Admittedly I thought it was weird: A scrub top print as "Pewter Staph." I am NOT making this up. Go to Smart Scrubs and brows under the clearance items, and ye shall find (and ye shall laugh if you like nerdy pre-med humor!) Yeah. Most definitely weird. Then I thought: Why would anyone make a scrub top design out of an organism that is a pathogen - lethal in some cases?
Bottom line, there is something aesethetic about those bacterial colonies branching out in all different directions. Just as there is something aesthetic about the human body - at the macro and microscopic level. There is beauty even among the most medically vruelent things. Such as the HIV virus: Google a picture of it, and you stare in wonder.
What does this say about God? Does even the deadliest bacteria and virus declare His glory - yes, even His beauty? If so, then something made it change from a beautifully complex entity to a beautifully complex deadly organism. Christians know that 'something' was sin. Was the Fall of Creation.
How much more beautiful will these bacteria and viruses be - assuming they are present in the New Creation? How much more will they reflect the glory of the One who made them if now, they are only a poor reflection of what He originally created them to be?
And that is how we are as well. Broken sinful people, aesthetically beautiful anatomically as Body Worlds II has shown us and still reflecting the fruits of the Spirit though inadaquately? Once washed by Jesus' blood and once comitted to walking in His way, in the New Creation, we will no longer be a reflection of the image of our Creator. We will be with Him and He will be fully reflected through Creation - incluuding us.
Showing posts with label Creationism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Creationism. Show all posts
Monday, November 06, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Quest for Creation
The US is doing badly in science according to an early 2006 Time magazine report. Ask a certain CSU professor, and he apparently launches into a 30 minute tirade about the US educational system. Campus musings aside, today in the New York Times, there was this article that explained the need for the US to get a larger particle accelorator to excel in the world of Physics. We are competing against Europe and Japan, and the delay of installing new particle accelorator would require the US scientists to study in either Europe or Japan to get the most advanced equipment available.
As I read this article, I realized something: We (the scientific community - yes, premeds are included) are on a quest for Creation - for absolute dominance of control of Creation, and the glory of discovering its secrets. The country who produces the next Nobel Laurate or the breakthrough treatment for something is hailed to be the top of the science world. We want to attain our own glory through the manipulation of Creation.
Yet, this will fail. Creation, as it moves toward a state of entropy will not yield the results we want it to. Creation will continue to mutate and decay, requiring more and more complext cures whih we will rush to design. The Creation is groaning, not for man to fix it, but for man to come to the knowledge of his Creator, so He can restore His works - both man, matter, and living things - to the way He designed them.
Dear God, I pray that the scientific community would turn around and see their Creator. That they would be on their knees prasing Him, not standing on the lecturn praising themselves. Yes, God, I pray for them, I plead for them. I plead for You to open their eyes so they can see You, so that one day, they may, with tears streaming down their faces say, "There is no one else who made the heavans and the earth - there is no one like our God." (Jer 10).
As I read this article, I realized something: We (the scientific community - yes, premeds are included) are on a quest for Creation - for absolute dominance of control of Creation, and the glory of discovering its secrets. The country who produces the next Nobel Laurate or the breakthrough treatment for something is hailed to be the top of the science world. We want to attain our own glory through the manipulation of Creation.
Yet, this will fail. Creation, as it moves toward a state of entropy will not yield the results we want it to. Creation will continue to mutate and decay, requiring more and more complext cures whih we will rush to design. The Creation is groaning, not for man to fix it, but for man to come to the knowledge of his Creator, so He can restore His works - both man, matter, and living things - to the way He designed them.
Dear God, I pray that the scientific community would turn around and see their Creator. That they would be on their knees prasing Him, not standing on the lecturn praising themselves. Yes, God, I pray for them, I plead for them. I plead for You to open their eyes so they can see You, so that one day, they may, with tears streaming down their faces say, "There is no one else who made the heavans and the earth - there is no one like our God." (Jer 10).
