Anomaly | Scout Sunday | 03.01.20

Scout Sunday Bulletin
Long Lake Friends Church

03.01.20

Texts, ESV (in-line)
Psalm 104.24-26
Job 41.1-2, 7-8, 15-16

There are other texts mentioning various animals in the Hebrew Bible. I believe the Apostle John is an avid student of the Prophets in the Hebrew Bible, so you may find that he and Isaiah seem to be using the term that is under consideration in more of an Eschatological sense. Nonetheless, the writings of the Psalmists and those of Job could be raising questions that are still left unanswered. When I don’t have an answer Theologically for what’s at the crux of Scripture and science, I like the term anomaly.

What follows is the actual Scripture outline from a sermon I preached recently. You may find it online for Free for a limited time at Soundcloud and iTunes

Greeting

We would like to welcome you all to Scout Sunday for Troop 27

On Behalf of Long Lake Friends Church, I would like to say how grateful we are to you all for being present, and for the opportunity we have to partner with you. I would just like to read the message today.

Today, this is NOT a sermon . . . so don’t get your hopes up 🙂
It’s NOT quite apologetic. Apologetics is like taking the Bible to the marketplace or public square . . . and discussing the Bible . . . or dialoguing
So with your permission . . . and without delaying these wonderful ceremonies . . . Do you all mind if I just READ what I have to bring to the table today? 🙂

i. I was a Cub Scout, but then graduated to Wolf Scout . . . big deal, huh?

However, I’m from California, great cities and the great outdoors
So I’m probably like an Eagle . . . actually I’m more like a Bald . . . ing Eagle

ii. I want to talk about Tracks: I started to recognize many types of animal Tracks

One day my Grandma was driving us home from her neighbor’s dairy farm

We saw a bobcat cross the street right in front of our car
It was fast, but she said, “I ought to know. I’ve seen enough of them.”
I often found tracks near the creek that ran the length of my grandparent’s property

The creek flowed year round, so I enjoyed discovering all kinds of tracks

You could sometimes tell if they were only a couple days old
I loved the property, but I never went near the creek at dawn or dusk
Most of the time, I had others with me: brothers, cousins, or uncles

iii. I enjoyed finding Tracks, I saw them as Signs of the Wonders of Creation

Yes, I used the term Creation instead of nature . . . We live in God’s Creation

There are many authors in the Bible who speak about the Signs of Creation

Jesus, Paul, David, and others refer to Signs that point us to a Creator

Signs are like Tracks that I hunted for near that creek years ago
Tracks are not what I hope to see . . . but Tracks point me to what I hope to see!
Creation points to a Creator . . . if we’ll just follow some Tracks

iv. If you ever go to the Creation Museum, you’ll find all types of Signs or Tracks

It’s an amazing place, highlighting the beauty of Creation with many exhibits

One screening room had to do with Dragons, not just Kimodo Dragons either
Cultural research, like hunting for Tracks, can point us to something else
At the Creation Museum, they think old cultural stories about Dragons may be histories that were handed down through the generations . . . about Dinosaurs.
Dinosaurs is a modern term, dragon-like words are common in history
Dragon stories abound in ancient myths, especially in Europe and Asia

Then there are discoveries of men and Dinosaurs living at the same time

Sometimes, Dinosaur tracks are discovered next to a human tracks
A famous case is the Paluxy Dinosaur track, with human tracks next to it

Question (Q) Has that particular mystery may ever been solved? And others like it

For instance, there’s supposed to be another case in Nevada
There’s a fancy word for tracks like the Paluxy tracks in Glenrose, TX

They’re Anomalies . . .
basically meaning . . .
the experts have no idea

There are literally warehouses full of anomalies

v. So here’s a Scripture related to the theory of the Creation Museum

Q1: Are there Signs or Tracks of Dinosaurs and humans living at the same time?

One of the authors of the Psalms says:

O LORD, how manifold are your works!

In wisdom you have made them all;

the earth is full of your creatures.

Here is the sea, great and wide,

which teems with creatures innumerable,

living things both small and great.

