Lessons from Minecraft (et. al)

I am sure many of you have heard about the popular online game Minecraft. The game is made out of block graphics and allows the player to take advantage of their imagination (and lack of realistic physics in game). It is a very addictive game... but fortunately I was only absorbed in it for about three days (then Skyrim came, and examples from that can also be used for this post).

What has all this got to do with anything I would want to talk about? Why am I even mentioning this? Well, I noticed something very interesting while playing. Nothing happens at once. The biggest castle, the deepest underground city, the most elaborate maze, none of it is created at once. Sounds obvious? Well, yeah, it is. But there is a significance to this. When you play in "survival" mode on this game, you start with nothing and have to gather all your materials and make all your tools. And step 1 is punching trees to get wood (fortunately that's not a life lesson).

Everything is built gradually. I have had multiple games building a big project: a giant keep, a tree forest, a large wall village, etc. It always works with me starting with a little hut, hunting some animals, and mining a few basic materials.  I gather enough materials for a local farm, start mining deeper, get more materials, explore more, and so one. No major, immediate changes. But then suddenly, I will realize I have the resources to start building a bigger, better house. So I may lay a foundation, then go back and farm some more, then mine some more, come back and build a bit, etc.

If I stand back after several hours of playing and compare what I have done to what it all looked like when I started, there is a major difference. But that difference came through little bits here and there. It reminded me that real life works that same way.

You don't graduate high school in one day. You go there for years, day after day. You don't notice any immediate changes, but when you stop and look back, you see a difference.

When you train, you don't go from a scrawny kid (or fat kid) to a Greek Statue overnight. It takes years of dedication. Doing workouts that improve your body little by little, and eating a diet that improves you bit by bit. Then one day you look back, and realize you have a six pack, or lost 20lbs, or whatever.

And of course the old saying, Rome wasn't built in a day. It was  built over centuries. And as what happens to me in Minecraft, it is never finished. There is always a little more I can do. We should live life the same way. Don't expect major, overnight changes. They happen, but work towards the gradual, steady progression in life. I will be trying to live as such myself. Always remember to continue doing these little things (exercising, studying, writing, etc.), because although I may not notice an immediate difference, over time they will add up. This applies for negative things to. If you eat a large pizza every day it adds up over time.

So just remember, take it steady. This is my lesson from Minecraft, and many other games.

The "Fiction" in "Science Fiction"

I had a few things in mind that I wanted to write about, on completely unrelated topics, but the most recent reading I had done immediately prior to writing this is what I decided to write on. Makes sense, write?

Okay, now what was I reading? Alright, strictly speaking the last article I read before this was about looking for the effects of the Curse in space. But beyond that, the main stuff I've been reading for the last several hours has been on things like aliens, Nephilim, science fiction, ancient technology, genetics of humans, and other things relating to all that.

Explaining the Nephilim and aliens, a friend of mine asked me to write out the back story for a game he's working on. The game is about a battle between humans and aliens in space. He wanted the aliens to attack, and he wanted the humans to have super soldiers. Simple enough, I decided; so I began writing this elaborate (that might be an overstatement, but I did go into good detail) history going back thousands of years.

However, almost immediately I noticed a problem. I wanted my story to be used as possible explanations for UFO sightings for all of human history; but in order to do that, the alien race would have had to have been around before the humans. That means I would have to make this story happen in a universe that existed for more than 6,000-10,000 years. Since this is a sub-creation of mine, I can make whatever laws and history I want, but the fact that I had to change the history of our universe to make it fit with what I needed in this story was a very unique learning experience for me.

I ended up adopting and evolutionary like history for that universe in my sub-creation for this game. How else could aliens evolve on another planet and begin exploring earth while the first civilizations were springing forth? Making a history for that universe that required an old earth and no God of the Bible was very strange for me, but I had to remember that I was making a SUB-CREATION, within the confines of my own mind.

The really strange part was in order for any of this story to be true, I had to write it out while arbitrarily defying the laws of observable science that we see in reality. The aliens? They had to evolve from non-life, and that non-living matter had to come from nothing. Same thing with the humans of earth. Now of course, matter coming from nothing and life coming from non-life are both impossible. But, this IS science fiction I'm writing, so what does it matter!

