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How Old is the Earth - and Does it Matter?
A short series of in-depth articles from author and researcher Paul Garner.
1. How Old is the Earth - and Does it Matter? (Part 1)
God is...Beautiful
Have you ever been in a place that you know well, maybe somewhere quite local, and been suddenly overwhelmed by something of outstanding beauty? Or perhaps further afield, in a forest or by a river or on a mountain. You’ve been there before, but this time is different. Perhaps it’s a dawn chorus, or the dappled sunshine filtering through the leaves, or watching the amazing evening display of flocks of birds before they come down to roost. These are times when you are stopped in your tracks in silent wonder. Only God could do such things.
I heard of a man in New Zealand, aged about 40, who decided to take a couple of weeks off to think through his life options, camped on a high mountain ridge. His tent pitched, he sat that first evening with a cup of coffee, and was treated to the most wonderful sunset – it was like a bowl of liquid fire slowly sinking into the earth. The sky seemed to echo the beauty of it, and everything was quiet, including his heart.
All from one little seed! No wonder it's called 'Cosmos'!! (cosmos sulphureus)Then, in the dusk, he felt a voice say to him, Turn around. So he turned, and from behind the ridge the huge silver moon was just rising. He felt that these awesome displays of beauty were given - just for him. Have you been to places like that? And been quieted in your spirit by unexpected beauty, wondering…?
Myths and Legends - or Truth
Many ancient peoples have myths and legends of our origins, and of the earth’s formation. But the Bible tells of a God who thought of the universe and then spoke it into being - created it - including man (male and female) in His image. He pronounced it all tov me’od, very good (Gen 1:27, 31), and it was beautiful.
Everything we can see today, from the furthest galaxies we can detect, to the electromagnetic forces that hold atoms together: all are His gifts for us to see the reflection of His beauty, evidence of His handiwork and of His glory (Ps 19:1; 24:1-2). Day by day He still creates things of wonder, and His beauty is reflected in the beauty of His creation. It is for us a doorway into the awesome joy of His presence (Ps 16:11).
So whether we look with our own eyes, or through telescopes and microscopes, we are brought to wonder at the beauty of what He has made, and of who He is, that we might worship him in reverence and joy.
“For since the Creation, God’s invisible qualities – His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen and understood, so that we are without excuse” (Rom 1:20). Three times the scriptures command us to worship Him in the beauty of His holiness.
Outward vs Inner Beauty
However, mankind often just looks at the outward appearance. This beauty is transient, and may be only superficial (Matt 23:27). But there is also an inner beauty that is a reflection of God’s beauty, His image. Samuel reminds us that to see real beauty: we should not look at external things, because the Lord looks on the heart, at man’s inner character, his inner beauty (1 Sam 16:7).
So let us be quiet before His beauty, both in nature and in people, and in awe be stilled and know that He is God, our Creator. Wise ones still seek to behold (to gaze upon) the beauty of the Lord (Ps 27:4).
Help us, Lord, to see Your beauty in Your creation, and especially Your inner beauty in other people, having Your image of compassion, grace, forgiveness, love, faithfulness and justice – the meaning of Your Name (Ex 34:6); and to cultivate this beauty in ourselves. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us (Ps 90:17). Amen.
Author: Greg Stevenson
Ordering Our Lives
Around the time of Passover this year I commented on how the Lord, through my family's walk with Him, had illustrated how we should separate our true treasures from the corruption of the world. Now, as we look forward to Sukkot, I find God is prompting our thinking again.
A few days ago my wife Barbi was talking to me about the comparison of lifestyle we have between the two places we live during the year.
On the one hand we spend a third of the year living in our large towing caravan. It has an extremely neat, compact galley; it is open plan with a lounge and my studio, plus a separate bedroom and shower room. Storage space is cleverly designed to be sufficient with careful planning on our part, for our needs. Discussing the galley, we agreed that even with its compactness, by our choice and locating of equipment and supplies, we know where everything is and can make great meals very efficiently.
