The Universe

These things I write to myself:
We watched the first hour of the Shepherding a Child's Heart Conference last night.  Tedd Tripp is a great person to listen to.  It was interesting and easy to understand.

Tedd Tripp talks about something that I wish I was more conscience of during the day, and that is using the entire universe as a school room.  Tripp talks about different times he had opportunity to use the universe as a classroom, like when lightening struck a barn while they were driving by.  Using this as a display of the power of God even in nature.  Doing this (using creation as a classroom) will not seem weird or rehearsed when it is a habit or something that is done all the time.  Our lives should be consumed with searching for ways to teach our children about God and God has given us a massive universe to use.  The Bible itself uses creation and things of creation as teaching tools.  "Consider the raven..." (Luke 12:24).  Sheep, wolves, snakes and doves. (Matthew 10:16)  Racing, Olympics (1 Corinthians 9:24).  Strength (Mark 3:27).  Gold and silver (1 Peter 1:18 1 Peter 3:3)  The universe is massive, probably bigger, so there is no end to teaching using things we can see or not see.  Try explaining how you skin is actually skin cells.  Explain why time works.  Show how God tells the waves that they can go this far (point to wet sand and dry sand) and no farther (Job 38:11).  Read the latter part of Job, start at chapter 38.  There is a ton of things God controls that man stands in awe of.  God waters the land where no man lives! (Job 38:25-26)  And my favorite: when does a mountain goat give birth?

Our God is an awesome God.  If we believe that, why do we not explain his majesty to our little children?  Lets not hinder the children from coming to Jesus. (Luke 18:16)

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Just realized Matthew has 2 T's in it.

Talk With The Animals

Another thought about the Garden of Eden, Eve, the serpent and all the animals.  I commented on Abraham Piper's blog Twenty-two Words about the serpent talking to Eve in the garden,  (Read Here) that it was probably common to speak to the animals before the fall and maybe even up to the flood.  This kind of goes along with another post of mine about animals eating meat even before the fall, so I used the same picture.

There are a couple of reasons that I think that the animals talked.  First, as Abraham pointed out, Eve was not completely shocked by the serpent talking to her.  It is written that the serpent was "crafty" in Genesis 3:1, but crafty as defined by several sources, does not mean that he developed the ability to speak whatever language Adam and Eve were speaking, rather he was sly or cunning.  Maybe Genesis just happens to leave out that Eve was shocked by this but decided to talk to a talking serpent, though none have spoken before.

Secondly, God told Noah to bring animals into the ark in Genesis 6 and 7, and Noah did just as he was commanded.  Perhaps God drew the animals into the ark, but He did command Noah to do it.  Genesis 7:8-9 says that the animals "came to the ark" but also says "as God commanded Noah".  Seems strange to do something that you command someone else to do.  Like me telling you to go to the store and bring the checkbook and I get into the car with you and the checkbook is with me.  Why would I bother telling you to bring the checkbook if it was my intention to bring it with me all along?  Then again, God does command people to repent and believe which we can not do without God giving us the ability.  So, I could be wrong.

The passage in Genesis 11:1-2 I had to search different translations, but since I can not read Greek, Hebrew or Aramaic, I can do that.  The Message translation (which I don't normally use) says that "the whole earth spoke the same language".  Perhaps that means animals as well.  Again, it would be easier for the people in that day to achieve many things if they could order an animal in their own tongue.  Then God confused their language (Genesis 11:7).  Perhaps that is when animals began barking and stuff.

Just a thought.

In Other News:
We are celebrating the birth of our first born John V this Saturday.  His birthday is February 9th, 2008.  Born at 3:03 in the morning, weighing 7 pounds at the length of 20-3/4 inches.  He has grown up so much since then.  He is learning to count to five, sing several songs (thanks to our nightly devotions, Sunday School and the radio) and other things daily.  He enjoys sliding down slides, going for walks 'on the road', riding in his wagon and throwing some horseshoes.  

