Well, since we have heard from almost all of our regular participants, I think we can consider the blog migration a success! Now my goal is to find out how to export the contents of the original halfmom blog hosted on Xanga and merge them here as well.
Tomorrow I leave for "school" and I am rather excited. I am attending a practicum at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. It will be strange to be back in class 9-5, even if only for a week. I am very much looking forward to this special school put on by the Office of Dietary Supplements of the NIH. So many people, perhaps you readers too, think that botanicals or dietary supplements are without the potential to do harm since they can be purchased over the counter without a prescription. The Internet is full of unsubstantiated health claims for these preparations as well. I'm afraid this more than just simple misinformation; it could be quite dangerous in fact. Potentially every organ system in the body, including the brain, can be negatively impacted by botanicals and dietary supplements (even mineral and vitamin supplements) leading to impaired function or death. Since this is an area of research interest for me, I'm particularly excited to go and hear what the national and international experts in the field have to say. It will help me to design and carry out my research and to teach more effectively. Well, that is if I get to continue to do research and teach :)
On the job front, I still do not know where or if I will be employed come July 1, but God does. So I continue to do what needs to be done, send out job applications, do the work I am currently paid for to the best of my ability and wait patiently. Some days, or at least parts of days, I have a tremendous amount of peace and assurance of God's control. Other times, I must admit that I get a bit panicky! I never have liked feeling out of control and surely do not now - but it strikes me as though being "out of control" in this area of my life might be just what I need in order for God to be "in control". I suppose in some ways it reminds me of the comment John the Baptist made when questioned about his ministry versus that of Jesus. He said, "He must increase; I must decrease". In the same fashion, I must give control of my life over to Him to be truly in control of my life.
Tomorrow I leave for "school" and I am rather excited. I am attending a practicum at the National Institute of Health in Bethesda, Maryland. It will be strange to be back in class 9-5, even if only for a week. I am very much looking forward to this special school put on by the Office of Dietary Supplements of the NIH. So many people, perhaps you readers too, think that botanicals or dietary supplements are without the potential to do harm since they can be purchased over the counter without a prescription. The Internet is full of unsubstantiated health claims for these preparations as well. I'm afraid this more than just simple misinformation; it could be quite dangerous in fact. Potentially every organ system in the body, including the brain, can be negatively impacted by botanicals and dietary supplements (even mineral and vitamin supplements) leading to impaired function or death. Since this is an area of research interest for me, I'm particularly excited to go and hear what the national and international experts in the field have to say. It will help me to design and carry out my research and to teach more effectively. Well, that is if I get to continue to do research and teach :)
On the job front, I still do not know where or if I will be employed come July 1, but God does. So I continue to do what needs to be done, send out job applications, do the work I am currently paid for to the best of my ability and wait patiently. Some days, or at least parts of days, I have a tremendous amount of peace and assurance of God's control. Other times, I must admit that I get a bit panicky! I never have liked feeling out of control and surely do not now - but it strikes me as though being "out of control" in this area of my life might be just what I need in order for God to be "in control". I suppose in some ways it reminds me of the comment John the Baptist made when questioned about his ministry versus that of Jesus. He said, "He must increase; I must decrease". In the same fashion, I must give control of my life over to Him to be truly in control of my life.
Hopefully there won't be tremendous amounts of homework, so maybe I'll "see" you all in the coming week (and a bit of sightseeing as well). If not, I'll see you on the other side of "going back to school".
115 comments:
have a good trip!
and
i like your thoughts about your unknown job future.
Hey, Susan. Sounds great! Hope you are happy with your time there, and can enjoy it as well. Maybe you'll even get to meet Don and his wife.
Yes, your words remind me of Rich Mullins' song, "Hard to Get," a song I like.
"I can't see how
You're leading me
unless You've led me here
Where I'm lost enough
to let myself be led"
We're praying for you!
I live about 45 minutes from Bethesda.
Would be nice to hook up. But it seems your schedule will be full.
Very good thoughts about the Lord's being in control Susan. But even the Baptist's faith, had unbelief along with it, when in prison, said to his disciples, "Go ask Jesus if He is the Messiah."
The greatest prophet of all had a short season of anxiousness.
And that's encouraging for us.
something like that.
I found this article from the New Statesman extremely interesting and thought you might as well:
“Whether Marxian or Millian, socialist or liberal, secular rationalists have held one tenet in common: religion belongs to the infancy of the species; the more modern a society becomes, the less room there is for religious belief and practice....The notion that modernity and religion are at odds is a generalisation from the experience of some parts of Europe. Europe is now largely post-Christian and the majority no longer follows any conventional creed, but things are otherwise in much of the rest of the world, and notably so in the US....Against this view, Micklethwait and Wooldridge [from the book, "God is Back") show that modernisation and an increase in religiosity go together in much of the world. Some of the most powerful sections of the book feature narratives of religious communities in improbable places -- prosperous, highly educated Chinese, among them scientists and academics, coming together in contemporary Shanghai to read and discuss the Christian Bible, for example. If there is any trend that can be discerned in the parts of the world that are most rapidly modernising, it is that secular belief systems are in decline and the old faiths are being reborn."
Perhaps old Europe is the exception rather than the rule!
Yes, I guess I'd say I'm leary of botanicals. Like vitamins. Some people want to take all kinds of them. I take none now, though used to take once a day multiple vitamins. And do have some in the cupboard Mom gave us.
