It was the trip of a lifetime. Here we were, touring Scotland after spending some time in Ireland and England. Along the way, with our host, we made a stop that was not on our itinerary—Lockerbie, Scotland. As my wife and I perused the items in the small museum last year, it was a poignant reminder of the tragic downing of Pan American Airlines Flight 103 on December 21, 1988. The horror of the bombing sunk in as we saw the pictures of the victims and the devastation that occurred in the neighborhoods where the plane had plummeted to the ground. What had been a newspaper story and television coverage years before became very real to us as we viewed the pictorial evidence.

Did life as we know it today evolve? Was there a starting point from which the world began? The Bible says in Genesis 1:1: "In the beginning." In v. 11 we see that plant life was created. In v. 20 we see that fish, sea creatures and birds were created. In v. 24 other living creatures made their appearance at God's command. And then, the ultimate creation – man – made in the image of God, was created.

Whenever I visit my doctor—as reluctant as I am about it—the nurse will inevitably take my vital signs, including my blood pressure. In an effort to skew the results in my favor, I typically close my eyes to envision a warm, white sandy beach, and the sounds of surf on a pristine emerald shoreline as I sit under a beach umbrella, savoring the bouquet of an ice cold beverage! Ahhhhh!

Take a look at our society today. Sexual misconduct and perversion are rampant. Movies, magazines, videos and the internet are dominated by sexually explicit content. Many thinking people are alarmed by the "sexualization" of so much of our society.

Here is another classic dumb idea of mankind. It all started right after the flood of Noah. You can read about it in Genesis 10:8-12. Nimrod, the great grandson of Noah, began to have people look to him for guidance and protection rather than relying on God. He built the first city-states and set the Babylonish pattern for mankind from that point on.

God worked directly with Abram – who became Abraham – and with his descendants down to Israel's time. But, the people were not happy with that arrangement. We pick up the story in 1 Samuel 8:1-5: