November 26, 2017
“How can I repay Adonai for all His bounties to me? I will lift up the cup of salvation, and call on the Name of Adonai.” — Psalms 116:12-13 (Tree of Life Version (TLV)) I know we’re past Thanksgiving Day, but I figured I could still squeeze a related blogpost in before the long weekend […]
Tags: Feast of Booths, holiday connection, Jewish festival, Mayim Bialik, Pilgrims, Succoth, Sukkot, Thanksgiving, The Daily Wire, Tory Avey
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
November 19, 2017
“If scientists are able to detect gases like oxygen in the atmosphere of Ross 128 b, that could be a good indicator of biological processes on the planet.” — Molly Rubin (Quartz Media) It seems like a new exoplanet (aka “extrasolar planet”, i.e., a planet in a solar system other than ours) is found every […]
Tags: Astronomy and Astrophysics, atmospheric oxygen, Earth twin, ELT, ESO, European Southern Observatory, exoplanet, extrasolar planet, Extremely Large Telescope, fine-tuning, habitability, habitable zone, HARPS, High Accuracy Radial-velocity Planet Searcher, Hugh Ross, La Silla Observatory, liquid water, misleading reports in popular press, Proxima Centauri, red dwarf, Ross 128 b, search for Earth-like planets, sensationalism, spectrographic analysis, too much hype, tranquil star
Posted in Science |
November 12, 2017
“It never happened, and I don’t even like hearing it because it never happened, and they’re doing this a month away, four weeks [before the election], after 40 years in public service.” — Justice Roy Moore, speaking with Sean Hannity I haven’t really been following Roy Moore’s career closely. Though, of course, I remember the […]
Tags: 10 commandments, accusations of sexual misconduct, Alabama Senate special election, Christian politician, controversial Republican, Derick Dickens, Marvin Olasky quote, need for civil disagreement, public disagreement, Roy Moore, suspicious timing, Ten Commandments monument
Posted in Politics, Politics & Religion, Religion |
November 5, 2017
“Those who voted for the budget and support the full elimination of the SALT [i.e., state and local tax] deduction have shown they understand the key [tenets] of pro-growth tax reform for individuals: lowering marginal tax rates and doing away with tax subsidies.” — Adam Michel, tax policy analyst at The Heritage Foundation One of […]
Tags: Adam Michel, federal taxes, generate economic growth, GOP, high-tax states take advantage, House Republicans tax proposal, municipal bond interest deduction, pro-growth tax plan, property tax reduction, Rachel Greszler, reduce marginal tax rates, SALT, simplifying tax code, state and local tax reductions, tax cuts for the middle-class, tax policy, tax reform, The Heritage Foundation, Trump agenda
Posted in Politics |
October 29, 2017
This Reformation Day (10/31/2017) marks the 500th anniversary of Martin Luther’s nailing his Ninety-five Theses to the door of Castle Church in Wittenberg, Germany. This event is the traditional beginning of the Protestant Reformation, though rumblings of dissent within the Roman Catholic Church began long before. On the other hand, others would push the actual […]
Tags: 1517, 1521, 95 Theses, Christian orthodoxy, declared a heretic, Diet of Worms, dissent within Roman Catholic Church, Elector of Saxony, Emperor Charles V, excommunication, Holy Roman Empire, Martin Luther, orthopraxy, papal abuse, Pope Leo X, Prince Frederick III, Protestant Reformation, Wartburg Castle, Wittenberg
Posted in Religion |
October 22, 2017
This is the final installment of this series, which we began back in May (2017). I hope you enjoy the last four snippets from Gilson & Weitnauer’s True Reason, as the contributors continue to address important topics that are often raised against the rationality and moral consistency of Christianity by atheists and other skeptics. Fifteen: […]
Tags: Canaanite genocide, challenges to the record of Christianity, Christian abolitionism, Deut 7.2, fallibility of memory, Glenn Sunshine, Gospel eyewitnesses, John M. DePoe, Matthew Flannagan, New Testament on slavery, oral society, problem of evil, Quakers & Evangelicals, Randall Hardman, reading in historical and cultural context, reason vs emotion
Posted in Religion |
October 15, 2017
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.” — John 3:16 (KJV) The above verse is one of the most familiar and often memorized Bible verses in the English language, whether among orthodox or heterodox, Christian believers and […]
Tags: Calvary, election, exegesis, HCSB, James R. White, John 3.16, KJV, limited or unlimited atonement, loved in this way, loved so much, mistranslation, misunderstood verse, NET, nuances of Greek, one and only Son, only begotten Son, poor translation, predestination, salvation, so loved, translational issues, Who did Christ die for?, whoever believes
Posted in Religion |
October 8, 2017
While mulling over what to write on this week, I kept thinking about last week’s post. So, I decided to follow it up with a few thoughts — not entirely original, of course — on what I’d like to see in the imminent DACA/DREAMer-oriented legislation. Nothing profound, just my two cents. Knowing that I am […]
Tags: background checks, citizenship, compassion, DACA, DREAM Act, dreamer, e-Verify, executive amnesty, green card, illegal immigrant minors, illegal immigration, immigration legislation, increased border security, justice, law-abiding residents vs. violent criminals, legal status, naturalized citizens, probationary period, SUCCEED Act, the Wall, tough border security measures, U.S. Constitution, UAC, wisdom
Posted in Politics |
October 1, 2017
“DEFERRED, adj.: put off; postponed; delayed; withheld for or until a stated time” — definition consolidated from Merriam-Webster and American Heritage Before we look at this week’s topic, perhaps we should clarify a few terms…. Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA): a program implemented via President Obama’s Dept. of Homeland Security on June 15, 2012, […]
Tags: 6-month wind-down, chain migration, Chuck Schumer, compromise, DACA, DAPA, deferred action, DREAM Act, dreamer, e-Verify, executive amnesty, Guy Benson, Hans von Spakovsky, Heritage Foundation, House Freedom Caucus, illegal immigrant minors, illegal immigration, Immigration Reform and Control Act, Nancy Pelosi, President Trump, Speaker Ryan, SUCCEED Act, temporary amnesty, the Wall, tough border security measures, Townhall
Posted in Politics |
September 24, 2017
Now that we’ve all survived the Sept. 23rd “apocalypse” (or whatever it was supposed to be), I would like to share a post I saw yesterday from a very sharp young man that I “follow” on Facebook, Tim Dukeman. He is quite prolific with his posts/comments on political, socio-cultural, and theological matters. On those occasions […]
Tags: anti-Trump propaganda, cultic behavior, let's be consistent, no Trump cult, Tim Dukeman, Trump tribalism, when Trump messes up
Posted in Politics |