World, I heard the lyrics that you sing
I’ve felt the pain that false love brings
I know the dark of depths of woe
I’ve seen the scars that few will show.
World, even music breathes your lies
Says hope’s sun sets in paradise
That sin’s allure’s your only happiness
But cannot reach eternal bliss.
World, your hope is fleeting, slipping fast
Your art reflects it; but, alas,
Your billions of feet tread the broadened path
That holds destruction in its grasp.
If you ask someone to prove to you that evolution is true, you might hear something like this:
“Antibiotic resistant bacteria show evolution in action.”
“The fossil record shows the evolutionary progression of primitive animals into complex ones.”
“The homology of the vertebrate limb proves the common ancestry of vertebrates.”
If you were to then ask someone to prove to you that creation is true, they might list you some of these evidences:
“Antibiotic resistant bacteria show genetic diversification within a bacteria kind.”
So right now I'm taking on online course in Evolutionary Biology, and the very first discussion forum has the topic of evolution vs. creationism. My freedom to respond in the forums is limited, so I'm venting here. Apologies in advance.
“In the beginning there was nothing, which exploded."
- Terry Pratchett, British fantasy novelist
So assumes the (currently) most widely held origins theory as understood by the greatest minds in physics. It only gets better from there.
"'In the beginning,' they will say, 'there was nothing - no time, space matter or energy. Then there was a quantum fluctuation from which'" (Darling, 1996) everything came into existence.
Got that?
There is an old fable that tells of a few blind men and an elephant. One feels the tail; he thinks an elephant is a flyswatter. Another feels the leg, and thinks an elephant is like a tree trunk.
A third blind man feels a tusk; to him, an elephant is a spear. To the blind man who feels an ear, an elephant is a fan. And to the blind man who feels the elephant's side, it is a wall.
Modern America is all about love. That love expresses itself in many different ways, but on a societal level it is all about embracing who you are, loving yourself so that you can better love others, and loving others by showing them tolerance, no matter what their beliefs or lifestyle may be.
Tolerance. Since when did that become such a positive word?
"Hey, we're all going to hang out at my place after school. Wanna join us?"
"Sure, I think I could tolerate being with you guys for a few extra hours."
When considering Biblical womanhood in the Scriptures, there is one verse that comes up rather frequently:
Who can find a virtuous woman?
For her price is far above rubies.
- Proverbs 31:10
I stood on stage with seven other apologetics finalists at Stoa’s 2015 national invitational speech and debate tournament. One after another, the other competitors’ names were called until I was the only one remaining. Then, Stoa’s president, Dr. Van Schalin called out, “The apologetics national champion, from Lynnwood Apologetics: Mr. Benjamin Powell!” In that moment, all I could think of was the accomplishment, but later, as I talked with my speech club director, I started to look back on the journey that had led me to the place where I was now.
The quote at the beginning of each section is from the picture of the doctrines of grace that I originally posted on Instagram.
ELECTION: "Before creation, because of His sovereign good pleasure God chooses some people to be saved."
(From Webster's 1828)
ELEC'TION, n. [L. electio.] The act of choosing; choice; the act of selecting one or more from others. Hence appropriately,
This universe we belong to has been organized into the homiest possible arrangement. And that extends beyond the wildflower bouquets that complement your living room décor beautifully. The laws that govern the universe are fine-tuned in the most impossibly precise manner to make life possible.
Let's take a glimpse at this. From essay The Dawkins Confusion by Alvin Plantinga, we are told: