I'm Back....Let's get to it!!

My wife and I were at camp last week. It was a great time getting to know more of the young people and their friends who go to our church. I was really encouraged to see the level of maturity that some of these kids have. It made me wonder what I was doing at their age. I certainly wasn't reading C.S. Lewis and desiring to talk about dispensationalism. Anyway, it reaffirmed my notion that young people regardless of religion need attention and mentors. And that a little goes a long way. So I encourage you, especially if you don't have kids of your own, to invest time with young people. It will not return void.



P.S. It's good to see BJ Stone is back.

Out for a while.

My wife and I will be leaving to be church camp counselors for the next few days so blogging will be non-existent. Ya'll have a great rest of the week and we'll pick this back up on Monday.

One Step Closer to Knowing....

The London Times published an interesting article about the lead researcher in the Human Genome Mapping project. In a world that is so ready to lock the debate over evolution, I find it refreshing to see such an article that is so blatantly open to the possibility of (a) God. Of course this article will not "seal the deal" for converting atheists but it is a huge statement when a scientist like Francis Collins can be swayed by honestly looking at what the research suggests.

I am no genetic engineer by any stretch of the imagination. But I do feel if I am going to claim to be a Christian, I should at least do my best to try and understand the scientific philosophical implications of what this scientist is suggesting for a couple of reasons.
1) To reaffirm my Christian worldview
and
2) To rationally explain it to those who disagree.
I have recently read 3 books concerning this.

Can a Darwinian be a Christian?
The Case for a Creator
and
Total Truth:

From my own reading, here is what I have found concerning human genetics. These are paraphrased, borrowed ideas mixed with my own interpretation. So take them for what it's worth.

Like words on a page of paper so are the words of DNA. When you look at a piece of paper that has text on it your first thought is not "how did these random 26 letters affix themselves on the page in such a way to create logical sentences?" You naturally assume that there was a writer behind it. The same would be true if a box of Alphabits cereal was spilled on the counter top. And the Alphabits cereal spelled your name, address and phone number. You would assume that somebody was behind that. Now it is possible to spill Alphabits and get words like, "to,cat,is,am etc." But you wouldn't get anything with much complexity. And on top of that to get those small words to form even a basic street name or city would be next to impossible. Just like words DNA contain information. When you start to string the words together you start to create sentences. But sentences on a page are just sentences. It's when they are read and a message is conveyed that the purpose for writing comes full circle. For our example the "message" from DNA is life. The words and message line up too clearly to be passed off as mere chance. I know that this is probably over simplistic and under scientific, but it makes sense to me. And my point with all of this is not to try to convert you to the Judeo-Christian religion, but to open you up to the possibility of God. But to tie this into Christianity.....I love how the Bible addresses this in the first chapter of John.

"In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God."

Coincidence? Possibly....but at least God knew how to cover his bases.

To wrap this up I would ask this. Within the scope of our known reality what would you be willing to bet all you have on? You have a 50-50 chance here.

1) The idea that our lives and life on Earth came from chance combinations of genetic material.

or

2) The idea that behind our lives and life on Earth is some sort of higher power. For this example lets not limit it to the Christian God... could be Aristotle's idea of a Prime Mover if you'd like.

To me the latter seems to be the most realistic.

This is nothing new.

Well I have realized that the best way to generate blog traffic is to post something controversial. So in my quest to debunk liberal thinking I will weigh in on this whole Ann Coulter deal. I am amazed at how much froth her statements have churned. For the longest time liberals have written her off as an obnoxious, insignificant bimbo righty. What has changed? Now she has written statements that are mean, contemptible and downright malicious. Why is this a big deal? Do you know how often we are bombarded by equal if not worse from the left? Just about daily. I will give liberals this. For the most part they are usually more creative when it comes to deriding those with whom they don't agree. But now the right has someone that rivals some of the lefts best and, now, it is somehow not o.k. Do you not see the double standard here?

Let me continue by saying that I do not condone what she has written. I do however agree with the bigger point that she is trying to make. The things that she has written makes it hard for those who oppose to see her point. I think it is safe to say that conservatives generally choose to take the moral high ground when it comes to ridiculing people and their ideas. This is what usually promotes the stereotype of conservatives being bland, boring and uncreative. And I am fine with that stereotype. I think it beats the alternative. But now we have someone on the right gaining some media traction and all of a sudden the sky is falling. ***grumble grumble** "This takes freedom of speech too far!" Why now are liberals willing to come within inches of suicide by falling on their own sword of "censorship?" Because they simple don't agree.

