Participants:
Series Code: AU
Program Code: AU000058S
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00:01 - It was just a single musical performance,
00:02 and it was recorded, it wasn't even live, 00:05 but it did give me a lot to think about. 00:07 So today I'm gonna tell you what I witnessed 00:10 and why it seems to fly in the face of this idea 00:13 that you and I arrived on this planet by accident. 00:17 [upbeat ambient music] 00:37 I know this is probably gonna make me sound 00:39 like something of a workaholic, 00:41 but recently, when I was finally able 00:43 to carve a few free days outta my schedule, what did I do? 00:46 I went to work for another organization 00:48 because they had this incredible workload 00:51 and really tight deadlines. 00:53 In fact, they had to write, edit, 00:56 and publish a brand new four color magazine 00:59 every single day of the week. 01:00 And so I offered to help and they graciously accepted. 01:04 And during the course of that week, 01:06 I was asked to write a story 01:08 about this really remarkable guy, 01:11 a baritone singer from Korea 01:13 who was slated to perform 01:15 during an afternoon concert in St. Louis. 01:18 The magazine editors 01:20 didn't know that I've got a background in classical music, 01:23 so I got that story by some kind of happy coincidence. 01:27 In order to write the story, 01:29 I had to correspond with the singer's wife in Korea 01:32 because, well, this singer was not in St. Louis, 01:35 but it submitted 01:37 a professionally recorded video performance, 01:38 he produced at home 01:40 so that it could be played on a big screen 01:42 in the convention center where I was working. 01:45 And as you can imagine, 01:47 sending messages back and forth across the Pacific 01:49 slowed things down as I was writing 01:52 because of the dramatic shift in time, 01:55 it was frustrating because the deadline for the story 01:58 was that day. 02:00 When I was busy looking for content 02:03 in the central time zone, 02:05 that family was busy sleeping 02:07 in the Korean central time zone and vice versa. 02:10 But eventually, I managed to get this story written. 02:13 And today I thought I'd share 02:15 just a little bit of it with you, because in my mind, 02:18 it raised a couple of really interesting points. 02:22 Now I should probably explain, [tranquil ambient music] 02:24 I don't just like music, I adore music. 02:28 And at one point, when I was a kid, 02:29 I even hoped to become a concert pianist 02:32 until I realized, well, just how few people 02:35 actually managed to make a go of that. 02:37 I mean, in my own humble opinion, I was pretty good, 02:40 but I wasn't that good if you understand, 02:43 I wasn't Carnegie good. 02:45 I wasn't one of the 1% or whatever that percentage is 02:49 of people whose talents are impressive enough 02:52 to place them on the world's big stages. 02:55 Of course, that didn't mean I didn't try because I did, 02:59 in fact, I practiced three or four hours a day 03:01 when I was in high school. 03:02 But when I got to college at the tender age of 17, 03:05 even though I arrived with a determination 03:07 to keep on practicing all those hours every day, 03:10 it didn't happen. 03:12 I mean, college being what it is, I never found the time. 03:16 And the practice pianos 03:17 were all the way on the other side of campus, 03:19 and the only open practice slots 03:21 were at five o'clock in the morning. 03:23 So my commitment to this idea of continuing, 03:27 well, it waned. 03:29 And today, 35 years later, I kind of regret that 03:32 because now it sounds like 03:33 I'm wearing mittens when I play a piano. 03:36 But all that aside, my love for music has never waned, 03:40 in fact, sometimes when I'm writing this show, 03:43 I'll throw on a decent set of headphones 03:45 and let either Beethoven or Rachmaninoff inspire me 03:49 because, well, there's something about great music 03:52 that really boosts your creativity. 03:55 And I guess that's what I want to talk about. 03:57 Here in the West, we became a very materialistic people 04:01 after the industrial and scientific revolutions, 04:04 and I'm not using that word materialistic 04:06 like most people do. 04:08 I don't mean it in the sense of shallow consumerism, 04:12 what I mean 04:13 is that we adopted a material view of the universe. 04:17 We came away from the enlightenment with this understanding 04:20 that the universe kind of operates like a machine. 