Yo Schmookie!*

Here’s hoping that you’re having a swell day, but that you’re not swelling!
Are you bent on self-destruction? Have you seen GoodFellas more than three times? Is your goal to blow up tall buildings? There is a bold contrast between the big bad dude and the Real Messiah: “A thief is only there to steal and kill and destroy. I came so they can have real and eternal life, more and better life than they ever dreamed of” (Jn. 10:10, Message). Knowing your Creator (the Intelligent Designer) brings joy; thieving brings prison.
Would you rather have plastic furniture or plastic explosives? Have you ever stuffed a space monkey in your trunk? Seeking vitality through pain is not the answer; childlike humility is:
"Truly I say to you, Except you are converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall humble himself as this little child, the same is greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Mt. 18:3,4).
Violence addiction can result in loss of life. Consider this caution from The Ultimate Guidebook, “it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (Heb. 9:27).
There is more to life than support groups and insomnia. Would you rather join the Fight Club or the Righteous Revolution (Mt. 10:34-42)? Is your best friend’s cousin named Parker Morris? Do you love others? Does anyone care about you? Is your twin twin brother named Tyler?
Make soap, not war. You are made in the image of God and have tremendous worth. You should care for your body (take a bath occasionally) and be a good steward of the talents God has given you (cf. Eph. 5:29, Ex. 31:1-5). Getting beaten up is not fun, but self-torture is completely pointless. The Real Book About The Meaning Of Life states, “There is no fear in love; but perfect love casts out fear, because fear involves torment. But he who fears has not been made perfect in love” (1 Jn. 4:18). Focusing on the needs of others will overcome your feelings of danger regarding yourself. Scrap Project Mayhem and join Project May-all-the-glory-go-to-Him.
Your father may not have been the best role model, but the true Messiah from Nazareth will not disappoint. If we believe in Jesus we can experience the lavish love of God and reach perfection when he returns (1 Jn. 3:1-3). The Prophet (Acts 3:18-23) suffered real pain inflicted by others. Christ bled and died and took the punishment we deserve for our wrong actions and thoughts. If we trust in him we will have eternal life (Jn. 3:13-18).

DON’T FIGHT CLUB RULES:
1) Talk about Jesus (Lk. 12:8).
2) Talk about Jesus more (Jn. 1:40,41).
3) When someone beats you up and says “Stop!” - talk about Jesus (Acts 5:40-42).
4) 2 or 3 should speak at a time (1 Cor. 14:26-33).
5) One day at a time (Lam. 3:19-23).
6) Wear clothes (Gen. 3:21).
7) Meetings continue as needed (Acts 20:9).
8) Each member (even new ones) must perform their function in the body (Rom. 12:3-8).

God made man perfect (Eccl. 7:29), but we now have a messy world since Adam made a wrong choice and ate from the forbidden Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil which lead to the great rebellion (Gen. 3). Job suffered for some special reasons and even the weather was against him (Job 1:18,19). Suffering hits us all because we live the a creation twisted by the Fall and awaiting rescue (Gen. 3:17,18; Rom. 8:18-22). Christian apologist Francis Schaeffer points out that even though we all Fall down, man is still noble:

Another question in the dilemma of man is man’s nobility. Perhaps you do not like the word nobility, but whatever word you choose, there is something great about man. I want to add here that evangelicals have often made a serious mistake by equating the fact that man is lost and under God’s judgment with the idea that man is nothing – zero. This is not what the Bible says. There is something great about man, and we have lost perhaps our greatest opportunity of evangelism in our generation by not insisting that it is the Bible which explains why man is
great. [1]

Is cruelty intrinsic to humanity? Schaeffer gives some vital insight here:

We can explain that man is cruel [because of the Fall], without God being a bad God. There is a hope of a solution for this moral problem which is not intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man. If this cruelty is intrinsic to the “mannishness” of man – if that is what man always has been – then there is no hope of a solution. But if it is an abnormality, there is a hope of a solution. It is in this setting that the substitutionary, propitiatory death of Christ ceases to be an incomprehensible concept. … God did not make man cruel, and He did not make the results of man’s cruelty. These are abnormal, contrary to what God made, and so we can fight the evil without fighting God. [2]


Notes:
1) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 278.
2) The Complete Works of Francis A. Schaeffer, Vol. 1, p. 301.

