And Deeper Still . . .

Building on this post ("A Little Deeper") of a few days ago . . .

As I was working on one of my presentations for the Higher Things conference next week, it occurred to me that replacing creation with evolution also means that your value is also constantly evolving. What are you worth? What is your value?

creation (physical) - God's careful plan, meaningful, purposeful
new creation (spiritual) - carefully redeemed (re-created) by God's Son, who trades His life for yours!
All God, all gift. Unchanging, steady, reliable.

evolution (physical) - gradual, self-guided process, survival of the fittest
your value - gradual, society-guided process, survival of the fittest
                       whatever is valued by the world at the time
All man, all our doing. Constantly changing.

So years ago, the elderly were honored and revered. Now, just in the way and use up health care dollars.
Years ago, teachers important. Now, athletes.
Years ago, a beautiful woman meant meat on the bones, curves, shapeliness. Now, extreme thinness is considered beauty by many.

And these are constantly shifting, changing, elusive. So if your value, worth, and self-esteem come from the world, you're chasing after the wind. But if your value, worth, and self-esteem come from God and the fact that you are worth the life of His Son, that's something you can count on.

Pure Goofiness

Really?

And yes, this is real! Here's the link to the whole story.

Graduation

No, not mine! I still have a ways to go. My son graduated high school yesterday, which I guess makes me officially old! ;-) I'll (hopefully) post a short video of him receiving his diploma soon, but for now, here's a picture of the graduate with Pa and Ma Peasant.

A Little Deeper . . .

Yesterday in my sermon I mentioned how when God created everything in the beginning, He spoke - or preached - to the formless and void creation and ordered it. In the New Testament, Paul uses the term "new creation" (2 Corinthians 5:17) to describe what we are in Christ. This is not novel. The foundation of the New Testament is the Old Testament and when you hear the New Testament you should hear echoes of the Old ringing in your ears. Another example is when Jesus talks about His resurrections as "the sign of Jonah."

Those, therefore, who deny the validity and truthfulness of the Old Testament are impacting the New also. If no creation, then no "new" creation. If no Jonah, then no "sign of Jonah." If no first Adam, then no second Adam. And there's lots more examples that could be listed here.

But it occurred to me yesterday to then take this a little deeper . . .  Those who deny creation usually do so in favor of evolution of one sort or another. But in addition to "no creation, no new creation," what other impact could this substitution have on theology? If creation is really evolution, then by extension is "new creation" really evolutionary as well? Follow along:

creation (physical) -> God speaks and it is so
new creation (spiritual) -> God speaks and it is so
All God, all gift.

evolution (physical) -> gradual, self-guided process, survival of the fittest
spirituality -> gradual, self-guided process
                       decisions, progress, morality, survival of the fittest
All man, all our doing.

What do you think? Does this pattern hold? What other ramifications could there be?

Happy Father's Day

Us three kids got my father this elevated garden so he could still get out and plant and dig as he used to and always so enjoyed. We actually gave it to him a couple weeks ago when it arrived so he could start planting. Gotta love the big cheesy grin he gave us for this picture!

There's so much I remember of being his son. Good times and rough times. I remember how in the morning I would come down to get ready for school and I would find him in his chair with his Bible open on his lap, praying. I remember how he was down to his last $250 sending me to college - of course, he wouldn't tell me that and I didn't know it until much later. I remember his service at church in so many offices and roles. I remember disappointing him but also making him proud. I remember the two weeks I spent with him after mom died. But through it all God worked, by grace, all by grace, to get us where we are today.

I am happy he is living with us now and I can help take care of him for however much longer God will give him to us. It's hard for him and at times for us, but what a blessing and a privilege. Happy Father's Day dad!

Rebuilding

Well, I spent all day yesterday (except for taking my father for a hair cut and a quick lunch) working on the rebuild of the sermon archive on the church web site. Last year when our web site suddenly disappeared, so did all the sermon files. So I have had to take them all, one by one, and convert them into posting format and upload them to the site. I was doing well but when the Lent and Easter seasons hit, I got too busy and didn't get back to it. So now, I believe I have the entire Pentecost archive completed - at least, mostly. There are probably a few broken links that will need attention and I still have to upload a lot of audio files, but most of the text files should be in place. The next step is testing all the links and finding out which ones are broken and how to fix them. But with this, the archive is almost complete! I still have to do the Easter season and the special sermons - but Pentecost was the biggie! And now I also have all these files in the cloud as well as on the web site, so should this ever happen again, I am prepared!

Sometimes

Sometimes you just don't have a good day. That was true for me today. Not sure why. Maybe just the end of a long week. Here's hoping next Sunday is better . . .

Sad also about the Pope's "prayer meeting," praying with those who deny the divinity of Jesus and that He is Saviour and that there are other ways to salvation. Difficult to present the Gospel with clarity with stuff like this out there.

One good thing: took a nap this afternoon. That felt good! :-)

UPDATE: The Mormons came by after dinner. I should just go to bed . . .