04:24 And it's a metaphor that does work pretty nicely 04:27 most of the time. 04:29 During the 17th and 18th centuries, 04:31 we taught ourselves to think about the solar system 04:33 as if it was some kind of pocket watch, 04:36 because of the regular watch like movements 04:38 and the way that we can keep accurate track of time on earth 04:43 by observing the motion of the stars 04:45 and the planets above our heads. 04:47 I mean, our ancestors 04:48 always use the sky as a type of calendar, 04:52 but now we began to think of it 04:54 in terms of wheels and gears. 04:57 And we also began to think of the human body 04:59 as if it was a machine 05:01 with all the various organs performing their isolated tasks 05:04 as if they were parts of some kind of steam engine 05:07 or steam powered loom in a factory. 05:10 Over time, with the advent of personal computing, 05:13 we started to compare our brains to hard drives, 05:16 which is also a fairly useful metaphor, 05:19 even though it's not entirely accurate. 05:22 But this materialistic view of the universe 05:25 where everything is supposed to have a purpose, 05:28 it begins to fall apart 05:29 when you try to apply it to some of life's best experiences, 05:33 things like love or beautiful art. 05:36 Since the 19th century, 05:38 we've taught ourselves 05:39 to think of our human characteristics, 05:41 our traits as a species in terms of natural selection, 05:46 useful random mutations, 05:48 mutations that gave us some kind of advantage for survival. 05:53 Those mutations had a way of sticking around, 05:55 but the non-useful mutations, 05:57 well, if they weren't a disadvantage, 06:00 they might stick around, but if they made your life harder, 06:03 well, according to the prevalent theory, 06:06 those people just died off rather quickly. 06:09 So in other words, 06:10 the theory says that pretty much everything 06:12 that made it into the human genome 06:13 had a reason for being there, 06:16 or at least a reason for sticking around, 06:19 it was useful for perpetuating the species. 06:21 But this is kind of where the theory falls apart, 06:25 at least for me, 06:27 because it fails to explain things like beauty or love. 06:31 I mean, where's the real utility in music? 06:34 How does producing different tones at various frequencies 06:37 and rhythms benefit our survival? 06:40 Did music somehow help some proto humans 06:42 suddenly run faster when confronted by a tiger? 06:46 I mean, maybe, maybe because you still see people 06:50 motivate themselves at the gym 06:52 by listening to aggressive music while they're running 06:54 or lifting weights, maybe, 06:56 but it seems a little unlikely to me. 07:00 And I wanna be careful how I say this 07:02 because I'm not an evolutionary biologist 07:04 by any stretch of the imagination, 07:06 and I'm well aware of my limits 07:08 when it does come to that subject. 07:10 But you know, I did take some biology in college 07:13 and the way I understand the theory, 07:15 there's no conscious entity out there in the universe 07:19 driving this process in the background, 07:21 pushing life upward and making sure there are improvements 07:24 and some measure of progress 07:26 with each succeeding generation. 07:29 Instead, we're told that evolution is a blind process 07:32 where the upgrades to human beings 07:34 and other species happen quite by accident. 07:38 Not that someone like Richard Dawkins would agree with that 07:40 because he rejects the notion of blind chance. 07:44 When he attempted to refute the notion 07:46 that our universe was designed by someone, 07:48 he argued that Darwinian evolution 07:51 is not a matter of chance at all. 07:53 He writes, "Since living complexity 07:56 embodies the very antithesis of chance, 07:59 if you think that Darwinism is tantamount to chance, 08:02 you'll obviously find it easy to refute Darwinism!" 08:05 And of course, Mr. Dawkins is motivated 08:08 to reject the notion of chance 08:10 when most people observe the world around us 08:12 and notice how incredibly complex life is, 08:16 we somehow instinctively realize 08:18 that the odds of all of this 08:20 just appearing by chance in a cold, impersonal universe, 08:24 well, it's highly improbable to say the least, 08:28 which is one of the reasons that our current theory 08:30 includes impossibly long time spans 08:33 placing the origin of our universe, 08:35 something like 13 or 14 billion years ago. 08:40 And I'm somewhat convinced that one of the things 08:43 that makes those incredibly long epox of time necessary 08:47 is the discovery that our universe had a beginning. 