Creation and evolution

I've been doing some research concerning creation and evolution. According to commonly accepted scientific methods, both of them are still theories. I was going to present both sides and give people an opportunity to check out what I found.

I have decided, after some discussion, that I couldn't present both sides equally because I am fervently a believer in God's Creation and that the theory of evolution is hogwash. Now that I have that covered, how about some entertainment.

One day the zoo-keeper noticed that the orangutan was reading two books - the Bible and Darwin's The Origin of Species. In surprise he asked the ape, "Why are you reading both those books"?

"Well," said the orangutan, "I just wanted to know if I was my brother's keeper or my keeper's brother."

One day a group of scientists got together and decided that man had come a long way and no longer needed God. So they picked one scientist to go and tell Him that they were done with Him.

      

      The scientist walked up to God and said, "God, we've decided that we no longer need you. We're to the point that we can clone people and do many miraculous things, so why don't you just go on and get lost."

      

      God listened very patiently and kindly to the man. After the scientist was done talking, God said, "Very well, how about this?

      

      Let's say we have a man-making contest." To which the scientist replied, "Okay, great!"

      

      But God added, "Now, we're going to do this just like I did back in the old days with Adam."

      

      The scientist said, "Sure, no problem" and bent down and grabbed himself a handful of dirt.

      

      God looked at him and said, "No, no, no. You go get your own dirt!"

Much Love, Dennis

Prayer by Cody Anderson

I had planed for a blog post about evolution vs. creation today, but I ran across something that grabbed my heart.

I won't spend much time explaining what this is, because it explains itself. 
Cody Anderson has been serving as the senior pastor at Faith Center Fellowship in Meno, Oklahoma for 12 years. This is a prayer that can be found on his Facebook page.

Cody Anderson
"Let's Pray America:
Dear Heavenly Father..................may we learn to celebrate with those who are being blessed and weep with those who are going through difficult times.................discerning what true friendship is all about................and we pray for the families of the Malaysian Airliner that was shot down

.............we ask that You comfort the family members during these hours of anguish and heartbreak................and we pray this morning for those who are going to the border today to take food and other essentials to the children who are crossing our borders................showing mercy.............at the same time we pray for justice along our borders................knowing when the fence is down bad things can happen to us a nation.

..............we need Your help today Lord.............recognizing there is trouble on every hand in our country as well as those countries that we have committed to defend...........including the nation of Israel who is defending herself as Hamas continues their strikes against the land that we as Christians call The Holy Land.

............we ask that You send warring angels to encamp about that nation to defend her against the aggression of her enemies and Your enemies............remembering Your covenant with Abraham............and may we as Americans understand that You will bless those who bless Israel..............may we not forget lest we lose the favor of You Almighty God..............and we pray for the churches in Ukraine as they face major aggression.................we also pray for our Christian friends in Russia who are beginning to encounter persecution they experienced under the former communist regime...................and we pray this morning for pastors who are preparing to minister tomorrow in churches all across America.

..............and we pray that Christians will not overlook the incredible privilege that we have by going to Your house tomorrow to worship You without fear or intimidation..............and we thank You Lord for the coming revival in America.................with young adults coming out of obscurity to preach Your gospel.................no names that will shake this nation with a message of hope and salvation....................may the rain of Your Holy Spirit flood this land today...............in Jesus name we pray.................amen."
Much Love, Dennis

An Unexpected Treasure

I received a DVD in the mail this week that was recorded in April of 2006. My accident was May 7, 2006. In this video I went out riding with 3 young men who were finishing their junior year in high school. The DVD was a school project for Jed Young. He needed to get video for a computer class.

Jed built a motocross track near his home and named it 358 motocross track because it was 3 miles from Highway 58. Kory Reimer shot the video, Jed and Corey Cofer were the other 2 riders. Corey is riding the orange KTM bike number 887. Jed is riding the blue Yamaha number 358, I am riding the red Honda wearing the black and white gear on number 365.

Yes, that is Brett Cue’s number. I just purchased the bike from him and had not changed the numbers, mainly because all the graphics were brand-new. Brett is very particular with his bikes. He had just bought a new 2006 CRF 450. I bought his old 2006 CRF 450. We spent 3 hours putting the forks, rear shock, rear wheel with brakes, , front wheel with brakes and several other pieces from the new bike onto the old bike. What a deal, other than the motor, most of the parts were brand-new.  :-)

If you'll look closely you will see a long black mullet hanging out the back of my helmet. (Not my real hair)

I raced some Arena Cross under the name "Joe Dirt". The long hair attached to the helmet drew attention away from how slow I actually was. Yes, I was am a goofball. We did some goon riding on the ramp and played around on a set of double doubles. Fortunately Brett’s old bike did not remember how to go upside down off of the ramp.

There's nothing like the feeling of hanging in the air and coming down to a smooth landing.

It was really neat seeing myself ride at a time that was close to my accident. Man, those were fun times.

