And He will be the stability of your times, A wealth of salvation, wisdom and knowledge; The fear of the LORD is his treasure.
Isaiah 33:6
Proverbs 25:2
It is the glory of God to conceal things, but the glory of kings is to search things out.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
Pat Robertson: What Did He Actually Say?
I've been hearing all day about how Pat Robertson said the earthquake in Haiti was a result of God's wrath against Haiti for making a deal with the devil, and I was preparing to write a post calling Robertson out for it.
But as I dug into it for myself in order to make sure I was getting the straight story, I found out that Robertson was being railroaded.
Here are Robertson's actual comments followed by a transcript:
And you know, Christy, something happened a long time ago in Haiti, and people might not want to talk about it, they were under the heel of the French, uh, you know, Napoleon the third and whatever, and they got together and swore a pact to the devil, they said, we will serve you, if you get us free from the French, true story. And so the devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free, and ever since they have been cursed by one thing after the other, desperately poor. . . the Island of Hispaniola is one island cut down the middle. On the one side is Haiti, on the other side is the Dominican Republic. Dominican Republic is, is, prosperous, healthy, full of resorts, etc. Haiti is in desperate poverty, same Islands, uh, they need to have, and we need to pray for them, a great turning to God. And out of this tragedy, I'm optimistic something good may come, but right now we're helping the suffering people, and the suffering is unimaginable.
A careful reader, which leaves out those with an agenda and the mainstream press, but I repeat myself, will notice something important; not once did Robertson mention the wrath of God. He didn't even come close to it, nor did he even imply that the earthquake was a judgment on the people of Haiti. You can read it or listen as many times as you would like, and you won't find it because it isn't there.
What is there is another clear example of people who know nothing about Christianity, or who are actively biased against it, trying to write about it, and getting it wrong.
Rev Robertson said nothing about the wrath of God, or a curse from God; instead, he noted that Haiti has been a nation that has suffered affliction after affliction throughout modern history, and he linked it to a "deal with the devil." He went on to say that what Haiti needed was more of God, not less. The only legitimate implication you can take from these remarks is that the people of Haiti are suffering from the wrath of Satan, not God.
3 Then from the smoke came locusts on the earth, and they were given power like the power of scorpions of the earth. 4 They were told not to harm the grass of the earth or any green plant or any tree, but only those people who do not have the seal of God on their foreheads. 5 They were allowed to torment them for five months, but not to kill them, and their torment was like the torment of a scorpion when it stings someone.
The locusts are allowed to torment everyone except those who are sealed to God as recorded in Revelation 7:3
If you subscribe to a premillenial eschatology, the Church has already been raptured, and the servants of God who got His seal are the 144,000 from the tribes of Israel. The only people left on earth at this point are those who have not accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior, and they are the ones singled out for torment by the agents of Satan.
Not God.
Satan.
Robertson is saying the same thing about Haiti. They aren't suffering from the wrath of God, but the torments of Satan, which is why he and his organization are rushing to help the survivors with food, water, and medical supplies. He wants to show them that God's love can protect them from Satan's torments.
Robertson is being attacked for something he didn't say, or even imply. The reason for that attack is an exercise I'll leave for the student.
And that raises an interesting question. Is it better to wait for more detail, or go with what you know?
WBIR had the story well before KnoxNews, but there was no detail and no pictures. KnoxNews was well behind, but when they posted, they had details, pictures and video. My guess, and that's all this is, is that the KnoxNews may be understaffed on the night shift. The crew that stays overnight is fine for handling routine operations, but when a story breaks, there aren't enough bodies to get things done. And it's called breaking news for a reason. It happens fast. There isn't time to roust a couple extra bodies out of bed to cover the story. Whoever is on hand has to rush out into the field to cover the story, then come back and write it, then post it.
That will slow things down.
On the other hand, as newspapers face more and more of a budget crunch, how many of them can afford to keep enough people overnight so that they can maintain bodies in the field and at the paper to write and post in near real time?
One solution might be to allow a reporter to post a story directly from the field. Not to Twitter, or facebook, but to the KnoxNews site itself, where non social media types would go to find it.
Of course, if reporters post directly to the website, then what will editors do?
Apparently even riots are lame when associated with Kiffin. Just got a text from a person I trust who was there and they told me that much of what has been tweeted was exaggerated. UT students did chase a car, but Kiffin wasn't in it, and the video shows that, just like a puppy dog, if they had caught the car, they wouldn't have known what to do with it.. There was no tear gas fired, although WBIR still says there was a mattress set afire and that the fire department extinguished it, and there was a heavy police presence. The smoke and steam could account for the supposed tear gas. Most importantly, while the rock was covered with graffiti, it has been repainted. Also, there was an attempt to rush the stadium, but the raging mob was stopped by one police officer.
