Answering a blog from "Truth4Believers"

This blog post is in response to another blog by the username "Truth4Believers" titled "The Problem with Dating Creation." The link to this blog at the bottom of my reply. The primary concern with this blog is the dating method used by Bishop Ussher via the historical accounts of Scripture to place the date of Creation at 4004 BC. The blogger goes into great length explaining the methodology used by Ussher, addresses several ways in which Ussher's methodology has been attacked, and uses that as an 'open door' for the "Old Earth Creation Model". This blog was brought to my attention in a Facebook debate after I described there were only 1600 years between Adam and Noah in accordance to the Biblical account and I quote "you assume too much." In my response, I will demonstrate where the real assumption problems are taking place after this blog was cited as a response to my defense of my claim. .................................................................................................... The real issue here is NOT the age of the earth. The age of the earth takes care of itself. The real issue in the Facebook discussion and with this blog is Biblical authority. Is the Bible a reliable source for history? If so, why? If not why not? The Bible is unique in that it contains every major genre in literature (yes including romance). Yet many people dismiss the entire Bible as just a theological text. While it is true that the Bible is a religious text, does that give legitimate reason to dismiss the historical aspects to it? The blogger has his opinions about how the Bible should be viewed from a historical context and I will demonstrate that he is not only incorrect in his approach but that he has mastered the fallacy of the double standard. ...................................................................................................................... The first part of the blog seems to be decent. There are a variety of dates that have been suggested to be the point of creation ranging from 3500BC to 5700 BC. Easily the most popular is the one proposed by Bishop Ussher at 4004 BC. Before I go any further, I want to make one thing clear. Bishop Ussher was a fallible man just like any one else on this planet. He too had sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The purpose of this response is not to defend Ussher but to address the issues brought up by this blog. For the most part I can agree with how the blogger lists how Ussher came up with the date for creation at 4004 BC. But then there are challenges to this methodology that I found questionable. All quote and references to the blog I am responding too will be distinguished by a pair of slashes. // //.................................................................................................................................. // Ussher’s 4004bc creation date is also refuted by some creationists as well, mainly Old-Earth Creationists, who believe the Earth to be ancient.// ...................................................................................................................................... This is to be expected. One cannot believe in an "old earth" at millions of years old and accept Ussher's creation calculations. Darwinian Evolution is what gave rise to the popular belief that the earth is millions of years old contrary to what Ussher claimed the Bible laid out. Now just to be clear, the concept of an "old earth" is not limited to Darwin. It was just made popular by Darwin. At the root of this approach is uniformitarianism. That is, what we observe and can record today has been occurring continuously since the beginning of time. There are major flaws with this approach. A good study of the eruption of Mt. St. Helens in 1981 will demonstrate that events happen catastrophically and very quickly. The idea of uniformitarianism was made popular before Darwin published "Origin of Species" with the help of a lawyer, Charles Lyell. He analyzed the erosion rate of Niagara Falls and reported it to be about 1 foot of erosion per year. However, the locals actually reported sometimes it was 1 meter per year, sometimes it was 3-4 meters per year. What is known is that Lyell falsified the data for purpose of discrediting the Biblical account and it became popular in the church. ................................................................................................................................ The Facebook user who cites this blog also told me I was assuming too much for adding the genealogies between Adam and Noah. I do want to make clear that this blog does NOT address that issue. I also want to make clear that this blogger does more than a fair share of assuming himself. ..................................................................................................................................... // There is no evidence that the bible’s chronology dates back to 4004bc, as not even the bible contains a complete and accurate history of events; therefore, his estimations are easily dismissible as even a valid hypothesis. The bible has been reworded, altered, and translated far too many times for it to contain anything close to an accurate chronology. All those who adhere to the belief of a creation date of 4004bc are misinterpreting the bible with unquestionable, incomprehensible, and nonsensical devotion, and all those who adhere to biblical inerrancy concerning the creation date are in fact committing the most egregious error of all.// .................................................................................................................................. Here is the first set of double standard fallacies along with assumptions I will address. The blogger claims that the Bible does not contain a complete and accurate history. First, does ANY history book contain a complete history of event? If you look at a text book of the Civil War, it will not be complete. It will have the major events that are pertinent to the discussion but it will not have every detail. It is true that the Bible does not contain every detail, but it does contain what is necessary for us to know and it gives a separation of dates for when the events happened for reference. In comparison to any other history textbook, the Bible is just as accurate if not more. If the blogger used this critique of Scripture to any 'secular' history book, he will find the same issues. Is the Bible accurate? Compared to what standard? If the Bible is the word of God as Christians claim, the Bible should BE the standard for which accuracy should be determined. The blogger does not identify what standard is being used to compare for accuracy, and only claims the it is not accurate. Later in the blog he reveals what his standards really are. ................................................................................................................................. The Bible has been reworded, altered, and translated…. Really? In worst case scenario, the English translations we have of the Bible are 99.5% accurate compared to the original manuscripts (of which we have 12,000 copies) and the VAST majority of those 'errors' are spelling/grammar errors. The blogger mentions later about Egyptian and Chinese histories. Apply the same critique to their historical events and you will have the same problems. This is yet a double standard and assuming that the secular studies are precise enough to be given the benefit of the doubt. ................................................................................................................................ Then the blogger lays in ad hominum attacks on those that support Ussher's claims. He does not say how we are misinterpreting the Bible. This is personal opinion with no supporting facts and will be dismissed as such. ...................................................................................................................................... // To put it bluntly, original creation cannot be dated using the bible. There are too many factors against those who even attempt to try.