Godly Science

Book Review: The World-Tilting Gospel

2011-09-06T23:34:00.000-03:00

For those who are unaware, Dan Phillips of TeamPyro fame recently released a book: "The World-Tilting Gospel" on the masses of evangelicalism. This is Dan’s great attempt at presenting the fundamentals of the Gospel using the whole Bible, and pretty much nothing but the Bible. Dan has taken issue (as many others have) with much of the evangelical church’s watering down or outright refutation of straightforward Biblical teaching. For whatever reason, Dan was kind enough to send me a copy to review after I responded to a call for reviewers on the TeamPyro blog.

Short review: This book is a great overview of Biblical teaching, that not only provides solid exegesis of the whole of the Gospel, but in the process also refutes much (maybe all?) of the major branches of flawed teaching that have infected the modern evangelical church. I would recommend this book for new Christians (I wish I had had it when I was converted, it might have saved me much grief in my first church), those who are curious about the message of the Bible, and those who are in a church where false teaching comes from the pulpit. It is also a good read for any Christian, as a reminder of what the Gospel is and isn't (don't we often need this reminder?), and how it should be constantly changing our lives. I know I was personally challenged by many sections, and I hope others will be to. This book is not a replacement for reading the Bible (and by that I mean reading the whole Bible, Old and New Testaments) for oneself, but it is a great summary of what is contained therein, and what it means for you and for me. Hint: God does not promise you your best life now! The longer review continues below.

First, I do want to say something about style. This book was very easy for me to read, and I think it would be very easy for anyone with an understanding of English to read. Dan is very good at combining different styles of writing, mixing fictional case studies, question and answer, personal anecdotes, relevant references to contemporary culture, and historical quotes (not always together in the same chapter) together in such a way that everything just fits and flows. I realize that Dan would probably say that is all due to the work of a good editor, but an editor can only make good use of the underlying materials.

Second, I appreciate that Dan makes his case using ALL of the Bible, with many scripture references and examples from both the Old and New Testaments. In the reformed camp this is generally a common approach, but I would imagine that to many of those who pick this book up off the shelf at their local bookstore, this may come as a shock that the God in the Old Testament is the same as the God in the New Testament.

Third, I am glad that Dan wrote this book, instead of writing some of the other books that could have been written, such as “teasing out the meaning of” Eph 1:4-6. Speaking of which, I do believe Dan is working on a book on Proverbs, which I’m sure will be very interesting, if this work is any indication. I also marveled again and again how Dan worked in responses to many of the most common heresies in the contemporary church without specific sections; such as the historicity of Adam and Eve, the eternal nature of the God’s plan, that redemption is limited, and that we are utterly incapable of turning from our sin to God without Him first giving us new hearts by the work of the Holy Spirit. By the way, if you disagree with any of that, read the book, his answers are really solid, and there is a lot more than those I have mentioned.

What follows is my commentary on each section of the book. There aren’t a lot of quotes, because honestly, most of the quotable parts were very dependent on previous sections, and so I would have ended up just quoting the whole thing anyways.

Introduction
In the introduction, Dan lays out the major themes of the book, and what he believes is the cause of the current problems in the contemporary evangelical church. He begins with the proposition that the Gospel is world-tilting, i.e. it should (if communicated truthfully and believed correctly) invert our world-view from man-centered to God-centered, and asks why the ancient church changed peoples world-views and the contemporary church, for the most part, does not:

“Fast-forward to our day and glance around at evangelicanism. All the things that Group A (first-century church) lacked, Group B (modern evangelicanism) has: institutions, sway, numbers, technology, money, equipment, connections, glitz and glamour. Everything except world-tilting! Whatever you can say they are doing, you can’t say evangelicals are turning the world upside down. In fact, you could make a better case that the world has turned the church upside down.”

In a series of points describing what the differences between the ancient and contemporary church practices are that lead to the current crop of problems, we find what I believe is the thesis of the book:

“Converts to Christ knew what they had been, what they had needed, and what God had done to rescue and transform them. They had a biblical worldview that explained the need for and nature of the Gospel. Modern evangelicals, too often, don’t.” (pg 17, Point 3)

In the rest of the book, Dan lays out:

who we are
who God is
how we got where we are
what we need
what God has done
what difference it makes

Explaining each point based on exposition of key bible texts, and refuting common errors and heresies along the way. The book is grouped into four major sections:Part One deals with God, man’s current position before God, and how we came to be in this position. Part Two examines more deeply God’s nature, and how that informs His redemptive work on the cross. In Part Three “we learn how God’s “out there” work of salvation comes to have a revolutionary and transforming impact “in here,” in our own individual lives.” Part Four is focused on applying the Gospel message covered in the first three parts to confront teachings that are keeping Christians from the biblical Gospel model. Finally, Dan ties everything together to show how each Gospel truth should make each Christian a “world-tilter” and “barrier-buster”. In addition, at the end of each section, Dan also provides a helpful summary on how the particular truths expounded in that section are “world-tilting” and “barrier-busting”.

Part One
The three chapters in Part One set the stage for everything that comes after. The chapter titles here are very telling: Ch1: Knowing God and Man, Ch2: What Happened in the Garden, Ch3: Like Father, Like Son. In the first chapter, some common wrong answers as to our self-image are discussed and refuted, such as those who think we are just good people and need a bit of a leg up; those who know they need God, but don’t think they are utterly incapable of choosing to follow God; and those who not only think they contribute something to the process of redemption, but also need to empty themselves to let God completely take over (note that these misconceptions come up again later). Dan proceeds to lay out the Biblical case: that our hearts are utterly deceitful, and therefore, if we would know God and our position before Him, we need to look to the Bible. He then does so in the next two chapters. Chapter two examines the first three chapters of Genesis, with particular attention on “the Fall”, with chapter three illustrating what many would admit is true, that nothing in our sinful nature has changed since Adam and Eve listened to the Serpent and willfully rebelled, and the only cure is a supernatural act. This sets the stage for God’s redemptive plan in Part Two. Note that Dan makes the point that if Adam was not a historical figure, nor a special, direct creation of God (guarding against naturalistic interpretations of Genesis).

Part Two
Here we have the Gospel: God’s plan to redeem man from his fallen, sinful state; gloriously described for us. Dan begins to lay out the Gospel in a way that I had not really considered before, by first demonstrating that what happened in Genesis 3 was not a surprise to God, and how His various attributes (holiness, love and wisdom) are central to the Gospel. All three of these attributes are key, because they are areas of focus that I know many Christians are often very confused on. We often make light of each of these, believing that our sin is less offensive than it really is; that God should love us “just as we are”; and that He is just really, really smart. I think that Dan would agree that much of the problem in the contemporary church is that God’s love is emphasized too much over His holiness (if holiness is mentioned at all), and that is why it is first in the list. Chapter fives subtitle says it all: “God’s Holy, Loving Wisdom Confronts Our Hopeless, Desperate Need”. The Gospel here is outlined starting in Genesis, and working through history and the progressive revelation given in God’s Word. In this chapter, there is also particular emphasis on core truths: the eternal nature of the plan and election (God has always known who would be saved, and is in control of that situation), the need for a bloody, sinless sacrifice, that was prophesied from Genesis 3 and throughout the Bible. The final chapter in this section goes into more detail of what Christ actually did, or the execution of the rescue plan. With this done, we are of course left with the question: How do we get in?

Part Three
Chapter seven looks at being “declared righteous”, and the fact that those who are so declared are also justified, and the marks of one who is truly justified: hearing the word (this is why we still need preaching and evangelism), repentance (truly turning away from our sin), and vital faith. There can be no repentance without hearing the word, repentance is more than just a change in our minds, and biblical faith “is focused on information, on truth -- on statements of truth. The notion that Christianity is primarily a feeling or an experience is terribly misleading. Christian faith is distinguished by its focus on certain specific affirmations of truth.” Chapter eight then examines the truth of regeneration, or being born again (from above), and how this results in a completely new nature if we are truly born again, one that is increasingly growing in Christ-likeness.

Part Four
This is where things really start to come together. Two chapters here deal with some very serious heresies that impede Christian growth, I particularly like the names Dan gives those who fall into these teachings: Gutless Gracers, Crisis Upgraders, and Muzzy Mystics. For each one, the reasoning behind the teaching is given, and then soundly refuted. In this day and age I think these types of chapters are really important in a book on the Gospel, given that these particular types of heretical teachings are so abundant, and it is very likely that a new believer will encounter them. There are of course many other types of false teachings making the rounds, but I think most of them are dealt with rather well throughout the main body of the book.

The next two chapters deal with “The Flesh” and “The Holy Spirit”, in each case what each of them are, and why they are important. Finally, the last chapter gives nine ramifications of the Gospel (note: Dan nowhere suggests that this list is exhaustive, rather these are what he sees as particularly important ideas resulting from our study of the Gospel over the course of the book). Just to give you an idea of what these are like, here is a quote from #5 (We Mustn’t Reason from “Is” to “Should”):

“Coming up with norms and standards of behavior by observing human society is like drawing up a motor vehicle handbook by filming a drunk driver, or concluding that the average weight is the ideal weight. What is, in this world, is not usually what should be.

The Bible alone shows the truth of the matter. A pristine universe flowed from the vast mind of the perfect God by the power of His word. All was beauty and harmony, and God was at the center. Then sin entered, and chaos erupted on every plane except the divine. The world as we see it is marred by sin. Normal human behavior is broken human behavior, abnormal behavior, when judged by the standard of God’s original intent and stated norms.

God’s unchanging, transcendent moral and spiritual absolutes shatter the world’s echo chamber of self-serving back-patting. This is a world-tilting truth.” (pg 289)

In the afterword, Dan provides us with the scripture passage that served as the reference for this entire study. I would almost say that the book is actually an exegesis of this one passage. Those who are very familiar with their Bibles may be able to discern what the passage is, but for everyone else, I’m not going to give it away. For that, you’ll just have to read the book.

Thank you Dan for this book. I pray that it will find its way into many hands, stony hearts will be replaced with flesh, and eyes will be opened. Amen.

RStudio

2011-08-26T15:39:00.003-03:00

If you do any kind of scientific programming, you probably use R or MatLab. One disadvantage to using R previously was the lack of an integrated development environment, unless you were using Emacs. Well, if you code in R, you should really check out the RStudio IDE. It brings a lot of things that have been missing to R development, and has drastically sped up my code development workflow. It works on all three major operating systems (Windows, Mac, Linux), and is fairly customizable.

The biggest thing I'm missing right now is the ability to launch multiple instances, as I often have bigger jobs that I want to have run in the background while I'm working on something else. But it wouldn't surprise me if they will introduce it, or if someone else will (it is an open source project, after all).

Christians First?

2011-08-11T22:04:00.001-03:00

As Christians, our citizenship is in the Kingdom of God first, and our country second. Does acknowledging National Independence days in our houses of worship detract from the idea that we are Christians first, and anything else second? I am a Christian, Husband, Father, Scientist, and Canadian (in that order) living in the USA. Does anyone else think it is wrong to acknowledge Independence Day (USA) or Canada Day or any other national founding day in church services? Obviously we are residents and citizens of particular countries, and I don't think there is anything wrong with celebrating these days, but I wonder if making them a part of church services detracts from the notion that we are Christians first and citizens of a particular country second.

Paper Pastors, Multi-Site Churches

2011-08-11T21:44:00.003-03:00

I have been thinking about a few issues lately that I think are actually rather interconnected: Pastors as celebrities (whether they want to or not), paper pastors (that isn't how John MacArthur would preach that section), and multi-site/-campus churches. From what I can tell, each of these are ultimately products of the same sin, the desire to elevate one person above others and worship them instead of God.

If a pastor is a celebrity, then individuals in local churches are likely to place the words of the celebrity pastor over those of their local pastor. Don't get me wrong, listening to other preaching can be an extremely good thing, especially as a sounding board for the theology of your local pastor. My eyes were slowly opened to the apostasy of the elders in one of my old churches thanks to listening to men like John MacArthur and John Piper, and I am thankful for their ministries. But except for those types of instances, should we not be listening and meditating more on the words of our local pastor than those of men such as John MacArthur, John Piper, Al Mohler, Sinclair Ferguson, or Mark Dever? I don't think these men have sought out celebrity status in the Reformed camp, but it seems that they have become celebrities, and there are many who idolize them as celebrities.

This feeds right in to the idea of paper or perhaps "virtual" pastors (paper being for reading books by other pastors, virtual for listening or watching sermons by other pastors). Due to the successful ministries of many pastors (see the list of celebrity pastors above), many are able to read books by and listen/watch sermons by other pastors, in addition to sitting under the preaching of their local pastor. Again, in many instances this can be a good thing, not everyone is preaching on the exact same thing, and it is often good to hear other points of view. But if you hold up the words of a "paper" or "virtual" pastor above those of your local pastor, I think there is a problem, especially because John MacArthur or Mark Dever or Joseph Pipa doesn't know you personally, but your local pastor does (or should).

This leads into the idea of multi-site and multi-campus "churches" (such as Mark Driscoll's Mars Hill or John Piper's Bethlehem Baptist). I am using "church" because I don't really know if these would fit the Biblical model of a church with a local pastor expositing God's word to a local group of people week after week. That is what it sounds like Paul was encouraging Timothy to do, wasn't it? Obviously, there have been times in the history of the church where this model could not be followed due to a dearth of Godly teachers, but the norm has been to return to that model as soon as men are raised up to lead and teach. But now, I think due to the idea of pastors as celebrities and "paper" pastors, we are actually seeing churches willfully turn away from the biblical model, and instead embrace one where the person doing the teaching can't even hope to know all the names of those he is preaching to. I know that those who have implemented multi-campus churches see the weekly sermon given by a primary teaching pastor as somehow different from pastoring a local group of people, but I don't think you can have a truly effective impact on people if you do separate the two.

Thoughts?

Allergy Med Free for a Week!

2011-07-08T08:10:00.004-03:00

As many of my fellow Louisvillians know, living in the Ohio River Valley is not fun if you have allergies. In fact, some people discover that they have allergies only after moving here because the pollen count is so bad (like my wife). I used to suffer from seasonal allergies in Halifax, but only needed to take a Benadryl once in a while. This year, I moved up to taking an Allegra (or the generic equivalent) every day, and still having some problems with stuffiness.

