The Keeper

 

                             THE CITY

                                      (A satire on the faulty reasoning of evolutionists by Dr. Terry Rowland)

                                                                                                                       

 

            The mother dove gazed in wonder at the magnificent city.  The nest where she sat, guarding her new hatchlings, was nestled in the top branches of the tallest tree in the park. 

But it was dwarfed by the surrounding structures.  Towering skyscrapers of architectural genius with glass elevators that constantly ascended and descended.  In the streets below motor vehicles of every variety zoomed past.  The roar of a supersonic jet could be heard passing overhead.  In the harbor commercial and recreational vessels of all sorts churned through the waters. Glittering suspension bridges spanned sparkling channels of water.  And intermixed were shops and delis and hospitals and malls featuring innumerable lights, air conditioned environments, gushing fountains, and electrical appliances of every imaginable sort.  She was struck by the incredible  complexity and coordination of everything.

 

            “Who was intelligent and powerful enough to be able to design and build all of this?”  she wondered aloud.

 

            “No one.” The answer, oily and smooth, came from below her.

 

            She looked down into the intensely staring eyes of a brilliant green serpent perched on a branch a few feet below her, smiling broadly in its most disarming manner.  Knowing better than to stare into the eyes of a serpent, she quickly turned her head, but nonetheless could not help responding.

 

            “What do you mean?  Someone had to be behind all of this!”

 

            “Ah, my dear sweet dove.” And he sighed a deep, longsuffering sigh. “Let me explain.”

And, gently swaying back and forth, with a voice both authoritative and compelling, he began…

 

            “Long ago, decades ago, long before you were born, before there were any doves---or any snakes for that matter---there were only tiny grains of sand and rock and bits of chemicals blowing around in the wind and the rain.  Lightning flashed about and energy crackled in the atmosphere and some of these grains became electrically charged and magnetized.  They became attracted to one another and collided, forming small mineral clumps.  These small clumps would occasionally collide with other clumps to form larger clumps which would also collide with other clumps until eventually, somehow, the first primitive brick was formed.”

 

            “Just a minute,”  the mother dove interrupted, “…you’re saying that just by chance, by “luck”---an actual building brick formed from tiny bits of matter blowing around?”

 

            “That’s correct.” 

 

            “That seems pretty unlikely.”

 

            “Well, it didn’t happen overnight, you know.  As I said, this process took hundreds of years.”

 

            “I thought you said it took decades…”

 

            “Are you going to let me finish or not?”

 

            “Sorry.”

 

            “Anyway,” the serpent continued, “As I was saying, thousands of years ago these first primitive bricks began to draw together in combinations of twos and threes and form simple structures.  The more stable structures began to join with others and at last the first simple dwelling---sort of a small brick doghouse or birdhouse or something---was finally formed.”

 

            “Hold on---why and how were these bricks able to move around and connect together?  And wasn’t there still rain and wind and lightning?  Why didn’t these structures blow back apart as soon as they formed?”

 

            “Well you see the bricks had learned to form a sort of primitive mortar so once they stuck together, they wouldn’t come apart again.”

 

            “Oh, come on!”

 

            “Hey, like I said, this took tens of thousands of years!”

 

            “I thought you said…oh, never mind…go on…”

 

            “Anyway,” said the serpent, looking slightly perturbed, “over hundreds of thousands of years, more and more sophisticated structures began to appear.  The first small garage.  Then a tiny house.  Then a duplex, a small apartment building, malls and ever larger buildings until the first skyscrapers, such as you see today, appeared.”

 

            “Why, that is the most ridiculous thing I’ve ever heard!” exclaimed the dove. “How on earth could such a thing happen without any guidance or supervision?  Left to themselves these buildings will gradually crumble and fall apart---not get larger and more stable.  And why don’t we see new buildings just “forming” by themselves today?”

 

            “Well,” hissed the serpent, “things were somehow different back then.  The atmospheric conditions and climate were just so that they promoted and favored such development.  I mean,

I know it’s hard to believe, but things that seem improbable are quite possible when you have millions of years to work with!”

