Tag Noah

Science Discovers Biblical Oceans Buried Deep Under Earth’s Surface

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

Genesis 7:11-12 (NIV)
11  In the six hundredth year of Noah‘s life, on the seventeenth day of the second month–on that day all the springs of the great deep burst forth, and the floodgates of the heavens were opened.12  And rain fell on the earth forty days and forty nights. 

The public’s view that science and religion can’t work in collaboration is a misconception that stunts progress, according to a new survey of more than 10,000 Americans, scientists and evangelical Protestants. The study by Rice University also found that scientists and the public are surprisingly similar in their religious practices. The study found that nearly 50% of evangelicals believe that science and religion can work together and support one another. That contrasts with the fact that only 38% of Americans feel that science and religions can work in collaboration. This is not surprising because of the way science-religion relationships are portrayed in the news media. Most of what is seen in the news are stories about these two groups being at odds with each other. The news media likes to emphasize the controversial issues like teaching creationism in schools. Actual findings from the Rice study shows:

 

  • Nearly 60 percent of evangelical Protestants and 38 percent of all surveyed believe “scientists should be open to considering miracles in their theories or explanations.”
  •  27 percent of Americans feel that science and religion are in conflict.
  • Of those who feel science and religion are in conflict, 52 percent sided with religion.
  • 48 percent of evangelicals believe that science and religion can work in collaboration.
  • 22 percent of scientists think most religious people are hostile to science.
  • Nearly 20 percent of the general population think religious people are hostile to science.
  • Nearly 22 percent of the general population think scientists are hostile to religion.
  • Nearly 36 percent of scientists have no doubt about God’s existence.

So it really comes as no surprise when a story about science matches up pretty well with religious teachings found in the bible. That is the case with the latest scientific discovery of vast oceans of water found beneath the earths surface.

Geophysicists say they have discovered an immense water reservoir deep below the Earth’s surface—a find which Christian scientists say could be an affirmation of a verse in the biblical Great Flood account.

On Thursday, researchers with Northwestern University and the University of New Mexico announced the discovery of a vast underground ocean several miles beneath the Earth’s surface. Though the scientists cannot immediately verify their claims, they remain confident about their conclusions.

Water is part of Earth’s very definition as a planet. Clouds of water fill its atmosphere, oceans cover most of its surface, and groundwater is found everywhere underground. For the last century, geologists have traced the influence of water deeper and deeper into Earth’s interior. During the last year, whole oceans worth of water have been found in the mantle, hundreds of kilometers below the crust. And a paper in today’s issue of Science traces water’s influence all the way down to an important boundary inside the Earth, the top of the lower mantle.

“Northwestern geophysicist Steve Jacobsen and University of New Mexico seismologist Brandon Schmandt have found deep pockets of magma located about 400 miles beneath North America, a likely signature of the presence of water at these depths,” explains a press release from Northwestern University.

If the scientists’ calculations are correct, the amount of water beneath the Earth’s surface could dwarf the amount of water in our planet’s surface oceans.

“If just one percent of the weight of mantle rock in the transition zone is H2O, that would be equal to nearly three times the amount of water in our oceans,” the press release states.

The results of the study will help scientists understand Earth’s water cycle, and how plate tectonics moves water between the surface of the planet and interior reservoirs, researchers say.

The Earth’s mantle is the hot, rocky layer between the planet’s core and crust. Scientists have long suspected that the mantle’s so-called transition zone, which sits between the upper and lower mantle layers 255 to 410 miles (410 to 660 kilometers) below Earth’s surface, could contain water trapped in rare minerals. However, direct evidence for this water has lacked, until now.

To see if the transition zone really is a deep reservoir for water, researchers conducted experiments on water-rich ringwoodite, analyzed seismic waves traveling through the mantle beneath the United States, and studied numerical models. They discovered that downward-flowing mantle material is melting as it crosses the boundary between the transition zone and the lower mantle layer.

“If we are seeing this melting, then there has to be this water in the transition zone,” said Brandon Schmandt, a seismologist at the University of New Mexico and co-author of the new study published today (June 12) in the journal Science. “The transition zone can hold a lot of water, and could potentially have the same amount of H2O [water] as all the world’s oceans.” (Melting is a way of getting rid of water, which is unstable under conditions in Earth’s lower mantle, the researchers said.)

A complete explanation of the testing process and what laboratory experiments have produced can be found here

According to Genesis 7:11, “the fountains of the great deep” were broken during the Great Flood, leading some Christians to believe that the underground ocean discovery sheds light on the biblical account. Brian Thomas, science writer for the Institute for Creation Research, told Christian News Network that the findings could potentially be related to the scriptural reference.

“It is of course possible that water found below Earth’s crust could be what remains from the waters ‘of the great deep’ that burst as fountains to Earth’s surface to initiate Noah’s year-long Flood according to Genesis 7:11,” Thomas said. “I would not refer to this news as a ‘significant verification’ of the Genesis Flood since some may suggest other explanations for the water, but it is consistent with Scripture’s general reference to waters deep beneath the earth.”