Thanks Jed Young for the video and Corey and Kory for the invitation to ride that day. I can still remember grinning all of that afternoon.

Much Love, Dennis

Independence Day

Pastor William, the old preacher, made it a practice to visit the local school one day a week. He walked into the 4th grade class, where the children were studying the states, and asked them how many states they could name. They came up with about 40 names.  Pastor William jokingly told them that in his day students knew the names of all the states.

One lad raised his hand and said, 'Yes sir, but in those days there were only 13 states.

On Friday we will be celebrating Independence Day. Here is the Wikipedia definition.
Independence Day, commonly known as the Fourth of July, is a federal holiday in the United States commemorating the adoption of the Declaration of Independence on July 4, 1776, declaring independence from the Kingdom of Great Britain. 
Today, many argue the history of our great nation. I didn't have to go very far when looking for quotes from some of our founding fathers explaining why we needed to be independent from Great Britain and the restricted religious atmosphere. Here are some of those quotes.

"It cannot be emphasized too strongly that this great nation was founded -- not by religionists -- but by Christians . . . on the Gospel of Jesus Christ." -- Patrick Henry 

"Do not let anyone claim to be a true American who attempts to remove religion from politics." -- George Washingtion, in his Farewell Address. 


"May every citizen in the army and in the country have a proper sense of Deity upon his mind and an impression of the declaration recorded in the Bible, 'Him that honoreth Me, I will honor, but he that despiseth Me shall be lightly esteemed'" (I Samuel 2:20). -- Samuel Adams, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence. 

"We have no government armed with the power capable of contending with human passions, unbridled by morality and true religion. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other." -- John Adams, our second president, in an address to military leaders. 



"God who gave us life gave us liberty. And can the liberties of a nation be thought secure when we have removed their only firm basis, a conviction in the minds of the people that these liberties are the Gift of God. That they are not to be violated but with His wrath? Indeed, I tremble for my country when I reflect that God is just; that his justice cannot sleep forever." -- Thomas Jefferson 

"The man must be bad indeed who can look upon the events of the American Revolution without feeling the warmest gratitude towards the great Author of the Universe whose divine interposition was so frequently manifested in our behalf. And it is my earnest prayer that we may so conduct ourselves as to merit a continuance of those blessings with which we have hitherto been favored." -- George Washington in a Sept. 28, 1789 letter to the Rev. Samuel Langdon 

"The teachings of the Bible are so interwoven and entwined with our whole civic and social life that it would be literally - I do not mean figuratively, I mean literally - impossible for us to figure to ourselves what life would be if these teachings were removed. We would lose almost all the standards by which we now judge both public and private morals; all the standards toward which we with more or less resolution, strive to raise ourselves." -- Theodore Roosevelt 

I am aware that Theodore Roosevelt was not a founding father, but his statement rings true in today's society.

There were so many quotes that I could have easily filled a book with them. It's easy to see what our founding fathers had in mind when they formed our Constitution. If they were to see what was going on in our country today they would be deeply grieved. If you are interested in more examples, they are easily found on the Internet. I am aware that not everything on the Internet is factual, but these quotes that I have given can be verified by other sources. You can also find people who want to discredit God from the history of the United States. There will come a day when they are convinced of God's hand upon our founding fathers. I want to leave with a quote from George Washington in his farewell address.

"It is impossible to govern the world without God and the Bible. Of all the dispositions and habits that lead to political prosperity, our religion and morality are the indispensable supporters. Let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Reason and experience both forbid us to expect that our national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle." -- George Washingtion in his Farewell Address. 

Much love, Dennis

Designing Swimming Pools

I've been taking the online "Pool Studios" classes for about 6 weeks. Things started off really good, I was feeling like this project was going to be "A Piece of Cake". Around the 3rd week, I found out that "A Piece of Cake" was the wrong term. Progress was slowing down and at times I actually had to just get away from the computer and give my mind a rest. I do have unlimited access to software support through telephone, email, and training videos.

I am not the type of person who likes to ask for help, but I found a spot that I just could not figure out. I looked at the videos concerning that part of the project and they were pretty generic. I was needing some specific guidance and I emailed the support staff along with some pictures of what I needed to create. I was having trouble creating multiple roof lines on a specific part of a house that I was trying to duplicate. My answer was a little bit disappointing. They started off by saying roof lines can be very hard. (duh) He then gave me a CAD drawing of a house with multiple roof lines.

I needed to work backwards with that drawing to see how they were able to perform the task at hand. I have been deconstructing and deconstructing and deconstructing. Finally I think that I may have a breakthrough. I really should have known this project was not going to be "A Walk in the Park" because there are very few local companies that use this software to show customers what their house, pool, and landscaping can look like before any work is ever done. My friend, Ronnie Cue, uses this tool and makes things look so simple. He came over a few months ago to give me an idea of what is required to build virtual swimming pools. Ronnie is very talented and makes most things look simple or easy.