After suffering with the stuffiness even on meds, I decided to try rinsing out my nasal cavities (see Neti Pots for further information). But I didn't want to spend any amount of money on either a Neti Pot or the plastic squeeze bottles. Thinking about possible alternatives I remembered the little squeeze bulbs we use to remove mucus from my son's nasal cavities when he has a cold:

These things are relatively cheap, and combined with this recipe:

3 tsp iodine free salt (pickling or kosher salt)
1 tsp baking soda
Mix together and store in a container
When needed, mix 1/2 tsp with 8oz water (pre-boiled or distilled)
(source)

Every morning for the past 4 days (not quite a week, but still) I have been squirting this solution up into my sinuses to clean them out (two bulbs worth per side). I admit it is not really fun, but its not that bad either. I haven't taken an allergy pill since Sunday, and I haven't had any serious allergy symptoms, apart from some mild congestion and eye watering when I was walking from the bus yesterday afternoon.

I really like the fact that I'm not taking more drugs (not that I take that many, but the fewer the better, really), and that it costs much less than the pills as well ($1.50 for 4lbs of pickling salt, and not much for baking soda, a lot cheaper than the $.5/day I was spending on allergy meds).

Although the idea of sticking the bulb up your nose to rinse snot out might seem gross, if you suffer from regular allergies, then what have you got to lose?

Apple Storing Location data

2011-04-21T14:59:00.006-03:00

UPDATE 21.04.11: Wired has some information on this: http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2011/04/apple-iphone-tracking/

So I saw a link to this website on Apple keeping location data on iPhones the other day, and thought it was very interesting (http://petewarden.github.com/iPhoneTracker/). As I started thinking about it though, I remembered that the locations based on Wifi on the iPad also seemed to be pretty good, and I wondered if Apple was storing that information as well. So using the code here (http://stackoverflow.com/questions/3085153/how-to-parse-the-manifest-mbdb-file-in-an-ios-4-0-itunes-backup) to figure out what file was the database, and the other suggestions mentioned by the site, I did some digging into my iPad backup, and lo-behold there is a Table called "WifiLocation", with fields of "MAC", "Timestamp", "Latitude", "Longitude", etc. So I punched some of the Lat-Long coordinates into Google Maps, and although some seemed to be off (i.e. I don't remember being in that location) some of them were definitely right on, actually showing my apartment building.

So not only are they storing the location using Cell towers (and maybe GPS, there is another table called "Location"), they are also storing it based on Wifi. This does not seem like a good thing. I mean location services are great, but why does my iPad need a database of past locations?

I don't know how good many of the locations are, and what exactly is going on as there are multiple entries for any given timestamp. Unfortunately, I won't have time to try and work on this until after next Friday. Maybe someone else will have it all figured out by then.

EDIT: For Windows users (everything above I did in Linux), I have also just found out about this http://code.google.com/p/iphonebackupbrowser/, combining it with an SQLite browser should allow you to see what information is being stored on your iPhone or iPad. I haven't gotten it working yet, but have no reason to suspect it won't.

Theology in Country Music

2010-09-21T09:14:00.003-03:00

As I was driving to work this morning, I was listening to the local country station. They played two different songs that I think manage to convey completely opposite worldviews. The first was "Just Another Day in Paradise", by Phil Vassar. I really like this song, and I hope you see why from the lyrics:

The kids screaming, phone ringing
Dog barking at the mailman bringing
That stack of bills - overdue
Good morning baby, how are you?
Got a half hour, quick shower
Take a drink of milk but the milk's gone sour
My funny face makes you laugh
Twist the top on and I put it back
There goes the washing machine
Baby, don't kick it.
I promise I'll fix it
Long about a million other things

Well, it's ok. It's so nice
It's just another day in paradise
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Friday, you're late
Guess we'll never make our dinner date
At the restaurant you start to cry
Baby, we'll just improvise
Well, plan B looks like
Dominoes' pizza in the candle light
Then we'll tippy toe to our room
Make a little love that's overdue
But somebody had a bad dream
Mama and daddy
Can me and my teddy
Come in to sleep in between?

Yeah it's ok. It's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Well, it's two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise

Well, it's ok. It's so nice.
It's just another day in paradise.
Well, there's no place that
I'd rather be
Two hearts
And one dream
I wouldn't trade it for anything
And I ask the Lord every night
For just another day in paradise

For just another day in paradise
Well, it's the kids screaming. The phone ringing
Just another day
Well, it's Friday. You're late
Oh yeah, it's just another day in paradise

They then proceeded to play Sugarland's "Something More". The outlook from this song couldn't be more opposite of "Just Another Day in Paradise":

Monday, hard to wake up
Fill my coffee cup, I'm out the door
Yeah, the freeway's standing still today
It's gonna make me late, and thats for sure
I'm running out of gas and out of time
Never gonna make it there by nine

Chorus:
There's gotta be something more
Gotta be more than this
I need a little less hard time
I need a little more bliss
I'm gonna take my chances
Taking any chance I might
Find what I'm looking for
There's gotta be something more

Five years and there's no doubt
That I'm burnt out, I've had enough
So now boss man, here's my two weeks
I'll make it short and sweet, so listen up
I could work my life away, but why?
I got things to do before die

Repeat Chorus

Some believe in destiny, and some believe in fate
I believe that happiness is something we create
You best belive that I'm not gonna wait
'Cause there's gotta be something more

I get home 7:30 the house is dirty, but it can wait
Yeah, 'cause right now I need some downtime
To drink some red wine and celebrate
Hey, Armageddon could be knocking at my door
But I ain't gonna answer thats for sure.
There's gotta be something more!

There's gotta be something!

Repeat chorus

Got to be,
Got to be,
Got to be something more!

All of this just made me pause and think about my own life this morning, and whether I was truly thankful for what God has given me, or whether I thought I deserved more from God.

I hope it makes you think too.

Loving the Church

2010-07-07T12:29:00.003-03:00

Funny, my reading and listening intersected today in a neat way. I have been listening to John Shearouse preach on Psalm 102, Loving the Dust, and then I was reading Joshua Harris's Dug Down Deep on how Christians should relate to the Church, and was struck by this particular paragraph:

But what if we saw that the church is more than a human program, more than what we disparagingly refer to as organized religion? What if we saw that it originated in the heart and mind of God himself and that his plan began before the dawn of human history and stretches into eternity? What if we learned that the church was so precious to Jesus that he was willing to shed his own blood to obtain it? What if the church is the means by which God has chosen to accomplish his purpose for us and for the world? And what if it is irreplaceable?
If we could see this, then we'd realize that rejecting the church is rejecting God himself.

Two different things to look at, but both very much about how Christians are to love the church.

I know I have not always loved the Church as I should have. Have you?

Thoughts on Evolution Part 3: Natural Selection

2010-06-12T23:35:00.005-03:00

Having examined the literalness of the creation account and the age of the earth, let us now turn to the issue of the evolution of life via natural selection. Keep in mind, that due to how we should regard the creation account and the age of the earth, there is no way a Bible believing Christian should regard this as remotely possible. However, because our secular culture and many Christians take the creation of life by evolution and natural selection as a given, we will examine some of the problems with the theory here.

First, let us define two terms, natural selection and evolution. Natural selection can be described as

A process in nature in which organisms possessing certain genotypic characteristics that make them better adjusted to an environment tend to survive, reproduce, increase in number or frequency, and therefore, are able to transmit and perpetuate their essential genotypic qualities to succeeding generations

(http://www.biology-online.org/dictionary/Natural_selection). Evolution is a little trickier, because there are actually two definitions that are used, and although they imply two completely different things, many will use them interchangeably. The first is the scientific literature definition:

any change in the frequency of alleles within a gene pool from one generation to the next

The second is the one generally held by the general public:

The process by which the present diversity of plant and animal life arose from the earliest and most primitive organisms, which is believed to have been continuing for the past 3000 million years.

The first is frequently observed occurring in natural and laboratory settings via natural selection or another method. The second has yet to be observed.

Many people, Richard Dawkins included, want to believe that the same natural selection that results in antibiotic resistant bacteria, has also allowed very similar creatures to those bacteria to accumulate enough information to eventually become creatures like you and me, otherwise known as "goo to you" evolution.

What are the problems with this view? The first and foremost is that natural selection works at the level of information. The DNA sequence in every cell is not just a random sequence, but rather a highly specific set of instructions on how to make everything a cell needs to live, including more copies of itself. When a bacteria becomes resistant to an antibiotic, it does so either through mutation of the target, or by acquiring a beneficial protein from another type of bacterium. As a mutation almost always results in a loss of function, it will only remain if the selective pressure of the antibiotic continues to be applied. This is also true of any acquired protein as well, as these are often encoded in packets of DNA that are not integrated into the bacterial genome (or original set of instructions), but are only kept and transmitted to progeny as long as the selective pressure is applied.

In addition, as far as I am aware, no one has answered the problem of increasing information required for evolution. In fact, most known mechanisms of evolution actually decrease the information content in the genome. Imagine a book, wherein letters, words or entire paragraphs may be deleted, copied, or transposed. Now, is there more or less information in the book before or after the modifications? Now imagine that this book contains the instructions for building an extremely complex machine, in which every piece has to be built with painstaking attention to detail.

The true complexity involved is even greater, in that the book; our genome, contains the instructions for building a new printing press, and the energy generator to build and run the printing press, and even make the paper and ink that will be used in printing a new copy of the original book. The DNA in our cells is even more complex than this, and it turns out that additional information is encoded at levels above the DNA sequence in chemical modifications on some DNA pieces, and the packing of the DNA. This is much like the way language works, in that information is encoded at multiple levels, namely letters, words, sentences, and paragraphs. Doesn't all of this sound like an extremely well designed language?

All of this ignores the obvious problem of getting the first bit of DNA and a cell that could replicate the DNA together in a way that they can actually do what our cells currently do. These, and many other reasons are why I do not accept the current scientific consensus that life arose through naturalistic processes and became more complex via evolution. I believe that 6000 years ago, God created the universe, the earth, and all life on it in a single act of creation over 6 literal days. Man sinned and rejected God's rule, and God then sent His son Jesus Christ to be a propitiation for sin. Those who accept Jesus as their Lord and savior will live for eternity in Heaven, and those who do not will suffer for eternity in Hell. This is the message given to us by God himself in the Bible.

For more resources and information, please see creation.com.

Thoughts on Evolution Part 2: Age of the Earth

2010-06-12T23:26:00.002-03:00

In the first part, we came to the conclusion that the creation account in Genesis should be taken literally. This of course brings up the age of the earth. Last time I looked, almost any way you add them up, all of the genealogies in the Bible add up to approximately 6000 years. Therefore, as a Bible believing Christian, I have to believe that the earth is approximately 6000 years old.

Now, some might rightly wonder, what about all of the scientific studies that claim the oldest rocks on the earth are on the order of 4.5 billion years old (byo). First, almost all of the dating methods start with the assumption that the earth is ancient, and that the various processes producing the elements of interest have never changed. There is no way to truly validate this assumption, nor to verify what the starting conditions in the rocks of interest actually are.

Second, many of the rock dating methods do not agree with each other, and the magnitude of the disagreement can be huge. In addition, there are many other pieces of evidence that do not appear to agree with the earth being as old as claimed (see here for some). One that I find particularly interesting is that there are certain rocks that contain helium gas. The helium in these rocks is leaking out at a known rate, and there is a theoretical maximum amount they could hold. However, if the rocks from which this helium is escaping were really as old as claimed, then there should be absolutely no helium left in them! (see here).

Some might point to the Grand Canyon as evidence for an old earth. The proposition is that the many layers of rock were laid down slowly over millennia, and that subsequently the river carved out the canyon over many more. The eruption of Mount St. Helens has demonstrated on a smaller scale that the processes both of sedimentary layer deposition and erosion can occur extremely quickly, especially during various catastrophes. What bigger geologic catastrophe do we have recorded for us by the very words of God but that of a worldwide flood?

So, even though we must as Christians consider the Bible as a witness to time, there are actually many other attestations to it's veracity in scientific fields, if one does not start with the presupposition that the earth is much older than is claimed by the Bible.

Thoughts on Evolution Part 1: Literal Genesis

2010-06-12T22:54:00.002-03:00

As someone who spends a lot of time examining biological problems and has a PhD in chemistry, many people tend to be surprised when I profess unbelief in evolution. This position is not one that I have held for very long, and in fact for most of my life I was an ardent evolutionist and atheist. Even after becoming a Christian, I still believed that there was room in the Genesis account for the long ages required for evolution to work, and that God could work through evolutionary processes if he so wished.

However, the first seeds of doubt were actually planted during the latter part of my undergraduate and my masters when I spent a good portion of my days staring at the structure of a protein. Which protein is not important for our discussion (those who are curious can look up acetylcholinesterase), but what is important is that this protein catalyzes a reaction that requires the precise arrangement of amino acids in the protein with the chemicals undergoing the reaction. Only three amino acids are actually responsible for carrying out the reaction, but they are part of a long chain of 500 amino acids that fold around them and position them perfectly to carry out the reaction.

This type of precise arrangement is found in many different biological systems, even at the relatively simple level of viruses and bacteria, both of which are much more complicated than many give them credit for. As I encountered this and other examples of apparent design, I began to question my long held position of atheism. However, even after I accepted Christ as my Lord and savior, I still believed that it was possible that God had only started life, that the creation account in Genesis was not to be taken literally, and therefore something akin to directed evolution occurred under the direction of God.

What I didn't realize was that this view actually forced me to conclude that parts of scripture are not to be interpreted in context. All of the alternative methods of interpreting Genesis cause one to interpret it as something other than literal history. However, Jesus and all the OT and NT writers treat Genesis as literal history. If there were not a literal "first Adam" by whose fall sin entered the world, then what need is there for a "last Adam" to redeem us from sin?

A literal reading also precludes a process such as evolution via natural selection being responsible for life due to the requirement of death. How could God declare that creation was "very good" if it was the result of millions of years of death? Especially when death did not enter the world until the first sin of Adam and Eve? If one does not treat the creation account as literal, at what point does Genesis then become literal history, as it must for redemption to make any sense. And who is the arbiter in making that decision? Can any other parts of the Bible that we don't particularly like also be turned into nonsense? Essentially one must pit man over and against God's word.

At this point, many reading this are likely thinking, what about all of the various scientific evidences for an old earth and for evolution? We will examine these in the next two parts.

