Creation vs. Evolution

by

“Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff”


     How often have you heard the statement, “Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff?” There have been books written on this subject. Many of us already ignore the small stuff. Let’s face it, we all have a busy life. We have work, family, home repairs, hobbies, our education, homework, not to mention the little bit of downtime we each need. We may live in a region of the world that just staying alive is the daily objective. So why sweat the small stuff. What difference will it make anyway?

     What if some of that small stuff plays a role in who we really are, or maybe we could say, who we become? Some of that small stuff can have a major impact on our lives. Sometimes the small stuff becomes the foundation behind larger stuff. When was the last time you heard the statement: “It started out small, and then it just snowballed?” At this point, we just remember the snowball, not the snowflake.

     Exploring the thoughts we often contemplate, who am I and why am I here, we find some of the influences that have had a major impact on each of us. We find that around the mid-1800, the influences of a small group of men, did just that. Charles Darwin was a trained theologian, believed in God, while at the same time questioned how everything got its start. After struggling with his health, and the loss of two of his children at a very young age, it appears that Charles became embittered with God. After this, his friends, along with a strong influence from his grandfather, Darwin convinced himself to publish the ‘Origin of Species,’ to go public with his theory. Some might say this is small stuff. Just one book. However, this was the small stuff that started the evolutionary train moving.

     While this was just one book, the floodgates opened for those not wanting to believe in God. Those that wanted to push forward the sciences in the evolutionary direction attempting to disprove that God exists. Darwin was not the first, a few others produced theories for the last 1000 years, but Darwin was the first to push it over the edge, which earned him the name of, “Father of Evolution.” As time moved on, we have others such as Albert Einstein in the early 1900’s who founded the theory of ‘Special and General Relativity.’ Then in the late 1960’s, we find George Ellis, Stephen Hawking, and Roger Penrose pushing the theory of ‘Space-Time Theorem.’ Then around 1993, we have Russell Hulse and Joseph Taylor providing the theory of ‘Second Dimension of Time.’ Now we have ‘String theory,’ and ‘M theory.’

     We continue to see theories designed to enable science to work toward answering the question about life. These theories are designed as true at the time they are considered. Then the effort to disprove them begins. However, this can set the foundation for the theory of evolution to be accepted as reality. If we aren’t careful, we find ourselves totally submerged into the indoctrination of how we all evolved. That there was a big bang that started everything. It is taught in our schools as the only way, not just one of the ways. While we don’t think this is important, it plays a serious role in who we become, how we think, and how we influence others after us.

     This may seem small to us because we have a life to live and we are all very busy living it. But the theory of evolution is one side of the story. Why should we not be given both? Why are there those that only want us to think one way?

    My challenge to each of us is to question why ‘science’ is not also used in disproving what is written in the Bible? The theory that ‘there was a creator.’ The theory that ‘earth is approximately 6500 years old?’ Why not teach this available information in our schools. Why are these theories excluded? Why not allow each of us to determine for ourselves what we would like to wrap our arm’s around, what theory to place our faith in?

     As we work down this list of possibilities as presented at the beginning of the Bible, using available science, and scientific findings, then defining key models around these understandings, we will try to see the other side of the understood but not often told story.

“to be continued”

by

Science and God – Compatible or Not?


       So much can be said on this topic. I also find many times it’s hard to find the truth. So often we feel we have spent serious time investigating and doing research, especially in the science world, and because of this, we have an opinion that we feel is factual. But is it? Most or at least many people believe that science if the process of proving something as true. When in reality, it is the process of proving a theory as false. If we explore what science really is, we can find the following written explanation.

  • The intellectual and practical activity encompassing the systematic study of structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment.
  • All scientific knowledge is tentative and provisional, and nothing is final. There is no such thing as a final proven knowledge in The currently accepted theory of phenomenon is simply the best explanation for it among all available alternatives.

       The first observation we can make is that to study the systematic structure and behavior of the physical and natural world through observation and experiment, we are limited to what we have to work from. Our knowledge is based on what we learn from others, and also what we learn from our own efforts. It is based on what we have to start with or what we presuppose were the conditions. We have our earth which we can make determinations firsthand, the universe which we can make some determinations firsthand, but much of it is strictly a possible observation. Using the scientific word, a ‘Theory.’

