Seminary for Free

So, I’m attending seminary. Well, actually, I’m attending seminaries–for free. See, I bought my Zen, and then I set to work learning how to use it, and then Jesus (Hey soos) showed me how to use iTunes which opened a whole new realm of possibilities for me. He showed me a bunch of free podcasts that he downloads and listens to. These podcasts are from those like Chuck Missler and William Lane Craig of Dallas Theological Seminary. Realizing that there was stuff from Dallas Theological Seminary I wondered if I could download anything from other seminaries, so I typed in seminary and a bunch of results came back. In particular, I downloaded everything available from Covenant Theological Seminary. CTS is a Presbyterian seminary, but they’re pretty close to what I believe, so it’s good listening. These lectures are enabling me to learn a great deal about church history, apologetics, and many other elements that they’d teach in seminary. The best part? It’s free.

Zen

Today I bought my Creative Labs Zen Vision: M. It was just over 200 smackaroos. As exciting as purchasing it, I’ve had a very uninteresting time with it so far–it came without a charge on the battery. So, I’ve been charging the thing all night.

Admittedly, I’ve played with it a little tonight. I got it charged up just enough to be able to play around with it for about five minutes, but that’s not near enough time. Tomorrow will be the true test of usefulness.

Why did I get it you ask? I got it primarily because I wanted rewind and fast forward. I know, that’s a seemingly weird reason, but let me explain. Wanting to listen to multiple sermons in a day I needed a player that could read in mp3 format, so I bought a CD mp3 player. It works fine, but I quickly realized that it didn’t have a rewind or fast forward built in. Sermons are about a half hour to forty five minutes. Sometimes, I can’t finish one in a single sitting or I miss something and want to hear it again, but I can’t rewind to hear it again and I can’t simply restart a sermon and fast forward to where I left off.

This dilemma led Maggie to the decision that she should get me an iPod style mp3 player for our anniversary. Unfortunately, she didn’t know enough about them to pick one out that I liked, so she told me her plan and said, “Buy what you want.” This led to a significant amount of research and eventually the decision to buy the strongest (in my opinion) of the players. I purchased the Zen. Now I have to determine which music service to use. If you have suggestions, I’m interested. Leave some comments.

A Good Week…Now Back to the Grind

I had a week off from college and I used my new spare time to write. I got a lot written on my book, but now college is back in session and I’m too tired to write tonight. It’s a sad feeling, but I’m going to try to work it in more.

Yesterday was Mother’s Day and it was a lot of fun. First, we went to Maggie’s parent’s house and ate steak. Then, we came back home and ate 24 hour marinated grilled chicken. I’ve decided that I really like Mother’s day, Father’s day, birthdays, and any other celebration day for other people because I get to eat really good food.

Aside from the food, it was really nice to be able to pull off a big get together with nine people, and have it all turn out fun and genuinely enjoyable. As far as I can tell, everyone had fun, they liked the food, and my mom and grandma got to enjoy a day dedicated to them. That, my friends, sounds like a success.

Whew…

Demons

For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the powers of this dark world and against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly realms. –Ephesians 6:12

What are demons? How do you picture them? Below I’ve included a few descriptive elements that describe their nature. Why do I care? I’m a fiction writer.

Satan converses with God. In Job 1:6-7 Satan converses with God. That’s interesting. How is it that the spiritual world consists of evil and good, darkness and light, and the two appear to be in the same place? Can Satan come and go in heaven as he pleases? This brings up the question as to whether Satan is actually an agent of God that was created for the sole purpose of giving man free will. Thoughts?

In Exodus 7:11 it is made known that Satan can imitate God.

Ephesians 2:1-2 says he is the ruler of the kingdom of the air. I wonder what this kingdom is?

The Nephilim were on the earth in those days, and also afterward, when the sons of God came in to the daughters of man and they bore children to them. These were the mighty men who were of old, the men of renown. –Genesis 6:4

Since demons are rebellious and Satan is perhaps governed by God’s allowance, are there or were there demons that rebelled even against Satan? Could this explain the presence of Nephilim? I realize there is debate over what Gn 6:4 means, so this question is based off a few assumptions. I do wonder, aside from the Nephilim, whether there are demons that rebel against the authority of Satan as well though.

