Category Archives: Uncategorized

SCIENCE STUMBLES OVER DEATH

“Heaven Is Real” according to the cover story of the October 15 issue of Newsweek. The story chronicles Eben Alexander’s descent into a seven-day coma and journey into a wholly different level of conscious reality during that time. Dr. Alexander’s 25 years as a neurosurgeon and former professor at Harvard Medical School qualifies him to speak as a scientist, although his conclusions have provoked numerous critiques from fellow scientists.

In the fall of 2008, Alexander was rushed to the emergency room of Lynchburg General Hospital, where his colleagues determined that he had contracted a rare bacterial meningitis. E. coli had attacked his brain, shutting down his cortex, the part of the brain that controls thoughts and emotions. The synapses between the neurons no longer functioned, halting all electromagnetic activity that produces brain function. His doctors had verified by repeated tests that no brain function was possible during that seven-day period – no vision, hearing, emotion memory or logical reasoning. Continue reading

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A SCIENTIFIC CRIME

Humanity will always search for a savior, someone who can protect them from disasters, deliver them from enemies or cure them of illnesses. Like dressing dogs in human clothing, fragile beings have costumed science with divine garbs. Those who point out the fictional character of the emperor’s garments are denounced as obtuse or unenlightened. Continue reading

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A GIFT DISCOVERED

This article makes number 587 (as best as I can calculate) that I have written for the Lamplighter in the 13 years and 9 months that I have served as pastor at Lakeside. Wow, how they have accumulated! Continue reading

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CULTURE MAKING

What does “culture making” look like? Any form of creativity would qualify. Artists, composers, authors, dancers, singers and many other members of the arts do it all the time. Yet, this creativity extends to a variety of other platforms, such as cooking, programming, building, plumbing (I have seen some very unusual plumbing creativity in my house), dress making, marketing – you get the point. You cannot live without making culture on some level every day of your life. Continue reading

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REALISTIC HOPE

Recently my niece was interviewed for a job. The interviewer asked her, “If you could have any three things you wanted, what would they be.” My niece thought for a moment and then answered, “I would want to eliminate world hunger. I would want to eliminate world poverty. And I would want to evangelize the entire world.”

Before you chuckle about her noble idealism, take a more careful look at what members of the Millennial generation (aka Generation Y) are doing. Different writers use different terminals to identify this generation, but Thom and Jess Rainer have determined to study those people born between 1980 and 2000 (inclusively). Continue reading

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