Internet, Information and Interesting Premises

I spoke to a fine friend tonight who survived a terrible automobile accident. He thanks God for his recovery and salvation. This conversation reminded me of an acquaintance who has a wife who is dying. I've visited the hospital, spoken to him about redemption available in Jesus Christ, and pray for both he and his wife. Other than the efforts of the health professionals I believe he has no hope. As a result of my concern for them both, while poking around on the net I found an interesting post from John N. Clayton an atheist who God saved. While his site is an apologetic ministry, his writing in the article called "Your Wife is Dying" confesses the wonder of simple prayer and the answers to those prayers. Its worth the read.

Transitional Translations

Today a belief that is not based on proof is the ultimate reality that underlies all outward manifestation of things that are desired and expected to be obtained as promised by God, the thing that furnishes proof of the things that are not perceived by the use of the eyes.

Yesterday the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God's testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or act of approval of the heart with an entire confidence or trust in God's character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation is that which has a firm, confident foundation in the awaited joyful salvation from the mortal body as promised by God and the fulfillment of the same promises with joy, it is an evidential proof of the things not perceived by the use of the eyes.

Hebrews 11:1-2
Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. For by it the men of old gained approval.

Ever think that some kind of deception is being perpetrated on you? Well just check your dictionary and apply the meaning of the words from the Webster's 1828 and the Mirriam-Webster online dictionary and apply the definitions to a well known Scripture verse.

This process is a direct parallel to the evangelising of the atheist today and their imputation of the atheistic worldview upon the Word of God.

Go Endocannibalistic!

Endocannibalism
Eating other human beings within a social group.

This juicy tidbit just in from the Endocannibals; Dr. Evan Snyder of the Burnham Institute for Medical Research in La Jolla, California, who led the study, in the journal Nature Medicine: "Human stem cells taken from both embryos and fetuses delayed a fatal brain and nerve disease in mice, moving throughout the brain to take on the jobs of damaged neurons, scientists reported on Sunday."

As long as man (and women for you people who can't yield to the Christian Worldview) disregards Genesis 1:26-28 we will 'enjoy' covert endocannibalism. Just like Jeffrey Lionel Dahmer (5/21/1960-11/28/1994) we will kill other human beings for our benefit.

Genesis 1:26-28 "Then God said, "Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth." 27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them; and God said to them, "Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.""

What is the difference between a toasted Grandma Maude' tongue and liver sandwich and embryonic stem cell research you may ask? Why it is A-1 Steak sauce of course. You see, in both circumstances a human being dies for another's benefit without their express determination to do so. Now don't get me wrong, perhaps my grandmother would have permitted me to eat her internal organ and her sharp tongue, but I made a decision not to kill my grandmother and my unborn children. (Andrea sighs in relief ;-)

Why would one decide not to kill their grandmother for food and their unborn children to harvest their eyes for cornea transplants? Only one answer: THEY WERE MADE IN THE IMAGE OF GOD! Otherwise all things considered, the powerful triumphs over the weak. Yes folks, Hitler, tattoos and lunch meat. The postmodern world will make truthiness self serving right down to the choice of the packets of mayonnaise and ketchup at the abortion clinic where the dismembered bodies of little babies await transport to the pumpernickel bread and Mount Olive pickles.

Lunchtime!

Fundie Atheist? YES S S S S S S S S

Existence of God
You may be a fundy atheist if....

1. You became an atheist when you were 10 years old, based on ideas of God that you learned in Sunday School. Your ideas about God haven't changed since.
2. You think that the primary aim of an omnibenevolent God is for people to have FUN.
3. You believe that extra drippy ice-cream is a logical proof against the existence of God, because an omniscient God would know how to stop the ice-cream from being extra drippy, an omnipotent God would have the ability to stop the ice-cream from being extra drippy, and by golly, an omnibenevolent God wouldn't want your ice-cream to be extra drippy.
4. Although you've memorized a half a dozen proofs that He doesn't exist, you still think you're God's gift to the ignorant masses.
5. You believe the astronomical size of the universe somehow disproves God, as if God needed a tiny universe in order to exist.
6. You think questions like, "Can God create a rock so big that He cannot lift it?" and, "Can God will Himself out of existence?" are perfect examples of how to disprove God's omnipotence and ultimately how to disprove God. When someone proves to you the false logic behind the questions (i.e. pitting God's omnipotence against itself), you desperately try to defend the questions, but then give up and go to a different Christian site to ask them.
7. Related to the above, you spend a great deal of your spare time writing to Christian websites asking them these very questions.
8. You declare on a public forum that you are "furious at God for not existing."
9. You spend hours arguing that a-theism actually means "without a belief in God " and not just " belief that there is no god" as if this is a meaningful distinction in real life.
10. You consistently deny the existence of God because you personally have never seen him but you reject out of hand personal testimony from theists who claim to have experienced God as a reality in their lives.
11. You can make the existence of pink unicorns the center-piece of a philosophical critique.
12. You insist that "the burden of proof is on he that alleges/accuses", and "it's impossible to prove a negative", then state "That's what Christians do. They lie. Their most common lie is that they were once atheists." When reminded about the burden of proof bit, you reply with, "Well, prove Christians don't lie!"
13. You adamantly believe that the "God of the gaps" idea is an essential tenet of orthodox Christian faith espoused by all the great Christian thinkers throughout history.
14. When you were a child, someone came down with a deadly disease and prayed and prayed for God to take it away. God did not remove the disease and your friend died. You ask other Christians why they had to die when they were such a nice person and never harmed anyone. Dissatisfied with their answers, you suddenly decide that there is no God and that all Christians are nothing but lying, conniving con artists and hypocrites....all that is except for your friend who died.
15. You call a view held by less than ten percent of the American public "common sense".
16. You're a spoiled fifteen year old boy who lives in the suburbs and you go into a chat room to declare that, "I know there is no God because no loving God would allow anyone to suffer as much as I...hold on. My cell phone's ringing."
17. You attack your fellow atheists, who hold the "belief that there is no god", calling them "liars," and state that, "I do not deny the existence of any god. I just don't believe in any." Then you tell someone that their God is "made up." When someone calls you on this, you state, "I never made such a claim."
18. Going with the definition of "without a belief in God", you insist that all people are born atheists, and that dogs, cats, rocks, and trees are as well. You make statements like, "My dog is an atheist. Ask him about his lack of belief."
19. You believe that if something cannot be touched, seen, heard, or measured in some way, then it must not exist, yet you fail to see the irony of your calling Christians "narrow-minded".
20. You say that there is no God and that those who believe in God do so in blind faith, yet your claim that there is no God also rests on blind faith.
21. While you don't believe in God, you feel justified on bashing God or attacking those who believe in something that you KNOW doesn't exist, fighting against or even discussing about a non-existent being are the symptoms of mental illness!
22. You complain when Christians appeal to their emotions when justifying their belief in God yet you feel justified on appealing to your emotions for lack of belief in God.
23. You blame God for the starvation, sickness, pain and suffering in the world...when, indeed, it is MAN's greed, politics, selfishness and apathy that not only causes, but also ignores the sick and the starving masses. We aren't our brothers' keepers....but we should be.
24. When asked where the big ball of matter (that started the "Big Bang") came from, you insist that it popped out of nowhere.
25. You say that the existence of God is a "blank idea", since no one knows the universe's secrets, yet you continue to state your opinion of God not existing as a "fact".
26. You believe in many things about history (the culture of the ancient Mayans, egyptians, etc.), yet you refuse to accept personal modern-day testimony from someone who has personally experienced God.
27. You ask Christians to come on to your forum to address issues you raise. When you don't like the answers or can't accept them, you proceed to delete the conversation

