Comments for Wonder of Creation

Comment on Beyond the Joy of Pets by sesh

sesh — Tue, 13 Mar 2012 16:18:17 +0000

This article has been a great source of comfort to me at the loss of my 12-year companion, Edithann, a wonderful German Shepherd dog who was devoted to our family. I am comforted by the Scriptures because they remind me that God is the creator of all life. He cares deeply for us and gives us these animals for our pleasure. Thank you for these kind words.

Comment on Losing Our Joy in Nature by markthog

markthog — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 18:22:31 +0000

Excellent reminder Dean. Thank you. It is troubling when kids, or adults, get more “wonder” out of the television or video games than they do in a romp through the great outdoors. You post has challenged me to try to spend more time walking through the woods with my granddaughters.

Comment on Losing Our Joy in Nature by yooperjack

yooperjack — Fri, 09 Mar 2012 17:06:47 +0000

When we lived down state I knew some farmers they where very nice people, hard working on the land. They where close to nature every day.

Now in the U.P. of MI I have a big window in “MY” room so I can bring the outdoors in. I have pictures of animals and nature on my walls. It’s nice.

In the spring and fall we get deer in the back yard.

Comment on Taking a Technology Break by Dean Ohlman

Dean Ohlman — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 17:15:11 +0000

We’d be okay in our part of Michigan. Cattail roots are edible and easy to find and full of starch. I’ve got all my foraging books and survival manuals handy!

Comment on Taking a Technology Break by yooperjack

yooperjack — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 15:07:17 +0000

Dean: What if on 12-21-12 we have a sun flare storm that knocks out all of the electricity in this world both AC and DC? It can happen you know. I thought about that and started to write a book about it but got bored and scraped it. We would have to live the life of the Amish. Millions of people would die in the first weeks. The food stores would be empty in days.

Think about it, it will bless your socks off. LOL

Comment on The Technological Bluff by Pat

Pat — Mon, 27 Feb 2012 19:41:43 +0000

It’s curious that I have gained access to this message about the limitations of technology through technology itself…I don’t disagree with the basic tenet of the post, but I do think it’s great that this ministry and many others take advantage of technology, even as we must accept a sensible critique of it.

Comment on God’s Loving Curse by markthog

markthog — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 18:50:59 +0000

Thanks for the reply Dean. I read your “Affinity” post (you reposted it today I believe) and I appreciate the interesting contrasts you present. I couldn’t help thinking of this passage as I read:

“Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.(Philippians 2: 9-11 ESV)

So it appears that even the perishing will give glory to God, certainly too late, but they will bow the knee. This is in line with the most oft quoted Old Testament reference in the New Testament, Psalm 110:1, which reads “The LORD says to my Lord:’Sit at my right hand,until I make your enemies your footstool.’” God’s enemies, the perishing, will be made his footstool. Right now, they are the tares referred to by Jesus in the parable of the wheat and the tares. Even tares can do helpful things, and even the redeemed can do harmful things during our sojourn in the present age. Jesus is reigning now, and his earth is still functioning in self-corrective ways: people bear the (hopefully corrective) consequences of sin, and the earth can “heal” even when we mess things up. Too much carbon dioxide? Plants love carbon dioxide, they flourish, and produce more oxygen, bringing things into balance again. Certainly the damage can have terrible side effects for a season, but our Lord is seated on the throne, ruling there through a church which is subject to him. I know I’m rambling a bit, but I’ll repeat the phrase from 1 Timothy 6:17 “God richly provides us with everything to enjoy.” We need to learn to steward our charge wisely, and I appreciate your ministry in helping readers like me to be a good steward of the earth.

Comment on God’s Loving Curse by Dean Ohlman

Dean Ohlman — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 16:29:26 +0000

Thanks for your good comments. There is a lot in what you say that I agree with, but I don’t have as much confidence as you that what we call “resources” are intended by God primarily for human benefit. He does have an entire cosmos and a good earth to sustain, and that earth needs for its proper ecological functions much of what we call resources. I’ve read too much of Jacques Ellul to not understand that in many ways technology calls the shots, not humanity. It often bites us more than we care to think. I will repeat here the beginning of T. S. Eliot’s “Choruses From the Rock” (Christ) that I used in an earlier reply:

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of the Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to GOD.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust. . . .

You might also want to read this post from a few years back: http://wonderofcreation.org/2008/10/19/affinity/

Dean

Comment on God’s Loving Curse by markthog

markthog — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 10:52:10 +0000

Forgive the tardy comment, Dean. I just discovered your blog and am enjoying perusing its content. In regards to the question of technology development and “becoming a fat and loveless culture,” I see it this way…Noah could not have saved his family and the land-based creatures had the “technology” to build the ark not been available. The same with the Exodus and the construction of the tabernacle. The technology involved in making the curtains, hammering the gold plating, and fashioning the utensils out of bronze was not intrinsic to man from the beginning. It had developed over time. God’s dominion mandate in Genesis 1:28 includes, I believe, a command to use and develop the resources He put in the earth. As you mention in this article, the problem is not with the rest of creation. The problem of sin resides in us. God “richly provides us with everything to enjoy” (1 Timothy 6:17), but the abuse of these things is the concern. Sin, over time, has not become more sinful. We just invent new tools with which to make it manifest! In the same way, we develop new tools that enable us to extend His kingdom in more effective ways throughout the earth. The technology which allows for your wonderful blog is one example.

It’s interesting how, as we discover and use new resources, there is a time period where the use of a new resource is unrefined and damaging, but as time goes on we develop ways to reduce pollution, waste, and negative side effects. As one resource begins to phase out due to depletion or regulation, technological improvements allow us to discover and use other resources in better, less harmful ways (thanks to people like you who remain the “conscience” of these efforts). Do we really believe coal, oil, and natural gas were not meant, by God, to be used for energy during this time period in the development of culture? I could go on, but I think you get my drift.

Thank you, Dean, for your excellent contributions in this blog and for the opportunity to discuss these ideas!

Comment on Celebrate the Mysteries by beholdthelord

beholdthelord — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 02:04:51 +0000

Thank you so much for articulating so accurately how I feel about the mystery of God and His creation.