THE AMAZING ANDROID

Well, I am presently uploading a video shot with my Droid smartphone to YouTube. As it completes this momentous task, I am composing this post and falling asleep.

So much to share, so little time.

Please deposit 75 cents for the next three minutes? We've come a long way!

TAKE FIREFLIGHT... NOW!

Watch "Fireflight - NOW (Full Album) HD" on YouTube

Today, I had opportunity to indulge myself in listening to and watching Fireflight. I even listened to the whole album!

I first saw Fireflight at a Christian Winter Jam Music Festival at US Airways Center in 2011 to the best of my recollection. It was immediately apparent to me this band of Spirited and talented musicians were very well-loved by the audience, and I immediately "felt the love" from them and for them as well.

Fast forward to last year, when I was invited to another Christian rock concert, this time at Christ Church of the Valley. Guess who was in the line-up again? You guessed it! Fireflight!

Well, having watched their YouTube videos ad nauseum (impossible, really), and visited their website at FireFlightRock, I immediately liked their music and lyrics - and spirit. If you like layers of technologically-enhanced, hard-driving rock with beautiful lyrics and life-changing perspective, Fireflight will meet your needs.

Their music videos won my heart. Their refreshing style appeals to me as good rock music and creativity in one tight package. Most importantly, the object of their affection is God. And you.

Needless to say, I look forward to my next opportunity to see and hear their tight rock rhythms, impeccable lyrics, heart-winning theology, warm and humorous documentary videos, and more.

Stay tuned.

LAPTOP/NOTEBOOK/ TABLET WANTED

This post is being typed on a smartphone. I long for a laptop with tablet capabilities. I have seen them in video of the Consumer Electronics Show recently.

TEST POST

http://bible.us/59/HOS7.10.ESV The pride of Israel testifies to his face; yet they do not return to the Lord their God, nor seek him, for all this. Bible.com/app

MY FIRST DROID-BASED BLOG POST

What fun it is to type with one finger (the right index)! I figure if I can post content this way, then the cloud is the limit!

Don't expect lengthy posts from my Droid Razor M. Look for me on Facebook, LinkedIn, and other fine social media.

STRONG MEDICINE FROM DR. JOEL WALLACH

"Dead Doctors Don't Lie." This doctor won't either.

TWEET BLOG

Perhaps mine is a simple-minded blog. Perhaps it is not as verbose and eloquent as others. Perhaps it is an exercise in narcissism. Or not.

NORTH KOREA PRISON CAMPS

As a follow up to my last post, I want to post a video I just watched called, "Kimjongilia: North Korea Prison Camps."

It is a very well-made video about several people who escaped (and lived) to tell their stories of life (and death) in North Korea, particularly in prison camps. Not graphic or gratuitous, it is a family-friendly presentation of something that only exists in our free world worst nightmares.

North Korea, tragically, bears the legacy of Joseph Stalin, the monster who ruled over the deaths of 60 million Russians of all stripes and sizes. My statistics may be off, but not by much.

Pick your tyrant. YouTube is full of videos about their vicious, brutal, and diabolical reigns of terror. Can we not do anything to stop them?

TIANANMEN SQUARE MASSACRE OF 1989

In lieu of posting this on Facebook, I am posting this video about the 1989 Tiananmen Square Massacre by the Communist Chinese People's Liberation Army (PLA) of tens of thousands of college students, professors, and a myriad other occupations represented during the movement.

It is graphic, and should be viewed after consideration that these images were not allowed to be shown to the Chinese people, purportedly. They obviously survived that ban, and are shown here in all their gruesomeness and detail.

Think long and hard about supporting communism in any form. A lengthy viewing of video documentaries on Stalin and Mao Tse Tung has taught me, or reminded me, that Satan is alive and well in this world. Witness his handiwork.

In spite of that, Jesus is Lord. His Word (the Bible) explains everything.

NEW YEAR, NEW LOOK

Remember this? My old header background image for this blog.

SAME BLOG.

Oh, that was obvious! I digress.

Happy New Year!

Like my new look for WW? Hope so. It's staying for now.

Same "great" blog (IMHO). Same idiosyncratic ads in the sidebar. Same robo-comments for me to moderate into the circular cyber-file. I only keep human ones...

I will try to use more images in my posts in the coming year (2013). That should attract more right-sides-of-the-brains out there in the blogosphere. It certainly would help attract mine!

So now is the time for me to select an image from my desktop dinosaur-- I mean, PC. There. Done. I like it... for now.

Comments?

AND THE GOD OF THIS WORLD IS...

... Jesus Christ!

Any questions?

One good purpose for blogging is to bookmark articles which make an impact on you and me.

Today's bookmark is Garrett Paul Parrish's article on "The God of This World" at BibleProphecyFulfilled.org

Although I am puzzled by his translation of kosmos as "age" in John 12:31, I do agree with his conclusion that:

• Satan was the god of that world (during the time of Old Covenant Israel), and 

• Christ is the God of this world (New Eternal Covenant Israel, i.e., believers).