I think a healthy, well balanced diet is best. With an emphasis on raw vegetables and fruit. We've been eating salmon as well.
Good luck on the job front and have lots of fun at school, that sounds like an interesting subject
Lead, kindly Light, amid th’encircling gloom, lead Thou me on!
The night is dark, and I am far from home; lead Thou me on!
Keep Thou my feet; I do not ask to see
The distant scene; one step enough for me.
I was not ever thus, nor prayed that Thou shouldst lead me on;
I loved to choose and see my path; but now lead Thou me on!
I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years!
So long Thy power hath blest me, sure it still will lead me on.
O’er moor and fen, o’er crag and torrent, till the night is gone,
And with the morn those angel faces smile, which I
Have loved long since, and lost awhile!
Meantime, along the narrow rugged path, Thyself hast trod,
Lead, Savior, lead me home in childlike faith, home to my God.
To rest forever after earthly strife
In the calm light of everlasting life.
Why Llama, what a lovely hymn. I wish I knew the tune to it. Is it an old one?
Yes it would be nice to get to actually meet some of the people I blog with! I do not know what the evenings look like yet - actually I haven't logged in to the website to see what I'm supposed to do in the morning yet either - just got here and unpacked. All I know is that I am in a place called Shady Grove and I am to take the metra to the medical center station! I will email you if it looks like there will be a free evening.
Ted, I hope Deb is better very soon!
The poem, which was later put to music was written by Cardinal Newman. He was marooned in a thick fog on a ship and needed to get back to England, and was extremely frustrated. That's when he wrote it.
If you google, or youtube, 'lead kindly light' go for the Aled Jones version. It is very beautiful.
When I was reading your post, the words on the hymn came to mind.
Lorenzo,
My mother wrote I think in my baby book that I sang that when very young, at least the tune.
A tune to that is quite faint in my mind, but I'm not sure, though cyberhymnal might have it (oh, here it is!). I guess that has a vague resmemblance to what I was faintly trying to recall. We sang many hymns in the Mennonite church and in four parts without instruments in those days. So I know many of them or can remember them and usually can play them in a simple way on my guitar when my family gathers to sing hymns, back in Ohio.
Halfmom: Good luck on your course! I trust that your experience and resourcefulness will see you well in the future!
Ted: I agree that vitamins and dietary supplements are these days rarely required in a balanced diet. I have heard of students and people who live on "junk food" made need topping up from time to time. In fact, too much of the fat soluble vitamins (A, D, E etc) can lead to vitamin poisoning (hypervitaminosis) as the concentrations can build up in the liver.
Vitamin deficiency is chronic among people in Nepal. Supplements seem to be necessary for people in our situation...and yet we always feel healthier when we are stateside. It as if vitamins are pre-injected into food there or something. My wife and I both experience a noticeable increase in energy when we are there for a time.
Maalie,
Yes, I'm leary both from what I've seen and heard, and the talk here further confirms this for me. Thanks for the information!
Susan,
Deb is not that bad so far. She was able to rest quite a bit yesterday; not herself, but did go to work as her symptoms were not active. I hope she's resting well now. Thanks.
Hey, Jenny had a little baby girl this morning! Helena Rose. I'm off down to Brighton tomorrow, just for about 24 hours, before I go for a longer stint in a fortnight. I just couldn't keep away. I'll take the camera!
Happy days, 'Renzo!
Congratulations Llama!!
I think it is a travesty when "baby talk" starts to dominate family conversation. I have heard nothing but baby baby baby since I arrived. At least Peter and I managed to escape to the pub.
I have to say she looks a cute little thing. I would never describe her as a bundle of sin, as other babies have been. She really looks quite innocent to me.
Congratulations Lorenzo!! We need more babies like precious Helena Rose in this world. ...who else will pay off the gigantic debts our governments are creating if not our grandchildren? :)
If you mozie off over to my blog you will see a picture of her!
Very interesting to know that my baby grand-niece shares 98% of the DNA of a gorilla.
Yes, and I think you share 99.9% of a gorilla's genes!
And proud of it!
Actually I also share something like 90% of the DNA of a snail! Truly wondrous how all organisms are actually linked by a common ancestor if you go back far enough! And it's based on the same science that gives us our medical treatments!
"..if you go back far enough!"
If we go back to the begining, then we must be "linked" to an eternal rock, or gas, or something I guess?
Actually if I go back to the Begining there's God Genesis 1:1. And the heavens declare His glory Psalm 19:1.
Just thought I'd give another side.
Beautiful baby BTW Llama, with curls already!
May the Lord bless her and keep her.
Donsands, I honestly think you should indulge
yourself in some serious study of the subject and then you might be able to comment on the basis of evidence rather than personal incredulity. Just a thought...
I mean, Jesus didn't mean "this", he meant "that", didn't he?
Congrats Lorenzo! What a wonderful gift from God.
And Don to Maalie,
Amen!
"I mean, Jesus didn't mean "this", he meant "that", didn't he?"
Jesus meant what He said, that's for sure. Because He died, and rose from the dead, so Dr. Luke tells us, as a disciple, and a historian.
Llama,That is so very exciting!! She is absolutely adorable and Jenny looks amazing as well, not like she just gave birth at all!
