Day 7 Devotion – Sun, Moon and Stars

Then God made two great lights: the greater light to rule the day, and the lesser light to rule the night. He made the stars also. God set them in the firmament of the heavens to give light on the earth, and to rule over the day and over the night, and to divide the light from the darkness. And God saw that it was good. Genesis 1:16-18


It is obvious that these verses for the fourth creation day are talking about the sun, moon and stars. Young earth creationists take everything to its literal extreme here and teach that the earth (day one) was created before the sun (day four). People ask “where did the light came from on day one if the sun had not been created yet?” Also, “how did photosynthetic life appear on day 3 with no sun to support it?” The typical response is that the first light was God’s glory and it sustained everything until the sun was created. With this strictly literal interpretation you can see the conflict because science rejects that the earth came before the sun. Planets are actually the ashes from burning stars so the sun had to come first.
Maybe a word study will be helpful here. In Genesis chapter one, two words are used. Create is the Hebrew word bara and it is something only God can do. It is traditionally interpreted as to create from nothing. The word made is the Hebrew word asa and means to fashion out of something. On day four the word asa is used so it is possible that the sun already existed but it only became observable for the first time on day four. It is interesting in studying the natural history model of the earth is that the first atmosphere was very toxic and opaque (not able to see through). After photosynthesis started, the oxygen produced caused the atmosphere to become first translucent and then transparent. To an observer on the earth’s surface the sun would become visible for the first time even though it already existed. This does not conflict with the Bible because the word bara is not used with the sun, moon and stars. Actually, this natural history shows us that the first living organism created on day three caused the sun, moon and stars to become visible on day four.

Day 6 Devotion – God Creates Land and Sea

Then God said, “Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. And God called the dry land Earth, and the gathering together of the waters He called Seas. And God saw that it was good. Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth grass, the herb that yields seed, and the fruit tree that yields fruit according to its kind, whose seed is in itself, on the earth”; and it was so. Genesis 1:9-11

Up until this point the entire earth’s surface was covered by water. Now we see the creation of dry land. An interesting note here is that the Hebrew word for seas here is actually in its singular form so it should be “called sea”. If all the water was collected in one sea then it can be deduced that all the land started out in one place as well. Do you remember from high school earth science class studying about how all of the continents were together at one time in a giant land mass called Pangea? Once again here, science and the Bible are in agreement not at odds.

Next we see the first living organism and in most English translations it is referred to as grass, trees or herb. Notice that this organism did not appear until land did so apparently it requires land. However, the English is a little misleading because this organism was not a large tree, shrub or grass but actually a microorganism. There are lots of Hebrew words for tree but the one Moses used here is the only one that simply means stalk or filament. The fossil record shows us that the first living organisms to show up were photosynthetic cyanobacteria that form filaments and only grow in shallow water, which means they require land. These formations are called stromatolites and can be seen at Shark Bay, Australia. They are dated at 3.5 billion years old. This creates a problem for evolutionists because by random chance you would expect a very long time from when earth could support life until life appears. The fossil record shows that as soon as life could exist on earth that it bursts forth in a complex form just as the Bible pictures for us. Evolutionists work around this data.

The pictures here show the one giant land mass of Pangea. Next are the stromatolites in Shark Bay, Australia. Lastly is a picture of a photosynthetic cyanobacterium called Oscillatoria. When keying this organism out, one of the descriptions of it is that it looks like grass blowing in the breeze in the microscope.

Day 5 Devotion – The Firmament

Then God said, “Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters.” Thus God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament; and it was so. Genesis 1:6-7


On day two God created the firmament. This is also translated as sky but really refers to our atmosphere. It then says that God divided water above from the water below. Young Earth creationists teach what is called the “Canopy” theory. They believe that there was a humungous, dense layer of water vapor on the outside of our atmosphere and that this water would later be the major source for Noah’s flood. They say that this layer would have made the earth like a geranium and that the whole earth was like a tropical paradise. This led to high oxygen concentrations and allowed animals and humans to live long lives (oxygen has healing powers, hyperbaric therapy) and grow to abnormally large sizes. This is how they explain the Biblical references to giants. After the flood you see the age of man dropping to a modern day maximum of about 120 years. Young earthers say this is because of the removal of the canopy and increased radiation exposure.
One big problem with this canopy scenario is that water vapor is a greenhouse gas. All we have to do is look at our neighboring planet, Venus, to see its runaway global warming is inhospitable for life. Even though Venus is farther away from the sun than mercury, it is hotter because of the water vapor in its atmosphere. If there was a canopy, our oceans would be boiling from the trapped heat and an oxygen level much higher than what we have now would make our atmosphere an explosion hazard every time lightning struck. Our atmospheric oxygen is at just the right concentration that it is not hazardous but high enough that the pressure forces oxygen into our lungs and blood stream every time we take a breath. If it were lower, animal life would not be possible. The Bible is probably just painting a picture here of the water cycle with water existing in two states, liquid and vapor; amazing for such an ancient text.