The Apostle Paul referred to Satan as "the god of this world (kosmos)" during the transitional 40-year period -- from Jesus' crucifixion to the destruction of the Old Covenant in 70 A.D. He should not, however, be confused with the God of Israel! Context, context, context.

Now, we look back and see who the god of that world was: Satan.

But today we know that Christ is King, the God of this world!

Preterist Newbie Disclaimer: 
If I am wrong in explaining or understanding my position, which I am clumsily defining all the time, I apologize. Heresy is not my goal.

CHEM TRAILS IN THE SOUTHWEST SKY

Looking SW from my home. You can see multiple
chem trails below the diagonal one with its shadow.
 

Okay. It's time to blog for "fun."

Several weeks ago, I snapped a few pics of some chem trails across my afternoon sky (the "my" is figurative).

Having watched a YouTube video on chem trails, I was angry that these menacing lines of poisonous aluminum powder and other various toxins, which are intended to control weather patterns, but are harmful to all of life continue to paint our God-given skies. See the video for interviews with scientists who have been studying the long-term effects of plant life exposure in California and Hawaii.

I did what any good activist would do. I grabbed my (dad's) camera!

Here is another one.

See the dissipated ones at the top? I am pretty sure
natural cloud formations are not straight lines.

Had enough conspiracy theory for one day?

All I can say is, if the evidence is true and the video is truthful, we are sitting ducks in season.

Start quacking!

SINGING THE JOBLESS BLUES

Today's "issue" of faith and life is unemployment. I feel, after much deliberation with myself and others, that it's not my fault!!!

Whew! That was cathartic if not therapeutic.

I believe it even more, now that I have worked occasionally on a temporary basis, and come to realize that, as long as there was a long-term and large-scale demand for my services, such as they are, I had a job! Now, I am not so sure that demand for them will ever come back.

Perhaps blogging is therapeutic in that I may express, in just the "right" words, how devoid of real, practical hope I am of running a business successfully or getting a good job. All of the platitudes I tell myself as a response or reflex from all of the platitudes I was told by others that it's all up to me (really?), that it's my fault I am where I am (okay, I'll change today), and that this is the land of opportunity (is it shrinking, along with my abilities?). This is the same situation millions (dare I say billions) of people find themselves in. Not enough money at the end of the month.

Juice Plus, along with the other network marketing businesses out there that promise to deliver you (if you want it) from your financial mess, is my current diversion from the jobless blues. As with all other "businesses" I have started, this one will end on the ash heap of history. Not the company, mind you. Just me.

Well, I must commence groveling in self pity and will get back to you. Be well.

THE RAPTURE ACCOUNT

Well, intrepid readers of my blog, I have decided to use today's post as a workspace for research into the topic of why there seem to be no eyewitness accounts, outside of the New Testament of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, of the Rapture.

WHAT IS IT?

Perhaps I should define terms here. The Rapture is the Biblical doctrine that the saints of God living on the earth at the time of Jesus' coming again would be caught up, or "raptured," into the clouds "to meet the Lord in the air."(1 Thessalonians 4:17)

WHEN?

Were it not for the abundance of "time texts" in the New Testament spelling a "near" and "at hand" context for this event, i.e., the first century (or more explicitly, 70 A.D.), , we could rightly speculate a future coming in the clouds of our Lord Jesus with equal amounts of certitude and uncertainty.

I listened to RC Sproul just now about the Rapture of the Church. While it is not a soteriological mandate, i.e., salvation-at-risk issue, to believe one way or the other (at least, I do not think it is), heresy can be merely relative in nature.

By that, I mean Martin Luther was labeled a "heretic" for his anti-ecclesiastical, pro-Scripture stand. I wonder sometimes if we contemporary believers are doing the same thing by anathematizing (condemning) each other for differing opinions on what are popularly called future events.

I plead ignorance about the existence or lack of extra-Biblical sources describing the Rapture taking place in 70 A.D. I do know that an argument from silence is no argument at all. I would probably consult Josephus or others to help verify my tenuous position. I am a sinner, after all. 

AND FINALLY

Let us recall the theological category of eschatology, or "last things," as being the study of those things which the Bible describes as attending "the end of the age [not "world"]."

I am willing to be corrected as being "wrong," as long as I really am!

WHAT IS A BLOG?

A blog is a collection of Twitter tweets that ran too long, beyond 140 characters.

A blog is a place to vent, wax eloquent, or practice pontificating.

A blog is your own newspaper, magazine, and multimedia outlet for news and commentary.

A blog is a really edifying way to divert one's attention from the more pressing matters of the day, so that one may recharge one's "battery" and regain a renewed sense of re-everything!

Now go blog the day! Carpe bloggem.

I BLOG, THEREFORE I AM

Okay, so that is not a very inspired blog post title. I know. But then, I am not in a very inspired mood-- I guess.

Being unemployed is a double-edge sword, a mixed blessing.  You get the idea. Too much time to think about too many things. Perhaps it is a blessing in disguise. I choose to think it is.

Perhaps this blog is a prayer that someone else in the universe (including God Himself) will read what I wrote. God knows what I will say before I say it, as well as what I do not say! 

Praise God from Whom all blessings flow!
Praise Him all creatures here below!
Praise Him above ye Heavenly Host!
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost!

