Tuesday January 1st 2008

7:27PM | Scotch Mist

Tuesday January 1st 2008

7:40PM | Incoincidental References

can recall three times in 2007 where one of my daily Old Testament readings was quoted directly in the New Testament passage of the day. For example, John 2:17 quotes Psalm 69:9, which I had just read that same hour. I am not on any official reading plan, so this was purely by chance, so to say.

On the first day of 2008 I have already encountered my first such reference. After having read the O.T. passage, I had better be able to say of the N.T. reference "hey, I just read that". Hebrews 10:28 (when warning about the danger of neglecting or falling away from Christ's ultimate redeeming and purifying sacrifice, especially considering how disobedience under the old covenant resulted in death) says: "He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses", referring to Deuteronomy 17:6.

Hebrews repeats over and over again the fact of the comprehensiveness of Christ's atoning sacrifice: he has completely covered my sins, the Father does not remember my sins and hold them against me, I am not held guilty. This is often difficult for me to grasp: I need to be careful about what really lies behind my thoughts when my conscience makes me feel guilty and a sense of having to "make it up". There is a place and a role for conscience regarding particular deeds, but there is also a kind of feeling of guilt which is not humility but is its opposite - pride, being a lack of faith. Moving on from the precious milk of Christ's atonement, I should be progressing on to the meat of willing obedience and full reformation.

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Thursday January 3rd 2008

7:23PM | Good Luck Huck

NN's early projection is that Mike "The Huckster" Huckabee comes out on top in the Iowa caucus. If that holds out, then congratulations Huck - and there was much rejoicing. Before anyone gets too excited though, let me point you to political blogger Zach Wendling and his pertinent reminder of what a caucus is, and why the system of caucuses are flawed and rather undemocratic.

Yes, I am supporting Mike Huckabee, though I am not thrilled with the choice. Yet in a field of the kinda good (Huckabee), the bad (Giuliani), and the scary (Paul), Huckabee has more positives and less negatives than the rest of the field - and the fact that he appears the most overt Christian is a distinguished plus. Concerned about his sometimes somewhat liberal voting tendencies while governor of Arkansas? Read this for a little perspective. Not excuses, just perspective. I would like to like Fred Thompson more, but he seems to be half-hearted about running, and has stated that he is no longer a practicing Christian, both of which things point to me of an alarming lack of commitment.

Since most of the people who are likely to read my blog are among those who like Googling Ron Paul (the Ron Paul supporting mob I affectionately dub The Great Googley Moogly), I feel like I should explain why I don't like him (why he's "scary"). First of all, I am glad that he is in the race: he has some good things to say, particularly about states' rights and, to a point, economics. But (leaving his conspiracy theories and my doubts of his diplomatic ability aside) the deal-breaker for me is his foreign policy: a policy that both ignores history and at the same time does not seem future-oriented. He's saying a lot of the right things (right as in effective) to polarize people from the way things currently are, but I do not think he is the man to lead this nation to a better state.

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Saturday January 5th 2008

7:20PM | Law Of Warfare

euteronomy 20:1
When you go into battle against your enemies, and see horses, and chariots, and a people greater in number than you, be not afraid of them: for the Lord your God is with you, which brought you up out of the land of Egypt.

These words were spoken to the people of Israel during the review of the law ahead of their crossing the Jordan to possess the Promised Land. If the Lord delivered such a promise to the people of Israel in the old covenant, how much more would He be with us who in the new and better covenant are much more than His people: we are His sons and daughters. No matter how strong our opponents look, no matter how dire our circumstances, no matter how much we may seem outnumbered at any moment, the Lord's promise is that He is with us, that He will fight for us, and that the course of history is under His control.

The promise is - should be - a source of hope, a focal point for the confidence of our endeavors: the manner in which we receive this promise should be an exercise of our faith. The Old Testament Israelites abandoned God, culminating in rejecting His Son, and things did not go to well for them as a result. The Lord will not reject His sons - if we remain faithful to Him. We intend to remain faithful, so why expect anything but future blessings from God here on this earth? As long as we are faithful, God will fight on our behalf and bless our work here on earth. So let's remain faithful and optimistic for the future, but at the same time we should remember that faithfulness of the mind and the obedience of action are inseparable.

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Monday January 7th 2008

7:38PM | Your Faith Does Not Save

ames 2:14
What does it profit, my brothers, though a man says he has faith, and has not works? Can faith save him?

Sola fide - but it is not as simple as that sounds when it comes to the matter of faith and one's salvation. Faith alone will not save. In fact, it is not really your faith that saves: it is the Lord's covenant faithfulness, the Messiah's faithfulness in life and death, and the faith that is God's gift of grace to those to whom He bestows this unmerited love. We are to exercise this faith in works that show that we have received this gift, that we desire to serve the Lord and reciprocate His mercy to the world around us. Faith without works is just faith: it is dead - and the person who has just faith is also eternally dead, except by a change of heart.

19th century Scottish minister Thomas Chalmers said: "Though justified by faith alone, let me remember that it is not by faith being alone, or by faith which is alone.-My God, may I show my faith by my works, and when tempted to the opposite of this, do Thou prove unto me a very present help in the time of temptation."

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Tuesday January 8th 2008

1:24PM | No Love From The Revolution

realize that for every presidential candidate, you could probably find some samples of nuts among their supporters, with little difficulty. These particular Ron Paul supporters were just classless. They forgot to represent the "love" of the Ron Paul Re-Love-ution. Okay, so I get that the "re-love-ution" play on the word revolution is just a hippie slogan, and the Ron Paul blimp poignantly points to the two sides that represent Ron Paul's support base. On one side of the blimp is the slogan that represents the good of the Ron Paul message - the modern semi-intellectual who is tired of current government trends and the Bush and Clinton eras: Google Ron Paul. The other side represents the kooky side of the Ron Paul campaign - the excitable hippie crowd: Ron Paul Re-Love-ution.

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Tuesday January 8th 2008

2:52PM | Human Tetris

Monday January 14th 2008

7:13PM | Golden Ankle Terminators

he Sunday before last I twisted my ankle a bit while out trail running. After limping at first I was able to finish the rest of the run, and the following days I started to feel it high and outside on that ankle. But fortunately it was no big deal, as a couple nights on the exercise bike eased the pain away and by Sunday I was running the same trail again.

I am surprised at how good Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles is starting out. I did not expect much, but the story is fun and the show plays like a movie. Summer Glau's character looks like she stepped right out of Firefly/Serenity.

I was pleased with last night's Golden Globes. Most of the movies I did not see, so my interest was not so much in seeing my favorite movies win as reinforcing what movies I might like to see. What I liked about this year's Golden Globes was the absence of the glitz and the ceremony: no hours of red carpet, lame acceptance speeches, and preening celebrities between award announcements - just a quick hour of getting straight to the results.

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Tuesday January 15th 2008

10:16AM | I Wonder What Ron Paul Thinks Of This