Scientific evidence

 

I met a man who said he wasn’t interested in religious things as he was more of a scientific mind.

Well I put it to you that God is the Supreme Scientific Mind in the Universe; For the purpose of discussion let us keep it simple and look at something as uncomplicated as this Nectarine flower which I photographed on a tree in my daughter’s back yard, and one of the Nectarine fruit. Simple it may be, (compared to things like the Human body), but for all that, there is not a Scientist in the entire world who can replicate any item illustrated here even with all the equipment in their laboratories.

For starters we have to have a Nectarine tree (and where it came from I would like to know, if it wasn’t created by God as Genesis 1 tells us it was). Now that tree only has a life span of a few years (say 20 years) so in that time the first Nectarine tree had to design and manufacture a seed like you see here so it could replace itself, and that is a neat trick for a brainless tree to perform if it wasn’t “programmed” by God to “Produce after its kind”.  Because if it didn’t come up with a perfect seed in that time that would have been the end of the species. Let us look at what really happens to produce a seed like that:  Firstly the tree has to suck out of the dirt the necessary ingredients to make the flower (and this can’t be “hit and miss” either) it must know exactly what it intends to produce, which is simple if God programmed it, but impossible if it isn’t programmed. It has then to form a tiny unfertilised seed, surround it with lovely petals, nectar, and pollen, to attract the bees. This of course begs the question how does a “brainless tree” know there are bees and that it needs to attract them to fertilise the flowers?” After that, when the fertilised seed is completely formed the tree encase that seed in a solid wooden container to protect it (as illustrated), and the “flesh” then sweetens as it ripens, with the skin of the fruit becoming very attractive to people, animals, and birds. Thus they eat the tasty flesh, and then drop the seed on the ground, as the tree “wants” them to do in order that another tree can grow when the conditions are right. So either the “brainless” tree is very clever (which it isn’t) or the designer certainly knew what He was doing! (which is obvious).  Furthermore, this Design Engineer, (who is our incredible God), also made the nectarine skin smooth so there would be no mix up with the hairy skinned peach which looks similar. He also

created thousands of other different lovely tasting fruits and vegetables for us to enjoy, with different shapes   for easy identification, and also “colour coded” them all to make it easy for the Grower, the Supermarket, and the Shopper to select what they want. Just imagine if they were all the same colour and size what a hopeless mess shopping would be! So now if you want a Nectarine you pick up a Nectarine not a Peach or a pear. Simple for us, but imagine the planning that was necessary to arrange for all that to happen. Whilst we are thinking about this incredible Design Engineer God of ours, spend some time, (I suggest the rest of your life) trying to understand how He designed a different finger print and “barcode”, which we call D.N.A, for each of the billions of people in the world and arranged for each one to look different and have a different voice for ease of recognition.  Can you imagine anything more Scientific than all that? And to complete the arrangement He has promised that if we repent and “Believe on Jesus” He will look after us now and in Heaven for eternity! (Psalm 91 and John 3 verse 16).  How good is that?     

Best wishes, Tom.

Training and Encouraging

 

In these two photos we have a climbing rose that has been encouraged to use the support of a man made Arched Trellis on a house in East Dubbo, and a Wisteria that has been encouraged to grow on a Paper Bark tree at a farm near Gilgandra. Both of these climbers could have existed without the support that they have, however although they may have made some sort of a display on the ground they would have also been a harbor for snakes mice, and weeds, and there is the ever present possibility that animals may have eaten them.

It is for sure that when we train up a young vine the way it was mean to grow, when it is old we will have a very beautiful display that will give us constant pleasure. The bible instructs us to do the same thing with our children; the actual words are: “Train up a child in the way he should go and when he is old he will not depart from it” (Proverbs 22:6). If you have a tree in your garden and want it to look as beautiful as this one then you will have to plant the vine and nurture it and encourage its flexible limbs to twine around the tree and in a few years you will be delighted with the result. The tree and the vine become so much a part of each other that we see them as one unit. This is how God wants us and our children to relate to Him.  He wants to be so much a part of all our lives that we share everything with Him. God wants us to start training our little ones in His ways from the day they are born, (as the Old Testament book of Deuteronomy tells us to: in Chapter 6 Verse7) whilst their young minds are pliable and receptive, that way they grow up to depend on God as an integral part of their lives, like the vine in the tree. There will be exceptions to that rule of course, due to outside influences such as poor example at pre-school, the media, and possibly atheistic primary teachers. What they learn in those first 6 formative years though, will determine their basic attitudes for the rest of their lives. This is where Parents, Grandparents and Great Grandparents who love them and are loved by them, share a great responsibility to influence them by their Christian example in all that they say and do. Remember the poem: “I would rather see a sermon than hear one any day, I would rather one would walk with me, than merely show the way. The eye is a better pupil and more willing than the ear; fine council is confusing, but example is always clear. I soon can learn to do it if you will let me see it done, I can watch your hands in action but your tongue too fast may run”. Example is so very important!