Yeah. One officer. And it wasn't Bufurd Pusser.
Heck, it wasn't even Buford T Justus (Gratuitous Amazon Plug for the week.)
Apparently Tennessee kids haven't got the hang of this whole rioting thing.
Or they figured that Kiffin wasn't worth the effort.
the majority of what the fball players r sayin is they r mad cuz he didnt tell any1 which was messed up...outcome may have been difft..
Knoxnews just announced a major update to the story that still includes no mention of tear gas, fires, mobs chasing cars, or other signs of a student riot. What gives? Is everybody else just making this stuff up?
And that's it for me. Time to go to bed. It looks like things may be slowing down now. After all, it's pretty cold out there, and the kids have classes in the morning.
As for Kiffin, I'm happy to see him go so quickly and hope that he brings USC just as much happiness and success as he brought us.
Kiffin Not on USC's Wish List. Would cost coach $800,000 to leave.
By Dave Hooker.
While Lane Kiffin isn't thought to be a strong candidate to take over at Southern California, his contract at Tennessee would appear to make such a move feasible.
According to the terms of his contract, the Vols' head football coach would incur an $800,000 penalty if he were to leave for another job during this off-season.
It appears Mr. Hooker may have some 'splainin to do to his editor come morning.
According to Reynaldo Woolridge, who has ringside seats from his dorm balcony, overlooking the football complex, police have just fired tear gas into a crowd of students irate about Lame Kiffin's departure.
From his twitter page:
Crowd picture
Posting now but I'll continue to update.
WBIR reporting that the students are in full riot mode, setting fire to a matress and trying to keep Kiffin's car from leaving. According to Reynaldo Woolridge, he's already gone, but the police have used tear gas to try and break up the crowd.
Lame enough to accept a job that nobody else wanted, head coach at USC. Think about it. First, why would Pete Carroll leave USC? Second, why didn't USC's first choices, all USC alums, turn down the position? Could it be that the NCAA investigation are winding to a close, and most other coaches are experienced enough to realize that the next USC coach will be the fall guy?
Hmmmm....could be!
I said it after the Auburn game and took some flak for it, but I'll say it again here. Lane Kiffin does not have the character it takes to win at the top levels in the SEC or anywhere else in the NCAA. His field decisions show a lack of heart, the ability to take a risk in order to win. His off the field decisions show that he is motivated first and foremost by what is good for him, not the team.
I'm not surprised in the least, or disappointed, although I feel sympathetic for my Vols, who face a daunting schedule with an empty coaching staff, and a recruiting class that's liable to turn into mist. My sympathy stops with the players and remaining coaches; it does not extend to Athletic Director Mike Hamilton, the architect of this mess. He made the call to hire Kiffin, and now he has to answer for it. A quick glance at the pool of available coaches tells me that the cupboard is pretty much bare, which means Hamilton faces a very tough job. I wonder if Bill Battle is interested in coaching again?
Maybe he can convince Bruce Pearl and Pat Summitt to coach the football team during their off season.
784 pages in to King's epic insult to small town America and it's still sucking.
Well, that's not entirely accurate. There are flashes of King's former greatness here and there, but in the main, this one rates with Tommyknockers as one of his worst. The plot is too predictable, and it appears that King, having run out of ideas of his own, has decided to rip off one of Dean Koontz's standard characters, the super smart, empathic dog who may or may not save the day.
It would be interesting to do an in depth comparison of Under the Dome with The Stand, King's other apocalyptic novel. The difference in the way King wrote about his characters is stark. In The Stand, the humans, good or bad, were human and you cared about them. Harold Lauder was a fully fleshed out character, doomed by his flaws, but you couldn't help having some sympathy for him. Compare him to any of the bad guys in UtD. Not one of them is sympathetic in the least; they are all caricatures of human beings. Junior is a walking talking boogeyman, no more human than Jason from Friday the 13th. He's just there to kill people. Even the good guys in UtD are unconvincing. Characters repeatedly do stupid things, failing to learn from their mistakes. It seems like King created the characters for the purpose of being killed by Big Jim just to show how truly evil the conservative Christian really is.
King's politics have completely overridden his story telling skills, to the point where I think he's had a drastic change in perspective since the injuries he suffered at the hands of a careless driver. I think he's lost empathy for the very people he used to write about, the common man. They used to be the heroes of King's stories. The janitor who saves the day, the farm couple that protects a special little girl, or a guy from a small Texas town who rallies the survivors of a monstrous plague to stand and defeat an even greater evil. King doesn't believe in these people anymore. If he wrote The Stand today, Stu Redman would have been one of the bad guys.
