Father Barron on Bob Dylan

"The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit” (John 3.8, ESV)

BTW: How does it feel?

rejoice, ron

God's Will!

“The disciple who abides in Jesus is the will of God, and his apparently free choices are God’s fore-ordained decrees. Mysterious? Logically contradictory and absurd? Yes, but a glorious truth to a saint.” - Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (June 7). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

You are God’s will!

enjoy, ron

Louis Armstrong - Danny Kaye

rejoice, ron

Cave Dwelling!

Click here to listen to a short mp3 recording (under 14 min) by philosopher Simon Blackburn on Plato's Cave. What is the nature of reality? Is the world as it appears, or is there something timeless behind the world of appearances?

In the above mp3 recording, the philosopher Simon Blackburn discusses one of the most famous images in Philosophy: Plato's cave.

Unfortunately, both philosophers (Plato & Blackburn) "suppress the truth in unrighteousness ... they became futile in they speculations..." (Romans 1.18ff).

"What really happened was God’s free positing of this world-reality. The unique thing about the “generation” of the heaven and of the earth is that it cannot be comprehended with the aid of natural analogies, but it can be described only by the word 'creation'”. - Karl Barth

"All created reality is inherently revelational of the nature and will of God." - Cornelius Van Til

enjoy, ron

TreeChair!

In the picture below a man is standing by what looks like a chair-tree. Now, you know nothing else about the tree other than what you can infer from a visual inspection.

Multiple Choice:

1. The tree probably obtained this shape through chance.
2. The tree probably obtained this shape through mechanical necessity.
3. The tree probably obtained this shape through a combination of chance and mechanical necessity.
4. The tree probably obtained this shape as the result of the purposeful efforts of an intelligent agent.
5. Other.

Select your answer and give supporting reasons.

PS. Kudos to Uncommon Descent blog for this one!

PSS. Romans 1.20ff

Enjoy, ron

Flying Man!

I own a lithograph of Mihail Chemiakin’s “The fall of Icarus” (the largest lithograph he has ever produced). Icarus, son of Daedalus, attempted to escape Crete by flight, but fell to his death. I'd wager that long before Daedalus fashioned a pair of wax wings for himself and his son, we've been trying to find some means to fly, with more than a few casualties along the way.

Well, several weeks ago (May 14), a Swiss man named Yves Rossy (a.k.a., "Fusion Man") made headlines when he strapped on an 8-foot jet-powered wing and leaped from an airplane, soaring over the Alps. Rossy spent years developing his device, and successfully flew the first jet-powered wing in November 2006. There's been a smattering of R&D on jet packs to propel human beings dating as far back as World War II; Rossy's invention is the first to combine a jet pack with actual wings (See more videos at his website).

Now, when I was a small child, I would have this recurring dream about flying. Inevitably I would be falling or jumping from some great height. At first a tinge of fear would come over me. But almost immediately I would begin to fly. Gliding effortlessly. Moving from side to side and up and down with the greatest of ease. It was pure ecstasy, interrupted only by awakening from my slumber.

enjoy, ron

Philanthropy & Humiliation!

Luke 16.19-31 & 1 John 4.16b-21

It is a frightful thing to say, but … there is indeed a love which is mere philanthropy, a sympathetic and benevolent concern and assistance which we can exercise with zeal and devotion without taking even a single step away from the safe stronghold of being without our fellow-man, but in a deeper withdrawal into our shell. There is a form of love - mere charity (the mere crumbs which were falling from the rich man’s table)* - in which we do not love at all; in which we do not see or have in mind the other man to whom it is directed; in which we do not and will not notice his weal or woe; in which we merely imagine him as the object of the love which we have to exercise, and in this way master and use him. Our only desire is to practise and unfold our own love, to demonstrate it to him and to others and to God and above all to ourselves, to find ourselves self-expression in this sublime form.

There is thus a form of love in which, however sacrificially it is practised, the other is not seized by a human hand but by a cold instrument, or even by a paw with sheathed talons, and therefore genuinely isolated and frozen and estranged and oppressed and humiliated, so that he feels that he is trampled under the feet of the one who is supposed to love him, and cannot react with gratitude. The great tragedy is that it is perhaps in the sphere of the neighbourly love established and shaped by Christianity, in Christian families and houses and societies and institutions, that we seem to have more frequent and shattering examples of this than in that of the worldly love, courtesy, affability and fellowship which are so much more shallow and discriminating, and therefore so much the less exacting. - Barth, K., Bromiley, G. W., & Torrance, T. F. (2004). Church dogmatics, Volume IV : The doctrine of reconciliation, Part 2. (p. 440). Edinburgh: T. & T. Clark.

Doing all things in love begins with the realization that we owe everything to Jesus Christ, His Person & Work (the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides in him. By this, love is perfected with us). God demonstrates God’s love in that Christ died for us; out of God’s great love God made us alive in Christ; and in that love we live, by it we conquer, and from it nothing shall separate us. “The love of Christ controls us” (2 Cor. 15.14). Indeed, our love merely reflects the love God first “poured into our hearts”. This love is directed toward Christ and toward others, whom we love for Christ’s sake!

Enjoy, ron

PS. I included the Luke 16 quote (parenthetical*) in Barth’s comments above

The test of self-interest!

If thou wilt take the left hand, then I will go to the right; or if thou depart to the right hand, then I will go to the left. Genesis 13:9.

As soon as you begin to live the life of faith in God, fascinating and luxurious prospects will open up before you, and these things are yours by right; but if you are living the life of faith you will exercise your right to waive your rights, and let God choose for you. God sometimes allows you to get into a place of testing where your own welfare would be the right and proper thing to consider if you were not living a life of faith; but if you are, you will joyfully waive your right and leave God to choose for you. This is the discipline by means of which the natural is transformed into the spiritual by obedience to the voice of God.

Whenever right is made the guidance in the life, it will blunt the spiritual insight. The great enemy of the life of faith in God is not sin, but the good which is not good enough. The good is always the enemy of the best. It would seem the wisest thing in the world for Abraham to choose, it was his right, and the people around would consider him a fool for not choosing. Many of us do not go on spiritually because we prefer to choose what is right instead of relying on God to choose for us. We have to learn to walk according to the standard which has its eye on God. “Walk before Me.”

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (May 25). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

Enjoy, ron

Looky-Loo or Seeker?