In saying all this I am nevertheless aware that some people reading what I have written, may not have had that close relationship with God themselves, and that’s normal enough; but we are not dead yet either, and God is in the business of changing lives. Therefore if you are one of those people and want a closer relationship with him, he will help you achieve that because his Holy Spirit is just waiting for your permission to let him help you.

If you haven’t already done so, try and see yourself as a vine, and God as that tree that will support you; what a relationship! The way to get that support is to ask for it in prayer, read the New Testament and, if possible, fellowship with other Christians at church (Hebrews 10:25), the bible tells us to do that. In John chapter 15, Jesus says that he wants us to “Abide in him and his word to abide in us”. Therefore If we are going to comply with that, then we need to “down load” his word from the New Testament into our minds, and that is just commonsense because we do that in everything else: Nurses study books to know how to nurse, Mechanics study about engines, and Teachers study teaching. There is nothing strange or unreasonable about Jesus request! If we want to succeed in anything we need to understand the subject, and in this case discover the great unfailing love he has for us.            Best wishes, Tom.

Heaven or Hell

 

As I look at this beautiful, cool waterfall and the magnificent, peaceful landscape

surrounding it, I find it hard to believe that somewhere below the ground that we are standing on there is a boiling cauldron of lava as we see escaping from the volcano in the next photo. The contrast between these two photos is somewhat equivalent to the difference between Heaven and Hell as described in the Bible, and yet I met a man recently who very seriously voiced the opinion that he didn’t want to go to Heaven. He seemed to feel that he would be lonely there. Which is completely incorrect. However, he apparently does not understand that the only other alternative is for him to go to Hell as there is no third option available. So, just for the record, let us look at some of what the New Testament says about the two places.

Firstly, Heaven is the most remarkable place, to the extent that we cannot imagine how wonderful because there is nothing on earth that is adequate to compare it with. Those who have been privileged to catch a glimpse of it have been lost for words to describe it. For example, in Revelation, John talks of each gate being a pearl and “streets like transparent gold as it were”, and there being no sun or moon there because the Glory of the Lord is its light. Whilst Paul says in 2 Corinthians 4, how he heard an abundance of revelations there that were unspeakable and not lawful for a man to utter. Whilst Jesus said that He was going to prepare a place for his followers, and there were many mansions there and every reference to heaven is to a place of complete joy and love and perfection.

Secondly, to assume that everyone will go there when they die is completely against what the New Testament says. Certainly everyone can go there, providing that they accept the forgiveness of their sins that Jesus paid for, on their behalf. But it is not automatic: we have to repent and accept that forgiveness because we have all sinned and cannot enter Heaven as we are. It was out of pure love for us that Jesus stood in for us, indeed “It was whilst we were yet sinners that Christ died for the ungodly”. That, of course is the main reason that we should love God and Jesus. You see, to die for everyone means that murderers and all classes of criminals can be forgiven by God because Jesus took on himself all the world’s disgusting sin and paid the penalty awaiting every person. Those who have committed “lesser sins” should be just as grateful because sin is sin and no one with unforgiven sin can enter Heaven.You know if I had never seen the heat inside the earth (displayed by volcanoes and hot springs), I would have been very sceptical of anyone saying it was there.

I don’t know where Hell is but it is vividly described as an awful place with lakes of fire. Jesus told a story about a man who went there and from where he was he could see a person he knew up in Heaven so he cried out asking if that man could bring him a drop of water to “cool his tongue for he was tormented in this flame” (Luke chapter16 verse 24). However, his request was denied because there is a great gap between the two places. It appears to me that Heaven and Hell are another dimension that we cannot see whilst we are in our human bodies. but are as real as the radio messages floating through your room and the lava underneath us. Invisible but there nevertheless.

The man who said that he didn’t want to go to Heaven apparently had no concept of its delights, or the horrors of Hell, because they are the only two alternatives for us when we leave these bodies, and which ever we choose will be our dwelling place for ever. Can you conceive how long “forever” in Hell would be?