08:51 Back in 1929, Edwin Hubble announced 08:54 that the universe was clearly expanding, 08:56 and he figured that out by measuring the red shift of light, 09:00 other galaxies are moving away from us 09:02 and they're picking up speed as they go. 09:05 And of course, the implication is 09:07 that they all had a common starting point. 09:10 Something happened in the distant past 09:11 that pushed them apart, and they continue to drift. 09:15 Of course, what that means, the universe had a beginning. 09:19 Now, 09:21 we suddenly knew that the universe hasn't been here forever, 09:23 which flew in the face of Aristotle, 09:25 who argued that 09:26 because something cannot come out of nothing, 09:28 the universe must have always been there. 09:31 But now, 09:32 with an obvious origin, [tranquil ambient music] 09:34 we needed vast expanses of time 09:36 to explain how inorganic material particles 09:40 bouncing around in space 09:41 somehow managed to gradually morph into you and me. 09:47 Of course, I'm simplifying this 09:48 almost to the point of absurdity, 09:50 and there were obviously other reasons 09:51 for suspecting billions of years, but you get my drift. 09:56 And speaking of drift, 09:57 I've drifted more than a little bit off topic. 10:00 So I'm gonna take a quick break 10:02 and then I'll come right back 10:03 to tell you what happened in St. Louis that really forced me 10:06 to do a little bit of serious thinking. 10:09 [intense ambient music] - Dragons, beasts, 10:15 cryptic statues, 10:16 Bible prophecy can be incredibly vivid and confusing. 10:21 If you've ever read Daniel a revelation 10:23 and come away scratching your head, you are not alone. 10:26 Our free Focus on Prophecy guides 10:29 are designed to help you unlock the mysteries of the Bible 10:31 and deepen your understanding 10:33 of God's plan for you and our world. 10:36 Study online or request them by mail 10:38 and start bringing prophecy into focus today. 10:42 - So the question we really need to ask ourselves 10:44 isn't complicated, why do human beings sing? 10:48 I mean, at what point did we become musical and why? 10:51 And I know birds also sing, 10:53 but it's pretty hard to compare birds singing 10:55 to the musical genius of the 18th and 19th centuries. 10:59 Why would a blind process of random mutation 11:02 produce a phenomenon that moves people so deeply? 11:06 It was a Monday 11:07 and there was a concert scheduled for a convention 11:10 [tranquil ambient music] at 13:30 in the afternoon 11:12 right after lunch. 11:13 And of course, 11:15 if you put on something music right after lunch 11:16 and dim the lights a little bit, 11:18 everybody's gonna be fighting the urge to nap. 11:20 But I'll tell you this, 11:22 I was not napping after the second performance. 11:25 It was a major religious convention 11:27 with delegates from all over the world 11:29 representing more than 200 countries, 11:32 and it had been delayed two years because of the pandemic. 11:35 And for the same reason most of the musical selections 11:38 were pre-recorded overseas 11:40 because there was just no guarantee 11:42 that the musicians would be able to travel 11:44 across international boundaries. 11:46 And if one member of your musical group 11:48 suddenly tested positive for Covid, 11:51 well, then your performance is canceled. 11:55 So the first number was a rather creative coral bit 11:57 performed by young singers from the South Pacific 12:00 who all recorded their individual parts 12:02 in front of a webcam at home. 12:04 And then an editor cleverly assembled them 12:06 into a virtual choir 12:08 that looked a little like a musical Zoom meeting, 12:10 or depending on your age, 12:11 like the opening sequence of the Brady Bunch. 12:14 I don't know if you're familiar 12:16 with the work of Eric Whitaker, 12:18 but this was a lot like 12:20 what he does with online global choirs. 12:23 And then came the big performance, 12:26 a performance by the Korean baritone Daebum Lee, 12:30 who sang the Lord's Prayer 12:32 accompanied by piano, violin, and cello. 12:34 Not only was it visually attractive, 12:36 and not only was his performance really good, 12:39 it was breathtaking 12:40 for the simple reason that Mr. Lee was singing 12:43 when he shouldn't have been able to. 12:45 It turns out he was working in the city of Milan 12:48 as a freelance opera singer, 12:49 and his career was taking off really nicely 12:52 when disaster struck. 