Tomorrow Poem

I received this poem in an email from "Aunt Liz" just as we were learning of Jill Britt Richardson's downturn in her battle with cancer. It's too good not to share.

IF TOMORROW STARTS WITHOUT ME

A few weeks ago a woman was killed in an auto
accident. She was very well liked, so the office shut
down for her funeral and it was on the news and so on.
On the day the workers came back to work, they found
this poem in their e-mail that the deceased woman had
sent on Friday before she left for home.

If tomorrow starts without me,
And I'm not there to see,
If the sun should rise and find your eyes
All filled with tears for me;

I wish so much you wouldn't cry
The way you did today,
While thinking of the many things,
We didn't get to say.

I know how much you love me,
As much as I love you,
And each time that you think of me,
I know you'll miss me too;

But when tomorrow starts without me,
Please try to understand,
That an angel came and called my name,
And took me by the hand,

And said my place was ready,
In heaven far above,
And that I'd have to leave behind
All those I dearly love.

But as I turned to walk away,
A tear fell from my eye,
For all my life, I'd always thought,
I didn't want to die.

I had so much to live for,
So much left yet to do,
It seemed almost impossible,
That I was leaving you.
I thought of all the yesterdays,
The good ones and the bad,
I thought of all that we shared,
And all the fun we had.

If I could relive yesterday,
Just even for a while,
I'd say good-bye and kiss you
And maybe see you smile.

But then I fully realized,
That this could never be,
For emptiness and memories,
Would take the place of me.

And when I thought of worldly things,
I might miss some tomorrow,
I thought of you, and when I did,
My heart was filled with sorrow..

But when I walked through heaven's gates,
I felt so much at home.
When God looked down and smiled at me,
From His great golden throne,

He said, "This is eternity,
And all I've promised you."
Today your life on earth is past,
But here life starts anew.

I promise no tomorrow,
But today will always last,
And since each day is the same way,
There's no longing for the past..

So when tomorrow starts without me,
Don't think we're far apart,
For every time you think of me,
I'm right here, in your heart "

My Father's Genes - Part IV - The Delivery System

In Parts I – III, we reviewed the Biblical background that established the connection between human birth, sin, and the need to be born again. The discussion then laid the foundation for examining the scientific and genetic principles involved in human birth. We now continue this discussion as we move into Part IV.

The Delivery System

In Jesus’ great priestly prayer as recorded in John 17, He prays for His disciples and says in verse 20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message…” The apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans amplifies Jesus’ implied delivery system of God’s plan of salvation by stating in verses 12-15: “12For there is no difference between Jew and Gentile—the same Lord is Lord of all and richly blesses all who call on him, 13for, “Everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.” 14How, then, can they call on the one they have not believed in? And how can they believe in the one of whom they have not heard? And how can they hear without someone preaching to them? 15And how can they preach unless they are sent? As it is written, “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (Based on the last half of verse 15, one of my former pastors declared his feet more beautiful than other people’s! Oh, well…)

Just as the human egg may have literally millions of sperm directed toward it before conception, the unconverted human spiritual heart still in need of being born again may hear anywhere from a few words to millions of words or messages before reaching real receptivity. And just as the sperm must survive a highly hostile environment to reach the tube and search for the egg, so the message of salvation must survive an increasingly hostile environment in today’s society and culture in order to penetrate the human mind sufficiently for God’s truth to sink in clearly and with conviction. The hostile distractions to God’s Word in today’s environment are virtually countless. The more we remove God from every area of public life, the easier it is to remove Him from our private life. The more we try to isolate Him to church only, the more we succumb to “out of sight, out of mind”. God’s instruction to “18Fix these words of mine in your hearts and minds; tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. 19Teach them to your children, talking about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. 20Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates” (from Deuteronomy 11) is largely ignored today, even in any symbolic application. Practically every medium of modern communication is saturated with exhortations toward self-gratification rather than Gospel seeds that would lead to spiritual birth and growth.

Just as there is a limited window of opportunity for the egg and the sperm to successfully join to create a new life, so experience shows us there is a limited window of opportunity for the Holy Spirit to actively penetrate the human soul and mind with the convicting power of God’s word enough to cause a new spiritual life to be created. Literally millions of words that would direct our attention to our need to be “born again” may be flowing toward us but end up being drowned out by the hostile environment of the competing words and images drawing us toward every conceivable form of self-gratification and away from God. When one thinks of all the radio stations, TV stations (including cable and satellite channels), newspapers and seemingly countless print and web media, and all the public meetings and private conversations that occur in our world today, our minds then begin to be boggled to imagine the small percentage of all that stream of communication which is designed to actually draw us to understand and act on our need to be “born again”.

