Can't You See I'm On the Phone

This story from the Mail On Line in the UK came with a picture worth a few thousand words. I gotta get me one of these for my phone...

Ingenious. Who needs Blue Tooth? And the best part has got to be the red halo he's going to have on his head and face. That's one snappy looking cell phone gadget.

The 188 Day Major Earthquake Cycle Theory Update

It's a little early (by two days) but Reuters is reporting a major earthquake in Oaxaca, Mexico today of magnitude 7.4 on the Richter scale. This confirms a general pattern close to the 188 day cycle discussed on 3/17. Dave Graham of Reuters says,

A major earthquake struck Mexico on Tuesday, damaging buildings and forcing evacuations in the capital and reportedly knocking down some homes in rural areas.
Office buildings shook and office employees fled into the street when the 7.4-magnitude quake rattled Mexico City. Cell phone lines went down and traffic snarled in the capital moments after the quake, which lasted for more than a minute.
The governor of the southwestern state of Guerrero, Angel Aguirre, said he had received reports of 500 homes damaged, with some of them knocked down, but he gave no more details.
In the Pacific coast beach resort of Acapulco, tourists ran out of cafes and restaurants, a local resident said.
"I swear I never felt one so strong, I thought the building was going to collapse," said Sebastian Herrera, 42, a businessman from a Mexico City neighborhood hit hard in a devastating 1985 earthquake that killed thousands of people.

I'm thankful this was not on the New Madrid fault in the US, but there's still time. It will be 188 days on Thursday, the 22rd. I'm thinking this Mexico city shaker was it though. We will see.

 Please the USGS quake map and Here is the USGS quake detail sheet

Earthquake Details

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.

Magnitude	7.4
Date-Time	Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 18:02:48 UTC Tuesday, March 20, 2012 at 12:02:48 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
Location	16.662°N, 98.188°W
Depth	20 km (12.4 miles)
Region	OAXACA, MEXICO
Distances	136 km (84 miles) SSW of Huajuapan de Leon, Oaxaca, Mexico 162 km (100 miles) WSW of Oaxaca, Oaxaca, Mexico 170 km (105 miles) SE of Chilpancingo, Guerrero, Mexico 322 km (200 miles) SSE of MEXICO CITY, D.F., Mexico
Location Uncertainty	horizontal +/- 15.8 km (9.8 miles); depth +/- 6.5 km (4.0 miles)
Parameters	NST=438, Nph=440, Dmin=312.8 km, Rmss=0.88 sec, Gp= 79°, M-type=teleseismic moment magnitude (Mw), Version=9
Source	Magnitude: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D) Location: USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)
Event ID	usc0008m6h

Have You Considered Teaching The Dogs to Play the Piano?

To lighten the mood I thought you might enjoy watching a French woman train her golden retrievers how to play a specially designed dog piano.

Big Brother Goes Live in September 2013

Well, provided that the world does not end in December of this year, we will all have something to look forward to in September of 2013. Just when you thought 'they' had everything nailed down and there's nothing more that can be done to ensure our security and our complete loss of privacy, Wired Magazine discovers the Utah Data Center in Bluffdale, Utah. In the April edition of the magazine, James Bamford uncovers the new National Security Agency Utah Data Center for storage of collected intelligence from around the world and for code breaking.  Bamford says, 

Under construction by contractors with top-secret clearances, the blandly named Utah Data Center is being built for the National Security Agency. A project of immense secrecy, it is the final piece in a complex puzzle assembled over the past decade. Its purpose: to intercept, decipher, analyze, and store vast swaths of the world’s communications as they zap down from satellites and zip through the underground and undersea cables of international, foreign, and domestic networks. The heavily fortified $2 billion center should be up and running in September 2013. Flowing through its servers and routers and stored in near-bottomless databases will be all forms of communication, including the complete contents of private emails, cell phone calls, and Google searches, as well as all sorts of personal data trails—parking receipts, travel itineraries, bookstore purchases, and other digital “pocket litter.” It is, in some measure, the realization of the “total information awareness” program created during the first term of the Bush administration—an effort that was killed by Congress in 2003 after it caused an outcry over its potential for invading Americans’ privacy.

With collection posts located all around the world and within the United States as well as satellite reconnaissance, the NSA and the US military were in need of greater and greater server storage space for the intelligence collected by these and other methods. This facility should do the job nicely. Bamford writes,

