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From: [Family member A]
Subject: hi mike
To: mike@mryder.com
Cc: [Family member B]
resending email' hi mike 'as i was trying some editing but as i said
I'm computer illiterate and have i think repeated myself with two
paragraphs from the beginning and put them at end (I'm not sure)
if so ignore them and the sentence preceding about no more
discussion on the subject.I'm happy to talk about creation etc if
you want as long as you realize I'm not highly intellectual in
this field. the following is the correct letter now i think.
hi what a busy time emailing?unlike you i am just learning about how to
use a computer so writing the message for me is actually the
easier part - i think.
You say bible prophecy is as reliable as a horoscope and provide an
example of this as the Jews returning to their land as being self
fulfilling. I see this as being anything but self
fulfilling. About 2000 years ago the Jews were scattered
all over the earth as we know. In recent time Britain had
sovereignty over Israeli land, then Palestine i think, being a barren
piece of land. Although there were always a few Zionists
that did want to return to Israel, the vast majority of Jews pre
world war 2 were very happy as they were and where they were,
secure in their riches across the world. Most Jews
therefore had no desire to return to Israel, neither did Britain
desire to release sovereignty anyway. It was of course as we know
the near genocide of the Jewish people in WW2 that gave the Jews
a desire to return to their homeland and probably produced guilt
in the other countries to supply Israel with their land. ( i did
read up about this a little from the library quickly)
You asked me to tell you what fruit Israel exports. A quick
search of google supples information that Israel irrigated their
land when they took it over. Along with the US, South
Africa, Turkey, the Netherlands, Belgium and Spain, Israel is a
major world exporter of citrus fruit. Israel's farming and
Agriculture accounts for 2-3% of world GNP. Also Israel's
soil and climate gives the fruit the appearance and flavour that
commands a high price. This is quite a high world export
considering their population is $6.8 million. Israel also
exports wheat sunflowers peanuts chicken peas grapefruit oranges
lemons dairy product cotton beef and poultry. Check
out Luke 21v 29-31 and Jer 23v3-6 if you want to know what will
happen when Israel blooms with fruit again and Jews return to
their land.
I stand corrected about evolution being a faith. What i meant by
that statement was that because of the way evolution is presented
in the new Zealand classroom today (that being a fact rather than
a theory) students are turning evolution in to a "faith" as
they grasp it as fact. I am told by several students at 6th
form level this is true - one said he did not know evolution was
a theory until he read it was in small print in the textbook of
his science book at the back. I have not checked his
science book to know if this is true but will believe it on face
value given that at teachers college i was told by lecturers
evolution is very much the chosen theory to teach and creation is
not. i don't know if this is the case in Georgia schools,
Georgia being such a religious place.
As far as the book review goes about Jeffrey by the Christian book
reviewer. . . I realize Jeffrey is not a
scientist but I think that he has stated a good case for creation
using the resources he has eg other scientists opinions, doctors
opinions etc and put it together in an interesting form for the
layman by the layman..which i thought we both were.. maybe you
would enjoy reading Lee Strobel's "The case for a Creator" if you
are still interested in the subject, as the book reviewer
says. I have heard he is an excellent author but have not
read his stuff as yet.
Regarding the 27 page blurb on Jeffrey about the bible code he has
written on I have not read that book so can't comment. To
be fair though to Jeffrey, once again as I said, he is only
quoting other scientists opinions and writing in an accessible
form to a lot of people like me. About the bible code i
have no idea if that is true or false. I can't really can i
if i have no proof to see it for myself. However if it is
true it would not surprise me but i will hold it
loosely...creation though to me is another thing . i can see,
feel etc it all around me and my brain just knows that there is
design in it.
I read your email to dad about bible numerics. I don't know much
about it but we did touch on it at teachers college on a basic
level. I am borrowing a book from a guy at church this
Sunday so will read up on it because i think it sounds amazing,
and I remember thinking so at the time while at college.
Because my maths is abysmal (and i think my spelling now) as you
know i do struggle with these number things though.
Finally for now on a personal note mike I would like to share something
of an experience that changed my mind if i may.
We were brought up in the same Christian circles you and me. I
think you departed from the faith (if that is what happened) for
reasons i am unsure of. i held onto my faith for longer but
not that much longer. I encountered what i now believe to
be false religious doctrine which i took on board and when it did
not work for me in my life the way i expected it to
i became disheartened. at this stage i looked at other
things like the new age beliefs ( which i now believe to be based
on self first teaching), immersing myself into music, alcohol,
fun whatever.i think the final nail on the coffin for
Christianity came for me at the time i went to Massey univ and
studied an English paper. I'm not saying that the paper
precipitated the final departure but i think given the
circumstances i entered the institution in, with my confused
spiritual state i lost the plot as it were. at Massey
we looked at poetry, stories, life from different philosophical
viewpoints. what i quickly came to learn from that was that most
of these views questioned the existence of God. These
questions were dark questions for me and it seemed to make
logical sense to question this because there seemed probable
cause to question. However over time these dark questions
never led to any answers. The meaning i once saw in life turned
into meaninglessness. On the outside i appeared to have fun
singing, playing keys in bands etc and although i did enjoy
myself a lot inside i was really in the dark about who i was, if
there was a god, or where i was going - and actually tried not to
think too much about it as i filled up my life with continual
things.
Quite a few years later when i moved to {Place snipped] i went to
[Xian] Teachers College. At this institution our
lecturer in science Tony Hawkins taught us on a basic level ( we
were to be primary school teachers not rocket scientists)
the theory of evolution vs creation. He is an excellent tutor and
the way he presented the creationist view with design facts was
to me enough to come full circle and believe in a creator
again. I probably should mention at this point that when i
was a teenager and i first became a Christian i doubted that God
was real often and prayed that God would give me a solid
foundation. I believe i have found this foundation and that this
was a direct answer to prayer even though it took a long time to
eventuate.
If you ever want to have faith in God's existence I believe if you ask
God to give faith to you he will give it to you maybe slowly but
surely if that is what your hearts desire is even though you may
think it is impossible to have any faith right now.
To bring the Jeffrey discussion full circle i hope I've not offended
you. this has never been my intention.
Hope you are both well M&M and say hi to [Family member C] for me.
Love from [Family member A]
bravenet.com