Merry Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the house
The only creatures that were stirring were my keyboard and mouse.

The child was all snug in her bed as visions of Rudolph danced in her head.
Ma with her icepack, and I with my webcam, had just finished eating our Christmas ham.

When on instant messenger, there arose such a clatter, I sprang from my ergonomic chair to see what was the matter.
I turned on the monitor and cranked up the sound, away to my sign-in I jumped like a hound, when what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a host of heavenly emoticons saying, 'Don't fear.'

They spoke with such power and blinked with such force, I knew in a moment they came from the Lord.
More rapid than pop-up ads I clicked, following the links to the one God had picked.

He was dressed in swaddling clothes, laying in a manger, But he was a King, not just a stranger.
Giving a nod was Mary his mother, Joseph was there too among others.

Then the connection was lost, the portal was closed,
But I heard the angels before it faded from sight, 'Peace on Earth, Good Will to men on this first Christmas night!'

Surgeon needed

I think, err, I know I could write a boatload of entries on hospitals.

Spending some time in one — as a visitor, not a patient — you see so many ways in which a hospital is a metaphor for the church and spiritual life.

The first thing I notice is the wide variety of people who arrive for surgery. Some have a noticeable limp or some other physical defect that belies their need for help. Still others, you can't tell who is the patient and who is just along for support.

Not so different is the condition of people's hearts. Some have noticeable anger, sadness or other giveaways. And so many more just go along appearing perfectly normal while there is something — sin, guilt, etc. — eating away at the inside.

But they all need to be saved and they already have a Savior (surgeon): For unto you is born this day in the City of David, a Savior, which is Christ the Lord.

What faith can do

As I think I've pointed out a time or ten already, sometimes a song expresses what we are feeling better than any attempt at words, spoken or written.

And while I'll leave out the why, the words of the song, "What Faith Can Do" by Kutless seem to work the best this weekend in our house. Just an excerpt:

Anyone can feel the ache
You think it's more than you can take
But you're stronger
Stronger than you know

Don't you give up now
The sun will soon be shining
You gotta face the clouds
To find the silver lining

I've seen dreams that move the mountains
Hope that doesn't ever end
Even when the sky is falling
I've seen miracles just happen
Silent prayers get answered
Broken hearts become brand new
That's what faith can do

So, if you would, take a moment to say a prayer when you read this and let's see what faith can do.

Jimmy V

It was Jimmy V Week on ESPN and in honor of the occasion, I'm posting Jim Valvano's famous 1993 speech. The lessons imparted are timeless, and are perhaps even more relevant when it comes to faith. Enjoy:

Calculating God: Part III

Well, I come to the final installment of this little trilogy where I have described the struggle for belief, then understanding. And the final conclusion of Robert J. Sawyer's Calculating God is not unlike that of many people, who settle for acknowledging God's existence but not his presence. From Chapter 34:

"God was the programmer.
The laws of physics and the fundamental constants were the source code.
The universe was the application, running now for 13.9 billion years, leading up to this moment."

There it is. God is an ancient Charles Babbage (considered father of the computer), who did some programming, pressed a few buttons and away creation went.

It's a nice thought, and perhaps not entirely incorrect. But if that is all God is, then the Bible we read and quote is a mere storybook. The Bible is resplendent with tales of God's intervention in people's lives. It's a tapestry of interaction between God and his creation.

It cannot be real if God is merely the programmer. Maybe just an outdated instruction manual or even just there for the Bible Code or DaVinci Code or something.

And if God is the programmer, Jesus is merely anti-virus software, meant to clean us up a bit so the source code can keep working. A Saviour? No, not possible. Because a Saviour would require direct intervention on God's behalf.

So to bring it all back home from this alien place in which I started, is Christmas real or is it just part of the program? Read again from Luke 2:10-11:

"But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord."

Calculating God: Part II

Now in our first post, we noted the character from Calculating God struggling to acknowledge God despite the evidence.

Next, he begins to admit that there could be a God but questions the nature of that God as you will see in this excerpt from Chapter 13.

“How do you explain the existence of cancer? What kind of god would create such a disease?”
“He/she/it may not have created it,” said the deep, translated voice. “… Nor are there an infinite number of possibilities from which God may choose. The specific deployment of reality that included cancer, presumably undesirable, must have also contained something much desired.”
“So he had to take the good with the bad?” I said.

And once again, for the second time in as many posts, I agree with an alien, sort of.

Let me explain. It's not that God desired for things like cancer to exist. In fact, his original creation was perfect and included no such thing. But the possibility for that existed in the balance of his perfect goodness with the possibility of evil.

And after creation, his allowance of free will made the potential for the bad to enter his good - no, make that perfect - creation.

So did God create things like cancer? No. Were they a possibility? Yes.

And what is that something "much desired" that made the risk worth taking? You and me.

God was willing to take the risk of evil, the risk of Lucifer's rebellion, the risk of the snake's seduction of Eve for the chance to commune with his creation. And while the fall banished us from the garden and his perfect presence -- temporarily -- he still desires our communion ... enough to send his own son to suffer evil for our redemption.

Part III coming soon.

Calculating God: Part I

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a science fiction fan, much to my wife's dismay. We'll save that discussion for another day, though.

I just finished a book called Calculating God, by Robert J. Sawyer. Short version: An alien arrives at a museum in Toronto, begins working with a paleontologist. The aliens believe in God. The human does not. Thus begins a conversation that does not merely center on creationism vs. evolution (and that's yet another topic for another day), but really becomes about multiple races searching for something greater than themselves.


Now, quick disclaimer. Don't expect this book to support a Biblical perspective. It does stereotype fundamentalist Christians as abortion clinic bombers. But the conversations that take place are well worth the read, and there are a few passages I want to touch on over the next few entries.

I'll start with a passage from chapter nine:

"There is no indisputable proof for the big bang," said Hollus. "And there is none for evolution. And yet you accept those. Why hold the question of whether there is a creator to a higher standard?"
I didn't have a good answer for that. "All I know," I said, "is that it will take overwhelming evidence to convince me."
"I believe you have already been given overwhelming evidence," said Hollus.

And I agree with a fictitious alien. We have been given overwhelming evidence of a creator, just as Jesus says in Luke 19:40, "I tell you that, if these should hold their peace, the stones would immediately cry out."

All the earth testifies to the presence of God. And once the hurdle of God's presence is cleared, the next challenge is often to understand what kind of God it is that exists. And that is where we will pick up in the next excerpt.