6/8/14

by Kyle Butt, M.A. ... Shrewbot’s Synthetic Whiskers Detect God

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=4210

Shrewbot’s Synthetic Whiskers Detect God

by  Kyle Butt, M.A.


Tiny shrews use their whiskers to locate prey and navigate.
The Etruscan pygmy shrew is a contender for the smallest mammal in the world. But its diminutive size does not detract from its amazing design. Since this little critter is blind, it must rely on its whiskers to navigate and find food. The whiskers of this tiny shrew are highly sensitive and extremely efficient. In fact, the shrew’s whiskers work so well that researchers have been studying them in an attempt to equip robots with similar technology.
Robotics experts from the Bristol Robotics Laboratory in England have been working on a new machine they call Shrewbot. Shrewbot is a small robot fitted with synthetic whiskers that mimic those of the Etruscan shew (Moon, 2012). The primary advantage of this “touchy” technology is that the bot does not rely on vision. Researchers suggest that the sense of touch will enable the bot to explore “dark, dangerous or smoke filled environments” (2012).
When scientists copy designs in nature, it is called biomimicry. At Apologetics Press, we have written several articles about this field of research (see Biomimicry). Each new instance of this practice underscores the intelligent design within the natural world. The implication is simple. If brilliant scientists find complex, proficient designs in nature that are more efficient than any man-made designs, then the Designer of the natural world must be more intelligent than any human designer. It is ironic that one of the world’s smallest mammals provides such a “big” piece of evidence for the existence of God—the Intelligent Designer.

REFERENCES

Biomimicry, http://www.apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&topic=66.
Moon, Mariella (2012), “How the Etruscan Pygmy Shrew Inspired a Bewhiskered Disaster Relief Robot,” http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/technology-blog/etruscan-pygmy-shrew-inspired-bewhiskered-disaster-relief-robot-154004920.html.

From Jim McGuiggan... Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Luther

Jean Paul Sartre and Martin Luther

The atheist Jean Paul Sartre in his 1943 play The Flies caricatures a Christian moaning in light of his sins.

"I stink…I am a mass of rottenness…I have sinned a thousand times, I am a sink of ordure [obscenity, foulness], and I reek to heaven." Jupiter/Zeus responds, "O worthy man!"

Sartre had an immediate political message for his people who were grovelling under the jackboots of Hitler's forces and the Vichy French who collaborated with the Nazis. A member of the French Resistance, Sartre called his people to make a commitment and not to live like cows to be herded and milked and slaughtered. He shared with Nietzsche before him a hatred for this sickeningly passive view of life with its "kick-me-again-it's-all-I-deserve" outlook.

The political nature of the play gave Sartre the chance also to express his existential philosophy (which comes close to worshipping "choice"). The difference between a real human and an animal is that the human has the capacity for choice, the capacity to transcend pressures whether from culture or some other outside source. To grovel and to allow others to tell you how to live and what to think, Sartre insisted, is to reject the one thing that makes humans different from animals. If you will not make a personal commitment where do you differ from a donkey?
For this reason and more Sartre was anti-religious and believed that Christianity produced snivelling wimps whose life was sucked out of them by religious authorities. They spoke for "God" and told the people they were all sinners and could do nothing worthy so no wonder all they ever talked about was their sinfulness; and what a pack of crawlers they saw themselves to be, leaving a slimy trail behind them anywhere they went. So the opening quotation speaks to Christians as well as to the French people.

There is something sickening about the way we go on and on about how sinful we are and there is a toxic kind of teaching that would make us believe that when we pour unbridled scorn and derision on ourselves that God responds, "O worthy man!"

T.E. Jessup had a similar point in mind when he repeats the doggerel that made the rounds a few generations ago:

Once in a saintly passion I cried in deepest grief
O God my heart is filled with guile
Of sinners I'm the chief.
Then came my guardian angel
And whispered from behind,
Vanity my little man
You're nothing of the kind.

