Church Security

Ten years ago this month a man walked into Wedgwood Baptist Church in Fort Worth, Texas, and started shooting. When he was done, eight people were killed and seven others were wounded. On this tenth anniversary, I decided to talk to Jeffrey Hawkins of Christian Security Network to see how churches are doing in the area of security.

For most of us, church has been a safe haven. But the events ten years ago, and subsequent incidents in others churches since then, have changed our perspective. Hawkins has found that people no longer regard their home church as a safe haven. No wonder, already seven killings have been documented in U.S. churches this year. Add to that the increasing number of assaults, arsons, robberies, and burglaries.

People working in law enforcement say that respect for the church has vanished. If anything, the church is seen as a soft target with ample opportunities for crime. In fact, as other buildings (office buildings, government buildings, malls, etc.) have stepped up their security, it makes churches look like much easier targets.

We should also mention that sometimes churches are target of hate crimes just as other houses of worship (such as mosques and synagogues). This can especially be true if the pastor has taken a strong stand on social issues. An unbalanced man might attack people in a church merely because he hates God.

So what are churches and church leaders to do? Hawkins is not calling for posting guards at every door and screening everyone with metal detectors. He says: “Good security is like an iceberg; the general public should only see about 10 percent of what you have.”

Improving security begins with increased awareness and education. A number of faith-based organizations are being formed to help churches and other houses of worship. And consultation with local law enforcement is key.

It is sad that we have to protect ourselves even in church, but that is the world we live in today. Pastors and Christian leaders would be wise to consider how to protect those to whom they minister. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Jobs Going Overseas

Listeners frequently call my radio program to complain about companies who are sending jobs overseas. Although it is easy to blame the companies, there are many cases in which the companies tried to keep jobs at home but lost out because of competition from Chinese manufacturers.

An article this month in the Washington Post tells the sad story of the Cooper Tire plant in Albany, Georgia. For years, workers heard about their rivals in Chinese factories. Managers urged employees to run production lines faster and more efficiently in order to help the company keep up. But they were unable to do so, and 2100 Georgians lost their jobs. Why?

At Cooper Tire, the wages were $18 to $21 per hour. In China they were a fraction of that. The plant was subject to all the U.S. regulations governing health-and-safety, work hours, and the environment. Chinese plants are exempt from these laws and are notorious polluters.

Trade laws also benefit the Chinese. They are granted free and equal access to the American market. But the rulers in Beijing don’t reciprocate. The Chinese manipulate their currency to keep export prices low and even grant a rebate on it value-added tax on exports to the U.S. while imposing a value-added tax on goods coming from the U.S.

The impact has been predictable. In the last three years, the number of Chinese tires imported to the U.S. has more than tripled. Their share of the U.S. market rose from 5 percent to 17 percent. Over this same period, the share of the U.S. market served by U.S. factories declined by a similar amount. More than 5,000 U.S. jobs were lost.

Pat Buchanan sees this as part of a larger trend. He notes that since 2001 (when George W. Bush took office) the U.S. has run $3.8 trillion in trade deficits in manufactured goods. That is more than twice the trade deficits we ran for imported oil and gas.

Pat Buchanan agrees with President Obama’s tariff on Chinese tires. When two people from opposite ends of the political spectrum agree, perhaps we should listen. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Driving While Distracted

Is driving while texting dangerous? I think nearly everyone (with the exception of a few naïve teenagers) know that it is. But what about just talking on a cell phone? Is that dangerous? Researchers have found that talking or texting is much more dangerous than many of us might even imagine.

Recently the Center for Auto Safety released hundreds of pages of research on the impact of cell phone use on America’s highways. Much of the research was done years ago when fewer cell phone users were texting. Essentially the problem has grown worse as texting as increased.

So far 17 states and the District of Columbia have passed laws banning texting while driving. Seven states outlaw drivers from using hand-held communication devices of any kind. This month, the Transportation Secretary is holding a summit to discuss the dangers of driving while distracted.

