of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimes seemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace has been preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have been respected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in the theater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted by the advancing armies and navies of the Union. industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow, the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements, and the mines, as well as the iron and coal as of our precious metals, have yielded even more camp, the siege, and the battlefield, and the country, rejoicing in the consciousness of augmented strength and vigor, is permitted to expect continuance of years with large increase of freedom. No human counsel hath devised nor hath any mortal hand worked out these great things.
They are the gracious gifts of the Most High God, who, while dealing with us in anger for our sins, hath nevertheless remembered mercy. It has seemed to me fit and proper that they should be solemnly, reverently, and gratefully acknowledged, as with one heart and one voice, by the whole American people. I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every part of the United States, and also those who are in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday of November next the heavens.
And I recommend to them deliverances and blessings they do also, with humble penitence for our national perverseness and disobedience, commend to His tender care all those who have become widows, orphans, mourners, or sufferers in the lamentable civil strife in which we are unavoidably engaged, and fervently implore the imposition of the Almighty hand to heal the wounds of the nation and to restore it, as soon as may be consistent with the divine purpose, to the full enjoyment of peace, harmony, tranquillity, and union. H. Chris Ross Promoting Evangelical Faith Through New Media: Lessons from the English Reformation
As Bob Dylan sang, The time they are a-changin .
Though he was describing the social changes of the 60 s, he could have said the same of sixteenth century Europe, or our situation today. The internet is often viewed as the Guttenberg press of our time, noting the similarities of the Reformation and current time periods. Mr.
Ross believes these similarities have practical applications for Christians today.
The development of devotional literature in England provides important historical lessons. With the invention of the printing press, literacy levels rose and eventually the Bible and theological literature became more popular to larger groups of people.
Much of the literature produced was works that used to be copied by hand.
In the latter sixteenth century, outlawed Catholic works started making their way into England. This was mostly devotional literature that appealed to both Protestants and Catholics.
Due to the doctrinal emphasis of the Reformation, Protestants had not produced new spiritual literature of their own. Instead, some people, such as Edmund Bunny, adapted popular Catholic books by taking out the conflicting Catholic parts and republishing them as Protestant literature (this was before any real copyright restrictions).
It wasn t until Richard Rogers published his Seven Treatises in 1602 that Protestants had a distinct devotional work that reflected the spiritual needs of the time.
After this, more followed, but it took some time for Protestants to recognize the need and opportunity for such literature.
There are two lessons he believes we can draw from this bit of church history:
In (I know, it seems like so long ago!), I promised I would give you an example of the conspiracy theories that are promoted in the Islamic world.
Prof. Hasan Bolkhari, a cultural adviser to the Iranian Education Ministry, told
...
"If you study European history, you will see who was the main power to hoard money and wealth in the 19th century. In most cases, it is the Jews. Watch 'Schindler's List.
' Every Jew was forced to wear a yellow star on his clothing. The Jews were degraded and termed 'dirty mice.' Tom and Jerry was made in order to change the Europeans' perception of mice.
"
When I first read that excerpt, I admit I chuckled. But then I watched the actual video provided by the (MEMRI)--an organization that posts English translations of Middle Eastern television on their website.
It's extremely disturbing.
Something you'd only expect to see in a black-and-white clip from sixty years ago. Unfortunately, because we're living in our prosperous, free bubble, we can't fathom what's going on out there in the world's media, and so we underestimate its power. But make no mistake, there will be repercussions today just as there were sixty years ago.
I can't stress enough how dangerous these lies are to the stability of the world. I urge you to watch the full video clip (and more) so you can understand what we'll be dealing with in the years to come.
The following is a simple test you can take at home to determine your nerdiness level.
In the Weird Al video , the nerd purchases a black market item on the street.
Watch and then compare your reaction to this rare item with the following categories to determine your nerdity.
If you guessed what was in the paper bag before he opened it, your nerd quotient is freakishly high. You are a "Nerd Commander.
"
the existence of this item and, at some point in your life, actually took steps to obtain one of these for yourself, you are a "Nerd Jedi."
If you just said, "Hey, Nerd Jedi should be above Nerd Commander!" you are a "Super-Nerd" and will henceforth receive no sci-fi reference in your title.
If, after obtaining the item, you walked away from it after no more than 40 minutes, you are a "Nerd Apprentice."
If you knew this item existed but you never tried to see it for yourself, you are a "Red-Shirt-Nerd." You have occasional forays into nerddom, but it's not a place where everybody knows your name.
If you know what "red-shirt" refers to, go back up to "nerd apprentice."
first you've heard of this item and you are, even now, opening a new browser window to search through eBay, you are a "Secret Nerd"--otherwise, your nerd pack would have informed you of its existence long ago. [Also, I must warn you that you think you want to see this item, but you really, really don't.
Please trust me on this. Please.]
If you've never heard of what was inside that bag, and furthermore, you have no curiosity regarding it, then congratulations!
You are nerd-free!
I have no category for the nerdiness level of someone who would create a test out of this video.
(HT and my eternal gratitude to Deborah Graff for sending me the link to this video.
Live long and prosper, Deborah.)
It's Friday again and time to discuss Wayne Grudem's book, . Since Grudem's first two chapters describe the foundational thinking behind the rest of the book, I don't want to move past them too quickly.
