Clever and respectful

I was reading The Retro Housewife blog and read this very clever post she had received in an e-mail.

Tiffany

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 is 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."

At the back of the room another 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 smelled 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.

Hold on Just a Minute!

What in the world happened to March!? It seems like just yesterday we changed the Month on our calendar and the students were reciting last month's Bible passage. And now, we're almost done this month!


Well, looking back, I guess there has been a lot to keep me busy:

Play rehearsing

Costume finding

Teaching

Lesson planning

Hedgehog caring

P/T conferencing

Report carding

and my favorite




Familying

Well, here's to the last few days of this month.

Tiffany

An Announcement

I'm glad to present "Take Two", a movie review blog.

Follow the link to see the new site!

Tiffany

Thoughts

I'm thinking about starting a new blog. This blog would be to review movies following the example Mr. Botkin has given at the SAICFF and the Christians at the Crossroads conference.

If you're not familiar with how his family watches a movie, I would suggest going to an event where Mr. Botkin goes through a movie with the audience. Since that isn't practical for most people, I'll explain it a little bit. As I watch a movie, I will stop the movie each time I see a problem and comment on it. This is not just bad words, immodest clothes, etc, but more about the attitudes, the worldview that the director is displaying, the characters of the people on the screen, etc. (hmmm, two "etc."s in one sentence. Shannon, is that allowed?). It's amazing how much to "see" that you had missed before.

So be looking for the announcement of the new blog!

Tiffany

Correcting an Error

In the side bar on the blogs I regularly read, I put in Breezy's blog, not realizing that she had moved her address. But I adore the blog I had originally found, so I'm putting the link to that one here, so I'll be able to find it and then changed the link in the side bar.

Tiffany

Some New Friends

Our family went to the Christians at the Crossroads conference in Columbus, GA last weekend.

While we were there, some other bloggers recognized Shannon and came up and introduced themselves in person. Since I was stuck to Shannon's side (where I usually am at places like that:-), I was privileged to meet them as well. Then I revisited Emily Rose's blog and got lost in it for about an hour (it was during nap time, here at school) and couldn't wait to get back on the next day. Then I found her sister's, Breezy, blog and was absolutely delighted with all the paintings and drawings that she does. So today, I read through her blog. (It's a little hard to do anything, but computer when all the lights are out:-) I'm absolutely inspired. I would like my house one day to be filled with Emily's photography and Breezy's paintings. Please go and meet them yourselves. You'll be glad you did.

Tiffany

Wow! I'm shocked!

I just found this on another blog and thought I would try it. It somehow (although I'm still doubting the accuracy of this:-) "grades" your blog!

I really don't trust this because I put in another blog and it was listed as undergrad, but I know the person is much more intelligent than I. However, I'll just enjoy this little bit of "elevation". :-)

Tiffany

God Bless the President!

Yes, the first thing I asked my dad this morning was, "Who won?" And yes he said, "Obama." But that doesn't mean that I don't want God to bless him.

Now I don't usually like to talk about politics on my blog (although, if we're in person....), however I want to point out that God allowed-wait, let me rephrase that- God ordained Obama to win this election. That's comforting to me.

I know that his election doesn't mean good things for America. I know that we all might be in a tight bind in the near future. I know that this could spell disaster.

However, I'm comforted to know that this is the man God has given America to lead us now. I'm not worried (truly!). We have an awesome (I don't use that word lightly. It means giving glory to God and that is the way I use it) God, who certainly knows what's best for us.

Does it mean that we as the church will be persecuted? Possibly. Does it mean that terrorists will have greater freedoms in our country? Maybe. Does it mean we will become a socialistic society? Probably.

But God will give us the grace to trust in Him and stay fast in Him. God has given us this president and so I say,

"God Bless the President!"

Tiffany

Did you know....?

Did you know that right here in my own town we have our own pirate ship? It was discovered this morning at 9:33 on the grounds of Trinitas Christian School. The discovery was made by six young adventurers.

The ship consists of a main mast and the main body. The bright blue, red, and yellow paint was very well preserved.

It was discovered that these pirates were very advanced for their time. Off the mast evidence was found of three slides.

Near the sight was found a sandy patch. This patch is believed to have been used to make treasure maps, as evidences of "x" (although very wobbly ones-we haven't learned that letter yet) were found at the spot.

These young adventurers also learned that these pirates were fond of rescuing captured ladies. These adventurers plan on discovering all they can about these pirates over the next few days by reenacting all they can learn about them.