And I already arbitrarily defied the laws of physics in order to make the universe and life in that sub-creation, why stop there? I allowed both that aliens and humans to eventually overcome the "speed of light barrier". Actually, the aliens did so on at least three occasions. During earth's history, the aliens had several civil wars, the biggest of which set them back centuries in technology, meaning they had to rediscover faster then light travel. It was these set backs that allowed the humans to eventually catch up to the aliens and fight on equal ground, even though the aliens originally had faster then light travel approximately 10,000 years before that time.

Another thing I came to realize while creating this sub-creation, this science fiction universe, was that any absolutes were defined by me (as the writer). At the insistence of my friend, I may arbitrarily change any of those absolutes in order to make the  physics and history of that universe fit with what he needs for his game. But of all the absolutes I can define, they obviously include things like physics (in which I already decided life can and needs to come from non-life and faster than life travel is possible), but I am also the only one who can define any moral absolutes in that universe.

In our universe, as it was created by an All Powerful God, He defines all absolutes. That means the laws of physics, mathematics, logic, reason, morals, etc. In this universe I created, this sub-creation, this story, as the creator it is my responsibility to define these absolutes. And obviously, any reasonable story needs absolutes. Why is that? Because we live in a universe that has these absolutes. Also, the most reasonable absolutes in any story are the ones that coincide with the absolutes of reality. That is why, for instance, made gravity operate the same. Without many of these fundamental absolutes, we cannot even comprehend reality, so I therefore borrow much of what I observe here in reality and use it as a foundation for anything I create.

For all these same reasons, a story like mine (requiring an evolutionary worldview) could not be the answer to our reality. The reason my world holds together is because I hold it together in my mind, despite all the inconsistencies that the science in my sub-creation would have to deal with. However, evolution as the origin story for reality requires there be no greater being holding it together; it offers no reason for absolutes like physics, reason, or morals. Even in the evolutionary universe of my sub-creation, I am still an intelligent being holding it together using logic and reason derived from a reality that contains these absolutes.

My whole point about all this? Evolution works great as a plot device; a way of explaining things that are directly against the laws of science. How else could I have aliens? So in the end, evolution makes great science fiction. However, it doesn't make good science. The only universes that molecules-to-man evolution exists in is those that we create in our minds. In reality, it defies the absolutes we observe.

I'm really excited to see what comes of my friends game, but it is also very reassuring that I live in a universe that has absolutes that aren't arbitrarily defied or changed; a universe created by an All Powerful, All Knowing Creator. In this universe, in reality, there are no extra-terrestials, no old earth, no big bang, just logic, reason and science. Knowledge, and the God of Knowledge, the one who knows everything.

He made a universe with a more intriguing history and future then anything I could hope to write.

The Armorer

[So here's a little parable I wrote a couple years back, with minimal editing. Please comment and share this so others can see it.]

Back in the time of swords and spears; back in the time of bows and arrows; back
in the time where God and science were one. Back in the time of the Medieval era, there
was an Armorer. He had been taught by his master how to make armor, as his master
before, and his master before that, and so on. He had been taught things about making
armor that were as old as armor itself.
But he had been taught more than that. He had been taught things about mankind,
those who would wear his armor, that were as old, and older, than man itself. He had
been taught about God, and how to listen to him.

And now, in this time, there was a war going on. This war had been raging for
generations. And this armorer, and his fathers before him, had been making armor for the
soldiers. But they made no ordinary armor. When they made armor, they were lead by
God, to make armor that would fit the exact needs of the one who would wear it. And for
generations this armor had been accepted. But now it was no more.
The armor that this armorer made was shaped irregularly; it was hard to move
properly. The armor had been designed to protect a certain thing at a certain time, as God
had intended. The armor was designed for a single moment, to protect them from the one
blow that would end their life. But the soldiers didn’t care, they wanted the new armor.
This armor was light, covered everything evenly, and looked better. It was made faster,
and they were all the same.

