Head-dibs

“The wise man will live as he ought, not as long as he can.” (Seneca) While visiting an inmate serving a robbery sentence, a visitor reported to his incarcerated friend how another man was recently arrested for robbing a house and killing the family who lived there. “You know,” the inmate said, “it's people like that who give robbery a bad name.” As Shakespeare wrote, "He hath ever but slenderly known himself." (King Lear) Awareness is a starting point to wise living, balancing the inward look with an outward look. After all, we live on a planet with other people. Problems set in when the inward or the outward look are out of balance. For example, if we worry about what others think and tailor our actions to people-please, then we lose ourselves. Or, if we become too inward focused, selfishness takes over and we get along with no-one. The outward aspect of awareness is simply proximity. "Who" is doing "what" around you?  Personal Awar...

"It is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows." (Epictetus) Seems we all know that one person who thinks he or she knows everything. The one person who can't be told anything because they seem to already know. A trait mostly found in teenagers, only some never grow out of it. One night we were discussing a movie when a certain person chirped, "Oh, yeah. Seen it a bunch of times already. I know all about it." We looked at each other and wondered out loud, "how? It hasn't even been released yet?" The response? "Well, I just have." That kind of person. There are two kinds of ignorance: there is one who is not-knowing (ἀγνοεῖς--"agnoia"  or "the agnostic") and the one who is not-learning (ἀμαθίᾳ--"amathia"). Here is our person, the know-it-all. The mind that endangers itself. We might better understand if we divide the not-learning ("ignorant," as it wer...

The Emperor Marcus Aurelius opens his second book with this thought: "Begin the morning by saying to yourself, 'I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial.' All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him, For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away." Prepare yourself. There are people ...

While imprisoned and awaiting execution for curiosity, for teaching and for not believing the same gods as other Greeks, Socrates was visited by Crito early one morning and Crito had an offer: bribe the guards and escape! One wonders how long the 70 year-old man had to think it over because in the end, he went on to his execution. This is important because if he took Crito’s offer and escaped, a domino effect would have started and the world as we know it would not exist in the form of the absence of Plato. Socrates had to die and the reasons he gives are worth investigating. Plato's " Crito " is a short read. “TWO WRONGS DON’T MAKE A RIGHT” First, Socrates discourages the bribing of the guards on the grounds that two wrongs don’t make a right. “[W]e ought not to retaliate or render evil for evil to anyone, whatever evil we may have suffered from him.” Yes, there are problems in that an innocent man is condemned to death, but what happens to the integrity of a man if...

Going door to door is a lost art but Austin L. Hughes, the Carolina Distinguished Professor of Biological Sciences at the University of South Carolina boldly stands on the doorstep of natural science and shows how “scientism” has become a cruel neighbor in his article, “ The Folly of Scientism .” Generally speaking, “science” means “knowledge,” and “natural science” concerns itself with one facet of knowledge; however, “it is frequently claimed that natural science does or soon will constitute the entire domain of truth.” Hughes systematically exposes the flaws of the so called “universal competence” of science, or “scientism” by asking the most important question that scientism cannot answer, “Is it really true that natural science provides a satisfying and reasonably complete account of everything we see, experience and seek to understand--of every phenomenon in the universe?” Taking scientism by the hand, Hughes moves through the neighborhood of disciplines starting with Philosophy...

Freedom is not the liberty to do as one desires, but the power to do everything one should.

Toads don't go to hell. Humans do . Dr. King shares Coaching and Consulting resources (related to his CIU-Seminary and School of Missions course, "Biblical Foundations of Leadership.") Tired of the old John Piper and Rick Warren debacle? Try Skip Heitzig rolling out the red carpet for Leonard Sweet at Calvary Chapel . One parent + one parent + one parent = one baby . I vote "Eugene" as a name. Ash and lightning above the Iceland volcano. Death comes unexpectedly : "You Say Party! We Say Die!" drummer dies onstage.