It turns out that some drivers multitask better than others. One psychology professor studying the effect of driving and cell phone use has concluded that only two percent of drivers are able to safely multitask while driving. In other words, most people are dangerous when they try to do so.

Nearly all users (the other 98 percent) are less influenced by peripheral vision when we talk on cell phones. We also react slower to visual cues even in front of us. Apparently our brains direct attention to the sounds we hear on the cell phone, and that causes the visual capacity of our brains decrease.

We have all probably heard that talking or texting while driving is as dangerous as driving drunk. It turns out it is more dangerous. Participants in one simulator study were faster to brake and caused fewer accidents when they had a .08% blood-alcohol content than while sober and talking on a cell phone.

Some have criticized the simulator study because it is not a real-world test, but I am not ready to test this out on our nation’s highways. We already know the dangers of driving while distracted. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Books Aren’t Dead

A recent Newsweek proclaimed: “Books Aren’t Dead.” While that might seem evident as you walk through any bookstore, it wasn’t so obvious just a few years ago. We have been told that this is a media-oriented generation that is more interested in visual images rather than reading words on a page.

Some were referred to the “Gutenberg Parenthesis” to illustrate that we were moving back to oral traditions of learning. Before Gutenberg and his printing press, knowledge was formed and transmitted orally. Scholars were saying that in this post-Gutenberg era, knowledge is formed through “secondary orality” on the Internet. In other words, books (and the written word) were merely a parenthesis in human history.

Others pointed to the cost of books and the number of bookstores and publishers having difficulty staying in business. So they predicted that book publishing would be on the decline.

But that’s not what the statistics say. The number of books in print in 2008 rose 38 percent from the year before. And that year itself was up 38 percent from 2006. It appears we have more books in print than ever before.

According to Newsweek, part of the reason is university libraries. They are hawking publishing rights to the contents of their stacks (or at least those books which are out-of-print or in the public domain). For example, the University of Michigan has partnered with Google to digitize more than 400,000 titles. Cornell will do the same with their 500,000 titles.

I might add that the electronic age has also made book publishing and book reading more inviting. At a recent writer’s conference, I told budding writers struggling to find a publisher to become their own publisher and put their book online as an e-book.

Book reading has become so much more convenient with devices like Kindle2 and other digital readers. Reading an e-book online, downloading it to your computer, or reading it on your Kindle or iPhone also significantly reduces the number of trees that need to be cut down to print books.

Books aren’t dead. There are more than ever. And many of the titles are available in electronic formats that reduce your carbon footprint. Pick up a book or a digital reader, and enjoy. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Moore’s Law

If you have ever worked around computers, you have probably heard of Moore’s Law. If not, it is very simple. Back in 1965, the cofounder of Intel, Gordon Moore, predicted that they would be able to double the number of transistors every 12 months (he later amended that to every two years) for approximately the same cost.

He surprised many the skeptics by being proven right all these years. Every few years someone would warn that Moore’s Law would hit a brick wall constructed by the laws of physics. So far, Moore’s prediction has been accurate.

Of course we are all the beneficiaries. Most of us carry around one or more devices in our pockets or purses that have computing power that far exceeds the computers I used at Yale University back in the 1970s.

So where does it stop? People at Intel say they can keep doubling the number of processors for many more generations. So the limits do not seem to be with capacity, but with speed. When microprocessors reached 3 gHz a few years ago, designers reached a limit. Make them go faster, and they overheat. In fact, they even start to melt.

To solve the problem, the industry started making chips that do several tasks at once. If you go to a computer store, you will see advertisement for quad-core chips. These are like four tiny computers on a single chip.

The challenge is how to effectively use these newer chips. Most of our operating systems were set up for a single engine not a parallel one. Many of the supercomputers at universities use parallel computing but the computer on your desk does not. Redesigning these systems for computers is a new challenge for the 21st century.

Programmers are certain they will meet the challenge. After all, the human brain is a massive parallel computer. In a sense, they will be designing programs to work just like your brain.

