April 23, 2014

From Gary... The nuts and bolts of Christianity

This past month has been one of change. Recently, I have been using "wine" for running MS Windows programs on my Ubuntu (which is a Linux operating system) computer and this week I installed a number of programs, one of them being Chessmaster (The Grandmaster Edition). I didn't count them, but there must be at least 50 different chess sets and one of them looks very similar to the above picture. And what is chess anyway, but WAR. And WAR is...

2 Corinthians, Chapter 10 (NASB)

2Co 10:1 Now I, Paul, myself urge you by the meekness and gentleness of Christ--I who am meek when face to face with you, but bold toward you when absent!
2Co 10:2 I ask that when I am present I need not be bold with the confidence with which I propose to be courageous against some, who regard us as if we walked according to the flesh.
2Co 10:3 For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh,
2Co 10:4 for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses.
2Co 10:5 We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ,
2Co 10:6 and we are ready to punish all disobedience, whenever your obedience is complete.
2Co 10:7 You are looking at things as they are outwardly. If anyone is confident in himself that he is Christ's, let him consider this again within himself, that just as he is Christ's, so also are we.
2Co 10:8 For even if I boast somewhat further about our authority, which the Lord gave for building you up and not for destroying you, I will not be put to shame,
2Co 10:9 for I do not wish to seem as if I would terrify you by my letters.
2Co 10:10 For they say, "His letters are weighty and strong, but his personal presence is unimpressive and his speech contemptible."
2Co 10:11 Let such a person consider this, that what we are in word by letters when absent, such persons we are also in deed when present.
2Co 10:12 For we are not bold to class or compare ourselves with some of those who commend themselves; but when they measure themselves by themselves and compare themselves with themselves, they are without understanding.
2Co 10:13 But we will not boast beyond our measure, but within the measure of the sphere which God apportioned to us as a measure, to reach even as far as you.
2Co 10:14 For we are not overextending ourselves, as if we did not reach to you, for we were the first to come even as far as you in the gospel of Christ;
2Co 10:15 not boasting beyond our measure, that is, in other men's labors, but with the hope that as your faith grows, we will be, within our sphere, enlarged even more by you,
2Co 10:16 so as to preach the gospel even to the regions beyond you, and not to boast in what has been accomplished in the sphere of another.
2Co 10:17 But HE WHO BOASTS IS TO BOAST IN THE LORD.
2Co 10:18 For it is not he who commends himself that is approved, but he whom the Lord commends.

I remember a sermon I heard in chapel from 1978. I don't recall the speaker, but the message was this: we are in a war that has two fronts; the saved and the unsaved. Our mission: Be fishers of men and keeping the saved saved. The key here is the word WAR. Although we may not use physical weapons, still confrontation does exist. We use thought and persuasion and most of all THE BIBLE to do God's will.

Remember this...

Matthew, Chapter 28 (NASB)

Mat 28:18 And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.
Mat 28:19 "Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit,
Mat 28:20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age."

And it won't be an easy thing to do because people are still people and they don't like change. I especially like the photo because it reminds me how difficult our warfare can be. LOOK AT THE BOARD- it is not a pretty ornament; it has been used and by the looks of it- A LOT!!! The truth is that being a Christian isn't easy, but it is our task. I have a graphic in my library that is entitled: What is the best vitamin for a Christian?? - B1. Enough said!!!

From Gary... Bible Reading April 23

Bible Reading

April 23

The World English Bible

Apr. 23

Deuteronomy 1, 2 (WEB)

Deu 1:1 These are the words which Moses spoke to all Israel beyond the Jordan in the wilderness, in the Arabah over against Suph, between Paran, and Tophel, and Laban, and Hazeroth, and Dizahab.

Deu 1:2 It is eleven days' journey from Horeb by the way of Mount Seir to Kadesh Barnea.

Deu 1:3 It happened in the fortieth year, in the eleventh month, on the first day of the month, that Moses spoke to the children of Israel, according to all that Yahweh had given him in commandment to them;

Deu 1:4 after he had struck Sihon the king of the Amorites, who lived in Heshbon, and Og the king of Bashan, who lived in Ashtaroth, at Edrei.

