Carol Game

This might be fun for you to do! And, I don't think it take any research to know if it's real or not.

12 days of Christmas

I thought this was interesting!

Loving Spirit

I was unsure of whether to post this or not, but I figured we could all use the reminder. Even if we don't have any annoying relatives, we all need to be reminded to show Christ's love to our family, friends, and people we meet. Not only around Christmas time, but all through the year.

Christmas trees

I thought this was really neat! It's nice to see trees from around the world. Makes me want to travel and go see them!

This one is for December 9th

Geese

:)

Give this Christmas Away!

'Jesus' candy

Story of the Candy Cane

St. Nick

Here is the short version of his story.

Silent Night

Christ the Savior is born on a Silent Night !

Our Savior

This is true!


(thanks Matthew for showing me how 'properly' post, ha ha.)

Cool Lights

I'm sure most have seen this or similar ones before. But I think it's cool!

Mary Had The Little Lamb

Mary Had The Little Lamb

Mary had the little Lamb, who lived before His birth;
Self-existent Son of God, from Heaven He came to Earth.
Micah 5:2

Mary had the little Lamb; see Him in yonder stall --
Virgin-born Son of God, to save man from the Fall.
Isaiah 7:14

Mary had the little Lamb, obedient Son of God;
Everywhere the Father led, His feet were sure to trod.
John 6:38

Mary had the little Lamb, crucified on the tree
The rejected Son of God, He died to set men free.
1 Peter 1:18

Mary had the little Lamb -- men placed Him in the grave,
Thinking they were done with Him; to death He was no slave!
Matthew 28:6

Mary had the little Lamb, ascended now is He;
All work on Earth is ended, our Advocate to be.
Hebrews 4:14-16

Mary had the little Lame -- mystery to behold!
From the Lamb of Calvary, a Lion will unfold.
Revelation 5: 5,6

When the Day Star comes again, of this be very sure:
It won't be Lamb-like silence, but with the Lion's roar.
Psalm 2:12
Revelation 19:11-16

- Marv & Marbeth Rosenthal

December 1st

I got this from the Klove radio station site. Thought I would post it every day.

The Tale of Three Trees

The Tale of Three Trees
A traditional folk tale, retold by Angela Elwell Hunt

Once upon a mountain top, three little trees stood and dreamed of what they wanted to become when they grew up.

The first little tree looked up at the stars twinkling like diamonds above him. "I want to hold treasure," he said. "I want to be covered with gold and filled with precious stones. I will be the most beautiful treasure chest in the world!"

The second little tree looked out at the small stream trickling by on its way to the ocean. "I want to be a strong sailing ship," he said. "I want to travel mighty waters and carry powerful kings. I will be the strongest ship in the world!"

The third little tree looked down into the valley below where busy men and busy women worked in a busy town. "I don't want to leave this mountain top at all," she said. "I want to grow so tall that when people stop to took at me they will raise their eyes to heaven and think of God. I will be the tallest tree in the world!"

Years passed. The rains came, the sun shone, and the little trees grew tall.

One day three woodcutters climbed the mountain.

The first woodcutter looked at the first tree and said, "This tree is beautiful. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the first tree fell.

"Now I shall be made into a beautiful chest," thought the first tree. "I shall hold wonderful treasure."

The second woodcutter looked at the second tree and said, "This tree is strong. It is perfect for me." With a swoop of his shining ax, the second tree fell.

"Now I shall sail mighty waters," thought the second tree. "I shall be a strong ship fit for kings!"

The third tree felt her heart sink when the last woodcutter looked her way. She stood straight and tall and pointed bravely to heaven.

But the woodcutter never even looked up. "Any kind of tree will do for me," he muttered. With a swoop of his shining ax, the third tree fell.

The first tree rejoiced when the woodcutter brought him to a carpenter's shop, but the busy carpenter was not thinking about treasure chests. Instead his work-worn hands fashioned the tree into a feed box for animals.

The once-beautiful tree was not covered with gold or filled with treasure. He was coated with sawdust and filled with hay for hungry farm animals.

The second tree smiled when the woodcutter took him to a shipyard, but no mighty sailing ships were being made that day. Instead the once-strong tree was hammered and sawed into a simple fishing boat.

Too small and too weak to sail an ocean or even a river, he was taken to a little take. Every day he brought in loads of dead, smelly fish.

The third tree was confused when the woodcutter cut her into strong beams and left her in a lumberyard.

"What happened?" the once-tall tree wondered. "All I ever wanted to do was stay on the mountain top and point to God."

Many, many days and nights passed. The three trees nearly forgot their dreams.

But one night golden starlight poured over the first tree as a young woman placed her newborn baby in the feed box.

"I wish I could make a cradle for him," her husband whispered.

The mother squeezed his hand and smiled as the starlight shone on the smooth and sturdy wood. "This manger is beautiful," she said.

And suddenly the first tree knew he was holding the greatest treasure in the world.

One evening, many years later, a tired traveler and his friends crowded into the old fishing boat. The traveler fell asleep as the second tree quietly sailed out into the lake.

Soon a thrashing storm arose. The little tree shuddered. He knew he did not have the strength to carry so many passengers safely through the wind and rain.

The tired man awakened. He stood up, stretched out his hand, and said, "Peace, be still!" The storm stopped as quickly as it had begun.

And suddenly the second tree knew he was carrying the King of heaven and earth.

One Friday morning, the third tree was startled when her beams were yanked from the forgotten woodpile. She flinched as she was carried through an angry, jeering crowd. She shuddered when soldiers nailed a man's hands to her.

She felt ugly and harsh and cruel.

But on Sunday morning, when the sun rose and the earth trembled with joy beneath her, the third tree knew that God's love had changed everything.

It had made the first tree beautiful.

It had made the second tree strong.

And every time people thought of the third tree, they would think of God.

That was better than being the tallest tree in the whole world.

Advent

If any of our more liturgically minded friends could give us some information on the tradition of Advent, that would be great! I have fond memories of celebrating Advent as a child with my family, and would like to give my son the same gift, but I really want to dig into the traditions, more than just lighting candles on a wreath.

The first Sunday of Advent this year is the 29th.

Thank you!

Natural Family Planning

This topic was mentioned way back as something it could be interesting to discuss. So I begin the discussion! The following is the introduction from this website titled What A Woman Should Know About Birth Control:

All methods of birth control are efforts to separate sexual intercourse from procreation. This separation supports sexual relationships that are much weaker than traditional marriage—hooking up, cohabitation, adultery, and serial monogamy. These relationships erode society by leading to divorce, unexpected pregnancy, abortion, single parent households, abuse, and poverty. The consequences of birth control clearly demonstrate an unhealthy, anti-culture and anti-life, impact that raises major ethical concerns. Use of birth control is like intentionally eating unhealthy, nutrition-less, food just for the pleasure of eating. A steady diet will kill you. In much the same way, a steady diet of birth control kills relationships.

