Flash Mobs in Philly

Read the story here

This seems to be what The Sovereign individual is talking about.  This quote hits the nail on the head.

Merchants, parents and police are scratching their heads trying to explain the explosion of violent flash mobs. The city's new district attorney, Seth Williams, says it comes down to the proliferation of computers and cell phones.

"Before, it was just you tell someone to meet you somewhere — if there was a fight you meet them at the school yard," Williams says. "Well now, instead of just 10 or 20 kids at most knowing about something, now you have 1,000 kids showing up at an intersection. And that's a problem that we as law enforcement have to try to deal with."

Computer/microprocessors  increase the capability of individuals, making it more difficult, that is expensive, for government to maintain control. "Police have created a special rapid response force." which they didn't need before.

I do love Mayor Nutter's comment

"Parents have a responsibility here, so we will do all that we can. I ran for mayor, I didn't run for mother," he announced. "I can't take care of everybody's child."

 If you provide education, food, and housing; you are acting like a parent.  Why not leave discipline to you as well?

Wine is wine...my concordance says so

My wife and I enjoyed watching the season 2 of 18 and Counting recently.  A little hum drum at times but we particular enjoyed the one featuring the wedding of their eldest son.  Several profound Kkingdom concepts were effectively communicated.  The biggest one being the benefits of total abstinence and the joy of Christian marriage.  Following them up to the door of their hotel room was more than I expected but it really is believers who ought to be bold in celebrating physical union.

I was disappointed by the pastor explaining why there was no alcohol served at the wedding.  The camera (at an attempt to make things more exciting but asking a very valid) asked why the strong stand on alcohol when Jesus miraculously made wine for a wedding.  The pastor tried to explain that the Greek word there meant grape juice.  A quick glance at a Strong's concordance would show that word 3631 used in John is also used in Eph 5:18

And do not get drunk with wine, for that is debauchery, but be filled with the Spirit,

 If it is just grape juice.....then why the warning?

Never mind that if consumption of alcohol was a sin, a clearer command would have been "Do not drink wine."

The church has really been straining a gnat in focusing so much on drinking and smoking.  I getting back to the roots of reformed faith it is notable the lack of emphasis on these things.

Mark Driscoll has a great sermon on this topic. My next brewing goal is a Chocolate Stout.

I recently read the book the The Soveriegn Individual, and it has been influencing how I have been looking at the world.  Another lens I have been seeing the world through in that of population decline shown me by The Demographic Winter.  That was a jaw dropper even though I have followed that topic for over ten years.  My childrens world will be very different that the one I have known.

A sign of things to come-Mass school closures approved in Kansas City, Mo.



The key quote to me is:

Once the district had enough desegregation money to build such amenities as an Olympic-sized swimming pool. But the effort to use upscale facilities and programs to lure in students from the suburbs never worked quite as planned.

Covington has stressed that the district's buildings are only half-full as its population has plummeted amid political squabbling and chronically abysmal test scores. The district's enrollment of fewer than 18,000 students is about half of what the schools had a decade ago and just a quarter of its peak in the late 1960s.
Many students have left for publicly funded charter schools, private and parochial schools and the suburbs. The school district also isn't the only one serving students in Kansas City; several smaller ones operate in the city's boundaries.

This is the flight not of white people but wealth.  Why live in a city where laziness and irresponsibility is subsidized and achievers are punished?  Government burracracy will increasing fail in the competition to provide services, entitling it to less of the peoples money.  This hemorraging beast could get dangerous as it fights for survival.

It literally doesn't fit.

Trying to educate myself I came across some sites on Covenantalism and Dispensationalism . This site is quick and does list the weaknesses of each viewpoint:

Eschatology 1: Covenantalism & Dispensationalism
http://www.xenos.org/classes/principles/cpu1w7.htm

In their basic explanation they say

Dispensationalism is committed to a literal hermeneutic when interpreting biblical prophecy. They have aroused lots of interest in this area of biblical truth.

Which that is the standard argument, that Dispensationalism is more literal.

"That's right! Don't you believe the Bible?