Please don’t misunderstand me here; there is much legitimate communication occurring related to our work and our world, but I suspect we all permit excessive amounts of the “hostile” communication to enter our lives and this would be especially true of those not yet “born again”. The “messengers” God has sent, who struggle mightily to overcome the “hostile environment” and deliver that message of salvation, are in such a competitive environment for peoples attention that their communication skills and methods must always be up-to-date. While the message of salvation doesn’t change, stale words, skills and methods (just like stale sperm) will not reach the intended destination.

In the next Part, we will continue developing the relationship between the human “delivery system” and the spiritual “delivery system”, along with some exciting expansions of concepts we may now take for granted.

My Father's Genes - Part III - Genetic Principles

I have been intrigued for some time by the science of DNA from a layman’s perspective, particularly in how it and the human conception and birth process work together, as related to Jesus' command to be "born again".

Is being born again easier to understand if we first understand being born at all? What similarities, if any, exist between the two that might help our understanding? We will explore these and other important questions in a multi-part series over the next weeks and perhaps months.

As we now continue on after Parts I and II (already posted below), please forgive the length of this part, but this Part III needs to remain together for best understanding.

*************************************************************************

Genetic Principles

Scientific research has revealed a tremendous amount of information regarding human genetics and how flesh not only gives birth to flesh, but how the genetic material is passed on (downloaded?) from father (parents?) to child. We see the result of this in the child’s physical, mental and emotional characteristics. We see the boy walk and talk and think like his father. We make up cute sayings such as “the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree”. We note the eye and hair color, the visual likeness (“he really favors his dad, doesn’t he?”), the sound of his voice, and on and on. This similarity between father and son is either treasured or abhorred, or somewhere in between, depending on the closeness of the relationship between the two. A loving relationship makes the father proud of his son and the son anxious to please his father.

On the PBS TV program “Nova” there has been shown from time to time a video titled “The Miracle of Life” (a Swedish Television Production in association with TV station WGBH in Boston, MA). This video offers some amazingly helpful knowledge on understanding the scientific details of human conception. Additional research has also shed light on the mother’s DNA contribution, known as mitochondrial DNA. Let me highlight some of the salient points from the video and then make the comparison to spiritual birth and life.

DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) is contained in 46 chromosomes:
• Each chromosome contains thousands of genes (a gene is a distinct segment of DNA which lies along the chromosome).
• It contains all the genetic information of the cell.
• It’s the only living substance capable of reproducing itself exactly. Without DNA, duplication (and therefore life itself) is not possible.
• The DNA in each organism is chemically identical, but its arrangement in genes and chromosomes determines what the cell will become, e.g. animal, plant or human.
• The female’s egg contains 23 chromosomes.
• The male’s sperm contains 23 chromosomes.

In a simplistic description, DNA is either nuclear or mitochondrial:
o The 46 chromosomes created when sperm penetrates egg are found in the nucleus of each cell and are often referred to as nuclear DNA.
o Still within each cell but outside the nucleus is the mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), which is basically DNA contributed by the female but left outside the nucleus and still inside the fertilized cell. Thus, mtDNA perpetuates only the mother’s line. The father’s mtDNA is left outside the fertilized egg and thus is not perpetuated (unless he has a sister who has children of her own).
o Each cell contains about 1,700 mitochondrion and each mitochondria includes an identical loop of DNA about 16,000 base pairs long containing 37 genes. Contrast this with the cell nucleus which contains three billion base pairs and an estimated 70,000 genes. Mitochondrial DNA suffers less damage and deterioration over time than does nuclear DNA, permitting DNA testing along maternal lines of even ancient samples incapable of receiving nuclear DNA testing.

There are some interesting facts and statistics concerning human conception that are useful to our overall discussion:
• Only about 50 out of 200,000,000 sperm that start the journey ever reach the egg. (The average man produces over 2 trillion in his lifetime, at a rate of about 100 million per day.)
• The sperm must survive a highly hostile environment to reach the tube and search for the egg.
• Since the egg must join with the sperm within 24 hours of leaving the ovary and with the sperm’s effectiveness lasting only 24-48 hours, there is a very short window of opportunity for conception to occur.
• Genetic structure is fully formed from the beginning, but is not effective until the egg is penetrated.
• When the sperm finally penetrates the egg, the egg immediately hardens the outer membrane so no other sperm may enter. This is the “crisis experience” of the creation of new life and the beginning of the growth of that new life. One of the phenomena occurring here is the introduction of the father’s genetic material to the egg and its impact on the new life.

The next postings will explore the striking similarities between human conception, birth and life, and spiritual conception, birth and life, i.e., how we really can be “born again” as Jesus so matter-of-factly proclaimed to Nicodemus.

In the next Part, we will discuss The Delivery System.

