Nothing is Evil

I recently implemented something new. On Facebook I started a group called "

De' Tinker's Thoughts: Facebook Discussion Group", and asked the few members I had which post title they wanted me to write on. Well, the vote is in! So here I go...

Nothing is evil. How could that be? Don't we live in an evil world? Isn't evil all around us? What about the wars, the starvation, the lies, etc?

There is more to the saying then that. Maybe this makes more sense: Nothing was evil in it's original created form; or, nothing was created evil.

Whatever it is, it us us humans who make it evil or commit evil actions. Guns aren't evil, they are just a tool. Yet we use them for evil purposes. Eating meat isn't evil, yet we torture animals unnecessarily to get that meat or we intentionally provide low quality meat for people to eat. Even technology! Technology isn't evil, but as with the gun example, it can be used for evil purposes.

For instance, weather control technology. Some of you may not even believe we have the technology to effect the weather on any noteworthy scale. That's fine if you don't believe, it's up to you. Technology like that doesn't sound evil, does it? Well, it's not, whatever you were thinking. However, evidence suggests that this type of technology is responsible for multiple natural disasters and will also be used for a mass deception in the (near) future, with the intent of setting up a One World Government.

That brings me to another point, a Wold Government. Is that evil? Well, the idea itself isn't. However, the methods used to achieve such a government and the reason for that government are. The Almighty confused the languages of man at the tower of Babel when they created a One World Government, with the intention of being their own god. Mankind has always had that goal in mind, and is trying once again to create a modern "Tower of Babel" situation.

Getting away from the "conspiracy theories", here's another example: sex. These days I hear jokes about how Christianity means "if it's fun, stop doing it". In part this joke is talking about this very issue. The original purpose of sex was for pleasure between one man and one woman and to populate the earth. However, we have perverted it from it's original purpose, making most instances evil. Once again, it's not the idea that's evil, but what we do with it. That is why there is rape, adultery, homosexuality, etc. They have perverted the original purpose, in a similar way as was done with technology.

Since everything was originally "very good", any evil must have come afterwards. And of course, any object itself can't be evil anyway, just as an animal or idea can't. We are the ones that cursed creation through our actions, and we pervert and corrupt all of these things.

Of course other issues, such as killing and murder, are a little harder to explain. According to what I hear (to lazy to look it up myself), in the original Hebrew the same word is used for "murder" as is used for "kill". That means the commandment "thou shall not murder" could just as accurately be translated to "thou shall not kill". So does that mean killing isn't evil? Well... as I said, it's a little harder to explain, and I may be wrong on this one.

It is said that death will be the last enemy to be defeated. Also, in original creation there was no death. However, upon further investigation of science, you realized that destruction was both possible and necessary before the Fall. You see, there is a fine balance in creation. Destruction and creation. We can't even see without this balance! As light comes into our eyes, it destroys certain chemicals. When these chemicals break down, it sends an electrical signal to the brain, telling us what we see.

Before the Fall, things were probably balanced differently. Balanced in such a way that there was no net decay, meaning that things could not die of age; or die at all. However, as I said, things changed. So the act of killing also upsets the balance, but adding lots of net decay. This is against God's original plan, for He wanted no death. But we now live in a fallen world, where death not only is possible but happens every minute.

I have not fully answered the problem though, is killing evil? Digging a little deeper, we find Jesus said that even if you are angry with someone in your heart, you committed murder against them (in your own heart). So based off all this, it seems it is really a matter of the heart. Even God commanded the killing of thousands (men, woman, children, even babies). The people that were killed were of a corrupt heart, and this was a punishment. But when we kill someone ourselves, we have no power, right or authority to give them that punishment; except in the case of government (which I will get to in a moment).

An individual on his own does not have this authority by default, but circumstances can present them self, such as getting attacked and taking a life defending yourself. Although you may not have been given the authority to "punish" this person, per se, you were fulfilling a God given instinct of self defense. Things are different when someone is causing you trouble and you hire someone to "silence" them. That is a heart problem right there. Also since man is created in God's image, he also is set apart and special from the rest of creation. Doing something evil towards another human is far different than it is from an animal or plant.

However, governments have been given certain authority from above to make and enforce laws, including the death penalty. This amount of authority has been given to them, to take a life, so it is up to the governments to respect these privileges. No matter how powerful a government becomes, they still answer to a greater power. It is the same for all of us, we each answer to something greater than ourself. In the case of killing and murder, it is a hard concept to clearly understand. You've just seen some of how I think it through.

Ultimately, death and killing isn't part of the plan, but is happening now. We must live with that. But as long as our heart is following God, our actions will lead us away from these evil acts (although we are still fallible humans). This means that it is possible to kill someone and not sin. It is the heart, the intent, that God looks at. This isn't to justify those who fought in the Crusades for "the glory of God", or any other similar circumstances. I merely mean that He will reveal His will if we listen, and there is example after example in the Old Testament where killing was part of that.

The simple answer? No. Killing is not evil (oh boy, is that weird to say!). It is our heart that is evil, and often times we kill because of our evil heart. The origin of evil also has an evil beginning, the Fall and Satan. But death also began there as well, but death is not evil. It is just a balance of nature that is not part of God's ultimate plan. There will come a time where he gives creation it's proper balance, then death and killing will be impossible.

There are many other examples, but this will suffice for now. This post is plenty long. However, I will soon be writing another post talking more about this issue.

The Simple Life

So in America today, it is Thanksgiving. People are eating a huge amount of food (and probably getting drunk) while watching the game on big screen tv's, having big family get togethers, and following the tradition of cooking turkey and other various foods, even if no one really like's 'em.

Well I decided to make a short little post about what I am truly thankful for. It's not the food, not the traditions and customs, not even anything specific.

I am just thankful that every night when I go to bed, I can honestly say to myself "today was a good day" no matter what happened. I am thankful that I am contented with the life I have been blessed with. I am thankful for my simple life.

May you be thankful for each day as well. Have a Happy Thanksgiving!

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.

Alpha Male of '91

So what movies came out in 1991? Okay, I don't know all the answers to that one; but I do have one movie in particular in mind. That movie is the Beauty and the beast. Looking back on it, I noticed something very interesting.