* So it seems like ancient Israel’s seafarers knew how to fish for, and track sea creatures

There go the ships,

and Leviathan, which you formed to play in it. – Psalm 104.24-26

Q2: What is Leviathan?

Is it just another sea creature or sturgeon?
Isaiah and Job also mention the Leviathan
Job talks about the Leviathan in a couple places . . .

* Job describes Leviathan in chapter 41. It seems like a battle scene:

Can you draw out Leviathan with a fishhook

or press down his tongue with a cord?

Can you put a rope in his nose

Or pierce his jaw with a hook? – verses 1-2

Can you fill his skin with harpoons

or his head with fishing spears?

Lay your hands on him;

remember the battle – you will not do it again! – verse 7-8

* Apparently . . . their weapons, fishing lines, or nets, don’t work with Leviathan

His back is made of shields in rows,

shut up closely as with a seal.

One is so near to another

that no air can come between them. – verse 15-16

* This could an ancient way of describing scales, like on a reptile.

There’s more to Job 41 . . . it’s almost . . . dragon-like . . .

Q3: Were sea dinosaurs still alive in the times of the Hebrew Bible?

* We have a lot of educational books: Leviathan . . . I’ve compared it to multiple dinosaurs that lived in the sea. SO here’s my idea . . . JUST an idea . . . I think it’s possible that it could have been Plesiosaur. A Plesiosaur could have been a very strong hunter . . . something like a T-Rex of the deep . . . or it could have been a bottom-feeder like a catfish, but it’s teeth were massive for a bottom-feeder. It could have also shot out a bubble net like certain wales or a squid to temporarily blind other fish that it was hunting.

Q4: Is the Leviathan the Plesiosaur that Job and Israel’s seafarer’s see?

That’s only conjecture.

vi. Why is the Pastor tracking animals near a creek and extinct dinosaurs?

Q1: What’s the point? Can we prove that Leviathan is the Plesiosaur? NO!

In fact, some Versions like the NLT say Leviathan is an alligator
Some may guess it was something like a Sturgeon

Q2: But why does Job say a whole tribe is losing a battle against 1 alligator or a Sturgeon?

Q3: And do alligators swim far out to sea where Israel’s seafarers are tracking Leviathan in Psalm 104? NO!

The point is NOT about Leviathan!
. . . That’s just an illustration

The point is about Tracking . . . Tracks, Signs, and Anomalies . . . of Creation’s Wonders!

Q4: What is a Wonder? It’s like an Anomaly . . . we really don’t know

Signs & Wonders, Tracks & Anomalies . . . point to something greater

vii. Is anyone ever excited to discover something greater than what we know?

Q1: Can we encourage our B.S.A. Scout Troop 27 today? . . . Do some Tracking!

Discover Signs, Wonders, Tracks, and Anomalies

* A prestigious scientist at Bethany College of the Assemblies of God (circa 1997) – in a class that some of us attended – said this. He said, “There are warehouses full of anomalies.” He was part of the first research team at Mt. Saint Helens when the volcano erupted. How many remember Mt. Saint Helens? How many remember the old Nova Science Program from PBS? Nova did a documentary featuring some of his team’s findings. He was an atheist, but he saw anomalies in many ways. A) The flow of ashes instantly formed rock formations that should have taken ages to form. B) The plants and wild animals returned far more quickly than they should have . . . because that beautiful Northwest region was made an instant wasteland by the volcano’s blast.

Invitation: It was an anomaly, a renewal of life that should NOT have taken place so quick!

Through his research, and by becoming a witness of anomalies . . . the atheist became a Christian . .
. . . And the LORD has honored!

Benediction:

LORD of all Creation,

Who could ever know all of the wonders that lay hidden throughout Your earth?

Thank You for the discoveries that we make, because Creation points to You.

We ask You to continue to bless Scout Troop 27 in every endeavor . . .

as You have all of these years. Amen

* see previous post for my proposal for a new approach to blogging, during this Lenten season leading to Easter . . . and I don’t know, maybe Pentecost . . . just a thought.