tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-48284949589486353432024-03-13T07:54:09.098-04:00The Clouds are Lined with GoldDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.comBlogger52125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-85740721608086025792011-05-18T04:24:00.000-04:002011-05-18T04:25:27.561-04:00self explanatory... right?<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1_e8q-eiSWA/TdOCYPgRifI/AAAAAAAAAM4/bfBFBL366o4/s1600/SnugglyDuckling.jpg" onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 332px; height: 312px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1_e8q-eiSWA/TdOCYPgRifI/AAAAAAAAAM4/bfBFBL366o4/s400/SnugglyDuckling.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5607969313996769778" /></a>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-83461833803255043332010-08-20T14:02:00.001-04:002010-08-20T14:08:44.806-04:00Longoria<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TG7ERiS3OTI/AAAAAAAAAMg/4XLn6vrQXZM/s1600/C4S_longolead111108_45410c.jpeg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 290px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TG7ERiS3OTI/AAAAAAAAAMg/4XLn6vrQXZM/s320/C4S_longolead111108_45410c.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507555199863437618" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; ">Here's how good Evan Longoria is: </span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; ">The Rays have a pitching machine that shoots out tennis balls up to 120 mph. Some of the balls have a black mark on them, some have a red mark. Longo can crank the machine up to 100 mph, then can call out what color is coming to the plate. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; ">When he sees a black ball, he pulls it. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; ">When he sees a red ball, he hits it to the opposite field. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: verdana, helvetica, arial, sans-serif; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-size: 12px; line-height: 16px; ">When teammate Carlos Pena was asked him how he did that, Longo smiled in amazement and said, "I have no idea."</span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-11435365485683465602010-08-16T14:37:00.004-04:002010-08-16T15:11:45.287-04:00Planned Parenthood: "Every child, a wanted child."<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 19px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Today I learned that Planned Parenthood uses the slogan: <strong>"Every child, a wanted child."</strong></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Under normal circumstances, I could agree with that. Every child is wanted when you consider the millions of families lined up for adoption, and are caught up in the waiting line.</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">According to PP, the phrase originated in 1928 Massachusetts, from proponents of birth control. Advocates claimed preventing conception through the available technology was acting responsibly (to which I agree). Eventually, married couples would be granted birth control methods to reduce the number of accidental pregnancies in marriages. And that is where their article ends. (<a href="http://ow.ly/2qi1N" onmousedown="UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "865a7", event);" rel="nofollow" target="_blank" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; ">http://ow.ly/2qi1N</a>)</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">But what do they mean <em>today</em>?</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">By still using that slogan to include abortion, PP is saying, "every child, a wanted child - so let's identify <em>unwanted</em> children and kill them before they are born." </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">This. is. infuriating. Can we turn that slogan around? </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><strong>"every unwanted child, a dead child"</strong></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><b><br /></b></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">How can anyone try to take the moral high ground on killing children?</p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">According to America's Pregnancy Helpline, "In the USA, there are approximately two million infertile couples waiting to adopt, many times regardless of the child's medical problems such as Down Syndrome, Spina Bifida, HIV infection or terminally ill" and only <strong>1 baby for every 36 desiring couples</strong> are available. </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "> </p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; "><br /></p><p style="font-family: 'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; text-align: left; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; line-height: 1.5em; ">Every child <em>is</em> a wanted child, and PP's use of that slogan is shameful. </p></span>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-26135417811124234132010-08-10T08:57:00.003-04:002010-08-10T09:11:14.349-04:00U2 - North StarForty-five light years from home<br />is where you are & where I wanna be<br />Beside you<br /><br />I'm looking for direction<br />the stars are your reflection<br />to the space between you and me<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I can’t wait any longer for your love</span><br /><br />The birds still singing for their rent<br />They fly above the government<br />It’s not a song of discontent<br />Our money now its nearly spent<br /><br />Here I am, a space cowboy<br />Looking out for love and logic in the universe<br />yeah yeah<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I can’t wait any longer for your love</span><br /><br />& The day packs it in<br />& You watch as the sun goes down<br />& Pray that the night will come quickly<br /><br />You hope - You pray<br />that the clouds leave the sky alone<br />There’s only one light that can guide you<br />Guide you home<br /><br />(say!)<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">I can’t wait any longer for your love</span><br /><br />It’s like the silence and the shock<br />While the lights are barely shining<br />You want it - You got it<br />You take a lot of love inside...<br /><br />(<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nh9ZIG5suCY">video</a>)Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-53889945032703484902010-08-05T07:44:00.005-04:002010-08-05T11:18:01.479-04:00Clouds<meta equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html; charset=utf-8"><meta name="ProgId" content="Word.Document"><meta name="Generator" content="Microsoft Word 12"><meta name="Originator" 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mso-ansi-font-size:11.0pt; mso-bidi-font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi; color:windowtext;} .MsoChpDefault {mso-style-type:export-only; mso-default-props:yes; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:Calibri; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} @page WordSection1 {size:8.5in 11.0in; margin:1.0in 1.0in 1.0in 1.0in; mso-header-margin:.5in; mso-footer-margin:.5in; mso-paper-source:0;} div.WordSection1 {page:WordSection1;} --> </style><!--[if gte mso 10]> <style> /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--><span style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;font-size:85%;" >We tend to think that if Jesus Christ compels us to do something and we are obedient to Him, He will lead us to great success... The question of whether or not we arrive at a particular goal is of little importance, and reaching it becomes merely an episode along the way. What we see as only the process of reaching a particular end, God sees as the goal itself.
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<br />His purpose is the process itself. What He desires for me is that I see “Him walking on the sea” with no shore, no success, nor goal in sight, but simply having the absolute certainty that everything is all right because I see Him. <span style="font-size:78%;">(<a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206:45-51&version=ESV">Mark 6</a><a href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark%206:45-51&version=ESV">:45-51</a>)</span>
<br />
<br />... if we realize that moment-by-moment obedience is the goal, then each moment as it comes is precious.
