SP Conference, Part Five

During the last leg of the day, we had the priviledge of listening to Steven Meyer of the Discovery Institute. Dr. Meyer is one of the leading individuals presenting the case for intelligent design, and this is what he showed us tonight. He shared his testimony, why he has pursued forming a "rigorous scientific argument" in favor of intelligent design, and the situation when the person (I can't remember his name) responsible for the content of the Smithsonian's publication allowed Dr. Meyer's article into the magazine. He was literally put through the ringer for even allowing an article that didn't support evolution into the journal- nevermind that the article was well written, accurate, and worth considering, which was his opinion. This man was later vindicated by a government agency for this abuse. His entire story is in Ben Stein's movie "EXpelled."
Dr. Meyer also gave us several of the examples he's used to exemplify ID- the nanotechnology that exists inside each of our cells, the motors that govern our cellular functions. The nail in the evolutionary coffin is that no one can explain the origin of information. Life does NOT happen without the information, and information had to be in place prior to, not evolving later. Even in the smallest of single cell organisms, these tiny machines with 20+ moving parts could not have evolved. One thing that was funny to me was that when he would put pictures of these miniature motors on the screen, you could see the recognition in the faces of the crowd. Not mine! All I see is a picture with lots of different parts. Just an example of how non-mechanically I think :-)

For the final presentation of the night, Joseph Farah (founder of Worldnetdaily.com) inspired us to stand strong to our convictions. Biblical convictions in particular. He started out by saying that he had a great talk all written out, just to listen to Alan Keyes present it the night before! :-) He then went on to tell us about the Tea Party movement, and how the masses are jumping on board in waves, but also how some groups are trying to limit what it is standing for... ie. economic change instead of a sweeping return to constitutional rights and freedoms. Then he shared the beginning of what I thought was one of the most convicting portions of the whole conference. He began with sharing what had happended earlier this summer with WorldnetDaily and Ann Coulter... ending with a list of conservative leaders who are bending on the issue of same-sex marriage. The point is that if you claim Christianity, if you stand by God's law, if you want to reflect Biblical morality... you better not be compromising on the issue of homosexuality. God could not have been more clear on His position regarding this sin. It is punishable by death, it is called "wicked," "perversion," "unnatural," "penalty...." (Genesis, Leviticus, Romans, Jude, 1 Corinthians) There is no "gray area." Marriage is defined by Christ Himself as between a man and woman. We can justify whatever we want- we've become very good at it. But if we take on the name of Christ as Christians, and then try to explain away what God has made very clear... we'd better be prepared to reap the consequences of our hypocrital testimony, from both God and the world.

How's that for controversial? :-) And please note- I have people I know and love who are gay. But when the time comes for me to stand on the Word, I pray for courage and strength and love towards all who disagree. We are called to be NOT of this world...

SP Conference, Part Four

We ran up to Hudson's Hamburgers for lunch (famous burger joint, but it gets really crowded!) and then stopped back by the hotel to rest up. After lunch, Steve Elwart spoke on Cyber Security and Terrorism. Because of another friend, we'd heard alot of what he had to say about personal security online. Basically, nothing you do anywhere online is completely secure. It can be hacked, the only question is how long will it take. For us, the new and interesting part was in discussing international cyber securities. Did you know that Israel shut down Iran's nuclear thingymabob? And left a calling card? :-) Don't think I heard that one in the news... but everybody was expecting them to do something... Did you know that nearly everything (not sure what wouldn't be...) in our national infrastructure can be shut down with a bug? Dams, electricity, water, traffic... the stuff of movies is eerily accurate. Remember a few years ago when a HUGE chunk of the Northeast was blacked-out? That was a mistake, but it gives an example of how scary things could get. And they knew the grid was coming back up. In the case of an attack- it could take a tragically long time. Did you know that deep sea oil rigs are not anchored to the sea floor? They are balanced using computers. One mistake can send a rig crashing... and end up with a similar disaster as that we've seen the past months in the Gulf. Anyway- lots of details, with a basic point. Do NOT let yourself consider us "safe." We have many enemies, and since we have a serious future coming up (read- energy + credit crisis) with many players involved, who knows who will decide to push the first "key."

Chuck Missler rattled my brain next... literally. I had a hard time staying awake, simply because I got completely lost very quickly (and I have listened to this stuff at least 3 times before!). He jumped into the known errors in astronomy, which of course are still being taught in colleges around the country today. Then he slid into quantum mechanics... "non-locality"... plasma.. zero point energy.... Truthfully? I understood most of what he said. I even could tie it together. But could I get it? No. It's fascinating, but I can't recall most of it to tell you about. However, Gabe loved it :-) So ask him! My summary? God is awesome. The creation is awesome. I cannot begin to comprehend how it works. But I certainly appreciate it's... complexity. :-)

SP Conference, Part Three

Saturday morning started off with worship (all the sessions did), after which came Dan Stolebarger who is the executive director of KI. He blessed us with the Aaronic blessing, delving into the deeper and much sweeter meaning behind each phrase. Did you know "Shalom" means more than just "peace?" It means "wishing you the peace experienced by Adam in the garden, walking with God, before the fall." Doesn't that just knock your socks off?

