admin's

Posts

Superstition

SUPERSTITION

Most people today understand that the Middle Ages were sometimes called the Dark Ages, because with the exception of some monasteries and later the emergence of universities, learning in Europe ceased around the time of the fall of Rome.  In the absence of the scientific method and the rational approaches to discovery that we have today to explain causal relationships, covariation, etc. people turned to empiricism and fortune telling to bring order to their lives and while this period was...

Dungeons and dragons

OF DUNGEONS & DRAGONS

  • January 10, 2023
  • /
  • Faith

I want to begin a very difficult but important essay to introduce the topic of spiritual warfare. It’s difficult because there is not an abundance of detailed information on the topic in Scripture (though what we do have is both necessary and sufficient.)  Nevertheless, you always need to be careful concerning what conclusions you draw and the devil will always seek to mislead you.  Any information other than what’s in the Bible is anecdotal at best, whether it comes from a...

Fruits of the Spirit

FRUITS OF THE SPIRIT

The apostle Paul in his letter to the church in Galatia speaks of the fruits of the Spirit as follows: “But the fruit (karpos) of the Spirit is love (agapē), joy (chara), peace (eirēnē), forbearance (makrothumia), kindness (chrēstotēs), goodness (agathōsynē), faithfulness (pistis), gentleness (prautēs),and self-control (enkrateia). Against such things there is no law.” Galatians 5:22, 23. Just as there are gifts of the Holy Spirit, some natural such as teaching and some supernatural such as prophesy, there are also fruits of...

Lamentations

LAMENTATIONS

This past week, my wife and I watched almost every vote in the U.S. House of Representatives.  I’m a political scientist by training and she is an equally concerned and informed citizen. And, we are both educators.  Both of us love our country.  We each unselfishly gave more than twenty years of our lives in service to America during our careers.  The spectacle that we saw unfold in the House of Representatives last week, and the changes to the House Rules, concern us both,...

2023: What will the new year bring?

2023: WHAT WILL THE NEW YEAR BRING?!!

The first time January 1 marked the beginning of a year was in 45 B.C. as the Julian calendar took effect. January was named for the Roman god Janus who represented, in part, new beginnings and the end to old ways. Prior to that, March was the first month of the new year for Romans, named after the Roman god of war. So, it appeared more seemly to begin a year without a reference to war. Janus is represented as...

SARS-COV-2 (COVID-19) NEWS THREAD

When I launched this thread last May, Delta was just beginning to explore and infiltrate our communities. The vaccination rates were still climbing and many people–myself included–hoped we were out of the woods. But then the new case rate and the mortality rates climbed while the vaccination rates reached a plateau. Now, some epidemiologists are predicting another year or two of the pandemic. Note that I use the term “epidemiologist” and not “radiologist” or “opthamologist.” Doctors such as radiologists and...

Empty vessels

EMPTY VESSELS

  • December 24, 2022
  • /
  • Faith

Closely examine the featured photo for a minute. There are about two dozen jars or vases. Just as people are, they are different sizes, shapes, colors, no doubt crafted for different purposes. But what good is an empty vessel? Why buy a crib or cradle for your home if you do not plan to have a baby? Why have photo albums without photos, or a spice rack in your kitchen without spices? And then, what do you put in these...

THE ROAD HOME

  • November 17, 2022
  • /
  • Faith

Bifröst is a curious word that fans of Marvel comics and Norse mythology are no doubt familiar with. In Norse legends, Bifröst refers to the bridge that connects Asgard with Midgard. Midgard refers to Earth and the realm of men, while Asgard was comparable to Olympus, the home of the Greek gods. Asgard had many realms including Valhalla, Thrudheim and Breidablik. In these realms lived Thor and the other gods, including those mortals slain in battle (i.e., the honored, righteous dead.) To...

WE’RE ALL MAD HERE!!!

Lewis Carroll once wrote about a topsy-turvy world called “Wonderland,” where critical thinking, sanity, societal norms and human decency were in short supply. Alice was a young, naive, impressionable girl who one fine day curiously followed a strangely adorned white rabbit down its hole and from that point on, she seemed completely disoriented and lost her bearings. There, in Wonderland, she met such strange creatures as the Mad Hatter, the Queen of Hearts and Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum. She...

Has the next world war already begun?

HAS THE NEXT WORLD WAR ALREADY BEGUN?

Many of us are following the news from Ukraine. Routinely, it is pushed aside by reports of devastating hurricanes, wildfires, drought, rampant crime, inflation, and so on. Most Americans are likely aware that Russia invaded Ukraine last February. Americans also know that the U.S. and our allies are sending massive amounts of aid to Ukraine, both in humanitarian and in military assistance. The fact that Russia has repeatedly reminded the West that Russia has nuclear weapons in its arsenal which...

Verified by MonsterInsights