Salvation, Tool

Car Crash.

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I read the news today oh Boy!
Horrible headlines, and Photo of a crumpled car.
A Waikato mother died after pulling out in front of a truck, and her 9 year old son is in a very bad way in Starship hospital.
In the same article another horrible tale of a Toddler killed in a driveway.
Oh the Humanity!
Such stories are tragic and disturbing.
We all fumble our way through life, driven by our emotions, or consumed by worries, and yet most of the time we survive. Most days the phone remains happily silent, and then out of the blue…because of a momentary lapse of Judgment, or distraction, evil conjunctions deliver merciless fates.
I find reading about these sorts of tragic misfortunes of others is almost enough to drive me insane.
I marvel at the courage of The Emergency crews, the doctors and nurses whose Job it is to clean up the mess, to try and mend broken Bodies. I wonder what mechanisms they employ to keep from flipping out?

Though I don’t smell the gore, or hear the cries and screams, I am still affected, shaken to my bones, experiencing a mixture of sorrow and dread, and troubled by a cascade of implications flowing from living in such a traumatic world.
I worry about the souls of those involved…Where do they stand before God? Have they received Jesus Christ as their Savior? I worry for the souls of those whom love the victims…Will this tragic event cause them to harden their hearts against God?.
And these events effect almost every one who hears about them. After hearing about these sorts of events via the media, many people allow themselves to take umbrage, and shake their fist at Heaven, as if it was God’s fault the dead woman pulled out in front of the truck. They look at such events as evidence that proves belief in a Good and caring God to be folly.
It is truly horrible when an innocent child is killed. It can rattle the faith of those like myself whom believe in a Good God and Divine providence. In this way I admit the difficulty…the test… of Faith.

C’est la vie!
It is in this type of world that the Christian salesman must pedal his wares.
Because Death, mayhem, and injustice hold such a sway over us mortals, It is in many ways a hostile territory.
It is the burden of the Christian to confront the darkest of realities and to shine a light to guide our Friends, neighbors, and loved ones through this valley of the shadow of Death.
I am grateful to God Almighty that he opened my blind eyes to his truth.
It truly was a miracle that someone as militantly Atheistic and as rebellious as I was, to see the Light of the Gospel.
It pains me to think of anyone dying without having the hope of Salvation.
Thus it behooves me to use my finite hours of life to share my faith in Jesus Christ, In the hope that my testimony can retrieve those whom walk in Darkness, Meaninglessness, and despair.
Much of the Despair that robs people of their love of life is founded upon nihilistic notions such as ‘Death is the end’…’I will never see my loved one again’… ‘There is no divine justice’… etc, thus if it be possible to instill faith that ‘Death is not the End’… ‘I will see my loved one again’… ‘There is Divine Justice’…,etc, then it ought to be obvious how such faith will alter how we respond to tragedies, and bring solace to ease our spiritual pains.
I declare that Evidence/Reason enough does indeed exist for such an uplifting and optimistic faith! (Keep visiting this Blog to find out what I’m talking about)
There are valid reasons why God does not intervene to prevent tragedies from happening… but allows the Natural Laws to take their course.
The first chapters of the Book of Genesis explains why we suffer Death, chaos, and evil. The picture it gives of Fallen Mankind wandering Naked, full of violence, and exposed to the elements still holds 100% true today.
And when the scripture declares That God rested on the seventh day, yet the Universe carried on functioning autonomously, shows that God has so framed Nature to obey fixed Laws, and it is by these laws that the Universe is stable, and constant, and rational. We can trust the universe to behave like the universe does… and this is a form of ‘Blind Justice.’… God is not a capricious God rolling dice, he causeth it to rain upon the Just and the unjust.(Mat5vs45)
Thus it is that if our car is in Good condition that we can rely on our brakes to work. The flip side of this is that if we put our foot on the Gas pedal… even though a truck is coming … Our Car will carry us out into oblivion… and terrible as that is… it is just.
If we send aid money to a disaster relief, we can help alleviate the suffering of people enduring calamities, yet still if we roll out of our driveway without first checking it is clear… we could cripple, or end an infants life… That’s how this world works… Our actions can have serious consequences for good or ill.
Though We may think of ourselves as Advanced Human beings in comparison to the ancients, yet still we must contend with the very same realities.
Rich or Poor, old or young, we are all equal in this sense. Like gamblers, We must all play the hand we have been dealt… with dignity, and not allow bitterness and envy to corrupt our souls.

