One of the Main Causes of Illnesses.

The mail drops through your letterbox. Whether it's the slot through your front door here in the UK or the mailbox standing outside the front yard of your property over in the States, the principle is the same. You feel your emotions rise as you slit the envelope open. Your heart begins to beat faster, you feel a shiver pass down your spine as you examine the enclosed energy bill.

Your instincts were right. How could your creditors bill you for such a high energy use? Had your electric or gas meter gone haywire? Or is this yet another proof of inflation, and you're beginning to believe that your well-earned income will struggle to meet the required payment?

Gas and electric meters at a typical UK home.

Here in the UK, when our three major public-owned utility companies such as gas, electric and water were sold off to privatisation under Margaret Thatcher's administration spanning the 1980s, the funding was no longer subsidised by the taxpayer who was keeping our household bills in moderation. Instead, shareholders wanted to make for themselves greater profits, and it was the consumers who ended up footing the bill. And one of the cuts made in serving the customer was to do away with the meter man, the chap who called every quarter to read your meter, record on the clipboard the current meter reading, and then pass the displayed figures on to the billing dept of the supplier. 

Not anymore.

Instead, the company now hire "experts" - whoever they may be - to work out an estimation without leaving the office, and that's what is printed on the bill. In most cases, the estimation is only slightly out of sync with the actual meter reading. But within the last month, the gas bill came through the door carrying a vast overestimation of more than £500. Immediately, I went to the outside closet to read the meter. According to the "expert", I had consumed 1,547 more units of gas than I actually did, hence the way-out-of-sync overestimation. I contacted them straight away to give the correct reading. Unfortunately, that was done via automation.

However, I received no reply until I made an extra effort, including a wait, to speak to an actual human being, who turned out to be a female with an Asian accent, asking for the latest reading, which I was able to give her.

Then, assuming the issue will be resolved sooner or later, I allowed it to pass. However, behind her stoicism, surely my beloved was anxious for our future. But we gave it no more thought and we got on with our lives.

Then one afternoon this week, Alex began to develop severe pain in her lower abdomen. Fortunately, the district nurse had to make a regular call, and seeing her agony, it was her, and not us, who made an emergency call for an ambulance. I groaned. I have seen it all before. But despite her dosage of painkillers, her pain continued as she was led in a wheelchair to the waiting vehicle outside. Even our neighbour shook his head. He too had seen it all before. And now, as I write, I'm alone in the house - again.

Another CTS or Computed Tomography Scan was made of her affected region, just like last time. And like before, there was absolutely nothing amiss with any of her organs. The only way to keep the pain under control is through painkillers. It was then I managed to chat with the consultant over the phone. I asked him whether the pain is a message to the brain, informing it that there's something amiss. His reply was that this was not a necessity. Rather, she's suffering from chronic pain. It's the kind of natural discomfort that can't be treated by surgery.

Since she was taken in, I kept on praying, crying to God for mercy on both of us. Over the years, I have become sceptical over "the healing ministry" conducted by some charismatic churches. In truth, I had never witnessed supernatural healing, despite being a Christian believer for half a century! Indeed, I have heard tales of such incidents, plenty of them, but I have yet to see a miracle for myself. Therefore, it came as no real surprise that I felt discouraged during a Zoom prayer meeting - and said so.

The host, who was also one of our elders, reminded me of King David's agony, expressed in Psalm 13. His prayers also seemed wasted, unanswered, as if there was a barrier of solid brass between heaven and earth. Yet, he concluded that his trust and dependence on God's goodness will always stand firm. Well, if David can do it, so can I. Not to forget Job, too. He had lost nearly everything and his lack of health brought him to death's door, but still insisted on God's goodness. And should the reader confine these incidences to the Old Testament, then consider the Apostle Paul, one of the main New Testament writers. Throughout his ministry, his "thorn in the flesh" was most likely conjunctivitis, a delibating eye infection. Even his plea with God to have the "thorn" removed remained unanswered.

Atheists love to scoff at our faith, demonstrating that unanswered prayer is proof of the non-existence of God and that we as Christians hold to the belief that the earth is only a few thousand years old, and then present their convincing evidence of Darwinian evolution going back by billions of years, thus denying the reality of the Gospel.

However, I digress. The truth is, my faith is backed by science and not refuted. And thus, after prayer and a series of circumstantial evidence, Alex's pain, including the aches she suffers from her neurological ailments, can be blamed on two organs, each one sitting on each of her kidneys - the adrenal glands.