Thank you to J.P.Holding and TEKTONICS.ORG

ON THE AIR : Live like you are being RECORDED

We're all about confidentiality. Living in denial of the Omnipresence of God, we want our sinful words and actions covered up. To use an animal metaphor, like a cat in the litterbox.

I ran across an internet article on people who are audio recording their everyday life; lifelogging. While there are interesting considerations of who people react to as far as the authorities in their lives, I cannot help thinking about the absence of the consciousness of the Omnipotent, Omnipresent God of the Universe, Jesus Christ.

Christians, to say nothing of a-theists, disregard the truth of the Scriptures and sin in action and words every day, therefore ignoring the truth that God is the ultimate authority and knows-it-all. The atheist on the other hand likely react the same way the author does when he admits the following:

""There are times when I think we're out of our depth here," Mr. Ellis says. "There are things that you don't want people to know about you and things you don't want to know about yourself."

Once, for example, Mr. Ellis and his wife got into an argument as they were leaving for vacation. That night he realized he had recorded the fight, which is somewhere in that pile of discs. "I never went back to listen to it, but there exists that recording of me being an #$%^+*@," he says. "I don't particularly like the idea of that existing.""

"(edited for the honor of Jesus Christ)


Ignoring the God of the Universe, we decide that there are appropriate (right, good) and inappropriate (wrong, bad) things that we do and would prefer, or fight to be sure, that those things are eliminated. The problem for the atheist is, WHY? The usual answer is that morality is determined by consensus which ends up being a parallel to the consensus of the worst of human history, and the reason falls apart.

The problem still exists for the Christian. How to live consistently with the Christ of the Scriptures. The answer lies in the scriptures. The righteous live by FAITH. Now for you atheists, I'm not talking about the current Mirriam-Webster's definition, belief without evidence, as this definition that has been incrementally changed from the more accurate definition of Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary 1828:

"FAITH, n. [L. fides, fido, to trust; Gr. to persuade, to draw towards any thing, to conciliate; to believe, to obey. In the Greek Lexicon of Hederic it is said, the primitive signification of the verb is to bind and draw or lead, as signifies a rope or cable. But this remark is a little incorrect. The sense of the verb, from which that of rope and binding is derived, is to strain, to draw, and thus to bind or make fast. A rope or cable is that which makes fast. Heb.]1. Belief; the assent of the mind to the truth of what is declared by another, resting on his authority and veracity, without other evidence; the judgment that what another states or testifies is the truth. I have strong faith or no faith in the testimony of a witness, or in what a historian narrates.2. The assent of the mind to the truth of a proposition advanced by another; belief, or probable evidence of any kind.3. In theology, the assent of the mind or understanding to the truth of what God has revealed. Simple belief of the scriptures, of the being and perfections of God, and of the existence, character and doctrines of Christ, founded on the testimony of the sacred writers, is called historical or speculative faith; a faith little distinguished from the belief of the existence and achievements of Alexander or of Cesar.4. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith, is the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God''s testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God''s character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God''s testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation.Being justified by faith. Rom. 5.Without faith it is impossible to please God. Heb. 11.For we walk by faith, and not by sight. 2Cor. 5.With the heart man believeth to righteousness. Rom. 10.The faith of the gospel is that emotion of the mind, which is called trust or confidence, exercised towards the moral character of God, and particularly of the Savior.Faith is an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God.Faith is an affectionate practical confidence in the testimony of God.Faith is a firm, cordial belief in the veracity of God, in all the declarations of his word; or a full and affectionate confidence in the certainty of those things which God has declared, and because he has declared them.5. The object of belief; a doctrine or system of doctrines believed; a system of revealed truths received by christians.They heard only, that he who persecuted us in times past, now preacheth the faith which once he destroyed. Gal. 1.6. The promises of God, or his truth and faithfulness.shall their unbelief make the faith of God without effect? Rom. 3.7. An open profession of gospel truth.Your faith is spoken of throughout the whole world. Rom. 1.8. A persuasion or belief of the lawfulness of things indifferent.Hast thou faith? Have it to thyself before God. Rom 14.9. Faithfulness; fidelity; a strict adherence to duty and fulfillment of promises.Her failing, while her faith to me remains, I would conceal.Children in whom is no faith. Deut. 32.10. Word or honor pledged; promise given; fidelity. He violated his plighted faith.For you alone I broke my faith with injured Palamon.11. Sincerity; honesty; veracity; faithfulness. We ought in good faith, to fulfill all our engagements.12. Credibility or truth. Unusual.]The faith of the foregoing narrative."

Note the difference between the faith of the scriptures and the effected definition of the post modern world; an unsubstantiated superstitious oooey-goooey preference for the mindless.