Isn’t that amazing? Our brightest computer scientists are attempting to write programs that essentially mimic the way our brains process information. Yet evolutionists tell us that our brain evolved by chance. Does anyone see a contradiction? I do. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Marriage and Kids

A strong marriage is good for kids. Conservative researchers have been saying this for decades. Perhaps the single best book to document this would be, The Case for Marriage: Why Married People are Happier, Healthier, and Better off Financially by Linda Waite and Maggie Gallagher. As the title indicates, married people benefit in so many significant ways. And of course their children benefit as well.

Not only are conservative writers saying this, but liberal ones are now joining the chorus of researchers who say that children do best in an intact, two-parent family. Writing in Time magazine, Caitlin Flanagan details “Why Marriage Matters.” She cites research that shows that: “Few things hamper a child as much as not having a father at home.”

Sociologist Maria Kefalas says: “As a feminist, I didn’t want to believe it.” She has co-authored a seminal book on low-income mothers. Women tell her all the time that they can be both father and mother to their children. She says that is not true. Growing up without a father has a deep psychological effect on the child. “The mom may not need that man,” Kefalas says, “but her children still do.”

This also turns out to be true for families at every income, though the greatest impact is on poor families. Sara McLanahan, a Princeton sociologist, has done ground-breaking research on the effects of divorce on children. She concluded that: “Children who grow up in a household with only one biological parent, are worse off, on average, than children who grow up in a household with both of their biological parents, regardless of the parents’ race or educational background.”

None of this should be too surprising. Some of the initial research on the impact of divorce goes back to the 1970s when Judith Wallerstein was tracking the impact of divorce on families and the children. But it is significant that academics and even newsmagazines like Time are publishing the same conclusion. I commend them for doing so. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Medicare

Recently John Stossel detailed the history of Medicare and talked about its future. At a time when Congress is considering a major overhaul of medical insurance, it would be instructive to look at the history and the future of the first government-run health care plan, namely Medicare.

President Lyndon Johnson won a landslide victory in 1964. His election brought many like-minded members to Congress willing to establish a medical entitlement program that would benefit the elderly. Since this was a new program and uncharted territory, government officials made their best-case estimates for costs. We now know that these estimates were off (sometimes by orders of magnitude).

To this day, many retirees believe that their Medicare bills are paid from a “trust fund” that was created with deductions from their paychecks. This is not true. Politicians spend the money they receive through these contributions immediately. The money paid to current Medicare recipients comes from the deductions from the paychecks of today’s workers.

John Stossel says: “This Ponzi scheme worked for a while. But then more people had the nerve to live longer.” Essentially, the same demographic reality that has affected Social Security is also hurting Medicare. But that is only part of the problem. Not only are people living longer, but the ratio of workers to recipients is decreasing.

When Medicare began there were five workers for every Medicare recipient. Now there are only four, and soon there will only be three. The Board of Medicare Trustees predicts the ratio will be down to 2.4 by the year 2030. They also point out that Medicare’s unfunded liability is $37 trillion. That’s $37 trillion with a T.

I have been saying for months that we should solve the Medicare problem before we do anything else. There are possible solutions to this problem, but a 1,000 page bill with additional mandates and bureaucracies isn’t one of them. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

I Am Second

Perhaps you have seen billboards that say, “I am second” or have seen people wearing T-shirts that say, “I am second.” This is all part of a campaign designed to help people discover their purpose in life through Jesus Christ. Those who are featured are saying that Christ is first and “I am second.”

The website for the multimedia campaign has received more than a million hits from visitors in nearly 200 countries. Some who have visited the website are from as far away as Burundi or the Fiji Islands.

The website houses numerous videos of the personal stories of the trials and temptations of athletes, actors, musicians, and everyday people. All testify to the wisdom of getting the right priorities (essentially making sure they are second). The videos do not gloss over real problems and struggles. And that may be why these testimonies have been so successful in reaching others.

