Southside Oracle Archive

Vol. 48, No 45              SOUTHSIDE ORACLE               January 27, 2006

The Bulletin Board

Every fifth Sunday evening we have an elders' forum in which the elders respond to questions that have been asked. This Sunday at 6:00 o'clock Rodney Windell will address the issue of suicide. Plan to be with us.

Do you have trouble fitting everything into your calendar? Do you struggle to determine which activities should be prioritized in your tight schedule? Then you will want to attend "The Balancing Act" seminar February 24-26 conducted by Dale and Vicki Hawley.

Thirteen of our teens and adults are attending the Northland Spirit Fest Youth Rally in Duluth, MN this weekend.

ATTENDANCE RECORD

(*) first service, 135; second service, 109

The first meeting of TNT (Tuesday Nights Together) was last Tuesday. Those who are interested in involvement in service projects are invited to participate. The next meeting will be at 6:15 p.m. on February 21st.

We are now preparing two more college care donation boxes. They are set up in the foyer leading to the fellowship hall with directions for making a contribution attached to the boxes. Andrea Eufinger and Jose Valdez will be the recipients of these boxes. If you have questions, see Colleen Windell. Thank you for your help.

New Directory - Names and addresses for a new attendance directory are posted in the hall adjacent to the office. Please verify your personal information and check it for corrections, additions, and deletions. For questions see Cliff Copass.

Monroe Hawley will be serving on a panel this Saturday at the Elder-Link program at Rochester College in Michigan.

Coming Up - The annual Wisconsin Christian Youth Camp fundraising dinner and silent auction will be February 1e from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m. If you have new or craft items to donate, they will be appreciated. Help for set-up and clean-up is also needed. Proceeds will be used for the renovation of the lodge at camp. Contact the Epplers for details by e-mail at dleppler @yahoo.com.

Calendar of Events

January 27 - 29 - Northland Spirit Fest Youth Rally, Duluth, MN

February 11 - Oakhaven Youth Rally, Oshkosh

February 12 - Eiders/Deacons meeting, 4:30 p.m.

February 12 - Praise and Palate, 6:00 p.m.

February 18 - Wis. Christian Youth Camp dinner and auction, 6:00 - 9:00 p.m.

February 21 - Christian Workers' Meeting, Southside, 9:00 a.m.

February 21 - Tuesday Nights Together, church building, 6:15 p.m.

February 24-26 - Seminar, "The Balancing Act," Dale and Vicki Hawley

March 11 - Southside Area-wide Men's Breakfast

March 17 - 19 - Southside Youth Rally

Intelligent Design

Recently newspapers have been filled with controversy over what has been called Intelligent Design or ID. The Kansas Board of Education declared that ID should be taught in the public schools alongside the theory of evolution. A federal judge ruled unconstitutional the action of the Dover, PA school board requiring the local school system to teach ID. It said that to do amounted to teaching religion. The school board was then voted out of office.

Intelligent Design is a theory proposed by some mathematicians and scientists that challenges the evolutionary theory as the correct explanation for the origin of life. "The theory of evolution holds that all life developed via natural selection to its present diversity over billions of years. Intelligent Design holds that natural selection cannot account for the complexity of life" (Christianity Today, July 2005, p. 18). By definition intelligent design also requires a designer, though its proponents do not enter into the issue of who or what the designer may be.

Intelligent Design has been strongly attacked by evolutionists because it challenges the evolutionary theory that life began by random chance. Evolutionists charge that Intelligent Design is a religion and that science and religion must be separated. However, Intelligent Design does not discuss God. It talks about the mathematical impossibility of life emerging apart from some kind of intelligent source. As such it deals with science and its validity should be scientifically tested. We have to ask why its opponents are so unwilling to submit it to the scientific test.

But is Intelligent Design really a religion? Those accepting Christianity do in fact believe that there is a God who created us and the life that we see around us. We believe that this God has intelligently designed us. At the same time a Moslem would likely come to the same conclusion though his concept of an eternal power might not agree with ours. Another who accepts the Intelligent Design perspective might say, "There has to be an intelligent source of life, but I don't know what it is." In other words, religion is not inherent in Intelligent Design. If the purpose of education requires teaching our children to think for themselves, why not give them a chance to hear both sides of the story of how life began?    

___Monroe Hawley

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