Splinters of Silver Splinters of Silver I pray through this blog, not my words but, through the reading of the scriptures, through the presentation of thoughts and of comments, splinters of silver may prick and stay with us throughout our lives as we grow as Christians. Articles
Is There More Behind The Discovery of Penicillin
2007-06-12 16:40:00 Take a gander: Penicillin More About: Discovery , Misc , Behind , Disco , There
Pedophile Boast Website, Hoping for Tolerance
2007-06-12 15:51:00 If you have children or know of one who does, please read this article by Fox News.Apparently a 45 year old man, who has never been convicted of a sex crime, is walking a thin line of mental/physical pedophilia. He has had a website (which you can get the link at Fox News) that ?has been around for a few years. The police know all about it, yet they say they can't shut it down because the site is legal.??McClellan says his purpose is to promote association, friendship and legal, consensual hugging and cuddling between men and pre-pubescent girls. He admitted to FOX News that his "age of attraction" is between 3 and 11 years old.?His desire seems to be to take pictures of children (most likely without the parents? consents), and post those to his site so other pedophiles (whether previously convicted of sex crimes or not) will be able to view them as ?a way to get some relief?.Apparently he would also like for people to give tolerance to pedophilia, because he said, ?"I really think... More About: Children , Website , Morality , Tolerance , Ping
Why Is Man Religious
2007-06-11 17:42:00 If one were to remove God from all of creation (as some have chosen to do already), how is the idea of man being religious accounted for?If man only lives in the natural and there is no supernatural whatsoever, by what means would the idea of God or gods, worship, religion, etc. even spring forth from an idea in man?s mind?How do we account for man having a desire to worship a being (I call God) higher than ourselves?How has such an (so called) invisible, irrational, supernatural thing taken mankind so strongly as to surpass race, tongue, location, and intelligence?How is it so strong within mankind that its grips cannot even be totally dismissed by or removed from those which have decided to not believe in a God at all?Why and how did man ever circum to such an idea as religion without the Creator actually placing it there Himself? More About: Agnostic , Atheist , Religious
Contrary To Some, Religious Book Sales Up Again
2007-06-08 22:43:00 An article by the National Secular Society which some blogs may be showing as proof that ?a sharp decline in the sales of religious books has been accompanied by an increase in sales of atheist-oriented books? may be flawed. I have posted the corrected information on one blog only to have the post deleted and apparently I have now been banned. Because of the truth? Even an atheist should give credit to the facts; its just book sales.Because of this reason I have decided to post the information here.Association of American Publishers (6/8/2007):Religious Book s posted a small dip of 0.3 percent for the month with sales of $44.2 million; however sales were up by 4.8 percent for the year.Christian Post:Book Industry Trends 2007 was released this past Friday by the Book Industry Study Group, Inc. (BISG) ? one of the U.S. publishing industry?s leading trade associations for policy, standards and research. It showed that religious books had grown strongly in 2006 with a net increase of 5.6... More About: Sales , Atheist , Morality , Contra
How Important is Religion to You: Poll
2007-06-08 19:28:00 Not really sure who and where the Gallup Poll ?s come from, but this is interesting.Follow me here:86% believe in God.70% believe in a Devil, which God?s Book talks about.75% believe in angels, which God?s Book talks about.69% believe in hell, which God?s Book talks about.32% believe the Bible is the actual word of God to be taken literally word for word.45% believe the Bible is inspired by God but not everything should be taken literally.** So 86% believe in God and 77% believe the Bible is from God.39% wants the influence of organized religion (which is a broad term) over this nation (USA) to remain the same, 32% to be less, and 27% to be more.57% says religion is very important in their life, 27% says fairly important, and 16% says not very important in their life.** So 57% believe religion is very important, but only 27% think that its influence should be greater in the US.63% say they are a member of a church or synagogue, but only 40% had attended in the last 7 days, only 31% a... More About: Religion , Gion , Import
Creation Museum: Affirms A Biblical View of Mankind?s Beginnings