But there was one soldier who was different than all the other soldiers. He
believed that what the armorer made was better, better because it was designed by God.
His father had taught him about God, and told him stories about how He has a plan, how
He is wiser than all of man. And he believed that there was a plan with this armor. But he
didn’t understand his plan up to this point. He had been a peaceful farmer his whole life.
Yet he was drafted into the military. He hadn’t seen his wife in years, didn’t even know if
he would ever have any kids. But he knew there was a reason.
This soldier went to the armorer, and asked for a piece of special armor. The
armorer was glad to have someone who was willing to put their trust in his armor, and
God. So the armorer took his time making it. He took several days praying and seeking
out what this armor should look like. And then, after many more days, he presented the
armor to the soldier. Both the armorer and the soldier had been disappointed when they
had seen it the first time, the armorer while he was making it, and the soldier when it was
given to him. The armor was only a three inch thick circle of steel, only about as wide as
a fist. He was told to strap it over his stomach. He thanked the armorer, then he went off
to war.

The soldier fought with this awkward armor for many days. Then one day the
army was trying to hold a village. Reinforcements were hours away. They had been fighting all day. Fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, friends, even woman and children
had all died in the fighting that happened that day. The rest of the soldiers were fighting
great. With their modern armor, they could get hit and shrug it off. They could fight
freely, without restraint or being thrown off balance. But they weren’t protected from the
one fatal blow that would always end their life. But this soldier only had his one piece
of ridiculous armor. He was getting cut and beat up left and right. He had almost no
protection.
Near the end of the day, when no one thought they could go on any longer, and
that reinforcements would never come, a boy was seen crying in a burnt hut. He was
only a few years old, but he was crying loud. And an enemy soldier heard this boy, and
became irritated. So he aimed a crossbow, the most advanced weapon of the time, a
weapon that allowed a soldier with almost no training to kill a heavily armored knight,
who had been trained his whole life, in one shot. He took aim at the boy, and was about
to fire. But the soldier, the one with the strange piece of armor, ran and covered the boy
with his body.
Then the crossbow was fired. It went straight though the soldier with ease. But it
became imbedded in the armor, the specially designed armor. The bolt was stuck halfway
through the steel, the steel that was directly above the little boy. After the bolt struck,
many other bolts and arrows started to fire. But they were all fired at enemy soldiers.
The reinforcements they had been waiting for had finally come! But the soldier, as he lay
there dying, wondered how this armor was so special. It hadn’t protected him at all. Then
he looked at the child in his arms, the child that would live because of his armor, and
knew why the armor was so special. Or did he?

What that soldier didn’t know, and what the boy found out later, was that that boy
was his son. When the father had been drafted into the army, he had left his wife home
pregnant. But he didn’t know that. And with time, the mother wasn’t able to work, so she
moved in with some distant family members in a village many weeks journey away. And
that boy had been growing up in that village. Then one day, a group of soldiers came to
defend that village. A village full of woman and children, including the mother and son.
And one of the soldiers defending that village was wearing a very odd piece of armor. A
single circle of steel about as wide as a fist and three inches thick over his stomach.
And near the end of that day, most everyone in that village had been killed.
Soldier, peasant, man, woman, adult and child alike. Only a few were still alive. Those
few, amongst others, included the soldier, the boy, and the mother. The next day, a list of
all causalities was taken up. It was found that all male descendants of all the soldiers had
died in that battle, except the son of that one soldier. The one soldier who still accepted
the plan of God. And that soldier was the only soldier of that day whose bloodline
continued. And continues now.

And now, if any of these things were to happen you, what would you do? Would
you still do what God had designed you to do, even if no one accepts you for doing it?
Would you still follow Gods plan, even if no one else around you does? If someone were
to give their life for you, would you want to make that sacrifice worth it?
Who are you in this story? Are you the armorer? The soldier? The son? Are you
some one else in this story? I hope that reading this changes yours or somebody else’s
life, or makes them see things in a new light. Or teaches them something new, maybe
something about God? I’ve learned some things in writing this, and now I’m passing this
on to you, and whoever you pass this on to, and so on. Am I the armorer? Or had God
passed this on to me, like the soldier passed life on to his son? That’s something for me to
learn. And I hope you learn your place to.

War, Peace, and Medical Care

This post will be a contain two basic subjects I've been thinking about. The first will be a paraphrased quote that's been stuck in my head, the second is something I thought of while in a college class.

So first off, that quote. "If you wish for peace, prepare for war." I can't even remember where I first heard that, but the day of me writing this it has been stuck in my head. I think this is advice that many people need to hear and understand. America would be a far better place if people took this to heart. From interactions between individuals to interactions between nations, things would be better. Let's look down at the smaller levels of things.