Sunday, April 09, 2006
Our Bodies Declare the Glory of God
Today Premedica went to Body Worlds II at the Denver Museum of Nature and Science. Part of Psalm 8 was on there: Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor. You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet
Here is that psalm in full: (from eSword, accessed 4/9/06)
Psa 8:1 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
Psa 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
Psa 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Psa 8:5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Psa 8:6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
Psa 8:7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
Psa 8:8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Psa 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
The rest of the quotes in the exhibit had clear humanistic leanings saying that man is superior. There was one that said something about how the body was awesome, and the soul was somewhere in the body... Anyway, if anyone looked at Pslam 8 in full, it glorifies neither the creation or even man who was ordained to rule over creation, but it ends by exalting the Creator Himself because all these things: The bird of the air, things on earth, things in the heavens, and mankind are a reflection of His glory and His attributes. Several times at Body Worlds, I prayed for God's spirit on the people passing through, and that they wouldn't pay much attention to the quotes, but only pay attention to the specimens and that they would seek the Creator that they reflect.
Here is that psalm in full: (from eSword, accessed 4/9/06)
Psa 8:1 To the choirmaster: according to The Gittith. A Psalm of David. O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory above the heavens.
Psa 8:2 Out of the mouth of babes and infants, you have established strength because of your foes, to still the enemy and the avenger.
Psa 8:3 When I look at your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
Psa 8:4 what is man that you are mindful of him, and the son of man that you care for him?
Psa 8:5 Yet you have made him a little lower than the heavenly beings and crowned him with glory and honor.
Psa 8:6 You have given him dominion over the works of your hands; you have put all things under his feet,
Psa 8:7 all sheep and oxen, and also the beasts of the field,
Psa 8:8 the birds of the heavens, and the fish of the sea, whatever passes along the paths of the seas.
Psa 8:9 O LORD, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!
The rest of the quotes in the exhibit had clear humanistic leanings saying that man is superior. There was one that said something about how the body was awesome, and the soul was somewhere in the body... Anyway, if anyone looked at Pslam 8 in full, it glorifies neither the creation or even man who was ordained to rule over creation, but it ends by exalting the Creator Himself because all these things: The bird of the air, things on earth, things in the heavens, and mankind are a reflection of His glory and His attributes. Several times at Body Worlds, I prayed for God's spirit on the people passing through, and that they wouldn't pay much attention to the quotes, but only pay attention to the specimens and that they would seek the Creator that they reflect.
Sunday, February 12, 2006
The Creator Selected Out of His House
"It is written," he said to them, " 'My house will be called a house of prayer,' but you are making it a den of robbers.' " Mat 21:13
God, oh God my CREATOR, what is going on with Your house, oh that a lie would spread - today - yes, today in Your house, there are thieves - that steal Your glory from Creation, Your honor, Your name that we may no longer praise You as Creator - Lord, Lord, please make them stop...
Oh, God thank You, God, Thank You for John Meyer, Your servent who has kept your body of Believers which is Summitview Community Church in awe of You as Creator - worshiping You in Your rightful place, with these worshippers, we truly know every aspect of You, Lord. Thank you for making us this voice that stands out. Thank You so much, Lord.
Ok, right. So, here's the deal: Today was Evolution Sunday in the churches in the US. John told us that and we were all like, "WHAT?????????????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?" Personally, I think John Morris and his buddies are probably all over at ICR turning out articles like CRAZY to get people to wake up and come to their senses.
This SO can't be happening. It is, but it can't be. Not here. Well, in a way, I see why it can happen. Because we have forgot God. That's the only explanation. And also that we have been told in our classrooms and everything that Macroevolution is true. I believed it for a good six months after becoming Christian, and who knows what I would have thought had not God put me into Summitview to be taught by our bio - nerdy pastor why biologically it doesn't make sense.
