God vs Science

February 25, 2008 | 2 Comments

A science professor begins his school year with a lecture to the students, "Let me explain the problem science has with religion." The atheist professor of philosophy pauses before his class and then asks one of his new students to stand.

"You’re a Christian, aren’t you, son?"

"Yes sir," the student says.

"So you believe in God?"

"Absolutely."

"Is God good?"

"Sure! God’s good."

"Is God all-powerful? Can God do anything?"

"Yes."

"Are you good or evil?"

"The Bible says I’m evil."

The professor grins knowingly. "Aha! The Bible!" He considers for a moment. "Here’s one for you. Let’s say there’s a sick person over here and you can cure him. You can do it. Would you help him? Would you try?"

"Yes sir, I would."

"So you’re good…!"

"I wouldn’t say that."

"But why not say that? You’d help a sick and maimed person if you could.
Most of us would if we could. But God doesn’t."

The student does not answer, so the professor continues. "He doesn’t, does he? My brother was a Christian who died of cancer, even though he prayed to Jesus to heal him. How is this Jesus good? Hmmm? Can you answer that one?"

The student remains silent.

"No, you can’t, can you?" the professor says. He takes a sip of water from a glass on his desk to give the student time to relax.

"Let’s start again, young fella. Is God good?"

"Er…yes," the student says.

"Is Satan good?"

The student doesn’t hesitate on this one. "No."

"Then where does Satan come from?"

The student falters. "From God"

"That’s right. God made Satan, didn’t he? Tell me, son. Is there evil in this world?"

"Yes, sir."

"Evil’s everywhere, isn’t it? And God did make everything, correct?"

"Yes."

"So who created evil?" The professor continued, "If God created everything, then God created evil, since evil exists, and according to the principle that our works define who we are, then God is evil."

Again, the student has no answer. "Is there sickness? Immorality? Hatred? Ugliness? All these terrible things, do they exist in this world?"

The student squirms on his feet. "Yes."

"So who created them?"

The student does not answer again, so the professor repeats his question. "Who created them?" There is still no answer. Suddenly the lecturer breaks away to pace in front of the classroom. The class is mesmerized. "Tell me," he continues onto another student. "Do you believe in Jesus Christ, son?"

The student’s voice betrays him and cracks. "Yes, professor, I do."

The old man stops pacing. "Science says you have five senses you use to identify and observe the world around you. Have you ever seen Jesus?"

"No sir. I’ve never seen Him."

"Then tell us if you’ve ever heard your Jesus?"

"No, sir, I have not."

"Have you ever felt your Jesus, tasted your Jesus or smelt your Jesus? Have you ever had any sensory perception of Jesus Christ, or God for that matter?"

"No, sir, I’m afraid I haven’t."

"Yet you still believe in him?"

"Yes."

"According to the rules of empirical, testable, demonstrable protocol, science says your God doesn’t exist. What do you say to that, son?"

"Nothing," the student replies. "I only have my faith."

"Yes, faith," the professor repeats. "And that is the problem science has with God. There is no evidence, only faith."

The student stands quietly for a moment, before asking a question of His own. "Professor, is there such thing as heat?"

"Yes," the professor replies. "There’s heat."

"And is there such a thing as cold?"

"Yes, son, there’s cold too."

"No sir, there isn’t."

The professor turns to face the student, obviously interested. The room suddenly becomes very quiet. The student begins to explain. "You can have lots of heat, even more heat, super-heat, mega-heat, unlimited heat, white heat, a little heat or no heat, but we don’t have anything called ‘cold’. We can hit up to 458 degrees below zero, which is no heat, but we can’t go any further after that. There is no such thing as cold; otherwise we would be able to go colder than the lowest -458 degrees."

"Every body or object is susceptible to study when it has or transmits energy, and heat is what makes a body or matter have or transmit energy. Absolute zero (-458 F) is the total absence of heat. You see, sir, cold is only a word we use to describe the absence of heat. We cannot measure cold. Heat we can measure in thermal units because heat is energy. Cold is not the opposite of heat, sir, just the absence of it."

Silence across the room. A pen drops somewhere in the classroom, sounding like a hammer.

"What about darkness, professor. Is there such a thing as darkness?"

"Yes," the professor replies without hesitation. "What is night if it isn’t darkness?"

"You’re wrong again, sir. Darkness is not something; it is the absence of something. You can have low light, normal light, bright light, flashing light, but if you have no light constantly you have nothing and it’s called darkness, isn’t it? That’s the meaning we use to define the word."