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<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">In the Bible clouds are always associated with God. Clouds are the sorrows, sufferings, or providential circumstances, within or without our personal lives, which actually seem to contradict the sovereignty of God. Yet it is through these very clouds that the Spirit of God is teaching us how to walk by faith. If there were never any clouds in our lives, we would have no faith. “The clouds are the dust of His feet” <span style="font-size:78%;">(</span></span><span style="font-size:78%;"><a onclick="javascript:pageTracker._trackPageview('/outgoing/www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Nahum+1:3');" href="http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=nahum%201:3&version=ESV">Nahum 1:3</a></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size:78%;">)</span>.</span></span><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">Through every cloud He brings our way, He wants us to <em>unlearn</em> something. His purpose in using the cloud is to simplify our beliefs until our relationship with Him is exactly like that of a child— a relationship simply between God and our own souls, and where other people are but shadows.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">If we are in fellowship and oneness with God and recognize that He is taking us into His purposes, then we will no longer strive to find out what His purposes are… A Christian is someone who trusts in the knowledge and the wisdom of God, not in his own abilities. If we have a purpose of our own, it destroys the simplicity and the calm, relaxed pace which should be characteristic of the children of God.</span></p><p style="font-family: georgia;font-family:georgia;" class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:85%;">
<br /></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:85%;" >- Oswald Chambers,</span><span style="font-family: georgia;font-size:78%;" ><span style="font-size:85%;"> </span>excerpts from <span style="font-style: italic;">My Utmost for His Highest</span>
<br />(July 28 - August 5)</span>
<br /><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:georgia;"></span></span><o:p></o:p></p> Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-30465127870390375942010-07-14T13:50:00.001-04:002010-07-14T13:58:47.205-04:00"nobody, not even the rain," by e. e. cummingssomewhere i have never traveled, gladly beyond<br />any experience, your eyes have their silence:<br />in your most frail gesture are things which enclose me,<br />or which i cannot touch because they are too near<br /><br />your slightest look easily will unclose me<br />though i have closed myself as fingers,<br />you open always petal by petal myself as Spring opens<br />(touching skilfully, mysteriously) her first rose<br /><br />or if your wish be to close me, i and<br />my life will shut very beautifully, suddenly,<br />as when the heart of this flower imagines<br />the snow carefully everywhere descending;<br /><br />nothing which we are to perceive in this world equals<br />the power of your intense fragility: whose texture<br />compels me with the colour of its countries,<br />rendering death and forever with each breathing<br /><br />(i do not know what it is about you that closes<br />and opens; only something in me understands<br />the voice of your eyes is deeper than all roses)<br />nobody, not even the rain, has such small hands<br /><br />e. e. cummingsDanielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-47155713193888790832010-07-14T09:17:00.001-04:002010-07-14T09:18:32.502-04:00The Price of Vision<table border="0" cellpadding="1" width="85%"><tbody><tr><td style="text-align: left;">by Oswald Chambers...<br /></td><td width="5%"><br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td colspan="3" height="16"><br /></td></tr><tr><td colspan="3"><p><i>"In the year that King Uzziah died, I saw also the Lord." </i> Isaiah 6:1</p> <p>Our soul's history with God is frequently the history of the "passing of the hero." Over and over again God has to remove our friends in order to bring Himself in their place, and that is where we faint and fail and get discouraged. Take it personally: In the year that the one who stood to me for all that God was, died - I gave up everything? I became ill? I got disheartened? or - I saw the Lord? </p><p>My vision of God depends upon the state of my character. Character determines revelation. Before I can say "I saw also the Lord," there must be something corresponding to God in my character. Until I am born again and begin to see the Kingdom of God, I see along the line of my prejudices only; I need the surgical operation of external events and an internal purification. </p><p>It must be God first, God second, and God third, until the life is faced steadily with God and no one else is of any account whatever. "In all the world there is none but thee, my God, there is none but thee." Keep paying the price. Let God see that you are willing to live up to the vision. </p></td></tr></tbody></table>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-36040368170599324432010-06-27T12:41:00.004-04:002010-08-10T11:34:55.676-04:00Let's Go Rays<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TCd_dMix_aI/AAAAAAAAAMY/gAIDLGyauUU/s1600/c2vhdvooe4c1i8j6930y0s9go.gif"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 194px; height: 320px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TCd_dMix_aI/AAAAAAAAAMY/gAIDLGyauUU/s320/c2vhdvooe4c1i8j6930y0s9go.gif" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5487494810534280610" border="0" /><br /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span>The last team to get no-hit twice in one season, throw a no-hitter themselves, and win the world series was the 1917 White Sox...</div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-16267370069699374602010-06-23T07:53:00.005-04:002010-08-05T08:22:02.855-04:00Can I Has That?<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TCH3gQZPzDI/AAAAAAAAAMI/F5BJxogNCE8/s1600/iphone+4.jpg"><img style="display: block; margin: 0px auto 10px; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 203px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/TCH3gQZPzDI/AAAAAAAAAMI/F5BJxogNCE8/s320/iphone+4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5485937954642709554" border="0" /></a><br />The new <a href="http://www.apple.com/iphone/design/">iPhone 4</a> drops this week! I have never owned an iPhone, but I want one so badly. Unfortunately, my phone is not due for an upgrade until May! To leave my contract and drop the old phone, which they game me for free and is pretty good at texting, would actually be kind of expensive due to my contract. So in the mean time, I can only dream.<br /><br />from the <a href="http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704853404575322951290405346.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_MIDDLETopStories">WSJ</a>:<br /><br /><div class="insetCol3wide"><div class="insetContent"> <h3 class="first">An iPhone Snapshot</h3> <p> <strong>Positive Improvements</strong> </p> <ul><li><span>Higher-resolution display with 960x640 pixels</span></li><li><span>Improved built-in camera with flash</span></li><li><span>Front-facing camera and FaceTime video chatting software</span></li><li><span>Multi-tasking</span></li><li><span>Unified inbox for multiple email accounts</span></li><li><span>Improved battery has 7 hours of talk time</span></li><li><span>Folders for organizing apps</span></li></ul> <p> <strong>Negative</strong> </p> <ul><li><span>Multi-tasking is limited</span></li><li><span>AT&T reception gets mixed results</span></li><li><span>FaceTime video chatting only works with other iPhone 4s and over WiFi</span></li></ul> </div></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-76663425904838550692010-06-21T07:56:00.003-04:002010-06-21T08:09:57.767-04:00How to Listen to a Sermon (1772)<span class="title" style1=""><strong>How to Listen to a Sermon</strong></span> by <i>George Whitefield</i><br /><p> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><b>Keys for getting the most out of what the preacher says</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Jesus said, 'Therefore consider carefully how you listen' (<span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/Luke%208.18#ref=Lk%208%3A18%2Chi%3DLk%208%3A18-Lk%208%3A18&ver=ESV">Luke 8:18</a></span>). Here are some cautions and directions, in order to help you hear sermons with profit and advantage. </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><b>1. Come to hear them, not out of curiosity, but from a sincere desire to know and do your duty.</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"> To enter His house merely to have our ears entertained, and not our hearts reformed, must certainly be highly displeasing to the Most High God, as well as unprofitable to ourselves.<br /><br /><b>2. Give diligent heed to the things that are spoken from the Word of God.</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"> If an earthly king were to issue a royal proclamation, and the life or death of his subjects entirely depended on performing or not performing its conditions, how eager would they be to hear what those conditions were! And shall we not pay the same respect to the King of kings, and Lord of lords, and lend an attentive ear to His ministers, when they are declaring, in His name, how our pardon, peace, and happiness may be secured?<br /><br /><b>3. Do not entertain even the least prejudice against the minister.</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"> That was the reason Jesus Christ Himself could not do many mighty works, nor preach to any great effect among those of His own country; for they were offended at Him. Take heed therefore, and beware of entertaining any dislike against those whom the Holy Ghost has made overseers over you.<br /><br />Consider that the clergy are men of like passions with yourselves. And though we should even hear a person teaching others to do what he has not learned himself, yet that is no reason for rejecting his doctrine. For ministers speak not in their own, but in Christ’s name. And we know who commanded the people to do whatever the scribes and Pharisees should say unto them, even though they did not do themselves what they said (see <span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/Matt.%2023.1%E2%80%933#ref=Mt%2023%3A1%E2%80%933%2Chi%3DMt%2023%3A1-Mt%2023%3A3&ver=ESV">Matt. 23:1-3</a></span>). </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><b>4. Be careful not to depend too much on a preacher, or think more highly of him than you ought to think.</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;"> Preferring one teacher over another has often been of ill consequence to the church of God. It was a fault which the great Apostle of the Gentiles condemned in the Corinthians: 'For whereas one said, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos: are you not carnal, says he? For who is Paul, and who is Apollos, but instruments in God’s hands by whom you believed?' (<a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/1%20Cor.%201.12#ref=1%20Co%201%3A12%2Chi%3D1%20Co%201%3A12-1%20Co%201%3A12&ver=ESV">1 Cor. 1:12</a>; <a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/1%20Cor%202.3%E2%80%935#ref=1%20Co%202%3A3%E2%80%935%2Chi%3D1%20Co%202%3A3-1%20Co%202%3A5&ver=ESV">2:3-5</a>).