As you might imagine some of the most popular videos are from celebrities. The most popular is the video with Brian “Head" Welch, the former lead guitarist for the rock band Korn. His story of drugs and deliverance is a powerful testimony you can share with anyone, but especially with kids caught up in drug and the rock music scene.

Other high profile videos include Texas Rangers All-Star Josh Hamilton and American Idol contestant Jason Castro. Former Arkansas Governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee also tells his story.

Dallas-based e3 Partners are responsible for the website and other creative outreaches. Those include billboards, TV, radio, and kiosk advertisement. Recently I went to a Texas Rangers game that included one of the three concert series they have used to promote “I am second.”

They are planning on expanding the advertising components into other markets. So if you haven’t seen an “I am second” billboard or commercial, you will see it soon. They are also reaching youth through various social networks like Twitter and Facebook.

I am excited about this outreach, and encourage you to check out the website at www.iamsecond.com. I’m Kerby Anderson, and yes, I am second.

Capitol Visitor Center

Should the Capitol Visitor Center in Washington, D.C. have the correct national motto? If you think that the answer to that should be obvious and without controversy, you would be wrong.

When the new visitor center at the U.S. Capitol opened last December, a number of members of Congress thought it was both incomplete and incorrect. Senator Jim DeMint (R-SC) felt the center misrepresented our nation’s history by downplaying the faith of the founding fathers and other prominent figures. At the time, he said that the center’s “most prominent display proclaims faith not in God, but in government.” He was objecting to a quote that said: “We have built no temple but the Capitol. We consult no common oracle but the Constitution.”

Of greater concern was the fact that the center erroneously posted “E Pluribus Unum” as the national motto. That used to be our national motto, but the current one is “In God We Trust.” Members of Congress asked that both the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance be engraved in a wall at the Capitol Visitor Center.

If you thought the omission of the motto and pledge were a mere oversight, once again you would be wrong. The center has been in the planning and building stages for years. When it opened in December, it was three years late and $360 million over budget. There was ample time to get it right.

Both the House and Senate passed resolutions approving the engravings of the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance. But as I mentioned, even this action was not without controversy. The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed suit to prevent the engravings. They argue that posting these words would discriminate against agnostics and atheists.

Representative Steve King (R-IA) believes: “This lawsuit is another attempt by liberal activists to rewrite history and deny that America’s Judeo-Christian heritage is an essential foundation stone of our great nation.” First, was the bureaucratic resistance to posting the National Motto and the Pledge of Allegiance. Now there is a lawsuit attempting to prevent the words from appearing at the Capitol Visitor Center.

Welcome to the current battle over America’s history. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

CBO Meeting

Lately those pushing health care reform can’t seem to catch a break on their budget numbers. On a number of occasions the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has shot down the predictions in their bills.

First, the CBO determined that the health care reform bill would cost $1.6 trillion over ten years. The sticker shock was nearly fatal.

Second, was the claim by that the health care reform bills before Congress would “bend the curve” on spending. In other words, it would lower health care spending in the out years. The CBO said no. In fact, it said that health care spending would significantly increase.

Third, there was the attempt to fix the Medicare provision for the “sustainable growth rate” that forces the doctors’ reimbursements down if Medicare spending goes up. Proponents argued that this wasn’t an expense but a fix. The CBO disagreed.

What happened next appears to be unprecedented. The president, obviously upset with these numbers, called the CBO Director to the White House. I doubt their chat was very cordial.

Some White House officials argued that this was not unusual. Actually it was unprecedented. Douglas Holtz-Eakin, the CBO Director during George W. Bush’s administration said he never met with Mr. Bush to discuss CBO policies or estimates. Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell used a baseball analogy. He said: “that’s like asking the umpires to come up to the owner’s box . . . . I mean, if the CBO is to have credibility, they’re the umpire.”

Calling the economic umpire to the White House is unprecedented, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t room to challenge its assumptions and predictions. In the past conservatives have questioned CBO assumptions about tax cuts and economic development. And Dr. Merrill Matthews warns conservatives and Republicans not to praise the CBO too much because “the CBO will not be our new BFF (Best Friend Forever).”

