Deleting

I am deleting my wordpress account.

Abortion, God, Man, and the Gospel of Christ’s Atonement

The following is a slightly-altered response I made to someone on Facebook… concerning the topics of abortion, sin, the nature of God, and man’s need for a Savior.  I hope it is a blessing to those who read it.

I have heard the desires to make exceptions when it comes to abortion for cases of rape or incest.  However, there is still a fundamental issue:  There is a living human being inside of the mother, with DNA and a heartbeat distinct from the mother’s own.  Is rape a horrible crime and sin?  YES.  However, I think it is just as much of a crime/sin to slaughter the unborn child that results.  Truth be told, pregnancies resulting from rape are less common than those resulting from Tom and Linda not being able to keep it in their pants.  I would say the child deserves to live either way.  Adoption is always an option.  the 9 month journey is difficult, but having the blood of the innocent on the mother’s hands is far worse. 

“What about if the mother’s life is in danger and the mother will die?”  Well, I do not say that is an abortion.  That is worded wrong.  When that is the case, we do EVERYTHING we can to save both lives… and if in the process of saving the life of the mother we lose the child, we mourn for that child.  Also, many would just LIE and say they were raped to get permission to kill their child.  So yes, I am very anti-abortion and I support a constitutional amendment to ban it nation-wide.  Will there be back-ally abortions?  perhaps.  I think though far fewer women would go through with abortions KNOWING the risks of back-alley abortions… look at the jump abortions took when Roe passed… suddenly women who wouldn’t risk a back-ally one were now getting them.  the numbers would, likewise, drop if it was suddenly made illegal.  “People will still get them anyway.”  Yes, maybe… but people will ALWAYS break the law… people will speed and always go 10 miles over the limit, so let’s not have a limit.  People will always go ahead anyway and do meth… so let’s make meth legal.  it’s not the best argumentation.  BTW… I believe women (and EVERYONE) have rights.  I do not support some groups having SPECIAL rights or higher-priority rights.  Which is why I believe the unborn have a right to live.

Now… on to the issue of sin…

Would “God create something he wasn’t proud of?”  Well, no.  In the beginning, he did not create anything he was unproud of.  Every day of creation God said two things: “Let there be,” and “It is good.”  However, this was only in creating paradise for humanity to originally dwell in. There was no sin… no fall of man at this point.  There was no rape… there was no theft… there was no homosexuality… there was no murder.  There essentially was no creation of evil or sin.  Prior to man’s disobedience, it would seem he was not inclined to sin (I hesitate to say MORE about Adam’s nature prior to the fall… as Scripture is rather silent on this issue).  However since the fall, since man’s sin, his nature has been tainted since.  Man is not created basically good or neutral (as it could be argued Adam and Eve were)… but rather we are all born as sinful creatures… spiritually dead, as the Bible describes us (Eph 2:1-3, Col 2:13)… unable to do what is good.  We are, within us, plain bad (Gen 6:6:5-6, Gen 8:21, Psalm 51:5).

WAIT?  Am I saying something was created that was not created by God?  Not really.  Evil or sin is not a THING.  It isn’t really an object.  For more on this question “Did God create evil” I would direct you to a short article here: http://www.gotquestions.org/did-God-create-evil.html

What of us being made in the image of God? 

I would direct you to http://voxpopnetwork.com/vision/2008/04/20/image-god-loves/#more-64  It is a bit longer than the other link I sent, but it goes into the question of “What does it mean to be made in the image of God.”  It doesn’t mean we look physically like God.  Or that we are sinless in our current state.  What does it mean?  BRIEFLY…    

* Moral likenesses – decision-making power, dominion over lower creation, social ability, emotions, communication, etc.
* Non-moral likenesses – intellect/reason, immortal, spirit, ability to create, etc.

We have a moral likeness… we can make decisions, we have a conscience God gave us to understand basic ideas of right and wrong… we show love for others, etc.  Again, there are other ways, but it does not mean we never sin.  Remember, we are inclined to sin because of our human nature.  I would think it may be correct (don’t quote me on this) to say that while we are still in the image of God, that image has been stained up a bit by sin.

This brings me to something you said earlier:  “God created you, and you’re good.”  You think I am good?  lol  either 1) you don’t know me that well or 2) your standards of “good” are less than stellar and accurate (no offense). 

I used to think I was good, really.  Then I saw what it meant to be good.  And I am NOT a good person.  And I’m guessing, if you are anything like every human being, you aren’t doing so hot either. If we look at what it means to be good by God’s standards… I fall terribly short.  (I would encourage you to also examine yourself likewise in this exercise.)  Have I ever told a lie?  Heck yes.  Many times.  What do you call someone who lies?– a liar.  Have I ever stolen anything?  Yes.  Someone who steals things is called… a thief.  I’ve taken God’s name and used it as a cuss word… that’s blaspheme.  I’ve looked at someone with lust… in Matthew 5, God labels that as having committed adultery of the heart.  I’ve only gone through what… 4 of the 10 laws … and I’ve broken all of them.  I am not a good person.  I’m a lying, thieving, blasphemous adulterer at heart.  I’m a law breaker.  On the day of judgment, I would not be found innocent, I’d be found guilty.  I have broken the laws, and deserve to be punished and sent where law-breakers go:  Hell.  I utterly deserve Hell, because I sin against a Holy God. 

But the good news is this:  2,000 years ago God became a man–Jesus Christ, and provided himself as an atonement for the sin of man.  Jesus was the blood sacrifice that was needed to pay the penalty for sin.  God could not just look at me and simply say “You are forgiven, you are free to go to Heaven.”  This would not be just.  Imagine an earthly judge saying that to a man who raped and murdered a 10 year old girl… would that judge be a just judge?  no, he’d be corrupt!  Law breakers need to pay for the crimes they commit.  this is justice.  someone has to pay the debt our crimes against God demand– and Jesus Christ alone is that sufficient sacrifice.  He paid the debt so man need not pay the debt in Hell.  An eternity in Hell may SEEM to be unfair to us for sins committed in this finite life… but believe me, it only SEEMS that way.  It seems that way because we do not, in our sinful state, have the ability to comprehend how HOLY God is, and how HORRIBLE and wretched sin is. 