The Adrenal Glands each rests on a kidney.

The adrenal glands are essential for self-preservation. For example, if threatened by a gang in a narrow alley, you will either fight or flee. More likely the latter. When confronted with such danger, the brain sends a message to the two glands via the nerves to produce the hormone adrenaline. Its presence in the bloodstream causes the lungs to breathe heavier for greater oxygenation, the heart to beat faster to supply extra oxygenated blood, and the widening of the arteries to provide a greater blood flow to the muscles, allowing the victim to run faster and for a longer distance to safety. At any bleeding wound, with adrenaline, the blood will also congeal more quickly, saving on excess blood loss.

Fright can take many forms, such as being chased by a large barking dog, such as an Alsation or German Shepherd. Or waking up in the middle of the night to see a silhouette of a man gazing at you from the window beyond the foot of the bed. Or in the case of my younger brother many years ago. As an arachnophobic, he picked up a cup at random from the kitchen shelf to make coffee. He peered into the cup to see a huge house spider nestling at the bottom. His adrenal glands responded to the sudden fright by throwing the cup violently, smashing it to pieces on the hard thermoplastic-tiled floor. The spider was then nowhere to be seen.

Or the case when I was a pool lifeguard back in 1973. My attention was drawn by a group of school children near a corner of the pool, all taking fright of a huge cockroach floating on the water. Fortunately, I didn't have to get into the pool, as I was able to kneel down at the edge and reach for the insect and dispose of it. Nothing heroic, it was part of my job. Had I been afraid, then I wouldn't have qualified for that particular vocation.

But should I give an exaggerated expression of myself, I have fears of two specific situations. One is walking or cycling through a flock of geese, especially when rearing their young. This was after reading in a newspaper about a man who was attacked by an angry swan and had one of his arm bones broken. I have known to divert onto a different trail if I see a flock of geese ahead. 

The other fear I have is of lifts or elevators. In Singapore, the lift to my hostel dormitory stopped between floors and I fell into a near-panic as a punched the alarm, which got the lift moving. And again more recently, with Alex in her wheelchair at Waterloo Station. The lift jammed between floors and by punching the alarm, the lift dropped to the bottom of the shaft with a sharp jolt and the doors opened. We couldn't get out quick enough! Thus, in all cases, my adrenal glands were called into action when faced with potential danger. Whenever possible, I use the stairs instead.

Thus the purpose of these two glands, created to respond to dangerous situations in lifesaving fright. During such situations, the glands produce enough adrenaline to deal with the problem. Afterwards, the body has a way of flushing the hormone from the bloodstream, mainly through urination.

However, excess stress can prompt the glands to keep on producing adrenaline on a steady basis. Stressors can come in all forms. For example, the inner stress brought about by the overestimation of the gas bill by over £500 could have led to my wife's severe abdominal pain which had put her in hospital. Added to her stress is her constant fear of me having a sudden heart attack. This form of stress developed in her after I had an aorta valve replacement in 2015, and relying on medication ever since.

Thus it can be concluded:-

Stressor >> Emotional turmoil >> Adrenal glands reacting >> Illness.

Thus, taking two living examples:-

Husband's heart failure >> Emotional turmoil >> Adrenal glands reacting >> Pain.

Low self-esteem >> Emotional turmoil >> Adrenal glands reacting >> Heart failure.

Those wonderful glands, specifically designed as a lifesaver, can be activated by prolonged stress and unlike with the fright situation, adrenaline remains in the bloodstream throughout its steady production and flow. It's this constant presence of the excess hormone that causes a variety of illnesses - fatigue, irritability, constipation, bloating, diarrhoea, high blood pressure, weight gain, erectile dysfunction, irregular menstruation periods, along with more serious ailments including a lower immune system, a greater target for infections, diabetes, arthritis, ulcerative colitis, cancer and heart failure. And there are many more.*

A lateral flow test device.

Hence, the importance of the Gospel. It not only leads to salvation, but its application can also help the believer cope with stress. I have found that prayer - the heartfelt calling to God for help - is psychologically beneficial. Coupled with this is the warm support from other church members, especially when it comes to solving various problems. Thus building friendships within the church environment makes a big difference in handling stressful situations when each has a common denominator, a God who loves us enough to save us through faith in his Son, Jesus Christ.