There are Deeper truths yet still!
when I consider our lot, living upon this planet, in this solar system… the fact that every one of us frail creatures lives life poised upon a razors edge, yet day after day goes by and all my friends and family arrive home safely… I get a sense of Providence! Though it can not be proved… it is as if an invisible hand does indeed keep evil at bay…most of the time. I believe God can and does opperate in the world as suits his Divine purposes. He has been Merciful unto me.
Thus I would like to point out that while tragedies occur in all our lives… We all have an apointment with death… yet still this in itself does not negate the many days of Providential goodness that we ought to be very grateful for.
In fact If it were not for the punctuations of calamity in our lives, we would not be aware of Providence at all! We would become puffed up.
Yes Faith in God not only gives you someone to call out to in your darkest hours, but also someone to thank and to worship for all the blessings we enjoy every day.
For the atheist. Good days are as meaningless as bad ones. If they find love, or something fortunate happens to someone they love, they have nothing to thank… you cant be grateful to a cold and indifferent Materialist universe. The Christian can celebrate and worship His God!
So many people blindly take all the great blessings of heath and wellbeing for granted. They live an ignorantly ungreatful existance… whining about the smallest of inconveniences. Tragic events such as the death of innocent children or the loss of bodily health ought to make us appreciate the many blessings we have.

I am acutely aware that Death and Chaos stalks us all. Every day that goes by, that I arrive safe home, and I don’t receive any dread news or phone calls… I count myself blessed. I rest in God’s Mercy and Grace. The Bible tells me that through Jesus Christ I have peace with God. I know not what will happen on the morrow. I expect that I will switch off my alarm, Put my pants on, and head on out the door… ???
The Pendulum swings. The hour of my departure becomes less distant. I must use my time wisely. Every hour of labour doing Good, in the service of Christ is an hour well spent.

Yes I believe in Gods Blessed Grace and Providence!… yet also realize that I must walk wisely… It is evil to tempt God by foolishly taking rash and unnecessary risks. God is not our Fairy God-mother, not your Genie in a bottle.
Satan temped Christ by trying to get him to test God’s Providence by taking him to the top of the Temple and even quoted the Scriptures saying “Throw yourself off! God will save you…wont he?”
Christ replied “Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”. (Mat4vs1-11)

When we face a tragic personal circumstance Remember that though God did not intervene, yet he suffers with us too.
He knows the pain we feel. He feels it. He felt it…yet did not intervene when his sinless Son Jesus Christ was arrested on false charges, was wrongfully convicted by a corrupt court, and was murdered.
Yes God knows what suffering is!
He herd the mockers enjoying Christ’s crucifixion who said… “Where is his God Now?”
Yes God allows things to transpire that many mistake as evidence that evil is victorious…
Mankind is quick to form such opinions… men love darkness because there deeds are evil.
Yet The Truth shall make you Free!
God was there when Christ was crucified!
Providence was working upon the Salvation of countless Millions!
“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose.” (Rom8vs28)
Thus it is that, not only when the sun is shinning that we ought to rejoice in faith, but also during the terrible storms. That is the true test of our mettle.

“But I would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with him… For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.
Wherefore comfort one another with these words.”
(1Thes4vs13,14,16-18)

Tim Wikiriwhi

End Note: I started this Post Last week. Since then I read the News that the little 9 year old Boy injured in the Car crash has Died. His photo was in the Paper.
Things happen on Earth that are not God’s will.
Two things I ask of you. Please take care… esp when driving on the roads, and secondly Don’t Let the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune blind you to the truth of Jesus Christ. Search him out. Make a decision to trust him with your soul. Life without Christ is hollow. Death without Christ is utter hopelessness. It is not God’s will that anyone rejects Christ … but he allows you to have your own will and make your own choice.

Intellectual Property, Property

Megaupload vs. YouTube

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An analogy may help. You have this warehouse that allows people to deposit copies of films and music. Then you allow other people to visit and take away those copies. At best, you don’t charge for such a service, yet you provide a facility for the transaction. What are you guilty of? Certainly not of the original theft. But you’re a fence. Did you know the goods were stolen? Perhaps not. But is your ignorance any defence? A reasonable person would say no.