 

            “Millions?!!?  I thought you said…but…wait!  These aren’t just simple structures like log cabins or tents or caves.  They have running water, functional electricity, air conditioning, refrigeration, heating, stereo systems, elevators, plumbing, telephones, computer hookups…and there are motor vehicles and planes and ships and submarines, all of which have sophisticated inner workings!”

 

            With a smug smile the serpent shrugged and replied “That’s why it took billions of years.” 

 

            “So it’s billions now? I just don’t buy it.  I don’t care how long you keep saying it took, those kinds of things could never happen by chance.  Left to themselves things break down, get more disorganized and deteriorate---not get more organized, stable and sophisticated!”

 

            “Are you blind?”  cried the serpent.  “Look about you!  The skyscrapers have the same kind of windows as the houses.  The airplanes have the same kind of wheels as the cars.  The boats have the same kind of propellers as do house fans.  That’s because they came from house fans.  All these more complex things developed from the simpler ones.”

 

            “I think it just shows that whoever built the simpler things also built the more complex ones.  Why wouldn’t the same builder use many of the same materials?”

 

            “Oh, come on!” the serpent exclaimed in frustration.  “Can you build a skyscraper or a car?  Can I?  Can any animal?  Of course not!”

 

            “Maybe it wasn’t an animal.  Maybe a creature or creatures more intelligent and powerful than us built them.”

 

            “Are you crazy!??!” the serpent sputtered.  “We are the most intelligent creatures that have ever existed!  We represent the very pinnacle of development.  Are you suggesting that creatures exist which are more intelligent and sophisticated than I ?!!?”

 

            “I’m just saying I think it makes a lot more sense to think that some higher intelligence was involved.  Perhaps it could even have been creatures like those we see moving around in the city.”

 

            “That’s nonsense.  They aren’t very strong or fast.  They’ve never been able to communicate with us.  They can’t even smell or see all that well.  It’s amazing they haven’t gone extinct yet.  No, they’re just animals like us.”

 

            “And where did we come from?  Did we just “blow” together too?”

 

            “Of course.”

 

            The dove shook her head in sad frustration.  “I’m sorry.  But I just can’t accept your explanations.  I know a much greater power and intelligence than ours was involved in making this city.  And us.  It wasn’t just chance.”

 

            “Hey!” the serpent spit.  “What are you?  Some kind of religious fanatic or something?  If you want to put your faith in some silly religious stories and myths, that’s up to you.  I’m just being scientific about it.”

 

            “How scientific is it to believe in things you can’t observe now and have no evidence ever happened in the past?” the dove retorted.  “Everything we see today tells us that highly sophisticated and functioning structures have to be designed and constructed under intelligent supervision.  Left to themselves they fall apart.  Not form bigger and better creations.”

 

            “I can see it’s no use talking with you,” the snake hissed.  “Some creatures just insist on burying their heads in the sand and won’t see the truth.  Hopefully your young hatchlings will prove more receptive.  I look forward to seeing them in my class when they start school.”

 

“You mean you teach in the school?!!?”  the mother dove gasped. 

 

Looking back with contempt and nodding once, the serpent slithered down the tree and disappeared into the undergrowth---of the park of the city that formed itself by chance over who knows how many years.

 

                                                                 THE END

 

                                                                                                                               

 

                                                                                                Dr. Rowland is a Michigan dentist and

father of four young children including triplets.

  

 

 The Keeper

 

                                                                                                by Terry Rowland

 

(Do you ever wonder why God is so strict about sin?  Why can’t he just overlook it and let everyone go to heaven?  Part of the problem is we don’t realize how pure and holy God is and how truly awful our sins really are.  Maybe this story will help you understand a little better.)

 

The lake on top of the mountain was cool, refreshing, and as clear as a perfect diamond.  It was glorious to dive into and wonderfully satisfying to drink.  This was no ordinary lake, and it was no mere coincidence that it was absolutely pure and free of contaminants.  The Keeper, who had made the lake himself, kept it that way.   He would no more tolerate the corruption of his water than the corruption of his character.

