“Something else that really puzzles me about Tikal is the complete absence of any large repository of information. We have found a library and a university, but neither of them have as much as a single book on their shelves. I suppose it’s possible that in the old days books were stored digitally on computers. If that’s the case then everything might have been lost forever, because the city’s data center doesn’t include any books or historical records. Oh, if only they had used printed words instead of digital ones! Then their writings might have been preserved until today. Information stored digitally is easily and quickly lost, but books can last pretty much forever.”
–Noel Lawson
June 11, 7243
 

Two days later, General Maldonado was standing in a high-security laboratory that was in the heart of Adrasta’s military sector. He was talking to the head of his nuclear research division, Ken Ochoa.

“Are you quite sure that there was nothing wrong with the lithium?” the general was asking. “You did double-check it, didn’t you? It hadn’t been poisoned or altered?”

“No, sir, it had not. We ran the quality assurance tests on the entire load three times, just as you ordered. Its purity has not been compromised. We have also posted guards and no one has attempted to breach security. The lithium has been under constant surveillance 24/7 and there have been no incidents. Everything is proceeding according to plan.”

“That is good to hear. We can’t afford to have any more of these accidents. The council is keeping a close eye on this. They’re not happy about how much this is costing. How long will it take to replenish Adrasta’s oil supply?”

“I don’t know, sir. You’ll have to talk to Meyers about that. He’s in charge of the refinery. From what I’ve heard it’ll be another six days before the next shipment arrives. But that’s really not my department. My specialty is nuclear engineering.”

“Fine,” the general grumbled. “But I’m telling you we can’t afford any slip-ups! Are you absolutely sure that everything is working?”

“As I said earlier, we have not had any issues. The processing of the lithium is proceeding according to plan. It will take several weeks to process the entire shipment into the fuel for the neutron bombs, but we should have some weapons-grade material available in two days.”

“Several weeks! I can’t afford to wait several weeks! That is just not good enough. Isn’t there a way you can beef things up so you can process the entire batch at once? Do you really have to do it a little at a time?”

“It’s entirely up to you,” the scientist replied. “If you want we can shut down this lab and perform a major upgrade. It is possible to increase the throughput of this laboratory, but it would take at least eight weeks to do that. If you are willing to wait–”

The general interrupted him. “No, I’m not willing to wait. Are you out of your mind? I’ve got to start the bombing campaign as soon as possible! In fact, I’m not even going to wait for all of the bombs to be completed. I want you to start building them as soon as you can – one at a time, if that’s all the lithium you’ve been able to process. As soon as you’ve finished one I’ll go drop it. If I start using them as soon as I have them then the council will have no choice but to let me finish what I’ve started. How soon can you get me a functional weapon?”

Ochoa paused for a moment to think. “Hmmm. Well, we’ve already started preparing the first batch of weapons-grade material, so in two days we should have enough fuel to build four bombs. If I have the bomb-building team start the assembly process now, they can build the outer shell and get it ready for the fuel. It will take some time to add the fuel and complete the assembly, but if all goes well you should have four bombs ready to go in about three days.”

“And you will make sure that all goes well,” the general said firmly. “There is no room for error here! The landslide was bad enough. We don’t need a nuclear incident as well. If anything goes wrong I will hold you personally responsible.”

“As I said, everything is under control,” Ochoa replied. “There is no cause for alarm. If anything comes up you will be the first to know.”

“Just make sure that nothing comes up. Oh, and have your men begin the bomb assembly. As soon as those bombs are ready I’m going to hit the nearest targets. I’ve got to get the public back on board. The longer we wait the more time Monroe has to come up with ways to stop us.”

Ochoa nodded, then stepped over to one of his assistants and began talking with him in low tones. Evan walked over to the cluster of lithium processors and eyed their display monitors. He was not a technician, but he had studied the blueprints Elwood had given him and had some idea about what was going on. After all the incidents that had happened he no longer trusted his men. He wanted to personally make sure that nothing went wrong.

As he stood there watching the panels he heard a voice call out behind him. He turned around and saw a young girl standing there. She had dark skin and long black hair, and she had a serious expression on her face. “Excuse me,” she said. “We need to talk.”

“What?” the general exclaimed. “Who are you and what are you doing here? Are you one of Ochoa’s employees?”

“No, I’m not. I didn’t want to interrupt you so soon but you’re moving faster than I expected. I thought I would have more time.”

Evan looked at her, confused. “Are you from the council? You can tell them–”

“No, I’m not from the council, but I have a message for you and for them. You must stop your bombing project immediately or you will face serious consequences. I will not allow you to massacre the tribes. This has to stop now. I am prepared–”

“Guards!” the general shouted. “GUARDS!”

The door flew open and six guards rushed in. The general glared at them. “Are you out of your minds? Why did you let this girl in here?”

The guards looked at her, confused. “She didn’t come past us, sir. Is she with you?”

“What do you mean, she didn’t go past you? Of course she went past you! Do you think she just magically appeared out of nowhere? I’m not paying you to sleep on the job, you nitwits. If you can’t manage to keep your eyes open then I will fire all of you. You are not to allow any of Monroe’s people into this lab, do you hear me? I don’t want to see any more of these infantile protestors in here. Now get her out of my lab!”

“And as for you,” the general said, looking the girl in the eye, “you can tell Monroe that I will kill every last one of the savages if it is the last thing I do.”

The girl quickly glanced around the room and made an almost-unnoticeable motion with her right hand. She then looked back at the general. “We’ll see about that,” she said coldly.

The guards grabbed her and ushered her out of the lab. General Maldonado locked the door behind them as they left and turned his attention back to the monitors.