Remembering Paul Freese

The apostle Paul tells us “…the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control.” (Gal. 5:22-23)

Just as a farmer cultivates his crops for maximum “fruit bearing”, cultivation can enhance our own “fruit bearing”. Cultivation usually involves daily chores – sometimes watering, sometimes weeding, sometimes fertilizing, etc. Cultivation is another form of what Oswald Chambers’ referred to as “drudgery” or what Peter calls “adding to”; i.e. making a deliberate, planned, structured, repetitive effort to enable the Holy Spirit to nourish with His nutrients the elements of the fruit of the Spirit. These elements then, when so cultivated and matured, will make our Spiritual fruit sweet and desirable to those around us.

My friend Paul Freese was a great cultivator in every aspect of the word! He may have been the best model I’ve known of cultivating the attributes of the “fruit of the Spirit.” I could probably write a whole book illustrating these attributes in the various areas of Paul’s business, professional, church and personal life. We shared some pretty deep knowledge with each other. That’s not bragging – it’s just a fact that I was unusually blessed to be a part of! Maybe some day I can find the right words to really go into more depth about all this, but my emotions, like many of yours, are too close to the surface to even start today.

As we glorify God by yielding our wills and lives to Him and cultivate the elements of the fruit of the Spirit, we may even find a growing sweetness in our interactions with others. Don’t confuse this with becoming a “Mr. Milquetoast”. Having a sweet disposition in our human relations (including family relations) should not diminish our ability to stand firmly for truth and righteousness. Firmness and sweetness are not mutually exclusive.

Who have we known in our lives who bear this sweet fruit of the Spirit? Is it the person in the mirror?

P. S. There is a short bio available at: http://www.hollowayfh.com/obituaries/Paul-Freese/. Paul’s son Steve has written a longer bio which I’m sure he wouldn’t mind my sharing with anyone interested. You may contact me by email or on Facebook.

Connecting The Dots: Mexican Train and God’s Law

While visiting my wife’s brother and his wife recently, we enjoyed a game of Mexican Train. If you play Mexican Train you already know that there are lots of rules that are homemade, so the first thing we had to do was agree on the rules that would apply to our friendly contest. We found we had a different understanding of the rule governing the playing of a double. Fortunately, we had a printed set of rules for the game, which spelled out our understanding of how play is to proceed when someone plays a double anywhere on the table. An internet search of the game rules reveals some variations, but the basic idea is that when someone plays a double anywhere on the table, that double must be “satisfied” – i.e. have another domino played against it before a play can be made anywhere else on the board, regardless of who that play devolves to. So, in a sense, nothing else can happen until that double is “satisfied”. The rule cannot be waived or repealed, only satisfied!

Dot.
Dot.
Dot.

In the Old Testament when a king issued a law or decree, any transgression of that law or decree triggered an immediate and unstoppable invocation of the prescribed punishment. Remember Daniel and the lion’s den? Having been tricked into the unwise decree that only he, the king, was to be worshipped for the next 30 days, and then faced with having to enforce the punishment of throwing the offender, in this case Daniel whom he loved, into the lion’s den he was powerless to deviate from the prescribed punishment no matter how much he might want to. Nothing else could happen until the law was “satisfied”! Fortunately, we know the “rest of the story” how God’s grace and remedy was more powerful than what it took to “satisfy” the law! The law was “satisfied”, the punishment was enforced, but the outcome was not death but life for Daniel!

Dot.
Dot.
Dot.

God’s law, which is immutable, says “the wages of sin is death”, and “we have all sinned”. Now we stand before God, the judge. Nothing else can happen until God’s law is “satisfied”. God has no choice but to find us guilty and sentence us to death. But just as we’re about to be hauled off to everlasting death and torment, Jesus stands up and shouts “Wait! I died to satisfy the death sentence for this one and for all who would accept my salvation. I find his name in my ‘Lamb’s Book of Life’ as one of those who has accepted my offer. I have already paid the price for him! The law is satisfied, the punishment has been enforced, and now the offender, whom you, O God, loved enough to let me die for, does not need to perish but has eternal life with me!”

Are we shouting yet?

Happy Birthday, America! and MFG Part II

Happy Birthday America!!!

As we celebrate our nation’s birthday, I think you will enjoy our national anthem!

http://www.facebook.com/posted.php?id=1317169864#!/video/video.php?v=74136331072&ref=share. (I hope you can access through this link. You may need to copy and paste.)

The Star Spangled Banner like you've never heard it! This was at a Texas Tech University Basketball game . . . .The National Anthem is sung by five young ladies. You have never heard it performed better than this! An entire arena remains completely silent throughout the song. You could hear a pin drop. Take a moment to listen to this...you will not regret it. The two young girls on the right are six years old. The two in the middle are seven and the one on the left is eight. Wow! The girls in this video are known as The Cactus Cuties!


