Bible Contradictions. Closer to Doomsday? Children's Day In July? Auto Safety Bill. Roswell. Ben of ‘An Older Texan Remembers’. VBS Program.

For “Scripture Sunday”:

Bible Contradictions.

“Make sure that when we find a scripture that seems to be confusing, look at the context.”

Transcript: [Steve Myers] “We had a question come in from a viewer, "How do I have a successful Bible study?"

Now, continuing on with another important concept—it's found over in 2 Peter 1:20 Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.See All....      Now in 2 Peter, right in the first chapter, he tells us very clearly, "That knowing this first, no prophecy of scripture is of any private interpretation." In other words, we've got to be careful how we interpret the word of God. What if there's a passage that's unclear? What do we do? Do we force our own interpretation into that passage? Or do we look to the word of God to explain what that particular passage is all about? That's what 2 Peter 1:20Knowing this first, that no prophecy of the scripture is of any private interpretation.
See All... is telling us.

Make sure that when we find a scripture that seems to be confusing, look at the context. Look at the scripture. Compare that scripture that might seem unclear to another passage that is clear. We should always let a clear Bible passage interpret an unclear one. And so as we think about studying our Bibles, we can't force our own interpretation into what the Bible's telling us.

Let's look at a quick example of that. It's found—the one I picked out is over in 1 Corinthians chapter 2 and in verse 9 it tells us, "Eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor have entered into the heart of man the things which God has prepared for those who love Him" (1 Corinthians 2:9But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.See All...).    Now that's a quotation from Isaiah 64:4 For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him.See All... .

Now if you were to stop right there and look at that particular passage, you'd probably come to the conclusion that, you know, we just cannot understand what God has in mind for us. We can't understand God's plan. We can't understand what the future holds if we just stop reading there. Yet, if we allow the Bible to interpret itself, if we take that passage into greater context of what 1 Corinthians is saying, we'd read on. And here's what it says just a verse later—in verse 10 it says, "But God has revealed them to us through His spirit" (1 Corinthians 2:10But God hath revealed them unto us by his Spirit: for the Spirit searcheth all things, yea, the deep things of God.See All...).

So as we put that particular verse in context, eye has not seen, but because God has opened our minds to through His spirit, we can see. A few verses later it even tells us, it says the spirit—"By the spirit we can know the things that have been freely given to us by God" (1 Corinthians 2:12Now we have received, not the spirit of the world, but the spirit which is of God; that we might know the things that are freely given to us of God.See All...). And so you see, when we take that into context, we can zero in on a passage that might seem unclear and yet, looking at the entire verse, we begin to see it does make sense.

God does open our mind to His truths. So don't be confused by a scripture that might seem unclear. Remember that concept as we study the Bible, let the Bible interpret itself.”   From: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-daily/christian-living/bible-contradictions

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Closer to Doomsday

Scientist moved the Doomsday Clock closer to the fatal hour. Is annihilation just ahead?

Transcript: [Steve Myers] “We've received many questions about the end of the world. And so thinking about that topic, I was going down some of the headlines this morning and ran across an article about the Doomsday Clock. This was from the Washington Post . And what it is, is the bulletin of atomic scientists have this clock that they set in looking at what's going on in the world. They look at nuclear proliferations. They look at biological weapons and then they adjust this clock as they feel we're closer to the end of the world. And so right now that clock hasn't moved since 2007 and they've put it at five minutes to midnight.

And so, what about the end of the world? What does that have to do with what the Bible says about the end of the world?

Well, Christ said quite a few things that are quite different than many people would believe. Look what Christ said in Matthew 24. Here's what He said when He was asked a question by the disciples. They asked Him, "What will be the sign of Your coming in the end of the age?" (Matthew 24:3And as he sat upon the mount of Olives, the disciples came unto him privately, saying, Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?
See All...). So, immediately as we look at Matthew 24, they weren't talking about the end of the world, they weren't talking about nuclear annihilation. They were talking about the end of the age—the end of man's rule on this world.

