2006-03-08
Searching for the Gospel of Jesus - Outreach & Evangelism
Searching for the Gospel of Jesus - Outreach & Evangelism
A truly eye opening look at modern evangelism.
I particularly like te following: "You are the bride to the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is Jesus Christ. You must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood to know Him, and your union with Him will make you one, and your oneness with Him will allow you to be identified with Him, His purity allowing God to interact with you. And because of this, you will be with Him in eternity, sitting at His side and enjoying His companionship, which will be more fulfilling than an earthly husband or an earthly bride. All you must do to engage God is be willing to leave everything behind, be willing to walk away from your identity, and embrace joyfully the trials and tribulations, the torture and perhaps, martyrdom that will come upon you for being a child of God in a broken world working out its own redemption in empty pursuits."
Yes - this IS was Christianity is all about.
A truly eye opening look at modern evangelism.
I particularly like te following: "You are the bride to the Bridegroom, and the Bridegroom is Jesus Christ. You must eat of His flesh and drink of His blood to know Him, and your union with Him will make you one, and your oneness with Him will allow you to be identified with Him, His purity allowing God to interact with you. And because of this, you will be with Him in eternity, sitting at His side and enjoying His companionship, which will be more fulfilling than an earthly husband or an earthly bride. All you must do to engage God is be willing to leave everything behind, be willing to walk away from your identity, and embrace joyfully the trials and tribulations, the torture and perhaps, martyrdom that will come upon you for being a child of God in a broken world working out its own redemption in empty pursuits."
Yes - this IS was Christianity is all about.
2006-03-05
Spiritual Overview
The last couple of weeks have been intersting.
Let me start with the latest news first. On Slashdot, there's an interesting story about the end times, where Katherine Albrecht argues why RFID could possibly be the mark of the beast.
Personally, I do not belief that RFID presents the mark, as it is not visible like a tatoo or similar. In Barne's commentary, we read the following of Revelations 13:16-18: "the 'mark of the beast.' The word properly means “something graven or sculptured”; hence: (a) a graving, sculpture, sculptured work, as images or idols; (b) a mark cut in or stamped - as the stamp on a coin."
RFID tags will generally not be visible. RFID is a hidden electronic device, concealed in physical items, and perhaps in future under the skin.
I still belief a tatoo like object (barcode?) will be put openly on the body. This will be visible, as normal people that know nothing of you will not talk or conduct business with you unless you have the mark. Fellow Christians would also need a way to identify who has the mark and who does not.
The really sad thing for me was to read some of the commentaries on the slashdot article - especially when reading lines like "Just because some old book tells a pointless fairy tale doesn't mean it has any connection to reality either.".
Another depressing story I came acros was not on the web, but in a Christian book store here in South Africa, called CUM. They are selling the DVD, sound track and book of "NARNIA THE LION THE WITCH AND". The fact is that it IS a spiritual orientated story, but definately NOT doing any honor to the Name of Jesus Christ. According to a BeliefNet.com commentary, "[the story] is an adaptation of C.S. Lewis's slim book by the same name, and this fantasy tale includes a Christ-figure as well as a similitude of the crucifixion and resurrection.".
Note: It does not directly portray Jesus Christ and what He has done for us - but it "explore the tenets of a particular spiritual path".
I urge all Christians to reject this story and not to purchase it, especially from Christian stores.
In the mean time I will keep on praying for all people...
God bless and have a pieceful week in the Name above all names - Jesus Christ.
Let me start with the latest news first. On Slashdot, there's an interesting story about the end times, where Katherine Albrecht argues why RFID could possibly be the mark of the beast.
Personally, I do not belief that RFID presents the mark, as it is not visible like a tatoo or similar. In Barne's commentary, we read the following of Revelations 13:16-18: "the 'mark of the beast.' The word properly means “something graven or sculptured”; hence: (a) a graving, sculpture, sculptured work, as images or idols; (b) a mark cut in or stamped - as the stamp on a coin."
RFID tags will generally not be visible. RFID is a hidden electronic device, concealed in physical items, and perhaps in future under the skin.
I still belief a tatoo like object (barcode?) will be put openly on the body. This will be visible, as normal people that know nothing of you will not talk or conduct business with you unless you have the mark. Fellow Christians would also need a way to identify who has the mark and who does not.
The really sad thing for me was to read some of the commentaries on the slashdot article - especially when reading lines like "Just because some old book tells a pointless fairy tale doesn't mean it has any connection to reality either.".
Another depressing story I came acros was not on the web, but in a Christian book store here in South Africa, called CUM. They are selling the DVD, sound track and book of "NARNIA THE LION THE WITCH AND". The fact is that it IS a spiritual orientated story, but definately NOT doing any honor to the Name of Jesus Christ. According to a BeliefNet.com commentary, "[the story] is an adaptation of C.S. Lewis's slim book by the same name, and this fantasy tale includes a Christ-figure as well as a similitude of the crucifixion and resurrection.".
Note: It does not directly portray Jesus Christ and what He has done for us - but it "explore the tenets of a particular spiritual path".
I urge all Christians to reject this story and not to purchase it, especially from Christian stores.
In the mean time I will keep on praying for all people...
God bless and have a pieceful week in the Name above all names - Jesus Christ.
2006-03-04
CMUSphinx: The Carnegie Mellon Sphinx Project
This sure does look like a very interesting project with lots of potential applications. Imagine integrating with Asterisk...
From the web site: "The Sphinx Group at Carnegie Mellon University is committed to releasing the long-time, DARPA-funded Sphinx projects widely, in order to stimulate the creation of speech-using tools and applications, and to advance the state of the art both directly in speech recognition, as well as in related areas including dialog systems and speech synthesis."
CMUSphinx: The Carnegie Mellon Sphinx Project
From the web site: "The Sphinx Group at Carnegie Mellon University is committed to releasing the long-time, DARPA-funded Sphinx projects widely, in order to stimulate the creation of speech-using tools and applications, and to advance the state of the art both directly in speech recognition, as well as in related areas including dialog systems and speech synthesis."
CMUSphinx: The Carnegie Mellon Sphinx Project