The analogy is to Megaupload. But it might as well be to YouTube. What’s the difference?

There is an old (or perhaps not so old) adage, “It’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission.” This seems to be the principle by which YouTube operates. Copyright holders must opt out of having their copyright infringed, rather than opt in by giving (or not giving) permission to copy.

Copyright infringement is rifest where condemnation of copyright infringement is the loudest. Excuses abound.

I gave full attribution of source.
It was open content, not subscriber.
I was helping them in this instance.
I was criticising, reviewing and reporting some … news. Fair use.
Some makers of film/ music are quite happy to let their work be copied.
When someone posts a video clip that violates copyright to YouTube they are told to remove it.
We have to take it on faith that the videos on YouTube that have been copied without approval are taken down again.
Some are old and the owner of the copyright doesn’t intend to make any more money from them and gives them away free.
Many bands/popsingers these days want to show that they are “down with the kids” and don’t enforce their copyright on video clips, but probably actually see it as being good advertising for their music.

They probably do. But how would you ever know? The “it’s not a copyright violation unless someone complains” philosophy in evidence here just doesn’t wash.

In any case, can YouTube avail itself of the above excuses, weak as they are? A reasonable person would say no. In the Cannibal Corpse video I posted yesterday, at the beginning of the video we read the notice, “Ripped by Prince of Darkness,” and at the end there is a link to his website, MadhouseHQ. What’s more, YouTube includes the video in question in its YouTube Mix for Cannibal Corpse. And, not only that, but YouTube hosts his blog (both YouTube and Blogger are Google-owned), which is a collection of links to the likes of (the now deceased) megaupload.com and mediafire.com.

What will the Feds do next? Pull the plug on YouTube? I sincerely hope not. When copyright laws are enforced, the collateral damage is too great. Instead, let’s try to grow a voluntary culture of respect. Respect for the productive. Respect for the artists. Embed their videos, but also buy their CDs and buy their merchandise. That’s fair use.

Cannibal Corpse, Hell, Keep it Metal!

Festering in the Crypt

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Eyes tied tight forever
Mouth wired shut forever
Body parts dissever
You will see no more, never

Lowered into the ground
You will never hear another sound
In your coffin you’re bound
Underground, forever

To the earth you’re now enslaved
To the creatures long depraved
Flesh has now turned to grey
As the larvae gnaw away

As you rot in your smallish tomb
Insects care not how you met your doom
In your casket eternally lie
Many were pleased to see you die

Fester in the crypt where you lie

Victims pass by
They watched you die

Flesh melts off of your frame
Infamous was your name
Years passed since you moved on
Nothing left but carrion

This is a more or less accurate portrayal of the fate of the wicked according to annihilationism. (It leaves out the second death, a brief event which is held to occur between “Years passed since you moved on” and “In your casket eternally lie”.)

Hell

Welcome to Hell

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This is the first in a 13-part series wherein I give you Hell, a little booklet by the inimitable Dr. Jeff Obadiah Simmonds.

There are some things which Christians believe which are (or should be) non-negotiable. These are the great doctrines of the Church expressed in the creeds: the trinity, the incarnation, the atonement, the resurrection. One can hardly remain a Christian and deny these truths. At the other end of the spectrum are issues on which the Scriptures are silent. It is left for us to work out a Christian position on the various issues and situations which are not specifically addressed by the Bible, and we must admit a degree of flexibility in accommodating or tolerating interpretations and views different from our own. One of the important principles established by the Church since the Reformation is that no Christian should be compelled to believe any teaching which cannot be proved from Scripture. One of the 39 Articles (the official statement of belief of the Anglican Church) says:

Holy Scripture contains all things necessary for salvation, so that whatever is not found there, or which cannot be proved from it, is not to be required of any person… or thought to be essential for salvation. (Article 6, paraphrased)

It is important, then, to recognise that while there are some “absolutes” in Christian belief and practice, there are many areas on which Scripture is silent, and such things cannot be regarded as essential for salvation. For example, the Bible says quite clearly that Jesus is the Son of God, and every Christian is bound to believe it. On the other hand, the Bible does not tell us what He did for all eternity before the creation of the universe, and any teaching on the subject must be regarded as conjecture. However, Christians have tended to create and defend dogma which has dubious Biblical authority.