// ..................................................................................................................................... This again is personal opinion and is assuming way too much. The blogger reveals why he says this at the end of his blog. The factors the blogger attempts to bring up may only prevent us from identifying the exact date of creation, but it by no means justifies Ussher not being in the ballpark. This is the same line of thought as atheists who claim "there are mountains of evidence that support evolution" yet fail to bring one up that can withstand scrutiny. But the blogger does bring up some objections, to which I will address. ..................................................................................................................................... // Ussher estimated that the Great Flood took place during the years 2349–2348bc, but there is no evidence whatsoever that a “global flood” took place during these years. This can be seen by looking at many prominent civilizations in ancient history, such as China and Egypt.// .................................................................................................................................... The blogger earlier cited how the reigns of the judges often overlapped. According to whom and what sources are being referenced here? This is just an assertion that assumes that the secular histories of Egypt and China are accurate and the Bible's is not. There are cases in the Biblical account where the Kings of Israel overlapped reign. Tibini and Omri co-reigned (1 Kings 16:21) over Israel for 5 years, before Omri became the sole ruler of Israel. Also, Uzziah co-reigned with his son, Jothan, while Uzziah fought with leprosy. So where there is an overlap in Israel's rulers, it is listed in the account. No such listing is found in the Judges' accounts. .................................................................................................................................... There is another issue here as I mentioned above. A double-standard yet again. The blogger fails to realize that Egypt ALSO had pharaoh's who reigns overlapped. That actually puts Ussher's account much closer to being accurate than the skeptics will like to claim. .................................................................................................................................... // There is no evidence that the human population was wiped out during this time, and there is no geological evidence that a massive flood took place during this time. There is no evidence that humans came about in the year 4004bc, as human populations were believed to already have been 5–7 million in the fifth-century bc.// ................................................................................................................................... Really? The evidence is much stronger than the blogger realizes. Genetics demonstrate that humans trace to single sources for males at 4400 years ago and females at 6000 years ago. Perfectly lining up with Ussher's account of Noah's Flood and Creation. The world population growth charts also line up perfectly with the dates Ussher provides. Looking at the charts today, the world's population tends to double about every 40-60 years. Needless to say, this is not the same rates we see throughout history, but all we have to do is demonstrate is that we could get to a world population of 7 billion from 8 people 4400 years ago. The math is quite simple. From 8 people at 4400 years ago, we'd hit a world population level of over 8 billion NOT including wars, famines, pestilence, etc. Now let's do the same math for 50,000 years ago. We should have a world's population of 8.7 E 99. At 500,000 years ago, we should have a world population level of 8.7 E 990. This is talking about 125,000 people, per square inch. So the evidence of a bottleneck at 4400 years ago due to Noah's Flood is not only feasible, but very likely. .................................................................................................................................. Now, the claim of no evidence is demonstrated shortly below. One CANNOT believe in an "old earth" while simultaneously believing in a Global Flood. Why? Because a Global Flood wipes out the dating techniques that demonstrate an old earth. This author not only says there is no evidence for a global flood at this time, he essential is saying a global flood did not happen PERIOD. ..................................................................................................................................... // The Tower of Babel narrative (mentioned in detail later) was believed to have followed a short time after the Great Flood. Up until that point, the bible states that humans were united under “one language and of one speech.” According to Ussher’s calculation, the Tower of Babel existed around 2300–2100bc. However, archaeological evidences indicate that many languages existed before this time, and there are no historical records during that time for this massive tower.// .................................................................................................................................. Again, does the same scrutiny used against Ussher's account still apply to these to these other languages/cultures? It should. Archaeological evidence? Such as? What I found at the end of the article is a claim that science KNOWS that the earth is millions of years old. I will address that below. What I see frequently is when these archaeological studies are performed, the #1 dating method used to determine when such artifacts were used is radiometric dating. Very little raised the "assuming too much" flag than radiometric dating. So I will address that one now. .................................................................................................................................. There is only one thing we can determine from radiometric dating without assumptions: the half-life. We do not know how much of the mother/daughter isotopes were originally there or how much we are supposed to have. We do not know how much leeching there is (how much isotope enters or leaks out). We do know that solar storms will often affect the decay rate, so the even the half-life is put into question when the isotope is taken outside the lab. And the worst part of it. There is not a single piece of evidence that I know of in which the object's date is previously known and the radiometric dating method gets it right. Here is a short list for what is claimed to be the most accurate radiometric dated isotope: Potassium-Argon which is used predominately for lava flows, with the known date of the rock sample and the radiometric date given. ....................................................................................................................................