 
Given the facility’s scale and the fact that a terabyte of data can now be stored on a flash drive the size of a man’s pinky, the potential amount of information that could be housed in Bluffdale is truly staggering. But so is the exponential growth in the amount of intelligence data being produced every day by the eavesdropping sensors of the NSA and other intelligence agencies. As a result of this “expanding array of theater airborne and other sensor networks,” as a 2007 Department of Defense report puts it, the Pentagon is attempting to expand its worldwide communications network, known as the Global Information Grid, to handle yottabytes (10²⁴ bytes) of data. (A yottabyte is a septillion bytes—so large that no one has yet coined a term for the next higher magnitude.)
It needs that capacity because, according to a recent report by Cisco, global Internet traffic will quadruple from 2010 to 2015, reaching 966 exabytes per year. (A million exabytes equal a yottabyte.) In terms of scale, Eric Schmidt, Google’s former CEO, once estimated that the total of all human knowledge created from the dawn of man to 2003 totaled 5 exabytes. And the data flow shows no sign of slowing. In 2011 more than 2 billion of the world’s 6.9 billion people were connected to the Internet. By 2015, market research firm IDC estimates, there will be 2.7 billion users. Thus, the NSA’s need for a 1-million-square-foot data storehouse. Should the agency ever fill the Utah center with a yottabyte of information, it would be equal to about 500 quintillion (500,000,000,000,000,000,000) pages of text.
The data stored in Bluffdale will naturally go far beyond the world’s billions of public web pages. The NSA is more interested in the so-called invisible web, also known as the deep web or deepnet—data beyond the reach of the public. This includes password-protected data, US and foreign government communications, and noncommercial file-sharing between trusted peers. “The deep web contains government reports, databases, and other sources of information of high value to DOD and the intelligence community,” according to a 2010 Defense Science Board report. “Alternative tools are needed to find and index data in the deep web … Stealing the classified secrets of a potential adversary is where the [intelligence] community is most comfortable.” With its new Utah Data Center, the NSA will at last have the technical capability to store, and rummage through, all those stolen secrets. The question, of course, is how the agency defines who is, and who is not, “a potential adversary.”

All of this tells me that the NSA will be able to collect and store every scrap of information ever produced in history as well as everything written that passed thru the internet since its inception. Information is power. The power to collect, manipulate and use it...all of it...seals the deal. Regardless of what happens to the world economy, this information will allow complete control and anticipation of events world wide. There will be no escape from this NSA technology as long as we continue to use this kind of technology ourselves. I get closer daily to a decision to unplug completely. As much as I like the web, computers, smart phones and all the attendant technology that goes with it, I really hate the idea of the government ALWAYS being in my business. It might soon be time to go off the grid...or find a way to defeat them at their own game and shut them off.

One final note. I hear that the new Windows 8 operating system will have a shut off button encoded in it so that people like the NSA can shut you down remotely if they do not like the info they got from spying on you. The day is coming when online critical assessments of government will cease because those being criticized will be able to reach out and shut down the critic. Total control.

We need a major earthquake in Bluffdale, Utah to temporarily end this madness...but maybe they can stop that too.    

The 188 Day Major Earthquake Cycle Theory

Have any of you heard of the 188 day major earthquake cycle? It is interesting and while it has its problems, there does seem to be something to it. Briefly, the theory says that every 188 days a major to mega size earthquake happens on a specific geometrical grid on the planet. The supporters of the theory claim that this 188 day cycle is verifiable as far back as earthquake records are kept. There are two problems with this theory that are obvious to me and I know nothing about geology or earthquake frequency. First, there are earthquakes daily throughout the world, so to establish a pattern, one must first limit the quakes used for the theory to 7.0 magnitude and above. Even then, it becomes necessary to cherry pick the data for quakes in the 7.0 range. Secondly, the adherents to this theory always use a Mercator projection map for their line drawings. The earth is not flat people. An Italian sailor figured that out some time ago. So what would their "geometrical lines" look like on a globe and what would the 188 day theory predict then? I cannot not say. Nevertheless, there does seem to be a pattern of sorts, especially in the near term. Here is a list of "cycle" quakes.

Chile earthquake (February 27, 2010) - 8.8 mag
New Zealand earthquake (September 4, 2010) - 7.1 mag
Japan earthquake (March 11, 2011) - 9.1 mag
Fiji earthquake (September 15, 2011) - 7.2

There are 188 days between each of these quakes. If you project out 188 days from the Fiji quake last September, we land somewhere between March 21 and 23 of 2012, which just happens to be next week. If you look at the map above, the guy that made it has narrowed his focus to the western hemisphere and the eastern Pacific. The areas circled in black a more than overdue for a big quake. One of these areas is the New Madrid fault in the south central US. The last time there was a major quake in this zone was December 31, 1811 and it was disastrous; estimated at an 8.8 judged by the records of the time, it rung church bells as far away as the New England coast. It also changed the course of the Mississippi river creating a lake where there was not one before and for a brief time the river actually was flowing backward.  The New Madrid fault is centered in the Tennessee Valley between the states of Missouri, Arkansas and Tennessee.

So next week could be interesting to say the least if this theory holds up. If nothing happens, they will be grasping at the data available and probably claim some minor quake as proof of their cycle. We will see. In the mean time, here is a scary video from You Tube about the theory. The scenes from the Matrix are kind of unnecessary in my opinion and the music is bad, but the video presents some interesting "facts". You can sort them out. In the meantime, good luck next Friday.