2007-06-08 15:02:00 A Creation Museum has just opened in Petersburg, Ky. You can read the about page or check out their brochure.A few excerpts from the article at Baptist Press News:Science, the museum asserts, affirms a literal reading of Genesis. Although many secular scientists scoff at such a notion, the museum's beliefs are more mainstream than evolutionists probably wish was the case. A March Newsweek poll found that 48 percent of American adults believe God made humans "pretty much in the present form at one time within the last 10,000 years or so.""What I say to evolutionists is, 'Come on, be honest,?" Ham said. "Their starting point is that there is no God. They've redesigned science. ? Everybody has a starting point, and everyone needs to admit their starting point, and their starting points determine how they interpret the evidence."The museum doesn't ignore tough questions that critics of creationism have long been asking: Where did Cain get his wife? How did dinosaurs fit on the ark? ... More About: Evolution , Creationist , View , Mankind
Kaka': "I Belong To Jesus"
2007-06-07 21:58:00 Click for Global icon Kaka ' story. More About: Jesus , Witness , Jesu , Belo
Moral Percentage
2007-06-07 15:55:00 A new Gallup poll is out entitled: Americans Rate the Mora l ity of 16 Social IssuesIt appears in the article that the main topics are the death penalty and assisted suicide. The May 10-13 polls concluded that 66% verses 27% of Americans are in favor of the death penalty claiming it is ?morally acceptable? whereas the moral issue of doctor-assisted suicide is closer divided by 49% ?morally acceptable? to 44% ?morally wrong?.Also interesting is that in the case of the death penalty they found ?Support for the death penalty is fairly uniform across different age groups, political parties, and between men and women? whereas in the case of doctor-assisted suicide they found ?While a majority of whites, Democrats, and liberals consider doctor-assisted suicide to be morally acceptable, a majority of nonwhites, Republicans, and conservatives call it morally wrong?.Here is just some interesting points I found with the poll, take them how you will:49% of Americans find doctor-assisted suicide ... More About: Oral
Write Your Own News Article
2007-06-07 14:30:00 A friend of mine sent me this link.Just thought I would post it here for others to enjoy.http://www.fodey.com/generators/new spaper/snippet.asp More About: News , Article , Misc , Write , Artic
Baptist Faith and Message: Mistakes or Changes
2007-06-05 16:33:00 At one of the blogs I sometimes visit they ask the question of why the wording of the Baptist Faith and Message has been changed regarding the condemnation of persons regarding fallen man.Here is the different wording:1925:He was created in a state of holiness under the law of his Maker, but, through the temptation of Satan, he transgressed the command of God and fell from his original holiness and righteousness; whereby his posterity inherit a nature corrupt and in bondage to sin, are under condemnation, and as soon as they are capable of moral action, become actual transgressors.1963:Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence; whereby his posterity inherit a nature and an environment inclined toward sin, and as soon as they are capable of moral action become transgressors and are under condemnation.2000:Through the temptation of Satan man transgressed the command of God, and fell from his original innocence whereby his... More About: Sage , Changes
How Dare You Repent
2007-06-04 19:57:00 Most likely we have all heard of the story of Jonah in Scripture. We learn from the book of Jonah that God told him to go to Nineveh and to preach against its wickedness. Jonah eventually went after gleefully submitting to God?s will and preached ?Yet forty days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown?.To Jonah?s surprise, I?m sure, ?the people of Nineveh believed God, and proclaimed a fast, and put on sackcloth, from the greatest of them even to the least of them?.What further surprised Jonah was that ?God repented of the evil, that he had said that he would do unto them; and he did it not?.So we have a preacher preaching to sinners that they need to repent or be destroyed by a holy God. We have the sinners repenting and praying God will spare them. We have God accepting their repentance and changing His mind in that He would now not destroy them because they had repented of their wickedness instead of staying in it.What did Jonah think about all of this? ?It displeased Jonah exceedingly,... More About: Witness , Epen , Dare
What Motivates Me As A Christian
2007-06-01 17:27:00 What really motivates me as a Christian to witness and do the things of God. Hmmm?[1] I believe that at conversion, God instilled a desire in me to do that which is well pleasing to Him. I believe through the power of Christ and the working of the Holy Spirit my conscience is pricked toward obedience. True I may not always ?feel? like witnessing and I am something lead astray to sin, but even in these times the Spirit hints and urges me that what I am doing is wrong and that I need to be about my Father?s work. Although I may not always submit, I feel his voice is constantly present to lead and turn me. I just wish I obeyed more often even when I don?t ?feel? like it. Remember obedience is doing that which we know we should do and not doing that which we know we should not do.[2] I believe because of regeneration I now have a love for God that compels me to do what is right. When I consider the things that Christ had to endure for my sinful sake, so that I may be made righteous and ... More About: Devotional , Motiva , Motivate
"Is Christianity Good for the World?"
