Another you

Thinks about it, if you could press a button and make a duplicate of yourself would you? Imagine the ground you could cover juggling work, family, etc. you would suddenly have double coverage. But consider the implications. If you made a duplicate of yourself that was the same in every way that copy would be faced with the same question. Would that copy duplicate itself and so on?
Would you be the same with a duplicate that looked, thought and acted exactly like you? How long before the duplicate decided to replace you and you were no longer necessary.

When God created man it would have been highly illogical for God to create something exactly like himself. Logically there can only be one God. Atheists and others often argue why God didn’t make man perfect. I would argue that man was perfectly created and logically created. Logically God would not make a carbon copy of himself. Look at what happened when God only made man in his image. Rather than have faith in God’s word man gave away his birthright to Satan.

Had God created exact duplicates of himself rather than man in ‘his image’ the universe and all things would have ceased to exist. It would have been illogical. The job of God has already been taken and God is the ultimate constant. 100 percent reliable, consistent, and true. Mankind could only be in the image of God and requires God for life and continued existence. I would argue that the state we are in now is the only way that existence could be carried out and fulfilled.

If Jesus Christ is indeed the way, the truth, and the life this would be true from the beginning of time throughout eternity. Therefore the only way would be through Jesus Christ. That being the case the only way for this to occur would be for man to only be made in the image of God, fall short and come to the realization through a fallen and sinful world that he does indeed require Jesus Christ.

Not only does our continued existence depend on Jesus Christ but the fact we were ever created is due to the grace of Jesus Christ. Just as we are known to God as we are conceived and woven into the womb our very salvation was conceived and woven before any of us existed. His birth, life, death, and resurrection is the very hinge on which all of us exist. If you deny this then you deny the very reason you live now and the only result of this denial is death itself.

The blind man who was given the gift of sight by gene therapy

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/the-blind-man-who-was-given-the-gift-of-sight-by-gene-therapy-816629.html

A pioneering gene therapy trial has helped a blind man to see in a breakthrough that brings hope to millions affected by eye diseases. British scientists have claimed a world first for the revolutionary treatment, which involved a single injection into the retina at the back of the eye.

Reading this story I cannot help but think of Mark 8:28 where Jesus heals the blind man. It has taken us quite a bit of time to learn about how our own bodies work to the point where we can develop cures for various afflictions. Why could we not heal this man before? Well because medical science only recently advanced to provide this treatment. The more we moved forward the more science has advanced. We learn progressively.

The bible itself is a progressive revelation. The example of this is Jesus healing the blind man in Mark 8:28. Jesus doesn’t heal the man instantly but in stages. First the man could see but then he was able to interpret what he saw after Jesus put his hand on him.

We can read the bible but only after Jesus puts his ‘hand on us’ can we fully understand that he has a hand in our lives.

Whole lot of shakin goin on

Reno urged to prepare for worse as earthquakes continue
http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080426/D909QLNG0.html
Since When Does Illinois Have Earthquakes?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89870782&ft=1&f=1003

Why Are So Many Quakes Jarring Indonesia?
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=14394880
Earthquake Swarm Worries Oregon
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89675869
Recent Earthquakes – Last 8-30 Days
http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/qed/qed.html

“For nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom; there will be earthquakes in various places, there will be famines; this is but the beginning of the birth-pangs” (Mark 13:8 RVS)

Relating

When it comes to the things of this world stop and think how we relate and interact. When we deal with people we interact with our family different than strangers. We interact with children differently than adults. We interact with animals very differently too although many people do treat their pets better than some humans.
But think for a moment how we interact when we meet someone who speaks a different language or a toddler who really has yet to learn a language. Suddenly our approach is different. We may use gestures or hand signs or pointing at things. Maybe we even raise our voices to make a point, especially with young children to teach them. Say if a child runs into the street or reaches for a hot pot on the stove. We use inflection, volume, body language, facial expressions and all sorts of methods to relate to those around us and we hope that what we are interacting with understands and gets our meaning.

Essentially we learn to relate to things that are very different from us. Herein lies the problem between man and God. Man cannot relate to God because of sin. In the day of Adam it is stated that God talked with him in the cool of the day. Prior to sin we learn that man was able to relate to God differently.

So ultimately it is sin that gives us the most trouble relating. This is why I think Atheists have the most trouble believing in God. Atheists and people who have become faithful in science want to be able to relate to God the very same way we relate to our physical surroundings. But the bible says that we relate to God through faith.

Let’s say we are dealing with a fish tank. How can one relate to the fish in the tank? They cannot hear or understand us but we can tap on the glass. We can also provide their physical surroundings and sprinkle food in from time to time. The fish has no knowledge there is a person outside the tank only that these things are provided.

