The Kingdom, The Power, and the Glory by Tim Alberta

https://read.amazon.com/kp/embed?asin=B0BTYWH2YP&preview=newtab&linkCode=kpe&ref_=cm_sw_p_kb_dp&reshareId=FYCCRA14AX7HDYY1429P&reshareChannel=system

Highly recommend this book for everyone!

My thoughts about gun control.

  I grew up in a family and surrounding culture that included hunting and fishing.  My dad was an avid hunter and fisherman.  He enjoyed just shooting too, it was a sport he loved to pass along to me his son.  I never developed the love of guns though,  I just saw them as interesting in a scientific way with muzzle velocities, range, accuracy and all the other technological developments in history being most important.  I was taught respect and care in handling and owning guns.  Always have them pointed toward the ground... always assume a gun is loaded even if you know it isn't etc.  I shot and killed game including deer.   I always ate what I shot at the dinner table, even what we call here in north west Pennsylvania woodchuck.  I hated killing though.  I don't think any hunter should enjoy the act of shooting anything, even so called varmits.  Some actually revel in the experience of shooting something nobler than themselves.  It's a kind of blood-lust I suppose.  Those are the people I wouldn't trust with any kind of gun.   Here is what I believe this country should be like concerning personal gun ownership.

  Ownership should include meeting certain criteria of responsibility and character.  Certification should include training in safety and all aspects of ballistics.  Automatic or what was known as machine guns should be illegal to possess by a private citizen unless employed in a legitimate security business or government military.  The laws governing handgun and concealed weapons already on the books I think are sufficient in providing public safety and personal protection.  Both the weapon and the person attached to the trigger finger make up the whole killing system.  No more trite arguments that only people kill people, not guns please.  Hyperbole is a good way to measure the truth of a statement like this.  Substituting gun with atom bomb for example.  "Atom bombs don't kill people, people kill people."  Sound ludicrous doesn't it?

  Preventing tragedies like we see happening in our schools today is going to take government intervention i.e. our intervention.  Our government is for, by and of the people.  Through laws and community action we can make it safer for our children and ourselves.  Hunters and sports enthusiasts need not worry. 

Time stops in the laboratory and Joshua nods

Then Joshua spoke to Jehovah in the day when Jehovah delivered up the Amorites before the sons of Israel, and he said in the sight of Israel, Sun! Stand still on Gibeon! And, moon, stand still in the valley of Aijalon! And the sun stood still, and the moon stood still, until the people had avenged themselves on their enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jasher? And the sun stood still in the midst of the heavens, and did not hasten to go down about a whole day. And there was no day like that before it or after it, that Jehovah listened to the voice of a man. For Jehovah fought for Israel.
(Joshua 10:12-14)

In the news today is ground breaking discoveries at the Cornell University involving the 'cloaking' of time itself.  Although the proof of concept experiment only achieved  "40 trillionths of a second" of a lapse in time, it brings the miracle of Joshua's battle with the Amorites into reality for the skeptics.  These times must be tough for the Biblical naysayers.  

Scientists create time cloak

Putting no confidence in the flesh

One of the gifts of the Spirit is seeing things as they really are, the truth in other words.  It really is central to the faith and a yardstick of true faith.  If one is caught up in something that is not permanent, of the world, like sports for example, they have a sight problem.  They don't see things as they really are therefore they have not grown in the knowledge of the Spirit.  I'm not saying in and of itself sports is evil, it's just the preoccupation with it, the mixing of it's competitive ideals with scripture that is a problem.

As we enter this season of sport and it's distractions from reality remember the poor instead of the champions, the meek rather than the proud, the quiet rather than the raucous.  Also remember the human body will not be present in heaven, it will have been destroyed along with all the memory of it.

For all that is in the world, the lust of the flesh, and the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life, is not of the Father, but is of the world. 

(1 John 2:16)

Kimjongilia

Dark North Korea

I often find myself in these depressed economic times worrying about my family's and friends futures.  I got that from my mother I think, she was a consummate worrier.  The reality is we really are in perilous times, the whole world is increasingly in upheaval.  Some fantastic things along with the terrifying are in the headlines continually it seems.  I remember growing up in the Cold War, how permanent it all seemed.  Never in my wildest dreams would I have imagined the world we have today with an open Russia, a unified Europe and a crippled United States.  And China, a communist country outpacing the west in capitalism?  What?

Well, like the old adage says "If you think you've got it bad....", I just watched Kimjongilia on Netflix.
If your like me and have even a cursory knowledge of North Korea you know all about the oppression, hunger and pain of the people there.  But when things are out of mind because of all the other noise of daily life around us, we forget.  Next news headlines that shake the world will be from North Korea.

