Avoiding the Siren Temptation Trap: A Lesson From Homer

The Sirens were mythical creatures spoken of in many ancient Greek stories, notably in the writings of the poet Homer (such as the Odyssey). The Sirens were beautiful creatures portrayed as seductively attractive women who lured and ensnared unsuspecting sailors with their enchanting music and hypnotizing voices. Sirens may have been beautiful, but they were also extremely dangerous. The clip above is excerpted from Pirates of the Caribbean 4, in which these mythical creatures are encountered.

In the Odyssey, when Odysseus leaves the home of the goddess Circe, Circe warns Odysseus about the Sirens, saying of them,

The_SirenNext, where the Sirens dwells, you plough the seas; Their song is death, and makes destruction please. Unblest the man, whom music wins to stay nigh the cursed shore and listen to the lay. No more that wretch shall view the joys of life His blooming offspring, or his beauteous wife! In verdant meads they sport; and wide around lie human bones that whiten all the ground: The ground polluted floats with human gore, And human carnage taints the dreadful shore. Fly swift the dangerous coast: let every ear be stopp’d against the song! ’tis death to hear! Firm to the mast with chains thyself be bound, Nor trust thy virtue to the enchanting sound. If, mad with transport, freedom thou demand, Be every fetter strain’d, and added band to band.

The Sirens were cannibals. They would lure unsuspecting mariners, oblivious to the danger they were in, to their island, to be shipwrecked on the rocky coast. What a metaphor for the temptation we face as Christians! And just like temptation, the Sirens would offer a promise of delight, with a false assurance that the victim would be able to leave when he pleased. Read more

/by

The Penalty For Apostasy According to Islam

Tariq Ramadan, an Islamic scholar and writer, wants us to believe that Islam does not demand a death penalty for apostasy. Although he concedes that the ahadith reports Muhammad to have said  “Whoever changed his Islamic religion, then kill him,” (Sahih Al-Bukhari volume 9, book 84, no. 57) and other words to similar effect, Ramadan argues that such a penalty was to be applied only in cases of hostile or subversive attacks against the Muslim community, where perhaps an apostate would join the enemies of Islam, thereby committing treason. Ramadan concedes that his view that a Muslim is free to change his religion has been rejected by the vast majority of Muslim scholars throughout Islamic history.

Ramadan also issues a challenge to provide an example of Muhammad ordering a person’s death as a consequence of apostasy. Providing such an example is not difficult. Read more

/by

Introducing “Treesearch”: A Novel Apologetics Website

Imagine equipping everyone in the world with something like a pocket-apologist, an Artificial Intelligence available to present for you customized evidences supporting Christianity and to offer instant scholarly answers to complex questions. Well, it looks like a website is in development to do something like this. It is called “Treesearch” (beliefmap.org) and seems like it will be a pretty novel apologetics debate encyclopedia. The content branches out debate points and counter-points (green vs. red) in a way that simulates dialogue, which makes navigation surprisingly intuitive, fast, and even fun. I will also say this: you can tell that it is being designed with smart phone users in mind, which could be really effective for experienced and lay apologists in the field (e.g. here is a more developed section so you can see how it opens up). It seems full of potential, and I look forward to seeing how it will grow.

/by

The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year in all genres. Each week, I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, Jim Whiddon

111. BE ASSERTIVE “A successful young businessman loved to buy exotic gifts for his mother on Mother’s Day, but he was running out of ideas one year when he encountered some amazing birds with the ability to dance, sing, and talk. He was so happy that he purchased two of them and couldn’t wait to ship them off to his mother. On Mother’s Day, he called her excitedly and asked, “Mother, what did you think of those birds?”

“Mmm,” she answered, “they were good.”

“Mother, you didn’t eat those birds!” he said, unable to contain his shock.

“Those birds cost five thousand dollars apiece. They could dance, they could sing, and they could talk!”

“Well,” she calmly replied, “then they should’ve said something.”

“This funny story points out how important it is for us to speak up when confronted with danger. If we see our freedoms eroding around us and are afraid to stand up for what we value, we too will ultimately end up in the stew like those birds. Most Germans did not agree with Hitler’s insane agenda, but their collective silence permitted an unimaginable human tragedy that stained world history known as the Holocaust. How might their nation’s history and our world’s history have played out differently if those who saw what was happening had taken a stand for what they believed? When rights and freedoms are not exercised, they become meaningless.”

Excerpt From: Ben Carson, M.D. “America the Beautiful.”

112. BOYS “For a number of years, I saved a single-frame cartoon drawing that showed a freckle-faced, scruffy, blond-haired boy (maybe five years old), who was barefoot, shirtless, and in cut-off jeans, walking down a dusty trail on a hot summer afternoon. That image alone captured for me what my boyhood was like. Innocent, for the most part. Easy going. A little guy kicking around in the backwoods of the Ozarks, never too far from home or from a fishing hole. But what still brings a smile to my face is that the boy in the cartoon was carrying a pair of skinny old cats, whose tails he had tied together in a crude knot. The caption at the bottom of the cartoon read “And he was bound to acquire experience rapidly.” Boyhood is meant to be like that. A discovery around every corner, abundant adventure, and rapid growth—embedded life lessons disguised as sharp-clawed cats! All men start there. Some men never leave.”