It's Bad Joke Friday

A customer at the diner wanted to ask his waitress for a date, but couldn’t get her attention.
When he was able to catch her eye, she quickly looked away.
Finally, he followed her into the kitchen and blurted out his invitation. To his amazement, she readily accepted.
He said, “Why have you been avoiding me all this time? You wouldn’t even make eye contact.”
“Oh,” said the waitress, “I thought you wanted more coffee.”
__________________________________________

A woman who seemed far too qualified applied for a job in a Florida lemon grove.
The foreman frowned and asked, “Have you had any experience actually picking lemons?”
“Well, as a matter of fact, I have,” she replied.
“I’ve been divorced 3 times, I’ve owned 2 Plymouths, and I voted for Obama!”

First Timothy 3:14-16

From the New International Version of the Bible, First Timothy 3:14-16

Although I hope to come to you soon, I am writing you these instructions so that, if I am delayed, you will know how people ought to conduct themselves in God's household, which is the church of the living God, the pillar and foundation of the truth. Beyond all question, the mystery of godliness is great:

He appeared in a body, was vindicated by the Spirit, was seen by angels, was preached among the nations, was believed on in the world, was taken up in glory.

Commentary

In the closing verse of this chapter Paul explains why he is writing to Timothy with these instructions. He is concerned that his arrival in Ephesus will be delayed and he wanted Timothy to understand these things and put them into practice immediately. Paul saw these matters as urgent because of the problems in the Ephesian church. It was imperative to restore order to this tumultuous congregation and put the false teachers out of business. Only sound, swift leadership by Timothy would do this. Anything other than the truth could not be tolerated in God's church. The church has to be a citadel for truth. Paul then closes the chapter with a hymn.

Questions

If the church is suppose to be the 'pillar and foundation' of truth, why are there so many different brands of Christianity out there?

What is the mystery of godliness in verse 16 and how does the hymn that follows help explain it?

The Georgia Guidstones

Have you ever heard of the Georgia Guidestones?  They are located on a hill in Elbert County, Georgia near the town of Elberton. Here is a photo:

The four wing stones of the six stone monument are engraved in eight different languages with what are known as the 10 guides or commandments. The stones were commissioned by a man named RC Christian in June of 1979. He went to the Elberton Granite Finishing Company expressing his desire to build a monument that would send his message to mankind. He said he represented a group of men that wished to offer a new direction for mankind and so the monument was built. No one ever knew where Mr. Christian came from or who was in his group, but a book was found in the Elberton Library by a man of the same name. In it the writer explains that the monument was erected in honor of Thomas Paine's great pre-revolutionary war work, "Common Sense". Paine was one of a small group among the American revolutionaries that did not believe in God and was a follower of occult philosophies like Rosicrucian-ism.

The monument has also been called "American Stonehenge".It is used regularly for occult ceremonies and mystical practices by groups from all over the country and even the world. The philosophy that stands behind the 10 guides or commandments is quite scary. To achieve them would require a genocide that would be planet wide. We will get to those after this...a diagram of the stones (from Wired magazine) and also a photo of the 10 Guides in English.

"The 10 Guides"

1. Maintain humanity under 500,000,000 in perpetual balance with nature.
2. Guide reproduction wisely – improving fitness and diversity.
3. Unite humanity with a living new language.
4. Rule passion – faith – tradition – and all things with tempered reason.
5. Protect people and nations with fair laws and just courts.
6. Let all nations rule internally resolving external disputes in a world court.
7. Avoid petty laws and useless officials.
8. Balance personal rights with social duties.
9. Prize truth – beauty – love – seeking harmony with the infinite.
10. Be not a cancer on the earth – Leave room for nature – Leave room for nature.

 How do you get these things done without drastically reducing the standard of living of everyone on the planet? How do we reduce that planet's human population to 500 million without mass exterminations? What is the "infinite" in #9.

Many of these ideas can be found in the UN charter too. One has to wonder what the 'powers that be' have planned for us. I'm kind of hoping I do not live long enough to find out. Still, it would be interesting to see how something like this would finally unfold, keeping in mind that the world is moving closer to these things all the time. These stones are fascinating and very scary all at the same time.

First Timothy 3:8-13 - Those Who Serve

From the New International Version of the Bible,

Deacons, likewise, are to be men worthy of respect, sincere, not indulging in much wine, and not pursuing dishonest gain. They must keep hold of the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience. They must first be tested; and then if there is nothing against them, let them serve as deacons.

In the same way, their wives are to be women worthy of respect, not malicious talkers, but temperate and trustworthy in everything.

A deacon must be the husband of but one wife and must manage his children and his household well. Those who have served well gain an excellent standing and great assurance in their faith in Christ Jesus.