Right now, unless my result is negative on the Covid lateral flow test, I won't be able to visit my beloved at her ward. This has the potential to increase her stress levels, prolong her pain and delay any recovery. I hope I can be tested easily and pass, allowing me to visit her. After all, it's the state of my own health which had contributed to her ailments.

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*Dr S.I. McMillen M.D. - None Of These Diseases, 1966, 1980. Lakeland Publishers.

London Museum of Natural History, Gallery of Human Biology, 1982.

A Facebook Shocker...

This morning I gasped when I saw a poster appear on my laptop screen whilst scrolling down the Facebook wall. It was an advert posted by someone I knew personally. He is to appear this evening on a Channel 4 chat show to talk about his knowledge of recent Middle East history, focusing on the wars and political unrest which had taken place there in the past seventy years.

And I will honestly admit that I have a pinch of envy for him. Appearing on national television. Wow! He even asked us to ignore the football which will be shown concurrently and instead, tune in to his interview on the commercial channel. Does he mean Match of the Day on the BBC, a popular sports programme, especially for male viewers?

Meanwhile, I sit alone at home typing this blog. Alone. For yet again, my beloved wife is in a ward at Frimley Park Hospital. She was taken there by ambulance late last night after spending hours suffering intense pain in her abdomen. Early this morning, news came in. Apparently, she was diagnosed with possible Pancreatitis, a serious illness caused, so I'm told, by the presence of stones in her gall bladder.

In one sense, having a diagnosis is very helpful. Therefore, she will be given the appropriate treatment. Actually, I do recall seeing the presence of a gall bladder stone on an X-Ray image way back in 2007 at John Radcliffe Hospital, after developing unrelated symptoms following the birth of our third daughter. But although the medical staff was aware of the presence of a stone, they decided to ignore it. This might have been due to their assumption that over time it will dissolve into the bile the bladder produces.

Whether this lies behind her health problems, other than her breast cancer, or not, remains to be seen. But here, I would like to highlight a contrast between this fellow on TV and seems to enjoy life to the full, and our own lives of prolonged health anxieties, frequent hospital visits and an uncertain future.

It looks to me that the key to a fulfilled life all comes down to a high education level. The person referred is actually one of a twin. His brother had graduated to be a medical doctor. Also, I have met and spoken to their parents (but had so far, I never met the other sibling.) I wonder how proud this elderly couple were of their son's academic achievements? Their sense of successful upbringing of their twin sons to reach such an academic goal, and thus providing a useful service to their communities - was quite a contrast to the way my own parents felt about me during my teenage years as a slow learner. The resulting boyhood retardation meant that I was one of those 1960s school-leavers who walked into the world of work with absolutely nothing academic to show. Therefore, I have always looked upon a graduate as an icon for a richly fulfilled life and deserving of a higher level of respect from the rest of us.

Yet, despite the slight sense of envy I may feel about his television appearance - and thus a gateway to fame - I wish him well. As a historian, he is also the author of two published books on the Middle East. And that is after cautioning him that specialising in a single overseas location could restrict the numbers of those interested. Unless told specifically otherwise, I will never know whether my word of caution had ever held true or not.

It's this level of education that had made him one of several lay-preachers in our church - this cultural preference presenting a phenomenon I had seen many times before in different churches. For example, the present Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, attended Eton College, followed by gaining a MA at the University of Cambridge, and a BA at the University of Durham. And I once read that Cambridge, in particular, holds a "gene pool" of undergrads from whom the Church of England draws for its future clergy. Rather different from Jesus' selection of his twelve from a more rabble background!

It's this high level of education elevating the student to a higher status in his social life, attaining respect, even admiration from the church elders as well as from the rest of the congregation, along with the rest of the world. Like, during one Summer Sunday morning several years ago, when it was officially announced that a "seminar of Creation" - delivered by this same academic - was to be held that same evening. And I was there to hear the announcement.

And so I attended, only to end up listening to our hero's denial of the historicity of the first chapter of Genesis and reducing the chapter to the level of myth. By mythologising history - that is presenting Scripture as if the events written therein had never occurred - is making ineffective one of the major foundation stones on which the Gospel of Jesus Christ rests. Yes, the same person denying the historic truthfulness of the Bible - appearing on a chat show on TV - whilst at the same time, another person who is a true believer and an advocate for Scriptural truthfulness, carries his cross so heavy and burdensome, that he emotionally breaks as he watches his beloved being carted away to the hospital for the umpteenth time.

