GodTube.com - John Piper on the Prosperity Gospel

Thank God for men who still call it like it is!
What this world needs is the Gospel. Without all the fluff, hype and feel-good add-ons that are being preached today. These slick snake-oil salesmen who smile at you and preach something other than the Gospel of Jesus Christ, are paving a guilded Highway to Hell.
People need to be told that they are not OK. We all are depraved sinners who deserve the wrath of God and have no hope in our goodness and justly deserve eternity in hell. Why? Because we are not sinners because we sin… we sin because we are sinners by our very nature. You do not have to teach a child to lie, or to hate, or to steal or to be disobedient. No, these things come naturally. Because we are all sinners we are polluted with sin and anything we touch is polluted as well. Because of this corruption we cannot stand before the Holy , Righteous, Creator God and declare ourselves righteous, justified or worthy based on our own merit. (This is why karma can never work either, because even the good that we can do is tainted and will breed a continual negative spiral.)
So, what are we to do? What hope is there? If it is in this world alone and based on our ability to justify ourselves then we are truly without hope.

But there IS hope. See, God knew that we would be unable to redeem ourselves according to His Holy standard… Perfection, so He already planned for our redemption before He even made the world. He said, “I’ll make the way myself.” So in the fullness of time God the Son came into this world and became the propitiation for our sin before God the Father. He died a substitutionary death for us to pay for our penalty. Why? So that He could then offer us life that He had purchased on our behalf. He paid the penalty we deserve so that He can impute His payment to those who believe on the LORD Jesus Christ. “Believe on the LORD JESUS CHRIST and you shall be saved.”

That is the Gospel. The Good news which declares that you can stand before the Holy, Just, Righteous, Creator God and be declared Justified, not based on your works but beliving on Jesus and His finished work of salvation you can now be declared Justified and Righteous in Christ Jesus.

That is truly Good News!

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Welcome to the Village, Number Six… aka. The Big Brother Pizza Shop

This is almost humerous but it rings true what with all the databases out there that have your information. the grocery store has those little VIP Store cards that if you use will allow you to save a percentage on you bill… at the cost of your purchase being added to their database about your buying habits. Not to mention credit card purchases, credit reports, bank statements, HMO records, dentist records, hospital records, military records, police records and the lists go on infinitely, everyday a new list, a new way to catalogue you and your habits. As you read this say hello to the guys and gals in Foggy bottom.

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It is ironic that the very ones who pried open the lid of our Judicial system are the very ones who are now trying to nail it back on.  The natural response to anarchy is totalitarian rule. So it is easy to see how we have gotten to this point from say… the Sixties and Seventies.   Now, it’s hard to see how we can claim to be a democratic republic given we can only choose from only two parties which are running politicians whose image is more important than their character and substance.  There are no more statesmen who hold the best interest of the nation above their own political ambitions.  So, in order for the politicos to retain their power they have to have a victimized society which they can “care” for and pander to.  This is the enevitable result…

Reporting live frome the Village, I’m Number 6.

 

…We’re run by the Pentagon, we’re run by Madison Avenue, we’re run by television, and as long as we accept those things and don’t revolt we’ll have to go along with the stream to the eventual avalanche… As long as we go out and buy stuff, we’re at their mercy. We’re at the mercy of the advertiser and of course there are certain things that we need, but a lot of the stuff that is bought is not needed…   We all live in a little Village… Your village may be different from other people’s villages but we are all prisoners.”   — Cult TV (UK): “An Interview with Patrick McGoohan”, conducted by Warner Troyer, March 1977

From The Prisoner

“Where am I?”

“In the Village.”

“What do you want?”

“Information.”

“Whose side are you on?”

“That would be telling…. We want information. Information! INFORMATION!”

“You won’t get it.”

“By hook or by crook, we will.”

“Who are you?”

“The new Number Two.” 

“Who is Number One?”

“You are Number Six.”

“I am not a number — I am a free man!”

                                                                 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Prisoner

A Lesson From The Moment of Truth

Another Youtube Lesson from WOTM

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Intimate walk with the one she loved most

In 1864 the Comstocks were ordained for service in Burma by the American Baptist Missions Board.  While serving in Arracan (Burma) they determined that their oldest two children should return to America for education that could not be obtained in Burma.  The following is a poem relating the event of their parting that morn when the ship sailed back to America.   Sarah Comstock and her two younger children died on the mission field in 1843.  If you care to read more information you can visit:

Daughters of the Cross: or Woman’s Mission

 

This I Do For My Saviour

Spencer Wallace Cone

 

Morn came in that silent bay

Beneath the Burman sky,

So motionless the vessel lay,

You could not dream ere close of day

How swiftly she would fly;

How, like a mist of summer part

From that deep inlet’s quiet berth,

And sever from a mother’s heart

All that she loved on earth.