I want to talk for a bit about this psalm because there's a lot going on here, some of which we don't often think about.
I got started on this because my buddy Chris asked me what the difference was between a rod and a staff. I hadn't really thought about it, and as far as I knew, it was a short stick and a long stick, but his question got me to thinking, so I started studying.
And you lucky people get to go along for the ride!
1: The Lord is my Shepherd; I shall not want.
Obviously, if the Lord is my shepherd, then that makes me His sheep, a member of his flock. There's a lot of important things bound up in this image, not the least of which is subservience or submission to His guidance and care. In order for me to benefit from His Watchfulness and His Provision, I must submit myself to His Leadership.
Now I don't know about you, but that does not come easily for me. As a man, I've been raised to do everything I can to provide for myself and my family, to stand independently, and most importantly, freely, submitting to no man or authority. Here in America, we've fought wars in order to allow men that right to stand freely, so it doesn't come easily to me or many others to bow our stiff necks and allow God to provide.
Of course, there's another side to this as well. When Adam and Eve fell, the earth was cursed, that we would have to work in order to eat. God's promise to provide does not replace that curse. We are still required to work for our survival. So does that mean our submission is worthless? If we still have to work our butts off to make a living, then why submit to a Shepherd?
Let's try an experiment and break the verse into two pieces and make it an if-then statement. If the Lord is my Shepherd, then there is nothing I shall want. Have we changed the meaning of the verse, or have we just clarified it a little bit? Because now, it says something very clearly. It's not saying that all of our needs will be met if we submit to Our Shepherd; instead it says that there is nothing we shall want. There's a big difference there. Basically, what the cverse says is that if we have the Lord God taking care of us, we don't need anything else. In the most extreme case, I could be starving to death or locked in a jail somewhere because of my faith, but as long as I have the Lord, I've got everything I need.
How many of us feel that in our hearts? How many of us believe that even if everything were taken away from us, our health, our family, our prosperity, everything that the world teaches us to value, how many would be able to say that as loong as we have Jesus, it's enough?
I'll be honest and say that I'm not there yet. I want to be. But I'm not. I wouldn't turn from God if He took everything from me because I know He works only for what is good, but I would grieve in my heart and soul for everything I lost. I've talked to people who claim they could withstand the loss of everything because they know it all comes from God anyway, and they've already given it all back to Him. I met a family who lived it when they lost their daughter. Her father stood before the church during her funeral with dry eyes and a serenity and he told everybody who asked that he knew his little girl was with God, and was better off. My faith is strong, but not that strong. I know what he said is true, but at the same time, I would grieve. I would be angry. I would want my kids back.
But the promise is still there. When the Lord is my Shepherd, when I turn it over to Him, as hard as it may be to do, and no matter how many times I try to take my life back from Him, when I am in His Will, I will want nothing. I will be sustained through trials, and provided for, which is what the next verse is all about.
2: He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters.
While this is often read to mean that God will provide for us materially, and it does mean that to some extent, the more important part is that God has prepared a place for us and He is leading us to it. John 10:19 uses the word pastures to refer to heaven:
I am the door. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will go in and out and find pasture.
A pasture is a place of rest and renewal, as the flock can feed on the good grass and drink from the clear waters. So not only are we told we will gain an earthly serenity by being in the flock, but we will also gain access to a place where we can rest, and be renewed. This renewal is of both the body and the soul.
This verse also continues the theme of submission, a theme which culminates in verse 4, in its use of the words makes and leads. Clearly, we don't reach the pasture of our own accord or through our own efforts; we have to be lead there and made to lie down. It's very interesting that the literal translations of this verse all use the word makes. That compulsory element is intentional, not a poetic invention of the King James translators. When we become part of God's flock, He will compel us to do HIs Will. If you don't believe me, just ask Jonah.
3: He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake.
Most of the time, we think of that first sentence in a very narrow way. It follows right after we get some food and something to drink, and we tend to think of being restored in a purely physical sense, as in, "Gee, I feel much better now!" The problem with this is that this verse isn't talking about our body; it's talking about our souls being restored. When I read this verse, what I see is a prophecy of Jesus Christ, who truly restored our souls when He died on the cross for our sins. Let's go back to John 10 and look at it in a little bit more detail.
11 I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.
12 He who is a hired hand and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming and leaves the sheep and flees, and the wolf snatches them and scatters them.