In between these two extremes—things which are unambiguous in Scripture and things which are not mentioned at all—are a great many things on which the Bible says something which is open to interpretation. For example, the Bible tells us that Jesus will return, but the timing and exact nature of His coming is unclear. There are therefore a number of theories about the End Times, and Christians are free to choose the view which seems to them to be the best explanation of the teachings of the Bible. However, since there is a range of possible views and interpretations, we should not be dogmatic, and must hold to our own views lightly.

Hell is one of those subjects on which there are some different possible explanations of the Biblical evidence. Scripture affirms that there is a hell—a punishment for the wicked in the afterlife—and so we may not simply dismiss this as a myth. However, Scripture is not entirely clear as to where hell is or what it is—or even if it is a “place” at all. There are a range of possible interpretations of the Biblical evidence, the most common of which is the traditional view of hell as a place of fire and eternal torment.

It should be acknowledged that the traditional view of hell is able to be argued and defended from Scripture. However there is an alternative view—called annihilationism or conditional immortality—which is also arguable. Since the Bible is ambiguous, we cannot argue dogmatically either way—either by saying that hell is certainly a literal place of eternal torment in the middle of the earth, or that hell is certainly a state of non-existence. We may however carefully consider the options and the alternative points of view. In this little booklet I want to present a case for annihilation, but do so with the realisation that many readers—perhaps most—will be unconvinced. But as with theories about the Second Coming, when we talk about the nature of hell we are in the realm of speculation. No one really knows, this side of eternity, what heaven and hell will be like. We can, and should, discuss and debate what Scripture says, and consider the various options and interpretations. What is the right interpretation will be a matter of conjecture until we, like the good thief, cross over to be with Jesus in Paradise.

 

Ayn Rand

Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed

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“Nature, to be commanded, must be obeyed” is one of Ayn Rand’s essential dictums. But did she mean to imply Leonard Peikoff’s view transcribed below?

Is it proper for a doctor to perform a sex-change operation for a patient?

Now here I say absolutely no. Unequivocally. I regard the desire of any individual who is formed already—not a hermaphrodite but who is formed already as one sex—to say, “Nature has made a mistake. I am really the opposite gender and I have to operate to fix Nature’s mistake and give myself the right body.”—I believe that that is an arch-example of a whim over reality. The definition of male and female is biological. So to say I know more than the biological, I feel, regardless of fact is … it’s more, though, than an evasion of reality, it is a war against reality. It is a way of saying, reality gives me this and I am going to smash it and turn it into something else.

I’ll give you an analogy. I mean it’s just as bad … no, it’s not as bad, because cutting off your genitals is the worst. I mean, you know, you can weigh which is worse, that or scooping out your brain, it’s a hard call.

But, suppose a person were to say, I was really intended to have no fingers. They feel alien to me and funny when I move them and I want to get back to what I really am which is, you know, a non-fingered person, and therefore I want them amputated. And then imagine that this person goes to a doctor and the doctor says, “Oh, fine, you know, ten more and then we just hand the Medicare form in.”

That is totally corrupted, the doctors who perform those operations, in my opinion, are corrupt, without qualification. I put them in the same category as the doctors in the Nazi concentration camps who took out perfectly healthy organs simply as an exercise in their skill, completely independent of the validity or the value or the morality of what they were doing. (… I’ll let that go, but you get my drift, I’m sure.)


Peter Jackson demonstrates how to scoop out brains in this clip from the movie Bad Taste.
(At approx 12:02.)

But, suppose a person were to say, “I was really intended to have no fingers. They feel alien to me and funny when I move them and I want to get back to what I really am which is, you know, a non-fingered person, and therefore I want them amputated.”

It may come as a surprise (it surprised me), but people really do say exactly this. They have a disorder called Body Integrity Identity Disorder. Leonard Peikoff take note.

See also Lindsay Perigo’s Man Qua Woman.

[Cross-posted to SOLO.]

Paul

Ephesians 6:10-13

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My brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of his might.

Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.

For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places.

Wherefore take unto you the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. (KJV)

Humour

Darwin Award nomination attempt

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Stuff.co.nz reports

A man has suffered extensive burns after LPG from a cylinder he was using to light a cannabis pipe exploded in his face, police say.

Sergeant Paul Lee said emergency services were called to Clyde Street in Masterton about 12.50pm today.

On arrival, they found a 22-year-old man with burns to his face, arms, thigh and knee.

Lee said it appeared the man was “pre heating a pipe used for smoking cannabis” using a 9kg gas cylinder with a modified gas valve in the laundry of his home.

“He opened a valve, there was a pause, he then operates his cigarette lighter causing an explosion.”

…

If the man had died he would have been a nominee for the Darwin Awards.

My question today is, “If you ran a Darwin Awards for creationists, what would you call it?”

Property

Paley’s other watch

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In his book Natural Theology: or, Evidences of the Existence and Attributes of the Deity, Collected from the Appearances of Nature, first published in 1802, William Paley wrote

In crossing a heath, suppose I pitched my foot against a stone and were asked how the stone came to be there, I might possibly answer that for anything I knew to the contrary it had lain there forever; nor would it be very easy to show the absurdity of this answer. But suppose I had found a watch upon the ground, and it should be inquired how the watch happened to be in that place. I should hardly think of the answer which I had given before, that for anything I knew the watch might have always been there. Yet why should not this answer serve for the watch as well as for the stone? Why is it not as admissible? When we come to inspect the watch, we perceive—what we could not discover in the stone—that its parts are framed and have been put together.
 
We notice more: we find a series of wheels, the teeth of which catch in, and apply to, each other, conducting the motion to the balance and from the balance to the pointer. Further, we notice that the wheels are made of brass to prevent rust; the springs of steel (no other metal being so elastic); that over the face of the watch there is placed a glass, a material employed in no other part of the work, and without which the hour could not been seen without opening the case. This mechanism being observed, the inference, we think is inevitable: the watch must have had a maker, and been designed for a purpose.

 
Paley’s question was, “Does the watch have an intelligent designer?”

My question is, “Does the watch belong to someone?”

[Cross-posted to SOLO.]

Christian Libertarianism, Freedom, King James Bible, Thomas Jefferson

Protestant Christianity had a Baby… Libertarianism.

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For a Ref to Jefferson’s Religious views:
Conservapedia
Quote:

In an 1803 letter to Dr. Benjamin Rush, Jefferson declared that “I am a Christian,” though his view of Christianity was different from most:

I then promised you that one day or other I would give you my views of [the Christian religion]. They are the result of a life of inquiry and reflection, and very different from that anti-Christian system imputed to me by those who know nothing of my opinions. To the corruptions of Christianity I am indeed opposed, but not to the genuine precepts of Jesus himself. I am a Christian, in the only sense in which he wished anyone to be: sincerely attached to his doctrines in preference to all others, ascribing to himself every human excellence, and believing he never claimed any other.

However, despite Jefferson’s self-declared Christianity, many of his views would be considered heretical by most theologians. Most notably, he attempted to create the Jefferson Bible – an edited version of the New Testament that retained Christ’s moral and practical teaching, while dropping supernatural elements.

Jefferson certainly believed Jesus to be a great teacher of morality, and believed the universe to be created by a God. Less clear is his views on subjects such as the divinity of Christ, the resurrection, sin and salvation. The Jefferson Bible suggests he rejects these ideas entirely, but is not definitive. Jefferson never had his Bible published during his lifetime. He did have this to say about Christianity and the message contained in the work that he created.

There will be found remaining the most sublime and benevolent code of morals which has ever been offered to man.

Ref to John Adams here:
about.com
Quote:

“The general principles on which the fathers achieved independence were the general principles of Christianity. I will avow that I then believed, and now believe, that those general principles of Christianity are as eternal and immutable as the existence and attributes of God.”

–Adams wrote this on June 28, 1813, in a letter to Thomas Jefferson.

Read/ watch more… Materialism renders Man Nought. Meaning-less, Value-less, Right-less.

The Christian Fellowship is a voluntary private society, not a theocratic political movement.

Give me Liberty, or give me Death!