However, Thomas added, the very existence of water on Earth presents a problem for secular scientists.

“Secularists faced a tough enough challenge in trying to explain how Earth’s ocean waters came from rock,” he noted. “They imagine hydrated minerals from space rocks collided to form Earth. But the heat from those collisions would have pushed out the water. Now they have to explain this newly discovered deep water, too.”

The biblical account, Thomas continued, is much more consistent with the scientific evidence, since the Bible says God initially created the world as a watery sphere.

“Unlike secular thinkers,” he stated, “biblical scientists do not arbitrarily discount miracles, being open to the possibility that God built Earth with water like He said.”

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The Real Story of Noah Dispels the Myth of Environmentalism

Allen Frederick 4 Comments

Romans 8:20-21 (NIV)
20 For the creation was subjected to frustration, not by its own choice, but by the will of the one who subjected it, in hope
21 that the creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the glorious freedom of the children of God.

Genesis 3:17 (HCSB)
17 And He said to Adam, “Because you listened to your wife’s voice and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘Do not eat from it’: The ground is cursed because of you.

 

How do we save the planet?

By saving humankind from the curse of sin and death.  Not by environmentalism.

The entire creation was cursed by Adam’s sin and as such it can not be saved until the remnants of Adam’s sin is erased from the earth.  Jesus’s birth, death and resurrection set in place the foundation for this eventual redemption of the world, but it is not complete until everything has been made subject to Jesus Christ. This will happen when he returns to set up his kingdom. The continued laboring and sweating to produce a ‘good crop’ will continue until the earth is cleansed of all unrighteousness.

It is true that man is the reason the environment in which we live is a mess. It is sinful man who has subjected the earth to God’s curse, but it is not through environmentalism that this curse will be reversed but through the redemption of humanity. No amount of environmental efforts is able to reverse God’s curse, only by receiving God’s blessing can the curse be reversed, and that only comes through salvation in Christ.

You see had Adam and Eve not introduced sin into the world at the beginning, but lived their life in obedience to God, the earth would be the paradise that environmentalists are always dreaming of. But since the environmental movement does not take into account God’s saving grace through Jesus Christ, their remedies are worse than the cause. They believe that if you end humanity from the earth then all will be well.

That has been tried before and yet the problems still persist.

Genesis 6:5-7 (GW)
5 The LORD saw how evil humans had become on the earth. All day long their deepest thoughts were nothing but evil.
6 The LORD was sorry that he had made humans on the earth, and he was heartbroken.
7 So he said, “I will wipe off the face of the earth these humans that I created. I will wipe out not only humans, but also domestic animals, crawling animals, and birds. I’m sorry that I made them.”

God who created the whole of creation looked down upon the earth and saw nothing but corruption. He saw how evil humankind had become. He saw how mortals were constantly plotting evil intentions in their hearts. And God planned to cleanse the earth of the entire human population, to end the lives of all that He created. After all He was the creator and he could do what he wanted with that creation.

I am afraid that many today see God as this evil tyrant who is only looking for a reason to wipe us all out. And if we are not careful to fully understand the true story of Noah then we too could come away with the same picture of God. To be fair if God really wanted to end humankind all he had to do was prevent Adam and Eve from procreation and it all would have ended before it began, but that was not his overall plan, which we will see as we continue to look at the true story of Noah.

In the latest movie adaption of the Noah story there are several huge problems. For one, its characterization of Noah is very troubling. In this movie, Noah is willing to murder three men to try to save the life of an animal that had been severely wounded. To this Hollywood Noah, animal life was far more important than human life. He didn’t really try to save the life of a young woman whom Ham tried to save. Moreover, if Noah’s daughter-in-law gave birth to a girl, Noah said, “From the moment of her birth I will cut her down.” Throughout the second half of the film, Noah is obsessed with making sure all of humanity is wiped out so that the “innocents” (read: animals) can live peacefully in a new post-flood Eden. This I am afraid is the position of many environmentalists who see HUMANS as a plight on the earth and animals as innocent victims of civilization. However when God created the earth he said that there was no one to tend to it and thus he created man to tend to the earth and take charge of it. The earth was created for man and man was not created for planet earth.

Genesis 2:4-8 (GW)
4 This is the account of heaven and earth when they were created, at the time when the LORD God made earth and heaven.
5 Wild bushes and plants were not on the earth yet because the LORD God hadn’t sent rain on the earth. Also, there was no one to farm the land.
6 Instead, underground water would come up from the earth and water the entire surface of the ground.
7 Then the LORD God formed the man from the dust of the earth and blew the breath of life into his nostrils. The man became a living being.
8 The LORD God planted a garden in Eden, in the east. That’s where he put the man whom he had formed.

Genesis 2:15 (GW)
15 Then the LORD God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to farm the land and to take care of it.