2007-05-31 19:57:00 ?Theologian Douglas Wilson and atheist Christopher Hitchens, authors whose books are already part of a larger debate on whether religion is pernicious, agreed to discuss their views on whether Christianity itself has benefited the world.?View the May 2007 debate:Christianity TodayPart 1Part 2Part 3Part 4Part 5 More About: World , Atheist , The World , Good
Whose Doing All The Preaching Anyway
2007-05-31 19:16:00 Interesting article:Pop Culture Prophets and Media Messiahs More About: Preaching , Doing
I Say It But Don?t Believe It
2007-05-31 16:30:00 I was pondering this thought the other day, so I figured I would post it here.I was wondering how secure people are in their thoughts of God, Scripture, Christianity, and what they believe. I realize as Christians we do not know everything concerning these topics, but I am speaking of the things that each individuals claims to know and believe.Are people merely hypocrites meaning they say they believe something but in the quietness when they are alone they really ponder the thoughts that they in fact do not believe things they tell others they do?My belief is that if you do not believe something, question it, admit you don?t believe it, and do some study to find out why you should or should not believe it. I don?t think that we should say we believe something simply because of pressure from others that do believe it and/or fear that you will be hackled for believing or not believing something. Most likely you will find people on both sides of every issue.It does a person no good to ... More About: Devotional
Moral Behavior Encoded Into Humanity
2007-05-30 16:22:00 Science may again be catching up with the Word of God.Scriptures declares that everyman has a conscience.John 1:9, That was the true Light, which lighteth every man that cometh into the world.The conscience is: the inner sense of what is right or wrong in one's conduct or motives, impelling one toward right action.Scriptures declares that this conscience can be corrupted into not working correctly.1 Timothy 4:2, Speaking lies in hypocrisy; having their conscience seared with a hot iron;In a recent article from the Washingtonpost.com, the claim is ?If It Feels Good to Be Good, It Might Be Only Natural?.?Grafman and others are using brain imaging and psychological experiments to study whether the brain has a built-in moral compass. The results -- many of them published just in recent months -- are showing, unexpectedly, that many aspects of morality appear to be hard-wired in the brain, most likely the result of evolutionary processes that began in other species.?Notice the ?most lik... More About: Behavior , Morality , Humanity , Uman , Al B
Creatures Desire To Be The Creator
2007-05-29 17:39:00 Science (are at least the article writer) has almost gotten it right about creation in a recent article talking about making synthetic humans for the future.?It last happened about 3.6 billion years ago a tiny living cell emerged from the dust of the Earth. It replicated itself, and its progeny replicated themselves, and so on, with genetic twists and turns down through billions of generations. Today every living organism?every person, plant, animal and microbe?can trace its heritage back to that first cell.?The reason I said ?almost gotten it right about creation? is because they do admit that creation came from the ?dust of the Earth?. Scripture teaches, ?the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.? [Genesis 2:7]Where they miss it is that it was not just ?a tiny living cell? that emerged all by itself, but entire fully developed mature creations by God.It is no wonder that DNA is similar throug... More About: Evolution , Creationist , Creator , Creatures , Creature
Cheated By Evolution
2007-05-29 17:07:00 An article located at msnbc.com has claimed that there has been found a type of lizard that has no limbs like a snake.?While modern snakes and lizards are derived from a common evolutionary ancestor, they belong today to two entirely separate groups of animals, or orders. Snakes, over millenia, gradually lost their limbs and developed their characteristic forms of locomotion. But modern limbless lizards are not snakes, Dutta said.??The other limbless lizards belonging to different families have been found in India's Nicobar island, in the northeast, and in Orissa and Andhra Pradesh states, he said.?So apparently what we have is over millions of years a single species developed into two separate species namely snakes and lizards. Then over millions of years lizards kept their limbs, where the snakes lost them (of course scripture says snakes were cursed and lost them). Now we find that some lizards have lost their limbs.I just wonder how they feel about Mother Nature doing that to t... More About: Evolution , Heated
Do We Practice Discriminatory Witnessing