This work Christ paid on the cross to atone for sin is freely offered to ALL who repent–that is, turn from sin, and believe the good news of Christ, placing their trust/faith in his saving work.  Not mental agreement that Jesus died, but placing trust in the finished work of Christ.  If you jump out of a plane, you do not simply acknowledge the parachute exists… you place your trust in it and put it on.  Likewise, anyone who turns from their life of sin and “puts on”  the  work accomplished by Christ Jesus in his death and resurrection is “Born Again” (Jn 3:3). 

Also, it is of utter importance that Christ is the only way, truth and life.  no one comes to the Father but through Him (Jn 14:6).  There are not many paths… there is only one, paved by the blood of Christ, which covers sin and takes it away.

You may say you do not believe in a wrathful God.  However, God is a God of Wrath– Psalm 5:5, Rom 1:18, Rom 5:9, Eph 2:3.  He is a JUST God, and he must punish evildoers, otherwise he would not be just.  At the same time, God is a God of mercy, providing salvation through the finished work of Christ to all who will receive it.  This idea that is so prevalent in American Post-modern Christianity that “Jesus loves you JUST the way you are” is really wrong.  Does God love us?  Yes.  But it isn’t some pampering, God-will-wipe-our-butts-for-us-and-he-can’t-get-enough-of-us kind of love.  It is a perfecting love… a love that brings about the salvation of man, desiring man to be in right relationship with Him.  God is a God of Wrath.  And of Justice.  And of Mercy.  These are not contradictory, and are all attributes of God.  To cling to the Bible verse that says “God is love” while rejecting ALL other verses about the nature and attributes of the Holy God is irresponsible.  How is it we’d cling to the part about “love” but nothing else?

God has a common love and common grace for creation.  He gives us our breath, food to eat, water to drink, a place to lay our heads, etc.  He was responsible for you not getting hit by a bus today just before you logged into Facebook.  However, his specific love and mercies are only for those who repent and believe in the Savior’s work.
————————————-
I would say this though in closing:  have there been wars fought in the name of Christianity?  YES.  Have there been scandals by some men and women who claim to be His followers?  Yes.  This is a sad fact.  However, if some random person came up to me and kicked me in the gonads… and I asked WHY DID YOU DO THAT???  and they responded “because I love and obey [you, the reader]!”, EVEN THOUGH you do NOT know them at all, do not have a relationship with them, and they do not know anything about who you are…  Would it then be fair for me to say “I HATE [you, the reader]!”?  Surely not.  Likewise… don’t be quick to make a judgment on Jesus based upon the actions of some who CLAIM to be his followers.  Just a final thought.  Hope you made it to the end.  if you did, you get a prize.  This half-empty red pen i am looking at on my desk.  YAY! 

I hope your fall break is a safe one.   Thank you for indulging me in (hopefully) reading this.

<><

On God’s Sovereignty… (Categorized List)

The following… I would LOVE to say I came up with.  But alas, I did not.  It was compiled by another individual and made public on CalvinistCorner.com.  I hope to someday do an in-depth blog about the issue MYSELF… but right now, I am posting this more as… a resource… to others AND myself… on God’s sovereignty. 

From where I stand… the issue of Calvinism boils down to this question:  Is God sovereign, or is man?  If God is sovereign… is he not also sovereign in the salvation of man?  If man, not God, is the final determiner in salvation… then man’s “free will” has been made sovereign over God’s divine sovereign will.  Because in the Arminian view, if God wants man to be saved… but the man decides … “nah, I don’t want that”… then … will the person be saved?  Not from the Arminian mind-set.  Because after all, that view leads to a God who is unable to save unto himself a people he purchased on the cross of His own will… God must ask permission of the man to save him.  The potter asking the clay if it is okay to form him into a pot.  Unthinkable.

Again, here is the list…  I hope it proves useful to all who read.

 