As I wrote on my Facebook page, I would be more than willing to jump into his shoes, but would the very thought of jumping into my shoes be a source of terror for anyone? This sense of unfairness - why is one person so blessed, due to his excelling at school, while another has to drag his feet each morning to a monotonous, dead-end and dirty, low-paid job where he also suffers from being bullied by his colleagues? An accurate description of the early days of my work life soon after leaving school. And indeed, quite a good metaphor. While I was experiencing such humiliating conditions around 1970, someone from the Midlands, who I will get to know many years later, had just graduated from University and will be flying off to Africa on a voluntary project. 

The Rev Justin Welby

Could this sense of unfairness and insecurity be behind many cases of domestic abuse? I wonder how many husbands, boyfriends, or partners feel their egos under threat by their partner's level of education, wealth, or professional career? And then develop a controlling streak within the relationship that could end up in a violent assault, even death? And so the Media keeps reporting violent assaults of females in the hands of very insecure and egotistical males. And such could be exacerbated by the annual reports that girls are doing better than boys at school and therefore have a wider career opportunity. And so, a Christless soul moves on before being caught and brought to justice - only to end up behind bars with very low self-esteem that often leads to prison violence.

A Christless soul? Indeed, if my own experience can prove anything, to know God through faith in Jesus Christ is like a picture more worthy than a thousand words, or like the beauty of a face launching a thousand ships. But I need to be real here. There are many occasions when I doubted God, His love or Sovereign power. Or when the chips are down, wondering where God is or which direction our future will take into the unknown.

As one who has been acquainted with the Bible for several decades, our friend's preach posed no threat to my faith. Rather, I stood up to him after the service to defend the historicity of this early chapter of Genesis after dismissing the factual side of the book for his support for science. For example, according to him, how could the Earth possibly exist four days before the rest of the Universe was created, including the Sun, Moon and Stars? It's this rhetoric that brings the atheist to laugh at us as Creationists living in a land of make-believe, instead of facing hard facts of life, that is, believing in Darwin's Evolutionary theories and Charles Lyell's Uniformitarian Geology. 

Too bad I don't have all the answers! Did light exist before the start of Day 1? For God said, "Let there be light" and there was light. And God saw that the light was very good, and He separated the light from the darkness. God called the light "day", and the darkness He called "night". And there was evening, and there was morning - the first day - Genesis 1:3-5. Could this be a hint that the Earth was already rotating before the 4th Day of Creation?

But the beauty of the Gospel remains standing on the firm and historic foundation of Genesis. The Fall was indeed an Earth-shaking event, this separation of man from God through sin, and the death of the spirit - that part of him where he communicates freely with God - had done nothing less than erect a barrier consisting of four large stones which had blocked man from God, and unless God acts, man is destined to remain separated from God forever.

Although some Christian leaders might have said that it was God who built the wall, actually, it was the man, Adam, who built it. It was Adam who fell, not God.

The topmost boulder is the character of God - including perfection and holiness.

The next boulder is the debt of sin that cannot be repaid, as God's holiness demands absolute perfection.

The third boulder is slavery to Satan. When Adam ate the forbidden fruit, he sold himself and all his descendants to the Devil, who became "the father of all mankind", according to John 8:43-44.

The fourth block in the wall is spiritual death - the loss of communication with God.

Thus, a very thick barrier exists between a sinful man and God. So strong is that wall, no man can demolish it. No works done by sinful men to earn salvation can knock the barrier down. Our acceptance of Creation and the Fall as historic are absolute necessities to establish this statement of faith. The events surrounding the Fall speaks so clearly of the historicity of the early chapter of Genesis. 

After the Fall, aprons made of sewn fig leaves symbolises man's futile effort to reconcile himself with God. Those leaves were totally ignored by God when He called them to account. The bushes they hid behind is a good illustration of the fourfold barrier now standing between God and man. But God, in His mercy, slays an animal and clothe them - a picture of redemption through the death of an innocent intercessor whose blood was shed to make atonement.

However, eternal redemption was achieved by the Father sending his beloved Son to die in atonement for sin and to bring reconciliation with God, restoring our communication with Him. It's the work of God in its entirety. As the aprons have shown, no man can assist in God's redemption.