Thoughts on my first mega-chuch experience

2010-05-16T21:32:00.001-03:00

For those who know, Sarah and I recently moved to Louisville, KY. Before we moved here, we found out that the sixth largest church in the US, Southeast Christian Church, is here. Although we have found a new church home, I decided that I wanted to experience at least one service at Southeast, and see how one does a church service with 6000 people. So I attended the Saturday evening worship service.

I'm going to divide this into two parts. The first will examine the logistical aspects of being in a worship service with 6000 other people, and the second will examine the content of the worship service itself.

So first, how do you have a church with 6000 people in attendance? Well, you have a really, really big building. But first, you have to have a place to put all of their cars (really bad public transit in Louisville), so there is a really big parking lot. And to get those cars into the parking lot, there were actually people outside directing traffic into the driveway, and they looked like police officers (I saw one badge that said Louisville correctional services). I should mention at this point that there were a lot of staff, from greeters to people handing out the elements of the Lord's supper, which isn't that surprising.

Upon entering the church itself, I found a very large information center, and a coffee shop. Although I had read the many jokes about various mega-churches and coffee shops, I was still surprised to see a coffee shop in a church building. I guess people need their jolt of caffiene to be able to worship God, and where better to get it than the church itself? There was also a lot of doors and hallways leading every which way.

Then there was the sanctuary. Outside, there was a main entrance, and stairs going up to the two upper levels, although I found out that there are actually 5 levels. Inside, it was just huge. I think many conference centers are smaller than the sanctuary here. And the seats, they just go on and on. I counted at least 4 video cameras focused on the stage (there may have been more I didn't see), and then there were a bunch of large video screens, and at least four banks of speakers feeding audio out. It was impressive, and massive. On stage there was a setup for a full band, and off to one side a small pool sized baptism tank.

During the service, they had the Lord's supper, with what looked like an army of people going around to hand out the bread and the juice. There was also the same army (from what I could tell) doing the collection of the offerring.

What about the service itself? Listening to the worship music felt like being at a concert, and people actually applauded after each song. The music was so loud I often couldn't hear myself or others around me singing along. And the words on the screen were superimposed over video of the worship team. The songs weren't any worse than many hymns theologically, but they were loud. There was a video spot where one person talked about a recent story in the NYPost involving a homeless man saving a woman, being stabbed to death, and then no one helping the homeless man while he dies. This was then tied to Jesus dying for the ungodly.

The sermon was on "Goodness and Kindness" as fruits of the spirit. The text was 2 Sam 9:1-11, where David is looking to make good on his promise to Jonathan to protect Jonathan's family, and David's treatment of Mephibosheth. The whole sermon built up to three points regarding kindness: (1) We need to show kindness to family and friends; (2) We should show kindness to someone who can't return the favor; and (3) we should show kindness when it may not be deserved. Now, I will admit, these are things we should do, and I would agree that Christians need to be reminded of these types of things. But in building up to this, I felt there was a lack of emphasis on Christ showing us this kindness himself, and therefore this should be our response as those who have been saved. This may have been due to the shortness of the sermon itself (I forgot my cell phone, but I would judge it was ~30 min), but I also think the time spent telling everyone about the ways that people in the church have/will show(n) kindness to others could have been better spent on examining David as a type of Christ, but don't take my word for it. Don't get me wrong, there was some stuff about Christ's and God's kindness to us, but given the imagery in 2 Samuel 9, this could have been brought out a lot more. Then again, I don't write sermons. For those who want to verify what I am saying, the date I attended was May 15, so go to the church website and see if the sermon archive has it.

So would I go there again? No. Would I recommend the place? Not with just one visit, but not likely ever, either. Even if you don't agree with the Presbyterian view on covenants, I'm sure there must be some more solid churches in Louisville with better expository preaching. But man there was a lot of people, if that's what you think is the best indicator of a church.

Follow Up:
I was speaking with someone after our church service today about the services at Southeast, and he made a really good point that in a seeker sensitive type church you are not using the service to necessarily feed the sheep, but rather to bring the goats in from the outside and make them comfortable, and get them into programs where they can get more learning. But in my mind this goes completely against what the purpose of church should be, which is worship of God and feeding the sheep so that they can better understand their relationship to the shepherd. If any goats do come in, they should not be comfortable, because they do not yet know the shepherd, and don't even know that they need a shepherd. If they come in, they need to know that they are seperated from the flock, and that the only way to become a part of it is through repentance and knowing the shepherd.

Living it up in Louisville!

2010-03-23T21:59:00.002-03:00

So a quick update. In December 2009, I applied for a Post-Doc position at the University of Louisville for microarray bioinformatics. I had a phone interview, and the next week I was on a plane for Louisville. Two days after that interview, they told me they were going to offer me the position. A month of waiting, and I had a job offer, and we were getting our stuff together to come to the US.

We've been in our new apartment 2 weeks, in Louisville for 1 month, and I've been working at my new job for 3 weeks. It has been a bit of a whirlwind, and honestly we are still getting our bearings. It is a new experience for both of us, especially as Sarah adjusts to being a homemaker, and I adjust to bringing home all the bacon. This will be the situation for a while between our Visa situation and a baby on the way July 8th.

God has been good. We had enough money to get ourselves set up (and a small allowance for moving, and wonderful family and friends to store our extra stuff), we have an apartment, food in our fridge, and are getting to know a wonderful church family.

Deadly Storms?

2009-08-11T08:13:00.003-03:00

So I was watching The WeatherNetwork this morning before I head off to work, as I do most mornings to get an idea of how I should dress for the day and see what to expect for weather for the next few days. Following the local forecast, the news feature started. Now for those who don't know, southern Ontario had some very severe thunderstorms on the weekend. I had seen some coverage of those storms on The WeatherNetwork, and yesterday they reported that one, that is one person, a woman from Sarnia, had died from the storms. Understand, I think that it is tragic that anyone died from the storms.

However, imagine my surprise this morning to hear of the "Deadly Storms" in southern Ontario on the weekend. Wow! There must have been many more people killed during the storms than I thought! It should be all over the major newspapers and news websites in Canada! Nope. The only reported death I can find is still one, mentioned as another item in both these stories:

http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2009/08/10/hydro-one.html
http://toronto.ctv.ca/servlet/an/local/CTVNews/20090810/thunderstorm_Torono_090810/20090810?hub=Toronto

Yes, The WeatherNetwork is correct, the storm was deadly in that someone died. And again, I'm not trying to make light of the fact that someone died, however, "deadly storm" implies that there were many more deaths than one, and that from a lightning strike. I actually think it is amazing that with all of the toppled trees, downed power lines, and the amount of lightning strikes that only one person died.

I wonder how many people are dying from the typhoons and related weather in Asia? How many unborn children die every minute from abortions? Lets have a little bit of perspective.

Free Speech Conference

2009-08-10T19:43:00.004-03:00

As you can see from the above banner, there is going to be a conference on Free Speech and Human Rights in Canada in Halifax, September 25 and 26, 2009. If the current state of affairs regarding these interests you, then I encourage you to come out.

GI Joe Review

2009-08-10T19:16:00.006-03:00

For anyone who grew up reading the comic, watching the cartoon, or playing in their backyard with the action figures and vehicles, you, like me, probably looked forward to the this past Friday's opening the live-action GI Joe movie with a mixture of excitement and trepidation. Excitement to see if Snake Eyes would be as cool on the big screen as he was in the cartoon/comic (he is), and trepidation that movie executives had ruined your childhood fantasies.

This brings us to something you're probably wondering about if you have seen the trailers: the accelerator suits. If you think the whole idea is nuts and simply a campy gimmick, remember that DARPA has been researching the idea of hydraulically assisted exoskeletons for a long time. GI Joe of course has access to all the latest and greatest military tech, so it makes sense that the suits were one piece of tech that featured in the movie. All that being said, they do feel a little gimmicky, but overall it works.

All that being said, you might be wondering why I am posting a movie review here. I actually have a couple of reasons. 1 - I grew up watching and reading about GI Joe, I was interested when I saw the first trailer; 2 - There is a distinct lack of movies today where good and evil are not clearly defined, and GI Joe stood out to me for that reason. 3 - I also believe that many of the critics, finally seeing the movie, will cut it up for the wrong reasons.

For those who don't know, here is a basic plot synopsis. Evil genius weapons developer who wants to rule the world develops a nanobot weapon that eats metal, and sells it to NATO.

To keep from spoiling the movie for anyone who plans to see the movie, I'll just stick to generalities, and how I felt as a reformed Christian watching the movie. In contrast to many movies nowadays, evil is evil and good is good (for the most part). The bad guy wants to unite people under a one-world government after scaring them by a series of terrorist attacks. He likes to think it is for their own good, but really it seems that for him it is all about power. Of course he is a big powerful businessman, and he is going to achieve his ends using science. This is probably one of my biggest complaints, the scientist is always evil, but the good guys use plenty of their own tech (like the aformentioned accelorator suits).

The female characters are just as strong as the male characters in that they participate in combat and lead some parts of the operations, but that is pretty common among movies nowadays (have to be "equal" in everything, see even the changes made to the Narnia movie compared to the book regarding Susan in combat). There was no nudity or sex in the movie, but an adulterous relationship was explicitly evident. There was also very little swearing, if any, however there was some blood, obviously death (it is soldiers fighting after all), along with scenes involving characters recieving a lot of pain.

I do have a couple of criticisms. One is that there did appear to be a glorification of fighting by the soldiers themselves instead of looking at it as a necessary evil to combat those who were out to hurt others, and this seemed to translate into a lack of concern for those soldiers who were hurt unless they were a primary character. The other is that GI Joe, instead of only being an American unit (as was explicit in the cartoon and comics) is multinational in nature, and is tasked with stopping an individual who wants to put all countries under a one-world government. This seemed kind of silly to me, but it works. Finally, what is up with the full outer cast of Snake Eyes face (lips included).

However, I do think they did a good job of translating the various characters from comic/cartoon to big screen, although I am sure they took a lot of liberties with the origins of many of the characters. If you like action flicks, don't mind a bit of overdone CGI, then I would definitely recommend this movie. I'm sure a lot of hardcore fanboys will see many things differently, and the critics even more so, but that is the way I saw it. I'm looking forward to the next movie coming out that was a favorite cartoon when I was younger, AstroBoy!

PS - So I guess I missed the scatalogical references, according to this. For more information about whether you want to see GI Joe or take your kids, check out this site: http://www.kids-in-mind.com/g/gijoetheriseofcobra.htm

Where am I?

2009-04-08T14:07:00.003-03:00

So I was doing good for a little while back, actually making a post about once a week or so. Unfortunately, it is crunch time as far as my thesis goes. I have a hard deadline to make, and therefore, even though I find time to read other stuff on the 'net, finding time to write about it or my own stuff takes up just too much time. So, don't expect to see any new stuff from me probably until after my thesis defense is done, unless you are one of my friends on Facebook, in which case I share a lot of the articles I end up reading.

Oh yeah, and if you know of anyone with Bioinformatics type jobs in Halifax, or even in Canada, can you let me know?

Win an ESV Calfskin Bible!

2009-02-24T10:37:00.003-04:00

For anyone who is looking for a new ESV Calfskin study Bible, maybe you should check out this contest? This post also counts as my entry, so it's not too hard.

http://www.boomerinthepew.com/2009/02/win-a-calfskin-version-of-the-esv-study-bible.html

This is the first I have heard of 'Boomer in the Pew', but it looks like another (of so, so many) blogs to keep an eye on.

How is this different?

2009-01-31T08:08:00.004-04:00

I'm sure almost everyone reading this will by now have heard that Penny Boudreau has plead guilty to killing her 12 year old daughter Karissa (Globe & Mail story here). The information that has been given is that Penny killed her daughter in response to her boyfriends ultimatum that Penny must choose either him or her daughter. No one knows whether he meant for Penny to kill her daughter, but obviously Penny thought that it was the easiest way to choose her boyfriend. So Karissa's life was less important than Penny's continued relationship with her boyfriend.

My question is this: how is this any different than a woman having an abortion because 'she's not at the right time in her life' (for whatever reason) to have a child?

Don't misunderstand me. I am not condoning what Penny Boudreau did (in fact I think it is sickening), but considering the morals of this time concerning the lives of our children, I think Penny was applying those morals consistently. Her daughter was an inconvenience in her relationship with her boyfriend, so she killed her. A baby will be an inconvenience in the womans life, so she kills it before it can be born.

How are these two situations any different?

Obviously, one is illegal and one is not. But why? One lived longer, and so is more deserving to have a life? One made it out of the womb? Considering all that makes us human is encoded at conception, that is a cop-out. Human life is human life, whether it is 2 weeks, 1 month, 3 months in the womb, or 12 years outside of it.

I'm sure people will disagree with me on this, but I challenge you to then rationally explain why these two situations are any different outside of the law.

Praying for Ministers to preach the word

2009-01-26T11:54:00.001-04:00

So yesterday I listened to my pastor expound on Ephesians 6:19-20 (listen here, or read it here) about praying for Ministers of the Gospel. Much of the message was about the fact that ministers are called to preach and expound the word of God to the people. And then today, I read from Dan Phillips (at Pyromaniacs) about ministers getting up into the pulpit and not doing that. I would say that instead of complaining when pastors/ministers do not preach the word as they are called to do, we should do as Paul asks and be praying for them. How many of us instead of praying that our pastors would preach the word, criticize them behind their back when they don't? I was very convicted by Pauls words in Ephesians, and I hope you are too. We should all be in regular prayer for our pastors and pastors in every church, that they would preach and expound the word of God, and that those who are preaching the Gospel would continue.

Pyromaniacs: Carpe diem, preacherdude

Some interesting things ...

2009-01-17T13:57:00.004-04:00

Here is a roundup of some interesting things I've found laying around the web recently.

