I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.

Thursday, May 15, 2008

Speed and Distractions


For ten years, I had the privilege of teaching a driver education course for teens seeking to get their license here in Ohio. My guess is that I helped put about 3000 new drivers on Ohio's roads during those ten years.

From time to time I would ask my young drivers-to-be what things bothered them the most about other drivers. One answer came up time and time again. They complained that too many drivers don't drive fast enough.

They were wrong, of course. It is not drivers who "don't drive fast enough" who are the problem. The problem is drivers who drive too fast.

Statistically, an extremely high percentage of all accidents, and almost 100% of accidents involving teen drivers have excessive speed as a factor. Excessive speed is defined as driving five or more miles over the posted speed limit, or driving too fast for conditions such as rain, snow, fog or heavy traffic.

The second most common factor that contributes to accidents across the board, young and old drivers alike, is distraction. Cell phones. Misbehaving children in the back seat. Eating. Even reading. All of these activities have been reported as contributing factors to accidents.

Drivers of all ages need to understand that driving faster than conditions allow and driving while distracted are factors involved in the vast majority of all auto accidents that take place. These accidents raise the costs of insurance for all of us, and, worse, injure and kill people.

My advice is slow down, and pay attention. Put the cell phone away, have someone else deal with the unruly kids in the back seat, save the snack for later, and put the maps, newspapers and books away until you are through driving. Everything rides on you and I driving safely.

Thursday, May 1, 2008

Creation Museum Tells it Like It Was


Children playing alonside dinosaurs. A dirty graffiti scarred alley. A preacher denyng the Scriptures while a bored teen fusses in a pew. Six days of creation exploding on a wide screen in four minutes. And more. So much more.


It was the first visit my wife and I made to the controversial Creation Museum in Petersburg, Kentucky, just outside Cincinatti. The museum experience was definitely worth the two-hour drive from our Columbus, Ohio home, even with gas prices hovering at $3.50 per gallon.


On our limited budget, the day cost the two of us about $95.00 including gas, seniors admissions and food. But our $95.00 purchased the opportunity to see up close what the Bible says happened from creation through to the present.


The museum interprets history in the scope of a literal understanding of the book of Genesis. Creation happened in six days. Adam and Eve disobeyed God. Chaos and confusion followed. The human race, rejecting God and His authority over them, had nowhere else to turn but to themselves and their own imaginations and inventions. The result was not good.


Evolution and creation are shown in side-by-side comparisons, something never seen in a museum that depicts the evolutionary viewpoint. Billions of years of evolution are contrasted with 6000 years of Biblical history. The tediously slow process of evolution is contrasted with the six-day creation by God of everything in the universe and of the universe itself.


The museum makes no apologies for its Biblical view of natural history, nor should it. The museum's purpose is to help the average person understand what God did in bringing the universe into existence and his plan to deal with the disobedience of its principle residents. This it does extremely well.
Much criticism has been leveled against the museum, principally from two sources. The elitist scientific community stuck with the views of Charles Darwin because any other view would lead to the necessity of God have been outspoken and continuous in their criticisms, claiming that creation is "no science" and that children exposed to creation as depicted in the museum will have a real struggle with true science classes. Some have even claimed the museum's existence will take the human race back to the dark ages.


The other critical group is found in liberal churches and Roman Catholic churches, both of which have embraced evolution even though it does not fit the Biblical model of creation.


It's a free country, of course, and those who oppose the museum have a right to state their opinions. But so do those who are behind the Creation Museum. So do those of us who accept the Genesis account as true. Some critics claim the museum should not exist; but it does, and it loudly proclaims the Bible as the Word of God, telling history like it was. To which I say, "Amen!"


Of course, I recommend the museum to every Christian family who can get to Petersburg, KY. Take your children so they can see history from a Biblical viewpoint. I also recommend the museum to those who take a different viewpoint on natural history. Come with an open mind to see how others interpret the same facts from a different worldview.