By the death of Jesus Christ the Son of God by crucifixion, the wall is demolished in four stages occurring simultaneously: 

God's character ----> Propitiation. The turning away of God's wrath against sin.

The debt of Sin ----> The Certificate of Debt - paid to Infinite Justice by Christ's death.

Slavery to Satan ----> Redemption. Freedom from slavery to sin to that of righteousness.

Spiritual Death ---->Substitutionary Death. Christ died so we might be made alive.

The intricacies between Creation, the Fall, and Redemption forms a triunity of truth that any denial of historic facts cannot find any place in the faith, which, to me, is so glorious to God and vital to my wellbeing. And the wellbeing of all who were at Ascot Life Church on that warm Sunday evening.

I hope our friend's broadcast goes well. Although very patchy in the Facebook advert, I believe it was made to promote his books, which may be flagging in sales.

All the best to him.

How an Atheist Mocks the Bible

How fortunate I was to enjoy a warm, sunny day for my birthday earlier in the week. Smack in the middle of September and just a few days before the Autumn Equinox. Officially, it's still Summer. Yet so far, September has proven to be more summerlike than August here in the UK, the latter with its daily overcast sky and almost cool enough to turn on the central heating. 

And so, a trip to London to visit a very unusual shop located right in the heart of the city, a privately-owned business, London Fossils Ltd, just behind the British Museum. Here, I bought two rather outstanding fossils to add to our four smaller specimens already at our home display.

Our Home Fossil Display, taken Sept 2021.

Perhaps, the best one of the six on display is the superb preservation of a petrified Trilobite. The specimen is exactly 7 cm long and 2.7 cm across the widest part of its head. I would say that its overall length is roughly half of a fully-grown fossil Trilobite I have seen on display at the University of Oxford Museum of Natural History. I try to imagine it when alive. Quite likely, it was fully submerged in the mud of the shallow ocean floor, and with a higher likelihood to escape the attention of predators and - had it survived to this day - also escape the attention of scuba divers.

According to the Palaeontologist, the Evolutionist, and the Historical Geologist, the Trilobite is classed as an Index Fossil, and it thrived throughout the entire Paleozoic Era, a duration of 300,000,000 years between 500,000,000 and 200,000,000 years ago. The Trilobite marks the beginning of the Cambrian Period, and it survived through the Ordovician, Silurian, Devonian, Mississippian, and the Pennsylvanian periods - only to die off during the Permian Period.* Bad luck for the Trilobite, as it did not survive long enough to appreciate the rise of the wonderful coral reefs which started to form during the Permian Period of the Geological Age! To be fair, 300,000,000 years is a long time for the species to thrive, and even over such a long span, if you place the youngest fossil next to the earliest specimen, both would look exactly the same. Indeed, the Trilobite seems to have shown hardly any signs of "evolution in action."

Along with the two Trilobite fossils, I also have one complete fully petrified remain of an Ammonite Dactylioceras, along with what looks to be a petrified mud bed with many broken Ammonite coils piled on it. It's a shame that all the shells are broken. Had they remained intact, the fossil would have looked beautiful - almost artificial.

When I was a teenager, I had an interest in fossils. I was also an atheist and a very keen evolutionist. Even then, I instinctively knew that I couldn't reconcile my love of Science with Religion. It was during my adolescence was when I hated anything to do with the church. As a Roman Catholic, I found God to be quite distant and unapproachable! How could I believe that God loves me if all he does is keep a record of my sins - unless I go to confess to a priest, take Holy Communion every Sunday and on every holy day, and do penance whenever I'm called to carry it out. Or else it would be an eternity of unbearable suffering in Hell if I were to die with even just one mortal sin in my spirit. I realised that I could be a devoted Catholic all my life - and still end up in Hell! When the priest once tried to reassure me that God loves me despite my sins, I was unable to believe it. I just couldn't see myself going to church every week for the rest of my life.

Therefore, in a way, I subconsciously perceived God as an uncaring father-figure and Science as an all-embracing mother - a comforting female deity from whom I can expand my knowledge and the pride that comes with it, to give me something to live for, and to build enthusiasm for, a reason for living. For me to look around at the natural world and marvel at how everything, including us, had gotten here by chance, the amoeba-to-man progress spanning billions of years, and wondering how our distant descendants may look like and behave. As such, fossils played a role here, and during school breaks, I used to examine each of the many pebbles placed around the perimeter of the playground to drain away rainwater. Very rarely, an imprint of a scallop shell appeared on a stone picked up at random, which I took home and added to my measly collection. 