The fact that Jesus left the wonders of Heaven and took on a human body so he could be cruelly crucified to pay the price of our sin, in order that you and I could avoid Hell, should give us a fair indication of how dreadful Jesus knew that place to be, and also how he must love us. If we refuse to accept the forgiveness he purchased for us in this way, we are not only condemning ourselves to eternal punishment, but doing so is also the equivalent of spitting in the eye of the one who loves us more than anyone in the world could love us, or ever will.

More “Gluten Free” food for thought, I’m not trying to fatten you with all this “food for thought”. I just want to be sure you join Audrey and me, when your time comes.    I know Audrey will have the equivalent of a lovely Morning or Afternoon tea for you when you arrive. She always made the most wonderful Scones and Slices.                     Best wishes, Tom.

Butterflies, Ice Cream and Drought

 

Tommy wasn’t a bad boy by any means but like the rest of us wasn’t perfect either. He had one bad habit and that was to leave his room in an untidy mess. He was a thoughtful kid though, and had commenced a butterfly collection, but just could not understand how a butterfly like this “Ulysses” could possibly have designed its own

wings so beautifully, which was what he had been taught at school. Particularly, seeing he had also been taught in Sunday School and Scripture that the wonderful mind of God designed and created them all. Somehow that seemed to be the most logical thing to believe, because the more he looked at the photos of the many colours and designs and considered how tiny their brains must be, he felt that the Bible account just had to be the right one. Sounds logical, doesn’t it? However, it was a Saturday morning and all this thinking had made him feel like some Ice-cream, (not that we have to think a lot to want Ice Cream), and he knew his mother had a 4 litre pot of his favourite in the freezer so went to the kitchen where his mum was preparing a roast for lunch and said: “Mum, can I have a plate of Ice-cream?” “Certainly” his Mother replied, “that is why I bought it, but first I want you to tidy up your room and put your toys away.” So the lad went back to his room and came back 20 minutes later and asked again for the Ice-Cream. “OK” said his mum, “but I will just check your room first”. I am sorry to say though that she found his room still in a mess, and even a little worse, as he had been building a “Lego” castle all that time. Needless to say, Tommy didn’t get his Ice-Cream: there was nothing wrong with what he was doing, of course, but he had ignored the conditions that his mother had made.

Now, a question for you, dear reader: Did his Mother do the right thing? Frankly I think she was right. He did get Ice-cream for sweets at lunch time, just like the rest of the family, so he didn’t miss out completely, but he did miss out on getting it when he wanted it and at a time when he felt he needed it. His mother’s aim of course was not to save Ice-Cream, but to teach him obedience. I recently wrote that droughts are also the result of disobedience. This is a very “deep” Spiritual subject and I can’t do it justice in 2 pages so am apt to be misunderstood. Someone challenged me the other day, by saying that “England doesn’t have droughts, don’t those people sin?” I would like to point out that in Deuteronomy, God speaking through Moses, was addressing His comments to The Children of Israel. Their climate was different to that of England and He was just assuring them that if they obeyed His Commands He would see to it that they prospered in all sorts of ways including climate, so that they would also have good crops and good pasture. The New Testament shows us that “Gentiles” (non-Jews, like us) are eligible for the same benefits because Jesus died for the forgiveness of everyone who repents and believes in Him. By adoption then, we are included as part of God’s large family and if we comply with His directions, the promises in Deuteronomy will assure us that we will also be blessed in all sorts of ways including climate. However, as a Nation we have forfeited our rights by disregarding and disobeying just about everything He has told us to do, so He cannot possibly bless us as a Nation. Unfortunately, every person in our land is affected by the drought directly or indirectly as it costs billions of dollars.

Well then where does this place you, if you are a Christian endeavouring to do God’s will?  The answer is “Pray in faith, believing, nothing doubting”, and God “shall supply all your needs”. “Only my needs”? Yes, if He does more than that everyone will “jump on the band-wagon.” For example, I knew of a case in a very poor country where people lived in slums and the missionaries built comfortable little houses for a couple of families who had become Christians. When the others saw that, they all came to church, not wanting to hear the Gospel of course, but to get the material benefit of a house. Jesus found this too. After He fed the Five thousand people He said that the crowd was following Him then, not to hear the Gospel but for material benefits. Similarly, if God does more than supply your “need” everybody will be chasing Christianity, not because they recognise themselves as sinners needing a Saviour, but because of the material benefits you received. That’s human nature, and really, do you require more than having your “needs” supplied?  You might want more but is it necessary?

Remember that God loved us enough to have sent Jesus to die to “delete” our sins. So if we haven’t already done so we can repent and accept His forgiveness, it is absolutely free, and then we can request his special assistance, even in times like drought. Bible References: Deuteronomy Chapter 11 Verse 14. Philippians Chapter 4 Verse 19. Matthew 21:22. John Chapter 6 Verse 26. John Chapter 3 Verse 16.                                  Some (Gluten free) food for thought. Tom.