Did you know that in that movie it is revealed how to become "roughly the size of a barge"? The main villain of the film, Gaston, is a bit of a selfish jerk who wants Belle. However, he is also a very big and strong man, who knows a little trick about size and strength that is often ignored today.

I know, I know, it's just a cartoon. But there are real people who got real results by using the same strategy that Gaston used in the film. I embedded a clip below. Can you find Gaston's "secret"?



Okay, here's a hint. Around the mid point of the film, Gaston states that as a lad, he ate 4 dozen eggs (48) every morning, but now eats 5 dozen eggs (60). It is because of this that, as Gaston puts it, he is "roughly the size of a barge". Now this may all seem a little unrealistic, but hold on just one more minute.

Vince Gironda, known as the "Iron Guru", was a famous bodybuilder who's knowledge was so valued (and controversial) that even the famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger came to him for training advice. Why do I mention this? Because Gironda advised eating up to 3 dozen eggs a day. He believed that this many quality eggs a day could actually have similar effects to the anabolic steroid, Dianabol. Interestingly enough, Dianabol was one of the steroids Arnold used to become so large.

And in the video, Gaston ate up to 60 eggs a day. Notice how big he was? Gaston was an image of the alpha male in 1991. And honestly, he's a better image then most I see today. True, he was a selfish jerk, but he built a strong, healthy body through safe, natural means. If people were to pick up on that aspect of Gaston these days, things would be a little better.

Story of the 5th

So this is another school project I did. Since I already did all the work, I decided to post it. This particular project was to listen to Ludvig van Beethoven's 5th symphony...

...and write about what the piece means to me, what I feel/think/see/etc. when I listen to it. I only did the first movement, since I did not want to go into this kind of detail for the rest of 'em.

So, here it is:

The initial beats are lighting and thunder, which start a down pour upon a wounded man lying upon a battlefield filled with corpses. After the rain begins, he has flash backs about everything that brought him to this point. The following “creeping” feeling of the orchestra is the man remembering the events coming together for the war he is now in. The bridge begins the memory of the events which brought the redcoats to the very steps of the man’s plantation; ending with pistol aimed at his face and all his property burning.

Beginning on theme one, the man remembers even farther back, before the ball, when he took his wife to a ball. The sounds of the violins are the man remembering slowly dancing in a beautiful hall before the war. When things pick up to the happier, faster paced tune, he is remembering more and more of the fast paced, carefree dance. Not long after those events though, the man begins to cycle through other events that lead to where he is now. As the Exposition repeats, he goes through a similar cycle of memories; from the events leading to the war, the burning of his plantation and killing of part of his family, to the times before the war.

The near confusion in the Development is the man being swarmed with different memories. From his anger that made him join the war, to those happy times before the war. His memory jumped from dances, to tired marching, to happy evenings with his family, to confused battles. Memories of pain, hunger, happiness, and sadness seem to attack him at once.

The Recapitulation is the very passionately angry memories of the man seeing the destruction of his plantation. With the quiet and slow oboe solo, the man remembers crying as he held his wife’s lifeless corpse in his arms, as the soldiers marched off with all his possessions burning.

The following crescendo for the bridge is the memory of sadness turning into anger and hate for the man. He remembers setting his wife’s body down, standing up and watching as the redcoats marched away. With the trumpet blasts the man is brought once again to the memories before the war; including the last dance he had. He had brought his whole family to an extravagant ball as one final time to have carefree fun before the fighting began. His memories begin once again with the slow, blissful dancing as he sees his wife smiling face. Memories of the dance speeding up and becoming more intense come along with the crescendo of the music, until he is spinning quickly and carefree with his wife in his arms, with his sons and daughters surrounding him all dancing carefree as well.

With the Coda comes conflicting memories of that final dance and this last battle; the joy of his family, and the hate of his enemy. Images of his smiling wife and his smoking rifle flooded his mind. Memories come harder and faster, making the emotions in the man boil as he lay on the battlefield. Finally, as the orchestra switches to the darker tune, the man is left with just the memories of his hate. Marching, firing, reloading, watching as enemy soldiers fell, and the blood of allied soldiers splattered his face and clothes.

Memories slow down, but become more focused as he sees the soldier that killed his wife and family and ordered the burning of the plantation. The music builds and intensifies as the two fight towards each other, and a few longing memories appear to the man. The following deep, powerful notes known from theme one are the man and the soldier meeting on the field of combat. They fight hard, the man burning with anger and hate. Combat ends with the soldier firing his pistol and the man stabbing him with a bayonet in time with the powerful closing notes. Along with the sudden ending comes the man suddenly falling into unconsciousness, having remembered all the events that brought him to this point.

Cold Steel and Winter's Fury

I wanted to pick a dramatic(ish) title for today. It seems I'm taking a temporary leave from the deep, philosophical stuff for a little while and going onto the simpler stuff.

Winter's coming. My least favorite time of year. Why is that? The cold. I really, really do not like the cold. The part that makes it worse is that I adjusted to the Texas summer a little to well. Anything below 70 degrees felt a little chilly at first, once things began to cool off. It will get much colder now. And since I prefer to sweat as opposed to shiver if I have the choice, this will not be fun or easy.

Oh, but it gets better! I actually mean that too. Bova's back! If you don't know who that is, don't worry. Check out my last post. Anyway, because of this I've been inspired to spend the next little bit of this year getting in tip top shape! That means, however, that not only will I be continuing training during the time of year where most people slack off and when it's coldest, I will actually be training harder and being more strict. I also train in my backyard, which will suck. No heating, just winter's cold bite. So that means if I want to keep warm, I gotta dress it. But I still have to work. And... the barbell will be really freaking cold.

So, that's the reason I named this post "Cold Steel of Winter's Fury". I will be lifting cold steel out in cold of winter's "fury". When pretty much the entire world will be slacking off because of the cold and the holidays, I will be trying to ramp things up. If I can keep it up, New Year's will come around and I'll be in the best shape of my life, and everyone else will be recovering from their holiday binge and starting their New Year's resolutions. From there, I can just sit back and watch everyone else mess around for a few days/weeks/months until they give up.

Beyond that news, about the love/hate relationship I will be having with my weights, there are a couple other things:

One, Bova's back! I'll probably be mentioning him in almost every post from now on as well.