       What could have been different back at the beginning of everything? If we really want to gain an understanding of this, we should take into account all information available to us. We also need to recognize observation number two above: ‘all scientific knowledge is tentative and provisional’

       If we take both observations into consideration, we could realize that when things all got their start, that everything was different than what we see and understand today. Some scientists tell us that everything started from nothing. However, I know of nothing observed coming from nothing. This leaves this as strictly a theory and should never be accepted as an absolute fact. We hear from the science world that a ‘Big Boom’ is responsible. There is the ‘String Theory’ and other theories that are based on something from nothing, but each needs something to be a viable theory. So where did this something come from?

       Maybe if we took into account what was told to us in the first few words of the Bible, we could find possible answers to many things observed. This would change how our dating of things found on earth are not correct. This is also supported by every scientific theory presented, that everything observed today was different in the past. Why would we use today’s atmospheric conditions to date things we assume are millions of years old. The conditions were different. If we utilize any of the aging processes, it is based on the half-year analogy, and this is based on conditions we observe today.

       The question I would propose to everyone is what is the motivation to exclude God as a possible creator, the one that set everything in motion? Sometimes I think that people are so detailed in their thinking that they accept only what they can see and understand. So many don’t like the idea of someone being greater than themselves. Therefore, the exploration of the idea/theory that God is real, utilizing science, is generally not put to the test, except by a few. However, to my knowledge science has never disproved a theory that God is the creator. In reality, the theory of the ‘Big Boom or String Theory,’ still requires that someone or something put these thing in motion.

       This leaves us at a point today that if you cannot disprove it, it should be observed as a fact until someone else can disprove it. This is my understanding of “Evolution’ and why it is believed by so many as the explanation to how everything began. But wait, if I cannot disprove evolution, and I cannot disprove God, then both are true. Maybe God did start everything and utilized forms of evolution over the years as part of His plan. My opinion is that God is the greatest Scientist of all time, and in so many ways, science continues to prove this. Because no one has seen God, and no one has observed the Big Bang happening all by itself. Then I believe that this drives the following conclusion. It takes faith to accept either. I guess it is a question of:

“Where do I place my Faith?”

Mine is in God!
Continue reading →

by

What is “Truth”


     In the world of Science, Faith, and Religion, we can find ourselves facing the monumental task of determining what the real “Truth” is. To take a real objective view of the question, “what is the truth,” we need to identify what we understand each stands for.

Question one: What is Religion?

      It is the belief in God, a god, or in a group of gods. It is the organization of beliefs, ceremonies, and rules used to worship God, a god or group of gods. It is an interest, belief, or activity that is very important to a person or a group of people.

Question Two: What is Faith?

     It is a strong belief or Trust in someone or something. It is a belief in the existence of God or a strong religious feeling of our beliefs. It is a system of religious beliefs.

Question three: What is Science?

     It is knowledge about or study of the natural world based on facts learned through experiments and observations. It is a particular area of study, such as biology, physics, chemistry, or any particular branch of science. It is a subject that is formally studied in school, college, and universities.

     Breaking down the key three elements that play such a significant role in who we are, what we become, how we believe, and how we react to situations in life, we find that they all cross what we might call “boundaries of life.” Science plays such a critical role in our lives. It has advanced the medical world to levels one sometimes stands in amazement of. The automation world, and most important to most of us, the communications world. The advancement of the phones, smartphones, computers, including the internet, has changed lives. We google a location and trust that we will arrive at that place if we follow the map provided. We choose to place our faith in that search we initiated. If you have had happened to you what I have, it has sometimes been misguided, and I ended up someplace different than planned. However, as these applications advance, they get better at guiding us where they believe you are planning to go based on what you were searching for.

     We have defined a simple way of how science and faith work together, but how does religion fit into this. If religion is a form of interest, belief, or activity that is important to us, then science and faith become a religion by definition. If one believes that a specific area of science is factual, or that a specific application is perfect, then by placing our faith in it, it becomes a form of religious belief. I’m not trying to push the envelope here, I’m just using how each of the three elements of life is defined.