<br /><br />Are not all ministers sent forth to be ministering ambassadors to those who shall be heirs of salvation? And are they not all therefore greatly to be esteemed for their work’s sake? </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><b>5. Make particular application to your own hearts of everything that is delivered.</b> When our Savior was discoursing at the last supper with His beloved disciples and foretold that one of them should betray Him, each of them immediately applied it to his own heart and said, 'Lord, is it I?' (</span><span style="font-size:85%;"><a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/Matt.%2026.22#ref=Mt%2026%3A22%2Chi%3DMt%2026%3A22-Mt%2026%3A22&ver=ESV">Matt. 26:22</a>). </span><span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Oh, that persons, in like manner, when preachers are dissuading from any sin or persuading to any duty, instead of crying, 'This was intended for such and such a one!' instead <span style="font-weight: bold;">would turn their thoughts inwardly, and say, 'Lord, is it I?'</span> How far more beneficial should we find discourses to be than now they generally are! </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br /><b>6. Pray to the Lord, before, during, and after every sermon</b></span> <span style="font-size:85%;">, to endue the minister with power to speak, and to grant you a will and ability to put into practice what he shall show from the Book of God to be your duty.<br /><br />No doubt it was this consideration that made St. Paul so earnestly entreat his beloved Ephesians to intercede with God for him: 'Praying always, with all manner of prayer and supplication in the Spirit, and for me also, that I may open my mouth with boldness, to make known the mysteries of the gospel' (<a href="http://bible.logos.com/passage/esv/Eph.%206.19%E2%80%9320#ref=Eph%206%3A19%E2%80%9320%2Chi%3DEph%206%3A19-Eph%206%3A20&ver=ESV">Eph. 6:19-20</a>). And if so great an apostle as St. Paul needed the prayers of his people, much more do those ministers who have only the ordinary gifts of the Holy Spirit. </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><br />If only all who hear me this day would seriously apply their hearts to practice what has now been told them! How ministers would see Satan, like lightning, fall from heaven, and people find the Word preached sharper than a two-edged sword and mighty, through God, to the pulling down of the devil’s strongholds! </span> <span style="font-size:85%;"><br /><span style="font-size:78%;"><br /><i>This excerpt is adapted from Sermon 28 from The Works of the Reverend George Whitefield. Published by E. and C. Dilly, 1771-1772, London. George Whitefield (1714-1770) was a British Methodist evangelist whose powerful sermons fanned the flames of the First Great Awakening in the American colonies.</i></span></span><br /></p>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-4010018654152074502010-06-12T09:24:00.005-04:002010-06-16T16:53:25.009-04:00Celibacy & Priesthood<p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The Pope <a href="http://www.usatoday.com/news/religion/2010-06-10-vatican-priests-rally_N.htm?csp=usat.me">defends</a> celibacy for every priest & wonders why sexually confused pedophiles end up in ministry? 1 Timothy 4 says, "some will abandon the faith and follow deceiving spirits and demons. Such teachings come through hypocritical liars, whose consciences have been seared as with a hot iron. They forbid people to marry," like the Pope.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">There are roughly 1 billion Catholics. To care for that many people you need a lot of godly pastors. If you exclude men who want to marry & have kids, you have to take some less than healthy men to fill the ranks around the godly men called to celibacy.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">- Mark Driscoll</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">These are bold points, and it reckons the question, is it right for the church to demand celibacy from its priests? </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">From a catholic friend of mine:</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Verdana;"><span style="font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Verdana;"><span style="font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">1 Corinthians 7:32-35 </span></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Verdana;"><span style="font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space: pre;"> </span>"</span></span></b></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I would like you to be free from concern. An unmarried man is concerned about the Lord's affairs—how he can please the Lord. But a married man is concerned about the affairs of this world—how he can please his wife— and his interests are divided. An unmarried woman or virgin is concerned about the Lord's affairs: Her aim is to be devoted to the Lord in both body and spirit. But a married woman is concerned about the affairs of this world—how she can please her husband. I am saying this for your own good, not to restrict you, but that you may live in a right way in undivided devotion to the Lord."</span></span></i></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><br /></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Does St. Paul contradict himself? Or was he warning against the dissolution of marriage in society in your scriptural reference?</span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><br /></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">You could say that in 1 Corinthians, he is merely speaking of an ideal, and not something that could actually be achieved in practice. But I would have to disagree with such an argument based solely on pragmatism.</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">My friend Rob argues Paul is being spiritually pragmatic, and that he is describing a literal spiritual gift, one of singleness, claiming "How can we know if we have the spiritual gift of singleness? Simply stated, do you want to have sex? If your answer is yes, you don't have it." </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span style="font: 12px Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But to answer my Catholic friend directly, </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I have two thoughts. One answer could be in the purpose of 1 Corinthians. J.I. Packer writes:</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote>"The purpose of 1 Corinthians, in large part, is to encourage Christians to attend the kinds of daily affairs that would be unimportant if Christ were returning within weeks or months… Like other NT writers, Paul considers all of time from the cross forward to be the "last days" (Acts 2:17, Heb. 1:2, James 5:3) and cousels Christians to live in the light of Christ's certain return at an unforeseen moment. Paul's point here is simply the<i> form of this world</i>, or its day to day affairs, is not eternal. Christians should prioritize their human relationships. material possessions, and worldly dealings accordingly."</blockquote></span><p></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">But most of all, I see the key to understanding those verses to be earlier in the chapter. Back in verses 6-7, Paul notes: </span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 12px Helvetica; min-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana;"><span style="font: 12px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i></i></span></span></span></p><blockquote><span style="font: 12px Helvetica;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i>"</i></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i>as a concession, not as a command, I wish that all men were as I am [that is, celibate]. But each man has his own gift from God; one has this gift, another has that."</i></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><i></i></span></span><p></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana; min-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Both marriage and celibacy have their own benefits, and should be considered, in Paul's words, "gifts." Paul recognizes his gift is not the norm, but his gift does not make him any holier than others. Note v. 28, 36 ("let them marry - it is no sin").</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana; min-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">My friend responded saying</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 16px Verdana; min-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><blockquote><p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I agree with you that neither the gift of marriage or the gift of celibacy is "holier" than another. However, in the Catholic world, a priest is considered to lead a life of Christ in the sense that he must also live the lifestyle that Christ led. Christ was indeed celibate (unless you're a Dan Brown-er) so priests should be celibate as well.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Keep in mind that priesthood shouldn't really be a choice for men to make, but rather be a vocation, or calling, that can be just as holy as married life. It can also be just as sinful as married life can be.</span></span></p></blockquote> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I agree that a vocation is completely a calling on a priest's life, and that the men that answer that call are accountable to model Christ, but if I may ask though, where do you see in the scriptures that pastors are called to celibacy? I can see the interpretation in v. 7-8, or 32-35, but within the context of the chapter, this appears to me to be only an ideal (esp. considering v. 6 or 36). The scriptures even go so far as to prescribe elders and "overseers" to be "a one woman man" who can manage his family household. (1 Tim. 3, Titus 1)</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">I recognize the pragmatic situation, but just because something is fruitful in one man's life does not demand it of every person. Christ was homeless, and the early Christians sold all of their possessions for the sake of the church. Yet the call to be a Christian today does not require selling everything to give to the poor (i.e. the rich young ruler in Mark 10). <span class="Apple-style-span" style=";font-family:'Lucida Grande',serif;font-size:11px;" ><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">In fact, the call of a Christian is often to maintain a level of wealth to be able to fund other ministries or missions (i.e. Joseph of </span></span><span style="font: 18px Arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Arimathea</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">, who provided Christ's tomb to fulfill the prophecy '</span></span><span style="font: 13px Helvetica; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">He was assigned a grave with the wicked, and with the rich in his death, though he had done no violence, nor was any deceit in his mouth.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">').