 

A woman, in a stranger land,

Ten thousand miles away

From kindred soul or friendly hand;

A mother, too!  Can Heaven demand

Her life’s last earthly stay?

Her children?  From her throbbing breast

Cast forth the babes that on it grew,

And nightly go alone to rest

Where once they slumber’d too!

 

Was the cup bitter to the taste-

The cross a weary load?

Friendless and childless to be placed

Alone, amid a darkling waste

By hostile footsteps trod?

Ah!  Whence shall strength to bear this ill

To woman’s gentle heart be given?

Proud man, be all thy boasting still:

Such strength descends from Heaven.

 

But who shall paint the agonies,

The wrung soul’s torturing power,

When woman’s startled fondness flies

Thought-swift o’er years of memories,

And crowds them in an hour.

Yea, it is death!  For woman’s heart

No middle feeling owns of knows,

And once its tendrils torn apart-

No other tendril grows.

 

The livelong night that mother’s prayer

Went up to Christ above

That as for her, the cross he bare,

Her cross for Him she too might wear,

Supported by His love.

O! how she kissed them as they slept,

And sobbed that prayer each kiss between,

And closer, closer to them crept

When the first light was seen.

 

Morn came.  She led them to the strand,

And pointed o’er the main.

It was almost too much to stand

And clasped in hers the little hand

She ne’er might clasp again:

It was too much to see the face

That she had pillow’d on her heart,

Turned up to plead for her embrace,

And tell them they must part!

 

One burning kiss- one wild good-bye?

Put off- put off from shore

In mercy to the mother fly,

And swiftly waft them from her eye,

For she can bear no more!

She knelt and cried, as o’er the sea

Faded their forms like sunset ray,

“O, Saviour! I do this for thee!”

And sobbing, turned away.

 

Lov’st thou thy Lord?  Ask of thine heart

A sacrifice like this:-

And when thou dar’st with such to part-

Through scalding tears unmaster’d start,

And wild farewell and kiss,

‘Till thy dear heart-strings bursting be-

O blest art thou!  If thou can’st say,

My Saviour! I do this for thee!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Questions, Questions, Questions

 

 

  

   When I sat down to do the bulletin today I had nothing.  My mind was blank (not an uncommon experience for me, some might say).  I began to try and organize my thoughts (not unlike attempting to herd cats) and found myself thinking about the spiritual battles around us.  The news coming in from the front lines is not good.  Everywhere we turn we see the enemy advancing and taking ground that Christianity once held, the public square, classrooms, the halls of government, the church pulpits, our society and our families.  

   It seems that the forces of evil are gathering all around us for an attack the likes of which we have never seen.  My fear is not that it will happen, or what will happen to my family and me when it happens but, “Am I spiritually ready?”  Have I made my anchor sure?  Will I stand when the battle is hot, or will I flee in cowardice at the first volley?  Am I prepared?  Is my armor on and my sword at the ready? 

    I already see those around me who have succumbed to the world, I see soldiers weak and wounded, I see the fear in their hearts and the lack of resolve in their attitudes and I see them abandoning the cause for Christ for comfort and ease.  I see in myself these same tendencies.  I see weakness in my resolve and fear is palatable in my throat.  Should I stumble, will I rise and continue on or will I embrace the despair and slink back to the rear area to lick my wounds and wallow in self-pity? 

    I have been a warrior and I can remember when I was near battle, and the danger was just over the canal, and I know the smell of my own fear.  However, I was never tried in battle so I do not know if I am a man of valor or a coward.  Now I face the same question regarding my spiritual readiness.  Am I so anchored in Christ that I will stand, stand in the heat of battle, hold the fort of my own soul and be a standard bearer for those around me?  Or will I just be another casualty who lets his comrades down and weakens an already tattered line? 

    What doth hinder me?  What so easily besets me?  Where is my hope?  It is said, “True hope maketh not ashamed…” so, where is my heart anchored?  Is it only with my lips and my pen that I try and honor Christ, or is He truly my all in all? 

