i was watching a vid on evolution, which led me to go look up the bible verses, (which by the way render king james' "dragon" as "jackal".. for some odd reason) which then led me to find some stuff about real live dragons/dinosaurs, which led me to find something about a dinosaur being found alive trapped in rock, which led me to find the below article on the phenomenon: Entombed Animals
Parts of the scientific establishment have taken both an interest in the phenomena, while other members scoff at it. In an article in an 1890 Scientific American a writer declared "Many well authenticated stories of the finding of live toads and frogs in solid rock are on record." While a few years later the editor for the magazine Nature argued, "It matters little to tell the reporters of such occurrences that the thing is absolutely impossible, and that our believing it would involve the conclusion that the whole science of geology (not to speak of biology also) is a mass of nonsense."
Most explanations for these events depend on the reporters being hoaxers or bad observers. "The true interpretation of these alleged occurrences appears to be simply this - a frog or toad is hopping about while a stone is being broken, and the nonscientific observer immediately rushes to the conclusion that he has seen the creature dropping out of the stone itself," says a writer in Nature. This explanation runs in the face of many of the reports where the animal was found in a cavity shaped like the animal itself.
Some reports, however, are just so fantastic that it seems the reader is left with no conclusion but to believe the writer has been pulling their leg. For example:
In 1856 workmen in France were digging a tunnel for a railway line through some Jurassic limestone when a large creature stumbled out from inside. It flapped it wings, croaked, and then died. Workers said it had a 10-foot wingspan, black leathery skin and a toothed mouth. It was identified by a paleontology student as a pterodactyl...
Cases of entombed animals remain a mystery. Clearly the Scientific American writer is correct in saying that there seems to be no answer to this puzzle unless we are willing to rewrite the science of geology or biology. Still, it seems the phenomena exists. Undoubtedly some of the reports are hoaxes, others are errors, but many remain a true mystery for a future scientist to resolve.
oh science, when will you stop being so much like a religion, and start being a bit more objective?
WASHINGTON – Just in time for the holidays, some medical advice most people will like: Take a nap. Interrupting sleep seriously disrupts memory-making, compelling new research suggests. But on the flip side, taking a nap may boost a sophisticated kind of memory that helps us see the big picture and get creative.
"Not only do we need to remember to sleep, but most certainly we sleep to remember," is how Dr. William Fishbein, a cognitive neuroscientist at the City University of New York, put it at a meeting of the Society for Neuroscience last week.
[...]
First, they taught 20 English-speaking college students lists of Chinese words spelled with two characters — such as sister, mother, maid. Then half the students took a nap, being monitored to be sure they didn't move from slow-wave sleep into the REM stage.
Upon awakening, they took a multiple-choice test of Chinese words they'd never seen before. The nappers did much better at automatically learning that the first of the two-pair characters in the words they'd memorized earlier always meant the same thing — female, for example. So they also were more likely than non-nappers to choose that a new word containing that character meant "princess" and not "ape."
being able to tell the difference between princess and ape is reportedly also important when choosing a mate to marry.. so log in that nap time people!!
awesome presentation by James White from Alpha and Omega Ministries on the reliability of the new testament text, going back to the history of the texts and manuscripts and doing textual analysis.. really really interesting stuff, especially if you find yourself relating to any of the above tags, or consider yourself (or would like to be) a scholar
A panda at a zoo in southern China attacked a student who snuck into its pen hoping for a cuddle with the endangered bear, state media said Saturday.
The 20-year-old male student surnamed Liu jumped over the fence at the zoo in the tourist city of Guilin, ignoring warning signs not to, Xinhua news agency said.
"The panda, named Yangyang, was wide awake. Apparently scared by the intruder, he bit at Liu's arms and legs," it quoted an unnamed worker as saying after zoo keepers managed to calm the bear and rescue Liu, the report said.
"Yangyang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him," Liu was quoted as saying from his hospital bed. "I didn't expect he would attack."
enjoying a bit of unexpected vacation time, ive been trying to do at least some productive something.. trying to get ahead (read: "up to date") in my studies.. and i ran into this quote in my philosophy course's reading:
"If we tried to rely entirely on reason, and pressed it hard, our lives and beliefs would collapse- a form of madness that may actually occur if the inertial force of taking the world and life for granted is somehow lost. If we lose our grip on that, reason will not give it back to us."
