It’s been over a month since I added a new post. So much for building my subscriber base and “link juice”! Anyway, I don’t have anything major to post today, but I wanted to put something up so all two of my readers will know that I haven’t dropped off the face of the planet (it is flat, right?). Don’t get too philosophical or technical with me about my use of the word random in the title for this category of post. You know what I mean.
ASA Annual Meeting
Later today I fly to Waco, Texas to attend the 64th Annual Meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation (ASA). I’m going earlier enough to attend the Friday workshop called “Teaching about Science and Christianity“. It is being led by Edward Davis and Deborah Haarsma, both superstars in my opinion. I’ve read their books, articles and other contributions but haven’t yet had the opportunity to sit under their tutelage for a whole day. I can’t wait!
I’m also going to the meeting to work with Randy Isaac in drumming up more support and volunteers to help organize a website specifically focused on homeschooling resources. I call it the ASA Homeschool Resources Project (ASA-HSR). The idea is to provide detailed reviews/critiques of existing homeschool textbooks and curricula so that parents can evaluate what they are getting (or not getting) with each curriculum choice. The site will also organize and present (hopefully without overwhelming parent-teachers with too much information) useful alternatives for the one position that is entirely unrepresented in the homeschooling world: evolutionary creation. I’ve outlined some ideas for this website and project here in a wiki/blog on the ASA site. If you’re interested in helping, please let me know. (I moderate all comments here and on that wiki/blog, so you can leave your contact information via the comments field without it being published).
Evangelical Statement on Evolution (ESE)
Please take time to help Steve Martin develop an Evangelical Statement on Evolution (ESE) which he is writing about on his blog, An Evangelical Dialogue on Evolution. This is an important initiative. We need as many like-minded scientists, pastors and laypeople to back this general statement of belief.
Beyond the Firmament
I enjoyed watching Gordon Glover’s YouTube video series on Science and Christian Education. Gordon has done a really fine job with these videos. My parents watched them recently, too, and they enjoyed them. They’re pretty fast-paced, and the average layperson or homeschooling parent might be pretty overwhelmed watching it the first time. I look forward to the discussion guide that Gordon has alluded to wanting to write.
Last month I lead the discussion for a men’s book club at my church. I had them read Glover’s Beyond the Firmament. This group includes the pastors, an elder and several others. It made for an interesting discussion. Needless to say, the entire approach to biblical interpretation was completely new to all of them. A couple of guys “got it” in the sense that they understood the approach as worthy of serious consideration and are willing to re-evaluate their previous assumptions. Most of the others, however, just couldn’t wrap their minds around it. It confirmed to me just how huge of a cultural learning curve this non-concordist, accommodational, evolutionary creationist viewpoint is.
Church in Despair
Unfortunately, only a couple days after our book club meeting, the elders dismissed our head pastor. My family has been at the church for less than a year, so we’re not privy to some of the history. Nevertheless, there are all sorts of odd, unanswered questions about how the entire thing transpired. The congregation does not even know the reason for the dismissal. I have a bad feeling about it all around. I don’t know why I’m commenting on this topic here, except to share how daily living so often creeps in to overwhelm and crowd out higher level personal initiatives like developing this becoming creation blog and working on the ASA Homeschool Resources Project.
Christ, have mercy!
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