Oh, and Tried and True Fitness has made a new book that I would really like as well: http://www.getaclassicbody.com/ (to a certain few people reading this, that's one of my Christmas wishes ;).

Jackie is coming with a new cd on the 1st, waiting for that. Also listening to a pre-released single from the cd as I work on this post (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwk2lQOdE7I) Can I go a single post without mentioning her?

Skyrim! On the 11th, one of the best games ever will come out. I am also hoping to get in great shape for that so I can take a week off training for "recovery" as I play a barbarian in the snow topped mountains hunting dragons. My plan is to be as muscular as my character.

So, I think that's it for now. One more thing though! Don't slack off on a healthy life style just because it's cold and it's the holidays. Be better then everyone else, and push through. If you don't want to be weak like everyone else, you can't live like everyone else. If you want to be strong and healthy in a way normal people aren't, you can't live like normal people. Want to be better then everyone you know? Live better then everyone you know. Don't want to feel sick this year like everybody else? Don't be like everybody else!

May you join me in feeling the Bite of Cold Steel and Winter's Fury!

"Here's my money. Take it, PLEASE!"

There are times where I wish I had the money to actually say that. That is because, there are times where I know my money will be so well spent, I don't even have to think about it. There are two reasons I'm talking about this right now; two people who sell things that I enjoy and use so much I don't even need to know what it is they are selling. Tell me they're selling something new, and take my money.

Of course, there are many others out there who sell stuff I trust and use, but not quite on this level. So these two people I'm talking about, they are Anthony Bova and Jackie Evancho. The reason I am willing to buy what they sell? I trust them, and know that anything I buy from them will change my life and will be used until the day I die.

Why am I even talking about this? Well, to promote the names (I want people to hear about what they do and sell), and to tell you a bit more about me.

So first off, Anthony Bova. I only know of one, maybe two people who read this blog who might know what that is (Specialist, if you read this, "Remember us", don't let them down ;). For everyone else, Bova is the author of the "Spartan Health Regimen". If I were to describe anything as the "bible" for physical health, this would be it.

What I mean by that, is it teaches you the basic principles of health and how to apply them in such a simple, down to earth way that you can always refer to it. This program doesn't tell you what you should eat for each meal, how many carbs you should have on Tuesday, or how often you should train biceps. It does, however, tell you the simple truths behind health.

After reading it, it became very easy to understand what food is truly healthy. And by healthy, I mean real health. Health that keeps you lean, strong, fast, active, and NOT sick. A healthy that radiates from your skin, eyes, hair, attitude, etc.

Bova tells you what past civilizations did to achieve this type of health, and also some experiments he has done on himself (with real world results) with how foods work and simple, effective ways to stay fit. He tells you some exercises and basic routines that can be used to achieve great strength and power (along with a well chiseled body), and these work too.

But of course, it's the principles he teaches that are most important. The recipes, exercises, etc. he outlines are just examples of how to apply these principles (examples that, in many cases, he has spent years refining). After getting his Spartan Health Regimen for my 15th birthday, I've been healthier and stronger then I ever have been (and healthier then probably everyone else I know). The only times I've gotten "sick" at all has been when I walk off the Spartan "path" and eat normal food. After seeing, and experiencing, the effectiveness of his program, I wouldn't have a problem shelling out money for anything new he has to sell.

To be honest, the entire reason I'm writing this article is because he recently sent out an email saying he's back into action and promoting his stuff again (along with making new programs, answering emails, etc.) I was so excited when I got his email that my first two responses were "BOVA'S BACK!" and "If only I had some money". That last response, of course, would have been "Here's my money. Take it, PLEASE!" if I had actually had any cash to spare. But alas, the world is a cruel place.

___________________________________________________________________

Now, Jackie Evancho. Take one click glance at my blog and you will see numerous articles about her. It's pretty obvious I enjoy her music. I believe I have even stated on here that she is my favorite artists. If I haven't before, I have now! Even my last post before this one was about her. In that post I talked about her Christmas cd being released. As has become my custom with any of her music, my reaction when I heard about it was "take my money". But once again, actually having money to hand over is a problem, but for 10 bucks, I think I'll manage.

This post is already probably long enough, and I've spoken so much about Jackie before, I don't believe I need to say much. So now I have a little question for you all. Are there any people out there who sell stuff you like and trust so much that when you hear they are selling something new, your reacting is "Here's my money!"? Tell me in the comments! Also tell me if you have ever bought any of Jackie's or Bova's stuff, and what you thought of it!

Why Just Christmas?

Every December, what are some things we see every single year? Often Christmas lights, Christmas movies, gifts, specials, songs, and loads of other stuff (like candy growing on trees). What I was wondering was, why do we only listen to Christmas music during Christmas season? Is something wrong with it the rest of the year?

The reason why I'm even mentioning this is because recently I found myself listening to a very good song; and it was a Christmas song. To be specific, it was Jackie Evancho's "O Holy Night".

I would advise listening to this as you read

It is a very good song, sung by a very good singer, and has a very good message. What about that dictates it can only be heard once a year? And for that matter, what dictates we can only listen to "Christmas" music during that season? Most people listen to the same Christmas songs nonstop for the time surrounding Christmas, then don't hear them for the rest of the year. Often times when someone puts on a Christmas song (this person usually being me) another person actually asks them to turn it off. Why is this? Because the song is a Christmas song..........................

And that means it can't be played any other time? I'm still figuring that one out. Okay, so I do like the music. There are some really good Christmas songs out there. And if a song sounds good, why not listen to it? Especially if it has a good meaning. Okay, I feel like I'm repeating myself here.

But that song I was listening to, "O Holy Night", is actually off an EP of the same name. On it are four songs sung by Jackie Evancho "Silent Night" "Panis Angelicus" "O Holy Night" and "Pie Jesu". So maybe this post is a bit of a review as well... along with being a bit of a rant. But it is still a good album nonetheless, even if the reason I'm talking about it is because I'm complaining/ranting.

Now speaking about playing Christmas songs other than in the Christmas season, I listen to Jackie's songs all through out the year. That also means I am listening to these four songs from this album in the middle of a Texas summer as well. Now what's wrong with that? Well, I don't know. Other people manage to find something wrong with it. It doesn't always make sense, but it's tradition or something.