THE SOVEREIGNTY OF GOD

1. God’s Sovereignty -
   1. God’s ability to do and accomplish His will -
      – God does whatever He pleases.
      1. Gen. 18:14, “Is anything too difficult for the Lord? At the appointed time I will return to you, at this time next year, and Sarah shall have a son.”
      2. Psalm 115:3, “But our God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases.“
      3. Psalm 135:6, “Whatever the Lord pleases, He does, In heaven and in earth, in the seas and in all deeps.”
      4. Isaiah 46:10, “Declaring the end from the beginning and from ancient times things which have not been done, saying, ‘My purpose will be established, and I will accomplish all My good pleasure’;”
      5. Jer. 32:27, “Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh; is anything too difficult for Me?”
      6. Dan. 4:35, “And all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, but He does according to His will in the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of earth; and no one can ward off His hand Or say to Him, ‘What hast Thou done?’”
      7. Matt. 19:26, “And looking upon them Jesus said to them, “With men this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”
      8. Luke 1:37, “For nothing will be impossible with God.”
   2. Chance occurrence -
      1. Prov. 16:33, “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the Lord.”
   3. Natural realm – sun, rain, birds, grass, hair. -
      1. Matt. 5:45, “in order that you may be sons of your Father who is in heaven; for He causes His sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.”
      2. Matt. 6:26, “Look at the birds of the air, that they do not sow, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not worth much more than they?”
      3. Matt. 6:30, “But if God so arrays the grass of the field, which is alive today and tomorrow is thrown into the furnace, will He not much more do so for you, O men of little faith?”
      4. Matt. 10:29, “Are not two sparrows sold for a cent? And yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.”
      5. Matt. 10:30, “But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
   4. Human History – nations, times, boundaries, people, -
      1. Acts 17:26, “and He made from one, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their appointed times, and the boundaries of their habitation,”
      2. Psalm 47:1-4, “O Clap your hands, all peoples; Shout to God with the voice of joy. ²For the Lord Most High is to be feared, a great King over all the earth. ³He subdues peoples under us, and nations under our feet. ⁴Hchooses our inheritance for us, The glory of Jacob whom He loves.”
      3. Psalm 33:10, “The Lord nullifies the counsel of the nations; He frustrates the plans of the peoples.”
   5. Human Birth – God grants offspring and descendents -
      1. Gen. 4:25, “And Adam had relations with his wife again; and she gave birth to a son, and named him Seth, for, she said, “God has appointed me another offspring in place of Abel; for Cain killed him.”
      2. Deut. 10:22, “Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons in all, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.”
      3. Ruth 4:13, “So Boaz took Ruth, and she became his wife, and he went in to her. And the Lord enabled her to conceive, and she gave birth to a son.”
   6. Human plans and accidents. -
      1. Exodus 21:12, “He who strikes a man so that he dies shall surely be put to death. ¹³“But if he did not lie in wait for him, but God let him fall into his hand, then I will appoint you a place to which he may flee.”
      2. James 4:13-15, “Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow, we shall go to such and such a city, and spend a year there and engage in business and make a profit.” ¹⁴Yet you do not know what your life will be like tomorrow. You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away. ¹⁵Instead, you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we shall live and also do this or that.”
   7. Good and ill from God -
      1. Lam. 3:37-38, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? ³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?”
   8. Health and prosperity -
      1. Exodus 4:11, “And the Lord said to him, “Who has made man’s mouth? Or who makes him dumb or deaf, or seeing or blind? Is it not I, the Lord?”
      2. Deut. 32:39, “See now that I, I am He, And there is no god besides Me; It is I who put to death and give life. I have wounded, and it is I who heal; And there is no one who can deliver from My hand.”
      3. 1 Sam. 2:6-7, “The Lord kills and makes alive; He brings down to Sheol and raises up. ⁷The Lord makes poor and rich; He brings low, He also exalts.”
      4. Ecc. 7:13-17, “Consider the work of God, For who is able to straighten what He has bent? ¹⁴In the day of prosperity be happy, But in the day of adversity consider— God has made the one as well as the other So that man may not discover anything that will be after him.”
      5. Isaiah 45:5-7, “I am the Lord, and there is no other; Besides Me there is no God. I will gird you, though you have not known Me; ⁶That men may know from the rising to the setting of the sun That there is no one besides Me. I am the Lord, and there is no other, ⁷The One forming light and creating darkness, Causing well-being and creating calamity; I am the Lord who does all these.”
      6. Lam. 3:37-38, “Who is there who speaks and it comes to pass, unless the Lord has commanded it? ³⁸Is it not from the mouth of the Most High that both good and ill go forth?”
      7. Amos 3:6-7, “If a trumpet is blown in a city will not the people tremble? If a calamity occurs in a city has not the Lord done it?”
2. What God desires; What God arranges -
   1. What God desires
      1. 1 Tim. 2:3-4, “This is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior, ⁴who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth,”
      2. 2 Pet. 3:9, “The Lord is not slow about His promise, as some count slowness, but is patient toward you, not wishing for any to perish but for all to come to repentance.”
      3. Luke 14:23, “And the master said to the slave, ‘Go out into the highways and along the hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled.”
      4. Heb. 3:7, “Therefore, just as the Holy Spirit says, “Today if you hear His voice, ⁸Do not harden your hearts as when they provoked Me, as in the day of trial in the wilderness.”
   2. What God arranges
      1. Rom. 11:8, “just as it is written, ‘God gave them a spirit of stupor, eyes to see not and ears to hear not, down to this very day.’”
      2. Mark 4:11-12, “And He was saying to them, “To you has been given the mystery of the kingdom of God; but those who are outside get everything in parables, ¹²in order that while seeing, they may see and not perceive; and while hearing, they may hear and not understand lest they return and be forgiven.”
      3. 2 Thess. 2:11, “And for this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they might believe what is false.”
      4. Rom. 9:18, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”
      5. Exodus 4:21, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”
         1. See also Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 11:10; 14:4 where God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
         2. Exodus 8:32, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.”
      6. Exodus 14:17, “And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.”
      7. Deut. 2:30, “But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.”
      8. 2 Chron. 25:20, “But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom.”
      9. Isaiah 6:10, “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”
      10. Rom. 9:18, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”
3. Human nature- Total Depravity -
   1. Jer. 17:9, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”
   2. Mark 7:21-23, “For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, ²²deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness. ²³“All these evil things proceed from within and defile the man.”
   3. John 3:19, “And this is the judgment, that the light is come into the world, and men loved the darkness rather than the light; for their deeds were evil.”
   4. John 8:34, “Jesus answered them, “Truly, truly, I say to you, everyone who commits sin is the slave of sin.”
   5. Rom. 3:10-12, “as it is written, “There is none righteous, not even one; ¹¹There is none who understands.  There is none who seeks for God; ¹²All have turned aside, together they have become useless; There is none who does good, There is not even one.”
   6. Rom. 5:6, “For while we were still helpless, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly.”
   7. Rom. 6:20, “For when you were slaves of sin, you were free in regard to righteousness.”
   8. Rom. 7:18, “For I know that nothing good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh; for the wishing is present in me, but the doing of the good is not.”
   9. Rom. 7:23, “but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind, and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members.”
   10. 1 Cor. 2:14, “But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
       1. 1 Cor. 2:1-5, Paul did not come by the power of human wisdom, but the power of the Holy Spirit.
       2. 1 Cor. 2:6-9, Paul speaks God’s wisdom which the world does not understand.
       3. 1 Cor. 2:10, The Spirit of God reveals the sacred and spiritual things of God.
       4. 1 Cor. 2:11-12, Christians have not received the spirit of the world, but the Spirit of God, which is why the Christians know the things freely given from God. 
       5. 1 Cor. 2:13-14, “which things we also speak, not in words taught by human wisdom, but in those taught by the Spirit, combining spiritual thoughts with spiritual words. ¹⁴But a natural man does not accept the things of the Spirit of God; for they are foolishness to him, and he cannot understand them, because they are spiritually appraised.”
          1. Therefore, 1 Cor. 2:14 is not saying that the natural man, the unregenerate person, cannot understand God’s wisdom, it is also saying that they cannot understand because they do not have the Spirit of God.  This means that the unsaved cannot understand spiritual things because they do not have the Spirit of God.
   11. Eph. 2:1, “And you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”
   12. Eph. 2:3, “Among whom also we all had our conversation in times past in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind; and were by nature the children of wrath, even as others.”
       1. In this verse “nature” is the Greek phusei.  It is the dative case (indirect object).  This means that the text is not saying that we are by nature children of wrath because we sin.  It is saying that we are by nature children of wrath.
   13. 1 Tim. 1:9, “Realizing the fact that law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers.”
4. Human freedom –
      — Libertarian freedom is the freedom to be able to equally choose good and bad in any given situation.
      — Compatibilist freedom is the freedom to act in accordance with our nature.
   1. Deut. 30:19, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants.”
   2. Josh. 24:15, “And if it is disagreeable in your sight to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves today whom you will serve: whether the gods which your fathers served which were beyond the River, or the gods of the Amorites in whose land you are living; but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”
5. God grants and works salvation in us -
   1. John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
      1. Being born again occurs not by the will of man, but of God.
   2. Acts 13:48, “And when the Gentiles heard this, they began rejoicing and glorifying the word of the Lord; and as many as had been appointed to eternal life believed.”
   3. Eph. 1:5, “He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”
   4. Eph. 1:11, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”
      1. Predestine is the Greek proorizo, it means…
         1. “to predetermine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity; to foreordain, appoint beforehand” (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
         2. “to destine or decree beforehand; foreordain,” (Webster’s New World Dictionary, 1986, p. 1121)
         3. “To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose,” (Webster’s Dictionary, 1828.)
   5. Phil. 1:29, “For to you it has been granted for Christ’s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.”
   6. 1 Thess. 5:9, “For God has not destined us for wrath, but for obtaining salvation through our Lord Jesus Christ.”