While I definitely know it is a personal choice and no one should be "guilt-ed" into not using contraception since it is one of those biblical "grey areas," the arguments of the Catholic church that contraception is largely responsible for the moral decay of society are extremely compelling (as hinted at in the above quote). I'd love to loan a CD to anyone interested that goes into the arguments in depth. Or I can post summaries here.

Pray then like this: 'Our Father in heaven. . .'

-- Matthew 6:9

This prayer begins where all true prayer must start, with the spirit of adoption: "Our Father." There is no acceptable prayer until we can say, "I will arise and go to my Father."¹ This childlike spirit soon perceives the grandeur of the Father "in heaven" and ascends to devout adoration, "hallowed be your name." The child lisping, "Abba, Father" grows into the cherub crying, "Holy, holy, holy." There is but a step from rapturous worship to the glowing missionary spirit, which is a sure expression of filial love and reverent adoration-"your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven."

Next follows the heartfelt expression of dependence upon God-"Give us this day our daily bread."

Being further illuminated by the Spirit, the one praying discovers that he is not only dependent but sinful; so he cries for mercy, "Forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors"; and being pardoned, having the righteousness of Christ imputed, and knowing his acceptance with God, he humbly prays for holy perseverance, "Lead us not into temptation." The man who is really forgiven is anxious not to offend again; the possession of justification leads to an anxious desire for sanctification. "Forgive us our debts"-that is justification; "Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil"-that is sanctification in its negative and positive forms.

As the result of all this, there follows a triumphant ascription of praise, "For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forever. Amen." We rejoice that our King reigns in providence and shall reign in grace, from the river even to the ends of the earth, and of His dominion there shall be no end. So from a sense of adoption, up to fellowship with our reigning Lord, this short model of prayer conducts the soul. Lord, teach us then to pray.

¹Luke 15:18

The LORD is a jealous and avenging God.

-Nahum 1:2

Believer, your Lord is very jealous of your love. Did He choose you? He cannot bear that you should choose another. Did He buy you with His own blood? He cannot endure that you should think you are your own or that you belong to this world. He loved you with such a love that He would not remain in heaven without you; He would sooner die than have you perish, and He cannot endure that anything should stand between your heart's love and Himself.

He is very jealous of your trust. He will not permit you to trust in yourself. He cannot stand the thought of you hewing out broken cisterns and neglecting the overflowing fountain that is always free to you. When we lean upon Him, He is glad; but when we transfer our dependence to another, when we rely upon our own wisdom or the wisdom of a friend-worst of all, when we trust in any works of our own-He is displeased and will chasten us, that He may bring us to Himself.

He is also very jealous of our company. There should be no one with whom we converse so much as with Jesus. To remain in Him alone, this is true love; but to commune with the world, to find sufficient satisfaction in our earthly comforts, to even prefer the company of our fellow Christians to secret fellowship with Him, this grieves our jealous Lord. He longs to have us abide in Him and enjoy constant fellowship with Himself; and many of the trials that He sends us are for the purpose of weaning our hearts from created things and fixing them more closely on Him who created everything. Let this jealousy that would keep us near to Christ also be a comfort to us, for if He loves us so much as to care about our love, we may be sure that He will allow nothing to harm us and will protect us from all our enemies. May we have grace today to keep our hearts in holy purity for Christ alone, with sacred jealousy closing our eyes to all the fascinations of the world!

Another FOTF Update.

Dear Friends,

While much of the nation's political attention is focused on the health care debate, a bill that threatens the rights of people of faith is again gaining momentum.

The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA)--a bill which clearly places Christian beliefs on the wrong side of the law--is expected to be voted on this fall. ENDA is a threat to the rights of Christians and would grant special workplace protections to people based on sexual orientation. As a result, Christian business owners could be faced with choosing between their religious beliefs and violating a federal law. ENDA would also prevent religious employers from making hiring and employment decisions based on their moral convictions.

Learn more about ENDA by watching this week's Focus Update video.

Our federal-issues team frequently meets with U.S. senators, congressmen and key staffers to make your voice heard in Washington, D.C. When our team began to recognize the ENDA threat could easily sneak "under the radar," I sent a letter to every member of the House of Representatives urging them to consider seriously the dangers of ENDA and to vote against it when the time comes.

I know that with so many pressing issues facing our nation--this threat to our religious liberties and the health care reform plan that currently mandates abortion coverage and taxpayer funding--it can be difficult to know what's really happening in Washington, D.C. That's why we're sending these weekly updates--so you can stay abreast of important family news.

For faith and family,

Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy

Ethics for Discussion

So I'm taking an Ethics course this semester(most things have to do with nursing), but I thought I would post a couple 'situations' a week, that I get for homework, to get to know what you all think about these things. If you have an opinion and would like to share it I would appreciate it! I figured it would help me get to know you better and also spark some good Biblical discussion about these things (because at school the discussions are not Biblically based). So, if you would like to share your opinions, thoughts, and beliefs it would be awesome! If you're not interested that's fine too! Just so you know, I will not use what you say for my homework answers, or even talk about it in class; it will stay here :)


#1. People have the right to request assistance in dying from health care professionals, and the health care team should be able to assist in the person's death while being protected from the law?

#2. Capital punishment is unethical?

#3. Abortion is ethical?

#4. Basic healthcare needs should be accessible to everyone in a country that claims to be concerned about it's people?

#5. You will donate your organs after death?

Arcing

Interesting stuff.

Check this OUT!

Here!

Some less esoteric funnies

A Dining Pun

Not A Sensitive Response

Helping Persecuted Christians

Two things that look neat-

http://www.prisoneralert.com/ - where you can write to a Christian prisoner in their own language. Actually, you construct your letter of preformed phrases (there's a quite a few, plus scripture verses, and you can put them in any order), and it generates the letter in the prisoner's language. Then you print your letter and send it to them, and encourage a brother or sister!

http://www.biblesunbound.com/ - you can be part of providing Bibles to persecuted Christians around the world who are hungry for the Word of God.

Tornado

What do you all think of this?

Oh, that I were as in the months of old.

-- Job 29:2

Many Christians are able to view the past with pleasure but regard the present with dissatisfaction. They look back upon the days that they have spent in communing with the Lord as being the sweetest and the best they have ever known; but as to the present, it is as if they were smothered by a heavy blanket of gloom and dreariness. Once they lived near Jesus, but now they feel that they have wandered from Him, and they say, "Oh, that I were as in the months of old." They complain that they have lost their evidences, or that they no longer have peace of mind, or that they have no enjoyment in the means of grace, or that their conscience is hardened, or that they are no longer as zealous for God's glory as they once were.

