Forbidden History: Prehistoric Technologies, Extraterrestrial Intervention, and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization (2005), Book Review

Forbidden History: Prehistoric Technologies, Extraterrestrial Intervention, and the Suppressed Origins of Civilization (2005) edited by J. Douglas Kenyon

Fascinating! My curiosity on these subjects sparked by a British writer and journalist, Graham Hancock, author of Fingerprints of the Gods and Magicians of the Gods, where he outlines from archaeological and geological findings, astronomy and historical monuments, current science and old myths, that there is an unknown prehistoric ancient civilization(s?) with advanced technologies and scientific knowledge. I’ve listened to at least four of Hancock interview sessions with Joe Rogan in The Joe Rogan Experience podcast (mind you, each session is about 2-4 hours) and also have spent a great amount of time, say, about 6 hours+ of YouTube videos of any documentaries related to this topic – those who support and disapprove of this theory. I’m still skeptic but I must admit, this kind of theory and all the subjects above (see subtitle), really open my eyes to explore other alternative arguments as well.  

During my research, I remember I have bought a book many years ago that also discuss these subjects. So, I dig boxes in my mini library and joyfully, I found it – Forbidden History. Just what I expected, the book mentions this theory, Graham Hancock, other theories, and those who have played leading roles in challenging the entrenched scientific establishment, assumptions, and status quo. I’m thrill! This book consists of 42 essays by 17 key thinkers taken from the bimonthly journal Atlantis Rising. The aim, writes J. Douglas Kenyon, is to “put forward such evidence, and to propose ideas and theories concerning the origins of life and the human race itself that may very well be more in accordance with reality than currently prevailing orthodoxy.” It is divided into six (6) parts:

Part 1: The Old Model Don’t Work: Darwinism and Creationism Under Fire

Part 2: Making the Case for Catastrophism: Earth Changes, Sudden and Gradual

Part 3: Exploring the Greater Antiquity of Civilization

Part 4: Searching for the Fountainhead

Part 5: Ancient High Tech

Part 6: New Models to Ponder

What interesting about Part 1 is that the co-authors explain what I suspected for so long that Darwinism doesn’t just have a missing link but there are lots of missing links. Search for missing links is “futile” said Hill Hart. On the other hand, Creationism also encounters a problem “not in the idea of intelligent design, but in its dogmatic and inflexible interpretations of the Bible [or religion texts] concerning the debate over human origins,” explain David Lewis. We don’t have to choose between Darwinism or Creationism as it is known in the scientific community today, there is probably another alternative. Part 2 on Catastrophism, I think, is a very good case. One needs to study the works of Immanuel Velikovsky and Robert Schoch to see the plausibility of this theory. The global flood told in most of the ancient myths may be true. Part 3, 4 & 5 brings back my wonder about the extravagance of Egyptian Sphinx, the mystery of Great Pyramid, astronomic knowledge of ancient Mayan, the legend of Atlantis, the unexplained monuments around the world, and many more. Part 6 requires true believers. It explores the possibility of visitors from beyond (aliens), space artifacts, and complex/intelligent signals from another galaxy.

I’m almost convince - but not yet - that there is a prehistoric ancient civilization(s), maybe before the flood in Genesis 7; I’m still processing the implications of extraterrestrials to my belief in the God of the Bible (it seems impossible in a vast universe, we – human beings – are alone?); but overall, I’m still skeptical. It appears that the co-authors of Forbidden History have good evidences and somewhat fair in their assessments. Two scientists, for example, may look at the same evidence, but their conclusion can be different. My advice: read the current, standard history and – at the same time – forbidden, untold history.

#ServeToLead #1Book1Week #LetsMakeReadingCoolAgain #LeadersAreReaders #ForbiddenHistory #PrehistoricTechnologies #OriginOfCivilization #AlternativeTheories  

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BOOK REVIEW: Origin (2017) by Dan Brown, a novel

Robert Langdon, symbologist professor at Harvard University attended one of his ex-students, genius and futurist, Edmond Kirsch's discovery that "will change the face of science [and religion] forever." With a story that can stir up as much controversy as 'The Da Vinci Code', Dan Brown continues to invite us into a journey with Langdon to solve one of the greatest mysteries of the universe!