2007-05-25 19:34:00 As Christians, how is our burdening for the lost world? I mean really deep down inside of us. Are we discriminatory in our witnessing? You might ask what do I mean by discriminatory in our witnessing.What I mean is this. What are your initial thoughts of the gospel of Jesus Christ unto salvation and your desire and/or action of witnessing when you see a ?hot? looking guy/girl, what about an ?ugly? looking guy/girl, what about a ?clean cut? looking guy/girl, and what about a ?heathen? looking guy/girl?When we see a person do we find ourselves instinctively without thought placing people into different categories based on preconceived ideas we have already generated in our minds? Does this affect our desire and how we witness or whether we witness to them?Take the ?War on Terror? of today, can we see a Middle Eastern person today and witness to them the same way we witness to an American of our own racial, ethnic background? We should, but do we?Are we consciously or subconsciously pr... More About: Devotional , Practice , Missions , Witness , Ness
Greek Mythical gods Brought To Life
2007-05-25 16:14:00 Apparently the UK is going to allow animal-human hybrids. The article claims ?THE government yesterday bowed to pressure from scientists to allow the creation of hybrid animal-human embryos for stem-cell research.?National Review Online had an article in 2002 speaking of this same issue of the mixing of human and animal DNA which it labeled as ?transhumanism: a nascent and explicitly eugenic philosophy that advocates taking control of human evolution through gene modification.?. Some of their beliefs presented are ?they hope will eventually lead to public acceptance of genetic manipulation ? not just to improve health, but to change our very natures.? And ?They claim humans should not merely be allowed to metamorphose themselves through surgery, cybertechnology, and the like, but should have the right to control the destiny of their genes by means of progeny design and fabrication.?In 2005 there is an article by the Associated Press of MSNBC speaking of ?a flock of about 50 smelly s... More About: Life , Evolution , Greek , Myth , Gods
Do We Want To Abstain From Abstinence Classes
2007-05-24 15:58:00 Abstinence education as defined in Section 510 of Title V of the Social Security Act:"an educational or motivational program that:A. Has as its exclusive purpose, teaching the social, psychological, and health gains to be realized by abstaining from sexual activity;B. Teaches abstinence from sexual activity outside marriage as the expected standard for all school age children;C. Teaches that abstinence from sexual activity is the only certain way to avoid out-of-wedlock pregnancy, sexually transmitted diseases, and other associated health problems;D. Teaches that a mutually faithful monogamous relationship in context of marriage is the expected standard of human sexual activity;E. Teaches that sexual activity outside of the context of marriage is likely to have harmful psychological and physical effects;F. Teaches that bearing children out-of-wedlock is likely to have harmful consequences for the child, the child's parents, and society;G. Teaches young people how to reject sexual a... More About: Classes , Abstinence , Want , Class , Abstain
What Do We Know Of Religious Persecution
2007-05-23 15:23:00 Here in American we have a lot of religious freedoms that around the world do not have.In an article from www.bpnews.net it reminds us of some of the things people actually sometimes go through because of religion preference.In Pakistan there is a draft of a new bill being brought before a committee.?Pakistan's National Assembly would require men who leave Islam to be put to death. Women convicted of "apostasy" would be sentenced to life in prison.??Under the Apostasy Act 2006, the testimony of two adults that another person has left the Muslim religion ?- or a confession by the accused -? is all that would be needed for conviction if the bill is adopted into law. The accused would be given up to 30 days to renounce the decision and return to Islam, yet even then still could be punished by up to two years in prison. All property belonging to an offender would be forfeited to Muslim relatives as well as custody of their children.?The article continues with other persecutions of Chri... More About: Persecution , Religious
Your Great Great Granny Was A Chimp
2007-05-22 15:00:00 I was recently sent an article Chimps are human, gene study implies (2003) that claimed ?The new study found that 99.4 percent of the most critical DNA sites are identical in the corresponding human and chimp genes.?Did you read that? I mean really read it? ?of the most critical DNA sites? ? This does not mean 99.4 percent when totally comparing all of man?s DNA with chimps DNA.Of course, conveniently I ran across another article Great er than 98% Chimp/human DNA similarity? Not any more (2003) stating that the number has dropped to only 95 percent. And remember this is not matching 100 percent of human DNA to 100 percent chimp DNA.The following is from the article: The 98.5% similarity has been misleading because it depends on what is being compared.Specific examples of these differences include:1. Humans have 23 pairs of chromosomes while chimpanzees have 24. Evolution ary scientists believe that one of the human chromosomes has been formed through the fusion of two small chromosom... More About: Creationist , Granny
Evolution: Bunches Of Micros Equal A Macro?