So as the Christian lives, may we live by the faith of 1828 and apply the mind of Christ to our words and deeds so we may be unashamed in the presence of God by the power of the Holy Spirit, working within us to will and do according to God's good pleasure,

Philippians 2:12-16 "12So then, my beloved, just as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your salvation with fear and trembling;13for it is God who is at work in you, both to will and to work for His good pleasure. 14Do all things without grumbling or disputing;

15so that you will prove yourselves to be blameless and innocent, children of God above reproach in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation, among whom you appear as lights in the world, 16holding fast the word of life, so that in the day of Christ I will have reason to glory because I did not run in vain nor toil in vain."

Go for it!


On the Record, All the Time

Postmodern Reconstruction of the word: FAITH

The Faith of Abraham: Obedience?

,… so that you will not grow weary and lose heart

Instruction from God Genesis 22:1-3
The Faith (Obedience) of Abraham 22: 4-14
Blessing from God 22:15-24

Instruction from God Genesis 22:1-3

In the old testament God spoke directly to individuals and by way of prophets to people at large. God spoke directly to Abraham. Today God speaks to us through the objective character of His Word, the Bible.

God spoke to Abraham and in this passage commanded Abraham to:

Take your son
Go to Moriah
Sacrifice Isaac/Burnt Offering

"The word came from Ha-Elohim, the personal, true God, who tried him (??????), i.e., demanded the sacrifice of the only, beloved son, as a proof and attestation of his faith. This constituted the trial, which necessarily produced a severe internal conflict in his mind.

The Faith (Obedience) of Abraham Genesis 22: 4-14
and the historic tension of sin/Righteousness

But Abraham brought his reason into captivity to the obedience of faith. He did not question the truth of the word of God, which had been addressed to him in a mode that was to his mind perfectly infallible (not in a vision of the night), but he stood firm in his faith,

Hebrews 11:19.

"accounting that god was able to raise him up, even from the dead"

The issue shows, that God did not desire the sacrifice of Isaac by slaying and burning him upon the altar, but his complete surrender, and a willingness to offer him up to God even by death."

The obedience of Abraham is the central experimental aspect of Genesis 22. As God had instructed, Abraham must obey. This obedience was beyond the temporal aspects and abilitites of Abraham which is demonstrated by the difficulties Abraham had with "truthines". Abraham could be considered to be schitzophrenic in his relationship to God. On one occasion he would be disobedient and the next he would obey.

He was disobedient when he:

Left with Family Genesis 12:4
Lied (deception thru Sarai to Pharaoh) Genesis 12:11-13
Violated the order for the home (slept with Hagar) Genesis 16:1-4
Lied (deception thru Sarai to Abimilech) Genesis 20:1-2

On the other hand he obeyed God:

Left Ur of the Chaldese Genesis 12:1-4
Changed his name Genesis 17:5
Circumcised himself and household Genesis 17:10
Changed Sarai's name Genesis 17:15
And in Genesis 22:3
Abraham rose Genesis 22:3
saddled his donkey (3)
took two of his young men with him and Isaac his son (3)
he split wood for the burnt offering (3)
arose and went to the place of which God had told him (3)
I and the lad will go over there; and we will worship (5)
return to you (5)
Abraham took the wood (6)
he took in his hand the fire and the knife (6)
God will provide for Himself the lamb for the burnt offering (8)
the two of them walked on together (8)
Abraham built the altar there (9)
arranged the wood (9)
bound his son Isaac (9)
laid him on the altar (9)
stretched out his hand (9)
took the knife (9)
stopped the knife
Abraham raised his eyes (13)
Abraham went and took the ram (13)
offered him up for a burnt offering (13)

How do we account for the difference in Abraham's behavior from one time to the next? The key is the dichotomy of Regeneration by the Holy Spirit and the gift of Faith. So what is this FAITH that by it, Abraham obeyed God?

Faith: 4. Evangelical, justifying, or saving faith, is: the assent of the mind to the truth of divine revelation, on the authority of God''s testimony, accompanied with a cordial assent of the will or approbation of the heart; an entire confidence or trust in God''s character and declarations, and in the character and doctrines of Christ, with an unreserved surrender of the will to his guidance, and dependence on his merits for salvation. In other words, that firm belief of God''s testimony, and of the truth of the gospel, which influences the will, and leads to an entire reliance on Christ for salvation. "Faith, in its essential temper, is that elevation of soul by which it aspires to the good, the true, and the divine."

We can understand the obedience of Abraham in light of the book of Hebrews.

FAITH

Hebrews 11
1Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. 2For by it the men of old gained approval.6And without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him.

8By faith Abraham, when he was called, obeyed by going out to a place which he was to receive for an inheritance; and he went out, not knowing where he was going. 9By faith he lived as an alien in the land of promise, as in a foreign land, dwelling in tents with Isaac and Jacob, fellow heirs of the same promise; 10for he was looking for the city which has foundations, whose architect and builder is God. 11By faith even Sarah herself received ability to conceive, even beyond the proper time of life, since she considered Him faithful who had promised. 12Therefore there was born even of one man, and him as good as dead at that, as many descendants AS THE STARS OF HEAVEN IN NUMBER, AND INNUMERABLE AS THE SAND WHICH IS BY THE SEASHORE.

13All these died in faith, without receiving the promises, but having seen them and having welcomed them from a distance, and having confessed that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. 14For those who say such things make it clear that they are seeking a country of their own. 15And indeed if they had been thinking of that country from which they went out, they would have had opportunity to return. 16But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God; for He has prepared a city for them.

17By faith Abraham, when he was tested, offered up Isaac, and he who had received the promises was offering up his only begotten son; 18it was he to whom it was said, "IN ISAAC YOUR DESCENDANTS SHALL BE CALLED." 19He considered that God is able to raise people even from the dead, from which he also received him back as a type.

How does one get this type of Faith?

Romans 10:17
So faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of Christ.

John 3:18-22
18"He who believes in Him is not judged; he who does not believe has been judged already, because he has not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God. 19"This is the judgment, that the Light has come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the Light, for their deeds were evil. 20"For everyone who does evil hates the Light, and does not come to the Light for fear that his deeds will be exposed. 21"But he who practices the truth comes to the Light, so that his deeds may be manifested as having been wrought in God."

The only possible way for a person to have Faith is to be made so by the Decree of God the Father through the imputation of the righteousness of Jesus Christ by spiritual rebirth and regeneration by the work of the Holy Spirit.

