Sunday, October 21, 2012

God of the Impossible


Sunday 10/21/2012 5:56 AM
For the past two days I have been contemplating the relationship between faith, prayer and the impossible.  Throughout this week I have been reading about the nation of Israel wandering through the desert for forty years, complaining constantly, asking God why they had to leave Egypt where they had plenty of food and water.  They were wandering because they didn’t believe that God could drive out the nations that lived in the land God had promised to Abraham and his descendants.  It seemed impossible to them.
Yesterday I wrote about my prayers for Muslims around the world, that they would come to faith in Christ.  That, too, seems impossible to me.  There are those in the Christian community who believe they should be wiped off the face of the earth before they do the same to the Christians in the world while others believe they will eventually destroy themselves because of all the infighting among different voices of Islam, e.g., Sunnis and Shiites.  I believe God desires to have a relationship with them like he does with me, so I pray to that end.
Nearly four months ago my neighbor, Manuel, was seriously injured in a motorcycle accident.  He suffered a broken back, broken ribs, two broken pelvises, a broken leg and head trauma along with various lacerations and bruises.  For the first couple of weeks after the accident the doctors did not expect him to survive and they had him in a drug-induced coma.  Eventually they took away the drugs but he remained comatose.  I noticed his lawn was growing longer and the Spirit of God urged me to offer to mow his lawn.  I spoke with his wife, Billie, and told her that I would do so until he was able to mow it again.  Each week as I mowed I prayed that God would heal Manuel, provide perseverance and comfort for Billie as she dealt with the situation, and that God would use the tragedy of the accident to bring about something good.  During the last three and a half months I have only spoken with Billie on two occasions, the last time over six weeks ago.  Both times she shared that Manuel was still in a coma and was pretty much unresponsive.  Friday afternoon as I mowed his lawn I began to think that his return home was unlikely.
Yesterday afternoon Billie’s car drove onto our driveway and I went out to talk with her and the rear window rolled down to reveal Manuel.  He was released a week and a half ago and he shared that he had been in a coma for three months with no recollection of anything.  He said a voice told him to open his eyes and the first person he saw was John Lyon, the mayor of Artesia, who was visiting him at the time.  He also shared that he has become a Christian as a result of the accident and that he has been reading the Bible.  He is still on a feeding tube and his tracheotomy is still healing but he is glad to be home and seems to have his full mental faculties.
What seemed impossible or highly improbable to me was not impossible with God.  I am just thankful that I am able to witness this miracle firsthand.  Thank you, Lord, for your mercy and grace in Manuel’s life.  Continue to heal him and to draw him closer to you.
Seeing this miracle occur gives me hope for my prayers for the Muslim world.  I will continue to pray that God will do what seems impossible to me.  In the meantime, Lord, I’ll do whatever you want me to do.  Just let me know and give me the grace to be obedient.

Tuesday, October 16, 2012

Depression to Joy


Tuesday 10/16/2012 6:41 AM
Thinking about Emily’s upcoming wedding makes me realize how quickly time passes.  It seems like yesterday that she was born and now she is on the verge of beginning a family of her own.  When raising a family it is easy to see yourself as an indispensible part of life, especially when you are in the middle of the chaotic schedules that can accompany parenthood.  However, as I look back at my life and those who molded it, particularly at my dad and my grandparents, I realize they are distant memories that are usually recalled only during special times like birthdays and anniversaries.  Psalm 103:15-16 seem especially meaningful today.  “The life of mortals is like grass, they flourish like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its place remembers it no more.”  More than likely I will die within the next thirty years and, like my dad and grandparents, I, too, will become a distant memory.
Jaci would suggest that thinking about such things is depressing and, if that were the end of my thought process, I would have to agree.  However, my thoughts do not stop there and neither does Psalm 103.  It continues with these words, “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him, and his righteousness with their children’s children.”  While my dad and grandparents have become distant memories clouded by time, God’s faithfulness to me has never wavered.  The comfort I have is that after I die and no longer have a shaping influence on my family, God’s love and care for them will never falter.  That fact chases away any depressing thoughts and replaces them with joy.