As I backed away from the computer this week I was thinking about my lack of progress. Psalms 23 came to my mind.

A Psalm of David.

23 The Lord is my shepherd;
I shall not want.
² He makes me to lie down in green pastures;
He leads me beside the still waters.
³ He restores my soul;
He leads me in the paths of righteousness
For His name’s sake.

⁴ Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,
I will fear no evil;
For You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

⁵ You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies;
You anoint my head with oil;
My cup runs over.
⁶ Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
All the days of my life;
And I will dwell in the house of the Lord Forever.

I was reminded that I should not expect “A Walk in the Park or a Piece of Cake”, but rather trials and tribulations. I am going to encounter days and seasons in my life that are character building. Just like walking through the valley in life, I will maintain a steady pace and push forward with my CAD training. I know that in time they will both end with success.

Much love, Dennis

God's Army

Army vs. Marines

Two Marines boarded a quick shuttle flight out of Dallas, headed for Houston. One sat in the window seat, the other sat in the middle seat. 

Just before take-off, an Army soldier got on and took the aisle seat next to the two Marines. 

The Soldier kicked off his shoes, wiggled his toes and was settling in when the Marine in the window seat said, "I think I'll get up and get a coke." "No problem," said the Soldier, "I'll get it for you." 

While he was gone, the Marine picked up the Soldier's shoe and spit in it. When the Soldier returned with the coke, the Marine in the middle seat said, "That looks good, I think I'll have one too." 

Again, the Soldier obligingly went to fetch it and while he was gone, the Marine picked up the soldier's other shoe and spit in it. The Soldier returned and they all sat back and enjoyed the rest of the short flight to Houston. 

As the plane was landing, the Soldier slipped his feet into his shoes and knew immediately what had happened. 

"How long must this go on?" the Soldier asked. 

"This fighting between our services? This hatred? This animosity? This spitting in shoes and peeing in cokes?"

I’ve heard it said that the only Army that shoots its wounded is the “Christian Army”. As members of the Army of the Lord, we should be more appreciative of our differences. Each one of us was wonderfully and uniquely created and equipped for a purpose. I know that I am preaching to the choir, but I believe that we are allowing the enemy, (Satan) to drive a wedge between the members of God’s Church. As with any army we have different factions equipped to perform specific tasks. We wouldn’t expect someone trained and equipped to drive a tank to crawl into the cockpit of a fighter jet and be successful. Neither should we expect cookie-cutter type Christians. We have been equipped differently and our differences should be celebrated because when we work together as a unit, performing the task that we have been created to do we are invincible. I really like the way that Romans 12:9-21 explains it.

Love in Action

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope, patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.

14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position. Do not be conceited.

17 Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. 18 If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. 19 Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,”  says the Lord. 20 On the contrary:

“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;

    if he is thirsty, give him something to drink.

In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

I don’t know how many Christian denominations there are, but I know that each one has their own doctrine. I can’t tell you which ones, if any, are entirely biblical, because doctrines although Bible-based are man-made and subject to error. I’m sure that statement could be debated by many. My proposal would be to focus on the things that we agree upon. 

John 3:16  For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.  

Much love, Dennis

MISSIONARIES

An archaeologist was digging in the Negev Desert in Israel and came upon a casket containing a mummy. After examining it, he called the curator of the Israel museum in Jerusalem.

"I've just discovered a 3000-year old mummy of a man who died of heart failure! the excited scientist exclaimed.

The curator replied, "Bring him in. We'll check it out."

A week later the curator called the archaeologist, "You were right about both the mummy's age and cause of death. How in the world did you know?"

"Easy. There was a piece of paper in his hand that said '10,000 Shekels on Goliath'."

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I have a couple of friends who are full-time missionaries outside of the United States. One is in Italy, Hannah, and Andy, in Ecuador. Another friend, Chris, is transitioning from stateside ministry to overseas service.  I have tremendous respect for them because they heard God speak and listened to what he asked them to do. I know that God equips those he calls, and he obviously knows what he's doing because these people have been very successful spreading the Gospel throughout the world.

Many other friends have been equipped to minister to people closer to home. Some visit people in prison, people trapped in substance abuse, people living in poverty, the homeless, hungry, those struggling with health issues and many other infirmities. All of these are done in the name of Jesus, because of a love that has been instilled in a newborn heart.

Romans 12:1-2

12 Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God—this is your true and proper worship. 2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.


Love in Action

 Romans 9:12-16

9 Love must be sincere. Hate what is evil; cling to what is good. 10 Be devoted to one another in love. Honor one another above yourselves. 11 Never be lacking in zeal, but keep your spiritual fervor, serving the Lord. 12 Be joyful in hope,patient in affliction, faithful in prayer. 13 Share with the Lord’s people who are in need. Practice hospitality.
14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn. 16 Live in harmony with one another. Do not be proud, but be willing to associate with people of low position.[c] Do not be conceited.


Much love, Dennis