True Stories:
Psalm 19:1
The heavens declare the glory of God; And the firmament shows His handiwork.
Proverbs 19:1
Better is the poor man whose ways are upright, than the man of wealth whose ways are twisted (BBE).

“enough with the Schmookie” (rev.)

*If your name is Shmookie (sub “p” for “k” in the Seinfeld episode) or if the content applies, let the shoe fit.

-- Answer to Puzzle for July 2008 post --

The following months have 31 days:  Jan, Mar, May, Jul, Aug, Oct, Dec

Adam's Blog [stardate 032,172.781]

“Palmettos and Recurrence Dreams”

  Do you enjoy braiding you daughters’ hair?  I was pondering the trunk of a palmetto tree and admired the braided pattern the Intelligent Designer gave this plant.  I could imitate this design to make rope!  I invented a small version of the palmetto trunk and if you put your fingers in each end it’s difficult to escape.  My children love this toy! I named it an HTU for Holistic Tube of Unity.

  I had a strange dream the other strange day.  In the dream I was sleeping, as I woke up I said, “MADAM, IN EDEN I’M ADAM.”  Next, I went to the garden and noticed that three fourths of my tulips were missing.  A funny thing about ¾ is that it’s NEVER ODD OR EVEN.  A while later Dennis and Edna were caught fighting, so I gave my verdict: DENNIS AND EDNA SINNED.  This series of events repeated itself over and over and over.  By the way, aren’t groundhogs cute?

  The Intelligent Designer made the world during the first six days of history.  Unlike my adorable offspring, I never said “goo-goo gah-gah.”  I had no mom or dad to hug or kiss me.   Some call me “Dusty” for that is what the Creator made me from and where my destiny lies [~ Ge 2:7, 3:19].  Since Eve was taken from my rib, some have nicknamed her “Reeba.”  Before the day I ate the bad fruit, my dreams had no animal deaths and none of my children had fatal accidents.  Our sinless, deathless paradise is gone, but our loving Creator has promised a coming Savior [~ Ge 3:15, 1 Jn 3:8, Rev 22:3].  I love to eat radishes and squash.  I am the first Adam.   Deep time? What’s that?  I have been stuck by thorns, but I have never Ben Stein…  

[note: palindromes are in ALL CAPS SPACL LA]

Puzzle FUN!!

Attention planetosis victims!  Here is a super fun, non-math, puzzle.  The two names below have a special meaning.

And now without further time-warps here are the two enigmatic names:

  1) Janmar Mayjul
  2) Augoc T. Dec

Hints:

•   not a character in Sagan's "Contact" (book or movie)
  
•   Not related to Nellie Narrow-Way
  
•   not a hologram or a quark
  
•   EvoEmo is a good guess, but wrong
  

This puzzle may be answered by the following:

•   residents of the Privileged Planet may apply
  
•   Aliens between the ages of 900-1500 are excluded
  
•   Earthlings within the interval [-.75, 1005] may guess
  
•   All relatives and friends of Ben Stein are eligible
•   Answer appears in the Sep 2008 post
  

Seven and the Weekness (can YOU feel it?)

  Carl Sagan quotes the following in “Cosmos,”
The universe seems… to have been determined and ordered in accordance with number, by the forethought and the mind of the creator of all things; for the pattern was fixed, like a preliminary sketch, by the domination of number preexistent in the mind of the world creating God.
Nicomachus of Gerasa
Arithmetic I, 6 (c. 100 A.D.)[1]
According to Sagan's story a message from the "intelligent designer" is hidden in the number pi (3.14159265358...).  Despite the hopeful promise of conversing with highly intelligent aliens, "Cosmos" leaves us with an EvoEmo attitude (see prior post).