-Thomas Nagel
i guess those atheists who defend "reason" as their ultimate life's goal are chasing the rabbit.. if only Nagel realized we can only rely on the solidity of the bible.. he would stop asking silly questions and wondering down his own rabbit holes.. oh well, pray for him.
i cant believe it, so here it is, finally the longest collective brain fart we've had is now officially over (thanks to natalie who solved this without realizing it today):
moose in spanish is "alce"
yes, i know!! i cant believe we forgot either! haha..
finally, the answer to the question "what ever happened to the afghan girl?"
the girl from what is one of the most famous/recognizable photos in the world. this is what she looks like today. and yes, it is real:
obama's historic victory -- but not because he's black
i would like to take a moment to call all supporters of obama, those who said they voted for him because of his "policies" (let us know what these are as soon as you find out) and then celebrated that this is a historic victory, all hypocrites.
you see, i never thought of obama as a black guy. call me crazy, but i always just heard what he had to say to form my opinion of him. i was one of the first to cry out "obama oh 8!" when he came onto the democratic nomination contention. i thought "yaay! change!" just like we all did. this mustve been the first week the news was reaching us here in canada by dogsled. then i saw hillary's platform and thought.. "hmm, i wonder where the two diverge.." but still, it was more exciting to be a part of "change".. youd be hard pressed to disagree. it was early on, we still didnt know much. but time progressed, and i learned a few really disturbing things about obama, and i 180'ed away. obama NO 8, thankyou very much. i couldnt fathom how even the most ardent abortion supporter could possibly be ok with voting down a bill THREE TIMES that would protect the lives of babies born alive. it blew my mind. they changed the language so it wouldnt affect the "rights" that women already have to kill their unborn babies, it would just protect the lives of the BORN babies. but he struck it down. even hillary voted for it, why not him? then i heard he passed a bill to protect horses.. this really does not concur with logic, sense or anything that fits into my small brain. horses but not babies? animals but not humans? it smelled funny to my nose, but what were the options? the republicans were still bumbling about and all the excitement belonged to the democratic camp. ive never really been "democrat" or "republican" (im firstly not american, and secondly neither party do i agree with completely) however, due to being morally conservative, the republicans always were the ones who spoke to me.. especially with bush coming in, regardless of the huge problems that came during his administration.. but thats besides the point of this note.
in the white house, i wanted someone who would fight for the rights of the most defenseless, NOT the loudest yelling group. in this case, by defenseless i mean babies. but it also applies to the poor, the handicapped, you name it.
needless to say, im christian. im also swiss, a country with weak central government and near perfect democracy (you have to vote for everything), grew up in costa rica, a country with universal health care and no army and live in canada also having universal health care. im not afraid of "socialism", or socialized stuff that benefits all people in a country. i think its good and necessary. to be honest i find it really strange how the US can be so antagonistic of it, given how many countries have done it right, without losing its democracy etc.. i think the US NEEDS socialized health care, and needs to be more "progressive" in certain ideas that have been in their bibles for thousands of years now. (taking care of the sick and needy, etc..)
but back to obama. i followed the election closely. i didnt much like mccain but i thought this guy was a little more honest than the dems. i didnt agree with everything he said but he at least said SOMETHING. i began quickly to realize obama was like a marshmallow. you get really excited about having it, but after half a bag, you realize this stuff has no substance, nothing to nourish with, and its all just fluff and flavor. he wouldnt commit to solid position on anything it was all rhetoric. i heard the second debate almost in full and thought "holey, is this guy gonna answer anything or just dance around the issues??"
and then came the celebrities
holey wow.. celebrities began to melt at his feet, all coming to his cause, and began ruthlessly attacking mccain (and i still dont understand their distate of him). and lets face it, celebrities are really smart and really know their politics. oh wait, no they dont. and they were all lining up to support this guy. more fluff.