I'm not going to tell [spoil] what happened in the novel, but I want to share with you 5 Lessons... Eh, no... 5 Discoveries that I Learned from this book. Enjoy!

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Timothy, This Is the Great Mystery of Our Faith (Six-Fold Descriptions about Christ in 1 Timothy 3:16)

"Without question, this is the great mystery of our faith:

Christ was revealed in a human body

and vindicated by the Spirit.

He was seen by angels

and announced to the nations.

He was believed in throughout the world

and taken to heaven in glory"

(1 Timothy 3:16, NLT)

After Paul wrote about "how people must conduct themselves in the household of God" (v.15), he now focuses on what is at stake and why it is important to do so (v.16). He begins by saying "without question" or contradiction. It gives the thought of something that cannot be denied, "…this is the great mystery of our faith." Mystery? This is not like a mystery novel, unknown or secret truth. Rather, as H. A. Ironside, a Bible teacher, and preacher, said that it is "a secret revealed only to initiates." He continues, "This mystery is that of the incarnation – that God came down to earth, taking into union with His Deity a human body, a human spirit, and a human soul so that He was both God and Man in one blessed, adorable Person." This is the great mystery of our faith; this is the foundation on which our faith stands; this is the foundation of the truth (v.15) – Jesus Christ, our Lord, and Saviour! He is the One in whom is centered the "mystery of our faith." Here are six-fold descriptions about Christ:

#1 Jesus is Fully Human: "Christ was revealed in a human body..." If anyone wants to know what God is like, they can look at Jesus. "No one has ever seen God. But the unique One, who is himself God, is near to the Father's heart. He has revealed God to us" (John 1:18). Again, in John 1:14, "[The Word] became human and made his home among us. He was full of unfailing love and faithfulness. And we have seen his glory, the glory of the Father's one and only Son." And so, "God was in Christ" revealed in a human body.

#2 Jesus is Fully God: "…and vindicated by the Spirit." Jesus was God manifest in the flesh or revealed in a human body by the revelations of the Holy Spirit on several occasions in His earthly life such as during His baptism, transfiguration, and so forth. During His baptism, for example, God the Father opened the heavens above Him, the Holy Spirit descended upon Him, and the Father's voice was heard declaring, "This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy" (Matthew 3:17). Thus, Jesus was vindicated by the Spirit. As you read the gospel stories, you can see that behind His humanity there lies His divinity. He healed, He preached, and He forgives sin all by "the Holy Spirit's power" (Luke 4:14).

#3 Jesus is Greater than Angels: "He was seen by angels…" Do you know that angels – these mighty creatures – were present at the very high points of Jesus' early life and ministries such as His birth, temptation, agony in the garden, resurrection, and ascension? If you read Hebrews 1-2, the angels were there when God the Son was with the Father and the Holy Spirit in heaven. H. A. Ironside puts it this way, "Before God became incarnate in Jesus Christ He was invisible to created eyes. God the Father was invisible; God the Son was invisible; God the Holy Spirit was invisible. Angels could look only upon the glory of God but could not see the invisible One. But when the Lord Jesus Christ came down to earth… they knew they were looking into the face of the God who had created them. As He walked on earth angels were beholding the wondrous works wrought by God manifest in flesh." Angels are created beings, God is the Creator. Therefore, Jesus is greater!

#4 Jesus is the Message of Salvation for All: "…and announced to the nations." Because of Jesus the Son, God was no longer to have one people (the Jews) separated from the rest of the nations (the Gentiles) but His love could go out to all mankind. "Call him [Jesus] Immanuel, which means ‘God is with us'" (Matthew 1:23). This is the message to the nations, "In Jesus Christ, God is with us! Not against us!" All may be saved who turn to Him in faith.

