Tonight my girlfriend Robin and I went to see Expelled, the new documentary by Ben Stein. In it, Stein points out the unfairness among academia as anyone even hinting at "Intelligent Design" is laughed out of even the most prestigious positions. Ben went to great lengths interviewing some of the top minds on either side of the debate, and it clearly revealed the bias against the possibility of Intelligent Design (ID). In American academia particularly, Darwinian Evolution reigns supreme.

I would have to say that it was thoroughly enjoyable--even though there was a dry spell in the middle (about an hour into it). Having just taken a class at the University of Phoenix called "Critical Thinking," I also thought the movie made a few small mistakes in making a case for open dialogue about ID. For one thing, much of the movie was an appeal to emotion as Ben visited some Holocaust sites and based much of his movie on an analogy with the Berlin Wall. Nevertheless, this movie has the potential of opening up some great dialogue among the scientific community if people will look past the emotionalism and accept the facts that are clearly laid out.

Three particular things really struck me. First, Stein asked one professor, "If Darwin's understanding of a human cell could be likened to a Buick, what would you compare today's understanding of the cell to?" The scientist's answer: "A galaxy!" What followed was a lengthy, computer animated flight through the inner workings of a cell. Echos of my college biology class rang through my head as I got to watch a simulation of the thousands of processes that happen at once in every cell of your body--it was mind blowing! I would recommend seeing this movie for this little animation alone!

The second thing that struck me was what great lengths the supporters of evolution will go to in order to steer clear of even the possibility of an intelligent Creator--aliens, crystals...it was weird to say the least! They treated the notion of Intelligent Design like a plague that needs to be extinguished, and their greatest attacks against the ID supporters were nothing more than name-calling and put-downs.

And the third thing that struck me was the obvious link between Darwinian, atheistic thinking and such atrocities as the Holocaust, the sterilization of thousands of "defected" people (even in America!), and Planned Parenthood. If life is nothing more than goop, and if there is no afterlife, then people should feel free to irradicate any life that is at all flawed, thus helping along the evolution of mankind. Yikes! But if there is a God, and life is more than what we see tangibly, then great lengths must be taken to preserve life at any cost!

Do you see why this debate matters? Do you see why Ben Stein was willing to put his name and possibly even his career on the line to point out something so needlessly controversial?

Even though Expelled was by no means a Christian movie (Ben Stein is Jewish), I felt it helped solidify my faith. And even though every ID supporter was careful to distinguish between "Intelligent Design" and "Creationism," I felt it restored credence to the reality of our Creator. This was not a movie of apologetics and proofs for ID, but it certainly made a clear case for allowing open discussion among the scientific community in America.

If you can get out to see this movie, I highly recommend it!
--Art--

Why do you suppose we complicate God so much? We think that hearing His voice is somehow something strange and mystical that rarely happens. We don't realize that we were created for relationship with God! Why would He make that a difficult thing?

I'm asking these questions because the Lord just put me in my place a couple hours ago. I develop web sites for a living (Michigan Network Solutions, LLC.), and today I came accross a severely frustrating problem. My client wanted a change made to one little thing, and I spent three fruitless hours trying to fix it with every trick I knew. My girlfriend, Robin, who is a computer programming major and will be graduating in December also couldn't figure out what was going on. It was a mess.

Then I had a novel idea: Why don't I ask God what to do?

I dove off my swivel chair and fell down on the floor in desperation. "God!" I cried out, "You've got to help me here!"

Instantly--and I mean instantly--a simple, three-word sentence popped into my mind. Funny, I didn't want to accept it because it seemed too simple! But then the Holy Spirit said, "What kind of friend do you think I am? Why should I make you beg? Now go do what I showed you!"

I made the change--it was something I had never done before, but it worked!

God wants to be your friend, and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ made that possible. To think we have to beg, plead, and somehow work for an answer is to imply that Christ's sacrifice wasn't enough!

Listen for the voice of God even when it doesn't seem like you're doing something for the Kingdom. He will direct your path even as it relates to your career. The next time you run into a problem at work or a question about what turn to make, cry out to God, and He will answer!

Yet another person raised from the dead in America--and this time the secular news picked up the story!

Below is a link to Channel 7 News in Miami / Ft. Lauderdale. This is an official newscast from February 1, 2008 that a friend of mine forwarded to me. In it, a Florida cardiologist, who is also a Christian, shares about how he prays for his patients and how the Lord led him to pray for this man even after he was verifiably dead! The cardiology team had worked on him for 40 minutes, his face and limbs were "pitch black with death," and then the Christian doctor prayed for him in Jesus' name!