Imagine living in a small town where everyone carries a loaded, working gun with them everywhere and is both capable and knowledgable about how to use it. Everybody who visits that town knows before even entering that every town member has a gun. You would have to be a fool to go into that town and commit a crime. Imagine going into rob a store. The cashier may pull a shotgun on you, the old lady getting eggs to make a cake my pull a pistol on you, and who knows what that kid listening to his music might pull on you.



Who knows?

 Imagine even farther back, to the pioneering of the west. Not only did people have guns for if they had to use them, they did use them. An eight year old could pick up a shotgun or rifle if he had to, and he (or even she) could use it. If anyone were to commit a crime against people like these, they better be pretty darn sure of themselves or they are just plain fools.

Now imagine today, with people trying to push gun control laws. Imagine another little town where it is extremely difficult to own guns, and it is looked down upon to have on in the first place. In this little town, cops only carry their little pistol with them when there is trouble. Now, everyone who visits knows about the gun situation here as well. If one of these visitors were to commit a crive in this little town, I couldn't quite blame them. The locals, not prepared, left themselves open.

If I were to rob a house, I would look for a town or neighorhood where people didn't own weapons. I would look for a town where people didn't "prepare for war". But let's say I lived in a town where everyone is "prepared for war". Guess what? It would likely be pretty peacefull. Everybody knows they're safe, and if somebody is stupid enough to act up, they know they may not live long enough for the police to even show up. It makes me think of a story I once heard, where a reporter asked a cop if he was expecting trouble because he was carrying his pistol on him, so the cop replied with something to the effect of, "If I was expecting trouble, I would have brought my shotgun!"

I should have started this post with this picture!

That's the way America, as a whole should think. Imagine with me, moving up to a bigger example, that America lived by that idea, "make peace by preparing for war". We (if you're an American like me) as a nation would try to have the biggest, baddest military in the world. And guess what? If we did, every other nation would try to make peace! Or even if every country and nation lived by that principle; then everyone would try everything they could to avoid war because they know that they are all ready to fight.

But no. For some reason I can't understand, we (meaning America) are trying to downsize our military and be nice to people to make peace. That works, don't get me wrong... until someone is tired of nice talk. Without a grenade launcher in your back pocket...

I had this picture sitting around on my computer, I just had to use it!

...they have no reason to listen when those peace talks fail. However, if we honestly try to make and keep peace in the foreground, while preparing to dominate any enemies in case things go wrong, we would be much better off. That goes for individual people and countries. If someone tries to mug me, it's all well and good to sweet talk them out of it, but it would be nice to have a backup plan consisting of blackpowder and lead. But no, America is trying to cut spending on the military and defense so they have more money to waste on themselves and to put into other projects that I believe only exist because people are to lazy to take care of themselves.

Just to show that I live what I preach
I own all of these, and either carry them on me, sleep next to them or have them hung on my wall
And yes, that is a micky mouse blanket. You won't get an explanation because I ain't offering.

This brings me to my second part of the thoughts I was thinking of earlier today. That didn't make a lot of sense even while I was typing that last sentence. Anyway, part two!

I'm sure you have heard some about the corruption and such that goes on in jails, and how hard it is in general. The sad part is though, some people actually try to get arrested to get thrown into jail because it means they get to have their medical needs taken care of for them. I have two main points on this section, points I will try to actually stick to. The first is people who are capable of taking care of their medical needs should so that the goverment doesn't have to waste money on their sorry a**es when it could be used to take care of those who can't take care of themselves, and my second point is that people are put into jail who should be put into mental hospitals and such. Basically, I am talking about medical like stuff all around. Sounds appropriate since I was just talking about guns.



Yes, I'm just looking for an excuse to post these now

The goverment is involved in several health care programs and such. I think that is fine (though I would prefer godly individuals to take up that role, not the goverment), but what I can't stand is people who take advantage of the system. When the goverment stepped in and made Christian charity law, and therefore under their jurisdiction, things went down hill. I even heard of a story where someone robbed a bank of a dollar (I believe it was) just so he could get arrested so his health needs would be met by the goverment in jail.