</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Furthermore, if you combine a call to marriage with a call to follow Christ, Paul writes in 1 Tim 5, <i>"if a man cannot provide for his loved ones, especially his family, he has forsaken the faith and is worse than an unbeliever." <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal;">The thought is slightly off topic, but I trust you can already see my implication that Christians and Leaders are not called to follow every command of Christ. But noting 1 Tim. 3 & Titus 1, before a man is called to be an overseer (pastor, literally bishop), he is a one woman man, managing his household with fiscal, moral, and spiritual responsibility. The same follows for deacons (elders). In order to ever be considered a leader, there is a presumed family. So where is an enforced celibacy justified here?<br /></span></i></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Now hear what I am saying. Does this mean a celibate man cannot be called to pastorship? I would say not, esp. in light of Matthew 19:12, when Jesus calls us to respect men who are called to give up sexuality for God (by choice or situation). Remember when the disciples asked Him two verses prior, "is it better not to marry?" and He said to them, "Not everyone can accept this word, but only those to whom it has been given." - asserting not all men are called to a celibate life, and this time by Christ Himself.<br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">So some men are celibate for God, which Paul refers to as a gift, and we respect that. But it is never laid down as a requirement of man. If celibacy were truly a requirement of leading a life that exemplifies Christ, surely He would have told us!<br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Another Catholic friend affirmed to me, </span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p><p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote>the "scriptures do not call for celibacy, the ideal of a catholic priest to emulate Christ's life is to "act" like him. Christ never married nor does it say he had an intimate relationship with a woman. So the catholics priests, when ordained, vow to act as Christ did in all facets of life...celibacy is just one of MANY facets. It just gets the most attention because it is what sets a catholic priest apart from other christian ministers... it takes more of a commitment. Is it right?? That is the question."</blockquote></span><p></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">And I would answer him, if the scriptures do not call for it, why make it a widespread requirement? My fear is that many men within the Catholic church are called to the priesthood, but are not called to celibacy, yet out of obedience to man-made religion and not god-breathed scriptures choose the priesthood, and suffer in ways they otherwise would not need to, if not for the fear of excommunication.</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">My Uncle John had this to say:</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><blockquote>First, it must be noted that Judaism has no history of requiring celibacy in ministry. All Jewish men were expected to marry and have a family, in particular rabbis. The history of the early church shows ministers, pastors, and priests as married -- the apostles themselves were married! 1 Cor. 9:5 indicates while Paul was single, the other apostles had believing wives, and 1 Tim 3 has a requirement to serve as a bishop that he is "the husband of one wife." It has been already cited 1 Tim 4's declaration that forbidding to marry is rooted in a "deceiving spirit." Plus, the early church was not celibate. Clergy was generally married until the 4th century, and even then, the official declaration for priests not marrying did not come down until 1074, when Pope Gregory VII declared all clerical marriages invalid. The Catholic church's own history on this issue is rather sketchy.</blockquote></span><p></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 13px Arial; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span style="font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">He has a valid point when you consider </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">the </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">doctrine of perspicuity:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"> That those verses in the Bible that are unclear should be interpreted in light of the passages that are clear. A look at the lives of the apostles, those who literally followed Jesus with everything they had, had wives themselves. If Christ wanted priests and pastors of churches to not have wives, He surely would have chosen single men!</span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial,serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The tradition is noble, but it is also a gift not all men are called to. To require a specific spiritual gift of all men in the priesthood is dangerous. Consider religions that demand all members to speak in tongues, and that if you cannot, you have not received the holy spirit (which is absurd). They point to event at Pentecost and claim that is the model for all churches. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);font-family:Georgia,serif;font-size:16px;" ><span style="font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">This is the model of a cult, taking one piece of scripture, and exploiting it out of context. For instance, consider 1 Peter 3:21 </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Baptism, which corresponds to this, now saves you, not as a removal of dirt from the body but as an appeal to God for a good conscience, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ</span></span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The issue comes with that word "saves," and it leads to many false doctrines in some churches. To save here means "</span></span><span style="font: 13px 'Trebuchet MS'; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">to save from the evils which obstruct the reception of the Messianic deliverance," and NOT "to deliver from the penalties of the Messianic judgment." <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 50, 51);">Peter is exhorting here that it is not the getting wet that saves you, it is the faith in Christ. To believe it is baptism that literally grants salvation is false, and has become nothing but superstition. Jesus is the source of faith and salvation alone. Baptism is an appeal to God for a clear conscience, and an opportunity to recognize before God and man your new found life following Jesus.</span></span></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande';"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></p> <p style="margin: 0px; font: 11px 'Lucida Grande'; color: rgb(51, 50, 51);"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Taken out of context, you get things like baptizing children, or baptizing in the names of other people to try and rescue those that have passed on as the Jehovah's Witnesses do. Neither ideas are found in the bible nor are they practiced by the early church. This is not much unlike a church demanding celibacy for any man called the priesthood, exploiting one thought in scripture, and demanding it of a widespread group of people. </span></span></p>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-84430553155899183282010-05-25T19:27:00.011-04:002010-05-25T20:43:02.019-04:00What is God's Covenant?<img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 320px; height: 198px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S_xslbTE8TI/AAAAAAAAALI/kra3XmbHGm4/s320/ch-6-covenantl_1.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5475370637214413106" /><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 67px;"><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: normal; line-height: 22px; font-size:14px;"><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 14px; line-height: 22px; "></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; ">God's response to our sin was covenant—saving, glorious, loving covenant. This is because God is, by nature of being Trinitarian, covenantal. As the Father, Son, and Spirit are a covenantal community as one God, so too they are graciously covenantal with the elect, despite the fact they are sinful enemies and rebels. . . .</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; ">When the Bible speaks of God's covenant with his people, it is explaining how our relationship with God is made by his provision and exists by his terms. That God deals with his people in covenant includes all of these glorious truths. Through covenant with God we enjoy a relationship with him that is akin to marriage and includes protection from Satan our enemy, peace with God though we declared war on him through sin, material provision in this life and the life to come, and a coming perfect kingdom as our home where Jesus will forever rule over all as our gracious covenant king. . . .</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; ">In a covenant with God there is no bargaining, bartering, or contract negotiations regarding the terms of the covenant. Neither is God's covenant something we must earn by our good works. It is always a gracious provision from the loving Lord to his people. The sovereign Lord of heaven and earth dictates the terms of God's covenants. It is God's covenant in that it is conceived, devised, determined, established, confirmed, and dispensed by God himself, who often says, 'I will establish my covenant with you.' This aspect of God's covenants reveals his sovereign rule as Lord.</p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; "><i><a href="http://relit.org/doctrine/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: initial; outline-style: none; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 14px; font-family: inherit; color: rgb(205, 18, 0); text-decoration: none; ">Doctrine</a>, Chapter 6. Covenant: God Pursues (pgs. 175–175), </i></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 5px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; outline-width: 0px; outline-style: initial; outline-color: initial; font-weight: inherit; font-style: inherit; font-size: 1em; font-family: inherit; line-height: 1.4em; "><i>by Mark Driscoll & Gerry Breshears</i></p><p></p></span></i></span></span>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-23146597804446271952010-05-24T08:57:00.004-04:002010-05-24T09:06:35.626-04:00A few famous people's thoughts on Jesus<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(0, 51, 153); line-height: 19px; font-family:Georgia, 'Times New Roman', serif;font-size:small;"><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; "></p><p style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">A series of quotes of what some famous people have said and thought about Jesus. It's interesting to say the least. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></p><ul style="margin-top: 10px; margin-bottom: 10px; "><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Mahatma Gandh</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">i:</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “I cannot say that Jesus was uniquely divine. He was as much God as Krishna, or Rama, or Mohammed, or Zoroaster.”