Commentary

Now Paul turns his attentions to the requirements and qualifications of those that would serve as deacons in the church.You might ask, "what is a deacon?" The word literally means 'one who serves'. In this case it would mean one who serves in the church. At first glance, we might think that everyone is suppose to serve in the church. Service is a major function of the Christian in the church. But Paul had something else in mind here. Deacons are to be officers of the church assigned to specific duties appointed to them by the leadership (elders). There duties should be less centered on the spiritual matters of the church (ministry and teaching) and more concerned with "nuts and bolts" issues of making the church work. This does not mean that they could not teach or preach, but that is not their primary function. And since Paul viewed them as office holders in the local church, he also made sure that a standard was put in place to ensure the quality of these people. Many of the qualifications are the same as those for overseers.

Deacons are to be men of respect, sincere, not given to heavy drinking and not wasting time in pursuit of questionable business deals. Paul also said that they should understand the most important aspects of the faith and that they should have clear consciences. In other words, they need to be spiritual men. He also said they should be tested. What this test consisted in is unknown, but there was probably some kind of background investigation prior to appointment as deacon. Next Paul talks about deacon's wives. They had to be women of good character, respectable, not gossips, even tempered and trustworthy. Apparently Paul expected that they would serve alongside their husbands, hence the qualifications. Whether that makes their wives 'deaconesses' is unknown. There are women named as deaconesses in the New Testament.

Then returning to the deacons, Paul says that, as with overseers, a deacon must be the husband of but one wife and they must be able to manage their families too.

Questions

1. When Paul says in verse 9 that deacons must hold to the deep truths of the faith with a clear conscience, what does he mean?
2. Does this mean that a church leader who, somewhere in his journey, has doubted or questioned the faith, should step down?
3. Deacon's wives are not to be gossips or malicious talkers. Why do you think Paul even addresses the conduct of these women?
4. Do you think women can serve as deaconesses? (Romans 16:1,2 KJV)
5. If a deacon's son or daughter gets in serious trouble with the law, should he step down from his service? For what reasons? What about the behaviors of a deacon's adult children? Is not their behaviors the result of how they were raised?
6. Would you consider deacons officers of the church is being a deacon merely a function?
7. Does your church have deacons? Does anyone know how they are appointed or who they are?    

Well, This Was Hilarious

There seems to be a new shoe style for women. According to the Orange News:

A German designer has created a bizarre new range of shoes - from dead animal parts.

Iris Schieferstein, 45, spends months creating high heel horse hooves, stilettos from snake skins and sandals sculpted from doves.
Ms Schieferstein, who designed a pair of horse hooves for Lady Gaga, sells the shoes for up to £3,900.
She collects the dead animals from her local butcher in Berlin, then spends a week stripping out the meat and bones from the animal's feet before the skin is sent to a tanner to be preserved.
The sculptor then sets the skin - complete with fur still in place - around a shoe model before doing any needlework to add insoles and lining.
She said: "I love horses and I love shoes so I thought this would be perfect. Horses have a beautiful walk and I wanted to recreate that with my footwear.

Ladies, would you wear a pair of these? It's a strange statement coming from someone that claims to love horses. I'm partial to cow parts, but I don't believe I'd wear a fillet Mignon. I guess I do wear leather though, so to each his own. Even so, I suppose accessorizing these would be a challenge. Ever wonder what happened to Mr. Ed?

I wonder how she'd do chicken feet?

Probably something like this...

Foghorn Leghorn

Harbingers of Spring

It's beginning. There's no stopping it. It's my favorite time of year...

 Brave Sir Robin comes to the window.

The crocus are putting on a show

The snowdrops are doing their thing...there's also some sedum pushing through in that first snowdrop picture. Look closely.

And let's hope this is over...

It might just be time for a little of this...

Springtime is God's reminder to us that He always brings life from death. The beauty of His creation and the ability to enjoy it are among His greatest gifts to humanity. I'm baffled that anyone could look at these living things and not see an intelligent design and the hand of a Creator.

"For since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities - His eternal power and divine nature - have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that men are without excuse."

 Romans 1:20

Lord, we are thankful for a mild winter, but an early spring would be great.

First Timothy 3:1-7 Church Leadership

From the New International Version of the Bible, First Timothy 3:1-7

Here is a trustworthy saying: If anyone sets his heart on being an overseer, he desires a noble task.  The overseer must be above reproach, the husband of but one wife, temperate, self controlled, respectable, hospitable, able to teach, not given to drunkenness, not violent but gentle, not quarrelsome, not a lover of money. He must manage his own family well and see that his children obey him with proper respect. (If anyone does not know how to manage his own family, how can he take care of God's church?)

Commentary

So, having finished his instructions concerning public worship, Paul moves on to discuss church leadership. His focus in on the personal and spiritual characteristics required to qualify someone for a leadership post. He begins with the overseers in the church also known as elders, and in some places, even pastors and bishops. At the outset, Paul says it's a noble thing to desire to be an overseer. People chosen for such a post should want to be there. A genuine desire to shepherd God's church in the Spirit of Christ would ensure that candidates were not reluctant or timid in their approach to service and leadership.

