Thursday, March 8, 2012
Salvation and Works
"For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ. Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw—each one's work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done. If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, though he himself will be saved, but only as through fire. (1 Corinthians 3:11-15 ESV)
The FOUNDATION of SALVATION is CHRIST ALONE.
We can (and SHOULD!) build on to the FOUNDATION of SALVATION (which is Christ alone) with works.
BUT, what kind of works will we build with - "gold, silver, and precious stones" or "wood, hay and straw"?
"If the work that anyone has built on the foundation survives, he will receive a reward. If anyone's work is burned up, he will suffer loss, THOUGH HE HIMSELF WILL BE SAVED..."
What we DO, does NOT save us. What we DO, does NOT send us to hell..
We don't work FOR our faith. We work FROM our faith.
Amerika
"America is an empire.
And the Bible has a lot to say about empires.
Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers. It's a book written from the underside of power. It's an oppression narrative. The majority of the Bible was written by a minority of people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire.
This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading as a citizen of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Without careful study and reflection, and humility, it may even be possible to miss central themes of the Scriptures.
Because what's true of empires then is true of empires now."
Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
And the Bible has a lot to say about empires.
Most of the Bible is a history told by people living in lands occupied by conquering superpowers. It's a book written from the underside of power. It's an oppression narrative. The majority of the Bible was written by a minority of people living under the rule and reign of massive, mighty empires, from the Egyptian empire to the Babylonian Empire to the Persian Empire to the Assyrian Empire.
This can make the Bible a very difficult book to understand if you are reading as a citizen of the most powerful empire the world has ever seen. Without careful study and reflection, and humility, it may even be possible to miss central themes of the Scriptures.
Because what's true of empires then is true of empires now."
Jesus Wants to Save Christians by Rob Bell
Monday, March 5, 2012
This is so stupid... I WANT ONE!!!
It's a piece of plastic you attach around your head and stick things to your face with. Intended for phones, this guy proves you can go hands free with a 5 pound laptop. Hands free!
LOL, I think I want one though...
https://www.gojohandsfree.com/
LOL, I think I want one though...
https://www.gojohandsfree.com/
A suitable notepad
If I ever wore suits I would definitely use the Hankie Notepad.
Who needs a fashionable snot rag in their pocket when they could have a functional notepad!? So cool! $10! :)
Who needs a fashionable snot rag in their pocket when they could have a functional notepad!? So cool! $10! :)
The Thousand Year Reign of Christ
Recently, a friend of mine asked me what I thought about the thousand years that are mentioned in Revelation 20. I have still not answered her because I wanted to study more. So, for the past few days I have been enjoying digging into Scripture.
That being said, my faith is always a work in progress. I know I don't have all the answers and know that I never will. However, careful study has led me to the conclusion I will lay out here. May my view change? Of course! With any new insights into Scripture I happen upon, I always reevaluate. Here's what I believe now.
Before addressing the millennial reign of Christ, the first place I should start is with a question: when does Christ's kingdom begin? If we answer that question, then Christ's thousand year reign comes into focus.
Let's look at Scripture!
That being said, my faith is always a work in progress. I know I don't have all the answers and know that I never will. However, careful study has led me to the conclusion I will lay out here. May my view change? Of course! With any new insights into Scripture I happen upon, I always reevaluate. Here's what I believe now.
Before addressing the millennial reign of Christ, the first place I should start is with a question: when does Christ's kingdom begin? If we answer that question, then Christ's thousand year reign comes into focus.
Let's look at Scripture!
Sunday, March 4, 2012
Birds in the Wilderness
As we were chilling in the study this afternoon, a large flock of some kind of bird flew down into our yard. This fascinated the girls. Then they all flew away right over our house. Pretty cool. Our new neighborhood is like the "wilderness" compared to living downtown Tampa where we moved from. It had its perks. But, it's great out here. :)
The future of wall outlets
$15 at Lowe's, this is a VERY handy outlet that plugs directly into a regular old wall outlet. But, it does something magical. Well, at least if you have lots of "iDevices" or any other USB corded tech.
The top plug remains a plug. The bottom plug becomes two powered USB ports. Very handy if you don't want big clunky power adapters for all your devices.
The top plug remains a plug. The bottom plug becomes two powered USB ports. Very handy if you don't want big clunky power adapters for all your devices.
Mayan Hot Chocolate
If you've ever seen the movie Chocolat, you know Juliette Binoche's character, Vianne, opens a chocolate shop in a small town during lent. Among the incredible looking tasties, she creates Mayan Hot Cocoa. Just eyeballing it, the rich drink appears to have the consistency of motor oil. It's thick stuff. After googling it, I discovered that Mayan Hot Cocoa incorporates jalapeno peppers as the kicker.