     What is most interesting is that we have so many “Religious” beliefs in this world, it becomes hard to define which of them hold the “Truth.” We have so many advancements, findings (both supporting and negating), and discoveries in the science world, especially in the areas of who we are and how everything began, which of them do we hold as “Truth.” This put’s “Religion” as defined right in the middle. This brings us back to the question, what is “TRUTH?”

     Where do we place our faith? Is it in God, or some other defined definition of god, or in our science’s and how they are defined and taught? It takes faith to believe in God, or any god, just as it takes faith to believe in only what is proven by science.

     If we look at little deeper at science, we find that it is a process of defining a theory and then using scientific experimentation to prove the theory wrong. It is not an attempt to prove it correct. If it cannot be proven wrong, it can then be seen as true with no proof behind it until someone comes along and proves it wrong. Faith now becomes a strong ingredient in science. With “Faith” as an ingredient in science, it becomes a way of believing and becomes a “Religion.”

     What is more important, is the foundation of this short discussion. How do we know what to believe, where to place our faith, what religious belief we will follow? Just what is true, what can we hang our hat on, what can we stake our life’s beliefs on?

“What is Truth”

     I hope you will follow me down this road of discovery as we attempt to utilize science to evaluate and define who we are and how this all could have begun.

 

“To be continued.”

by

Our Mental Hard Drive – “The Brain”


“Challenging Ourselves through Questions”

Have you ever done something and later asked yourself, “Why did I do that?”
Did you ever tell yourself, “If I would have know that, I would have done things differently?”

Information is generally involved in everything we do. Information is essential and can be critical as we take steps through life desiring to make the least amount of mistakes.

The information available today is at an all time high. Media and online resources are exploding. It is at our finger tips if we care to explore for it. Even if we don’t realize it, the information that is absorbed by our mind, plays a role in how we react to any given situation. It is at the heart of what we eat, the fun things we enjoy doing, the work details we perform, our reaction to things we fear, virtually every function or task we undertake.

In many ways we could look at the information absorbed by our brain similar to information stored on a computers hard drive. Our thinking process utilizes this stored information. We use our mind to search back in time to what we recorded in it, or we kick in gear an understanding or reaction based on past experiences. A little like an application running on a computer. Sometimes we utilize our stored information subconsciously in our decision process. Sometimes we need our subconscious mind to quickly react but it doesn’t because we never trained it properly. Then after the fact we might say, “If only I would have done this.” There are times when we react so quickly that we never recognize if we reacted properly all based on something in our minds that triggered the response. Only when someone calls us out do we possibly slow long enough to question if our understanding was correct.

Through repetition, receiving the same information several time, repeating the same thoughts, we begin to place a priority over less received information. Companies today monitor our activity online or our purchasing history. They begin to see a pattern and as a result, they put things in front of us that follow this pattern of thinking.

We need to be aware that we can subconsciously feed our minds with one-sided information.

If we feed our minds with one-sided information, then we become lopsided, or possible what someone else would like us to become. It may be our way of feeding our minds with things that bring comfort, satisfaction, or even fill our emotional desires. The more we feed or are fed the same information, the more we believe it.

Is it possible that we are allowing ourselves to become brain washed?

Sometimes a computers hard-drive becomes overloaded with outdated, incorrect, or flawed information. This can cause results that while looking correct, are not. So some hard-drives may require reformatting, or at the least, old files and programs need to be removed. A clean-up program can be run to enable it to operate correctly. Outdated programs need to be replaced with new one that have bugs removed. Proper information needs to be made available to them.

Our brain requires a similar type of updating. Some things we learned 10, 20, 30, or 50+ years ago may not be totally correct. Sciences continue to learn and produce updates. New findings become available that could totally alter what one was taught during their education years. If we stop our learning process, we become outdated, we lock in our beliefs and understandings.

What would be nice is if we could just install a mental program that would search out and remove all misunderstandings, erase old outdated information and beliefs, clean up all the fragmented thoughts and reorganize how our information flows during our thought process.