The causes of this mournful state of things are many. It may arise through a comparative neglect of prayer, for a neglected closet is the beginning of all spiritual decline. Or it may be the result of idolatry. The heart has been occupied with something else, more than with God; the affections have been set on the things of earth instead of the things of heaven. A jealous God will not be content with a divided heart; He must be loved first and best. He will withdraw the sunshine of His presence from a cold, wandering heart. Or the cause may be found in self-confidence and self-righteousness. Pride is busy in the heart, and self is exalted instead of lying low at the foot of the cross.

Christian, if you are not now as you "were . . . in the months of old," do not be content to simply wish for a return of your former happiness, but go at once to seek your Master and tell Him your sad state. Ask His grace and strength to enable you to walk more closely with Him; humble yourself before Him, and He will lift you up and allow you once more to enjoy the light of His countenance. Do not sit down to sigh and lament; while the beloved Physician lives there is hope; there is a certainty of recovery even for the worst cases.

---------------------------

I'm pretty sure that this was addressed to me, but I thought I'd share it with y'all anyway.

Joke of the Day - I Differentiate You!

I'm mostly expecting Josh and Kim to like this one, or for everyone to think it's really terrible, but I like it a lot!

I Differentiate You!

Oh and here's an extra, if you don't like that one:

Bear Warnings

Dun Dun DUN!!

Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood

Kim approaches the table where her friends are gathered. She struggles under the weight of the massive book she is carrying. What treasure does she carry? As she places the tome upon the table, the title is revealed for all to see: Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood, edited by John Piper and Wayne Grudem.

---

I realize it's not merely an article that you can click and read in ten minutes. I read through / skimmed chapter two, which is an overview of issues in question & answer form, and I found it to be interesting. Questions 31 and 32 deal with head coverings. There was another question in there about "women being silent in the church" from the end of 1 Cor 14.

Question 49 asks about how a lay person could ever hope to come to a clear conviction on these questions when so many evangelical scholars disagree. The response is quite interesting.

The table of contents reveals a whole chapter on head coverings, and a whole chapter on women being silent in the church which I will likely read.

So, I know people probably all have their own "goto" teachers whom they respect and look to for insight on tough things. One of mine is Piper. I appreciate his thoroughness, and care to walk people through studying and interpreting the text. So anyway, I won't be offended if your time is spent studying elsewhere (or other topics even). But this resource looks helpful so I'm recommending it =)

Test Your Faith

Something that used to scare my in college has become somewhat of an interesting game I've developed for myself, and I found a site to help share it with the rest of you.

It's a little game where I find books, web sites, or other information that contrasts or challenges my faith directly with pointed questions and read through them. Then, I refute the points. It's something that has strengthened my faith immeasurably as it forces me to look at (sometimes) rational arguments of non-believers and examine them to try and answer them as if I was speaking to a person who believed the thing I am reading.

This website was on another website I was checking out, hiding in an ad off to the side. I just got through the first post, and let me tell you, it is AMAZING the lengths that people will go to to try and disprove Christianity and the Word of God.

I'll just give you my little spoiler for the first one: it's all about prayer, and how the Bible says all over that if you ask for anything in prayer with faith, it shall be given to you. Then they try to go ahead and point out this isn't true, because lots of people pray for a cure for cancer and other such things and those prayers go unanswered. Not only are the missing the entire point about having FAITH, and how just saying that you believe it will happen and ACTUALLY believing it will happen are two different things, but also they take verses right out of context to try and make a point.

Anyway, if anyone wants to go through the list and debunk them with me (and, of course, POST your debunking with it's number), I'd love to see what you guys think. God bless, and happy learning and growing!

Ringomania!

And now for something completely different-

http://www.collegehumor.com/video:1913069

Knowing Your Election

I wish I'd read this a long time ago. But then, God does seem to put just the right words into our lives at just the right times. This devotional illustrates one of the themes of my spiritual life lately: "Randy, stop trying to be saved, and let Jesus be your Savior."

For we know, brothers loved by God, that He has chosen you.

Will preborn lives be endangered by healthcare reform?

The following letter is from Focus on the Family:

Dear Friends,

Have you seen the recent media coverage of the healthcare reform legislation Congress is currently considering? You may have many concerns about such a sweeping reform plan from our government, but you may not have heard about the most dangerous part of the plan in terms of the sanctity of life.

The plan currently before Congress will mandate taxpayer-funded abortion coverage. Our analysts here at Focus on the Family^® are convinced that the healthcare reform plan--as currently written--would result in the largest expansion of abortion since Roe v. Wade.

This healthcare reform plan would dramatically increase the number of taxpayer-funded abortions and even mandate abortion coverage by private insurance plans. Even though two recent polls have found that between 63 and 71 percent of Americans support laws that protect tax dollars from being used to fund abortion, so far, Congress has defeated all efforts to ensure abortion coverage is not included in the reform plan. Sadly, we know that increased availability and funding will lead to an increase in the number of abortions.

In addition, the plan does not protect the rights of conscience for medical professionals who would choose not to participate in or perform abortions.

We have prepared a special online video that explains how this legislation effectively reverses more than 30 years of pro-life efforts at the federal and state levels. Will you join us in prayer that legislators will specifically exclude abortion coverage from the plan, as well as include protection for healthcare workers' rights of conscience? Thank you for your prayers in support of preborn babies.

In defense of life,

Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy

Time to learn Greek

Dive in to learn greek.

Cultural Context

It greatly disturbs me that some people in our Bible study refuse to allow the cultural context of certain passages of scripture to inform their modern day application. This seems to primarily stem from a fear that making allowances for cultural context is a slippery slope that can be used to justify almost anything. In this post I hope to alleviate those fears and explain why cultural context is essential to the understanding of scripture.

First to address the fear that homosexuality can be justified by claiming “cultural differences”: I say, “Baloney.” The problem with virtually all arguments either for or against homosexuality, that I have encountered, is that they rely solely on verses that: 1—are in lists of Old Testament laws that are clearly inapplicable today, 2—are lists of many other sins in addition to “homosexuality,” or 3—use the word “homosexuality” which may or may not be a good translation of the original Greek/Hebrew/Aramaic word in any given context. All these arguments miss the point entirely.

The reason homosexuality is bad is because sex outside of marriage is bad. The reason sex outside of marriage is bad is because sex inside marriage is holy and wonderful and good. So why can’t Christians support laws that would enable homosexuals to get married so their relations can be good? Because in the Bible marriage is implicitly defined as between one man and one woman. And, frankly, here is where centuries of culture, Judeo-Christian and otherwise, are on our side: marriage has always been defined as one man and one woman. Why is that? An interesting subject for someone to explore in another post at another time.

Now on to the necessity of considering culture. As Drs. Gordon Fee and Douglas Stuart express in the introduction to their book How to Read the Bible for All Its Worth,

“…we are convinced that the single most serious problem people have with the Bible is not with a lack of understanding, but with the fact that they understand most things too well! The problem with such a text as ‘Do everything without complaining or arguing’ (Phil. 2:14), for example is not with understanding it, but with disobeying it—putting it into practice.”