For those who like to listen to someone else read the Bible (or have trouble with some of the names, especially in the OT, Shephatiah?), anyone can listen to sections of scripture from the english standard version (ESV) over at http://www.esvstudybible.org/search?. You don't need an account to access it, and it seems to work much better than the system they have at BibleGateWay. Of course, there is only the one version, but I think it's a pretty darn good version (disclaimer: I recieved an ESV study Bible as a Christmas gift, and I really, really like it).
Pulpit Magazine is back on the air, and right now there is a really interesting series on the Doctrines of Grace, otherwise known as Calvinism.
I recently discovered the Blog of Tim Challies, whom I guess has actually been a longtime christian blogger.
Pyromaniac Dan Phillips sent an interesting letter out to some of our favorite pastors asking them whether or not they would accept an invitation to perform the prayer at Barak Obamas inauguration, and if so, what would they pray. The first response is here.
If you like cheesecake, you should check out the CheeseCake Customizer, which will let you come up with your own cheesecake recipes. I did one, and it looks pretty good. If anyone cooks it, let me know how it turns out.

Paper-based Microfluidics?

2009-01-17T13:28:00.003-04:00

I actually read this paper a little while ago, but haven't had time to post anything about it until now. The group of George Whitesides (who seems to have research touching on everything under the sun) has recently published a paper on making 3D microfluidics devices using paper and double sided tape: http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2008/12/08/0810903105.abstract

For those who don't know, microfluidics is the art of pushing tiny amounts of fluid around and stuff with it. This is a good thing because you can do lots of interesting chemical reactions and analytical type stuff at a micro scale very cheaply that would be otherwise really expensive (as well as a whole host of other things). This is useful for making cheap disposable tests for developing countries, as well as carrying out many different analyses using material from one sample.

From my understanding, most of the research in this area involved manufacture on silicon chips and the incorporation of pumps and gates and all kinds of minituarized gates and mechanical things. There had also been stuff published previously on using paper for this kind of thing, however most of the devices were 2-dimensional, or could only take advantage of one layer of paper. Whitesides and coworkers decided to investigate the possibility of making paper devices 3-dimensional using double sided tape and a paper paste to create channels in the paper. If you can access it, the paper is actually really interesting and not severely technical. There are also a bunch of news articles floating around the web on this, here is one:

http://blog.wired.com/wiredscience/2008/12/harvard-chemist.html

In the paper, they demonstrated that they could make these microfluidic devices by hand and carry out simultaneous analyses on different samples, just by dipping different corners of the device into different fluids.

Parliamentry Coalition & Jobs

2008-12-04T16:49:00.002-04:00

As I sit here watching Micheal Ignatieff go on about the possibility of forming a new government in January, and discussing the fact that it is all about jobs, I feel very disappointed. I really doubt that the basis of this coalition was made after Mr. Harper made his announcement, I rather think that this was only an excuse. Rather, I think that they are using that as an excuse, in order to appear that they are trying to do something for the people. However, only time will tell.

A comment was made that 1000 jobs were lost today in Grand Falls, ON. I am guessing that these jobs are related to the Auto industry. Now, don't get me wrong, I think that it is very unfortunate that 1000 people lost their jobs. However, I also believe that the automakers (especially the big three, Ford, Chrysler and GM) have severely screwed up in predicting how long oil prices would stay low and what kinds of cars people would buy. If they go to a government expecting a bailout without any kind of business plan on how they are going to spend the money they are asking for, I don't think they deserve any kind of bailout.

I don't even know if the American government should have bailed out the banks and other financial institutions that they did, as there was a severe need for some kind of market correction. However I understand the impetus to keep money flowing to keep businesses from collapsing, and that elected officials have to appear to be doing something for their constituents.

Of course this is all pretty ridiculous, as our entire economy was based on the fact that people would continue to spend more and more money every year. This is a logical fallacy that had to hit a wall at some point, and this year we saw it hit. Companies, and especially the stock market, are going to have to come up with lower expectations for businesses. Personally, I think the kinds of growth year after year expected of companies was pretty crazy, and in this economy it will be good if a company manages to be profitable at all.

I have a funny feeling that a lot of other people will disagree however. Just remember, that everything that happens is by Gods decree.

Interesting Reads

2008-12-03T18:06:00.003-04:00

You know, judging by the amount of actual research articles I manage to read, you would think that I have absolutely no time for reading other stuff. And yet, somehow, I make the time for stuff like this:

Bible.org: Darwinism and New England Theology - You know, it really irks me that people put so much faith in science that they let it trump the word of God, and then feel that somehow they have to rationalize the Bible in the face of scientific evidence. That's crazy, given how quickly science changes. When this happened, most geologists were thinking uniformitianismly, that geological features were the result of processes occurring over millions of years. Now, from what I understand more geologists believe that a lot of geological features are the result of very big, very fast catastrophes. And yet they dont' want to believe in a world wide flood?

Wired 14.11: The Church of the Non-Believers - Interesting look at the religion of atheism. You didn't read wrong, I did say 'religion'.

Temporal changes in the ageing of biblical patriarchs - This article does a cool job of explaining why the ages given for the patriarchs in the OT are so much longer than the ages of people today, although some may find it a little technical.

The Food Issue - An Open Letter to the Next Farmer in Chief - Michael Pollan - NYTimes.com - Wow. I had some idea about the problems with the food system in the US, but had no concept of the amount of government money flowing into the system. I would imagine that here in Canada a lot of the same thing happens. Really, the food systems in both the US and Canada need to revamped, maybe Obama will actually have the guts to force farmers to play according to market rules.

MichaelCrichton.com | The Case for Skepticism on Global Warming - This was actually the subject of a book, "State of Fear", that I thought was really good. A lot of people like to criticize him, but I think he had the time to really examine a lot of the public science out there, and make good judgements about it.

Back to Firefox

2008-12-02T11:35:00.003-04:00

So, for the past few months I have been using Google's Chrome browser, and really, really liking it. It took up less screen real estate, less memory, and overall I just preferred it over Firefox. I really liked how the address bar worked, from putting the suggestions right up there as you type, to searching from the address bar with just a hit of the enter button if no URL's came up. I know this is a small thing, but I also really liked not having to hit the down arrow to select the top result in the search of my history and URL's.

However, some things bothered me. The lack of add-ons, and the lack of customizability. A big thing for me as a researcher is easily keeping track of many, many research articles. I was also recently happy to discover Zotero, a handly little Firefox plugin for keeping track of references. But I was starting to use Chrome more and more, and so I was using Firefox and Zotero less and less. This has been a bad thing, unless I keep two browsers going, and what is the point of that? Now, my university has a Refworks subscription, but what happens when I leave? And I like the concept of open source stuff, that in theory anyone can improve upon.

So starting today, I am disabling (not uninstalling) the various Firefox add-ons that I don't actually use all the time (like WebDeveloper, FireBug, IE Tab, and Ubiquity) so that I use less memory, getting rid of the ones I dont use at all, installed EnterSelects, and will be back to using Firefox as my main browser. Hopefully the Mozilla team will take some hints from Chrome, and will improve in the next iteration.

We are all good ...

2008-12-02T08:03:00.005-04:00

From todays (Dec 2, 2008) Social Studies in The Globe&Mail:

Self-esteem intact

"In the past year, 30 per cent of U.S. high-school students have stolen from a store and 64 per cent have cheated on a test," according to a large-scale survey by the Josephson Institute, a Los-Angeles-based ethics organization. "Despite such responses, 93 per cent of the students said they were satisfied with their personal ethics and character, and 77 per cent affirmed that 'when it comes to doing what is right, I am better than most people I know.' "

So now we have a whole generation of people who don't believe they are liars and thiefs. And we wonder why people aren't convicted by their conscience of their sin?

Our current situation in the world is that everyone is doing evil, so if everyone else is doing it, and I do it, then I can't be so bad compared to everyone else, right? What we forget, is that the Bible says that it is not the standards of man that matter, but rather the standards of God that matter, and by the standards of God, no man is righteous (Romans 3:9-11 (NIV)), and that the only one who was righteous was Jesus, who lived a perfect, sinless life (1 Pet 2:22).

But hey, no one wants to believe that they are that bad, so if everyone else is doing it, then I can't be that bad can I? Don't believe it.

RMF

No Fluff!

2008-12-01T07:32:00.002-04:00

Are you tired of all the extra "fluff" you find in your average church service today? If you live in the Halifax, NS area, you might be interested in checking out nofluff.ca, and if you are interested, come to a service.

-Robert

I didn't think this was still active

2008-11-20T20:08:00.002-04:00

Wow. I was poking around a few places, and I actually didn't think this thing would still be active. Somehow I doubt that anyone is still reading this, but at least I know it is still here if I decide that I should start writing again. I suppose I haven't really stopped, I just do it all on Facebook instead. I'm sure if Facebook hadn't come along I would probably still be posting here, but most people I know are on Facebook. Soooo, what do you do? I suppose I could post stuff here and have it show up in Facebook too, that might be an idea.

We'll see.

Pain isnt that funny anymore

2007-05-13T20:09:00.000-03:00

I'm sitting here watching Americas' Funniest Videos, and I realized that 90% of the videos on there involve someone experiencing what looks like some severe pain. And even if it is not really bad, they are still getting hurt. Furthermore, I realized that most of those I didn't find the least bit funny, and that out of the ones where someone did get hurt, those where pain would have been minimal I found the funniest.

It is incredible to realize that what much of the world considers funny, barely even registers a smile from me anymore, especially if it involves pain to another human being or animal. At one time I would have sat there and laughed right along with the audience on the show, and not had more than a passing thought about whether the person was seriously injured or not. It certainly makes me think of the Holy Spirit working within a person to change them.

Certainly food for thought.

-Robert

Scientists & Religion - incompatable?

2007-02-21T21:51:00.000-04:00

So I read an interesting piece over at the New York Times a couple of days ago, and it really got me thinking. They talk about Marcus R. Ross, a young earth creationist whose Ph.D dissertation in archeology was on a period of time in the earth's history believed to have occured 65 million years ago according to modern geology. The thing is, Ross, as a young earth creationist believes that the earth is much, much younger than that (probably on the order of 10,000 years). I honestly believe that the age of the earth is still an open question, and seeing as how I am not an expert in that field I will not even try to go there, not too mention I am still trying to reconcile what I know of the science and the story of Genesis.

The whole point of the article seems to be some kind of controversy about the fact that Ross's dissertation involves an age of the earth that he doesnt believe in personally. The question many people in the article seem to be asking is whether the work is of equal value as someone who believes in the current dogma of archeology, that the earth is ~4 billion years old (give or take a few millenia).

Many people who object to Ross getting the Ph.D. think that everything he did is no good or that any future work will be tainted because of the fact that he did research that goes against his professed beliefs. In other words, they believe that you have to believe everything in a particular field to do research in it. That just sounds like a bunch of hogwash to me. The guy mastered knowledge in a particular field and carried out original research, which last time I checked was the point of a Ph.D.

There is an even bigger objection though, and that is that now that Ross has a Ph.D in geology he will use his credentials to bolster claims about a young earth. The problem is, it does not appear to me that Ross has performed any original research into the actual age of the earth (although that is probably going to be the focus of his research now). Until he does that, why should anyone believe anything he says about the age of the earth? Once the guy can carry out any decent critique or does his own research on the subject, then he might be worth listening to, but not yet. Yes, he has had to learn a lot about the basic background about how one determines the age of the earth for his research, but I doubt that he did a lot of actual rock dating himself. I am assuming his research encompassed a very small sliver of all of geology, it would have to in order to only take 4 years of his time.

I guess the whole point of all this is to say that I dont think one has to believe everything about a field in order to do research in it, and that just because you have a Ph.D. does not make one an expert on the entire field, and therefore worth listening to about areas unrelated to ones research. I will (hopefully) have a Ph.D. in Chemistry within a couple of years, but that does not make me an expert on all areas of chemistry. Far from it. So if I offer my opinion on organic or inorganic chemistry (or many other areas I know very little about), it should be worth very little compared to someone who is working in that area. Likewise listening to someone with a Ph.D. in geology talking about the age of the earth, whose area of expertise is on a specific group of fossils, not on figuring out when they all existed (I am assuming that, as I have not read his actual dissertation).

Other commentaries on Ross (scientific community): Moran on Ross, What is science

Any other comments?

Changing Layouts

2006-12-08T22:46:00.000-04:00

You may notice I am trying out some different layouts, moving things around, and in general experimenting with how some of the site works using the new options from Blogger. I would appreciate comments on what works and what doesn't, especially if any changes make the site hard to read. Leave comments, or send an email to rflight at dal dot ca.

-Robert

Liking the new Blogger

2006-12-07T19:17:00.000-04:00

Ok, I am definitely liking the new Blogger Beta, even if it is just to use the new label feature (much easier to implement something resembling categories and tags). I've upgraded my blogs, and will probably spend some time going back and adding labels (or tags, whatever) to most of my posts, even if it is just to put labels that match my old categories. And then maybe I will see what the new template editor looks like. And maybe, just maybe, with the new slickness and ease of updating, I will start writing again.

As many of you likely know, this is an interesting time to be a scientist and a christian, with atheism looking like a religion of its own. So hopefully I will get my butt in gear and start typing again.

-Robert

Not allowed to play Tag?

2006-10-18T16:17:00.000-03:00

Check out this crazy article. Ok, this just seems really nuts to me. Are parents trying to take away the ability for kids to be kids? I thought that things were bad enough for kids as it was without sandboxes (might be parasites), metal slides (too large, might fall off), large wooden structures to play on (wood is hard), any gravel play area (rocks might hurt) and so on. It also shows what living in a litigous society will do. Not letting kids play with any contact in case the school gets sued. So essentially they are saying, kids can do this, just not on school grounds so you cant sue us.

I can't imagine my childhood without playing Tag (freeze tag was also a big favorite), dodgeball, bumper cars (run into each other at full tilt, see who stayed standing the longest), and other games that involved running after each other and trying to catch other people. Unless you have a disease causing brittle bones, there should be no reason not to do this. I got hurt, probably fairly often, although nothing too serious. Games like these helped me learn my limits, and to evaluate rewards vs risk (I could catch that person, but I might fall while doing it).

I know parents want to protect their children, and schools dont want to be sued, but this seems crazy. I think all we are doing is raising a generation of children who constantly expect their parents to bail them out when they do something wrong ("protect them"), or are not willing to take any responsibility for their own actions, and will sue the person with the most money when anything bad happens to them.

Of course, the article didn't mention whether the play area was a field or a paved lot. Not that it should really matter, because kids should be able to play tag out in the field and dodgeball on the paved lot, during recess, before school and after school. I just hope the parents dont sue the school because their kids are putting on weight from lack of physical activity during recess.....

But thats just my two cents worth.