Our mind is a powerful tool that we are blessed to have,
and
Proper care and maintenance are required.

This brings us to the question about the evolution of, or the creation of our brain.

Regardless of where you choose to place your faith, in evolution or in creation, one need to explore and understand details behind both sides. Did we evolve or is God real? Do the sciences support both creation as well as parts of our understanding of evolution?

Are the grounds that you stand on with respect to God and creation solid?

 

 

by

Contemplation of Thoughts – Science, God and Allah


  1. Science continues to recognize that the chance of life on earth just happening, really needed someone to set it in motion. The real odds of even simple life happening by chance greatly defies the laws of probability.
  2. There are 2.2 billion Christians living today in this world that believe in God (the God of The Bible) as the creator.
  3. There are 1.6 billion Muslims living today in this world that believe in Allah (the God of the Koran) as the creator.

I have friends that are Muslim, Christian and Atheist and I enjoy their friendship and respect all of them. However, who has it figured out correctly? Without getting to deep into the science or the theology behind each belief, there is one thing we should all be able to recognize and agree to. There is good and also evil in this world and I find no evidence that evolution created it. If we say the evil spirits caused the evil, then we must agree that there is something super natural out there. If we say we evolved, then aren’t we saying that man does evil on his own, and we support the natural evolution of evil as well as good. If life on earth was created and did not evolve, then it would take some supper natural someone to have started it and over 52% of the people living today believe it was God who did this.

The question is, which God created life.

  1. The God of Christianity, the God who send his Son Jesus to earth to teach love your God and love your neighbor as yourself (see the actual words of New Testament of the Bible and not someone’s interpretation).
  2. The God of Islam, the God who teaches that if anyone outside of the Islamic faith does not accept Me, those people are irrelevant and not worthy of their life (my wording – see Kuran for actual words and not someone’s interpretation).
  3. The Christian God and the Islamic God Allah appear to be in contradiction of each other.

This is a tough question to ponder. The three points made here are in the written documents of each belief if you dig for answers. They are core positions of each faith. We should all desire a solid foundation to our faith because it does take faith to believe in any of the the three positions.

So if it took a God to create life, which God do we want to follow? Or should we close our minds and our hearts and accept the impossible odds that everything has just happened by chance and evolved from nothing. Continue reading →

by

Breaking it Down – “Evolution” or “God”


Did we Evolve? Who is God? Is He Real?

Great questions and worthy of investigation by everyone even if one doesn’t believe there is a God of any type. It’s always positive to explore open-mindedly something just for the sake of knowing if you’re right in the beliefs and understandings you currently hold.

Breaking it Down

  • If the world and everything we see, feel, hear, and smell happened by way of evolution then it all start “somehow” at “some time” in the past.
  • Something cannot be made out of absolutely nothing? I expect that human knowledge will tell us that we need something to start with.
  • If the evolutionary theory is actually how everything started, it needed something to begin with just to get started regardless of what took place that began the formation of everything.
  • Where did this come from? Just who or what could have provided these things?
  • To find out who or what could have done these things we should, I would think, go back as far in time as humanly possible.

Food for Thought

When the sciences are exploring and working to find the origin of time, when and how things originated, or how old things are, they go back as far as they can to identify the age and origination. With no documentation available that is dated millions or billions of years ago, it leads one to speculate. Experiments and testing must be done based on the assumption of what we believe things were like when it all began. However, something must have been in existence if we believe something cannot come from nothing. If we have any documentation, we should utilize it and prove or disprove its truth and not just say yes it is or no it isn’t.

Breaking it Down a Little More

  • The oldest book that ever was written was/is the Bible.
  • Who wrote it? It was written by man as all books are written by some man or woman. So human desires and human error can come into play.
  • If the oldest book that was ever written tells us that God created everything from the very beginning of time, then how do we know that the Bible is an authentic book inspired by God?

Food for Thought

If you were to read a novel or some story that has several books that tell the complete story, like a trilogy, would you read only the first book or first couple books and make up your own ending? Most of all, would you know the real outcome of the story? No, it would be your version of the ending.