Well I am going to start a new tradition. Listen to good music through out the entire year! And fortunately for me, Jackie is coming out with another cd (full length cd) on November 1st. This will be the third release of a cd in a single year for her, her other two ( "O Holy Night" and "Dream With Me") have been certified Platinum and Gold (respectively) at the present time. Already she's making, or has already made, a third album. This newest album will be called "Heavenly Christmas" and I believe available only through Walmart. Here's a link: http://www.walmart.com/ip/17656937

This is the cover for her latest album

The most interesting part? At the time of writing this, that album doesn't even have any album art and yet people are already pre-ordering it [Edit: it seems Walmart posted some cover art for it literally hours after me making that statement, go figure. Posted the album art above]! You want to know why? Because those people are smart and are willing to listen to good music any time of the year. I imagine I will be listening to these Christmas songs next summer. After all, why just on Christmas?

Anyway, here's a music video from her Christmas album just last year.

I guess I've said all that I need to say... I think. If I find anything else to complain about, I'll do it another time. Or anything to rant about... or review... or advertise... or rant about....

Back to listening to good music, regardless of what season it is!

School Assignment, still read it though

I had needed to do an assignment for a class, and I liked what I did since it related to subjects I enjoy discussing, so I decided to share it here. Tell me what you think (the assignment was to make a list comparing some contradictions between creation and evolution and then discuss some of them in greater detail):

Contradiction	Creation	Evolution
Sun and Earth	Earth created first	Sun came first
Origin of Death	Death came after sin as punishment	Death is permanent
Origin of Man	Created in God's image on day 6	Evolved from ape-like ancestor
Original form of Earth	Earth started as water	Earth started as molten rock
Noah's Flood	Is a historical event which explains fossils and much more	Is an impossible myth that contradicts with "evidence" for an old earth
Origin of Life	Life came from the living God (life came from life, does NOT contradict science)	Life evolved from a non-living primordial soup millions of years ago (This contradicts an observable law of science)
Origin of Matter	An all powerful ever existing God created all matter and energy	All matter and energy arose spontaneously (different theories have different answers)
DNA	An all knowing intelligent God created the complex coding seen in DNA	Information came about without an intelligent creator (contradicts science, information must come from intelligence)
Evolving	Everything reproduces after it's kind within it's genetic information, or even lose information which is more of devolution	One kind of animal can change into another, which requires addition of information which is impossible without intelligence
Miracles	The very core of Creation relies on an all powerful God who created everything supernaturally	Evolution relies on there being no god and uses only natural processes, there can be no miracles or anything supernatural
Man's Specialness	Being in the image of the Creator, man has dominion over the earth and is above all the rest of Creation, and has an eternal soul	Man is just an animal and is no more special than anything else. When man dies they die just like an animal.
Logic and Reasoning	Logic was made to follow universal laws of order by an All Knowing God of Order	Our minds evolved randomly and are controlled by chemical processes that arose from random chance, therefore we cannot trust our own mind's wisdom

Key contradiction 1: The order of creation (and original form of earth)

I chose to only mention the sun and earth for this, so that is what I put in the table. In reality there are many more aspects of this I could have discussed.

The evolutionary theory requires that dense gases and matter gathered around to form the sun billions of years before a ball of molten rock would form to eventually become the earth. Stars came first to evolutionists, and that included the sun. All other celestial bodies, such as planets and the earth, formed billions of years after. Another conflict that is underneath this is the fact that evolution says the earth started as fire (for simplicity’s sake), the Bible says it started as water.

Now on the other hand, Biblical creation clearly states that the earth came before the sun and stars, as well as the moon (which evolution claims formed closer to the time of earth than the sun). When the earth was formed, it began as water and land came afterward (Genesis 1:2, 6-10). It wasn’t until two days after the earth was formed that we see the creation of the sun, moon and stars (Genesis 1:14-18).

This isn’t even getting into other aspects of the order of creation that evolution gets wrong; there is birds and fish created on the same day (Gen. 1:20) vs fish evolving into land and then sea creatures, plants being created before the sun (Gen 1: 11-12, 14-18) vs evolving billions of years afterwards, man and dinosaurs created on the same day (Gen 1: 24-30) vs man evolving millions of years afterwards, etc. But I chose to mention just the sun and earth in the above table.

Key contradiction 2: The Supernatural vs the natural (and several other points)

One of the sharpest contrasts between creation and evolution is the fact that creation requires there be miracles and supernatural beings, while evolution strictly forbids it. This, I believe, is where the science for evolution falls apart, right at step one. Since evolution requires only natural processes (that follow the natural laws of physics), there is no reasonable explanation for the origin of all matter and energy, now why to explain how life came about, no way to explain logic, and no way to explain pretty much anything. Their problem is there is no way for something to come from nothing, and that is what they need to explain their world view. Where did everything we see today come from?

Creation, on the other hand, has a reasonable answer for this. Since creation relies on the supernatural, which by definition supersedes the natural (and it’s laws of physics), it is very easy to explain the origin of everything. It goes something like this, “In the beginning God created…” (Gen 1:1). Right there we have our answer; an all powerful, all knowing supernatural being, which is above nature and it’s laws (and which actually created those laws), is the one responsible for everything we see today. A more detailed answer to this problem may be found in John 1:1-5

 “In the beginning the Word already existed. The Words was with God, and the Word was God. He existed in the beginning with God. God created everything through him, and nothing was created except through him. The Word gave life to everything that was created, and his life brought light to everyone. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness can never extinguish it”

“God created everything. . . and nothing was created except through him”, that makes our answer pretty easy. Provided God had the power to do so (which of course He did)  and was telling the truth when He wrote this down (and of course, He was), then creation has no problem answering this.

Key contradiction 3: Man

The final point I will discuss is the conflict between Man’s place in creation. When we compare the worldviews, we see two drastically different opinions. On one side we have creation which says Man was created in the image of the Creator Himself (Genesis 1: 27), and was also created perfect to live forever with the Almighty, and later turned away from the Creator and had to live with death and suffering (Genesis 3); while on the other side we have evolution, which says man evolved from an animal and his life has no meaning, when he dies he dies and there is nothing left, that he is no more important than an ant or a leaf. There is a drastic contradiction between these two beliefs, isn’t there?

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.

