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Spiritual Discovery blog

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

Funny!

I couldn't resist posting this one, friends. There was no name on the front of this card. Probably a good thing too! Anybody want to venture an answer?

Question:
"Since Eve was created from Adam's rib, can micro-biology be used to explain why adam's rib evolved into an all knowing, never wrong, force with power to get man to do stupid things?"

There are a number of things wrong here...but it did give the message planning team a good laugh this morning!

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posted by Tim Perry at 2:44 PM 0 Comments

What are People Saying about Cosmic Fingerprints?


Here I sit today wading through a colossal stack of comment cards! I can't resist sharing the third card I read submitted Friday night. From Heather.

"There was a lot of reservation from many people regarding this event. I was of the understanding that this was a pro-evolution, pro-Darwin type of event, but was totally proven wrong. I think this was a wonderful opportunity and I am glad I attended. It really got me thinking about the science vs. faith debate and reaffirmed my faith in God as the sole Creator."

Thanks for the encouragement, Heather! I'm sure you're not alone.

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posted by Tim Perry at 2:12 PM 0 Comments

Thursday, March 26, 2009

#5 Harm No Gorillas in Promoting This Event


Well, I did say send me your creative ideas for publicity. We fed our Gorilla very well after he'd worked up a sweat passing out nearly 800 adverts. Way to go Jarred and Mark!

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posted by Tim Perry at 3:12 PM 0 Comments

Tuesday, March 24, 2009

#4 - Do Some Criminal Investigation!


Trying to get in the ring with a topic as big as creation-evolution can be pretty daunting. Even if you consider yourself a science-type, it's a conversation that gets pretty deep, pretty fast. How can I break into it without getting slammed? Here are a few pointers that might help.

Think of it as a really huge, really messy crime scene. The universe that is! Evidence everywhere! Science discovers more and more information every second. There's no shortage of things to look at. The key in any crime investigation is accurately reconstructing what happened by looking for clues that identify the responsible party. How clean was the crime? DNA evidence? Witnesses - lots tougher if there weren't any. What was the cause of death? Weapons. Ballistics. Criminal psychology. Crime labs, microscopes, chemical tests... the list goes on and on.

In the wake of it all, we've got God - the defendant if you will. A defendant who has come forward pleading "guilty" but in the most subtle way. He's clear enough about admitting it...but he's going to let the CSI guys figure out the details. Some give no credibility to the guilty plea. Others are pouncing all over it eager to point out his connection to the evidence.

You would figure that a crime this big - that happened a long time ago according to any one's reckoning - would have a lot of theories about how it happened. So, don't be dismayed that there are so many voices trying to reconstruct what happened. That's where your research will have to come in.

Look stuff up. Don't just keep hitting the link to your favorite site either - spread out a bit. Read some young earth stuff, some old earth stuff and even things from theistic evolution. Find out how people are handling the evidence and what they make of it. Get informed about the various arguments for and against each perspective.

Answers In Genesis (Young Earth Creationism)
Reasons To Believe (Old Earth Creationism - Hugh Ross)
American Scientific Association (Theistic Evolution)
National Center for Science Education (Naturalism's response to Creationism in Education)

Read some great books that will help you into the discussion... or take you deeper than you currently are. Find books that start at your level of understanding. If something seems really over your head, put it down. Look for something more basic. Some books assume a level of scientific understanding that may be beyond you. If you come to Cosmic Fingerprints, I recommend grabbing up a book or two. Books are so good because you get to hear the person out. All the way. No interruptions.

Discuss what you're reading with others. We'll spend time in discussion groups at Cosmic Fingerprints as well as offer the chance to sign up for follow-up reading groups. Discussion groups can help you make more mileage out of your learning.

Hold your convictions with grace. Some things you learn about will make you want to slam your lappy shut and look for the nearest adversary to pick a fight with. You might find yourself flinging a book across the room in disagreement. That's normal! But when you're in dialogue with others, keep it respectful and constructive. Be willing to develop your view over time instead of feeling the pressure to know it all.

Each piece of evidence you put together will help you toward a bigger view of the world, the universe and just maybe God himself. Jump in and give him your best shot!

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posted by Tim Perry at 2:19 PM 2 Comments

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

#3 Get Some Publicity Up!


Hey Christians, you can't let being public freak you out! Check out this bulletin board at a coffee shop near my home. It's plastered with every sort of community event imaginable. Why not Cosmic Fingerprints? Grab some publicity for the event by stopping in at the Cosmic booth in the Atrium at CCC any time you're around this week. Snap up a poster and several invitations for starters.

Let's get this Cosmic thing out there and visible to our community! What happened to all that "No-Shame" talk from Pastor Mark a couple of weeks ago? Here's a perfect opportunity to squeeze into the marketplace of ideas all around town with a visual representation of your faith. Go for it!

