Life on Planet Earth on God's Design

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Chaos Theory and God’s Design

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Several years ago, a friend of ours read a book on chaos theory and shared some of the ideas with our family. We were fascinated as he described to us the incredible concept of fractals—patterns withi...

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Author

Thomas Watson

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Scripture

Romans 8:28

He has no design upon us, but to make us happy. . . . Who should be cheerful, if not the people of God?

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Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of

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Memorial Drive Presbyterian Church

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Scripture

John 14:6, Genesis 1:1, Psalm 19:1, Isaiah 40:28, John 14:6, Psalm 100:3, Colossians 1:16, Romans 5:8

Heavenly Father, we stand in awe of Your creation. You are the master of design. You know the change of seasons, You know the orbit of planets, and You know exactly what human beings were made for: a ...

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Life in the Gaps

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Wayne Stiles

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Most of life is lived in the gaps between great moments. The peaks seem to protrude only after miles and miles of death valleys. While the Bible reveals its characters in terms of their high points, w...

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A 7 or 10 Day Work-Week?

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A. J. Swoboda

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This seven-day week is not something that can, or should, be tinkered with, although some have tried to. In 1793, France, in an effort to increase human productivity, de-Christianized the calendar by ...

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O God, whose reason rules the world,

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Boethius

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Scripture

Proverbs 8:22-31, 2 Corinthians 12:1-4, Exodus 19:16-20, Matthew 17:1-8, Job 38:41

O God, whose reason rules the world, who formed the starry heights above, timeless, time’s chain far forth you hurled, unmoved, gave all things power to move. Prevailed on by no outside cause to fashi...

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Augustine of Hippo

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God, you have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless till they find their rest in you.

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My dear King, my own King, without

Author

The Northumbria Community

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Scripture

Psalm 24:1-2, Revelation 4:11, Genesis 1:, Colossians 1:16-17, Job 38:4-7, Isaiah 40:28-31, Psalm 139:13-14

My dear King, my own King, without pride, without sin, You created the whole world, eternal, victorious King. King of the mysteries, You existed before the elements, before the waters covered the ocea...

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The Complexity of the Human Body

Author

Bill Bryson

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Scripture

Psalm 139:13-14, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20, 1 Timothy 4:4-5, Colossians 3:17, Ephesians 5:29, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 1:26-27, Genesis 2:7

In his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything, author Bill Bryson details the complexity within the human body: No one really knows, but there may be as many as a million types of protein in the ...

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Lord Almighty, you have given us a

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Austin D. Hill

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Lord Almighty, you have given us a purpose in life. You have gifted us with abilities and passions. Sometimes we choose to live according to that purpose you have designed for us. Other times we live ...

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The Brain Consists of…

Author

Gregory Boyd and Al Larson,

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Scripture

Romans 11:33, Proverbs 3:19, Nehemiah 9:6, 1 Corinthians 2:16

The average adult brain consists of more than 10 billion neurons communicating with one another through more than 10 trillion synaptic connections. (Synaptic connections are the junctions or gaps betw...

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Author

Cyd and Geoff Holsclaw

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Scripture

Nehemiah 8:10

Joy is the foundation of our identity and our resilience. Our neural pathways are wired as a result of our early experiences of joy. Without a strong foundation of joy, we struggle for identity and ar...

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Psalm 8 | God's Majesty

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 8:, Psalm 144:3, Job 7:17, Hebrews 2:6-10, Matthew 21:16, 1 Corinthians 1:27-29

Ancient Lens What’s the historical context? Background Structure This Psalm of David is unique. “It is the only hymn in the Old Testament composed completely as a direct address to God.” [1] It e...

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If God Wanted to Remain Silent…

Author

Michael Kendrick

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Scripture

Psalm 19:1-2, Romans 1:20, Isaiah 6:3, Job 12:7-9, Colossians 1:16, John 1:3

If God wanted to remain silent about His existence, He wouldn’t have bothered creating the stars; He wouldn’t have made the Milky Way, or Betelgeuse. In fact, He wouldn’t have made the majestic Rocky ...

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The Human Heart Bends…

Author

Tony Reinke

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The human heart bends toward what the eye sees. Today’s image makers fling into the world's digital spectacles of sex, wealth, power, and popularity. Those images get inside us, shape us, and form...

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We Will Rise From the Ruins

Author

Lisa Ann Moss Degrenia

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Scripture

Isaiah 58:11-12, Isaiah 58:1-14

We will rise From the destruction From the ruins From the sin and isolation We will rise Building strong foundations Bridging the breach Making a way, a highway to our God We will rise in our ce...