Rewriting Genesis

In these days, many Christians are compromising their beliefs to fit into the world. One way they are doing this is by trying to fit evolution into the Bible. One of the ways they are doing this is "You're stupid for limiting God, He could have used evolution if He wanted to!" However, what they fail to see, is that the Creator TOLD us that He did not use evolution. The creation account is clearly written. If you wanted to write Genesis in such a way that it is obvious the Almighty created everything about 6,000 years ago, in 6 literal 24 hour days, you would leave it just the way it is. On the other hand, if you wanted to write Genesis in such a way that it is obvious the Almighty used evolution and millions of years, it would need to be entirely rewritten. So, I will show you a post I made on another forum recently, where I did just that:

In the video we watched for this week it was mentioned that to clearly state that creation took place in 6 literal, 24 hour days you would write it just the way it is. However, to clearly state that God used long periods of time to create everything you would need to rewrite not only Genesis, but the entire Bible. I decided what it would be like to rewrite just the first chapter (roughly). Tell me what you all think.

"In the beginning, God created nothing. There was no earth yet, and everything was rather boring and empty, so God said 'Let there be light' and nothing exploded and started expanding over billions of years to form the universe. And God saw that this huge, powerful and random explosion that created all light and matter in the universe was good. Since there was no earth and sun yet, He couldn't name the difference between day and night, so He sat around for a few billion years."

"God was bored again and decided to shake things up, so He took some of the random matter expanding through space and directed it to form into the earth over billions of years before creating the sun. Suddenly bored of a giant ball of rocks and lava, He decided to make turn it all into water over billions of years, and He then separated some of the water from the rest with an expanse in the sky. Seeing this work He had done over billions of years, and the earth floating there for no apparent reason, He called it good."

"Bored with just a big ball of water and a bunch of random fire and junk floating through space, He decided to make plants. So over millions of years, he made some of the minerals floating in the mud across the face of the earth and had it evolve into plants. After about the first day, He realized that the plants early ancestors wouldn't even be able to survive without the sun... and that caused a dilema. However, He saw this as very good."

"After having created the plants, God decided it would be a good time to create the sun. [from this point onwards I am adding to what I wrote in the post] After waiting millions of years for the plants to form, while supernaturally holding them together, He finally had some of the swirling gas in space create the giant reactor hanging in the sky now. While doing this, He also caused some floating rocks to start crashing together and form the moon. He would later use these two floating objects, the sun and moon, to signify the difference between night and day. After supernaturally causing the plants to survive for millions of years without the light of the sun, they finally got a break. Looking upon the millions of years of rotting plant matter, horrible weather conditions, and cosmic explosions, He saw it as good."

For this rewrite, I tried to keep the order that we see written in the Bible and explain those through natural processes. As you see, it doesn't work. The Bible says the earth came before the sun, evolution REQUIRES that the sun came first. Evolution also requires only natural processes and no guidance from God. As you can see, in that couldn't happen. Now you either have a choice in this matter, believe what the Bible says as it was written, or believe one of man's constantly changing opinions on the matter. The two don't fit together.

Questions to ponder

So the name of this blog is "De' Tinker's Thoughts" which is slang (or whatever the term is) for "The Thinker's Thoughts". And since I'm De' Tinker, it naturally implies I do some thinking. I have many posts already on here about my thoughts on matters. But this post will be different. I will simply ask you some of the questions I've been asking myself, and see what kind of answer you have; or just let you continue to think about them. I will also have a couple of statements in here, please tell me your response to those as well.

The borrower is slave to the lender. And America is called the "Land of the Free". So why is America over 14 trillion dollars in debt?

Why is it that someone who kills a pregnant woman can be convicted of double murder, but if that same woman has an abortion she was just exercising her rights over her body and did not commit murder?

Evolutionists say that they don't allow religion to effect science. Science, real science, the type of science that allowed us to walk on the moon, go to the bottom of the sea (parts of it), fly around the world in a single day, and so much more, is all observable and repeatable. Evolution involves something in the past that can't be repeated or observed, but instead have faith in their beliefs of the past. Does that sound like a religion to you?

Many Christians put so much effort into the latest health fads or whatever the worlds says is the right way to become healthy. Why do they try to use man's methods to achieve a God given potential for health? Why not use the Creator's methods to achieve the potential for health He gave us?

People who don't believe in a higher authority often talk about morals. Without a higher authority, there is no absolute for morals. So why do they punish people for what they believe to be wrong?

Why can kids no longer play games like tag or hide and seek (amongst many others)? These were staple games amongst kids when I was younger. Are they really "unsafe", or have the kids and their parents just become to soft?

In Evolution, it is said there's a chance for anything to happen given enough time and chance. I have come to realize that Time and Chance are the chief gods of Evolution. The third being, Imagination.

There is a multi-million (probably billion) dollar industry in health and fitness. They try to sell you all these fancy equipments, meals, and routines. However, it doesn't matter how fancy, simple, cheap, expensive, complicated, well thought out, easy, hard, etc your routine/diet/or whatever is. If you don't do you or use it, it just plain sucks. It's even worse when you use it/do it and it sets you back.

Why is it that decades before steroids people were setting verifiable strength records that have gone unbroken today with all of our "knew knowledge" in techniques and technology today? Some of these even being from the late 1800's.

If the Old Testament takes up over three quarters of the Bible, why do so many people talk about it less then one fourth of the time?

If mankind truly started out dumb and has gotten smarter, as atheists and evolutionists like to believe, then why have we found batteries several thousand years old? Or temples designed to have their own natural air conditioning requiring no power or maintenance for several millennium? Or pyramids that are thousands of years old yet built in such an advanced way that we couldn't repeat it today?

Why in America is it okay to question the government but not Darwin, when in many other countries you can question Darwin but not the government?

Why does America believe that teaching people to rely on the government will make them more productive and boost the economy?

Why is it people used to care for each other, help the sick, and feed the poor because they wanted to help, and now that the government is in charge of all that, no one helps (for the most part)?

The majority of people's food comes from some kind of grain (I won't even talk about all the processing). However, our digestion system isn't designed to digest grains and such, nor I body to process it. Our digestive tract is of more a medium length, suited more towards meat or ideally fruit (and vegetables). Our teeth range from blunt molars to sharp canines. We are omnivores, and are best suited for a majority fruit diet. I wonder why people are fat these days...