No orthodox Christian would argue against the ideas that

• God is the creator of everything
• humans are created in His image and all fall short of His standard
• we are all in need of a savior
• Jesus Christ of Nazareth is that Savior
• the Holy Spirit is with us to help, guide and comfort us
• the Christian is called to love God and his neighbor, etc. etc.

So can anybody, anywhere read a translation of the ancient texts in his own language and understand basically what it is all about? Absolutely.

That said, however, none of us read New Testament Greek, (or Hebrew or Aramaic); nor are we archeologists/anthropologists familiar with the cultures of biblical times. So, in our discussions of any lesser details, for any of us to insist that the text is “obviously” saying anything based on the words in any of the translations we have is ignorant at best, arrogant at worst. As the man who made the “Faithful Bible” translation discovered, the ONLY way to speak with any amount of authority on what this or that word “really means” is to learn the original language in which the text was written.

Until then, I don’t see any choice but to trust scholars who have done that work and commented accordingly. Yes, those who did the translations we read fall into this category. But the very nature of translation means there is not an easy, one-to-one correspondence between words, grammar, sentence structure, etc. “Translators are regularly called upon to make choices regarding meanings,” Fee and Stuart remind us, “and their choices are going to affect how you understand.” (Italics theirs.) This is where multiple translations, “potentially useful footnotes” and commentaries like Randy read from during the 1 Cor. 11 discussion can help clarify what the texts meant/mean. One needs to know what the text meant to the original hearers before one can know what it means today. It often does not appear members of our group respect those scholars nearly as much as they should.

If you disagree with the above, please explain to me why

• we need not greet each other with holy kisses (Rom. 16:16, 1 Cor. 16:20, 2 Cor. 13:12, 1 Thess. 5:26)
• we need not use wine and unleavened bread at communion (even though that is what Christ and the first Christians used, also see 1 Tim. 5:23)
• women need not wear head coverings at church (1 Cor. 11:3-16)
• women may wear gold jewelry, pearls and nice/expensive clothes (1 Tim. 2:9 and 1 Pet. 3:3)
• women may read scriptures during worship services or be on the worship team or teach high-school or adult Sunday school classes or lead adult Bible studies (1 Cor. 14:34, 1 Tim. 2:12)

The Bible was written for us but not to us. Thus, the only way to know what it means today is first to know what it meant back then. It frustrates me that we spend so much time ignorantly/arrogantly debating the “letter of the law” at Bible study instead of brainstorming how the spirit of the text informs how we each can live a life of Christian love in 2009 in Upstate New York.

The Other Side of Something Completely Different

For the sake of balance.

Whenever I agree with something or think my viewpoint is obviously the correct one, I like to see what the other side says. I'd be curious to know if there have been any "scientific studies" of what Canadians really do think of their health care system. Because they obviously don't all view it the same way.

Another Post on Prayer

I must say Josh's post back in June with links to two articles on the Pyro site really messed with me. I forget when I read them exactly but they shook me up so much I decided "What is the point praying if I don't understand what it is/is not and I don't know what to pray about?" Thus it has been at least 2-3 weeks since I have prayed on my own. (I have prayed with Randy, Katy, and ya'll, albeit confusedly and half-heartedly.) The biggest thing is that I am still so tired all the time that to even think about thinking about it all stresses me out so I avoid the topic and the act entirely. Deep down I know that's not good.

So finally today I read a post that was listed in the comments of this article Josh posted previously. It was very refreshing and can be found here. I still haven't prayed because I've been too busy (which I know is a totally lame excuse). But I am encouraged that the times I have heard God speak in a still, small voice have not, in fact, been negated, nor that I am some freak for having these experiences.

I am curious--have any of you heard from God in ways other than scripture? I will say most of the time it IS in scripture that He speaks to me with a still, small voice bringing this or that scripture to mind in response to a plea, question, etc. But when I was debating whether to stop breastfeeding God distinctly said, “Do what you need to to enjoy your daughter.” Not audibly per se. But clear as I’m sitting here. ¿Y tú?

And Now for Something Completely Different

Here is something that could soon possibly be affecting all of our lives. I know that I have had discussions with Scott about the reach of the government and how far it should intrude into the lives of the American people as far as Biblical principles. Let's hear what you think!

The Problem of Pornography

Here's an excellent article about a subject that I believe most men struggle with. One of the problems with it is that it can be so difficult to discuss that finding solutions to the problem can be impossible to find.

It also brings up the idea of having time for the men and women of our Bible study to get together and talk about issues like this that only other men or women would be able to understand or have to deal with.

If you wield your tool on it you profane it

I liked this a lot; it's from today's Truth For Life online devotional.

Truth For Life: If you wield your tool on it you profane it

P.S. I believe when he says, "professors", he means, "professors of faith", i.e. you and me.

Hope for change: new study on homosexuality

from Focus on the Family:

Dear Friends,

A new report from the National Association for Research & Therapy of Homosexuality (NARTH), a group of psychologists, psychotherapists and other health care professionals, is directly challenging the central claims of the pro-gay political movement.

The entire homosexual rights movement has been built upon the politically correct idea that homosexuality is unchangeable. In addition, homosexual activists say that efforts to change unwanted same-sex attraction are damaging.

However, after reviewing more than 100 years of literature, NARTH has found that the research clearly indicates homosexuals can overcome unwanted same-sex attraction, and it is not generally harmful to do so. This new research confirms what the thousands of men and women who have left homosexuality already know: Change is possible.

I encourage you to watch our special online video, in which one of our staff members, Melissa, shares how she overcame homosexuality. In fact, I'd like to highlight our Love Won Out® ministry, which reaches out to those struggling with homosexuality, as well as educates and equips the church and individuals about how to love gay-identified family and friends without compromising biblical truth. For more information about Love Won Out and the conferences we host, please visit their Web site.

Will you join us in prayer that this new report will bring hope to those who are dissatisfied with their same-sex attractions? Thank you for supporting Focus on the Family® as we seek to share a message of hope through the transforming power of Christ's love.

For the family,

Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy

1 Cor 11 Head Coverings

I'm bummed we missed last week. I sure would have liked to hear what people think about head coverings, as well as eating and drinking judgement to oneself with the Lord's supper.

Every man who has something on his head while praying or prophesying, disgraces his head. But every woman who has her head uncovered while praying or prophesying, disgraces her head; for she is one and the same with her whose head is shaved.

~ 1 Corinthians 11:4-5

I just went to bible.org to read about head coverings, and found this article: What is the Head Covering in 1 Cor 11:2-16 and Does it Apply to Us Today? It lists the most common positions on this and then writes of each one in turn.

Therefore whoever eats the bread or drinks the cup in an unworthy manner, shall be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord... For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep.

