Did God Create Evolution?

The ongoing discussion of creation versus evolution is of great interest to me.  It has forced me to think about what I believe, what others believe, and what I want my kids to believe.

The thoughts that I will try to convey here are simple, yet they are not simple.  In trying to personally describe what I am about to say to a friend, I either failed miserably, or he didn't read it too well.  I am personally not sure which.  But I will try to outline it clearly here, because I think it is of the utmost importance for those who admit belief in a God.

First of all, I believe that to many, evolution needs God.  The attempts to explain it without Him have fallen short.  Why?  Because the continuing anthem of an evolutionist is that you can explain (prove) evolution with science, but that the idea that God created man in His own image is contrary to how we interpret the fossil record.  Not an idea that I agree with, but I will indulge you for the time being.  An evolutionist can look at the fossil record and make assertions based on what he sees.  He can classify Australopithecus as a transitional organism with great confidence in his ability to make scientific connections.  But, he cannot explain the big bang, or the assembly of nothing-into-DNA because it has never been proved, duplicated, replicated, etc.  Thus, he needs one of two things 1) The faith to believe that the answer to this quandary will appear someday or 2) an intelligent designer to set the process in motion.  It is a fact of science that we have never seen DNA assemble itself without the help of a designer.  Maybe in another million or two years we will see it, but in the meantime, it remains an unproved theory. 

So, upon examination, it would be much easier just to say that God used evolution to set His creation in motion.  But I will attempt the explain the flaw in logic that I see in that.  As I see it, you have 3 options:

Option 1:
God is a powerful God who is able to create something out of nothing, and used evolution to set creation in motion yet He hides from us who He really is, and leaves it up to us to decide what He wants from us. 

Option 2: 
God created us in His image and loves us.  He is powerful enough to communicate who He is to us through the writings of men that He has inspired.  Since He is powerful enough to create an orderly universe and man, He is also powerful enough to give us a glimpse of who He  is through His Word.

Option 3:
There is no god.  We are just floating here by chance.  We are animals that have evolved from slime.  Morals are relative because there is no one to be accountable to but ourselves.  Someday we will figure it all out.

I will attempt to explain why I believe that only options 2&3 are valid.

Option 1:
If we say, "I believe in God, and that He used evolution to set the world in motion, but I do not believe that there is any one religion that holds truth," (because all writings are of men and essentially flawed),-- then we are saying that God is powerful enough to create all of this, but He is not powerful enough to communicate to us who He is.  Or maybe you would argue that God hides from us who He is so we can figure it out ourselves.    The same way He hides the order of science from us?  I think not.    If we look at all of the world religions today, we can plainly see that they cause more strife among men that any other idea.  Most of the religions contradict one another.  People kill each other over their faith.   Yet we continue to assert that God, who created an "orderly" system of science, left us with a disorderly idea of why we are here, who He is, and what is right or wrong. 

Option 2:

If we say that an orderly God explains an orderly universe, and He gave us an orderly system (Scriptures)  for knowing Him and why we are here, it makes much more sense. It would make sense that one of the many world religions would hold the truth, or that one of the Holy Scriptures that man claims to have been inspired by God might just be true.

Option 3:
We can say that there is no God.  We don't know how DNA made itself and we can't prove that the big bang occurred. You are a highly evolved animal. 

Options 2 & 3 are more valid.  I will explain why I believe that.

Option 1 says that the nature of God is orderly, but only in science.  He then becomes a bit more disorderly when it come to Himself.    If we say that we believe in God, yet we know very little about Him, other than He created an orderly system of science, then essentially we have no one to be accountable to.  When we  are open to interpret God however we want, then we "make for ourselves god"  or AKA and idol.    This basically elevates ourselves above God and makes him nothing.  You can say this if you are Buddhist, because Buddhism is nothing more than a watered down version of atheism.  If god is in everything, and everything is god, then there is no god.  But can you say that you are a Christan and make those claims logically?  Is not Christianity based on the Bible?  Is the God of the Bible powerful enough to create the universe, yet impotent to pass a God-inspired Book of writings to you?  Why even believe? What about Jews? Or how about a Muslim?  Do they not believe their Scripture to be god-inspired and flawless?   Are they leaving god open to interpretation?  Not the Muslims I know.  Most certainly not. 

When we elevate ourselves to the position of God, we are essentially saying that there is no God. 

How do we know right from wrong?  What keeps us from just slaughtering the neighbor who's land we want for ourselves?  If we are simply evolved animals, there is really nothing.  Now god is open to interpretation and so are right and wrong.  Yet the God of the Bible tells us that He has written it on our hearts.  I would propose to you that option 1 is no more than a cop-out.  A mere attempt to remove any kind of accountability to anyone but ourselves.  An illogical attempt to say that God is logical with His science, but when it come to Himself, He is the author of utter confusion. He will just spend millions of years letting His children "war it out" and kill one another over who He is.

When we remove one authority that the Scriptures might hold (creation) then we can logically remove any other authority that it might have over us. (right from wrong) 

There are really only 2 sides to this fence.  I find it much more honest to say either God is all-powerful, or that He doesn't exist and we are just not fully "evolved" enough to figure it all out yet.  Either way, we are admitting limits to our human knowledge and that is honest. The first option attempts to wedge ourselves into the place of god and only use him when he is convenient to our argument.    It assumes that everything we think we know is correct, and that there can be no other option.

It isn't really a valid option, because it is option 3 in disguise.  If you are god, then he is not.

What do you believe?

Are You Burdened?

Matthew 11:25-30   Then Jesus prayed this prayer; "O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, thank you for hiding the truth to those who think themselves so wise and clever, and revealing it to the childlike.  Yes Father! It pleased You to do it this way!  My Father has given Me authority over everything. No one really knows the Son except the Father, and no one really knows the Father except the Son and to those to whom the Son chooses to reveal Him.  