And there was a man named Zacchaeus. He was a chief tax collector and was rich. And he was seeking to see who Jesus was, but on account of the crowd he could not, because he was small of stature. (Luke 19:2-3 ESV)

No one can come to Me unless the Father who sent Me draws him; (John 6.44 NASB)

For the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost. (Luke 19.10 NASB)

Jesus sought out Zacchaeus and Zacchaeus was transformed into a seeker: not, of course, an indecisive and indiscriminate seeker or one who especially knows what he is seeking. Yet a real seeker whose tax grubbing hands are empty, who has not yet apprehended, but wants to apprehend because he is already apprehended (Phil 3.12f). And Jesus does not allow Zacchaeus to be merely a casual or even friendly seeker, preoccupied with unraveling facile cultural barriers. Zacchaeus is no longer a looky-loo who divides his powers between this seeking and a possessing. No! Zacchaeus is a true seeker. He seeks this one thing, his life in Christ, and all other possibilities have passed away.

Like Zacchaeus, once our Seeker finds us, our lives on earth may now be defined in “seeker-only” terms. This is the meaning of the imperative (Col. 3.1f): “Seek those things which are above, where Christ sits.… Set your affection on things above, not on things on the earth.” As K. Barth puts it, “To seek that which is above means that we are to seek here and now, but not in this here and now, not on the earth, because, … the true life of the Christian is with Christ, his true and exalted life, his own proper life, which begins with the death of Christ as his own death, the death of the old man. Christ is above, and so too is the Christian in so far as he is in Christ.”

enjoy, ron

Make a name for youself!

"Unless the LORD builds the house,
They labor in vain who build it;" - Ps 127:1

See Genesis 11.1-9

“So the LORD scattered them abroad from there over the face of the whole earth; and they stopped building the city” (Gen 11.8). Is it important to see why God does not simply destroy the Tower of Babel? Perhaps it is if we consider the fact that it is not the building, the technical invention or the attempt at civilization facilitated by it, which constitutes the evil against which God takes His measures. It has more to do with the fact that “They said, ‘Come, … let us make for ourselves a name…’” (Gen. 11.4).

God’s judgment is not against the advancement of culture. Rather, “the Lord came down …” against the way in which humanity tries to facilitate and affirm and maintain itself, to make itself a name, to play the part of Providence. God’s judgment is against any attempt or intention of humanity to achieve a name for itself independently of God Himself.

You see, once humanity’s contrived object was taken away (unity through culture) the building process ceased automatically. “That it could cease shows that it was not harmless in intention but directed against God and therefore evil”, says K. Barth. According to Ps. 127.1, the building process had to cease because it was in vain. Again, Barth points out, “Everything is in vain, and moves self-evidently to destruction sooner or later, that is ventured by man with the same intention as this building” of the Tower of Babel.

enjoy, ron

Nazbo Rap II

As a follow up to the first “Nazbo Rap” made 2 years ago, we now have “Nazbo Rap II.” It was cut by some students at a mid-western Nazarene Theological Seminary. There’s some bizarre stuff here and there, but it’s entertaining even if you have trouble following Rap lyrics.

Enjoy,ron

Fear & Death!

A brief mull over Luke 12.4-7:

Death is a pawn in Satan’s diversion; an instrument at God’s beckon. “I tell you, my friends, do not fear those who kill the body, and after that have nothing more that they can do.”

Death (and Satan) will be the subject(s) of God’s judgment. “But I will warn you whom to fear: fear him who, after he has killed, has authority to cast into hell.” Death and hell (Satan’s future temporary quarters) will be cast into the Lake of Fire!

“Yes, I tell you, fear him!” The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom.

Therefore, “Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows.”

enjoy, ron

Idol's Hillsong Song!

If you were in any doubt about the influence and reach of Hillsong's music, you might like to note that ‘Shout to the Lord’ was sung not once, but twice on two separate episodes of American Idol recently. You can see both on YouTube.

enjoy, ron

You're a Monster!

Below you'll find a very funny article where Sesame Street's Cookie Monster searches deep within himself and asks: is me really a monster?

Obviously struggling with his frequent out-of-control cookie binges, the Cookie Monster reflects on his own self-image. Who am I? Saint or Sinner or Both?

COOKIE MONSTER SEARCHES DEEP WITHINHIMSELF AND ASKS: IS MEREALLY MONSTER? by ANDY F. BRYAN

Me know. Me have problem.

Me love cookies. Me tend to get out of control when me see cookies. Me know it not natural to react so strongly to cookies, but me have weakness. Me know me do wrong. Me know it isn't normal. Me see disapproving looks. Me see stares. Me hurt inside.

When me get back to apartment, after cookie binge, me can't stand looking in mirror—fur matted with chocolate-chip smears and infested with crumbs. Me try but me never able to wash all of them out. Me don't think me is monster. Me just furry blue person who love cookies too much. Me no ask for it. Me just born that way.

Me was thinking and me just don't get it. Why is me a monster? No one else called monster on Sesame Street. Well, no one who isn't really monster. Two-Headed Monster have two heads, so he real monster. Herry Monster strong and look angry, so he probably real monster, too. But is me really monster?

Me thinks me have serious problem. Me thinks me addicted. But since when it acceptable to call addict monster? It affliction. It disease. It burden. But does it make me monster?

How can they be so callous? Me know there something wrong with me, but who in Sesame Street doesn't suffer from mental disease or psychological disorder? They don't call the vampire with math fetish monster, and me pretty sure he undead and drinks blood. No one calls Grover monster, despite frequent delusional episodes and obsessive-compulsive tendencies. And the obnoxious red Grover—oh, what his name?—Elmo! Yes, Elmo live all day in imaginary world and no one call him monster. No, they think he cute. And Big Bird! Don't get me started on Big Bird! He unnaturally gigantic talking canary! How is that not monster? Snuffleupagus not supposed to exist—woolly mammoths extinct. His very existence monstrous. Me least like monster. Me maybe have unhealthy obsession, but me no monster.

No. Me wrong. Me too hard on self. Me no have unhealthy obsession. Me love cookies, but it no hurt anyone. Me just enthusiast. Everyone has something they like most, something they get excited about. Why not me? Me perfectly normal. Me like cookies. So what? Cookies delicious. Cookies do not make one monster. Everyone loves cookies.

Me no monster. Me OK guy. Me OK guy who eat cookies.

Who me kidding? Me know me never actually eat cookies. Me only crumble cookies in mouth, but me no swallow. Me can't swallow. Me no have no esophagus. Me no have no trachea. Me only have black fabric throat. Me not supposed to be able to even talk.

Me no eat cookies.

Me destroy cookies.

Me crush cookies.

Me mutilate cookies.

Me make it so no one get cookies.