After leaving the laboratory the guards walked the girl down the hallway and through the military sector. As soon as they turned a corner, however, the girl simply vanished. The guards looked at each other, astonished.

“Where did she go?”

“I don’t know – I thought you had her!”

“She was right here!”

“What do we do now?”

“I don’t know,” one guard said. “But I won’t tell if you won’t tell.”

“Well,” the other guard said, “she is gone, and that’s what the boss wanted. I say we go back to our posts.”

“Agreed.”

Over the next hour General Maldonado continued to monitor the lithium conversion process. Ochoa had finished giving instructions to his assistant, who then left to go tell the assembly team to begin the construction process. The general settled down into a chair and decided to wait. This time he was going to keep a firm hand on things. That’s what these clowns need – someone to keep an eye on them. As long as I’m here they’ll watch themselves.

As he watched the screens he saw a warning light appear on one of the monitors. A moment later one of the panels began beeping, and a line of data started flashing. The general immediately sat up. “What’s that?”

Ochoa glanced up at the monitor. A look of concern immediately appeared on his face. “That’s not right,” he muttered. He sat down at the panel and adjusted some of the equipment settings. He paused, looked up at the screen, and saw that more numbers had started flashing. A second later the numbers turned red.

“Well, what is it? What’s going on?”

“It doesn’t make any sense,” Ochoa replied, as he furiously worked the panel. “That shouldn’t be possible. We have constraints in place for that! How can that be happening? What happened to our filters?”

As other scientists rushed to the panel the general began to get worried. “What’s happening? What filters are you talking about? I demand that someone tell me what is happening right now!”

“It doesn’t make sense,” Ochoa repeated. “It’s as if the laws of physics suddenly stopped working. This reaction should be completely stable! We’ve done this before and it worked fine.”

One of his assistants interrupted him. “Sir, take a look at this.” He grabbed a knob and slid it all the way to the right. The numbers on the panel remained unchanged.

Ochoa’s eyes grew wide. “So it’s the control board! The board isn’t responding to our input anymore. It’s ignoring our commands and is feeding random instructions to the lithium processors. No wonder it’s not working!”

“What does that mean? I demand that someone answer me!”

“It means that we’ve got to evacuate this lab immediately. We have to abort this! We don’t have any control over what’s going on.”

“Absolutely not!” the general shouted. “Just override the panel. Use the manual override!”

“There is no manual override! Our equipment is all digital. Our only choice is to hit the kill switch. We can’t save the equipment but we can at least save the lithium.”

“Don’t you dare touch that switch! You find a way to fix it. Now! I’m not paying you to run away the minute something bad happens.”

Ochoa looked at him and then glanced up at the monitors. Now every line of data was blinking red. “Don’t you see that? The reaction is becoming unstable! In a few moments radiation levels are going to start increasing. If we kill it now then we can shut it down and repair it. If we don’t then–”

“You are not shutting it down,” the general screamed. “We are not going to have another incident! I refuse to be dragged in front of the council again. You morons must have pushed the wrong button or something. I demand that you fix it now!”

A warning siren went off. Red lights descended from the ceiling and began flashing. Ochoa paled. “We’ve got to evacuate. We don’t have a choice!”

General Maldonado walked in front of the door and stood squarely in front of it, blocking the way. “No one is allowed to leave this room. You don’t have the option of evacuating. I demand that you fix this!”

One of Ochoa’s assistants bolted and made a run for the kill switch. The general quickly pulled out his gun and fired its entire clip at the switch, destroying it before the assistant could reach it. The bullets went clean through the switch and sank into the giant steel tank behind it, creating a rupture. Poisonous gasses began seeping out of the rupture and the tank started rumbling.

At that point the entire lab panicked. The scientists in the room jumped Maldonado, knocking him aside. They unlocked the door and ran for it. Ochoa got on the intercom and ordered an immediate evacuation, then dragged the injured general out the door and down the hallway. They had only made it partially down the hallway when there was a giant BOOOOM. The ground shook, the windows behind them were blown out, and the lights went dark. As poisonous vapors drifted down the hallway Ochoa struggled to drag the unconscious man to safety.

II Peter 3:3: “Knowing this first, that there shall come in the last days scoffers, walking after their own lusts,
4 And saying, Where is the promise of his coming? for since the fathers fell asleep, all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.”

These verses have come true today. In the modern church there are many are “scoffers”, who openly mock those who are looking forward to the Second Coming. These scoffers teach that such an outlook is foolish and unbiblical, and they take pains to point out that “all things continue as they were from the beginning of the creation.” Nothing has changed, they say. The rebirth of Israel is irrelevant. The world has not grown more dangerous. Life continues just as it always has, with no end is in sight. There is no Jesus on the horizon and no reason to believe He might be returning anytime soon. Things just keep on as they always have. They scoff at the notion of the Lord’s Return, and hold those who long for it in derision.

And yet, although they do not know it, this very scoffing is a sign that the Lord’s return is near! Peter says that these scoffers will arise “in the last days”. This scoffing is proof that we are on the right track. The Lord really is returning, as Peter goes on to explain, and the consequences of His return will be devastating for those who were not prepared.

People like to say that the Second Coming doesn’t really matter. “Why study it? It’s not like it affects the way I live my life.” That is an utterly foolish statement. If the Second Coming were to happen today it would affect the lives of billions. Are you actually ready for the Lord to return? Can you honestly say that, if He came back today, you would have no regrets? Are you prepared for Him to come back right now and catch Him doing whatever it is you’re doing with your life?