      1. “destined” is the Greek word “tithemei.”  It means, “to set, put, place; to make; to set, fix establish” (Enhanced Strong’s Lexicon, (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1995).
   7. 2 Thess. 2:13-14, “But we should always give thanks to God for you, brethren beloved by the Lord, because God has chosen you from the beginning for salvation through sanctification by the Spirit and faith in the truth. ¹⁴And it was for this He called you through our gospel, that you may gain the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
   8. John 10:25-26, “Jesus answered them, “I told you, and you do not believe; the works that I do in My Father’s name, these bear witness of Me. ²⁶“But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep. ²⁷“My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me;
      1. John 10:11, “I am the good shepherd; the good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep.”
   9. John 6:44, “No one can come to Me, unless the Father who sent Me draws him; and I will raise him up on the last day.”
   10. John 6:65, “And He was saying, “For this reason I have said to you, that no one can come to Me, unless it has been granted him from the Father.”
       1. If no one can come to God without the Father granting it to him, then the person is powerless to come to God of his own free will.
   11. Acts 16:14, “And a certain woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple fabrics, a worshiper of God, was listening; and the Lord opened her heart to respond to the things spoken by Paul.”
   12. Rom. 12:3, “For through the grace given to me I say to every man among you not to think more highly of himself than he ought to think; but to think so as to have sound judgment, as God has allotted to each a measure of faith.“
   13. 1 Pet. 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
   14. James 1:18, “In the exercise of His will He brought us forth by the word of truth, so that we might be, as it were, the first fruits among His creatures.”
6. God Predestines -
   1. Predestination
      1. Greek Proorizo, Strongs # 4309.  “to predetermine, decide beforehand; in the NT of God decreeing from eternity, to foreordain, appoint beforehand.”
      2. Proorizo, “which the NT uses only with God as subject, expresses the thought of appointing a situation for a person, or a person for a situation.” (The New Bible Dictionary, Wheaton, Illinois: Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., 1962.)
      3. Predestinate, “To predetermine or foreordain; to appoint or ordain beforehand by an unchangeable purpose,” (Websters Dictionary, 1828 edition.)
      4. Predestine, “To destine or decree beforehand; foreordain,” (Websters New World Dictionary, 1986 edition).
   2. Acts 4:27-28, “For truly in this city there were gathered together against Thy holy servant Jesus, whom Thou didst anoint, both Herod and Pontius Pilate, along with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, ²⁸to do whatever Thy hand and Thy purpose predestined to occur.”
   3. Rom. 8:29-30, “For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the first-born among many brethren; ³⁰and whom He predestined, these He also called; and whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.”
   4. 1 Cor. 2:6-7,  “Yet we do speak wisdom among those who are mature; a wisdom, however, not of this age, nor of the rulers of this age, who are passing away; ⁷but we speak God’s wisdom in a mystery, the hidden wisdom, which God predestined before the ages to our glory.”
   5. Eph. 1:4-5, “just as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love ⁵He predestined us to adoption as sons through Jesus Christ to Himself, according to the kind intention of His will.”
   6. Eph. 1:11, “also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will.”
7. God elects individuals -
   1. election is the Greek “eklektos.”  It is rendered as “elect” and “chosen.”  Strongs #1588.
   2. Matt. 22:14, “for many are called [kletos], but few are chosen [eklektos].”
      1. Kletos, “called, invited.”
   3. Matt. 22:24, “For false Christs and false prophets will arise and will show great signs and wonders, so as to mislead, if possible, even the elect [eklektos].”
   4. Matt. 22:31, “And He will send forth His angels with a great trumpet and they will gather together His elect [eklektos] from the four winds, from one end of the sky to the other.”
   5. Luke 18:7, “now shall not God bring about justice for His elect [eklektos], who cry to Him day and night, and will He delay long over them?”
   6. Rom. 8:33, “Who will bring a charge against God’s elect [eklektos]? God is the one who justifies;”
   7. Romans 16:13, “Greet Rufus, a choice [eklektos] man in the Lord, also his mother and mine.”
   8. Col. 3:12, “And so, as those who have been chosen [eklektos] of God, holy and beloved, put on a heart of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience;”
   9. 1 Tim. 5:21, “I solemnly charge you in the presence of God and of Christ Jesus and of His chosen [eklektos] angels, to maintain these principles without bias, doing nothing in a spirit of partiality.”
   10. 2 John 1, “The elder to the chosen [eklektos] lady and her children, whom I love in truth; and not only I, but also all who know the truth,”
   11. 3 John 13, “The children of your chosen [eklektos] sister greet you.”
8. God’s sovereignty over people’s hearts and lives
   1. God hardens people’s hearts –
      1. Exodus 4:21, “And the Lord said to Moses, ‘When you go back to Egypt see that you perform before Pharaoh all the wonders which I have put in your power; but I will harden his heart so that he will not let the people go.”
         1. See also Exodus 7:3; 9:12; 10:1; 11:10; 14:4 where God hardens Pharaoh’s heart.
         2. Exodus 8:32, “But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time also, and he did not let the people go.”
      2. Exodus 14:17, “And as for Me, behold, I will harden the hearts of the Egyptians so that they will go in after them; and I will be honored through Pharaoh and all his army, through his chariots and his horsemen.”
      3. Deut. 2:30, “But Sihon king of Heshbon was not willing for us to pass through his land; for the Lord your God hardened his spirit and made his heart obstinate, in order to deliver him into your hand, as he is today.”
      4. 2 Chron. 25:20, “But Amaziah would not listen, for it was from God, that He might deliver them into the hand of Joash because they had sought the gods of Edom.”
      5. Isaiah 6:10, “Render the hearts of this people insensitive, their ears dull, and their eyes dim, lest they see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts, and return and be healed.”
      6. Rom. 9:18, “So then He has mercy on whom He desires, and He hardens whom He desires.”
   2. God softens peoples’ hearts -
      1. Deut. 29:4, “Yet to this day the Lord has not given you a heart to know, nor eyes to see, nor ears to hear.”
      2. Jer. 24:7, “‘And I will give them a heart to know Me, for I am the Lord; and they will be My people, and I will be their God, for they will return to Me with their whole heart.”
   3. The Lord directs people’s paths -
      1. Jer. 10:23, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself; nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps.”
      2. Prov. 16:9, “The mind of man plans his way, but the Lord directs his steps.
      3. Gen. 45:8, “Now, therefore, it was not you who sent me here, but God; and He has made me a father to Pharaoh and lord of all his household and ruler over all the land of Egypt.” – (Joseph in Egypt – His brothers, therefore, were not free to kill Joseph)
      4. Isaiah 44:28, “It is I who says of Cyrus, ‘He is My shepherd! and he will perform all My desire.’ And he declares of Jerusalem, ‘She will be built,’ and of the temple, ‘Your foundation will be laid.’”
      5. 1 Sam. 10:9, “Then it happened when he turned his back to leave Samuel, God changed his heart; and all those signs came about on that day.”
      6. Prov. 21:1, “The king’s heart is like channels of water in the hand of the Lord. He turns it wherever He wishes.”
      7. Psalm 105:24-251, “And He caused His people to be very fruitful, and made them stronger than their adversaries. ²⁵He turned their heart to hate His people, to deal craftily with His servants.
      8. John 1:12-13, “But as many as received Him, to them He gave the right to become children of God, even to those who believe in His name, ¹³who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”
      9. Dan. 1:9, “Now God granted Daniel favor and compassion in the sight of the commander of the officials.”
      10. Rev. 17:17, “For God has put it in their hearts to execute His purpose by having a common purpose, and by giving their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God should be fulfilled.”
   4. Does God affect human choices? -
      1. 1 Pet. 1:3, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His great mercy has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead.”
9. Other -
   1. Miscellaneous Verses
      1. Prov. 16:4, “The Lord has made everything for its own purpose, even the wicked for the day of evil.”
      2. Rom. 9:22-23, “What if God, although willing to demonstrate His wrath and to make His power known, endured with much patience vessels of wrath prepared for destruction? ²³And He did so in order that He might make known the riches of His glory upon vessels of mercy, which He prepared beforehand for glory.”
   2. God Foreknows -
      1. Proginosko, 
      2. Acts 2:38, “this Man, delivered up by the predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to a cross by the hands of godless men and put Him to death.”
      3. 1 Pet. 1:1-2, “Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to those who reside as aliens, scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia, who are chosen ²according to the foreknowledge of God the Father, by the sanctifying work of the Spirit, that you may obey Jesus Christ and be sprinkled with His blood: May grace and peace be yours in fullest measure.”
      4. 1 Pet. 1:20, “For He [Christ] was foreknown before the foundation of the world, but has appeared in these last times for the sake of you.”
         1. KJV says, “Who verily was foreordained before the …. “
         2. If God looked into the future to see what choice would be made, then who did He foreknow the death of Christ?  Was it simply something that God looked to see if it would happen or not?  If so, then God is not sovereign.
   3. If God predestines us because he looks into the future to see if we will believe, then… -
      1. Then isn’t He predestining us because He is seeing in us something that is motivating Him to save us?  If our faith motivates God to save us, then it must have some merit in God’s eyes, otherwise it would not motivate God to save us.”
      2. Then God is looking into the future in order to learn.  This would violate His attribute of omniscience.  In other words, if God is looking into the future to see our choices, then this means God is constrained by time (otherwise He would not have to look into the future).  The truth is that God is omniscient and knows all things all the time.  He does not have to look anywhere, anytime to discover anything.  To say that He looks into the future to see who would pick Him and then He predestines them is to say that God essentially is learning and adapting to the knowledge He gains in His future looking.
   4. Questions -
      1. Is God’s will thwarted by human free will?
      2. Is God’s will limited by human free will?
      3. Can God fail at anything He intends to do?
         1. “God does not intend to bring about everything He values, but he never fails to bring about what He intends.” (John Frame)
      4. Is the human will somehow independent of all other influences so as to be truly free?
      5. Is the human will somehow independent of human motivations?
      6. If God does not influence a person’s will, so as to allow him total freedom of will, then how is it that God draws the person?  In other words, the drawing of a person is an influence upon the will.
      7. Does the human will have the ability to overcome various influences so as to make a neutral, objective decision?
      8. If God foreknows what someone will do in the future, is that person then free to change his mind or not?
      9. Is the “free-willer” using the doctrine of complete freedom of will as a paradigm into which God’s character and actions must fit?
   5. Logic -
      1. God creates the person, the will of the person, and the body of the person since God is the one who forms us in the womb (Isaiah 44:2,24; Ecc. 11:5), etc.
      2. Since God knows all things, a person’s free will is not outside God’s knowledge.
      3. God puts that person in a particular place and time.