Hey, Tim, I hear you can't just post anything you like... anywhere you like. Didn't CCC get in trouble for all those Defining Moment Plastic Ravens we put everywhere last fall? Not exactly... And this is way less edgy than a Corvid invasion. Here's how you do it.

Get a handful of pieces from CCC. Look around you everywhere you go this week, over the weekend and next week. If it looks like a public posting place that's packed with all manner of other postings of all kinds... just cram it in there among the options. 99% of the time that's all there is to it!

Some shops and bulletin boards do require that you approve the posting before putting it up. How can you tell? Often times there will be a approved stamp marked on the pieces that are already up on the location.

Other creative ideas include:
-a small stack of them nestled in with all the other promotional postcards that appear on some shelves and counters.
-think of places where people who might be interested in this kind of event might hang out. How about the public libraries? Might want to check to get it approved.
-coffee shops are natural collecting points for all manner thoughtful people.
-check with your boss to see if your workplace will let you post stuff.
-NO BRAINER HERE: your door at work! Nobody will mess with your door - you can put what you want on your door.
-Schools might have public posting locations for community events.
-at the university, you can jot the details up in the corner of the whiteboards in every classroom three days before the event.


Get creative. Get visible. Get bold! Its a cause at least as important as lost fluffy, tear off my cell number and call me about my used car, Sudoku tournaments, or that lecture at the university on psychological phantom limb amputation!

Oh, by the way. Let's dispell two myths. Myth one: people come to events primarily because they see publicity. Myth two: it doesn't matter whether or not you even post publicity in the first place. It is true that people are mostly inclined to go to something someone they know invites them to. It is also true that attractive print media helps create interest and validates a public event. Suppose you invite your friend this week. Then that same friend hears our spot on the radio on his way to Starbucks... then sees a postcard for it on the table he sits down at! Need I say more? So I won't...

If you find a really sweet, smart place around town to put a piece, grab a picture with your cell phone and e-mail it to me! You know it will make my blog...

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posted by Tim Perry at 8:03 PM 0 Comments

Monday, March 16, 2009

Just Call Him Fuz


Hugh Ross is not a one man show. In fact he's recruited a whole network of scientists and scholars who write books, give lectures, and travel all over the place helping spread his Cosmic message. As an astrophysicist, though, Hugh is just ... well ... Huge. He's into stuff that's so big it blows your mind. But big stuff isn't the only thing that convincingly points to an intelligent creator. In fact small stuff does as well. That's where Fuz comes in.

Fazale Rana is a PhD. in Chemistry whose totally psyched about small things. DNA in particular. I'm reading his book "Who was Adam?" and finding it fascinating. The complexity of DNA as an informational code of life is to me one of the most compelling fingerprints of God. The incredibly complicated sequence of chemical data contained in every cell of every living organism might as well be an entire universe of evidence to be studied and pondered.

Come on over to the Cosmic Coffeehouse March 27th and check our Fuz yourself. While you're at it enjoy some coffee and some David Potter. Music will be at 6:15, presentation will start at 7:00pm. We'll get huge, get small, and get musical... all in the same night! Come on out to this free event and bring a friend.

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posted by Tim Perry at 8:09 PM 0 Comments

Saturday, March 14, 2009

#2 Get The Word Out To Your Group

Everyone is a part of a group. Multiple groups! Think of how many groups you belong to. Here's a peek at my group world: The House I Live In (8 total, 2 of which I've yet to invite). The Block I Live On (6 couples and 2 singles I know a little better than the rest, I'll start with them). Ministry Teams at Church (are all those groups making invitations...hmmm) My Seeker Group (we invited them at last night's discussion).

You get the point. What groups are you a part of? Asking a group sometimes is just as fun as inviting an individual - there can be less intimidation for any one person. Consider inviting your sports team, your study group, your team at work, your lunch buddies, your scrap-book friends, your extended family, your Journey Group, Recovery Group, your volunteer team. Make it a group thing and see what happens!

The Cosmic Fingerprints coffee-house event on Friday night, March 27th would be a great event for a group to attend together. Our seeker group decided last night this would be the best event for us to attend. We could sit together and continue the conversation in the weeks that follow.

posted by Tim Perry at 6:59 AM 0 Comments

#1 Invite Your Friends - Let Them Decide

Christians can be the biggest chickens when it comes to engaging others. Get over it! Most of us worry far too much about ourselves when it comes to asking someone to consider attending an event. Rule number one about invitations is this: Do not make up someone else's mind for them! Give people options. People generally like to know what makes you tick. If what you're into is interesting, being asked is a way to build your friendship even if the person can't attend.

Once you've decided that it's your friend's choice to go, then you've got to give the option to them. NOT TO INVITE IS TO MAKE UP THEIR MIND. Soooo exactly how do you make a good invitation?

