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