#5 Jesus is the Saviour of the World: "He was believed in throughout the world…" This is a missionary statement. Soon and very soon, the whole world will believe Him. I don't mean that all will believe in Him and be saved. What I mean is that the world will know that Jesus is the Saviour of the world. Jesus prayed for His disciples to the Father that "they will all be one, just as you and I are one – as you are in me, Father, and I am in you. And may they be in us so that the world will believe you sent me" (John 17:21). Either the world will believe in Him in faith or rebellion, the Bible is clear all will: "At the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue declare that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father" (Philippians 2:10-11).

#6 Jesus Came to Be Rejected but He Returned in Glory: "…and taken to heaven in glory." Jesus Christ, the Man-God is now in heaven or as Paul says "in glory." What Paul wanted to emphasize here is not so much about where He went but how He went "…in glory." For about 30 years, Jesus walked humbly on earth like one of His own creations. He never did anything but good. He healed people, raised the dead, and loved the sinners. Yet He was despised and rejected. Finally, He bore the ultimate rejection through suffering, pain, and death. But as you and I know that was not the end of the story. This is the redemption story: Jesus was raised back to life! He has risen! He appeared in splendor and glorious body! He was lifted in glory!

It took me about 2 hours to finished writing this article. Every description of Christ in this one verse in 1 Timothy 3:16 is precious and worth to consider and meditate upon. Take your time today to praise and thank Him for who He is and for what He had done for you and me. Amen.

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Timothy, the Helpers Must Know The Gospel of Jesus Christ (1 Timothy 3:9-10)

"[Deacons] must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons"

(1 Timothy 3:9-10, NIV)

"The deep truths of the faith" also translated as "the mystery of the faith" (NKJV). There is no doubt, I believe, that this refers to the Gospel of Jesus Christ – the gospel of salvation and grace – and all the doctrine it involves. A "mystery" in the New Testament is not something "mysterious" in today's sense of the word. Not like a mystery novel. A Bible "mystery" is something that was not previously revealed by God but has now been revealed in His own due time through His Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord and Savior!

Paul, in Ephesians 6:19, wrote about the Gospel as revealed-mystery: "Pray also for me… so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel…" I don't want to be too technical here, but the fact that the defining article ("the") is before the word "faith" shows that Paul is referring to the great body of Christian doctrine. It is the same faith "once for all entrusted to the saints" of which Jude speaks (Jude 3). Thus, deacons/helpers are to consider that their faith has been committed to them as a sacred trust; and they must "keep hold" of it "with a clear conscience." In the Book of Acts you can see that both Stephen and Philip who were first deacons (Acts 6:2-4) are also great students of the Scripture, who "hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience" (Stephen, read Acts 6:8-7:60; Philip, read Acts 8:4-8:40).

Then, the helpers "must first be tested." Like the leader/overseer, the helpers were not to be put into office immediately following their conversions. How many immature churches have suffered by assigning new converts in a place of leadership simply because the individuals may have been well-known, good in public speaking, had the money or for something other than spiritual maturity? Thus, they "must first be tested." How? This doesn't mean some sort of formal examination or trial or sent them first to seminary but simply that they have been Christians for some time and that they have had long enough to demonstrate before other Christians – at church and home, inside church and outside – that they meet the qualifications of 1 Timothy 3:8 and 3:12. "If there is nothing against them, let them serve."

Dear helper, do you know the Faith – the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the whole counsel of God? Do you take hold of it as dear to your heart? Believing, walking and doing the Faith with clear conscious? Can you pass the test of verse 8 and 12?  If your answer is "Yes" to all of these questions, by the power of the Holy Spirit – serve!

"To serve God, to love God, to enjoy God,

is the sweetest freedom in the world" (Thomas F. Wilson)

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Book Review: Blood Infernal (The Order of the Sanguines), a Novel

Blood Infernal (The Order of the Sanguines) by James Rollins and Rebecca Cantrell

Final book in the trilogy series of The Order of the Sanguines. It all start with The Blood Gospel, then Innocent Blood and now Blood Infernal. Each book contain about 450-500 pages, so, if this series is not that good or average, I would’ve quit long time ago (I once tempted to quit and proceed with Stephen Hawking’s The Grand Design). But yeah, this series is superb! I don’t know much about Rebecca Cantrell but James Rollins is for me the best author of thriller, mystery, science and history. Rollins is a genius that can blend all of it into a novel, an inventive storyteller.