Day 4 Devotion – How Long is a Day?

God called the light Day, and the darkness He called Night. So the evening and the morning were the first day. Genesis 1:5

Figure 1. The Strong's concordance shows that the Hebrew word for day is "yom" and has a Strongs number of 3117 associated with it.

I know the first question many people want an answer to is “Were the six days of creation literal 24 hour days?” I prefer to be objective and give some different arguments and let you decide for yourself. I do not like to impose my views on someone when the topic is so controversial. Young Earth creationists claim that this is the only way to read the text. “It is obvious, just look at how it talks about night and day”. If you do a Hebrew word study you will see the word is yom which literally means hot. Yom can refer to just the daylight hours when it is warmest outside. It can also refer to a 24 hour day. But, sometimes it is used to represent longer periods of time and is translated as time or season. A good analogy would be like saying “back in my day I remember collecting glass soda bottles and turning them back in at the gas station for a refund”. A great example of this is:

So they cried out to the LORD; and He put darkness between you and the Egyptians, brought the sea upon them, and covered them. And your eyes saw what I did in Egypt. Then you dwelt in the wilderness a long time. Joshua 24:7

Figure 2. The word translated as season or long time in Joshua 24:7 is yom and the Strong's number is 3117.

The word yom, which is singular in the Hebrew here, is translated as long time. From the context we see that this long time is the wilderness wandering of Israel, which was 40 years. So, in this instance one day is equal to 40 years. The major thing I want to point out is that there is room for either interpretation. I personally am an old earth creationist (aka Day/Age Theorist), which means I accept the scientifically measured dates for the earth and that the six days in genesis represent long periods of time. There is not as much conflict with this view. Obviously, if you tell most people you believe these days are six-24 hour periods and the earth is only 6000 years old you are looked upon as an uneducated, religious nut.

Day 3 Devotion – On Day One God Created Light

Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. Genesis 1:3

The creation story tells us that light was the first thing created on day one. It is interesting to me that as you study the sequence of events according to the Big Bang theory that one of the first things to happen was the creation of light. According to the theory, the universe exploded and expanded very rapidly during the first fraction of a second. The heat was so intense that all the matter that came into existence was sort of melted into what scientists call plasma. It would be years before temperatures dropped to a point that protons, neutrons and electrons could form and start combining into the first atoms. At first everything was like a dense fog but light became possible when particles first appeared. Then about 300,000 years after the initial bang, matter started to condense to form stars and galaxies. Light burst forth as the fog condensed. It is also interesting that most theologians interpret the Hebrew word for create to mean creation out of nothing (creation Ex Nihilo). The Big Bang confirms this because it also says that nothing (including space, time and matter) existed prior to the bang. This means that matter popped into existence from nothing. This creates a problem for atheists because they have to explain how matter creates itself. Comparing the Big Bang to a hand grenade going off it would be like saying we had an explosion without a cause or the grenade went off without anyone to pull the pin. Philosophy rejects this because of cause and effect. If something has a beginning it has to have a cause. Another amazing thing here is that the Big Bang theory confirms that because time, space and matter had a beginning that the cause transcends space-time and matter. Science has actually shown us the omnipotence of God by showing that he existed before time, which means he does not have a beginning. He is not bound by the laws of physics (actually he created them) and he is not a physical being (God is Spirit). The fact that the Big Bang was so organized also shows that he is a super-intelligent, caring creator who has a purpose for us.

Godly Friends

I have been deeply touched by a few folks this week. We announced that we will be moving to Spring Hill, TN and will not be attending First Baptist Church of Dickson after May. I will not mention names here because I hate to leave someone out. One friend called me and told me not to rent a truck that he had a truck and trailer and would get some guys to help with the move. Another friend sent me an e-mail stating he was upset we are leaving and then threatened to beat me up last night. I was greatly flattered by that and also appreciative that he did not follow through with the bodily harm part. A couple of other folks have voiced or e-mailed support and told us we will be missed. This on top of our friends that were so good to us in Arkansas and even still call or drive by to check on the house there for us really makes me feel blessed. I am thankful God has let each of you be a part of my life and I look forward to staying in as close contact as possible. That is much easier now with blogs and Facebook. Therefore I will close by saying I am so thankful that Al Gore created the Internet.