It’s OK to argue with the umpire, but to call the umpire to the White House smacks of intimidation and manipulation. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Tonsils and Cesareans

The recent debate about health care has brought lots of rhetoric about who is responsible for the skyrocketing costs. The insurance companies have been labeled as villains, and other groups have also been vilified. During his press conference, the president focused on doctors.

He said that if you bring your child in with a sore throat, “the doctor may look at the reimbursement system and say to himself, ‘You know what? I make a lot more money if I take this kid’s tonsils out.’” Do we really have evidence of doctors taking out tonsils unnecessarily? Sure, physicians will remove tonsils in a child but usually if the child developed at least seven “significant” episodes of throat infection in a year.

Are there physicians who look at the reimbursement system and make a decision about a tonsillectomy? There are probably a few, but this surgery is hardly on the increase. Let’s talk about a surgery that has increased dramatically: Cesarean sections.

The number of C-sections that were performed in 1965 was 4.5 percent of births. Today C-sections are performed in 31 percent of births. Why the increase? Are obstetricians looking at the reimbursement system and making a decision?

C-sections are not on the increase because of doctors, but because of lawyers. The potential threat of a medical malpractice lawsuit has changed standard medical practice. A story in the New York Times on malpractice lawsuits concluded that “doctors have responded by changing the way they deliver babies, often seeing a relatively minor anomaly on a fetal heart monitor as justification for an immediate Caesarean.”

Who can blame the doctors for ordering a C-section? Even though their best medical judgment might be to wait, most doctors are probably going to take the mother into surgery rather than risk a lawsuit. So why not consider tort reform?

According to an article in Investors Business Daily, the president told the American Medical Association that he is “not advocating caps on malpractice awards.” It might be worth noting that one of the key groups that helped elect this president are trial lawyers.

The increase in health care costs is due to lots of factors. But when the president focused on doctors, he ignored members of his own profession that may be more responsible. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Read the Bill

The rush to pass so much legislation in Congress these last few months has brought a cry for legislators to read the bill. Many citizens are starting to realize what many insiders have known for some time. Most members of Congress vote on bills and have no idea what’s in them.

Debate about the health care bill brought new revelations. Representative John Conyers (D-MI) made fun of members of Congress who he said were pretending to read the laws they pass. At the National Press Club he said: “I love these members, they get up and say, ‘Read the bill.” Even if they did, he felt it would unproductive. He said: “What good is reading the bill if it’s a thousand pages and you don’t have two days and two lawyers to find out what it means after you’ve read the bill?”

If the bill is that complicated, then you would think that members of Congress would want to go slow and understand all the implications. Some have argued that if the bill is that complicated, that means it is destined to be ineffective.

Members of Congress should read the bill and try to comprehend what will happen if it is passed. While there are many convoluted phrases in this Byzantine legislation, there are nevertheless some basic principles that anyone can understand.

For example, the House bill uses the word “shall” 1,683 times. This assertive word sets forth the government mandates that will force doctors, clinics, hospitals, and others in the health care system to do what the government orders them to do.

The word “penalty” is used 156 times. That is what happens to people who do not do what government mandates them to do. The word “tax” is used 172 times. That is when we pay for these government rules and mandates. The House bill also creates 53 new federal bureaucracies. It also creates or expands 33 entitlement programs.

If members of Congress won’t read the bill, perhaps they should at least count the number of times words like shall, penalty, and tax are used. It sure looks like a massive government intrusion into health care. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Clash of Civilization

Back in 1996, Samuel Huntington wrote The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. He predicted the current conflict between Islam and the West.

In my new book, A Biblical Point of View on Islam, I show how this clash of civilizations has had a profound impact on missions. In the past, countries that were closed to the gospel tended to be communist countries. Even so, there was still a significant amount of Christian growth in countries behind the Iron Curtain and Bamboo Curtain. With the collapse of the Soviet Union, many of these countries are more open to the gospel than ever before. Meanwhile, persecution of Christians remains in China.

