Non-Absolute Veritas

Harvard University was one of the first founded in the USA. It's motto was (past tense)

Veritas Christio et Ecclesiae

But now it is the short version. It is simply

Veritas

One says "Truth for Christ and the Church" The other only says "Truth"

Hmmm? What happened ? Did Truth become subjective ? The crest also had one of the books turned down. It symbolized that mans knowledge is limited.

Now all the books are all turned up. I guess time changes Truth huh?

Maybe this should be their crest now ?

Nine Inch Folly

Trent Rexnor of the band, Nine Inch Nails, has said something pretty profound. He said,

"The biggest revelation I've had about my own life is that I've done everything I've ever wanted to do, and I'm still pretty miserable."

Well duh...
Jesus said

"If you will loose your life, you will save it. If you save your life, you will loose it"

Success in life comes from self denial not self fulfillment. Life only has meaning in Christ Jesus.

Mexican Flag Flies In USA

In two stories today the Mexican flag is flying in the US. Of course, this is Drudge report stuff.
Yet the thought just doesn't sit right with me. Yes, I know that Swedish and Norwegian flags fly all over Minnesota but I just don't like the trend of illegals coming the US and exulting their nation. Come legally and put up your flag. But when you come illegally you should lay a little low.

Maybe it is because of the border battles that have gone on with Mexico over the centuries. I think that some of them actually believe that the Southwestern US actually belongs to Mexico.
That they have a right to the land. A land developed by non-Mexicans.

Actually, the Mexicans are needed here in the USA. We have killed our next generation through abortion and do not have enough worker bees to care for the nation and the elderly anymore. For a season, the immigration department allowed almost unlimited immigration from Islamic countries. That is now coming to an end. But we still need workers.

I actually think that the border is so wide open that it must be on purpose. It is a way of solving the Social Security crisis, the cheap labor crisis, and repopulating our inner cities.
But to fly the Mexican flag at US schools is a little too much.

Read about it here. And here.

C.S. Lewis Quote

"The opposite of love is not hate, it is power" CS Lewis

New Stadium News

The University of Minnesota has come up with a creative way to get football back on campus and outdoors once again. Every great university needs to have its own $249 million dollar football stadium, doesn’t it? Of course it does! Well, letting TCF bank put its logo on the front is only one way to skin this cat. And TCF is only good for $35 million.

The U received some “environmentally sensitive land” from the federal government a few years back in 1947. It is along the Vermillion River near Rosemount. The state government needs nature trails and parks in order to save the earth so the U worked out a trade. The state government gives the U of MN $9.4 million a year for 25 years ($235 million) and then the state will own the land! Now that is creative financing.

First a state institution owns some land and then it sells it to the state to raise the money for the new stadium. Hmmm? And it doesn’t cost the taxpayers one thin dime. Right? I mean it won’t cost us taxpayers anything right? Because the university raised the money on its own, right?

And as a special bonus for the students, because of this good news of creative funding, the taxpayer’s portion will be increased by 10% and this will mean that the students only have to pay $25 a year instead of $50 (even if they don’t like football)

Hmmm? The taxpayers were only going to have to come up with 40% of the money needed. Now they are going to only have to pay 50% to help the students out. That’s ok isn’t it? Everyone knows students don’t have much money.

I guess the other 50% will be paid by the university right? From stuff like, parking, game tickets, concessions, etc. Right? The U will just take the
$1,000,000 it raises in fees from the students and the other parking and stuff and pay for the stadium by itself and the taxpayers only have to pay 50%. Right?

Cause they have $9.4 million in new income coming in from their “sale” of the prime land they had. They sold it to who?

They sold it to the taxpayers of this state. So we can have a new park. I wonder if we could make the Metrodome into a park? How about the state capitol?

Read about it here.

US Finally, Cautiously Backs Afghan Christian

A 42 year old man in Afghanistan who converted from Islam to Christianity 16 years ago, is being tried under Sharia law which demands death for any Muslim who rejects Islam. So far, the US has said little or nothing about the trial. Now, finally, and probably because Italy has declared that it will withdraw its peace keeping troops if the Afghan government goes forward with this trial, the US is starting to take careful steps of questioning the government.

Germany has also indicated that they won't take this sitting down. They are threatening direct intervention. The man on trial converted to Christianity while on a 9 year stay in Germany. He returned to Afghanistan to recover two daughters in 2002. His father resisted this attempt and denounced his son as a convert and reported him to the police.