Excerpt From: Rainey, Dennis. “Stepping Up.”

113. DIFFERENCES “If two people believe the same thing about everything, one of them isn’t necessary.”

Excerpt From: Ben Carson, M.D. “America the Beautiful.”

114. CHOICES “Ron Wayne tries to get by each month by stretching his Social Security check and playing video poker at a casino in Nevada. He’s seventy-six years old, and like a lot of people these days, he’s feeling the pinch financially. It’s somewhat ironic, however, that he of all people would feel anything approaching a pinch. After all, he is one of the founders of Apple.

When Apple was formed on April 1, 1976, Wayne signed the legal papers along with Steve Jobs and Steve Wozniak. Jobs and Wozniak each held 45 percent of the stock, and Ron Wayne had the other ten. Eleven days later he sold his shares for $800. On an impulse, he decided to get out of the infant corporation. Personal computers? Well, they probably wouldn’t catch on, anyway. So Roy Wayne took the $800 sure money and got out. But if he had held on … his stock today would be worth $22 billion.”

Excerpt From: Farrar, Steve. “Real Valor.”

115. CHRISTIAN FRIENDS “Someone once wrote that our best friends are those who make us most afraid to sin. The standard of their life and conduct make us want to elevate ours. In this way, our best friends are the severest enemies of our complacency.”

Excerpt From: Byron Forrest Yawn. “What Every Man Wishes His Father Had Told Him.”

116. CHRISTIANS IN POLITICS? It takes only three points to explain:

Point one: Politics deals with basic issues of right and wrong.

Point two: As even a glance at the Bible will show, God has plenty to say about right and wrong.

Point three: When people don’t like what God says about right and wrong (or what they think He says about right and wrong), they tend to make a god of their own ideas. Their ideologies become substitute religions. Then they’ve got a problem because God will have no other gods before Him.”

Excerpt From: Budziszewski, J. “How to Stay Christian in College.”

117. COMMITMENT In the days of naval warfare, when there was no backing out of an eminent battle, captains would charge the crew to “nail the colors to the mast” as opposed to simply hoisting the flag. The actual nailing of their banner to the mast indicated  a do or die mentality. This is the same dedication we must have with our marriages.”

–Michael Stanley

118. COURAGE  is almost a contradiction in terms. It means a strong desire to live taking the form of readiness to die.”

— G. K. CHESTERTON

119. DECEIT “A man may have the tongue of an angel, and the heart of a devil.”

—John Flavel

120. DEFINING MOMENTS “Some men sailed with the wind until that decisive moment in history when events propelled them into the center of the storm.”

— From: Kennedy, John F. “Profiles in Courage”

/by
Conflating Questions

Conflating Questions

There has been a lot of debate against my recent articles that stems from a common mistake made by atheists. This article is a little more in depth, but if you can get this you will really have something good to chat about with your atheist friends.

Many of you who are Christians may struggle with the arguments made by atheists against our beliefs. You’ve heard it before that believing in God is the same as believing in Unicorns, Fairies, Santa Claus and the like. An opponent challenged me to prove that God wasn’t just another one of these superstitious characters.

Atheists will use these superstitious characters in one of two ways usually: 1) They will show the absurdity of believing in imaginary creatures and use that as an analogy for believing in God, or 2) They will ask you if you believe in Unicorns, Fairies, and Santa Claus and when you say, “no” they will try and turn the tables on you and say, “see, now you show me your evidence for not believing in those things.”

Another very popular argument was born in Stephen F. Robert’s statement made to Theists in 1995 (later popularized by Richard Dawkins) that, “I just believe in one fewer god than you do. When you understand why you dismiss all the other possible gods, you will understand why I dismiss yours.”

This is a common misunderstanding and conflation of 1st and 2nd order questions. Listen up. This will help you.

A first order question for our purposes explores the “what” of God. In other words, what is the general idea of a being that is God? An answer from Alvin Plantinga explains that this idea of God is something “having an unsurpassable degree of greatness—that is, having a degree of greatness such that it’s not possible that there exist a being having more.”

It is impossible to have two beings (or more) that possess an infinite degree of greatness. It is a metaphysical impossibility.  A universe with two or more omnipotent, or supreme, or infinite beings is absolutely impossible.

Now, a second-order question explores types or the “who” of God. The answer can be many possible conceptions of God.

A Theist rejects all other conceptions of God without being an “atheist” about Thor, Odin, etc. because what makes a person a Theist is not the “who” or type of God but the “what” or nature of God. Rejecting the Thor and Odin “who” type conceptions of god goes hand in hand with the positive acceptance of the Theist “what” type of God. I’m not just disbelieving in the others. I’m believing in One that eliminates the others altogether. It’s like killing a thousand birds with one stone.