So, why did we in the US forget the Lord our God? The answer, I think, lies in Deutoronomy 8 where it says specifically, "Do not forget the Lord your God when you are rolling in it." Also, like it says in the first half of Isaiah, we have forsaken Him and built our own idols. John has also spoken about this numerous times, and I see it in our own lives. Why else would I be sucked into wasting homework time browsing on line for an iPod before God and an impending essay deadline knock me to my senses? How could I long for a metal covered circuit board to satisfy me in a way that only God can? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but the longing for it can't consume me. But for so many people, the stuff they want consumes them.
In church, John quoted a guy who did the finnances seminar yesterday and he told everyone to focus on their dreams and goals in order to follow these principles. That just stank of using God to get what you want, and having what you want be a motivation over honoring God by being a steward of His blessings. I was siting behind the glass panels due to feeling feverish, and I was saying, "What? WHAT?!?!?! No way!!! That's just not right!" God cannot God cannot be a means to an end. He will not be misused and mistreated and dishonored like that. He won't allow it - ok, maybe He allows it for a while, but in the end, those that just used him will pay. They will be shamed by Him when they stand before Him.
Are we as a nation like that? Do we just pray to Him for comfort or to get stuff or - I mean, not all of us are like that, but I am referring to the larger culture. Does it encourage using God as a means to an end? If so, then the idea that He is Creator really isn't important, and the truth of it would probably scare a whole bunch of people because they'd realize that "He's real - He's really real!!!' <-- yes, John, you say this a lot so this is in my blog, but I like it :) :)
Anyway, those are my very long thoughts about Evolution Day.
God, oh God my CREATOR, what is going on with Your house, oh that a lie would spread - today - yes, today in Your house, there are thieves - that steal Your glory from Creation, Your honor, Your name that we may no longer praise You as Creator - Lord, Lord, please make them stop...
Oh, God thank You, God, Thank You for John Meyer, Your servent who has kept your body of Believers which is Summitview Community Church in awe of You as Creator - worshiping You in Your rightful place, with these worshippers, we truly know every aspect of You, Lord. Thank you for making us this voice that stands out. Thank You so much, Lord.
Ok, right. So, here's the deal: Today was Evolution Sunday in the churches in the US. John told us that and we were all like, "WHAT?????????????!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!??!!?" Personally, I think John Morris and his buddies are probably all over at ICR turning out articles like CRAZY to get people to wake up and come to their senses.
This SO can't be happening. It is, but it can't be. Not here. Well, in a way, I see why it can happen. Because we have forgot God. That's the only explanation. And also that we have been told in our classrooms and everything that Macroevolution is true. I believed it for a good six months after becoming Christian, and who knows what I would have thought had not God put me into Summitview to be taught by our bio - nerdy pastor why biologically it doesn't make sense.
So, why did we in the US forget the Lord our God? The answer, I think, lies in Deutoronomy 8 where it says specifically, "Do not forget the Lord your God when you are rolling in it." Also, like it says in the first half of Isaiah, we have forsaken Him and built our own idols. John has also spoken about this numerous times, and I see it in our own lives. Why else would I be sucked into wasting homework time browsing on line for an iPod before God and an impending essay deadline knock me to my senses? How could I long for a metal covered circuit board to satisfy me in a way that only God can? Don't get me wrong, it's nice to have, but the longing for it can't consume me. But for so many people, the stuff they want consumes them.
In church, John quoted a guy who did the finnances seminar yesterday and he told everyone to focus on their dreams and goals in order to follow these principles. That just stank of using God to get what you want, and having what you want be a motivation over honoring God by being a steward of His blessings. I was siting behind the glass panels due to feeling feverish, and I was saying, "What? WHAT?!?!?! No way!!! That's just not right!" God cannot God cannot be a means to an end. He will not be misused and mistreated and dishonored like that. He won't allow it - ok, maybe He allows it for a while, but in the end, those that just used him will pay. They will be shamed by Him when they stand before Him.
