The Half-Life Of Facts
David Mcraney writes:
In medical school, they tell you half of what you are about to learn won’t be true when you graduate — they just don’t know which half.
In every field of knowledge, half of what is true today will one day be updated with better information, and it turns out that we actually know when that day will come for many academic pursuits.
This is what author Sam Arbesman calls “the half-life of facts.” The premise is that for every domain, silo, discipline, and school of knowledge, the facts contained within are slowly being overturned, augmented, replaced, and refined — and in medicine, for example, the rate of that overturning is high enough that if you never really complete your education. Medical school, in other words, never ends.
... For instance, in physics, about half of all research findings will be disconfirmed within 13 years. In psychology, it’s every seven. In other words, if you graduated with a degree in psychology seven years ago, half of the information in all your textbook is now inaccurate.
By contrast, the Bible claims to be the very “Word of God.” The fact that millions of people the world over have found that claim to be credible for 3500 years proves that the truths that matter the most are not nullified by the passing of time or rendered passé by better information. There is no half-life to the truth that God loves us or that Jesus came into this world to die for the sins of mankind. These truths are grounded in God’s unfailing nature and will never be overturned or replaced.
“The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever” (Isaiah 40:8).
“For I tell you truly, until heaven and earth pass away, not a single jot, not a stroke of a pen, will disappear from the Law until everything is accomplished” (Matthew 5:18).
Christians Feel "The Bern"
Michael Gryboski with The CHRISTIAN POST reports:
During a Senate Budget Committee nomination hearing on Wednesday (6/7/17), Sen. Sanders critically questioned Russell Vought, Trump's nominee for deputy director of the White House Office of Management and Budget.
At issue was a blog post that Vought wrote in defense of his alma mater, Wheaton College, in which he said that Muslims "stand condemned" for not believing in Jesus Christ.
"In the piece that I referred to that you wrote for the publication called Resurgent. You wrote, 'Muslims do not simply have a deficient theology. They do not know God because they have rejected Jesus Christ, His Son, and they stand condemned.' Do you believe that that statement is Islamophobic?" asked Sanders.
Vought responded that he did not consider the statement bigoted in nature, noting that he is a Christian and was stating his belief in "the centrality of Jesus Christ for salvation."
"As a Christian, I believe that all individuals are made in the image of God and are worthy of dignity and respect regardless of their religious beliefs," replied Vought.
Sanders was unimpressed with the response, stating that the blog post was "indefensible, it is hateful and Islamophobic, and an insult to over a billion Muslims throughout the world."
... Sanders maintained that ... he was going to vote against the nominee.
The Christian Gospel isn't Islamophobic, but rather it expresses God's unconditional love, through the sacrifice of His Son, for people of every race, creed, and nationality.
So how do we respond to a senator, indeed, to a world that views the Good News as bad news?
First, we must not allow ourselves to be placed on the defensive. I believe the best way to combat this cultural phenomenon is to respond to such negative accusations of intolerance by reframing the question. When the world criticizes Christianity for endorsing only one way to heaven, we need to turn to them and ask, “Yes, but aren’t you glad there is at least one way?”
Shouldn't we all be grateful that God has made it possible for there to be a way at all? Who are we to demand that one way is not good enough? If you were in a burning building, would you refuse to flee because there was only one exit?
Furthermore, isn't it a wonderful way God has chosen? He has not left salvation to depend upon our weak, imperfect efforts. Rather He has secured salvation for us through the perfect effort of Jesus Christ! The perfect life of God Himself was given in exchange for our imperfect lives, so that He might offer salvation to us as a free gift.
Finally, this Good News gets even better! He has extended this offer to everyone; black, white, male, female, homosexual, heterosexual, rich, poor, Jew, Gentile, and Muslim alike! Does that sound narrow-minded or intolerant? Indeed, “God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten son ...” (John 3:16). In fact, it would be fair to ask if anyone in Islam has ever loved the Muslim people as much as Jesus. Who else has willingly offered up their life for them the way He did on the cross?
So, don’t be apologetic that you know the only way to heaven. Instead, ask those who take issue with your faith, “Shouldn’t you, shouldn't all of us, be glad that there is a way at all?”
The Perpetual Mouse Trap
Bryan Nelson with Mother Nature Network writes:
An antique mousetrap displayed at the Museum of English Rural Life (MERL) has proven that it may be old, but it's not obsolete. The 155-year-old contraption was recently found with an unfortunate mouse trapped inside, according to a MERL blog post.
The trap, first patented in 1861, has rusted, warped metal bars and a faded label that reads "Perpetual Mouse Trap," aptly adding that it "will last a lifetime." Apparently it's capable of lasting even longer than that.
The trap, on display, wasn't baited, but that didn't matter. It's designed to work via a seesaw mechanism that uses the pest's own weight to tip it, sealing the mouse inside. It's a simple mechanism, but as Mr. Nelson noted, "timelessly effective."
Many people today think of the church, and the Christian way of life, as relics of the past. They would do well to learn a lesson from the museum mouse. Just because something has been around a long time doesn’t mean it’s obsolete!
Although the Gospel is ancient, reaching back to God's determination to save the world through Christ before the foundations of the earth were ever formed, that doesn’t mean it is irrelevant to us today.
The Gospel continues to deliver sinners from the penalty and the power of sin. As Jesus promised, "be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age."” (Matthew 28:20).