Allison Jolee Wiles

Well the moment of Truth is finally here yesterday at 3:02 pm we had a little baby girl! She was 6 pounds 15 oz, 19 inches long and her name is Allison Jolee Wiles. In my humble, unbias opinion she is the cutest baby ever! Anyway thanks for all your prayers. If you want to see pictures you can go to our website http://picasaweb.google.com/bgtownie8.

No Baby Yet

Can you believe that we still have no baby yet? The kid was suppose to come on Tuesday now it is Saturday and he or she is still not here. This kid is stubborn (just like his or her mom :)). The good news is that on Monday we are getting induced, so either way by Monday we will have a new baby boy or girl. We are patiently awaiting the arrival. It has actually been pretty fun, during the past week Sarah was completely off work and I worked less than usual so we have been spending a lot of time together watching movies, reading, and just hanging out. Thanks for your thoughts, prayers, and concerns. We will post pictures as soon as the baby is here!

Pictures

We have a new website now so that we can share pictures. Eventually we will use this site to post pictures of the baby. The link is http://picasaweb.google.com/bgtownie8. Hope you enjoy!

Evolution

Recently at one of our Thursday night services I got the opportunity to talk about the subject of evolution. I certainly do not claim to be a scientist, and yes I have to admit that I am a little bias towards a Creator because I am a Christian. But, it seems to me that Darwinian Evolution has some holes in it. Especially on a college campus this is a heated issue, people love to debate the subject and there are high emotions on both sides. This is a little ironic considering evolution is "science" and technically speaking there should be no emotions in true science. But, for whatever reason this issue gets people fired up. In fact, at our church service there were some people that strongly disagreed with what I shared. This was a good thing in my mind, I was just glad they were there. For me this is not an emotional issue at all, I don't believe in Darwinian Evolution, but if some how we were ever able to prove that it is true (which incidentally is impossible by everyone's estimations) then I would still have the same faith in a creator and in Christ...but that is just me. So here are some of the questions I asked in my teaching.

Question #1- Where are the fossils?
If we did truly evolve from species to species then why do we not see fossils of half bird and half reptiles. Or why do we not see living creatures that are in these in between stages? In fact, Darwin himself said this was the biggest problem with his theory. Darwin stated, "Why, if species have descended from other species by insensibly fine gradations, do we not everywhere see innumerable transitional forms? Why is not all nature in confusion instead of the species being, as we see them, well defined?"

Question #2- How can life resulted from non-life source?
Even the simplest form of life consists of billions of parts working together for the basic functioning of the organism. Mathematicians have figured out the odds of 200 amino acids forming on their own from a non life form are about 1 in 100 million to the 123 power! It would be like a tornado going through a junk yard and forming a completely working, perfectly formed 747 jet!

Question #3- Why do we have morals?
Macroevolution does away with the dignity of man. If Darwinian Evolution is true there is no difference between us and monkeys, then we should and have the right to behave in the same way as these animals. In fact, we should expect that we behave the same way as animals, we should not punish people for the crimes they commit, they are just living out their evolutionary instincts. But, every culture throughout the history of humanity has had certain morals that are common to all humans (don't kill, don't steal, etc)

Question #4- Why do we have a desire to create?
Why do we crave beauty? There is no evolutionary function to art or creativity. Yet, every human culture has valued it. We pay ridiculous amounts of money for valuable art because we are in awe of creation. That desire has to come from a creator, it has to come from God.

These are just a few thoughts I had on the topic, thought you might enjoy them.

I want to GETAWAY

Every year our church takes a retreat the last weekend of September and every year it is an awesome time. Here are some pictures from the getaway!

Remembering 9-11

Yesterday was the fifth anniversary of one of the most tragic events in American history. I was asked to give a small message at an all campus memorial service last night. It was a moving ceremony that received much attention around Northwest Ohio. Below is a link to an article about the ceremony and a portion of what I shared.

B.G. News Atricle

"...The events that unfolded on September 11th certainly brought out the worst in humanity. We saw evil first hand. Recently, I saw an interview with a New York fire fighter that was in tower 1 when tower 2 collapsed. He was speaking of 9-11 and he said, “the events of that day confirmed a fact that I have been trying to deny my whole, evil exist and people can take part terrible acts of evil.” On September 11th many of us had that realization. We could not escape the reality of sin.

But, in the middle of that amazing tragic event in the horror of that day we also found good and hope. The response of our country of the brave men and women was overwhelming. And even now as I watch the stories and hear the accounts of Americans and others around the world, I see hope.

Because of the tragic events of that day some lost hope in God, some could not believe in a creator in a God that would allow something so horrific to happen. For now their pain is too deep to even try to have faith again.

But, for many more the tragic events of that day somehow gave them hope in God. When many in this nation and around the world were at their lowest emotionally and spiritually they turned to the only place they could think of. They embraced the God of love, who comforts and heals. They found hope they even found life.

I personally do not believe that 9-11 was as event that God caused that God desired to happen. Yet it happened, somehow he allowed, for some reason it happened. Why? As long as we are on this earth we will never know.

The prophet Issiah tells us about God, "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD. We serve a God who is beyond our comprehension.

But, even though we can not know why we can still trust. We can still have faith. Because the Bible tells us, "Faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see..."

Growth Spurts

Two things in my life that I love very much have been growing. Two things that have made a major impact on the person that I am today have hit a sudden, rapid, and large growth spurt. The first of these two growing phenomenon’s (as you might of guessed) is my kid! Our child is growing at a rapid pace. You can feel him or her moving around constantly now, he or she weighs around 2 pounds and is about 14 inches long from head to toe! The nerve pathways in the baby’s ears are developing, which means his or her response to sounds is growing more consistent. The lungs are developing more now, too. It is pretty cool for Sarah and I to witness this growth spurt first hand, to experience the stronger kicks and a bigger belly (for Sarah that is).

The second thing that has hit a growth spurt is our church. Every year at this time we experience growth on some level, but this year the growth has been more rapid and large than usual. There are over 100 new students that have been coming which, means there are well over 250 students that make h2o their church. It is pretty cool for Sarah and I to witness this growth spurt first hand, to see the new faces and meet many college students who want to know God better.