Then came John Loeffler- we ended up purchasing several of his CDs to listen to from his radio broadcast "Steel on Steel" because we so enjoyed his "no bull" speaking style! He really delved into some problems we face as Christians: clashing worldviews, and how our schools and colleges were so smoothly taken over by secular humanists earlier in the 20th century, and how we (Gen's X,Y, and Millenial) have been taught to think dialectically instead of didactically. This rang throughout my conscience like a bell, as I have been wondering for years why I was a 4.0 student in high school and college, yet in the real world I struggle with thinking clearly in an argument, trying to explain truth (because truth is RELATIVE, right?!!) or to think critically and solve a problem on my own. I do best in regurgitating what I've been told- and that drives me nuts. It's like my classic experience in Humanism 101- when I was asked "why do I believe that it's ok to defend my family when the Bible clearly teaches not to murder?" And I couldn't come up with a single thing to say. Ask me to fix anything around the house, and if I haven't done it before I get completely lost before I even begin.

Walking away from John Loeffler's session, Gabe and I felt challenged to do several things. First, we need to learn more about and teach worldviews- it's paramount to individuals being able to stand up for our Christian morals and truths in a world where nearly everything is subjective. Second, we want to find something to help us in making sure that we teach our kids in the right way (since that's why we knew we wanted to homeschool in the first place! we just didn't know exactly why), and I believe this is difficult because if that's all I've ever known, how will I know how to do it differently?

Here's a quote from the Steel on Steel website doing a better explanation of what I am trying to say. "This (dialectically vs didactically) means they are taught there are no absolute facts or morals and a thought process based on feeling and collective thinking has been substituted for individuality and logical, rational thought. History has been revised to match politically-correct guidelines and the basis for belief in one's culture destroyed."

Now, please note this is regarding how our public education system has been compromised, and is not regarding the teachers who give their all to be the best educators they can be. There are fabulous teachers- I know! I had some! But as great as those great teachers were, they could neither individually nor corporately change the outcome of my education. That outcome is where we saw the dramatic difference between ourselves (Gabe and I) compared to our friends who were homeschooled (and could argue the socks off of us!) :-), and where we want to make the difference in our kids' education.

Oh yeah, and something else he said that just had us rolling with laughter. He was commenting on how folks are flocking to the Republican party like crazy, but unfortunately the picture is them running from the blood dripping fangs of Lucifer into the extended ruby red smile of Beelzebub. Hilarious!-loved it!

SP Conference, Part Two

I often found myself reduced to tears for many different reasons this weekend. Sometimes it was from that validation of what God had already been speaking to me. Other times, it was profound moments that I was humbled to be allowed to witness. Moments such as an older man brought to tears by the worship, sitting down with his head in his hands, shaking with tears, and his wife with her arms around him. Or the crooked elderly gentleman sitting in the back; no words sang from his mouth, but his eyes were closed and his arms were gently raised as high as they would go, glorifying his King. Or the portly fellow in front of us who looked as if he couldn't move very quickly if he wanted to, but his body quivered and shook with a dance of joy and worship. The Lord has a way with each of us, making us into much more than we can ever imagine.

Home Again- Notes from Strategic Perspectives Confernece

I so wanted to post last night and the night before about what we were attending, but I know I have to be safe about posting that we aren't home! But now we are, and I can share.

I love this weekend. Every year it is such a rejuvenating experience! First off, the getting away with Gabe is so great :-) Second, the teaching is beyond fabulous, and I really really love when the Lord validates what He has been saying to my heart!

Friday night started with Ben Courson, a 23 year old author/teaching pastor who speaks regularly in front of a crowd of 1000-1500 young adults. He spoke on how our generations (x,y, and Millenials) have, for a variety of reasons, been taught and/or raised without the fear of God, even though we seem to have a great grasp on how much He loves us. I loved this because I felt exactly that way as God was maturing me- how I knew all about Him, but I had NO IDEA what it even meant to FEAR Him! John 14:15 If you love me, keep my commandments.

Second on Friday night was Alan Keyes. I had heard his name before, and was somewhat familiar with his resume, but had never heard him speak. When he started, I actually had the naughty thought "This man was a candidate for the 2000 Republican Presidential nomination?" His voice was quiet, introspective, and thoughtful. Not minutes later, I was blown away by his presence as he quickly got rolling into one of the most edifying and accurate! political speeches I've heard! One of my biggest pet peeves about politics is that I can't believe a single word that I hear. But from this man came truth and perspective that is uncommon among any realm of politics. I felt encouraged to vote with GOD's principles, and not those of our world. To have faith in what HE can do when we OBEY and follow His Word! One of my most favorite notes I took was this: (not exact, as I was desperately trying to keep up!) "It is better to live under the rule of sinners who acknowledge the Truth that condemns their sin than to live under those who would condemn that Truth." Wow! What's the point? For Christians to stand up and 1- VOTE! We have no right to complain one iota if we did not participate in the political process. 2- If you don't see it, BE IT! We are all disgusted by the "choose the lesser of two evils" options, so if God lays it on your heart- Be the better option! 3- READ the Word and understand what God has to say about government, military, social programs, and education! Understand why our founding fathers made this country into what they did, based upon Christian morals and beliefs, and vote to return it to a place of freedom, not socialistic opression.

More later... Saturday was overflowing with more amazing teaching and enlightenment!