Now, I understand that there are some people who truly cannot take care of themselves; there are people who do truly benefit from these programs and don't have a reasonable alternative. I am talking about everyone else who uses the system but doesn't really need it. But being such lazy bums, they "force" the goverment to spend money on them when that money could be used on people who really need it. It is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, that way resources could be spared to help others. Because of this, and the fact that the goverment shouldn't be involved so heavily in health care, if at all, it leads to them spending a lot of money they don't have. Leading to debt and trying to cut projects that are part of their job; such as military and national defense. And when I say national defense, I'm not talking against aliens or asteroids, I'm talking against other nations and such. But, because people just don't seem to care, the goverment has to use money to keep those sorry people alive.

Then there is the fact that in America, our solution for everything seems to be to throw people in jail. A man's insane? Throw him in jail. Someone is addicted to drugs? Throw them in jail. Someone killed a man while defending themself? Throw them in jail.

There are people who should be in hospitals instead of jails. Mental hospitals as well. Also, throwing people in jail won't do much good to stop an addiction to drugs. If you want to get someone off drugs, you need to get more personal with them. It requires work; not iron bars.

I think all my energy went into writing the first part of this post, so I don't have much for the second half. Well, at least I got my thoughts down. That was the point of all this.

Okay, I'm done.

The Theology of Books

I am not sure the name of this post is the most accurate description, but it's what I came up with. This post is about something I came to realize about both how man made stories work and how the real world works in relation to the Creator. I have a few points and revalations here, not sure how many I will get to. I will simply type them as they come to mind.

My first one, which I believe I understand the best, is how the Almighty can be outside of our time. Now, just the name alone should tell you how, but I mean I understand on a more intimate level, I suppose. By that I mean I understand it on a level deeper than words. Hard to explain, but if you understand something on that deep of level, you know what I mean.

To explain it, I need to explain to you how I came to understand all of these principles or whatever. I am writing a couple of books. I have been using the analogy of myself as a writer over the worlds in my books to relate to how the Creator is over this world (and everything else).

My first big revalation, as I remember, was how He is outside of our time. I don't know if you have ever written a book or script or anything, but as you write it, you are outside the time of the world inside that book or story. That is how it is with my books. I know the end and the begining. I know what will happen to my characters long before they do. I can experience their future or past as if it were my present. The entire lifetime of one of my characters can seem as a moment to me. It is the same with us and the Creator of this universe. If anyone would like a deeper explanation, just ask. I could make a whole post about it if I pushed it.

One of my next revalations was how things like miracles and other strange things could work in stories. If you are accustomed to thinking from a perspective with no higher power, such as athiests and others try to do, you believe you must do everything on your own. Same thing with stories. At first, I was writing it as though there were no higher power. But, the way I was writing made that impossible. I was writing it through the eyes of one of the characters, but about things that he was not there to experience. Or in same cases, possibly no one was there to experience. I tried to come up with scenarios that would explain how he could write about these things that he wasn't there to experience. In some cases, the very things that happened in other's minds. How could my characters know the secret thoughts of another? Or know what they felt? Or know what an animal did when no one was around? Simple; me, as the creator of that world, would tell him.

As the creator of that world, I am have power that none of them understand. I want the entire world to turn into a hotdog? All I must do is imagine it, and all of the mountains, oceans, forests and so one will all be one large hotdog. I want a character to just barely survive a battle? He will. Just as I say it will be. I want an asteroid storm? It will happen. It is similar to how the Creator of this world works, except on a much larger scale. Imagine how weak a thought in your head is compared to you. You have control over your imagination, if you want something to happen in there, it does. It is even more so with the Almighty and his creation. And me, as a writer, am just living out a smaller version of what He does. I am, after all, created in His image.

This concept is based off something I read in one of C.S. Lewis's books. He called it "sub-creation". That is a more... philosphical term, for lack of a better word, than imagination is. His theory was since we were made in the image of the Creator, and obviously the Creator loved to create, we should too. Others of his period (and all times in history of that) thought it ungodly to make our own worlds in our minds. Lewis believed just the opposite! By making our own sub-creations, we are merely praising the Lord once again! I don't recall him putting it that way, that was me, but you should hopefully get my point. Our sub-creations aren't offensive to the Lord, unless we make them so, they are actually what He planned for us to do! At least that is what I believe.