What insanity rules this land? Where is the US backbone ? Christians died to set Afghanistan free from it's own religious madness. Now we will say little or nothing about its barbaric laws? USA, get some guts.

Read more here.

Bird Flu Update

U.S. Interior Secretary Gale Norton said on Monday said that it was "increasingly likely" that bird flu would be detected in the United States as early as this year.

The bird flu would most likely be detected in Alaska before it reaches the US mainland.
This is simply the flu being detected in birds, not humans. There is no crossover to humans yet.
In order for humans to develop bird flu, there must be direct contact to infected birds and their debris.

Cat 5 Hurricane Hits NE Coast Of Australia

A cyclone (hurricane) named Larry smashed ashore Monday on the NE shore of Australia. It landed about 60 miles S of Claims. It was a Category 5 storm and packed winds of 180 MPH.

It leveled crops and caused extensive damage but nobody was killed and there were no serious injuries. The Australians took the cyclone seriously and were prepared.

Now the problem is that deadly snakes, spiders, and such are all out of their homes and seeking shelter also

Plant Life Gets "Knocked Out"

Plants are living things. When an Egyptian cotton leafworm eats the leaves of a lima bean plant, the natural voltage at the membranes of the plant’s cells changes in a matter of seconds. This is essentially a knock out of the electrical charge of that plant.

The voltage at the membrane drops from about -130 to -90 millivolts within seconds. This depolarisation spreads out quickly across the attacked leaf as the leafworm begins its meal. The leaf is "knocked out."

Just thought you might like to know.

Dean Johnson Lie Confirmed By Chief Justice

The Chief Justice of the Minnesota Supreme Court announced, after discussions with all of the other Supreme Court justices, "We have talked amongst ourselves and our former Chief Justice Kathleen Blatz and there was no conversation about the Defense of Marriage Act. It never happened."

This is clear evidence that Dean Johnson just bold faced lied to the group of pastors who came to see him and ask him about the "one man, one woman marriage" constitutional amendment proposal.

His outrage over them tape recording his conversation is really over the top. He is a public official, he was not speaking 'off the record', he was claiming inside information, and then he had the nerve to attack the clergy and proclaim them as not worthy of respect. Dean Johnson has lost all credibility.

One other possibility remains .... The Supreme Court could be lying.

Senate Majority Leader "Embellished "(Read Lied)

The DFL (Democrat, Farm, Labor) Minnesota Senate majority leader, Dean Johnson, admitted that he lied to a group of pastors, but he just couldn't bring himself to call it lying. He used the powder puff, we are all innocent here word, "embellished."

What he did was attempt to deceive a group of pastors from the New London and Spicer area who came to talk to him about the need for a constitutional amendment to define marriage as between one man and one women. He told them that he did not see this as necessary because the Supreme Court had informed him that they were not interested in overthrowing the current statute concerning marriage.

First, no responsible justice is going to prejudice him/her self by giving an opinion before it comes up. Second, Johnson was just trying to get the pastors to stop trying to get the amendment passed by saying it is not needed. Both are lies.

Politicians are a strange breed. They lie and call it embellishment. They aim to deceive the public to achieve their own agendas. They knowingly tell falsehoods to avoid having to deal with truth. And then this politician, Dean Johnson, gets mad because his public tape records him and exposes his lie.

He said that he has "no respect for professional clergy who conduct themselves in this manner"
Huh? They catch you in a lie trying to deceive them, and you say you have no respect for them? Am I missing something here?

Oh, I get it, the unprofessional conduct that the clergy was accused of was to tape record what you, a public servant, said. But without the tape recording, you would say that they were lying..... Go figure.

I have no respect for a professional political leader who lies. I think Johnson should sincerely apologize.

You can read more here.

Scientists Pinpoint Cause Of Alzheimer's

My mother did not know us in the last year of her life. You could get her to smile, but it was like getting a 1 year old child to smile. It was a very difficult time for us as a family. The decline was over a period of 6 years. The most traumatic times were at about 4 years when mom would from time to time not know where she was or what was going on. This would scare her and cause her anxiety.

But now the scientists at the U of MN and Johns Hopkins have closed in on the pinpoint cause of memory loss. A cure cannot be far behind.

This tragedy will soon be over in the lives of millions of families facing the loss of their loved ones. Praise the Lord !

You can read more here.

"Baby Boxes" Save Lives

This is from the British Medical Journal online.