Deu 1:5 Beyond the Jordan, in the land of Moab, began Moses to declare this law, saying,

Deu 1:6 Yahweh our God spoke to us in Horeb, saying, You have lived long enough in this mountain:

Deu 1:7 turn, and take your journey, and go to the hill country of the Amorites, and to all the places near there, in the Arabah, in the hill country, and in the lowland, and in the South, and by the seashore, the land of the Canaanites, and Lebanon, as far as the great river, the river Euphrates.

Deu 1:8 Behold, I have set the land before you: go in and possess the land which Yahweh swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give to them and to their seed after them.

Deu 1:9 I spoke to you at that time, saying, I am not able to bear you myself alone:

Deu 1:10 Yahweh your God has multiplied you, and behold, you are this day as the stars of the sky for multitude.

Deu 1:11 Yahweh, the God of your fathers, make you a thousand times as many as you are, and bless you, as he has promised you!

Deu 1:12 How can I myself alone bear your encumbrance, and your burden, and your strife?

Deu 1:13 Take wise men of understanding and well known according to your tribes, and I will make them heads over you.

Deu 1:14 You answered me, and said, The thing which you have spoken is good for us to do.

Deu 1:15 So I took the heads of your tribes, wise men, and known, and made them heads over you, captains of thousands, and captains of hundreds, and captains of fifties, and captains of tens, and officers, according to your tribes.

Deu 1:16 I commanded your judges at that time, saying, Hear the causes between your brothers, and judge righteously between a man and his brother, and the foreigner who is living with him.

Deu 1:17 You shall not show partiality in judgment; you shall hear the small and the great alike; you shall not be afraid of the face of man; for the judgment is God's: and the cause that is too hard for you, you shall bring to me, and I will hear it.

Deu 1:18 I commanded you at that time all the things which you should do.

Deu 1:19 We traveled from Horeb, and went through all that great and terrible wilderness which you saw, by the way to the hill country of the Amorites, as Yahweh our God commanded us; and we came to Kadesh Barnea.

Deu 1:20 I said to you, You are come to the hill country of the Amorites, which Yahweh our God gives to us.

Deu 1:21 Behold, Yahweh your God has set the land before you: go up, take possession, as Yahweh, the God of your fathers, has spoken to you; don't be afraid, neither be dismayed.

Deu 1:22 You came near to me everyone of you, and said, Let us send men before us, that they may search the land for us, and bring us word again of the way by which we must go up, and the cities to which we shall come.

Deu 1:23 The thing pleased me well; and I took twelve men of you, one man for every tribe:

Deu 1:24 and they turned and went up into the hill country, and came to the valley of Eshcol, and spied it out.

Deu 1:25 They took of the fruit of the land in their hands, and brought it down to us, and brought us word again, and said, It is a good land which Yahweh our God gives to us.

Deu 1:26 Yet you wouldn't go up, but rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh your God:

Deu 1:27 and you murmured in your tents, and said, Because Yahweh hated us, he has brought us forth out of the land of Egypt, to deliver us into the hand of the Amorites, to destroy us.

Deu 1:28 Where are we going up? our brothers have made our heart to melt, saying, The people are greater and taller than we; the cities are great and fortified up to the sky; and moreover we have seen the sons of the Anakim there.

Deu 1:29 Then I said to you, Don't dread, neither be afraid of them.

Deu 1:30 Yahweh your God who goes before you, he will fight for you, according to all that he did for you in Egypt before your eyes,

Deu 1:31 and in the wilderness, where you have seen how that Yahweh your God bore you, as a man does bear his son, in all the way that you went, until you came to this place.

Deu 1:32 Yet in this thing you didn't believe Yahweh your God,

Deu 1:33 who went before you in the way, to seek you out a place to pitch your tents in, in fire by night, to show you by what way you should go, and in the cloud by day.

Deu 1:34 Yahweh heard the voice of your words, and was angry, and swore, saying,

Deu 1:35 Surely there shall not one of these men of this evil generation see the good land, which I swore to give to your fathers,

Deu 1:36 save Caleb the son of Jephunneh: he shall see it; and to him will I give the land that he has trodden on, and to his children, because he has wholly followed Yahweh.

Deu 1:37 Also Yahweh was angry with me for your sakes, saying, You also shall not go in there:

Deu 1:38 Joshua the son of Nun, who stands before you, he shall go in there: encourage you him; for he shall cause Israel to inherit it.