I will make my last point here. It is a revalation I made about how anything we do, such as doing our boring, everyday job, or just about anything else that doesn't seem like worship in church, could still be praising the Creator. I realized this, just like everything else here, because of my "sub-creations" and relating to the real creation and it's Creator. Everything that happens in my made up worlds, good or bad, is a testament to my imagination. There is a mighty storm, it is a testament of my power over the world of my imagination. A young soldier who is mocked in the military yet keeps his morals strong? A testament to the power of what I created in that world. This can be applied to everything in my sub-creations. Even if it is something evil, it still shows my power over my creation.

Same thing in the real world. A man is mocked for his faith? It is a testament to what the Almighty has made, such strong faith. There is a mighty storm killing millions? Yet another testament to the Almighty. An insane tyrant murdering or enslaving thousands and causing many great evils? Still, a testament to the Lord. That tyrant will be punished as he deserves, but it is still a testament of the Lord's power. And everytime something in my sub-creations testafies to my power over it, I am testafying to the Lord his power. For without me, nothing in my sub-creation could happen; it wouldn't even exist. Without the Creator of all that we see here, I would not even exist.

I have more I could add. I will likely make another post in the future. If you liked what you read here, comment and let me know. I can make another post. Ask questions, share this, stuff like that; please. I want to know what people think of my ponderings.

Damascus Steel

Once again talking about ancient technology, here are some of my old thoughts (along with a few new ones) on the steel of legend. This steel, according to these legends, was strong enough to cut through solid stone and remain sharp enough to cut falling silk. Of course, these legends could just be a major exaggeration, but if man really was as smart in the past as I believe, I wouldn't put it past them.

Here is a picture of our "modern" damascus steel:

Pretty unique look, isn't it? This is pretty much how it is believed to have looked. Of course, I believe we have lost the special techniques they would have used to make it so strong in the past. And if you think that story is a little far fetched, here's another, more recent story I heard.

I got to meet an actual knife maker. It was a hobby for him, but now he makes a pretty good profit out of it. Enough of a profit to make knives out of armor grade metal. He once even made a knife, put it in a clamp, and shot it three times with a .50 calibre bullet. The knife was a bit roughed up, but otherwise just fine.

If I lived in ancient history, and was rich enough to afford a damascus blade, I would like one of this type of design:

2100 and 2103 are my favorites of those in the picture, I think. But a damascus sword like this would be pretty amazing thing to have. Imagine it, a sword so sharp I could drop a cloth on it and the cloth would be sliced right through. Then of course, the blade would be incredibly tough and dull very slowly. I could easily cut a man in half and not even have to worry about sharpening the blade!

Yes, I do like to imagine a bit sometimes. You must remember though, it isn't really all to far of a stretch for ancient man to make weapons like this if you think about it.

Okay, so this short post was about the boy inside me. We all have to have a little fun, don't we?

In The Beginning... Part 2

In this next section of my "In the beginning" theme, I will talk about ancient man more specifically.

Most of the information I used in making my theories can be found in three books, which I have either read recently or am currently reading. These books are:

The Puzzle of Ancient Man: Evidence for Advanced Technology in Past Civilizations
, Donald E. Chittick

The Remarkable Record of Job
, Henry M. Morris

And finally, the Bible. Written by the Author of everything else in existence.

As I said, it was from reading these books that I drew most, if not all, of these conclusions.

Now based off my first section on "In the beginning", it's been established that the Creator made everything perfect in the beginning; and since then things have degenerated. So let me ask you this, when you hear the words "ancient man", what comes to mind? If it happens to be "cave men", or anything like it, I'm not surprised. That's the image that ideas like evolution has given us. You see, evolution, just like many pagan religions of the past, teaches that man has grown better with time. So naturally, they would want you to think that man in the past was less "evolved" than we are today.

However, if when you imagined something far different when you heard the words "ancient man", such as advanced civilizations with electricity, computers, radio, flying machines, precision cutting tools, anti gravity technology, ect. Then you are considered foolish, stupid, ignorant and likely considered an outcast of some sort from the more "scientific" community and such. Just like me.

If you believe the Bible as I do, you should believe that the Creator made everything "very good". When an Almighty, All Knowing Creator makes something "very good", you better bet that thing is impressive! So if He made man and the rest of creation "very good", why would He make us less than we are today? I already, in part 1, discussed how we were likely much taller and healthier in the past. I believe we could reach heights of over 30 feet in the past. That really isn't so unbelievable when you look at the difference in our ages then and now. On average, before the flood, people seemed to live at least 10 times longer. Is it really so hard to believe they grew to be 5 or 6 times as tall?