Day 2 Devotion – The Earth was Formless and Void

The earth was without form, and void; and darkness was on the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. Genesis 1:2

If you study the natural history of the earth you will see that the earth is believed to be about 4.5 billion years old. However, the first rocks did not form until about 3.9 billion years ago (bya). This means that for the first 600 million years that the earth was basically a molten ball of lava. Lava is a liquid and liquids do not possess form of their own, they take on the form of their container. The earth was far too harsh at this time for life to exist so it was also void or empty. Some theologians teach that the Hebrew word for void means ruin and they have developed what is called the “ruin and reconstruction” theory or the “Gap” theory. They say God created in verse one and then the battle between God and Satan took place in the gap between verses one and two. The earth was destroyed during this battle and then God had to re-create the earth in the following verses. Developing theories based on things the Bible does not say is called a “testimony of silence” and it is a very dangerous thing to do. Maybe science can actually explain this better. During the first 600 million years the earth was hit about 17,000 times by meteorites, asteroids and comets. This is called the “late heavy bombardment”. This sounds very destructive but actually these collisions delivered elements and compounds such as water that would be necessary for life to exist. The ironic thing here is that science tells us that life only became possible through destructive forces. Who else but God can create by using destructive processes? Once the earth cooled, water condensed and covered the entire globe with water just as the Bible suggests here. The word hovering is actually referring to a bird that broods over her nest. God was brooding over the young planet to protect it, probably from Lucifer. Lastly, the word surface means to look down on something that is spinning. This fact about the earth’s rotation was not confirmed until the days of Copernicus and Galileo.

Day 1 Devotion – Do you Believe in God and if So what Evidence do you Have?

In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. Genesis 1:1

This verse is so famous and so short but contains a wealth of information. Many people don’t realize it but for centuries the truth of a beginning was rejected. Aristotle’s view of an eternal universe was accepted as the standard until the 1960s when scientific evidence proved otherwise. The philosophical line of thinking behind an eternal universe says that if the universe is eternal then it had no beginning; if there is no beginning then there is no need for a beginner or creator. Things started to change when Einstein published his theory of General Relativity in 1915. Einstein was troubled by his own calculations because they suggested that the universe should be expanding and he realized that as you trace this back in time that you will see the universe was smaller and smaller until you reach a point where the expansion had to begin. He knew this would upset the applecart and that he needed an astronomer to verify his theory. This came in 1929 when Edwin Hubble observed a “red shift” in the Andromeda Galaxy, which showed that universe is indeed expanding. In 1963 Robert Wilson and Arno Penzias of Bell Laboratories discovered what is called the “cosmic background radiation”. This is heat left over from the “Big Bang”. If the universe is eternal then there should not be any background radiation. Contrary to many misconceptions, the Big Bang Theory actually confirms that there was a beginning and also confirms a necessity for an explanation for the cause of that beginning. Fred Hoyle was an atheist and he is actually the one who called people that were accepting of the new evidence “Big Bangers”. Astronomer Arthur Eddington actually said the he found the idea “repugnant because we must allow infinite time for evolution to get started”. Believe it or not, the Big Bang Theory is actually our best evidence for the existence of God.

Change of Format

Well, my study on Baptist history will end on May 6. One thing that keeps coming up in that study is how Southern Baptists were split into two groups called moderates and conservatives. We call the one group moderates because compared to liberals from other denominations they are pretty solid. But still, the moderates do diverge away from traditional Christian beliefs on things like the inerrancy of scripture, the virgin birth and the resurrection. Some moderates would say that the first 11 chapters of Genesis are just Babylonian mythology that crept into the Jewish tradition while they were under Babylonian captivity. These chapters include the stories of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, Noah's flood and the Table of Nations. Have you ever heard someone make a statement like "Science has proven the Bible wrong"? This statement makes my skin crawl because it is usually made by someone who does not have a strong background in science and also does not know much about theology. Of course finding an expert in both is going to be rare. I'm only a self taught amateur myself but because I grew up in a Christian home and have developed a voracious apatite for reading about history, archaeology and theology I have acquired a decent understanding of theological issues. My Master's degree in Microbiology shows that although I am not a Harvard PhD I do have good science training. As I have studied both sides of the issue I see gross errors in deduction made on both sides. It amazes me that the more scientific discoveries that are made and the more historical discoveries that are uncovered that the two actually mesh very well and it strengthens my faith rather than weaken it.