Be assured that we will bring you the latest breaking news on this discovery.

Tiffany


It's amazing what you can learn on the playground. :-)

Praying for our troops

I'm sure many of you are praying for our troops serving in the war. One of the members of our choir has a son over there. She shared this story to encourage us in our prayers.

Her son and 6 other men were getting ready to enter a car. Just as one of the men reached for the handle, another man saw a wire coming out of the car. After examining it, they discovered it was rigged to blow up.

I thought that was an amazing story, that you won't hear on television or read in the papers about how are troops are also being protected while fighting.

I hope this encourages you in your prayers for our troops. I know it did me.

Tiffany

Meanings

Our pastor has been preaching through Genesis for the last four years. Three weeks ago he start the story of Joseph.

He emphasized a verse that I have heard quoted often, but not with the same meaning that is written in Scripture.

I have often heard people say, "What men do for evil, God uses for good" paraphrasing Genesis 50:20. But what the verse actually says (and what Pastor was emphasizing) is "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, so save many people alive." (emphasis mine)

God doesn't just take the evil that men do and turn it in to something good. In His sovereign plan God means for those things to happen to "save many people alive."

It's comforting to me to know that even when bad things happen, God isn't just going to turn them into something good, but He meant for them to happen to fulfill His purposes.

Tiffany

Jane Austen Quiz

I just took this quiz and wasn't surprised with the results, but it was fun. I thought I would post it here.

Take the Quiz here!

Have fun taking it. And let's see what other Jane Austen characters there are around here.

Tiffany

Acceptance Speech

Thank you, Shannon for the wonderful honor of giving this humble blog an Excellence award. I would like to thank my parents, sister, personal trainer and all of you out there! Thank you!

All right, my silliness is over (for right now). I really do appreciate Shannon's award. She is such a wonderful sister to have.

Now getting this award gives me the right to give out ten more (although I will probably only use three;-). So, get ready for the awards ceremony.

And the first award goes to Shannon (A Maiden's Musings) : This is a truly felt gifting. I admire Shannon's talent in writing and thinking. She has such a wonderful way of putting her thoughts into words that you can understand. Oh, and she's a wonderful sister to have around. She is great at listening and giving advice.

And the second goes to Lindafay (Higher Up and Further In): I have so enjoyed reading about her life. I first began reading it for the posts about homeschooling and the Charlotte Mason method. I have ended up reading it for the lovely way she shows Christ in her everyday life. I would truly like to thank her for sharing her curriculum and showing me practically how Charlotte Masons works.

And the third goes to Lauren (With Humility, Thankfulness, and Rejoicing): I just plain love reading her blog. I was very privileged to meet her in October and she has such a sweet, kind spirit.

And there you have it. Look, and awards ceremony that lasted maybe 10 minutes and no immodest dresses, long videos, and extra talking. :-)

Have a blessed day!

Tiffany

The Proverbs 31 Woman

I was re-reading Proverbs 31:10-31 the other day and something struck me.

The verses are talking about all what a virtuous women does: helps her husband, works with her hands (willingly I might add:-), she prepares delicious food, she grow things, she is strong for her tasks, she's a hard worker, she helps the needy, she sews.....then "her husband is known in the gates, when he sitteth among the elders of the land."

Just a second, where did that come from.

It made me pause and meditate on that one verse. Then it hit me.....her husband could only be a respected member of society if she were being a helpmeet to him and taking care of all the things at home. Because she was a helpmeet in the truest sense of the word, her husband was looked up to and respected.

I believe the highest praise I could ever receive would be for my father and husband-one-day to be well thought of by others.

May I one day (Lord willing) be a helpmeet to my husband so that he is able to show others the light of Christ and be a respected and looked up to member of society.

Tiffany

Kindness

This past Wednesday, our Ladies' Bible study group got together to discuss kindness. It really made me think about what I do and the motivation for it.

The point was made that there is a difference between "being nice" and "kindness." Being nice is something that you can do on the outside, and won't cost you much, if anything.

On the other hand, kindness is motivated from the heart. Kindness is an attitude as much as actions. And being kind will usually cost you something: time, money, talent, etc.

Over the last few days, I've been examining what I do and deciding whether I'm being "nice" or "kind." May the Lord bless my endeavors to be truly kind to those around me.

Tiffany

Sunset

Amazing examples of God's awesomeness.

Tiffany