In the Beginning there was Logic

I wanted to go back and expound on an earlier post for a couple of readers so here is more on the greatest first line of any book ever written.

Gen 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth";
What an incredible verse. This one simple verse is as deep as eternity and as wide as infinity. Look at the some of the elements that are here. We have a "beginning" we have prime cause for that beginning "God" and we have a description of what it was that He began "the heavens and the earth".
But there is more we can see three perfect arguments against the stance that there is no Truth.

First we have time. This is a Truth that is non-arguable. Just think about it for a moment, oops there it is, time. No matter where in the universe you go time exist. The use of clocks may not but the measure of time still does. Be it measured by the rotation of a planet, the changing of seasons, the movement of the stars, or the speed of light. Time exists in all places. Are you reading this blog now or earlier or later. Yes you exist in the now, you may live in the past, you may long for the future but you exist in the now. On the other hand God is outside of time. He is Eternal, time was created a point in eternity and will never cease to exist from that moment on. Why because time is measured by the order of events, I started this blog earlier and am writing it now hoping to finish it later. Casting our crowns before the thrown of Yahweh is a mark in time. It have an order, there-for it is a measurement of time. before we were casting our crowns down what were we doing and what did we do following. Because God created time, time exists.
Did God did not create time out of His need to mark events. He created time so that we would understand the difference between us, finite, created beings, and Him, infinite, eternal, everlasting. We can't understand His eternal existence because everything in our experience has a beginning, a point of coming into existence. It also has a point of ceasing to exist, like my last car.

Then there is the Truth of space. the heavens and the earth. These are "separate" entities. They exist in different places at the same time. Space is marked by distance, and by proximity. Think about the page you are looking at right now. Each letter is separated by a gap. That gap is a space that allows us to distinguish one individual letter from another. The same thing is true of planets, trees, atoms, and people. There is a physics law that says it is impossible for to objects of like mass to occupy the same space at the same time. If you have ever gone to a rock concert or an international soccer match you experiences this truth when everyone around you was trying to fill the space you were already in.
The truth of space is inarguable by logical means. If someone tries to just tell them you can't understand what they are saying and ask them to come "closer". Were space not a Truth then they would not be separate from you and their voice would have no need to travel to you.
No matter where you go there you are once again the Truth of space. If you could fly at light speed to the ends of the universe you would still be separated from the rest of the universe by space, and within that vast space you would occupy a minute amount of space.

The next Truth is the existence of Matter. Many puns could be had with this one. The law that I mentioned in conjunction with space also apply to matter. We tend to measure space by points of matter. A house is measured from wall to wall, a trip from home to home, a kiss from lip to lip.
While I have heard several people try to actually argue the true existence of matter I am yet to see them pass through a wall (apart from a lot of pain and destruction), they usually want to sit in a chair during the discussion but the doesn't "matter". They might even try to elaborate the matter by stick my chest matter with their finger matter. But that really doesn't matter either.
No matter where they choose to argue about matter they still are matter, sitting matter in a multi-story accumulation of matter located on a large ball of matter that is bathed in a form of matter that we call light.
Even the void of space, some scientist are saying today, is actually a form of matter.
So in short the Truth of Matter, matters any time, any place, no matter how far the distance or how wide the space.

There is one more pivotal, awesome Truth buried in this little verse, the hinge pin verse for all of creation. That truth is the truth of causality. It for every effect there is a cause. That Prime Causality is God. All of creation, seen and unseen can trace it's cause back to God. Or as John states in the parallel to Gen 1:1 - John 1:3 speaking of The Word " All things came into being through Him, and without Him not even one thing came into being that has come into being."
As a people we are always looking for that one cause in our lives. If you have any abnormal behavior counselors try to get to the origin of the behavior, the original cause for this effect (what is seen in your life).
When an airplane crashes hundreds of people are pulled in to assess the scene and determine the cause of the accident. We do autopsies to determine the cause of death, and cartoonist make a fortune make in jokes about who cause the writing on the wall or the spilling of the milk (Not Me is always at fault).
We know in the depth of our souls that there is a Prime Causality, the First Cause. That cause was not a big bang (though he could have used one). Why?, because evolutionary science counters the evidence laws when it states "nothing existed and then that nothing exploded".
Nothing is the only thing that can come from nothing. Witness the mathematical equivalent 0x0=0, 0-0=0, 0+0= thats right 0!
Now there is a huge mis-understanding when it comes to the law of causality. The law does not say that the cause of the effect has to have a cause as well. When a child (or even an adult) asks "so who caused God" they are applying a non-existent truth. The cause is a cause not an effect, only the effect has to have a cause.
In the example of the big bang there does have to be a cause for the effect (bang), a "what made that happen".
God the Father is not an effect, He is the First Cause, the ultimate reality behind the physical law that we see acted out in our lives.

