Sanctifying Grace is that grace of God which sustains the believers in the journey toward Christian Perfection: a genuine love of God with heart, soul, mind, and strength, and a genuine love of our neighbors as ourselves. Sanctifying grace enables us to respond to God by leading a Spirit-filled and Christ-like life aimed toward love.
and eternal security is just as the name implies, that our salvation is eternally secure, ie, once you are truly saved, you cannot lose your salvation.
so notice that in one, it is the grace of God that sustains us as believers towards holiness.. and yet he (wesley) rejected the idea that we cannot lose our salvation.. in other words, that God cannot sustain us from losing our salvation, only to keep us in holiness.. does this make any sense? not to me.
dont get me wrong, though, i think wesley was great in a lot of senses, especially how crazy for holiness he was (denominations that followed from wesley even have the word "holiness" in them!) its just strange that he would hold the Holy Spirit of God as able to keep us holy, but not to keep us from rejecting God.. (ie, "losing" your salvation).. just strange
in case i havent yet blogged it, it is the end of an era, as of sunday.. i dont know if i will be explicit as to what happened, but, in any case the source of my stress for the last few years has hopefully come to an end. i say "hopefully" because these things have a tendency to follow you for a while. in any case. the announcement was made this sunday, we have left the church and i am no longer a pastor there. like i said, i dont want to go into much detail, but there it is.
tuesday 28th: more kwanzaa miracles!! after the kwanzaa man left, our curtain rods snapped on both sides.. and the next day we had a visit from the kwanzaa lady who brought us a nice pet roach in our pristine living quarters.. i doused it with fake snow/boric acid to celebrate the season, but then it passed on to greater places.. well, mostly because after squishing it it covered a greater surface area..
im anxious to see what other surprizes kwanzaa has in store for me!
my kwanzaa story thus far (sorry its a bit late) this has been going on since kwanzaa began (on the 26th):
monday 27th:
its a kwanzaa miracle! i found mold on my ceiling, and when the kwanzaa maintenance man came, our washroom miraculously flooded as the washing machine hose came loose.. is that the full 7 made up principles of the made up holiday for anti-christian liberals (who think this is actually an african holiday)?
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ps, just to clarify, the maintenance man had no relation to kwanzaa.. he just showed up on the second day of kwanzaa.. much like santa claus does for the other pagan winter holiday..
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haha im so full of holiday cheer today! i need more chocolate and more towels to dry everything up
the chocolate is to dry everything up, the towels are just for funsies
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friend #1: hahaha! Nearly done??
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:( at least we dont have to light the menor-- err, the kwanzaa kandles *hopes the lights dont go out TOO*
haha, and nop, not done yet.. theres wet plastic bags all over the floor in the kitchen and living area.. a stinky winter kwanzaa koat... in the bathtub waiting to be washed and a whole array of stuff to be done.. hows YOUR kwanzaa been??
a little bit of the story on kwanzaa (from wikipedia):
Kwanzaa is a weeklong celebration held in the United States honoring universal African-American heritage and culture, observed from December 26 to January 1 each year. It features activities such as lighting a candle holder with seven candles[1] and culminates in a feast and gift giving. It was created by Maulana Karenga and was first celebrated in 1966 - 1967.
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Maulana Karenga of the US Organization created Kwanzaa in 1966 as the first specifically African American holiday.[2] Karenga said his goal was to "give Blacks an alternative to the existing holiday and give Blacks an opportunity to celebrate themselves and history, rather than simply imitate the practice of the dominant society."
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During the early years of Kwanzaa, Karenga said that it was meant to be an alternative to Christmas, that Jesus was psychotic, and that Christianity was a white religion that black people should shun.[5] However, as Kwanzaa gained mainstream adherents, Karenga altered his position so that practicing Christians would not be alienated, then stating in the 1997 Kwanzaa: A Celebration of Family, Community, and Culture, "Kwanzaa was not created to give people an alternative to their own religion or religious holiday."
Two teens, Sabrina Parker and Matthew Scozzari, decide to take a chance on love, while there is still time. Sabrina, 16, is suffering from ALS, what is supposed to be an 'old person's disease.' It also killed her mother and a grandmother. (Dec. 20)
This year's winter solstice on Tuesday will fall on the same day as a full lunar eclipse for the first time in 456 years.
The rare, 72-minute lunar eclipse — when the sun, the Earth and the moon align — will begin in the early morning hours on Dec. 21 in North America, and should cast an amber glow on snowy landscapes, said NASA.
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Scientists said the last time a full lunar eclipse coincided with the winter solstice was in AD 1554. NASA forecasts that at 1:33 a.m. ET on Tuesday, "Earth's shadow will appear as a dark red bite at the edge of the lunar disk."
After roughly an hour, that "bite" will eventually grow to cover the whole moon. That stage, known as "totality," will probably start at 2:41 a.m. ET and last 72 minutes.
As for the best time to witness the cosmic event, NASA suggests being outside at 3:17 a.m., "when the moon will be in deepest shadow, displaying the most fantastic shades of coppery red."
Although the arrival of the solstice cannot be seen, the moment describes the instant when the Earth's axial tilt is farthest away from the sun, resulting in the shortest day of the year as well as the longest night of the year.
and yes it is a coppery red.. it really does look like a penny!
im just soo tired all the time.. i think ive gotten more sleep this last week than i do some months! and today i was woken up and i literally felt like a fallen tree trunk.. like a solid log of wood on my bed. thats how i felt.. it will all be over soon though.. just keep praying
Stockholm, Dec 12 (DPA) Swedish authorities Sunday officially designated a Saturday evening bombing in Stockholm, which left one dead and two injured, as a terrorist attack.