As previously stated the entire creation has become subject to a curse because of Adam’s sin but at the same time humans are also under that same curse. Therefore to be exact the entire creation has become corrupted by the first sin of Adam. Therefore none is innocent. However that is not exactly how God saw things.

Genesis 6:9 states that Noah “was a just man, perfect in his generation. Noah walked with God.” He was faithful to do everything God had commanded him to do (Genesis 6:22). God said to Noah, “Come into the ark, you and all your household, because I have seen that you are righteous before Me in this generation” (Genesis 7:1). In the book of Ezekiel, Noah is identified as a righteous man and is placed in the same context as Job and Daniel (Ezekiel 14:14, 20). Peter called Noah a “preacher of righteousness” (2 Peter 2:5). Noah also appears in the “Faith Hall of Fame” chapter—Hebrews 11:7 states, “By faith Noah, being divinely warned of things not yet seen, moved with godly fear, prepared an ark for the saving of his household, by which he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness which is according to faith.”

You see despite all the evil that was taking place upon the earth there was goodness represented by Noah. God called him righteous in his generation. Would God call you righteous in our generation? Could it be said of you that you were faithful to do everything God had commanded you to do?

I thought it was important to note that scripture records the birth of Noah and states that his name meant relief.

Genesis 5:28-29 (GW)
28 When Lamech was 182 years old, he became the father of a son.
29 He named him Noah [Relief], and said, “This child will bring us relief from the work and painful labor of our hands since the LORD has cursed the ground.”

 

The people of that time knew that the earth was cursed and believed  that relief would come one day. When Noah was born he was  given the name which in Hebrew meant relief with hope that Noah would bring relief to all this toilsome labor. In a way relief did come through Noah but not exactly like we might think.

Genesis 7:1-4 (GW)
1 The LORD said to Noah, “Go into the ship with your whole family because I have seen that you alone are righteous among the people of today.
2 Take with you seven pairs of every kind of clean animal (a male and a female of each) and one pair of every kind of unclean animal (a male and a female).
3 Also, take seven pairs of every kind of bird (a male and a female of each) to preserve animal life all over the earth after the flood.
4 In seven days I will send rain to the earth for 40 days and 40 nights. I will wipe off the face of the earth every living creature that I have made.”

 

God set out to wipe the earth clean of every living thing, animals included, with the exception of those Noah took with him on the ark. The ark was the only place of safety to be found, and had God not told Noah to build it there would have been no hope for anyone or anything. You see God was not without mercy. He was not going to completely annihilate all that he created, he had a plan of escape from his wrath, the only thing Noah had to do was listen and obey, which is exactly what he did.

You notice the animals came to Noah for safety and he took them in. There is no mention of other people coming to Noah to be saved.

Genesis 7:6-10 (GW)
6 Noah was 600 years old when the flood came to the earth.
7 Noah, his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives went into the ship to escape the floodwaters.
8 Clean and unclean animals, birds, and creatures that crawl on the ground
9 came to Noah to go into the ship in pairs (a male and female of each) as God had commanded Noah.

10 Seven days later the flood came on the earth.

Genesis 7:15-16 (GW)
15 A pair of every living, breathing animal came to Noah to go into the ship.
16 A male and a female of every animal went in as God had commanded Noah. Then the LORD closed the door behind them.

God shut the door and did not allow anyone or anything else on board. The time had come. Judgment day had arrived.

Noah spent a great deal of time building this huge boat, in front of his countrymen, in plain sight, and yet only Noah and his family actually got on the boat. It had not rained prior to this and where Noah was building his boat there was no body of water so it made no sense to build this huge boat in the middle of dry land. The people of Noah’s day were oblivious to what was going on around them because they have come to believe that they were in control of their own destinies and did not have the fear of the Lord within their hearts. They had no knowledge of God’s righteousness or wrath. They had grown cold toward the things of God, that is all but Noah who God said was the only one righteous in his entire generation. Scripture gives us a deeper understanding of what happened in those days when we read:

Matthew 24:36-39 (GW)
36 “No one knows when that day or hour will come. Even the angels in heaven and the Son don’t know. Only the Father knows.
37 “When the Son of Man comes again, it will be exactly like the days of Noah.
38 In the days before the flood, people were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship.
39 They were not aware of what was happening until the flood came and swept all of them away. That is how it will be when the Son of Man comes again.

You see there is coming another judgment day from God and as in times past many will be unaware of their own impending doom. Oh there will not be a world-wide flood but there is a coming judgment. Will you be ready? Will you be found righteous and worthy to escape God’s wrath? Have you boarded the ark of salvation prepared for you by God through Jesus Christ?