Then Jesus said,  "Come to Me, all you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Take My yoke upon you.  Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle, and you will find rest for your souls.  For my yoke fits perfectly, and the burden I give you is light." NLT

Jesus identifies the Jewish leaders as the wise and clever, and followers of truth as childlike.

To quote John MacArthur:  "Note that this is an open invitation for all who hear-but is phrased in such a way that the only ones who will respond to the invitation are those who are burdened by their own spiritual bankruptcy and the weight of trying to save themselves by keeping the law."

The greatest moment in my life was when I realized that the burden of sin wasn't mine.  That weight was lifted by the true knowledge of the Messiah.  I have found rest for my soul in Jesus Christ.  I hope you find it too. 

My Eulogy

Have you ever thought about what you want people to say about you after you are gone?  I know it sounds a little morbid, but it is something to think about.  Our Sunday School teacher was reading a portion of "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan this past Sunday.  It was a story of a 14 year old girl who's life ended tragically early, but she left behind an incredible legacy of love and living out the Gospel.  At 14.  Amazing.  I started to think this week about what people might say about me when I am gone.  No, not a selfish thing, an introspective thing.  If people were really honest, what would they say about you?

I think it might be helpful to us to think about what we would like to "be," so I put some thought into it for myself.  I figure I have the rest of my life to live up to it.

My Eulogy~

Lori was first and foremost a lover of Jesus.  She craved truth.
Even at the expense of her own pride or prejudices.
She wanted to be everything that He wanted her to be.
She was never one to be ashamed of the Gospel,
Even in the face of intimidation and persecution.

Lori spent her life learning how to be a better wife and mother.
She loved her husband very much.
She also poured her life and energy out into the training of their children.
She was passionate about teaching them truth, discernment, knowledge,
But most of all....love. 

Because of her deep joy and contentment in the Lord,
Lori brought joy to everyone she touched.
She had a deep desire to see the same joy and peace in everyone she knew.

She wasn't afraid to "give until it hurt."
She understood that nothing in this life really belonged to her,
Rather all things belonged to the Creator.
She lived her life with the intent of storing up her treasures in heaven-
Rather than on earth.
She opened her home, talents, and wallet to anyone in need.

Lori's deepest desire is now fulfilled as she rests in the arms of the One who says:

"Well done, thy good and faithful servant."

Teacher Teaching Theory of Intelligent Design Silenced

http://abclocal.go.com/wls/story?section=news/local&id=8028588

The whole creation/evolution debate amazes me.  One theory can be taught, the other discredited as religion.  The religion of secular humanism is so strong and people are so blinded to the fact that their faith in science is merely that:  FAITH.  The overwhelming need for these people to silence any other theory speaks for itself.

"The greater the ignorance, the greater the dogmatism."  ~Sir William Osler

Planting Seeds of Righteousness

It was a tough week.  I am not sure why, but my kids decided to test all limits this week.  I was tired, frustrated, and heartbroken that my "training" wasn't sinking in.  I was so tempted to just tune myself out and hide.


BUT- just when you think that your words are rattling off of empty walls in empty rooms, a glimmer of hope appears.  The softening of a heart.  Repentance.  A total 180 degree about-face.  A sacrifice made to meet the need of a sibling rather than focusing on "what I want"

 ....My heart sings!

Galatians 6:9 "Let us not grow weary while doing good, for in due season we shall reap if we do not lose heart." 

I reminded myself of that verse in the morning.  I reaped the benefits that afternoon.

God is good.

Motherhood is good.  We can't grow weary and tune out.  We need to be tuned in with our hearts...to their hearts.  Moms know.  Maybe today you will join me privately in the quiet of a bathroom or bedroom gently thumping your head against a wall, but if we persevere, we will reap the blessings of our training.

Patience. Seeds don't grow overnight.

There is a season.

Words are Powerful

A thought occurred to me today.  My daughter proudly announced that she was not going to go outside on this glorious day and play......because I didn't have to.   I asked her what she thought I was doing inside, and she said talking on the phone all day....reading.....doing nothing.....  I told her that her sense of injustice has greatly skewed her reality.  I then offered to let her fold laundry, do dishes, and mop my kitchen floor.  She quickly disappeared.

5 minutes later, I sat down at the computer to browse Facebook, and I saw a petition posted by a friend stating that wicked Republicans want to cut off aid and starve pregnant women and children.  I suppressed a comment and moved on to the bedroom to fold laundry, but then a thought occurred to me.  When we make statements about people that try to pervert their motives for the sake of our own ideas of injustice, then we are, in fact, acting childish.  Not only that, we are breaking the 9th commandment by bearing false witness against our neighbor.

When I first gave in to the world of Facebook, I was still in a learning process of how to "measure" my words.  Not that I have graduated that process, but I think I have gotten much better.  I usually do not argue politics anymore because I have learned that it gets ugly and heated and in the end, unproductive.  The only thing left at the end of the day is hard feelings.  But one thing I noticed lately is a lot of name calling.  Tea-partiers are fruitcakes.  Obama is a baby killer.  Republicans hate women and children.  I think we really need to ask ourselves if these statements are really productive.  Are you going to change a conservative's  political views by calling them a fruitcake?  Are you going to change Obama's view on abortion by calling him a murderer?  Are you going to incite healthy debate by telling someone opposed to abortion that they want to starve women and children?

Can I get a resounding NO?

Please?

All you are doing is provoking anger and hate.  

Politics.  The grow-up form of school-yard logic.  Will we ever be able to develop a healthy dialogue in America without attempting to pervert the motives of our perceived enemies?  I do hope so.  I love a healthy debate.  

Can I get an Amen?