I'm thinking not of a healthy confession of our sinfulness but of that pathological obsession with it that paralyses us and keeps us from growth in holiness and vibrant righteousness. I'm including the belief (promoted by the ignorant) that we're not taking our sins seriously if we don't bleat and moan ceaselessly about the evil within us. The truth is we take our sins most seriously when we reflect on the cross of Jesus and truly commit to its meaning rather than inwardly and constantly rehearsing our sins in all their gory details. It's only in the cross that the world's great wrongs are taken with the seriousness with which they deserve. But isn't it astonishing that He who takes our sins more seriously than we can imagine doesn't go on and on and on about them, but speaks forgiveness and then issues a call to vibrant righteousness, to moving on and forgetting the past? This unending whining over our sins, this culture of confessing how evil we are can become addictive, a perverse pleasure.

Sartre has it right when he has a character say, "Clytemnestra is indulging in our national pastime, the game of public confession. Here everyone cries his sins on the housetops.... So you can imagine her delight when she finds someone like you, someone raw and young, who doesn't even know her name, to hear her tale of guilt. A marvellous opportunity! It's as if she were confessing for the first time."

It's more than potentially addictive—it's potentially boring; even we the confessors can find it boring and so we're tempted to embellish and exaggerate to make it more interesting and easier to tell. A pox on it! And a pox on all teaching that leads us to believe that we should be obsessed with our sins. All our talk is wasted on those who care nothing for holiness and all those who are sensitive to every little thing that wounds the Master's heart don't need our religious nagging even if we're throwing in verses here and there that disguise the truth that we're nagging.  There are poor souls who are ill and part of their illness is that they can't stop acting as though they were God, punishing themselves without ceasing. They sneer at every good and wholesome thought that comes into their minds—"You have your nerve to think such things—you, who only last week were…" They jeer at themselves every time they purpose to be involved in a worthy cause or speak a word for God. "Aren't you the perfect hypocrite? Do you think that will make up for…?"  These sad souls need lots of help but whatever else they need they need to come to know that the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is not the Jupiter/Zeus of The Flies. He has no pleasure in endless self-despising.

If you are able—get up and move on, passionately follow the dream God has set in your heart of a glad-hearted righteousness and on the way to it, as Luther has taught us: Sin boldly!  


©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

From Mark Copeland... Paul's Missionary Policies (Acts 14:21-28)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                Paul's Missionary Policies (14:21-28)

INTRODUCTION

1. Following the attempt on Paul's life in the city of Lystra...
   a. The next day Paul and Barnabas went on to Derbe - Ac 14:20
   b. Where they preached the gospel and made many disciples - Ac 14:21

2. At this point, Paul and Barnabas began to retrace their steps...
   a. Visiting many of the places where they had established churches
   b. Finally returning to Antioch of Syria where they had started

[In this lesson we will review "Paul's Missionary Policies" that we can
glean from his first missionary journey.  But first, let's briefly
summarize...]

I. THE RETURN TRIP HOME

   A. VIA LYSTRA, ICONIUM, ANTIOCH... - Ac 14:21
      1. Lystra - where Paul healed a lame man, but then was stoned
      2. Iconium - where Paul had spent some time, but the fled an
         attempt to stone him
      3. Antioch of Pisidia - where Paul preached the gospel in the
         synagogue until expelled from the region 

   B. STRENGTHENING THE DISCIPLES - Ac 14:22
      1. Exhorting them to continue in the faith
      2. Telling them to expect tribulations for the kingdom of God

   C. APPOINTING ELDERS IN EVERY CHURCH - Ac 14:23
      1. With prayer and fasting
      2. Commending them to the Lord 

   D. PREACHING IN PERGA OF PAMPHYLIA - Ac 14:24-25
      1. Perga - from where John Mark left them earlier - Ac 13:13-14
      2. No mention was made of them preaching before, but now they do

   E. VIA ATTALIA TO ANTIOCH OF SYRIA - Ac 14:25-26
      1. Attalia - a city on the coast of Pamphylia
      2. Antioch of Syria - the place from which they began their journey

   F. REPORTING WHAT GOD HAD DONE - Ac 14:27
      1. To the church that had sent them - cf. Ac 13:1-3
      2. Telling how God had opened a door of faith to the Gentiles

[At this point Luke mentions that Paul and Barnabas stayed a long time
with the disciples at Antioch of Syria (Ac 14:28).  Looking back over
Paul's first missionary journey, let's glean what we can about...]