When America was founded, it was believed that the more kids you had the better off financially you would be. Why has that belief been reversed? Why do people assume that the more kids you have means the less money you will get?

In a letter penned by Thomas Jefferson was the famous quote "separation of church and state". What people don't realize is that it is often misquoted. In context, Jefferson was saying that the Constitution had built that wall of separation by saying that the government could not declare an official religion, therefore protecting people's right to freedom of religion. People now use the quote to get prayer out of schools.

The only type of person who is completely safe to pick on (the list is building) is a Christian adult white heterosexual male with no deformities or mental problems. If you choose to pick on anyone else, you are either a racist, sexist, bully, heartless, homophobic, non tolerant, or are discriminating in some other way. Why is this?

Praying in schools has been banned in schools and the workplace because it is considered unconstitutional and offensive, yet it is still just fine to curse in those same places? Cursing is offensive, but still part of our right to free speech all the same as praying.

It is taught these days that fat is bad. However, it is also taught that without fat we would die. How is this?

It is considered conventional wisdom or whatever that eating raw meat is bad (and will kill you). Show me a lion, bear, ape, shark, eagle, maggot, or any number of other animals that get sick from eating raw meat.

That's all for now, I may write another post like this sometime or write posts about one of these questions/statements. Please tell me your thoughts on these, even if you pick one and say a quick one sentence reply (I would like a lot more though).

Man's "Perfection"

The name of this post might imply another rant, but that's not what it's actually about. Here I'm just talking (or thinking aloud) about the closest to perfection that man (as in, mankind) can reach, and my experiences in that. I once heard a quote to the effect of "perfection is right in front of us, yet always out of reach". Basically that means we can always find something to do/add/remove/change/etc to improve something, make it a little closer to perfect, but it will never achieve that perfection. This is the only way man can move towards perfection. And this is what I'm doing.

I've been doing just that with my workouts. I remove some stuff, add others, and am otherwise refining it. I keep on taking steps to make my workouts, and there for myself, a little more perfect, even though I will never actually get there on my own. This will be a continuation, in a way, of a previous post, "The perfect workout".

The basic premise I outlined in that post for making the perfect workout was:

1) make it simple and

2) DO IT!

Just those two steps. It may sound simple, and that's because... it is. I don't want to repeat that post, so if you want more info read it yourself. I will just be explaining how I have been "perfecting" my own personal routine.

Right now the routine I'm trying to work with (meaning use and refine) is in two parts, routine A and routine B, used on alternate workout days. I workout Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and alternating between A and B would look like this over two weeks:

Monday: A, Wednesday: B, Friday: A
Monday: B, Wednesday: A: Friday: B

This allows me to work very hard on the selected exercises, lift heavy weights, workout the entire body throughout the week, and exercise three times a week, while still getting plenty of rest. Now to tell you what each routine actually is (mind you, I'm still refining it).

Routine A:
Moderate weight (enough for at least 5 reps) cleans
Heavy weight (enough for about 3 reps) power cleans
Light (enough for usually 8-12 or more reps) overhead press
Moderate-light behind the neck press
Heavy Dumbbell overhead press
Light Barbell curl
Light Good morning

Routine B (this is the one that's really under construction):
Light weight Front squat
Light weight Overhead squat
Light weight bench press
Light (might try moderate) weight incline dumbbell bench press
Light weight squat

So in theory, I should have plenty of time to recover so I can always see improvement without risking over training. This has gone through some work, for instance I was originally planning on one routine I did three times a week, but some of the exercises (mainly the cleans) required more resting time. I also have taken out a couple exercises I didn't enjoy (therefore wasn't putting lots of effort into, wasted energy on, and might have one day made me not do the workout), mainly the bent over row (barbell).

I decided to do the two alternating routines after I had done the first part (A) and was very sore on the next workout day. I had still wanted to workout, but I knew if I did it would be over training. So instead I did different exercises that for the most part left alone the muscles that had been heavily stressed before.

Now I have in set up so that routine A hits mainly the arms, shoulders and back while routine B hits mainly legs, chest and core. Of course since these are compound movements, every exercise uses nearly every muscles, but only certain ones are stressed heavily enough to worry about. I don't know how much this routine of mine will change, but I will be sticking with it for at least this month. Who knows what it will be like next month?

Anyway, this is just me learning and gaining experience. This is how man's "perfection" works in everything. Adding, removing, changing things to try and (hopefully) improve them and move towards perfection. And for right now, this workout routine is pretty close to perfect as far as I'm concerned.

God decided to show off...

So it is obvious now that I really enjoy talking about Jackie Evancho. This post is no exception. The day before writing this I had the privilege of seeing her perform live, in person. But a few things happened.


This served as a countdown both through her twitpics down to the day before when she flew to Dallas, and as a countdown for my final hours before seeing her perform. I think she has improved in just the few weeks since this was recorded in Atlanta.




Then I got to see her. Here is the "review" that I wrote, hopefully with proper spelling [WARNING MASS READING AHEAD]

The entire day counting down to the performance was unique. First off, I could hardly sleep, and had to take multiple naps throughout the day to make up for that. I am rarely this excited for anything. Spending the entire day waiting was not easy, so I made an entire tribute video and posted it to YouTube in the morning and later that day did a workout and took my naps (one before and one after). Still had to wait several more hours; but… eventually the time came. After getting the best clothes on that I had (ones that were black and red, of course), “Off to Dallas” I was!

When I arrived (which is saying a lot in Dallas), I walked around for awhile. Eventually, I was able to meet up with a few other Jackie Fans (first by meeting Craig Rasmussen, who introduced me to several others) and we talked for awhile. Finally it came time to get to our seats.

After I was seated up front, stage left in the Orchestra section, the wait began once again. Strangely though, I wasn’t excited like I had been earlier. After leaving my house, I grew very calm. Sitting in my seat, I continued to feel very peaceful. As it turned out, this feeling was the calm before the storm. While sitting in my seat, I realized I didn’t know what I was in for. Boy, was I right about that. Seeing the Dallas Symphony Orchestra accompanying Jackie Evancho was quite the experience. Many professionals are beginning to say she could be the world’s best singer, if not history’s (she has some fans in high places it seems). Yeah… I didn’t know what I was in for.