  The number seven is often thought to be perfect or mystical. The reciprocal of seven leads to an ellipse. The five visible planets (Mars, Mercury, Jupiter, Venus and Saturn), which travel in an ellipse, plus the sun and moon are considered to be the ancient foundation for the days of the week. Is there a better explanation? Fred Schaaf observes, “…unlike the day month, season and year – all of which have an astronomical basis – the time period known as the “week” seems, at first, to have no obvious relation to anything in nature.” [2] Schaaf points out that many “…adopt the seven-day week simply in imitation of God's six days of creation and one of rest…” but holds that there is a better reason for the seven day week, “The most likely answer is that there are seven celestial objects that have been known since ancient times to move regularly against the background of the distant unchanging stars: the five bright planets, the Sun, and the Moon.”
  
  Is Schaaf reasoning well founded? Why is each luminary associated with each day of the week? What about Saturday reminds us of Saturn. What is it about Mondays that reminds us of the Lunar orb? Why is Earth-day not included in the week? Would not a five day week make more sense on this assumption, based on the five visible planets?

  There are alternative explanations that are just as plausible. Some cultures, such as the Japanese, use the elements as the basis for the week. Why should this lead to exactly seven days? Consider the possibilities:
Four days: Earth, Air, Wind, Fire
Five days: Earth, Air, Wind, Fire, Metal
Six days: Earth, Air, Wind, Fire, Metal, Wood etc.
There are seven colors in a rainbow: Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo and Violet. Has anyone suggested this as a basis for the days of the week?

  The well-known historian Flavius Josephus (c. 37-100 A.D.) holds to the “beginning of the world” hypothesis for the origin of the week: “That in just six days the world, and all that is therein, was made. And that the seventh day was a rest, and a release from the labor of such operations…” [3] We will refer to this basis for the week as the “Josephus Principle.” The empirical distribution of cultural heritage favors Josephus’ view. Approximately 53.2% of the earths’ population belongs to cultural traditions that hold to the Josephus Principle - that is the origin of the week is derived from the interval of time that the Intelligent Designer used to make the world. [4]

  There is corroboration of the Josephus Principle from China. The seventh day of the Chinese New Year (first lunar month) is known as the “Birthday of Mankind.” [5] [6] According to Chinese folklore, the first human being was made on the seventh day. It is sometimes called “Everyone’s Birthday.”

  Has the Intelligent Designer provided a hint of the near universal seven day week within our own bodies? According to John Boslough, “A number of body-clock watchers believe we also tick to an array of weekly cycles. These regulate changes in body chemicals, the response pattern of the immune system, and a cyclic rise and fall of heartbeat and blood circulation. These rhythms, some chronobiologists believe, may help explain the designation of the seven-day week as a unit of time – the only calendar unit that does not trace its origins to astronomy.” [7] Why is it that difficult and hectic days often have the name “Monday?” Why is no restaurant named TGIM?

             sun MOON stars sky
             each week has 7 days
             can you SAY why?

NOTES
1) quoted in Contact by Carl Sagan, 1985, Arrow ed. 1986, Arrow Books Limited, London, p. 422.
2) “Why Seven Days” by Fred Schaaf,http://www.motherearthnews.com/library/
1994_Febuary_March/Why_Seven_Days_
3) Antiquities of the Jews by Flavius Josephus, Ch. 1, par. 1, http://www.ccel.org/j/josephus/works/ant-1.htm
4) Christianity 33%, Islam 20%, Judaism 0.2%, http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0904108.html
5) “Chinese New Year” http://www.abcmalaysia.com/tour_malaysia/chn_nw_yr.htm
6) “Sou Bao: The Chinese Birthday Bun” http://chaxiubao.typepad.com/chaxiubao/
2005/02/sou_bao_chinese.html
7) “The Enigma of Time” by John Boslough, National Geographic, March 1990, Vol. 177, No. 3, p. 127.

 ---- 
have you hugged an "opgane" today? (Orthodox Protestants who take Genesis as Historical Narrative)?
 ---- 
GLOAT = Ge3
-> the Fall was man's Greatest Loss Of All Time
 ---- 
BEN STEIN where are you??

