Why celebrate Good Friday?

Now, apart from the Law the righteousness of God is manifested (being witnessed by the Law and the prophets) – even the righteousness of God through faith in Jesus Christ for all those who believe. For there is no distinction: for all have sinned, and fall short of the glory of God; being justified as a gift by His grace through the redemption which is in Christ Jesus, Whom God displayed publicly as a propitiation (= “substitute to take our punishment”) in His blood through faith.

This was to demonstrate His righteousness, for in the forbearance of God He passed over the sins previously committed (before Christ); for the demonstration, I say, of the righteousness of God at this present time: That He might be

1. just, and
2. the Justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.

Where then is boasting? It is excluded. By what kind of law? Of works? No, but by a law of faith.

Romans 3:21-27

 

For if while we were enemies we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved through His life.

Romans 5:10

 

God is the original “YEC”

This post is a response to Young Earth Creationist: Ignorance Of What You Dispute, a post featured today on WordPress‘s home page.

God is a Young Earth Creationist (“YEC”). He knows the earth was created in six days. He was there. In fact, He did the creating, making Him the very first YEC. But while the author of this article (“BGH”) seems ignorant of the inherent limitations of the physical sciences, and while his article seems to have multiple personalities, he does manage to make a good point (almost).

Logical Flaws

First and foremost, BGH does not acknowledge the God of the universe. Were everything else about his article beyond reproach, his misplaced starting point would lead him always into error.

Next, the author seems to have a hard time defining what he wants to talk about. The article’s title, intro, and conclusion decry the “young earth creationism” theory of the origin of the planet. Clearly, he’s starting-out defending the various dating techniques used for determining the age of our planet. Yet all of his bullet points (comprising the middle half of the article) seek to distance evolution – not the age of the planet – from other fields of study.

Another error in BGH’s logic is his choice for first scientific field he distinguishes from evolution: cosmology, which BGH defines as “the field that explains the origins of the universe”. It’s funny that he’s specifically excluding the age of the universe from the discussion, when it’s the age of the planet that is being discussed.

An Interesting Point

However, I must agree with BGH’s critique of the logic of many “YECs” that engage evolution in the public sphere. When the Word of God is cast as merely one’s “belief” as opposed to God’s Truth, no logic can bail-out the argument. If the YEC grants non-Biblical beliefs equal value with God’s Word, there is no point in continuing the debate. The YEC has then forfeited any right to influence either the person they’re debating or those watching from the sidelines.

The job of the Christian is not to debate science on scientific terms. To do so is to grant science the authority to be the arbiter of truth. It also implies acceptance of science’s physical limitations for the debate, a debate that is fundamentally about the existence of a spiritual God.

Instead, our arguments must begin as does the Bible, and as creation itself began: “In the beginning, God…”

Thank you Preston Gralla

Thank you for trying Linux. Twice. Even though you had trouble.

Thank you for seeking-out and listening to the advice of people who are experienced Linux users. And thank you even more for having used your literary talent to combine and “translate” their advice into an article readable by non-technical Windows users.

But thank you most of all for using your time and talent to promote Linux. You written a fair evaluation of Linux for prospective converts, and that will help to get more people to try Linux. But just as importantly, you have also journaled the first-impressions of the uninitiated. That is something many of us long-time Linux users can neither remember nor correctly describe. Those who wish to fix the problem must first understand the problem, and you have done the Linux community a service by describing that problem well.

Amazon Kindle: Bad Solution to a Make-believe Problem

Why Buy It?

Downsides:

• $350!!!
• Lose your Kindle, lose your library.
• You can’t resell a Kindle book. (Or, for that matter, give it away.)

Upsides:

• The books are (marginally) cheaper

Why Sell It?

But let’s look at why the publishing industry wants everyone to use them:

• DRM on books prevents resale and forces all would-be readers to buy new
• Eliminates publishing and distribution costs per purchased title, which more than makes-up the reduced price of the book. (And we’ll never know if Amazon raises the price of paper books when the Kindle versions are released released.)
• Presents the technological possibility of revising books in-place after publish or purchase to reduce PR impact of errata, or possibly even to change the book’s content.

I Just Don’t Have Time

It takes discipline to free-up time, and discipline to use the freed time well. So if I’m lamenting my lack of time for something that’s important, I have only myself to blame.

Just because God taught me that this morning doesn’t mean that I like it.

The Bachelor Finale

Fans may pity Melissa. And with good reason. I, however, pity Jason.

He’s clearly agonizing over the right thing to do. He hates how he’s treated Melissa. He can’t figure-out what went wrong after the final rose ceremony. I think he spends the most time, though, wondering what went wrong AT the final rose ceremony.

The thing he’s missing – and I think he’s aware it’s missing – is a guide to what the right thing to do would be.

And for that, I pity him.

People we talk to in our everyday lives seem to have life all together. They’re just as happy as we who follow Christ. They’re not confused, they’re in command of their lives, and they exude confidence.

But many of these people also deny any objective standard for right living. Jason clung desperately to the notion that there is a right way and a wrong way to treat a girl. It was such a rare and unique and noble characteristic that I believe it was what so endeared him to his fans. And having treated Melissa wrongly – even though he intended well – was what tore him up so much. The problem, though, was that he rejected the true condition of his fallen human heart. The very thing he looked to for guidance was failing him, and he was grieved at the betrayal.

The folks around us may have a big-enough worldview for their own everyday existence. But it doesn’t take a big event to disprove their assumptions and leave them in denial or – as in Jason’s case – despair.

Those of us who know Jesus must speak-up at such times. We must speak, not with condescension or chastisement, but with news of the God Who created all things, and Who upholds all things by the word of His power. Only Jesus can both acknowledge the failings of humanity and simultaneously offer hope of forgiveness.