My wait soon came to an end. The lights were dimmed and the conductor came out. The orchestra proceeded to play several pieces. I was trying to use my new found experience (read: three class sessions in music appreciation) to identify all the instruments and pick certain aspects of the songs out. As I found out, I had much to learn. This is what was going through my mind during this part (from what I can remember), “And that’s an oboe, I think. That’s an English horn. That’s a double bass, glad I got that one right. Those are timpani’s, and there’s the bass drum. And those are flutes… I think. And that’s an oboe. No! That looks nothing like an oboe! I just really like that name.” As you can probably tell, I was enjoying myself. I was new to the more classical style music as well, so it was very enjoyable to hear some live.

As the first piece progressed, I became very impressed. There were several parts where I felt like clapping or cheering if it had not been an orchestra. When the first piece was over, I determined I definitely thought it was worth a hearty clap (is there such a thing?), even though I had no clue what the piece actually was. The second piece played was nice as well, but I didn’t enjoy it as much. Always so picky…

When this second piece was done, the conductor announced Jackie coming up, which received a fair amount of applause. After saying this, he turned around and begins directing the orchestra through the beginning of “Lovers”, which is one of my favorite of Jackie’s songs. There was the steady build up in the intro, lasting a total of maybe 45 seconds to a minute. Mid way through this, Jackie walked out, which sent the crowd into uproar and standing ovation, drowning out the sound of the orchestra. Fortunately, the crowd managed to quiet down in time for the orchestra to finish the dramatic intro of the song, then it quieted down and Jackie began to sing.

The events that happened in this song are too blurred. She immediately held the entire audience captive. Even some others who sat by me, who I assumed who regulars at symphonies, seemed dead quiet. Fortunately for me, my seat was right in front of the large speakers, so I heard the song rather loudly. I always played this song louder then any others, so I didn’t complain AT ALL. When Jackie finished the song, there was a momentary silence as the orchestra finished fading out. I was in a daze or something, and it never even occurred to me to stand or clap or anything. But I didn’t have to remember, I was reminded when the entire audience stood up nearly at once and gave a standing ovation like I had never heard before. It put to shame even the standing ovation she received when she walked on stage. Jackie hadn’t seemed to be expecting this (I hadn’t either), and she was jumping around on the stage, curtsying, giving her trademark double wave, clapping with the audience, and I could she that she was laughing and had a bright beaming smile on her face.

Once the crowd died down from this standing ovation, the orchestra began “Ombra Mai Fu”. I recognized this one quickly, even though it was probably the song I enjoyed least on her CD. I never had enjoyed the overall tone of the song before, having this strange skipping/dancing/happy/sad blend to it that didn’t suit me (I liked the darker, deeper feeling songs such as “Lovers” which we had just heard). However, I wasn’t there for the song selection. I was there for the voice singing the songs. And in this particular song, Jackie does some very nice notes. I was always impressed by what she could do with this song, as it is an opera song I believe. It requires great skill to sing, and sing it she did. This song received LEAST applause from the audience out of all the songs, and by that I mean at least 15-20 seconds of shouts, cheers, and of course the standing ovation.

Finally I got to see the harp on stage in action. As soon as I had seen that harp before I knew what song it was for, and now here it was. The harp was for “The Lord’s Prayer”. This hadn’t been one of my favorites either, but hearing the orchestra perform it live made me appreciate it much more. Out of all the songs that night, I enjoyed hearing the orchestra perform this one the most (I think) beyond what I already felt about any song. Naturally though, hearing Jackie sing it was something else. I particularly felt something special when she sang “Thy Kingdom come” and the next several lines after, but that is for another time. Naturally, this received quite the uproar as well from the crowd once it was finished. Not a single song that night would go without a standing ovation and such major enthusiasm from the crowd. She also reacted strongly to the crowd here as well, since the crowd was giving her such applause.

After this, Jackie sang “All I Ask of You” and “To Believe”. By this time, I was so drawn into Jackie’s voice that afterwards I literally forgot that she sang these songs at this point! I remember my eyes being locked on her during these songs, especially “To Believe” to the exclusion of everything else. As a matter of fact, by the time she got to To Believe everything around Jackie was a blur in my eyes and my muscles were beginning to twitch. I can’t remember much else of what happened during these two songs, except that I was very surprised to here “All I Ask of You” (didn’t know she would sing that song) and enjoyed Jackie giving the spoken prayer during “To Believe”.

The next song was “O Mio Babbino Caro”. I recognized this one quickly as well, since it was the song that introduced me to her so long before it seemed. This was the song that made her famous on “America’s Got Talent” after all. As it was during most of the songs, I can’t remember what happened as she sang, I was to drawn in. This should go without saying, but I’ll say it anyway. She received a very animate standing ovation with the completion of this song as well, just as all the others.

When the intermission came after “O Mio Babbino Caro” I wasn’t sure what had happened. I don’t think I had ever been so focused on a song before. I wasn’t even capable of focusing on the orchestra. Once the intermission was over and everyone was seated, the orchestra began playing once again. This time, it took me a couple minutes to even notice there was music playing compared to what I had just experienced. Compared to Jackie’s voice live, very few things qualify as even note worthy music in my, oh so humble opinion.

It was time for Jackie to come back up. She was announced once again, and by this time I can hardly even remember what happened. Either she received another standing ovation as she entered or the orchestra began to play the mellow intro of “When You Wish Upon A Star” so the audience had to refrain. As it should go without saying once more, she received a standing ovation. I can’t even remember what happened because I was so drawn in.

My favorite song, “A Time For Us” was next. When I recognized the beginning of that song, I was pretty dang happy. Of course, I can’t remember much of what happened because my eyes, ears and mind were locked on watching perform to the exclusion of almost everything else. The irony of the situation is the most recent events I have the hardest time remembering. But, that’s Jackie for ya! However, I did remember that this song received some of the loudest, and longest, applause (and naturally all during a standing ovation).