~ 1 Corinthians 11:27, 30

Now, for all the times I've said "warnings (with consequences) don't really have an effect on me," I'll admit this warning about taking the Lord's supper in an unworthy manner makes me nervous. I'm not aware of doing so, but it makes me want to think about it very carefully. And sickness and death as a result of this - do our churches ever consider, if many of our members are sick or dead, that we may be guilty of the body and blood of the Lord?

I'll probably hit you all up at dinner tonight for a recap on last week.

The ugly, thin cows ate up the seven attractive, plump cows.

-- Genesis 41:4

Pharaoh's dream has too often been my waking experience. My days of laziness have ruinously destroyed all that I had achieved in times of zealous endeavor; my seasons of coldness have frozen all the genial glow of my periods of fervency and enthusiasm; and my fits of worldliness have thrown me back from my advances in the divine life. I had need to beware of lean prayers, lean praises, lean duties, and lean experiences, for these will eat up the fat of my comfort and peace.

If I neglect prayer for never so short a time, I lose all the spirituality to which I had attained; if I draw no fresh supplies from heaven, the old corn in my granary is soon consumed by the famine that rages in my soul. When the caterpillars of indifference, the worms of worldliness, and the snares of self-indulgence lay my heart completely desolate and make my soul languish, all my former fruitfulness and growth in grace avails me nothing whatever.

How anxious should I be to have no lean-fleshed days, no ill-favored hours! If every day I journeyed toward the goal of my desires I would soon reach it, but backsliding leaves me still far from the prize of my high calling and robs me of the advances that I had so strenuously made.

The only way in which all my days can be like the fat cows is to feed them in the right meadow, to spend them with the Lord, in His service, in His company, in His fear, and in His way. Why should not every year be richer than the past, in love and usefulness and joy? I am nearer the celestial hills; I have had more experience of my Lord and should be more like Him.

O Lord, keep far from me the curse of leanness of soul; let me not have to bemoan such leanness, but may I be well-fed and nourished in Your house, that I may praise Your name.

Thank You!

So I was going to write a thank you note to the Bible Study, but then I figured I would post it here for everyone to read.

I just want to say a great big THANK YOU to all of you for the birthday wishes and all the gifts! It was nice to see some of you at my party, and I thank you for coming! It was a great time! The gifts were all very thoughtful...thank you!!

A Hess

This One is For Scott

Heaven's 2009 Basketball starting lineup.

Here's hoping that some of them made it up there...

Pictures

Here are the pictures that I took from The Hunt for Red Truthtober. Feel free to add any others if you want! I did it at photobucket.com I hope you enjoy!

'Top Men' Found to Be Ethiopian

This is one of the most amazing and interesting things I've read in my entire life. If this is true, I am so psyched about the implications. Anna says, "I feel like if it's found Christ will return... I hope that none of them touch it, because God might strike them dead."

My brother Todd told me long, long ago that the Ark was kept by the Ethiopian Christians and sure enough, he was right (possibly). Ethiopia is one of the oldest Christian nations on the planet, the last African hold over from the rise of Islam waaaay back in the 700's.

Can you even imagine the implications if this is true? If so, imagine them with your fingers and type them in the comments section.

HEY! Stop that! That horse is Dead already!

Hey guys, I don't have to tell you this, but this world is pretty messed up...
Two different headlines. Two different days. Two different crimes. Two different punishments...
Now I AM sad.

Syracuse woman sentenced to probation in newborn's death 28 years ago

OH firefighter gets jail time for killing dogs


Oh...and then there's this!

Connecticut Church Posts Controversial Gay Exorcism Video on YouTube

Joke of the Day

I promise I won't do this too often, but this one made me smile bigger than most:

The Good, Clean Funnies List - Centipede

Cool Physics Stuff...

...that is totally unrelated to our Bible study, other than a few of us talked about it there.

Check it out Ferrofluid, Aerogel, Non-Newtonian Liquids?! the coolest things people have made in a long time. Sorry about the language in the text in this link, I do not appreciate it either (it's not even funny from a worldly perspective... I checked), but the videos and the stuff are cool.

Google it, it's worth it.

Guitar Chords

Found a website for guitar chords for hymns.

Posts on prayer

Here are two posts on prayer over at the Pyromaniacs blog.

I post them because the first one I have read a few times in the past couple years (it was just reposted today by the blog author) and thought about it quite a bit. It certainly stirs my thoughts.

I want to say that I am on-board in agreement with what is being said in both posts. In the first post I agree completely with the statement that prayer itself has no power, it is the one that we are praying to. And I also believe that the Bible does have power. (I am going to guess that most people are going to agree with these points as well).

What I am going to guess stirs the most debate is 1) If "prayer" is 1-way or 2-way and; 2) If prayer is 1-way, then what we "hear" back is revelation / prophecy, and; 3) (This wasn't really explored in detail in the linked post) We are not prophets. (This deals with cessationism and dispensationalism which are huge topics that I haven't gotten my mind wrapped around yet).

I find the second post linked refreshing--I guess this was the first time that I saw prayer/petition and the unchanging will of God all lined up.

Crummy Church Signs

Just a quick link to an EXCELLENT blog. (Humorous)

Crummy Church Signs

Ponderings on ANGER.

Hi Y'all -

I had this on my mind and figured I might as well put up my first blog post.

I read this morning about when David wanted to move the Ark of the Covenant to Jerusalem - I Chronicles 13. The first time he had them do it all wrong and a guy ended up getting killed by God when he tried to stop the Ark from falling (which wasn't supposed to be on an oxcart in the first place).

So not only did God get angry, but it also says that David got angry in verse 11: "David was angry because the LORD's anger had blazed out against Uzzah. He named that place Perez-uzzah (which means 'outbreak against Uzzah'). It is still called that today."

This all got me thinking about Ephesians 4:26: "'In your anger do not sin': Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry..."

What do you all think that looks like? I know I often feel guilty if I'm angry at someone because I'm pretty sure I'm doing it in a sinful way (aka hate). One thing that has often helped me is to realize that I don't have an obligation to be angry at someone. Also, sometimes I think you can be angry about something without being angry at the person doing the 'something'. Maybe this doesn't make much sense, but it seems to work in my head. Please comment with your thoughts.

Sister... Show Mercy!

Here's an article that is relevant to last week's discussion (not causing a brother to stumble) and to this time of year.

It is a entreaty to women to dress helpfully. It is well written, well thought out. I think some of us have discussed the topic before, in which case reading it is like reading your own thoughts. But very well organized ;-)

Anyway I just wanted to say that I *believe* it's important to dress helpfully but I may sometimes fail to do so. Ladies have an open invitation to pull me aside and say I might have missed the mark that day. No eloquent justification needed. If you simply feel uncomfortable having your husband witness me wearing whatever it is then that's good enough. If guys have an issue they can deliver the message anonymously through my husband or their wives.