Tuesday, October 9, 2012

Abiogenesis


Monday 10/8/2012 5:01 AM
Yesterday I read an article about abiogenesis, the theory of how life arose from chemical processes.  I also viewed a couple of videos that attempted to explain how self-replicating cells could form from simple fatty acids like stearic and oleic acid.  According to one video, these fatty acids, under a specific pH, spontaneously form vesicles that are permeable to organic molecules, so there is no need for complex proteins to move the organic molecules across a cell membrane.  These vesicles absorb other free fatty acids because of the laws of thermodynamics.  When the vesicle grows it forms branched, tubular structures, which can easily be divided by mechanical means such as wave action, currents, rocks and so forth.  When divided none of the material inside the vesicle is lost.  The video then goes on to explain that the prebiotic environment contained hundreds of different types of nucleotides.  Recent experiments have shown that some of these, like Phosphoramidate DNA, are capable of spontaneous polymerization.  According to the video this can occur by simple chemistry, without the need for special sequencing.  This theory suggests that the fatty acid vesicles are permeable to nucleotide monomers but not nucleotide polymers.  So it absorbs the monomers, which then undergo spontaneous polymerization and become trapped inside the vesicle.  These vesicles are then moved by convection currents near thermal vents in the ocean floor where high temperatures separate the polymer strands and increase the membrane’s permeability to additional nucleotide monomers.  The vesicles with polymers then “eat” each the ones with monomers, causing them to replicate faster and eventually dominate the population.  The information needed for living cells would be selected for because it would replicate faster than the others.
Needless to say, I was somewhat befuddled by the “simple” explanation.  It still seems highly improbable that the necessary information for even the simplest living organism could be formed through this arbitrary process.  My devotional reading today included Hebrews 6:3, “By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made our of what was visible.”  I also read Psalm 92:4-5, “For you make me glad by your deeds, Lord; I sing for joy at what your hands have done.  How great are your works, Lord, how profound your thoughts!”  Many in the scientific community view me as an ignorant fool, believing a myth, but I think it takes more faith to believe their explanation than it takes to believe in God.  The mathematical probability seems astronomically small that abiogenesis could happen at all, let alone lead to the complex molecules that exist in even the simplest living cells.  Perhaps someday I can find a scientist with the knowledge and patience necessary to explain it all to me.

Hamstrung


Friday 10/5/2012 7:12 AM
I’m in Phoenix visiting my mom over the weekend.  I left this morning for my regular run and both of my hamstrings were sore.  At the beginning of my run each step I took was painful and I nearly turned around after the first quarter mile to walk back to mom’s house.  Eventually the pain subsided enough so I could run without constantly feeling discomfort.  Evidently the pain either went away or I grew accustomed to it.
This has become somewhat normal over the past few weeks.  I have pain in my hamstrings even when I am sitting in a chair and it becomes more acute when climbing stairs or when I try to move suddenly.  I can’t put my finger on a specific incident that may have caused an injury but I know something isn’t quite right.  I’ve tried laying off of my running schedule for a few days to see if things improve and I’ve tried running through the pain, like I did this morning, but neither strategy seems to work.
My sore hamstrings also remind me of my life with God over the past few months.  My devotional times have been sporadic at best and my once vibrant relationship with God, buoyed by the wind of the Spirit of God, is now in the doldrums.  I can’t place my finger on a specific incident that may have initiated my ennui with respect to God but I know something isn’t right.  I’ve tried laying off of devotions for a few days and I’ve tried to read my Bible in an attempt to force the relationship but nothing seems to work.
I have always prided myself in my disciplined exercise and devotional routine.  When in conversation with others I often mention that I get up at four o’clock to run and have my devotions.  In my mind I’ve convinced myself that I do it to inspire them to adopt a similar routine; in reality I’m probably trying so show them how superior I am to them.  Today I read the story of the Pharisee and the publican who were praying in the temple.  I definitely was convicted that I was the Pharisee.
Lately I have been pointing out to others that everything they have is a gift from God and not something of their own doing.  Today the Spirit reminded me that my ability to run, my disciplined lifestyle and my relationship with God are also a gift from God and not something of my own doing.  Lord, forgive me for my pride.