"The work of the Holy Spirit that most concerns us is the renewing of the elect after the image of God. And this is not all. It even savors of selfishness and irreverence to make this so prominent, as tho it were His only work. The redeemed are not sanctified without Christ, who is made to them sanctification; hence the work of the Spirit must embrace the Incarnation of the Word and the work of the Messiah.

First, The work of the Holy Spirit is not confined to the elect, and does not begin with their regeneration; but it touches every creature, animate and inanimate, and begins its operations in the elect at the very moment of their origin. Second, The proper work of the Holy Spirit in every creature consists in the quickening and sustaining of life with reference to his being and talents, and, in its highest sense, with reference to eternal life, which is his salvation."

So, the Faith of Abraham is the singular work of God that is Decreed by the Father, Executed by the Son and given by the Holy Spirit thru the testimony of the Word of God. The order of salvation helps us to understand the sequence of events of the decree to salvation by God:

In the Reformed camp, the ordo salutis is

1. election,
   
2. predestination,
3. gospel call
   
4. inward call
   
5. regeneration,
   
6. conversion (faith & repentance),
   
7. justification,
   
8. sanctification, and
   
9. glorification. (Rom 8:29-30)

Therefore, the Faith of Abraham is not a simple ascent to the truth of God, but it is the Gift of God, enabling a dead-in-trespasses-and-sin man to once again following Adam's sin, relate to God. The spiritual rebirth of Abraham, enabling him to relate to God helps us understand that Abraham, like Paul is still a sinner and will upon decreasing occasion struggle with sin.

Romans 7:4-9:33

4Therefore, my brethren, you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God. 5For while we were in the flesh, the sinful passions, which were aroused by the Law, were at work in the members of our body to bear fruit for death. 6But now we have been released from the Law, having died to that by which we were bound, so that we serve in newness of the Spirit and not in oldness of the letter.

7What shall we say then? Is the Law sin? May it never be! On the contrary, I would not have come to know sin except through the Law; for I would not have known about coveting if the Law had not said, "You shall not covet." 8But sin, taking opportunity through the commandment, produced in me coveting of every kind; for apart from the Law sin is dead. 9I was once alive apart from the Law; but when the commandment came, sin became alive and I died; 10and this commandment, which was to result in life, proved to result in death for me; 11for sin, taking an opportunity through the commandment, deceived me and through it killed me. 12So then, the Law is holy, and the commandment is holy and righteous and good.

13Therefore did that which is good become a cause of death for me? May it never be! Rather it was sin, in order that it might be shown to be sin by effecting my death through that which is good, so that through the commandment sin would become utterly sinful.

14For we know that the Law is spiritual, but I am of flesh, sold into bondage to sin. 15For what I am doing, I do not understand; for I am not practicing what I would like to do, but I am doing the very thing I hate. 16But if I do the very thing I do not want to do, I agree with the Law, confessing that the Law is good. 17So now, no longer am I the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me. 18For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the willing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not. 19For the good that I want, I do not do, but I practice the very evil that I do not want. 20But if I am doing the very thing I do not want, I am no longer the one doing it, but sin which dwells in me.

21I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. 22For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, 23but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members. 24Wretched man that I am! Who will set me free from the body of this death? 25Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord! So then, on the one hand I myself with my mind am serving the law of God, but on the other, with my flesh the law of sin.

Romans 8

1Therefore there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. 2For the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death. 3For what the Law could not do, weak as it was through the flesh, God did: sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh and as an offering for sin, He condemned sin in the flesh, 4so that the requirement of the Law might be fulfilled in us, who do not walk according to the flesh but according to the Spirit. 5For those who are according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who are according to the Spirit, the things of the Spirit. 6For the mind set on the flesh is death, but the mind set on the Spirit is life and peace, 7because the mind set on the flesh is hostile toward God; for it does not subject itself to the law of God, for it is not even able to do so, 8and those who are in the flesh cannot please God.

9However, you are not in the flesh but in the Spirit, if indeed the Spirit of God dwells in you. But if anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Him. 10If Christ is in you, though the body is dead because of sin, yet the spirit is alive because of righteousness. 11But if the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

12So then, brethren, we are under obligation, not to the flesh, to live according to the flesh- 13for if you are living according to the flesh, you must die; but if by the Spirit you are putting to death the deeds of the body, you will live. 14For all who are being led by the Spirit of God, these are sons of God. 15For you have not received a spirit of slavery leading to fear again, but you have received a spirit of adoption as sons by which we cry out, "Abba! Father!" 16The Spirit Himself testifies with our spirit that we are children of God, 17and if children, heirs also, heirs of God and fellow heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him so that we may also be glorified with Him.

18For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19For the anxious longing of the creation waits eagerly for the revealing of the sons of God. 20For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it, in hope 21that the creation itself also will be set free from its slavery to corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. 22For we know that the whole creation groans and suffers the pains of childbirth together until now. 23And not only this, but also we ourselves, having the first fruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting eagerly for our adoption as sons, the redemption of our body. 24For in hope we have been saved, but hope that is seen is not hope; for who hopes for what he already sees? 25But if we hope for what we do not see, with perseverance we wait eagerly for it.

26In the same way the Spirit also helps our weakness; for we do not know how to pray as we should, but the Spirit Himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words; 27and He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.

28And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. 29For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren; 30and these whom He predestined, He also called; and these whom He called, He also justified; and these whom He justified, He also glorified.

31What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who is against us? 32He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him over for us all, how will He not also with Him freely give us all things? 33Who will bring a charge against God's elect? God is the one who justifies; 34who is the one who condemns? Christ Jesus is He who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God, who also intercedes for us. 35Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36Just as it is written,

"For Your sake we are being put to death all day long; We were considered as sheep to be slaughtered."

37But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. 38For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, 39nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing, will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

Romans 9

1I am telling the truth in Christ, I am not lying, my conscience testifies with me in the Holy Spirit, 2that I have great sorrow and unceasing grief in my heart. 3For I could wish that I myself were accursed, separated from Christ for the sake of my brethren, my kinsmen according to the flesh, 4who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption as sons, and the glory and the covenants and the giving of the Law and the temple service and the promises, 5whose are the fathers, and from whom is the Christ according to the flesh, who is over all, God blessed forever. Amen.

