I am so thankful I didn’t vote for Obama.
Everything he’s done so far has been anti-God and anti-Bible.
He revoked the Mexico policy, so we’re not only funding abortions in the U.S., we’re funding them abroad.
He’s been on Arab TV and thinks it’s his job to make the American people understand the Muslim viewpoint. Someone ought to tell him it’s his job to stand up for America and to protect her citizens.
Hate crimes legislation, one of Obama’s prime objectives, has now moved to the front of the legislation line. Everyone’s freedom of speech and freedom of religion will suffer with pastors being the first to go. If you want to see how it’s going to be, check out what’s going on in Canada.
The stimulus bill is an ‘Obamanation’ of frivolous spending and untold pork projects that will NOT stimulate the economy. All the welfare reform that has worked so well and gotten untold numbers of people off welfare is gone with the stroke of a pen. The bill includes provisions leading to government health care and mandatory electronic health records for everyone with no opting out. We’re rapidly heading down the road to socialism.
My heart breaks for my country.
The irony is that many people ignored God’s clear directive and voted for Obama thinking he would fix the economy. If history holds true, this bill and the mortgage bailout he's planning are going to shrink our economy and we’ll soon be a second rate, has-been superpower.
Since God is in charge, I can only think that America is being judged in the form of an Obama/Democrat/far-left liberal presidency. Romans 1 says when people reject God, their foolish hearts are darkened, that they become fools. We can see that happening everywhere we turn. Common sense seems completely absent in every avenue of society. Why else would people believe that a horrendously debt ridden country like we’ve become can get out of debt by spending more money, and on ‘stuff’ that we don’t really need. It’s totally unbelievable. We deserve every bit of judgment we receive. Perhaps this is also the way God is going to take America off the world stage to set up the situation needed for the end times to play out.
As a country, we’re ALL responsible for Obama being in power and all the other things which have led us to the state we’re in today. But those Christians who actually voted for him will have to answer to God for not doing their homework and finding out exactly what he really stood for instead of falling for his empty rhetoric about hope and change.
***********
I recently read about the Muslim man who murdered his wife. The uniquely Muslim twist to this is that he did it by beheading her, the favored killing method of Islam. She was trying to divorce him. How ironic that he’d started a Muslim TV station meant to bridge the gulf between everyday Muslims and Americans. The station wasn’t doing as well as expected, so I suppose his pride was at stake. I fear we’ll be seeing more of these kinds of 'honor' killings in the future. Perhaps it will wake America up to what this ‘religion of peace’ is really all about.
************
The Obama administration has given $700,000 to “The Future of Babylon Project” which aims to rebuild the city of Babylon as a ‘cultural tourist’ mecca. Saddam Hussein had visions of himself as a modern Nebuchadnezzar when he started rebuilding the city back in the days when he still held power. Now that the insurgency is dying down, the project is moving forward once again. Many cynics laughed at the Bible’s insistence that Babylon was slated to become the wealthiest and most powerful city on the face of the earth. As always, God will have the last laugh as Babylon’s rebirth gains momentum right before our eyes.
************
How sweet is this.... The pope called Nancy Pelosi on the carpet, giving her a stiff scolding on her recent visit there. How she thinks she can be a Catholic and push for every kind of abortion known to man is beyond me. After bum rushing the so-called Stimulus package (or the Great Generational Theft Act as many are calling it) through Congress so she could take this trip to Rome, she ended up being soundly rebuked. I especially appreciated the irony that our Speaker of the House, who never refuses any opportunity for an interview, gave out no interviews after she met with Pope Benedict XVI nor were there any pictures of her and the pope together. Until she toes the Catholic line on abortion, he obviously doesn't want to be seen in the same photo with her.
*************
I knew the movie MILK about the homosexual mayor of San Francisco would somehow be rewarded at the Academy Awards, if only to show the world that Hollywood is in favor of ‘gay’ marriage and thinks the rest of us are a bunch of homophobic bigots. And so it happened last night when Sean Penn won the Oscar for Best Actor. Of course, during his acceptance speech, he had to spout some nonsense about how the grandchildren of those who voted in favor of marriage being between one man and one woman would have nothing but shame for them somewhere down the line. Ho hum. I had been fearful that MILK would win Best Picture, but happily that didn’t happen thanks to that great little movie that could, SLUMDOG MILLIONAIRE.
Monday, February 23, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
Monday Miscellanea
1. I saw a nifty cartoon recently. It showed a boss and an employee talking.
Boss: “Bob, you are the most honest, trustworthy, joyful, patient, kind, loyal, and respectful employee I’ve ever had work for me.”
