summer stunts

owen, our amazing climber. a boy after his daddy's own heart.
owen is climbing a light pole in a church parking lot.
notice able below. in a couple of years he will be up there with owen!

this house selling stuff is crazy. i'm not sure where the summer has gone and what to expect with the rest of it ahead. evenso, we've still had lots of fun and God's streamlining program is working nonetheless. i guess we've hit lots of depths and heights in the whole process. it's been good, bad, ugly, and great. good in that we can always trust God. bad in our responses to His work. ugly in seeing our sin and fleshly spirituality. yet great as the convictions are covered over with His love and the challenges are producing a fruit of desiring Him in a wonderfully refreshing way.

a few highlights of summer so far . . .

sunshining our little white ones

visiting grandpa bill and grandma sara at their farm in iowa

this isn't the best perspective, but if you look close
you might notice that hogan is missing his 2 front teeth!

sending summer smiles to ya'll from the bunch of us milligans
we'll try to keep you
POSTED
on our happenings

shiloh sweetness

here's a few shiloh pictures at 3 and 4 months old. she's a sweet little lady and SO loved by her big brothers and sister. just lately she's been learning to laugh, finding her feet, and enjoying her fingers (especially sucking her thumbs). i wish i could describe her delightfulness and the joy she brings to our family. babies are just sooooo wonderful! we hope God will bless us with a bunch more. and we pray that our Lord and Savior will show them His great grace as we are increasingly convicted and humbled by our many weaknesses. we alone are so inadequate to the responsibility before us, yet God is sovreignly strengthening our family.

i'm typing one handed with shiloh on my lap. she doesn't want to miss out on anything!

A little man's thoughts on creation.

I certainly don't have much figured out, but here are some of my thoughts about Ken Ham and the Creation topic in general.

For starters, I must declare that creation science/theology has a special place in my heart. Not only do I just enjoy thinking about it, but God used creation science to give my parents and brother (and me) a deeper relationship with God. Before my family was walking with Christ, we were all evolutionists (and we mocked those ignorant creationists). We all had a hard time trusting God's word. We thought it was just stories, or something. If evolution were true, it was clear to us that the Bible could not be. I was saved without reconciling this. But, the rest of my family explain that once they saw a series of messages about how unscientific evolution really is, and how true the Bible is (scientifically), they were able to accept the full message of the Scriptures (though there is more to the story).

As far as I can tell, people are all different. Some don't care about science, or logic, or the ramifications of the creation account. Some do. And some are in the middle. Etc. I know some pretty awesome brothers and sisters who don't care about the science of Genesis. I also know brothers who would not trust God because of the evolution lies they bought into. I think it is cool how God uses an amazing variety of scenarios to help lead people to trust Himself. So, as a community of Christ followers, I think that it is valuable to encourage different ministries in their outreach to different groups of people. With the creation topic, I think it is perhaps emphasized so heavily because evolution has been so strongly foisted upon our culture. I find that many of the teachers/ministries that we enjoy learning from tend to be reactionary to some false teaching or another. So, we are learning to glean the main ideas and leave behind the over-emphases (or so we try).

I think that the book of Genesis has something like preeminence among the books of the Bible (not to demean the rest). Only because it lays the cornerstone of the entire history of creation as well as the character and redemptive plan of God. It also chronicles over one-third of all history (about 40%). Even just the first few chapters (the creation account) reveal the earth, the image-bearers (us), our purpose and charge, the angels and demons, the need for a savior, God's justice and mercy and sovereignty, God's plan for a promised redeemer and overcomer, etc. I also think that if the first book of the Bible is not believed to be wholly true, than the rest loses its credibility. It seems that Satan already knows that. My guess is that evolution is a "doctrine of demons." We should certainly be polite and compassionate while discussing creation, but it just makes sense that it would be offensive to a person who denies Christ. If you just run a search for "Creationist" and start reading the sites and comments and forums, you'll quickly find out how heated this battle is. Unfortunately, many Christians don't use very good manners.

As far as Ken Ham goes, I have found him to be about as solid of an apologist as I've encountered. I have really been encouraged from his teaching (though I still find things that I disagree over). Kim and I went to the Creation Museum last Summer and thoroughly enjoyed it. It is very much geared toward the skeptic. I was delighted with how tactfully and sensitively it dealt with such a hot topic.

Anywho, I guess that's some of what I think. Let me know if I'm way off... or even a little.
Oh, in case you're wondering, I'm the little man of my title. Hogan used to remind me often that I'm just a little man (my stature), and I have latched onto the title. It helps me battle that nasty ol' pride.