Having exhausted all means of distraction from the task of finding gainful employment, I turn to the only skill I enjoy, writing.

How may I turn a skill into a paycheck? Must I resort to relationship marketing of Juice Plus (which will probably not "sell" to my circle of friends)? 

Is this another self-absorbed screed about nothing? I think so.

Enough time killed. On to the next thing...?

EXPLOSIVE EVIDENCE

Time to get the word out about Architects and Engineers For 9/11 Truth.

Here is their full-length video: Explosive Evidence: Experts Speak Out

Watch it. I am!

THE 9/11 PROBLEM AND SOLUTION

The saddest part of 9/11 is not that "we were attacked," but that we were attacked from within.

And what started this philosophical tailspin into Conspiracy Theory Land? A reminder that evidence points to something our critical thinking should have alerted us to long ago, had our mass media not distracted us from its revelation:

"The 11th Anniversary of 9/11."

THE PROBLEM

Over a period of time, we schoolchildren were indoctrinated to think the same way, rather than educated to think for ourselves. Critical thinking skills is a buzzword I recall applying to the purpose of sitting in a classroom and taking notes by the ream.  I do not see those same skills being applied to what happened on September 11, 2011.

I am a patriot to the extent America does the right thing to its neighbors and to itself. I consider myself mature enough by the grace of God to look at the possibility that the USA is not a government always seeking the will of God.

I have been forced, figuratively, to watch "Loose Change," for example, a video chronicling the long-term, governmental, and financial conspiracy to orchestrate the destruction and subsequent overhaul of the powers-that-be. The purpose of that conspiracy continues to be to effect paradigm shift, sea change, and monetary gain.

Time will not permit me to exhaustively show my own journey of disbelief and persuasion that the "powers-that-be" made all of this happen. History bears witness that conspiracy is the name of the game. We common folk go about our business, while people more rich and powerful than we go about theirs. Yet somewhere, an evil bigger than ourselves is at work.

THE SOLUTION

God is bigger than evil. (1 John 4:4) There is "no contest."

To borrow a saying from John Politan:

"Prayer changes nothing. Prayer, plus humble obedience, changes everything."

I believe God allowed "9/11," just like He allowed "Pearl Harbor," and all other bad things happening to "good people." Can we rise to the challenge of overcoming evil with good?

God commands it.

"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good." (Romans 12:21) 

POST ELECTION

I purposely used the term "election" in a dual sense here: 1) the upcoming  primary election (which I already cast an early ballot for :) ; and 2) the election of God to save some but not all sinners (all of us).

I fully realize that today's post has absolutely nothing to do with the first meaning. But it has everything to do with the second.

Election is the call of God to choose sinners to be His people, the ones whom Jesus came to save. Are you one of them? I pray you are. Many will reject Him and His salvation.

"Many are called, but few are chosen." (Matthew 22:14)

The process is completely a work of grace.(Ephesians 2). We did nothing to earn, deserve, or merit salvation. But He offers it freely, and we must accept. Period.

Rejection is not a (good) option.

WHENCE ELECTION?

So we are left with the dilemma: how did we come to believe in election? The word itself is the English translation of the Hebrew word for "choice:" bachir.

"Behold my servant, whom I uphold, my chosen, in whom my soul delights." (Isaiah 42:1)

This is a Messianic reference to the Christ, Jesus of Nazareth. Interesting is the way God refers to His people using the same word, bachir ("chosen") in the very next occurence:

"For the sake of My servant Jacob, and Israel My chosen..." (Isaiah 45:4)

The first occurence of the word "choose" (bachar) used about God, to the best of my knowledge, is found in Numbers 16:5.

"The one whom He chooses, He will bring near to Him."

And,

"The man whom the LORD chooses shall be the holy one."(Numbers 16:7)

CHOSEN BY GOD

And just to beat a dead horse... dead, here is the more broad application of being chosen by God:

"For you are a people holy to the LORD your God. The LORD your God has chosen you to be a people for His treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth."(Deuteronomy 7:6)

 Sounds like God is in the business of "choosing" people, does it not? This is why we tremble at His Word, and thank Him for His grace. We need it. Anyone who will not see their need of God's grace is a "fool." (Psalm 14:1)

IT'S YOUR MOVE

The "freedom/bondage of the will" is a topic worth exploring separately. Suffice it to say, we all have a choice to make.

"Choose (bachir) this day whom you will serve."(Joshua 24:15)

ALL ISRAEL WILL BE SAVED

I did a search on this blog using my handy search box in the right side and found that I have not blogged about Romans 11:26... yet!

"And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:"

The futurist perspective is represented by the commentaries on Biblos.com, which I searched and found here.

The preterist perspective is represented on Eschatology.org, for example, by the article: "And So, All Israel Shall Be Saved! Romans 11:25-27."

Basically, there is a contrast between the two views because on the one hand, you have something to look forward to. On the other hand, you have something to look back on-- an historic event!

I regretfully admit the preterist view clears up all speculation as to the so-called "end of the world." It is also questionable in some circles whether there even is an end!

Worth thinking about and praying about.