I had never kept the original collection for long. Maybe, with tiny, insignificant-looking fossils, I eventually scattered the stones across our back garden flowerbeds (discreetly!) Perhaps, it was just as well that, back in the sixties and early seventies, the Internet hadn't yet existed. Had it, chances were I would never have become a Christian towards the end of 1972. I can now click on a video made by a former Jehovah's Witness turned Atheist. Had he been around more than half a century earlier, I would have continued to laugh with scorn at religion by following his lead that the Bible teaches a flat, disk-like Earth, supported by enormous pillars and covered with a solid dome. 

Taught in the Bible?

After just six days after publishing his video on YouTube, ex-JW Harrison Cother had collected 17,000 views on that video alone, out of the 1,748,000 total views on all his mere eleven videos he began posting on YouTube since the end of January 2021. In his latest video, he insists that the Bible teaches a flat Earth.

Using Scripture verses such as 1 Samuel 2:8; Job 9:6, Job 26:7-10; Job 37:18; Psalm 75:3; Psalm 93:1; Psalm 104:5; Psalm 148:3-6; Isaiah 40:22 - this YouTuber sets out to prove that the Bible teaches the Earth as a flat disk covered by a solid dome, or the firmament, on which the "waters above" still fully submerging the outside of the dome, according to Psalm 148:4. Although by checking out all the other verses and seeing that they're all poetic, with Psalm 148:4, he relates this to Genesis 1:6-8 - the initial Creation of the firmament dividing the waters above from the waters below, as factual history, and this water above the firmament is still there, according to the Psalmist, and therefore, never collapsed during the Flood, believed by many Christians and theologians as the source of "the windows of heaven opened" - of Genesis 7:11.

Also, that the Earth is firm and immovable, according to the YouTuber's interpretation of the Bible. By using Psalm 104:5 as a proof text, Harrison Cother then insists that 1 Samuel 2:8 (KJV) and Job 9:6 teaches that the flat Earth rests on pillars as its foundations. Also, he mocks at the Christian's attempt to read the flat, disk-like circle as a sphere in Isaiah 40:22. A thought crossed my mind. Indeed, if he's referring to looking directly at the disk at a 90-degree angle perpendicular to it, would he be actually looking at a hemisphere - if the flat Earth has a dome over it? Surely, to the uninformed observer, he'll be looking at a sphere and not at a flat disk. Yet, as a child, I thought that both the sun - seen through the thin cloud - and the moon were flat disks. How would I know they were spheres unless I was taught that they were?

Anyone watching this video would be thoroughly convinced that the Bible is so unscientific, that it's laughed at to the level of derision if used as a science guidebook. For example, how can the Earth be "firm on its foundations and immovable" when it actually whizzes around the sun at 107,208 km/hour, or 66,616 mph, and rotates at 1,670 km/hour, or 1,037 mph at the Equator? Little wonder that it takes just one atheist to mock the Bible, and the rest of the unbelieving world laughs with him.

As for the fossils, they could either testify for my faith or against it. For example, the rock strata at the Grand Canyon. They're all water-laid deposits that hardened into rock. Geologists say that each layer was gradually formed in a shallow sea, lake or river. Any thoughts about a widespread or a universal Flood is looked upon with contempt. It is as if the scientific world is hostile towards God and His Biblical testimony.

This hostility towards God by secular scientists, I think, has placed many Christian graduates in a very awkward position. I, for one, refuse to feel embarrassed and I will confess my allegiance to Biblical truth. The most likely outcome to this is to be ignored, to be brushed aside. However, throughout the seventies and eighties, I met and associated with many Christian graduates who solved the problem by embracing Theistic Evolution. It's their attempt to compromise and to look acceptable in a scientific world and not face ridicule.

But I have nothing to worry about. Nor do I need to fear the mocker. I don't have to defend the Bible either. Rather, the Bible defends itself. Anyone who reads the above verses - and many others found in Scripture - can see that much of it is poetry. It seems as if the writers had deliberately put it that way so the reader, who did not possess the scientific knowledge in the same way we do, yet can still understand that the natural world he lived in was created by God for Man to inhabit. And man was originally created for intimacy with God. God had inspired the writing of the Bible as a revelation on how a sinful man can be reconciled to a holy God and enjoy eternity with Him.