6But it is not as though the word of God has failed. For they are not all Israel who are descended from Israel; 7nor are they all children because they are Abraham's descendants, but: "through Isaac your descendants will be named." 8That is, it is not the children of the flesh who are children of God, but the children of the promise are regarded as descendants. 9For this is the word of promise: "At this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son." 10And not only this, but there was Rebekah also, when she had conceived twins by one man, our father Isaac; 11for though the twins were not yet born and had not done anything good or bad, so that God's purpose according to His choice would stand, not because of works but because of Him who calls, 12it was said to her, "The older will serve the younger." 13Just as it is written, "Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated."

14What shall we say then? There is no injustice with God, is there? May it never be! 15For He says to Moses, "I will have mercy on whom I have mercy, and I will have compassion on whom I have compassion." 16So then it does not depend on the man who wills or the man who runs, but on God who has mercy. 17For the Scripture says to Pharaoh, "For this very purpose I raised you up, to demonstrate My power in you, and that My name might be proclaimed throughout the whole earth." 18So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.

19You will say to me then, "Why does He still find fault? For who resists His will?" 20On the contrary, who are you, O man, who answers back to God? The thing molded will not say to the molder, "Why did you make me like this," will it? 21Or does not the potter have a right over the clay, to make from the same lump one vessel for honorable use and another for common use? 22What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? 23And He did so to make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory, 24even us, whom He also called, not from among Jews only, but also from among Gentiles. 25As He says also in Hosea,

"I will call those who were not My people, 'My people,'And her who was not beloved, 'beloved.'" 26 "And it shall be that in the place where it was said to them, 'you are not My people,' There they shall be called sons of the living God."

27Isaiah cries out concerning Israel, "Though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, it is the remnant that will be saved; 28for the Lord will execute his word on the earth, thoroughly and quickly." 29And just as Isaiah foretold, "Unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left to us a posterity, We would have become like Sodom, and would have resembled Gomorrah."

30What shall we say then? That Gentiles, who did not pursue righteousness, attained righteousness, even the righteousness which is by faith; 31but Israel, pursuing a law of righteousness, did not arrive at that law. 32Why? Because they did not pursue it by faith, but as though it were by works. They stumbled over the stumbling stone, 33just as it is written,

"Behold, I lay in Zion a stone of stumbling and a rock of offense, And he who believes in Him will not be disappointed."

The struggles that the believer undergoes today are no different that the perceived dichotomy of the disobedience and obedience by Faith of Abraham. We must realisitically expect the struggle to continue and intensify if we are not subject to the work of the Holy Spirit, lacking in the disciplines of the Grace of God in the administration of His Word to our own minds. The renewing of the mind is the work of the Holy Spirit through the reading of the Word of God. Without the Word of God, the Spirit and the Flesh war is a continuing struggle that effects the believer, cripples relationships and becomes the playground for satan.

When the believer feeds upon the Word of God the blessings are Wisdom, Endurance, Discernment. The victory of the Holy Spirit produces the fruit of the Spirit;

Galatians 5:16-24

16But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not carry out the desire of the flesh. 17For the flesh sets its desire against the Spirit, and the Spirit against the flesh; for these are in opposition to one another, so that you may not do the things that you please. 18But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the Law. 19Now the deeds of the flesh are evident, which are: immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, 21envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these, of which I forewarn you, just as I have forewarned you, that those who practice such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. 22But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23gentleness, self-control; against such things there is no law. 24Now those who belong to Christ Jesus have crucified the flesh with its passions and desires.

Romans 12:1-3

1Therefore I urge you, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. 2And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, so that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

3For through the grace given to me I say to everyone among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.

Blessing from God 22:15-24

I will greatly bless you (17)
I will greatly multiply your seed (17)
your seed shall possess the gate of their enemies (17)
In your seed all the nations of the earth shall be blessed, (18)

In conclusion, the writer of Hebrews concludes the treastie on Faith by Chapter 12:1-3

Hebrews 12:1-3

1Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us, let us also lay aside every encumbrance and the sin which so easily entangles us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, 2fixing our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God.

3For consider Him who has endured such hostility by sinners against Himself, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.

May God grant repentance to you freethinkers. I pray for you to know the Truth, as the Truth, Jesus Christ will set you free. And,.. you will be free indeed!

Nice

On a personal note, I stumbled across an inventive South African Artist named Rudie van Rensburg that, in my humble opinion, is a very creative and masterful painter in acrylics. Rudie van Rensburg

Those of you who know me well understand my love for the visual art, not the arts in general, but in fine visual arts. As a design student and art historian (i've forgotten more than I learned in art history) I appreciate painting and color, because frankly I'm a poor painter and terrible with color. So, this cubist is notably good at both. He leans heavily on the cubist mode and understanding of creativity and perception, but he's also prolific and cheap.

I cant get away with posting his work at our home or store, but the blogosphere is free. So there.

For you unbelievers, man can paint within only the Christian Worldview because of being Created in the image of God, the CREATOR.

Genesis 1: 1In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. 2The earth was £formless and void, and darkness was over the surface of the deep, and the Spirit of God was £moving over the surface of the waters. 3Then God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. 4God saw that the light was good; and God separated the light from the darkness. 5God called the light day, and the darkness He called night. And there was evening and there was morning, one day. 6Then God said, “Let there be an expanse in the midst of the waters, and let it separate the waters from the waters.” 7God made the £expanse, and separated the waters which were below the expanse from the waters which were above the expanse; and it was so. 8God called the expanse heaven. And there was evening and there was morning, a second day. 9Then God said, “Let the waters below the heavens be gathered into one place, and let the dry land appear”; and it was so. 10God called the dry land earth, and the gathering of the waters He called seas; and God saw that it was good. 11Then God said, “Let the earth sprout vegetation: plants yielding seed, and fruit trees on the earth bearing fruit after their kind with seed in them”; and it was so. 12The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed after their kind, and trees bearing fruit with seed in them, after their kind; and God saw that it was good. 13There was evening and there was morning, a third day. 14Then God said, “Let there be lights in the expanse of the heavens to separate the day from the night, and let them be for signs and for seasons and for days and years; 15and let them be for lights in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth”; and it was so. 16God made the two great lights, the greater light to govern the day, and the lesser light to govern the night; He made the stars also. 17God placed them in the expanse of the heavens to give light on the earth, 18and to govern the day and the night, and to separate the light from the darkness; and God saw that it was good. 19There was evening and there was morning, a fourth day. 20Then God said, “Let the waters teem with swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth in the open expanse of the heavens.” 21God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarmed after their kind, and every winged bird after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 22God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” 23There was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. 24Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures after their kind: cattle and creeping things and beasts of the earth after their kind”; and it was so. 25God made the beasts of the earth after their kind, and the cattle after their kind, and everything that creeps on the ground after its kind; and God saw that it was good. 26Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; and let them rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over the cattle and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27God created man in His own image, in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28God blessed them; and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth, and subdue it; and rule over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the sky and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29Then God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you; 30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food”; and it was so. 31God saw all that He had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day.

