Too Much Mud Slinging

This was the best and yet the worse debate for the G.O.P ever. First and foremost it was horrible because of the mud slinging, and the direct attacks. The first ten minutes was all about Romney and Giuliani. It was horrible the disrespect they showed to each other, the others on the stage, but mostly to us, the people watching.

I think they need to cut off the microphones when a person runs out of time. It is ridiculous that CNN allowed people to go over the allotted time, over and over again. This is a huge pet peeve for me. If they would cut off people, it would allow the "bookend" candidates time to get their ideas in, and it would force the front runners to consolidate their ever long answers.

This was a great debate because it provided truthful answers to the really tough answers. Romney danced around questions and was caught in more flip flopping, Guiliani admits he doesn't believe the Bible is completely true, Thompson talks about Roe vs. Wade, and Huckabee shines again.

While Romney, Guiliani, and Thompson throw mud at anyone they can, Tancredo cried about how little air time he gets, at least Hunter takes it like a man... Ron Paul almost had me, and then like always, lost me. Huckabee stood tall answering tough questions about his record on taxes and the death penalty.

Chuck Norris supports Huckabee, and so should you. (insert catchy "Chuck Norris will kick your butt joke here)

Asking for What You Want.

For many in the great State of Michigan, Deer season is practically a holiday. November 15th is a day off, no questions.

I am one of those people who deer hunt. I love being outside early in the morning, and in the evening. I love to be in nature and God never ceases to amaze me with the things I get to see. This year I was able to see a hawk up close, a BUNCH of Sandhill cranes, geese, rabbits and birds. I have also seen a group of does that walk out behind the house. I have been waiting for a good shot for quite some time.

Since November 15th, I have asked God to provide a clear shot so that I might get a deer for this year, however, I bought 2 licenses this year. I truly did want to get two deer this year. Not because I was being greedy, but because the meat provides food for the rest of the year for my family. A second deer would also provide, in part, for parts of my extended family, and friends.

Until today, I have not had a clear shot, and have only seen the three does, which have been too far for my shotgun, or not a clear shot. Well last night before my wife and I prayed, I decided to ask God for what I really wanted. It seemed selfish, and I almost felt bad asking for two deer, but I asked.

This morning, before church, just after dawn, I saw a herd of about eight deer coming right towards me. I was in shock. I was waiting for the three I usually see, when here come seven or eight right at me! Oh yeah, also, on Thanksgiving, I asked my father in law if I could borrow his muzzle loader, as it has a longer range than a shotgun, he said yes.

So these deer are coming right at me, I take the shot. Now for those who have never used a muzzle loader, after you shoot, a cloud of smoke surrounds your scope, so you must have faith in your shot, which I didn't, because this was my first time using a muzzle loader. Anyway, I didn't think I hit my target, because I saw nothing drop, and them all run away. I did see one runner slower than the rest, and figured I would go check for a blood trail after a few minutes.

About one minute later I see those three does. I had an "okay" opportunity to take a shot, but decide against it. They moved and had another opportunity, however I will not shoot at a running deer. At this point in time I decided to go check on that blood trail. Much to my surprise, there was no trail, but a dead deer. It was an almost perfect shot, the deer didn't even run.

I drag it in, gut it, clean it, and hang it. Take a shower, and its time to go to church. After we got home it was time to process the deer. (I do it myself because its silly to pay someone a lot of money when I can do it myself, its not that hard. Gutting it is way worse that butchering it) Amy decided to help butcher the deer and was a great help. It was dark by the time we got done.

I am glad that I didn't take that other shot, because I wouldn't have had the room or time today to clean and process two deer. However I will be back out in the field later this week. If I get one, I told my brother that if he comes help me clean it, he can take some home with him, he wasn't able to get out this year.

Remember, always ask God for what you want, don't settle for what you think He will give you.

Giving Thanks

I hope everyone has had a wonderful Thanksgiving as I have. I was able to visit family and see all of my nieces. I was able to see my mom and dad, and my second mom and dad. I was also able to get out and hunt this morning, and even though I have not got my deer yet this year, I was able to see two beautiful does and a small buck this morning. I wasn't able to take a shot at them, but it was great to see them jump a fence.

My prayers are with all of those reading this post.

Changing anothers Mind

I must be honest, I was truly supprised to recieve so much feedback on my last post. I wasn't expecting the volume that it produced. All of the comments left were great, and I would like to thank each of you for replying.