Deu 1:39 Moreover your little ones, whom you said should be a prey, and your children, who this day have no knowledge of good or evil, they shall go in there, and to them will I give it, and they shall possess it.

Deu 1:40 But as for you, turn, and take your journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea.

Deu 1:41 Then you answered and said to me, We have sinned against Yahweh, we will go up and fight, according to all that Yahweh our God commanded us. You girded on every man his weapons of war, and were forward to go up into the hill country.

Deu 1:42 Yahweh said to me, Tell them, Don't go up, neither fight; for I am not among you; lest you be struck before your enemies.

Deu 1:43 So I spoke to you, and you didn't listen; but you rebelled against the commandment of Yahweh, and were presumptuous, and went up into the hill country.

Deu 1:44 The Amorites, who lived in that hill country, came out against you, and chased you, as bees do, and beat you down in Seir, even to Hormah.

Deu 1:45 You returned and wept before Yahweh; but Yahweh didn't listen to your voice, nor gave ear to you.

Deu 1:46 So you abode in Kadesh many days, according to the days that you abode there.

Deu 2:1 Then we turned, and took our journey into the wilderness by the way to the Red Sea, as Yahweh spoke to me; and we encircled Mount Seir many days.

Deu 2:2 Yahweh spoke to me, saying,

Deu 2:3 You have encircled this mountain long enough. Turn northward.

Deu 2:4 Command the people, saying, You are to pass through the border of your brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir; and they will be afraid of you: take good heed to yourselves therefore;

Deu 2:5 don't contend with them; for I will not give you of their land, no, not so much as for the sole of the foot to tread on; because I have given Mount Seir to Esau for a possession.

Deu 2:6 You shall purchase food of them for money, that you may eat; and you shall also buy water of them for money, that you may drink.

Deu 2:7 For Yahweh your God has blessed you in all the work of your hand; he has known your walking through this great wilderness: these forty years Yahweh your God has been with you; you have lacked nothing.

Deu 2:8 So we passed by from our brothers the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, from the way of the Arabah from Elath and from Ezion Geber. We turned and passed by the way of the wilderness of Moab.

Deu 2:9 Yahweh said to me, Don't bother Moab, neither contend with them in battle; for I will not give you of his land for a possession; because I have given Ar to the children of Lot for a possession.

Deu 2:10 (The Emim lived therein before, a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim:

Deu 2:11 these also are accounted Rephaim, as the Anakim; but the Moabites call them Emim.

Deu 2:12 The Horites also lived in Seir before, but the children of Esau succeeded them; and they destroyed them from before them, and lived in their place; as Israel did to the land of his possession, which Yahweh gave to them.)

Deu 2:13 Now rise up, and cross over the brook Zered. We went over the brook Zered.

Deu 2:14 The days in which we came from Kadesh Barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, were thirty-eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were consumed from the midst of the camp, as Yahweh swore to them.

Deu 2:15 Moreover the hand of Yahweh was against them, to destroy them from the midst of the camp, until they were consumed.

Deu 2:16 So it happened, when all the men of war were consumed and dead from among the people,

Deu 2:17 that Yahweh spoke to me, saying,

Deu 2:18 You are this day to pass over Ar, the border of Moab:

Deu 2:19 and when you come near over against the children of Ammon, don't bother them, nor contend with them; for I will not give you of the land of the children of Ammon for a possession; because I have given it to the children of Lot for a possession.

Deu 2:20 (That also is accounted a land of Rephaim: Rephaim lived therein before; but the Ammonites call them Zamzummim,

Deu 2:21 a people great, and many, and tall, as the Anakim; but Yahweh destroyed them before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place;

Deu 2:22 as he did for the children of Esau, who dwell in Seir, when he destroyed the Horites from before them; and they succeeded them, and lived in their place even to this day:

Deu 2:23 and the Avvim, who lived in villages as far as Gaza, the Caphtorim, who came forth out of Caphtor, destroyed them, and lived in their place.)

Deu 2:24 Rise up, take your journey, and pass over the valley of the Arnon: behold, I have given into your hand Sihon the Amorite, king of Heshbon, and his land; begin to possess it, and contend with him in battle.