I have to wonder: how much of this disinterest in prophecy actually stems from people’s hope that Jesus will not come back anytime soon and catch them living in sin? Jesus Himself warned about this very thing:

Matthew 24:44: “Therefore be ye also ready: for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.
45 Who then is a faithful and wise servant, whom his lord hath made ruler over his household, to give them meat in due season?
46 Blessed is that servant, whom his lord when he cometh shall find so doing.
47 Verily I say unto you, That he shall make him ruler over all his goods.
48 But and if that evil servant shall say in his heart, My lord delayeth his coming;
49 And shall begin to smite his fellowservants, and to eat and drink with the drunken;
50 The lord of that servant shall come in a day when he looketh not for him, and in an hour that he is not aware of,
51 And shall cut him asunder, and appoint him his portion with the hypocrites: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.”

Have you taken His warning seriously, or are you gambling that that all-knowing Lord of the Universe won’t catch you?

If you ask people what they think the most difficult book in the Bible is, many will say Revelation. That book is filled with symbolism and requires a great deal of effort to understand. There are many different interpretations, which has lead to so much confusion that some people avoid the book altogether.

But if you ask me, I think there is a book in the Bible that is even harder to understand than Revelation. As confusing as Revelation is, it is possible to get a great deal out of it even if you don’t fully understand everything it’s saying. Moreover, everyone agrees that the book does have a meaning; it’s just a matter of finding it out. I have never come across anyone who has said “Revelation is utter nonsense. It has no meaning. The best thing to do is to skip it and move on.”

I say these things because there is a book in the Bible that some people think has no meaning. It’s not merely difficult to understand; many have asked if it ought to be included in the Bible at all! They read it, gasp in astonishment, and wonder who allowed it to be in the canon of Scripture in the first place. Some have even suggested that reading this book actually makes you a worse person.

I am talking about the book of Ecclesiastes. This book absolutely ties scholars up in knots. Revelation may be difficult, but at least there are several different schools of thought, which has developed interpretations that have been stable for centuries. The debate boils down to which interpretation is correct. Ecclesiastes, however, is a very different story. People don’t know what to make of the book, and so commentators have come up with wild ideas. Some people think that the entire book is an example of ungodly, naturalistic thought. Others think that the book is uninspired. Some teach that Solomon wrote it at the end of his life when he had lost his mind, and the book is an example of his insanity and ungodliness. People are all over the board on this one.

It’s not hard to understand why. If you read the book it’s easy to think that it was written by an atheist. I mean, look at what it has to say:

Ecclesiastes 1:2-3: “Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity. What profit hath a man of all his labour which he taketh under the sun?”

I’m not surprised to hear someone complain that life is meaningless. What does surprise me is to hear the Bible say that. Life is meaningless? Really? That’s a Biblical idea? Surely it doesn’t really mean that! Only, the book keeps repeating that idea:

Ecclesiastes 2:17: “Therefore I hated life; because the work that is wrought under the sun is grievous unto me: for all is vanity and vexation of spirit.”

All is vanity and vexation of spirit. All is a waste of time. The writer goes on to say that it’s much better to be dead than to be alive, and not being born is even better than that!

Ecclesiastes 4:2-3: “Wherefore I praised the dead which are already dead more than the living which are yet alive. Yea, better is he than both they, which hath not yet been, who hath not seen the evil work that is done under the sun.”

He’s not saying this because of how great the afterlife is; he’s saying this because life is meaningless and everything is a waste of time. “It’s just better off being dead”, he explains.

So is it any wonder that scholars shake their head at this book? It hardly seems like the sort of thing you would want people to read. Can you imagine a preacher getting up and telling his congregation that they would be better off dead because life was a meaningless waste of time?

So what’s going on here? What is the point of this book? Why is it included in the Bible? How do we make sense of all this?

I, for one, think that there is a point here. The book is not utter nonsense, nor is it uninspired drivel written by someone who desperately needed antidepressants. It is wisdom – and it says something that we need to hear. The reason we have so much trouble understanding the book is because we don’t understand the question the writer was trying to answer. Once we understand what he was actually asking, the difficulties melt away.

First of all, right in chapter one, we’re told what the writer had set out to do:

Ecclesiastes 1:13: “And I gave my heart to seek and search out by wisdom concerning all things that are done under heaven: this sore travail hath God given to the sons of man to be exercised therewith.”

The author set out to examine all of life, to see what was meaningful and what was not. The book is not simply a random collection of mindless ramblings; it is a unified picture of a man examining all the different facets of life, one at a time. Nor is the writer a lunatic. The end of the book points out that he is a wise man, and sought words that were upright and truthful:

Ecclesiastes 12:9-10: “And moreover, because the preacher was wise, he still taught the people knowledge; yea, he gave good heed, and sought out, and set in order many proverbs. The preacher sought to find out acceptable words: and that which was written was upright, even words of truth.”

At the end, after having considered everything, he concludes this:

Ecclesiastes 12:13-14: “Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgment, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil.”

His conclusion is that the duty and role of man is to fear God and keep his commandments. That alone was meaningful; that alone was worth doing. Everything else in life is folly. Some may claim that there is meaning apart from fearing God and obeying him, but they are fools. That is all that is really worth doing.

If that is his conclusion, then we can work backwards and read the book in light of that thought. Doing that changes everything.