So with this SHORT list, we can easily see that radiometric dating cannot be relied upon for unknown dates if we cannot trust it for known dates. Many Young-Earth Creationists speakers will challenge skeptics to provide HISTORICAL evidence of civilizations older than 4400 years. Evidence such as calendars, trade documents, etc. Not a piece of pottery or a spear. .................................................................................................................................. So that being said, what evidence of languages already being established, written, and recorded prior to the dates given for the Tower of Babel are there? That's a good question. What is known is that language groups such as Ethnologue and VistaWide World Languages have been able to distinguish a maximum of 94 language families. If you count the heads of families records in Genesis 10 between Shem, Ham, and Japeth, and with Peleg (whose birth is often believed to have been when the dispersion took place), and you get a minimum of 78 families. That's pretty well in the ballpark. It is very interesting to note that many of the European, West Asia, India, and African cultures can be traces back to the people listed in Genesis 10. It gets harder to trace the people of Australia and the Americas and East Asia because of how much dispersal was going on. Look in the future for a book (I believe it is slated to be released next year) by Bodie Hodge about the tracing of the peoples of the Tower of Babel account. ..................................................................................................................................... // Because original creation cannot be dated, this opens the doors for believers of Old-Earth Creationism, who believe that the Earth may possibly be millions or billions of years old in respect to biblical passages and interpretations, as well as scientific evidences dating Earth far longer than 6,000 years.// ................................................................................................................................... And here we get the real intent of the blog. Now, let us assume all the skepticism he brought forth against Ussher's methodology is correct. How much would that impact Ussher's dating? A few centuries? Worst case 1-2,000 years? The blogger demands EXACT precision for Ussher's account. What is the error factor for the estimates for an "old earth"? Half a billion years. Under the bloggers standard for scrutiny against Ussher, the old earth models stand no chance. Do error factors in Ussher's accounts open the door for OEC? Not even close. Ussher may be off on a few things. He is fallible and could be wrong. But was Ussher in the ballpark? Absolutely. .................................................................................................................................. // However, there is no argument amongst the scientific community that Earth is at least 4.5 billion years old.//...................................................................................................... // Open any modern science book and it will state that the Earth is 4.5 billion years old. It will state that the earliest form of human ancestors first appeared around 6–7 million years ago.// ................................................................................................................................... This is an unfounded, biased claim with no evidence and is an appeal to the majority fallacy. This argument stems from a belief that no one who believes in a young earth can be a true scientists. This argument also stems from a belief that the Bible is only valid for theological discussions, which is clearly not true. Yes, you can open any modern science textbook and it will say this. This is an appeal to authority as well. The textbooks are FULL of inaccurate data. They still contain Haeckel's Embryo drawings and the Spotted Moth Experiments which were both proven to be frauds. Just because it is in a textbook that does not make it correct. .................................................................................................................................... // The Ussher-Lightfoot chronology, the Great Flood, original creation, Adam and Eve, the Tower of Babel, and literal creationism are not taught. It has nothing to do with anti-Christian sentiments; it has nothing to do with church and state separation; it has to do with valid evidence and the pursuit for accurate knowledge. There is no evidence that the Earth was created within the past 6,000–10,000 years. There is substantial evidence to prove otherwise. We cannot use the bible to date when creation actually occurred. We must look elsewhere for our answers, and we have succeeded in doing just that.