"In reality, darkness isn’t. If it were, you would be able to make darkness darker, wouldn’t you?"

The professor begins to smile at the student in front of him. This will be a good semester. "So what point are you making, young man?"

"Yes, professor. My point is, your philosophical premise is flawed to start with, and so your conclusion must also be flawed."

The professor’s face cannot hide his surprise this time. "Flawed? Can you explain how?"

"You are working on the premise of duality," the student explains. "You argue that there is life and then there’s death; a good God and a bad God. You are viewing the concept of God as something finite, something we can measure. Sir, science can’t even explain a thought."

"It uses electricity and magnetism, but has never seen, much less fully understood either one. To view death as the opposite of life is to be ignorant of the fact that death cannot exist as a substantive thing. Death is not the opposite of life, just the absence of it."

"Now tell me, professor. Do you teach your students that they evolved from a monkey?"

"If you are referring to the natural evolutionary process, young man, yes, of course I do."

"Have you ever observed evolution with your own eyes, sir?"

The professor begins to shake his head, still smiling, as he realizes where the argument is going. A very good semester, indeed.

"Since no one has ever observed the process of evolution at work and cannot even prove that this process is an on-going endeavor, are you not teaching your opinion, sir? Are you now not a scientist, but a preacher?"

The class is in uproar. The student remains silent until the commotion has subsided.

"To continue the point you were making earlier to the other student, let me give you an example of what I mean."

The student looks around the room. "Is there anyone in the class who has ever seen the professor’s brain?" The class breaks out into laughter.

"Is there anyone here who has ever heard the professor’s brain, felt the professor’s brain, touched or smelt the professor’s brain? No one appears to have done so. So, according to the established rules of empirical, stable, demonstrable protocol, science says that you have no brain, with all due respect, sir."

"So if science says you have no brain, how can we trust your lectures, sir?"

Now the room is silent. The professor just stares at the student, his face unreadable.

Finally, after what seems an eternity, the old man answers. "I guess you’ll have to take them on faith."

"Now, you accept that there is faith, and, in fact, faith exists with life," the student continues. "Now, sir, is there such a thing as evil?"

Now uncertain, the professor responds, "Of course, there is. We see it everyday. It is in the daily example of man’s inhumanity to man. It is in the multitude of crime and violence everywhere in the world. These manifestations are nothing else but evil."

To this the student replied, "Evil does not exist sir, or at least it does not exist unto itself. Evil is simply the absence of God. It is just like darkness and cold, a word that man has created to describe the absence of God. God did not create evil. Evil is the result of what happens when man does not have God’s love present in his heart. It’s like the cold that comes when there is no heat or the darkness that comes when there is no light."

The professor sat down.

Posted by NCOC | Filed Under Blog 
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Free Eye Exam

February 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Camp is coming soon!

Just wanted to say that. It seems far away right now, but it’s not really. In fact, I’m going to be coming after you very soon, wanting you to sign away a week of your life in July. I will not be turned away. You will not be able to refuse my call to make a difference in the life of a kid. In fact, when I ask you to volunteer your services I am going to have one of the wonderful kids of our congregation with me. Then, if you’re tempted to say no, I’ll say, “Don’t look at me! Look at them as you say no.” (Oh yeah. I’ll do it.)

Actually I was thinking about camp as I was preparing for this morning’s lesson. Right next to Camp Idlewild is the Sky Anchor Ranch. There, right beside the driveway that leads to Idlewild is Sky Anchor’s disabilities course, a series of stations designed to emulate life with a variety of disabilities. Campers for our session got to go through it last summer. They tried to throw a shot put from a seated position. They had to trace a picture by looking in a mirror (like dyslexia).

The most popular activities were the blind folded maze and the blind BB gun shoot. Campers had to navigate the maze with a walking stick. They had to shoot the gun with the help of a laser sight and voice commands from their partner.

At each station, the campers learned what life would be like if they didn’t have one of the senses that they (we) take so much for granted. I pray that I never have to adapt to something so drastic, but there’s a decent possibility that some day I will. Some day, if I live long enough, I may very well have to learn how to live without some ability that I once had.

This morning we’re going to read about the opposite kind of process. Jesus declares in Luke 4 that part of his mission on Earth is to enable rather than disable. He says, “I have come to give recovery of sight to the blind.” In most cases that sounds like good news, particularly when Jesus give someone physical sight. But as you and I will see (no pun intended), it’s not always an easy process to gain our spiritual sight. Sometimes it’s a little painful when we get clarity about who we are.