Nalgene bottle VS HRM bus

2006-10-16T21:50:00.000-03:00

VS

Many of you are probably familiar with the Nalgene bottles found in large numbers today, especially on college campuses. I have had one for about 4 years, and about 4 weeks ago I bought a new one. This morning, it fell out of the side pocket of my bookbag as I was getting off the bus, and ended up underneath a halifax regional municipality bus.

Amazingly, the thing survived, with just some damage to the top:

Which ocurred when the top popped off and the bus tire went directly over it.

The rest of the bottle just has a few scratches.

Unfortunately, it no longer seals properly due to a dent in the lid from being run over. So today I went and got a new one. Hopefully I will try not to get that one run over as well.

I dont know if it shows up well in the picture, but the white line not quite halfway across the bottom of the lid is a ridge from being squished.

More on Tech

2006-08-21T21:45:00.000-03:00

Andrew brought up a good point on my last post about worshipping technology. His comment about much of our technological advances being mostly the result of military research during the war, or the drive for more porn. Unfortunately, it is hard to disagree with him.

Of course this leads many people to the conclusion that all technology/science is inherently evil, and that we should all go back to the garden of eden days. Unfortunately, I think many of these people would be surprised that many would consider fire an early example of technology. Now, fire can be used for both good (cook food, heat our homes) and evil (burning down other peoples homes).

The same can be said of many other technologies. Nuclear fission killed untold numbers of people in WWII, but it also gives us a window into the inner workings of the universe and is a relatively cheap source of electricity. Nuclear fission is not evil, but it is what we choose to do with it.

And that is where the problem is, the choices we make of what to do with the technology. But God gave each and every one of us free will, and the ability to differentiate between right and wrong. What we have to remember is that we will all eventually be judged for the choices we have made and what we have done in our lives. I know I think about many of my choices every day.

Worshipping Technology?

2006-08-20T20:57:00.000-03:00

So, I finally got myself a laptop. Its a 2001 G3 ibook that has been torn apart and put back together twice by me, with a fan, hard drive and memory from another ibook given to me by a former roommate. And it is really cool. What really was a pain in the ass was the backing up certain pieces of software before doing a clean install of the operating system. But hey, I must admit I really like the OS X interface, and the way I have been able to do everything I needed to fairly easily (have been searching on Google a bit, but thats what it is there for).

Now, the point of this article isnt to go on about my new (to me) laptop, but something I have been thinking about for quite a while. And that is how it appears to me that the current idol of modern culture is technology and consumerism. I'm sure everybody either knows someone or is one of those people who go out and buy the latest and greatest piece of technological gadgetry when it becomes available. Of course, it doesnt help that this is how the consumer part of capitalism works, you need people to buy what you are selling.

But there is another side to that equation, and that is looking at technology as the only place to put ones hope in. Dont get me wrong, I use technology heavily (my job depends on it), and I think that many technological advancements have allowed us to do many amazing things that have increased our knowledge of the universe, and ultimately God's creation. The problem comes when people start forgetting why they felt the need to improve the science/technology in the first place. I'm sure sometimes it is just because they can do better, but generally it is because the first iteration wasn't good enough to answer completely the question put forward in the first place.

Advanced optics, computer memory storage, faster processors, much of this has been developed not to make shinier new gadgets for us to play our music on, but to allow scientists to better study the mysteries of the universe (or conversely, kill each other more efficiently, maybe I'll tackle that another time). I think that as a society as a whole we are forgetting these things, and this story itself is changing. Now the drive is more and more the other way, with our entertainment driving the development of new technology, so in the end it comes down to money, and the ability to make a buck.

I think that is a pretty sorry place to be as a society.

Life, In a nutshell

2006-08-04T10:59:00.000-03:00

Ok, so I haven't been putting anything up here for quite a while. And I'm hoping to change that soon, really. I have a bunch of ideas of stuff to write about, it's just finding the time. And I really want to try to keep this space for more scientific / God type stuff, instead of random rants and completely exposing my personal life. If you want to read more about that, then you should check out "Life, In a Nutshell", which is my wife's and my personal blog, now that the wedding is over. See, part of the reason I haven't been posting here is because I have been trying to put stuff up there that I think some people want to hear about. So, if you really want to read stuff, then you should probably check out both spots. And if you have been constantly checking this spot for new stuff, I'm sorry. But then maybe you should also check into using an RSS reader.

honeymoon pictures are up

2006-06-05T20:02:00.000-03:00

Well, no wedding pictures to put up yet, but I do have the pictures from the honeymoon all done up, and available for viewing on the website. Right at the moment I have all the pictures just up in one batch, but I am planning on eventually putting seperate little groups, and post a description about the group of pictures. That would provide a little more context to the pictures, and the trip as a whole. That will certainly take much more work though, so it may take a while, and happen more in little spurts. Or I may do it all in one evening. Have to wait and see. Until then, I hope these keep everyone happy, and everyone can try to just guess what some of the pictures are of.General_

back from wedding and vacation

2006-05-31T17:12:00.000-03:00

Wow, its hard to believe that it has been 11 days since the wedding. I've been a married man for 11 days. Crazy. It is really taking a while to sink in, mostly I think due to how little has really changed in our relationship since we got married. I mean sure, our personal life has changed, and we are now living in the same apartment, but how we interact and how we treat each other is still the same. So it's been a little surreal. Mostly its been tiring. Getting ready for a wedding, and then travelling to Mexico, and coming back was a very tiring experience. I think we are both just really starting to recover from it all.

On the other hand, it has also been an incredible experience. I want to thank everyone who came to the wedding (all 170 of you, wow, what a crowd of people), as well as everyone who helped us get everything done for the wedding. Especially our parents, without whos support there would not have been much of a wedding at all, nor much of a honeymoon (thanks to both moms and dads). I also want to mention how wonderful everything was, and that we wouldnt change a thing. I know I personally kept making the joke during the planning that we should have either eloped, or just gone to a resort to get married and told people where and when. However, in retrospect, I think that everything was wonderful, and a completely seperate honeymoon is definitely the way to go (keep that in mind as you plan your own wedding Dan).

So when will I get pictures up from the wedding and honeymoon, or even an actual post about it all? Thats a good question. We dont have many pictures from the wedding as of yet, as there werent many taken using my camera, and we are still waiting for pictures from the photographer. The honeymoon pics I just need more time to go through a little more, and then I willl probably start putting them up, as well as a running commentary about the trip (leaving some things out of course). If anyone reading this was at the wedding, and you have any pictures you would like to share, either by sending them to us or through a website, please feel free to send them to us or send me a link to a website where they can be viewed, that would be great.

Before I close, I do want to mention one more thing. The last day in Mexico, Sarah and I went to this little spa in Playa del Carmen, Kristines. They have a massage room with two massage tables, and do full body relaxation massages for $35 USD/person, so Sarah and I got a massage together. It was worth every penny, and was at least as good as any spa massage offered by the hotels. It is just by the Playacar side of Playa del Carmen on 10th avenue. If you are there, check them out, I am sure that Jenny & Karla will set you up. General_<\span>

No posts? How come?

2006-04-28T19:51:00.000-03:00

Wow, looking back at the date stamps on my posts, I was actually doing pretty good for a while. At least once a week after I started this thing. If anyone is actually checking this space regularly, I'm going to warn you now that I don't think you will see very many posts for the next while. In fact, updates will be coming probably even slower than they have been lately. If you are wondering why, it's not because I don't have anything to write about, far from it. I think right now I have actually three different posts I'm working on. Of course these actually require some research, some thought, and maybe more reading, prayer and introspection.

The reason is the fact that I am getting married in 21 days, and then taking off to Mexico for a little while. So between stuff that needs to get done for the wedding (I know, we should probably have it all done by now, but that is life isnt it?), moving stuff, and of course my regular job, I just dont see this getting updated very much for a time. And then of course Sarah and I will be getting ready to move to our new apartment soon after the wedding. So if you dont see many posts up here for a while, this is why. Not that I think many people who read this dont already know about the wedding, but you never know. So thanks for reading, and I will be writing more thoughts up here eventually.General_

[Listening to: C is for Cookie - Cookie Monster - (1:26)]

Friends moving on ...

2006-04-23T19:15:00.000-03:00

Well today it became official, the pastor and the youth pastor at our church have left. Today was their last day at the church. It was a very emotional time after the service when the announcement was actually made. Given all the issues involved, it was not surprising that they were leaving, and I know that personally I have been pretty sure that they would be leaving for at least a month now, and I know I did a lot of greiving when I first found out what was going on. But knowing something is going to happen and having it happen are two very different things, as I found out today. I know what will probably be even harder will be going to church next sunday and not seeing them there, that will be when it really starts to sink in.

I know I will miss them terribly, I already do. But I also know that I will continue to see them, to talk with them from time to time, and continue to learn from them. Heck, even in this entire circumstance I have learned much from them. And I promise that I will not forget what they have taught me about Christ and God and what they have done for my relationship with Him. I also know that God has plans for them both, and I wish them the best in their continued ministry. And who knows what the future holds besides God?God_, General_

[Listening to: Say a Prayer - CeCe Winans - Wow Hits 2003 (1 of 2) (4:16)]

New.... categories

2006-04-23T17:59:00.000-03:00

Allright, I know I started this blog with the intention to talk mostly about life, science and God. But obviously I tend to drift outside of that, and I would like to post links to interesting technology stories I've seen, as well as just talk about general stuff. So, thanks to a bit of research and the magic of search indexing and CSS, I'm putting up categories on the site. I'm hoping this will make it easier for people to look for posts that may be of interest to them. Anything about God will be under "God", including my journey coming to Christ, science and technology news as well as articles just about science and technology will be under "Science / Tech News" (I might divide that up into my own posts about tech and then news, I'll see how it works) and then there is a "General" section.

I hope that this helps people get around the site. It will take me a little bit to edit the posts in order to add categories to what I've already posted, so please be patient. If you use Blogger for your own site, then you might want to check the site where I got the info for doing this. General_

[Listening to: Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen - Greatest Hits (3:49)]

Viruses to kill bacteria

2006-04-08T22:27:00.000-03:00

The previous story got me thinking about the whole antibiotic resistance thing, and of course all the problems that has caused with superbugs (bacteria resistant to all conventionally avialable treatments, and then some). A possible development I read about a long time ago (last year sometime) is using viruses to kill bacteria. Some of you might be thinking, if viruses are given to people couldn't they infect human cells (like bird flu crossing to humans)?

It turns out that there are viruses that infect only bacteria, known as bacteriophages. These 'phages' have evolved to infect only particular bacterial strains, and are very specific, attacking only bacteria and leaving all other cells unharmed. In fact, they do this job so well some phages are used in molecular biology labs to introduce new genetic information into bacteria, changing the basic instructions of life. The advantages these phage have over antibiotics are two fold,

1 - The phage will not infect human cells, thereby negating toxic side effects commonly encountered with conventional treatments.

2 - They infect only specific bacteria, making it possible to kill only the bacteria actually causing the infection, leaving the 'good bacteria' alone, making things easier overall on our digestive tracts (as we depend on many bacteria for certain nutrients).

Of course, pure strains of phage would have to be developed for the most common infectious bacterial strains, and it is likely new phages would have to be continuously developed, as the phage/bacterial relationship is much like that between humans and viruses, with each changing and evolving over time. And bacterial identification methods would have to be improved, either using techniques like transcriptomics or mass spectrometry in order to make treatment very specific.

The first time I saw this mentioned was a 2003 article that predicted possible treatments by 2004. I haven't heard anything in the mainstream news yet, but it certainly provides possible alternatives. Let's hope there is something soon, before the bacteria start to win.

A really good reference article can be found here.

[Listening to: Beautiful Sound - Newsboys - WOW 2001 Blue (6:21)]

Science / Tech News_

A New way to kill bacteria?

2006-04-08T22:01:00.000-03:00

University of California San Diego scientists used a fluorescent tag on messenger RNA (mRNA) (not at all like the GFP tags used to make pigs glow in the dark) to look at the structure of the translation initiation complex in bacteria. Why is this important you ask?

Because different proteins and molecules are involved in initiating translation in bacteria than in humans, the authors propose it may be possible to desing specific drug molecules that will bind to the bacterial proteins and inhibit translation, effectively killing the bacteria, without having an effect on human cells. This is important, because the mechanism should be the same in all bacteria, therefore making any drugs developed universal antibiotics, making a possible way to treat antibiotic resistant bacteria (or we could give antibiotics only to people who actually need them). And it would keep from killing human cells as well, many current antibiotics will kill human and bacterial cells, they just kill bacteria faster, making treatment a race and hoping the bacteria die off first. I don't know if that will really be possible, or if any new drugs will come about because of this research, but it is some neat stuff.

This is a great example of how traditional molecular biology is still a part of biological research, as more and more people turn to high throughput methods to study everything simultaneously, as mentioned in the article about my own research. This just proves that both methods have their place, and one is not necessarily better than the other, but each has their place in research.

More detail about how what the researchers found for those who are interested:
In the process of making protein, DNA is transcribed to mRNA by RNA polymerases, and mRNA is translated to protein by ribosomes. The interesting thing is that mRNA tends to fold in on itself due to intramolecular hydrogen bonding, thereby making it difficult to for the ribosomes and other parts of the translation initiation complex to bind and actually start the process of making proteins. The authors research described a very important part of the process in order to get this to happen. It turns out that several proteins as well as the 30S ribosome must bind to the mRNA in order to get it to unfold, without using chemical energy derived from GTP or ATP, unlike in eukaryotes (humans, other multicellular organisms) (this is the process acording to the authors).
Science / Tech News_

[Listening to: Break Your Heart - Barenaked Ladies - Rock Spectacle (5:06)]

Jesus resurrected?

2006-04-05T09:09:00.000-03:00

Ok, I know that obviously this claim can't be true, but it is amazing what people are willing to believe. The Globe&Mail is running this story about a cult in Russia where a former traffic cop is claiming to be a reincarnation of Jesus. They call themselves the Vissarionites, and have given up everything to live with their leader way out in the middle of nowhere.

Now, there are two things that I find particularly interesting in this story:

1 - The requirement to give everything to the community, and that their leader lives in relative luxury compared to the people and they serve him. Obviously these people are not reading their Bible, because I cannot imagine Jesus actually wanting people to serve him. From the New Testament, Jesus was the most humble person you could imagine, only interested in bringing God's word to those here on earth.