Everyone right. Me really is cookie monster.

Enjoy, ron

The Lord's Prayer

enjoy, ron

Six Blind Men!

John Godfrey Saxe's "Six Men of Hindustan" or "The Blind Men & the Elephant" can be applied to about any kind of quest for knowledge.

Originally Saxe wrote this parable to mock theological dispute (The disputants… / Rail on in utter ignorance / Of what each other mean, / And prate about an Elephant / Not one of them has seen!), but it’s applicable to about any field of experience. After all, truth be told, no mere mortal can possess complete and objective knowledge.

But let’s not take lightly the other side of the coin, namely that the six men of Hindustan, though blind, at least were curious and went out there, and had an adventure!

There were six men of Hindustan,
to learning much inclined,
Who went to see an elephant,
though all of them were blind,
That each by observation
might satisfy his mind.

The first approached the elephant,
and happening to fall
Against his broad and sturdy side,
at once began to bawl,
"This mystery of an elephant
is very like a wall."

The second, feeling of the tusk,
cried, "Ho, what have we here,
So very round and smooth and sharp?
To me 'tis mighty clear,
This wonder of an elephant
is very like a spear."

The third approached the elephant,
and happening to take
The squirming trunk within his hands,
thus boldly up and spake,
"I see," quoth he, "the elephant
is very like a snake."

The fourth reached out an eager hand,
and felt above the knee,
"What this most wondrous beast
is like is very plain" said he,
"'Tis clear enough the elephant
is very like a tree."

The fifth who chanced to touch the ear
said, "E'en the blindest man
Can tell what this resembles most;
deny the fact who can;
This marvel of an elephant
is very like a fan."

The sixth no sooner had begun
about the beast to grope,
Than seizing on the swinging tail
that fell within his scope;
"I see," said he, "the elephant
is very like a rope."

So six blind men of Hindustan
disputed loud and long,
Each in his own opinion
exceeding stiff and strong;
Though each was partly in the right,
they all were in the wrong!

Enjoy, ron

What’s in a name!

“The Scripture gives four names to Christians, taken from the four cardinal graces so essential to man’s salvation: Saints for their holiness, believers for their faith, brethren for their love, disciples for their knowledge.” - Thomas Fuller (born June 19, 1608, died Aug. 16, 1661) British scholar, preacher, and one of the most witty and prolific authors of the 17th century.

For the modern reader, Fuller’s most interesting work is probably The Holy State, the Profane State (1642), an entertaining collection of character sketches important to the historian of English literature.

enjoy, ron

Happy Pi Day!

I’m not much of a math enthusiast but I like pie.

Pi Day (not pie day) is celebrated by math enthusiasts around the world on March 14th. Pi is the symbol for the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter. Pi = 3.1415926535... The rough ratio of pi 3.14 gives us the date for Pi Day and opens the door to a celebration of this famous constant.

Coincidentally, Pi Day is also the birthday of Albert Einstein, who no doubt knew more than a little about pi. So in honor of Pi Day and Einstein, I think I’ll enjoy a lighted warmed piece of pecan pie with a large scope of vanilla ice cream on top.

Enjoy, ron

Battle!

Lions and Buffalo and gators! Ha! Ha!

Vision!

I was not disobedient unto the heavenly vision. Acts 26:19.

If we lose the vision, we alone are responsible, and the way we lose the vision is by spiritual leakage. If we do not run our belief about God into practical issues, it is all up with the vision God has given. The only way to be obedient to the heavenly vision is to give our utmost for God’s highest, and this can only be done by continually and resolutely recalling the vision. The test is the sixty seconds of every minute, and the sixty minutes of every hour, not our times of prayer and devotional meetings.

“Though it tarry, wait for it.” We cannot attain to a vision, we must live in the inspiration of it until it accomplishes itself. We get so practical that we forget the vision. At the beginning we saw the vision but did not wait for it; we rushed off into practical work, and when the vision was fulfilled, we did not see it. Waiting for the vision that tarries is the test of our loyalty to God. It is at the peril of our soul’s welfare that we get caught up in practical work and miss the fulfillment of the vision.

Watch God’s cyclones. The only way God sows His saints is by His whirlwind. Are you going to prove an empty pod? It will depend on whether or not you are actually living in the light of what you have seen. Let God fling you out, and do not go until He does. If you select your own spot, you will prove an empty pod. If God sows you, you will bring forth fruit.

It is essential to practice the walk of the feet in the light of the vision.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest : Selections for the year (March 11). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

EXPELLED!

Amid a crowd of paltry things!

...in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses. 2 Cor. 6:4.

It takes Almighty grace to take the next step when there is no vision and no spectator - the next step in devotion, the next step in your study, in your reading, in your kitchen; the next step in your duty, when there is no vision from God, no enthusiasm and no spectator. It takes far more of the grace of God, far more conscious drawing upon God to take that step, than it does to preach the Gospel.

Every Christian has to partake of what was the essence of the Incarnation, he must bring the thing down into flesh-and-blood actualities and work it out through the finger-tips. We flag when there is no vision, no uplift, but just the common round, the trivial task. The thing that tells in the long run for God and for men is the steady persevering work in the unseen, and the only way to keep the life uncrushed is to live looking to God. Ask God to keep the eyes of your spirit open to the Risen Christ, and it will be impossible for drudgery to damp you. Continually get away from pettiness and paltriness of mind and thought out into the thirteenth chapter of St. John’s Gospel.

Chambers, O. (1993, c1935). My utmost for his highest: Selections for the year (March 6). Grand Rapids, MI: Discovery House Publishers.

Amazing Grace History/

How about black history month based on "just the black notes" on the piano! enjoy, ron

Five Blind Boys Of Mississippi - Lord You've Been Good To Me

Turn up the volume and enjoy!

Pearl of Great Price!

“Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it" (Matthew 13.46). What Christ refers to in the parable, of course, is the Kingdom of God. And lest we confuse anyone - the Kingdom means everything – the triune God Himself and all the good that you and I could possibly desire (Matthew 6.33).

Aesop tells the following story. A cock was once strutting up and down the farmyard among the hens when suddenly he espied something shinning amid the straw. "Ho! ho!" quoth he, "that's for me," and soon rooted it out from beneath the straw. What did it turn out to be but a Pearl that by some chance had been lost in the yard? "You may be a treasure," quoth Master Cock, "to men that prize you, but for me I would rather have a single barley-corn than a peck of pearls." (The Cock and the Pearl)

Moral: Precious things are for those that can prize them.