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Battle Hymn of the Republic

In the beginning, God created and the Heavens and the earth and there wasn't anything on the earth.  So, God spoke light into existence.  Then God put water on this earth that was flooded with light.  Then God brought land up out of the water and so created the Garden of the God's near Pike's Peak in Colorado.  Then he added plants and vegetation to the earth and the Garden of the God's.  Then he put the sun to shine on the red rocks during the day and the moon for a completely different look at the Garden at night.  The God created different wild animals to roam through the Garden and to fly around the Garden.  Then God created man to explore this earth and the Garden of the Gods and that's just what we did.

Could you imagine thinking that out of nothing these rocks came about and then due to ice ages and maybe volcano's and millions of years of raindrops formed this Garden of the Gods?  I love the interview (3 parts) that R.C. Sproul did with Ben Stein when his movie was coming out: Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed.  Mr. Ben Stein talked about asking a person who believes evolution made all we see what was before that.  There is no answer.  Where did the bang come from?  Where did the first cell come from?  Could it be that there is intelligent design?  It doesn't make sense apart from someone or some thing has always been and designed the earth to be as it is today.  Where did the law of gravity come from?  It just always was?  Perhaps, but I find it easier to believe that God created, therefore it is.

I've been trying to cut certain words out of my vocabulary.  Happen happens to be one :).  Just kidding, Happen is one of them.  It doesn't make sense for something to just happen to happen.  I rather believe that happen to think that things happen to happen for a reason and if you are a Christian, all things happen to happen for your good.

So, there are some random thoughts for today.

In Other News:

We are starting to teach John boy new songs besides the three he loves to sing after bedtime devotions: Holy Holy Holy, the Doxology and It Is Well.  They are great songs, but after the hundred billionth time, it's time to move on.  Not leave them behind, rather sing them less than every night.  Any favorites?  I tried convincing Bethany that we should sing the Battle Hymn of the Republic, but I'm not sure it's gonna fly.

Photo:  From Kerry's Picassa

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Animals Cursed?

I was thinking just the other day, what happened to all the animals after Genesis 3?  Were there carnivores?  Did the lions eat the lambs?  Did snakes bite bison in the ankles and the bison die?  All of these questions stem from the idea that the Bible really does not let us in the Garden of Eden to see the animals before the fall or how they interacted with each other while in the Garden.

Adam, in Genesis 2:17, was told that if he ate of the tree in the garden, known as the the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, he would certainly die.  So, that leads me to think that Adam must know what death is.  How could Why would God tell Adam that the consequence of his disobedience would result in something that Adam has never heard of or seen before?  I can imagine that as God finished telling Adam that he will absolutely die, a Bald Eagle flew over, swooped down and picked up a little bunny.  Then Adam gulped as he thought that he to would end up like that bunny if he would just disobey his Creator and eat a piece of fruit that he no doubt was looking at while God was speaking to him.

Look at what happened to Noah.  When originally thinking about this, I thought that God told Noah he would bring rain to the earth and flood it and that Noah had never seen rain before, but look at Genesis 6.  First God told Noah that he would destroy the earth.  Noah certainly knew what that meant.  He had heard of the destroyed family of Adam and Eve.  He has seen people destroy other peoples homes and carts and jars.  Then God said that He was going to bring floodwaters on the earth and destroy all life under Heaven.  So, God never told Noah anything that he would not understand, now that I look at it.  Could we say the same about Adam?

Then again, Adam was very new to the things going on in the Garden.  He had never seen anything that he saw before.  However, would God not explain to His child, His creation, what death is?  God knew what was going to happen in the third chapter of Genesis, certainly He would explain death at least once, making sure that Adam knew the consequences and what better way of explaining than the death of an animal?  Did death not exist before the fall at all?

All that leads to the over arching question: did animals suffer because of the fall of man?  We know that the serpent was cursed.  We also know that Genesis says that the serpent would be the most cursed of all animals.  Perhaps that is saying that all animals would be cursed and that the serpent would be the most cursed.  But couldn't it also mean that only the serpent was cursed?  I don't know, but I do know that as of November 3rd, 2009, I think that there were carnivores and vegetarian animals in the garden.