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God Cares for Your Emotions (Psalm 139)

Author

Bill Gaultiere

Keywords

Emotions

Scripture

Psalm 139:23, Psalm 139:null

By Bill Gaultiere Many Christians are stunted in their spiritual growth because they don’t understand or express their deep emotions and desires. As pastors, ministry leaders, caregivers, or parents...

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God made it. God loves it. God cares for it.

Author

Emily Hunter McGowin

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Scripture

Genesis 1:31, Psalm 104:24, Colossians 1:17, Isaiah 40:26, John 1:10, Romans 8:19, Hebrews 1:3

Julian of Norwich was a fourteenth-century mystic-theologian who maybe understood the belovedness of creation and new creation better than anyone. In the fifth chapter of her book Revelations of Divin...

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Psalm 22 | Feeling Forsaken by God

Author

Scott B. Bullock

Keywords

Scripture

Psalm 22:, Matthew 27:46, Mark 15:34, Hebrews 2:12

Ancient lens What’s the historical context? A Structured Complaint The Psalmist organizes his complaint against God in three sections. The first two sections dramatize the complaint (vv. 1-11 and...

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The Church Losing its Place as the Center of Attention

Author

Tim Wu

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The Church was the one institution whose mission depended on galvanizing attention; and through its daily and weekly offices, as well as its sometimes-central role in education, that is exactly what i...

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A Biblical Understanding of Sin

Author

Richard Plass

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Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:25, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-2, Isaiah 59:2, 1 John 3:4

In the New Testament sin is not merely an individual, privatized transgression of a moral standard (sins is typically used for specific transgressions). It is far more radical than that. Sin is a mist...

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Sin in the New Testament

Author

Richard Plass and James Cofield

Keywords

Sin

Scripture

Galatians 5:17, 1 Peter 2:25, Romans 8:7, James 4:4, Ephesians 2:1-2, Isaiah 59:2

In the New Testament sin is not merely an individual, privatized transgression of a moral standard (sins is typically used for specific transgressions). It is far more radical than that. Sin is a mist...

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Where is Your Heart? According to Neuroscience

Author

Timothy R. Jennings

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Now, what is the heart? Neurologically speaking the “heart” is the anterior cingulate cortex (ACC), the part of the brain right between your eyes and slightly back from your forehead. It is in this br...

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Inspired by Psalm 130 (C)

Author

Scott B. Bullock

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Scripture

Psalm 130:1-2

Out of the depths, we cry to you, Lord; Lord, hear our voice. Let your ears be attentive to our cries for mercy. Living in frailty and weakness with adversity in our path, we too often buckle in despa...

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Author

Mies Van Der Rohe

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Gardening

God is in the details.

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O God, You amaze us! Summer is the time

Author

Julie Olive Hughes

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O God, You amaze us! Summer is the time You designed for thunderstorms. We understand the science because You gave human beings wisdom and curiosity, and the ability to try to figure things out. We un...

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Author

Alexis de Tocqueville

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Scripture

1 Corinthians 2:9, Job 23:10, Romans 11:33, Psalm 37:5, Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, Isaiah 55:8-9, Proverbs 3:5-9

I am ignorant of His designs, but I will not cease to believe in them because I cannot penetrate them. And I will prefer to doubt my own lights rather than His justice.

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Author

Karl Barth

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Home

The wisdom and goodness of the Creator abound in the fact that, following the creation, establishment and securing of a sphere of human life, He wills to fashion and does fashion it as a dwelling-plac...

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Author

Alister E. McGrath

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For Calvin, the creation reflects its Creator at every point. Image after images flashed in front of our eyes, as Calvin attempts to convey the multiplicity of ways in which the creation witnesses to ...

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Author

Bruce Demarest

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Scripture

Romans 1:19, Acts 17:24, Acts 14:15, Acts 14:16, Acts 17:25, Acts 17:26-27, Romans 1:20, Acts 14:17, Romans 1:32, Acts 17:26, Romans 2:15, Romans 2:15-16

God exists (Ps. 19:1; Rom. 1:19). 2. God is uncreated (Acts 17:24). 3. God is Creator (Acts 14:15). 4. God is Sustainer (Acts 14:16; 17:25). 5. God is universal Lord (Acts 17:24). 6. God is self-suffi...

life on planet earth on God's Design

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