End of the Semester & Baptism Beliefs

It has been quite a while since I’ve written a blog.  I’m thinking back to when I began college in August 2004… now it is December 2007, and I rarely update any of my blogs it seems.  So much is always going on, I rarely see a point to really do so any more.  ::sigh::

My classes are now at nears end.  I will say, the course I have enjoyed far more than any other course this semester is my Religion 320 course… Jesus of Nazareth, commonly called "The Historical Jesus" (as if the Jesus of biblical Christianity is different from the "historical figure" of Jesus… ha on the liberal university for trying to indoctrinate me to believe it is so).  Again, I think I mentioned this in a previous blog, I felt I am too conservative for the class.  Some of my peers, including one I thought to be a strong believing Christian when the course began in August, seem Hell-bent on proving error in the text and that Jesus couldn’t have done x, because it would have benefited the early Church to just claim he did x.  Dumb reason to doubt something, especially something about Christ.  Matthew even brought this up on the last day — that too much of "biblical scholarship" automatically beings with the premise that Jesus was ONLY a mere man, and was not divine.  If one begins at this starting point, then of course things like miracles, signs and wonders, and a resurrection would seem foolish fantasy.  But they are beginning with that bias and working with the text from there.  So do I, a Bible-believing Conservative Christian, go at the Bible from a bias myself?  Absolutely.  But for me, the burden of proof is that Jesus DIDN’T do x; I don’t feel the need to prove that he did do x, as it is recorded as such in the Cannon of Scripture.