13 He flees because he is a hired hand and cares nothing for the sheep.
14 I am the good shepherd. I know my own and my own know me,
15 just as the Father knows me and I know the Father; and I lay down my life for the sheep.
16 And I have other sheep that are not of this fold. I must bring them also, and they will listen to my voice. So there will be one flock, one shepherd.
17 For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life that I may take it up again.
18 No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have authority to lay it down, and I have authority to take it up again. This charge I have received from my Father.”
The Lord is truly my shepherd, and He did lay down His Life for me, that my soul might be restored and I could be one of His flock. And He does lead me in the paths of righteousness that I might bring glory and honor to His Name, the name that I take for myself:
Christian. A Christ follower. A sinful man trying to walk a sinless life. As long as I do my very best, I know that I will inevitably fail miserably. I need help. Fortunately, in Part 2, we'll find that help is promised in verse 4.
Candidate Obama promises to build consensus on the health care package in front of C-Span Cameras.
Of course, now that the bill is in the reconciliation process, Obama's White House is singing a different tune. Rather than going through the normal process of a conference committee, Obama, Pelosi, Reid, and Democrat committee heads are huddled behind closed doors to produce a package they can all agree on. No cameras, no witnesses, no Republicans, and no transparency.
As for candidate Obama's promise? Well, It wasn't really a promise, just a campaign promise, which means it can be ignored as soon as the votes were counted.
When asked about Obama's campaign promise, which specifically mentioned C-Span, White House press secretary and shoeshine boy Robert Gibbs refused to answer.
That a sitting President would baldly lie to the American people in order to get elected neither surprised Republicans nor offended Democrats.
Sadly, we've learned to expect nothing more from our presidents.
I hesitate to ask this, particularly after my last post, because believe me, there is absolutely no connection between the two, but I've decided it's time for me to build an evil black rifle, also known as an AR-15. I've been reading the forums at AR-15.com, and watching the videos at Brownells, and I'm comfortable that I have the skills and patience to do it right. What I need is advice.
Who are the good vendors?
.223 or 5.56? One works in both but one doesn't. Are there advantages to either?
What tips and tricks do I need to know before I start?
I've seen prices on stripped lowers from $89 to $200 and up. What's up with that?
I know that I have to go through an FFL to get the lower. Do I buy it first and then set up delivery or the other way around?
I'm expecting a total cost of somewhere near $1000, not including optics, which I'll do later. I've pretty much settled on an M4 configuration, but if you think there's a better way to go, I'm open minded. I'm not in a huge hurry; I'd rather take my time, and get good quality parts than hurry and settle for OK parts. On the other hand, I'm not a big fan of spending money on a name.
So, give me the benefit of your experience. Tell me what traps to avoid.
Les and Uncle, you can expect many emails and phone calls for the duration of this project.
Michael Yon was handcuffed and detained for refusing to tell a TSA agent who he worked for and how much he made in a year. I'm guessing we'll see similar results when citizens refuse to answer questions during the upcoming census.
The last time I checked, the Constitutional purpose of the Senate was to determine how many people live in the US and where they live in order to properly apportion seats in the House of Representatives. I will be happy to answer questions related to that purpose, such as how manyadults and children live in my house. Any other questions, how much I make, where do I work, what my race is, are out of bounds. According to the US Code, failure to answer all of the questions on the survey is subject to a fine of no more than $100.
Monday morning, Lissa left for work in 17 degree weather. She got a couple miles down the interstate before her car overheated. She called AAA and they told her it would be about an hour before they got to her. She called me and I came to get her, since it was way too cold for her to sit there for an hour. While I was on my way, a Tennessee Highway Patrolman stopped to check on her. She let him know that she had help on the way, and he went on about his business, telling her to call 911 if anything happened. I got there a couple of minutes later, and we went to Lissa's work to pick up her work laptop so she could work from home.
On the way in to Knoxville, we passed a KPD unit setting up a speed trap at about mile 403 on I-40. For those of you who aren't really familiar with the east side of town, the Knoxville city limits extend all the way out to the county line along I-40. At 403, you're just about a mile from the Sevier County line. Over the last few months, I've seen more KPD speed traps on I-40 than THP. Apparently the city of Knoxville is trying to balance its budget on the backs of travelers. While I'm happy to learn that there's no crime in Knoxville more serious than a speeder on their way to Sevierville, I have to question KPD's priorities. To get into position for the trap, the KPD unit passed at least one stranded vehicle as well as my wife's without stopping to check on either of them.
Now it's bad enough to see city cops wasting time on traffic stops on a state road already well patrolled by state police, but when they neglect basic human concern for their fellow citizens, well, it makes me wonder if "To Protect and Serve" has been replaced by "To Trap and Take."