EVO EMO

EMO  (e-motivation)
Has evolution eliminated your optimism?
Can materialism kill mother-love?
Does Darwin cheer when the black rabbit dies?
Evo favors the power of “no.”
Emo, Emo! Emo!!! (cf. “Marsha” 3X).
Do you enjoy the wonders of creation or the silence of the coffin?

MEO  (black cats)
Is the shade under the Darwinian “tree of life,” in reality, a space of darkness?
Morbid imperfection is simply the Evolution Project’s last gasp.
Does Cosmic Evolution make you feel small?
Did your LOVE EVOLVE into EVIL?
Does a moth dress goth? Do dark clothes make one a Darkwinist?

OME  (meditation)
Are Evo thoughtwaves brainwashing you right now?
Does depression hit you like $10 gas when Obama says “I believe in evolution” when he was asked about Intelligent Design?
When I heard of the Universal Common Ancestor, I just wanted to cry and consult a brick for advice. Naturalism is not nice.

OEM  (optimally extensive melancholy)
I got so depressed when my Darwiniac English prof gave the assignment of turning a three letter word, e.g. CAT, into 10K lines of verse through Natural Selection and Random Mutation.
Since I bargained with Darwin’s uncle, I now watch extinction documentaries (the end of the Dodos is so emo).
Was every day a rainy day on the primordial earth?
Are you wired for woe? Is your goal doom and gloom in a high-risk world of chance and non-purpose?

MOE  (mo pain, mo doubt)
I just can’t go on!! Darwin is everywhere…
Are you hyper-sensitive about the dark side of Evolution?
Do the gods of Selection and Mutation make you suicidal?
Can the primordial soup truly create manic and frenzied poets?
Will the real cut-up artist please stand up into the blades of glory?
If you do win Ben Stein’s money, will you just use the cash to put more holes in your body?
Can molecules-to-man teaching lead to self-mutilation?

EOM  (eternity of Messiah)
Just 7 Seconds of icr.org will cure most evo emo victims.
I shutter to think that you would allow your gray matter and soul side with the Darwin Myth.
Adopt the Rights of Creation (for the Spring, Summer, Fall and Winter) and shout a state of alert against the errors of evolution.
Grasp the flipside of Darwin and rapidly scream the truth of Creation in Six Days (CISD).
Project Evo is a land of weak arguments and bad fashion.
Let your Origins Emotions flow free and join the Intelligent Design musical genre.
Drop your elephant’s dream and escape from the circus life of sadness.
Save the world and stop the madness of anti-special creation!
The next time someone comes up to you and says, “You are so evo emo!” just respond with, “No, I’m a joyful Orthodox Protestant who takes Genesis as Historical Narrative (OPGHN, ‘opgane’).”
If you are not a Christian, you must place your faith in Christ and turn from sin:

You have become a sort of sounding–board from which the Word of the Lord has rung out, not only in Macedonia and Achaia but everywhere where the story of your faith in God has become known. We find we don’t have to tell people about it. They tell us the story of our coming to you: how you turned from idols to serve the true living God, and how your whole lives now look forward to the coming of his Son from Heaven––the Son Jesus, whom God raised from the dead, and who delivered us from the judgment which hung over our heads (1Thes. 1:8-10, Philips).

God made you on purpose, including your gender. Marriage = Adam + Eve (do the math, it’s so cremo). Your life was no accident (contra Darwin):

Oh yes, you shaped me first inside, then out; you formed me in my mother’s womb. I thank you, High God—you’re breathtaking! Body and soul, I am marvelously made! I worship in adoration—what a creation! You know me inside and out, you know every bone in my body; You know exactly how I was made, bit by bit, how I was sculpted from nothing into something. Like an open book, you watched me grow from conception to birth; all the stages of my life were spread out before you, The days of my life all prepared before I’d even lived one day. Your thoughts—how rare, how beautiful! God, I’ll never comprehend them! I couldn’t even begin to count them—any more than I could count the sand of the sea. Oh, let me rise in the morning and live always with you! (Ps. 139:13-18, TheMessage).