</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Adolf Hitler:</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “In boundless love as a Christian and as a man I read through the passage which tells us how the Lord at last rose in His might and seized the scourge to drive out of the Temple the brood of vipers and adders. How terrific was His fight for the world against the Jewish poison.”</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Larry King </span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">was once asked who he would most want to interview if he could choose anyone from all of history. He said, ‘Jesus Christ.’ The questioner said, ‘And what would you like to ask Him?’ King replied, ‘I would like to ask Him if He was indeed virgin-born. The answer to that question would define history for me.’</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">John Lennon:</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “Christianity will go. It will vanish and shrink. I needn't argue with that; I'm right and I will be proved right. We’re more popular than Jesus now; I don't know which will go first—rock and roll or Christianity."</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Carlos Mencia:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “You know what, I became more Christian after I saw the movie [The Da Vinci Code] because, I, you know, as a Christian, I was like, you know, Jesus died for our sins he suffered. But now that I know that he’s married, I’m like, wow, did he really suffer. Poor guy.”</span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Friedrich Nietzsche:</span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “Jesus died too soon. If he had lived to my age he would have repudiated his doctrine.”</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Jean-Jacques Rousseau:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “Socrates died like a philosopher; Jesus Christ died like a God.”</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Mark Twain:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “If Christ were here now there is one thing he would not be—a Christian.”</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">H. G. Wells:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “I am a historian, I am not a believer, but I must confess as a historian that this penniless preacher from Nazareth is irrevocably the very center of history. Jesus Christ is easily the most dominant figure in all history.”</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Oprah Winfrey:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “There couldn’t possibly be just one way . . .” [Lady in the audience: “What about Jesus?”] “What about Jesus? . . . Does God care about your heart or does God care about if you call his son Jesus?”</span></li><li><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Malcolm X:</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"> “All white people who have studied history and geography know that Christ was a black man. Only the poor, brainwashed American Negro has been made to believe that Christ was white, to maneuver him into worshiping the white man.”</span></li></ul><p></p></span>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-68564992227012298552010-05-24T08:42:00.008-04:002010-06-23T08:04:28.123-04:00My God, My Father<div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-style: italic;">My God, My Father while I stray</span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>far from my home in life's rough way,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>oh, teach me from my heart to say:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Though dark my path and sad my lot,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>let me 'be still' and murmur not,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>or breathe the prayer divinely taught:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>But if my fainting heart be blessed</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>with the Holy Spirit for its guest,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>my God, to Thee I leave the rest.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>If Thou should call me to resign,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>what most I prized never was mine.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I only yield Thee what is Thine.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Renew my will from day to day.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Blend it with Thine, and take away</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>all that now makes it hard to say:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>And when on earth I breathe no more,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>The prayer oft mixed with tears before,</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>I'll sing upon that joyful shore:</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Thy will be done!</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: left;">I've started learning to play a few worship songs for my family's weekly bible studies this summer! Evidently, my mom took a video on her iphone, so check out a video of my sister and I singing this song <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZDGuZoCykc">here</a>.</div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-68919793506079669442010-04-24T12:03:00.003-04:002010-04-24T12:22:05.879-04:00Rejoice!<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:13px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;">"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you, who by God's power are being guarded through faith for a salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;">In this you rejoice, though now for a little while, if necessary, you have been grieved by various trials, so that the tested genuineness of your faith--more precious than gold that perishes though it is tested by fire--may be found to result in praise and glory and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;">Though you have not seen him, you love him. Though you do not now see him, you believe in him and rejoice with joy that is inexpressible and filled with glory, obtaining the outcome of your faith, the salvation of your souls."</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;">- 1 Peter 1:3-9</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;">------------------------------------</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:Georgia, serif;font-size:16px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;">"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;">For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome."</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:13px;">- 1 John 5:3</span></span></div></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;color:#333333;"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;">------------------------------------</div><div><br /></div><div>"<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;">Rejoice in the Lord always. Again, I will say: Rejoice!</span></div></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">"God wants you happy, but he doesn't do it with circumstance. He does it with himself. He does it with the gospel. He does it in-and-through circumstances. This is a call for faith - huge faith. That God is good, God is for us, God is using all these things for our deep happiness now, and our perfect, unsullied happiness in the age to come."</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">- John Piper</span></span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;">Let your reasonableness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things... practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'trebuchet ms', arial, helvetica;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;">- Philippians 4:4-7</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:100%;color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"><br /></span></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-75494400508461717652010-04-23T21:15:00.027-04:002010-04-24T14:05:39.624-04:00Rays' Zobrist signs 5 yr deal<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">or "I love the Rays front office."</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Today, the Rays signed 2B/RF Ben Zobrist to 5 year deal</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; font-size:-webkit-xxx-large;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">with $18 mil guaranteed through 2013</span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">club options at $7 + $7.5 mil in 2014 and 2015</span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></blockquote></span></span></span><div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S9JHh6wstnI/AAAAAAAAAK4/pIIwSYbIVwo/s1600/110907raysin.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 299px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S9JHh6wstnI/AAAAAAAAAK4/pIIwSYbIVwo/s320/110907raysin.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463507945988601458" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">So why is this a big deal?</span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Last year, Zobrist was worth 8.3 Wins Above Replacement.</span></span></span></div><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">WAR calculates the total # wins a player adds to his team over the course of a season, comparing his performance to a "replacement player," or an average Triple-A call up.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">For Zobrist to be worth $30 mil, he would need ~1.5 WAR per year! In reality, he will probably earn 4.0-5.0 WAR in the future, and considering 1 WAR is normally worth $4 mil, the money adds up fast.</span></span></div></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Why $4 mil? an avg player’s true talent win rate can be found w/ a 3-yr weighted avg of their win values, then multiplied that value by .95 to factor in aging. </span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Do this across the mkt, the value can be expected to inflate to $4.5 in 2014, but in the name of conservatism, let's say $4 mil.</span></span></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Note: those options hint that Zobrist could have gone up for contract arbitration after 3 years. This is a huge benefit to the Rays.</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">The scale for arbitration is 40%, 60%, 80% for each yr of play. Assuming year 1 is worth 5 WAR, and if he digresses 0.5 WAR a year, Zorilla is worth 17.5 WAR by the end of 5 yrs...</span></span></div><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">In $$$:</span></span></blockquote><blockquote style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">(20 x .40) + (18 x .60) + (16 x .80) + 14 + 12 = </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">57.6 mil</span></span></b></blockquote><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">That's a $30 million profit!!!</span></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div></span></div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">This is assuming he would gather 2.5 WAR in 2015. Could he generate more? Yes! more than likely! That $30 mil is a minimum, and could go way up.