On the other hand, we spend two thirds of the year living in our house. It is lovely to come back to and has much more space than the caravan, allowing us the luxury of more of everything. But comparing our kitchen with the galley, preparing meals is at times a relative nightmare, trying to free up workspaces and find all the equipment and ingredients.
Comparing the Two
We have realised that the caravan shoe-horns us nicely into a lifestyle of simple, disciplined orderliness that we have come to appreciate and enjoy, whereas the extra house space, requiring much less discipline, frees us into a comparatively chaotic lifestyle that leaves us quite frustrated at times, yearning for the caravan.
With these thoughts in mind the words from a hymn by John Greenleaf Whitter (1872) came back to me:
And let our ordered lives confess the beauty of thy peace...
God has given instructions for orderliness: God’s Torah (teaching), written on our hearts and minds (Heb 10:16; Jer 31:32). The psalmist says in Psalm 119:165:
Those who love your Torah have great peace; nothing makes them stumble.
So, what am I saying?
For Barbi and me, our caravan illustrates the purpose of Torah: teaching us a disciplined way of living through which we are finding peace and joy - perhaps like a Sukkah, the simple temporary dwelling place for pilgrims in an alien world.
By comparison, our house lifestyle illustrates those parts of our lives still needing to become more disciplined before they will produce their peaceful fruit of righteousness.
What to Do?
Taking advantage of what we have learned in the caravan, we are able to establish a better order in our house, and hence in all of our lives. We will also ask God to show us those areas of disorder elsewhere in our lives, and then strive to bring orderliness to them. In so doing, we aim in all parts of our lives to: “stand firm in union with the Lord” (Phil 4:1).
Is this what God is asking of all His people - to learn to be pilgrims and strangers in an increasingly alien world, as we prepare for the return of Jesus?
Author: John Quinlan
Consider the dandelions in the grass...
A parallel on the spread of the Gospel.
Jesus says, “Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow…" (Matt 6:28).
Dandelions, shining in the sun, gloriously golden yet silently set on their mission to multiply. After just a few days of flowering, they close up their petals and seeds form inside their bullet-shaped heads (click here for a wonderful short clip of the dandelion’s lifecycle).
Some ar
e very visible while others, well camouflaged, lie low in the grass or lean on leaves around them. All the while they are preparing persistently for their invasion, ready to populate the landscape prolifically.
The spherical seed heads appear, cunningly crafted with tiny, mature seeds clustered around the centre, each equipped with a perfect parachute - ready for the slightest breath of a breeze to lift them aloft. Drifting dreamily, yet dangling determinedly their deft little depth charges, the seeds are destined to drop into the unsuspecting soil, rapidly reproduce and quickly conquer their new territory.
Love them or loathe them, colonisation has begun! Gardeners growl at them, farmers fling finance at them - billions and billions are spent on herbicides - but the war on dandelions is unwinnable!
Unstoppable Seed Factories
Out in the garden, one dandelion is hardly remarkable - what difference can just one make? But consider: how many dandelions would it take to cover an entire garden? Just one - with a little time and the occasional help of a fascinated child who can't wait to puff on it! Just one seed head can produce 50-170 seeds. Just one plant can produce 2,000 seeds in a year and 20,000 in its lifetime! Dandelions are unstoppable seed factories.
The only way to interrupt their efficiency is to dig deep and uproot the whole plant. 'Off with its head!' won't do as another will appear. And removing the flowers before the seeds form is no quick fix either - dispersal can still take place as the seeds can develop entirely separately from the plant (as this one, found on the ground and abandoned on the banister; such a work of art!).
The Dandelion Effect
These marvels of God's Creation surely have a message for us: just as art reflects the character of an artist, Creation reflects the character of the Creator. Jesus often used His Creation as a parable to explain the Kingdom of God, employing such everyday things as a mustard seed, yeast, wheat, weeds - and flowers – to teach important lessons.