12:54 Most of you will probably remember 12:56 that Italy was one of the hardest hit nations in the world 12:59 when Covid first started spreading. 13:01 And the pandemic meant that his wife who was pregnant 13:05 and their three year old son had to go back to South Korea, 13:08 leaving him alone in Italy for five months. 13:12 And that's when it happened, he had a stroke. 13:16 His wife tried to come back as quickly as possible, 13:18 but she hit roadblocks because she was seven months pregnant 13:21 and moving across international borders 13:23 at the beginning of the pandemic was all but impossible. 13:27 So she prayed about him, she told me, 13:29 and the door suddenly opened 13:31 after a couple of days of frustration, 13:32 and she found herself beside her husband's bed in the ICU. 13:37 "My husband", she said, 13:38 "barely recognized me due to right hemiplegia, aphasia, 13:42 swallowing disorder and cognitive loss." 13:46 She waited and she prayed for 50 days, 13:48 which if you're doing the math, 13:50 would've brought her right up to her due date. 13:53 Finally, Daebum Lee 13:55 started to show some signs of improvement, 13:57 at least enough to make it possible 13:59 for him to fly back home. 14:01 But he still couldn't speak. 14:03 Now I want you to think about this 14:05 because maybe you've experienced 14:06 some heartbreaking disappointment in your life, 14:09 maybe you've also lost everything you hoped for. 14:12 Here was an aspiring musician, 14:14 a man of considerable talent who it seemed 14:17 was destined to sing 14:18 on some of the biggest stages in the world. 14:20 It was everything to him. 14:22 His whole life ambition, and now he couldn't even speak. 14:27 And if he can't speak, how are you gonna sing? 14:31 That's when it happened. 14:32 One day Mrs. Lee told me his lips moved 14:35 and melody began to flow. 14:37 He still couldn't speak, but somehow he was able to sing. 14:40 And so there was suddenly hope 14:42 that he could still perform in St. Louis where I was. 14:46 But that's when bad suddenly went to worse, 14:49 and he started experiencing epileptic like seizures. 14:53 Yet, in spite of all that, Daebum Lee took to the studio 14:57 to record his performance of the Lord's Prayer, 15:00 and to watch the video, 15:01 well, his impairment was barely discernible. 15:05 In fact, I grabbed a copy of the performance 15:07 so that you can witness this. 15:09 Let's cue the tape. 15:13 [tranquil ambient music] 15:19 ♪ Our Father 15:29 ♪ Which art in heaven 15:39 ♪ Hallowed be 15:48 ♪ Thy name 15:58 ♪ Thy kingdom come 16:05 ♪ Thy will be done 16:11 ♪ On Earth 16:15 ♪ As it is in heaven 16:42 ♪ Give us this day 16:46 ♪ Our daily bread 16:52 ♪ And forgive us our debts 16:58 ♪ As we forgive our debtors 17:08 ♪ And lead us not into temptation ♪ 17:16 ♪ But deliver us from evil 17:21 ♪ For Thine is the kingdom 17:28 ♪ And the power, and the glory 17:35 ♪ Forever 17:45 ♪ Amen 18:06 - Pretty impressive. 18:07 I'll be right back after this. 18:12 [tranquil ambient music] - Life can throw a lot at us. 18:15 Sometimes we don't have all the answers, 18:18 but that's where the Bible comes in. 18:21 It's our guide to a more fulfilling life. 18:24 Here at The Voice of Prophecy, 18:26 we've created the Discover Bible Guides 18:28 to be your guide to the Bible. 18:30 They're designed to be simple, easy to use, 18:32 and provide answers to many of life's toughest questions, 18:35 and they're absolutely free. 18:37 So jump online now or give us a call 18:39 and start your journey of discovery. 18:43 - Okay, here's what I really want you to think about, 18:45 obviously the Lees are calling this a miracle, 18:48 and I happen to agree with them because, 18:50 well, I believe in a personal God who answers prayer. 18:54 But all the same, it does raise some really good questions. 18:58 I mean, here's a man in a hospital bed 19:00 who suffered a brutal stroke 19:02 that caused considerable damage, 19:04 and then he suffers a traumatic seizure, 19:06 which makes his impairment even worse. 19:09 But then miraculously, 19:10 he's able to sing for a major convention 19:13 and it looks like an answer to prayer. 19:15 But of course, you do have to wonder, 19:17 [tranquil ambient music] why does this guy 19:19 get an answer to prayer, but so many people don't? 19:22 I can tell you firsthand, 19:23 I've asked God for a lot of things I didn't get, 19:27 and I know other people who also ended up in the ICU 19:30 and their families also prayed, 19:32 but they didn't get what they were asking for. 19:36 So why would God answer the prayers of one family 19:38 and not the other? 