1 Peter 3:18-22 (GW)
18 This is true because Christ suffered for our sins once. He was an innocent person, but he suffered for guilty people so that he could bring you to God. His body was put to death, but he was brought to life through his spirit.
19 In it he also went to proclaim his victory to the spirits kept in prison.
20 They are like those who disobeyed long ago in the days of Noah when God waited patiently while Noah built the ship. In this ship a few people—eight in all—were saved by water.
21 Baptism, which is like that water, now saves you. Baptism doesn’t save by removing dirt from the body. Rather, baptism is a request to God for a clear conscience. It saves you through Jesus Christ, who came back from death to life.
22 Christ has gone to heaven where he has the highest place that God gives. Angels, rulers, and powers have been placed under his authority.

But just as in Noah’s day there will be many who will not believe and even scoff at the very notion that there is a righteous God ready to mete out justice for all who live ungodly lives. In fact they will not only scoff at but actually promote godlessness through their actions and teach others to do the same. They will actually rejoice in their ungodliness as if to show that there is no God and they can do what they please. Basically history repeating itself.

2 Peter 2:1-10 (GW)
1 False prophets were among God’s people {in the past}, as false teachers will be among you. They will secretly bring in their own destructive teachings. They will deny the Lord, who has bought them, and they will bring themselves swift destruction.
2 Many people will follow them in their sexual freedom and will cause others to dishonor the way of truth.
3 In their greed they will use good-sounding arguments to exploit you. The verdict against them from long ago is still in force, and their destruction is not asleep.
4 God didn’t spare angels who sinned. He threw them into hell, where he has secured them with chains of darkness and is holding them for judgment.
5  God didn’t spare the ancient world either. He brought the flood on the world of ungodly people, but he protected Noah and seven other people. Noah was his messenger who told people about the kind of life that has God’s approval.
6 God condemned the cities of Sodom and Gomorrah and destroyed them by burning them to ashes. He made those cities an example to ungodly people of what is going to happen to them.
7 Yet, God rescued Lot, a man who had his approval. Lot was distressed by the lifestyle of people who had no principles and lived in sexual freedom.
8 Although he was a man who had God’s approval, he lived among the people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Each day was like torture to him as he saw and heard the immoral things that people did.
9 Since the Lord did all this, he knows how to rescue godly people when they are tested. He also knows how to hold immoral people for punishment on the day of judgment.
10 This is especially true of those who follow their corrupt nature along the path of impure desires and who despise the Lord’s authority. These false teachers are bold and arrogant. They aren’t afraid to insult the {Lord’s} glory.

2 Peter 2:13-19 (GW)
13 …These false teachers are stains and blemishes. They take pleasure in holding wild parties in broad daylight. They especially enjoy deceiving you while they eat with you.
14 They’re always looking for an adulterous woman. They can’t stop looking for sin as they seduce people who aren’t sure of what they believe. Their minds are focused on their greed. They are cursed.
15 These false teachers have left the straight path and wandered off to follow the path of Balaam, son of Beor. Balaam loved what his wrongdoing earned him.
16 But he was convicted for his evil. A donkey, which normally can’t talk, spoke with a human voice and wouldn’t allow the prophet to continue his insanity.
17 These false teachers are dried-up springs. They are a mist blown around by a storm. Gloomy darkness has been kept for them.
18  They arrogantly use nonsense to seduce people by appealing to their sexual desires, especially to sexual freedom. They seduce people who have just escaped from those who live in error.
19  They promise these people freedom, but they themselves are slaves to corruption. A person is a slave to whatever he gives in to.

2 Peter 3:3-7 (GW)
3 First, you must understand this: In the last days people who follow their own desires will appear. These disrespectful people will ridicule {God’s promise}
4 by saying, “What’s happened to his promise to return? Ever since our ancestors died, everything continues as it did from the beginning of the world.”
5  They are deliberately ignoring one fact: Because of God’s word, heaven and earth existed a long time ago. The earth {appeared} out of water and was kept alive by water.
6 Water also flooded and destroyed that world.
7 By God’s word, the present heaven and earth are designated to be burned. They are being kept until the day ungodly people will be judged and destroyed.

2 Peter 3:10-13 (GW)
10 The day of the Lord will come like a thief. On that day heaven will pass away with a roaring sound. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and be destroyed. The earth and everything that people have done on it will be exposed.
11 All these things will be destroyed in this way. So think of the kind of holy and godly lives you must live
12 as you look forward to the day of God and eagerly wait for it to come. When that day comes, heaven will be on fire and will be destroyed. Everything that makes up the universe will burn and melt.
13 But we look forward to what God has promised—a new heaven and a new earth—a place where everything that has God’s approval lives.

 

You see the real story of Noah is not just about a flood and a big boat, but about righteousness and judgment. There is a God who created all this and who has a stake in how it all turns out. This same God formed the world by his say so and is the same God who flooded the earth at his command. This same God could have completely wiped out the entire course of humanity but instead chose to safe a few souls, that is 8 in all along with every living creature that lived upon the earth. He showed mercy in the midst of great destruction. He showed compassion while witnessing constant evil taking place on the earth he created, by people created in his reputation.

