The ties that bind

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“Lots of people talk about miracles, but, let’s face it, no one has ever really experienced one,” my friend said. “At least no one I know,” he added.

Then I told him my story, a truly miraculous tale of God’s direct intervention in a crucial second. Do you believe in miracles?

In the spring of 1981, my then 3-year-old daughter, Sarah, and I were in the family room of our home. I had my sewing box out, and I was doing some mending while Sarah played.

My son, Matthew, who was in kindergarten, had given me a retractable measuring tape for Christmas the previous year. It was a small one; the tape was no more than one-quarter of an inch wide. Sarah enjoyed pulling the end out, pushing the button and watching the tape spin back inside again. It was a harmless play toy, or so I thought.

I became involved with my mending and wasn’t paying a lot of attention to her play.

When I looked up, I saw Sarah red-faced, the measuring tape bound closely around her neck with several tight knots in it.

I quickly dropped my mending and ran to help her.

I tried to untie the knots, but they wouldn’t budge. The thin plastic tape was bound so tightly, the knots held true. I grabbed a pair of scissors in an effort to cut the tape off, but I was concerned about stabbing her or cutting her in the neck with the point of the shears. After several unsuccessful attempts of carefully trying to get the scissors under the tape, the tape held tightly. I could not get scissors under it without risking serious injury to her neck — or worse.

By this time, Sarah was struggling to breathe, and her face was growing redder. It was such an effort for her to get air that she couldn’t even cry.

I realized that I couldn’t untie it, and I couldn’t cut it off. I briefly considered calling 911, but I was doubtful if an ambulance could make it in time.

I touched the tape, frantic and trembling, desperately attempting to remove it one more time. In total anguish I cried out, “Dearest Jesus, please help me!”

Instantly, after my desolate plea, the measuring tape came loose and unwound, making it easy for me to remove it. The tape fell on the floor with one stubborn knot remaining; the other knots were, well, gone.

I held Sarah tightly, both of us shaking with emotion, trying to comprehend what had just occurred. I knew that I was not able to get the knots undone, but they were undone anyway.

Upon reflection, however, I knew what had happened. In a time of peril, I called on the precious name of Jesus, and He answered my earnest plea in a heartbeat. I felt as if I had witnessed something as spectacular as Peter walking on water or Jesus healing the sick — a supernatural intervention by a great and loving God.

“In my distress I called upon the Lord; to my God I cried for help. From His temple He heard my voice, and my cry to Him reached His ears.” Psalm 18:6

Can you explain it? Neither can I, but I do believe in miracles.

Climate change: Seven indisputable facts

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This is an excellent article by Rep. Lamar Smith. 

The Hill, September 09, 2015, 07:00 am

By Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas)

President Obama last week visited Alaska to preach about the inevitable doomsday scenarios the world will face if Americans fail to embrace his extreme climate change agenda. Like all climate alarmists, the president wants Americans to believe there is no uncertainty about climate change. They pretend to know exactly how much human actions contribute to the changing climate. By denying any uncertainty, their goal is to shut off debate. ‘Just trust us. We know what’s best for you.’

But the truth is there are more questions about climate change than there are answers. For instance, even the most advanced climate models all failed to predict the lack of warming the Earth has experienced over the last 18 years. But the president and his Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) refuse to let facts get in the way of their determination to impose greater government control over the lives of the American people.

Below are seven irrefutable facts about climate change that are ignored because they do not fit into the alarmists’ scare tactics. These facts are not disputed.

1. For the past 18 years, weather satellites have not measured a global increase in temperatures although carbon dioxide in the atmosphere has increased over that same period.  Weather satellites are the most advanced instruments for measuring global temperatures.  The fact that these satellites have not detected a measureable temperature increase despite an increased concentration of CO2 in the atmosphere calls into question the correlation climate change alarmists preach between carbon emissions and temperature.

2. According to EPA’s own data, U.S. carbon emissions have decreased nine percent since 2005.  These carbon reductions have occurred as a result of technological advancements and free market forces, which will continue. This raises the question of whether burdensome regulations are necessary.

3. The natural cycle of global temperatures has resulted in both higher and lower temperatures over the past 1,000 years than exist today.  These temperature fluctuations occurred before significant fossil energy use.  So temperatures the Earth is experiencing now have been seen before.

4. If implemented, the Obama administration’s Climate Action Plan would reduce global temperatures by only 0.01, or one one-hundredth of a degree Celsius.  President Obama’s former Deputy Secretary for Fossil Energy at the Department of Energy, Charles McConnell, said that EPA’s carbon rules will have only a minor impact on global climate change.  Yet regulations will cost billions of dollars and jeopardize thousands of jobs.

5. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) has reported that there is little or no connection between extreme weather and climate change. According to a 2012 report, IPCC stated that there is “high agreement” that long-term trends in weather disasters “have not been attributed to… climate change.”  Climate change alarmists point toward hurricanes, tornadoes and other global weather disasters as a proof that man-made carbon emissions are hurting our planet.  However, as the IPCC report stated, the opposite is true. There is scientific agreement that weather disasters are not caused by climate change, despite President Obama repeatedly trying to connect the two.

6. Population growth, especially in the developing world, will account for even more global carbon emissions. Carbon emissions from developing countries are projected to increase by over 125 percent by 2040. And world population is expected to surge by over 2 billion people by 2050, an increase of more than 30 percent. Yet few climate scientists acknowledge the potential impact of population growth on carbon emissions.

7. Carbon dioxide accounts for a very small part of the Earth’s overall atmosphere and those levels have fluctuated throughout the Earth’s history. Carbon dioxide currently accounts for only .038 percent of our planet’s atmosphere. And human-made carbon dioxide only makes up about three percent of that. Put another way, if all the gases in the atmosphere were represented by the length of a football field, only the last 1/10 of an inch would be carbon emissions caused by humans. It’s hard to believe that such a small amount would supposedly have such huge consequences.

The EPA and other government agencies too often fail to present all the facts. Their agenda comes first; accuracy comes second. Climate change has many explanations — and unanswered questions.  The American people need good science, not science fiction promoted by alarmists.

Lamar Smith has represented Texas’ 21st Congressional District since 1987. He chairs the Science, Space, and Technology Committee, and also sits on the Homeland Security and the Judiciary committees.