Well, after some testing, I have created my own recipe that is very tasty, warm, rich and spicy!
 |
| My version of Mayan Hot Cocoa in a small espresso cup... a little bit goes a LONG way! |
- 1/2 cup water
- 2 squares of Baker's unsweetened baking chocolate squares
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp ground red pepper
Mix all in a small pan on low heat until nice and hot. This makes enough to fill two 4 small espresso style cups (pictured above). And that's just the right amount for an after dinner dessert or an afternoon pick-me-up.
Of course, the recipe can be doubled if you have company. :)
Let me know how you like it if you try!
Saturday, March 3, 2012
Retro iPhone Cases
How cool is this, huh? Too bad they had to take them down. Seems Apple Legal has some issues with them...
http://technabob.com/blog/2012/02/08/retro-apple-iphone-cases/
http://technabob.com/blog/2012/02/08/retro-apple-iphone-cases/
![What Phones Looked Like Before And After The iPhone Transformed The Industry [Image]](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/blogger_img_proxy/AEn0k_tqukzwhhOS2337kL-7fZr3iGxSnqdS99faQwFePEO5saNmnnAIlNQ0VFjA8j9KBZzR89U4C_FUhK7Cjkw112VeBNofkseoGsdUtJTDcDONABRfb2QyWMhZH3GXkJVZir85mFCqjlKTv6me3_ZD52Rthqz3bUT7CxPNhpPBibecPeoXTS3WPp5890W4=s0-d)
Young at Heart
Just relaxing this morning listening to some smooth and gentle music on Pandora this morning when the song "Young at Heart" comes on sung by Frank Sinatra. The lyrics are great!
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you're young at heart
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on it's way
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it's much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part, you have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
Written by Johnny Richards and Carolyn Leigh
Covered by many, including Frank Sinatra
Fairy tales can come true, it can happen to you
If you're young at heart
For it's hard, you will find, to be narrow of mind
If you're young at heart
You can go to extremes with impossible schemes
You can laugh when your dreams fall apart at the seams
And life gets more exciting with each passing day
And love is either in your heart or on it's way
Don't you know that it's worth every treasure on earth
To be young at heart
For as rich as you are it's much better by far
To be young at heart
And if you should survive to 105
Look at all you'll derive out of being alive
Then here is the best part, you have a head start
If you are among the very young at heart
Written by Johnny Richards and Carolyn Leigh
Covered by many, including Frank Sinatra
Pessimillennialism
The vast majority of Christians have believed that things will get progressively worse in almost every area of life until Jesus returns with His angels. Premillennialists believe that He will establish an earthly visible kingdom, with Christ in charge and bodily present. Amillennialists do not believe in any earthly visible kingdom prior to the final judgment. They believe that only the church and Christian schools and families will visibly represent
the kingdom on earth, and the world will fall increasingly under the domination of Satan. Both eschatologies teach the earthly defeat of Christ's church prior to His physical return in power. One problem with such an outlook is that when the predictable defeats in life come, Christians have a theological incentive to shrug their shoulders, and say to themselves, “That’s life. That’s the way God prophesied it would be. Things are getting
worse.” They read the dreary headlines of the daily newspaper, and they think to themselves, “Jesus’s Second Coming is just around the corner.” The inner strength that people need to rebound from life’s normal external defeats is sapped by a theology that preaches inevitable earthly defeat for the church of Jesus Christ. People think to themselves: “If even God’s holy church cannot triumph, then how can I expect to triumph?” Christians therefore become the psychological captives of newspaper- selling pessimistic headlines. They begin with a false assumption: the inevitable defeat in history of Christ’s church by Satan’s earthly forces, despite the fact that Satan was mortally wounded at Calvary. Satan is not “alive and well on Planet Earth.” He is alive, but he is not well. To argue otherwise is to argue for the historical impotence and cultural irrelevance of Christ’s work on Calvary.
Days of Vengeance, Gary North
Friday, March 2, 2012
On Revelation
Revelation is a prophecy about imminent events – events that were about to break loose on the world of the first century. Revelation is not about nuclear warfare, space travel, or the end of the world. Again and again it specifically warns that “the time is near!” St. John wrote his book as a prophecy of the approaching destruction of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, showing that Jesus Christ had brought the New Covenant and the New Creation. Revelation cannot be understood unless this fundamental fact is taken seriously.
Days of Vengeance by David Chilton
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