In chapter 1, when he says “all is vanity”, he does not mean “there is nothing in life that is meaningful”. What he is trying to point out is that mankind is essentially building sandcastles on the beach, and the tide is coming in and is going to wipe them all out. He points out that a man can build all he wants, but then he will die and turn it over to others, and there is no telling what they will do with it. Moreover, the only things one can do are the same sort of things that previous generations have already done. Sure, you can amass great wealth. You can build great things, and you can do great wonders. But then you will die and lose it all, and turn it over to someone else – “And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? yet shall he have rule over all my labour wherein I have laboured” (Ecclesiastes 2:19). The author hated knowing that, ultimately, he would lose his life’s work and turn it over to someone else.

The conclusion that he draws from this is that labor isn’t satisfying. In and of itself, it is not meaningful. You spend your life building and then you lose it all, and there is nothing you can do about it. If you are looking for meaning in your life, it cannot be found here.

Now before we go any further, I realize that in God life is very meaningful indeed. But the author is not examining life from an eternal, spiritual perspective. He is not asking the question “As we serve God, is our labor meaningful?” What he is asking is “All by itself, with no other considerations, is labor meaningful?” His conclusion is no, it’s not. It’s just vanity.

Can we agree with that? Absolutely. Life really is meaningless if it is not lived for the Lord – which is the very point the author of Ecclesiastes makes in the last chapter of this book. It is vital to understand that the author is examining the facets of life all by themselves, apart from God, to search for meaning. He is doing this so that, at the end of the book, he can point out that only in God is anything meaningful at all. When we read this book we tend to assume a spiritual perspective that the author was deliberately not using. He wanted to show the utter vanity of life without God.

For example, in chapter three he considers mankind itself and realizes that men die, just as animals die. Both grow old and both return to dust. He therefore concludes that man has no preeminence above animals; both are of the dust, and both return to dust again.

Now, as Christians we know that there is a huge difference between people and animals; people who believe in Jesus will never die, and will go on to inherit everlasting life. Once we bring God into the picture life becomes meaningful – but without God it’s a very different story. If one excludes God from the picture and just looks at life itself, you are forced to conclude that mankind really isn’t better than animals. This is the exact same conclusion that evolutionists have drawn: we all die, and ultimately are just another kind of animal. If you exclude God you will always be forced into that conclusion. You simply cannot find any meaning apart from God. In fact, in a universe devoid of God, you really are better off dead, because at least then you don’t have to suffer the many horrors that life can offer – and that is the very point that the author made.

Let me repeat this one more time: Ecclesiastes was not written in order to analyze life from an eternal perspective. It was written to analyze each piece of life all by itself, to see if it had any inherent meaning. The author concludes that no, it doesn’t; apart from God there is no meaning to be found anywhere. Even wisdom itself is meaningless apart from God, because both wise men and fools die. Wisdom, alone, cannot save you. Wisdom is better than foolishness, but ultimately you will still die. Apart from God, death is the end; once you die you know nothing, and can do nothing, and are utterly cut off from what goes on under the sun. Your work, and your existence, and even your name are utterly lost, as time wipes it all away. You led a meaningless life and now you’re gone, and after a while it will be as if you had never existed at all.

That is what the world looks like without God. Those are the conclusions that atheists will ultimately be forced to draw. When you stare deep into the well of godlessness – when you look into the matter down to its very core – you will find vanity and bleak despair. There is nothing but utter hopelessness.

The problem is that people don’t think that deeply about life. They just go on, consumed with whatever they’re doing, and never stop to think it through. So Ecclesiastes thinks it through for them. It points out the folly and futility of a godless life. It urges them to stop and consider their ways, while there is still time. Bring God into your life, the author urges. There is meaning and purpose there. With God life becomes worth living. With God the perspective changes. But without Him it is all in vain.

Ecclesiastes does not support the atheistic cause; it’s actually a powerful tool against them. The book graphically shows where atheistic thought ultimately leads, and offers a cure for it. The book tells atheists that their life is meaningless and their labor is in vain. They will die, just like animals. Their wisdom counts for nothing. The book refutes their every attempt at finding meaning, by showing that there isn’t any to be found. Meaning, and purpose, and hope can only be found in God. That is the point of the book.

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

Have you ever wondered what God is doing, or why God allows certain things to happen? There are so many things in life that just seem utterly senseless. Why did God allow that person to die, who showed so much promise? Why did God prolong the life of that person, who has done so much evil? Why did God allow that opportunity to fall through, or that war to happen, or that disaster to take place? What is the sense in it all?

It is true that we do know some things about God’s will. Prophecy tells us that God is gathering a peculiar people for Himself, out of every tribe and nation. We know that one day Jesus will return. We know that one day there will be the Millennial Kingdom, and the Judgment, and the Eternal State. We know these things – these large-scale events – because God has revealed them to us.

But in our own lives, as we go about living from day to day, there is so much that happens that just seems senseless. Sometimes we may eventually come across a reason, but other times it just never makes any sense. It seems especially odd when you stop and consider that events are orchestrated by God. He guides the hearts of kings; He raises up nations, and tears them down; He guides history; He works all things together for good; and He has even preordained good works for us, that we should walk in them. History is not random things happening to random people; it is all part of a plan – a grand tapestry of events, woven together by God. So why does the tapestry seem so random and senseless?

There’s a simple answer to this: it’s because God doesn’t want us to find out what He’s up to. I’ll even go ahead and spoil the ending: God is doing this to make us live by faith. If we knew why every event happened, faith would not be necessary. By hiding His purposes, God tests His children, to see if they will trust Him when disaster strikes and life does not make sense. Do we really believe in a loving God, or will we abandon our faith in God the moment something happens that we don’t understand?

But to get back to the subject at hand – we are told that God has hidden His purposes from mankind in the book of Ecclesiastes:

Ecclesiastes 3:10-11: “I have seen the travail, which God hath given to the sons of men to be exercised in it. He hath made every thing beautiful in his time: also he hath set the world in their heart, so that no man can find out the work that God maketh from the beginning to the end.”