But there is more to it than just wanting the job. Paul lists a whole host of qualifications that the successful elder must have in order to serve. An elder has to be above reproach. His personal integrity and reputation must be unassailable. He has to be blameless in legal and moral matters so that the whole church membership can look to him as an example.

The qualified overseer must also be the husband of but one wife. This means he can't be a bigamist or a polygamist or an adulterer. Lifetime monogamy and fidelity are required.

Elders must also be temperate, self controlled and respectable. They must be disciplined in all things - models of moderation. Also, hotheads need not apply. Short tempered, angry, emotional men are a bad choice to lead God's church. Full control over emotional and mental faculties need to be assured.

They must also be hospitable; kind to strangers, the poor, widows and all those in need.

Elders must be able to teach. A thorough working knowledge of God's Word enables the successful elder to correct errors, stop false teaching, and instruct the flock in the truth.

Besides all these things, there are some things that an overseer must not be. They must not be drunkards. This is part of self control. If a man is given to too much wine, he cannot be an elder.

Elders must not be given to violence either. Correction of errant church members must be gentle and non-physical. In the same way, they should not be quarrelsome. This may refer to physical violence or it could refer to being argumentative. Either way, self control is again the issue.

Finally, an overseer must not be a lover of money. Christ said we could either love love God or love money, but we cannot serve both. This was especially important for church leadership.

Then in verse 4, Paul resumes his list of things that elders must be. First, an elder must manage his family well, ensuring that his children are respectful. A man that can't manage his family effectively probably will not be able to manage the church either.

Paul also says that recent converts should not be brought into the eldership. His concern was that they might become conceited or proud; and as we all know, pride goes before a fall.  

Lastly, an overseer must have a good reputation with those outside the church. His dealings in the world must reflect his Christian character. Failure in this could bring disgrace. It would make the church and the Faith look bad in the eyes of non-Christians.

Questions

1. Why is it important that a candidate for the eldership NOT be reluctant to serve? What makes desire for the job so important?
2. What can an over-eagerness to serve indicate about an elder candidate?
3. What does it mean to be above reproach and the husband of but one wife?
4. Can a woman be an elder?
5. What can happen if an elder comes up short in one or two of these requirements?
6. How can family dysfunction effect the ability of an elder to lead the church?
7. Can past family problems make someone more capable as an elder? Where do we draw the line?
8. Why is it important not to appoint a recent convert to the eldership?
9. Why must an elder have a good reputation outside the church? Why does anyone care what those in the world think of church leadership?
10. Do we tend to expect more from people in church leadership positions, than we do of ourselves? If so, is this appropriate?
11. Is there anything in the qualifications for the eldership that do not apply to every Christian? Does this mean that we all can or should be elders? 

P.S. I wonder why evangelical protestant elders don't wear snappy outfits and hats like these? Hmmm.

Spring Forward

Sometime around 2:00 AM we experienced our annual temporal shift forward in time. I hope it went well with you and that you did not experience any anomalies that might somehow change the time line for all of us. I especially hope that you are not an hour behind everyone else today, as you will be late for everything and change the time line in negative ways for all those around you. The best way to remedy that is to set you clocks forward one hour. I know that in the Star Trek genre time travel was always much more difficult. It involved moving a space ship into hyper-warp speed and moving faster than the speed of light at such a rate that time actually would move backward or forward. Getting back to your normal time on Star Trek was always pretty tricky too and there was always the concern that somehow your presence in the future or past would somehow change history. Fortunately, we are able to leave high technology out of the loop and simply turn our chronometers forward. It works rather well if we all do it together, but there are still those that don't get it done and invariably they show up late to church.

The times are definitely changing. We live in a different world today than our fore bearers did 100 years ago. I'm really not sure that it has anything to do with the quality of time however. It has more to do with the things we have abandoned because we have become more concerned with ourselves than we have the things of God. People do not have the time or the inclination to search out matters of faith. Men and women no longer raise there own children in the traditional sense. They leave it to daycare providers and the public schools. Families and marriages have become a matter of convenience. They are no longer the core of our society and the families that do exist tend to be dysfunctional, lacking proper role models. The result is that people never really grow up mentally and always require supervision even long after they have left what passes for a home.

What we get is a society that cannot take up the responsibilities of being a free people. Government then fills the void with more and more controls. Totalitarianism in one form or another then takes hold. We are experiencing this shift now in our society.

The cure for that lies in the people. A conscious decision has to be made that we will choose to take responsibility for our own actions, what ever those may be, and develop the maturity to deal with that on our own. A mature society does not rely on the government to take care of them. Rather, the people of a mature society contrive ways to take care of themselves rather than putting that burden on their neighbors.

Times are changing. Ultimately, I do not think we will like this new 'spring forward' and getting back to the way things were will become impossible.

