Comments on: Random Designer V http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/ Thoughts on Religion in the World from a passionate, moderate, liberal charismatic Christian Tue, 15 May 2012 14:29:36 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Threads from Henry’s Web » Dr. Richard Colling Comments on Random Designer Review http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-99788 Threads from Henry’s Web » Dr. Richard Colling Comments on Random Designer Review Tue, 22 Jan 2008 21:44:34 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-99788 [...] Comment 99252. Hello Henry, and [...] [...] Comment 99252. Hello Henry, and [...]

]]> By: Richard Colling http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-99252 Richard Colling Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:10:18 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-99252 Chapter 14 almost did not make the cut for the book. One of my closest friends had read the manuscript just before it went to press. He had terminal cancer. When I suggested that I might take that chapter out, he was adamant that it needed to be included. He could see that his life was soon to end, but he was supremely confident that his life would never end. Only the physical was terminal in his mind. The spiritual had no end. One of his favorite sayings to me during those last months of his life was, " All healing is temporary". If I think about this, it is so obvious, but also deep. We sometimes place God before the litmus tests of our experimental designs, saying that if we experience some apparently inexplicable healing or recovery from physical disease, it is God. Well, my friend knew that God does not thrive or even appreciate that kind of notariety. All of us are physical beings, and mortality is common to us all. It is hard for me to believe that God cares a great deal about whether I live to be 60 or 80, but it is easy for me to understand that he cares how I relate to him and to others. In the Bible, Jesus repeatedly cautioned his followers about emphasizing physical health over spiritual. Are miracles real? My answer is a resounding "Yes". But in the sense that every biochemical process that has been ordained within us, including the innate healing processes are miracles. Can these be tapped by spiritual means? I have not seen it conclusively demonstrated, but I know others who are very convinced, and I accept that reality as a possibility. That is faith, I guess. Glad you are finding value in the book. Thanks. Rick Chapter 14 almost did not make the cut for the book. One of my closest friends had read the manuscript just before it went to press. He had terminal cancer. When I suggested that I might take that chapter out, he was adamant that it needed to be included. He could see that his life was soon to end, but he was supremely confident that his life would never end. Only the physical was terminal in his mind. The spiritual had no end. One of his favorite sayings to me during those last months of his life was, ” All healing is temporary”.

If I think about this, it is so obvious, but also deep. We sometimes place God before the litmus tests of our experimental designs, saying that if we experience some apparently inexplicable healing or recovery from physical disease, it is God. Well, my friend knew that God does not thrive or even appreciate that kind of notariety. All of us are physical beings, and mortality is common to us all. It is hard for me to believe that God cares a great deal about whether I live to be 60 or 80, but it is easy for me to understand that he cares how I relate to him and to others. In the Bible, Jesus repeatedly cautioned his followers about emphasizing physical health over spiritual.

Are miracles real? My answer is a resounding “Yes”.
But in the sense that every biochemical process that has been ordained within us, including the innate healing processes are miracles. Can these be tapped by spiritual means? I have not seen it conclusively demonstrated, but I know others who are very convinced, and I accept that reality as a possibility.
That is faith, I guess.

Glad you are finding value in the book.

Thanks.
Rick

]]> By: Richard Colling http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-99251 Richard Colling Thu, 10 Jan 2008 02:58:55 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-99251 I copied this from your blog. It resonates with me.

Rather than being a God who sustains reality and pushes from the past, I think we must accept a God that gives reality the grace to form and develop on its own and who pulls creation towards him from the future. Rather than believing in a God who orders every molecule of the cosmos, we must accept a God who allows indeterminate chaos to exist. Rather than examining nature to find God’s design, we must rather look to nature for God’s promise. And finally, rather than seeing creation in a fallen state from a past state of perfection, we must see it as a dynamic creation emerging from chaos, being drawn by God toward an intended perfection in the future.

Good thinking.

Rick

]]> By: Henry Neufeld http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-97309 Henry Neufeld Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:14:02 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-97309 Actually, one more try. <a href="http://lameandblind.blogspot.com/2007/12/heart-of-matter.html" rel="nofollow">this</a> is the actual post referenced, so this link will still go to the right place after TLTB posts again. Actually, one more try. this is the actual post referenced, so this link will still go to the right place after TLTB posts again.

]]> By: Henry Neufeld http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-97308 Henry Neufeld Wed, 19 Dec 2007 20:11:17 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-97308 Let's go ahead and give that a live link: <a href="http://lameandblind.blogspot.com" rel="nofollow">lameandblind.blogspot.com</a>. Let’s go ahead and give that a live link: lameandblind.blogspot.com.

]]> By: TLTB http://henrysthreads.com/2007/12/random-designer-v/comment-page-1/#comment-97264 TLTB Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:13:12 +0000 http://www.energionpubs.com/wordpress/?p=1062#comment-97264 "But no such stark choice is presented. What Dr. Colling invites readers to do is to expand their understanding of God, and to see the beauty of the plan of creation which is revealed by science. To put this in my own words, we need to look at our faith and see where it can be improved and strengthened by what God has revealed in the natural world." I think there are lots of challenges here, many not so simple. The most recent post on my blog addresses this issue in a general way. lameandblind.blogspot.com “But no such stark choice is presented. What Dr. Colling invites readers to do is to expand their understanding of God, and to see the beauty of the plan of creation which is revealed by science. To put this in my own words, we need to look at our faith and see where it can be improved and strengthened by what God has revealed in the natural world.”

I think there are lots of challenges here, many not so simple. The most recent post on my blog addresses this issue in a general way.

lameandblind.blogspot.com

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