Don, Yes, He did mean exactly what He said - "I am the way, the truth and the life; no one comes to the Father except through me" John 14:6
So, Maalie, my dear, I would suggest that perhaps you might be the one that could use some serious study into the historical Jesus. I have a feeling that where we end up than where we began.
Now - how was your visit. Did you take picture of young Jimmy???? Are you behaving yourself and being a kind big brother??
Triston, if you get that many scientists together for very long it can seriously look like a mad house! I'm at the last stop on the red line Metro - Shady Grove - and there is a Rockville stop right before this one. I think the next village over is Gaithersburg.
Ted,so glad Deb is feeling better!
Hi Susan,
I deleted my previous comments because of a fous pas. It turns out my memory isn't what it used to be (actually it used to be worse because of drugs, but it still ain't that good!). The insane asylum in Maryland is called "Spring Grove", not "Shady Grove".
I always thought that saying people resemble gorillas was racist.
Oh, I have had my serious study of scripture in my time. I was a devout Christian once and went to mass and communion every week and then married a daughter of a Congregationalist minister and had the bible shoved down my throat. I have studied both sides of the argument.
When there is a truce between warring sides, diplomacy is needed. I thought this pic might communicate a compromise between the various positions.
I'm looking for evolution to progress beyond the suit-stage. I hate wearing those things! And nothing could be more useless to the advancement of our species than the tie!
Litl Luther: The use of clothes is not a hereditable characteristic (it is a learned one) and therefore would not be subject to the pressures of natural selection. I suggest you do a little reading about this (as the good Ted appears to have done) and then you will be able to discuss the issue from an informed standpoint rather than from one of ignorance and personal incredulity.
(Written in Manchester airport, passing time until check-in).
Maalie,
Here's a good place to start "some serious study into the historical Jesus" (Susan) from your Bishop Tom Wright.
It was just a joke Maalie.
Further, I see no reason to study something that leads down a dead-end road. One can only do so much reading\studying in life, and so it is necessary to pick those subject that will prove to me most fruitful. Presently I don't consider natural selection to be a subject worth pursuing with any seriousness.
Natural selection is an unproven theory, built on a shaky foundation of cards on the basis of a fictitious premise. So I don’t see looking into it in any depth worth my time, to be honest. There are much more worthy, noble pursuits to attend.
Litl Luther: I do not recognise your authority to talk about a subject on which you know nothing (except for what you may have picked up from the quasi-scientific mis-information put about by the fundamentalist press). You make your poinnts from ignorance and personal incredulity, not from evidence. I have given you plenty of sources from which you might commence your study and you refuse to do so.
Evolution by natural selection is well-founded and is here to stay. Like it or lump it.
Maalie: It's true I don't know much about the theory you espouse. Even so, He who has all authority in Heaven and Earth and has created you, me, the world and everything seen and unseen, did commission me to serve Him in His name, which, when you think about it from this perspective means I (and all Christians) have been entrusted with a considerable amount of authority to speak.
Even if you are 100% right about natural selection, the fact remains that God is the Creator of everything that has life (people, animals, etc.). You won’t find any Christian who disagrees with this.
I was just thinking that maybe evolution is true. After all, monkeys imitate what they see others doing, and the vast majority of the scientific community blindly imitate the same thing other scientists blindly imitate...and so it goes. Perhaps this is one of the monkey traits lingering around. The evidence is convincing. :-)
But Maalie, if you honestly based your convictions on the evidence, then you wouldn't accept that life came into existence by chance and purely natural causes since there is no evidence to support such a claim and no way to reproduce evidence to support such a hypothesis. In reality, Maalie, if you really "talked the talk and walked the walk" you would leave open the possibility of a Creator (you would give equal credence to this possiblity as the other) since science cannot recreate life of even the simplest cell organism from nothing.
The statistical probability of that happening is so unlikely it is not reasonable to accept it (it is out of the realm of consideration). And yet you've already concluded it as fact. But based on what? Certainly not the evidence!!! There is none!! You must base it on faith! Unsubstantiated, irreproducible, unverifiable faith.
Surely your faith is stronger than ours Maalie, to accept something so unlikely without evidence, without peer review, without testing and retesting.
I would like to stick with the topic of the origins of life, rather than evolution. Why are you so dead-set on accepting something that you have no evidence to support? How come you don’t wait till the evidence is in and can be reproduced and verified by several sources and peer-reviewed before you come down on one side or the other? That is what you would do if you were consistent, but you are not being consistent, Maalie.
You guys have heard about the murder of Dr. George Tiller, haven’t you? Tiller killed sixty thousand unborn babies in his career. He was one of only a handful of doctors in the US who are willing to perform late-term abortions. It is difficult to feel sorry for the murder of a mass-murderer like Tiller, who lined his pockets with about a million dollars a year from the slaying of fully formed babies. I agree that murder does not justify murder, and yet Tiller was no better than Hitler, in my opinion. The world is better off without him. If only we had a judicial system in the United States which locked away killers like Tiller.
Litl Luther, I can only repeat: you have no idea what you are talking about! Go read the stuff I have suggested and then you might be able to discuss from an authoritative standpoint, not from one of ignorance and personal incredulity. I can't put up in a blog comment what would take me a semester to teach!
I don't agree that scientists blindly imitate others: there is fierce argument about the interpretation of the tangible evidence (at the macro and molecular levels). The important thing is that the arguments are peer-reveiewed in the public domain, not dogma locked up in a 2000 year old deiscredited and untrue book that was written to explain things with the best understanding available at the time. We have moved on, Lit Luther, we have moved on!
