Noah's Ark discovered....Again.

When I checked the news this morning I saw the headline, "Noah's Ark Discovered." Seems that I remember a book about this that came out in the 70's, or was it the 80's, or both?

Basically a group of guys have found a pile of wood in Iran that is about the size of a small aircraft carrier. It actually does seem logical to me that a pile of wood the size of an aircraft carrier at 13,000 feet in that part of the world would be Noah's ark. I don't doubt it. The problem is that this group of men actually believe that they are going to "prove" the existence of God.

When I look at an ant, I know God exists because I have faith. Some will not believe even with the evidence of miracles or the testimony of prophets. "Neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead," Jesus said.

I love apologetics and I think it is great that this group has found the Ark (or at least a very interesting pile of wood on an arid mountain). But no one will come to the Father through evidence; they will only come if the Holy Spirit draws them through Christ (the One who rose from the dead) by faith.

There was an opportunity on AOL to post your comments on the story, and I made the mistake of taking a look at those comments. One zealous Christian lady was so excited because this "evidence" would once and for all persuade all the people who do not believe in God. She wrote passionately about the God that healed her babies, and that we would all see such miracles if we could only believe and obey like she had (then of course she added, "...by the grace of God.") Very predictably the first reply to her post was, "If your god is so good why did my....?"

I think the reason why this story affected me so deeply is that I have a child and wife that have not been totally healed. Our miracles seem limited. There remains a thorn. Yet, I cannot deny the faith that God has given me. Furthermore it is through suffering that God has proven His goodness to us. It really does not matter what scientists find or don't find. I have been adopted by my Creator and nothing can separate me from His love.

Blessed are those who have not seen and yet believe.

---
For a look at the most recent photos and story see the
Christian Worldview website which places the Ark in Iran.
Then you might be interested in "Noah's Ark Found: The Search is Over" Rene Nourbegen 1988
or "In Search of Noah's Ark, the greatest discovery of our time" Documentary 1976
or John Morris' and Tim LaHaye's book "The Ark On Ararat" 1976 Thomas Nelson (which was about the Ark being "found in Turkey"
or LaHaye's sequel that is sure to come "The Ark that was Left Behind"
and the powerful forthcoming book "Your Best Ark Now!"

You can judge a cover by the book.

You can find out a lot about people by the books they recommend, not necessarily the books on their shelves.

I admit that there is a limit to the knowledge you can gain about someone this way, but in general it is a fair method. A 30-something year old lady who recommends "Love You Forever" must be a mother of small children (or a sentimentalist at the very least). A man who recommends the "Gunowner's Bible" must be a gun owner (and maybe someone you should never insult). A pastor who has copies of Spurgeon and the Church Fathers may have read neither; instead ask him what he recommends if you really want to know where he is coming from.

I finally updated and repaired the links to my book recommendations on the IOI website Resources and Links. My wife observed that I am definitely "all over the map." It was not the subjects that seemed disconnected as I recommended books about discipleship, missions, ministry, travel (particularly Ethiopia) and theology. It was the variety of authors that seems a bit, how shall I say it -- ecumenical. Baptist, Lutheran, Catholic, Presbyterian, Evangelical Free and Puritan books are among those recommended. Some might think it strange to recommend Barth, Chesterton and Edwards on the same page, but what I am looking for is the gold that each man mined rather than fitting into a particular camp. We are, after all, the Body of Christ and there are many members each with particular gifts and needs.

I love to tell people that I go to Christ Community Church, and then have them ask me what denomination we are. What they want is a label so they can understand where I am coming from. So, instead of saying we are "non-denominational" (which is a label with its own definition), I say, "We are a missions-minded community of people that are trying hard to love God and each other that grew from a former Methodist Bible church that is elder led and similar to Anglican Catholicism in liturgy with a reformed Baptist theology (that depends more on the Church Fathers than the reformers), charismatic worship and an Irish pub band that sings ancient hymns along with modern praise songs." But I guess you could have figured that out by looking at my book recommendations.

Quote of the Weak - Simplicity

"Seek simplicity -- and distrust it."
-- Alfred North Whitehead

Quote of the Weak -- Disagreement

"At one point I had to explain how I differed on a certain point from both Catholics and Fundamentalists: I hope I shall not for this forfeit the goodwill or the prayers of either. Nor do I much fear it." -- C.S. Lewis

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:21)

Sublime and Ridiculous

Graffiti in the bell tower

I really should stop swearing oaths. It is an exercise in ungodliness, and besides that I almost always end up breaking my word eventually. Other than my marriage vow and an oath never to eat at Shoney's again, most of my rash vows have been broken.

I climbed the stairs of the bell tower in the cathedral in Cologne a couple of years ago. It was worth the trouble and the 2 euro they charge. After ascending and descending the 500+ stones stairs of the narrow passageway to the historic bells I said, "Well, I'll never do that again." What I should have said was, "I'd rather not do that again."