And it's interesting what Christ talked about then. He answered their question and one of the things he pointed to in verse 7 was that "Nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. There will be famines, pestilences, earthquakes in various places" (Matthew 24:7For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places.
See All...). So Christ began to point out that there were going to be some difficult times. There was going to come a great tribulation. And we're on the verge of those events now. We see some of those things and the precursor that those events are on the horizon. And so Christ was pretty specific about that.

Now, what do we do about it? As the end of man's rule is going to come, and Christ is going to return and establish the Kingdom of God, what are we to do about it? Are we supposed to fret and worry? Or is there something more concrete that we all need to do? Well, over in the book of Mark, Mark chapter 13, Christ gave us instructions Himself on what we need to be doing. This is in Mark 13:32But of that day and that hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels which are in heaven, neither the Son, but the Father. See All...,     here's what Christ says, "Of that day and hour, no one knows. Not even the angels in heaven nor the Son, but only the Father." And so Christ goes on and He says, "Take heed. Watch and pray. For you don't know when the time is" (Mark 13:33 Take ye heed, watch and pray: for ye know not when the time is.
See All...).

So in other words, Christ said be ready. Some translations actually translate watching as be ready or be alert . In other words, develop a relationship with God. Be ready for the return of Christ. In Corinthians, it tells us that we'll all stand before the judgment seat of Christ (2 Corinthians 5:10 For we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ; that every one may receive the things done in his body, according to that he hath done, whether it be good or bad. See All...).

Revelation chapter 11 reminds us the kingdoms of this world will become the kingdoms of our Lord and of His Christ (Revelation 11:15 And the seventh angel sounded; and there were great voices in heaven, saying, The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of his Christ; and he shall reign for ever and ever. See All...).     And so the world will have a change in government. And we all need to be ready for that.  We all need to look forward to that time and develop that relationship with God that will bring us ever closer to knowing Jesus Christ and having Him a vital, important part of our life. So let's be sure we're doing that.”    From: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-daily/news-and-prophecy/closer-doomsday

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Can We Know When Jesus Will Return?

“With such an intense focus on the return of Jesus Christ to this earth—this time as King of Kings and Lord of Lords (Revelation 19:16)—it can be tempting and even easy to begin to speculate when exactly Jesus might initiate this long-awaited event. This is especially true when the Bible itself provides many prophetic markers and trends that will presage the end of this age (not the “end of the world”) and the coming of Christ.

But My Father Only

But even as Jesus emphatically instructed His disciples to “watch”—to prepare themselves as a spiritual Bride to be collectively bonded to Christ for all eternity—He also immediately said “you do not know what hour your Lord is coming” (Matthew 24:42). Earlier, after outlining specific trends that would be obvious before His return, Jesus noted concerning the actual date of His return, “Of that day and hour no one knows, no not even the angels of heaven, but My Father only” (verse 36).

These and other Bible verses make plain that not even Jesus Himself knows the precise day and time when Jesus will return. Asked one final time by His disciples about the divine timetable for prophetic events, Jesus declared: “It is not for you to know times or seasons which the Father has put in His own authority” (Acts 1:8).      Complete article at: http://realtimeunited.wordpress.com/2012/06/05/can-we-know-when-jesus-christ-will-return/

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Children's Day In July.

God's commandment to honor your parents is clear. But shouldn't we also honour our children?

"According to Malachi:4:6And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse., turning the hearts is a two-way street—fathers (parents) to children and children to fathers (parents).    How may we as parents turn our hearts to our children?

I'd like to share with you what my wife and I decided to do when our children were little. You see, we were childless for four years and feared we would never know what parenthood was like. In January 1968 after being anointed at the ministerial conference in Pasadena, California, one month later my wife conceived, and in November 1968 Janice(meaning "God's gracious gift") arrived. Fifteen months later, Susan was born and we were parents of not one but two precious children. Because we longed for children for so many years, we tried to treat our children as special blessings from God (Psalm:127:3Lo, children are an heritage of the LORD: and the fruit of the womb is his reward.).