"It was the best of times.. it was the worst of times."

NetFlix
http://movies.netflix.com/WiMovie/Kimjongilia/70113934?trkid=438403

YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6JOMvOwECo

Watch House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee Hearing on Human Rights in North Korea

from 9/20/11!  Things are moving.

 

Our Narcissistic Society

Vanity of vanities, saith the Preacher, vanity of vanities; all is vanity.
(Ecclesiastes 1:2)

Those timeless words from the wisest son of old that include the farthest reaches of the universe and all of it's histories, still only vain in comparison to the limitless power and majesty of it's Creator.

This know also, that in the last days perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, Without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, Traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God; Having a form of godliness, but denying the power thereof: from such turn away. For of this sort are they which creep into houses, and lead captive silly women laden with sins, led away with divers lusts, Ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth. 

(2 Timothy 3:1-7)

Almost like reading the headlines.  We live in a vain time.  Social media largely serving egos of those with a full head of self-esteem.  It's infected the Gospel in even our traditionally orthodox denominations.  Teaching we're so valuable that even God will overlook our sin to win our hearts to Him.  Slightly twisted theology is all it takes to change the original message.  Somehow, repentance has become a dirty word along with sin.  We've gotten away from the Apostle's words: "If we say that we have fellowship with him, and walk in darkness, we lie, and do not the truth: " (1 John 1:6).  The only value we have in His eyes is that which was given by justification by faith.  No reason to feel proud at all, no room for self-esteem in other words.  "Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. " (Romans 3:27)

Romans 3 is a good read for the self-esteem crowd in our churches.  "Walking in darkness."  Make sure your not.

Some relevant resources on this subject:

Don Matzat - The Intrusion of Psychology into Christian Theology

The Human Experience

"Even in the deepest suffering there is significance, there is a meaningful process of positive possibilities."

"I think the suffering in the earth is only understandable in some kind of context of a cosmic spiritual conflict."

"The crucifixion was the culmination of the drama of suffering.... and the drama of love.  Death and love... brought together at the crux point of all history."

Dr William B. Hurlbut
The Human Experience

Watch The Human Experience on NetFlix

The Grand Design

Or rather better named The Grand Delusion.....  Steve cranks out another "science is the answer for everything" book (September 2010) which tries to lead you down a road to nowhere in quantum land.

  The Grand Design has some merits while trying to persuade you that "all this obvious design" can't be "normal" for universes, it then stands you on your head and claims because of the law of gravity the universe couldn't help but "self create".

 ::hit myself on the forehead::

Steve is a "Multiverse" advocate that believes out of some 10 to the 500th power universes we're just "lucky" to be in one that actually works for life.  According to Steve, "if" there is a god, he has a grand casino in the sky and amazed himself with the luck of the spin of creation.  Sometimes I think Steve is just playing with us with these outlandish statements.  But then I truly think he's serious, sadly.

There is no evidence of any other universes.  Theoretically it's been shown no information could be shared between universes even if they existed.  The "Multiverse" theory is the last gasp of Darwinian/Atheistic/Materialistic philosophy (I use that 'p' word that Steve hates) to avoid the obvious conclusion that there is a Creator.   Although to complicate things,  Frank Tipler in his book The Physics of Christianity embraces the multiverse and tries to smoke biblical concepts out of it being a Christian himself, albeit a strange character indeed.   Sorry Steve, the Bible still has you beat, your not even close to convincing us there's no need for God.  Quantum physics doesn't have the corner on truth.

Amit Goswami I believe has a better handle on the significance of quantum physics from a spiritual point of view, although definitely non-Christian.  I did get the creepy feeling Amit is introducing an End-time religion, that "strong delusion" that even Christians will be tempted by, so be careful.

There is a treasure trove of "Biblical" insight to be found in the hard science of quantum physics though.  It is verifying much of what we Christians have believed and experienced.  Hence it's prime candid-ency for strong delusional material.  In my opinion of course....

Some links to relevant articles:

http://www.wired.com/magazine/2011/02/mf_gleick_qa/all/1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xx9T1WaOv8k

The Island

Holiday movie watching suggestion.

This week I stumbled upon a gem of a film.  The Island, starring Pyotr Nikolayevich Mamonov as Father Anatoly, is a Russian film about a haunted man finding himself a resident of an isolated Russian Orthodox monastery.  Gifted with prophecy and discernment, he carries out his humble duties at the monastery stoking the ever hungry coal burning boiler and taking in pilgrims in search of physical healing and other miracles.

