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.