These were just a few things nagging the Ground Hog this morning as he lay in his burrow with the alarm going off an hour earlier. He's at an age now where he can't afford to lose an hour. But then, if he lives long enough, he'll get it back in the Fall.

  

I Get By With A Little Help From My Friends

Remember that Beatles song from the Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band Album in 1967? It was called, "A Little Help From My Friends". The intent of the song was a bit different from what we see here in the photograph, but it is none the less true. Even the most isolationist among us depend on certain people in our lives to help us out with things we cannot do alone.

The two creatures in the picture have a system worked out. One gets fed. The other gets relief. They are very unlikely friends, but their lives are better for knowing each other in this way. We humans are very similar. Perhaps you've noticed people together in public places that appear as though they do not belong together? It baffles, but there is probably something they have in common or things they enjoy discussing together, or whatever. When they come together, both lives are enriched in some way to bind them in friendship.

I have a friend like that. Atheists I know like to call Him my invisible friend, but I am forever dependent on Him. My life would not be complete without Him. It took me two thirds of a lifetime to figure it out, but you know what? I can't live life properly without Jesus. He is my friend, my counselor and my savior and he has done things for me that I cannot do for myself. On a day in the not too distant future, I'm going to meet Him for the first time in person and we will live together forever. I should be ready at that point.

If you're interested in meeting Him, I can tell you this. He will never betray you. He will always forgive you. And if the relationship gets rocky and you walk away, He will always take you back if you want that. If you don't know Him all that well, pick up a copy of His Word (the Bible) and let Him speak to you. Here's a lesson plan for you.

Go to the Old Testament and read Psalm 139:1-18 and then read the Gospel of John in the New Testament. Pray each day to Him as you study and listen to your own mind as you do this. You might even want to record your thoughts and reflect on it. Ask yourself questions. If your study makes you defensive or angry, ask yourself why. If it makes sad or reflective, ask yourself why. This sort of introspection will help you toward faith. When you get through John, read the book of Acts. It will tell you what to do with that faith. It's a history book, but it records what other people did once they discovered they believed in Jesus. When you figure it out, find a church that will help you with your belief and join that community of believers. As you grow in faith and knowledge, find ways to serve in His Kingdom. You will love it. Just keep in mind that you need to view others both inside and outside the church in the light that Jesus views you. Always have a willingness to forgive and to love and to show mercy and grace. Do this with a knowledge that you are human too.

If you can do this, then I'm sure you can work out relationships with people like our friends in the picture above. If we all worked together like those two, would it not be a better world?

So you ask, has the Ground Hog got this all worked out in his life? Is it all smooth and copacetic? Well, no, but then I'm a work in progress like you. When Jesus is done with me, I'll let you know. In the meantime, keep your eyes on the prize and I will see you topside. The Hope is the Thing, and when it's realized, it will be even more fantastic than we could have imagined. You really need to join us. You might even try darkening a church door Sunday. The building won't fall down and you might find that you can get by with a little help from those new friends.

Bad Joke Friday

A burglar broke into a house one night. He shined his flashlight around, looking for valuables when a voice in the dark said,
“Jesus knows you’re here.”
He nearly jumped out of his skin, clicked his flashlight off, and froze.
When he heard nothing more, after a bit, he shook his head and continued.
Just as he pulled the stereo out so he could disconnect the wires, clear as a bell he heard:
“Jesus is watching you.”
Freaked out, he shined his light around frantically, looking for the source of the voice.
Finally, in the corner of the room, his flashlight beam came to rest on a parrot.
“Did you say that?” he hissed at the parrot.
“Yep,” the parrot confessed, then squawked, “I’m just trying to warn you that he is watching you.”
The burglar relaxed. “Warn me, huh? Who in the world are you?”
“Moses,” replied the bird.
“Moses?” the burglar laughed. “What kind of people would name a bird ‘Moses?’”
“The same kind of people who would name a Rottweiler ‘Jesus.’”

First Timothy 2:9-15 Women in Worship

From the New International Version of the Bible, First Timothy 2:9-15:

I also want women to dress modestly, with decency and propriety, not with braided hair or gold or pearls or expensive clothes, but with good deeds, appropriate for women who profess to worship God.

A woman should learn in quietness and full submission. I do not permit a woman to teach or have authority over a man; she must be silent. For Adam was formed first, then Eve. And Adam was not the one deceived; It was the woman who was deceived and became a sinner. But women will be saved through childbearing - if they continue in faith, love and holiness with propriety.

Commentary

Paul's focus for the rest of the chapter is the role of women in the worship of the church. Many have suggested that these recommendations to Timothy from the apostle Paul are historically conditioned or that they only applied to the Ephesian church. Others have maintained that these regulations are normative and were applied by Paul to all the churches and were intended for use in all times. Whatever the case, his words here are certainly controversial, especially in our era where women enjoy all the same freedoms as men. Let's look closer at what he is saying.