In this series, the authors skilfully combine historical elements of Christianity (though highly speculative, this is a work of friction after all), science, and love into a wonderful story that is action-packed and definitely had tug my emotions. This frictional story revolves around the three main characters, the Trio of Prophesy: Erin Granger, an archaeologist, the Woman of Learning; Jordan Stone, a military forensic, the Warrior of Man; and Rhun Korza, a Vatican sanguinist-priest, the Knight of Christ. Together they fight evils, spill blood and discover many mysteries and puzzles that interconnected with one another. In short, they have to save the world together.

But not that straightforward and easily predicted kind. The story is filled with betrayals, twisted plots, scandals, secrets and weird creatures. First they discovered The Blood Gospel a tome that presumably written by Christ’s own blood. And then, the adventure goes worse from then on. From Rome to Italy, Bohemia to Russia, Israel to Nepal, even the Garden of Eden. From ‘strigoi’ sort of vampire-like creature, ‘blasphemare’ an unholy union between strigoi and beast, werewolf half-man half-beast, and ‘sanguine’ strigoi turned good that doesn’t feed by human blood but by the Blood of Christ that is performed in the Holy Communion.

Then there are also some controversial characters: Eliezer the Priest, the Apostle Peter, Cardinal Bernard of Clairvaux and Hugh de Payens founders of the Order of Templar, John Dee and Edward Kelly the Alchemists, Saint Francis of Assisi, Countess Elisabeth Bathory, German Nazi’s secrets (the Arians mythological superace), the Army of Light, Archangel Michael, the Destroyer only named as Iscariot, the 666-demons-filled Legion, and the Prince of Darkness Lucifer.

The best frictional trilogy novels I ever read! Superb!

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7 Suggestions on How to Respond to MH370 Tragedy

The recent tragedy of the missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370 since last Saturday (8^th March 2014) certainly brings this question to the minds of many people of faith: If God is good, why does He allow bad thing happened? Why does He permit this tragic disaster to occur? While the most honest and truthful (and often cliché) answer is that “He’s God and He knows what He’s doing” – we as a human beings know that we need more than that.

Maybe this is the part where the Book of Job is very relevant for us today. The only truth that came out from Zaphar’s lip was when he asked Job, “Can you solve the mysteries of God? Can you discover everything about the Almighty?” (Job 11:7, NLT) When Job doesn’t understand what was really happened to him, God needs him to understand that – at the moment of his present disaster, Job doesn’t need to understand why. Knowing this mystery and the sovereignty of God in all things can often make the difference between moving closer to the Lord or turning our backs on Him.

It would be impossible, in just one short article, to go into all the reasons for suffering and for why God allows tragedy. There are many good books written for that purpose. I trust that task to the Holy Spirit to reveal and teach you and to your pastor to explain it to you. (As Christian workers, we try our best to do this). Instead, I want to focus on 7 suggestions on how we should respond to this tragedy:

#1: Try to Pray-on-the-Spot

Every time I read people posted “Pray for MH370”, I wonder, do they really pray? Besides being hypocrite, more often than not even sincere people also sometime didn’t pray because they forget about what they had said and promised they will do. Last night, I and my friends; Supang, Finiks and Donald spontaneously prayed for the tragedy while waiting for our movie show. Instead of talking and hoping for the best, we decided to take time to pray on the spot. While reading the news or while driving, take your personal time to pray.

#2: Try Compassion

Compassion literally means “to suffer together.” While empathy refers more generally to our ability to take the perspective of and feel the emotions of another person, compassion is when those feelings and thoughts include the desire to help. I believe that if we really being compassionate toward the MH370 victims and their love ones, we wouldn’t have thoughts of saying or writing about sensitive matters that may hurt others. Though in practical most of us can’t be there physically to help, we do much help when we pray and spread words of hope to one another. We will seek the great good for others.