God takes no delight in the punishment of the wicked, he would rather they all would come to him for salvation. He would prefer if everyone gets on board the ark of safety to avoid the coming judgment. But being God he knows not all will come to him to be saved, in fact many more will reject his offer and continue to live according to what their earthly desires dictate.

The story of Noah should be a somber warning to all those who think God does not care about what happens here on earth. To those who think he is an absentee landowner need to think again because there is coming another flood of judgment and only those who are safely on board the ark will be saved. Are you on board? Or are you like many others poking fun at the Noah’s of today who are building arks of safety for their families while all around them are people busy doing their own thing totally unaware of an all-seeing God keeping watch over his creation? It is not too late to get on board, but one day it will be too late for the door will be closed. How long do you think you can tread water?

 

Image.gifThis is a view from the nest. What say you?

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

Image.jpg

 

This has been A View from the Nest. The statements, comments, or opinions expressed are solely that of the author and do not represent the views or opinions of the host of this site or any affiliates thereof. Any questions or comments should be directed to myself and not to the host or hosts of this site.

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Same Ol’ Same Ol’

Allen Frederick 1 Comment

That which has been, is that which is to be, and that which has been done, is that which will be done, and there is no new thing under the sun. Ecclesiastes 1:9 (BBE) 

The 1960’s ushered in the sexual revolution. They called it the new morality, but it wasn’t new; it was very old. The Greeks and Romans embraced it thousands of years ago, and soon afterwards they were history. It was introduced thousands of years before that in the days of Noah. At that time, God got so disgusted with the filth that He gave the earth a good bath.

And the Lord saw that the sin of man was great on the earth, and that all the thoughts of his heart were evil. And the Lord had sorrow because he had made man on the earth, and grief was in his heart. And the Lord said, I will take away man, whom I have made, from the face of the earth, even man and beast and that which goes on the earth and every bird of the air; for I have sorrow for having made them. But Noah had grace in the eyes of God. Genesis 6:5-8 (BBE) 

With each passing generation, the affairs of the heart continually plot evil and rebellion against God. We are creatures of habit and undoubtedly we will follow in the footsteps of others who have gone before us. It would do us well to study that past and learn lessons from it, but it seems, as history continues to repeat itself, we are slow to learn. Somehow we think that this time it will be different, we can continue do the things that brought ruin to other civilizations and somehow we will escape the same end results.

Do not be deceived and deluded and misled; God will not allow Himself to be sneered at (scorned, disdained, or mocked by mere pretensions or professions, or by His precepts being set aside.) [He inevitably deludes himself who attempts to delude God.] For whatever a man sows, that and that only is what he will reap. For he who sows to his own flesh (lower nature, sensuality) will from the flesh reap decay and ruin and destruction, but he who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life. Galatians 6:7-8 (AMP) 

How is the sexual revolution progressing in the 21st century?

Today ‘the enlightened’ have started a new revolution. They have started to mainstream that which God deems abominable, and perverse. What was considered unclean, and unholy, modern man is attempting to make acceptable. In order to ease our collective conscience toward the untoward, we are being told that it is simply an alternate lifestyle and not a deviation from the norm.

We are being told as a society that we should not judge but learn to be accepting of those who do not hold our viewpoints on sexual matters. After all they say it is between them and none of our business. I would agree if these same folks were not forcing me to acknowledge their personal choices and then asking me to suspend my personal beliefs to embrace theirs. I can not nor will I suspend my personal beliefs for that would be denying my belief in God and His laws. Asking me to become lawless to relieve someone else of the guilt they feel because of their own lawlessness is ridiculous, and yet here we are being told to do just that by the so-called ‘enlightened’ among us.

There is only one problem with this thought process, there is still a God who judges all of us according to his laws and standards.

We know that Moses‘ Teachings are good if they are used as they were intended to be used. For example, a person must realize that laws are not intended for people who have God’s approval. Laws are intended for lawbreakers and rebels, for ungodly people and sinners, for those who think nothing is holy or sacred, for those who kill their fathers, their mothers, or other people. Laws are intended for people involved in sexual sins, for homosexuals, for kidnappers, for liars, for those who lie when they take an oath, and for whatever else is against accurate teachings. 1 Timothy 1:8-10 (GW) 

Although many think that there is no God and that we can do as we please, history bears out that bad actions lead to bad results, bad lives, and the destruction of the civil society, in the end eternal death.

As a result the latter part of the 20th century ushered in an epidemic of sexually transmitted diseases–some of them like AIDS are deadly. The sexual fears began to multiply. To save the revolution, the idea of safe sex was introduced, but it wasn’t safe–it was just as deadly. So much for utopian dreams!

Instead of trying to relive the errors of past generations, why not attempt to learn from the mistake of others and learn to live rightly? Or is that asking too much of the’ enlightened’?

So as we start  a New Year let us not continue in the same ol’ bad habits from yesteryear, instead learn from mistakes of the past and do not repeat them in the new year. A new year, a new beginning, a new outlook on life, a new lesson to be learned from the past. Happy New Year!