Throughout the Bible we see demons cast out and bound, but can they be killed? Can you ever actually extinguish an eternal being? When they fight, can they be hurt or is spiritual battle won by the use of words and calling on authority? But even the archangel Michael, when he was disputing with the devil about the body of Moses, did not dare to bring a slanderous accusation against him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you!” –Jude 1:9

Has anyone realized that demons can possess children? Matthew 15:22-29, Mark 7:25-30

A demon cannot open the eyes of the blind. John 10:21 One would assume that this means demons cannot actually do healing.

Finally, a demon that’s cast out goes through arid places seeking rest, but finds none. Read the following story.

Luke 11:14-26 Jesus was driving out a demon that was mute. When the demon left, the man who had been mute spoke, and the crowd was amazed. But some of them said, “By Beelzebub, the prince of demons, he is driving out demons.” Others tested him by asking for a sign from heaven. Jesus knew their thoughts and said to them: “Any kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and a house divided against itself will fall. If Satan is divided against himself, how can his kingdom stand? I say this because you claim that I drive out demons by Beelzebub. Now if I drive out demons by Beelzebub, by whom do your followers drive them out? So then, they will be your judges. But if I drive out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come to you. “When a strong man, fully armed, guards his own house, his possessions are safe. But when someone stronger attacks and overpowers him, he takes away the armor in which the man trusted and divides up the spoils. “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me, scatters.

“When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. Then it says, ‘I will return to the house I left.’ When it arrives, it finds the house swept clean and put in order. Then it goes and takes seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that man is worse than the first.”

I’m not sure what this all means to you, but it might give you a better idea about the nature of demons. I’m really interested to hear what you think, so leave comments and we’ll get a lively discussion going.

Democrats Want Out

Withdrawal from Iraq must begin by October 1st–that’s what the Dems want (see story). The Dems not only want to begin troop withdrawal on October 1st, but they want to be completely out within six months from October. It’s ridiculous charades conducted as a political ploy. The strategy for the Democrats is failure. If we fail in Iraq, Bush looks bad, and the Democrats can use that as leverage to get back in power. Shortsightedly vying for power, these Democrats don’t realize (or maybe they do) that failure in Iraq will mean greater failures with terrorism and Islamic extremism that may result in huge consequences for our way of life.

Although fighting in Iraq wasn’t about terrorism as much as it was about the threat of weapons of mass destruction, the fight has manifested itself as the focal point of the war on terrorism. It’s in the news every day, it is the front line in the war on terrorism, and Islamic terrorists are flocking to that fight IN IRAQ. Yes, in Iraq. That’s a huge factor to consider in all this. Where will terrorism find its spotlight if we leave Iraq?

Be grateful that it’s not taking place here in America–in your neighborhood. Instead it’s in Iraq, where it will stay unless we stop fighting it there. I’ll give you three guesses as to where it will go from there.

I will admit that the fight in Afghanistan has suffered because Iraq has all the attention. I will say that our strategy, even after the surge has taken full affect, will still have room for improvement.

Granted, Bush is making serious political, military, and global decisions and these decisions are difficult to make with ALL things considered, so my attempt to describe a better strategy shouldn’t hold more weight than that of the President of the United States unless his plan doesn’t work. I cannot say that I have the whole counsel of circumstances within my bounds of consideration. That said, my strategy would involve dividing Iraq back into three separate countries again (it was divided after WWI). The three factions of people, Shi’a, Kurds, and Sunnis, have a difficult time being peaceful with each other. Dividing them would create three separate governments that could rule in a like minded manner. The separation is already geographic and would not be difficult to arrange politically. This would reduce the amount of civil unrest currently occurring in the region.

Another great strategy that is always left out is reporting the number of enemies that have been killed. The news always reports the number of U.S. soldiers killed, but the number of insurgents that have been killed is never mentioned. It’s a psychological knife in the back of the war effort. Tony Snow mentioned on radio that it’s not a numbers game. The goal should not be to tally up the number of dead on the enemy side. I, however, believe that this is an indicator for whether we are winning or losing. By the way, the numbers are definitely in favor of us by comparison to their fatalities with ours. That, my friends, is partly how we know we’re winning.