So few of these things in theology are so simple. For one to claim the moral high ground kills the discussion. It is really a straw man. I do believe the Bible so I am trying to line up future prophesies in a way that make sense to me. Each man must study for himself and teach his family what he believes. Differing beliefs on these non-essential issues are part of the family idiosyncrasies that God created. In a worst case scenario, I may need to limit fellowship with an individual or family but that is within my realm of authority.

But anyway, back to literalism. Further down the page they quote Isaiah 65:17-25 to support a pre-millennial view. They make the following footnote:

"New heavens and new earth" here refer (according to the following context) to the millennial kingdom rather than the new universe of Rev. 21,22. In both Isaiah and Revelation the "new heavens and new earth" refer to a new era in God's dealing with humanity. It is not a specific term that relates to only a specific period of history.

So...the Gen 1:1 heavens and earth are literal, and the ones in Rev 21, 22 are but here they are not ....because they don't fit. The Heaven and Earth in Gen 1:1 were literal and refered to a new era. Using the context to justify saying something is not literal is exactly what this site claims "they" do. Reading the whole passage it does not fit the millennium at all. And since Peter tells us this world is going to be destroyed by fire, I hope there will be a literal heaven and earth somewhere since we'll need a place to park our new bodies.

You can judge a book from its title

David Dunlap in Limited Omniscience is a collection of contradictions after a slanted, irrelevant discourse on the history of some who call themselves Calvinists. Here is a sample:

“For no man can deny full responsibility for his actions, claiming that he was irresistibly led by God; for God never does violence to the free will which He has graciously given to man. God’s sovereignty and man’s freedom dwell side by side in such a way that the former does not force itself upon the later, but in some cases He does overrule for His highest eternal purpose.”

How is does God’s sovereignty “overrule” but not “force itself?”

He has a “preaching-to-the-choir” style which relies on emotionally loaded phrases to assure the faithful they are right. An alternate title might be What to tell a Calvinist about what he believes should you ever meet one.

The Lord’s Supper and Outsiders

Here is the verse we typically hear before taking communion to indicate it is only for believers.

I Cor 11:27-29 ”Whoever, therefore, eats the bread or drinks the cup of the Lord in an unworthy manner will be guilty concerning the body and blood of the Lord. Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without discerning the body eats and drinks judgment on himself.“

In most teachings I have read or heard on the topic this view is repeated--believers only. But why?

“Because the Bible says so!”

Allow me to introduce my Imaginary Antagnoist(IA) for this post. He is a fundy.

Does the Bible say that non-believers should not take the Lord’s supper?

It is a question of audience, mechanism, and purpose.

Audience

I Corinthians was written to brothers as opposed to outsiders. I don’t know of anywhere in the Bible where Paul addresses “outsiders” and why should he? The New Testament is largely someone elses personal mail, addressed to a particular party. The bible can never mean what it never meant (thank you, Gordon Fee).That passage in 1 Corinthians is about how the church treats each other, which is Paul’s big concern.

Mechanism

How would a little square of white bread and thimble of weak grape juice (or whatever) bring judgement on an unbeliever. What are we saying here? That an unbeliever, one who if dead in unbelief, would go to hell comes under greater judgment in this life if he consumes these element in the context of a certain ceremony? Or greater judgment in the next? I recall a Far Side comic where in hell there was a room for “People who drive slow in the fast lane.” That seems as silly as having one for “Communion-takers.” If it is “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” then why do churches make such a big deal about it?

More to come....

Priority at the FDA

From the back of a Blue Ice Pure Cod Liver Oil(Refreshing Arctic Mint flavor) label:

As discovered by Weston Price, always take cod liver oil in conjunction with High Vitamin Bitter Oil (X-Factor Gold) for maximum effectiveness. His research showed that the two created a synergistic effect, and worked like magic with his patients. *

* This statement has not been evaluated by the FDA.

Not evaluated? What are they doing at the FDA that is so important that they don't have time to evaluate something that works like magic? Sheesh. I bet the FDA magic department in under staffed and under funded like all important branches of government. I guess we are on our own.