What Are the Odds? (by Peter A. Black)

Calgarian Barb Parker could scarcely believe her eyes when she saw her golf ball nestled in the bottom of the hole following her 125-yard drive. Yep, it was a hole-in-one. The Canadian snowbird was competing at a Tucson, Arizona, tournament in March this year. 

Understandably she was more than a little excited at her amazing (pardon the pun) ‘stroke of luck.’ Ms Parker moved on and nervously positioned herself to take a swipe towards her next hole. She swung and drove the ball into a breeze, up and over a ridge – a 136-yard drive. Where did that one

Source Credit: calgaryherald.com

go?

Her eyes scanned the green . . . no sign of her ball – at least, not until she got close enough to look down at the hole, and there it was, its shamrock emblem facing up, winking at her astonished gaze. A little excited? Barb Parker could hardly function for her next drive. And yes, she won. She later learned that the odds to landing two consecutive holes-in-one were 167,000,000 :1.

Our Western culture increasingly projects responses towards the Bible that range from indifference to scepticism and mistrust, and from negativism and disbelief to outright hostility. Some folk who identify themselves as Christian never crack open a Bible from one week or month to the other. (Simply stating a fact, not judging.) I’ve heard some people say that the Bible isn’t relevant to their lives.

North American TV Bible teachers and preachers and End-Times prophecy ‘specialists,’ might have wearied some folk and frightened others. But hold on; don’t throw away your Bible yet. If you don’t possess one, they’re readily available in Canada and the USA. (Also, BibleGateway dot com has versions galore you can read.)

Barb Parker’s amazing 167,000,000 :1 odds of her consecutive two holes-in-one fade into the mists of early morning fairways, compared to those of prophecies fulfilled in Jesus of Nazareth. That was established many decades ago, by the calculations of the eminently-credentialed Peter Stoner. (He’d been chairman of the mathematics and astronomy departments at Pasadena City College. In 1953 he moved to become chairman of the science division at Westmount College of Santa Barbara, California.

In Science Speaks** Stoner extrapolated that for just eight Old Testament prophecies concerning the Messiah to be fulfilled in Jesus, it would require a probability factor of 1 in 1 quintillion. That is, one chance in 1,000,000,000,000,000,000!

To help us get a handle on that Professor Stoner explained: If you were to cover the entire State of Texas with quarters two feet deep and send in a blind man to pick up just one coin, and that [specially] marked coin was the one he picked up; then that’s scale of probability involved here. (Since then others have calculated or else extrapolated much greater odds.)

Jesus of Nazareth beautifully fulfilled more than two hundred prophecies given during a period upwards of two thousand years, as recorded by a variety of writers and prophets from  contrasting social and educational backgrounds.

The mind seems incapable of conceiving the odds against those fulfilments occurring in one person during one narrow time frame – unless, of course, there is no coincidental factor, whatsoever. In Jesus the events were assuredly unfolding according to the Divine Plan.

Events unfolding from His final entry into Jerusalem through the days leading up to His betrayal, crucifixion, burial and resurrection, fulfilled so many prophecies that they would have required enormously greater odds than our Calgarian snowbird’s two consecutive holes-in-one.

That demands I seriously regard the biblical scriptures.

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*B. Parker two holes-in-one story constructed from various online media sources.

** Moody Press, Chicago, 1958

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Peter A. Black lives in Southwestern Ontario. He writes a weekly inspirational newspaper column, P-Pep! and is author of Raise Your Gaze ... Mindful Musings of a Grateful Heart, and Parables from the Pond. ~~+~~

 

10 REASONS WHY I AM PASSIONATE ABOUT MENTORING-by Heidi McLaughlin

It happened sixteen years ago. A young woman came to me and with tears in her eyes asked me if I would mentor her. I was startled. I didn’t know how to respond because I had never officially mentored anyone. Even though I said yes, I had no idea how this “mentoring thing” would evolve. Over the next two years I experienced a journey of discovery and excitement in my spirit that I did not even know existed. I found that as men and women who have godly influence, we are called to mentor. For the women it clearly states in the bible that: “These older women must train the younger women to live quietly, to love their husbands and their children, and to be sensible and clean minded…(Titus 2:4 NLT). I have discovered that when I am obedient to this command, I also grow spiritually and my own life is enriched and fulfilled.

Here are 10 reasons why I am passionate about mentoring.

1.                  Our great God is a creator and we are made in His image. We are fulfilled when we are also creating.  Mentoring gives me an opportunity to partner with God and create new life in another woman.

2.                  God is a God of order and He has a reason for asking us to do something. In the book of Titus it says that: “older women are to teach the younger women.” When I am part of God’s plan for the way He intended this world to work, my own life is enriched,

3.                  As I interact and minister to other women, I realize that the pain, confusion and failures I have experienced in my life, have given me wisdom that I must pass on to younger women.