In short, “Do not give what is holy to dogs, and do not throw your pearls before swine, or they will trample them under their feet, and turn and tear you to pieces” (Matthew 7.6)

A fine pearl was an object of such great value that one might sell all one’s accumulated wealth to purchase it (Mt 13.45, 46), but a pearl, used figuratively for the Word of God, should not be cast before swine or roosters for that matter. (Mt 7.6).

enjoy, ron

George Szell - Wiener Phil. - Eine kleine Nachtmusik 1/3

Prince Caspian Super Bowl Commercial

It has been confirmed that Disney will play a Prince Caspian trailer during the Super Bowl. The new trailer has been posted online and can be viewed here above (or click here).

C. S. Lewis (1898 – 1963) wrote the seven Chronicles of Narnia from 1950 – 1956. I’ve been a Narnia fan since reading the complete set with my children several decades ago. You can follow the latest in Narnia movie news plus a whole lot more at NarniaWeb.com. Along with a discussion forum, action figures, cast interviews, photo gallery and Narnia T-shirts, the web site is your complete source for Narnia movie news.

enjoy, ron

The Salvation Question!

Jews are well-known to always answer a question with a question. The story goes of a Jewish fellow and a non-Jewish fellow walking down the street, and the non-Jew says to the Jew, “How come you guys always answer a question with a question” and the Jew replies: “So what’s wrong with that?!”

Questioning, of course, is central to learning and growing. And behold, a man came up to him, saying, “Teacher, what good deed must I do to have eternal life?” And he said to him, “Why do you ask me about what is good? There is only one who is good” (Matthew 19.16-17a).

Questions are very powerful tools for making decisions and solving problems, for inventing, changing and improving our lives as well as the lives of others. The question of eternal life is certainly a big question and it seems that most everybody is looking for an answer to it. Even the religious leaders of Jesus’ day were diligently studying the Scriptures in order to possess eternal life (John 5.39-40). What’s up with that?

Questions allow us to make sense of the world. Certainly the young man’s question to Jesus assumed that eternal life could be achieved by doing some good thing but it also assumed that eternal life was the paramount thing to get.

Yet Jesus’ reply did not expressly focus on salvation. Rather Jesus obliged the young man to think more seriously about the word good. Answering a question with a question can sometimes trigger something to get us moving in the right direction. “Only God is good,” Jesus said. By emphasizing the goodness of God Jesus questioned the man’s idea of goodness. You see, goodness is found in relation to God, not by ‘good deeds’ of our own devising. In other words, Jesus is asking, “Do you believe that I am good and therefore that I am God?”

Think about it! Surely salvation is good! But if Jesus is good, then He is God, and knowing Jesus (His Person & Work) is far better than salvation. No! Even more, knowing Jesus is salvation (John 17.3).

Any questions?

enjoy, ron

Monkey Around?

Prince Charles is quoted as saying, “I learned the way a monkey learns - by watching its parents.” Perhaps so but I wonder who learns fastest, the Prince or the monkey?

According to recent scientific findings, when it comes to serious mental powers like short-term memory, young chimpanzees can significantly outperform the Prince at some short-term memory tasks.

In the words of Winston Churchill, “Never hold discussions with the monkey when the organ grinder is in the room.” After all, scientists have the video to prove it. And one of the lead researcher’s says that chimps seem to have something akin to "photographic memory," at least for short-term tests. Don't believe it? Well, then, here’s a way for you to test yourself against the chimp. Just click the link below for a video test.

Click: Test yourself against the chimp!

FYI: Rules of the Game: First, researchers in Japan taught six chimps--three 5-year-olds and their mothers--to recognize and order the numbers 1 through 9. Then they taught them to play a memory game.

In the game, the numbers would appear randomly on a video screen. The object was to touch them in order: 1, 2, 3, etc. But there was a catch. As soon as the chimps pressed 1, the rest of the numbers disappeared, covered over by white boxes. So they had to remember where they had seen the numbers and touch the white boxes that covered them.

Results of the Game: Not only could the chimps do this just as accurately as college students, they could do it faster, too. So the scientists devised another test, to see who could remember and order five numbers that flashed on a screen for just fractions of a second. Result? Another chimp win.

PS. Once I entered a free-style dance contest as a teenager. I won! My prize? A Monkees Album! "Hey hey we're the Monkees, People say we monkey around. But we're too busy pushing buttons to put Prince Charles down."

PSS.

Once I was a tadpole beginning to begin,
Then I was a frog with my tail tucked in,
Then I was a monkey in a banyan tree,
And now I am a professor with a Ph.D.

Enjoy, ron

Excommunicate Luther!

"Here I stand, I can do no other, God help me, Amen..." (Martin Luther)

On this day in 1521, Pope Leo X issued the papal bull Decet Romanum Pontificem, excommunicating Martin Luther, the German priest whose questioning of certain Roman Catholic practices initiated the Protestant Reformation.

Luther fought the good fight of faith to the very end. Seized by a crippling heart attack, Luther eulogized before his death, "When I die, I want to be a ghost... So I can continue to pester the bishops, priests and godless monks until that they have more trouble with a dead Luther than they could have had before with a thousand living ones."

Here is a short biography with links:

1483 (November 10) Born in Eisleben
1505 Monk in Erfurt
1512 Doctor of Theology in Wittenberg
1517 Nailed the 95 Theses to the door of the Castle Church
1521 Outlawed and exiled to the Wartburg
1522 Return to Wittenberg
1525 Married Katharina von Bora
1534 Published the complete Bible in German
1546 (February 18) Died in Eisleben

“Through faith in Christ, therefore, Christ’s righteousness becomes our righteousness and all that he has becomes ours; rather, he himself becomes ours. Therefore the Apostle calls it 'the righteousness of God' in Rom. 1:17; For in the gospel 'the righteousness of God is revealed…; as it is written, 'The righteous shall live by his faith.' Finally, in the same epistle, chapter 3:28, such a faith is called 'the righteousness of God': 'We hold that a man is justified by faith.' This is an infinite righteousness, and one that swallows up all sins in a moment, for it is impossible that sin should exist in Christ. On the contrary, he who trusts in Christ exists in Christ; he is one with Christ, having the same righteousness as he. It is therefore impossible that sin should remain in him. This righteousness is primary; it is the basis, the cause, the source of all our own actual righteousness. For this is the righteousness given in place of the original righteousness lost in Adam. It accomplishes the same as that original righteousness would have accomplished; rather, it accomplishes more.” (Luther – Two Kinds of Righteousness)

Enjoy, ron

Note: A site devoted to interactive annotative study of the writing of Martin Luther can be searched here.