Lucky?

 

Audrey and I planted a fruit tree orchard of over 100 trees when we first started our life on our own farm, and after a few years of nurturing it we had stacks of beautiful fruit of all types. Many people who visited us, when the fruit was ripe, would say “aren’t you lucky to have such beautiful fruit?”

I went to the Dubbo Show this week and was pleased to see that one of my Great Granddaughters won a first prize for her Lolly necklace and her younger brother won third, there were many entries but not all can win unfortunately. However, her older brother also constructed an interesting Lego work as you see below the necklace. The same person who thought that Audrey and I were “lucky” to have nice fruit on our farm, might think that these children were “lucky” to have won prizes at the Show, but none of it was luck. It was either hard work, tenacity, ability and determination, or a combination of the lot; these types of outcomes are not achieved
by “luck,” and precious little is achieved that way. The Pavilion was graced by a lot of very skilled and gifted people who created very lovely work, and we give them credit for it, as we know that where there is a beautiful design there is a creative mind behind it.  There are a lot of people who have artistic minds and arrange flowers beautifully, but it is the flowers themselves that we admire most as they are all different, incredibly designed and coloured, so are a silent witness to the fact that there is a remarkable mind that did create them. What a shame that children, in the public school system, and we ourselves who watch Television are constantly bombarded by atheistic belief that nothing was designed by an intelligent God, but everything was the result of an accidental evolutionary process. They apply this to us too, of course: our incredible “computer” brains are supposed to have designed themselves. Our remarkable eyes are like cameras that automatically adjust to light and distance and store what they see in the memory bank of our brains. The tongue has tastebuds and produces saliva that makes eating more enjoyable, and the stomach converts the food we eat into energy and cell building. As for the Cardiovascular system it is incredibly intricate, supplying blood that is “laced” with all the necessary ingredients to strengthen every part of our body to keep us going. Yet they refuse to acknowledge that an intelligent mind created all this.

  

How to Beat a Drought

 

A lady talking to me at the Mall recently said: “Isn’t this drought dreadful? I have prayed and prayed to God but He seems to ignore my prayers.” Well that is a shame because the farmers can’t plant their crops and the stock have very little to eat, and with winter at our door the outlook is devastating and not just for farmers, we all suffer in some way.

What’s the problem? Is God deaf? Or doesn’t He care? Now if we could sit in on a hypothetical “Boardroom meeting” where God  is talking to His angels, we might see the other side of this discussion as we hear God reiterating His previous direction made to Moses on this very subject where He said, among other things, that “If you carefully obey all the commandments I am giving you today, and if you love the Lord your God and serve Him with all your heart and soul, then He will send the rains in their proper season-the early and the late rains- so you can bring in your harvests of grain, new wine and olive oil. He will give you lush pasture land for your livestock, and you yourselves will have all you want to eat. But be careful, don’t let your heart be deceived so that you turn away from the lord…. If you do, the Lord’s anger will burn against you. He will shut up the sky and hold back the rain, and the ground will fail to produce its harvests” Deuteronomy: (Chapter 11 and verse 14)

Now God made that statement through Moses in the Old Testament several thousand years ago and successive generations have ignored it to the extent that we now look on droughts as normal events which they were not meant to be (according to the above). God in His goodness doesn’t let us die out though, or drown in another worldwide flood, (as He did in Noah’s day), but keeps us aware that things could be

good by giving us good years amongst the bad ones, in the hope that we will wake up and follow the directions he gave. So there it is, as plain as the nose on your face: God is not deaf, it is just that we as a nation either can’t read, or aren’t interested in what God wants. Consequently, we should not complain, but if we as a nation want to prosper we need to comply with our God’s directions by not living lives and passing laws that are contrary to what He tells us to do.

As Individuals though, we should pray in faith believing, and God will supply all our individual needs, as He has promised in Philippians 4:19. But even here we need to be sure that our behaviours and the things we have become accustomed to are acceptable to God, because they may not be, and that would make it hard for God to bless us. My Dad used to quote a statement which said: “First you abhor, then you pity, then you endure, and then embrace.” I believe this is true, so we can easily find ourselves embracing and approving things that are questionable.  And of course the Media people, and others, try to control our thinking and exploit our emotions like love, hate, fear, greed and lust.  There is a good example of this where the “Soapies” (like “Home and Away”) that were just “low quality entertainment”, some years ago, have gradually become degrading, and are now unfit for God’s people’s entertainment.