Bob (thinking to himself): Honesty (Exodus 20:16), trustworthiness (Exodus 20:15), joy, patience, kindness (Galatians 5:22-23), and loyalty and respect (1 Peter 2:17-18).
Boss: “Keep it up, but just make sure you keep your Christianity and Bible stuff out of the office.”
How typical. People wants all the fruits of Christianity such as good employees, loyal friends, freedom, good laws, honesty in government, the Constitution, and yet they don’t want to acknowledge it as such.
2. In my Bible Counseling class our assignment was to take our Bibles to work for the rest of our lives!! What a great assignment for every Christian.
3. Nietsche said a couple of really interesting -- and true -- things:
a) “When one gives up Christian belief, one thereby deprives oneself of the right to Christian morality.”
I wish we could get this across to the many Americans who want religion out of government and yet want to keep the same morals. No wonder those morals are sadly disappearing -- they have no foundation to stand on.
b) “Christianity presupposes that man does not know, cannot know what is good for him and what is evil: he believes in God, who alone knows. Christian morality is a command; its origin is transcendent; it is beyond all criticism, all right to criticism; it has truth only if God is truth -- it stands and falls with the belief in God.”
Christianity and its morality has been proven time and time again. The answers to life are clear if only people would open their minds and hearts.
4. The secular mainstream media is not free of religion as they’re always claiming. They’re promoting atheism, a religion, because they want to remove all traces of God from our daily lives. This is not neutrality. There’s no such thing. Evolution supporters try to pull the same trick. If they were really interested in the truth, dialogue between both sides would be allowed.
5. Homosexual ‘bishop’ Gene Robinson is having to reduce clergy and support staff although not his own six figure salary. He thought the pews would be filled with hundreds and even thousands of homosexuals after he was ordained, but that hasn’t happened and he’s now being forced to cut back. Even more offensive is the fact that his salary includes $40,000 for his housing which he shares with his homosexual lover.
A similar result occurred when homosexual marriage became an option in Massachusetts. The huge rush by homosexuals to get married that many expected to see never happened either. Which just goes to show that the so called ‘gay’ agenda isn’t about rights, but about dismantling the laws and boundaries of society.
6. Speaking of homosexuals, the latest government statistics show that 65 % of syphilis cases are homosexual males. Turns out homosexual men are the ‘primary drivers’ of increased syphilis rates overall. Even more telling, this sexually transmitted disease was almost eradicated less than 10 years ago. The number of cases has been going up since the year 2000.
7. Where can you find true biblical teaching on a nation-wide basis anymore? Christian high schools are caving. Christian higher education is caving (just for starters many Christian colleges and seminaries embrace something called Christian psychology which is an impossible combination since the two systems have a completely different basis from which they operate). Churches are caving which explains in part how Obama got elected. Even so-called Evangelicals are no longer biblical. They have pieces of the truth and with those pieces they’re able to attract the hungry masses, but then they don’t deliver the most important aspects of the gospel.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could come up with a way to take people who make their entry into Christianity through people like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, and somehow guide them to the next step. How can we do that? How can we reach them? I think Bill Keller of Liveprayer has the right idea -- he’s trying to infiltrate the ‘secular’ media with the message of Christ rather than ‘preach to the choir.’ At this time we Christians have no real platform -- the mainstream media, Hollywood, the music industry, TV, the major denominations, have all been stripped of the God of the Bible.
Christian and conservative talk radio remains a powerful force, but that might soon be coming to an end with all this talk of the ‘Fairness Doctrine.’ The most unregulated area right now is the internet. In fact, Christian radio might have to default to the internet (as Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend is doing by having his radio show also shown live on the internet) in order to get out the message of God. But how many will take the extra effort when they get home to search out a program they used to listen to in their car? Probably the same sold-out Christians who are already holding the line on Biblical Christianity.
8. During a speech at Obama’s inauguration festivities, Al Gore assured a group of junior high kids that they know more than their parents, basically implying that kids shouldn’t listen to their elders. I remember hearing about Maria von Trapp (of Sound of Music Fame) recalling how during the days of Hitler’s rise to power, she and her classmates in school were also told that their parents were old and reactionary and that the future lay with their own younger generation.
9. Here’s a good argument against liberals who support everything homosexual. If they believe in evolution as much as they say they do, then how can they be for homosexual behavior? Evolution relies on heredity. Traits are passed on to future generations through DNA and the race is improved through survival of the fittest. Homosexuals must therefore have bad genes since their 'unions' don’t produce offspring and therefore can't pass on any traits at all. Of course, passing on their philosophy is another matter.