Are we as a nation like that? Do we just pray to Him for comfort or to get stuff or - I mean, not all of us are like that, but I am referring to the larger culture. Does it encourage using God as a means to an end? If so, then the idea that He is Creator really isn't important, and the truth of it would probably scare a whole bunch of people because they'd realize that "He's real - He's really real!!!' <-- yes, John, you say this a lot so this is in my blog, but I like it :) :)
Anyway, those are my very long thoughts about Evolution Day.
Thursday, January 26, 2006
Speaking out
So, yesterday I spoke out in class about the awesomeness of God in healing one's famiy of origin issues. Eddie spoke out in the People's Republic of Boulder about the one true God. Liz is supposed to speak out in her Western Religious Thought class.
We are not ashamed.
Because we have tasted and seen His glory.
We are not ashamed.
Because we have tasted and seen His glory.
Sunday, January 22, 2006
Morris to the Mountains
God, Thank You SO much for John Morris and the extra time that Loren and I got to spend with him driving around Rocky Mtn. National Park! To spend time with someone who has touched Your refining fire is so neat to see! I hope to walk in that same strong faith that You alone can author. I only hope that the lessons and stuff from this day do not fade out from my memory.
Anyway, So after church today, Loren offered to haul John Morris around in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for a while before he left. Loren was originally going with Janet as well, and he asked me if I would like to come. So I was like, "Ok!" It was actually a hard decision because I really wanted to watch the Broncos attepmt the AFC Championships. But hanging out in the mountains with a hard core Creationist and a new friend won out :)
Janet ended up not being able to come :( So Loren, John, and I hopped into Loren's car and we drove up to RMNP. John really liked going through Big Thompson Canyon and looking at all the rocks. He was trying to figure out what kind they were: igneous or metamoprhic. He finally decided that a lot were metamorphic. Loren and John talked rocks for a while. It was cool when we started talking about other stuff like the biblical basis for homeschooling (fathers teaching sons and daughters stuff about God, their trade which is somewhat applicable). I brought up the possible teaching of pantheism that I saw in a TV show over break and John said that it was good that I was sensitive to picking that up. John really liked going through the park and looking around.
The coolest thing was hearing John's stories about Mt. Ararat. We heard the lightning story (where he and friends were struck by lightning and lived) and a bit about the wolves, but he told us more about the wolves. He said that they would circle him and his friends and they had to throw rocks at them to get them to leave their trail. Once John said that a shepherd came and chased the wolves away. Then he told this way cool story about how two paramedics came on the climb and they were able to treat all these people from surrounding villiages with just the first aid stuff. There was one girl who had gum problems that they had to turn away that John still remembers. Just thinking about how their mission wasn't quite accomplished because they didn't find evidence of the Ark (yet), but they still were able to serve all those people was cool.
Then we talked about the diversity of the human races because the people that lived on the top of Mt. Ararat were darker than those that lived at its base. That was interesting. We talked about how evolution reinforced existing racism, but creationism erased it.
Loren and I got to share our testimonies and ask him for some advice about a few things. It was really neat. Loren and I felt like for a while, we had a Christian parent or as we put it, "A Christian adult to talk to." We got to share our stories and got to hear a Christian adult's perspective on our lives. We also got to see how God used him and all his colleauges. It was just so neat to see a side of him he couldn't show at the lecture, but it was the side of him that was most touched in his walk with God. We saw the John Morris that God sees when God looks at him one day and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And in a way, we got to let him see that side of us as well.