Astrophysicists tell us that everything we can see, sense, and detect makes up less than 5% of the universe. It's not a limitation of our equipment or our technology; instead its a fundamental part of how the universe is constructed.
5% of the universe is matter and energy as we know it. Light shines, rocks have mass, planets have gravity, and so on. But all of that, the planets, stars, galaxies, and super galaxies with all of their matter and energy only represent 5% of the matter and energy that must be present in the universe for it to behave the way it most certainly does. Physicists theorize about the existence of dark matter and dark energy to make up the difference. While these are by definition undetectable, they determine how the universe acts. While scientists are unable to directly detect dark matter or energy, they can build a picture of its nature by indirectly observing its effects on normal matter.
Now I'm a bit of a smartass, (Big surprise, right?) and I imagine the following conversation:
Me: So, this dark matter and energy make up 95% of the universe?
Astrophysicist: That is correct.
Me: And the universe that we can perceive is basically nothing more than foam on the top of a vast ocean?
AP: Again, that is what the theory suggests.
Me: And that dark matter, by its nature is completely undetectable by humans?
AP: Directly yes, but we can make observations about it by seeing how it affects matter we can perceive.
Me: So what you are saying is that while we can't really "prove" that dark matter exists, by observing things in the world we can perceive, we can make observations about its behavior and nature?
AP: Absolutely. You've got it! A+!
Me: Well then, how is that different from believing in God?
AP: Get out of my classroom!
Think about it for a minute. Scientists have postulated the existence of something that cannot be directly perceived, but that is responsible for determining the behavior of the entire universe! Doesn't that sound a lot like God? At the very least, if you're required to believe that something you can't hear, feel, taste, smell, or see is responsible for the behavior of everything we can see, aren't you making a leap of faith to do so?
It takes a colossal amount of arrogance to assume that since we know a tiny fraction of what there is to know about 5% of the universe that there's no room for God in that other 95%.
Just a little food for thought. Or prayer, if you're so inclined.
In our family, I make the money, and my wife spends it: we each do what we're good at, and Lord, she is good at it!
Believe me, I'm not complaining. Check out her latest exploit. We received a nice bit of Christmas cash from my mother (Thanks Mom!) and we decided to use it, along with a portion of my bonus from work, to get some new cookware. We had looked at some Calphalon One anodized stuff before we got married, and put it on our registry at Bed Bath and Beyond. We got a wonderful wok/skillet from Les and Melissa Jones (Thanks you two!) and we've given it a lot of use and it has held up wonderfully. We decided to go ahead and get a complete set using our Christmas money, but when we got to the store, we found out the Calphalon had come out with a newer line, called, Unison, that featured two different types of non stick coating, one extra slippery, and the other designed for searing meats. Also, the newer line came with glass lids instead of metal, and I liked that. Of course, the newer line was also a bit more expensive, and the anodized had the advantage of being more durable. You could use metal utensils with the One line, as long as you were reasonably gentle, while the newer line requires nylon or wood.
We decided to go with the newer line, mainly because I liked the glass lids better than the metal ones. (I get to make decisions every now and then.) Now here's where the bargain hunter went to work. BB&B has a couple of specials running. For every $300 you spend on Calphalon products, you get a $50 gift card. And, if you spend more than $400 on Calphalon products, you get a free Unison Dutch oven. (Sorry, no BB&B link since it's only available there as a bonus.) Lissa had saved up several BB&B 20% off coupons, and we used one on the 10 piece set of cookware, saving $120. But by doing that, we only qualified for one $50 gift card. So we added a 3qt covered saute pan and a 12" grill pan, and used two more coupons, which brought our total to $599.99. One Calphalon pasta fork later, we qualified for two $50 gift cards.
If you add it all up, we took home about $1000 worth of cookware plus $100 in gift cards for $660 bucks with tax.
But wait, there's more!
We're also in the market for a Kitchen Aid Professional stand mixer. Normally, they run $399.99, but with another 20% off coupon and the two $50 gift cards, we'll get it for $240 after tax.
In short, $1400 in merchandise for just over $800 not including sales taxes. That works out to about a 43% discount.
And it won't cost you a penny! If you enjoy what you read here and want to support this blog, then whenever you shop at Amazon, go through the links below. You don't have to buy the stuff I show; that's just a way for me to show you what I'm reading or listening to. But if buy something at amazon after following one of these links, I'll get a small percentage of your purchase price. I like that idea much more than putting up ads. If you're curious about the gear I'm looking to get, it's listed at the bottom.