19:40 It's one of those questions 19:41 that makes me a little bit skittish 19:43 when some churches call for testimony time 19:46 during the church service, and people talk about the time 19:48 God miraculously answered their prayers, 19:52 and I honestly enjoy that 19:53 because I believe God does answer prayers. 19:56 But what about the people also sitting in church 19:59 who also prayed and they didn't get the answer they wanted? 20:03 Of course, there's no way I'm gonna be able to 20:05 adequately tackle that topic 20:07 with the time that I've got left, 20:08 but I will make one important point 20:11 because some people assume when they don't get an answer 20:14 that God must be somehow against them. 20:17 But you know, the Bible does not build a case 20:19 for belief in God based on miracles. 20:22 I know, it's popular in 21st century America 20:25 to emphasize the miraculous, 20:27 especially if you're a TV preacher 20:29 who specializes in performing so-called miracles in stadiums 20:33 in front of 1000s of people. 20:36 But an authentic Christian faith is not built on spectacle. 20:42 I mean, to be honest, 20:44 when you tally up all the miracles of the Bible 20:46 and put them on a timeline, you suddenly discover 20:49 that they were relatively few and far between. 20:53 And then you'll also discover that the Bible warns us 20:56 that we can't take a miraculous occurrence 20:58 as proof that God is working. 21:00 And after all, if you read the Book of Revelation, 21:03 you quickly discover that signs and wonders 21:05 have a way of turning up in all the wrong places. 21:09 So if you happen to be one of those people 21:12 who has prayed in earnest 21:13 and you didn't get what you wanted, 21:15 take heart in the fact that that's true for most of us. 21:19 Over the years, 21:20 I've asked God for lots of things that didn't happen, 21:23 but my faith isn't built on what God can do for me, 21:27 any more than I got married so that gene can wait on me, 21:31 it's the relationship that matters. 21:33 And the longer I've been a Christian, 21:35 the more I'm realizing 21:36 just how valuable that personal relationship is, 21:40 now to be sure, 21:41 I've got a few amazing stories that do seem miraculous, 21:45 but those are still not the foundation of my faith. 21:49 And if I'm really honest about it, 21:50 I'm glad that I didn't get everything I've ever asked for, 21:53 because well, I've come to realize over time 21:56 that God loves me too much to do things my way. 22:00 In the long run, I've discovered that what God did give me 22:03 was far better than what I asked for, 22:06 and I've come to realize, I can trust him. 22:10 You know, there's this intriguing scene 22:12 in the Book of Daniel, 22:13 and we get a peak at the final judgment. 22:16 "I watched till thrones were put in place, 22:18 and the ancient of days was seated. 22:20 His garment was white as snow, 22:22 and the hair of his head was like pure wool. 22:25 His throne was a fiery flame, it's wheels a burning fire. 22:29 A fiery stream issued and came forth from before him. 22:32 A 1000 1000s ministered to him, 22:35 10,000 times, 10,000 stood before him. 22:38 The court was seated, and the books were opened." 22:43 Now just think about this, 22:45 it's a description of an omnipotent 22:47 and more importantly, omniscient God. 22:50 He's described as the ancient of days, 22:53 a being who already knows everything. 22:55 And yet when the judgment commences, they open the books. 23:00 So why in the world would God need books? 23:04 Well, the answer is he doesn't, 23:06 but he's not the only sentient being at that judgment 23:09 and the others are not all knowing. 23:11 What it's telling us 23:13 is that eventually God shows us everything, 23:15 and you will have an opportunity to ask him 23:18 why he didn't answer you when you thought he should have. 23:21 And what we all discover at that moment 23:24 is that God has never made a mistake, not even once. 23:26 I mean, listen to the crowd in Revelation chapter 15, 23:29 it says, 23:31 "They sing the song of Moses, the servant of God, 23:33 and the Song of the Lamb saying, 23:35 'Great and marvelous are your works, Lord God Almighty! 23:38 Just and true are your ways, O, king of the saints. 23:42 Who shall not fear you, O Lord, 23:44 and glorify your name for you alone are holy. 23:47 For all nations shall come and worship before you, 23:50 for your judgements have been manifested.'" 