"we need change". yeah, we do.. but we need the good kind, not just generic change. and if it aint broke dont fix it. i love it when people talk about "the war" and blame it all on bush (who i insist could NOT have known that iraq was just a casket with saddam as the plug preventing it to blow. i mean, how could he have known iraqis would go nuts killing each other like they have been? it was just supposed to be a "come in, remove the dangerous dictator, let them choose another leader, and move on".. and it has hardly been that) yeah, the US never does things selflessly, nor does any other country. but at least they sometimes do what is right. if it wasnt for evil leaders of powerful countries' fear of the US, the world would be a greater mess than it is now. and as ihab pointed out, dont even dare think obama is going to pull the troops out, that would be the stupidest idea if there is no peace and stability there yet. and for any latinos reading this, especially costa ricans, the only reason you have the stability you do is cuz of the monroe doctrine, and its the only reason why costa rica can even afford to not have an army, and instead focus on education, which is why costa rica is perhaps the best country to live in this side of the world.
so, obama promised things that would be either incredibly dangerous to do, or he will just simply eventually find out he cannot do.
but to the title of note. which is why you are even reading this in the first place.
obama is not president elect because of his policies. he is president because of his slogan (riding the train of discontent with the bush administration) and because he's black. choose which one was more important. there has never been an election that has generated soooo much enthusiasm in people, especially in black voters. its really exciting to see people who once begrudged elections because "their vote doesnt matter anyways", as i remember hearing all the time during elections, all registering in hordes to vote, and then lining up to vote.. lining up to make history.
yeah. the history that was made was not that the most apt candidate won, history was made because its the first time a black man won the bid to the white house. so dont tell me you voted for him because he was the best choice, and say you voted to make history. he clearly was NOT the best choice (i heard many bemoaning the lack of support for ron paul.. who they said was the best choice in the race) even in comparison to mccain. obama is NOT prepared to do this job, and he is not receiving the world's most important job due to merit. he's receiving it because hes black and a smooth talker. he has no experience (1.5 years in the senate?) he doesnt know what its like to bleed for his country, he doesnt know what its like to face danger for his country, he's a well educated idealist, with nothing to show as proof of his ability to lead. palin, for all her inability to speak coherently during interviews had this experience and had the proof that she could get the job done. a president needs to get the job done, not just be a smooth talker.
change was inevitable. mccain wouldve brought change. but he didnt make it his slogan, it wouldve sounded wrong if he had. hes republican. hes white. hes old. hes an army guy (oh wait, bush never served, did he?) how does that sound like change? nobody wouldve bought it. from a guy who is different to bush in almost every possible aspect, it speaks for itself. what we should be wary of is exactly what kind of change we can expect. cuz, can anyone actually tell me what specific change obama promised? i mean besides redistribution of wealth and a few things he cannot easily deliver. but its the stuff he didnt say thats unnerving.
if you know me, you know im not racist, i dont care that he's black, its a non-issue. it just bothers me that people seemed to vote for him almost exclusively for the "concept" he stood for, and thats the finally overcoming of racism and all that other stuff. which is important. but we couldve done that 4 or 8 years from now, when he was more prepared to do so. and where his policies were defined and good and informed by experience. why put a guy up there to lead the most powerful country in the world just to make a statement, when he is not ready to do a good job?? if he fails miserably, (worse than bush) what will that say? what could result of it? remember, the whole world is watching, not just those who love the US and want the best for it, but also its enemies, who are waiting for just a moment of weakness to pounce on it with full force. also, dont forget that since sept 11th, 2001, during bush's watch there were no terrorist attacks on US soil. that says something.
1) A practical denial of the sufficiency of Scripture.
2 Tim 3:15. The Bible being inspired is only half the battle - the question is, is the Bible sufficient? What do we have to do with all of these modern day social experts that are actually against the word. Everything needs to be based upon the Word of God. All should rest upon “What is Thy will O God.” God is the seeker. We are not called to build empires - we are called to glorify God. Isaiah 8. There is always a new fad - and we’re always looking for a new theory. Why are we consulting the spiritually dead?
