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Devotions: Where We Came From
Q. What are the possible explanations concerning how mankind came to be? (2 possibilities)
A. Evolutionary View - Mankind evolved through random events driven by atmospheric conditions over billions of years, which eventually produced the extremely complex living being known as man, along with every other living thing. This amazing phenomenon is thought to have taken place on earth, but is known to have taken place nowhere else in the universe.
B. Creation, or Intelligent Design View -Mankind came into being through the awesome purposeful creation of an all-loving, all-powerful, all-knowing God.
- There are variations on these two beliefs, but all beliefs can ultimately be boiled down to one of these two.
Implications:
1. If evolution is true, than we don't need a Savior, we just need a few more billion years to complete the perfecting process. There's no such thing as sin, merely mistakes, which we can overcome if we try a little harder.
2. Adolph Hitler was strongly influenced by Darwin's theory of evolution, and his goal was to accelerate the process by actively facilitating the survival of the fittest, and the annihilation of those he saw as inferior or unworthy of life. We do the same thing today with the unborn; might there be a connection?
3. Evolution rightly explains minor changes that occur within species (micro-evolution); this is a no-brainer. However, it does not adequately address:
a. the origin of life
b. the differentiation between species (macro-evolution)
c. the absolute differences between man and animals (It may not be a coincidence that the more accepted the theory of evolution has become in our country, the more blurred the distinction has become between human and animal behavior.)
4. (For Christians who might think evolutionary belief is compatible with Christianity) According to the Bible, when God created man, He described man with what two-word phrase? (Very good). When man was first created, there was no such thing as death or disease; life was literally "paradise on earth." Evolution depends upon the prevalence of death and disease for millions, or billions, or trillions of years (take your pick) prior to the existence of man. According to the Bible, the entrance of death and disease came about as a result of the deliberate rebellion of our ancestors. This is described as "the fall." Later in the Bible Jesus is described as the One who came to "redeem" His people, to "restore" us to our pre-fall condition for eternity. When we see a patient with decay, our calling is to remove the decay and fill it so that it looks like it did before, to "restore" it. If we do not acknowledge the hstorical fall from grace which occurred early in man's existence, then on what basis will we truly understand the work of Christ, to restore the relationship that once existed between man and God?
5. If we came into being through random, purposeless events, then on what basis do we ascribe purpose and meaning to our lives?
- Evolutionary thought would logically lead us to the conclusion that we are mere floating bags of protoplasm, having come into being through chance, and living our lives with equivalent arbitrariness. To pretend that our lives actually have meaning and purpose is inconsistent with the evolutionary explanation of origin.
6. Genesis 1:26,27 - "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth. And God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them."
- Q. Is God's Word credible? Did He create this world, did He create mankind in His own image, or did everything come about through chance?
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LaToya and Kim in the denture lab. | Today, for the first time ever in the history of the Mavis Bank dental clinic, we were able to offer complete denture treatment for needy patients. Dr. Jim Carney, a veteran of close to 30 dental missions trips to Jamaica, brought the necessary supplies and know-how, and four students - |
Lena, Jason, Latoya and Kim - worked with him to fabricate dentures for patients with nowhere else to turn. We hope to eventually be able to make dentures a regular part of the treatment available to the residents of Mavis Bank.
| The second-year dental students are becoming much more capable at performing patient care now, thereby freeing up the fourth year students and dentists for more specialized needs - removing wisdom teeth, surgical root tip extractions, etc. Kevin and Jason worked together to remove six teeth in a short period of time for some very grateful patients. Matt, | 
Jen and Matt get to the root of the problem. |
assisted by Heather, was able to successfully remove what was left of a badly decayed wisdom tooth. Christa and Jen were assigned a patient with several badly decayed teeth, and they were able to comfortably remove five of the worst ones in short order. 
Jen and Matt get to the root of the problem. | Angie has two tough molars to remove and asked for help. I loosened the easiest of the two, then asked her to complete this first extraction while I went to check on another patient. When I returned just a few minutes later, she had removed the one I had started, along with the other, much more difficult, one. One of the dental |
chairs was set up outside, and Tyler was in the process of extracting a tooth. He had it good and loose, and was being extremely careful,| but it was time for this tooth and its owner to go their separate ways. Rather than telling Tyler what to do, I said to the patient, "This tooth will be out in no more than 10 seconds," and then I began the countdown. I saw a bit of surprise in Tyler's face, but he took the challenge, and by the time I had counted down to three, Tyler had the tooth out and everyone was happy. | 
Tyler, Shawn, and Jessica hoping for a little breeze |
Jessica utilizing the room with a view | One of the more surprising examples of patient treatment involved a patient assigned to Jessica Ewolt and Amber. The patient had an upper left first molar which looked quite healthy, but he said he wanted the tooth removed. We complied with his wishes, and when Jessica removed the tooth, we found |
a huge abscess at the end of the root, thereby explaining all the pain which he had been experiencing. Doing dentistry without x-rays is just full of surprises!
| Lunch each day consisted of rapidly made chicken or tuna salad sandwiches, along with perhaps some cookies and some ice-cold Ting (a local grapefruit-flavored soft drink). We ate along a cinder wall behind the clinic, then quickly got back to work. The kitchen MVP for the week was undoubtedly Amber. At least twice that week Amber approached | 
Dr. Carney, Kevin, Kelly, and Matt on their lunch "hour" |
me with a timely sandwich, thereby convincing me to take a quick break from treatment long enough to get some nourishment. She was similarly thoughtful to others, as well.
Jessica, Ang and Heather enjoy snacks after a busy day | Four third-year dental students arrived today, including Jessica Slater, a veteran of last year's trip, who did much to help organize this year's trip. Before the morning was over, Jessica was unselfishly allowing younger students to gain experience by meeting the more basic needs of her patients. |
It was a real blessing to see how well the students of various classes were working together for the sake of the Jamaican people.
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