Beating the TV

Here's 14 Ways to Take Charge of the TV

I'm especially interested in the ones that speak about kids and television. I mentally analyze everything I read / watch, and evaluate the choices of the characters as to whether they are moral or immoral. I also think about what agenda or worldview is being presented. I hope that's something I can do out loud with our kids some day.

Focus...

We get emails from Focus on the Family, the following is the latest edition. I thought that it was very interesting, but couldn't ultimately come to a decision about how I feel about it. Please comment!

Dear Friends,

In the past few days, the intolerant nature of the homosexual agenda has been on open display. This time that intolerance has been exposed for what it is by one of our Focus on the Family^® events.

Orchestrated Attempt to Undermine Our Efforts
We are hosting a "Love Won Out" conference Saturday in Grand Rapids, MI., to help Christians
in that area manage the issue of homosexuality in
a Christ-like manner. Over the last 10 years, these conferences have equipped thousands of Christians to become voices of God's love and liberty to homosexuals.

As often happens wherever these conferences are held, gay activists spare no invective as they denounce the idea that Christ can help someone struggle free of unwanted homosexuality. Just two days before our conference, Grand Valley State University in Grand Rapids hosted a seminar entitled, "Religion and Homophobia: Spiritual Violence in our Community." (Doesn't that sound tolerant?). The conference was stacked with gay activist speakers, and it was held under the auspices of--are you ready for this?--the Vice President of Inclusion and Equity, Dr. Jeanne Arnold. So we phoned Dr. Arnold and we asked to have one of our speakers included in her conference.

I bet you can guess how the "Vice President for Inclusion and Equity" responded to our request to be included! For more on this latest tribute to the intolerance of the homosexual agenda, watch the newest Focus Action Update video.

The Goal: Imposing Their Agenda And Suppressing Opposing Ideas
It's becoming more and more obvious that the homosexual agenda isn't really about tolerance after all. It's about imposing a radical agenda on our society and using nasty rhetoric and the force of law to suppress opinions that oppose their agenda. Anyone who dares to stand for Biblical notions of sexuality will face the intolerance of homosexual activism.

Well, we will stand! And I am encouraged that you are standing with us. Your prayers and your financial support are a great encouragement to our team. May God richly bless you as you bless our nation by the stand you are taking.

For faith and family,

Tom Minnery
Senior Vice President, Government & Public Policy

Practical Rules for Biblical Interpretation

The following is a loose para-phrasing (with some quoting) of a chapter of the book Knowing Scripture by R.C. Sproul. I don't just recommend reading this book but I command it! (if only I had the authority) It's a post that I've been meaning to write since before we moved, I couldn't find the book for a long time, hence the delay... and now, you can have it to read Randy! (I told him I'd let him borrow it after I wrote this post)

We would do well to follow these rules on Wednesday night as well as in our private reading. I'll give it a go to very briefly sum up the rule, if you want a clearer understanding you'll just have to read the book.

Rule 1: The Bible Is to Be Read Like Any Other Book.
The first rule is the most important, but easily misunderstood. Not that the Bible is the same as all books in every respect, it is uniquely inspired and infallible, but for matters of interpretation the Bible does not take on some special magic that changes basic literary patterns of interpretation. In the Bible a verb is a verb and a noun is a noun, just like in any other book.

Rule 2: Read the Bible Existentially
Stated with fear and trembling, this rule could be grossly distorted and become more trouble than help. Not that we should use the modern "existential" method of interpreting scripture, but that as we read the Bible, we ought to get passionately and personally involved in what we read. "Crawling into the skin" of the characters we are reading about.

Rule 3: Historical Narratives Are to Be Interpreted by the Didactic
The word didactic comes from the Greek that means to teach or to instruct. Didactic literature is literature that teaches or explains. Much of Paul's writing is didactic in character. The Epistles should interpret the Gospels, not as an absolute, but as a good rule of thumb.

Rule 4: The Implicit Is to Be Interpreted by the Explicit
Usually we can determine the difference between what is actually said and what is left unsaid but implied. If this one rule were consistently followed by Christian communities, the vast majority of doctrinal differences that divide us would be resolved.

Rule 5: Determine Carefully the Meaning of Words
Mostly self-explanatory. Read the book.

Rule 6: Note the Presence of Parallelism in the Bible
One of the most fascinating characteristics of Hebrew literature is its use of parallelisms. The ability to recognize it when it occurs will greatly aid the reader in understanding the text.

Rule 7: Note the Difference Between Proverb and Law
A common mistake in biblical interpretation and application is to give a proverbial saying the weight or force of a moral absolute.

Rule 8: Observe the Differences between the Spirit and the Letter of the Law
DON'T BE A PHARISEE! ...but also don't obey the spirit whilst ignoring the letter.

Rule 9: Be Careful with Parables
Parables are great! But they present many questions that cannot be ignored i.e. what was the original intent and what is it's relationship with allegory?

Rule 10: Be Careful with Predictive Prophecy
Don't get left-behind! Just kidding, but seriously...

Okay guys, for the vast majority of each of these rules there are at least two to three pages of explanation, so obviously the one provided here is inadequate. Like I said before READ THIS BOOK it's pretty great.

Coming soon Practical Tools for Bible Study

Did you do something to your arm?

Sorry to flood the blog with my posts in the last couple of days. But not sorry enough to stop apparently...

So when I've been out and about the last couple of days, I've been wearing short sleeves and I've had a stretchy net over my arm to keep my IV contained and just to make it a little less obtrusive while I'm out in public. You know, more so than having it dangle around like I do at home.

I've had a couple of people ask me "did you do something to your arm?" implying an injury of some sort. I'm soliciting clever responses to this question...

I don't care if people know the truth, but it's hard to explain in just a sentence or two. People generally don't know what a picc line is. Today I tried explaining it was related to IV medication. But anyway, what are some clever ways I could respond (that would either enlighten someone or do nothing of the sort)?

Bible Reading Tip #3

Great idea, Kim!

I am a list-maker. What has worked for me for a few months now is on my to-do list each day I have "spend time with God." That could mean reading/studying the Bible, reading something else religiously thought provoking, praying or meditating. I picked 30 minutes because that is usually quite doable and I generally do it in conjunction with breakfast--something I do almost every day. I feed Miyanna and she usually is content to play while I eat and spend time with God. Then I can cross it off my list!

This may seem like too sterile or too pragmatic an attitude to have...but it works. Frankly, I include things I want to do/enjoy doing on my list so I can cross them out too. This serves two purposes: 1--I can report to Randy what I've done during the day (in the absence of a "boss" to report to like at an outside job). 2--Builds in time for me to relax/play/nap during the day without feeling guilty because, hey, its on the list!

I obviously am ridiculously blessed to be in a position where I'm not hurrying off to work so this may not work for anybody else. But I wanted to share anyway.