Do you see that last line there? We are told that no man can find out the work that God makes from the beginning to the end. In other words, it is impossible to know the full extent of what God is doing because He has hidden it from mankind. This idea is repeated a few chapters later:

Ecclesiastes 8:16-17: “When I applied mine heart to know wisdom, and to see the business that is done upon the earth: (for also there is that neither day nor night seeth sleep with his eyes:) Then I beheld all the work of God, that a man cannot find out the work that is done under the sun: because though a man labour to seek it out, yet he shall not find it; yea farther; though a wise man think to know it, yet shall he not be able to find it.”

This is something that we instinctively know is true, and yet it’s jarring to see it in print. God does a great many things, and He does not send us emails explaining why He’s done them. Sometimes we see things working together and get a glimmer of understanding, but other times we never find out why something happened. Even when we think we have some understanding of events, it’s impossible to uncover the complete tapestry of history. As the passage above says, even if a man tries to figure it out, he will not find it; a wise man might think that he knows it, but he won’t find it out either. God has taken His plans and cloaked them in obscurity.

Think of it this way: even when we think we know what’s going on, do we really have all the facts? Can we see the entirety of history? Can we see all events, and understand how each piece fits in with all the others? Without complete knowledge, all we have is an incomplete picture – one that can be very misleading. It’s entirely possible that things we think are very important are actually not important at all, and things that seem minor are actually history-changing milestones. There’s simply no way to know. There are so many factors that we can’t see – and the factors that we don’t see are of tremendous importance.

There is a point to all of this. There will be times in our life when it seems that events simply have no meaning. People’s faith is often destroyed when some terrible disaster happens (perhaps the death of a loved one) and they assume it means there is no God. There are others who are stuck in terrible circumstances and who don’t see a reason behind it. Their suffering seems so pointless and arbitrary. Why doesn’t God rescue them? Does He not see? Does He not care? God, after all, has all power and wisdom. Why would an all-powerful and loving God put someone in such a terrible situation?

The key here is that there is much more going on than what we can see. Our suffering is not pointless; it is necessary. We may not understand why, but God does, and God sees all and knows all. What God wants us to do is trust Him. When disaster strikes we need to trust God, who sees what we cannot see and knows what we do not know. We need to stop thinking that we understand what is going on and trust the One who really does know everything. We need to live by faith, which is the whole point. God is glorified when we trust Him in spite of our circumstances and in spite of what we can see.

Life, in a very real sense, is a test of faith. When we don’t understand why things are happening and when everything seems senseless, are we willing to step back and trust God? Are we willing to admit that we don’t have all knowledge and trust the One Who does? Or will we – as many have done – foolishly claim to know exactly what is going on and curse God for being arbitrary and cruel?

One day God may reveal to us the panorama of history and explain how it all fits together. Until that day comes, we need to hold on and have faith. Without faith it is impossible to please God.

II Peter 3:2: “That ye may be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets, and of the commandment of us the apostles of the Lord and Saviour:”

Here Peter begins a fascinating discussion on the Second Coming. What I find particularly interesting is that Peter urges us to “be mindful” of these prophecies! This is in sharp contrast to many pastors today who teach that studying prophesy is (at best) a waste of time, or (at worst) a demonic distraction that draws us away from Christ. Modern pastors have a thousand reasons why we should not “be mindful of the words which were spoken before by the holy prophets”. In the eyes of many (including some of the most prominent spokespeople for Christianity that are alive today) the field of prophesy is held in extremely low esteem. People are urged to not “be mindful”. And people are quite happy to do that; they become “pan-millennial”, believing that it will “all pan out in the end” so there’s no sense in studying the field. By and large, the church’s attitude toward these things is “Why bother? Who cares?”

Yet that is not what the Bible teaches. It clearly urges us to study what the prophets had to say, and to be mindful about it. This is a command, not a suggestion or word of advice. The whole reason God included these things in the Bible is because He wanted us to take heed to them and pay attention.

Revelation 1:3 says “Blessed is he that readeth, and they that hear the words of this prophecy, and keep those things which are written therein: for the time is at hand.”, not “Please don’t read this book of prophecy; it is just a demonic distraction, and has no impact on your life. It will all pan out in the end anyway, so why should you care?”

The Bible itself emphasizes the study of prophecy. It is something we should understand, not something we should ignore.

One of the standard teachings of the modern church is that if someone wrongs you, you should forgive them – even if they’re not sorry. If you ever hear a sermon on forgiveness, this is what you will be told. It’s everywhere.

And yet, take a look at this:

Luke 17:3-4: “Take heed to yourselves: If thy brother trespass against thee, rebuke him; and if he repent, forgive him. And if he trespass against thee seven times in a day, and seven times in a day turn again to thee, saying, I repent; thou shalt forgive him.”

Do you see that? There’s a condition attached! You are indeed to forgive the person who wronged you – if he repents. It doesn’t say “If thy brother trespass against thee, forgive him”. Nope. What it actually says is that if someone wrongs you, you should rebuke them. You only forgive them if they repent.

Does God forgive people who haven’t repented? No, He does not. Does He let people into Heaven who have refused to repent of their sins and ask forgiveness? Nope. In the classic example Christ gave of the unforgiving servant, it is worth noting that the servant that owed little (and whose debt was not forgiven by the servant who owed much) was quite sorry.