10. More insanity from the global warming nuts. Green writer James Lovelock says it’s too late to save the planet from global warming. The best we can do now is to cull the herd. I guess 4,000 abortions a day isn’t enough for them.
Boss: “Bob, you are the most honest, trustworthy, joyful, patient, kind, loyal, and respectful employee I’ve ever had work for me.”
Bob (thinking to himself): Honesty (Exodus 20:16), trustworthiness (Exodus 20:15), joy, patience, kindness (Galatians 5:22-23), and loyalty and respect (1 Peter 2:17-18).
Boss: “Keep it up, but just make sure you keep your Christianity and Bible stuff out of the office.”
How typical. People wants all the fruits of Christianity such as good employees, loyal friends, freedom, good laws, honesty in government, the Constitution, and yet they don’t want to acknowledge it as such.
2. In my Bible Counseling class our assignment was to take our Bibles to work for the rest of our lives!! What a great assignment for every Christian.
3. Nietsche said a couple of really interesting -- and true -- things:
a) “When one gives up Christian belief, one thereby deprives oneself of the right to Christian morality.”
I wish we could get this across to the many Americans who want religion out of government and yet want to keep the same morals. No wonder those morals are sadly disappearing -- they have no foundation to stand on.
b) “Christianity presupposes that man does not know, cannot know what is good for him and what is evil: he believes in God, who alone knows. Christian morality is a command; its origin is transcendent; it is beyond all criticism, all right to criticism; it has truth only if God is truth -- it stands and falls with the belief in God.”
Christianity and its morality has been proven time and time again. The answers to life are clear if only people would open their minds and hearts.
4. The secular mainstream media is not free of religion as they’re always claiming. They’re promoting atheism, a religion, because they want to remove all traces of God from our daily lives. This is not neutrality. There’s no such thing. Evolution supporters try to pull the same trick. If they were really interested in the truth, dialogue between both sides would be allowed.
5. Homosexual ‘bishop’ Gene Robinson is having to reduce clergy and support staff although not his own six figure salary. He thought the pews would be filled with hundreds and even thousands of homosexuals after he was ordained, but that hasn’t happened and he’s now being forced to cut back. Even more offensive is the fact that his salary includes $40,000 for his housing which he shares with his homosexual lover.
A similar result occurred when homosexual marriage became an option in Massachusetts. The huge rush by homosexuals to get married that many expected to see never happened either. Which just goes to show that the so called ‘gay’ agenda isn’t about rights, but about dismantling the laws and boundaries of society.
6. Speaking of homosexuals, the latest government statistics show that 65 % of syphilis cases are homosexual males. Turns out homosexual men are the ‘primary drivers’ of increased syphilis rates overall. Even more telling, this sexually transmitted disease was almost eradicated less than 10 years ago. The number of cases has been going up since the year 2000.
7. Where can you find true biblical teaching on a nation-wide basis anymore? Christian high schools are caving. Christian higher education is caving (just for starters many Christian colleges and seminaries embrace something called Christian psychology which is an impossible combination since the two systems have a completely different basis from which they operate). Churches are caving which explains in part how Obama got elected. Even so-called Evangelicals are no longer biblical. They have pieces of the truth and with those pieces they’re able to attract the hungry masses, but then they don’t deliver the most important aspects of the gospel.
Wouldn’t it be great if we could come up with a way to take people who make their entry into Christianity through people like Joel Osteen and Rick Warren, and somehow guide them to the next step. How can we do that? How can we reach them? I think Bill Keller of Liveprayer has the right idea -- he’s trying to infiltrate the ‘secular’ media with the message of Christ rather than ‘preach to the choir.’ At this time we Christians have no real platform -- the mainstream media, Hollywood, the music industry, TV, the major denominations, have all been stripped of the God of the Bible.
Christian and conservative talk radio remains a powerful force, but that might soon be coming to an end with all this talk of the ‘Fairness Doctrine.’ The most unregulated area right now is the internet. In fact, Christian radio might have to default to the internet (as Brannon Howse of Worldview Weekend is doing by having his radio show also shown live on the internet) in order to get out the message of God. But how many will take the extra effort when they get home to search out a program they used to listen to in their car? Probably the same sold-out Christians who are already holding the line on Biblical Christianity.
8. During a speech at Obama’s inauguration festivities, Al Gore assured a group of junior high kids that they know more than their parents, basically implying that kids shouldn’t listen to their elders. I remember hearing about Maria von Trapp (of Sound of Music Fame) recalling how during the days of Hitler’s rise to power, she and her classmates in school were also told that their parents were old and reactionary and that the future lay with their own younger generation.