4.                  I “get to” have an intimate relationship with another women.  We are created for intimacy and this type of close relationship fills that void in my own life.

5.                  I watch life transformation before my very eyes.

6.                  Younger women ask me questions for which I have no answers. This propels me to seek God more by intentionally digging deeper into scriptures, praying more and asking God for wisdom.

7.                  It teaches me to become honest and authentic.

8.                  Mentoring is a mirror for my own life.  When I realize that the woman I am mentoring watches me, it causes me to look at myself through the eyes of God and the other woman.

9.                  Mentoring teaches me what it means to become a godly woman of influence.

10.              Mentoring gives hope, encouragement, love, and wisdom to other women in every stage of their lives. I am in awe that God wants to use me to be his hands, feet and voice that will accomplish His plans and purposes in other women.

Mentoring for me is like skiing free-style. Each woman is unique in her request for me to mentor her and I need to listen to her heart and her need. I have mentored women to help them with their marriages, to teach them out to grow in their spiritual life, how to overcome being a “child of divorce”, how to live a Christian life after being in a cult, how to survive with 5 small children. And so on and so on. Each woman’s story is precious and distinctive. As Christian writers we have powerful wisdom and insights into helping younger writers craft their words and stories.

As women of influence it is up to us to look a younger woman in the eye and say, “How can I best help you in your journey?” Then let God help you forge the path.

   

Heidi McLaughlin lives in the beautiful vineyards of the Okanagan Valley in Kelowna, British Columbia. She is married to Pastor Jack and they have a wonderful, eclectic blended family of 5 children and 9 grandchildren. When Heidi is not working, she loves to curl up with a great book, or golf and laugh with her husband and special friends. You can reach her at: www.heartconnection.ca

You Can Be A Hero Again—Carolyn Wilker

Recently in the news, a long-standing sports champion admitted to taking performance-enhancing drugs for years in order to win his races. I’m not going to name the man, because this kind of cheating is not new.  He is not the first one who has done such a thing, even knowing the rules and the possible consequences. And because, if the confession is heart-felt—which only God and the man know for sure—he may have a second chance, which we all want when we make a mistake.

If I am to believe what I’ve heard and read on the news, the man has made many enemies and sued countless people in order to keep his secret. It had become a complicated affair.

This kind of cheating has happened, sadly, at national and international sports events, including the Olympics. It was so important to win, in fact, that these competitors flouted the possibility that their cheating would be found out. And when it happens, it’s world news. Fortunately, there are still many athletes who play by the rules and can be proud of their performance.

If the person confessing falls hard, so do those who have followed him, or looked up to him. After the disappointment, people ask, “Why would he do that?” The followers have become the judges too. Thou shalt not’s fly in the cheater’s face for he has done wrong and should have known better.

How much harder it must be for a public figure whose name and actions are practically a household name, when wrongful actions and lies become public knowledge. 

And yet, who of us, privy to that news, are free of temptation ourselves? Our actions may be less public, but it doesn’t mean that no one is watching. Instead, it will be our children and those who look up to us.

 Back to the fallen sports hero. The talk show host, upon hearing the confession, probes deeper and asks hard questions. Yet, at the end she declares that the man can be a hero again.

How could she say that? Certainly the man must pay some sort of penalty. Would the sports body or International Olympic Committee give this errant competitor the same punishment as his teammates, or more, since this man was the leader? The fallen hero has said, on national television, no less, that his punishment was life, while others got off with less.

A reporter accused, saying this confession was planned; he questioned the sincerity of the man.

Then I wonder if the man was tired of living the lies, and I ask myself, does he truly want forgiveness.

I’ll borrow an analogy that I’ve never forgotten, from our pastor, Rev. James Bindernagel in a sermon some years ago. Imagine putting all your wrongful actions into a bag, rowing out into a deep lake and dropping the sack overboard, letting it go entirely. It would be impossible to gather the contents again. They are gone for good.

What if that judge and jury were God himself, offering to take on our heavy load of sin? It’s already been done for us in that bag dropped to the bottom of the deep lake. It’s like that when we ask God to forgive our sin. In Acts 13:38 of Scriptures, we read, “Therefore, my friends, I want you to know that through Jesus the forgiveness of sins is proclaimed to you.”

 Just as Jesus forgave countless people of their sins when they asked, this man, too, has a chance, if he asks God with a contrite heart, even as he bears the punishment—including legal action. Perhaps then he can be a hero again.

While we read and hear in the news of such fiascos, ultimately, we are still responsible for our own actions. I’m glad of forgiveness. That’s some of the best news going. Better than anything else I can think of.

Carolyn Wilker

www.carolynwilker.ca

Author of Once Upon a Sandbox