But a new phenomenon has emerged. Muslim countries are now the most resistant to the message of Christianity. Mission work is limited or even non-existent in many of these Muslim countries. This, I believe, represents the greatest challenge for missions in the 21st century: reaching the Muslim world for Christ. Already, there are over a billion Muslims in the world, making Islam the second largest religion in the world and one of the fastest growing.

Samuel Huntington also predicted a growing conflict between western universalism and Muslim militancy. In other words, the conflict is between liberal western democracies and Muslim countries. This presents a major challenge for Christians trying to reach Muslims. When they see the West with its immorality and decadence, they reject it and Christianity. After all, they reason, these are Christian countries and this is what they produce. Therefore, we should be quick to point out that Christians will also disagree with much of what some of these countries produce.

Whether we are missionaries overseas or missionaries in our backyard, we need to begin to understand the nature of Islam and bring the message of the gospel to the Muslims we meet. I believe Samuel Huntington is correct in his analysis, and we should begin to understand the changing world around us so that we can be more effective for Christ. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

Islam: A Religion of Peace?

Is Islam a religion of peace? Many commentators and even politicians have said that. But is it true?

Let's first acknowledge that many Muslims are peace-loving. But is it also true that Islam is a religion of peace? To answer that question, it is important to understand the meaning of the word "jihad."

In my book, A Biblical Point of View on Islam, I devote a section of one of my chapters to this Muslim concept of jihad. The word is actually the noun of the Arabic verb jahidi, which means to "strive hard." Some Muslims understand this striving to be merely intellectual and philosophical. If that is the case, then they do not believe that jihad involves warfare. But the more traditional interpretation of jihad involves a holy war against infidels.


Here are just a few verses from the Qur'an that seem to teach this. Sura 47:4 says, "When you meet the unbelievers in the battlefield, strike off their heads and, when you have laid them low, bind your captives firmly." Sura 9:5 says, "Fight and slay the pagans wherever you find them, and seize them, beleager them, and lie in wait for them in every stratagem." Sura 9:123 says, "O ye who believe! Fight the unbelievers who gird your about, and let them find firmness in you; and know that Allah is with those who fear Him."

Bernard Lewis is the professor of Near Eastern Studies at Princeton University and a leading authority on Islam. He says that, "The more common interpretation, and that of the overwhelming majority of the classical jurists and commentators, presents jihad as armed struggle for Islam against infidels and apostates."

So it is important to understand how Muslims interprets the word jihad. If they see it as an intellectual struggle, then they are most likely to be peace-loving. If instead they see it as an armed struggle, then they pose a danger. The interpretation of these verses of the sword is key. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

Solar Eclipse

Does a solar eclipse provide evidence of intelligent design? That is what first got astronomer Guillermo Gonzalez thinking as he watched a total eclipse in India in 1995. In order to have a solar eclipse, you need to have an object come in front of the sun. Essentially you could watch a partial solar eclipse on every planet in our solar system that has a moon. But Earth is the only planet where a total solar eclipse can be seen.

As I point out in my book, A Biblical Point of View on Intelligent Design, the unique experience of a solar eclipse on planet earth appears to be more than just coincidence. There are a number of reasons why only the Earth can have a total solar eclipse. Our moon is 1/400th the size of the sun, and the sun is 400 times farther away from Earth than the moon. Therefore, when the moon comes between the sun and the Earth, a small area of the Earth experiences a total solar eclipse in which the sun is fully blocked out by the moon.

The scientific benefit of a total solar eclipse is significant. Because the moon blocks out the sun, scientists have the ability to see and measure the sun's corona. Normally the sun is too bright for us to see the corona, but a total solar eclipse allows scientists to measure the light spectrum of the corona. Much of what we now know about stars comes from this measurement.