First, he imparts a dress code; women are to dress modestly. Their good deeds are to be their beauty. Expensive clothes and jewelry and excessive attention to personal appearance are a distractions.

Next, Women should learn in full submission to their male counterparts. They should not be permitted to teach or have authority over men in the congregation. They must be silent. Paul's reasons for this come from the book of Genesis. Because of the order of humanity's creation and the fact that Eve was deceived, women as a whole should not be in positions of authority over men within God's church. Then Paul offers his most enigmatic statement yet in verse 15. He says that women will be saved through childbearing if they continue in faith and love and holiness.

We must keep in mind that these are instructions for proper worship inside the church. We must also keep in mind that in Paul's day, women were not educated as men were. They would even sit in different places from the men in the worship service of the church. Hence Paul probably thought it best if the women would save their questions for their husbands after church. And the women of that day would certainly not have been equipped to teach. There is also the fact that Paul says this is what he does not allow. It's possible that this is his own opinion rather than the inspired rule of God. Things now are historically different from what they were then. Women are educated. Many would make fine teachers. Many Christian women I know have far more knowledge of God's Word then do some men in the church.

The authority issue is another matter. The model is that Christ is the head of the church and husbands are the head of their wives and children. Someone had to have the last word and God gave that to men for good or ill. This does not mean that things cannot be discussed in the family setting, but the last word on any issue in a Christian family must come from the man. It may be a compromise or it may in fact be the woman's point of view that wins the day, but it must be at the man's agreement. This is also a very good place to note that husbands are to love their wives as Christ loved the church. Christ's love is a sacrificial love and likewise, so should be the love of a husband for his wife.  

Questions

1. Wow. Imagine reading this scripture at a NOW convention. Seriously though. What do you think? Is this bit of instruction from Paul historically conditioned? Does it apply to the Ephesian church only or are these regulations universal, timeless and inspired by God for use everywhere in all times?
2. Let's take inventory. How many of the women out there are wearing jewelry? What did you pay for your last hairdo? Just wondering (;>)))
3. Why in days past have men and women traditionally dressed up for church?
4. OK. Only men can respond to the next question. If any women reading here wish to respond, they will have to go through their husband....So when Paul said women should remain silent in church, was this only for Timothy's church in Ephesus or was he laying down a universal and timeless principle for the church to follow?
5. Why is Eve's deception by the serpent worse than Adam's deliberate rebellion and complete refusal to take responsibility? (I have no good answer for this)
6. Can you explain verse 15?

First Timothy 2:5-8

From the New International Version of the Bible:

For there is one God and one mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus, who gave Himself as a ransom for all men - the testimony given in it's proper time. And for this purpose I was appointed a herald and an apostle - I am telling the truth, I am not lying - and a teacher of the true faith of the Gentiles.

I want men everywhere to lift up holy hands in prayer, without anger or disputing.

Commentary

In this passage from chapter two, Paul tells us why prayer works and how it's even possible for us as sinners to be able to communicate with the one, true, living God. And more to the point, he explains that it's the same spiritual mechanism that enables anyone who desires it, to become a Christian.

As he says in verse 4, God wants all humanity to be saved, but there is only one way for this to happen. Since God is perfect and hates disobedience and sin, it became necessary for someone to stand between Him and sinful humanity to mediate the dispute. Even though God longs to communicate with us and wants us to be His Children, our sin stands in the way of that. But then Christ, His Son, came in the fullness of time and gave His life in payment for all our sins - past, present and future. And it was this act that mediated and closed the dispute between God and humanity. Those of us that have accepted these facts in faith can now approach God in prayer without fear or shame because the price of our disobedience has been paid in full. God can now look at us and love us as His children because the sin is gone. Jesus took it away.

Paul then goes on to explain that is is for this reason that he was appointed as an apostle to the Gentiles. It was to be his job to bring this truth - this good news - to the non-Jewish world. Salvation and fellowship with the one true God is now possible because of the work of God's son. For this reason, men of faith should put aside anger and disputes and lift up their hands in prayers of thanks for the wonders of salvation and for His love and grace.

Questions

1. Why do you think this discussion was relevant here? Paul had just finished talking about the importance of prayer in public worship, then he launched into an explanation of the spiritual mechanics of prayer and salvation.
2. Paul emphasized his appointment as an apostle to the Gentiles and his mission to reveal the truth of the gospel to them. How do you convince someone that you are telling them the truth about the gospel?
3. Paul advises prayer without anger or dispute. How do these things hinder our prayer life and what can we do about it?

First Timothy 2:1-4 Appropriate Worship

First Timothy 2:1-4 from the New International Version of the Bible:

I urge you then, first of all, that requests, prayers, intercession and thanksgiving be made for everyone - for kings and all those in authority, that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness. This is good, and pleases God our Savior, who wants all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.

Commentary

So, in chapter two, Paul begins a discussion about the public worship of the church - what's important, what's required and what's appropriate.