Thereby reflecting His CREATIVE character. Otherwise, the naturalist artist has no business calling themselves creative. And thats not my humble opinion, it is Gods, DEAL WITH IT.

Naturalist slips up Creation=Evolution

Now here's a hoot. Naturalist Scientists use creative efforts to determine evolution.

They're at it again! Suppressing the Truth in unrighteousness.

Romans 1
For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools, and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures. Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

WASHINGTON - The first animal to crawl onto land from the ocean probably looked a bit like today's salamander, and researchers have wondered how it was able to switch from swimming to walking. Now, European scientists have built a robot with a primitive electric nervous system that they say mimics that change in motion.


The robot doesn't look much like a salamander — it's nearly a yard long and made of nine bright yellow plastic segments each containing a battery and microcontroller — but it does seem to move like one.

The point was to understand how a spinal cord developed to direct a swimming motion that could handle the different coordination needed between a body and its limbs for walking, according to the team led by Auke Jan Ijspeert of the Ecole Polytechnique Federale in Lausanne, Switzerland.

So they first designed a basic nervous system modeled on that of the lamprey, a long, primitive eel-like fish. Then that design was modified to show how it could evolve into a nervous system that also could control walking.

And to prove their point, they built the salamander robot — which walks across floors, down the beach and even manages to swim in Lake Geneva.

Its swimming motion uses undulations like the lamprey, while on land the robot uses a slow stepping gait with diagonally opposed limbs moving together while the body forms an S-shape.

The work, the researchers reported Friday in the journal Science, is "a demonstration of how robots can be used to test biological models, and in return, how biology can help in designing robot locomotion controllers."

The research was funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and the French Ministry for Research and Technology.

Pastafarian Worldview Devoured by Christianity

Secular humanists God is Dead and FSM remains will be delivered in approximately 12 hours.

Secular humanists establish their individual autonomy as a God, thereby verifying their sinful condition. The parallel from the naturalist's FSM god (Flying Spaghetti Monster) is a poor parallel for the establishment of the argument from the Scriptures for the Triune God.

This man is most certainly a Christian operating from the Christian Worldview as he is actually eating a substance that exists. He can establish the pasta's existence based upon the scriptures early in Genesis, chapter one as it is a plant based food.

29"Then God said, "Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the surface of all the earth, and every tree which has fruit yielding seed; it shall be food for you;

30and to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the sky and to every thing that moves on the earth which has life, I have given every green plant for food"; and it was so."

The Secular Humanist Naturalist (SHN) cannot even eat with their worldview. They have no objective truth upon which to base the existence of food. Therefore, the SHN will have to borrow from the Christian Worldview in order to stay alive. Wait a minute, perhaps there is another way. In order to Stay Alive, they may borrow from ,....

Personally, I think the atheist would be much better off with Christianity. That Christian Science blend is kind of like mixing Starbucks Decaf with the poopie remains of the FSM. Not my idea of a stable foundation for life.

We will see what the Atheist thinks this Sunday as there is a cable special on the umteenth anniversary of the dance classic. I have a friend who will report on the show (as we are celebrating TV Turnoff month during this month) on Multifaceted Christianity on Monday. Stay tuned, perhaps Travolta will be revealed to be the new FSM and a nice snack for the Christian Mind.

Humanist God Exists: Algorithm

You may ask, How does this apply to a Humanist? Since the Humanist establishes himself as the final arbiter of Truth (truthiness) and the Humanist executes their (individual) job as a computer programmer, they are the primary cause of the establishment of an authority outside themselves. This sounds to me like a "god". Therefore consistent with idolatry: establishing an authority that is an insult to the God of the Scriptures, the Holy God of the Universe, Jesus Christ.

Algorithm helps computers beat human players

By Andras Gergely Wed Feb 21, 6:01 AM ET

BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Computers can beat some of the world's top chess players, but the most powerful machines have failed at the popular Asian board game "Go" in which human intuition has so far proven key.

Two Hungarian scientists have now come up with an algorithm that helps computers pick the right move in Go, played by millions around the world, in which players must capture spaces by placing black and white marbles on a board in turn.

"On a nine by nine board we are not far from reaching the level of a professional Go player," said Levente Kocsis at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences' computing lab SZTAKI.

The 19 by 19 board which top players use is still hard for a machine, but the new method is promising because it makes better use of the growing power of computers than earlier Go software.

"Programs using this method immediately improve if you use two processors instead of one, say, which was not typical for earlier programs," Kocsis said.

Whereas a chess program can evaluate a scenario by assigning numerical values to pieces -- say 9 to the queen and 1 to a pawn -- and to the tactical worth of their position, that technique is not available to a Go machine.

In Go all marbles are identical and scenarios are too complex, so the computer has to think forward all the way till the end of the game and emulate the outcome of each alternative move, whose number rises exponentially with the number of turns.

ONE-ARMED BANDITS

Even the most powerful computers have failed at that task, but Kocsis and his colleague Csaba Szepesvari have found a way of helping computers focus on the most promising moves, using an analogy with slot machines in a casino.

Punters will find that certain one-armed bandits in a casino appear to pay more on average than others, but an intelligent player should also try machines that have so far paid less in case they are hiding a jackpot, Kocsis said.

The key is to find the balance between the two sorts of machine.

Go software using a similar method, called UCT, does not have to scan all possible outcomes of a game and they can quickly find the best mix of scenarios to check.

"This bandit algorithm has proven advantages," Kocsis said.

The possible outcomes of a game are like branches of a tree, and earlier Go programs, unable to scan all branches, picked some at random and tried to find the best move from that sample.

The UCT method helps a computer decide which routes are most worth investigating and programs based on it have consistently won games against most other machines.

Bucket of Gravity

The United Nations needs a Bucket of Gravity to ward off an asteroid in 2036. All humanists alert: "1M euro reward for your bucket of gravity".



Send it via USPS express mail (or take the subway 4, 5, 6 at 42nd St-Grand Central)

Ban Ki-moon
1st Ave (Cross Street: 46th Street)
New York, NY 10017
(212) 963-8687


SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - An asteroid may come uncomfortably close to Earth in 2036 and the United Nations should assume responsibility for a space mission to deflect it, a group of astronauts, engineers and scientists said on Saturday.

Astronomers are monitoring an asteroid named Apophis, which has a 1 in 45,000 chance of striking Earth on April 13, 2036.

Although the odds of an impact by this particular asteroid are low, a recent congressional mandate for NASA to upgrade its tracking of near-Earth asteroids is expected to uncover hundreds, if not thousands of threatening space rocks in the near future, former astronaut Rusty Schweickart said.

"It's not just Apophis we're looking at. Every country is at risk. We need a set of general principles to deal with this issue," Schweickart, a member of the Apollo 9 crew that orbited the moon in March 1969, told an American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Francisco.

Schweickart plans to present an update next week to the U.N. Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space on plans to develop a blueprint for a global response to an asteroid threat.

The Association of Space Explorers, a group of former astronauts and cosmonauts, intends to host a series of high-level workshops this year to flesh out the plan and will make a formal proposal to the U.N. in 2009, he said.

Schweickart wants to see the United Nations adopt procedures for assessing asteroid threats and deciding if and when to take action.

The favored approach to dealing with a potentially deadly space rock is to dispatch a spacecraft that would use gravity to alter the asteroid's course so it no longer threatens Earth, said astronaut Ed Lu, a veteran of the International Space Station.

The so-called Gravity Tractor could maintain a position near the threatening asteroid, exerting a gentle tug that, over time, would deflect the asteroid.

An asteroid the size of Apophis, which is about 460 feet

long, would take about 12 days of gravity-tugging, Lu added.

Mission costs are estimated at $300 million.

Launching an asteroid deflection mission early would reduce the amount of energy needed to alter its course and increase the chances of a successful outcome, Schweickart said.

NASA says the precise effect of a 460-foot (140-meter) object hitting the Earth would depend on what the asteroid was made of and the angle of impact.

Paul Slovic, president of Oregon-based Decision Research, which studies judgment, decision-making and risk analysis, said the asteroid could take out an entire city or region.

The Transfer of Suppression of the Truth in Unrighteousness

Ever care to "suppress the truth in unrighteousness"? Adopting the presuppositions and evidence of the God hating Richard Dawkins is a start. I read this analysis of Dawkin's recent attack on Christianity and thought it worthwhile for a secular analysis.

Madeleine Bunting Saturday January 7, 2006 The Guardian

"No wonder atheists are angry: they seem ready to believe anythingRichard Dawkins's latest attack on religion is an intellectually lazy polemic not worthy of a great scientist.

On Monday, it's Richard Dawkins's turn (yet again) to take up the cudgels against religious faith in a two-part Channel 4 programme, The Root of All Evil? His voice is one of the loudest in an increasingly shrill chorus of atheist humanists; something has got them badly rattled. They even turned their bitter invective on Narnia. By all means, let's have a serious debate about religious belief, one of the most complex and fascinating phenomena on the planet, but the suspicion is that it's not what this chorus wants. Behind unsubstantiated assertions, sweeping generalisations and random anecdotal evidence, there's the unmistakable whiff of panic; they fear religion is on the march again.

There's an aggrieved frustration that they've been short-changed by history; we were supposed to be all atheist rationalists by now. Secularisation was supposed to be an inextricable part of progress. Even more grating, what secularisation there has been is accompanied by the growth of weird irrationalities from crystals to ley lines. As GK Chesterton pointed out, the problem when people don't believe in God is not that they believe nothing, it is that they believe anything.

There's an underlying anxiety that atheist humanism has failed. Over the 20th century, atheist political regimes racked up an appalling (and unmatched) record for violence. Atheist humanism hasn't generated a compelling popular narrative and ethic of what it is to be human and our place in the cosmos; where religion has retreated, the gap has been filled with consumerism, football, Strictly Come Dancing and a mindless absorption in passing desires. Not knowing how to answer the big questions of life, we shelve them - we certainly don't develop the awe towards and reverence for the natural world that Dawkins would want. So the atheist humanists have been betrayed by the irrational, credulous nature of human beings; a misanthropy is increasingly evident in Dawkins's anti-religious polemic and among his many admirers.
This is the only context that can explain Dawkins's programme, a piece of intellectually lazy polemic which is not worthy of a great scientist. He uses his authority as a scientist to claim certainty where he himself knows, all too well, that there is none; for example, our sense of morality cannot simply be explained as a product of our genetic struggle for evolutionary advantage. More irritatingly, he doesn't apply to religion - the object of his repeated attacks - a fraction of the intellectual rigour or curiosity that he has applied to evolution (to deserved applause). Where is the grasp of the sociological or anthropological explanations of the centrality of religion? Sadly, there is no evolution of thought in Dawkins's position; he has been saying much the same thing about religion for a long time.

There are three areas in his programmes where the lack of rigour is most striking. First, Dawkins is featured in Jerusalem; the point is that religion causes violence and most of the world's conflicts can be traced back to faith. If only they didn't have segregated schooling in Israel and Palestine then peace could emerge. Likewise in Northern Ireland.

Let's leave the political scientists to point out the absurd simplification of these political struggles over land, rights and resources, but take a wider point. Human beings develop collective identities - ethnic, nationalist, religious or political - and find in them a sense of belonging, of personal identity and solidarity; the problem is how, at points of competition and threat, those identities flare up into horrible violence. Pinning all the blame on religion blindly ignores the evidence; the Rwandan tragedy was about ethnicity, the Holocaust about a racist political ideology. Crucially it fails to grasp the modern phenomenon of fundamentalism and how religious identity is being mobilised in an attempt to carve out positions of power within a rapidly globalising world; this kind of violent religion is a political product of rapid social and economic change.