// .................................................................................................................................. And this is the most telling of it all. There is a reason they are not taught and it does have EVERYTHING to do with anti-Christian sentiments. A search for accurate knowledge will not use appeals to authority, appeals to majority, and they most certainly will not use a double standard on everything related to the Bible. The blogger knows that to accept the Biblical account of creation also means to accept that there is an issue called sin and that mankind is subject to an all-powerful God. There is no room in Scripture for an 'old-earth'. This blogger clearly reject the Bible as any authority figure and blames Ussher for not using his world-view. There is more evidence that the earth was creating within the past 6000-10000 years than this blogger could imagine and because of his 'old earth' view, he MUST reject it all. He has demonstrated he has no interest in the truth, only what he believes. He fails to realize that like Ussher, there are MANY scientists and historians out there who take the Biblical account as history. Is that an appeal to authority or majority? No. I am not going by their opinion, only stating that his claim is unsubstantiated. ................................................................................................................................... As I said in the beginning, this is an issue of Biblical authority. This blogger rejects the Bible from being a source of evidence or an authority on the matter. He expects exact precision from the Biblical scholars and yet gives any 'modern scientist' the benefit of the doubt. He fails to realize that these scholars who come up with the young earth model do their homework. He does not just reject the creation account of the Bible, he rejects the Bible in any historical account. If he was honestly seeking the truth, he will find the same types of errors he claims Ussher is making in every other history time line. The genealogies found in Scripture are more accurate and more complete than any other genealogical account in ancient history. He has no problems with Babylonian history found on a few pottery stones, which is by no means complete, yet blames the Bible for not having every tiny detail. This blogger rejects Ussher and the "young earth" account because he rejects the Bible as the word of God. ................................................................................................................................... Dr. Michael Brown in a recent interview with William Lane Craig said this. "If there were no other books other than the Bible, I would believe the earth was created several thousand years ago." .................................................................................................................................... Martin Luther said, in addressing challenges to the Genesis 1 account. "But, if you cannot understand how this could have been done in six days, then grant the Holy Spirit the honor of being more learned than you are." .................................................................................................................................... Psalm 118:8 says "It is better to trust in the Lord, than in the ways of man."................. Proverbs 3:5 says "Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding."..................................................................................................... Romans 3:4 says "Yeah, let God be the truth and every man a liar." ..................................................................................................................................... Ussher trusted that God meant what he said in the Genesis account. Was he 100% accurate? I don't know. Was he close? Easily. How do I trust him more than I trust the 'modern scientist'? He stood on the Word of God. I will act as the Bereans whom Paul praised for not taking his word for it and testing what he said against Scripture. I will do this for the OEC and YEC alike. The Old earth models masquerade as science but are rift with unscientific assumptions. Ussher assumes one thing and one thing only primarily: that the Bible is the word of God and is the authority on ALL matters of life. This blogger assumes ever so much more. It assumes the Bible is not the authority on any matters except spiritual ones. It assumes that man's wisdom is perfect when the Bible is very clear that man has fallen and the creation is cursed as a result of sin. One cannot take the fallen creation and fallen man's understanding of creation which is really about 1% or less of what there is to know, and claim that it more reliable than the word of God. I will echo Martin Luther's response to the Biblical skeptics, to the 'modern scientists' and to this blogger: "Face it. God knows what happened better than you do." ...................................................................................................................................... If we are to call ourselves Christians we need to get our heads out of these other books and get our nose back in the Bible, the word of God. ..................................................................................................................................... Blog being addressed found at: http://truth4believers.livejournal.com/1037.html