May the Lord cause His blessing to fall upon you and your household.
John

Painfully Hillarious

One of my coworkers found this on YouTube.... Absolutely hilarious, now you know why part of the job of a corrections officer is to protect inmates from themselves.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UxJxscQfMqs

John

defensive tactics training

This week I finally got the departments DT training. Two days of hitting, getting hit, getting tied in knots and generally bruised up.
Talk about great fun. No really, this is the stuff I love. I used to spend a fortune going to this type of class and now I GET PAID to take them. It doesn't get better than that.
The pictures I have included are of a couple of my battle scars from the ppct section of class. It hurt like the dickens but i wouldn't have missed it for the world. The one on the left is a 90deg off shot of my right bicep and the on the right is my right inside thigh. The pics are slightly washed out because thats what my phones camera does.
May the Lord bless you and your household.
John

The Art of Reading

In this culture of flash advertising, instant messaging and headline news, the Art of Reading has begun to disappear.

The average pew sitting church member only reads the bible about once every two months and then only in a cursory fashion. Reading through a few verses or even a chapter during a rough night only to forget what was read by the next morning.

When it comes to reading the scriptures there are basically three way you can read.

1. Casually reading for a few minutes now and then. This is relaxed reading of the Word, just for the sake of reading the Word. Reading the Bible for fun and to fill time without digging deep is still reading the Bible. Jesus told His disciples about the Holy Spirit "But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatever I have said to you." You and I were not there but His words were recorder for us and it is through those words that the Holy Spirit will bring to life remembrances. So ANY regular reading of the bible give Him something to draw from.
2. Contemplative reading. Contemplatively of meditative reading takes longer but can be greatly revealing and infinitely rewarding. Whenever you read the Bible it is a good idea to pray of understanding and illumination before you begin but with this type of reading you need to take time when you are done reading, whether a verse, line or book, and reflect upon what you have read and what it might mean in your life. Look at the eternal lessons, the today in my life lessons, what does this scripture reveal about God and His character and what does it reveal about me and my character?
3. In depth study. This is when you read not only the verses or chapter but ask the big questions and do word studies. Get out your dictionary and your concordance and start looking at the meanings of the words in the Greek and Hebrew. Look up the historical significance of the region where the event took place. Find out what you can about the people being addressed, were they farmers, shepherds, Pharisees or Samaritans? What did the original hearers actualy understand the teaching to mean.

Reading the Bible in a well rounded fashion includes all three of these methods. The focus may change over time as to which one you give the greatest effort and importance to, but to some extent all three must be present in your life to get the most from God's love letter to his bride.

May the Lord bless you and your household.

John

9 round card deck tabata routine

Ya' I know that's a lot of words for a title, but,,,,, well you'll understand in a minute.
As I noted in and earlier entry, I have gone back to using the Tabata protocol for a couple, three days/weeks. I really enjoy it. It is tough but great.
Well I also have a problem with getting bored easily so I came up with a great way to play around with Tabata for each and every routine while using a given set of movements.
To start with you will need a deck of cards. Then assign exercises to different card groups.
Since I want to do ab work with each workout I have assigned the face cards ab movements
King-prone ab bicyclers; Queen-prone leg extensions; Jack-bench crunches; Aces-alternating side crunches. Now the number cards I have broken into 4 groups. Red 1-5 = recumbant bike; Red 6-10 = stepper; Black 1-5 = hack squats; and Black 6-10 = squats to rising knee ups.
Before the workout you draw a Nine card hand, lets say King, 2 of Clubs, 4 of spades, Ace, Ace, 10 of hearts, 2 of spades, Joker, 3 of hearts.
Each card eaquals a 20 second round with a 10 second break to get to the next station and write down the reps completed.
To start the workout do a 5 minute warm up of some sort. I use the recumbant bike usually.
Then do your first round
20 seconds: Prone ab cyclers
10 seconds rest
20 seconds; hack squats
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: hack squats
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: alternating side crunches
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: alternatind side crunches
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: stepper
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: hack squats (AGAIN!!)
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: Joker (joker = whatever exercise you absolutely HATE the most!) BURPEES
10 seconds rest
20 seconds: recumbant bike
5 minutes cooldown (once again I choose the recumbant bike.

Now you can use the same 9 card draw for the entire week or you can draw a new hand before each workout.. which is what I do. You will NEVER get bored. Each month you can change the exercises choose from.
If you are not interested in ab work then choose some other total body stressers or other machine to use.
Try sprint in place, jump rope, grasshoppers, jump squats, treadmill, versaclimber, heavybag work, shadow boxing, mountain climbers, etc.........
To help keep track of time, which is vital you can do what I did and download a Tabate timer MP3. I used audacity to add 5 minutes of silence to the beginning for the warmup period and add the extra 20 second set.
I have also used audacity to mix several different soundtracks for the routine ranging from "Appite for Distruction" to audio books and audio bible studies.

Have fun and keep a buck near.
John