We thought about how special it was to have a "Mother's Day" to honor Mother in May, and to have a "Father's Day" in June to honor Dad. So we decided to institute in our family a "Children's Day" in July to honor our children. We believed that modeling a respect for our children would help them understand respect for their parents. The intent was to treat them special on the second or third Sunday of July.

We would do something special with them—play miniature golf, go to a baseball game, go to the beach or just go to a nice place for lunch or dinner. We usually bought them each a nice gift just because we loved them. They thought this was really special, and we have kept it up for nearly 37 years.

Now, the point of this example is not to tell you to institute a "Children's Day," but to encourage you to explore ways to show and tell your children how special and how loved they are as blessings from God (Proverbs:22:6Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.; Ephesians:6:4And, ye fathers, provoke not your children to wrath: but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord.).

Paul urged the older women to teach the younger "to love their children" (Titus:2:4That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,). We need to make every effort to reach out to our children that they may know just how special and how loved they are. For indeed they are precious not only to us but to their Heavenly Father as well. (Acts:2:39For the promise is unto you, and to your children, and to all that are afar off, even as many as the LORD our God shall call.)    From: http://www.ucg.org/christian-living/treasure-digest-turning-hearts-childrens-day/    Article by Gary Antion, from his "Turning Hearts" series.

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On This Day:

Senate passes landmark auto safety bill, Jun 24, 1966:

On this day in 1966, the United States Senate votes 76-0 for the passage of what will become the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act. Signed into law by President Lyndon B. Johnson the following September, the act created the nation's first mandatory federal safety standards for motor vehicles.

The origins of the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act can be traced directly of the efforts of a young lawyer and consumer advocate Ralph Nader, who in 1965 published the bestselling "Unsafe at Any Speed," a sweeping critique of the American auto industry and its unsafe products. (Nader singled out the Corvair, produced by General Motors, as a particular object of scorn.) Nader's book fueled the growing concern of Americans regarding the ever-increasing number of traffic accidents and fatalities on the nation's roads. On June 24, 1966, Nader was in the Senate gallery as the bill was guided to passage, less than five hours after reaching the floor. Shortly after the Senate vote, President Johnson issued a statement urging the House to pass the bill, which he called "landmark legislation."

"For the first time in our history," Johnson declared, "we can mount a truly comprehensive attack on the rising toll of death and destruction on the nation's highways that last year alone claimed 50,000 lives....We can no longer tolerate such anarchy on wheels." The Senate also passed an companion bill from the Johnson administration authorizing expenditures of some $465 million over three years for state and city traffic safety programs, including driver education and licensing, auto inspection, highway design, traffic control and enforcement of traffic laws. The House subsequently passed the legislation by another unanimous vote, and Johnson signed it into law on September 9, 1966.

In its final form, the National Traffic and Motor Vehicle Safety Act established an agency under the U.S. secretary of commerce that would set safety standards for all new motor vehicles beginning with the 1968 model year; that agency became the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) of the Department of Transportation. Among the first safety standards adopted by the agency were seat belts, windshield wipers, glare reduction on interior and exterior surfaces, padded visors and dashboards, recessed control knobs, outside mirrors, impact-absorbing steering columns, dual braking systems and standardized bumper heights.”

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U.S. Air Force reports on Roswell, Jun 24, 1997:

“On this day in 1997, U.S. Air Force officials release a 231-page report dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell, New Mexico, almost exactly 50 years earlier.

Public interest in Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, began to flourish in the 1940s, when developments in space travel and the dawn of the atomic age caused many Americans to turn their attention to the skies. The town of Roswell, located near the Pecos River in southeastern New Mexico, became a magnet for UFO believers due to the strange events of early July 1947, when ranch foreman W.W. Brazel found a strange, shiny material scattered over some of his land. He turned the material over to the sheriff, who passed it on to authorities at the nearby Air Force base. On July 8, Air Force officials announced they had recovered the wreckage of a "flying disk." A local newspaper put the story on its front page, launching Roswell into the spotlight of the public's UFO fascination.