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Authorities have not yet released the dead man's identity, pending notification of relatives. There is speculation that the deceased might have been a suicide bomber whose explosives detonated prematurely.
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Stockholm's police department reported that it had gathered solid forensic evidence from the blast sites, which is now being analysed along with an e-mail sent to the Security Police and news organizations 10 minutes prior to the attacks.
The e-mail said that it was time for the Swedes to die 'like our brothers and sisters' and made reference to the country's involvement in Afghanistan and an artist, Lars Vilks, who made a caricature of the prophet Mohammed in 2007.
for the first time in YEARS i was able to make a conscious decision in a dream. there was something happening in a dream, where everyone was going to "recreate" something that had happened, and in my dream i was thinking.. "no, i have to actually SEE this" and so in my dream i said something to that extent, and then it happened.. i visualized what had happened and it materialized! like the tables appeared in the right location with the right table cloth etc.. sort of like that scene in "hook" where they just "vizualize" the food, and it materializes..
hope its one of many more to come! i miss the control over my dreams i used to have..
ok i think i know now how the autoarchiver script should work.. and also, how stupid ive been doing it... cant believe it. ah well, the more you live, the more you learn.. unless you get alzheimers..
The larger-than-life myths surrounding Santa Claus actually emanate from the very real person of Saint Nicholas. It is difficult to know the exact details of his life with certainty, as the ancient records are sparse, but the various pieces can be put together as a mosaic of his life.
A Gift-Giver
Nicholas was born in the third century in Patara, a village in what is now Turkey. He was born into an affluent family, but his parents died tragically when he was quite young. His parents had raised him to be a devout Christian, which led him to spend his great inheritance on helping the poor, especially children. He was known to frequently give gifts to children, sometimes even hanging socks filled with treats and presents.
Perhaps his most famous act of kindness was helping three sisters. Because their family was too poor to pay for their wedding dowry, three young Christian women were facing a life of prostitution until Nicholas paid their dowry, thereby saving them from a horrible life of sexual slavery.
A Bishop and Saint
Nicholas grew to be a well-loved Christian leader and was eventually voted the Bishop of Myra, a port city that the apostle Paul had previously visited (Acts 27:5-6). Nicholas reportedly also traveled to the legendary Council of Nicaea, where he helped defend the deity of Jesus Christ in A.D. 325.
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Model helicopter controlled by PS3 SIXAXIS
In "stick" mode, the on-board Gumstix computer running Linux receives data from the SIXAXIS over Bluetooth L2CAP and emulates a mode 2 RC helicopter transmitter. In "tilt sensor" mode, cyclic pitch is controlled by two of the three accelerometers, rather than by the right-hand stick.
slept 18 hours today = awesome.. oh yes.. oh yes indeed.. this life i lead requires lots of rest. and i really needed this rest. and no, it doesnt have that much to do with lack of sleep
excommunication is what you do to heretics who do not repent.. sometimes, you can even burn them!
sola scriptura, sola fide, sola gratia, solo Christo, soli Deo gloria!!!!!!!!!
On June 15, 1520, the Pope warned Martin Luther with the papal bull (edict) Exsurge Domine that he risked excommunication unless he recanted 41 sentences drawn from his writings, including the 95 Theses. Then Johann Eck proclaimed the bull in Meissen and other towns. Karl von Miltitz, a papal nuncio, attempted to broker a solution, but Luther, who had sent the Pope a copy of On the Freedom of a Christian publicly set fire to the bull and decretals at Wittenberg on December 10, 1520, an act he defended in Why the Pope and his Recent Book are Burned and Assertions Concerning All Articles. As a consequence, Luther was excommunicated by Pope Leo X on January 3, 1521, in the bull Decet Romanum Pontificem.
and yes, i know the counter is broken.. i think i know why.. but more investigation will follow.. in other news, the blog tags are back in order.. i didnt know they werent working.. goes to show how many people use these.. i might make them easier to use.. and i "might" solve that whole "world peace" thing too..
i like this random quote i found (while looking for royalty free music for indie films.. ie mine)
"Rising tides lift all ships."
its in reference to how you build a relationship with another artist, and as your career takes off, it helps theirs too.. but, the application for the expression is across the board.. think about it.. it could describe any relationship, such as how when a christian husband matures in his walk with Christ, this too will inevitably help the wife mature in her walk greatly too (apparently studies show that the converse is less likely the case.. strange, huh? i have my theory on that one.. i will post upon request)
it could also describe a friendship, or any other type of relationship.. in any case, i think its an awesome quote. and for some reason it feels like in some way it might be describing my situation (you know, the one im currently going through)
you know that song "eye of the tiger"? im going to write one with the same rhythm and lyrics and all that, but im going to call it "eye of the hurricane" which will change the whole context of it all.. mhmm
ohhhh no way.. so, i guess this is my first post from a phone... and the washroom... yes, you DID need to know that!! ooh!! and first post using letter recognition!! very hard! but easier than typing! no tags yet..
preparing my sermon on "hanukkah, and the light of the world".. this is proving to be quite a daunting endeavor.. not for any reason other than how impossibly distracted ive been this week.. i guess everything has almost finished wearing me down.. and though this message shouldve been a breeze to prepare (for once) it has proven to be more difficult than i could ever have imagined.. i will be taking quite a bit of time off after this..
though i hate microsoft with a passion, and you know it, the new kinect looks pretty cool.. and yet, cool means nothing if you cant hack it (also known as "mod"ing).. so here it is:
yes, pretty awesome indeed.. my goodness.. think about it, controlling all the awesome 90s games with your own SELF! imagine playing battletoads with this thing..
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