The possibilty of a creator is not ignored. However the probability of it being so is so small as to be out of the frame for serious consideration.
It is perfectly feasible for organic molecules to arise from inorganic precurors; in fact quite complex ones like polypeptides and nucleic acids. We don't need to invoke the supernatural to account for the origin and development of life on earth. There have been BILLIONS of years for this to happen. The whales diverged from the mammalian "evolutionary tree" some fifty million years ago. You have no comprehension of the time available for these processes.
When you refer to "me" you, include the scientific community., including those who look after your health and technology. It is all the same science, the dsame principles.
Evolution is a process that once understood cannot be undone, like the human genome. It is here to stay, whether you personally accept it or not!
> Tiller killed sixty thousand unborn babies in his career. .. .
Yes I did hear something about this, but I don't know the details, maybe you could elaborate? Are you making a euphemism for something like: "supervised (or conducted) that number of legal abortions of foetuses with the mother's consent/request"?
If that is the case, it is, by definition, not "murder" and they are not "babies" until they are born. The procedure may be distasteful and unwelcome but it is not helpful to dress it up in emotive language.
Would you rather the process be kept to the seedy underground backstreets where the pain and suffering and infections of the mother often results in her death?
Maybe you treat these unfortunate women with the same contempt as you evidently do dogs.
I am certainly "pro-life". Pro the life of the mother.
I don't think that legal abortion should be regarded as an alternative to contraception. But I do think that the mother's point of view should be taken into account. I think that your President does too, and that is a good thing.
Maalie,
Can you please direct me to evidence that shows that life can come into existence where there is no life. I will read with much interest this evidence. But please don't direct me to theory and conjecture. Just hard data which shows that life can be made where there is no life.
I do believe it is murder, Maalie — legalized murder. Tiller aborts children sometimes in the eight month. My son was born at 8 months and 9 days from conception and he was 3.95 kg! He was completely formed, completely healthy. So, Tiller can abort that child while it is still in the womb and it’s “okay”? And yet that same child could be born naturally on that very same day, but if you wait to terminate it's life till it is out of the womb it is murder. How can people justify such things?
It is legalized murder, plain and simple. No wonder the wrath of God is coming! Tiller is no better than the other mass-murderers who have died in US electric chairs. Actually he's worse than most of them.
My own father was born in the 6th month and survived. Late-term abortion is certainly legalized murder and one of the reasons the wrath of God is coming on this world:
"They did not repent of their murders or their sorceries or their sexual immorality or their thefts." (Rev. 9:21)
Video clip in memory of Dr. Tiller. It shows a girl that died as a result of his botched abortion; also a baby that is born blind and dies five years later, again from another botched abortion attempt. …man am I glad this guy is dead! …if you find any of this video too horrific to watch, then you should ashamed for supporting such procedures.
"the probability of it being so is so small as to be out of the frame for serious consideration."
Maalie, how is that different from your accusations of arguing from "incredulity?"
"I am pro-embryo, pro-fetus, and pro-offspring & baby in the womb."
Maalie,
You were an embryo at one time. If someone had aborted that embryo, then you would have never existed.
The same goes for me, and every human on this earth.
Life is a precious thing indeed, and it begins at conception. And the life that begins, is a person.
The case in which a mother is in danger of death, that is a different situation.
But to just kill a life, because it would inconvience you, --the mother, and perhaps the father, and perhaps the parents of the mother, and on and on it goes,-- is wrong, and immoral.
I have difficulty accepting the argument that abortion is not murder on the grounds that our society is so evil that it has legalized it. It is still an unjustified killing, committed to a person who is innocent of any crimes, and it is not a soldier taken down as an act of war. Even if a person's religion (or non-religion) allows it, isn't there an internal moral compass that tells us that killing a baby is a horrible thing?
Oh, before anyone says anything in response about the mothers who were raped, or who's lives were in danger, what about the overwhelming majority who weren't!
Amen Don!
Amen Craver!
It is a crazy, mixed-up, world where the allowing of such ugly butchery (infanticide) is kind and standing up for innocent babies is mean. Fine; I'm a mean, mean guy. Sometimes I even make my children eat their vegetables. Please, let's flip this and get it right.
If you don't believe he killed babies in their eight month (which could make them as much as eight pounds and fully formed!) and when there was no risk to mother or baby, notice his 1995 speech, where Tiller admitted that not all the late-term abortions he does are for fetal abnormalities:
"We have some experience with late terminations: about 10,000 patients between 24 and 36 weeks and something like 800 fetal anomalies between 26 and 36 weeks in the past 5 years."
From a speech given by George R. Tiller at the National Abortion Federation Annual Meeting on April 2-4, 1995 in New Orleans
Moreover, one of Tiller's own former employees says that she was required to lie to patients and tell them that they were in their second trimester when actually they were in the third trimester. You can read all about it here.
Makes me feel like singing:
Ding Dong! The Witch is dead. Which old Witch? The Wicked Witch!
Ding Dong! The Wicked Witch is dead!
Yikes! I don't know that I would sing about Tiller being dead, especially since he was murdered. As bad as abortion is, I do not think this killing was the right thing to do, and neither do I believe that it can really help the pro-life movement. People will still kill babies, and abortionists will now probably make things more difficult for those of us who speak up for the defenseless.