    I have barraged you with a slew of questions I have no answers for; neither do I expect you to have the answers for me.  I have seen the Lord of the Rings, Narnia and have been reading the other books in The Chronicles of Narnia, and I see valor in the characters who pledge their sword and lives to their king.  ”Is there not a cause?”  Is my Lord any less deserving of my allegiance, my pledge or my life?  (There I go with the questions again)  Will I stand?  Will my Captain choose to use me in the battle?  Will I plant my Ebenezer and say, “As for me and my house we will serve the Lord!”?   I just don’t know.

 

Maybe General Douglas McArthur said it best,

“The enemy is in front of us. The enemy is behind us. He is to the right and to the left of us. He can’t get away this time!”

 

2 Corinthians 4:7-9

But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of  us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed;

 

 

 

GodTube.com - Confused Guy - (makes you think!)

A cuss word by any other name…

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Just for today…

Lord, for tomorrow and its needs, I do not pray; Keep me, my God, from stain of sin just for today. Let me both diligently work, And duly pray. Let me be kind in word and deed, Just for today. Let me be slow to do my will, Prompt to obey; Help me to sacrifice myself Just for today. And if today my tide of life should ebb away, Give me thy sacraments divine, Sweet Lord today. So for tomorrow and its needs I do not pray, But keep me, guide me, love me, Lord, Just for today.

Augustine

I think about these things… (part deux)

I think about these things… (Part deux)

 

 

So, what is the magic behind all this forced conversion?  I was a radio technician in the Marine Corps and I understand a little about signaling so I’ll see if I can keep this very simple.  The exact wording on this change concerns “full” power stations specifically for the February 17, 2009 change over.  What this means is the full power “analog” station uses what they call the entire envelope for a given frequency.  It takes tremendous power to drive such a signal so it is less efficient and more costly to provide such a signal.  What the FCC is doing is telling the “full power stations that they need to broadcast digitally on only a portion of the frequency band.  The full band of any given frequency has an upper portion (upper sideband) and a lower portion (lower sideband).  The current analog signal uses both the upper and the lower portions, pushing the entire width to deliver the signal.  What will now happen is the stations will use only a portion of that signal (usually lower) to deliver the signal.  It will take less power to deliver the signal and it will “free up” the rest of the frequency for other uses.  In turn it will allow the government to auction twice a$ many license$ for the $ame amount of frequencie$.   (cha-ching!)

So why won’t your TV work if the station stays on it’s current frequency when it cuts over?  Because your receiver will not be getting the entire signal it requires in order to process the picture and audio after the change over.   This will require you to either buy a set top converter (cha-ching) or a new television (cha-ching, cha-ching).

I still wonder if there is some connection between a enhanced visual image and programming?  If normal analog signal programming produced the couch potato… what will HD programming produce?  If DTV will allow multicasting on the same frequency can HD imbed subliminal images and programming that will only be able to be detected in the subconscious?  I’m not trying to be an X-files Mulder-ite here but I think about these things.

So what will 2012 bring?  Will it bring the next phase of human evolution?  When this once in 26 thousand years event takes place and the long count calendar is “reset,” will we find we are evolving to a higher plane of existence?  If it is so then it scares me to think that the next evolution of man will be built on the foundation of our current condition.   What will be the necessary agency that drives the change?  What overwhelming need will ignite the spark for change?  Will it be: Biological? Psychological?  Spiritual?  I don’t know since I don’t watch enough Oprah.  But next year I can see it in HD.  I digress.

Order cannot come from disorder, if there is no absolute standard where we can anchor ourselves morally we cannot hope for something better to arise from that which is already broken.  Without a standard there is no difference between “is” and “ought” and each one is left to practice what works for them.  Wait, we are already there aren’t we? 

It’s 2008, the Mayan long count calendar ends in 2012.  Charlie Manson will be eligible for parole in 2012.

I think about these things

 

 

I Think about these things… (part 1)

 

 

I Think About These Things…

 

The Mayan Long Count Calendar ends December 21, 2012.  Why is this significant?  I decided to research this event and found the following:

            Is there something significant we should know about the Winter Solstice date of December 21, 2012? Yes. On this day a rare astronomical and Mayan mythical event occurs. In astronomic terms, the Sun conjuncts the intersection of the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic. The Milky Way, as most of us know, extends in a general north-south direction in the night sky. The plane of the ecliptic is the track the Sun, Moon, planets and stars appear to travel in the sky, from east to west. It intersects the Milky Way at a 60 degree angle near the constellation Sagittarius.