Solomon was right: there is nothing new under the sun. I am amazed at the ongoing objections concerning the relevance of the Bible today, yet within those very objections is proof enough that the Bible is indeed very relevant. Objectors do not realize how they confirm scripture by their very act of rebellion. We find ourselves in the unique position to view an incredible display of God's omniscience as He reveals what is on the hearts, minds and in the actions of His enemies. This, too, demonstrates the relevance of God's Word today as what God reveals continues without abatement today. They bring nothing new to the forum, but a tired excuse to disbelieve God. When David was inspired to ask, " why are the nations in an uproar ," he was reflecting on old news and from our perspective, nothing has changed in that regard: the nations are still in an uproar as they try to cast off the rule of God. What should the nations be doing? The book of Psalms alone contains a small...

2 Kings 4:8ff records an incident that goes nearly unnoticed. Elisha and his servant, Gehazi, cross over into Shunem and meet a woman described as "great," or, "prominent." When Elisha comes near, she actually persuades him to eat some food she has apparently prepared for him. Her home became as base of operations (of sorts) for him, for each time he came through the neighborhood, he stopped off at her house to eat. Why was this woman was considered "great" or "prominent?" She fed the prophet, sure; but, there must have been something else that caused the Holy Spirit to inspire the writer to make certain she recieved this designation. We get an idea of that "something" through what she says to her husband. " Behold now, I perceive that this is a holy man of God passing by us continually. Please, let us make a little walled upper chamber and let us set a bed for him there, and a table and a chair and a lampstand; and it shall be, wh...

Matthew 27:18 reads, “ For he knew that because of envy they had handed Him over .” Jesus was standing before Pilate, hearing all the abuses the chief priests and elders were raising against Him. The governor was amazed that Jesus said nothing in return. What did they want from Jesus that they did not have that they should envy Him? The Merriam-Webster definition of envy is, “the painful or resentful awareness of an advantage enjoyed by another with a desire to possess the same advantage.” An obsolete definition is simply, “malice.” Middle English and old French (envie) and the Latin (invidia), have been understood to mean, “grudge, jealousy, ill-will.” This includes the idea of coveting, craving or desiring. The Greek word used in the passage is pronounced “fthontos” and means, “spite, jealousy.” So what were the people jealous of? What did they covet of Jesus? What was driving their desire that they should turn Him over to be killed? This can cause us to press toward anoth...

William Golding is best known for his novels "The Lord of the Flies," “Free Fall” and the sea trilogy "Rites of Passage," “Close Quarters” and “Fire Down Below.” Golding should have received greater recognition for his essay, "Thinking as a Hobby." Here Golding helps the reader understand how he came to the conclusion that there are three grades, or categories of thinking. Grade three thinking is "feeling, rather than thought," much like animal instinct and as equally reactionary. This is the thinking grade of addictive behavior, hedonists and Jedi Knights. Grade two thinking "destroys without having the power to create;" that is, while grade two thinking may enjoy discovering and pointing out contradiction, it provides no answers, solutions or security. This is the thinking grade of humanistic science, philosophy, anthropology, sociology, and psychology. The danger of grade two thinking can be compared with the undertow, which drags th...

" . . . many people claim that God is simply a warmonger picking fights with those that oppose him. Unfortunately, nothing could be further from the truth. Only under extreme conditions was a war ever sanctioned and not after many years of warnings ( Jeremiah 26:4-6 ). In fact, even the mighty King David himself was not allowed to build a temple for God because he was a warrior and had shed blood in wars ( 1 Chronicles 28:3 ). God, it seems, does not like the death of anyone." Read the full article here where you will find the topics: The Root Cause of War Our Attitude Toward War God's View of War Lord of War The Just War

"With the discovery of the atom, everything changed, except for man's thinking. Because of this, we drift toward unparalleled catastophe." "The true problem lies in the hearts and thoughts of men. It is not a physical but an ethical one . . . . What terrifies us is not the explosive force of the atomic bomb, but the power of the wickedness of the human heart." (Albert Einstein, 1879 - 1955)

"Art, if it is to be reckoned as one the great values of life, must teach men humility, tolerance, wisdom and magnanimity. The value of art is not beauty, but right action." (W. Somerset Maugham, 1874 - 1965).