Litl Luther: The evidence is all around, in you, me and in every living organism. It happened, so it happened.
To simply decide that one day a supernatural entity zapped the whole of the planet's biodiversity into existence in a single day is ludicrous nonsense. It did not happened that way. I have already directed you to experimental evidence that advanced organic molecules can be synthesised from inorganic precurors (the work of Miller et al.).
It is up to you to refute the evidence in a way that does not depend on a 2000 year old discredited book that is full of falsehoods.
I did not mean to imply that I condone abortion, I do not. However, I think the mother's health, including mental health, comes first.
Ted: I'm sorry I can't open your link in this internet cafe but I understand it was about: "Can a scientist believe in the resurrection?".
Yes, of course they can. Anybody can believe anything they want to, however passionately, but it doesn't make it true. I believed in Santa Claus once. It's called delusion.
I go along with Craver (up to a point) about the abortionist. I wouldn't sing at the murder of anyone.
It wasn't the case that the mother's life was in danger. It was the case that the mother wanted a child with a club foot, cleft palette aborted because they weren't perfect.
If a foetus is so badly damaged that the quality of life it would have is so dreadful, I then see a case for termination, BUT in these days of early scans, this can be detected early, so the pregnancy doesn't have to proceed to an advanced state.
"If a foetus is so badly damaged that the quality of life it would have is so dreadful, I then see a case for termination"
So it would have been better to kill Jessica Cox you think? http://www.joniandfriendsradio.org/listen-now/2009/5/19/jessica-cox/
She's alive and doing incredible things, even without her arms. She's a blackbelt, and she flys a plane, at 25 years of age.
Makes you think, doesn't it, that life is precious, even to those who are physically handicapped.
Maalie,
You ought to give it a read when you are able and have time.
Lorenzo,
In 1995 Tiller admitted that only 800 out of 10,000 late-term abortions were done because of fetal anomalies.
As I said before, murder does not justify murder, so I do not condone the man killing him. But equally true is the fact that God decides how many days each of us have on this earth, and God decided that Tiller's time was up! And Just like I'm glad Hitler, Stalin, Mao, Ted Bundy, etc. are all dead, so I am EQUALLY happy that the murderer Dr. Tiller is dead, and it makes me want to sing. Finally, the world is not polluted by his presence any longer!
The person who killed Dr. Tiller is "the quintessential pro-choice representative," since he made the choice to end another human beings life (as all abortion doctors have done again and again).
PS: This is my baby. I'm so thankful Tiller didn't get his bloody hands on him.
Ted,
I notice you are particularly silent on this issue, and I thought you would be since you’ve admitted in the past that you take a pro-abortion stand of some kind ....interesting to me that a Christian who believes in evolution would also believe in abortion to a point (or if I'm wrong please correct me). The two go hand-in-hand. Evolution radically devalues the worth of human beings -- making our ancestors not Adam but apes and providing substantial justification for the murder of the unborn. After all, if we're all related, then killing an unborn baby is little different than putting down a rabid dog.
And Maalie as much as said so. Instead of standing up for the 60,000 slaughtered babies, he did exactly what I thought he’d do and tossed out another insult about the dog I killed. Amazing what some people will value and devalue, which can come back to their worldview on evolution.
abortion is fine with me- there are too many humans on the planet anyway
Triston,
I've been busy and since I've stated my belief on this before, I chose not to participate. Besides, others were doing fine on it.
I am pro-life on abortion, and have shared that on this blog before.
JI Packer himself has said that in his view Scripture does not rule out evolution- to that effect.
Humans are made in God's image, and on the link below- an interesting piece on that. Thanks for asking. I thought this would be good to get on this blog, but I didn't want to sidetrack Maalie from reading the link I sent him on why scientists can accept evolution and believe in the resurrection.
So I would like to call this
now to everyone's attention.
Okay Ted. I could have swore that in the past you took a semi-pro-abortion stance on this blog, but I have no idea how to retreive the comments (it was pre-election comments, your support of Obama, that sort of thing) I'm thinking of. Must be my mistake. Sorry.
Simon,
Your joking aside (or just trying to stir things up here!)- having a sense of right and wrong is pure fiction, in actuality, when one denies God and believes that natural selection and random mutation trump everything.
Doesn't it?
Ted,
How did they get this "human FOXP2 gene" in order to insert it into a mouse? I assume it came from a human embryo. Am I right? If that is the case, why do you find this so interesting, Ted?? When Nazis used Jewish skin to make lampshades, I honestly don't find anything about that interesting, but rather degrading to humanity.
What is interesting is that they say this would not be ethical to do with a chimpanzee, and yet it is ethical to use matter from a human embryo for this experiment??? I don't find such experiments interesting or ethical, nor do I support the Nazi cause.
Actually, Triston, you need to read it more carefully.
All the article is saying to me is that through evolution God brought about the uniqueness of us humans, made in his image.
Actually to go back to the blog posting on the BioLogos site (Francis Collins) I think is helpful, here.
I really think both posts (RJS's as well) have something important to share.
As to the ethical concerns, I'm not sure. Maybe someone here can address that. I don't think mice anytime soon are going to be attending our universities.
Ted, the ethical concern I was speaking of is that of using human embryos in experiments. You don't have a problem with that?
I guess it is okay since we're aborting so many babies any way. Seems like the same rational Nazis used in their experiment with discarded Jewish bodies.