</span></span></span></div><div><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 14px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S9JGZtwIb7I/AAAAAAAAAKo/upHVEWkv5kw/s1600/487453486_932eccef00_o.jpg"><img style="text-align: left;display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 242px; " src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S9JGZtwIb7I/AAAAAAAAAKo/upHVEWkv5kw/s400/487453486_932eccef00_o.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5463506705545981874" /></a><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';"><br /></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 14px; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'times new roman';">Great move. Go RAYS!</span></span></div></span></div></div></div></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-90844824372759695882010-04-09T02:38:00.002-04:002010-04-24T03:47:43.126-04:00How deep the Father's love for us<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(128, 128, 128); font-style: italic; line-height: 20px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px; font-family:georgia, Times, serif;font-size:small;">How deep the Father's love for us,<br />how vast beyond all measure!<br />that He should give His only Son,<br />to make a wretch His treasure.<br /><br />How great the pain of searing loss;<br />the Father turns His face away<br />as wounds which mar the chosen One<br />bring many sons to glory.<br /><br />Behold! the Man upon a cross-<br />my sin upon His shoulders;<br />ashamed, I hear my mocking voice<br />call out among the scoffers.<br /><br />It was my sin that held Him there,<br />until it was accomplished;<br />His dying breath has brought me life:<br />I know that it is finished.<br /><br />I will not boast in anything-<br />no gifts, no power, no wisdom;<br />but I will boast in Jesus Christ,<br />His death and resurrection.<br /><br />Why should I gain from His reward?<br />I cannot give an answer;<br />but this I know with all my heart:<br />His wounds have paid my ransom.</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, Times, serif;color:#808080;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:small;"><i><br /></i></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, Times, serif;color:#808080;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 20px; -webkit-border-horizontal-spacing: 2px; -webkit-border-vertical-spacing: 2px;font-size:small;"><i>-Stuart Townend</i></span></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-55496034462844776942010-03-23T08:55:00.004-04:002010-03-23T09:58:08.122-04:00Colossians 4:2-6<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><blockquote></blockquote>"Devote yourselves to prayer, being watchful and thankful. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">And pray for us, too, that God may open a door for our message, so that we may proclaim the mystery of Christ, for which I am in chains. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Pray that I may proclaim it clearly, as I should. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Be wise in the way you act toward outsiders; make the most of every opportunity. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."</span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This is an exhortation from Paul (similar to Col. 2:7) directed at the Masters of estates, the wealthy living in Colossae. He's just finished talking to the slaves, encouraging them "Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men." The truth here is that both can apply to us today. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">We are the wealthiest people in the world. Only 2% of the world own cars, my family has three. Wealth is measured in opportunity, not by the amount of paper in your wallet. Americans, in college or not, are the wealthiest the world has ever seen. But Paul also mentions he is enslaved to the gospel, in chains to the mystery of Christ. Should this not be our position as well? </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"being watchful" in prayer. This passage in Colossians is linked with Ephesians 6:18-20</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i></i></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>"</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests (greek: supplication - with humility). With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. </i></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>Pray also for me, that whenever I open my mouth, words may be given me so that I will fearlessly make known the mystery of the gospel, </i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i>for which I am an ambassador in chains. Pray that I may declare it fearlessly, as I should."</i></span></span></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><i></i></span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Prayer seems to function as a way to watch over other Christians, to care for them in supplication. I always related alertness to the "watchful servant" parable Jesus tells in Luke 12, but here - being alert translates in to knowing what to pray for.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The Col. passage also encourages thankfulness for our prayers, and how rightly he tells this to the wealthy. We are blessed, and need to be humbly reminded of such daily. Jesus, who during His ministry was homeless and not very wealthy, began most every prayer in the gospels with thanking God. We should abide in his example. </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">This idea of being chained to the Gospel or to the Mystery of Christ is fond in both passages. Paul often was literally in chains, as Paul wrote both letters during his first imprisonment in Rome, but he means it spiritually as well. He cannot separate his life from the message and direction of Christ. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-size:small;">Do I see this in my own life? Paul seems to be addressing conversation soon after, and it is true - s</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;font-size:small;">o often in my daily conversations Christian topics just work their way to the surface. It's difficult for me to have conversations with people that do not end up focusing on Christ. But Paul is addressing something bigger here. Everything Paul does seems to be in relation to Christ. If he is truly in chains, maybe a better question is who are leading the chains?</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">If two are chained together, one is directing the other as they move forward. By saying he is in chains to Christ, yes there is a weight felt there, but is he not also saying he will go wherever those chains lead him? If on the other side of those chains is Christ, who is bigger? Who will be leading whom? I'm reminded of Christ saying His yolk is easy, encouraging us to bring our burdens to Him, that he might help us on the road - but a yolk can only go one direction. To join the yolk of Christ is to join Him in whatever direction He leads. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">So what is my incentive to pray? I was recently reminded that if my incentive to spend time with God is to avoid sinning, I'm still only worshiping that sin. Praying needs to draw us closer to God for the purposes of knowing/better understanding Him and His will. This will reflect who or what we are really chained to, this will guide what happens in our daily conversations.</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">"</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Let your conversation be always full of grace, seasoned with salt, so that you may know how to answer everyone."</span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The encouragement is to have your conversations "seasoned" with the focus of Christ. But not only to mention Him, but be prepared to discuss it further. It may be a great "mystery", but our testimonies are not, nor are His works in the world. Being prepared to answer questions about your Christ seasoned words can only come from spending time with Him, in word and prayer. From being in Chains.</span></div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#999999;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: georgia, Trebuchet, Arial, Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small; letter-spacing: 3px; line-height: 22px; text-transform: uppercase; ">EPHESIANS 6:20 - <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;">I AM AN AMBASSADOR IN CHAINS. PRAY THAT I MAY DECLARE IT FEARLESSLY, AS I SHOULD.</span></span></span></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-13613426411274377222010-03-13T07:29:00.005-05:002010-03-13T08:00:53.610-05:00Refuting Bart Ehrman<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;font-size:11px;"><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">an </span></span><a href="http://weblogs.npr.org/templates/transcript/transcript.php?storyId=124572693"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">NPR Interview</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> was recently brought to my attention by my friend Greg about an ex-evangelist who wrote a book on discrepancies in the Gospels. His name</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> is </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: normal; line-height: 18px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Bart Ehrman, a religion professor at UNC, and he claims there are irreconcilable differences among the Gospels, the subject of this interview and his book, "Jesus, Interrupted." </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 18px; white-space: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There's a lot he has to say in this interview that seems merely to be his interpretation, and leaves out a lot of scriptural or historical support for what he is refuting. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">First off, I find it reasonable to believe that Jesus was in pain on the cross, regardless of the gospel you are reading - or the explicit detail of that pain given by the author. We have to realize their audience would have already had a greater understanding of the pain of the cross that we do. It is the most painful death ever documented in human history - in fact it's own word was created to describe it: excruciating (meaning </span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">from the cross</span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">). So to argue one gospel doesn't mention pain enough is just silly. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And then there's his concern for what was said on the cross. For instance, in Mark when Jesus is quoted "my god, my god why have you forsaken me" - He is singing! It's psalm 22, a common hebrew song sung in anguish. Mark found it necessary to include that. Mark is alluding to Genesis when Adam sang to his wife in the beginning by singing before his death, connecting when sin entered the world, to Jesus's death. Mark and Luke are separate accounts, but not wrong. Jesus said many things on the cross, the gospel writers chose what was pertinent. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Also important to consider: each of the 4 Gospels had their own audience. Mark was creating an account of a king in the Roman format of caesars, and tailored what he included as such. That does not refute what he did include, though. Matthew was to the Jews, Luke was to Gentile Christians. Agendas in audience are, if anything, important to understanding a view point - not to discredit the writing. </span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">And for the professor to use the coptic gospel as proof for his argument is not valid, because it is not supported in antiquity. The 4 gospels were eye-witness accounts, written with apostolic authority over them, and supported by the other apostles to be true events. We don't include outside gospels for many reasons I could get into another time. The professor says Jesus did not claim to be the Son of God until the end of the Gospels outside of John? Jesus is repeatedly given many titles throughout the story lines, one of which is when He calls himself the "son of man", a quote from the Prophet Daniel about the Messiah. I'm afraid his point of explicit statement of Kingship is not very sound. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">He seems obsessed with semantics, but misses Jesus's meaning entirely. In many instances, Jesus could be both things this guy is arguing. Jesus could be an ethical teacher & be apocalyptic minded in his preaching because there is life here and an afterlife later, shouldn't he preach on both? It is not a bad thing for his followers to have that sense of urgency as well, because Jesus very focused on heaven and hell.</span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I'm disappointed by his obsession in biblical discrepancies, because the most affluent differences in the original greek copies are differences of I/we or then/when. Anything else is semantics within a translation, but the message does not change. Is sin a "transgression" or a "trespass" against God? The translation may be different, but the message has not changed. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">There's a lot he leaves out in his discussion here, that may be in his books, where he claims his interpretation is one thing, but it is only that - and not necessarily founded within the passages he references, they are more or less thoughts about a concept of what </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">might</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> be going on. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" white-space: pre-wrap; font-family:'lucida grande', tahoma, verdana, arial, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">That's all I have to say for now, but i</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">f anyone has more questions about his points, please ask</span></span></span></span></div></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-90151012361301744342010-03-13T01:48:00.007-05:002010-03-13T11:11:04.639-05:00Thoughts on Homosexuality<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">People who claim to follow Christ are quick to connect sinners with damnation. They find sin to be a filthy part of the human condition, and realize all people need to repent of their sinful lives, and seek after Jesus, His generosity and mercy, and His commands. If someone is "living in sin" they are living without repentance for a repetitive sinful action in their life, and therefore separate themselves from God. </span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">People who align themselves with homosexuality often face public ridicule and oppression from those brandishing a bible, who would judge them with their words, and preach damnation for their souls. I would argue that these people, although misguided in their evangilism, are most likely not homophobic, but simply against a public statement of sin.<br /><br />As far as Homosexuality is concerned, in reference to sin, here is what I've found to be true in scripture:<br /><br />In the NT, Homosexuality is addressed specifically by the apostles when correcting some cultural issues in their letters to the local churches, and indirectly by Christ himself.<br /><br />Here is a truth: Jesus never blatantly says "Homosexuality is a sin." What Jesus does speak against is what we call "sexual immorality". Jesus never takes the time to list all the forms of sex that are wrong, instead He uses the blanket term Pornea - which translated from the Greek means 'fornication' - to say that any sex outside of the spiritual covenant of marriage is wrong. Homosexuality would be considered sex outside of marriage.<br /><br />Occasionally Jesus goes so far as to referencing Genesis's "they were made male and female and for this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh" when discussing sexual immorality, indicating again that Homosexuality falls into this category.<br /><br />Scripturally this is a reasonable move. To laundry list all forms of sex that are wrong means that people could find loopholes, make excuses, and only obey the list. Instead, we are given the principal that any sex outside of marriage is wrong.<br /><br />People in a homosexual lifestyle are never directly damned or condemned by Jesus, but the ACT of homosexuality is considered a sin - breaking the spiritual covenant with God, and His intent for sex to be within the confines of marriage - and sin is separation from God. Without repentance, and belief in Christ, sin does lead to damnation.<br /><br />Specifically, you can find direct statements against homosexuality, including lesbianism, in the NT because most scripture by the apostles are written as letters to real churches to real people with sin problems.<br /><br />It's important to note that not all of the law is thrown out because Jesus fulfilled it - murder is still a sinful act. Some of the original law transcends beyond Moses, specifically the Ten Commandments. In the gospels, Jesus indicates that sex outside of marriage is considered adultery against the Lord, as is lust. Homosexuality would again fall into that category.<br /><br />I would also argue the covenant of marriage transcends a cultural time period, clearly part of our society today, and would therefore make a topic like homosexuality extremely relevant. It is for that reason many Christians seem to take offense to homosexuality. It is not that it challenges their own sexuality, but that it disrespects a spiritual covenant the Lord has made with mankind, and endorses a sinful lifestyle separating those within that lifestyle from a life with God.<br /><br />Another issue is that homosexuality is such a public sin in our culture. Not too long ago it was alcoholism that was a public offense and damnable. Laws were even made to prevent it during prohibition. That wave may have passed, but alcoholism is still not considered a sin-free act by the gospel. There is cultural relevance to certain sins that are more public than others. Ours is homosexuality.</span></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-18765325607414361422010-03-12T11:58:00.004-05:002010-03-12T12:04:24.113-05:00Matthew 5:17 - Fulfill<i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:x-small;">from a conversation with my friend Michael Shea</span></i><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">You are right to say many people will pick and choose single blurbs of scripture from the OT law to support often discriminatory actions. It is wrong to take scripture out of context and abuse it to gain some end.<br /><br />If you're questioning why Christians (who have tattoos and cut their sideburns and eat pig meat when Leviticus clearly speaks against such a thing) fail to uphold to Mosaic Law, consider what Jesus said in </span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small; line-height: 20px;"><br /></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 20px; font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Matthew 5:17<br /></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">"Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br />For Christ to fulfill the law means that He has satisfied it completely for us. The law called for perfect obedience under threat of a “curse."<br /><br />Galatians 3:10<br />All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: "Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law." (Deuteronomy 27:26)<br /><br />For anyone to perfectly obey the law would mean to live a perfect and sinless life. Because man would inevitably fail at the 607 laws weekly, on the Sabbath a spotless lamb would be sacrificed, and the shedding of blood atoned for the many's sins.<br /><br />Because Christ lived out the law to its fruition, and then continued on to pay the penalty of breaking the law, He became the fulfillment of the law, completing it's bind on man.<br /><br />If the law were to bear the same relationship to mankind today, then it was not fulfilled when Christ first came, and Jesus failed to accomplish what He came to do.<br /><br />The NT writers believed this was true as well:<br /><br />Romans 10:4<br />"Christ is the end of the law so that there may be righteousness for everyone who believes."<br /><br />Galatians 3:23-25<br />"Before this faith came, we were held prisoners by the law, locked up until faith should be revealed. So the law was put in charge to lead us to Christ that we might be justified by faith. Now that faith has come, we are no longer under the supervision of the law."<br /><br />Ephesians 2:15<br />"by abolishing in his flesh the law with its commandments and regulations. His purpose was to create in himself one new man out of the two, thus making peace"<br /><br /><br />There's a really great analysis of Matthew 5:17-20 in response to a similar question on Islam </span><a href="http://www.answering-islam.org/Authors/Arlandson/fulfilled.htm"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">here</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">.<br /></span><br /></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-79782051032185520422010-03-08T19:35:00.005-05:002010-03-08T19:38:40.535-05:00MD: South Africa<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(51, 51, 51); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">"With so many years left and so much remaining to do, I want to keep repenting, learning, changing, and growing by God’s grace, rather than getting comfortable and settling into a life and ministry that cease to press forward. My goal is Christ, not comfort or convenience."</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><br /></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#333333;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;">Mark Driscoll</span></span></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-15815559386316302062010-03-01T23:10:00.012-05:002010-04-24T03:55:00.897-04:00Baseball 2k10It's that time again! Spring training is upon us, and in honor of the Longoria-glorified MLB 2k10 dropping March 2, the urge to make my yearly arbitrary baseball predictions strikes again. <div><br /><div>2010</div><div><br /></div><div>AL</div><div><br /></div><div>East: NY Yankees</div><div>Central: Minnesota Twins</div><div>West: Seattle Mariners</div><div>Wildcard: Tampa Bay Rays</div><div><br /></div><div>PLAYOFFS</div><div><br /></div><div>New York over Minnesota in 4</div><div>Tampa Bay over Seattle in 3</div><div><br /></div><div>Tampa Bay over New York in 5</div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div>NL (which I will admit, I don't really know that well)</div><div><br /></div><div><div>East: Philadelphia Phillies</div><div>Central: St. Louis Cardinals</div><div>West: Colorado Rockies</div><div>Wildcard: Florida Marlins</div><div><br /></div><div>PLAYOFFS</div><div><br /></div><div>Philadelphia over Colorado in 5</div><div>St. Louis over Florida in 4</div><div><br /></div><div>Philadelphia over St. Louis in 5</div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div>WORLD SERIES</div><div><br /></div><div>TAMPA BAY over Philadelphia in 6</div><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><br /></span></span></div><div>OK, so maybe i'm reliving 2008 a little bit, but the Rays stand a great chance this year.