Mamonov in real life is a rock musician and actor whom had converted to Christianity in the 1990's and now resides in a tiny village.


Although the soundtrack is in russian, it is subtitled in english.


You can watch it free in low res on YouTube here or if you have a Netflix account you can watch it here.


Want the dvd?  You can purchase it here.

Why Us? - Best written critique of Evolution in our times. (IMHO)

James Le Fanu, author and medical doctor among his many life accomplishments, has won a prominent place on my book shelf in defense of non-Darwinian world-view.  A master with words and logic, James invites you to dare think outside the restrictive Darwinian box and face the truth like a man (or woman).  This work is a beautifully illustrated and written direct attack on some of the most fundamental assumptions of modern biology and all of it's relevant disciplines.

Audio Book Pick

Peter Hitchens, brother of Christopher Hitchens, converted to Christianity after seeing firsthand the results of atheism's effect on society while working as a foreign news corespondent in the former USSR before the fall of the Iron Curtain.  Peter lays out the thesis of his latest work in this video.

Although Peter's accent took some getting used to for a "Yank" like myself, I would recommend the audio version of the book to get the full effect of Peter's timely message.
At the least, it's an encouragement to us that feel downtrodden at times by the scope and intensity of attacks on our faith to see such a prominent figure stepping out and defending Christianity.  At best, it is another salvo of truth against the enemy of all souls.

Inception

Inception - an event that is a beginning; a first part or stage of subsequent events.

My son Andy and I made time to go see the new Sci-fi thriller Inception Saturday night.  Having only read one review from Wired.com I was intrigued enough to shell out my dough for the ticket.  And, I'll say it is more than I thought it would be.  A central theme of the movie is planting an idea in ones mind through a dream.  Technology is used to do a Vulcan like mind meld and allow the team of thieves to interact with the target's lucid dream and eventually steal his secrets.  This all should sound familiar to those whom have had similar spiritual experiences.  Ideas are being "planted" like seeds all the time in our minds, and not always from our fellow humans.  No, not aliens folks, I'm not that wacky... yet.  It is most often very mundane. Advertising is the commercial practice of mind seeding for example.  Much research has been done over the decades in subliminal communications in one form or another.  It goes right down to the arrangement of product on the shelves, isles, color of packaging etc etc.  The gambling industry tries to make you feel rich before they take your hard earned money.   Automotive manufacturers show how you will become free, important, safe, cool and attractive in their product.  Advertising, politics, war, all use deception to win over their targets.  Inception by Deception.

Scripture has some good advice for that garden of the mind;

Php 4:8  Finally, my brothers, whatever things are true, whatever things are honest, whatever things are right, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report; if there is any virtue and if there is any praise, think on these things. 

A practical defense of the bombardment our minds take each day by our society is to 'displace' those seeds of deception by purposely thinking on good things.  First, know who you are in Christ.  Remember your identity, your heritage and future.   Nothing can beat eternal life.  Now that you have a good perspective, scrub away your mind with Bible study, prayer and meditate throughout the day on the things of God.  You'll be surprised at how even the common things in life contain some profound insights into the realm of the Eternal.

Interesting follow up article on wired.


 

Something just isn't right here.

Ever have that gnawing feeling that just won't go away?  That something just doesn't "feel" right.  It could be an everyday and common business transaction or a light conversation with someone you've known for years or even a perfect stranger.  It could be a series of seemingly unconnected events spanning years that suddenly point to something, a conclusion you have never considered, nor wanted to.  Or, something totally out of the blue.  A contempt for someone you know absolutely nothing about.  He or she could be the most likable gal or guy anyone has met including you.  But there it is, an angst about a person you can't trace to anything he or she has said or done by yourself or anyone else.  Or conversely, it is something said in jest or sincerity that piques your conscience, jabs at your heart.  A warning that what your seeing or hearing has roots that go deep.  The intellect kicks in right about here and says "there is no rational reason for you to feel this way".  Quickly you come to a conclusion that you have "issues" that need dealt with.  Maybe your just jealous.  That all common, awful rotten manifestation of the heart that can ruin a man.

  O! beware, my lord, of jealousy;  It is the green-eyed monster which doth mock.  The meat it feeds on.