2 - The requirement to be away and isolated from the rest of society. Although we may be tempted to leave the world to it's own devices and go off on our own, Jesus taught that the message of salvation was to be spread to all who would listen. It must be hard to do that while being isolated off in the wilds of Russia somewhere, eating a vegan diet that doesn't give one enough energy to do anything but get by day-to-day. Which brings up another issue, that of a prescribed diet with only certain foods allowed. This kind of religious law, and the continued breaking of it by the Jews was the primary reason for the crucifiction of Jesus, dying for our sins and the new covenant. Therefore, all that is required to be one of God's children is not adherence to the law, but a belief that Christ is the son of God and salvation is reached through Him only.

From the story, I didn't get the impression that the reporter actually believed any claims of deity, but there were certainly many people who did. What was really scary, is that this cult is set to become a state recognized religion, as it has been in existence now for over 15 years, and in 1997 Boris Yeltsin signed a law requiring any religion to be in existence for 15 years before being recognized as 'traditional'. According to the report this was an

attempt to suppress the bizarre array of religious movements that sprang up after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

I just pray that their application fails, and that more people open their eyes and see the travesty and heresy being commited by this man and his supporters as so many people are taken in by his lies.God_

How the internet is different...

2006-03-28T23:30:00.000-04:00

I just watched a great clip from the guys of RedVSBlue on how the internet is different from real life. What is really scary is how well it captures those differences, with just some slight exaggeration of course. Check it out. I especially liked "checking your mail", I think everyone can relate to that, unless you have a really good spam filter.

General_

Future of Computing

2006-03-23T20:45:00.000-04:00

I haven't had a chance to read any of this yet, but it certainly looks interesting. Nature has published a focus issue on the future of computing, and everything is completely free! So if you want to see what visionaries in the field see coming up in the world of science and computing, then this looks like a great series of articles to check out. I know I will be reading them when I find some time.

Science / Tech News_

Afghan man to be sentenced for converting to Christianity

2006-03-21T11:40:00.000-04:00

Just read on the globe about an afghani man who renounced Islam and converted to Christianity. A judge in Afghanistan has to decide whether the man should be hung, as it is illegal according to Islam to be Christian.

I cannot imagine what this man is going through as he sits in jail, waiting to find out if he will be sentenced to death for coming to Christ. I personally find it scary that even in this new Afghanistan with a constitution embracing the universal declaration of human rights, that a person should suffer for converting to Christianity. This certainly brings up many issues of freedom of religion. I pray that Mr. Rahman never loses faith, and that this issue comes to peaceful resolution.God_

Research... what research?

2006-03-21T09:06:00.000-04:00

I know most people who read this might have some idea of what it is I do, and some people have absolutely no clue. First off, I am a graduate student working towards my Ph.D. in chemistry. The research I do is applied data analysis (chemometrics) of Microarray data. Now the question becomes, what kind of data analysis, and what the heck are microarrays?

There are many situations in chemistry and biology where a few individual components interacting with each other can give rise to very complex outputs. Unfortunately, very often we are only able to measure the complex outputs (UV vis spectra of mixture), when what we are interested in measuring are the individual components that make up the mixture. This happens especially in chemistry, where chemical concentrations of 3 components may change over time, and the spectrum we can measure of the mixture is very very complicated. My supervisor developed a method that is able to pull out the primary components that give rise to the complex picture we are able to measure, telling us a lot of information about the actual system we are looking at. If you want to know more about the kind of research our group does, check out our website.

All proteins in the body come from DNA. There is a flow of information from DNA - RNA - Protein. Knowing how much protein is being made at a particular moment in the cell and under what conditions can tell us a lot about how the cell responds to its environment, as well as what genes may be responsible for causing a disease, like cancer for example. We can measure the amount of RNA, and therefore the rough amount of protein being made in the cell using DNA microarrays (really good movie here).

It get's especially interesting when measuring gene expression over time, as the amount of data that results becomes enormous, and deciphering which genes are responsible for the majority of the changes becomes very difficult (7000 genes, 20 timepoints, = 140000 data points). This is where I come in. We use the techniques that were developed for chemical timecourse data analysis, and apply them to DNA microarray data in order to find out the most important contributors to the changes in gene expression.

Why would we do this? Mainly because it seems that most of the methods currently used to analyze microarray data either don't have a valid biological interpretation, or they work too much to classify every gene into a particular box, which is virtually impossible in a biological system, as gene expression can have a lot of overlap, and yet be different. Where to draw the line in classifying (clustering) is open to interpretation.

So, I am working on validating the method using various microarray data sets, and providing biological interpretation to the results (do the results we get from the method make sense with other information we know from other biological studies of the organism?), as well as working to integrate the data analysis with other biological knowledge to help make it easier to make conclusions from the data we have.

If none of this makes sense, don't worry, I spent a year doing work here before I truly began to understand what it was I was doing. In a nutshell, I use statistical methods to analyse very complex biological data that tells us about gene expression in an organism. This can be used to help us understand a lot about the basic biology of an organism, as well as diagnose the causes of some diseases.

I hope this helps answer the question of what I do for a living. Oh by the way, I don't do any of the actual creating microarrays, or extracting the RNA, I just get the images and do the data analysis. So yes, I'm technically getting a degree in chemistry, but the only time I handle chemicals is when I teach in the undergraduate labs. Other than that, I spend my days in front of a computer, doing analysis (hence analytical chemistry).

Links to more information:

DNA, RNA, protein, chemometrics, DNA microarrays (1, 2), my research group.

General_, Science / Tech News_

Listening Within

2006-03-14T20:57:00.000-04:00

I've noticed an interesting trend lately. It seems with all the technology in our lives that makes it easier to distract ourselves, people cannot stand to not be distracted in some fashion. I am just as guilty of this as anyone else, I probably spend more time than I should on the internet and listening to various music (look at that, doing both right now), as well as reading and watching tv.

But I think it can be even worse than that. I wonder about people who never let themselves stop being entertained, who can't stand not being occupied in some fashion, if they are not working or concentrating on work then they are listening to music, watching tv or talking on their cellphane, or doing all of these at the same time. It seems to me that more and more people are like this nowadays, and it made me think about why.

Part of it probably has to do with how we have been raised in a world where everything is always on and we are expected to do many things at once, constantly dividing our attention. But I don't think that is all of it. I know I personally find that oftentimes I just have to unplug, sit down and try to let my mind catch up with itself. Oftentimes this is on my walk to and from work (or on the bus) when I have a good 1/2 hour to think about things. It's a chance to disengage from most things around me (have to watch out for those pesky cars though, they like to jump out at you) and think out my day, and what I have done, and any problems I may have.
I also think it is a time when the Holy Spirit is most likely to bring something to my attention, like a sin I have committed, or insight about things going on around me. And this is great, because without this time of reflection, I would not be aware of so many things I do, I would likely never think about them again.

This is what I think some (not all) people are avoiding by continuously looking to be entertained, and cannot stand to be bored for a minute. They don't want to think about what their lives are like, the choices they make every day, and how that affects their lives especially when it is negative. I feel sorrow for those people, because I know the love of God can take all that away, and that by hiding this from themselves they are distancing themselves more and more from the love of Christ. Obviously this holds true even for Christians, as it is very easy to allow the demands of daily living intrude on our relationship with God.

Anyway, just a thought. If you agree/disagree please leave comments.God_, General_, Science / Tech News_

Blind Mice & Nanotech

2006-03-14T20:30:00.000-04:00

Nice little article on BBC News about using 'nanotech' to restore the sight of mice whos optic nerves had been severed. Now, I think this is a really cool piece of work, as they managed to cause damaged nerves to regrow and reattach, without the formation of scar tissue, holding a lot of promise for people suffering from neurological problems caused by damage between neurons. And if they ever get to human trials and the results hold up, then that will be a great thing.

The article however mentions 'nanoparticles', small peptides that were used to effect the regrowth. This I have a problem with, as it makes it seem like the nanoparticles are special, beyond being very particular peptides. What they fail to mention is that most peptides are nanoparticles, even large proteins are generally on the scale of 30-40 nanometers in diameter. Unfortunately, without being able to access the original publication (can't seem to find it in PNAS yet) I don't know if there is anything else special about these peptides that were used. It may be that there are some really small scale manipulations being carried out in constructing these peptides, but there is no mention made about it in the BBC article (not really expecting any).

I don't know who put in the 'nanoparticles', the authors of the study or the reporter, but according to the definition of nanotechnology:

"Technology development at the atomic, molecular, or macromolecular range of approximately 1-100 nanometers to create and use structures, devices, and systems that have novel properties."

then most molecular biologists and chemists could say they work with nanoparticles. However, I will admit that most do not manipulate matter atom by atom, which is an important distinction. I just wish reporters and some scientists wouldn't bandy about the word 'nano' without justifying it, especially with much of the undeserved fear being generated about all things nano.

I mean come on, better golf balls and stain resistant pants are good things as long as the world doesn't become a mass of gray goo. Science / Tech News_

Detecting Cocaine using DNA?

2006-03-01T21:36:00.000-04:00

Saw a really cool story on News.com today about using DNA molecules known as aptamers as sensors to detect cocaine. These "aptamers" are really cool. They are strands of DNA that fold up into specific shapes to bind particular molecules, with high specificity and selectivity. If you can find a way to reliably detect the binding event, then you can use them as sensors. The easiest way to do this seems to be by detecting the DNA folding in some manner.

There are a couple of reasons why aptamers are suited for sensors. 1 - they can be selected to bind specific molecules, and the selection process can be done by directed evolutionary synthesis. 2 - binding is reversible, you can wash away the substrate and repeat the binding many many times, making them suited for reusable sensors (always good for the cost conscious). 3 - you can easily determine the sequence of binding DNA molecules, which means you can easily make more. Once you know the sequence, you can make unlimited copies for use in just about any system you can imagine. 4 - you can couple them to many different types of sensors, electronic, optical or otherwise.

I really liked the story, because I actually did a seminar on using aptamers in sensors last fall, and actually looked at some publications by the same group that published the work. I think it's great to see the work on the front page of a technology news site. The best news is that the group is in licensing talks with companies about creating a commercial product. Hopefully this will pave the way for more applications. If you have access, the original publication is here.

So what's so great about this work? Well, they created a sensitive sensor (detects low levels of cocaine), that works really fast (takes about 4 mins), and can detect cocaine even in mixtures (good when people try to make it seem to be something else). And it's electronic, which makes it really easy to convert the signal and make it really small. Who knows, maybe we'll see more sensors of the same type for other analytes in the near future. Maybe even ones that can specifically analyze more than one analyte on the same chip? That would be cool.

By the way, you can also use aptamers for other things besides sensors. They are also being used as drugs for macular degeneration and cancer. Pretty neat little molecules.Science / Tech News_

Salvation

2006-03-01T21:10:00.001-04:00

I was listening to a song on my walk to work not long ago, and one of the lines went something like "and He will save us", talking about Christ saving us. And I thought to myself, it sounds like they are saying that we have not already been saved. But that's not right. Christ dying on the cross saved all of mankind, by taking all of our sins unto Himself, the ultimate sacrifice. I hadn't really thought about it that way before.

I don't know why, but I think most people think of salvation as something they have to ask for, but in reality it is a gift that has already been given. What is required is that you recognize or acknowledge the gift, or accept it. The only way to do that is by recognizing or accepting that Jesus Christ really is the son of God, and that he died for your sins. That's all it takes. The easiest way to do that is to ask Him into your life. The asking into your life part is probably why I always used to think that salvation had to be asked for or requested.

So whether you want it or not, the gift has been given, it is there for the taking if you want it. Something to think about if you havent already.God_

Godly Science?

2006-03-01T19:54:00.000-04:00

For anyone reading, you probably noticed a new title when you stopped by this time. I'm not trying to sound pretentious or anything, but I wanted a title that reflects a little better my attitude about God and science, as I have been always interested in science, and for the past year and a half have been a follower of Jesus Christ as well. When my science career became evident, I also found myself leaning more and more towards God, although it took a lot longer to admit that Christ is the son of God.

So that is why the title change came about. I think it goes better with what I hope this site is, the thoughts and musings of a scientist who is a believer in Christ. And maybe the title would also make it easier for others to find if they are searching for this kind of discussion.

What's new ...

2006-02-28T21:27:00.000-04:00

Wow, ok so that's quite a title. Depending on how I decide to interpret that, I would probably never stop writing, and therefore my life would get pretty dull after that, and I would have nothing new to talk about. So I'll try to keep it relevant.

My Mom has decided to throw Sarah and I a "jack'n jill" wedding shower. For anyone who doesn't know, that is a wedding shower for both the groom and bride. I think it's awesome, I just have to drive a few hours to see a bunch of people I haven't seen for a long time and they will give us presents? Although I could care less about the presents, I'd much rather just spend time with people who want to celebrate our coming wedding.

Even though I have a ton of work to do, and could really use the time this weekend to do it, I think this trip will be good for me as it will force me to relax, as I will have no time to do anything this weekend, and it will all have to wait until I return. Speaking of work, if you can find a school for graduate studies that does not require a bunch of classes and a preliminary oral exam for the Ph.D. program, then go there. And don't make the mistake of planning a wedding during a busy semester (like the same one that your prelim will be in). It makes a for a lot of stress about everything. I've never prayed so much for strength, wisdom, and the ability to travel forward in time to when it will all be over. Seriously, what a term, and there is still so much left to do.

Of course, hand in hand with work is the ability to procrastinate (or do other things that seem so much more important). Some other things I have been spending my time on include this blog, checking out interesting stories submitted to Digg (check it out, like Slashdot but better), and wasting more time using my Stumble! toolbar in Firefox. I'm still trying to figure out where I get the time to send out wedding invitations, watch the odd movie, spend quality time with Sarah, read books from the Dune series (I'm up to House Corrino now), watch House (great show, I really need to rent the 1st season), CSI (original mostly) and Survivor (still formulaic, and yet still entertaining), read my bible and keep involved in Uplift. Obviously I'm not working hard enough! :) I shouldn't forget downloading and slowly watching all 3 seasons of Gargoyles (what a great cartoon).

I should probably stop here, or I could probably ramble on all night, and that might scare away anyone who actually takes the trouble to read my odd ramblings. G'night folks.

For anyone who hasn't seen me in a while, I now have even less hair, and there is a lot more gray in what is left. Ah well, good thing I never became a supermodel.General_

What I have learned ....