#3: Try Get the Latest Updates

Get the latest updates about the MH370 tragedy will help us to respond better and more accurately. Never try to be in the know-it-all or be an expert or try to spread unwarranted speculations which are not based on truth and evident. Shut up more and speak up less. Unless you’re the media reporters or the rescuers on the ground, Malaysians will appreciate if you keep your opinions to yourselves.

#4: Try Not to Major on Only One News

By now, all eyes and ears are on the MH370 tragedy. As much as it is important to be concern about the tragedy, most of us sometime unaware of what others important news happening around Malaysia at this time such as raging Cameron Highlands forest fire, unhealthy and thick haze in Shah Alam, BR1M 3.0 is not distribute properly, no rain and water problem, Anwar Ibrahim was found guilty by the Court of Appeal, Datuk Lee Chong Wei wins the All-England Open title for a third time, Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak said that the leakages in the subsidy supply chain cannot be avoided as long as price controls and bulk subsidies are set in place by the government, etc.

Do you know about all these news?

#5: Try Self-Control

By this I mean we don’t need to repeat what people have said. Control the amount of our Facebook and social media posts about the MH370 tragedy. Maybe we can reduce the amount of links and only share what we ourselves have read and understood. Self-control here also mean that we don’t get too obsess with the news that we forget to do what we should do such as our tasks at workplace, assignments at class and responsibilities at home. Balance between suggestion #3, #4 and #5.

#6: Try Silence and Solitude

Flee, be silent and pray.

#7: Place Your Faith, Hope and the Future to God

Yesterday I wrote: “In time of crisis, our weaknesses revealed. In time of chaos, we finally realized who our true friends are and who our real foes are. The nation is a picture of the conditions of its leaders and people. The people's reactions are the state of what they believe. There is no obvious emotional and visible differences – we all think and feel very much the same – but what really make the difference is, the invincible: Faith in the the Living Christ. That is why I consciously pray for the MH370 and places my Faith in Him who is There with us. Other than this, we have no hope both now and the future” (Edited). These are my suggestions.

“We are merely moving shadows…
And so, Lord, where do I put my hope?

My only hope is in you”

(Psalms 39:6-7, NLT)

Lord, Please Send MH370 Home, We Pray. Amen.

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The Trinity of God

“God is light, and there is no darkness in him at all” (1 John 5:1, NLT)

In his book, The Chemistry of the Blood, M.R. DeHaan, founder of the Radio Bible Class, notes that in saying “God is light,” the biblical authors are telling us something about the Trinity. A scientific analysis of sunlight reveals that it consists of three kinds of rays:

1.      Chemical rays or actinic. These rays are invisible and can neither be seen or felt.

2.      Light rays. These rays can be seen but never felt.

3.      Heat rays. These rays are felt but never seen.

DeHaan writes, “God is light and in Him is no darkness at all. We know the Godhead consists of Three Persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. The Father corresponds to the chemical rays of sunlight; No man hath seen God at any time. The Son, who is the light of the world, corresponds to the light rays, the One whom we can see but not feel. The Holy Spirit corresponds to the heat rays, since He is felt in the lives of believers but never seen.”

Timeless, spaceless, single, lonely,

Yet sublimely Three,

Thou art grandly, always, only

God in Unity!

Lone in grandeur, lone in glory,

Who shall tell Thy wondrous story,

Awful Trinity?

(Frederick W. Faber)

The Trinity of God is a mystery. It can’t be explained and understand fully. God, if He loses His mystery is not an awesome God. God of the Bible is unique and exclusive. “If you try to understand the Trinity” writes Wilbur Smith, “you will lose your mind. But if you deny the Trinity, you will lose your soul”. Indeed, God is an Awful Trinity! He is the God who reveals Himself freely and yet – full of mystery; “God is light”. Awesome! Praise be to God. Amen.

THINK BIG. START SMALL. GO DEEP.