Bible Reading Tip #2

Defining an objective and making a plan.

Maybe this is rather obvious to some, but it isn't to me!

One time after Josh heard me complain and be distressed yet again that I wasn't "spending any time with God" he made me sit down right at that moment and make a plan.

What was the problem and what did I want to be different? I was feeling somewhat disconnected from God, like I was living my life sort of in my own corner except for the times I God-activities planned like church, group study, etc. What I felt like I really needed was to spend time actually talking to God and not just thinking about him.

So what would that look like? 10 minutes set aside for prayer each day.

How can I make that that happen? Set a specific time of the day, where this is the priority. In the morning before work seemed the best time, at 6:50am. So whatever I was doing in the morning to get ready, I dropped it at 6:50 and went to prayer.

I would encourage all of us to do what I don't do naturally - to stop merely wishing that things would be different, but to sit down and clearly spell out what we want to change, and make a plan for accomplishing it.

Bible Reading Tip #1

One thing that has helped me has been to pray as I start to read that the Holy Spirit would illumine the Word to me.

I think this makes a big difference. Rather than just reading something, I'm given some insight. This in turn makes it more fascinating and exciting, because I learn something new about our awesome God!

Bible Reading Tips

Several people have expressed desire to read regularly in the Word. Sometimes it's just so hard to get going!

I thought perhaps we could all share things that have helped us in reading the Bible. Things that have helped us get started, be consistent, be motivated, understand what we read, and just get more out of that time.

My thought is to make a separate post for each idea, and call it "Bible Reading Tip #_" with the next number. I imagine some of the ideas will be contradictory, since we're all wired differently. And I'd say don't worry about whether it's a universal principle or not. Just write about something that you've found helpful at some point.

Do Hard Things

We talked about prolonged adolescence a few times recently...

Here's a book written by teens for teens, as a "rebellion against low expectations."

Click on "excerpt" to read the beginning...

Amazon also has some reviews on it.

Serve Where He Set You...

Man, it's crazy how these things line up so often...

Truth for Life Daily

June 3, 2009

These were the potters [who] lived there in the king's service.

-- 1 Chronicles 4:23

Potters were among the ranks of manual workers, but the king needed potters, and therefore they were elevated to royal service, although the material upon which they worked was nothing but clay. In the same way we also may be engaged in the most menial part of the Lord's work, but it is a great privilege to do anything for the King; and therefore we will play our part, hoping that, although we live among the pots, we will soar in the service of our Master.

These people dwelt among plants and hedges and had rough, rustic hedging and ditching work to do. They may have wanted to live in the city, amid its life, society, and refinement, but they kept their assigned places because they were doing the king's work. There is no ideal place for us to serve God except the place He sets us down. We are not to run from it on a whim or sudden notion, but we should serve the Lord in it by being a blessing to those among whom we live. These potters and gardeners had royal company, for they lived with the king, and although among hedges and plants, they lived with the king there.

No lawful place or gracious occupation, however menial, can keep us from communion with our Lord. In hovels, run-down neighborhoods, and jails, we may keep company with the King. In all works of faith we can count upon Jesus' fellowship. It is when we are in His work that we may reckon on His smile. You unknown workers who are serving the Lord amid the dirt and wretchedness of the lowest of the low, be of good cheer, for jewels have often been found among rubbish, earthen pots have been filled with heavenly treasure, and ugly weeds have been transformed into precious flowers. Dwell with the King and do His work, and when He writes His chronicles, your name shall be recorded.

Devotional material is taken from "Morning and Evening," written by C.H. Spurgeon, revised and updated by Alistair Begg. Copyright (c) 2003, Good News Publishers and used by Truth For Life with written permission. Today's Bible Reading material is taken from McCheyne Bible reading plan and used by Truth For Life with permission. Scripture quotations are taken from Holy Bible: English Standard Version, copyright (c) 2001, Good News Publishers.

Soldier Slain By Militiant Muslim

On June 1st Private William Long was shot and killed, and Private Quinton Ezeagwula was terribly wounded and is still in the hospital outside a recruiting station in Little Rock, Arkansas. All we've been hearing in the news is how Dr. Tiller's murderer reflects on the entire Christian faith and pro-life movement, but the only thing you'll hear about Carlos Bledsoe, who now goes by the name Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad, is how he was a lone gunman. Not that he was a recent convert to Islam. Not how he studied in Yemen.

This double standard is something we've all grown use to, but it is no less shocking and disgusting. And while President Obama wasted no time in making a statement about the murder of Dr. Tiller, he still has yet to comment either on the domestic terrorist Abdul Hakim Mujahid Muhammad or offer his condolences to the family of Private William Long. My heart goes out to Long's family, as well as Private Ezeagwula. I'll be praying for his speedy recovery.

Here's an interview with the father about the shooting. I was unable to watch it without crying. He is a former Marine, as well. God bless the men and women of the armed forces who gladly put on the uniform to defend our very lives, and pray for those who pay the ultimate price in our stead.

-Matt

This is awesome...

Late-Term Abortion Provider Slain at Church

The whole story is here, care of the Washington Post.

Anna and I talked about this last night, and I'm am curious to see what the rest of you think. I believe that the person who did this is a murderer, and certainly has hurt the pro-life movement with their actions. They were wrong to do it, and there is nothing in their actions that reflects Christ or His love for the lost.

However, I cannot say that I am surprised by this crime. This man had been aborting babies (read: killing unborn children) since the 1970's. It made me think about the verse in the Bible about those that live by the sword. Is this an example of God's justice, or simply one misguided person being taken down by another misguided person?

Another thing that really makes this case interesting is the fact that he was shot attending church, specifically the Wichita Reformation Lutheran Church in Kansas. That link goes to their mission statement page. I have to wonder how the pastor there felt about his famous parishioner; after all, Dr. Tiller was a well-known figure and had been in the center of the right-to-life controversy for some time, having been shot before. Is abortion something that is sanctioned by reformed Lutherans? Was the pastor trying to reach out to Dr. Tiller and convince him to change his ways? If Dr. Tiller was a Christian, how did he reconcile his actions with his beliefs?

These are just some of the questions that I'm struggling with now. My heart goes out to Dr. Tiller's family and friends, and I hope that in this tragedy the love of God can work in their lives to draw them all close to Him. Having said that, my heart is also with all of the children whose lives were ended by the doctor in the name of "a woman's right to choose."

-Matt

Administration Update

Alright, some of you may have noticed your posts being changed slightly. I've simply encoded your urls into the text of your comments. I hope it's not a problem, I was only doing it to neaten up the post... I will never mess around with the content, I promise. If there are any problems with this policy, please let me know and I won't touch your posts.

If you have any ideas for posts or things to help or make this blog more fun, please send me an email and let me know!