Consider, then, the ‘Dandelion Effect’: a living seed of faith in Christ is sown in the soil of a hungry heart. It anchors itself by growing a deep root - a foundation of reading and studying God's word, and communicating with Him through prayer. The delight of being found by God and a whole new life of belonging to Him can emanate in an irresistible shining - a blossoming from within. And even though faith may be brand new, its seeds are rapidly ready to share. The wind of the Holy Spirit takes them wherever He wills, to whoever is ready to receive Him.
Dandelions can grow just about anywhere, whatever the soil conditions. So also the Gospel of Christ can flourish in the most unlikely and difficult of places. It cannot be thwarted, multiplying marvellously even where efforts are made to stamp it out, as in many nations today, especially in the east.
Just one plant…2,000 seeds a year…20,000 in its lifetime…
Jesus said, "I will build My church and the gates of hell will not prevail against it" (Matt 16:18).
Author: Sally Bolton
The NHS at 70
The NHS received a birthday promise from the Prime Minister this week of an additional £20 billion, to coincide with money released after Brexit, topped up by extra tax. This is to bring some relief to the pressure that the NHS is under.
The Real Problems
70 years ago, surely it was the leading of God to bring a national system into being that promised the best of healthcare 'from cradle to grave' for all the people of our country – helping to instil hope for the rebuilding of a better nation after the devastation of war.
Who could have foreseen the breakdown of our society only one generation later, bringing unbearable pressures on this health service? This week, coincident with the announcement of extra funding, we hear that there is now a new sickness for the NHS to treat resulting from children becoming obsessed with computer games. Will extra money really solve our problems?
The breakdown of family life and the denial of even the existence of God, who has helped us in times past, will not be solved through cash injection into the NHS alone. Some Christian medical professionals have even lost their jobs through offering prayer to patients or trying to point them to God.
Learning to Seek the Lord
We Christians often find it difficult to balance our expectations of God’s help in times of trouble. Should we be able to cope through prayer alone, or through visits to the GP? How much should we seek help from our local medical teams, seeing them as part of God’s provision?
I have an interesting anecdote from the time when the NHS was in its infancy, to illustrate this balance of prayer and practical helps. At a Bible College with which I am familiar, two students went to the Director at the same time, with the same medical complaint. He paused in prayer before guiding them. One he sent to the GP and the other he sent to her room to pray.
So here is a thought to take us prayerfully through the week as we continue to hear deliberations from the Government and the media as to how best to prop up the funding of the NHS: What is God saying to us about sickness in our nation and how we might return to full health, not just individually but also nationally? This sickness that besets us is both physical and spiritual.
Author: Clifford Denton
Learning (and remembering) by heart
How do you read? Quick, slow, skim, glance? Or word for word – too slow!? Last year I read that John F Kennedy read ten newspapers every morning over breakfast, and managed to retain all the important facts for his coming decisions that day. Do we retain things we read last week, last month - last year?
Memory is a funny thing and often seems to play tricks. Yet we all know how, when we can’t recall something (like names!), it often comes to the surface later, after we let the process go. So the brain continues to search for it.
Storing up good things
I still remember the benefit at school of learning by repetition – we called it learning ‘by heart’ – an interesting phrase. In Hebraic understanding, the heart is also the seat of the mind and the will. Things we put in our heart often stay there. They help in the decisions we make.
Our hearts are treasure stores: where your treasure is, there will be your heart also (Luke 12:24). Jesus told us that a good man, out of the good treasures in his heart, brings forth good things (Matt 12:35). He also taught that we shall have to give account for every careless word spoken! Out of the abundance of the heart, the mouth speaks! Where is our treasure? Earth, or Heaven?
When we read the Bible carefully and invest time to hear and obey its wisdom, we grow in our understanding of the Word and in the knowledge of God. This, in turn, becomes for us a store of treasure to draw on in times of need. Are the Word’s riches our treasure store?