1-Get a postcard invitation in your hands (this weekend at the booth in the atrium) or go to the web page and grab an e-invite. E-mail Invite
2-Send them a note or hand them the invitation. "Here's a cool event I think you might find interesting." If you send an e-mail invite. Follow it up with another short e-mail telling them why you're inviting them.
3-Let them look at it and figure it out first.
4-They may ask about it. Be ready to explain it. "Dr. Hugh Ross is an Astrophysicist coming to Omaha to talk about God, Science and the Origin of the Universe."
5-Offer to help them get to the event (a ride or registration cost if workshop).
6-Ask them one last time. "So, think you'd like to come?"
7-Don't say anything till they speak up. Let them tell you what to do next.

They may want to think about it (that's why you need to invite people NOW not the day before). Ask permission to contact them again in a couple of days. Let it go! Walk away. Give them space. Pray.

Go for it! Go for it today... When I finish this post, I'm going to e-mail four of my neighbors and I'll swing by their place today with a printed invite too.

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posted by Tim Perry at 6:22 AM 0 Comments

Cosmic Fingerprints - 10 Tips


Cosmic Fingerprints is a great opportunity to reach people - how can we make the most of it in our community? Here comes a list of posts you and your group will find helpful. Use what grabs you and go for it! Let's get the word out.

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posted by Tim Perry at 6:02 AM 0 Comments

Choices, Choices, Choices

I was talking with a group of parents at a homeschooling event yesterday about the issue of Creation vrs Evolution. "Why are there so many options and which one is right?" blurted out one mom. I explained it this way. There are really only 2 or 3 choices to make that lead to the possibility of four big options. Deciding where to land can depend on your answer to three foundational questions:

One of the questions essentially asks "Did God create the universe, everything and everyone in it, or not?" The answer sorts the options this way: Three pro-God choices on the one side, one anti-God option on the other. Young Earth Creationism, Old Earth Creationism and Theistic Evolution all represent pro-God choices. Naturalistic Evolution is the odd-man out when looked at that way.

Question number two asks "What's the best way to explain how God brought things into existence?" When God made everything, did he leave any fingerprints that point to how he did it? Looked at this way, one must decide how sound the case for evolution as an explanation is. Some are convinced God used a process very much like evolution to bring things into being, yet do not believe the assumptions Naturalism makes that God does not exist. These are Theistic Evolutionists. Pro-God, Pro-Science, Pro-Evolution ... to a point. Young Earth and Old Earth Creationists agree against evolution as the best way to explain how God did it and point out its many weaknesses.

The third question puts a finer point on the two Creationist views by asking "How long did it take?" Young Earth Creationists put forward an age of the earth somewhere between 6 and 10 thousand years based primarily on biblical genealogies. Old Earth Creationists attempt to answer the question by comparing scientific data with the Bible asking "How much of what science seems to tell us can we integrate with scripture?" The Old Earth view holds to as much science as possible in agreeing with the apparent age of things as we observe them. Both views in fact must do this. Both views believe the information we have in the bible, but interpret it differently.

God or No God?
Evolution or No Evolution?
Billions or Thousands?

If you're unfamiliar with the views, I encourage you to ask these three big questions with an open mind as you explore the options. Non-believers who run into Christians typically are seeking credibility for the God question with science as a given authority base. It's generally not helpful for Christians to show little understanding of the options while forcefully pushing their view.

Christian believers often look at the issue the other way around wondering how much science to believe with God as our starting point. If we're aware of the possible clash of interests we can have much more helpful and respectful conversations about it.

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posted by Tim Perry at 4:55 AM 0 Comments

Friday, March 13, 2009

Amen, Richard Dawkins!

I have better things to do than blog about this, but I can't resist a comment or two about Richard Dawkins' lecture the other night, "The Purpose of Purpose". Speaking to a not quite full house at the Holland, Dawkins began his presentation with a generous helping of ridicule for Ben Stein and stirring applause for the recent reversal of the ban on stem-cell research.

As a non-believer in Dawkins and his gospel, I couldn't help but feel I was in attendance at a worship service. Dawkins himself, the great high-priest of his own brand of atheistic naturalism. The crowd, an eager choir of God-denying naturalists. I had actually feared worse. Some intricate argument demonstrating an evolutionary explanation of purpose... or perhaps a well crafted refutation of the existence of God. But I found myself ... "in church" instead. With Dawkins working his audience like a pastor preaching to his choir.

As an outreach coordinator of an evangelical church, I couldn't help but empathize with non-believers who attend churches and find themselves in an uncomfortable minority. "If this is all the better we are at actually engaging people's minds and bringing change, we'd better hang it up."

Dawkins scored his cheap laughter from people eager to mimic his views. His best response to Ben Stein's embarrassing Expelled, was a tacky sexual joke that had nothing to do with academic freedom. In essence, Dawkins told the choir that since naturalism has won the power struggle in the academy, no sound reply needs to be given those who question evolution. The boast that "evidence is everywhere proving evolution a fact" was followed by absolutely no argument showing that the very same evidence shouldn't point equally well to a Creator. As a preacher of naturalism, Dawkins is at the top of the charts - not needing to answer to anyone. So why try...as long as your audience is nothing more than a choir who's paid you to preach what they want to hear.

I felt sorry for Richard Dawkins. In awe of his incredible gifts - yes. Grateful for his positive contributions to science - yes. But sadly sorry for his inability to tell his audience anything new. Like a preacher who never feels the need to explain things to non-believers, Dawkins occupied our time with eloquently circular verbiage and power-point slides. The choir seemed happy to do little more than have him comfort them with their familiar doctrines and ridicule their shared enemies! Probably exactly what Mr. Holland paid him to do.

Christians... let's do better at opening and changing minds and stop preaching to our choirs! Churches, pay your pastors to lead you into engagement with the world. Win people with the love and truth of Jesus. That's our mission!

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posted by Tim Perry at 1:29 PM 0 Comments

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Who's Hugh and Why?


Contrary to Dawkins, not all intelligent, sane people believe evolution is a firmly established scientific fact (sorry Rich, even when I quote you I can't stoop to your level of vitriol). Hugh Ross would be one such gifted, informed Christian mind. Hugh's story is a fascinating journey from science to God. As a high school student with an insatiable curiosity about the ordered universe, Hugh searched the options of mankind's origin and landed in the hands of an all powerful, personal designer!

Here's a quote from Hugh's web-page you can find at:
Hugh Ross' Testimony -- My Search for Truth

"Prompted by curiosity, he studied the world's religions and "holy books" and found only one that proved scientifically and historically accurate: the Bible. Hugh started at religious "ground zero" and through scientific and historical reality-testing became convinced that the Bible is truly the Word of God! He then observed, with amazement, the impact of describing for people the process by which he came to personal faith in Jesus Christ."

Some may be wondering "How can science actually lead people to Christ?" Isn't it the aim of science to disprove God or at least "cure humanity of the disease of believing in him" (Dawkins)? But Hugh himself a perfect example of how people can be drawn to faith in Christ through their seeking minds. If we can boldly venture into the public conversation about origins we'll have a hearing with thinking people everwhere who are curious about dimensions of life and meaning that science points to beyond itself.

Make sure you visit our Cosmic Fingerprints page. Come check out what we've got going on later in March.

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posted by Tim Perry at 8:27 AM 0 Comments

Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Neo, or Archeo? Help us out Rich!

Richard Dawkins makes quite a statement in Ben Stein's documentary Expelled when he says "Evolution is a fact...a fact that's established as securely as any other fact we have in science. It is completely right to say that since the evidence for evolution is so absolutely, totally, overwhelming, nobody who looks at it could possibly doubt that it if they were sane... and not stupid. So the only remaining possibility is that they are ignorant and most people who don't believe in Evolution are indeed ignorant!"

It's amazing how someone with such incredible intellectual gifts can be so entirely dismissive of anyone who would dare question the scientific monopoly of Darwinism. Dawkins, author of The God Delusion, contends that the masses who believe in God suffer from a delusive lie. Belief in God, according to Dawkins, is like a virus he hopes his atheistic preaching can heal. If we'll just listen to Rich long enough, we'll get this God-thing out of our system and get on with the evolutionary good life!

If you get the chance to catch the movie Expelled, you can get a feel for how contentious belief in God in the academy can get. Stein interviews numerous highly credentialed scientists who question evolution's reign in science and education. One evidently doesn't have to be insane or stupid to believe something different about the purpose and origin of human life.

Speaking of purpose... Citizens of Omaha, tomorrow night we've got the opportunity tune into Dawkins himself as he comes to the Holland for a lecture entitled
"The Purpose of Purpose." Here's a taste of his naturalistic gospel from the official event website. See if you can follow this:

"I shall develop two meanings of "purpose." Archeo-purpose is the ancient illusion of purpose, a pseudo-purpose fashioned by natural selection over billions of years. Neo-purpose is true, deliberate, intentional purpose, which is a product of brains. My thesis is that neo-purpose, or the capacity to set up deliberate purposes or goals, is itself a Darwinian adaptation with an archeo-purpose."

Right! I actually hope to attend tomorrow night's gripping lecture. I'll give you my spin on it in Thursday's blog. I'll find out if my brain is neo-capable . . . or just filled with archeo. I kind of got a feeling about this one. IF you happen to attend, drop me a note!

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posted by Tim Perry at 2:08 PM 0 Comments