I have been greatly inspired by Charles Spurgeon's devotions that he wrote. They are called "Morning by Morning" and "Evening by Evening". I don't know if I will ever get to write and publish a book but maybe I can encourage the handful of people who read my blog to stay firm in their faith. I am going to write short devotions that walk us through the Bible and show how science actually proves the inerrancy of God's word. I would like to call them "Devotions for the Scientifically Minded" I will not have time to post everyday but probably two or three times per week and I will still be updating on personal and family events as well. I truly welcome any feedback you would like to give. I will immediately post the first devotion in a separate blog post. God Bless.

Upcoming Move

Well, I've been dieing to blog about our move but had to notify some people first. I hate for friends to find out through the grapevine. Trish, Jedidiah and I are moving to Walden Creek apartments in Spring Hill, TN. There are numerous factors at play here but the short story is the Dickson County just wasn't meeting our housing needs, which are complicated to say the least. For just a few more dollars a month than we are paying for a tiny one bedroom in Dickson we will be getting a very nice two bedroom place. The facilities are realy nice. I found this picture of the pool area on the Internet. Jedidiah will spend a lot of time here. There is a fenced in play ground, sand volleyball court and walking trail right beside the pool. In the office building in the background there is a fitness center, billiards room and party room that can be rented. They even have optional garages, which we think we will get one to help with some storage needs. The schools in this area are supposed to be some of the best in the whole state and that is exciting to us because Jedidiah starts kindergarten in the fall.


I have mixed emotions about this move. I am very excited to get out of the sardine can and get into a much nicer place with not much more expense, once the deposits are paid that is. The surrounding area has a lot to offer and since it is a growing area, most things are brand new there. Trish likes the Target shopping mall and new Kroger down the road. The sad part of the move is that it will put us too far to commute to our current church. I have developed some great friendships and even started teaching some. I'm sure we can find another great church but there's that feeling of having to start from scratch again. Well, life's an adventure. Our move date is the week of May 10. Take care and I'll write more soon.

Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday

I've always been curious what Maundy Thursday was so I looked it up. Maundy comes from a French word that means to give. It is used to refer to Jesus washing the apostles' feet and also the tradition of giving benevolent offerings to the poor. Othodox Christians call today Holy Wednesday and Maundy Thursday focuses on four things. (1) It is the day leading to the passover meal that evening which would become our Lord's supper. (2) It's a time to remember Jesus washing the apostles' feet as an example of servanthood. (3) Jesus's prayer at Gethsemane took place that evening and (4) Judas betrayed him that same evening. Following his arrest, Jesus spent most of the evening standing trial and then on Friday morning was sent before Pontius Pilate, Herod Antipas, flogged and crucified at about 9:00am. He was dead by about 3:00pm and then hurridly buried before sundown. Lastly and most importantly he rose again Sunday morning and then ascended 40 days after that. Take time to reflect on these things during this passion week. God Bless.

Bracketology

Well, I don't win things very often but I actually won the office bracket pool last night when North Carolina won the championship. I'm $20 richer now, hmm, what to do with all that dough? I know what you're thinking. What is a so called Christian and ordained deacon doing gambling? Although I do believe gambling in general is wrong, I don't think a five dollar office pool is going to keep me from putting food on the table. Besides, now I can afford to buy a burger on the way to Bible Study tonight. Have a great day.

Got Spurgeon?: "A Christian should be a striking likeness of Jesus Christ. You have read lives of Christ, beautifully and eloquently written, but the best life of Christ is His living biography, written out in the words and actions of His people."

OK, now I'm a hypocrite for gambling.

Palm Sunday

Well, I haven't blogged much lately from being busy. Trish and I are hoping to get moved into a larger apartment soon but some of the details we are not quite ready to release yet. School is flying by fast and I will be finishing up on May 7. I plan to go see my family in Pennsylvania in May. Today is Palm Sunday and next Sunday is Easter. Do you remember your history. Palm Sunday is the day Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of riding a colt into Jerusalem. The Messiah was expected to do this but rather than a war horse Jesus rode a donkey colt which was a sign of servant hood. People praised Jesus saying "Blessed is he in the highest" and laid palm branched on the road in front of him.

Did you ever wander why Easter is not the same day every year? The council of Nicaea in 325 AD decided that Easter would be celebrated on the first Sunday following the first full moon following the spring equinox which is March 21st. The first full moon after March 21st is this week. Orthodox Easter is celebrated the first Sunday after the Jews finish their celebration of Passover and Unleavened bread. May you all have a Blessed Easter week.