9. Here’s a good argument against liberals who support everything homosexual. If they believe in evolution as much as they say they do, then how can they be for homosexual behavior? Evolution relies on heredity. Traits are passed on to future generations through DNA and the race is improved through survival of the fittest. Homosexuals must therefore have bad genes since their 'unions' don’t produce offspring and therefore can't pass on any traits at all. Of course, passing on their philosophy is another matter.
10. More insanity from the global warming nuts. Green writer James Lovelock says it’s too late to save the planet from global warming. The best we can do now is to cull the herd. I guess 4,000 abortions a day isn’t enough for them.
Monday, February 2, 2009
New Age Bible Versions Part 3
As promised in an earlier blog, here are the final six trends that appear in the newer translations of the Bible such as the NIV and NASB as shown in NEW AGE BIBLE VERSIONS: An Exhaustive Documentation Exposing The Message, Men and Manuscripts Moving Mankind To The Antichrist’s One World Religion by G.A. Riplinger.
7) The newer translations go beyond the psychology of self-esteem to show man becoming his own God. For example, instead of the KJV’s “around about the throne were four and twenty seats” (Rev. 4:4) the NASB has “around the throne were twenty four thrones”. The KJV says about man in Ps 8:5 “ For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels”. The NASB and NIV among others instead state “Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God” which is quite a promotion of status! Here’s a similar contrast in Heb 2:7 -- “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels” (KJV) vs “Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels” (newer versions). The word blaspheme doesn’t only mean slandering God, but includes the concept of claiming the prerogatives of the deity. Instead of translating the word as “blasphemy” as the KJV does, the new versions use “slander” in Col 3:8, Mark 7:22, and Matt 15:19 to name a few places.
8) The new versions have not only chiseled away at Christ and Jesus’ name. they have routed out many references to God. Compare Rev 21:4 in the KJV “God shall wipe away all tears” to the NIV and NASB “He shall wipe away.” Or Heb 10: 9 in the KJV “I come to do thy will, O God” to the newer versions’ “I have come to do thy will.” In 1 Tim 3:16 the new versions have “He who was revealed” as opposed to the KJV’s “God was manifest.” And in Matt 6:33 you find “the kingdom of God” (KJV) versus “His kingdom” (newer versions). Even more telling, in 2 Cor 10:4, the KJV says “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God” while the new versions have “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful” which is ambiguous to say the least.
9) The new versions tend to soften man’s sinfulness and guilt. In 1 Cor 4:4 we have “For I know nothing by myself” (KJV) whereas the newer versions say “My conscience is clear’ (NIV, NASB). Col 2:11 changes from “the sins of the flesh” (KJV) to “the body of the flesh (NIV, NASB). Matt 18:7 in the KJV reads “woe unto the world because of offenses” compared to “woe unto the world because of stumbling blocks”. Even more telling, Luke 7:30 in the KJV says “rejected the counsel of God against themselves” as opposed to “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” in the newer versions.
10) The KJV is actually easier to read when you compare grade levels and vocabulary. The grade level average of the KJV is 5.8 while the grade level average for the NIV is, amazingly enough, 8.4. The author includes a comparison chart of the hard words used in the NASB as compared to the easier words in the KJV. Here are a few quick examples: great plainness of speech (KJV) vs lividness of speech (NASB), carried away (KJV) vs deportation (NASB), coasts (KJV) vs environs (NASB), cast out (KJV) vs eliminated (NASB), band of soldiers (KJV) vs whole Roman cohort (NASB), and hall of judgement (KJV) vs Praetorium (NASB).
11) The newer versions are harder on women. The KJV says in 1 Tim 5:16, “If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them” while the new versions lay this burden solely on women, “if any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, let her assist them. Rev. 13:16 says “free and bond” (KJV) which includes everyone in both categories as opposed to “free men and slaves” (newer versions) which is more nebulous. James 4:4 translates as the all-inclusive “ye adulterers and adulteresses” in the KJV as compared to “you adulteresses (NASB). The newer versions also take the credit away from women. Check out Heb 11:11 in the KJV where it's Sara who shows faith: “Through faith also, Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Now here’s that same verse in the newer versions with Abraham as the star of the passage: “By faith Abraham even though he was past age -- and Sara herself was barren -- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.”
12) The newer versions show a decided lack of uniformity when it comes to servants and slaves. A servant is one who exerts himself for the benefit of another master while a slave is a person held in bondage, a thrall. The KJV uses the word “servant” in every case, along with “bondman” and “handmaid”. The newer versions can’t seem to make up their minds and are very schizophrenic in their translations. The KJV always translates the Hebrew ebed as “servant” while the new versions flip flop and use both “servant” and “slave”. The Greek pais is also inconsistently rendered in the newer versions as both “slaves” and “servants”. Doulos, the word most often translated as “slave” in the newer versions, becomes “servants” in those same versions in Revelation 10.