The link below will take you to a text-based page containing a manuscript, but at the top of the article is a button that says "watch the video." Here's the link:

http://www1.wsvn.com/features/articles/specialreport/MI75423

Enjoy!

The Spiritual Realm is Superior to the Physical Realm

The spiritual realm has a profound impact on the natural realm. Before the world was created, Genesis says that "the Spirit of the Lord was hovering over the surface of the deep, and the earth at that time was "formless and void." But now the earth has been created, and it has form and activity. Why? Because instead of God being over the earth, He now exists "in and through all things."

Colossians 1:16,17--For by [Christ] all things were created: things in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or powers or rulers or authorities; all things were created by him and for him. He is before all things, and in him all things hold together (NIV, emphasis mine).

Even our "smartest" scientists still marvel at the fact that atoms don't explode! The nucleus of an atom consists of only positive and neutral particles, and the electrons orbiting it are negativly charged. Any kid who has ever played with magnets knows that the "like poles" repel each other. Scientists merely credit this to some "mysterious force" which they have labeled "the strong force" as if they understood what they were talking about:

Remember, the nucleus contains neutrons and protons. The neutrons are electrically neutral, and so the electric force won't hold them in. Furthermore,the protons are all positively charged, and so they all repel each other. So if the electric force was the only force involved, you couldn't create a nucleus. You could try to push all those protons and neutrons together, but as soon as you let go, the protons would all shoot away from each other, and the neutrons would drift apart as well. There has to be some other force that holds protons and neutrons together.

Of course, since the electric force is constantly trying to drive the protons apart, the force that holds them all in must be stronger than the electric force. And keep in mind, the electric force gets stronger as charged particles get closer together, and the protons in a nucleus are very close together. As a result, the force that holds protons and neutrons together must be very strong. Well, in a brilliant stroke of imagination, physicists have named this force "the strong force."

The strong force is a force which attracts protons to protons, neutrons to neutrons, and protons and neutrons to each other. (Source: What Holds an Atom Together?)

Physicists have given their observation a name, but we know it is the result of a Person: Jesus Christ, in whom all things hold together! He IS the "Strong Force!" And as the article says, clearly this "strong force" must be more powerful than the electric force!

Pastor Bill Johnson of Bethel Church in Redding California wrote in his book When Heaven Invades Earth that the reality in the spiritual realm is superior to the reality of the natural realm. That doesn't mean that the natural realm is "not real" any more than the "strong force" makes electricity "not real." It simply means that it is a superior reality that is more powerful. Bill Johnson writes in Chapter 4:

Real faith is not living in denial of the natural realm. If the doctor says you have a tumor, it's silly to pretend that it's not there. That's not faith. However, faith is founded on a reality that is superior to that tumor. I can acknowledge the existence of a tumor and still have faith in the provision of His stripes for my healing...I was provisionally healed 2000 years ago. It is the product of the kingdom of heaven--a superior reality. There are no tumors in heaven, and faith brings that reality into this one.

That's why Jesus taught us to pray: "...Your Kingdom come and Your will be done on earth just as it is in heaven." The will of God is a superior force to the will of the enemy. "...The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world" (1 John 4:4). Our God defys even the laws of nature--the laws which He created, by the way--to demonstrate His power. This is the source of all true miracles.

It's time that we allow God to expand our faith. We need to be able to admit the reality of that which exists in the natural realm, but we must also, by faith, be ambassadors of Christ who draw on the superior reality of the Kingdom of Heaven, which exists in the spiritual realm.

Let Jesus Christ bring you into such profound relationship with your Father in Heaven that you can trust Him in any circumstance. But it's not just about your faith. Jesus said the tiniest bit of faith is enough to move a mountain, and yet there is even a force superior to your faith: "...faith, hope and love, but the greatest of these is love" (1 Cor 13:3). And it's not even about your ability to love: "This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins"(1 John 4:10, NIV).

God's love for you is greater than you could ever imagine, and He loves to give good gifts to His children. If you have a "love" relationship with your Father in Heaven, then ANYTHING is possible! His reality is superior to ours!

Get set free by Jesus Christ. Get to know God. Get filled to overflowing with the Holy Spirit. And you will begin to encounter the superior reality of the Kingdom of Heaven.!