Reading with a ‘hearing’ heart
Proverbs 2 is an encouragement to receive the treasure of God into our hearts by stretching or extending them for wisdom and understanding. Solomon asked not so much for wisdom as for a discerning heart (1 Kings 3:9), but in Hebrew it is lev sh’ma - a ‘hearing’ heart. Solomon asked to hear God’s wisdom in his own heart.
With many other voices around today, it is God’s charge to us also:
If you will receive my treasure, attend to wisdom and extend your heart to understanding; if you cry for understanding, seek her as silver and search for her as hidden treasures, then you shall know the fear of God and find the knowledge of God. For God gives wisdom; out of His mouth comes knowledge and understanding. (Prov 2:1-6)
The following verses reveal to us the treasure of ‘reading’ His word and ‘hearing’ with our heart: from this comes victory for the upright, a shield for our walk, a guard for our path and protection for our way (Prov 2:7-8).
Treasure in Jars of Clay
We know that we have this treasure in earthen vessels (2 Cor 4:7). But this should make us that much more aware of our need to seek wisdom, understanding and knowledge from the One who is The Word.
John tells us that Yeshua was The Word right from the beginning (John 1:1). Let us seek and hear Him, for His Father said, “This is My Son, listen to Him” (Luke 9:35; also Prov 1:33).
Author: Greg Stevenson
A Wedding
May was the month of two weddings, according to my family.
For the Royal Wedding, my wife sat glued to the television much of the day, but the second wedding - that of my third daughter Sophie (we have five daughters) - was by far the more important for us. Almost a year was taken up with its preparation (far too much according to my reckoning!) and God heard our prayers, blessing the celebration with shalom and fine weather.
Such little rays of happiness continue within a world that steps farther away from God and towards prophesied disaster.
I remember a conversation with my daughters some years back where they expressed their desire for time and opportunity to experience marriage and families before Jesus returns. Perhaps with the experience of life, us older ones might discourage that sentiment as foolish and illogical, though I remember when it was also my own dream. So, what does the Bible tell us of such matters?
God’s Heart for Family
God’s heart is totally family-orientated. Take for instance:
Children too are a gift from Adonai: the fruit of the womb is a reward. The children born when one is young are like arrows in the hand of a warrior. How blessed is the man who has filled his quiver with them… (Psalm 127:3-5)
To experience the blessings of a God-centred family is to come close to our Heavenly Father’s heart. And it is best to start with a God-centred marriage.
Each time we celebrate a marriage it acts out (for those who have eyes to see) the wedding feast we believers are corporately looking forward to as Jesus’ Bride when he returns as King and Bridegroom. The Apostle John says:
Let us rejoice and be glad! Let us give him the glory! For the time has come for the wedding of the Lamb, and his Bride has prepared herself… (Rev 19:7)
Jesus took time to participate in marriage celebrations as we know from John 2:1-11 where he ensured the success of a wedding by turning water into wine. He also used the wedding picture in several of his teachings:
- Jesus described the kingdom of Heaven as like a king who prepared a wedding feast for his son. (Matt 22:1-14)
- Jesus likened the kingdom of Heaven to the preparation of wise and foolish virgins for a wedding with the consequences of being prepared or not. (Matt 25:1-13)
Furthermore, marriage will be part of God’s creation right up until the time Jesus returns. In Matthew 24:38-41 Jesus told his listeners that “before the Flood, people went on…taking wives and becoming wives…and they didn’t know what was happening until the Flood came and swept them away. It will be just like that when the Son of Man comes”; we will be continuing such everyday activities as farming, milling, having our meals, celebrating marriages, etc.
“So…” (Jesus had already in v32 prophesied signs in order that we might be aware when his return is close), “So…” do all these things but “stay alert, like a house owner who knows a thief is coming but not exactly when” (v42-44).
A Word of Caution
It is important to balance the priority of our marriages on earth with the expectation of the Lord’s return for His Bride. Paul’s advice in 1 Corinthians 7 (vv25-30), stressing the priority of preparing for the latter, recommends that “In a time of stress…because the present scheme of things in this world won’t last much longer”, it can be good (though not essential) for a person to stay as he is: singles to remain single and marrieds to remain married.