Anyway, So after church today, Loren offered to haul John Morris around in Rocky Mountain National Park (RMNP) for a while before he left. Loren was originally going with Janet as well, and he asked me if I would like to come. So I was like, "Ok!" It was actually a hard decision because I really wanted to watch the Broncos attepmt the AFC Championships. But hanging out in the mountains with a hard core Creationist and a new friend won out :)
Janet ended up not being able to come :( So Loren, John, and I hopped into Loren's car and we drove up to RMNP. John really liked going through Big Thompson Canyon and looking at all the rocks. He was trying to figure out what kind they were: igneous or metamoprhic. He finally decided that a lot were metamorphic. Loren and John talked rocks for a while. It was cool when we started talking about other stuff like the biblical basis for homeschooling (fathers teaching sons and daughters stuff about God, their trade which is somewhat applicable). I brought up the possible teaching of pantheism that I saw in a TV show over break and John said that it was good that I was sensitive to picking that up. John really liked going through the park and looking around.
The coolest thing was hearing John's stories about Mt. Ararat. We heard the lightning story (where he and friends were struck by lightning and lived) and a bit about the wolves, but he told us more about the wolves. He said that they would circle him and his friends and they had to throw rocks at them to get them to leave their trail. Once John said that a shepherd came and chased the wolves away. Then he told this way cool story about how two paramedics came on the climb and they were able to treat all these people from surrounding villiages with just the first aid stuff. There was one girl who had gum problems that they had to turn away that John still remembers. Just thinking about how their mission wasn't quite accomplished because they didn't find evidence of the Ark (yet), but they still were able to serve all those people was cool.
Then we talked about the diversity of the human races because the people that lived on the top of Mt. Ararat were darker than those that lived at its base. That was interesting. We talked about how evolution reinforced existing racism, but creationism erased it.
Loren and I got to share our testimonies and ask him for some advice about a few things. It was really neat. Loren and I felt like for a while, we had a Christian parent or as we put it, "A Christian adult to talk to." We got to share our stories and got to hear a Christian adult's perspective on our lives. We also got to see how God used him and all his colleauges. It was just so neat to see a side of him he couldn't show at the lecture, but it was the side of him that was most touched in his walk with God. We saw the John Morris that God sees when God looks at him one day and says, "Well done, good and faithful servant." And in a way, we got to let him see that side of us as well.
Friday, January 20, 2006
John, Jon, and the Glory of God
Alrighty then, so Jon Morris was supposed to supposed to have presented last night on campus. Didn't quite make it so, John Meyer took up the slack. Here is what I wrote in my notebook:
Order. My God is a God of order.
God ordered the delay of John Morris' plane. God allowed for the storm to come to delay him and God ordered John Meyer – gave him words to speak now.
I must place my trust in that. If God can order Creation – if I walk in that, I must walk in the fact that God allowed this lecture to happen. Therefore, I must not despair. Therefore, I must not loose heart because "something is amiss." No, not amiss. My God, my Creator is not random. My God planned this and my God will use this lecture to His glory and has ordered it exactly. Hallelujah to the God whoose ways are higher than my way, whoose thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and whoose plans will always bear much fruit and glory.
I wrote this in leu of John Meyer's announcement that John Morris was late. I was crushed. I had invited my professor yet again. And others had come too. And C – Team had prepared for all this. So I almost started crying. Just bawling. But God got me. God reminded me who He is, why I trusted in Him as Creator, why I praised Him as Creator, and asked me, can I continually walk in that faith that the God of Creation was the God whoose hand is not to short and whoose hand allows and forms every event in this world?
Order. My God is a God of order.
God ordered the delay of John Morris' plane. God allowed for the storm to come to delay him and God ordered John Meyer – gave him words to speak now.
I must place my trust in that. If God can order Creation – if I walk in that, I must walk in the fact that God allowed this lecture to happen. Therefore, I must not despair. Therefore, I must not loose heart because "something is amiss." No, not amiss. My God, my Creator is not random. My God planned this and my God will use this lecture to His glory and has ordered it exactly. Hallelujah to the God whoose ways are higher than my way, whoose thoughts are higher than my thoughts, and whoose plans will always bear much fruit and glory.