2006-02-19T00:03:00.000-04:00

In the past year and a half, I have learned what it means to experience love, both of another person, and the love of Christ. I have also learned that if God's message is presented in a loving, respectful environment, people actually listen. I have also learned how much I love people I only see once or twice a week, and don't talk to nearly as much as I should. Finally, I learned that nothing lasts forever, and you must always be ready to tell people about Christ, but more importantly be ready to listen to what they think about God. If you can't listen to people, they will not want to listen to you.

Thank you Jerome, thank you Dan, thank you Kate, thank you Josh, thank you to everyone who ever came to Uplift. It has been a blessing to be a part of this, and I promise not to forget what I have heard, what I have seen, and what I have experienced.

Most importantly, I will not forget the two people who personified the love and forgiveness of Christ when most I know would have struck out or retaliated in anger. I will not forget that God has a plan for all of us, and that God is a righteous God, who judges all.

I pray that I continue my own growth as a christian, and learn to depend on God for all things in life, that I continue to ask forgiveness from my sins, and learn to forgive others as Christ forgave us all by dying on the cross for the sins of ALL men. Amen.God_, General_

Goodbye to Uplift....

2006-02-18T23:34:00.000-04:00

I wish I had started this site last year, so that maybe more people would have known about Uplift, maybe have gone, and would be where I am now. I know everything happens for a reason and according to God's plan, but that doesn't mean I don't wish I could change it sometimes.

For anyone actually reading this, you may have noticed that in a couple of posts I mentioned a discussion group Uplift. Really, it was more than a discussion group, it was a place where Christian teachings were presented in a loving, non-judgemental way, and everyone was asked to talk about the teaching and its applicability and meaning to modern society in small groups. What always struck me about it was how much EVERYONE, and I mean EVERYONE's opinion was valued.

Whether christian, agnostic, muslim, atheist, each person and their opinion was approached respectfully. Sure, everyone might have a different opinion, but it was not a place to bash each other and put other people down, it was a safe place to talk about christian issues, and learn more about the teachings of Jesus, whether you agreed with them or not. Outside of very few conversations I had with Erin, this was the first place where I felt my opinions about christian issues were valued, and I could talk about things that I couldn't with other people.

Dan & Kate would talk about a particular issue, homosexuality, truth, fear, other religions, almost nothing was left out. During the talk, the christian or biblical teaching about the subject would be presented, and we would break off into age specific discussion groups (college & career, high school, junior high). In these discussion groups we talked about many different aspects of the subject, oftentimes with a lot of 'enthusiasm', but always with respect for the other person. Afterwards, there was cookies & juice, and the opportunity for further discussion.

It was during cookies & juice that I think I had my most fruitful discussions, especially with Dan. I was always surprised at how encouraged I was to talk to Dan, and to discuss various aspects of whatever the topic was that night. Uplift was such a change from how Christianity had been presented to me for most of my life, the whole 'believe it or go to hell, no discussion' model, also known by some as going out and smacking people over the head with a bible.

Uplift was to me the most encouraging, loving, positive environment I have ever been in for getting to know more about Christ. I think it was that way for almost everyone who went there week after week, especially those who don't yet know Christ. If Christ himself were to come to earth to teach about God to unbelievers, we could only hope that it would in some way resemble the format we had at Uplift.

And I say 'had' and 'was', because as of last Monday, there is no more Uplift at West End. It seems Jerome, Dan & Kate are no longer welcome at West End, and therefore there will be no more weekly Monday night Uplift. Which is very unfortunate for all of those involved in the ministry spreading God's word, as well as for those who came seeking it. I only hope we all remember the lessons taught, and continue to tell others about the word of God. I know I will miss it, and most of all miss the people, and worshipping the Lord together.God_, General_

Leap of Faith

2006-02-18T14:00:00.000-04:00

I meant to post this just after I finished talking about my own personal journey of coming to Christ, but forgot about it. So here it is.....

This post came out of a discussion I had with some other christians after Uplift the other night.

Accepting Christ for the non-christian is a leap of faith. Everything else in this world tells you that such a leap of faith will result in disaster. Imagine a deep, dark chasm, or a mountain cliff where you can't see what is at the bottom. A bunch of friends tell you that if you jump, there is a wonderful safety net at the bottom to catch you. But you can't see it, because it's so far down. You have to take it on FAITH.

If you jump, you are told that you will find love, peace and grace beyond imagination. But you can't have any of that without jumping. If you stay on your cliff, life continues on as it did for all the years before, with no reason for your existence, wondering what life is all about. But you at least think you know what life is about, and you feel safe.

Of course, if you do make the jump, you wonder why you had any disbelief about the wonderful, loving, amazing person who caught you as you took that leap of faith and accepted Him as your personal saviour, and why you never noticed him there before.

This is what it was like for me on my personal journey to knowing Christ. Making that jump, that is making the decision to believe God and that Jesus Christ is his son and your personal saviour. Afterwards, it seemed like such a small step on my journey to growing closer to God, but at the time it was a monumental decision. I think that no matter how close you actually are to making the decision to accept Christ or not, it is something that you know will change your life, whichever decision you make.God_

Losing my mind, and data...

2006-02-11T22:11:00.000-04:00

So just a couple of days ago, I was once again reminded why it is a good idea to have a regular backup policy in place when you do all of your research on computers. For anyone who doesn't know, here at Dal you are required to do a preliminary report and oral exam around 18 months after you start your Ph.D. program. That time is fast approaching for me, and I have been working hard on completing my report.

Thursday afternoon, my computer started acting a little bit flaky, in that shortly after starting many programs they would crash for no discernable reason. Given the importance of my report, I decided to quickly send it off to my webserver in case my computer decided to crash. Not 1/2 an hour later, I could not even log in. The computer kept crashing and wanting to run scandisk, which said everything was fine. So, although I could keep working on my report, I could no longer access the data I was basing it on, as I had not done a backup in a very long time.

The next morning, armed with BartPE utility to create a livecd, as well as my copy of partition magic to create some boot disks, I set about trying to find the problem. To make a long story short, about 3 hours later I had narrowed the problem down to one of my 512 MB ram sticks having gone bad. All I can say is, thank goodness I have 2 of them. Once I had it up and running, I decided to back up the most important information to CD. Needless to say, I will definitely try to do backups a little more often than once every 9 months or so.

Endnote: For anyone who is wondering how I found the culprit--
So i tried the boot disks by partition magic, one of the floppies wouldn't work. Then I created windows rescue CD based on my XPhome CD and the BartPE utility, but I couldn't even get that to load. After testing the rescue CD on another computer to make sure that it wasn't at fault, I started thinking of the few problems that could keep a livecd that only loads into RAM from working, and that was of course the RAM chips. So, playing with the two chips (taking one and the other out to find the culprit) finally led me to the problem. I was so relieved to finally see my computer boot up and stay running when I had the bad stick out, it was great. So if your computer starts acting kinda flaky, check your RAM.General_

Really neat bloggin tool

2006-02-11T22:05:00.000-04:00

Ok, so now instead of actually wasting one of my Firefox tabs to log into the blog, I can do it right from a little program in Firefox, thanks to the 'Deepest Sender' extension. It seems to work really well, and doesn't take too much to set up. It also has support for other blogging services and API's. If all this is just gibberish to you, don't worry about it. Everyone who knows me probably know's that I like to add more things to my Firefox browser than I really need, and this is probably another example of that tendency. However, I really like it, and will probably try it out for at least a little while.General_, Science / Tech News_

Lazy people!

2006-02-02T20:52:00.000-04:00

Does anyone else ever notice that so many people are idiots when it comes to cleaning off their cars? On my walk to school this morning, I saw just a few cars owned by people who could not be bothered to clean off their entire cars, and left snow on their car roof's.

Unless you are severely vertically challenged, it should be possible to clean off your car roof. If you have a minivan and are not tall enough to reach your roof, invest in a broom, or a snow brush with an extendable handle. For vehicles like the big truck in the last picture, the employers should supply some method of cleaning off the roof.

Some of you may think I'm being a jackass, but you would be like this too if you have ever been driving somewhere and had a sheet of snow and ice fly off a minivan roof, and slam into your windshield. Especially if you are doing 80 kph in traffic, and all you can do is grip the steering wheel as you watch this sheet of ice fly towards you, and you hope that your car doesn't go off the road, and that the windshield holds. I know I was lucky, but I can imagine there are many others who wouldn't be so luck.

So please people, be considerate of others, there are enough hazards to driving in the winter, don't be lazy and stupid and add something that is easily prevented to the mix.General_

Snow and wind, energy

2006-02-01T19:53:00.000-04:00

For anyone who isn’t here in Halifax, it seems we finally got our due this winter for snow. Between last night (Tuesday) and today we got ~25 cm’s of snow (a foot for anyone from the states). It was bad enough they actually closed the university all day today (nice to get an extension on studying for my midterm) and there were no busses running today. I really don’t think it was even the snow that caused the problems, but it was the wind that came with the snow. Gusts up to 90 km/h, with sustained winds of 70 km/h during the storm. Even now the wind is at a constant 40 km/h.

That’s not a big deal if you live in a newer building, but man do you notice the wind when you are in an old building with really crappy windows. In my apartment, two of the bedrooms have newer windows, that do a really good job of keeping the wind out. The rest of the apartment has older windows, and you can actually feel the wind blowing in them. In addition, there is only one thermostat for the whole apartment. So my poor roommate is freezing, and I’m almost roasting at night from the heat.

I can just imaging how much oil the owners are wasting because they didn’t think to install good windows in the rest of the rooms when the windows were replaced. It’s crazy. I really think that this kind of thing is part of the problem with our energy problems, people not being willing to spend a little more money for decent windows and insulation to save on heating oil, when the investment will pay itself back, generally within a few years. Maybe it will have to jump a few more dollars a barrel before people finally start finding it worthwhile to invest in more energy efficient technologies. Scary thought.General_, Science / Tech News_

Why I didn't vote...

2006-01-23T21:02:00.000-04:00

And it’s election night. I know a lot of people will give me a hard time for this, but I chose not to vote in this election. Therefore, I promise to do my best not to complain about the new government, no matter what it looks like. I think my biggest problem this election was not actually looking at what each party had to offer. But without doing that, and going just from what I saw on TV and heard in the news, here is why I didn’t bother voting.

Liberal: 90% of their promised agenda is stuff they already announced before the election. The Gomery inquiry. Not doing so great now, who is to think they will do any better?

Conservative: Much of what Stephen Harper said about the maritimes and his general attitude from last election piss me off. Not to mention forcing an election when Martin said he would call one in February. I like what I hear in general from the conservatives, but I can’t stand Stephen Harper.

NDP: As much as I like them, we all know they are not likely to form even a minority government. So voting NDP would almost seem a wasted vote (I know this isn’t really true, but if they aren’t in control (or there is for sure a minority government), just how much can they do?).

Bloc: right….

So, for better or for worse, I didn’t vote today. And I would imagine if you asked other people who didn’t vote why they didn’t, their answer would be what difference is it going to make, nothing is really going to change. If the conservatives get in, will they really stop misspending our tax dollars? Maybe for a while, until someone gets a little greedy. So, listen up party leaders. If you want my vote, why not try to find a real solution to some of our problems, instead of throwing money at the problem and hope that the voting public is blinded by the flash of green, red and brown in their faces.General_

Journey to Christ: Pt 2

2006-01-18T22:11:00.000-04:00

I never thought I would have to break this up into 2 parts. It’s amazing what happens when you actually start writing stuff out. If you want, read part one of this story first.

Anyways, I spent a summer in Quebec when I was 20. Events there and afterward made me come to the conclusion that my life was not just a series of random events influenced by the choices I made, but everything led to another with a purpose. This caused me to reconsider my belief in an omniscient God with a plan for the universe. I still didn’t know anything beyond that, but it was a nudge in the right direction.

Over the next years, I spent a lot of time thinking about God, and what that meant in my life. I didn’t know what to think about Christ as the son of God, that was too much of a leap for me at the time. I also had many a conversation with my good friend Erin, who seemed to be there at just the time that I needed to discuss this with her. My work also influenced my thinking. I spent 3 years examining the structures of enzymes, the workhorses of our cells. I think it is impossible to study protein structure and believe that the entire thing is the product of random mutations over millennia. Of course this only strengthened my belief in God as an ultimate creator of the universe.

After I finished my Master’s, I followed Erin to Halifax (not really, it just conveniently worked out that way) to start my PhD in Chemistry. This was important for two reasons. 1-She asked me to read ‘Case for Creator’ by Lee Strobel, an excellent book on evidence for God in the universe. 2-She invited me to Uplift, a great group for Christians and non-christians to discuss current issues. It was there I began to think about the possibility of Christ as the son of God after talking to many people, and where Marc gave me my first bible. I also met Sarah there soon after attending (almost there, I swear).

Sarah was taking discipleship classes, and the pastor had given her a copy of ‘Purpose Driven Life’ to read, and a copy for me to read as well. In one of the chapters, Rick Warren, the author asks the reader to accept Christ if they haven’t already done so. At this point I stopped reading! I was like, I can’t read any more, because he wrote the rest of the book with this assumption. This one statement forced me to confront why I could not accept the idea of Christ as the Son of God.

I wrestled with this question for a good couple of months, talking about it with Sarah and Erin many times. Finally, I decided to accept this truth, and I got down on my knees and asked Christ to be a part of my life. A greater feeling of peace as I felt then I have never known. In May of that same year, I proposed to Sarah, and two days later I was baptized. Since accepting Christ (a little over a year ago) I have been learning more and more about God, and growing further in my relationship with Him. It has been an amazing journey, and I pray that it always will be. I also finished ‘Purpose Driven Life’.

I have come to realize and understand many things in the past year. We are all sinners, and nobody is perfect. This includes everybody in the church, it’s a fact. Therefore, just because someone in the church does something wrong, that does not mean that the church or that religion is bad. The same goes for misguided individuals carrying out acts in the name of God. I realize now the fallacies I held on to for years, and I am so glad I finally see the truth. It is an amazing journey if you are willing to take the first step.God_

Love, grace, forgiveness

2006-01-18T21:28:00.000-04:00

Love. Four simple little letters, that express so much meaning. Arguably the most powerful emotion, it has the power to lift us up and to bring us to our knees. And of course there are many different kinds of love, the love we have for our parents, that our parents have for their kids, and the love we have for our significant other.