Merry Christmas

It's Christmas week and that time of the year to remember the Birth of the Lord Jesus Christ. He is the true reason of the season and to think that the Lord God Almighty would humble himself and take the form of a man so that he might pay the price required by sin is simply mind-blowing. He knew we could not do it and so full of love and compassion for his creation, he was not about to just let it go.

God has done so much for me this year I could write a novel about it. Speaking of which, the novel I wrote Battle Cry: Adventures in the Kingdom of Heaven is on the verge of releasing through Lighthouse Christian Publishing. The editing and typesetting is complete. Now it is just a matter of cover art design and final last-minute details. A release date should be determine very shortly after the cover art is finished and approved.

My 2nd to last semester at UTEP as an Undergraduate went well. I had some tough classes but I ended up with two B's and a C which is about what I was expecting. Next semester is my finale, and I will be taking my last two Computer Science Classes and a math course which will help with me going into teaching. Then graduation in May.

Next semester is also going to be the grand finale for me with two student organizations I am with. Intervarsity is picking up speed with growth and involvement and we are going open up the semester by bringing in Steve Lillis, a profession pool play who uses trick shots to present the Gospel for a show early in the semester. Also, the Fencing Team is growing and we are preparing for a huge collegiate tournament in Chicago in April. SO I am going to be ending my undergrad collegiate career with a bang.

And finally, I am exploring a possible opportunity to continue to develop and practice my fencing ministry. This past weekend, the director of Teen Challenge El Paso spoke at my Church's Men's Breakfast Meeting and he is interested in having me speak for them at some point. I sent them an e-mail with more details about what I do and am waiting for a response. Pray for God's direction with this possible opportunity.

Writing and Preparing for Ministry

This has been a very busy semester, one of the reasons I have not blogged in a while. But God is moving and I believe he is setting me up for one heck of a Spring semester for graduation. First off, my book has made tremendous progress. The editing is finished and all that is left that I know of is design for cover art and author biographical blurb. I am anticipating a release date in the next 2-3 weeks.

My involvement with ministry through Intervarsity is setting up for a huge finale this Spring. In Feb, it appears we will be bringing Steve Lillis, a professional pool player who uses trick shots to bring the Gospel all over the world. There may also be another opportunity to bring Dr. Charles Jackson, a brilliant scientist that uses his intellectual gifts to bring the Gospel through a scientific approach to creation. Both have awesome testimonies and I am going to try to get both to come to El Paso in the Spring.

A lot of stuff going on and it is going to be one heck of a finale for my undergraduate program.

Journey of Becoming a Published Author

The last 3 1/2 yers have been something I never could have imagined growing up. Neither could any who have known me. I have been diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, which is a mild form of autism, and one of the aspects that came with it was a strong lack of reading comprehension. I could tell you exactly what was on what page, but no clue about context, why, or what was going on. One example was insisting a goose was in a story when the character had goose bumps. No clue. It wasn't until I was 12, when I began to start connecting the dots and reading comprehension began to take place.

God has pulled me out of nowhere into somewhere since then. Almost 4 years ago, a friend suggested I try writing after I helped him critique his novel and I gave it ago. After writing a medieval action thriller to try it out, I discovered I had something going. God told me to work on a spiritual warfare novel, which was my main goal when this took off and that began in April 2007. After a series of drafts, getting feedback from several friends, I began to explore the possibility of publishing.