 

The Keeper had been there long before any of the current residents of the mountain.  Some said he had always been there.  All agreed that he was extremely particular about his water.   He worked tirelessly to ensure that it remained free of pollution and impurities.  Some said he never slept.

 

The mountaintop belonged to the Keeper.  Although some occasionally challenged his property rights it was indisputable that the Keeper was the sole and legal owner.  It was said that the purchase price had cost him everything he had.

 

Not only was the mountain water possessed of extraordinary qualities---it was plentiful.  This remarkable water could have been bottled and sold at a great price.  But it wasn’t for sale.  Those who drank it received it absolutely free, as a gift from the Keeper.  It was said that those who stayed with the Keeper and drank his water never died.  And, indeed, there were a great many who had accepted his invitation to come and live with him on the mountain. 

 

But not all who were invited accepted. 

 

The Keeper looked down, sadly, at the people still living in the town below the mountain.  He shook his head as he watched them wandering about aimlessly or bustling about busily doing things of no real importance. 

 

The town well was polluted.  Drinking this water made the people weak, unhealthy, and ill. It was foul tasting stuff and yet the people would fight over it, shoving and pushing and jostling one another to get ahead in the line to draw up a bucketful. 

 

Like the water, the people had also gradually become more and more dirty until they were now absolutely filthy. They were covered with scum and debris from head to foot and didn’t even seem to notice. 

 

Some of the townspeople had heard about the lake on the mountaintop and decided

that they would go there for a swim.  As they approached the narrow path which led up the mountain, they were greeted by the Keeper.  “Welcome, friends!” he smiled.  He carried two buckets of his cool, clear mountain water and an armful of wonderfully plush white towels.

 

“Let me wash your feet and clean all that filth off of you, so that you can dive into my lake and drink the refreshing water!”

 

But most of the people refused.  Some became angry.  “We’re fine just the way we are!” they shouted.  “Who do you think you are to call us filthy and tell us we need washing?  We plan to dive into the lake and drink the water just like we are!”

 

“I’m sorry, but that’s not possible,” the Keeper replied patiently, still smiling.  “The lake is mine, and I can allow no filth or contaminants in it---it would no longer be pure, but polluted.

But please, let me clean you, and then you can come and enjoy my hospitality.”

 

            Some of the bolder members of the group tried to force their way past the Keeper but could not.  Although he was meek and gentle, he was far stronger than they had imagined. Others tried to sneak past but were unable.  The Keeper saw and noticed everything---it was as if he could read their minds. Still others tried to negotiate different terms with him or went off to search for other ways to the lake or other Keepers which might be more to their liking.  But there was no other way except the narrow path and there were no other Keepers, just the one.

 

            But a few of the people considered the Keeper’s generous offer and accepted it.  As they listened to his wise and kind words they saw that they really were filthy.  Some worried that even the Keeper’s water might not be able to clean off so much filth.  But it washed right off.  Now clean, they proceeded up the pathway and joined the others who were enjoying the Keeper’s lake on the mountaintop. 

 

            The Keeper looked back sadly towards the little town in the valley and those who had rejected his offer and turned away.  If they returned, he would make his offer again. 

 

            The Keeper joined his friends at the lake and together they enjoyed all the benefits of the peaceful mountaintop.  He told them that he considered them to be just like family and invited them to stay with him and enjoy his hospitality forever. 

 

And they did.

 

 

John 14:6

Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.”

 

Matt 7:13-14

“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it.  But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.”

 

Heb 10:22

Let us draw near to God with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and having our bodies washed with pure water.

 

 You can express your decision to follow Jesus and be sure of heaven with a simple prayer:

 

“Dear Lord God, I want to know you personally.  I am willing, with your help, to turn from my sins.  Thank you for sending Jesus who died in my place and rose again to be my Savior. Come into my life, wash away my sins, and lead me.”