>using human embryos in experiments. You don't have a problem with that?...
Do you mean medical research? Research (like Parkinson's disease, for example) from which you or your loved ones may eventually benefit?
I think it is really curious the way you dramatise words to make an emotive case!
By the way, it is spelled foetus. The English are the custodians of the English language.
The relationships beween the existing primates (including man) and their precursors have been very well documented by analysis of mitochondrial DNA (mDNA). Being ingnorant of the evidence doesn't make it go away. Ted seems to have a much more enlightened view of the subject, though I don't need to consider that anything was "planned".
Yes Maalie. Harvesting human fetuses for medical research (like Parkinson's disease, for example) is criminal, or at least it should be.
I know you use the word foetus for unborn children. I prefer to call them babies, and if they could talk, I'm sure their tiny voices would say "I hope my mommy is pro-life."
And very true, Maalie. Medical breakthroughs may result from the experiments, but the end does not justify the means. Medical breakthroughs may have also resulted (especially if they’d been allowed to continue) through the experiments of Nazi doctors on the Jews. But I don't want to benefit from such evil experiments. People like yourself, who support these experiments, and who support abortion, are modern-day Nazis, in my humble opinion.
I hereby withdraw from this blog.
I don't think you think your opinion is humble at all Luther.
Perhaps you had better take on board scripture and remember some of the Beatitudes. I had better remind you as you have obviously forgotten them, or maybe you don't think they apply to you.
Blessed are the poor in spirit.
Blessed are the meek.
Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.
Blessed are the pure in heart.
Blessed are the peacemakers.
Humble enough? Certainly not. But it is my opinion, nonetheless.
Can you explain what hungering and thirsting after righteousness means, Lorenzo? You quoted it.
Part of that hunger and thirst for righteousness finds its voice in the pro-life movement in its attempt to end the injustice, to end the murder of the innocent.
Remember that grace and truth came through Christ, Triston. (Jn. 1:17) My own discernment (humble or not) is that you were overly harsh. Didn't you sense that also? If a nonbeliever does not exhibit the fruit of the Spirit, I know why, but you?
Love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control... I expect nothing less from you. Now you have created an opportunity for reconciliation. I watch and wait.
I'm just saying what I believe, Craver. I believe that the crimes perpetrated ‘legally’ by doctors, scientists and pregnant woman are a revitalization of the same inhumanity that the Nazi doctors and Nazi scientists did (also legally under their own laws). I see no difference in it.
It is truth. Harsh yes. But truth. How should I change it, say "God loves them anyway, even though they are guilty of similar crimes to the Nazis?" This is what I believe.
Modern Nazis walk among us in our midst. That opinion is mine and it probably will not change until the Nazi-like atrocities stop.
And why should I call it anything different??? And why should you, for that matter, Craver? I always hear comments like "Fetuses are human being from conception." I believe that too. If you believe it, then be consistent. If they are truly human being from conception then these practices of doctors, scientist, mothers, etc. are just as evil as what the Nazis did to the Jews.
I think I'm just being consistent in what I believe. I believe they are real, living people being used as Ginny pigs by evil men in their experiments. I’m just telling it like it is. Telling the truth. Is that offensive? So is the fact that people actually defend these atrocities!
End the atrocities. Stop supporting the atrocities, and there will surely be reconciliation.
Same as you Triston, I am strongly opposed to the killing of unborn babies, even if people try to justify it by saying they will use the dead bodies for the hopes of realizing some kind of medical benefit. And my recent comments were probably stronger than in any other posts (here). But in this thread, you rejoice about a murder and then call someone a Nazi who is not a Nazi. That word packs a whole lot, and you cannot deny it. You could have said, "how is that different from what the Nazi's did?" and that would make the same point, without including all the implications that come with Nazis.
If you speak unrestrained on your own blog, that is one thing, but Susan has asked for civility here more than once.
Consider what and whom you represent. Please do not try to justify contentiousness. Consider James and Proverbs. Triston, I would not speak this way to you unless I was sure that the HS abided within you. Measure your words that we might stand with you instead of rebuking you.
By "we" in that last paragraph, I mean "your brothers."
Okay. Then, I am genuinely sorry I called you a Nazi, Maalie. Clearly you don't support what the actual Nazis did. I already wrote plenty about what I think regarding abortion and medical experiments, so nothing further on that need be said.
Please accept my apology. As Craver pointed out, that four-letter-N-word carries a lot of baggage with it, which I didn't intend toward you.
Craver,
I did not rejoice in a murder. I rejoiced in God taking the life of an evil man. There is a difference.
I condemn the murderer of Tiller. He sinned. But I rejoice that God (who decides when everything, even birds will die) has not allowed Tiller to live any longer.
Okay, maybe I read too much into it. You rejoiced over Tiller's absence, but not the method. I think get it now. Sorry about that.
Triston,
Of course I oppose that. Maybe they shouldn't have posted it, if that's the case. But I'm not convinced at this point they had to use human embryos.
I don't have time to read up on everything everyone has said here over this, now.
I should have put a smile on my last comment, as I meant it in a friendly way, not with sarcasm at all!
I am disappointed at the tone here, and I know Susan would not approve of it, what tone I'm picking up. Even if it wasn't meant that way, this in no way- I believe- promotes the gospel.
