Mayday

The following is a fictional allegory:

We were turned around. Visibility was non-existent. The thick black smoke was no longer content to remain at the ceiling and pushed persistently down upon our heads. Already hot from battling a blaze in sixty-five pounds of gear, the room was heating up. We needed to get out. Flash-over was imminent. And if we were going to make it home, we needed to navigate this home that we had never entered before and find the door. The problem was, we didn't know if we were in the A-B corner or the C-D corner.

That's when everything became automatic. I reached up to my radio mic clipped to my collar and keyed the radio: "Mayday, Mayday, Mayday. Units 312 and 317 located on the ground division; further location unknown. Air at 50%. Visibility is poor." I released the mic and listened for Incident Command to acknowledge mayday. As soon as I heard IC confirm my mayday and activate the RIT (Rapid Intervention Team) my partner and I activated the PASS (Personal  Alert Safety System) alarms on our air packs so that RIT would be able to locate us. The next thing we did was to feel up and down the hose line in our hands. When my hand hit a coupling, I repeated the saying in my head: "smooth, bump, bump, to the pump." With my gloved hand, I located the smaller diameter portion of the coupling and the two larger portions that would point me in the direction of the pump and thus the safety of the outside. 

Following this hose line, my partner and I snaked our way through the house for what seemed to be an eternity but in reality was barely even minutes. At times, as we moved along that hose line, my partner questioned if we were headed in the right direction. But then we would remember all the times we had practiced this procedure and decided to trust our training and have faith that the line in our hands was connected to safety. As we neared the door, we saw the RIT headed our way in their search for us. We canceled our mayday over the radio and crawled out the front door and into the yard. 

As I reflected about this incident and the manner in which my partner and I overcame the dire danger of the situation, I was struck by the spiritual application in my life. Just as I and my fellow firefighters regularly train for those times when we might be faced with such an emergency, so I daily train for the way in which I will respond to the spiritual crises in my life. As a firefighter, if during training I practice attempting to find my way out without requesting aid or without using a hose line to guide me out of danger, then, when I'm minutes away from flash-over and adrenaline kicks in and everything becomes automatic, I will be a needless line of duty death statistic. As a Christian, if I respond to the minor crises in my life on my own and refuse to utilize the council given in Scripture, then, when the real storm hits I will not survive. But, if I daily lean upon Christ and His word in every situation, my automatic response in the big trials will be the same. 

A Tale of Two World-Views

When it comes to the origin of the world, there are two world-views which dominate the mainstream scientific discussion. The first, Atheism, relies heavily on the macroevolutionary model. The other, Judeo-Christianity, leans on the idea that everything on this earth is the result of a literal six-day creation. However, one of these world-views has some fatal flaws.  

The foundation upon which Atheism sits, the macroevolutionary model, fails to reconcile itself with two important rules of science. The first states that in order for an idea to be scientifically valid, it must be both observable and repeatable. But when examined more closely, the macroevolutionary model is neither observable nor repeatable. When one asks a proponent of macroevolution for an observable example, he is given examples of microevolution instead and told that macroevolution requires units of time far too large to be observable. And, try as they might, no experiment has successfully recreated the processes of macroevolution. Despite it's wide and hearty acceptation, the macroevolutionary model fails to meet perhaps the most fundamental rule of science. 

The second rule of science that poses a problem for the foundation of Atheism is known as the rule of entropy. Webster's Dictionary defines entropy as "a measure of the degree of disorder in a substance or system: entropy always increases and available energy diminishes in a closed system". According to Classical Mechanics page 78, a closed system is a "physical system which doesn't exchange any matter with its surroundings, and isn't subject to any force whose source is external to the system." As macroevolutionists describe it, according to this definition, our world would be classified as a closed system. This would require our planet to move from an ordered state of existence to a disordered one. However, they claim the opposite to be true. They claim that our planet started out as infinitely disordered and over eons of (unobservable and unrepeatable) time, is becoming more ordered. Again, the foundation of Atheism requires the reversal of a fundamental rule of science. 

However, Christianity fits nicely within these rules of science. Christianity states that when God created our world, it was infinitely ordered. But, when man rejected God as the sustainer of that order, entropy began to increase; the perfect order with which God had created the planet, deteriorated. Even the lives of the people inhabiting the earth fell apart. But the gospel, or good news, is the fulfillment of the other rule of science which Atheism fails to satisfy: the creative power of God is both observable and repeatable. If man will yield and permit the creative power of God to work in his life, then that re-creation (creation repeated) will be observable as God restores man's life to one of order. 

And to top the cake: those who allow God to re-create their lives, will witness the physical re-creation of the physical world!

Holding God Hostage

We've all heard the story of Jacob as he wrestled with the Angel of the Lord. The story has been recounted to us since we were little children. But, I don't think we truly understand the significance of the events in the story. At least I didn't until I recently had a similar experience.

Jacob has been away from his father's home for decades. His father and mother have both died, his father-in-law has abused Jacob's hard work, and the influences in the home of his wives' father are not conducive to raising sons in the fear and admonition of the Lord. And so, Jacob packs up his family and begins the journey back to his childhood home and the land of promise. But Jacob's brother, whom Jacob had cheated more than once remained a threat not only to Jacob, but also to Jacob's family.

As concerned as Jacob was for the safety of his wives and children, another matter weighed upon his heart. He looked back on his life and the mistakes that he had made in his life and they were overwhelming. I imagine he looked at the lives of his father and grandfather and compared his own disaster of a life to theirs, not to mention what he knew God had expected of him, and felt the weight of shame and helplessness. He looked at his present situation and peril and couldn't help but think that his previous choices and actions had placed not only himself, but also those he cared for and loved in this grave danger.

And so, Jacob does the only thing he knows to do: he goes off to seek his God's miraculous intervention in prayer. But as the night wears on, Jacob feels no assurance of God's protection. Instead, he feels that his sins are too great and that God has passed him by. Jacob is desperate. And to make matters worse, he is seemingly attacked as he pours out his heart to his God. Jacob attempts to fight back and struggles through the night with this stranger. As he struggles, he realizes that his attacker is holding back and yet Jacob can still not overcome him. This realization is followed by the conclusion that he must be wrestling with God himself.

Jacob determines that he knows that the God he was raised to worship and serve is one of love and mercy and is incapable of abandoning His repentant servant. And, so, Jacob transitions from fighting for his life to attempting to hold onto his last thread of Hope. As the morning light begins to crack across the sky the Angel of the Lord says "let Me go for the day breaks." It is now that Jacob expresses his faith in the love and mercy of God. Jacob responds, "I will not let You go, except You bless me."

Have you ever felt, like Jacob did that your mistakes and rebellion have gotten yourself and those you love in trouble than God is willing to get you out of? These thoughts are of the enemy, and are allowed by God to test our faith. When faced by these doubts, cling, as Jacob did, to your Savior and proclaim "I will not let You go, except You bless me!"