And that is just another view from the nest

But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)

Along for the journey

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Zeros and Ones

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

blessed2c

010001000110111100100000011101000110100001100101001000000111011101101111011100

100110101100100000011011110110011000100000011000010110111000100000011001010

11101100110000101101110011001110110010101101100011010010111001101110100*

see end of article for translation of this binary string

Snowflakes!

“Tell me the weight of a snowflake,” a coalmouse asked a wild dove.

“Nothing more than nothing,” the dove answered.

“In that case I must tell you a marvelous story,” the coalmouse said. “I sat on a fir branch close to the trunk when it began to snow. Not heavily, not in a raging blizzard. No, just like in a dream, without any violence at all. Since I didn’t have anything better to do, I counted the snowflakes settling on the twigs and needles of my branch. Their number was exactly 3,471,952. When the next snowflake dropped onto the branch–nothing more than nothing — as you say — the branch broke off.”

Having said that, the coalmouse ran away.

The dove, since Noah’s time an authority on peace, thought about the story for a while. Finally, she said to herself, “Perhaps there is only one person’s voice lacking for peace to come to the world.”

image Binary code is the language of computers. A series of instructions that tells the CPU how to handle the data stream. If you were to simply look at a binary code string you would see nothing more than zeros and ones. Unless of course you understood the basic language of a computer. 01000001 does not mean anything to the average person but in the hands of a computer programmer those ones and zeros spell out the capital letter ‘A’. To think a digital picture is simply a series of zeros and ones, on or off, yes or no, true or false. These are the basic instructions utilized by a programmer to get the desired output.

As Christians, we are part of a master plan much like those zeros and ones are a part of the binary code of a computer program. When lined up in the right sequence wonderful things can happen. What happens when one of those lines of computer code becomes corrupted? The whole program comes to a crashing halt. If a zero is supposed to be a one then instead of the predicted results you will get unpredictable outcomes.

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Just like one snowflake alone does not seem to make much difference when joined with other snowflakes, their combined weight of ‘nothing more than nothing’ can cause a pine branch to break. Zeros alone will not cause a computer to operate, but when you add just a single one you begin the journey toward a positive output.

As for you, always be steady, endure suffering, do the work of an evangelist (be the one), fulfill your ministry. 2 Timothy 4:5

Timothy admonishes us to endure hardships, to put up with opposition, to withstand the storms and fulfill the ministry set before us. Each of us, who have been redeemed from the curse of sin and death, have been placed in the body of Christ to do our part. We have gone from a zero to a one. It might appear that by yourself you seem so small and unable to accomplish much, but together with the rest of the body of Christ you are able to accomplish greater things than you could have imagined. Evangelism is simply each “one” making another “one”. Each on fire Christian ignites another. Simply turn an off to an on, a zero to a one.

How could one person chase a thousand or two people make ten thousand flee? Their rock used these people to defeat them and the Lord gave them no help. Deut 32:30 (GW)

Where else besides binary code can 4 = 100 or 27 = 11011? In scripture we find similar arithmetic where God was able to route thousands of the enemy by a few men of God because he fought with them. In His math 2 = 10000. So you do not have to be many, just be a one in the right place and God can do great things through you. Now if we all line up in our rightful positions in the body of Christ and be ‘THE ONE’ we will see great things of God accomplished for and through us.

I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. I could wish you were cold or hot. Revelation 3:15

God does not want you to be a ZERO but to be number one. To be number one you simply have to be “turned on”. God desires for us to be hot not cold. He wants us to be “on fire” for Him and the work He has set out before us. Be the “one” placed where God can use you and watch how much happens when we hold our ground as “one” in the binary code of life. Or do nothing and be a zero, a place holder, turned off, and tuned out. The choice is yours, choose to be a “one”.

* translation to above binary code string is: do the work of an evangelist.

The Ire of Ike- The Wrath of God

Allen Frederick Leave a comment

The Ire of Ike- The Wrath of God
Insight for your “Journey across the Sky”
A View from the Nest www.eagleviews.org

when panic strikes you like a violent storm, when calamity strikes you like a wind storm, when trouble and anguish come to you. 28 “They will call to me at that time, but I will not answer. They will look for me, but they will not find me, 29 because they hated knowledge and did not choose the fear of the Lord. Proverbs 1:27-29 (GW)

It has been more than two weeks since the remnants of hurricane Ike came roaring through Western Pennsylvania. Ike’s ire left many homes without electricity, some for more than a week as high winds whipped through the area. By the time Ike reached Western Pennsylvania most of it’s fury had dissipated.

