The Expelled Movie

This movie is a MUST SEE guys!
"For the Lord your God is a consuming fire, a jealous God." Deuteronomy 4:24 And, yes, he is.
The new Ben Stein movie, Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed, quotes Richard Dawkins, who rails on against God for this very aspect of His character. (Actually, Dawkins reads from his book during an interview with Stein.) His invective so totally shows a lack of understanding, shared with many today, of the absolute goodness, truth and love of God - who loves his creation and is jealous for us - of whatever pulls us away from him to our own detriment; and the lies of the enemy engage that "wrath of God." He cannot tolerate evil and what is allied with it.

My little granddaughter said she "had to plug my ears when I heard what that dumb guy was saying about God." What was funny though was the way Stein brought Dawkins to the point of saying that maybe we were seeded by more intelligent aliens from another planet. One scientist had the brilliant suggestion that molecules rode in on the backs of crystals. Heigh ho silver! Anything but admit accountability to a Creator who has revealed himself to us and given us a game plan for surviving. The movie exposes (in a very entertaining way) the alarming extent to which the religious activists who are pushing evolution, will go to protect their faith. Any spirit of scientific inquiry is out the window in academia.

Well done, Mr. Stein! We appreciated hearing from honest and reputable scientists who dare to question and speak out against the monolithic spirit of politically correct propaganda coming through our media and the educational system. I especially enjoyed hearing from the author of The Dawkins Delusion, Alister Mc Grath. Another book for my need to read list.

Fresh Grease

I went to see Grease last night, never having seen the movie, or another production of the musical, and accompanied by a group of women, only one of whom I knew. Turned out well though. We had dinner first and by the time we finished they felt like a bunch of friends.

The main theme of the show seemed to be - the rebel kids are cool - and it's dumb to "just say no". Great message for high schoolers....NOT. But, if we can put all that aside, I will say their performances, the music, singing (super voices) and dancing were terrific. The acting was very good as well and the set creatively designed. What a talented group they got together for this show. And, as per usual, great directing!

I guess it's comparable to a lot of songs you might hear on the radio, where the lyrics stink or don't really say anything at all, but the music and recording are super. Or, some ads that are so clever and well-done you forget they're just trying to sell you something. Sometimes ads are better than the show they appear on. THAT'S ENTERTAINMENT...da da da da!

Is there a parable here? I don't know. You tell me.

From Cacao to Morning Cocoa

I was reflecting on the cacao nibs drying in my oven (on pilot light) and the whole process, from the raw fruit, through fermentation, drying, etc. to the point of chocolate or cocoa. Our understanding of how to prepare all sorts of produce is handed down from generation to generation, everything from making cheese to wine or coffee. But, how did it all start? Current teaching would have us believe it was pure chance, a process of trial and error, and random discoveries, moving slowly through thousands of years of human technological evolution, like the rest of our supposed history from drifting protoplasm to modern man.

I hope most Christians would tend to question that theory or begin to, since God's Word has another version of our accumulated understanding. There we learn that God is the source of wisdom and knowledge, in the physical world as well as the spiritual. While Adam and Eve walked in the garden with their Creator, I'm sure He was explaining the uses of and methods of caring for and preparing all of what He had planted. I can imagine their curiosity as they walked with their Lord in his beautiful garden. We are told, "The land produced vegetation..." (Genesis 1:12) but, "the Lord God had planted a garden in the east, in Eden" (Gen. 2:8) There is a difference. Wilderness grows as it will, but "God took the man and put him in the Garden of Eden to work it and take care of it." (Vs. 15) And, we know from the following verses that God walked with them and talked to them in the Garden.

Further, the prophet Isaiah tells us directly where agricultural knowledge comes from. It is such a beautiful passage, I'm going to quote the whole thing (almost). Isaiah 28:23-29:

Listen and hear my voice;
pay attention and hear what I say.
When a farmer plows for planting, does he
plow continually?
Does he keep on breaking up and
harrowing the soil?
When he has leveled the surface,
does he not sow caraway and scatter
cumin?
Does he not plant wheat in its place,
barley in its plot,
and spelt in its field?
His God instructs him
and teaches him the right way.
Caraway is not threshed with a scythe,
nor is a cartwheel rolled over cumin;
caraway is beaten out with a rod,
and cumin with a stick.
Grain must be ground to make bread....
All this also comes from the Lord Almighty,
wonderful in counsel and magnificent in
wisdom.


Back to the cacao, all this considering was brought on by a recent cooking blog post about a new way of preparing the fruit using a food dehydrator, skipping the fermentation and roasting processes. I thought, hey this is great, short and simple. Went out (well really it was Craig's list) got a food dehydrator and gave it a try. Guess what? Used up a lot of electricity and didn't get the job done. Sometimes the old ways are better.

Though the different techniques employed for utilizing produce may have changed, the processes are pretty much the same today. i.e. instead of fermenting cacao under palm or banana leaves outdoors, it is more convenient for me to use a pasta pot in a gas oven with pilot light, or for a factory to use a big mechanized operation to deal in quantity. And, isn't it interesting that processing plants remove the cocoa butter for other uses, then add in milk products to achieve that same delicious unctuousness that is part of the chocolate experience. I like mine the way it comes - non dairy. Grind the roasted pods and put in my French Press, add hot water. Voila!

a cacao pod opened

One of my Bible Commentaries compares the verses in Isaiah to the way God created people so different from one another, and how everyone should be treated with understanding and respect for their individuality and uniqueness.