Note: On this PBS site there are a number of interesting offerings included with a documentary titled Martin Luther: The Reluctant Revolutionary.

The Purple Nurple!

enjoy, ron

Piper & the Prosperity Word!

The following message flickers into living rooms accross the globe each night:

Be faithful in how you live and how you give and God will shower you with material riches!

Pastor John Piper offers an antidote!



enjoy, ron

12/25

Although the precise origin of the date is unclear, Christmas is celebrated worldwide on 12/25. It was first identified as the date of Jesus' birth by Sextus Julius Africanus in 221. Regardless the date, Christmas is when we commemorate and celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit is at work.

Have you read Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" lately? As you may recall it is a heartwarming tale of how the penurious old coot is transformed by the Spirit of Christmas. Certainly the story carries a far greater legacy than merely giving us the phrases "Bah, Humbug!" and "God bless us, every one!"

It is more than 150 years since Charles Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol. But that story endures and retains the power to move us because it speaks to the human condition, and offers an alternative to selfishness and materialism. It points us, albeit dimly, to the source of our being. As K Barth put it: “Christmas is where we come from…”

Then the Grinch thought of something he hadn't before! "Maybe Christmas," he thought, "doesn't come from a store. Maybe Christmas ... perhaps ... means a little bit more!” “And what happened then ... in Who-ville they say [is] that the Grinch's small heart grew three sizes that day!” - Dr. Suess

Enjoy, ron

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead; nor doth he sleep!
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men!”

- Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

Lazy Tuesday (Neo-Orthodoxy)

Word Up Barth!

enjoy, ron

a-lit-er-ate or il-lit-er-ate?

Caleb Crain in The New Yorker:

In 1937, twenty-nine per cent of American adults told the pollster George Gallup that they were reading a book. In 1955, only seventeen per cent said they were. Pollsters began asking the question with more latitude. In 1978, a survey found that fifty-five per cent of respondents had read a book in the previous six months. The question was even looser in 1998 and 2002, when the General Social Survey found that roughly seventy per cent of Americans had read a novel, a short story, a poem, or a play in the preceding twelve months. And, this August, seventy-three per cent of respondents to another poll said that they had read a book of some kind, not excluding those read for work or school, in the past year. If you didn’t read the fine print, you might think that reading was on the rise.

You wouldn’t think so, however, if you consulted the Census Bureau and the National Endowment for the Arts, who, since 1982, have asked thousands of Americans questions about reading that are not only detailed but consistent. The results, first reported by the N.E.A. in 2004, are dispiriting. In 1982, 56.9 per cent of Americans had read a work of creative literature in the previous twelve months. The proportion fell to fifty-four per cent in 1992, and to 46.7 per cent in 2002. Last month, the N.E.A. released a follow-up report, “To Read or Not to Read,” which showed correlations between the decline of reading and social phenomena as diverse as income disparity, exercise, and voting. In his introduction, the N.E.A. chairman, Dana Gioia, wrote, “Poor reading skills correlate heavily with lack of employment, lower wages, and fewer opportunities for advancement.”

More here.

PS. Thousands of years ago the sage wrote “Of making many books there is no end” (Ecclesiastes 12:12). If this was true then, how much more is it true today when we see tens or hundreds of thousands of books being released every year.

PSS. Click here if you need help with your 2008 Bible reading plan.

enjoy, ron

Come, pray & enjoy!

“Then you will call upon Me and come and pray to Me, and I will listen to you'” Again, “Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know” (Je 33.3; 29:12).

“Behold, … I will heal … and I will reveal to them an abundance of peace and truth. I will restore … the fortunes … and will rebuild them …. I will cleanse them from all their iniquity by which they have sinned against Me, and I will pardon all their iniquities by which they have sinned against Me and by which they have transgressed against Me.

“It [you] will be to Me a name of joy, praise and glory before all the nations of the earth which will hear of all the good that I do for them, and they will fear and tremble because of all the good and all the peace that I make for [you].

“… the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the voice of those who say, 'Give thanks to the Lord of hosts, For the Lord is good, For His loving-kindness is everlasting”; and of those who bring a thank offering into the house of the Lord. For I will restore the fortunes of the land as they were at first,’ says the Lord.

“Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'There will again be in this place which is waste, without man or beast, and in all its cities, a habitation of shepherds who rest their flocks (Je 33:6-9; 11-12).

Enjoy, ron

(All Bible quotes taken from NASB Updated edition)

Jeremiah’s mud hole!

Jeremiah preached repentance
To those who would turn from hell
But the critics gave him bad reviews
Even threw him to the bottom to the well
(Yonder Comes Sin, Bob Dylan)

When Jeremiah finished speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak to all the people, the priests and the prophets and all the people seized him, saying, “You must die!”

Then Jeremiah spoke to all the officials and to all the people, saying, “The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house and against this city all the words that you have heard. Now therefore amend your ways and your deeds and obey the voice of the Lord your God; and the Lord will change His mind about the misfortune which He has pronounced against you.” (Jeremiah 26:8, 12-13)

“The Lord has made you priest instead of Jehoiada the priest, to be the overseer in the house of the Lord over every madman who prophesies, to put him in the stocks and in the iron collar, now then, why have you not rebuked Jeremiah of Anathoth who prophesies to you? “For he has sent to us in Babylon, saying, ‘The exile will be long; build houses and live in them and plant gardens and eat their produce.’” ( Jeremiah 29:26-28)

Then they took Jeremiah and cast him into the cistern of Malchijah the king’s son, which was in the court of the guardhouse; and they let Jeremiah down with ropes. Now in the cistern there was no water but only mud, and Jeremiah sank into the mud. (Jeremiah 38:6)

Enjoy, ron

Word!

Thus says the Lord, “Let not a wise man boast of his wisdom, and let not the mighty man boast of his might, let not a rich man boast of his riches; but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the Lord who exercises lovingkindness, justice and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the Lord. (Jeremiah 9:23-24, NASB)

enjoy, ron

Name that Teddy!

A trial that prosecutors said would be "swift and fair" opened Thursday in Sudan's capital for Gillian Gibbons. She is a British school teacher better known as “Miss Gibbons” to the 7-year-olds in her second-grade class at the Unity School in Khartoum, Sudan. She is righteously accused of inciting religious hatred by allowing her students to name a teddy bear for the prophet Mohammad.

