THE END OF INNOCENCE

You may have seen recent references to Winnie the Pooh or the early version of Mickey Mouse, known almost a century ago as Steamboat Willie.  These cultural icons are making the news because they are soon to be (if not already) in the public domain.  This means that within certain guidelines or restrictions, people can use these caricatures for their own private purposes. Perhaps someone may wish to advertise their day care center or babysitting service with a cartoon of Winnie the Pooh.  Someone...

Nobody Loves Me

NOBODY LOVES ME

Valentine’s Day is tomorrow. On this occasion, people will be pledging their love to their husbands and wives, boyfriends and girlfriends and others with cards, candy and flowers. However, some people will not get a valentine this year. They feel like Lucy Moderatz in the movie “While You Were Sleeping.” Life seems to be passing them by. They wonder if they will ever find true happiness with a significant other. They also must wonder why it hasn’t happened to them...

48,000 B.C.

48,000 B.C.

Comet C/2022 E3 (ZTF) was visible from the Northern Lattitudes last night and Tuesday night as well, though the waxing gibbous moon may have made it more difficult to locate. It was particularly interesting because of its green tint. According to Time magazine, “Comets flare green when they carry diatomic carbon—two-atom carbon molecules—which reacts with the sun’s outgassing particles, the solar wind.” Because it passed so close to the sun, the color was more vivid than it might have been...

Teamwork

TEAMWORK!

I get occasional inspiration for my blog watching sermons from Christ Fellowship in McKinney, TX which is about 1,500 miles from where I live now. My wife Deena and I used to attend there just before and after we got married before we moved to our present location. We watch their services on Sundays when we can. Today, the message was about wittnessing to our families, our co-workers, and the people we encounter on any given day. Using selected Bible...

New wine

NEW WINE

Wine has been a household staple since the days of Noah and likely long before his days as well.  Because some Biblical characters (including Noah) abused wine while others drank it in moderation, especially to celebrate special occasions, the Bible both commends (Psalm 104:15; Isaiah 65:8; John 2:1ff) and condemns (e.g. Genesis 9:21ff; Isaiah 28:7.; Joel 1:5-6; Micah 2:11) the use of wine.  However, wine was used in the Old Testament in the worship of God (as a drink offering)...

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

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...

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