It’s funny, because at each stage of my life, I thought I knew what it was to be in love, until I of course experienced it in a new way. Obviously, loving someone who at least like’s you more than a friend is different from thinking you are in love with someone who doesn’t care if you die on the spot. And loving and being truly loved in return is the most amazing thing I think a person can experience on this planet. Until I met my fiancé Sarah, I thought I had known what love was, but of course I hadn’t really. And everyday I find myself even more in love with her, as I discover more and more what an amazing person she is.

What is sad today is that many people believe that love has to be conditional. We are bombarded with conflicting messages everyday. On the one hand, most people would say ideally that love is unconditional, and that it has no bounds. We see this a lot in movies, especially in epic tragedies. On the other hand, advertisers would like to have you think that you have to earn a person’s love by doing things for them and buying them lot’s of expensive things (diamonds anyone?).

I think this is honestly a major problem for people in relationships today, and it can make life very difficult. It also makes it difficult to accept the idea of unconditional love from God, and the dying of Christ on the cross. I know I struggle with this daily in my relationship with Sarah, and with God. One of my major stumbling blocks to accepting Christ was the idea of unconditional love and forgiveness. I had trouble accepting a love that I know is completely undeserved.

This also comes into the concept of God’s grace, forgiveness for everything that has been committed if it is asked for. Without His unconditional love, He would not be able to forgive us for everything. This is shown most ably in Christ dying on the cross for all of humanity’s sins. Definitely food for thought.God_

Journey to Christ: Pt 1

2006-01-15T20:40:00.000-04:00

Because a lot of what I talk about on this site will concern this topic, I want to use this post to give you some background on my spiritual journey. As I stated previously, it has only been 15 months since I accepted Christ. I think that it will help others to understand a bit more about me if I post a little more about how I got to that point.

In case you just want a short version, please see a previous post.

I wouldn’t say that my family was particularly religious. I do remember attending church on Sundays when I was little, but at some point we stopped going. When I was older I remember thinking that it was because my brother and I tended to cause a lot of commotion whenever we went. God wasn’t something we talked about a lot at home, it always seemed to be a very private topic for the most part. I also had a religious studies class during grades 1-3, which was mostly about stories from the bible.

However, as a child I suffered from almost debilitating pain, in the form of headaches and muscle pain, especially in my legs. To this day I still suffer from these pains, with the only cures being Aspirin and sleep. I do not remember a single day of my life where I have not experienced some pain in my joints, whether minor or major. At one time I was diagnosed with Fibromyalgia, a soft tissue disorder, but I no longer believe the diagnoses. What matters is that I constantly prayed for an end to the pain, all I ever wanted in the world was for that pain to stop. I believed that if there really was a loving, all powerful God, then He could make the pain end. When the pain didn’t stop, I rejected God, and all possibilities of a higher power. I turned completely away from God, and that was when I think I began to seriously turn to science. Although I had always had an interest in science, I now turned to it as the answer to everything in life.

That is kind of ironic now, as my study of science I believe ultimately brought me back to God.

This rejection of God happened at the age of 12, or somewhere’s around there. This disbelief in God was further strengthened by my studies of history, where I constantly found examples of atrocities committed in the name of God by misguided individuals in the church. Naively equating the church and religion with God, I became even more critical of anything to do with God. I also had negative experiences interacting with people who could not accept my beliefs. Now, I had no problem with other people believing in God, so I could not understand why certain individuals who believed in God could not accept my beliefs, and not try (in my mind anyway’s) to force their beliefs on me.

So for the next 8 years, I would periodically reexamine the evidence I had, and ask myself whether I still believed there was no God. And each time the answer was no. Until I turned 20. In that time I read much (never read the bible during that time, fancy that), and talked with a lot of people, and did a lot of thinking on the subject. Eventually, a personal experience changed my beliefs and forced me to confront them head on, and I did start to believe in a higher power.

But I’ll save the rest of the story for next time, as this has gotten a little longer than I expected.God_

Coming to Christ: Abridged version

2006-01-15T20:15:00.000-04:00

Here is an abridged version of my journey to coming to Christ.

Age 12: Reject the notion of an almighty, powerful, loving God. Basically become an atheist for the next 8 years. Don’t believe in any kind of supernatural power.

Revisit this question on a personal level every couple of years, and think about what I know and how that affects my belief system.

Age 20: After life changing personal experiences, begin to believe in an all powerful force that could be considered ‘God’. Definitely do not believe that Christ is his son. Classified myself as agnostic, although not sure about this any more. Begin to question my assumptions about God, and religion especially a little more.

Age 25: Begin going to Uplift. Marc gives me a Bible to read as a present, and I also begin reading Purpose Driven Life (PDL). After being stuck on one chapter of PDL for 2 months, accept Christ into my heart. Life continues to be an amazing gift, and living for His purpose even more so.

As I said, this is the short version. If you want to take the time, then please feel free to read the likely much longer version of this story. If you are seeking, then I hope God uses my story to help you on your own personal journey.God_

Green Pigs, Human Ignorance

2006-01-14T16:49:00.000-04:00

Normally I wouldn't comment on a story like this. But you'll know why soon.

It seems have Taiwanese researchers have made green pigs, they glow green in the dark. This is due to the addition of green fluorescent protein, or GFP. Now, GFP has been used for years to track other proteins, you attach to your protein of interest, and you can keep track of it very easily because it will glow green. Now, I'm not sure of the specifics in this case, I'd have to read the paper, but the researchers managed to put the GFP in some pigs, and now they glow green in the dark. They say they'll use them to track tissue development and such. I think that's a pretty neat idea, especially if they did it in such a way as the GFP is only expressed in certain tissues, you could really get some insights into total development. This is all well and good in my mind.

The part that ticks me off is the comment at the bottom. Somebody (actually, Marie-Andrée Michaud from Hudson), thinks that somehow making pigs glow green using GFP is causing them pain and suffering. I'm assuming she thinks that they are in pain, as that is the only thing I can think of that would cause them suffering. However, in no way would GFP cause them pain. I can't think of any other kind of suffering she could be talking about. In fact, I bet the pigs like it because they can see at night without any other lights (if pigs can see green light that is, I don't know). I'm betting that Marie know's nothing about modern molecular biology, or even what the protein does. She just assumed that the pigs glow green, they must somehow be in pain.

Unfortunately, I think this is part of the problem with society and science. There are so many people who think that all of science is bad, or causes suffering. Unfortunately, science is all about what you do with the knowledge you gain. Any, and I mean any, research can be used for harm if someone really wants to. The best way to keep science from being used for ill use is to have an educated public, not one fed on horror stories from the government and media.

To keep this short (as short as possible now), GFP is a protein (series of amino acids all linked together) that has a chemical group that causes it to emit green light when UV or blue lightis shone on it. The protein is naturally found in some jellyfish, probably as a way for them to attract fish to catch or something (just guessing here, but sounds plausible). It doesn't cause them any harm, and GFP has been used for years in molecular biology as a research tool. There are even zebrafish now bred with GFP in them, that turn colors and glow in the dark. These were originally used for research, but are now sold as pets. So, I hope no one after reading this will think the pigs in the original article are suffering. It's just another application of some research that has been around for years.Science / Tech News_

Of theatres and DVD's, which is better?

2006-01-12T20:34:00.000-04:00

Was reading an article on CNET news again today about the theatrical and DVD release of Bubble by Steven Soderbergh,which is being released in theatres, and then released on DVD only 4 days later, with the DVD being higher priced than a regular DVD. I honestly have no idea what the movie is about and don't really care, what interests me is the idea of releasing a movie only 4 days later in order to combat video piracy and keep revenues up. I'm not really sure if it will work out that way, but it's an interesting thought. Of course, all the theatres are saying that ticket sales will go down really quickly as soon as the DVD is released (from the article somewhere).

In talking about this with Hannes, he floated the idea of selling the DVD to theatregoers as soon as they exit the movie. I kind of liked this idea, as there should be no reason to keep those who really want to see the movie from seeing it, but those who enjoy the movie a lot and think they would want to buy it could do so right then and there. This would also allow for the regular DVD release schedule, and of course special editions and directors cuts (how I love the Lord of the Rings!). I don't know if it would work or not, but it might be an interesting experiment in keeping theatre sales and DVD sales up. Of course I still think the whole industry is making a killing by charging obscene rates for movies and concessions. Something to think about as I think the whole movie and music industry is going to be very different in the next 5 years (1 year, 10 years, who can really predict this stuff?).

Isn't it crazy that to see a movie in theatres on Friday night can cost over 1/2 the price of the DVD? That's why I let Sarah get movie passes from work and use those most of the time, which probably means I should spring for some food at the theatre every so often, seeing as how most times we don't even pay to get into the movie.

Atom & RSS feeds now available!

2006-01-11T13:57:00.000-04:00

Now you can see any new posts very easily with the Atom and RSS feeds (ok, there always was an Atom feed, but now there is an actual link to it, instead of asking your reader to find it automatically). Point your reader to the links and you will be all set. If you don't know about RSS, I would type define: RSS into Google and see what pops up, it can be very useful for keeping track of stuff.General_

Uplift

2006-01-10T22:15:00.000-04:00

What is that Uplift link sitting there in the links region? Well, Uplift is a christian discussion group that operates out of my church, to provide a safe discussion forum for christians and non-christians to discuss current issues from a christian point of view. And I would say that it was one of the big building blocks in my journey to coming to Christ. The people there really opened my eyes to what followers of Christ were like.

It was also the first time I felt comfortable talking about God and Christ in a group, there wasn't anyone attacking my views, but they were respected, and discussed. I felt like my views were respected, even though I was not a christian at the time. And that was a big change for me. There were a few christians I knew who I could talk about things like this with, but I had never been in an environment where my views were considered valid by christians. So, that certainly made a big difference in my ideas about what christians were like.

And finally, through discussions with the people there, and some other influences I will describe in more detail in another post, I began to become interested in what it truly meant to be a christian. And of course, to seek Christ out. It's hard to believe that it was just over 15 months ago when I went for the first time, and just over a year since I accepted Christ into my life. I thank Erin for telling me about Uplift and inviting me to go there. And I thank Dan & Kate for listening to God's call and starting this ministry.God_

Not much choice left for microchips....

2006-01-10T21:37:00.000-04:00

Just read a transcript of Steve Jobs keynote from Macworld. It's official, if you want something besides an Intel chip, then you have to build a PC and put in something by AMD (ok, not quite that bad, but still). Not that anyone can blame them for doing it.

By the way, if anyone would like to buy me an ipod, any size of one (as long as it has a screen, I mean you nano) then I would love you forever. Not really, but I do really want an ipod (as I'm sure Andrew just rolls his eyes, Sarah likely is too).Science / Tech News_

What's this about? (again)

2006-01-10T21:19:00.000-04:00

Allright. If you had seen my blog before, you might notice that some things on here have changed. Especially in the header of the page. Before you didn't see anything about 'God'. And now there is. Some of you who know me might be wondering why that is. My entire life, I was always interested in the concept of God, and what his existence/nonexistence meant to me. Even my years as an atheist and a non-christian, I was always seeking to talk to interesting individuals about God. So, now as a christian, he has become an even more important part of my life. So, there will likely be posts on here when I talk about God, being a christian, and about my journey to coming to Christ, and my continuing journey with him.

Seeing as how I also do research in chemistry and biological sciences, I am obviously into technology and science (hard not to be when you spend at least 8 hours a day working on the computer). Do I think that science precludes a belief in God and Christ? No. Some would disagree with me, but I think my love of and study of science over the years actually helped to bring me to Christ. But more on that another time.

At the very least I hope that this is interesting reading to someone out there. And I encourage everyone to leave me comments, positive or negative, and send me questions if you have any.

-RobertGeneral_, God_

More Pics!

2006-01-10T20:30:00.000-04:00

If anyone is interested, I have put up a few more pictures on my photo galleries page. Up now are pictures from the engagement party, a trip to my parent's in august, a summer friends and family picknick, and a group bbq from my work. There likely won't be any more going up until something happens to take more pictures of, as I think that about exhausts all the pictures sitting around on my computer.

Enjoy!General_

Wedding: Info 1

2006-01-06T22:49:00.000-04:00

Ok, so how about some information about the wedding. Any posts related to the wedding I will prelude with "Wedding:", so you know where to look.

First off, for anyone who doesn't know, the wedding is May 20th, in Digby, NS. There are really only two easy ways to get there if you are coming from away. Fly into Halifax and drive there, which takes about 2.5 hours, and the other option would be to fly into Fredericton, NB, get to Saint John and take the ferry across from Saint John to Digby (walk on or drive). From Fredericton you are looking at a 1 hour drive to Saint John, and then a 3 hour ferry crossing. Or fly into Saint John directly if your airline goes there. I do not recommend driving around to Digby from Fredericton, Moncton or Saint John, as it is a really long drive (over 6 hours). Danial has done it a few times, and he can testify that it isn't that much fun.

Accomodations in Digby. This is one I will have to ask Sarah to comment on, as she is much more familiar with this than I am. The only hotel I actually know about in Digby is The Pines. Although it looks really nice, I don't recommend staying there unless you want to spend more money. The rooms are not worth the price. There are other hotels and B&B's in Digby to stay at. We will be blocking rooms for the wedding, when we do this we will post the information here.

R.
General_

Happy New Year!

2006-01-06T22:27:00.000-04:00

Happy New Year to everyone (ok, so it's a little late, what are you going to do about it?). This is a picture of us after we got back to Sarah's after going out to Steak'nStien for supper. Good food for a good price, and all I can say is thank goodness I made reservations in advance, or we would have been waiting an awful long time. Hope everyone is starting off the year on the right foot. General_

Hi Everybody!

2006-01-06T22:02:00.000-04:00

Ok, so I decided to jump on the bloggin bandwagon. I guess I thought it might be pretty useful, especially with our wedding coming up, I thought perhaps Sarah and I could use it to keep family members up to date on developments, and give out information that people attending (especially those from out of town) would find useful. As well, I will probably use it to let people know if we have put up more pictures on my dal website (check out picture galleries at http://myweb.dal.ca/rb504718/pictures/pictures.html).

So like I said, I hope this becomes useful place, for everybody to find stuff out and for myself to give out information.General_