I found a Christian critiquing service, Writer's Edge Service, that acts as a pre-scanner for a multitue of publishers. In October 2008, I tried them out. They said I wasn't ready yet, gave me excellent feedback, and I went through two more drafts (really more like editing phases) and in July 2009, I resubmitted to them. They absolutely loved it and sent my listing off to 100 different publishers.

I first heard from American Christian Writers, Virtue Ministries, Inc, and WinePress, all self-publishers. They wanted me to pay them to release my book. God told me to wait and in March 2009, I got a chance to go to a Christian Writer's Conference, where I got a 15-minute consultation with one of the speakers. She told me I was ready for a big publisher and recommended Marcher Lord Press who specialized in Christian speculative fiction. They had a massive backlog of submissions, so I have been waiting since to hear from them. But something happened a month ago I never expected: contact initiated by Lighthouse Christian Publishing.

They wanted to look at my book, so I submitted it to them after a final phase of editing and just this past week, I got a response. They offered a contract. After nearly a week of prayer, asking God for a legitimate reason not to accept it and I never got one. So I am submitted the contract in the next day or two and my book will be on the way to final editing and releasal. I will post the release date when that become more clear but it will be a short time before you can start to look for Battle Cry: Adventures in the Kingdom of Heaven to be available for sale.

A Follower of Jesus Christ

I listened to another really great sermon from my pastor at Restoration Fellowship. As is his custom, my pastor knows where he is going to start, but being sensitive to the Holy Spirit, he has no idea where he will end. Yesterday, he started in a continuance of his series on the church, but he moved onto being able to listen to God and then to an emphasis on the difference between merely believing Jesus is God but declaring him as Lord. And God gave me a new light on a passage that many people struggle with.

In one of his most difficult sermons, Jesus tells his follows they must give up everything to follow him. One asked to let him bury his father. Another asked to let him say good-bye to his family. Jesus was harsh and told them not to do that and follow him. He went as far as saying that unless you HATE you mother, brother, sisters, friends, etc, you cannot be his disciple. Many people interpret that as loving Jesus more than them. But God showed me something that might put this in perspective.

God has taught me so much about spiritual warfare and I wonder if Jesus had a spiritual perspective when he told his followers that sermon. In Revelation, we know God wants us hot or cold. He doesn't want us lukewarm. To put it simply, you cannot be a fence-sitter with Jesus. The truth is, you have to be 100% with Jesus, or in God's eyes, you are 100% against him. Trying to live half your life with Jesus and half your life on your own is not going 50-50 or any other percentage. God says he'd rather you be in complete and total rebellion than trying to meet 'halfway'. So to be a Christian, it is a total commitment.

Also, Romans 10:9 says if you believe in your heart and confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord, then you will be saved. Many people just want to be believe in thier heart. But they don't want to make Jesus the Lord of thier life. 1 Corinthians 12:3 says that no one who lives by the Spirit can curse Jesus. It then says that unless you are living by the Spirit, you cannnot declare Jesus to be Lord. We know that when we become Christians we receive the Holy Spirit. If you have the Holy Spirit, you will not be able to deny Christ. At the same time, unless you have the Holy Spirit, you cannot make Jesus Lord of your life. You also cannot declare it.

And this brings me to the point I learned yesterday. When you become a Christian, in a spiritual context, you change alliances. You were once allied with your father, the Devil, but now you are allied with your Father, the Lord God. Now when Jesus was saying we must hate those who we consider family, he was saying we must consider them as an enemy. In America in the Christian home, this is not easily seen. But in the non-Christian home or in places like China or the Middle East, this is a very real issue. There are many stories where a person in a Muslim home becomes a Christian and in an instant the family memebers become enemies. Jesus said he would turn father upon son, mother against daughter, brother against brother, and this is what he was talking about. Any family member or close friend who is not a Christian is allied with the ultimate villain in Satan.