We have to remember that Ann Coulter is a satirist. She writes satire. I have seen worse things written from Maureen Dowd but nobody seems to cry in their lattes over her tripe. Just listen to the silliness about Christians that comes from Bill Maher's pie hole. I am mistaken? Is there some sort of secret rule that grants liberals a pass because what they do is "art" or "comedy?" When I watch Bill Maher I can't help feeling that he is wrapping a turd of hate in a sweet comedy candy shell.

So to my fellow liberals. Don't get your collective panties in a wad. The mirror has been held up and you don't like what you see. That's a natural and healthy reaction. But it is amazing how the response from the left so far has been nothing but classy. (that last statement was satirical in nature)

I do not recommend watching Henry Rollins reaction to Ann Coulter. But it is typical of how liberals will guise their hate with comedy. I am not gonna link to it but any combination of their names in a Google search will lead you to it. It is truly vile. Viewer discretion is advised.

My sketch of V O N S T E R

Well, after many drafts on my sketch pad I have come up with a rendering that I think best represents the mighty VONSTER. It looks vaugely familiar. Take a look and let me know what you think.

Click here for the VONSTER!!

Um!??!?

I think a little piece of me has died.

Believing in God does not make you exempt from being an idiot.!!

Lioness in zoo kills man who invoked God

Who is VONSTER?

O.K. so I have been blogging now for 7 months now. It was slow at first but now I think I am getting the hang of things around these parts. I feel I am slowly being welcomed into this wonderful Peoria community of bloggers. It is kind of wierd feeling a certain amount of kinship to people I only know "digitally." But I like putting my opinions out there for others to see. I also like to see what the rest of my fellow Peorians think about certain issues. With that said, in an effort to generate some more interest in Oneproblem I am going to start including simple questions that you can leave short or long responses to. I think this could be fun and generate some good discussion. So here is question # 1.

Who is Vonster?

I am not looking for a name but more of a description based on Vonster's general bloggerific personality. I'll go first.

Although it seems as if we share the same political ideology, I think it is safe to say that we are nothing alike. Part of me thinks Vonster's a CAT shop worker. But that couldn't be because Vonster seems to update Vonster's blog frequently and during the day. Something a shop worker probably couldn't do. But then Vonster makes references to "All Your Base Are Belong To Us" which makes me think Vonster is around my age or a little younger, since I got the reference. Vonster's views seem to have recovered from a collegiate liberal washing, so, a minimum of age 28 seems right. (that is if Vonster went to college) Vonster probably drives an SUV. But not a new one. Maybe an 1989 Ford Bronco II. With a gun rack. Vonster knows what Starbucks is but prefers Folgers. I'm gonna put Vonster somewhere across the river. Say.....Creve Coeur or Marquette Heights. Vonster has a mullet. But it is not long. I can't figure out what is in Vonster's CD player. It's either Tool or Bruce Hornsby.

Well, that's about all I have for now. Please feel free to add or correct. Please remember that this is meant to be fun so make your comments more creative than mean. Oh yeah.....one last thing...... Vonster is a woman......and she has a sense of humor.

I have to admit my hypocrisy.

Just recently I commented on Scott O’Brien’s blog how I agreed with him that all of the technology that surrounds us only tears us apart. I have blogged in the past about how the video iPod will encourage anti-social behavior. I have seen firsthand how gameboys and the like keep nieces and nephews from interacting with the rest of the family. And I have problems with how these devices are transforming us from spiritual creatures to digital creatures. So with that being said, I have to admit that this weekend I purchased an iPod. 30G. Video…….. I actually have been wanting one all along. But $$$ ain’t growing on trees.

"What?"
"Why are you looking at me like that?"

I know what you’re thinking. “The iPod is just the gateway device. Next it will be an X-box and then a new Mac iBook!” Please rest assured that I have not gone off the deep end.

My wife and I are planning a long road trip and I thought “wouldn’t it be nice to not take a case of all the music we like?” I never thought I would actually get an iPod but once she saw the demo at American this weekend I knew our fate was sealed. Her only caveat “don’t get the black one.” You would have thought that I just won the lottery.

I will say though for connoisseurs of music it is truly a great piece of technology. I have been importing music from years gone by. I have been rediscovering albums that had slipped into obscurity solely because they did not make it into our traveling CD case. Now I have just about all of them and can recall them with a moments notice. For the 6 or 7 of you who actually read Oneproblem, I hope things aren’t awkward from now on. Can we still be friends?