The first issue he explores is corporate prayer in public worship. That he mentions this first is indicative of its importance to Paul. It seems to be clear that Paul believed corporate prayer should be central to the worship service. And though he doesn't provide Timothy with a specific format for this, he's quite specific about what should be included. He mentions requests, intercession and thanksgiving should be made for and by everyone. You would think this pretty much covered everything wouldn't you? But Paul adds that prayers should be offered for all those in authority, including kings. He asks them to do this because it's his desire that God's church should be allowed to live and worship in peace as much as possible, unfettered by interference from government. Prayer to the Lord for the welfare of these authority figures could go a long way towards that goal.

"All those in authority" might also include the leadership of the church. Prayers for elders, pastors, evangelists and deacons that request God's hand on their lives can only help with church unity and growth.

Next Paul answers the unasked question, Why is prayer so important in the worship of the church? It's important because it pleases God. He loves it when His people pray; when we talk to Him. It's his way into our lives. It's our discussions with Him that slowly help to bend our wills to His. We get to know Him better and He becomes more than our Lord. He becomes our closest friend. And since He already knows us better than we know ourselves, there is no reason to hide anything from Him.

God would like to have this relationship with everyone. He would like all the world to be saved; to be part of His church and come to a full knowledge of the truth.

Questions

1. So what do you think? Is there enough prayer during our worship services?
2. What do you think Paul envisioned in regard to corporate prayer? Should it be one person delivering the prayers of everyone? Everyone praying silently simultaneously? Or maybe one prayer after another that is audible by each member (that could take awhile)?
3. Do you feel comfortable praying out loud before a group of Christians?
4. Are there any aspects of prayer that should not be a part of corporate prayer?
5. Why pray at all? God knows what we need. He knows what's on our minds. He knows what needs fixed. So why pray at all?
6. Paul says here that God wants all people to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Can our prayers increase the chances of non-Christians converting?
7. Paul also encouraged Timothy to have the Ephesians pray for government leaders. Why? Do we practice this enough? Is it all right to pray for the removal of certain leaders? Or even for their chastisement?   

2012 - Is It The Beginning of the End?

The short answer is, probably not, but I think we might be close. I'm not a dispensationalist by any means, but the world has never been in a better position to form a world government and a world economy; George Bush's New World Order.

Everything seems to be falling apart. The American Empire is reaching further by the day into the 4 corners of the earth stretching it's resources to the breaking point. Western economies are held back from the brink of financial collapse only by the creation of more currency. The debt of everyone deepens daily and that includes the bankers.

Non-western creditor nations may think they will hold out until the collapse and then declare victory, but that's the trap. If the west goes down and can no longer buy from the creditors, their economies will collapse too.  The world is ripe for military conflict and financial doom because of this.

There is also the specter of biological disaster and environmental doom lurking. Biologists have unlocked the human gnome and they are trying all kinds of unnatural things with what they have learned. Inter-species genetic engineering is becoming commonplace. There is talk of using this knowledge to artificially move human evolution forward, creating a post human species with all kinds of special abilities. Add in a few computer chips to aid the human brain and you'll get a whole new man; happy to work without sleep and never depressed. GMO crops that create their own herbicide and pesticide will feed the world...with poison. The new world is coming and I guess I'm just not ready for it

If the right person came on the scene today and presented a viable way out of the present mess that the majority could agree to, the world would become his oyster. I wonder if this One is not lurking out there somewhere right now. It kind of scares me.

The only thing that's missing is a new religion. I think that's coming too. It will just take the right event to get it rolling. United with the right person and the right politics, it could bring everything together. We will see.

There is definitely something in the air. Perhaps that feeling has been created by all the press about 2012. Then again, we know the Day is coming. Why not now?

I do know one thing. Whenever it happens, when all things finally wind down and the Apocalypse begins, the ultimately victory will belong to believers in Jesus Christ. I hope you are one of us when it happens.

First Timothy 1:18-20

From the New International Version:

Timothy, my son, I give you this instruction in keeping with the prophecies once made about you, so that by following them you may fight the good fight, holding on to the faith and a good conscience. Some have rejected these and so have shipwrecked their faith. Among them are Hymenaeus and Alexander, whom I have handed over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme.

Commentary

So Paul now reveals to Timothy why he is telling him these things. These instructions are to help him fulfill what was predicted about him by prophets in the church and to help him in his fight to maintain the truth in the Ephesian church with a clear conscience. The task of safeguarding the gospel from the false teachers would be difficult and Paul wanted to be sure Timothy did not become discouraged. Paul knew that this could happen because he had seen it happen before with two of their mutual friends. With God's approval, Paul handed them over to Satan to be taught not to blaspheme. They could spend their lives outside the protection of the church until they were willing to repent.

Questions

1. Paul said that there were once prophecies made about Timothy's future and that his instruction was in keeping with these prophecies. What do you think this means?
2. How have the expectations of others shaped the way you are today?