II. PAUL'S MISSIONARY POLICIES

   A. PREACH THE GOSPEL...
      1. He preached the gospel of Jesus Christ - Ac 14:7,21
      2. As commanded by Jesus Himself - Mk 16:15-16

   B. MAKE DISCIPLES...
      1. He made disciples by preaching the gospel - Ac 14:21
      2. Not just baptizing them, but teaching them as disciples - cf. Mt 28:19-20

   C. ESTABLISH LOCAL CHURCHES...
      1. Today, missionaries often establish missions (i.e., parachurch
         organizations)
      2. Paul's policy was to establish churches - Ac 14:23; cf. Ro 16:16

   D. STRENGTHEN AND EXHORT BRETHREN...
      1. Which may explain why he retraced his steps - Ac 14:21-22
      2. Which explains why he visited them again and again - Ac 15:36,41; 16:1-5; 18:23

   E. APPOINT ELDERS IN EVERY CHURCH...
      1. These were bishops (overseers), also known as pastors 
         (shepherds) - Ac 14:23; 20:17,28
      2. Older men who had to meet certain qualifications - cf. 1Ti 3:1-7; Tit 1:5-9
      3. The quick appointment may be due to Jewish converts, already
         well versed in the Word and who may have served earlier as 
         elders in the synagogues

   F. COMMEND THEM TO THE LORD'S CARE...
      1. The early church did not practice "apostolic succession" - Ac 12:2 (James was not replaced)
      2. Instead, apostles left the churches to the grace (providence) of
         God - Ac 14:23; 20:28-32

   G. REPORT TO THE CHURCH THAT SENT THEM...
      1. The church at Antioch of Syria had sent Paul on this journey
         - Ac 13:1-3
      2. It was only proper to report back to them what took place - Ac 14:27

CONCLUSION

1. Paul's missionary policies were actually those of the Holy Spirit...
   a. Who sent Paul and Barnabas on their journey - Ac 13:1-4
   b. Who undoubtedly guided them in the work that they did

2. Today, many churches and missionaries involved in foreign work...
   a. Establish missions instead of churches
   b. Create paternalistic oversight of indigenous churches

3. Such practices are without scriptural authority...
   a. Paul and Barnabas established independent, autonomous congregations
      - Ac 14:23; 20:28
   b. They commended such congregations to God's Word and God's care
      - Ac 14:23; 20:32

If we desire to increase the kingdom of God (and not denominations of 
men), then we do well to study carefully and apply faithfully the 
policies of those like Paul and Barnabas on their missionary journey...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

From Gary... Knowing the unknowable




It is very hard NOT to look at the night sky and wonder "Are we alone in the universe?"!!!  There is so much misinformation (or might we say- disinformation?) out there that it seems almost impossible to know ANYTHING FOR SURE.  The media puts a "spin" on everything, so WHO DO YOU BELIEVE?  For me, the answer is simple: I believe God. Consider this...

Genesis, Chapter 1 (NASB)
Gen 1:31  God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

History has shown us the truth of the WORD OF GOD.  Jesus really lived, the apostles really evangelized the known world and there is hope for life beyond life because Jesus rose from the grave.  So, why not believe this verse from Genesis as well? If everything God made is good and God through the apostle Paul says... "Rom 8:28  And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. (NASB)" does it really matter if we are alone or not?  If we are alone, then God is still God; if not, I like to think that when we are visited by our interstellar neighbors, they will confirm what we already know about the maker of the universe.  Will they look like us? Will they think and act like us? How will they view Jesus?  Don't know and in a way, I don't care; because - it will be good!!!  God has said it- that settles the matter!!!!