Although Western Pennsylvania did not withstand the full force of Ike’s ire, the damage caused by the weakened storm was still substantial. I want to add that by comparison to Texas and those who suffered under the full force of Ike our encounter with Ike was mild. Notwithstanding he still threw quite a punch.
Hurricane IkeImage by Coast Guard News via Flickr

Image by Coast Guard News via Flickr

As Hurricane Ike pushed a swelling surge onto Galveston Island, many Galveston residents who ignored a mandatory evacuation order, phoned for rescues to no avail because emergency workers were called off the streets, officials said. Help wasn’t expected until after dangerous storm conditions subsided. “We don’t know what we’re going to find tomorrow,” said the city’s mayor, Lyda Ann Thomas. “We hope we’ll find that the people who didn’t leave here are alive and well.”

“We asked them to write their Social Security numbers on their arms for us,” Police Chief Randy Smith said solemnly.
Earlier that morning, he had a face to face with David Fields and another man who were unwilling to leave.

“Let’s grab on and go,” Smith told Fields, a carpenter who has lived here six years. “Come back when it is over, that is the thing to do.”

Fields declined. “This is my home.”

About two hours later, Fields and his wife, Dondi and their dog, Sandy Beach, were ferried to safety in a daring effort involving a Coast Guard boat and a flat-bed military style truck.

Using a black marker and perhaps fearing the worst, Dondi had followed police instructions and written her Social Security number on one arm and a message, “I Love You,” to her seven grown children in the event she didn’t make it out alive.

Human nature being what it is, it is not hard to understand why some people would chose to ignore a mandatory evacuation order from the Mayor of Galveston. Even when homeland security secretary Michael Chernoff said that Ike appeared to be a real devastating storm many still refused to take heed. Shortly after the storm hit upon the barrier island many who had previously refused to leave where calling for help. After a period of time help was no longer available.

The Example of Noah

Then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And the Lord was sorry that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. 7 So the Lord said, “I will destroy man whom I have created from the face of the earth, both man and beast, creeping thing and birds of the air, for I am sorry that I have made them.” 8 But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. Genesis 6:5-8 (NKJV)

And God said to Noah, “The end of all flesh has come before Me, for the earth is filled with violence through them; and behold, I will destroy them with the earth. 14 “Make yourself an ark of gopherwood; make rooms in the ark, and cover it inside and outside with pitch. Genesis 6:13-14 (NKJV)

And Noah did according to all that the Lord commanded him. 6 Noah was six hundred years old when the floodwaters were on the earth. 7 So Noah, with his sons, his wife, and his sons’ wives, went into the ark because of the waters of the flood. Genesis 7:5-7 (NKJV)

On the very same day Noah and Noah’s sons, Shem, Ham, and Japheth, and Noah’s wife and the three wives of his sons with them, entered the ark– 14 they and every beast after its kind, all cattle after their kind, every creeping thing that creeps on the earth after its kind, and every bird after its kind, every bird of every sort. 15 And they went into the ark to Noah, two by two, of all flesh in which is the breath of life. 16 So those that entered, male and female of all flesh, went in as God had commanded him; and the Lord shut him in. Genesis 7:13-16 (NKJV)

Apparently human nature, being what it is, men are slow to repent and heed warnings, even when their very lives are at stake. As it was during hurricane Ike, so it was during the time of Noah and his family.

When the rains started to come after Noah finished building the ark, God shut Noah and his family in and would not allow anyone else to get on board. They were given plenty of time to repent of their wickedness but they too refused to leave behind their way of life. Therefore when the flood finally came upon them they were all swept out to sea and drowned, except Noah and his family who rode out the storm from the safety of the ark.

The Example of Lot

Now the two angels came to Sodom in the evening, and Lot was sitting in the gate of Sodom. When Lot saw them, he rose to meet them, and he bowed himself with his face toward the ground. 2 And he said, “Here now, my lords, please turn in to your servant’s house and spend the night, and wash your feet; then you may rise early and go on your way.” And they said, “No, but we will spend the night in the open square.” 3 But he insisted strongly; so they turned in to him and entered his house. Then he made them a feast, and baked unleavened bread, and they ate. 4 Now before they lay down, the men of the city, the men of Sodom, both old and young, all the people from every quarter, surrounded the house. 5 And they called to Lot and said to him, “Where are the men who came to you tonight? Bring them out to us that we may know them carnally.” Genesis 19:1-5 (NKJV)

So Lot went out to them through the doorway, shut the door behind him, 7 and said, “Please, my brethren, do not do so wickedly! 8 See now, I have two daughters who have not known a man; please, let me bring them out to you, and you may do to them as you wish; only do nothing to these men, since this is the reason they have come under the shadow of my roof.” 9 And they said, “Stand back!” Then they said, “This one came in to stay here, and he keeps acting as a judge; now we will deal worse with you than with them.” So they pressed hard against the man Lot, and came near to break down the door. 10 But the men reached out their hands and pulled Lot into the house with them, and shut the door. 11 And they struck the men who were at the doorway of the house with blindness, both small and great, so that they became weary trying to find the door. Genesis 19:6-11 (NKJV)