Two years later I found myself purchasing another 2 euro ticket for the privledge of losing my breath and getting cramps in my legs. My daughter was traveling with me and I thought it would be a crime not to take her to the top of the tower and see the view of the city. It was worth the trouble of course, and I took a picture of her that is one of my favorites.

I had already seen the bells and the view so this time my attention was turned to the graffiti that fills the inner walls of the tower stairway. Lovers, students, pilgrims, Satanists and others had taken their turns memorializing their journey to the cathedral by writing inscriptions with a variety of tools and languages. I was repulsed by the bold vandalism and at the same moment tempted to memorialize our visit. In some way we want to be a part of the greatness of the 700 year old building, and the permenance, faith and hope it represents. Graffiti on top of graffiti had made much of the writing illegible and served to illustrate the nameless mass of people that have come and gone like fading letters over the years.

Patrons of the cathedral are buried in eloquent coffins and tombs littering the main floor of the cathedral. Stained glass windows serve as reminders of great men through the ages. An elderly woman kneels in prayer. A group of Asian tourists snap photos. A priest with a coin box strapped to his chest scolds men who forget to remove their hats as they enter the holy place. Gift shops built into the outer walls peddle scale models of the cathedral, religious books and pornographic post cards. A man dressed in a blue bodysuit and wearing a jester's hat performs for the crowds outside the front door. A three-piece accordion band from the Ukraine plays classical music in the courtyard. A street artist spends his day chalking a picture of Mozart on the sidewalk. McDonald's is just across the narrow street and located next door to a hundreds of years old bier haus. It is both sublime and ridiculous.

It is in this place that I am reminded that our names are written in a place that is eternal. I take a deep breath and for a moment I cease despairing of the vanity of life.

Quote of the Weak - Controversy

"Controversy is only dreaded by the advocates of error"
-- Benjamin Rush (signer of the Declaration of Independence, Surgeon General, women's education advocate, anti-slavery and anti-liquor crusader, not one to avoid controversy)

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:21)

Quote of the Weak - Guilt

"There's no problem so awful that you can't add some guilt to it and make it even worse!" -- Calvin (Bill Waterson)

"Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distress, for Christ's sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong." (2 Corinthians 12:21)

The fourth book in my trilogy.

That is a good Irish name but, you're not Irish.

Some years ago I was on a flight from England to Germany. Many of my fellow passengers were Irish students on holiday. I struck up a conversation with the lads' teacher and shared with her my love of all things Irish. As a matter of fact I have a good Irish name, "Patrick Shae Beard". With a wonderfully thick Irish accent her reply came, "Aye, that is a good Irish name, but you're not Irish then, are you."

On the return trip home I passed through Heathrow not long after the IRA had bombed some place in London. The security agent looked over my passport and asked me to follow him. "Is there a problem officer?" "Just need to do a bit of checking, mate. Where are you from originally?" "Mississippi." "So, you were born in America?" "Yes." "Any family from Ireland?" "No, well my great, great grandfather. Why?" "Well, you see you have this Irish name, and we have had a bit of trouble recently from the Irish..." It was my first experience at racial profiling.

I'm a true American mutt with as much French blood as Irish or English. To the Irish, I'm not Irish at all. To the English, I'm a bit too Irish. Oh, well -- Viva America!

I never said I was a Calvinist...

To some it does not seem to matter what you call yourself, or who you really are. For that matter, I don't even know if we can honestly know ourselves. I am sure that my view of myself is more fancy than fact.

Lately I have gained a reputation as a flaming unevangelical five point hyper-Calvinist. I don't know exactly what I did to earn this reputation; I suppose it was predestined.

I left the Southern Baptist church five years ago, not over theology or political ideals. My family and I left because we were literally told, "Why don't you just go away? We don't want you here anymore." As much as I honestly wanted to fulfill my duty as chairman of the pastor search committee and hire the best man for the job (and I honestly would have recommended a loving Armenian over a Calvinist) it seems that you can't please everyone. And I have come to the conclusion that democracy in the Church is from Hell.

The stress got so bad I had to visit my doctor. What I needed was not a pill, but peace in a congregation that loved Jesus and each other. That is when we joined Christ Community, and not long after that I apparently became a Calvinist.

Christ Community has a reputation among some as the "smoking, drinking, cursing church." That bothered me the first time I heard it. If the people who made this accusation could only experience the love that my family has experienced. The funny thing is that these same practices can be found among the people at our former church, and I don't remember anyone ever calling it the "smoking, drinking, cursing church." What is more I have never seen anyone at CCC drink or smoke to excess, and only a couple use crude language (this is an area that they admittedly struggle with). The fact is that the labels just don't fit.

I really don't know why we like to label each other so much. It seems to be easier to build straw men rather than to actually have a relationship with others.

I suppose this is the reason for my blog. I hope that some who think they know me might actually get to know me, and that those who do know me might know me better. At the very least it is an opportunity to express myself (ie. Get things off my chest) without being interrupted.

Am I a Calvinist? It's your choice. You can be the judge.