On our planet, the Earth we have the capability of learning and examining our surroundings and through a physical relationship with what we relate to we find ourselves able to try and understand the universe.
What if we met a life form that required a new set of methods to be able to relate to? What if this life was invisible, or microscopic? What if it required a new form of communication not yet invented? Imagine a slew of new technology to deal with this life form in order to relate to it.

With God we have a similar situation. We cannot relate to God the very same way we relate to one another. It requires a simple thing called faith. The tiniest grain of faith can move mountains. People given placebos have had medical healing because the ‘believed’ they were taking real medicine. Jesus walked on water and the disciple sank as he lost faith and took his eyes off of Jesus.

All things culminate in the bible to a lack of faith. Faith in the word of God that Adam was commanded to not eat the fruit yet they did because they doubted God’s word. Only in the way that we relate can we then have a relationship. We can relate to God through Jesus Christ. By repenting and putting our faith and trust in him do we have salvation.

Humans almost went extinct

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,352461,00.html

WASHINGTON — Human beings may have had a brush with extinction 70,000 years ago, an extensive genetic study suggests.

The human population at that time was reduced to small isolated groups in Africa, apparently because of drought, according to an analysis released Thursday.

Didn’t humans almost go extinct when the flood came during the time of Noah?

Rice shortages

Wal-Mart unit limits rice purchases:

Top retailer Wal-Mart’s Sam’s Club unit said Wednesday it is limiting the amount of rice individual shoppers could buy at one time, as rice prices hit new records around the world.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=080423233009.6u8b3ves&show_article=1

It’s amazing to see these kinds of stories today when we have such advancements in technology. A prelude of things to come or just another news story? You decide. Just keep looking up.

Brazil Oil Finds May End Reliance on Middle East

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601086&sid=aBUoYKhu7PWk

“We could see that world becoming a very violent one,” said Zeihan, former chief of Middle East and East Asia analysis for Strategic Forecasting. “If the United States isn’t getting any crude from the Gulf, what benefit does it have in policing the Gulf anymore? All of the geopolitical flux that wracks that region regularly suddenly isn’t our problem.”

Very interesting development however if oil is found in Israel that too could change the balance. A company called Zion oil is searching for oil there now.

Report: Olmert Willing to Give Up Golan

(IsraelNN.com) Syrian media sources said Wednesday that Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has passed a message along to Syrian President Bashar Assad expressing his willingness to give up the strategic Golan region in exchange for peace with Syria. The message was reportedly transmitted via Turkish Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/Flash.aspx/145356
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3534883,00.html

Rebuilding the temple?

A grandiose museum featuring an elaborated massive replica of the Temple is currently being erected opposite the Western Wall.
Full story here:
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3534579,00.html

What’s in the picture?

In the picture above is an object. Know what it is? You would say “Don’t be ridiculous it’s a battery!”.
Of course it is a battery, to you and I. That’s because we know what a battery is, what it looks like and what it does. Imagine showing this to a person from 100 years ago or even to some tribal person who has never seen a battery let alone the device that it goes into.

Imagine explaining the battery to a person from 200 years ago. It would be a difficult task since not only is the battery foreign to the person but without a device of some sort makes it even harder to explain. And of course whatever device you showed them would be more impressive than the battery.

I use this illustration to show how far we have come. The other day my microwave oven went out. I didn’t really think it was a big deal until after several days had passed and I started realizing just how often I used the thing from heating up various foods to making microwave popcorn.

If we brought back a person from 200 years ago they would be in for a shock. We have advanced to a point where we are very impressed and proud of ourselves yet we are barely scratching the surface of our potential as human beings.

How is it then that it has become popular to make the assertion that God does not exist without some sort of proof? Imagine the man with the battery again. He won’t really understand what the battery does until you show him the device and then the device itself requires an explanation more detailed than the battery.

Consider your explanation regarding the battery. It provides energy. In and of itself to the primitive man it would not seem to do anything. You can’t see energy coming from it nor can you show him/her tangible evidence of how it operates. Even with a device to insert the batteries the person would only come to the conclusion that the device only works when the objects are placed inside.

Technology has advanced so much in the last 100 years that a person from that era would be blown away by our society functions today. This phenomenon is called “future shock”. It seems odd to me for so many to proclaim that there cannot be a creator, a God who is so far advanced that this God could have created all things.

If technology one day yielded a “universe creator” and with the press of a button we could stretch the fabric of space and bring a new universe into existence would we then question the existence of God?
It seems the further advanced we get the more we think God is improbable yet the more advanced we get is direct evidence that God is probable.

It only stands to reason considering we are beings that are said to be made in his image. Our capacity to think, create, love are attributes that spring out from an advanced intellect. We marvel at things like Ipods and cellular phones and then as time passes we take them for granted as common every day items.
Could it be that things you see now are like the battery in that you cannot grasp God for what he is because you are too primitive or think you are so far advanced that you take where you came from for granted?
Don’t stop looking because you think you are too smart to see God.