One example is the criticism made by Sam Harris in his book, Letter to a Christian Nation, concerning the measurement of a circular bath installed by King Solomon near the newly-built Temple in Jerusalem (1 Kings 7:23.) According to Harris, this ratio of Pi is the worst and the most inappropriate approximation even in ancient times. The Babylonians can do a far better job in calculating Pi than the Israelites did, and thus proves his point in the way the Bible deals with maths.

But such criticism isn't necessary. The Bible is not a science book. It was never meant to be a book on science. Rather, it's a revelation on who God is and why we are separate from Him through sin, and through faith, we can be reconciled to God in Jesus Christ, who was crucified, buried, and three days later rose physically from the dead. And He gives eternal life to everyone who believes.

And the origin of fossils? Even the Bible gives a scientific explanation for that.

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*John C. Whitcombe Jr. and Henry M. Morris, The Genesis Flood, 1961, nineteenth printing, 1975. Baker Books. Page 133. The figures detailed here are American numerics.

The Threefold Pillar - Hated?

Below is a snapshot of who one can refer to as "an ideal Englishman" or "a model student." Indeed an aspiration most parents would love their offspring to acquire, and those fortunate enough to afford to educate their children privately would not hesitate in laying down the cash, even if such a decision would cost the couple dearly in sacrificing their own luxurious lifestyle, particularly in expensive faraway holidays, or owning a top brand of car.

Such being the case of ex-Etonian Andrew Picard, son of a wealthy Westminster lawyer. Just by looking at his image, it is easily understood why he would fit in well in any exclusive gentlemen's club, company boardroom, and of course - in any local church. By walking into church, he would be instantly noticed, and if the service is about to begin, or had just started, not a few in the congregation would mentally note him for an after-service chat. Even the minister up front may consider him as a potential future leader, starting as a deacon while at the same time, pruning on his preaching skills to the level of etiquette professionalism.

Andrew Picard

He is the ideal example of who a British church-going Christian should be. Smartly dressed, well educated, from a wealthy family, self reserved, not given to emotional displays, and choosing his friends carefully - mainly among women of his age. Although he is exceptionally good at team sports - rugby in Winter, cricket in Summer, any feelings of team comradeship remains confined to the playing field. In the evenings he is more likely to be found in a nightclub socialising with up-and-coming young ladies - each one cherishing the hope to be the one whom such an eligible bachelor would set his eyes on. An evening in the pub with some working-class mates would be obnoxious to him.

And so looking at his snapshot, or actually passing him as he walks along the street, is how I would suss out his status and way of life. Because such a life profile is not from a novel, or even from a television documentary or drama. Rather it's from real experience. A few years ago I invited a fellow window cleaner, who had just turned to Jesus Christ as a result of my testimony, to a Saturday morning Men's Breakfast. He wasn't dressed smartly but in tidy casuals, as were everyone else in the room. Neither does he have that "academic look" about his facial features, as Andrew Picard has. Apart from myself, only one other male took the time and effort to chat with him, and he was the Breakfast co-ordinator. He was totally ignored by everyone else, something we both noticed, and that had discouraged him from attending church of any kind since then. Furthermore, more recently, another friend and I have both successfully weaned him off from getting involved with Jehovah's Witnesses.

By contrast, the high respect such a one as Andrew Picard would have received in church became true to life within the past few months, when a tall, intelligent-looking graduate from Holloway College had arrived at our fellowship, and after a short period, had already preached from the front several times, and is held in high regard by both our Elders and the rest of the congregation.  This is far from being a unique case. On the contrary, it is the norm for churches across the United Kingdom to seek out graduates and even doctorates for future leadership, a notion which makes me wonder how the heck did the likes of Peter, James and John make it into the role of apostleship in the first place. How could this Jesus - "The Christ, the Son of the living God" be so short sighted? Didn't he realise that these three were mere fishermen, and not graduates? However to save face, and to give the Lord some credit; he did choose in Paul a religious intellect, a Pharisee, and himself a son of a Pharisee, to write a large portion of the New Testament in the form of theological and devotional letters to churches of his day.

Eton College.