This is also why Jesus taught us not to yolk ourselves with someone that doesn't follow him. Why do marriages where one is a Christian and the other is not end up being so difficult? Because they are, in the spirit, enemies of each other. Marriage between enemies doesn't necessarily bring peace as it does in some cultures. Only God can do that. By marrying an unbeliever, you are bringing a double agent into your home. They will seek an opportunity to destroy you, even if the spouse doesn't intend to. As a non-Christian, the spouse is likely an unaware agent of the devil and will lead you astray or worse. That is what happened to Solomon. Don't use marriage as a witness opportunity. It doesn't work that easily.

But Jesus also taught us how to treat our enemies. If we have a family member that is not a Christian, it is our responsibility to witness to them and pray that God will bring them over to our side. Only God can change them, but he often will not act until we do. Not that he can't, but he chooses to act through us. Any family member who is a Christian however is not to be considered an enemy, but as an ally. It's a lot to think about, but a lot of meat.

The Competitive Side of Fencing

The sport of fencing began to take form when firearms entered the battlefield. Back then, sword fighting was simply a war tool. Whoever made the other bleed first won. But with firearms, the sword ceased to be used primarily for war, but as a symbol for officers. It was only used in close range combat when reloading the firearms would take too much time. Over time, the sword gradually became smaller from the two-handed broadsword to the single-handed rapier. At that point, the Italians and the French sword masters began to transform use of the sword from a war tool into an art form. This is when the standard lunge, parries, and others fencing actions took form. The weapons were blunted so students could be trained without shedding blood and it took the form of a sport. In 1896, fencing was one of the first 9 sports of the First Modern Olympiad. It has become a fast growing sport and in June of 1998, I discovered fencing as a sport.

My first competition took place in January 2000, and in the time since, I have gone up and down the ladder on placements. But since the Spring Semester 2010, I began to have a stronger emphasis on coaching and as a result, my skills have dramatically increased. Today, I had my first competition of the 2010-2011 season. I fencing in Foil then Epee for 8 hours. In foil, I was a very respectable 6th out of 12. But in Epee, in spite of exhaustion from the first event, I got hot. I seeded 6th going into the direction elimination round with a match against the #3 seed in the quarter-final round. I took an early lead I never lost and won 15-10. I lost in the semi-finals 15-9, but fought a fierce match for 3rd place. After falling behind 5-1, I rallied with 6 straight touches then traded hits all the way until I had a 14-12 lead. But my opponent slowly figured me out and rallied to beat me 15-14. I took 4th out of 12, a personal best in a local meet in 2 1/2 years.

It will be four weeks until my next tournament, when I have two in two weeks. One will be another local meet. Then the next week I will be going to Albuquerque New Mexico for a large regional tournament. The last time I traveled that direction, I took 3rd place in a small meet. But there is more down the road. My UTEP Fencing Team is strongly considering going to a Collegiate Recreational Sport Club Team Tournament in Chicago in April. This is a national tournament UTEP has been invited to. In January 2009, Albuquerque hosted a regional collegiate club tournament and my team took Gold as I won the deciding bout. One of my teammates from that meet will be coming with me, so we just need to find a viable third teammate and we will be ready to make a big run for this meet.

Life as a Graduating Senior

It is just two weeks into my graduating senior year and God is moving. I have four classes that are keeping me busy: Operating System, Human Computer Interaction, Database Management, and Software Engineering. Based on the first two weeks, OS and DM appear to be my hardest classes. HCI is going to be a fun one, but work hasn't kicked in yet. Software is a two-semester class that is the equivalent of a senior project course. That class is a lot of fun so far but the work load is going to be very time intensive. But it doesn't appear to be hard-work, just lots of work. I am doing a lot to get ahead of things this weekend.

Intervarsity has launched with a great opening. We had 10 people show up for the first week and 12 show up today. And some didn't come that wanted to. So I expect this to be a great year.

And now I have my novel off my mind for the time being, allowing me to focus more solidly on my homework. I submitted my novel, Battle Cry: Adventures in the Kingdom of Heaven to Lighthouse Christian Publishing this evening. I won't expect a reply for 1-2 weeks (maybe tomorrow (Friday) just to acknowledge reception). It is all in God's hands now and we will soon see if I will be published soon.

God is so good and I love how when he blesses, he does not hold back. This is truly going to be my best year at UTEP.