~William Shakespeare, Othello

But then, you ask, "why would I be jealous of someone I don't know?"  "Am I insecure?"  (Whatever that means)  "That could cause feelings of being threatened....."  (from what?)  No man knoweth his own heart better than himself beside God alone.  "If jealousy, then kill it" you say.  You know your just as weak as the next person,  the Spirit has taught you this.  The only way to deal with the flesh is to deal whatever it tries to bind you with a death blow.  Self sacrifice.  Everything has to go on the line.  In the world, it would call for war, competition, "hard work" to mend those pangs of inadequacy and overcome the foe to prove your superiority.  Sports is the "soft porn" of this prideful way.  But in the Kingdom, fear, humility and faith are the rule.  There is no glory in man there.

Welcome to the realm of doubt, paranoia and the walk by faith alone.  Every Christian should feel this state of mind at one time or another or they are impostors.   The true Christian walk isn't all feel good honey sweet blue sky Joel Osteen kind of way.   If you feel a little uncomfortable around these kind of people don't be discouraged.  God doesn't enjoy "clanging cymbals" either.  He puts them in the same category with lukewarm water.  Rather, it's often more like hand-to-hand combat with the enemy, and that enemy in your face and in your nostrils is you. Once you put that "gut" feeling through the filter of self examination and prayer, maybe even seeking out godly advice from a trusted brother or sister, and you have a clear conscience, you have yourself a bona fide mystical experience.   Now is the time the opposition begins it's work.  The hidden truth has just now been exposed and the enemy of souls is never happy to have his dirty work known.  You will be a target.  And the very tests you put yourself through will be used against you.  You will be accused of jealousy for example, insecurity or any number of psychological  nonsense.  If you've already been there you can have confidence.   If not, if it was overlooked, you can stop and reconsider before moving on to the next step of faith.   It's about to get messy.

Collimation

One of my rediscovered interests has been astrophotography.   I have been enjoying the process of learning the intricacies of digital photography and telescope operation all at once.  It has been a lifelong love of the skies that I have been encouraged to return to my childhood hobby.  There is something more awe inspiring about seeing those familiar celestial objects in real life rather than relying on someone else's work.  For me, it's parallels my Bible study in quality time with the Lord.  I think He likes those of faith who want to look at His handiwork up close, with eyes that see them for what they really are.  Not just glowing balls of gas or pock marked dead planets and moons, but works of wonder reflecting the majesty and glory of it's Maker.  But with untrained spiritual eyes we see things rather fuzzy and out of focus.  The beauty is blurred by crooked thinking and ideas born of this world that cause the light to be deflected from it's intended destination, hence the full impact of that information, that picture is lost.  Thats why the astronomer needs to collimate his instrument of exploration, the telescope, and why the theologian needs to align his heart and life with the source of all light, God.  Look at these two images closely and you will see distortion caused by poor collimation.  Imagine how much better they will be with a little collimation.  Next week.

Update 7-5-10 Post collimation with laser device.

Flight to Heaven

Captain Dale Black, retired commercial airline pilot and survivor of a tragic airplane crash when he was 19 years old, goes public after forty years with his new book Flight To Heaven.  If you have listened to or read other accounts of near death experiences and were left with doubts about the credibility of those stories, this one will be different.  I would recommend purchasing the audible version here and listen to Captain Black read his story to you himself.

I felt this account was most helpful in reassuring the Christian that there truly is a better place after this life and it won't be totally unfamiliar apparently.  Along with his experience, you will hear the salvation message clearly explained so if you have friends or relatives that you want to present to the Lord, this would be an ideal resource for you.

The Atheists Among Us

While perusing Hulu.com for anything worth watching while waiting for my last stint of night shift for the week, I ran across a book review recorded in San Francisco last March that piqued my interest with the title: In the Land of Believers: An Outsider's Extraordinary Journey Into the Heart of the Evangelical Church.  My first reaction was disgust at the revelation this author had the temerity to sneak into Jerry Falwells church and pose as a believing Christian for two years merely to make a name for herself among her atheist peers and write a book about "those" people.  Made my skin crawl.  But, I continued to watch Gina Welch as she discussed her book with the interested left in the "Bay" and I began to soften my attitude.  Gina seemed somewhat contrite about the experience and expressed a desire to be a bridge builder between the Evangelical Church and the Atheist Left of the Intelligentsia.   Whether that is at all possible remains to be seen but like any good ole 'Falwellite' would say' "everything has a purpose".  Gina may be unwittingly a key part of a plan she doesn't believe in.  Yes, God does have a wonderful sense of humor.  Gina is teaching Creative Writing at George Washington University.