Jesus knew what he was doing when he chose his immediate disciples. Because he was looking at the heart, rather than social status. After training them to a suitable level, he went to the cross. On it he atoned for all the sins of mankind. After his resurrection and ascension, he chose an intellect of high standing, but he had to temporarily blind him in order to bring him to his conviction that this Jesus, whom he persecuted, is the risen Christ. And this had brought him in direct line with Peter's testimony that the Jesus they crucified is the Christ resurrected, the Son of God, and to change their minds to believing this revelation reconciles them to God, forgives all their sin, and receive "a time of refreshing from the Lord" (Acts 3:19). Whether Peter fully understood that one's acquittal is meant to be eternal is debatable, I can't be sure. Quite likely he didn't fully understand. But with Paul, he had a better understanding, as so well presented in his letter to the Romans. He used the case of Abraham's acquittal as a yardstick for justification for all believers. And then, further on he writes that nothing physical or spiritual, nor anything else in all creation, can separate us from the love of God (Romans 8:28-38).

Fantastic news!

Christ died to atone for us, was buried, and then three days later, rose physically from the dead, defeating death, and ascended into Heaven to intercede for us as high priest. And anyone believing this in his heart, with the resulting trust in the record, has all his sins forgiven, and imputed with the righteousness of Christ, and can never be lost again. It is as simple as that!  

But why is such wonderful news virtually unknown by much of the world population? For example, the concept of Eternal Security, or Once Saved Always Saved, has been dubbed, "the Devil's Doctrine" or "Heresy of Satan". But if that was true - for one whom Jesus called, "The Prince of this world" - Satan has failed disastrously. Had he succeeded, then Once Saved Always Saved would have been accepted universally by all religions, not just within the whole of the Christian faith! Even among atheists and humanists, the concept of Eternal Security is dismissed as nonsense. Instead, all who fully believe in this truth makes up a very small proportion of the population, including a minority within the Christian faith, who accepts the Omniscience of God as a vital Biblical truth, and one of the major three pillars of God's eternal essence.

So interfaith wars continue to be fought, one insisting that Mohammed is the true prophet of God, while another says, "No, ours with a pantheon of different Hindu deities is the true faith", while another bases his faith on the founding by someone else, such as Buddha, another on Confucius. Within Christendom, a large proportion insist that Peter was the first Pope, along with Mary being the Mediatrix. Then para-faiths such as Jehovah's Witnesses, Mormons, Christian Science, Unification, Theosophy, Freemasonry, and other splinter groups, all having their own interpretations of the Bible, but all of them denying the threefold pillar of salvation: Forensic Justification, Imputed Righteousness, and Eternal Security. Then within the Reformed churches, the Arminian idea that the believer can lose his salvation and still end up in Hell after all, even after years of remaining faithful, is not only a denial of God's Omniscience (and also his Omnipotence and his Omnipresence) but also a rebuke to the threefold pillar of God's free gift of salvation. Yet many insist on this doctrine, even among the highest Oxbridge academics, resulting in a large percentage of churchgoers with a question mark over God's redemptive love and sincerity, and trying to be "holy" in their attempt to pacify a misanthropic or moody deity.

For the likes of Andrew Picard, like all other unbelievers, they slide into a lost eternity questioning whether God actually exist, let alone whether God loves them. He looks to religion, including the church, only to see much warring among themselves, along with insincerity, and hypocrisy. He sees fear of punishment underlying their quest for morality rather than love for God and a love for morality in itself. In other words, to do good to another in order to escape punishment, rather than out of love for the recipient. Little wonder that he regards the Bible as old hat, full of fables, and irrelevant to his needs, and instead rely on Darwinism as truth rather than the God of all Creation. Not surprising then when he has only himself and science to trust.

Why was Andrew Picard in the papers in the first place? For us to admire his prestige and social status? Rather, because he was charged with having more than 2,000 images of distressed young children, even as young as two years, as victims of sex abuse on his computer, together with some videos of abuse carried out on very young children, including that of a three year old girl being raped by an adult man. Other children were photographed crying in agony while sexually abused, and there were even some of bestiality with dogs. He had them to share among others in the paedophile ring. His computer, after being traced to its source, was confiscated and charges brought forth. But while justice for this crime would have normally locked up the offender, this fellow escaped with just a ten month prison term suspended for eighteen months. The judge made it clear that he has admiration for his Etonian education, his wealth, and his social standing, and therefore considered fair not to be held in custody. Therefore he escaped with a mere fine.

So if you want favouritism in both the church and in the judicial system, make sure you are born in a privileged family, attend Eton for your education, and always remember to dress smartly. The world is your oyster.