Italy introduces “baby boxes” to save lives of abandoned newborns

Rome Clare Chapman


Special boxes that allow mothers to abandon their newborn babies with no questions asked have now spread from Germany and Hungary to Italy.

Germany and Hungary introduced such boxes in separate but similar initiatives about five years ago to help prevent dozens of deaths of newborn babies abandoned on the streets.

The boxes are the high tech, modern equivalent of the old medieval foundling wheels operated by orphanages in Padua from the 1400s until 1888. The wheels were a circular wooden board half inside and half outside the orphanages run by nuns. Mothers placed their unwanted newborns on the board and rang a bell, and the nuns would spin the board to find the child.

The modern incubators, dubbed the baby post boxes by the European media, are installed in hospitals and can be opened from the inside or outside, much like bank deposit boxes.

Christians have been taking in unwanted babies now for 2000 years. It is good to see that the hospitals are willing to do this sort of thing in Italy, Germany, and Hungary.

This Is My Theological View

Well,
I scored in a little of everything here. But Holiness /Wesleyan is the background teaching of the Pentecostal movement so that is correct. Fundamentalist is my Baptist background. Reformed Evangelical is from my theological studies. The rest of my scores are probably reflections of my specific understanding of God's word. Not necessarily from any denominational mind set. Interesting.

You scored as Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan. You are an evangelical in the Wesleyan tradition. You believe that God's grace enables you to choose to believe in him, even though you yourself are totally depraved. The gift of the Holy Spirit gives you assurance of your salvation, and he also enables you to live the life of obedience to which God has called us. You are influenced heavily by John Wesley and the Methodists.

Evangelical Holiness/Wesleyan
82%
Fundamentalist
79%
Reformed Evangelical
71%
Charismatic/Pentecostal
68%
Neo orthodox
64%
Emergent/Postmodern
54%
Classical Liberal
50%
Roman Catholic
32%
Modern Liberal
14%
What's your theological worldview?
created with QuizFarm.com

What Is Your Theological View ?

Now that you know for sure that you are not a heretic after taking the test 3 days ago, you can now find out what kind of denominational thinking lurks deep within your thinking process.
You can take this test and see what denominational background you are coming from.
Let's see how you all do on this one.
Let me know how you turn out.
I will post my results tomorrow.

Take the test here.

Who is Training the Next Generation?

Why We Must Break the Cycle of Apathy and Indifference
by Dr. Jeff Myers

Last year I was gathering information about the history of
leadership for my class at Bryan College and came across a few
facts about how Constantinople fell to the Muslim invaders in
the 1400s. My question was this: how could the strongest city
in the world--spiritually, economically, culturally, and
militarily--come to the point of collapse?

Through research the pieces fell in place and a chilling
picture emerged of parents who chose to let someone else
"pass the baton" to their young.

In the 1400s a weakened Christian culture found itself under
constant attack by a growing Muslim culture. As Amurath I,
ruler of the Ottoman Empire, conquered more and more
territory, he decided that if one-fifth of the spoils of
battle were the Emperor's share, he should also have a right
to one-fifth of the captives.

Amurath instructed his troops to choose the smartest and
strongest of the sons of Christian families he had captured.
These boys--as young as seven years of age--underwent training
in everything from agriculture to statesmanship.

Many Christian parents voluntarily turned their sons over,
treating such slavery as a "scholarship" that would guarantee
food, supervision, and education to their children.

What they didn't seem to realize--or just ignored--was that
the young men were being indoctrinated in a fanatical ideology
and shaped into a brutal fighting force. They were called the
Janizaries.

Over time, the power of the Ottoman Empire grew, while that of
eastern Christianity declined. In 1453, hordes of Muslim
Ottoman Turks surrounded Constantinople, the seat of the
Eastern church.

Sultan Mehmet II, a ruthless and shrewd commander just 23
years old, led the siege with 100,000 troops, including 70,000
trained infantry and cavalry, 20,000 skirmishers known for
their love of raping and looting, and 10,000 Janizaries.

A mere 7,000 troops rallied to the defense of Constantinople.
They were well trained and desperate to protect their families,
but weeks of pounding attacks made Mehmet's victory inevitable.

Just as the exhausted defenders steeled themselves for Mehmet's
final onslaught, they were frozen by the blood-curdling screams
of thousands of young voices: Mehmet had unleashed the elite
Janizaries. These young warriors swarmed against the walls,
found a breach and charged through, wreaking havoc and slaughter.

The Janizaries had no idea--or didn't care--that their swords
were drenched with the blood of their own families.