This morning, I hope you’ll be courageous. I hope you are willing to try and see yourself as God sees you. There’s good and bad news there. I’ll be sharing both.
 

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Articles 

Ladies’ Craft Night & Book Club

February 23, 2008 | Leave a Comment

February 23, 2008
6:00 pmto9:00 pm

Meeting at the building.

Posted by NCOC | Filed Under Events 

Prison Break

February 17, 2008 | Leave a Comment

I sometimes have a recurring dream. It usually comes back to me when I’m feeling pressure or anxiety about something that I have to do. Maybe I’m facing a deadline, or I’m feeling overwhelmed so I’m not feeling up to the task at hand. There are different variations, but all of them share a couple of elements.

First, I have somewhere that I’m supposed to be. When I was in college and graduate school, I was supposed to be taking an exam somewhere. But now I often feel like I’m supposed to be preaching. And, usually I’m somehow aware that the audience/congregation is waiting for me. The last song has been sung. The songleader has told the audience, “You may be seated.” And now there is this awkward silence punctuated by the occasional cough or squeal of a child. People are looking around and wondering where I am, some in amusement, others in anger.

Second, for whatever reason, I can’t get there. It’s often because I keep finding myself distracted by other, urgent tasks. A person runs up and begins talking to me. I can’t find my notes. Sometimes I simply can’t find the place where I’m supposed to be speaking.

And that right there is the entire dream. I spend who knows how long trying to get this place where I’m supposed to be so that I can perform this task that I’m supposed to perform. And all the while I am completely in capable of making it. I can’t believe I don’t kick my poor wife senseless just running in place lying down. Finally, as I wake up my panic is washed away in flood of relief as I realize that it was just a dream.

Of all the dreams, though, the worst ones are the ones where I am physically slowed down somehow. I know I need to hurry, but I can’t. It’s like I’m walking in molasses, or it’s like I’ve been drugged. Sometimes I’ll be unable to open my eyes properly. These dreams are maddening. As the feeling of panic rises, my inability to make my body work increases. I HATE having these dreams. I feel so trapped.

But what would it be like if, in the midst of that dream, I were to find myself able to move quickly? What if my arms and legs were suddenly infused with energy? What if my eyes were suddenly wide open and I could see everything clearly? What a liberating ending that would be to my dream.

I would hope that these dreams are the closest I will ever come to being imprisoned. But I do know this—whenever I wake up, I feel truly free. I feel as if someone has just sprung me from jail.

Maybe your life feels that way today. Maybe you are somehow feeling trapped. Trapped by decisions you have made, trapped by bad things that have happened to you, trapped by weaknesses that you have. Maybe you have somewhere you would like to go or something you would like to be, but you feel like you can’t get there.

The good news for this morning is Jesus’ mission statement in Luke 4. Jesus has been sent to “proclaim freedom for the prisoner” and to “release the oppressed.” Jesus can set us free. We’ll talk about it this morning.
 

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Articles 

Winterfest Retreat

February 15, 2008 | Leave a Comment

February 15, 2008toFebruary 17, 2008

 

Our Youth Group’s annual retreat to Gatlinburg, TN.  Interested in participating, please contract the Kauffmans.

Posted by NCOC | Filed Under Events, Youth 

Farm Fresh Receipts

February 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Help us earn supplies by turning in your Farm Fresh receipts.  You’ll find a box conveniently located in the Welcome Center.  Put your receipts in the box, we’ll do the rest.  This program will run until May 2008.  Thanks for your support!

Posted by NCOC | Filed Under News 

Plenty To Go Around

February 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment

For this week’s article, I thought that I’d remind you of something that happened to Rachel and me when we were in Bucharest, Romania one summer. While visiting a nearby pool with some kids from church, someone decided to steal our backpack. We found it in the men’s bathroom. They had taken a good deal of money, Rachel’s glasses, and our passports.

The most difficult and most essential items to replace were our passports. They served as identification wherever we went. They contained our visas. Without them, we had no proof that we were in the country legally. More importantly, we would be unable to leave without a replacement.

While our passports were easily replaced by a quick trip to the American embassy, our Romanian visas were another matter. Imagine a nightmare trip to the DMV where, every time you reach the front of the line, you’re told that you don’t have what you’re supposed to have and where every clerk is telling you that you need something different. Now throw in a language barrier.