“Angel” “The Impossible Dream” and “Pie Jesu” followed as the final songs. My memory is almost blank here, except for the fact that it was intense for me. However, it seems that “Pie Jesu”, which was supposed to be the encore song, was done without Jackie ever leaving the stage. The audience was giving her such a thundering applause (2,000+ people in a very well built acoustical room like that) that it was decided to do the encore immediately. This was one of the songs I was waiting for, and it was also one of the ones that made her famous on “America’s Got Talent”. She has moved so beyond that now. I’m pretty sure that the only reason there were people sitting during the standing ovations was because they either had knee problems or were in to much shock. I can’t prove this theory, of course, but I’m pretty sure that was the reason.

After she finished the final song, she received a very resounding applause once again. When that died down, she gave a short “thank you” speech and even, for the first time I had heard of, called us her “support”. She repeated that phrase multiple times. She is so mature and quick, but even the excitement got to her a bit as she stumbled with her sentences slightly (I have heard politicians do worse on their well rehearsed speeches, and I’m pretty sure this wasn’t rehearsed). Once she finished this, there was another standing ovation. When she exited the stage there was yet ANOTHER standing ovation, this one lasting nearly two whole minutes if not more. Jackie came up at least three, if not four for additional waves, curtsies, smiles, giggles, etc during this time.

Overall, this performance has locked Jackie even more solidly in as my favorite artist. No other artist or band even comes close now. She has broadened my tastes of music so much, and even given me songs that I may never tire of. I hope one day to witness her live in concert again.

A few other events that happened throughout the night. I can’t remember when these happened, just that they did.

The first was early on. After one of the standing ovations had died down, Jackie bent down to get a drink of water and someone shouted “Jackie say hi!” so she popped up and gave one of her cute little hi’s.

Of course, as I said, I had never witnessed her so excited from a crowd. While she was being cheered, it appeared she didn’t know whether she wanted to jump up and down, curtsy, tug on her dress, give her double wave, clap for the orchestra, or whatever else she was doing. Jackie was just having so much fun up there. Even those who are blind or deaf can enjoy Jackie.

At one point during a standing ovations (during one of the final ones I believe), Jackie was doing her jumps and curtsies and double waves, when she turned around and gave a double wave to the orchestra and those in the Choral Terrace. Nearly everyone up there stood up and gave her a double wave back. It was really something.

Another time was when someone shouted “Thank you” and Jackie said the same back.

My favorite by far was after this. When she had said “Thank you” back to the crowd there were many laughs and giggles in the audience. Jackie giggled at this to, then after a moment, gave a big double wave to the audience. This sent waves of laughter throughout the entire audience, amidst some clapping. I felt that the audience was on the verge of a standing ovation… for simply having Jackie wave at them. What other artists can do that?

A few other memorable moments for me happened outside in the lobby. My second favorite little moment was while I was walking out and heard someone behind me comment to a friend “I felt ambushed… but in a good way!” I am sure many others that night felt “ambushed” as well by Jackie’s charm and talent.

Other moments were when I was walking around and seeing people (especially grown, tough looking men) wearing Jackie shirts or proudly holding her cd in their hand (I even saw a man use it as a fan for his face, he didn’t want to let it get very far from him!)

There were probably many other wonderful moments I forgot, or even complete songs,  but it’s the experience that counts. I was there. I witnessed what may be the world’s, if not history’s, best singer live in her youth. I even learned many things about myself. So this is a review or critique, right? I only wish I could describe that night to you. So since I can’t, I will simply repeat something I have said before,

“God decided to show off, so he made Jackie Evancho”

The Mind of a Miracle

What is one of the best ways to increase the effectiveness of any body? Not just the body of an animal or person, but of a business, or even country. The answer (or at least one of them)? Give it better leadership. Take an ordinary business and give it an incredibly good CEO, and that business can soar. Take an ordinary computer and upgrade it's software, you can do a lot. One of my favorite examples of this is with Hannibal the Great of Carthage. Carthage and Rome were at war, Rome being greater at this point. So Hannibal took an ordinary army from a weak nation and caused havoc in the very homeland of Rome for years; going as far as the gates of Rome itself. Rome was a great empire even then, but when a weaker enemy was given a great leader, they were at risk of being destroyed.


Another one of my favorite examples is giving a person a very good brain. By simply having a brain, the thing that controls and leads the entire body, work differently, all sorts of things could happen. That person could have increased discipline, learning ability, and the capability to do things at a young age that normally takes people decades to learn. Well are there people like this? Yes, they are usually known as prodigies. Do I happen to be talking about a specific prodigy? Yes, I am. Her name is Jackie Evancho.

Here is an example of what she can do:


This is an older example too. At the present time, it has been more than a year since this was recorded. In that amount of time, she has improved as much as normal singers improve after several years. She has even come out with a cd, called "Dream With Me", produced by David Foster. She improved so fast, that after recording the cd's, Foster actually stated that he wanted to go back and rerecord them. She had improved greatly in a matter of months.

People had been speculating for a long time about how she could be so good, on a physical basis. Jackie herself states that it is a gift from God, and I fully agree with her. However, that still left me wondering how He chose to bless her. Then I watched an interview that mentioned a good theory:


The brain. It all made sense. By simply changing the way her brain worked, it would explain how her little body could be decades better than it should be. It has superior leadership. Not just in singing and understanding music, but the fact that she can learn songs very quickly and not forget lyrics (to date, I have not seen of or heard a SINGLE instance where she forgot lyrics), amongst many other things. A superior (at least in many aspects) brain would change the way the whole body works, just as giving a business a far superior CEO. Her mind would also help explain why she acts so mature, but that I attribute mainly to how she was raised (well done Mr. and Mrs. Evancho); however, the fact that even in interviews she is so quick and clever can also be attributed to the way her brain works differently.

Of course, this is all just a theory. But once I heard this theory, everything made sense.

Another aspect of this that was explained was how she responds to music. When she sings in front of a large audience, it seems as if she goes into a trance or something. Her mind is absorbed by the music.

Here is an example:


Notice how at the end of the song, she has so much emotion on her face than seems to come out of a trance or something. She was drawn into it. Her talent and love of singing, along with many other things, all make sense when you consider that it could be her mind that is different.

Of course though, we can't forget who gave her that mind. I hope she never forgets. Many say she is the last messenger, or one of the Almighty's last rays of light into the darkness before the end times. I feel she might have a purpose to that scale. Could her incredible mind be the Creator's choice for directing a few more eyes towards him before His wrath comes crashing down? I will be waiting, watching, and praying.

What do you think?