The fact that our Earth experiences a total eclipse of the sun makes our planet unique in the solar system, probably unique among many other solar systems. Add to this many other factors such as the fact that our moon is the right size, shape, and orbit for human life. Those are just a few reasons why many scientists see intelligent design in our moon and even in a solar eclipse. I'm Kerby Anderson, and that's my point of view.

Just Right Universe

Did the universe happen by chance? That is the conventional view, but the facts of science seem to be challenging that view.

As I point out in my book, A Biblical Point of View on Intelligent Design, astronomers have discovered that the parameters associated with the universe, our galaxy, our solar system, and Earth are intricately balanced. They are so balanced and finely tuned that some people have said they are essentially on a knife-edge. If there were a slight change in either direction, life (especially complex life) would not exist. In many cases, the universe itself would not exist.

For example, if the strength of gravity were weaker by only one part in a trillion, trillion, trillion, the universe would expand too rapidly for galaxies and planets to form. But if gravity were stronger by one part in a trillion, trillion, trillion the universe would collapse upon itself. Similar fine-tuning can be found for the constants in equations for gravity, electromagnetism, strong and weak nuclear forces. It can also be found in the ratio of proton to electron mass.

This delicate balance is one of the reasons that many refer to our universe as a “just right universe.” Some even call it the Goldilocks universe because the forces are not too strong and not too weak. They are just right.

One way to imagine this is to think of the parameters of the universe like giant dials on a control panel. All of the dials are adjusted to favor life. One science reporter put it this way: “They are like the knobs on God’s control console, and they seem almost miraculously tuned to allow life.”

Of course, some scientists discount this. Peter Ward (coauthor of the book, Rare Earth) once remarked, “We are just incredibly lucky. Somebody had to the win the big lottery, and we were it.” Christians, however, have a different view: “In the beginning, God created the heavens and earth.” I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Darwin's Finches

Open just about any biology textbook and you will see pictures of what are known as Darwin’s finches. They appear in those textbooks for two reasons. First, Charles Darwin got his inspiration for his theory of evolution when he observed them on the Galapagos Islands. Second, they are used to prove evolution since there are various beak sizes on the birds.

In my book, A Biblical Point of View on Intelligent Design, I point out that the diversity of these finches really doesn’t prove evolution. One scientific study found that during a period of drought, the average beak size of these finches increased slightly. The reason cited for this is that during these dry periods, the most available seeds are larger and tougher to crack than at other times. So birds with larger beaks do better under conditions of drought.

I spent an afternoon looking at specimens of Darwin’s finches when I was in graduate school at Yale University and should point out that the changes in beak thickness is minimal. Moreover, the changes seem to be cyclical. When the rains return, the original size seeds appear and the average beak size returns to normal.

This is not evolution. It is an interesting cyclical pattern in natural history. It shows selection pressure in nature. But it’s not evolution.

If this is evolution occurring, then we should be seeing macro changes that would allow these finches to evolve into another species. But this cyclical pattern shows just the opposite. These minor changes in beak size and thickness actually allow them to remain finches under changing environmental conditions. It does not show them evolving into other types of birds.

The story is a bit more complex than I can describe in the two-minute commentary, but you get the idea. You can find pictures of Darwin’s finches in nearly every biology textbook in the country. And guess where you find them? You find them in the evolution section of the textbook. There’s one problem: they don’t show evolution. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Gays at Yale

Sometimes markers of social change arrive in unanticipated ways. I found that out when I received the mail recently. The Yale Alumni Magazine’s front cover story is “Why they call Yale the Gay Ivy: How student activists opened up the campus culture.”

The twelve-page article by a professor of history who also attended Yale as an undergraduate documents what he calls the “rich and revelatory queer history” of the university. It was adapted from his remarks at the Yale Gay and Lesbian Alumni reunion in April.

My reaction is not so much to the article as to the decision by the alumni association to print it and feature it as a cover story. This month is the 40th anniversary of Stonewall (an incident that sparked the gay rights movement). So you would expect various newspapers and newsmagazines to publish stories about the history of homosexuality in America. And these stories might even be provocative in treating the issue.

