Tonight at church, Pastor Doug Joseph will have copies of the first two books of the “Millennial Teleport Trilogy” — Get either book for $10. Get both for $18 (save $2).
What might await us in the endless future beyond the Millennial Kingdom age? Past the great white throne on Judgment Day? Could God have created many different peoples on other worlds? Might He have created other universes or inhabited dimensions entirely disconnected from this one?
This book posits its answer to those questions as a concluded fact that is not debated (within the book, at least). However, I studied and personally debated such questions before writing the book.
Consider that, according to the Holy Scriptures, God is perfect and has not ever changed in His fundamental nature or character. Indeed, He cannot ever change, for it would be a departure from perfection, and such would be against His own self revelation to us (it would be a deviation from what He has declared in His word). Since God does not change, then what is the fundamental nature or character from which He never departs? Is His basic nature that of a lazy being who is not very creative, who naturally tends to sit in total inactivity, creating nothing?
Look around. Countless life forms abound on this world alone. Modern science has not even discovered all of them yet. No, lazy and uncreative is not who He is. His creativity is boundless.
So, why did Moses, under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, write that God “rested” on the seventh day after His having worked for six days to create all that we see around us? Scholars with linguistic skill have pointed out that the Hebrew context, and the word for “rest” shown there, give a connotation of Him having completed the work to perfection. He first envisioned what He wanted to do, and then, once He was done, He stopped working simply because it was perfect.
Bear in mind that the utter lack of perfection in the sin-cursed world we now inhabit is all due to the sin of humankind (of which the first sins were committed by Adam and Eve in the Garden that was eastward in Eden). God rested not because He was lazy, tired, or was basically a non-working, non-creative being. No, He stopped because the job was done. It does not mean He stopped all creative work elsewhere. If he simply stopped all creating (as a permanent cessation), then the massive burst of creating that caused this universe (and all the life we see here) would have represented a colossal departure from His character and nature.
God created this world as a perfect place which could have been enjoyed for eternity. Were it not for human sin, which “messed up” the place, no more work from God would have been needed here. He is now at work fixing it. Yet that does not even hint that He could not have, or would not have, continued to create elsewhere. He has to have done more. It is His nature. This author cannot imagine a God so creative as to have given us this massive display of life… just sitting on His laurels for all eternity. Not only is He creative, but He also has made us as creative beings as well. Thus, authors such as C.S. Lewis and yours truly imagine other realms. Check out the “creation” in this novel. The liberated reader will love it. The “literary Taliban” (as Roy H. Williams once dubbed them) will no doubt send us out for the firing squad, as we’ve shown way too much creativity and had way too much fun. Which type of reader are you?
For those who are using Firefox, and having trouble wherein new (additional) windows will not open, here was my fix:
The followings steps instantly fixed my problem. (This worked for me using Firefox 3.6.8 on a Win XP Pro system.)
1. Start Firefox.
2. Click Tools, then Add-ons
3. If you have more than one Java Console active, uninstall all but the latest one (highest version number).
(It is possible that “disable” would also work, but I chose to uninstall.)
Unrelated diatribe:
I am currently using two laptops. I am slowly leaving a Windows (XP Pro) laptop while transitioning to a Mac (OS X) laptop. I decided (upon principle) to not buy or upgrade to another Windows OS, and as this one slowly dies (first the ability to search my own hard drive went, and lately M$ Outlook won’t let me reply or compose new emails) I am moving to the Mac. However, the foregoing could be applicable no matter what OS you use.
My latest book, New I.M.mortal, had been selling on Amazon for $15.95. It’s now available from the trusted retail giant for a new lower price. Amazon now has it for only $9.95. Also, all my books are available for Kindle e-readers, at lower prices than their paperback counterparts.
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You simply have to watch this short video. Amazing!
I don’t deserve it. Any of it.
I don’t deserve the great, majestic Savior I have for a God and who has me for a son.
I don’t deserve the beautiful, sweet, wonderful lady I have for a wife and who has me for a husband.
I don’t deserve the lovely, precious kids I have for children and who have me for a father.
I don’t deserve the kind, awesome people whom I love and serve as a pastor.
If you ever feel like anyone owes you something you’re not getting, then be careful about bitterness sprouting.
Ponder how much you have that no one owed to you; that you don’t deserve.
An attitude of gratitude is a result of acknowledging one’s true place.
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As promised, Google will no longer censor search results in China. Google’s solution is to redirect users to Google Hong Kong, which shows uncensored results. Google Blog explains this interesting decision:“Users visiting Google.cn are now being redirected to Google.com.hk, where we are offering uncensored search in simplified Chinese, specifically designed for users in mainland China and delivered via our servers in Hong Kong. (…) We want as many people in the world as possible to have access to our services, including users in mainland China, yet the Chinese government has been crystal clear throughout our discussions that self-censorship is a non-negotiable legal requirement. We believe this new approach of providing uncensored search in simplified Chinese from Google.com.hk is a sensible solution to the challenges we’ve faced—it’s entirely legal and will meaningfully increase access to information for people in China.”
It’s obvious that Google Hong Kong will be blocked in China and this workaround is only temporary. Google wanted to continue operating in China without censoring search results: “In terms of Google’s wider business operations, we intend to continue R&D work in China and also to maintain a sales presence there, though the size of the sales team will obviously be partially dependent on the ability of mainland Chinese users to access Google.com.hk.”
Google agreed to censor search results in China four years ago because it hoped that things will get better over time. Here’s an excerpt from a Google blog post written in 2006:
“We aren’t happy about what we had to do this week, and we hope that over time everyone in the world will come to enjoy full access to information. But how is that full access most likely to be achieved? We are convinced that the Internet, and its continued development through the efforts of companies like Google, will effectively contribute to openness and prosperity in the world. Our continued engagement with China is the best (perhaps only) way for Google to help bring the tremendous benefits of universal information access to all our users there.”
Unfortunately, Google’s optimism was misplaced: “Google and more than twenty other U.S. companies had been the victims of a sophisticated cyber attack originating from China” and there were many “attempts over the last year to further limit free speech on the web in China including the persistent blocking of websites such as Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Google Docs and Blogger”.
Google China’s homepage until today:
Google Chine’s new homepage:
Labels: Web Search
This decision has profound implications.