Deu 2:25 This day will I begin to put the dread of you and the fear of you on the peoples who are under the whole sky, who shall hear the report of you, and shall tremble, and be in anguish because of you.

Deu 2:26 I sent messengers out of the wilderness of Kedemoth to Sihon king of Heshbon with words of peace, saying,

Deu 2:27 Let me pass through your land: I will go along by the highway, I will turn neither to the right hand nor to the left.

Deu 2:28 You shall sell me food for money, that I may eat; and give me water for money, that I may drink: only let me pass through on my feet,

Deu 2:29 as the children of Esau who dwell in Seir, and the Moabites who dwell in Ar, did to me; until I shall pass over the Jordan into the land which Yahweh our God gives us.

Deu 2:30 But Sihon king of Heshbon would not let us pass by him; for Yahweh your God hardened his spirit, and made his heart obstinate, that he might deliver him into your hand, as at this day.

Deu 2:31 Yahweh said to me, Behold, I have begun to deliver up Sihon and his land before you: begin to possess, that you may inherit his land.

Deu 2:32 Then Sihon came out against us, he and all his people, to battle at Jahaz.

Deu 2:33 Yahweh our God delivered him up before us; and we struck him, and his sons, and all his people.

Deu 2:34 We took all his cities at that time, and utterly destroyed every inhabited city, with the women and the little ones; we left none remaining:

Deu 2:35 only the livestock we took for a prey to ourselves, with the spoil of the cities which we had taken.

Deu 2:36 From Aroer, which is on the edge of the valley of the Arnon, and from the city that is in the valley, even to Gilead, there was not a city too high for us; Yahweh our God delivered up all before us:

Deu 2:37 only to the land of the children of Ammon you didn't come near; all the side of the river Jabbok, and the cities of the hill country, and wherever Yahweh our God forbade us.

From Mark Copeland... The Restored Kingdom (Acts 1:6-7)

"THE BOOK OF ACTS"

The Restored Kingdom (1:6-7)

INTRODUCTION

1. Before Jesus ascended to heaven, His disciples asked a question...
a. "Lord, will you at this time restore the kingdom to Israel?" - Ac 1:6
b. To which they were told it was not for them to know the times or
seasons - Ac 1:7

2. Many commentaries suggest the disciples were mistaken regarding the
kingdom...
a. That they were still looking for an earthly, political kingdom
b. That they still failed to appreciate the spiritual nature of the
kingdom

[Yet Jesus did not correct them about the nature of the kingdom, only
their concern about the timing. In fact, there are reasons to believe
they were not mistaken about the nature of the kingdom...]

I. THE DISCIPLES' EDUCATION

A. DURING JESUS' MINSTRY...
1. They were given privileged instruction about the kingdom
a. They were given to know the mystery of the kingdom - Mk 4:10-11
b. The parables about the kingdom were privately explained to
them - Mk 4:30-34
2. They heard Jesus speak openly about the nature of the kingdom
a. When Jesus spoke to the Pharisees about the coming of the
kingdom - Lk 17:20
b. How it would not come with observation, but would be
"within you" - Lk 17:21
3. Jesus also told Pilate about the nature of the kingdom
a. That His kingdom was not of this world - Jn 18:36
b. That He was indeed a King - Jn 18:37

B. AFTER JESUS' RESURRECTION...
1. Jesus spoke of things concerning the kingdom of God for 40
days - Ac 1:3
2. He explained the Scriptures to the two disciples on the road
to Emmaus - Lk 24:25-27,32
3. He opened the apostles' understanding to comprehend the
Scriptures - Lk 24:44-45

[It seems unlikely that with such opportunities to learn from the Master
Teacher, the disciples were still mistaken about the nature of the
kingdom. I prefer to think they properly understood about...]