I am willing to acknowledge when I'm in error. I don't have to be brought as it were, to trial. Susan would not do this; if she was concerned, she would send me a gracious email.
Christians and other people can reasonably disagree as well.
I will try to find out what was the case in the experiments. I guess it would be safe to assume that human embryos were used, and if such is the case, than because I believe life begins at conception, of course I believe such experiments in the way they were conducted are unethical.
As to further thought from there, I'm uncomfortable to share my thoughts here.
Peace in our Lord Jesus to us all,
Ted
"As I live," says the Lord God, "I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn, turn from your evil ways! For why should you die, O house of Israel?" Ezk. 33:11
The Lord is long-suffering and full of mercy. He had mercy on this sinner. He change my heart, which was full of hate, lust, and self, and gave me a heart that loves Christ. he washed my mind clean as well, and so i was able to shake away all the cobwebs in my mind, and understand the things of the Lord.
He pricked my conscience so I was able to comprehend that I was depraved, and also so i could behold His goodness, which lead me to repentance.
The Lord came not for the righteous, but sinners. Just as a doctor goes to the sick to help, not those who are healthy. The Pharisees thought they were righteous and healthy, and the tax-collectors and harlots knew they were sinners.
Jesus says, "Follow me." And if you hear His voice of compassion, forgiveness, and love, then follow Him, and you will find rest for your soul, like you never thought rest could be. Joy will be full, and even your sorrow will be more intense, but less self-pity.
Hope you don't mind me rambling a bit.
Lord bless all.
Amen, Don.
Jesus did not come to condemn the world, but to save the world. This is what this gospel is all about.
I realize that I was probably naive in sharing the link today on evolution. I honestly thought it appropriate to the blog and the conversation, as for my part in it. But I at least wonder if I did err, and if I could take it back, I would.
Jesus's ministry is one full of grace and truth.
i am amazed at the discussions that pop up on your blog, susan.
it is a shame that mallie has had the bible stuffed down his throat. maybe he has not gotten to really meet Jesus the Christ and have a relationship with Him in the Spirit.
as in a post i read today...
"The Spirit can make life. Sheer muscle and willpower don't make anything happen. (John 6 TMSG)
So why do we keep trying? Why do we keep thinking that we can attain life by our own strength? We keep trying to be "good," instead of letting God's goodness flow through us as we submit to His Spirit.
I find it interesting that after speaking about these things, many of Jesus followers left him. They couldn't handle it. It is not easy to submit and live by the Spirit. ..."
mallie goes for the proof of man and the answers of man and that is it.
birds, travel, and poking at people for reactions...to stir the pot, so to say.
in this comment forum, he likes to make people uncomfortable and make himself look in control and wise.
what gets me is that every time there is someone to take his bait. and then after awhile he cuts the line.
i think the best thing for mallie is for those that do believe in Jesus to pray for him.
I genuinely believe they are living, human babies from conception, and that they should be protected and defended just as much as we would protect and defend any other human life (perhaps even more since they don't have a voice of their own). Ever since having my baby son I am outraged at the evil that people do in the name of medicine\science with these babies, and that is what has gotten us to where we are now, so I'm sorry.
Don, you're probably right that we should not rejoice at the death of anyone--perhaps not even someone who has purposely killed 60,000 human beings. ...though when God destoys a whole city of human beings in the future (Rev. 18) believers are commanded to rejoice, so perhaps Christians rejoicing over the death of many wicked people will only happen once we are in heaven.
"Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you holy apostles and prophets, for God has avenged you on her!” Rev. 18:20
"He who is glad at calamity will not go unpunished." Prov. 17:5b
God says He takes no pleasure in the destruction of the wicked, yet He will judge them, and rightly so. And I should be one of them, even now, with my sin I commit.
"But God..." Eph. 2:4
I think our rejoicing will be God's perfection.
It can't be that we are rejoicing that god is destroying these wicked people from a heart of I'm not like them. because i am just like they are. BUT, for the grace of God.
It's a deep thing to ponder. And I believe I need to grow in the grace and knowledge of the Lord Jesus Christ in this truth.
Shalom.
Don,
My rejoicing has honestly come through the fact that much calamity at this moment will likely not take place now that Tiller is dead. Women came from all over the United States to have their full-term babies murdered by Tiller because virtually all other doctors are unwilling to do what Tiller was willing to do. There is likely a number of women in their seventh and eighth month of pregnancy right now, who would have had Tiller murder their babies, but now that he's dead, they have no choice but to let their babies be born. This makes me rejoice.
When the murders committed by Jack the Ripper stopped (probably due to his death), I am confident many Christians rejoiced.
Jack the Ripper and Dr. George Tiller are one and the same type of person in my opinion. I see no difference in their crimes.
And perhaps it is time that Christians start calling a duck a duck, and treat the crime of abortion with the same contempt we do of all other murders, rather than limiting our language, as so often is the case, to mere political correctness.
"I think our rejoicing will be God's perfection. It can't be that we are rejoicing that god is destroying these wicked people from a heart of I'm not like them. because i am just like they are. BUT, for the grace of God." Don's comment
Don,
I think the perfection of God the saints rejoice over in Revelation is God's justice shown in judgment specifically in veangance imposed on their (and God's) enemies.
9 When he opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of those who had been slain because of the word of God and the testimony they had maintained. 10 They called out in a loud voice, "How long, Sovereign Lord, holy and true, until you judge the inhabitants of the earth and avenge our blood?" 11 Then each of them was given a white robe, and they were told to wait a little longer, until the full number of their fellow servants and brothers and sisters were killed just as they had been.