I think Paul’s concern was that these everyday affairs can distract from what is more important - namely holding to and sharing the good news of salvation. As was the case in Paul’s days, so will be the case again in the days to come.
To Marry or Not to Marry?
I believe that we are still living in a time when it is good to encourage our children to experience marriage and have families, if that is their desire, making their marriage promises to each other in the sight of God, with family and friends to witness.
Who knows - it is possible that in the times ahead, these very families will become the hub of many little house congregations. So, go find good God-fearing husbands, daughters of mine!
Author: John Quinlan
Bible quotes from the Complete Jewish Translation.
Letters from Prison
A letter wound its way into my hands this week from a man currently serving a lengthy sentence in prison. Raised a nominal Catholic, during his time inside he has come to know the Gospel and given his life to Jesus. Now in his 30s, incarcerated for over ten years, his unfolding testimony is wonderful to witness.
The letter speaks of a man who, alone in his cell with no-one but the Lord and nothing but Scripture, is meeting profoundly with God in a way that is completely changing his life. It is so refreshing and challenging in its simplicity that I must share it:
I’ve had a lot of time to spend with God and I have to tell you that I finally really feel His love. I’ve felt it before but not like this. I feel full of the Holy Spirit.
So this is what happened. I was feeling really lost, low and confused and really lonely, and I remember something [I had been told] about forgiveness and telling God everything. So I did, I told Him everything I’ve ever done in my whole life and had done to me – every dirty little sin. I asked to have a clear head and to be filled with the Holy Spirit. I prayed for about five hours and it really worked – I feel amazing – for the first time in a long time I don’t feel angry, I feel happier and I am smiling :-)
I could stop there. But the next part was unforgettable:
There is more…so a long time ago I heard God tell me he wants me to be an evangelist. Well I asked Him again: if this is what He wants me to do, can He show me? Ezekiel came to my mind so I started to read Ezekiel 1 and 2. Then Ezekiel 2:6-8 made me feel really warm and like He was talking to me, and also 3:17-18. I then got scared and stopped reading!
I don’t know what’s happening to me…but it’s good…can you find out what I need to do to be an evangelist? Or can I just go on the street and preach?
What an amazing God we serve, who sees the lonely, the lost and forgotten – those who have been left behind by society – and meets them when nobody else can, transforming them from the inside out until they not only know Him, but want to make Him known to any who will listen. Truly: He can raise up children out of stones to tell of His great name (Matt 3:9).
In times to come, the Gospel will once again be preached in this nation – although it may come from unexpected places and forgotten voices.
In the meantime, will we forsake all and be obedient to the call of the Lord, wherever it takes us and whatever it demands of us? Do we know how much we’ve been forgiven? I speak to myself as much as to you.
Join me in praying for this man – and for the many more like him – and for ourselves.
Author: Frances Rabbitts
'isms or Balance?
Following the Royal Wedding at the weekend we were greeted with newspaper headlines on the Monday such as this, in the online edition of The Telegraph:
Meghan Markle to fight for feminism: Prince Harry’s new wife given Palace blessing to champion women’s rights.
On the face of it this seems good that the new member of the Royal family will stand up for something of current concern in the nation. However, the more I think about it, the more I wonder whether the multitude of ‘isms’ we have in today’s society is more in danger of taking us out of balance and dividing us than restoring a balance and uniting us.
Feminism, globalism, Islamism, multi-culturalism, homophobism, capitalism, humanism, socialism…to name just a few of the virtual wedges being driven into society, challenging us on which side of each contemporary divide we stand. Then the voices get louder and the next thing we know is that what were once moderating influences and topics of open debate become authoritarian forces that brook no dissent.
Is this the biblical way? I don’t think so. The biblical way is one of balance in all things. The multi-faceted truths of God’s word are set in dynamic, healthy relationship with each other - such as justice and mercy, family and community, love for God and our neighbour. When we separate out a single truth and major on it, even in the Church, we often breed division and imbalance rather than the opposite.