But the goal of an alumni magazine is not to provoke but to promote. Its primary goal is to make alumni feel good about their university so that they will provide financial support. An alumni association is not going to put a controversial article in its magazine if it fears it will drive away donations. When you have so many positive stories about the university and its graduates, there is no need to place this cover story in your magazine unless you are convinced that it will be well received. Apparently, the editors of the alumni magazine believed that those of us who graduated from this university will be encouraged by the story about gay history at Yale.

The goal of the gay agenda has been to mainstream the movement. This latest issue of the Yale Alumni Magazine is further evidence that gay has become mainstream. Expect to see more examples of this in the future. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Freedom’s Frame

What holds our freedom together? Rick Green answers that question in his book, Freedom’s Frame. The framework has four foundational pillars. The first is the phrase: “We hold these truths.” The second is that we are “endowed by our Creator.” The third is the concept of the “consent of the governed.” And the final is “the pursuit of happiness.”

All of these ideas can be found in the Declaration of Independence. The first three describe the nature of our government. The fourth idea (the pursuit of happiness) not only is found in the Declaration, but it also sets forth the economic system of America.

Thomas Jefferson used many of the ideas of John Locke when he drafted the Declaration. Locke explains this concept in An Essay Concerning Human Understanding. We should be allowed to make decisions in an open and free market. Those individual choices will not only benefit us but others (led by what Adam Smith called an “invisible hand”).

Rick Green uses a great example to show the value of free markets versus regulated markets. As a former member of the Texas legislature, he talked about all the rules government placed on landline phones. By contrast, the cell phone industry has been allowed to grow and prosper with little governmental interference.

“The result has been truly astounding. . . . On our cell phones today, we can store numbers, write e-mails, send text messages, watch movies, take pictures, listen to music, find ourselves on a real-time GPS, and, oh yes, even make a phone call if we want to.”

With these expanding features has also come shrinking prices. This is due to a free market at work with minimal governmental regulation. He asks” “Can you imagine if wireless phones had been regulated in the same way we regulated landlines?” Government regulation would likely have prevented choice and competition and made the industry less responsive to consumer needs.

Freedom’s Frame provides an important reminder of how important political freedom and economic freedom are to our lives. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.

Rhythm

Countless time-management systems are based on the notion of “balancing” your life. Many Christian leaders talk about balance in the Christian life. But what if that paradigm is wrong? Maybe we should consider the idea of rhythm.

That’s the premise of the new book, Your Life In Rhythm by Bruce Miller. It makes sense. God has created a world that is based on natural rhythms, cycles, and seasons. Shouldn’t we live our lives in sync with God’s creation?

Bruce Miller describes two different types of time. The first is chronos that describes regular cycles like you would find with a clock or calendar. These are recurring and predictable patterns. The second is kairos that describes progressive flows. These are nonrecurring and less predictable patterns.

There are five fundamental chronos cycles. The first is the solar cycle (the time it takes for the earth to circle the sun). The second is a seasonal cycle (the quarters of the year illustrated by the equinoxes). The third is the lunar cycle (the time it takes for the moon to go around the earth). The fourth is the sabbatical cycle (the seven day week of creation). And the fifth cycle is the rotational cycle (the rotation of the earth).

A person living in rhythm will pay attention to these cycles in our lives. Many of us no longer live on a farm or are in touch with the cycles of creation, so we lost the concept of living in rhythm.

Ecclesiastes 3 provides a biblical example of kairos. Solomon’s famous poem has 14 couplets in which the word “time” is used 28 times. In this case, time is described like a season. There is a time to be born and a time to die. There is a time to plant and a time to uproot. And there is a time to weep and a time to laugh. These aren’t done at once in balance but are done at different times or seasons.

I believe this book has the potential to change our view of balance and rhythm. Not only does it provide the theological framework necessary to view life in rhythm, but it has lots of practical suggestions and charts to help you live your life according to rhythm. The result will be more joy, peace, and fulfillment. I’m Kerby Anderson, and that’s my point of view.