Here is what happened. As a class project, Miss Gibbons introduced her students to a cute, cuddly little teddy bear. And then she said “Now we have to give the bear a name.” All the students raised their hands and suggested names for the bear - eight names in all, including Abdullah and Hassan. To be fair, since there were so many great names to choose from, Miss Gibbons suggested they take a vote. And the winner, by a vote of 20 to 3, was: Muhammad!

Now, said Miss Gibbons, we will all take Muhammad home, one at a time, and we’ll bring him back with an essay about what we did with Muhammad the Bear when he was home with us. And so, one by one, the students took Muhammad the Bear home and wrote essays, and eventually Miss Gibbons bound all the essays into a book with a picture of the bear on the cover and the title “My Name Is Muhammad.”

Alas, the diabolical deed was stealthily uncovered by the ever efficient Sudanese police who immediately arrested Miss Gibbons and charged her with blasphemy and insulting the great prophet. She was locked away and told that her most likely sentence would be 200 lashes with a whip. Meanwhile a huge, unruly crowd collected outside the Khartoum jail bellowing fiercely and relentlessly for the immediate lynching of the western infidel.

In fact, if convicted, 54 year old Gillian Gibbons could be jailed for six months and subjected to 40 lashes. Her students have tried to claim responsibility for the act, which Britain's Foreign Service has called "an innocent misunderstanding."

enjoy, ron

Old School!

The following are a few verses from Jeremiah 6 that stood out as I read my morning devotions.

To whom shall I speak and give warning
That they may hear?
Behold, their ears are closed
And they cannot listen.
Behold, the word of the Lord has become a reproach to them;
They have no delight in it.
(Jeremiah 6:10, NASB)

For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Everyone is greedy for gain,
And from the prophet even to the priest
Everyone deals falsely.
They have healed the brokenness of My people superficially,
Saying, ‘Peace, peace,’
But there is no peace.
(Jeremiah 6:13-14, NASB)

Thus says the Lord,
Stand by the ways and see and ask for the ancient paths,
Where the good way is, and walk in it;
And you will find rest for your souls.
(Jeremiah 6:16, NASB)

enjoy, ron

Thanksgiving!

Thou who hast given so much to me,

give me one more thing -

a grateful heart!

George Herbert

Psalm 100
A Psalm for giving thanks!

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth!
Serve the LORD with gladness!
Come into his presence with singing!
Know that the LORD, he is God!
It is he who made us, and we are his;
we are his people, and the sheep of his pasture.
Enter his gates with thanksgiving,
and his courts with praise!
Give thanks to him; bless his name!
For the LORD is good;
his steadfast love endures forever,
and his faithfulness to all generations.

(NASB)

Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice!
Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near.
Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.
And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things.
The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.
(Philippians 4.4-9.NASB)

He has brought us to this place and has given us this land,

a land flowing with milk and honey.
Now behold, I have brought the first of the produce of the ground which You, O Lord have given me.

And you shall set it down before the Lord your God,

and worship before the Lord your God;
and you and the Levite and the alien who is among you shall rejoice in all the good which the Lord your God has given you and your household.
(Deuteronomy 26:1-11; NASB)

thank you

ron

Jesus Jones!

I was reminded today of the miracle performing Jim Jones who claimed to be an incarnation of Jesus.

James Warren "Jim" Jones was the founder of the Peoples Temple, which became synonymous with group suicide after the November 18, 1978 mass murder-suicide by poison in their isolated agricultural intentional community called Jonestown, located in Guyana. Over nine hundred people died from cyanide poisoning or gunshot wounds in the aftermath of Jones ordering his men to kill visiting Congressman Leo Ryan and numerous members of his entourage.

In 1 Corinthians 12.10 the apostle Paul then refers to the “ability to distinguish between spirits”. The Bible talks of other extraordinary things appearing in an alternative or even counterfeit form. For example, in Exodus we see that some of the miracles that God performed through Moses were imitated by the court magicians of Pharaoh. More explicitly, Jesus himself says, in Matthew 7:21-23 21.

Not everyone who says to Me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter. Many will say to Me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?’ ‘And then I will declare to them, ‘I never knew you; depart from Me, you who practice lawlessness.’

Clearly, amazing and diabolical things can be done in Jesus’ name by people that do not even know Jesus - which is a sobering thought. And that sort of reality renders the gift of being able to “distinguish between spirits” - i.e., the ability to determine the authenticity of a particular thing - as a valuable gift for Christ to give to His church.

Faustian Bargain!

Elena Oumano writes in her book, Marianne Williamson: Her Life, Her Message, Her Miracles that New age leader Marianne Williamson claims that a number of years ago, after a “nervous breakdown” and in the midst of her study of A Course in Miracles, she met “Jesus.” One night she said she felt the presence of “Jesus” by her bed. “I was not normal and I knew it,” Williamson said. Hence, she started talking to the presence that she assumed was the real Jesus:

“So I said to Jesus, ‘Look, if you can give me back my life, if you can restore me somehow, then I will do whatever you want me to do for the rest of my life.’ Like people make a pact with the devil, I made a pact with Jesus.”

Or was it in fact another Faustian bargain? After all, the “Jesus” that Williamson follows is the false New Age “Jesus” of A Course in Miracles, not the real Jesus of the Bible.

“Little children, make sure no one deceives you; the one who practices righteousness is righteous, just as He is righteous; the one who practices sin is of the devil; for the devil has sinned from the beginning. The Son of God appeared for this purpose, to destroy the works of the devil” (1 John 3.7-8).

A deal with the Devil, pact with the Devil, or Faustian bargain is a cultural motif widespread wherever the Devil is vividly present, most familiar in the legend of Faust and the figure of Mephistopheles, but elemental to a Christian view of the world.

According to traditional Christian belief in witchcraft, the pact is between a person and Satan or any other demon (or demons); the person offers his or her soul in exchange for diabolical favors. Those favors vary by the tale, but tend to include youth, knowledge, wealth, health or power. It was also believed that some persons made this type of pact just as a sign of recognizing the Devil as their master, in exchange for nothing. Regardless, the bargain is a dangerous one, for the price of the Fiend's service is the wagerer's soul. The tale may have a moralizing end, with eternal damnation for the foolhardy venturer. Conversely it may have a comic twist, in which a wily peasant outwits the Devil, characteristically on a technical point.

For example, the story goes that Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. However, shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

“And the devil who deceived them was thrown into the lake of fire and brimstone, where the beast and the false prophet are also; and they will be tormented day and night forever and ever” (Rev. 20.10).

enjoy, ron

Saturn Radio!

Are you bored with listening to all the normal stuff on radio? How would you like a very brief reprieve? Click here to listen to something that is literally out of this world. What you hear is an audio file of Saturn's radio emissions.