Recently I have been beginning to study a bit about infant baptism.  I was baptized as a believer, and had a baby-dedication, not a baptism when I was a babe.  Well the evidence for adult baptism is all over the NT, but I had never really understood the rationale those who practiced paedobaptism used in doing so.  My brother introduced me to Dr. James White and his Alpha Omega Ministries earlier in the year, and just  recently got into it I guess you could say.  Recently I listened to a debate between Dr. White, a Reformed Baptist, and a Presbyterian on the issue of paedobaptism vs credobaptism.  And after hearing the evidence for each side, I will have to say that I do see more consistency on the side of the credobaptism argument.  Furthermore, recently I picked up a pamphlet entitled "A United Methodist Understanding of Baptism."  If the info in this pamphlet is correct and I am drawing the right conclusions… there are some major theological issues with the UMC’s understanding of baptism.  Eventually I’ll go through the pamphlet and point out the problems I have with their explanation of what baptism is and what it is meant to signify/do.

Eventually I will post more about this.  But I find the longer my posts are, the less people read them.    On another note though, I have been made an Administrator in the Facebook group "Joel Osteen Preaches A Different Gospel"!  Hooray!  So join that group if you get a chance.  It’s been loads of fun so far.  Yay!

<><

Witness without giving false witness.

Every day there is one podcast I must listen to. Now what this is has seemed to change frequently since the school year began. For a while I could not miss any of the Bible Answer Man (Hank is alright and has some good things to say, but I feel now I’ve heard the majority of what people call in about anyway). Then I was REALLY into John MacArthur’s morning show podcast as he was preaching a series on the Doctrines of Grace (election, Calvinism, predestination, etc). But for over a month now, my thirst is for the Way of the Master Radio podcast. The Way of the Master is an organization of sorts headed by Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron (yes… that actor from Growing Pains and the Left Behind films), whose radio show is hosted by Todd Friel. I was first introduced to Mr. Friel over the summer when I ran across a video of his on YouTube entitled “Response to Bullhorn Guy” (a response made to counter the crazy crap in Rob Bell’s Nooma video on a similar topic).

Anyway… the program really is well done and is aligned with solid biblical teachings along the lines of MacArthur, Piper, Washer, and others unafraid to speak the truth of God’s Holy Word. I really like WOTM Radio and how witnessing is presented — that is, you lovingly approach an individual and share with them God’s law (the 10 Commandments) and ask how their lives compare with God’s standard. After this, the example is to then share the gospel with the person, urging them to not just “ask God for forgiveness,” but to repent and believe the gospel. I only have one little problem with their model of witnessing– during these witnessing segments Todd or Ray will tell the person being witnessed to that “Jesus died for your sins.”

What is wrong with this? Well other than seeming very man-centered, it may not be the truth. What did Jesus do on the cross? Did he merely suffer FOR sin? Or did his death PAY THE PRICE for sin? It is because of Christ’s atoning sacrifice that we can have new life. His death actually paid the price for the sins I have committed.

The problem with telling someone who isn’t a Christian “Christ died for your sins,”… is that well… maybe he didn’t. I mean, we don’t know who is going to be saved and who won’t be. Why would this matter? Well, if Christ died for the sins of those persons who do not repent and believe the gospel… why would they end up in Hell? I mean, wouldn’t he have also died for the sin of unbelief?? And if he takes away our sins on the cross, why would they pay for their sins in Hell? God would be double-charging them for their sins… Christ would have first paid for it on the cross, and then the individual would have to pay for it for eternity in Hell. So after all, maybe Christ didn’t die for the sins of the person we are witnessing to.

HOW CAN WE WITNESS THEN?! Well… explaining that we are bound to sin, and that Christ paid the penalty for sin, and then asking the person if they would repent and believe. OR saying something like “Jesus paid the penalty that sin demands for all who will believe — will you repent and believe the gospel today?” After all, “this righteousness from God comes through faith in Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus” (Romans 3:22-24). Any who repent and believe the gospel as presented in the Holy Scriptures WILL be saved. It is given freely by God and not a result of works, so that no man may boast (Ephesians 2:8-9).

I think we can witness to people without spreading false witness.

<><

Hello world!

Welcome to WordPress.com. This is your first post. Edit or delete it and start blogging!

Poetry 303 and more on school

I actually am fairly frustrated with one of my classes.  The class is Poetry 303 and I feel… inhibited.  I do not know if that is really the best word, but I will try it out.  Anyway, the reason I am somewhat down is because the course is directed toward Poetry/creative writing majors or minors.  I am neither.  I had considered minoring in poetry, but recently I have decided that would be a bad idea.  It is not very marketable for me (being a Religious Studies major) AND I do not have the ability honestly.  I write — and this goes back to how I feel "inhibited" (for lack of a better term) by the course — I write really for myself.  I do write for other people to enjoy my work– devotions, theological discourses and defenses of the truth, AND occasionally poetry.  I use writing (or used to anyway… I really am going to start writing more) as an outlet for personal thoughts, and blogging for those thoughts I desire to make (on one level or another) public. 

But I go into this 300-level poetry class, and poetry is no longer about expression.  Apparently now it is about being cutting-edge, intrusive into my out psyche, and there cannot be ANY terms or phrases that have been previously used by other poets throughout history, otherwise it is cliché.  Okay.  I can only come up with so many comparisons that have never been realized on paper before.  Yes, there are some VERY creative writers in that class, but the trend of writing anymore seems to only allow for the gritty–profane language is frequent and a shock value in the topic is of great value to the instructor.  However I do not write about such things.  Even if I were to write about … say… a sin that is struggled with… writing a poem for the amusement and enjoyment of a class seems unclassy, dirty, and just out right inappropriate.  I have struggled in a course that I thought would be my easiest one all semester, that I do not even need for my major, and will not be needed for whatever minor I decide on!  Great frustration is upon me.