We experience this, for example, in our denominationalism. Even when we seek to bring balance in a certain area of truth such as, for example, recognising God as Creator, we can easily corner ourselves into a special interest group such as what Creationism can become. And dare I include in the list of potential divisive "isms" in the Church, aspects of feminism which are fanned up by the world around us?
Should we, therefore, pay special attention to this in our Christian communities and not allow the swirling tides of the world to dictate the way we view our ministry and mission? Is not this summed up by the Apostle Paul in his exhortation to unity of the faith, symbolised by the picture of the One New Man of Ephesians 2:15?
Author: Clifford Denton
What do we do with First Fruits?
In two days’ time, we can join with our Jewish friends to celebrate the fourth of the feasts of the Lord, that He gave as appointed times (mo’edim), through the year to celebrate His goodness and provision and (today as long ago) to point people to the coming Messiah.
Shavuot (‘weeks’, from the word sheva meaning ‘seven’) is the biblical Feast that occurs 50 days after the Sabbath in Passover (Lev 23:15-17), when the people had counted for themselves 7x7 days (seven complete Sabbaths).
The day after the 7th Sabbath was marked by taking the first sheaf of the wheat harvest, and waving two freshly-made loaves as a free-will offering to the Lord of the first fruits of the harvest. They rejoiced with the poor, and remembered their release from slavery in Egypt. Much later there was a Rabbinic tradition that it was also the anniversary of the giving of Torah at Mt Sinai.
Giving Thanks
But what has first fruits to do with us? One of the ways we can grow and mature in our lives is to take opportunities to be thankful. This helps us to think of others, and to realise that most of what we have we have been given.
When we stop to think about it, we are the recipients of so many gifts and skills for which to be thankful. God gives us many simple things as expressions of His love for us – a beautiful sunset, a child’s smile, an answered prayer, a random act of kindness from a total stranger, an unexpected visit from a friend at a difficult time in our lives, the grace to help someone who is struggling, and even the breath in our lungs and a lifetime’s beating heart.
Try finding one thing every day for which to be thankful, even in hard times, and write it down as a thank-you letter to the One who has given everything for us.
First Fruits of Eternal Life
We would not be able to raise such thanksgiving for these little ways of lifting our spirits without the best ‘first fruits’ celebration of all, marked by the third Feast that the Lord set up: Chag haBikkurim, the Feast of First Fruits (in this case, of the barley harvest).
This was celebrated on the day Jesus was raised from the dead, the third day after He gave Himself for us as a sin offering upon the Cross. For through Adam’s sin all die; even so, in Christ all will be made alive. Christ is the first fruits of God’s harvest. When He returns, He will be joined by those who belong to Him (1 Cor 15:20-23).
So, as with the barley harvest at Passover and the wheat harvest at Shavuot, let us offer to God the first and the best that we have as a thank offering. Jesus offered Himself, a perfect sinless offering for us, and His life is a guarantee of the resurrection of all God’s redeemed people. That’s a good place to say, Amen (that’s the truth). Thank you, Lord!
Offering God Our Best
The Bible teaches clearly that the first of everything we produce or receive belongs to the Lord, and not to us. We should offer the best portion, the first fruits, to Him, and this includes our money (tithing – one tenth of the best of our income), our time (Shabbat is His day given to bless us if we offer it to Him), our family and children (especially the first one), our lives (the way we eat, sleep, work, play and worship) and all our creative productivity (both for us and for others).
A good start would be, like Solomon, to ask for a discerning heart (lev sh’ma) - a hearing (and obeying) heart (2 Kings 3:9) to receive the Lord’s word and direction, and to bring Him our first fruits as thank offerings with gratitude in our hearts (Col 3:16), most especially for the indescribable gift of His Son (2 Cor 9:15) and the eternal life that He came to offer (Rom 6:23).
That is a good place to say ‘Thank you!’
Author: Greg Stevenson
