Some people believe our planet Earth occurred by chance.  I believe the very first words in the Bible where it says, “In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth,” without taking any probability factor into account.   My belief comes from faith in God.

However, John Clayton was a scientist and former atheist who set out to disprove the Bible using scientific facts.   I’m sure it was a great surprise to him when he came to believe in God and the Bible while trying to disprove the Bible.

Although I haven’t read Clayton’s book, The Source, it’s interesting to see how mathematical probabilities are used to show the improbability of Earth possessing all of the conditions needed to support life by random chance.  These are the variables used.

11 variables*:

• Being in the right type of galaxy:   1 in 100
• Being in the right position in the galaxy:  1 in 150
• Having the right kind of star:  1 in 1,000
• Being the correct distance from the star:  1 in 10
• Having the right planetary mass:  1 in 10
• Having the right planetary spin:  1 in 10
• Having the right planetary tilt:  1 in 10
• Having comet sweeping planets:  1 in 40
• Not being close to a black hole:  1 in 250
• Having one large moon:  1 in 10
• Having a magnetic field that can shield:  1 in 10

Mathematical probability of Earth occurring by chance:

1  in  150,000,000,000,000,000

This doesn’t prove that there is a God who created the Earth. This always has been and always will be a matter of faith. But there is plenty of evidence in the world that reveals God.

• Psalm 19

  New Century Version (NCV)  from BibleGateway.com

  ¹ The heavens declare the glory of God,
         and the skies announce what his hands have made.
   ² Day after day they tell the story;
         night after night they tell it again.
   ³ They have no speech or words;
         they have no voice to be heard.
   ⁴ But their message goes out through all the world;
         their words go everywhere on earth.

* Beth Moore, Believing God (Nashville, TN: LifeWay Press, 2004), 39

* John Clayton & Nils Jansma, The Source (W. Monroe, LA: Howard Publishing, 2001), 28

My daddy’s birthday would have been this month, but he died when our son was only two years ago.   Our daughter was twelve, and I’m so glad he got to see her grow up some.  He was crazy about both of his grandchildren and loved them very much.

He was proud of Christi, his first grandchild.  When she was little, she would crawl up in his lap and share whatever he was snacking on at the time.   He was also proud of his grandson.  I remember when our son was a baby, he came up to where my daddy was sitting and talked to him in baby jibberish as if he knew exactly what he was saying.  I remember my daddy saying, “How precious!”  I wish he could see the wonderful young man our son has become and that he could see the wonderful wife/mom our daughter has become and see his adorable great-grandsons and the baby due in September.

After all these many years, I still miss Daddy.  He was a true gentleman.  So, this song  is for him.

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Have you ever driven through fog and couldn’t see where you were going? Probably everyone has. This week on my way to work, I drove though a patch of fog and just followed the road. Once while on vacation in Colorado, we were at the top of a very high mountain pass with NO shoulders and a steep drop-off. We hit a patch of extremely dense fog (like a cloud) and could only see a few feet in front of us. Very scary, but we just followed the center stripe and prayed!
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Sometimes, life is like that. When it gets to the point where we don’t know what’s ahead, we just follow God’s direction and trust He will lead us though the fog of life!
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I like this new song by young singer, Jamie Grace, called “You Lead.” It’s a fun, up-beat song that shares about letting God lead us!
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I loved the song, “Blessings,” the first time I heard it.  Apparently, people all over the world love this song, too, even in Japan after their last tsunami.   It’s only fitting that Laura Story received a Grammy Award for the “Best Contemporary Christian Music Song.”  Laura says that they “pray that any attention the song ‘Blessings’ receives will be used by God to bring hope to others who are walking hard roads. May God’s faithfulness be seen in this above all things.”

By the way, Laura and her husband are expecting their first child later this year.  That is exciting news, especially after all they’ve been through.  You can listen to the song and read the “Story Behind the Song, Blessings” to find out about this.

If you’d like to know even more, you can read the “Story Behind the Song, Indescribable” which was written by Laura Story and made famous by Chris Tomlin, and you can also hear Laura’s new song being played on the radio.

Last year, I had only one resolution:  “This year, I’m keeping it simple with just one resolution which is to read my Daily Bible through in one year….My main goal through reading the Bible is to have an even deeper relationship with God and to deepen my faith!”

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So, how am I doing?  Well, I didn’t make it anywhere near the whole Bible.  In fact, I’m on page 984 out of 1,688 pages, but you know what?  I’m OK with that.  I’m 984 pages closer to my goal of reading the whole Bible.   Several years, I’ve made that resolution but never succeeded in reading the Bible in its entirety.   For this year, my one and only resolution is to continue what I started last year and finish the Bible this year.  I’m over half way there!

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Now, how am I doing on the second part, the reason why I’m wanting to read the Bible?  I can answer wholeheartedly that I do have an even deeper relationship with God than I did a year ago.  And a year from now I want to have an even deeper relationship.  Every year until I die, I want to continue growing closer and closer to God.

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If there’s anyone who’s wanting to read the Bible in a year, or anyone who’s never read it and is just simply curious about what’s in it,  I highly recommend the Daily Bible.

The Daily Bible: New International Version: With Devotional Insights to Guide You Through God’s Word

A parent’s worst nightmare, your five year old daughter is hit by a car in your own driveway!  And to make it even worse, the driver of the fatal accident is your teenage son!   People.com  and  ABC’s Good Morning America  shared this story which touched the hearts of thousands of people, people all over the world.
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Some stories behind the song are so sad, yet they reveal such a strong, rock solid faith that no matter what storms come in life, faith remains in the One who carries us through hard times.  Although Chapman wrote and released the song a year before the tragedy, the last verse of the song relates to their experience and the video below shares pictures of the Chapmans’ adopted daughter.  The Chapmans experienced a parent’s worst nightmare and lost their youngest daughter, but they kept their faith!

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Here’s a great new song with a great country sound:
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