II. THE RESTORED KINGDOM

A. PROMISED IN THE OLD TESTAMENT...
1. God promised David to establish his kingdom and throne forever
- 2Sa 7:12-16
2. A promise reviewed in Psalms 89
a. A sworn oath, an everlasting covenant - Ps 89:3-4,28-29,35-36
b. Which at times appeared to have been renounced - Ps 89:38-39,
Ps 89:49
3. Yet despite the divided kingdom, the captivity, etc.,
continued to be promised
a. By prophets to the northern kingdom, Israel - Hos 3:5; Am 9:11
b. By prophets to the southern kingdom, Judah - Isa 9:6-7; Jer 23:5-6; Eze 34:23-24
c. Even after the restoration of Israel - Zech 6:12-13

B. ANNOUNCED IN THE NEW TESTAMENT...
1. By the angel Gabriel to the virgin Mary - Lk 1:31-33
2. By Zacharias after the birth of John - Lk 1:68-70
3. By Peter in the first gospel sermon - Ac 2:30-36
4. By Jesus to the church in Philadelphia - Re 3:7

C. FURTHER OBSERVATIONS...
1. As announced by both Isaiah and Gabriel, Jesus would:
a. Be given the throne (authority) of David - Isa 9:7; Lk 1:32
b. Reign over the kingdom of David and house of Jacob - Isa 9:7; Lk 1:33
2. As proclaimed by Jesus and His apostles, His reign includes
the Gentiles
a. Jesus has all authority in heaven and on earth - Mt 28:18
b. The gospel was to spread to all nations - Mt 28:19; Lk 24:46-47; Ac 1:8
c. God has made Him Lord over all - Ac 2:36; 10:36; Re 3:21
d. He is now head over all things - Ep 1:20-21; 1Pe 3:22; He 1:8-9; Re 1:5
e. He is truly Lord of lords, King of kings! - 1Ti 6:14-15; Re 17:14; 19:16
3. As explained by James, the Lord's brother...
a. The tabernacle (house) of David has been rebuilt - Ac 15:13-16; cf. Am 9:11
b. Which now includes the Gentiles (nations) - Ac 15:17; cf.
Am 9:12
4. The timing of its restoration began when Jesus...
a. Ascended to heaven, given dominion, glory, and a kingdom
- Ac 1:9; cf. Dan 7:13-14
b. To sit at God's right hand, over all principality, power,
might, dominion - Ep 1:20-22

CONCLUSION

1. So the kingdom proclaimed by Jesus is a restored kingdom...
b. The fulfillment of promises made to David and Israel
b. In which a descendant of David now reigns over Israel

2. But the restored kingdom is even better; the reign of the Son of
David is...
a. Not just over the house of Israel, but includes Gentiles as well!
b. Not limited to the land of Israel, but in heaven and on earth!
c. Not physical (ruling over bodies), but spiritual (reigning in the
hearts)!

There were certainly things the disciples still had to learn about the
kingdom (e.g., that Gentiles would not have to be circumcised and keep
the Law of Moses, cf. Ac 10,11,15); things about which the Holy Spirit
would later guide them (Jn 16:12-13).

But instead of assuming the disciples were still confused about the
nature of the kingdom, perhaps we should ask ourselves whether we might
be the ones confused about the nature of the kingdom...

From Eric Lyons, M.Min. ... The Universe and Its Laws

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=2206

The Universe and Its Laws

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

In a recent issue of New Scientist titled “How the Universe Got Its Laws and Our Surprising Role in Shaping Them,” Paul Davies of Arizona State University made some observations that creationists find noteworthy, given his prominence as an evolutionist. He described the alleged 13.7 billion-year-old Universe (2007, 194[2610]:30), which supposedly is the result of mindless, naturalistic, random processes, as “uniquely hospitable” (p. 30), “remarkable” (p. 34), and “ordered in an intelligible way” (p. 30). He admitted to the many examples of “uncanny bio-friendly ‘coincidences’” and “fine-tuned properties” of the Universe (p. 30). He then wrote: “Like Baby Bear’s porridge in the story of Goldilocks, our universe seems ‘just right’ for life. It looks, to use astronomer Fred Hoyle’s dramatic description, as if ‘a super-intellect has been monkeying with physics’” (p. 30).
Still, although Davies admitted that it appears a being of “super-intellect” lies behind the law-driven Universe, he pressed on to find a natural phenomenon to explain “why the universe is as it is” (p. 31). To Paul Davies and other evolutionary scientists, any explanation outside of nature itself is a cop-out. The laws of physics that govern the Universe, and that “are strangely independent of the universe,” must have a naturalistic explanation. So how did the Universe get its laws?
Davies conveniently suggested that we must abandon the orthodox view that the laws of physics are immutable and universal. “Laws” of physics must be considered “flexi-laws.” If you concede this possibility, then the “laws of physics are inherent in the physical universe, and emerge with it” (p. 33, emp. added). The laws “start out unfocused, but rapidly sharpen and zero in on the form we observe today as the universe grows” (p. 33). “[W]ith flexi-laws,” Davies suggested, “the way lies open for a self-consistent explanation” (p. 34).