-Matt

Time to Legalize Counterfeiting

Rush read this on his program the other day and I find it hilARious. Seems like a good idea to me! Would anyone donate to my campaign if I ran with this as my main platform??

Coming to a County Near You?

Well guys, it was fun while it lasted. Check out this article about a San Diego Bible study.

I really wish there were more details to this story. Was it an old law on the books relating to another situation? Is this just disgruntled neighbors running amuck? Is it an attack by anti-religious groups? Has anyone ever heard of the Constitution, specifically the Bill of Rights and the right to assembly?

Discuss.

Luke 21:1-4

I think this should give us all something to think about. I know that sometimes when it comes to giving at church, I can balk because I feel I can't afford to give the money. But why is it that we try and keep things that are not ours? God is the one who gives us both our paychecks and the ability to earn a paycheck. When we give back to the Lord that which is His, He can bless others through our charity and very possibly find other ways to bless us with financial gain again. Remember the talents!

Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeech!

Whoa, whoa! Hold your horses. This just in.

For those not interested in digging through the entire article, here's the important bit:

" 'This fossil has been hailed as the eighth wonder of the world. Frankly, I've got 10 more in my basement,' said Chris Beard, a curator of vertebrate paleontology at the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh.

Though the fossil is a beautiful specimen, it is not dissimilar to many slightly less well-preserved primate fossils from around the same period.

'In some ways the most amazing and startling result of all of this is that we've now set a new standard in how to promote a new fossil,' Beard told LiveScience. 'And I have mixed feelings about that.'

Beard said he applauded the push to get the public excited about science. But he disagreed with some of the outlandish claims researchers made during the press conference, such as the suggestion that Ida represents a "missing link" between early primates and humans.

'It's not a missing link, it's not even a terribly close relative to monkeys, apes and humans, which is the point they're trying to make,' Beard said."

Time For Creationists to Thrown in the Towel

The proof is all right here.

After all, it looks exactly like a mix between a monkey and a person, doesn't it?


Check out this section. Now look at your neighbor. Now look here again. Now at your neighbor. Here. Neighbor.

Isn't it amazing? It's like there's a mirror on your computer screen!

There is no other possible explanation for this body part. Only monkeys have tails, and we came from monkeys. So think about it.


It has arms, we have arms. It has a head, we have a head. It has fingernails, we have fingernails!

I mean, it would be silly to assume that certain structures work really well and were designed to work that way and that is why we see them repeated throughout the animal kingdom, right? We share 96% of our DNA with a chimpanzee and 40% of our DNA with bananas. Think about it. We should be freeing our brothers from the captivity of grocery store shelves across the world! How I have often gazed into the peel of a beautiful banana and felt the chill of common ancestry shiver down my spine, and longed to liberate them from Wegmans as brothers!

I have a feeling this discovery is being made into a big deal because Intelligent Design is making some headway in public opinion. "Hey everyone, look over here! Darwin was right! Who needs God? Pass the abortion and euthanasia, please!"

In summary:


-Matt

Winds of Change

Check out this link to a 2009 Gallup Poll.

Pro-Life versus Pro-Choice

I think this is an amazing switch, and I believe it is an excellent sign for the future generations. The fact that most of the people who take part in these polls are usually Left-leaning, and it's amazing to me that with the liberalization of our country the next generation is swinging back towards the right. It's very encouraging, and leads me to think that God isn't quite done with the United States yet.

-Matt

God's soverignty, calvinism, etc

I know I just posted a link to this blog recently, but I wanted to point out this recent post specifically since it partially outlines my beliefs in how salvation is brought about. There are some good comments that follow.

Another article that I think is worth linking (and related to the blog post) -- but I don't expect you to read it all at once, because I have only managed to plow through a little of it myself (second 1 to be exact) -- is an article about the "points" of Calvinism. You might hear someone say that they are a 5 point (or 4 point) Calvinist. This article breaks it down into what each of the points are. It isn't easy reading. For the first section I wrote up an outline for myself to review later on since it was so dense. Let me know if you are interested in it.

Context and Application

I want to thank Scott for helping to keep our discussion last night in context. I am probably one of the biggest fans of the importance of context when dealing with scripture. As probably came out in our discussions about how the group would work, I also am a huge fan of application. If we read and study the Bible, nod and say "Uh huh, definitely" but don't do anything, what's the use of reading and studying?! Thus, I hope you can understand my attempts to do that as we study and forgive me if I do a poor job. Yes, the direct context of 1 Cor. 3:16-17 is that anyone who tries to destroy the church with divisions will himself be destroyed. Please do correct me if I'm wrong, but can't it also apply that anyone who tries to destroy the church in ANY way is going to pay for it? Any response/discussion on this is welcome.

"Faithful Bible" Translation

In an attempt to start looking into the Greek behind some new testament passages, I came across this online Bible translation, faithfulbible.com.

It's in English but goes for a very literal translation (at the expense of readability). Where multiple Greek words translate into the same English word, there is an indication in the text as to which Greek word was used.

The main page of the site gives a little overview of the intent and process of this translation.

I've found it helpful and interesting as a way to ease into the Greek (without, you know, actually looking up Greek words).

Josh pointed out to me that the Amplified Bible translation can give similar insight. Words and concepts are expanded on in parentheses as you read to supply the subtleties of the Greek. I think more emphasis is placed on understanding concepts in this translation than the other (vs absolute literalness), but using a different means than a translation like the Message.

A link that I like

http://teampyro.blogspot.com/

Thoughtful commentary, in depth discussion, witty humor, strong opinions, and Spurgeon every week - what more could you want?

That said... Kim and I have had a couple discussions about the content of some of the blog posts, and we haven't been in agreement as to their accuracy. So my assumption is that you all might not agree either.

Something that Stuck

Remember back when we were reading 1 Timothy...

First of all, then, I urge that entreaties and prayers, petitions and

thanksgivings, be made on behalf of all men, for kings and all who

are in authority, in order that we may lead a tranquil and quiet life

in all godliness and dignity. This is good and acceptable in the sight

of God our Savior, who desires all men to be saved and come to the

knowledge of the truth.

1 Timothy 2:1-4

We talked about praying for those in authority. When God answers these prayer for political leaders, it results in tranquil lives for Christians living under their authority.

This is a strong urging from Paul, but I remarked that I really had no desire to do this. We discussed how being in danger and persecuted for our beliefs would bring some motivation, and that we can pray for our brothers and sisters around the world who face this persecution.

I subscribed to Voice of the Martyrs to get email prayer requests of persecuted Christians around the world. It started as a small step of obedience without much desire, but now I am "hooked" on praying for persecuted Christians.

I just wanted to share this, because it a tangible thing I can point to from Bible study, where I learned something new and it translated into a direct action. The glory belongs to God.

First Blog

Well, someone finally went and made a WeNBiS blog! That's pretty great! I hope we all use it a lot! See you around the blogosphere!

The Rezsnyaks.