"When my sons complain that a good book is hard to read, I say, 'Raking is easy, but all you get is leaves; digging is hard, but you might find diamonds.'" -- John Piper, Future Grace, p. 16. Books I finished in June: Thousands... Not Billions, by Donald DeYoung. This is the latest on radiometric …
Month: June 2009
Six bad arguments from Answers in Genesis (Part 4)
This is part four of a six-part series examining supposed evidences for a global flood that have recently appeared on the Answers in Genesis web site. The people at AiG are my brothers and sisters in Christ, and I share their love for the Lord Jesus Christ, their respect for the Bible as the Word …
Continue reading Six bad arguments from Answers in Genesis (Part 4)
John Piper and the age of the Earth
To repeat a common theme of The GeoChristian blog: One can be a committed Christian with a very high view of the Bible, and yet hold to a 4.5 billion year-old Earth and evolution. John Piper is pastor of Bethlehem Baptist Church in Minneapolis, and is a leading author and speaker within the Evangelical and …
Camping — Great Sand Dunes National Park
The family had the opportunity to camp at Great Sand Dunes National Park, Colorado this week. The Great Sand Dunes are the tallest dunes in North America. Here are a few pictures: We think the alternate name for the park is "Great Mosquito Swarms National Park," but we couldn't find that in the literature the …
The Reason for God — interview excerpt
One of the best new books on apologetics (the defense of the Christian faith) is The Reason for God by Timothy Keller. I haven't read it yet, but it has received good reviews from theologically conservative reviewers. Here's an excerpt from an interview of Timothy Keller from First Things which touches on evolution and the …
Sarychev Peak eruption
From NASA's Earth Observatory: Sarychev Peak Eruption, Kuril Islands, Russia. From the Earth Observatory description: A fortuitous orbit of the International Space Station allowed the astronauts this striking view of Sarychev Volcano (Kuril Islands, northeast of Japan) in an early stage of eruption on June 12, 2009. [...] Ash from the multi-day eruption has been …
Drought and recovery
These images from the NASA Earth Observatory show areas of drought (brown = below average plant growth) and excess plant growth (green = above average plant growth). Northern Iraq is suffering a severe drought. Much of the country's grain is dependent on seasonal rainfall rather than irrigation: Grain-producing regions of Afghanistan, on the other hand, …
Christian or hippie — which would you choose?
One of the pastors at my church passed along a story from Dry Bones Denver: “Ask Me Why You Deserve HELL”: Reflections on the DNC. It is a bit dated, being from the Democratic National Convention here in Denver last summer, but it is also timeless. The author was with friends in the downtown area …
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Father’s Day 2009 #2
One thing I do to “tell the story” to my children is send an email to the whole family several times per week, with insights I have had from the Scriptures. Here is an example of the "A Note From Dad" emails that I send (and that my kids---soon all four will be teenagers---actually read …
Father’s Day 2009 #1
The following item was originally posted in June 2006. I have added it to my blog recycling program. Because I have new readers of The GeoChristian, I will occasionally go back and re-use some of my favorite blog entries. In my wide margin Bible, I mark an "F" in the margin to denote verses about …
Melting glaciers, changing borders
Video from BBC News: Glacier melt changes Italian border. I can't embed it, so you will have to go to the link. This reflects a different view of borders than what we have in the United States. In the US, if a river that marks a boundary changes course (e.g. the Mississippi), then the border …
What to get Dad for Father’s Day: a goat
From World Vision: On June 21, honor your Dad with a meaningful gift in his name from the World Vision Gift Catalog. Because let's face it --- Dad doesn't want more stuff. He wants the satisfaction of making a difference. Supply self-sufficiency. Goats nourish families with protein-rich milk, cheese, and yoghurt, and can offer a …
Hunger increases
For most of my lifetime, world hunger has been decreasing. It has still been a serious issue, but many countries like China and India have been able to increase their food production at rates that exceeded their population growth. The current global economic situation, however has reversed that trend. From Yahoo News: World hunger reaches …
Evangelism or the environment?
From The Wonder of Creation: Evangelicals, evangelism, and the environment. As an evangelical who writes and speaks on the wonder of creation and the care of creation, I’ve often been asked the question, “Isn’t evangelism—saving human souls—more important than caring for the earth?” This issue is probably number 1 in calling into question the validity …
The Bible and the environment
From Gordon Wenham, British Old Testament scholar: The Bible and the Environment. (I've read one book by Wenham -- Christ and the Bible -- which unfortunately is out of print. His approach to Biblical authority is the most Christ-centered that I have read. It is worth a re-read sometime soon.) Here are some quotes: It …
Geological map of the Arctic
From Natural Resources Canada: Geological map of the Arctic. As I've said before, a good geologic map is a work of art. According to the US Geological Survey, up to 25% of Earth's remaining oil and gas reserves could be in the Arctic region. Grace and Peace
Worship?
A good cartoon from Internet Monk: The Big Worship Goof. Grace and Peace
Solar evaporation ponds, Chile
From NASA's Earth Observatory: Solar Evaporation Ponds, Atacama Desert, Chile Grace and Peace
Death before the fall — an old-Earth Biblical perspective
The topic of death before Adam's fall into sin is a common area of debate between Christians who accept an old Earth and those who insist that the Bible requires a young Earth. Old-Earth creationists (whether or not they are theistic evolutionists) have to accept animal death before the fall. After all, the fossil record …
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Aluminum and the 100-year old oceans
I've spent more time commenting on other people's blogs this week than working on my own. I wrote some rather lengthy comments, so I'm going to post them here with some editing. I've recently come across several young-Earth creationist recommendations for the book Old Earth Creationism on Trial by Tim Chaffey and and Jason Lisle. …
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