Breaking it Down Again

  • If one should be of some faith that believes in God (i.e., Muslim, Jewish, Christian, etc.), or even an atheist who believe in no god, then wouldn’t it be a good idea to read the entire book to see if there are truths written in it? Shouldn’t we want to check out every reference noted in the book exploring to see if it has the possibility to be factual? If we place our lives outcome in what we choose to put our faith in, and it does take faith to believe in God, some god or no god, then we should desire to know the truth and there is only one way to find it.

A little more Food for Thought

If one was to write a scientific paper on any topic in the science world, would you read only part of a book and complete your paper? Would you read the entire book and finish your paper? Would you research other writings on the subject and complete your paper? If your desire is to convince people from all walks of life to take what you have written as factual, then you need to address all possibilities showing that you have done research on each area.

So what is this all about?

If God is real and he started everything regardless of how it started, then there is only one God, the God that started it all regardless of what you call Him. If the Bible is truthful and it states, “In the Beginning God Created the Heavens and the Earth,” then science should always take this into consideration. If the Bible is real, regardless of the fact that it was written by the hands of humans, then one should utilize and research the complete story. We should look at everything that was written in the Bible hundreds and even thousands of years before it actually took place. One should not stop at the end of some chapter and write conclusions based on one’s own desired outcome.

My Conclusions

I believe that science works very hard and has so much to offer. I also believe that God is real and that there is only one God. I believe that if science would utilize what is written in the Bible as a possible foundation for how everything started, using all available technologies and findings, they will find that it offers an explanation that can be proven scientifically. I believe that man, religious man, and scientific man, has made many rules and regulations just to satisfy their desired outcome. The only reason I can comprehend is that they crave power and control over people. Maybe it’s just to add some level of comfort to themselves based on something that someone else has told them they were wrong about or something someone has told them they had to do, someone’s rules and regulation.

While I will not tell you what you should believe, I can tell you what I believe.

I believe that God is real, that there is only one God, that He created everything and that He made a very excellent place for each of us to live. I believe He created man and woman with a mind and gave us the ability to make decisions for ourselves. I believe that He never planned or wanted to be a dictator of how or where we place our faith. I believe that what is written in the Bible is truthful, factual, and it can be proven when one seriously looks at all of it. Everything that was predicted within the Bible, excluding the single last prediction, has been proven to have taken place including the story of Jesus. I believe that man has taken it upon himself to mess up this world for his own reasoning when it was so very simple right from the beginning. We were told to love God and to love our neighbor as ourself. If we would just do this, we would not kill because we love our neighbor as ourself, regardless of where our neighbor lives. We would have no need for additional man-made rules because the ones we have been given are enough to make the world live in harmony with each other.

by

The Power of Science and the Media


I totally respect “Science”. It’s discoveries continue to unfold each and every day. I just discovered that “Scientists create artificial human eggs and sperm” which was aired by Jessica Firger on CBS News December 26, 2014, 1:45 PM. This leads one to believe that we evolved just as so many in the sciences would like each of us to believe. However, when reading deeper into the article it is revealed that they required an egg and sperm to start with and the end result was:  

“Their final products were not actually working sperm and eggs, but rather germ cells that potentially could mature and become viable for fertility. The study’s findings were published Wednesday in the journal Cell”.

If one was to read only the headline and not the details one could live the rest of their life with a belief that life can be created in the science lab.

—Food for Thought–

With all the scientific equipment available today we are still not able to produce a living egg and sperm that will allow human life to begin. So how could an explosion or any other theory without any of todays extremely scientific and technical equipment produce what we see today?

So much of what our medical and biological sciences have been able to discover and reproduce has been designed with already available “Stuff” which takes into account anything that already exist. In my mind it is engineering backwards so to speak which does lead to many new and wonderful discoveries. I am sure some will say that it is only time that is needed before some discovery will reveal exactly how such a miracle happened. We should all admire each and every scientist for everything they do. However, the media and the sciences that jump to conclusions and lead people down a road that is not proven is still wrong.

–?- Question -?–

Were you created or did you just happen from billions of years of chance?  

by

What in the “WORLD” is Happening?