Someone will train the next generation. The question is who,
and for what purposes.

This is primarily a call to parents, since God holds parents--
not the government, not schools, not the church--accountable
for the raising of their children.

But it is also a call to those to whom parents sometimes
delegate this responsibility--pastors and teachers--and to
the body of Christ, the community of faith that comes along-
side young people to demonstrate the wisdom of living a
godly life.

Passing the baton of faithfulness is the most important thing
one generation can do for the next generation.

Monophysitism

Monophysitism

Monophysitism is an error concerning the nature of Christ that asserts Jesus had only one nature, not two as is taught in the correct doctrine of the hypostatic union: Jesus is both God and man in one person. In monophysitism, the single nature was divine, not human. It is sometimes referred to as Eutychianism, after Eutyches 378-452, but there are slight differences. Monophysitism arose out of a reaction against Nestorianism which taught Jesus was two distinct persons instead of one. Its roots can even be traced back to Apollinarianism which taught that the divine nature of Christ overtook and replaced the human one.
Monophysitism was confined mainly to the Eastern church and had little influence in the West. In 451, the Council of Chalcedon attempted to establish a common ground between the monophysitists and the orthodox, but it did not work and divisions arose in the Eastern church which eventually excommunicated the monophysitists in the 6th century.
The denial of the human nature of Christ is a denial of the true incarnation of the Word as a man. Without a true incarnation there can be no atonement of sin for mankind since it was not then a true man who died for our sins.
It was condemned as heresy at the Sixth Ecumenical Council in 680-681.

Adoptionism

Adoptionism

Adoptionism is an error concerning Christ that first appeared in the second century. Those who held it denied the preexistence of Christ and, therefore, His deity. Adoptionists taught that Jesus was tested by God and after passing this test and upon His baptism, He was granted supernatural powers by God and adopted as the Son. As a reward for His great accomplishments and perfect character Jesus was raised from the dead and adopted into the Godhead.
This error arose out of an attempt by people to understand the two natures of Jesus. The scriptures tell us that Jesus is both God and man: "for Him dwells all the fullness of deity in bodily form," (Col. 2:9). This is known as the doctrine of the Hypostatic Union where in the one person of Christ, there are two natures: God and man.
Theodotus of Byzantium was the most prominent adherent to this error.
Adoptionism was condemned as a heresy by Pope Victor (A.D. 190-198).

8th Century revision

Adoptionism was later revived in the 8th Century in Spain by Elipandus, archbishop of Toledo, and Felix, bishop of Urgel. This was a variation of the first error but it held that Christ was the Son of God in respect to his divine nature, but that as a man, he was only adopted as the first born of God.
In 798 Pope Leo III held a council at Rome that condemned adoptionism as a heresy.

I Am Not A Heretic !

I am now quite disturbed as to how Nestorianism has crept into my life. But, at least I am not a heretic. I think Aaron has it right in his comment on this test. He thinks the questions are worded cleverly to catch lazy thinkers (or something like that) I agree. I know what I believe and yet scored like this. You scored as Chalcedon compliant. You are Chalcedon compliant. Congratulations, you're not a heretic. You believe that Jesus is truly God and truly man and like us in every respect, apart from sin. Officially approved in 451. Chalcedon compliant 100% Nestorianism 67% Modalism 33% Adoptionist 33% Monophysitism 33% Pelagianism 33% Apollanarian 17% Monarchianism 0% Arianism 0% Docetism 0% Donatism 0% Albigensianism 0% Socinianism 0% Gnosticism 0% Are you a heretic? created with QuizFarm.com

Pelagianism

Pelagianism

Pelagianism derives its name from Pelagius who lived in the 5th century A.D. and was a teacher in Rome, though he was British by birth. It is a heresy dealing with the nature of man. Pelagius, whose family name was Morgan, taught that people had the ability to fulfill the commands of God by exercising the freedom of human will apart from the grace of God. He denied original sin, the doctrine that we have inherited a sinful nature from Adam. He said that Adam only hurt himself when he fell and all of his descendents were not affected by Adam's sin. Pelagius taught that a person is born with the same purity and moral abilities as Adam was when he was first made by God. He taught that people can choose God by the exercise of their free will and rational thought. God's grace, then, is merely an aid to help individuals come to Him.
Pelagianism fails to understand man's nature and weakness. We are by nature sinners (Eph. 2:3; Psalm 51:5). We all have sinned because sin entered the world through Adam: "Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned" (Rom. 5:12, NIV). Therefore, we are unable to do God's will (Rom. 6:16; 7:14). We were affected by the fall of Adam, contrary to what Pelagius taught.
Pelagius was condemned by the Ecumenical Council of Ephesus and excommunicated in 417 A.D. by Pope Innocent I.