Too often people begin and end their arguments with "the Bible says," and that's the end of the matter. Now don't get me wrong--the Bible does teach the truth and is perfectly authoritative, and in the sense of truth and authority, it is the end of the matter, but that doesn't mean the discussion about that truth ought to end there. For an emotionally charged subject such as this one, a stark command ("women can't be pastors") that doesn't include a rounded explanation of the goodness of that command can be confusing and difficult to swallow.
Even women (and men) who desire to submit to the teachings of the Bible could submit with their actions but still be in pain and perhaps even misunderstand the character of God if those actions don't make sense to them.
I've changed my perspective on these things quite dramatically over the past 10 years, and I still have not settled my understanding of all the details. At first the change came in submission to biblical truth, but from that moment to this, my life experiences have consistently proven its wisdom and strengthened my complementarian view.
I've come to see male leadership as being a result of the positive qualities of women rather than a consequence of women's lack of masculine qualities. (I'll explain more of what I mean by this as we go.) I haven't heard this perspective much, but I think if we could start thinking of this subject in these positive terms, the entire tone of the discussion could change.
Some of that may sound cryptic for now, but I will flesh it out in the coming weeks.
So for my first post on this book, I want to start at the beginning and defend the very notion of hierarchy and submission as positive and necessary for members of a body who are working together towards a common goal. First, consider this chart from Chapter One which deals specifically with the organization of the family:
Leaving behind the issue of husbands and wives for a moment, I can give you an illustration--one that is not so emotionally charged--of a beautiful hierarchy and submission in another kind of organized group I've been involved with for years, and in which I've seen these same errors and ideals lived out at various times.
.. No, not spiritually.
Virtually. All you have to do is create with my birth date across the collar!).
In this virtual world, you can make yourself look however you d like, including non-human. But this is just the beginning.
That s $6 million of real US dollars. Not only can you create yourself, but you can also create anything you d like. The report and selling virtual cloths in order to support her real life family.
Record through listening stations and live virtual performances. The possibilities And that is part of the problem. Unfortunately, every technological advancement made seems to have a downside.
While there is no murder or theft in , there s other opportunity for sin. When I was on the training island, I ran into a guy who was far too excited about advancing on so he could have sex with other members. Not real sex mind you, virtual sex.
But the problems are far more reaching. tells another story: in China, a man was sentenced to life in prison for murdering a existed only in cyberspace.
world; a world that has a lot of glimmer but little true value.
The danger is for these people to become like the man in China, confusing the real world for the virtual world. People have a hard enough time dealing with reality (if you question that, just tune in to Dr. Laura s radio show).
They will go to the virtual world to escape and thus cheat themselves of truly living. They will want to deal with it. The virtual world is far easier, less painful, and heck, I m all for video games; I own a few.
But this is far more than a game. For many, this is a real Second Life and one they d much rather live than their real ones. Is it all really that bad?
Is there more in than mature rated dance clubs and sexual fantasylands? There is, but if you look at the most popular places people go, that s all you ll find. You may find a few churches, though, if you look hard enough.
There s one church in . I'll soon be posting an interview with the leader of this ministry, Benjamin Faust.
Instead of pirates ransacking a Spanish seaport town in search of gold, they're now trying to capture Jack Sparrow and beat him to the treasure.
The booty, incidentally, has a lot more bling, Disney said.
Fans of the movie will see familiar elements, including animatronic characters depicting Jack Sparrow and Capt. Barbossa.
In the ride's cannon scene, in which a pirate ship appears to shoot cannonballs over the riders' heads, music from the movie will be playing. Special effects also have been upgraded to make the cannon blasts more realistic.
A waterfall scene has been added with the ghostly image of Davy Jones, the evil spirit of the seas and a character in the second movie,
In the ride's town and treasure scenes, Jack Sparrow has been dropped into the mix.
All that those anonymous, poverty-stricken, non-celebrity pirates ever asked for was the redhead. Is this any way to treat them?
Let's honor them, readers, with the truth. Never forget the true story of the "Pirates" ride--the one without Jack, the one without the food trays. Tell it to your children when they tie their shoes, and when they blow their noses, and when they buy their little Capt.
Jack action figures. The truth will live on.
And you, Jack.
..couldn't you at least have brought Will?
Since large portions of the Da Vinci Code novel consist of one character sitting the others down for extensive lectures on the "facts" of history, I wondered how well the story would translate to the big screen. Apparently, not well.
"The Da Vinci Code" drew lukewarm praise, shrugs of indifference, some jeering laughter and a few derisive jabs Tuesday from arguably the world's toughest movie crowd: critics at the Cannes Film Festival.
...
The Cannes audience clearly grew restless as the movie dragged on to two and a half hours and spun a long sequence of anticlimactic revelations.
"I kept thinking of the Energizer Bunny, because it kept going and going and going, and not in a good way," said James Rocchi, a film critic for CBS 5 television in San Francisco and the online outlet Cinematical..
..
One especially melodramatic line uttered by Hanks drew prolonged laughter and some catcalls, and the audience continued to titter for much of the film's remainder.
A friend of mine has been predicting the movie's a stinker based on its ubiquitous advertising campaign. If there's one thing the filmmakers don't need to spend money on, it's publicity..
.unless, of course, they know something we don't.
Now granted, the reaction of
We've been fighting it with truth, but it could very well be that this movie has enough weapons of cheese to bring itself down. Which leaves us with this disturbing question have we Christians now ensured that everyone will see this movie regardless of how bad it is?
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