On a happier note, my courses seem to be going better this semester than before.  I am currently sitting on a B in my Music History class.  I received an 84% on my recent Philosophy exam (my previous was an 86%, but it is still a B); my Historical Jesus course … I am confident I am making a high B that can be easily transformed with a little effort into an A.  And Spanish?  Well… my first test I received an 86% or an 87%.  THIS TIME?  89%!!!  That’s a B+!  I am unsure though if my grade will remain a B+ though, as some wrong answers I had put down she later decided to accept them as right answers.  I am unsure if the two answers she is now counting as right (and will put points back into my test) will be enough to edge up my grade on the test from an 89% (B) to a 90% (A).  But I suppose I can hope!    KC even got a B on this test!  I am VERY VERY proud of her–she is showing GREAT improvement.  We aren’t done with the class yet though, and need to work even harder in this course.  But I am very thankful for the grades received on the test.  Praise God from whom all blessings flow!

Well that is all for now.  Later days.

<><

My iStory of my iPod(s)

Technorati Tags: life , iPod , technology , music

This past summer really was the Summer of iPod Hell… or maybe just iHell. I dunno. What I DO know is that currently right now Gabe is sitting there reading this, thinking "iPods suck." Well shut up. Hippie. Anyway. I have decided to recount the story of my iPod Hell. It actually goes back a ways back though…

I have wanted an iPod probably since I graduated High School. However my requests and begs to my parental units received a well-heard NO. This does not come as a surprise. I mean the cheapest iPods were between $250 (for 4 gig) and $300 (for 20 gig). I asked many a Christmas for one, but my parents used the (good in this case) excuse that if they got me one, they would have to get my older bro one as well. While I disagreed (hehe) I saw where they were coming from. So I went without one. Meanwhile many of my friends are already i-Fanatics… a roommate (Stephan) frequently flashes around his mini friend. Kim even receives a new iPod nano for Christmas ‘05 (though I had heard of horror stories involving nanos shattering upon being dropped, and had little interest in investing in such a device). And onward I looked… pod-less. I had even helped create a group on Facebook: "So what, I don’t have an iPod."
Let us fast forward to 2006. I had discovered my brother had used a Band grant to purchase a 5th gen 60 gig iPod for very cheap at the MSU bookstore… I was amazed and kind of jealous actually… but I kept my promise and didn’t rat. I knew mom and dad would find out sooner or later anyway.
That November, I was flipping through a Wal-Mart advertisement and i saw, on sale, an mp3 player… not an iPod, but a 2 gig none the less. I think the co$t was about $60 or $70. I then proceeded to email my parents telling them I knew I would not get an iPod for Christmas (as I had unsuccessfully asked for two years running), but that I had found this great deal on another mp3 player. Well… little did I know that my parents had just been in SAMS CLUB and seen a 2gen iPod nano on sale for only $130 or so. Now if I were my parents, I would have just gotten the nano and then seen my exclamation Christmas day as I opened it completely blindsided! However… my mother shot me an email TELLING ME that they were going to get me an iPod nano and asked me if that was ok. :-O I was shocked yes, but I was disappointed I already knew I was getting it!! ::sigh:: But I went on happy to receive the undeserved gift that Christmas morning. The first song I loaded on it? "Vertigo" by U2 of course. Duh.

My mom can’t understand how it can be so small and play music… she doesn’t even understand what an mp3 is! In actuality I realized (as had my brother) that the only way I was able to get an iPod for Christmas was because my bro had gotten one before me, thereby allowing my parents the justification to spend that money on me for a gift. That Christmas was an interesting one, as Nolan too had gotten an iPod for Christmas, and Jannah had purchased the very same silver 2gig herself the day after Christmas.
Back at school I was enjoying my lil silver iFriend… until sometime in April or May. I would often keep my iPod in my backpack, so I could listen to it while at the computer lab or going to work in the REL Dept. Anyway, one day I look in the back and it is not there. The earbuds were though. Hmmm. I will never know I suppose if someone stole it out of my backpack or if it just fell out one day as I was rushing to class. I prefer to believe the former… it makes me feel less stupid. Kind of. Anyway, I do not tell my parents about my lost iPod. I figure they have enough to worry about without a trinket of mine being gone. It was not easy though hiding the fact from them. My mom wanted to buy me a case for my nano… either a decorative or protective one. It took great effort of coming up with so many "oh that’s too expensive for one," "i don’t really like that design," "let’s look somewhere else mom," etc.
I had decided I needed to save up my money and purchase an iPod for myself without troubling my parents. I was hearing rumors of newer iPods coming out soon, but I just desired to get a higher-capacity iPod that could hold more than 2 gig. Sure, a 2 gig is better than a no-gig, but it had become very frustrating deciding which songs I would want to listen to and when. I had 20 gig of music. I wanted to at least be able to hold 4 gig at a time. Similarly my mac-friend Colleen was looking for an iPod for her journey to Japan. She was traveling to do mission work and wanted to have her music collection with her on the plane and while she was there. She told me that she had gone to a street-side records and found and purchased a 20 gig 4th gen iPod for $200 + a $50 rebate!! 20 gig for $150 (after rebate)… when a new iPod nano that holds only 2 gigs is the same price! I was hoping too to get a good deal. I went on eBay searching for a good deal on a 4 gig or maybe an 8 gig nano, when Colleen one night suggested I look for deals on 20 gig iPods. I heeded her advice and actually found a pretty darn good deal… a power-seller was offering a refurbished 30 gig iPod photo (4th gen that was in color and could store pics) for only $155 with tax!!

Wow. I explained the situation to my less-than-happy father, and got him to order it for me after I gave him the cash to do so. He ordered it for me, and it arrived a week or so later while I was in Farmington visiting Kacey. I instructed my dad how to sync it up to my computer so it would download music and be ready for me upon my arrival home.