Some might say, what of the case of Stephen? Stephen was stoned (illegally, by the way; the High Priest did not have the authority to execute people) by a mob of angry priests, and as he died he said “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge”. There is also the example of Christ who, as He was dying on the cross, said “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” So what are we to make of that?

Well, here is something to think about: in both cases these people were addressing God, not the person who had committed the crime. They were, in essence, praying for their enemies – something we are commanded to do. (We are, in fact, required to love our enemies – even the unrepentant ones – and not hold grudges against them.) But Stephen did not say “Angry mob, I forgive you”. Jesus did not say “Romans, I forgive you”. Stephen was not reconciled to the angry mob – nor was Jesus. In order to be saved, the angry mob had to repent. That was the only way they could be reconciled to Jesus.

Forgiveness is the cancelling of a debt. But the debt cannot be cancelled in the absence of repentance. God will only cancel your debts if you repent; He will not forgive anyone who is not sorry and who refuses to ask forgiveness. God never says “I don’t care if you’re sorry or not; I forgive you anyway”. Repentance is mandatory.

Am I really supposed to believe that, even though God Himself won’t forgive people who aren’t sorry, that I am supposed to? I am supposed to be more forgiving than God? Really? I don’t think so.

If our brother sins against us, we should rebuke him; if he repents, we should forgive him. But forgiveness is not possible without repentance.

“Today we uncovered the first medical care facility that we’ve found. It appears to have been a rather large hospital; it’s big enough to serve this entire section of Tikal. Best of all, the machinery in it appears to be largely intact and has not been looted! None of it is in working order right now, but I’m hopeful that the problems can be addressed. Based on the other technology I’ve seen in this city I strongly suspect that what we’ve discovered today could revolutionize medical care – and perhaps even significantly increase lifespans.”
–Noel Lawson
July 9, 7243
 

The next day Amy and the Sentinel met again at the base of Falcon Ridge. This time the Sentinel was there well before Amy arrived. Alex was there too, sitting at the Sentinel’s feet and letting him scratch him behind his ears. The dog looked quite content.

“Oh, hey there,” Amy said. “I didn’t know you were going to be early. I’ve been pretty busy the past few days.”

“So it would seem,” the Sentinel replied. He stood up and Alex ran off into the distance, chasing nothing in particular. “You have caused quite a stir! General Maldonado’s genocidal plans are not going very well.”

Amy smiled. “No, they’re certainly not. It’s a beautiful thing. Scrambling the data on those recorders really hurt him. Plus, now he’s in trouble for wasting Adrasta’s entire oil supply. The council was really unhappy and gave him a good dressing-down at last night’s meeting. The cost to restock the oil and redo the surveys is enormous, and the general wasn’t supposed to be doing them in the first place. This project is getting more and more unpopular all the time.”

“You’re getting the general into a lot of trouble,” the Sentinel commented.

“Well, it’s partly his fault. If he had repaired the road before taking his tankers on them, as the council had ordered, he wouldn’t have been blamed when the road collapsed. It would have just been seen as an unlucky accident. If he had obtained the council’s permission to do the global surveys, instead of just going for it, he wouldn’t have been blamed when the first survey failed. The reason he’s in hot water is because he keeps going behind people’s backs to do things he’s not supposed to be doing, and I’m making sure that he gets caught.”

“That does have consequences,” the Sentinel replied. “The general irrationally blames all of his failures on Monroe Araiza. If you keep doing this Monroe’s life is going to become very difficult. Maldonado is not just going to sit there and take it forever.”

“Well, I have to do something, you know. I can’t just let him kill all those people. If I step in with force and stop them then I’ll never know if the Adrastans should be saved. I’ve got to stall them until we have a cure, and that means continuing these accidents. Besides, I’m not too upset over making the general look bad. He is trying to kill millions of people, after all, and he has already killed 416 human beings. He’s lucky that he hasn’t been struck dead.”

“Have you actually been considering that?”

“It is pretty tempting. You have to admit that he deserves it. The problem is that while the general is the one guiding the project, the project is only possible because it has the support of the council and the city itself. Most people in Adrasta approve of the plan. There’s something like 80,000 people in that city who actually think it’s a good idea to hunt down and murder all of the tribes. The general is just one of them, and getting rid of him isn’t going to make anything better. The only reason he can do these things is because he has the support of the people. If I start frying everyone who supports genocide then it would pretty much wipe out the entire city. That’s why I want to stall things until I can force the city to make a choice. I’m hoping I can change their minds.”

“And what if Adrasta ignores you?” the Sentinel asked. “What if they decide to go ahead with the bombing, despite the existence of a cure?”

“Then I will have to stop them once and for all,” Amy said sadly. “If they are bound and determined to murder the tribes, no matter what, then I will not save them. I’ll move them to Xanthe, where they can live out the rest of their days until they finally die out.”

“Xanthe? Why Xanthe?”

“Well, we’ve already had one civilization commit suicide there. If these people are bound and determined to make the same choice then they might as well do it there. Xanthe is apparently where civilizations go to die.”

“So you’re not going to kill the general,” the Sentinel said.

Amy shook her head. “No, I’m not. I’ll stop him, and I’ll make sure that the council discovers every crooked thing he’s doing. But I’m not going to be his executioner.”

“What are you going to do if there is no cure?”

“No cure?” Amy repeated, startled. “Is that what you’ve found?”

“I’m afraid that the possibility must be raised. I have done a massive amount of work over the past few days. The galactic supercomputer has not been online for long but its capacity is staggering. It has enabled me to understand the nature of the disease, and has revealed the consequences of the genetic abnormalities that cause the disease in the first place. As we guessed, the disease is quite mild early in life and only degenerates into outright insanity in the teenage years. It is possible to cure children up to the age of six because at that point the effects have not yet become permanent. The body and the mind can still be healed.