What I noticed was that I must not have been clear about what I was looking for, so I am going to try to clerify a little more, and try for a different aspect.

What I am looking for in this post will be how you try to change or persuade (for a nicer word) someone elses mind. From the comments in the last post on this, it seems that facts are what changed most peoples mind. Once it was laid out clearly, and aligned with the rest of history, you accepted it as truth. How do you share this proof with other people who do not believe it? What kind of tact do you take?

I am sure that this depends on many things, including your relationship with the person, and what their current beliefs are, so I understand the fact that it depends. If you would leave me your comments on strategy this would be great.

What I was trying to get at in the last post was along these lines. However instead of saying what HAD changed your mind, what would it take to change it again, now. That answer is surely "nothing", my question would be if that was your same mindset before? How secure are you in your beliefs, and what would it take to shake them, or maybe change them slightly? More truth? More evidence? Or is it just a different perspective?

Changing a Mind

Many of us have changed our minds on certain view points, beliefs, and political views. What is it that makes us changes our minds? Usually its something that sounds more sound, factual, or evident.

Many things we may change our mind on, aren't a big deal, so it doesn't take much to change it. Like whats for dinner. I really want to have sushi for dinner tonight, however thats not going to happen, so I think I am going to have left over hamburgers from this weekend. Easy change.

What about your political view? What would it take to change your political view, or maybe who you support? It would probably take something that appeals to you. You want to know that they will keep you safe, they will do their best to take care of you, and the candidate that is closest to your idea, will get your vote.

When it comes to religion, what makes your change your mind? Is it that something sounds more logical, how about something that sounds more realistic? What is it that says, "what you currently believe is wrong, and this other thing is better?".

Something has got to cause an upset in your current beliefs. Thats why the older you get, the less likely you will change your beliefs. Once they are set, and you feel certain with them, its highly unlikely that you will change your mind on them. The down side to that is, you could be wrong. Where did you get your beliefs, and how did you test them to be true? What happens when something comes along and your boat gets rocked?

When it comes to religion, its difficult to say. All religious beliefs are backed up by a religious book or special person. If you want evidence or help, the only place to turn is to that specific book or people in the religion. I am curious where people get this strong hold for their faith, and I want to try to find out. I am curious how many people truly seek out the knowledge for their faith, or what makes them accept it. What makes people believe what they do, and what would it take to change their minds?

Critical Thinking

I love philosophy, sociology, psychology, ideology; pretty much all things about the mind. I love to learn why people think about things, how they interact, the thought process and what makes people think.

It amazes me how much of an impact a persons thoughts can be. For example, if someone is self conscious about their body, it effects how they dress, walk, talk, interpret conversation and so on. It can effect people so much, that bringing up a conversation about the body, will cause the person to become defensive, even if the topic isn't directed at them.

I catch myself doing this a lot. When I am in class and some discussion comes up that I feel some sort of attachment to, its hard to focus on the entire topic, and not relate the topic to my personal thoughts.

I bring this topic up because I am seeing it discussed, on another level, on other sites and in my own life. It is really big in politics also, which of course I love.

I feel it is important to bring up because in our nation, we fail to attempt to see another persons perspective. This narrow minded act results in devastating tragedies. Take for example, sharing your faith. If you dont try to understand how the person whom your sharing your faith with sees you, then the attempt will mostly likely be a failure. (In politics, you see it constantly, especially because the media instigates it.)

A while ago I wrote about the importance of Listening. To go along with that, it is also important to think critically. Sounds pretty simple, however I am not talking about just reading a book and saying, "hmm, thats interesting, why doesn't this happen more" or something like that. Thats not critical thinking, thats just mulling something over.

An exhaustive definition is as follows:
"Critical thinking is that mode of thinking - about any subject, content, or problem - in which the thinker improves the quality of his or her thinking by skillfully taking charge of the structures inherent in thinking and imposing intellectual standards upon them.." Seen here.

This is a constant learning that cultivates an untainted education, consistently increasing your awareness of how often you are told what to think. Once your start to learn how to think critically, you will start to crave a higher level of thought, and desire more complex conversation amongst your peers. After more practice, you start to see how advertisements try to convince you of your need for their product.

This is a skill Christians need to deflect arrows of interegation. Critical thinking will open your eyes to how the world trains you, and how people unskilled in the area, so easily follow.

The Canon of the Bible

As Geppy suggested here, I decided to investigate a little bit about the canonization of the Bible. This was, I must say, a new road for me, because I am new to this area of the Bible. So my adventure started with the obvious question, "What the heck is he talking about?"