Nestorianism

Nestorianism

Nestorianism is the error that Jesus is two distinct persons. The heresy is named after Nestorius, who was born in Syria and died in 451 AD, who advocated this doctrine. Nestorius was a monk who became the Patriarch of Constantinople and he repudiated the Marian title "Mother of God." He held that Mary was the mother of Christ only in respect to His humanity. The council of Ephesus was convened in 431 to address the issue and pronounced that Jesus was one person in two distinct and inseparable natures: divine and human.
Nestorius was deposed as Patriarch and sent to Antioch, then Arabia, and then Egypt. Nestorianism survived until around 1300.
The problem with Nestorianism is that it threatens the atonement. If Jesus is two persons, then which one died on the cross? If it was the "human person" then the atonement is not of divine quality and thereby insufficient to cleanse us of our sins.

Modalism

Modalism

Modalism is probably the most common theological error concerning the nature of God. It is a denial of the Trinity which states that God is a single person who, throughout biblical history, has revealed Himself in three modes, or forms. Thus, God is a single person who first manifested himself in the mode of the Father in Old Testament times. At the incarnation, the mode was the Son. After Jesus' ascension, the mode is the Holy Spirit. These modes are consecutive and never simultaneous. In other words, the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit never all exist at the same time, only one after another. Modalism denies the distinctiveness of the three persons in the Trinity even though it retains the divinity of Christ.
Present day groups that hold to forms of this error are the United Pentecostal and United Apostolic Churches. They deny the Trinity, teach that the name of God is Jesus, and require baptism for salvation. These modalist churches often accuse Trinitarians of teaching three gods. This is not what the Trinity is. The correct teaching of the Trinity is one God in three eternal coexistent persons: The Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

Are You A Heretic ?

Here's a great little quiz that will tell you what you believe and how you stand up to historic Christian doctrine. It is fun to take. You might be surprised by "error" in your thinking.

Take it and let me know the results. I will post my results tomorrow.

You can take the test here.

If They Built A City Without Abortion, Pornography, and Contraception, Would You Live There ?

Thomas S. Monaghan, the founder of Dominos Pizza, a devout Catholic, says he is going to build a city without abortion, pornography, and contraception among other upgrades. He intends to build this city in South West Florida. He has already broken ground on the project.

The charter of this town will be pretty unique in this day and age. It's name is going to be Ave Maria. At the center of the town will be a huge cathedral with a 100 ft. spire and a 65 ft. crucifix.

But the ACLU is on the way. The battle has begun to force these things on the people who elect not to have them.

Personally, I do not see how he can prevent pornography. I think those who want to access it will still access it. Also contraception and abortion is not a real problem for a city of retirees.

But the idea is still provocative. www.lifesite.net/ldn/2006/mar/06030303.html

More here.

Canada Begins Return To Sanity

One of the first things Canadas new conservative government has done is begun the proceedings to raise the age of sexual consent (now 14 years old !) to a more reasonable level. The proposed new age of sexual consent will be 16 years old. This is still very young for this day and age but is a good beginning.

You can read more here.

What In The World Is Holy?

A Barna survey shows that most American people have no idea what the concept of "holy" is. One out of five think that they are holy but most cannot give it a good definition. 73% think that a person can become holy, regardless of their past. 50% think they know someone who is holy.

The survey also asked the participants to define holy. 21% admitted that they could not do it. 19% said that it was being "Christ like." 18% said it is "making faith your top priority."

There is certainly a great need to give Americans a better understanding of the significance of holiness and why they should want it.

Here is the study.

20 Million Chinese Communist Party Members Now Attend Religious Services

God is deeply changing China. It is a peaceful and spiritual revolution. Over 20 million members of the Communist party in China have begun attending some sort of religious service. This is not a Christian observation. It is from a secret document from China's Department of Propaganda. They are working to stop the growth of spirituality among the Chinese. The document has been exposed by the Voice of the Martyrs.

As many as 20 million of the 60 million party members have rejected atheism and returned to some sort of religious worship. Many of these are Christians. Some have returned to Buddha. But this much is clear, atheism is on the decline.

Man has a natural need to acknowledge a higher existence than himself. You cannot suppress it forever. Read more about this here.