I got home from my weekend in Farmington expecting to play with my new iPod… this did not happen. My father went on to tell me it had crashed multiple times the day previous on its own. We had to purchase an external power supply as it had been restarted. After a few days we found one and got my iPod going great. yay! 30 gig was enough to store all of my music on… though it was 2/3 full or so. But one day at work I went to turn it back on as I was finishing up my job for the day… and it crashed. Complete crash, not even able to be restarted. I wanted a refund, but my dad decided to just exchange it for another iPod from this fellow. By this time I had learned the Apple Store online was selling a refurbished 30 gig 5.5 gen able to play videos… and was hoping to upgrade for the extra $25 or so. But we sent the broken one in and waited for the replacement. And waited. And waited waited. waited. FINALLY it arrived. But the back? said 20 gig. ?!?! I plugged it in and sure enough it was a 30 gig, but I suffered a minor heart attack I think. It seemed to work well and the case was in better condition than the previous one had been.
Everything seemed dandy with this one… but one night at work I was listening to a Podcast from John Pipper and I discovered some problems. I went to turn the volume up… the player paused. I would turn it down, it paused. the biggest problem came when I sat it down on the table (gently mind you) and it turned OFF!! WHAT?! Yeah… less than happy. This guy from eBay was continually giving us crap. This particular problem did not occur much after, but it would skip randomly or pause from time to time. I had had it and decided to send it back to Mr. eBay seller man. Problem: he claimed he could not refund us as the refund policy only extends the first month. I quickly reminded him that from the time the package arrived at my location until the day we were emailing him had been less than 30 days. He reluctantly decided to take it back… but was still charging us the 15% re-stocking fee. Imagine that… he was going to restock a broken iPod. Fun. Later on I would look at his rating from customers on eBay… those buying phones from him seem pleased. Another customer though had purchased an iPod, received a broken one, and too was upset with the seller when he demanded a 15% restock fee. The seller could only say "READ THE AGREEMENT. IT CLEARLY SAYS 15% FEE." Yeah… that justifies you selling bad iPods to people… psssshhhh… Kacey never could figure out why I was purchasing a high-end electronic such as an iPod from eBay. She knew it was a bad move. Good for her. I wish I was so wise in this area.
Meanwhile, the new iPod classics were shipping… the 80 gig had been brought down in price to $249, and I was hoping I could afford it. However just as I was deciding to send my buggy iPod back to eBay, my friend Jackie IMed me out of the blue asking if I still was in need of an iPod. She proceeded to tell me that she was purchasing an iPhone and wanted to unload her iPod for cheap and decided to offer it to me first. It was a black 5.5 gen 80 gig… still under warranty. Price? ONLY $200! WOW! Pretty good deal. So I told her that YES I was going to purchase it…only to have her retract her offer as she was going to opt-out of the iPhone.

So I proceeded to purchase the iPod classic from the MSU bookstore. It actually took me an hour to decide if I was going to buy a black or silver (the white was discontinued) 80 gig, but I chose the silver. Part of the money would be paid in cash, the rest deferred. I justified that my dad had already given me permission to buy the 80 gig from Jackie for $200… and this was only (about) $50 more… SO I worked an extra weekend and earned the very $50 that would make up the difference. But I had my iPod.
Interestingly I rarely use it for music… I listen to more John MacArthur and Fox News Radio Updates Podcasts than anything else.
So that is my iPod story. Interestingly enough, I have a friend who may buy my iPod from me and pay full price for it to help me out (she says). Why would I do such a thing? Because I don’t know if I deserve an 80 gig iPod. This all started out with a 2 gig! Now Apple Store online also carries VERY cheap nanos… a 4 gig (originally $199 new) are only $99. 8 gig nano is only $149 (originally $249). I am considering these as an option if I DO sell my 80 gig. Sure I won’t have all my music with me. But I will be saving $100… that is a LOT to a college student you know.
Anyway… that is my iStory. if you are still reading now… wow. I’m impressed.
fin.

another thing… Kevin has a 4 gig blue nano… when we compared iPods he said he saw mine and proclaimed "I don’t want a big one like yours!" Yeah… that was interesting. Think about it a little. lol

When Disney Channel is no longer for children…

Disney is filth. I am sure many of my readers are thinking “duh we know this…” Yes… yearly they have Gay Week @ Disney World (which is not made public as to when it is… even though Six Flags makes Christian Weekends public)… Yes the cartoon The Proud Family is a left-winged racist show against whites… but what I discovered tonight was worse. A TV-G rated television show called “Life With Derek.”

What’s the problem? An episode entitled “Babe Raider.” The main character is seemingly offended that her family (a kind of brady-bunch mix of the father’s sons and the mother’s daughters) seems to be too “male dominant” and needs some feminine ideals put in place. Examples of this include the playing of the video game “Babe Raider” (direct parody of “Tomb Raider”), and one of the sons having obscene posters of women in “thongs” on his wall (whether or not these are directly shown on camera, the implication is there that they are indeed in thongs). The main character then enforces rules in the name of “feminism” to cease the playing of the aforementioned video game, removal of the lude posters from the walls, AND the pitching out of the MARRIED FATHER’S “car magazines” that include women plastered all over the car. Characters who played the game were heard oogeling her body, especially her breasts (it is implied that torpedoes launch from her “Double D breasts” that “are bigger than her head.”).

Then, upon playing the game, the main character changes her mind and decides that Babe Raiders is actually EMPOWERING to women– and if men want to gawk and stare… “that is their problem” (she says as she walks down the hallway at school showing a sleeveless top showing off her midriff. Her parents notice this– but give NO order to change… no request to cover up… instead they just kinda stutter and let her go on and where what she wants. In the end she does have her media class sign a petition to remove such strong sexual overtones to make the strong women figures more realistic. And while her step-brother (Derek) is shown talking on the phone to a lady-friend of his, you see various feminist posters on his wall. When his younger, impressionable brother asks where his brother went, Derek replies that he is still here… although he is “under THIS,” motioning to the feminist posters… at which point he lifts up a corner of the poster to reveal one of his very posters that his parents instructed him to remove from the wall– showing extreme low-rise jeans, a navel ring, and yup– a thong. Oh yeah… and the younger brother idolized his older, more mature brother for this act of blatant disobedience.

WOW. THIS is television for children?? Is this the trash on Disney Channel?

Idolizing women as sexual objects is done throughout the episode. Any removal of over-sexed material is done in the name not of morality– but feminism. The younger children play obscene video games and have sexually stimulating posters on the walls of a bedroom and only now is this an issue. AND when Derek disobeys his parents by putting the posters back up on his wall, only this time hiding them from sight behind other posters… his undermining action toward his parents is seen as cool and acceptable.

What happened to the days when Danny Tanner wouldn’t let Stephanie go to her first day of Jr. High wearing too much eye makeup because it is seen as provocative? What about when Corey Matthews was accused by the student body of sleeping with Topanga, and he announced that it was all a big misunderstanding? What happened to the days where kids shows contained material for kids? I guess those days are long gone. Our country’s… no no… our society’s goal is to eradicate Christianity, Christian thought and Christian morality entirely from our lives. What better way than to implant into this next younger generation that disobeying parents is acceptable, and that the viewing of women as sexual toys is acceptable and manly, than to do it on the Disney Channel?

Happy New Year

Welcome 2007