The fuzzy primordial laws focus in on precisely the form needed to give rise to the living organisms that eventually observe them. Cosmic bio-friendliness is therefore the result of a sort of quantum post-selection effect extended to the very laws of physics themselves (p. 34).

In other words, the laws of physics just evolved to their current status like everything else in the Universe.
While several evolutionary scientists around the world continue to spend countless hours and untold amounts of money “attempting to place the concept of flexi-laws and quantum post-selection on sound mathematical footing” (p. 34), the fact remains that laws of science are called “laws” for a reason: there is no known exception to them. In truth, Davies’ thoughts are no more rational than those of biologists who testify to the law of biogenesis, but then conclude that millions of years ago life must have spontaneously generated.
Davies and others apparently cannot tolerate the thought of the absence of a naturalistic explanation for the origin of our law-driven Universe. When all naturalistic explanations fail to clarify what exists, instead of rationally concluding what such results imply (i.e., that their must be a Supernatural explanation separate and apart from the physical Universe), men like Davies simply come up with another new complicated theory that defies both natural law and common sense.
Naturalistic explanations for the Universe and its laws leave an explanatory void that only a Supernatural Being (i.e., God) can fill. Indeed, laws demand a lawgiver. “The things which are seen were not made of things which are visible” (Hebrews 11:3). “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth” (Genesis 1:1, emp. added).

“For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes are clearly seen, being understood by the things that are made, even His eternal power and Godhead, so that they are without excuse” (Romans 1:20, emp. added).

REFERENCES

Davies, Paul (2007), “Laying Down the Laws,” New Scientist, 194[2610]:30-34, June.

From Jim McGuiggan... Miracles and Iron Ships

Miracles and Iron Ships

If God came into the world in the person of Jesus of Nazareth as the NT witness claims, that itself would be a profound miracle.

The Virgin Birth is fitting, then, for such an entrance. If Christ’s leaving the world was extraordinary why would we be surprised if his entrance was extraordinary?

Theoretical questions like, “Could he have entered another way?” miss the point. If we’re to be fair to the biblical Story we’ll want to know what it says, will want to understand its own inner logic, will not stand over against it questioning it at every point because that isn’t listening; it’s just a war of attrition. To deny anyone a fair hearing is a foundational blunder and it’s no less a blunder when approaching the biblical Story.

What, on theoretical terms, might be hard to accept becomes almost expected given the right context. Who would find it easy to believe that a man would spend the night in a brothel without being immoral? If he were a close friend of ours and a doctor, a man of known character and deep piety, it would be easy for us to believe it. And if we heard that one of the ladies there had sustained a serious injury, we would immediately nod our heads at the report of his having been there. “Of course,” we’d say, “and where else would he be?”

There’s no doubt in my mind that a fair and sympathetic listening to the whole biblical Story— even if in the end it’s reluctantly rejected—would enable people to expect miracles to be a part of the unfolding message. Hearing the Story as a whole we would be greatly surprised if there was no mention of miracles.

A world of physics and mathematics is a real ‘world’ and it isn’t a shock that such a world reveals no miracles. We call it a world of maths and physics because that’s what they deal with; we conceptually exclude miracles as “the out of the ordinary”. (Which is partly why Einstein refused to believe that at the sub-atomic level reality becomes “lawless”.) But that world is only one aspect of reality and mustn’t be regarded as all of it. What you wouldn’t expect in one realm might be perfectly at home in another without universal chaos resulting.

In the days when it was believed that sailing ships had to be made of wood, someone made the bold proposal that ships of iron would float. One blacksmith insisted that that was impossible and threw a horseshoe into a barrel of water. It sank and the blacksmith smiled—case proved! It’s easy to see the poor blacksmith didn’t give the proposal a fair hearing.

We’re not to treat the biblical Story that way.

The biblical testimony is this: on certain occasions when he thought it wise, the God, who manifested himself in and through Israel’s history and peculiarly in the man Jesus of Nazareth, worked miracles.