“Goodness Tom, that is a strong statement” someone might say, “how did you arrive at that conclusion?” Well Christian thinking, as set out in the New Testament, (Philippians 4:8) says that we should think on whatsoever “things that are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report, if there be any virtue and if there be any praise, think on these things.” So if what we are watching on T.V. a DVD or the Internet, or even a book, does not measure up to that standard, set out by God as a guide for us, then it needs to go. I know that sounds very “narrow minded”, but Jesus did say in Matthew 7: 13 & 14, that “narrow is the way that leads to life and few there be that find it, and broad is the way that leads to destruction and many go that way.”  Back in the Old Testament in 2 Chronicles Chapter 7 and Verse 14 God says “If my people, who are called by my name would humble themselves and pray, and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from Heaven, forgive their sin and heal their land.” So there is a lot to consider here.

For starters we need to ask God’s forgiveness for our past sins and disobedience and then endeavour to earnestly comply with Jesus instruction that we “love God and love our neighbour as we love ourselves”. Of course it is hard to comply with God’s other wishes if we don’t know what they are, so we really need to do some bible study to find out, don’t we? And as individuals get our behaviour right, because that is important for our personal salvation. But our nation needs a lot of prayer if it is to get its act together, don’t you think?   Best wishes, Tom

Dogs and Tuckerboxes

 

There is an old song that I used to sing 70 years ago which goes like this: “My Mabel

waits for me, underneath the bright blue sky, where the dog sits on the Tucker Box five miles from Gundagai.” Well, Mabel must have become impatient and “shot through,” because last week I went down to Gundagai and Mabel was nowhere to be seen, however a replica of the dog was there. It is strange really as the dog was extremely unpopular with his owner for doing what he was doing at the time. You see, his owner was a bullock-wagon driver named Bill and in the 1850s he was trying to cross a creek, five miles from Gundagai with a wagon like the one pictured, only his one was heavily laden with supplies and became hopelessly bogged to the extent that the yoke joining the wagon to the bullock team snapped under the weight. Being worn out, tired and depressed, Bill decided to have his lunch before he endeavoured to fix the problem but found the dog sitting on the lunch-box. For some reason, (not documented), this didn’t cheer Bill up at all, and his fellow bullockies wrote a poem about it, immortalising the dog.

I find it very interesting that we often preserve old buildings and old equipment like this old wagon, and even a dog, but think very little about the pioneers who were involved with them. I am very pleased to say though, that the servicemen and women who fought and died to keep our country free and also helped others to maintain their freedom as well, are not forgotten on A.N.Z.A.C. day and other services yearly, because it is people who are the important part of our civilisation, not machines and infrastructure, (not that those things don’t have their place) but comparatively speaking their value is very limited).

I have great respect for the pioneers like Bill, who opened up this country of ours by clearing tracks across the mountains, making roads and building slab huts to house supplies for travellers at the various “staging posts” along these tracks. They had no comforts supplied, but just the very basic needs, and had to suffer the most difficult situations with no doctors or dentists or the modern cons that we all take for granted.   I “roughed it” in a cabin at Gundagai the other day with a comfortable bed, electric blanket, television, refrigeration, air conditioning, electric stove and microwave, not to mention the mobile phone. I can’t imagine what Bill would have said if he had suddenly appeared. Which begs the question: Where is Bill? Well I can tell you this much, there are only two possibilities: He is either living it up in one of the “mansions” Jesus went to prepare for us, and is enjoying more luxury than I had at Gundagai the other night, or else he is in “outer darkness in Hell” which was the only other option that Jesus said was available. The next question is “did Bill realise that there were those two options?” Well it would be someone’s dreadful neglect if he didn’t know, because Jesus said that His followers were to go into all the world and preach the good news, of His saving grace, to everyone. And “everyone” means exactly that: there isn’t a person in the entire world (irrespective of their education or up bringing) who isn’t eligible to claim Jesus saving Grace, for “Jesus came not into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved” and “world” there means “people” like you and me and Bill, who make up the world. (John chapter 3 and verse 17).

 I enjoy talking about old times, so I hope that I will catch up with Bill in Heaven one day and be able to “compare notes” with him. Don’t be embarrassed to join us, if you want to, when you get there. That is assuming you also make the right choice and get there yourself. If not, don’t look for me in the other place because I won’t be there as I have already claimed the Passport to heaven, that Jesus made available for each one of us. Personally, I reckon that a free gift like that is too good an offer to pass up.

Besides, I don’t like excessive heat.

Best wishes, Tom.