Friday, December 29, 2006

Thanks, Grant, I needed that.

I was listening to a teaching by Grant Luton today on chapter 2 of the book of Judges, (click here download it) and he said something that struck me as very profound. He said that, "Every decision you make is a test, and every consequence is a teaching."

He then says "-always. I've found no exceptions to that in my life - not a single one."

As I listened, I began to test his statement by thinking about decisions I have made in the past, and come to the conclusion that he is 100% right.

So many times I have suffered the consequences of a bad decision, only to give the results absolutely no thought at all... then do it again! Man, I thank God for His mercy. I am an idiot... but he still loves me.

Have you ever been praying, and been struck by the fact that God loves you? I know that sounds like a statement from "Mr. Obvious", but think about it - meditate on it before you go to sleep tonight.

I think about what I am, what I've done, the things I've said and thought, and He still loves me. He has even allowed me to be called "one of His own". Why would he give His life for such a vile, pathetic creature, such as myself... and then still care enough to gently teach me and guide me through the messes I have created? He cares for me.

When you are praying today, ask God to show you what you are; what's inside of you. I'll warn you before hand, it is going to hurt (If you're anything like me, it may make you a little sick to your stomach). Ask Him why He chose you. If you are a follower of Jesus, then you know that He chose you before time itself was created. From the bottom of your heart, ask Him why - after all you've done, why would He go through what He did for you.

And when He tells you, "Because I love you."
You'll see what I mean.


Grant Luton is the pastor of Beth Tikkun Messianic Fellowship, in Akron, Ohio, and the Author of "In His Own Words"; a book about the intricacies of the Hebrew alphabet. He is a wonderful teacher with a lot of wisdom, and very balanced in his views (he even took the time to correspond with me when my family was making the transition to Hebraic Roots teaching).
Stop by
Beth Tikkun's website the next time you are looking for a good bible study, or click here for free downloads of audio teachings on several books of the bible.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

The Vivaldi Experience

A good friend of mine recently introduced me to the Vivaldi Collection (Cello Concerti Vol. 3 shown above), and I wanted to tell you that if you enjoy good cello music, you will love this CD.
The cello is played by Raphael Wallfisch (of whom I have never heard of, but I am now a fan), along with the London Sinfonia.

As I listen to this music, I can not help but wonder how the "population at large" can call the music of today "music" in good conscience.
I could not find this particular CD on Amazon, but below is a link to Yoyo Ma playing Vivaldi (Ma is one of my favorites, so I can safely assume this is good). There will be a link added to the sidebar, so if you decide to buy it later, you won't have to search archives.


Saturday, December 23, 2006

Day Eight of Hanukkah

Just a picture of our dining room tonight at the final candle lighting of Chanukkah this year.


There are two Hanakias on the bench in front of the window, and one large one on the table. Our boys each lit one.

We hit 2000!

During the Hanukkah holiday, we finally hit 2000 visitors!
I hope you all keep coming back, as I have a lot on my mind these days, and as soon as I get caught up in my shop, I will be posting more frequently.



Sunday, December 17, 2006

Happy Chanukkah!

Well, my Exodus test was a flop, so I will have to continue to work the bugs out of it.



(Try clicking on my head again... if it works, it should download the first chapter of Genesis. Right click on my head, and choose to "Open link in new window" or tab, depending on which version of explorer you have)
In the meantime, I would like to wish you a Happy Chanukkah - today is the 3rd day of the eight day celebration, and I hope those of you who are celebrating it this year are having as good of a time with it as we are.


Thursday, December 07, 2006

The good ole' days

Yet another good point from Charles at LGF - Check out this poster form the national archives.


...our nation used to use a type of "diplomacy" that ended in victory.

Monday, December 04, 2006

Telling Jimmy the truth... priceless.

I know that I am not embedding this right, but I have about 15 seconds before I have to leave for work, so this will have to do. Click here to see The Jimmy being called just exactly what he has proven himself to be - a bigoted, anti-semitic racist, bent on coddling the undeserving "Palestinian people" in spite of their total disregard for human life.



Friday, December 01, 2006

Rick Warren's "Purpose Driven Lie"

Evidently, Rick Warren went to Syria to meet with their government. Worldnetdaily reported that Warren called Syria "moderate," even though the U.S. lists it as a terror-sponsoring state. (and any moron can see that that is ridiculous when said in light of Syria's track record. -ed.)

Warren is quoted as saying, "Syria is a place that has had Muslims and Christians living together for 1400 years," he says. "So it's a lot more peaceful honestly than a lot of other places because Christians were here first. In fact, you know, Saul of Tarsus, Saul was a Syrian, and St. Paul, on this road to Damascus, had his conversion experience, and so Christians have been here the longest, and they get along with the Muslims and the Muslims get along with them and there's a lot of, a lot less tension than in other places. It's a moderate country and the official government role and position is to not allow extremism of any kind."
The editor of WND, Joseph Farah, asked Warren via email if he had any notes or recordings of the meeting, to which Warren lied through his teeth, and replied,

"We did not tape anything because if (sic) was a courtesy call, like I do in every country..."

Just moments after receiving this reply, Farah found the YouTube video and asked Warren about it. Moments later, the video was removed from YouTube by Saddleback Church.(WND)

The article went on to say that some Saddleback members were "disturbed" by Warrens actions.

......................................

Syria's "moderate" belief system, of course, involves destroying Israel, murdering innocent Jewish civilians, fueling Hezbollah, and walking lockstep with Iran.

......................................

...add this to the pope's recent caressing of the crescent, and you would think that Christians and Muslims were all just a bunch of lovable, cuddly friends.



Pope Prays toward Mecca "like the muslims"

from Reuters News:


"The Pope's dreaded visit was concluded with a wonderful surprise," wrote daily Aksam on its front page.

"In Sultan Ahmet Mosque, he turned toward Mecca and prayed like Muslims," popular daily Hurriyet said, using the building's official name.

His gestures, including support for Ankara's bid to join the European Union and praise for Islam as a peaceful faith, seem to have persuaded the Turks to move beyond the tension following his speech quoting a Byzantine emperor as calling Islam violent.

Now, where would he get that idea?