2) An ignorance of God. Many love their image of God rather than God. Psalm 50. People don’t know God. 1 Cor 15:34. When is the last time you attended a conference on the attributes of God? To know Him is eternal life. To know HIM. Sunday is the greatest hour of idolatry in the entire week - we’ve made a god just like ourselves.
3) A failure to address man’s malady. Man must be made aware of self in order to turn themselves over to God. The Spirit of God upon us will make others fall to the floor in despair of their sin. We are saying peace, peace when there is no peace. No one has ever been able to bear the witness of the Spirit. We esteem self more that we esteem God. As the night became dark, the stars come out in their glory. . . .the backdrop of our depravity.
4) An ignorance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. We do not know the gospel - we have reduced it to four little steps. The gospel begins with the nature of God, and then to the nature of man - if God is just - He cannot forgive you - Christ redeemed us from the curse - He became the curse for us. God turned away because His Son became sin. The cup was the cup of God the Fathers wrath.
Gospel reductionism - when there is no power, then we go to the tricks that do not work. When we catch a glimpse of what He did on that tree, we will not need anything else.
As Abraham did with his son, God did with His Son and slaughtered Him.
5) An ignorance of the doctrine of regeneration. Calvinism is not the issue, regeneration is. It is the work of God - He recreates man. We are always Ezekiel standing in the valley of dry bones, and they are always dry - once we understand that we no longer need to manipulate. Ye must be born again. If any man be in Christ he is a new creature.
The idolatry of descisionism.
6) An unbiblical Gospel invitation. Evangelism begins with the nature of God - who is God. We are crying out for revival, but don’t even have the foundation straight. Everybody wants to go the heaven, but they just don’t want God to be there when they get there. Men are haters of God.
We have no authority to tell men that they are saved. The doctrine of the uncarnal Christian has sent many men to hell. A tree is known by it’s fruit.
. . . working till Christ be formed - John 3:16
7) Ignorance regarding the nature of the church. “It’s the church stupid” - Jesus gave His life for the church. There is not a remnant of believers inside a larger unit called the church. The remnant is the church. Pastors and preachers don’t know what the church is. The lambs are getting blamed for all the things the goats are doing. Jeremiah 31:31. There is a difference between the new and the old covenant. He writes the laws within our hearts - we will know Him.
Just because we say it is so does not make it so.
Jeremiah 32:38. He will pull a people. One heart and one way. The church is one - she has always been one.
Do not say the church is full of sin - do not speak of the bride that way - it is the goats. We will have to answer if we say such things. We are being cowards . . . the bride of Jesus Christ is precious to God. Luke 39. Christ in His Holiness.
If you have no fear of Him it is sign (that you are not in Him).
8) A lack of loving and compassionate church discipline. We confront culture by obeying God. Just have an obedience sign and the world will hate you. We can either start obeying God and discipling ourselves or God will do it for us.
One on one discipleship - people are not getting converted. You can’t teach a goat into a sheep.
9) A silence on separation. Holiness. It goes back to regeneration and the providence of God - He will see to it that the work that has been begun will be finished. He let Esau run wild, but He beat Jacob to death almost everyday of his life - lovingly.
You can judge a book by it’s cover - you will know them by their fruit. The puritans made an attempt to bring everything in their life under the (subjection) of Jesus Christ.
If we want the power of Him upon us - things will have to go. Do not be bound together with unbelievers. Come out from among them.
10) A replacement of the Scriptures with psychology and sociology in regards to the family. There is no authority apart from the Word of God. God doesn’t need us but He does command that we are obedient. God doesn’t have a plan B. Sunday school and youth groups - Proverbs 13:20 - focus should be on men teaching their own families. Not kids teaching kids.
but worthy of note, isnt it just crazy that 51% of the popular vote gets a person 338 electoral college votes, and that 48% of the popular vote gets you only 139.. *sigh*..
oh well, there goes that.. now we have to turn our efforts to praying that God may change president elect obama's heart, and that he may appoint some good justices to the supreme court that will overturn roe v wade.. and that he not do something really really stupid that will cause us all to be in danger..
*nervous for the world.. cuz im safe in Christ, no matter what*
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