Also, if the Almighty made their strength, health, age and height (amongst many other things) so extreme compared to today, why not their intelligence? I hear that the average person uses between 5 and 10% of their mental capacity. Why could that not have been better in the past? Imagine with me, once more, about the world in the beginning. Their world is rich with vegetation everywhere you look. The air is thick and invigorating, and everything is very, very close to how it was before the fall. You are standing in a world only a few centuries old, lets say, 400 years to be precise. You are currently 250 years old, and still considered young. Your however many greats-grandfather, Adam, is just days younger than the earth. He was originally made perfect. How much would both Adam and yourself know? You can use your entire mind all at once, you have lived hundreds of years, you were given all the knowledge you need by the Creator, and you are in nearly perfect health. This is what it was like in the beginning. At least, that's how I see it.

Oh yes, and at this point we would all speak one language as well. This is a very important point that I may speak on more some day.

It is believed, if I remember right, that the flood happened 1645 years after creation. I know it was less than 1700 years for sure, according to our estimations based off the accounts given in the Bible. With man, and the rest of creation, in a state so similar to that of the pre-fall world, we could have increased both population and technology very quickly. It is likely that pre-flood man had technology we can't even imagine, as well as population possibly several billion above our current population today.

Here is actually a site I looked at recently that outlines what I'm talking about: http://ldolphin.org/popul.html
And the specific chart I'm using for now:

This site is what helped me form my theory, which is me really agreeing with them, about how the pre-flood world could have had such extreme numbers. The person who put that together, and made the calculation, believes this to be a low estimate.

Since their minds would also have been much stronger, and they more recently had their knowledge from the Lord, people likely had much better technology. And even if you were to disregard all this, they lived for hundreds of years! Imagine what they could learn and teach in that time.

I nearly forgot. Just to show that I don't get all my opinions just from listening to people who agree with me, I also began forming these very opinions from this series that contradicts my beliefs: That is the first part of several. It's called Ancient Aliens.
It was really enjoyable to watch. All I had to do was ignore their conclusions, look at the evidence they provided, and come to my own conclusions. And since my view was based off something very simple and logical (also true), I could come to conclusions quickly and easily. The opinions of those  who made the videos, however, seemed a little shaky.

My conclusions were based off the fact that man was created very intelligent, far more so then we are today. As a matter of fact, when the pyramids were first discovered by our "modern" civilisations in the late 1800's I believe, the pyramids, even after thousands of years of decay, were so precisely built that we did not have the technology to measure just how precisely they were built. It is believed that those very minute imperfections didn't even exist when the pyramids were made, and were in fact from so much decay. I can't remember the specifics of all this, but what I'm talking about may be found in the chapter discussion Egyptian technology in "The Puzzle of Ancient Man".

Because man was so much more intelligent in the past, it shouldn't be a surprise then when we see these old pieces of architecture that we couldn't even build today. Or see evidence for technology we can't understand, or even imagine. If the Creator was All Knowing, and made us in His image, why wouldn't he make us so smart? So when we hear that ancient man might have had some sort of anti gravity or gravity manipulating technology, should we be so quick to doubt it? Or just say it was "slave labor"? No, not if you believe in an All Powerful, All Knowing, All Existing Creator as I do.

That is all for now. I'm taking it easy for today. Going to focus on my music now http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UzQvd6AnZrY

The Warrior, the Beast, and the Voice.

I was listening to music and looking at pictures one day, when I came up with an idea for a video. I had been looking at pictures from the Hubble Telescope and listening to the song "Angel" song by Jackie Evancho. Here is a link to the song: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwSd6pd5UAQ

I was listening to that while looking at the pictures of space. It was really wonderous. So I got the idea to share that experience with everyone and make a video. Here it is:


Hubble Telescope - Angel - Jackie Evancho from Murry Folt on Vimeo.

[Edit: I had to upload the video to Vimeo because the original was taken of Youtube]

The reason I'm telling you all this? Because I am still wondering why it all happened; and at how good it turned out for how little work I put into it. I have a very strong feel the Creator wanted to show off a small aspect of his creation. So he guided my time so I would be listening to that song while looking at the Hubble pics, and then get the idea for the video. It really is quite an interesting thought, isn't it? And if you don't agree to my theory, and think it was just coincidence, then say something. I would like to have a good, respectable debate with someone. I won't change my mind, but it would still be fun.