My Father’s Genes – Part II

Is being born again easier to understand if we first understand being born at all? What similarities, if any, exist between the two that might help our understanding? We will explore these and other important questions in a multi-part series over the next weeks and perhaps months.

Biblical Background and Foundation (Continued from Part I)

The Psalmist has declared “Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5) This and other references in both the Old and New Testaments proclaim what has become known as the “doctrine of original sin”. J. I. Packer says: “Scripture diagnoses sin as a universal deformity of human nature, found at every point in every person (1 Kings 8:46; Rom. 3:9-23; 7:18; 1 John 1:8-10).”1 There are a number of other scriptures in support as well, such as John 9:34, Romans 5:12-13, and Galatians 3:22.

Further elaboration on this doctrine is provided by Paul P. Enns:
“Definition. Original sin may be defined as ‘the sinful state and condition in which men are born.’ It is so designated because: (1) ‘it is derived from the original root of the human race (Adam), (2) it is present in the life of every individual from the time of his birth, and (3) it is the inward root of all the actual sins that defile the life of man.’ Simply stated it refers to ‘the corruption of our whole nature.’

“Results. First, man is totally depraved. ‘Total depravity does not mean that everyone is as thoroughly depraved in his actions as he could possibly be, nor that everyone will indulge in every form of sin, nor that a person cannot appreciate and even do acts of goodness; but it does mean that the corruption of sin extends to all men and to all parts of all men so that there is nothing within the natural man that can give him merit in God’s sight.’

“Second, man has an innate sin nature. ‘The sin nature is the capacity to do all those things (good or bad) that can in no way commend us to God.’ Every part of man is affected: intellect (2 Cor. 4:4); conscience (1 Tim. 4:2); will (Rom. 1:28); heart (Eph. 4:18); and the total being (Rom. 1:18–3:20).”2

Therefore, I conclude that the ungodly spiritual nature is with us from birth (and perhaps even from conception, as Psalm 51:5 could be read). This suggests that there is some ungodly DNA present in our first birth that can only be dealt with by a miracle of God’s power in regeneration or being born again. John the Apostle records the great insight of John the Baptist: “The next day John saw Jesus coming toward him and said, 'Look, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!' ” (John 1:29)

Human birth is the result of a God-created process resulting in human conception. The miracle of conception occurs not because we believe it will, but because God has provided a plan and a process for it to occur. Mental agreement with the plan doesn’t make it happen. Sperm penetrating egg makes it happen because that’s how God created it. Mental agreement may promote exercise of the plan, but exercising the plan is the only way to accomplishment.

Human conception is a marvelous and profound initiation of a human life. The more one understands about this miracle called life, the deeper one respects how precious life is. And that’s just on a human level! Consider spiritual life. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways…” (Isaiah 55:9 NIV) And thus we begin to understand when John quotes Jesus as saying that “flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.”

Since Jesus seemed to link the two types of birth in the scripture above, is there anything we can learn from human genetics that could be applied to spiritual genetics?



1 Concise Theology: A Guide To Historic Christian Beliefs by J. I. Packer, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois
2 Moody Handbook of Theology by Paul P. Enns, Moody Press, Chicago, Illinois

(Stay tuned for the next exciting episode!)

My Father's Genes

My Father’s Genes – Part I

I have been intrigued for some time by the science of DNA from a layman’s perspective, particularly in how it and the human conception and birth process work together.

Is being born again easier to understand if we first understand being born at all? What similarities, if any, exist between the two that might help our understanding? We will explore these and other important questions in a multi-part series over the next weeks and perhaps months.

Biblical Background and Foundation

“But, that’s impossible!” Nick vehemently protested. “Can a man enter a second time into his mother’s womb to be born?” (my paraphrase)

Jesus had just given His famous response to Nicodemus, found in John chapter 3, verse 3 (NIV): “I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.” This verse has arguably been the launching pad and foundation stone for all Christian evangelical preaching ever since.

Jesus says something else at this point: “I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit. Flesh gives birth to flesh, but the Spirit gives birth to spirit.” (verses 5 and 6, emphasis added) Verse 6 in other translations reads: “Human life comes from human parents, but spiritual life comes from the Spirit.” (New Century Version), and: “Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives new life from heaven.” (New Living Translation)

Still, the question begs: Why is a second birth necessary? In the spiritual realm, does that imply the absence of a spiritual nature in humans before being born again, or is mankind originally born with an ungodly spiritual nature? Is it easier for God to fill the vacuum of no spiritual nature with one of His choosing, or to replace an existing ungodly spiritual nature with His own?

We will begin answering these questions in our next posting.