So your mad at the world, made at your country, upset with the violence, discussed with the TV and radio media, disturbed with the politicians, and even angry with God. The church has let you down, your country is going to hell in a hand basket, you search for answers but all you hear are the issues. No answers can be found. When searching you only find reasons why every concept will not work leaving zero answers for a remedy. Pointing the finger is the first reaction of most and many times the only reaction. Every minority and majority wants their rights regardless of color, race, religion, way of life and could care less about anyone else as long as they get their way. Many times these different groups speak out against others just because they don’t agree with their point of view or beliefs even when they have never taken the time to understand each other. When a majority is made up of many minorities like the Christianity and Muslim religious beliefs, they don’t even agree with each other within each group. Everyone is out for themselves and strongly desire that the rest of the world believe their way of thinking but won’t give an inch towards comprehending the other side. All you see is hate and very little love. Kindness many times just doesn’t exist. One faith despises another – it’s their way or the highway in spite of the fact most of them preach “Love”. When will it all end????

Ok, I must stop myself. But does this feel like you on occasion or possible most everyday? So what are the answers?

1) Is it Gods fault that bad things happen?

2) Is it mans fault that bad things happen?

3) Is it money that drives everything?

4) What happened to: “Love your neighbor as yourself?”

5) What happened to: “Do onto others as you would like them to do to you?”

If we try to sum things up just a little we might recognize that if there is no God as some believe, than it must be man (man/women) that is messing with things and causing all the problems.

The other side of the coin is that there is a God (which many believe) that started everything. If He created everything and then added man (man/woman) then what we see is pretty good except for how man has turned out. So I would suggest that man again is the one that is causing all the problems. And remember that if you believe in God and follow the Bible or even the Koran, then it all started with just one man and one woman. Even science tells us that we all go back to one man/woman.

Suggestion: “If man (man/women) would use integrity as the model of how to live, would not this world be a better place?”

 

Reflecting
by

Reflecting


Words of wisdom to live by. Pull up our boots, learn from our past and move forward. Thank you Orlando!

Orlando Espinosa

Reflecting on the past is good, but living in the past is not!reflecting Past-and-Future-orlando espinosa

View original post

by

Everyone has Faith


  • It takes faith to believe in Allah.
  • It takes faith to believe in evolution.
  • It takes faith to believe that good works will get you to heaven.
  • It takes faith to believe in the Cast system.
  • It takes faith to believe we only live once and then we are dead and nothing else matters.
  • It takes faith to believe we come back to this world as someone or something else after we die.
  • It takes faith to believe that if you kill someone in the name of Allah you will have virgins waiting for you on the other side.
  • It takes faith that when you go to sleep you will wake in the morning.
  • It takes faith that when you get in a car, a cab, a train or an airplane to go someplace you will arrive safely.
  • It takes faith to order food in a restaurant or buy it in a store and believe it is safe to eat.
  • It takes faith that if you work hard at your job you will get a raise.
  • It takes faith to believe you can do something you have never attempted to do.
  • It takes faith………..

It takes some level of faith to believe in anything. We have those that will try to confuse the idea of faith by adding the word blind faith trying to make your faith unbelievable. Some confuse faith in evolution by removing the words micro and macro. Some people speak as if they have all the answers, that they have facts, that they have proof. Some people believe they are better than you or I. Some people have an agenda that is for themselves and not anyone else unless you agree to the faith they have in their agenda.

You see “FAITH” is something that we all have one way or the other. It is where we choose to place that faith that is important. So the next time we find ourselves thinking we have all the answers, thinking everyone is crazy if they don’t believe as we do, take a step back and realize that everyone has faith in their belief. The key is to make sure that where we place our faith is real or has the highest chance of being true. To openly share your faith and why you believe in it, to listen to the opposite points of view, to look into the chance of something being true, to look into the real background of any faith, religion or belief will bring each of us closer to what we should place our faith in. Faith should not be based on what we like to do or what makes us feel the best or what we want to hear. It should be based on something that is real to each of us, something that we can say holds our faith steady or something that is not threatened by others or ourselves because we look into other faiths or beliefs. Real faith should stand the test of investigation by you or others.

So where do you place your “FAITH”?