October 16, 2013
THE ELECTROMAGNETIC FORCE
When our God gave us the elements of matter, he also gave us forces that hold them together. Of the four forces we have discovered, we have also been able to describe how they act in mathematical equations. Earlier, we wrote two issues on the actions of gravity. This issue will take up the electromagnetic force. Because we understand the action of these forces does not mean that our knowledge is fundamental. We are still ignorant on a higher level.
Our insights into electromagnetic forces came some two hundred years after Isaac Newton gave us his equations describing gravity in the 1600s. Two paths that finally came together were the study of how the parts of atoms held together, and how electricity and magnetism were like a married couple.
The road to understanding atoms was much like current work in crashing particles together in the European Large Hadron Collider. One way to tease nature into giving up her secrets is by crashing particles together, and keeping track of the debris. An early conception of atoms was that they were like miniature solar systems, with electrons having negative charges orbiting around a nucleus with positively charged protons. Just as gravity held solar systems together, electrical attraction forces were thought to hold atoms together.
The early thinking of electrons as particles later gave way to a more accurate picture of shells of electrons having a wave-like character with both electric and magnetic components. Successive shells surrounded a nucleus center of both protons and neutrons – which also had wave properties.
The crowning understanding of electromagnetism came in the 1800s when James Clerk Maxwell was able to develop four equations that described the actions of everything involving electricity and magnetism. His work was based on the earlier discoveries by a devout Christian, Michael Faraday. Arising out of deep poverty and lack of formal education, Faraday, because of his humble and selfless character, rose to the top of England’s elite Royal Scientific Society. One biographer spoke of his life as a “class act.” He belonged to a reformation group who held to the ideal of “speaking where the Bible speaks and being silent where the Bible is silent.”
However, a puzzle still remained in the electrical cement that held atoms together. If the nucleus of an atom was composed of a compact group of positively charged protons, why did the mutual repulsion of these positive charges not cause them to fly apart? This opened a door for the discovery of still another force of nature – deep in the nucleus – that we will write about in a later issue.
Atoms are like people. They are incomplete in their makeup and therefore designed to combine with other atoms. These marriages result in the world of molecules that make up our bodies as well as the entire world around us. We thank God for his wondrous designs of the many glues that hold all things together.
– James Gibbs
Blurred Lines: Sexuality, Marriage, & God -- Our first seminar is scheduled to begin this Thursday, October 17, and continues on October 19, and 20th. We will meet in the auditorium on Thursday, October 17th from 6:30-8:30 p.m. (includes dessert); Saturday, October 19th from 5:45-9:00 p.m. (includes dinner) and we will conclude on Sunday, October 20th during worship services. Child Care will be available.
We will focus on how the Scriptures define human sexuality. The discussions will consist primarily of defining sexuality as a core part of our being created in the image of God and how our genders are reflections of what God wants to show of himself through our sexuality.
We will then have a seminar in the winter (possibly Jan 24-26) on defining marriage. Note, this is not a marriage seminar on how to relate to one another in a marriage, but what is the biblical theology of marriage. Thus the marriage seminar will include issues on singleness, chastity, and societal concerns.
Finally, we will have a spring seminar on the issue of pornography and its effect on men and women in the church today.
Elders and Deacons Meeting is scheduled for Monday, October 21, at 7:00 p.m. in the Auditorium. All deacons are encouraged to attend this meeting. (Please use the canopy entrance on the west side of the building to enter the auditorium as a class will be in progress in the Fireside Room.)
Anniversary Sunday -- Please invite your friends, neighbors and former members to come join us in celebrating our 63rd Anniversary as a church family on Sunday, October 27. We will have a potluck luncheon following our morning services. Please bring lots of your favorite potluck dishes to share with our visitors. Plan now to join us as we celebrate our special day!
Baby Shower -- We are honoring Lane and Whitney Augustson with a baby shower this Sunday evening, October 20, at 5:30 p.m. in the Fireside Room. Please bring finger foods to share. They are having a boy. To contribute towards a group gift, please contact Sally Zielke, Wyndee Thomas or Chaley Johnson. Whitney is also registered at Target if you need gift ideas.
Prime Timers Luncheon -- The Prime Timers will be going OUT to lunch in October at the Black Bear Diner on East Barnett Road. We will meet in the private dining room at 11:30 a.m. on Thursday, October 31. There will be prizes for wearing a FUNNY Halloween costume and sharing your funniest Halloween experience. Please call Joan Tisdel if you need more information.
Coffee Servers -- Coffee servers are needed for a few Sundays in December. Servers are needed for December 8, 22, and 29. If you can help, please sign up on the list posted in the hallway by the stairs. Thank you for all your help!
Prayer Requests . . . For Larry Denn and Donna York as they both recover from hip surgery...For Wade Bryant who has pancreatic cancer and as he undergoes radiation treatments...For Cynthia Barnes as she recovers from knee replacement surgery at RRMC ...For Bob Trimmer as he recovers from carpal tunnel surgery...Continued prayers for Evelyn Bates, Lillian Casebier and Dorothy Trimmer as they deal with their health concerns...For the Bob Stapp family - on the passing of Lee’s mother this past week...For the great-granddaughter of Don & Shirley House who is in Doernbecher hospital with leukemia...For Torrey Brunot (one of our teens) who lost her mother this past week... Colleen Abbott requests prayers for her friend, Veronica, whose newborn son is having difficulty breathing on his own...Samara Walker requests your prayers for her Grandma Dorene, who is having knee pain...For Jenny Way that she has contentment in her surroundings...For our President and all of our military men, women and families.
Wedding Announcement -- Lois Smith is pleased to announce the marriage of her daughter,Melissa Louise Smith to Kevin Dale Sundholm on Saturday, October 12, 2013, at the Springfield Faith Center.
Calendar of Events
Oct 20: Baby Shower for Lane & Whitney Augustson; FSR; 5:30 p.m.;
Bring Finger Foods
Oct 17, 19, 20: Marriage Seminar
Oct 27: Anniversary Sunday
Oct 31: Prime Timers Luncheon