Signature in the Cell

With the recent news from the J. Craig Venter Institute, regarding the announcement of the success of the manufacture of synthetic life and the myriad of problems coaxing a host cell to "boot up" a synthetic DNA molecule, science is reaffirming the complexity of life and the incredible design of even the simplest of cell.  In Stephen C. Meyer's latest work, Signature of the Cell, a case for design rather than random mutation and natural selection (Darwinism) is meticulously laid out.  DNA, the source of the incredibly precise information contained within every cell in every living thing and directing the manufacture of every function of life, bears all the appearance of an intelligent designer.  A prediction of further complexity and design to be found by the researchers in genomics is now expected using the scientific model of Intelligent Design or otherwise known as ID.  Rather than considering the information contained within DNA as accidental as in Darwinism and therefore couching new findings in that paradigm,  ID presumes design and attempts to understand the mechanisms in that light.  It promises to open new vistas in biological sciences Darwinism fails to envision.

Recent links:
Discovery Institute: Dogmatic Signs

Synthetic Life

In the news this week the J. Craig Venter institute  announced the creation of the first synthetic DNA cell.  If your worried we're going down a perilous path your not alone.  

Full length video here.

Remembering the Future

Remembering what? The future you say? Are you daft man? ....Yes, remembering the future is the thesis of my recent studies.  In an uncanny way, my interest has been focused on randomness, the Arrow of Time, particle physics, casting lots, prophecy, cellular biology, brain function, astrophysics, the lottery, a little parapsychology and last but not least, Christian theology.  It has been a dizzy ride spanning decades, punctuated by life's crossroads, but always returning to the next question.  It seems everyday something new comes to my attention that is relevant to... I haven't quite grasped that yet to be honest.  But here is partly what I have so far.

We are designed not only to perceive memories but also the future.  Recent brain research has discovered the same brain functions used in our memories is also used in imagining the future.  The "hard" sciences try to grasp, as well as it can, the future through probabilities.  They can get you in the right neighborhood and even have computer models for weather that are accurate out to 12 days or so.   But, they can't literally "see" the future like the prophecy that is found in scriptures, but rather give you a number.  You can make pretty impressive charts from these numbers, but that isn't literally the future your looking at, it's just a guess.   A guess based upon the past, or those law-like things we can find in the past.  If the future holds something new and seemingly disconnected to any law we can identify today, then you are outside the help of science.  The future is real though as we all find out every moment of the days of our lives.  Time, in the end, is a perception more than a "thing".   Although it is treated as a dimension in physics, it's true nature is still a mystery.

I believe that the future has already happened.  With Relativity, we know time is fluid and the point of reference depends on your location within a gravity field or your speed relative to something else.  The faster you go, the more everything else speeds past you into the future. The very fact that time can be slowed to a crawl in an intense gravity field or traveling near the speed of light shows that the future is no different than the present or past in nature.

Prophecy, interestingly, is often written in the past tense in scripture.  We know the past is fixed, although knowledge entropies over time and becomes much like the mystery of the future given enough... time.  Therefore, the future must be fixed also.  If your one that doesn't believe in scripture or prophecy, that doesn't matter.  Truth is true whether you believe it or not.  We add or take away nothing by our knowledge or ignorance of it. Why then the fuzzy, random nature of the future?  Or is it just a perception that it is random and "fuzzy"?

Consider Ecclesiastes 1:9-11  "The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing under the sun. Is there any thing whereof it may be said, See, this is new? it hath been already of old time, which was before us. There is no remembrance of former things; neither shall there be any remembrance of things that are to come with those that shall come after. "

I can hear you protest, "but that isn't what Solomon meant, that time is fixed and repeats itself..."  That is exactly what he meant.  Time, history, future or however you conceive it, is already finished. Interesting isn't it that our brains are wired to treat the past and the future the same?  Solomon wasn't a brain scientist, but he knew this already.  More on this hopefully later.

Update: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2011/01/timelike-entanglement/

Update: Time is an illusion?

"Don't rock the boat"

I can't recall anyone telling me "don't rock the boat" in those very words, but I certainly have been "encouraged" not to be quite so passionate about my beliefs and convictions over the years.  It's a lonely life indeed being a non-conformist, even if you are pretty considerate about it.  Age does temper one's methods in non-conformity but it's still unsettling to the status quo and you once again find yourself peering through the fence at the game. Try to be a conformist for comforts sake and you'll find yourself a miserable man.  You could find yourself in the belly of the fish of depression.  You were made to be different, that's the lot you have been given, that's it, no more quibbling about it......  Age also brings humility after countless lessons of failure.  You know, those times when you were fulfilling your "calling" as a non-conformist and you find yourself on the wrong side of the truth, ugh, hate that when it happens.  After years of scouring by the streams of life you find yourself just another smooth stone amongst all the other.  To God however, you're now a perfect weapon for the take-down.