“Now, the cure is a complicated process. The person cannot be cured all at once. Instead, a series of nanites that are tailored specifically to that child has to be administered. These nanites must saturate their body and change it gradually over a period of several days. This gives the mind a chance to adapt and respond to what is going on.”

“But there is a cure?”

“In theory. I would like to caution that I have been dealing with mathematical simulations only. I have not performed any tests on actual human beings. Given the precision of my models I would imagine that the results I am getting are exact, but as I said the cure has not been tried.”

“What about adults? Can they be cured too?”

The Sentinel shook his head. “I simply do not see how it could be done. The problem is that by the time the child turns into an adult, the disease has fully taken root and has unseated the mind itself. The result is utter madness. Even if the body were cured – which is no mean feat in itself – the mind is still broken and is unable to understand the changes. It is like the garbage data that was on the general’s data recorders. You simply cannot undo the damage or erase the errors. It is too late. There is no way to coax the mind back to sanity.”

“So what if you just have the person start over?” Amy asked. “Maldonado just reformatted the recorders and went out to collect more data. Can’t you just reformat people’s minds and let them start over again? They’d have a blank slate. The madness would be gone.”

“Are you certain that’s a good idea?” the Sentinel asked, surprised. “Erasing a person’s mind is a horrifying thing to do! The mind has a person’s memories and knowledge. It is a huge part of who they are. Erasing the mind is very close to erasing the person itself. It goes far beyond a violation of privacy. You are taking a person and eradicating it.”

“Don’t you think you’re going a little overboard?” Amy asked. “It’s not that bad.”

“It most certainly is! Imagine if you were to contract dementia. In the process of the disease you would forget everything you ever knew, everyone you ever knew, and even who you were. The Amy Stryker that I know would cease to exist. You would lose everything about you. It’s a horrible fate. Why would you wish to inflict that on these people?”

“People are more than their minds,” Amy argued. “You act as if everything that makes up a person is stored in their head. People aren’t just machines. They have a spirit too – and that’s something you can’t just reformat. Each person is an amazing meld of spirit and body – of spiritual and physical. That’s how God made us. In the case of these tribes, the spirits are attached to bodies that have insane minds. The mind has a broken picture of reality and that’s causing all kinds of problems. What I’m saying is that we should wipe out the madness. If we were to erase the mind and turn it back into a blank, childlike state, the adults could relearn again – they would be growing up, but this time with a fixed mind. We would be giving them a second chance at life. The only thing we would be taking away is an insane perception that is filled with horror and fear. This is the exact opposite of dementia.”

“So you propose turning the adults back into children?” the Sentinel asked.

“Yes – but mentally, not physically. With the madness gone the Stewards could teach them how to live again, and this time they could understand it. They wouldn’t be losing anything valuable or anything that they might want to keep.”

“I understand,” the Sentinel replied. “If you are sure that this is the course you want to take then I will run simulations and see what is possible. It will not be easy; I have no data on how to erase a mind, and frankly that very idea makes me uncomfortable. But I understand your argument and I do not have any alternatives to offer. However, I must ask you a question. Do you realize that if I learn how to do this you could apply that same technique to the Adrastans?”

“What in the world are you talking about?” Amy asked. “Their genetic problems are totally different! We can easily cure them without doing any mental hocus-pocus.”

“That’s not what I mean. If you have the ability to wipe the minds of the forest dwellers then you also have the ability to wipe the minds of the people in Adrasta. You could simply retrain them along whatever lines you liked.”

“Oh,” Amy said, startled. “I see. But – that would be horrible! You can’t just take a person and reformat them. Why would you ever even think of such a thing?”

“But isn’t that what you’re doing to the tribes?”

“That is totally different! We’re only doing it to them because they’re insane and have massive brain damage that makes it impossible for them to understand reality. The people in Adrasta aren’t crazy; they’re just amoral. You can’t say ‘Well, I don’t like the choice you made, so I’m going to rewrite your brain so you will make better choices.’ That is horrible. Really, really horrible. All I want to do with the tribes is erase the insanity and give them a chance to actually see the world as it really is. We are not going to imprint orders on their mind so they will do exactly what I want them to do. I’d like the Stewards to teach them and offer them a choice, but there is no way I’m going to hardwire anybody. That is appalling.”

“But you must realize that you will have that power. You are asking me to develop the technology to alter a person’s mind. That opens up a great many terrifying possibilities.”

“Possibilities that we are not going to explore,” Amy said firmly. “We are going to cure the tribes and then that will be that. We will then convert your supercomputer back into ordinary planets, and you and I will take that brain-altering technology with us and leave this world. No one else will ever have it.”

“Leave this world?” the Sentinel asked.

“Well, leave this universe, I guess. You and I have an appointment in eternity. When this is over we’re going to God’s country.”

“And you expect me to go with you?”

“Of course! What did you think – that I was going to leave you behind? You and Alex are both coming with me.”

“But I am not a son of Adam,” the Sentinel protested. “I have no right to enter the heavenly city. It was not built for me.”

Amy shook her head. “This isn’t negotiable, Steve. You are coming with me and that is the end of it. Do I make myself clear?”

The Sentinel sighed. “I understand your intention, but I do not know what will happen when you actually try it. But that is a conversation for another day. To get back to the matter at hand – before we even explore a cure for adults it may be wise to attempt to cure a child first, to see if the technique works. Once we have verified that we can pursue curing adults, with the understanding that the technology will never be used for anything else and the computer will be destroyed after the last one is cured.”