FYI: The Cassini spacecraft monitors radio emissions from the planet Saturn. The radio waves are closely related to the auroras near the poles of the planet and are similar to Earth's northern and southern lights.

From article: Bizarre Sounds of Saturn's Radio Emissions

enjoy, ron

The Jesus Guy!

Have you seen the Jesus Guy around? You may soon! He's begining to make headlines. For what it's worth, many feel that the Jesus Guy looks a lot like Jesus Christ Himself (an angilicized version, no doubt). They say he preaches like St. Francis of Assisi. Some rather candidly say he’s “a kook.” Others, confess him to be “a blessing from God.” I'm cluless!

Of course, contemporary liberal scholars, news pundits, and Hollywood have had many stupid opinions about Jesus and this guy fits the stereotype. He even answers the "name question" with a counter question "What's your name?" I suppose that's better than "I AM" for an answer. Sure he walks around barefoot in the snow (not, on water) and he's clad in a white robe but what does that say? Well, he likes to walk! According to reports, he’s walked through 47 states [and 13 countries] on a 16-year mission. So now the media wants in! Lately, both 20/20, Time and the Wall Street Journal have all helped to get the Jesus Guy a little free publicity.

So what's next? Interested? Click here to view more information about a documentary by Sean Tracey titled The Jesus Guy. The documentary covers the mystical journey of America’s “Barefoot Evangelist.” Oh, and by the way, the Jesus Guy is broke, penniless! So, if philosophy is for cynics and pop culture is for bimbos, what's this Jesus Guy all about? Does he have any good news?

enjoy, ron

Atlas Shrugged?

Today, October 12, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the publication of Ayn Rand’s novel Atlas Shrugged. It was a huge, hotly debated bestseller in its day, and its sales have held steady ever since. According to a 1991 report by the Library of Congress, Atlas Shrugged, by Ayn Rand is second only to the Bible in the influence it has had on readers' lives.

I must confess! I passed through a rather intense Ayn Rand phase in my own philosophical journey. At that point, all around me, I was hearing the words: “Atlas Shrugged changed my life.”

Rand was from a educated, prosperous Soviet family who suffered terribly under communism. Her lifelong hatred for communism was superseded only by her love for the United States. She loved its skyscrapers, its technology, its machinery, its individualism, its energy. She was a thorough bred Aristotelian both in word and deed.

Unfortunately for Rand, she loathed religion as much as she hated communism. Being a fool for Christ myself, I was saddened to discover that she saw Christianity as the religion of fools and slaves. The woman was audacious in her worldly wisdom. For example, when faced with the writings of C.S. Lewis, Rand declared him to be a “driveling non-entity,” a “mediocrity,” and “scum.” (see, 1 Corinthians 4.13)

In place of Christianity, Rand, the antichrist, heralded objectivism - with objective reason as its god! Rational, responsible and principled individualism was her philosophy for living. In and of itself, objectivism is very compelling. It promotes values like love, friendship, wealth, and comfort. It respects science, technology, and innovation. It emphasizes reason and clarity. It values purposefulness, achievement, and success. It reveres passionate living, and pursing the greatest heights. All good things but meaningless without a knowledge of Jesus Christ and the power of his resurrection.

So instead of glorifying and enjoying God, Rand set personal happiness as the extreme goal and objectivism as the philosophy that gives you the tools to figure out how to achieve it. Consequently, Atlas Shrugged turns out to be no more than diddly squat in light of the ultimate influence of the Bible.

Jesus Hugged!

enjoy, ron

"ba da ba ba baa.. I'm lovin' it"

With the current McDonaldization of society it is no wonder more and more Americans know the ingredients of Big Macs than they do the Ten Commandments. It's a fact! Just check out this news story and weep.

BTW can you guess the correlation between morality and obesity? Have you seen the documentary Super Size Me?

Of course, this news is hardly all that shocking, particularly when so many American evangelicals (younger & older alike) are often about as clueless as the rest of the public when it comes to the Law of God.

What about the golden rule? How long before it goes the way of the golden aches (or golden calf)? What can be said about a society that no longer believed killing, cheating, stealing and slander are wrong? That envy and jealousy are good things? Help me here...

If we as Christians can remember the condiments on a hamburger over the contents of God’s commands, it’s a pretty good indication that our morality it shot. It is only through the knowledge of God’s Word that we are prevented from sinning.

With my whole heart I seek you;
let me not wander from your commandments!
I have stored up your word in my heart,
that I might not sin against you.
Blessed are you, O Lord;
teach me your statutes!

(ESV, Psalm 119:10-12)

enjoy, ron

Heart Broken!

“Faith lives in a broken heart. ‘He cried out with tears, Lord, I believe.’ True faith is always in a heart bruised for sin. They, therefore, whose hearts were never touched for sin, have no faith. If a physician should tell us there was a herb that would help us against all infections, but it always grows in a watery place; if we should see a herb like it in color, leaf, smell, blossom, but growing upon a rock, we should conclude that it was the wrong herb. So saving faith always grows in a heart humbled for sin, in a weeping eye and a tearful conscience.” –Thomas Watson

PS. "God loves a broken heart, not a divided heart."

enjoy, ron

Shelter from the storm!

Jesus, refuge of the weary,
Blest redeemer, whom we love,
Fountain in life’s desert dreary,
Savior from the world above:
Often have your eyes, offended,
Gazed upon the sinner’s fall;
Yet upon the cross extended,
You have borne the pain of all.

Do we pass that cross unheeding,
Breathing no repentant vow,
Though we see you wounded, bleeding,
See your thorn encircled brow?
Yet you sinless death has brought us
Life eternal, peace, and rest;
Only what your grace has taught us
Calms the sinner’s deep distress.

Jesus, may our hearts be burning
With more fervent love for you;
May our eyes be ever turning
To behold your cross anew
Till in glory, parted never
From the blessed Savior’s side,
Graven in our hearts forever,
Dwell the cross, the Crucified.

–Girolamo Savonarola

PS. Girolamo Savonarola (September 21, 1452 – May 23, 1498) was an Italian Dominican priest and leader of Florence from 1494 until his execution in 1498. He was known for religious reform and vehemently preached against what he saw as the moral corruption of the clergy. He is sometimes seen as a precursor of Martin Luther and the Protestant Reformation.

PSS. The novel Romola by one of my all time favorite authors George Eliot features Savonarola as a central character. Romola (1863) is a historical novel set in the fifteenth century, and is "a deep study of life in the city of Florence from an intellectual, artistic, religious, and social point of view." If you want to read the book click on Romola.