Second, Dawkins mounts a charge of "child abuse" against religious education; it manipulates childish minds, inculcating in them a terror of hell and damnation. On this argument, I'm with Dawkins for a while; he's right that many religions have a horrible habit of using fear to shore up their authority. But that's only part of the story - religion can also provide children with a deep sense of confidence from the teaching that they are each precious in the eyes of God, of reverence for their gift of life and of ethical bearings.

His conclusion is that no children should be exposed to religion until they are old enough to make a choice; anything else is indoctrination. But this is quixotic; how can they ever make any choice without knowledge and how can they ever have knowledge without running into Dawkins's allegation of indoctrination? Furthermore, the concept of a child to be kept a blank slate, free from parental influence, is absurd - or does it just apply to religion, and if so, why? What about the many ways in which parents shape children (so constraining many choices) for both good and ill? Isn't the point that children should be encouraged to develop thoughtful, inquiring minds and a strong ethical framework - and that this is possible both with, or without, religious belief?
Finally, Dawkins returns to the old complaint that religion "cuts off a source of wonder"; he once famously described the medieval view of the cosmos as "little" and "pokey". It's a revealing comment because it exposes a remarkable lack of empathy for how people in other ages or cultures imagine the world. That seems a terrible poverty of his imagination. Just think: when most people's radius of experience was a few miles, the world must have seemed a vast, deeply mysterious entity.

That lack of empathy also lies behind Dawkins's reference to a "process of non-thinking called faith". For thousands of years, religious belief has been accompanied by thought and intellectual discovery, whether Islamic astronomy or the Renaissance. But his contempt is so profound that he can't be bothered to even find out (in an interview he dismissed Christian theology in exactly these terms). If this isn't the "hidebound certainty" of which he accuses believers, I'm not sure what is.

Let's be clear: it's absolutely right that religion should be subjected to a vigorous critique, but let's have one that doesn't waste time knocking down straw men. It's also right for religion to concede ground to science to explain natural processes; but at the same time, science has to concede that despite its huge advances it still cannot answer questions about the nature of the universe - such as whether we are freak chances of evolution in an indifferent cosmos (Dawkins does finally acknowledge this point in the programmes).

Dawkins seems to want to magic religion away. It's a silly delusion comparable to one of another great atheist humanist thinker, JS Mill. He wanted to magic away another inescapable part of human experience - sex; using not dissimilar arguments to Dawkins's, he pointed out the violence and suffering caused by sexual desire, and dreamt of a day when all human beings would no longer be infantilised by the need for sexual gratification, and an alternative way would be found to reproduce the human species. As true of Mill as it is of Dawkins: dream on.

Deny the Obvious?

The conviction of the humanist observer leads to misinterpretion of temporal evidence.


Ephesians 4:18-19
18being darkened in their understanding, excluded from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, because of the hardness of their heart; 19and they, having become callous, have given themselves over to sensuality for the practice of every kind of impurity with greediness.

Humanists, operating on the foundation of their own autonomy claim to think freely, while interpreting evidence thru a restricted grid of denial. While it is refreshing to see that some regional atheist groups are stable enough to entertain member Christians, there are atheist groups throughout the United States who cannot support the untenable humanist worldview except within the restricted structure of atheist only member groups. Like a little child who covers the eyes to 'disappear' denying the truth of the normal function of reality, the atheist humanist shuns the evidence that he claims to be 'free' to examine and to think 'freely'. The obvious complexity of creation and the witness of the Word of God are picked apart without an honest effort to examine the 'evidence' of the revelation of the person of God in the scriptures. The atheist humanist demonstrates their constricted thought by the failure to read with objectivity the entirety of the Scriptures.

So why not call these pseudo social, truth denying get togethers something like the "Mid-State Sinatra Club" (I do it MY way), or "The Burlington Boogie Man Group" (believe it or not, Deists dont exist because we dont like the way they think) or "The Inane Repose Battallion" (I make theological mistakes when I guess what blasphemy really means).

I think Gene Cook's Wednesday internet broadcast called "The Narrow Mind:Atheist Wednesday" does a masterful job of exposing the fallacy of "free-thought". In every case but the smartest atheist I have ever heard: The Discomfiter.

He's bullit proof. Listen in,.. Unchained Radio

.

Well Rested,..

Good night's sleep, great Church body, visit the example of the Graceful Sovereign God's sparing of a life and then a,... Nice nap.

I think I missed something,...

Oh yes, the Piedmont "Freethought" Association!

I really missed the people. There is a very good and honest thinker there surrounded by a myriad of very challenged infidels. One who thinks, at least, honestly, and a pile of, well not to adept minds. I enjoyed taking a Christian Worldview and challenging their ability to think and willingness to be challenged. That's one thing that did happen, challenge. One rose to the occasion and answered the challenge, while the remainder were just plain dull of mind and ,. well, simply brash.

So, for you PFA Readers, here is the best thing I have to offer you;
Romans 1
15So, for my part, I am eager to preach the gospel to you also who are in Rome. 16For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first and also to the Greek. 17For in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith; as it is written, "BUT THE RIGHTEOUS man SHALL LIVE BY FAITH."

18For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men who suppress the truth in unrighteousness, 19because that which is known about God is evident within them; for God made it evident to them. 20For since the creation of the world His invisible attributes, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood through what has been made, so that they are without excuse. 21For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. 22Professing to be wise, they became fools,
23and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man and of birds and four-footed animals and crawling creatures.

24Therefore God gave them over in the lusts of their hearts to impurity, so that their bodies would be dishonored among them. 25For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever. Amen.

26For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, 27and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error. 28And just as they did not see fit to acknowledge God any longer, God gave them over to a depraved mind, to do those things which are not proper, 29being filled with all unrighteousness, wickedness, greed, evil; full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, malice; they are gossips, 30slanderers, haters of God, insolent, arrogant, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, 31without understanding, untrustworthy, unloving, unmerciful; 32and although they know the ordinance of God, that those who practice such things are worthy of death, they not only do the same, but also give hearty approval to those who practice them.

To my PFA Friends;
When the search for Truth leads to dead ends (puns intented) read the entirety of the Book of Romans. Beg God for His mercy, repent and be saved from the wrath of God measured out on sinners. I will continue to pray for each of you (even though you ask not to be prayed for) as I recognize that it is the Grace of God which saves sinners, I pray that each of you are found among those who eagerly receives that Life giving Grace.

Feel free to contact me, if you are willing and need to talk. You can find me at Royal Diadem Jewelers