Now, there is more reason to why I brought all of this up. Not just to say I made a video or how good I think it is, but to explain more of my thoughts behind it. This blog is called "De' Tinker's Thoughts", after all.

I find it very incredible that even with such high detailed pictures as the ones I found, there are still a poor representation at just how large and grand everything out there is. The largest picture I found was over 200 megabytes, and came out to being nearly half a billion pixels large. It may seem as though it showed a lot, but in reality, it showed an infinitely small portion of the universe. Yet, even the smallest nebulaes in the picture were likely hundreds or thousands of times the size of earth.

The purpose of this post is really just to try and comprehend how great the Creator is, as this post seems to be doing now. So you are about to read the same thoughts that go through my head. I'll just type out how amazing I think it is.

I still can't wrap my head around the size of some of the objects in these pictures! This one is my favorite:


Source: Hubblesite.org

How large is that field? I really don't know, and I don't want to cheat on Google. All I know is that it's larger than I can imagine. It looks like a painting. The vast amount of colors all flowing and blending together, the strange and exotic shapes, the bright points of light from stars, all of it! We are very fortunate that we found it, yet how many more grand paintings are we missing in a galaxy so large? I feel sorry for those who feel these are there without cause. I truly do.

Here is my favorite picture with a story in it that I see:


Source: Hubblesite.org

I see it as a battle in the heavens. On the right we have one heavenly being who is bent down on one knee, with his back turned facing the left. He is using his back and arm as a shield to protect himself from the being on the left. This being on the right, who is red, appears large and muscular, with large beard and long hair. I imagine him as an old warrior, with grey hair, who has lived a long life of war. This warrior has power that can only exist in the vastness of the heavens. He is even more powerful the the gods and goddesses of the Greeks and Romans. He is a warrior of the stars.

On the left I see another heavenly being. It has the head of a bear, the wings of a dragon, and the arms of a great warrior. This being is attacking the warrior with a force that has put the great warrior on the defence. That great, bright light in the center is the blast issuing forth from the beasts's hands, and it spreads out and around the warrior on the right, who is defending himself. The beast has other heavenly forces surrounding him, which swirl around him as different colored lights and gases. They appear as strange shapes surrounding the beast.

The warrior also has other beings fighting with him. Both behind and in front of him, I see other faces moving towards the beast and his companions. Both these faces and the other beings behind the beast are as spirits it seems. The do not take forms we are used to. Even the beast and the warrior are as spirits, for neither of them look like anything we see on earth.

Okay, I let my imagination run wild up there, but that is what I see. There is so much more as well, I just can't find a way to describe it! And this was one picture! I have run out of words for this right now, but maybe another time. So for now, I will discuss the music!

The little girl who sang the song, Jackie Evancho, is only 11. Or at least at the time both that PBS performance was shot and this post was made, she was 11. I hope she will live well beyond that. Anyway, I find it difficult to describe the music now as well! The Creator seemed to have taken one of these spirits, or beings, or something from the heavens above, and put it in this little girl when she was a baby. Just as the warrior and beast I mentioned above can't be contained on earth, it seems this voice can't either. I believe this to be so because the Creator Himself sings with her every time. This is why when people hear her, they immediately describe it as heavenly, angelic, and beautiful.

Her voice in adding to the grandeur of this video is amazing! Many of the words in the song also fit perfectly with the images. I didn't pick the song either. It is what I "happened" to be listening to at the time. Take a guess at who really picked the song? Jackie really adds the heavenly touch to these pictures. Either are great by themselves, but together they are wonderful as well! After describing the battle above, I don't have the words to describe the voice narrating it. Well, maybe another time. I might make a whole post just for this "Angel" among us, as many like to say.

One final closing thought. That video I posted above, I didn't make it. I couldn't have. Yes, I downloaded the pictures, I put them in the video, I put the music on, I rendered the video, I uploaded it to youtube, all of that. By I didn't make it. The Alighty did. He wants people to look up to Him once again and simply say, "Holy, holy, holy..." He is tired of those who can look at His creation and say, "There is no God!" He gave us these beautiful landscapes in the heavens, and he gave us what many call "an angel among us", Jackie, to bless us with her voice. Yet people deny Him. Is that why my video exists?