Revelation 6
20 "Rejoice over her, you heavens!
Rejoice, you people of God!
Rejoice, apostles and prophets!
For God has judged her
with the judgment she imposed on you."
Revelation 18
The very world that wants to deny a God of judgment is the same world up in arms when they think justice is not done. Unless they are consistent with their world view, and then say everything is only part of the process, and that "right and wrong" is actually mere fiction.
But because of Jesus we know that there is much more at stake than some sort of sociological or similar explanation of human existence expressing itself in something like, "Let's just all get along, somehow." That there is a right and a wrong, and that God in Christ puts all things to right in the end, beginning now, in the new creation in Jesus, beginning with us, his people.
"I think the perfection of God the saints rejoice over in Revelation is God's justice shown in judgment specifically in vengeance imposed on their (and God's) enemies."
I agree. But it's not a pleasure. For God takes no pleasure in judging the wicked.
Yet we will sing Hallelujah to the Just One, even if those He is judging are our family.
I can't possibly understand that. but I believe it is true. Yet, I am just as deserving of God's wrath as any other, but for His grace.
True Don. We are just as deserving of God's wrath. But God makes us worthy through the Son. And by the work of the Spirit. (Romans 8:1-17) So that it's both in our standing or status before God, but also in our lives. Not because we are perfect, but because our lives are changed and are being transformed from glory to glory into Christ's likeness.
4 Yet you have a few people in Sardis who have not soiled their clothes. They will walk with me, dressed in white, for they are worthy.
see that entire letter to the church in Sardis in Revelation 3
Don,
I give my take on this this morning, and indeed it was a quick take, since I had problems with the inside of our toilet. So the wording may not be just what I would want it to be, though that's always an ongoing project, and we have to keep working on it as God's people.
"Not because we are perfect"
But we are perfect in His sight. He makes us clean by washing us in His blood.
I'm a sinner, and I'm righteous at the same time.
"simul iustus et peccator"
"At this point Luther strongly emphasized that a justified person is, at the same time, righteous and a sinner (simul iustus et peccator). A Christian is simul (at the same time) iustus (just or righteous) and peccator (a sinner). We get the words impeccable and peccadillo from peccare. The idea that a justified person is simulataneously righteous and a sinner gave the Catholic Church apoplexy. Rome believed Luther's claim to be a monstrous lie. According to Rome, God would never declare a person righteous if under scrutiny he discovers that, in fact, they are not righteous. However, Luther said this is exactly what God does. We see this in Genesis 15, where Abraham believed God, and God reckoned him as righteous." -RC Sproul
I will always be unworthy, BUT for the grace and mercy of Christ: that I am in Christ. And because I am in Christ, I am as worthy as I will ever be.
Nothing on my own can I bring to my salvation.
If I could, then God would owe me.
have a good day Ted. Very good theological discussion brother.
Don,
Of course I didn't mean we're not perfect in standing, and that that perfection is only because of Christ and his righteousness. Nor would I deny that we're sinners and righteous. I'm not saying what you seem to be implying that I'm saying...., I'm afraid.
We'll just have to disagree on this one. But I agree; good discussion. At least we got our points out to the point, I think.
Thanks, Don.
"We'll just have to disagree on this one." -Ted
Blogging and e-mailing is so different than face to face, or even a phone call. I think we agree very much Ted, to be honest. We may simply be blogging past each other, or at least I am.
Sorry about that chief.
I remember way back when the elders and pastors at my church were e-mailing about the service that Sunday, and we e-mailed back and forth about the singing, and it got out of hand.
The senior pastor e-mailed me, and asked to call him.
As we talked on the phone, things weren't the same. but much was cleared up.
I say all that to say e-mail can be great at times, but we really need to, with great attention, remember e-mailing and blogging leaves out facial expressions, and tone. And sometimes we will say things on e-mail we wouldn't face to face.
Hope that rambling wasn't too over the top.
Only over the top in #'s of comments - but right on in what you're saying. Email and blogging leave so much out in the way humans communicate. Now there's a topic I bet Maalie could sink his teeth into - the evolution of communication in the human species :)
Don,
Yes. I agree on the communication issue. There can be more time for give and take, so as to understand the other, and also to persuade the other.
No. I don't agree that we're just talking past each other. There are real differences between us on this matter, as we were both bringing out.
But thanks.
Don,
At the same time, though, I want to speak "peace, peace" from God, in Christ, by the Spirit, into this.
We do disagree, but we are brothers in Jesus, and have the same Spirit, and the same faith. And I appreciate you as a brother in Jesus. I see Jesus in you, brother.
And on further reflection it is good to get our thoughts out on the table, so it wasn't a waste.
Hi Susan. Really inspiring stuff, really great post.
Give yourself a hand for have the strength and the vision to push on despite not being entirely sure where you will land.
I was wondering if you would ever consider sharing your story with our community? The site is sponsored by Mutual of Omaha and we have collected a ton of inspiring stories and I think people would love to hear yours.
Take a look around - we would love to hear from you.
ahamoment.com
Thanks and have a great day.
-Mike
mike@ahamoment.com
Welcome to the conversation, Mike. Thanks for the kind offer but I think I have plenty on my plate right here with out expanding to a new venue.
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