23:54 All right, I gotta take another quick break 23:55 and then I'll bring one more question 23:58 about miracles and prayer. 24:00 I'll be right back after this. 24:03 [tranquil ambient music] - Here 24:05 at The Voice of Prophecy, 24:07 we're committed to creating top quality programming 24:09 for the whole family, like our audio adventure series, 24:12 Discovery Mountain. 24:14 Discovery Mountain is a bible based program 24:16 for kids of all ages and backgrounds. 24:18 Your family will enjoy the faith building stories 24:21 from this small mountain summer camp and town. 24:24 With 24 seasonal episodes every year 24:27 and fresh content every week, 24:29 there's always a new adventure just on the horizon. 24:35 - Before the break, I said I had another question, 24:38 but it's really more of an observation. 24:40 Even though Mr. Lee couldn't speak, he was able to sing. 24:44 Now all I have to go on here is anecdotal evidence, 24:47 so you're gonna want to check this out for yourself. 24:49 But quite a few years ago, 24:51 I noticed that when horrible diseases like dementia 24:54 or Alzheimer's begin to destroy someone's life, 24:57 it seems like parts of the brain are somehow protected 25:00 from the damage that's taking place in other parts. 25:04 I've seen elderly people [tranquil ambient music] 25:05 who have suffered horrible cognitive impairment 25:08 to the point where they don't know what year it is 25:10 and they have no idea who you are, even if you're family. 25:14 Some of them begin to relive their earliest years, 25:17 convinced that the people around them 25:19 are actually characters from their childhood. 25:21 Many of them struggle to remember names and places, 25:24 and over time, 25:26 they actually lose the ability to communicate verbally. 25:29 But somehow the scripture they've memorized 25:32 and the songs they've learned, somehow that's all intact. 25:36 I've heard people, I was pretty sure were completely gone 25:40 suddenly start singing 25:42 and they get every note and every lyric completely right. 25:45 As a minister, 25:47 I've started reading the Bible to some of these people 25:48 because well, real conversations aren't possible anymore, 25:52 and then suddenly 25:54 they start to recite the Bible passage with me 25:56 and without a single mistake. 25:59 And I've discussed this with friends 26:01 who have witnessed the same thing with their loved ones. 26:03 So is it possible that somehow 26:06 God designed the human brain such that the memory of him 26:10 is never wiped out even when the rest of your mind fails? 26:15 Over in the book of Jeremiah, 26:16 there's a famous line where God tells the prophet, 26:19 "Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you", 26:22 which means that as far as God is concerned, 26:24 you and I already had an identity 26:26 before we took our first breath. 26:28 And before we form some of our first mental impressions, 26:32 it seems that we don't have to be completely cognitive 26:36 in order to have a relationship with the creator. 26:38 And later in life, when our brains begin to malfunction 26:41 and pull away from reality, 26:43 somehow we still have a tie to God. 26:46 It seems that he's our first relationship and our last, 26:50 because one of the best preserved parts of the mind, 26:52 even after trauma is the part that enables you 26:55 to relate to a supreme being. 26:57 I mean, think about it, 26:59 maybe there's a good reason that 95% of human beings 27:02 have an intrinsic sense 27:04 that there's got to be something or somebody out there. 27:07 Most people still believe God exists, 27:10 although there's a huge variety of opinions 27:12 when it comes to what God really is. 27:15 We've had more than two centuries since the Enlightenment, 27:18 and more than two centuries since Darwin, 27:20 and somehow the vast majority of us still believe in God. 27:25 And maybe just, maybe that's because 27:27 before our fully sentient existence begins and when it ends, 27:33 there's somebody out there 27:34 who makes sure that we know he's there. 27:36 It kind of sheds new light on Jesus' statement 27:38 that he will never leave us or forsake us. 27:41 Is there a reason that our first thoughts 27:43 and our last appear to be about God? 27:47 Thank you for joining me. 27:49 I'm Sean Boostrum, and this has been Authentic. 27:53 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Revised 2022-12-16