Then the men said to Lot, “Have you anyone else here? Son-in-law, your sons, your daughters, and whomever you have in the city–take them out of this place! 13 For we will destroy this place, because the outcry against them has grown great before the face of the Lord, and the Lord has sent us to destroy it.” 14 So Lot went out and spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters, and said, “Get up, get out of this place; for the Lord will destroy this city!” But to his sons-in-law he seemed to be joking. 15 When the morning dawned, the angels urged Lot to hurry, saying, “Arise, take your wife and your two daughters who are here, lest you be consumed in the punishment of the city.” 16 And while he lingered, the men took hold of his hand, his wife’s hand, and the hands of his two daughters, the Lord being merciful to him, and they brought him out and set him outside the city. 17 So it came to pass, when they had brought them outside, that he said, “Escape for your life! Do not look behind you nor stay anywhere in the plain. Escape to the mountains, lest you be destroyed.” Genesis 19:12-17 (NKJV)

Two angels were dispatched to the city of Sodom to warn Lot and his family of the coming disaster that would soon befall them because of the wickedness of the people. In fact when these “strangers” arrived in town certain men of the city wanted to have their way with them sexually. Things had gotten so bad that Lot offered his two virgin daughters to them instead but they refused his offer because of their carnality. In fact they turned to punish Lot for his “judging” attitude towards them. When Lot told his sons-in-law about the coming disaster they thought he had lost his mind. Even Lot had to be helped out the door, being led by hand by the angels, when the time came for judgment to fall on the city. Again it would appear that even when faced with certain death our human nature wants to put up a fight. After all, we reason God is a loving God and surely He would not destroy the earth.

Like the people in Noah’s day, the Sodomites soon found out that judgment surely follows after sin.

I am not in any way implying that the recent hurricane activity along the Gulf coast is punishment from God or judgment of wicked living in anyway, but what I am saying is, human nature being like it is, we easily dismiss dire warnings oft times to our own peril.

The bible warns of a soon coming worldwide calamity that will take many lives as well. How tragic for humankind. When faced with certain death and destruction many will refuse to heed the warning.

“When the Son of Man comes again, the situation will be like the time of Noah. 27 People were eating, drinking, and getting married until the day that Noah went into the ship. Then the flood destroyed all of them. 28 “The situation will also be like the time of Lot. People were eating, drinking, buying and selling, planting and building. 29 But on the day that Lot left Sodom, fire and sulfur rained from the sky and destroyed all of them. 30 The day when the Son of Man is revealed will be like that. Luke 17:26-30 (GW)

Then I saw another angel flying directly overhead, with an eternal gospel to proclaim to those who dwell on earth, to every nation and tribe and language and people. 7 And he said with a loud voice, “Fear God and give him glory, because the hour of his judgment has come, and worship him who made heaven and earth, the sea and the springs of water.” 8 Another angel, a second, followed, saying, “Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great, she who made all nations drink the wine of the passion of her sexual immorality.” 9 And another angel, a third, followed them, saying with a loud voice, “If anyone worships the beast and its image and receives a mark on his forehead or on his hand, 10 he also will drink the wine of God’s wrath, poured full strength into the cup of his anger, and he will be tormented with fire and sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and in the presence of the Lamb. 11 And the smoke of their torment goes up forever and ever, and they have no rest, day or night, these worshipers of the beast and its image, and whoever receives the mark of its name.” 12 Here is a call for the endurance of the saints, those who keep the commandments of God and their faith in Jesus. Rev 14:6-12 (ESV)

The Ire of Ike is nothing when compared to the wrath of God. Revelation reveals a time in the not so distant future when judgment shall befall the inhabitants of the land. Notice in verses 9-11 there is an indelible mark on the arms or foreheads of those who are destined to receive punishment. Like the rescue workers told those who refused to leave Galveston Island to mark their arms with their Social Security numbers so they could be identified after they were found dead. Those who are marked with the mark of the beast will be easy to identify when the wrath of God is poured out onto the earth.

Let anyone who has ear, let him hear what the spirit is saying to the church. It is time to take notice and pay attention. Noah was found righteous in the eyes of the Lord and he was spared the disaster of his day. Lot had Uncle Abraham praying for him and as a result the Lord, because of His love for Abraham, sent angels to rescue Lot. God sent Jesus into the world to proclaim the soon coming kingdom of God and anyone who receives his Spirit will be sealed (marked) when the time for God’s wrath is poured out.

Jesus will be our ark of safety if we call upon him. Jesus, like Abraham is constantly praying  for all those who are to be saved. Because we have found favor in the eyes of the Lord because of Jesus, we too can be spared the coming storm of God’s wrath.

In that day the angels will be dispatched to the earth to rescue the righteous and to punish the wicked. Will you be ready and willing to go? Or will you be like those who refused to leave Ike’s path of destruction, even when warned ahead of time of the dangers? When that time comes it will be too late to call out for help because the door to the ark of safety will have already been shut by God himself.
But those who are waiting for the Lord will have new strength; they will get wings like eagles: running, they will not be tired, and walking, they will have no weariness. Isaiah 40:31 (BBE)
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