            The cosmic cross formed by the intersecting Milky Way and plane of the ecliptic was called the Sacred Tree by the Maya. The trunk of the tree, the Axis Mundi, is the Milky Way, and the main branch intersecting the tree is the plane of the ecliptic. Mythically, at sunrise on December 21, 2012, the Sun - our Father - rises to conjoin the center of the Sacred Tree, the World Tree, the Tree of Life..

            This rare astronomical event, foretold in the Mayan creation story of the Hero Twins, and calculated empirically by them, will happen for many of us in our lifetime. The Sun has not conjoined the Milky Way and the plane of the ecliptic since some 25,800 years ago, long before the Mayans arrived on the scene and long before their predecessors the Olmecs arrived. What does this mean?

           Due to a phenomenon called the precession of the equinoxes, caused by the Earth’s wobble that lasts almost 26,000 years, the apparent location of the Winter Solstice sunrise has been ever so slowly moving toward the Galactic Center. Precession may be understood by watching a spinning top. Over many revolutions the top will rise and dip on its axis, not unlike how the Earth does over an extremely long period of time. One complete rise and dip constitutes the cycle of precession.

            The Mayans noticed the relative slippage of the positions of stars in the night sky over long periods of observation, indicative of precession, and foretold this great coming attraction. By using an invention called the Long Count, the Mayans fast-forwarded to anchor December 21, 2012 as the end of their Great Cycle and then counted backwards to decide where the calendar would begin. Thus the Great Cycle we are currently in began on August 11, 3114 B.C. But there’s more.

            The Great Cycle, lasting 1,872,000 days and equivalent to 5,125.36 years, is but one fifth of the Great Cycle, known scientifically as the Great Year or the Platonic Year - the length of the precession of the equinoxes. To use a metaphor from the modern industrial world, on Winter Solstice A.D. 2012 it is as if the Giant Odometer of Humanity on Earth hits 100,000 miles and all the cycles big and small turn over to begin anew. The present world age will end and a new world age will begin.

            Over a year’s time the Sun transits through the twelve houses of the zodiac. Many of us know this by what “Sun sign” is associated with our birthday. Upping the scale to the Platonic Year - the 26,000 year long cycle - we are shifting, astrologically, from the Age of Pisces to the Age of Aquarius. The Mayan calendar does not really “end” in 2012, but rather, all the cycles turn over and start again, vibrating to a new era. It is as if humanity and the Earth will graduate in the eyes of the Father Sun and Grandmother Milky Way.^[1]

 

Ok, but it’s only 2008.  What is happening closer to today?  Let’s see, by law all analog broadcast television has to be digital by February 17, 2009.  “On February 17, 2009 all full-power broadcast television stations in the United States will stop broadcasting on analog airwaves and begin broadcasting only in digital. Digital broadcasting will allow stations to offer improved picture and sound quality and additional channels“.^[2] 

The countdown has begun.  I wonder why February 17^th was chosen?  Maybe it has to do with Michael Jordan and Paris Hilton’s birthdays?  Or Geronimo died on this date in 1909?  The odds on favorite has to be,  Pope Pious the VII declaring Saint Clare of Assisi the patron saint of television on that date in 1958?^[3]   

 

Many have questioned why conversion to digital is necessary.  According to www.dtv.gov congress decided dtv is necessary.  (strike one: if congress thinks it’s a good thing  hold on to your wallets.)   The DTV booklet on their site such a move is necessary to free up limited bandwidth for public emergency services usage (or so the argument goes) and that is a good thing but they attached a glaring rider… “and new wireless services, such as wireless broadband.” ^[4] 

 

So who benefits?  I am not naïve enough to believe the government is doing this on my behalf, for my benefit. Why is Congress so Gung-Ho about the public viewing DTV and HD programming?  That is another thing that has bugged me for years… why do they call it programming?  And what do they mean by programming?

 

In an Image driven culture DTV and High Def will once again draw everyone’s attention back to focus on the altar of the entertainment gods.  They were tired of their worshippers multi-tasking and wanted undivided attention .  So will DTV make programming (however you define programming) easier?

 

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^[1] http://www.planetpapp.com/br21december2012/

^[2] http://www.dtv.gov/

^[3] http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_17  1958

^[4] http://www.dtv.gov/DTV_booklet.pdf pg 5.

New Edit on Slide show

There’s a new edit on my Slideshow