Finally, add to all of that the lack of true lines. People didn’t queue up. Instead, they formed a swirling mob of humanity with a general sense of where the front was. It soon became clear that if we didn’t push our way to the front like everyone else, we’d sit at the back all day. So, rather than waiting patiently in a line, we spent a couple of hours jockeying for position and carefully guarding the ground we had gained.

When we finally arrived at the front, our clerk had trouble understanding our English over all of the noise, so she motioned us down two windows. Simple enough, right? Only, it wasn’t at all simple to the gentleman next to us, who thought we were trying to break in front of him. He grabbed me by the shoulders and began yelling at me in French. Just as I was thinking, “Hmm, this is not at all the way I expected to meet Jesus,” the “gentle”man saw the clerk waving for us and let me go.

I’ve never been in a room with so many desperate people. Pretty scary. There was never a moment where I felt like I could relax. And I think it was because everyone in the room (myself included) had a very acute sense of scarcity. There wasn’t enough space in the room. There wasn’t enough time for everyone. There weren’t enough employees. Scarcity makes people anxious.

Abundance is just the opposite. Abundance helps people remain calm. That’s why you and I can usually do OK standing in lines. We have this sense that, as long as we wait patiently, we’ll eventually get the attention we want. And we usually do.

Part of Jesus’ Good News in Luke 4 is to remind us that there is abundance. There’s plenty of God’s love and purpose. There’s enough for all of us. That’s why he’s preaching good news to the poor. How’s it work? We’ll talk about it this morning.

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Articles 

Give It Up For the Kids!

February 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

Has everyone decided what they will give up each week? The AtMyGate committee has asked families/individuals to decide on an expense they have each week that they can abstain from (StarBucks, pizza orders, movie rentals, etc.) and donate that money to the AtMyGate fund(which is used to aid African orphans through the Use Offot Church of Christ in Nigeria). This fund-raising drive will run through Sunday, March 16th when we need ALL your collected donations turned in. We challenge ourselves to find a way to save approximately $10 week or more. Donation boxes are available in the Welcome Center.

For more information contact the AtMyGate Committee.

Posted by NCOC | Filed Under News 

Baby Shower

February 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment

February 2, 2008
10:00 amto12:00 pm

You are invited to a baby shower for Maria Coons in honor of the birth of Alena Coons.
The shower will be at the home of Carla Zane. Please contact Carla at 673-0050 for more information. Below is a map to the Zanes’


View Larger Map

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Anointed

February 1, 2008 | Leave a Comment

“A man without a purpose is like a ship without a rudder—a waif, a nothing, a no man. Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.”
Thomas Carlyle

I recently read about a man who began all of his conversations with new acquaintances by asking this question: “What have you done that you believe in and you are proud of?” Not, “Where are you from?” Not, “What do you do for a living?” Not, “Are you married?” Instead, he would ask them about their top priorities.

Since most people were accustomed to more surface-y type “get-to-know-you” questions, this would often catch them off guard. They would find themselves having to really think about the things that matter most to them. It was especially disconcerting for those who were unsure of their answer to that question, those who were no longer able to see the larger meaning in the work they did.

But this was a rare occurrence. Most people found that, with some careful reflection, they could point to the things in their life that were significant. There was no need for those things to be grandiose. Most people found simple answers:

  • “I am a parent to my children.”
  • “I build furniture.”
  • “I own a small business and I do a good job.”

And the man didn’t feel it necessary to judge the answers. He was more interested in engaging people with the question: What matters most to me? So what about you? What would you say if someone were to ask you that very question this morning? Take a moment and think about it. It doesn’t have to be earth shattering. It just needs to be something that you care about. “What are you doing that you believe in?” Try thinking about right now…

Any luck? I hope so. Not so that you can pass some test this morning, but because I want you to be driven by something that matters to you. Also, it might come in handy during today’s worship. That’s a bonus freebie for those of you who take time to read the bulletin article. You’ve got a head start on the others. This morning we’re going to hear what Jesus’ answer to that question would have been. In his Gospel, Luke tells of a trip to his hometown where Jesus, fresh off a vision quest journey into the wilderness, shares his mission with the folks at the synagogue. It’s a stirring one—one that I hope we can adopt in our own way here at Norfolk Church of Christ.
 

Posted by Robert | Filed Under Articles