May all your tomorrows be happy ones!

Who Is The Intelligent Designer?

This groundbreaking new book answers the question that Ben Stein has brought to this planet’s attention with his film "Expelled." After reading WHO IS THE INTELLIGENT DESIGNER? you will be able to answer the question, “Is there more to creation in the extra-cosmic message from the Intelligent Designer beyond Genesis chapter one?” The emphasis on creation is displayed throughout the Creator’s authentic revelation. The Intelligent Designer made the world and owns everything. Because of creation we are responsible to God. We have been made in the image of God and have been called to care for the earth. We did not make the world and so we are not completely self-reliant. Read about the origin of the world from Moses, through the Psalms and in the Prophets. Creation is a foundational teaching that shows us who God is and both who and why we are (Col. 1:15-17). The Intelligent Designer did not just make the world and then ignore it. God sustains the world he made and gives food, air and water to his creatures. Who is the Intelligent Designer? provides genuine information confirming God’s providential care of the universe. The value of this must-read creation is its comprehensive scriptural content and thoughtful discourse.
Are you thankful for the Intelligent Designer’s blessings of Creation and Providential Care? God not only made the galaxies, he also takes note when a sparrow falls. Our knowledge of creation comes from an extra-cosmic data source (the Bible). Is this ancient book reliable? Who is the Intelligent Designer? gives compelling reasons for faith and that the worldview of the Bible is the only one that gives meaning to life. There are many scriptures that deal with the implications of creation. Does the Bible give us a hint of physical laws? What about our own creativity? Some try to combine Darwinism with Design. Is that possible? Evolution in any form runs counter to the character of the Intelligent Designer, the Word of God and the solid facts of science. We may have a personal relationship with our Creator and Sustainer through Jesus Christ.
Have you ever wondered what the Bible teaches about creation? Here in one source are all the scriptures verses on creation and providential care arranged by topic. God not only made the cosmos, he also holds it together (Col. 1:17). There are dozens of scriptures showing the importance of the Intelligent Designer as Creator and Sustainer. Have you considered the evidence that supports the Bible as a reliable source of truth? The special message from our Creator, from Genesis to Revelation, tells us that we were specially created and not the result of some transformational process starting with a single-celled organism. This innovative work tackles the controversial statement “Intelligent Design is Creationism.” Let’s get back to the Bible by reading the Bible! The reality of Intelligent Design wins the future!
This work is highly literate and makes for a quote-miners delight, but it could have been improved with an index. A topical index of all the scriptures would have been helpful as well.
Be the first on your block to get this creative and vital tome. No Global Flood checks. Not available in all stores. Quantities virtually unlimited.
**NOTE** >> this is a Kindle edition

FUN WITH NUMBERS

  What do John Nash (A Beautiful Mind), Danica McKellar (The Wonder Years) and Srinivasa Ramanujan share in common? A deep love for mathematics.
Consider the following equation which places one of our original parents in the numerator:
         EVE = TALKTALK…
         DID
Replace each letter with a digit to make the equation true (see the solution at the end of the post). All you supercrunchers and spreadsheet wizards should have no problem with this. What would have happened if Eve had never spoken one word to the serpent in the KOGAE* tree?
  Another numerical gem is 1657. The Flood occurred 1656 years after Creation Week (a la Masoretic text). So 1657 is the first year in the Post-Flood age. Now 1657 is also a cuban prime (which is prime in Cuba as well as non-totalitarian regimes). A cuban prime derives from the difference of consecutive primes, e.g. 24^3 – 23^3 = 1657. Note, the 24 reminds us that the Intelligent Designer made the world in six 24 hour (approx.) days. Hmmm, 1657 and 24, fascinating! Meditation on the Flood’s judgment on sin incased in the fossil record and the contrast with the perfection of Creation Week is of prime importance.
*Knowledge Of Good And Evil

And the solution is …
…
…
…
...

212/606 = 0.34983498…..
Reference: Math Horizons, Apr 1996, p. 18 (see MAA website)