“That sounds good to me,” Amy said. “How long will this take?”

“A few days. It depends on how old the child is. Older children will take longer.”
“Can you try to cure the oldest child that you can? I know it will be harder, but I’d like to take the child to the council and confront them with him. An older child would probably be a lot more sympathetic than a screaming toddler. As you said, I can’t keep stalling the general forever.”

“I understand,” the Sentinel said. “I will do what I can and will let you know when I have something.”

“Thanks,” Amy replied.

Not too long ago I posted my chapter summaries of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Well, today I am posting my chapter summary of the book of Acts. You can find it right here:

Summary of Acts (PDF file)

Enjoy!

I’ve created a photostream on Flickr and am in the process of uploading many of the pictures that were taken by Earle Neil Kinder. So far the process is going rather well, although it will take some time – he took quite a few pictures, and I’m trying to properly tag them all.

You can find the photostream here:

Photos by Earle Neil Kinder

Enjoy!

II Peter 2:16: “But was rebuked for his iniquity: the dumb ass speaking with man’s voice forbad the madness of the prophet.”

Notice now neatly this verse confirms the account of Balaam’s donkey. In Numbers 22:28 the Bible records Balaam’s donkey talking to Balaam. It is easy to dismiss that story as a myth or fairy-tale – just as many people wrongly dismiss the Flood, or Creation, or Adam and Eve, or Jonah. But here we see that is not the case. Balaam’s donkey really did talk to Balaam – using a “man’s voice” and human words. It actually happened. It was not a fairy-tale; it was history.

Peter treats it as if it were a historical account because that’s exactly what it was.

A Ned Steele Space Explorer adventure!

A while ago I released an online utility that can automatically generate Tom Swift titles. This time I’ve gone further, and created something that can generate the plot blurbs one usually finds on dustjacket flaps. For example, this was generated entirely at random:

TOM SWIFT AND HIS ECHELON COMPOUND
by Victor Appleton II

A solution to a problem faced by the Swift Construction Company – to design a cheap alloy for use in nuclear energy – is Tom Swift Jr.’s new goal. But the success of the young inventor’s project is threatened by the crafty Count Ali Saqqaf, a renegade Arabic scientist. Banished from his native land because of his countless crimes against humanity, Saqqaf is now the leader of a vicious mob intent on blowing up nuclear laboratories.

From the moment the young scientist-adventurer starts work on his echelon compound, danger and mysterious happenings plague almost every step of his progress. A band of savage rebels, an out-of-control fire, and a river in Tajikistan that is highly radioactive are only a few of the hazards that he faces during his latest adventure. Tom must overcome ruthless adversaries and immense mechanical challenges, and the odds have never been greater.

How Tom faces this challenge makes exciting reading for all Tom Swift Jr. fans.

You can find the generator web page right here:

Tom Swift Summary Generator

Have fun!

II Peter 2:13: “And shall receive the reward of unrighteousness, as they that count it pleasure to riot in the day time. Spots they are and blemishes, sporting themselves with their own deceivings while they feast with you;
14 Having eyes full of adultery, and that cannot cease from sin; beguiling unstable souls: an heart they have exercised with covetous practices; cursed children:
15 Which have forsaken the right way, and are gone astray, following the way of Balaam the son of Bosor, who loved the wages of unrighteousness;”

One surprising fact that is easy to overlook is that verse 13 states “while they feast with you”. Do you see the significance of that? Peter is not talking about random evildoers out on the street; he is talking about wicked people in the midst of the church. II Peter was written to believers, not to the lost. It was sent to churches, not pagan temples. Peter is warning believers about wolves in their midst who are posing as sincere believers but who are actually desperately evil. He says that they are headed for destruction. They “cannot cease from sin”; they are “cursed”. They may appear to be believers, or say that they are believers, or even associate with believers, but they are not believers at all. They are actually evil people who are causing immense harm.

This brings up an important question: how can you tell the difference between a sincere believer and a phony one? Some people (like the person I once talked with who claimed to be a Christian but who did not believe in Jesus) are obvious, but others are not. None of the disciples suspected Judas; they all thought he was sincere – right up until he betrayed Christ and nearly got them all killed.

How can you tell the difference? While we can judge a person by their fruits, sometimes even then it is impossible to tell. We cannot see the heart, nor do we know all that there is to know. But what we can do is refuse to allow false teachers to remain in our midst, and refuse to allow them to draw people away from the truth. We can – and we must – oppose falsehood wherever we find it.

Here we have a picture of a kind of Inception. It’s my cable TV, playing through my computer and being displayed on my TV:

(That is the Disney channel, showing a Tron ad. My photograph-the-TV-with-my-phone skills are a bit subpar, I’m afraid.)

There was some trickiness involved, but I got it to work using something called HDHomeRun Prime. If you have cable TV and want to watch (and record) TV on your computer, then it works pretty well. I can now watch cable TV on any computer in my house.

As it turns out, I really don’t watch much TV. (I spend my evenings gaming, not TV watching.) There are only two shows that I really care about: Phineas and Ferb, and Mythbusters. I’ve got P&F set up to record – and this time it will record to my computer, and not to the Comcast DVR. When new episodes come out, I will have them.

My wife is pretty excited about this because our old Comcast DVR was in the living room, meaning she couldn’t watch anything on the DVR when she was in bed. But now, thanks to the magic of computers, she can watch DVR stuff on her laptop – and her laptop is very portable.

I have to say, the main reason I did this was just to see if I could. How well does it work? What are the problems? What are the limitations? The fun part, for me, was the technical exercise.