PSSS.

In a little hilltop village, they gambled for my clothes
I bargained for salvation an' they gave me a lethal dose.
I offered up my innocence and got repaid with scorn.
"Come in," she said, "I'll give you shelter from the storm."

-Dylan

enjoy, ron

Feekless Promises!

“Satan promises the best, but pays with the worst;

he promises honor and pays with disgrace;

he promises pleasure and pays with pain;

he promises profit and pays with loss;

he promises life and pays with death.”

–Thomas Brooks

Christianist!

“Christianist” is a dubious new word recently submitted by the public to Merriam-Webster’s Open Dictionary. I wonder who uses such a word? Read on for its definition…

christianist (noun): one who advocates the reordering of society and government in accordance with fundamentalist Christian interpretations of the Bible.

Example of use: The distinction between Christian and Christianist echoes the distinction we make between Muslim and Islamist.

Quote from site…

When you notice a new word - on the radio, in a book or magazine, or online - and discover that it’s not in the dictionary, then it’s a good candidate for Merriam-Webster’s Open Dictionary. Some words catch on, some don’t. It usually takes a few years for a word to enter the language and be used by many people in many different places. Lexicographers collect the evidence of new words used in print to determine when they are to be entered in the dictionary.

The Open Dictionary is a place to record new or specialized words or old words with new meanings, and some of the more intriguing new words and expressions submitted to the Open Dictionary at http://www.merriam-webster.com/ make it into this semimonthly roundup at the Britannica Blog. Some of these words are being used in active English but have not yet found their way into the pages of print dictionaries. Others are clever or useful coinages.

We welcome your contributions to the Open Dictionary - simply click here to join the fun.

enjoy, ron

Jerry Lee Lewis!

I just had to post this 1971 performance of Jerry Lee performing the hymn Where He Leads Me. God rasied up Jerry Lee Lewis and if you don't believe me, believe him (click on the audio clip link below)!

For some great insight into this man and his music listen to this clip (turn up your volume control) of an interview with Jerry Lee from the 1970s. Lewis is being asked about where his religiousity and love of gospel music comes from. He responds by saying that niether denominations nor religion itself has any direct bearing on salvation. Here’s some quotes:

People of every church are going to be in heaven, brother. Upbringing’s got
nothing to do with it, or what church you believe in. I knew that’s what you
were referring to — I thought I’d just go ahead and get into it.

Are you a Christian or a Christian-minded person? [...]

… As a matter of fact, there’s no such a word as religion in the Bible. You’ll not even find that word in the Bible. Salvation, you’ll find.

enjoy, ron

Lawsuit Against God?

“Nebraska Democratic State Senator Ernie Chambers has decided to go straight to the top in an effort to stop natural disasters from befalling the world.

Chambers filed a lawsuit against God in Douglas County Court Friday afternoon, KPTM Fox 42 reported.” Here’s the story. Perhaps the good legislator needs to read God’s response to Job beginning in chapter 38.

Here come the Judge!

enjoy, ron

theist vs. atheist

Faith smackdown!

Francis Collins, former head of the Human Genome Project (and onetime atheist), rejects the notion that science is sufficient to disprove the existence of God. Atheist biologist Richard Dawkins, aka Darwin's Rottweiler, insists that anyone who believes in an omnipotent creator is suffering a "delusion." Can the gloves of God defeat the punch of proof?

Collins once considered himself an atheist. However, dealing with dying patients led him to question his religious views, and after investigating various faiths., he became a believer in Jesus Christ after observing the faith of his critically ill patients and reading Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis.

During a debate with Richard Dawkins, Collins stated that God is the object of the unanswered questions about the universe that science does not ask, and that God himself does not need an explanation since he is beyond the universe. Dawkins accused this as "the mother and father of all cop-outs" and "an incredible evasion of the responsibility to explain."

Would you like to vote? Go here for more, and click on the heads to score each round to vote.

enjoy, ron

Masks & Madness!

Poem for 9/11 on 9/12

She leaned on her brother's lego towers,
Being at that age when everything becomes
An aid to the miracle of mobility. Hers was
To sow disassembly on the industrious fields
Of a sibling's imagination. Innocently.

Far out in the world, men learn
The miracle of walking planes on leashes,
Testicles burning with artificial fire,
Striding into gangling towers
Innocent as placard-carrying activists.

Far out in another world, Hitler and Mao
Compare notes, ruing the slow evolution
Of human imagination. "I'd have built airports,
Not Auschwitz; sent Israel to Canaan
On Economy," Hitler says, in a rare interview.

Mao nods absentmindedly, he spends his days
Building Boeings from the pages of the red
Book. In New York, men settled for suicide,
Hurtled down burning towers, voices willed
To answering machines that reproduce

Every nuance of terror, and leak the smells
Of burning words, burning goodbyes, burning
Skins, burning everything. The journey
Of a thousand stories ends with one step
Into dust, into ash, into the salt from many eyes,

Civilisation toppling at the sound of God's name.
And as for you who wear masks and madness, and chant
God's name in vain: Pack all the fear you can, into
The aisles of a million jets, and watch them explode
Prematurely with a heroism that is not yours — and never will be.

(Originally appeared in The Vocabula Review )

911 Musing!

Currently I'm preaching through The First Letter of Paul to the Corinthians. I'm in chapter 9. In this Chapter Paul uses himself as a example for true freedom. According to 9.11 Paul has every right to reap material things from the Corinthian church. After all, they are his work and Paul has sowed spiritual things in them.

Of course, verse 11 falls firmly into the main teaching of 9. Namely, by means of personal example, Paul reinforces the appeal of chap 8, that the stronger believer is to forego his/her rights for the sake of the weaker, even to adopt the stance of the weak if necessary, by drawing attention to his own surrendering of his apostolic rights for the sake of a greater good! In this case, for the sake of the Gospel’s advance!

The major significance is the gospel-first posture of Paul that so ordered and influenced his life - his passion to keep the Gospel free and clear from any hindrances - whatever that might mean for him personally (1 Cor. 2.2). As a result of this gospel-first posture, Paul was more than willing to forego his personal rights, to abandon his apostolic privileges and “become all things to all men” for the sake of the Gospel’s advance.

To put it another way, what is on display in 1 Corinthians 9 is the gospel-driven, sacrificial mindset and lifestyle! This is the lifestyle that was demonstrated by Jesus, modeled by Paul, and whose echo ought to reverberate through the lives of God’s people, wherever they may be found.

enjoy, ron