Posts for Mar, 2006.

3/31/2006 9:14:00 PM

Honey, I Want an Ark

What would you do with an Ark if you had one?

Posted Friday, March 31, 2006 by Brian Beers
Categories: Popular CultureArchaeologyHumor   Comments: None
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Now that my office is (mostly) done, I think I need another project. Johan Huibers of the Netherlands is building his own 1/5 size replica of Noah’s Ark. He intends to stock it with farmyard animals and sail it on the interior waters of the Netherlands.

This isn't just a lark though. Huiber's is building this replica as a testimony of his faith. The line from the BBC article which I found most poignant was:

Mr Huibers, who plans to open the vessel as a religious monument and zoo, hopes the project will renew interest in Christianity in the Netherlands.

 

I struggle to comprehend that European nations have so utterly forgotten the truth. But I do like Huiber’s approach. “This will speak very much to children” he says, â€œthey'll hear the creak of the wood, smell the smell of the dung.”

 

Honey…I want one. We could sail it around Puget Sound.

Thanks to Todd at Bible Places blog

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3/31/2006 9:17:00 AM

It's 2006. Do *You* Know Where Your Strong's Concordance Is?

Posted Friday, March 31, 2006 by Brian Beers
Comments: 2
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Where is your Strong's concordance? If you are reading this you have a computer, and you probably have at least one Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. So where is it? Do you still use it or have you switched to an electronic concordance?

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3/30/2006 9:05:00 PM

1 Corinthians and Tongues in Private Devotions

Posted Thursday, March 30, 2006 by Charlie Trimm
Comments: 6
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Well, I have returned to life as normal (almost). I spent my spring break writing my church history talks (the retreat is this upcoming weekend, April 1-4, so I would appreciate your prayers if you remember) and spending lots of time with my wife. We found a game that we have been playing incessantly, Settlers of Catan. It is a great game and I highly recommend it to you. I though about writing a theology of Catan (for example, just because something is probable does not mean it will happen, especially when you most want it to happen, as in, just because 8 is supposed to be rolled often does not mean it will be when you need it), but I decided against it for now. So instead, I have another topic. I have been leading a Bible Study recently in 1 Corinthians 14. We have just arrived at 1 Corinthians, which contains a whole slew of fascinating problems and issues. The issue I want to discuss today is whether tongues are appropriate for private devotions.

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3/29/2006 1:49:00 PM

“Got Fish” or “Fish Fight” or “To Fish or Not To Fish”

IM Smack-down

Posted Wednesday, March 29, 2006 by Brian Beers
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Sam and I just had a big smack-down over my spot-on fisherman post. Surprisingly, we both made cogent arguments. Early on Sam appeared to be hung up on a point about exegesis, but in the end he came to a rather startling conclusion.

Below is the transcript of the exchange, edited slightly to make us sound even more cogent. What do you think of Sam’s conclusion?

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3/27/2006 7:00:00 AM

The Song of the Swan

Posted Monday, March 27, 2006 by Gerald Vreeland
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With this entry, I will conclude my treatment of The Privileged Planet.  I hope you have had as much fun with it as I have had. 

 

Gonzalez and Richards Synopsis, Conclusion

And What About Panspermia?

 

Guillermo Gonzalez and Jay W. Richards, The Privileged Planet: How our Place in the Cosmos is Designed for Discovery (Washington, DC: Regnery, 2004). 

 

Assumptions and implications are not the same thing.

 

Their conclusion is subtitled: “Reading The Book Of Nature.”  It is not a very long and involved piece and so I have decided to include a brief discussion on Panspermia or the seeding of microbes from elsewhere.  Because it has been so long, though (and because the Blog-Meister asked me to!), let us begin with a brief synopsis of what has gone before. 
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3/20/2006 7:20:00 AM

What Kind of Fisherman Are You?

Posted Monday, March 20, 2006 by Brian Beers
Categories: Mark   Comments: 4
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I don’t mean, “Are you a good fisherman or a bad fisherman?” Are you a commercial fisherman or a recreational fisherman? For the first time yesterday it dawned on me that our understanding of evangelism may hinge on that question. Before that realization struck, fishing with a pole was as good as fishing with a net. I have not done much of either. Now I see that they are poles apart. Peter, James, and John were net fishermen—commercial fishermen, and that makes for a very different relationship with the fish.

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3/15/2006 10:37:00 AM

Do not forget this!

2 Peter 3:8

Posted Wednesday, March 15, 2006 by Brian Beers
Comments: 2
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This morning in Sunday School we covered 2 Peter 3:8 on our journey through 2nd Peter. Peter wrote in certain terms, “Do not overlook this one fact…”(ESV) in relation to God’s faithfulness to his promise (interesting that “promise” is singular!). It is important not to demand that God act according to my timeline or my interpretation of his timeline. His plan is beyond my scope of understanding, and I must fall back to trusting him.

So how do I keep this one fact before me?

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3/9/2006 9:09:00 AM

Samuel, the Collection of Sermon Illustrations

Ancient Christian Commentary: 1 Samuel 5-6

Posted Thursday, March 09, 2006 by Brian Beers
Comments: 5
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Lo, it has been nearly two months since I wrote anything about the Ancient Christian Commentary. I began this project eager to interact with these ancient Christians about 1st and 2nd Samuel. Since I wrote on Augustine, however, I have not spent much time with them nor have I found much to interact with. In order not to let this project die completely, this installment will address this disappointment.

Following Hannah’s Song we have numerous rich pericopes: the decline and fall of Eli and his sons; the call of Samuel; the capture of the Ark and its sojourn in Philistia. In almost none of them, however, did I find good exegesis. These stories appear as illustrations for sermons. Gregory the Great seemed close in his analysis of the afflictions of the Philistines (1 Samuel 5-6), but, in the end, he used it as an illustration of dying to sin.

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3/8/2006 3:11:00 PM

Church History for Youth

Posted Wednesday, March 08, 2006 by Charlie Trimm
Comments: 7
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I am speaking at a youth retreat next month, and I am going to speak on the topic of church history. I thought I would present my ideas in brief about what I am going to speak on and see what ya'll thought. I am still working out a "hermeneutics of history," or how we learn from history, so if you have any thougths that would be helpful. Any ideas for better titles would be appreciated too! I'm also thinking about switching the first and the last one, as far as the order goes. Thanks for looking! Read more of Church History for Youth


3/4/2006 10:16:00 PM

Do I Trust Pakistan?

Rhetorical Questions from Cyberspace

Posted Saturday, March 04, 2006 by Brian Beers
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The government of Pakistan has added itself to the ranks of those natians censoring the internet. Scott over at Magic Statistics commented on this turn of events. Western Resistance started the discussion, but here I will take advantage of this opportunity to reveal the most amusing thing that has happened to me while surfing the net.

I was taking a course on Islam from Dr. Vreeland in which he required us to read through the Koran. I decided to use the database compiling feature in Bibleworks so that I could quickly search for phrases that I half-remembered. I only needed an electronic version of the Koran that I could reformat for the BW compiler and that is how my adventure began.

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3/2/2006 7:06:00 PM

Killing Jews in the name of Jesus Part 3

Posted Thursday, March 02, 2006 by Charlie Trimm
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This is the final installment of this section. I conclude the paper by looking at the various groups involved in the attacks and their relationship to the church. Read more of Killing Jews in the name of Jesus Part 3