374 AD, Basil the Great: "Let her that procures abortion undergo ten years' penance, whether the embryo were perfectly formed, or not" (First Canonical Letter, canon 2). "He that kills another with a sword, or hurls an axe at his own wife and kills her, is guilty of willful murder; not he who throws a stone at a dog, and unintentionally kills a man, or who corrects one with a rod, or scourge, in order to reform him, or who kills a man in his own defense, when he only designed to hurt him. But the man, or woman, is a murderer that gives a philtrum, if the man that takes it die upon it; so are they who take medicines to procure abortion; and so are they who kill on the highway, and rapparees" (First Canonical Letter, canon 8). 391 AD, John Chrysostom: "Wherefore I beseech you, flee fornication . . . Why sow where the ground makes it its care to destroy the fruit?--where there are many efforts at abortion?--where there is murder before the birth? For even th...

74 AD, The Letter of Barnabas: “The way of light, then, is as follows: If anyone desires to travel to the appointed place, he must be zealous in his works. The knowledge therefore, which is given to us for the purpose of walking in this way is the following: Thou shalt not slay the child by procuring abortion: nor, again, shalt thou destroy it after it is born.” 137 AD, The Apocalypse of Peter: “And near that place I saw another strait place into which the gore and the filth of those who were being punished ran down and became there as it were a lake: and there sat women having the gore up to their necks, and over against them sat many children who were born to them out of due time, crying; and there came forth from them sparks of fire and smote the women in the eyes: and these were the accursed who conceived and caused abortion.” 150 AD, Didache: “The second commandment of the teaching: You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not seduce boys. You shall not commi...

Athenagoras (177 AD) wrote in "A Plea for the Christians" the following: “What man of sound mind, therefore will affirm, while such is our character, that we are murderers? . . . . [W]hen we say that those women who use drugs to bring on abortion commit murder, and will have to give an account to God for the abortion, on what principle should we commit murder? For it does not belong to the same person to regard the very fetus in the womb as a created being and therefore an object of God’s care, and when it has passed into life, to kill it: and not to expose an infant, because those who expose them are chargeable with child-murder, and on the other hand when it has been reared to destroy it . . . . What reason would we have to commit murder when we say that women who induce abortions are murderers and will have to give account of it to God? For the same person would not regard the fetus in the womb as a living thing and therefore an object of God’s care, and at the same time ...

(ht: Shelly Grant) The part about "End of Life Counseling" reminds me of "Logan's Run." Raise your hand if you remember that movie! Obamacare called 'euthanasia bill' Shared via AddThis

My shining feet will never run on early morning lawn; My feet were crushed before they had a chance to greet the dawn. My fingers now will never stretch to touch the winning tape; My race was done before I learned the smallest steps to take. My growing height will never be recorded on the wall; My growth was stopped when I was still unseen, and very small. My lips and tongue will never taste the good fruits of the earth; For I myself was judged to be a fruit of little worth. My eyes will never scan the sky for my high—flying kite; For when still blind, destroyed were they in the black womb of night. I’ll never stand upon a hill, Spring’s winds in my hair; Aborted winds of thought closed in on Motherhood’s despair. I’ll never walk the shores of life or know the tides of time; For I was coming but unloved, and that my only crime. Nameless am I, a grain of sand, one of the countless dead; But the deed that made me ashen grey floats on seas of red. (Fay Clayton, Christian Crusade Weekly, J...

A few years ago our street witnessing team was joined by a visitor. He wanted to go with us, to help spread the good news of Jesus to the lost and dying world, so we let him come along. We went down to our area and “got busy” talking to people, when I suddenly heard our guest (Bible in one hand, tracts in another) use the most foul string of four-letter words as he was talking to a couple of guys. I can’t even remember what I was doing at the time, but I do remember spinning around and was like, “Hey! Watch it, bro!” Needless to say, our witnessing opportunity was over right then and there. I was asked recently about what I would do if I saw someone doing something that was clearly wrong. The first thing that came to my mind was, “are they a Christian?” We then proceeded to talk about our position in Christ and the “one another’s” of scripture: we don’t confront people because we are better than them, but because of our position in Christ. We use the law to point out sin and lead t...