</div><div><br /></div><div>(return of Crawford, Longoria, Pena, Upton, and newfound Zobrist -- a maturing bullpen of Sheilds, Garza, Price, and potential ROY from 2009 Niemann - and with the addition of Wade Davis and the solid closer Rafael Soriano -- potentially unstoppable)</div><div><br /></div></div></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S4yi2PMNqiI/AAAAAAAAAKY/fnu1v0gynLs/s1600-h/MLB_2K10_--_Final_Box_Cover_Fan_Voted.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 226px; height: 320px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S4yi2PMNqiI/AAAAAAAAAKY/fnu1v0gynLs/s320/MLB_2K10_--_Final_Box_Cover_Fan_Voted.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5443905102258481698" /></a><div><br /></div><div>I would also keep an eye on Boston and Atlanta. </div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-59656041306289831192010-02-26T09:38:00.008-05:002010-03-23T09:58:58.704-04:00James 1:1<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">"James, a servant of God and of the Lord Jesus Christ, to the twelve tribes scattered among the nations: Greetings"</span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Servant - in the greek it means bondservant, more or less meaning slave. Do I consider myself a slave for Christ? I try to Love the Lord by keeping his commandments, but even in that I fail. If I'm a slave - there should be no question what the right decision is when sinful opportunities arise. I like that the greek translates BONDservant. It reckons the connection as being inseparable. Which is true - I have been bought with a high price, and now that I have the Holy Spirit in me, and a regenerate heart, I could never escape from the Lord, no matter how much I try and run away. Like a father watching his kids, when I run too far away, he is always quick to snatch me up in his arms.</span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The perspective of James, and likewise Jude - who begins his book the same way - is very interesting. These two men were brothers of Jesus, they grew up along side of him. It makes sense that Christ's family call him crazy in the gospels - can you imagine your own brother or sister deserving your worship as king? but here, at the start of their books, they call themselves servants of Jesus Christ. Servants to their own brother. </span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Another interestin</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">g thought is that the tribes are scattered. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">“Scattered” here is the word “diaspora” which comes from two words: “dia” - through, and “speirein” - to sow.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">The word literally means “through sowing”, which makes what</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> the ESV refers to as "the Dispersement", seem to be a reaction to Christ's command "bring the Gospel to the ends of the earth."</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">But the Jewish context of the tripes seems more related to Acts 11:19, when the Christian Jews were scattered from Jerusalem after the stoning of Stephen. There is a communicable idea that going out into the world is to sow the gospel as well. The reason for leaving aside, the actions are one. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Regardless of the strength of intentions by the word scattered, James is clearly writing to the saved abroad. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Being the pastor of the church in Jerusalem, his letter is an encouragement to his brothers and sisters forced to leave the Holy land for their faith. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">As a christian in the world, I feel alien - due to sin, rebellion, clashing cultures - and i'm not always in my comfort zone in the world. Maybe my perspective is not so different. </span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Georgia, serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">He uses his letter to urge all Christians to</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">ward serious holiness and unconditional obedience to the word of God - which often times seem like the same idea to me. I often try to prove my holiness to God through obedience - but I've recently found that to be more a reaction to fear of God's judgement than of joy for what He has done for me. I'm looking forward to diving into holiness as a discipline, instead of seeing it as a reaction to what I do.</span></span></span></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><h2 id="passage_heading" style="font-size:16px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Hebrews 12:14 - </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">Strive for peace with everyone, and for the</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 6px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:georgia;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">holiness without which no one will see the Lord.</span></span></span></span></span></h2><div class="result-text-style-normal" style="font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; "><p></p></div></span></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4828494958948635343.post-37200242025072857932010-02-17T15:53:00.010-05:002010-05-26T16:14:26.487-04:00Soccer: Spring 2010<div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S3xbyg6aGvI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/6Vb7iv3qJRs/s1600-h/jpeg-6.jpeg"></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S3xbySQYsFI/AAAAAAAAAKI/-a8trk-W5wM/s1600-h/bad-tackle.jpg" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 298px; height: 298px;" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S3xbySQYsFI/AAAAAAAAAKI/-a8trk-W5wM/s320/bad-tackle.jpg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439323369408868434" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Last semester, I suffered a back injury playing soccer. I took a tackle that ended with me landing on my back, not much unlike the one above - if Pogatetz's fall were the result of a shoulder to the chest. I quickly popped up, determined to walk it off, and continued to play soccer at least 3 times a week for the next month. But the pain in my back was lingering, and began to hurt more with time, so I eventually went to the chiropractor.<div><br /></div><div>At the doctor, I learned the tackle actually separated my last vertebrae from my tail bone. The break is referred to as Spondylolisthesis:<div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/___9apiMaJCM/S3xbyg6aGvI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/6Vb7iv3qJRs/s320/jpeg-6.jpeg" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5439323373343218418" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 320px; height: 240px; " /></span></div><div><br /></div><div>The lines above are drawn with pencil by the doctor, and would normally be aligned, if not for the break. The result is abnormal pressure on a nerve tube running through my back that decreases my range of motion (i.e. i use to be able to touch my toes, now i physically can't get closer than 6" away), and adds a dull soreness. (think of it like when you go to the beach. when you first get to the ocean, you think "wow, the waves are so loud!" but after an hour, you don't even notice them anymore)</div><div><br /></div><div>When i first learned of my injury, i had to take a break from the gym and soccer from about 3 months, and i got pretty depressed for about a month into the hiatus. Fears like "will i be able to wrestle with my kids one day" started running through my head. But i went through some rehabilitation, and i can generally do what i use to. I can play soccer now, although my skill level has dropped off, and i can swim, play touch-football, even go to the gym. I'm actually undergoing training to build up the muscles in my core to help my back. It may never heal, but it is treatable, and mentally i'm healthier than ever. </div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div>I say all of this for one important that only occurs in the Spring semester: Intramural Soccer!!! I had the joy of being able to play on a team with some of my best friends Will, David, and Tyler, and we genuinely had a lot of fun. We played in a division above our team's ability, but we had a great time. Unfortunately, last night was as far as we got in the playoffs, and the season has come to an end. The final score was 0-2, but we had around 8 shots on goal, 2 of which deflected off the goalie, and 4 off the post (not to mention Tyler totally destroyed a kid with a legal tackle). Both of their goals came at very lucky shots off of simple errors, which hurts even more. The points are what matters, sure, but we definitely played the better game.</div><div><br /></div><div>All in all, I'm really appreciative for the friendships i've built with Will and Tyler this semester. Will is an accounting guy as well, and president of the BCM. He is a servant to Christ as a leader of college students, which i think is very admirable. Getting to participate in Beta Alpha Psi (the accounting honors society) events have been a blast (LASER TAG), and we play a lot of FIFA2010 together. </div><div><br /></div><div>Tyler has also become a great brother in Christ. A friend of David's from back home, i first got to know him when he lived at our apartment for a little while when he moved back to Tallahassee. He was first here during his internship last semester, and he was also the one to invite me to Four Oaks, as well as the Fellowship Group we're a part of now. His fervor for the Lord has been really encouraging, and he's been a great friend to talk to, i feel like we have a lot in common. I'm really looking forward to going to the Four Oaks Men's Retreat with him this weekend. It all seems like the beginning of a really great friendship.</div><div><br /></div><div>---</div><div><br /></div><div>I'm looking forward to the rest of this semester. I am stronger than ever in my relationshipwith with the Lord. He's really provided with my school work thus far, and taken care of me with my finances - i recently was hired by the University as a tutor in the library! Next month is when i hear back from accounting firms and businesses on internships and other accounting conferences, so the tension is building. Luckily this semester has been a lot of fun. </div></div>Danielhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11883918552848408610noreply@blogger.com2