The Air Force soon took back their story, however, saying the debris had been merely a downed weather balloon. Aside from die-hard UFO believers, or "ufologists," public interest in the so-called "Roswell Incident" faded until the late 1970s, when claims surfaced that the military had invented the weather balloon story as a cover-up. Believers in this theory argued that officials had in fact retrieved several alien bodies from the crashed spacecraft, which were now stored in the mysterious Area 51 installation in Nevada. Seeking to dispel these suspicions, the Air Force issued a 1,000-page report in 1994 stating that the crashed object was actually a high-altitude weather balloon launched from a nearby missile test-site as part of a classified experiment aimed at monitoring the atmosphere in order to detect Soviet nuclear tests.

On July 24, 1997, barely a week before the extravagant 50th anniversary celebration of the incident, the Air Force released yet another report on the controversial subject. Titled "The Roswell Report, Case Closed," the document stated definitively that there was no Pentagon evidence that any kind of life form was found in the Roswell area in connection with the reported UFO sightings, and that the "bodies" recovered were not aliens but dummies used in parachute tests conducted in the region. Any hopes that this would put an end to the cover-up debate were in vain, as furious ufologists rushed to point out the report's inconsistencies. With conspiracy theories still alive and well on the Internet, Roswell continues to thrive as a tourist destination for UFO enthusiasts far and wide, hosting the annual UFO Encounter Festival each July and welcoming visitors year-round to its International UFO Museum and Research Center.”

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This morning’s sermon on WGN:

“Bible prophecy says two individuals will stand witness on the world scene testifying against an evil, God-defying age.”

 

Transcript at: http://www.ucg.org/beyond-today-program/news-and-prophecy/who-are-two-witnesses

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Yesterday:

What a difference a day makes.  Every time I did anything, it was a reminder that Bobcat wasn't here anymore. Even when I got up in the night, there were rugs on the bathroom floor, something I had not had    for months. 

Prime was happy to take over Bobcat’s favorite perch at my bathroom window, and now she gets fed in there, too. 

Misty realized that the barrier that was across my bathroom door, wasn’t there, and I don’t trip over it anymore.  Misty liked to troll for spilled cat food in my bathroom, but Prime doesn’t spill hers.  A few days ago I was fixing five little breakfasts and dinners, when the boarders were here, and now just two.

Thank you all for condolences, it is hard to lose a pet that you have had for over 16 years, but she is now at peace.

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We lost another blogland regular.  Ben of ‘An Older Texan Remembers’, http://benntexas.blogspot.com/ died very suddenly.  The day before, in his last blog, he was complaining of leg cramps, then he was hospitalized and died. I wonder if it was caused by DVT (Deep Vein Thrombosis) that traveled to his heart.  It kills a lot of people from not getting up and moving around enough.  His two cats, his carpet sharks as he called them, will miss him.  I hope somebody is taking good care of these poor orphans, I have offered, and his daughter in Oregon has contacted me, so we will see what happens. The cats are about 3 hours from me.

Some tributes to Ben: http://dizzydick.blogspot.com/2012/06/remembering-old-ben.html 

http://terlinguadreams.blogspot.com/2012/06/farewell-dear-ben.html

http://thefieldlab.blogspot.com/2012/06/older-texan-remembers.html

http://shadowmoss.blogspot.com/2012/06/goodby-to-fellow-blogger.html

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Misty and I drove down to Jay’s for her walk-about, just to see if maybe he was getting ready for church, but there was no sign of him.  So I brought her back here and went on my own.

What a surprise when I got there, the whole service was put on by the Vacation Bible School children.  Must have been about 50 of them, all  sizes, and all dressed in SKY T-shirts, and different groups did the several acts.  They sang several hymns with the actions to go with the words, and re-enacted several scenes from the Bible.  They were so adorable.  Many pictures were taken by the congregation, but I didn’t have my camera with me, and my phone was in the van. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I put the word out that I would like to have some pictures sent to me, so I can share these with you today.