At work we use Subversion for just about all our software project data: source code, design documents, reports. Design documents are usually in MS Word, Excel and Visio. TortoiseSVN is great at using MS Word's "track changes" feature to do a graphical diff of two versions of a document.
The scientific establishment argues strongly for evolution. Apparently the “evidence is overwhelming”, though I remain underwhelmed, among others. I won’t speak for everyone, just myself—why is this little guy holding out against the crowds of evolutionists, who undoubtedly know a lot more about biology and genetics than I could ever hope to? Why won’t I put my trust in evolutionary science?
In this part 1, I contend that the current scientific institutions are not set up to honestly consider the possibility of divine creation.
I have long taken an interest in the creation vs evolution debate. It’s probably a consequence of my father’s scientific interests, and my engineering mind and career. I take the scientific method seriously, and apply it (in a very practical way) on a daily basis in my embedded software engineering work. And inevitably, I also take an interest in the young vs old earth debate. But I often come across Christians who look at me, puzzled: “What’s the big deal with young vs old earth? It doesn’t really matter does it? Focus on more important things.”
We have the “seemingly mundane” animals—sheep, cows, pigeons—that we take for granted. Of course, they are each astounding in their own right. But God’s creation has plenty of examples of the crazy, funny, complicated, and astounding to make us wonder. Can we really look at a giraffe and say “oh yes, a long neck—it was just inevitable that evolution would produce that”, when we consider the engineering that must go into such an unusual design?
Here are a few things that make me say “wow”. They are unusual and improbable, extreme and crazy.
I’m a Christian, but not cut to the traditional Catholic or Protestant cloth, but part of a much smaller group of people of who differ in some crucial ways from some “traditional” Christian doctrine. In particular, I sympathise with people who are troubled by the the ancient doctrine of hell. Specifically, the doctrine of hell defined as the eternal, conscious punishment of the wicked (refer to Wikipedia article for an overview of Christian hell doctrine). Over the years I’ve heard a number of atheists challenge the goodness of God over the hell doctrine. But, is the problem with the message that we can find in the Bible, or is the problem with the message that has traditionally been given by the churches?
Heaven and hell—a staple doctrine of Christianity. And yet, surely this doctrine turns people away from believing in a loving God. Is it right? Is it true to what the Bible says? A small number of Christians believe the Bible actually reveals a very different story—one that is much more exciting and encouraging—one that reveals a truly loving God.
Well, a strange twist of fate has landed us in Japan - for a couple of years it would seem. We're now residents in Numazu, as of about 3 weeks ago. Should be interesting!
Here is a collection of interesting links for Numazu life...
This is a well-known hymn. I decided to try to write some nice chords and harmonies for our choir, plus a nice-sounding piano accompaniment. It's still a pretty simple arrangement. Our choir has only a few men, so I've arranged it for just one men's part.