After a few google searches, I now have a clue, and may move forward. If you, like myself, are new to some of these terms, please read on and I will try to explain what I am learning as I go.

The Biblical canon was created to keep the message that the Apostles said, as a divine interpretation or inspiration of God. It was necessary because after the Apostles and prophets died, many false writings were being produced and in 302 AD Emperor Diocletian issued an edict that all the sacred books should be destroyed by fire.

The list of books which are considered "canon" is dependent on a few things. The Jewish have a different list than Christians, and then Catholics and Protestants have a difference also, called the Apocryphal.

Now, to the question at hand. "I'd be interested in your thoughts on the Epistles that the church at one time accepted as canonical, but then removed from the canon as part of church politics" The book of Enoch was given as an example.

Epistles are the "letters" in the New Testament. They are most easily spotted in the New Testament by an introduction of the author, and his credentials (1 Corinthians 1:1 "Paul, called to be an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, and our brother Sosthenes,")

What I found online from the website, www.anabaptists.org, this was said: " At the time of the formation of the New Testament canon twenty out of the twenty-seven books were readily and universally accepted as genuine, and therefore called "Homologoumena" (i.e. acknowledged). These twenty books were the four Gospels, the Acts, the epistles of Paul (except that to the Hebrews), and the first epistles of John and Peter. The other seven books--Hebrews, 2 and 3 John, 2 Peter, Jude, James, Revelation--were disputed for a time by particular churches, and were therefore styled "Antilegomena" (or disputed)."

No where have I read anything about "church politics" interfering with canonization. Catholic Christians, Protestant and Evangelical Christians hold the same canon of the New Testament, 27 books, all having been originally written in the Greek language.

A "Book of Enoch" would seem slightly strange to me, because Enoch was seventh from Adam (Jude 1:14). It sounds more likely to fall under the label "pseudepigrapha" or false. I could be wrong.

Geppy, at this point, I would ask what specifically you mean when you say church politics, and which books you are talking about.

New Topic

I am sitting here trying to think of new topics to discuss, and I am curious if there is anything that you, my readers, would like me to research (as long as it falls under the "Biblical" category)

Please leave a comment with the topic.

Word of God

What makes the Bible so special? Why is the Bible, this old book of stories, still one of the top sellers every year? Why is the Bible a better depiction of Christ than other books related to the topic of Christ?

The Bible is the Word of God, it holds the historical evidence of the life of Christ. The New Testament is different from the Old, because these are written by eye witnesses.

The apostles and disciples were with Christ Jesus. Think about that for a moment. The lived WITH Christ, they were with Him daily. In today's society, those people would be the witnesses in a court room. If Christ walked the earth in our day, and had to sit in a court room, these are the people who would have been called to bear witness.

That is a powerful thing. Unlike many other religions in our world, Christianity comes with proof. The Bible wasn't discovered by some guy who saw a light, the Bible was written by the followers of the Son of God. These men who wrote the New Testament saw with their own eyes the power of God. They saw Christ die, and rise again. Furthermore, there were 500 plus people who saw Christ rise again.

People often wonder why Christianity spread so quickly. I have heard it said that Christ was just a incredibly smart person for His time. He was able to play great mind tricks on people. He was charismatic and personable. The real reason that Christianity spread so fast was that there were 500 people that SAW Him rise from the dead, as He told them He would do. It spread so fast because people all over were talking about it, and there was a good chance the person you were talking with, saw it as well.

Christ came to earth with the power of God. He was able to perform miracles before crowds of people. Again, He showed people His ability. What other religion has such accreditation?

Prophets

The other day I was watching a show on the History Channel. If you watch the History Channel, you probably already know which one I am talking about, because every 10 seconds they played a commercial about the show.

The show was on Nostradamus, and this newly discovered book that might be his. It is not like his other books at all, because it has water color illustrations. The pictures depict many of his "prophecies".

This got me starting to think a little. I wonder, can a non believer have the ability to prophecy? Prophecy is a spiritual gift (1 Corinthians 2:10), so that would mean that a non-believer has spiritual gifts. Now at this moment, I am unsure when we are given spiritual gifts. I know that they can change if they are not used, but when do we receive such gifts? At human birth or spiritual birth?

I am nearly 100% sure that the devil is not able to create "spiritual gifts" however I am sure that he is able to manipulate them, or those who have them.

What are your thoughts on this topic?