Finally, our enemy relies heavily on waging a psychological war. The news media snatches up anything a terrorist gives them and parades it all over television for Americans to see. We aren’t in the business of shaming our enemy like they are. Perhaps we should. If we set up news broadcasts into the middle east that shame our enemy, outrage would result, but eventually we’d see a decrease in morale. This is an untested theory, but it seems plausible and is better than limiting free speech in America.

Perhaps you have some ideas that would contribute to creating a better war strategy. Let me know.

We Saw The Olive Garden People

Today at the grocery store Maggie and I saw the people we talked to last night at the Olive Garden. It’s a small world. We said hello and awed at the coincidence before moving along on our way. That’s so cool.

Quiet Day

It was a quiet day today. Maggie and I slept in late, sealed the grout on our new tile, and attended High Desert Church. The sermon was a lot of fun. Pastor Tom Mercer spoke on parenting. We were wondering if we’d really get much out of it at the start, but quickly realized that he spoke truth that we could file away and use in the future when we eventually become parents.

I scanned through the news today and nothing really warrants any attention. That’s fine. It’s nice to have a quiet news day.

Tonight, after church, we decided on the Olive Garden for dinner. When we arrived we were told that it would be a thirty to thirty-five minute wait, so we found a table to sit at while we waited in the lobby/bar area. While sitting there an older couple walked in. They were searching for a place to sit. It’s usually not acceptable to sit at a table that’s already occupied even if there’s open chairs if you’re not invited, so I motioned for them to sit with us. It was a lot of fun talking with them. We conversed for about fifteen minutes until a table came available for us. We said our goodbyes and went to eat. I just thought I’d share because it made me feel good and I figured it might make you feel good as well. Showing a little kindness is a good thing.

For now, I’m off to bed. Thanks for stopping by.

Preying on the Weak and Defenseless

William Phillips, age 60, murdered David Beverly and then took his own life today at NASA in Houston (see story). Although this is a tragic story, the shooting did not seem to have any connection to the 4-20 infamy of Columbine or Hitler. Instead, it would seem that Phillips was driven by a dispute he’d had with Beverly and nothing more. Perhaps he was emboldened by the murderer Cho and the excessive coverage that occurred, but we may never know.

Aside from this shooting we seem to have emerged from the day relatively unscathed. No neo-nazi, demented killers with long trench coats or strange multimedia presentations came out to murder today. That’s a relief.

Now that we’ve had some time to take in the events of the past few days, it’s time, I think, to take a serious look at gun laws. What do I mean by this? Consider the following. Why was Cho successful? How did the two Columbine boys carry out those killings? Wasn’t it all because they were able to get their hands on the guns they needed to carry their plans out?

No, the accessibility to the firearms is not what gave them their leverage. What? What do you mean? Of course they could not have done what they did without the weapons to do it with. If we take guns out of the equation then they have no power, right? Wrong. They were successful because the people they were attacking could not defend themselves!

Think about it. If an individual wants to go on a killing spree and the people he wants to kill are all armed with guns, do you think he’ll be very successful? First, he might think twice about getting himself killed, because that would quickly be ensured if he started shooting at people with guns. Second, because he would be killed quickly once he’d started shooting, the number of lives lost would be much lower.

Look at this in a different light. During the Cold War neither the U.S. or the Soviet Union wanted to fire a nuke on the other. Why? Because of a little thing called mutually assured destruction. If the Soviet Union fired on us, we would fire on them. In the end both sides would lose. This kept war from breaking out.

Now, bring this back to the individual level, that concept of assured death can act as a major deterrent for idiots like this Cho lunatic. Giving people guns means limiting the power of the criminals that prey on the weak and defenseless. Cowardly criminals buy guns and use them because nobody else has them. It’s their way of cheating in a game with ridiculous rules.

Consider the fact that these criminals are just that: criminals. Criminals are all about breaking laws. What makes you think a criminal is going to abide by a “no gun” law? Criminals still find guns, but the law abiding innocents will not have guns because it’s against the law! If you remove guns completely, you’ve rendered innocent people defenseless against one of these criminals who’s obtained a gun illegally.

Criminals still find guns, but the law abiding innocents will not have guns because it’s against the law!

So, what does this mean? It means that gun control needs to be exercised by the individuals carrying the guns, not by the government. If that right were fully restored to us, violent crimes would decrease. Put the power back into the hands of the people and make it more difficult for criminals to gain an upper hand. That is our solution.