2007-05-21 03:31:00 On an older posts concerning macro and micro evolution I received a new comment I thought interesting. I figured I would created a new post since most probably do not revisit old posts including myself.I was told:Under most circumstances, evolution of species is a long, painstaking process. Of course, occasionally, genetic mutations in animals and plants (microbes mutate much faster) may give rise to inherently newer, related species, but generally speaking, the simplest microevolution requires decades, which is a pretty long time. For a new species to develop, a few scenarios is possible: Cross breeding of similar breeds (Liger = Male Lion parent & Female Tiger parent), subtle, random mutations in the general population which favor natural selection, and possibly a genetic random mutation that suddenly emerges in a general population. The truth is, evolution does not guarantee immunity from extinction. Nor does it automatically throw in raw species to make up the numbers.And anothe... More About: Evolution , Creationist , Atheist , Equal , Micro
Prayer Time Interrupted
2007-05-19 17:18:00 58 year old woman stabs 44 year old man in neck with pen as he breaks up her prayer time at church.See here More About: Time , Prayer , Raye , Pray , Interrupt
No Need For Church Building If You Have An Automobile
2007-05-18 22:44:00 Thanks to an article posted on another blog, I saw this interesting thought.You?ve heard of drive-in movies, well what about a drive-in church?In Florida they have a new kind of ?appeal to a different kind of person who doesn't want that traditional feeling.?Think you may want to visit? Here you go.http://www.driveinchurch.net/I just wonder who the lucky person is to take up the offering when it is pouring down rain. More About: Church , Building , Automobile , Have , Need
Girls Gone Wild In The Church
2007-05-18 15:25:00 I don?t know if you have ever heard of Girls Gone Wild , but with the television ads and news reports concerning it you may have. If you haven't, it does not contain Christian behavior.I was recently speaking with a pastor I know and he mentioned that there was a church he knew of (not sure if present or if where he had once been pastor) that a group of older women named themselves Chicks Gone Wild.Granted I can see where these women may have thought it fun to use such a title, but, honestly, for the cause of Christ?What are we Christians thinking when we use worldly titles and expressions and bring them into the church for spiritual awareness? Do we honestly think it pleases God to take a known thing (name, etc.) of sin and try to tweak it slightly and add a Christian connotation to it? Let?s face it ? that just isn?t right.Proverbs 14:9, Fools make a mock at sinIs this what we are doing?No wonder an unsaved person can feel comfortable at church and never have a desire to trust Chr... More About: Church , Devotional , Morality
So Mark, Did You Leave Us Hanging Or Not?
2007-05-17 21:09:00 Check out:Scholars tussle over end of Mark 's Gospel More About: Translations , Leave , Bibles
Bible Inappropriate For Under 18?
2007-05-17 19:26:00 A recent article from Yahoo! News claims the following:HONG KONG (Reuters) - More than 800 Hong Kong residents have called on authorities to reclassify the Bible as "indecent" due to its sexual and violent content, following an uproar over a sex column in a university student journal.What in the world (or Hong Kong) is going on?Apparently a new website entitled http://www.truthbible.net/ (which I found NOT in English so good luck reading it), said (according to the report) the following:the holy book "made one tremble" given its sexual and violent content, including rape and incest.the Bible's sexual content "far exceeds" that of a recent sex column published in the Chinese University's "Student Press" magazine, which had asked readers whether they'd ever fantasised about incest or bestiality.What?s the big deal you say? According to the article:If the Bible is similarly classified as "indecent" by authorities, only those over 18 could buy the holy book and it would need to be se... More About: Under , Prop
Comments
More articles from this author:2007-05-17 17:39:00 For some reason this week only a few of the comments to my blog are being emailed to me. I haven't changed anything so I don't know what is going on. Even my own comments do not get emailed to me even though I have it set up to do so.Because of this, if you leave a comment on a post and I do not respond, this may be the cause. When they are emailed to me I know there is a comment, the only other way is to search through every post every day, and I just don't have the time to do that.If it is really important, you can always email me here.Thanks. More About: Blog , Comments , Comment , Comm 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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