Wednesday, March 31, 2010

BLOG OF CONSCIOUSNESS

Instead of my usual routine of visiting the news sites before blogging, ostensibly so I'll have something to say, I decided on a whim to visit my blog first.

Well, at the risk of sounding self-serving (which it may be), I felt encouraged by what I blogged recently. I even edited a recent post.

Right now I'm listening to a podcast of Preterist Radio from their archive of preterist-oriented programming, particularly 17:11 (based on Acts 17:11, where the Bereans were more noble than the Thessalonians because they searched the Scriptures).

I know it goes against the tide/grain/majority report/conventional wisdom/traditional doctrine of dispensational, premillennial, pretribulational rapture theory. But it's fun.

Wednesday, March 24, 2010

SOCIAL NETWORKING SOLO

Sometimes the best thing to do is just sit down at the ol' PC and listen to a good podcast or something, and just blog your brains out. Sometimes that's exactly what it looks like I did!

I believe social networking is the natural outgrowth from our need to connect with each other in a fast-growing world, where time and location are increasingly limited. In a time when such conditions threaten to isolate us completely from one another, the Internet and its attendant blessings save us (by the grace of God) from extended solitary confinement.

Blogging is a good way to overcome the complete sense of isolation one gets when one refers to oneself as "one."

But seriously, the natural thing to do when one is all alone in a world of solitary solo artists who spend much of their spare time alone is blog. I know that sounds redundant, but you get the idea.

It is a "crapshoot" (pardon the expression). Maybe someone is reading your blog. Maybe they aren't.

But you are. God, you, angels, and demons-- not a bad starter audience. I would count on God, angels and yourself as supporters. Anyone else is a benefit of perseverance.

How to end a post like this?

Solo.

RUNNING THE HUMAN RACE

Is that a catchy title or what?

It brings attention to the question which came up today in a piece on the KTAR website about the 2010 U.S. Census and its confusing queries about race and ethnicity.

I too was stumped by the separate questions, and wondered if I was both white and Hispanic-- not that there's anything wrong with that :)

Help me out here. Can we not just call ourselves part of the HUMAN RACE, and leave the question forever answered in the affirmative for all humans? I am a firm believer in this assertion, and abhor the idea that some of us are part of a different race. Let us repent of this subtle deception forever.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not against recognizing ethnic origins. That's all well and good. It's in the Bible. But I feel the "race" question is already settled.

Friday, March 19, 2010

REVIVAL IS WHAT WE NEED

Just a thought: while reading (scanning) the headlines at the Arizona Republic's website, it occurred to me that all the good things that happen in the world can be attributed to God, because the Bible says:

"Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, from the Father of lights with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change." (James 1:17)

I like the way the Holman Christian Standard Bible says the first part: "Every generous act..." This is actually closer to the Greek, according to my Jay Green translation.

This gives me pause, and I wonder if God will not plant another revival seed somewhere in the world today and let us see His work in the hearts of people who desperately need Him in their lives. We will indeed see the effects of this work in our lifetime, if He chooses to do so.

May God be praised for His gracious deliverance from all evil in Jesus' Name.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

CALL ME CRAZY...

Every now and then, I get the sinking feeling-- the sneaking suspicion-- that no one reads my blog.

"Call me crazy..." goes the old saying, but if anyone is reading my blog, God bless them. Perhaps a few (if any) family and friends, a sprinkling of strangers, and me. That's it. No Hugh-Hewitt-like following, that's for sure.

Well, the pity-party is over.

This is the one venue where I get to exercise my nitpicky perfectionism.

No wonder nobody reads this thing!

CLASH BETWEEN CHURCH AND STATE

Today I ask you, my dear readers, what would a blog about worldview, especially a Christian one, be without a post about church persecution in our own backyard.

I hope I don't sound like I enjoy blogging about it, per se. But I enjoy it when we (the Church militant) gain a victory over oppression, albeit legally.

Witness the case in Gilbert, Arizona, as reported by FOXNews.com. I'm going to give the benefit of the doubt to the Alliance Defense Fund, who is defending the Oasis of Truth church against the town of Gilbert. The whole story can be found on ADF's website.

It shows the hypocrisy and double-standard applied to Christian churches, but not to everything else that meets regularly in homes and may cause minor traffic issues.

My money is on the church, and ADF.

Friday, March 12, 2010

THE FACE OF FRAUD

If fraud had a face, it might look something like James Sikes, the California real estate agent who has a shady financial past and a dubious reputation for such things as his latest escapade: scamming Toyota.

Witness the article on him on FOXNews.com. I was mildly angered by the apparent duplicity in his account of what happened when his Toyota Prius' gas pedal supposedly got stuck at 94 mph on a San Diego freeway.

As a veteran of reading news stories and driving, and that would describe most thinking adults, I doubt the veracity of such an incredible story because the most obvious remedy was not exercised: throw the stick shift into neutral! This was suggested by someone, and his response was, "You had to be there..."

Really? We weren't there. But you were.

"Twenty-three minutes later," according to the article, he was guided by a police officer safely to a stop. I have to wonder if this is not another scam by Mr. Sikes attempting to recover from his financial losses. I don't doubt his desperation, but I have to wait and see if this really happened.

Sorry if I'm wrong. But I have to say it sounds like a scam.

Thursday, March 11, 2010

MEXICO'S SAVIOR?

Let the mariachis begin!

Carlos Slim, Mexico's son and the world's richest man has emerged amid the heap of superlative wealth to claim the title which used to belong to our own Bill Gates. His first-place showing of $53.5 billion beats Gates' $53 billion second-place position.

My question is, what can he do to help fix the broken economic and political machine that is Mexico?

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

ITCH TO BLOG SCRATCHED

Well, intrepid blog readers, it is once again time to post an entry in my five-plus-year-old web log. What? Oh! I meant blog. Just testing you.

Blessed is the man or woman who does his or her work and finally feels the need to blog and socially mediate! It will scratch an itch, to borrow a phrase, and renew a sense of inspiration and creativity (something new under the sun) within the heart. It is a good feeling, especially when one has faith in God the Father through His Son Jesus Christ by the power and working of the Holy Spirit.

It might even engender feelings of fulfillment and satisfaction. Blessed indeed.