The bottom line is that it never hurts to cross check whatever translation you’re using with the venerable King James Bible.
7) The newer translations go beyond the psychology of self-esteem to show man becoming his own God. For example, instead of the KJV’s “around about the throne were four and twenty seats” (Rev. 4:4) the NASB has “around the throne were twenty four thrones”. The KJV says about man in Ps 8:5 “ For Thou hast made him a little lower than the angels”. The NASB and NIV among others instead state “Yet Thou hast made him a little lower than God” which is quite a promotion of status! Here’s a similar contrast in Heb 2:7 -- “Thou madest him a little lower than the angels” (KJV) vs “Thou hast made him for a little while lower than the angels” (newer versions). The word blaspheme doesn’t only mean slandering God, but includes the concept of claiming the prerogatives of the deity. Instead of translating the word as “blasphemy” as the KJV does, the new versions use “slander” in Col 3:8, Mark 7:22, and Matt 15:19 to name a few places.
8) The new versions have not only chiseled away at Christ and Jesus’ name. they have routed out many references to God. Compare Rev 21:4 in the KJV “God shall wipe away all tears” to the NIV and NASB “He shall wipe away.” Or Heb 10: 9 in the KJV “I come to do thy will, O God” to the newer versions’ “I have come to do thy will.” In 1 Tim 3:16 the new versions have “He who was revealed” as opposed to the KJV’s “God was manifest.” And in Matt 6:33 you find “the kingdom of God” (KJV) versus “His kingdom” (newer versions). Even more telling, in 2 Cor 10:4, the KJV says “For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God” while the new versions have “the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but divinely powerful” which is ambiguous to say the least.
9) The new versions tend to soften man’s sinfulness and guilt. In 1 Cor 4:4 we have “For I know nothing by myself” (KJV) whereas the newer versions say “My conscience is clear’ (NIV, NASB). Col 2:11 changes from “the sins of the flesh” (KJV) to “the body of the flesh (NIV, NASB). Matt 18:7 in the KJV reads “woe unto the world because of offenses” compared to “woe unto the world because of stumbling blocks”. Even more telling, Luke 7:30 in the KJV says “rejected the counsel of God against themselves” as opposed to “rejected God’s purpose for themselves” in the newer versions.
10) The KJV is actually easier to read when you compare grade levels and vocabulary. The grade level average of the KJV is 5.8 while the grade level average for the NIV is, amazingly enough, 8.4. The author includes a comparison chart of the hard words used in the NASB as compared to the easier words in the KJV. Here are a few quick examples: great plainness of speech (KJV) vs lividness of speech (NASB), carried away (KJV) vs deportation (NASB), coasts (KJV) vs environs (NASB), cast out (KJV) vs eliminated (NASB), band of soldiers (KJV) vs whole Roman cohort (NASB), and hall of judgement (KJV) vs Praetorium (NASB).
11) The newer versions are harder on women. The KJV says in 1 Tim 5:16, “If any man or woman that believeth have widows, let them relieve them” while the new versions lay this burden solely on women, “if any woman who is a believer has dependent widows, let her assist them. Rev. 13:16 says “free and bond” (KJV) which includes everyone in both categories as opposed to “free men and slaves” (newer versions) which is more nebulous. James 4:4 translates as the all-inclusive “ye adulterers and adulteresses” in the KJV as compared to “you adulteresses (NASB). The newer versions also take the credit away from women. Check out Heb 11:11 in the KJV where it's Sara who shows faith: “Through faith also, Sara herself received strength to conceive seed, and was delivered of a child when she was past age because she judged him faithful who had promised.” Now here’s that same verse in the newer versions with Abraham as the star of the passage: “By faith Abraham even though he was past age -- and Sara herself was barren -- was enabled to become a father because he considered him faithful who had made the promise.”
12) The newer versions show a decided lack of uniformity when it comes to servants and slaves. A servant is one who exerts himself for the benefit of another master while a slave is a person held in bondage, a thrall. The KJV uses the word “servant” in every case, along with “bondman” and “handmaid”. The newer versions can’t seem to make up their minds and are very schizophrenic in their translations. The KJV always translates the Hebrew ebed as “servant” while the new versions flip flop and use both “servant” and “slave”. The Greek pais is also inconsistently rendered in the newer versions as both “slaves” and “servants”. Doulos, the word most often translated as “slave” in the newer versions, becomes “servants” in those same versions in Revelation 10.
The bottom line is that it never hurts to cross check whatever translation you’re using with the venerable King James Bible.
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