus is the one sinless man, God was satisfied with his sacrifice in place of all humankind. Because Jesus is God he rose from the dead, never to die again. Christ died for all, but only those who accept his sacrifice are God's children. That's enough from me--just read it for yourself:

"What shall we say then? Is there injustice on God’s part? By no means! For he says to Moses, 'I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion.' So then it depends not on human will or exertion, but on God, who has mercy. For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, 'For this very purpose I have raised you up, that I might show my power in you, and that my name might be proclaimed in all the earth.' So then he has mercy on whomever he wills, and he hardens whomever he wills.

You will say to me then, 'Why does he still find fault? For who can resist his will?' But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, 'Why have you made me like this?' Has the potter no right over the clay, to make out of the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for dishonorable use? What if God, desiring to show his wrath and to make known his power, has endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction, in order to make known the riches of his glory for vessels of mercy, which he has prepared beforehand for glory—even us whom he has called, not from the Jews only but also from the Gentiles?" (Romans 9:14-24 ESV)

You think you're all that, but you're not!

Ezekiel is a very interesting prophetical book if you take the time to read it. For several chapters God tells Israel & Judah that he will use the surrounding nations to punish them for their unfaithfulness. The surrounding nations couldn't have done it if it wasn't God's plan. Then God turns to those nations & tells them that he will destroy them for what they will do to Israel. The nations will think they destroyed Jerusalem on their own, but God will make it clear that he is Sovereign.

Does this seem unfair that God would use a nation as his sword to punish sin, & then punish that nation for being his sword? Or is he punishing them for taking the credit instead of giving him the glory? Think about this, but be careful that you do not limit God to human standards.

Tolerance

In my studies to become a librarian I was made aware of many secular issues that I was not exposed to before. Without losing my biblical worldview, I think it was beneficial for me to be able to see things from a more worldly perspective. I'll never be able to reach anyone from the world if I do not respect them as people, and that includes respecting their worldviews, even if I do not agree with them--and I must know why I don't agree with them!

The Bible is my authority, not necessarily everything I've always been taught. It is important for me to think about and understand whether what I've always been taught is true, and to be able to defend it if it is true.

I learned a new acronym as I was studying library science: GLBT (Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender). One argument that comes up between conservatives and liberals regarding these people is whether it is a personal choice or if they are born that way. First of all, Scripture clearly teaches that this lifestyle is unacceptable and sinful (read Romans 1:24-32 and Leviticus 18:22-23).

Coming from a conservative Christian mindset myself, I was always of the understanding that since it is sinful, it must be a choice--no one could be just born that way. However, I believe there is some objective evidence to support that individuals who live the GLBT lifestyle often have something physically different about them.

I would like to propose that the important question is not, "Is this lifestyle a choice ,or does it come naturally?"
Rather, a better question would be, "If a person is born that way, is it a sin?" The truth is, every human is born a sinner, with a sin nature or a bent toward sin. Therefore, just because a person is born with a leaning toward homosexuality does not make it acceptable to live that way. (Click here for several passages on the human sin nature.) Jesus Christ died on the Cross and rose again to pay for all sin, including homosexuality, and if you trust Him alone for your salvation, His Holy Spirit will enable you to overcome any sin.

It is also important to remember that all sin is equal before God, who is Holy. Yes, homosexuality is sin because the Bible says so, but it is not any more or less a sin than heterosexual relations outside of marriage, lusting, or telling a lie. No matter who you are, you are just as bad as everyone else, because all have sinned.

Everyone's in such a hurry!

I have been reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court on my lunch break lately. One thing I noticed about the story is that the protagonist is living in the 6th century for years, and doesn't seem to think anything of it. He never gives a thought about returning to his own time, but makes plans as if he expects to live there for the rest of his life, so he might as well make the most of it. In a way this reminds me of The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe, where Peter, Susan, Edmond, and Lucy remain in Narnia as kings as queens for many years before returning to their own world.

I think in the past people had the mindset that, if you were to have any sort of an adventure, it would have to take a long time. People just don't think that way anymore. For one thing, everyone expects things to happen immediately, and we do everything in our power to make them happen as quickly as possible. Also, if you find yourself in the predicament of being somewhere you did not choose to be, the only thing on your mind is to get back to where you came from (e.g. Back to the Future). What happened to the attitude of : "Well, here you are; you might as well enjoy it"?

"I'm a Good Man, But..."

I'm a Good Man, But... is a devotional published by Regal Books in 1969 and edited by Fritz Ridenour. Each chapter focuses on a different life issue with biblical references from the Living Bible, illustrations from various sources, and open-ended scenarios to give the reader opportunity to think about it. Included in the illustrations are Peanuts comics used by permission.

Even though it is an older work, the content is quite applicable for today. (A reference to IBM cards reminds the reader how old it is.)

I would recommend this book, especially for young adults.

LC 75-96702
SBN 8307-0049-8

Review by David Dunkerton