I wrote this in leu of John Meyer's announcement that John Morris was late. I was crushed. I had invited my professor yet again. And others had come too. And C – Team had prepared for all this. So I almost started crying. Just bawling. But God got me. God reminded me who He is, why I trusted in Him as Creator, why I praised Him as Creator, and asked me, can I continually walk in that faith that the God of Creation was the God whoose hand is not to short and whoose hand allows and forms every event in this world?
Sunday, December 11, 2005
Wonderful Maker
So I'm studying Biochemistry and I made a diagram of all the pathways of the catabolism of the main macromlecules (how the cell breaks down different types of food :) and it's just cool seeing how it was put together and just knowing and believing that God put it together.
This semester I got to see God's sovereignty, sometimes walk in it, and I realized that all aspects of Him just came together - if He could not fail in His plan for Biochemistry, He could not fail in His plan for each day. If He sustained Creation - even if it's a fallen Creation, He can sustain my heart and soul, even if both are caught up in grief, worry, or desires. If He has redeemed and will re - create this Creation, He has redeemed and will renew my heart day by day. Knowing this, I can surrender my heart, my day, my worries and grief, and everything to this Wonderful Sovereign Creator and Savior.
"What a wonderful Maker/ what a wonderful Savior / how majestic Your whispers / how humble Your love / with a stregnth like no other / and a heart of a Father / How majestic your whispers / What a wonderful God." (lyrics by who else - Chris Tomlin!)
This semester I got to see God's sovereignty, sometimes walk in it, and I realized that all aspects of Him just came together - if He could not fail in His plan for Biochemistry, He could not fail in His plan for each day. If He sustained Creation - even if it's a fallen Creation, He can sustain my heart and soul, even if both are caught up in grief, worry, or desires. If He has redeemed and will re - create this Creation, He has redeemed and will renew my heart day by day. Knowing this, I can surrender my heart, my day, my worries and grief, and everything to this Wonderful Sovereign Creator and Savior.
"What a wonderful Maker/ what a wonderful Savior / how majestic Your whispers / how humble Your love / with a stregnth like no other / and a heart of a Father / How majestic your whispers / What a wonderful God." (lyrics by who else - Chris Tomlin!)
Thursday, November 17, 2005
God has been faithful with Biochemistry
So there was this one post called "Thank God I'm taking Biochemistry." that I wrote in July. The class is almost over, but here are some cool things that came out of it:
1. I'm in it with 2 awesome girls: Suda who I met in Lory Apartments and Audrey who was in PH121 and 122 with me; I pray I get to share with them sometime this year
2. I got to discuss, at least a little bit, intellegent design and the metabolic cycle with my professor. We're studying lipids, so that conversation can possibly continue.
3. I saw God was sovereign in the most intricate details of things which was most supercool!
4. That reassurance helped me through my friend getting briefly really sick as well as continued to help me with my 'chronic faith struggles' about other things.
5. It's just cool. Even though it can be hard. It's still cool.
6. Arrow - pushing is kept to a bare minimum. (Hooray!)
7. Another D - Team member is taking Biochemistry and has helped me with it - if you are that person, THANKS! :)
8. And it really has helped me partially review for the MCAT!
1. I'm in it with 2 awesome girls: Suda who I met in Lory Apartments and Audrey who was in PH121 and 122 with me; I pray I get to share with them sometime this year
2. I got to discuss, at least a little bit, intellegent design and the metabolic cycle with my professor. We're studying lipids, so that conversation can possibly continue.
3. I saw God was sovereign in the most intricate details of things which was most supercool!
4. That reassurance helped me through my friend getting briefly really sick as well as continued to help me with my 'chronic faith struggles' about other things.
5. It's just cool. Even though it can be hard. It's still cool.
6. Arrow - pushing is kept to a bare minimum. (Hooray!)
7. Another D - Team member is taking Biochemistry and has helped me with it - if you are that person, THANKS! :)
8. And it really has helped me partially review for the MCAT!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)