So when you ask me to show that God is not a superstition or ask me to prove that Thor isn’t God, you are conflating the “what” is God and the “who” is God questions. The Christian God is outside of time, without matter, and is not confined by the material universe. Unicorns, fairies, Santa Claus, Thor, Odin, Wotan, Zeus, Ashara… are technically still possible in a logical sense, but since they are within time, composed of matter and confined by the universe, they are inferior.

Finally, most people who reject God are rejecting a figure that I would reject also. The “what” of God is often times assumed, as if we Christians believe in a Family Guy type god who sits on a cloud, wears a white toga, and smites people. If we can get on the same page about what God is, a lot of these common questions will answer themselves or just not be applicable.

/by

Can Atheism also be “Apathetic-ism?”

There has been a strong reaction to my last post on atheism. Those opposed to my article say that I’m shifting burden and that I’m “silly.” They contend that atheists only reject the Theist God. They say that’s the definition of atheism. Really? The last time I checked, Scientologists, Hindus, Buddhists, and my German Shepherd all reject the Theist God too. According to the atheists, these must be atheists too. Why does this not make sense? (My dog is offended by the way).

LET’S BEGIN

Can Atheism also be “Apathetic-ism?” Can someone call themselves an atheist and also say that they are NOT making any claims about God? That they “just don’t buy what Christians are selling?”

I agree that people who are truly in the “apathetic” category don’t owe me or anybody anything. They are the ones who aren’t buying anything anybody is selling because they don’t care. They aren’t making propositions about the universe, God, gods, religion, etc., and they aren’t attaching any labels to themselves either (like atheist).

An atheist, however, is not apathetic. By definition an atheist is categorized by his belief and affirmation that “there is no God.” That isn’t an apathetic statement. It’s a very opinionated one.

Little_Fairy_And_The_Unicorn_by_thefantasim

Pick up your categorical logic book and look at the rules for obverting (A) & (E) propositions. “Atheism is true” is the same as “Theism is untrue.” Not apathetic.

Let’s use a favorite character of atheists for an analogy: Unicorns.

Let’s say that I call myself an “A-unicornist.” I reject the idea that unicorns exist.

If someone wants to argue that unicorns exist, I would ask him to provide evidence. I do not believe that there is any historical, scientific, philosophical, or moral evidence for them. Not only that, I believe that there is good evidence from science to prove that unicorns can’t exist. If there is some evidence for unicorns, my opponent should provide it. I would have to look at it and make a decision about whether or not the evidence was convincing. If I don’t find it conniving. What I mean is that what I know about unicorns still seems to be stronger than my opponent’s reasons for unicorns. I’m reject their claim, but…. I am still be giving reasons for why I don’t believe in UNICORNS.

How can I take my self seriously as an “A-unicornist” and not have a single reason for why I call myself that. Saying that I merely reject the claims of “Unicornists” may make me apathetic to the issue, but it doesn’t suffice as a reason to be called an A-unicornist. A real A-Unicornist is not apathetic on the issue of unicorns. Nobody is fooled. Everyone knows that I am asserting my belief in the non-existence of the horned horse. Any attempt to dodge that claim is dishonest and illogical.

Any questions?

 

/by

Are Atheists Playing Fair?

As a Christian, you may have had this happen to you:

An atheist challenges your beliefs. You give an explanation and share evidence that points to why you believe in a Creator. They find nothing you are saying convincing. You fire back and challenge the atheist on their beliefs. After all, they have been arguing that we live in a universe that came into existence without an intelligent cause. Let’s see what they got.

Now you find yourself in a perplexing situation. Just a moment ago the atheist demanded that you give good and convincing reasons for your system of beliefs. But when asking the atheist to defend their system of beliefs, the atheist argues that their is no burden of proof on them to support anything. In fact the atheist swears that she isn’t even making a claim at all. She is merely rejecting your claim that “God exists.” The burden of proof then is on you–on Christians.

Is that true? Are atheists not making any claims about God? Is burden of proof on Theists alone? They demand that we have support for our claims, but then they dodge our questions. Is this fair? Let’s examine it for a second.

06982f27b0dc8e8d91df1e3de01a25ed

Until recently, no one ever questioned that atheists were affirming a position–that is “no god(s) exist.” Now, there is a “new atheism” that says atheists merely disbelieve or reject evidence of God. They echo Christopher Hitchens that atheism, “is rejecting that a certain proposition is true” and “is NOT asserting that a certain proposition is false.” They think that means they can criticize one group’s beliefs and their reasons for believing them and not be obligated to abide by their own rules.

This is a clever move that works too often, but as you’ll see it’s not fair or even logical. Atheists are contradicting themselves and here’s why:

TRY TACTIC 1:

If atheism is merely rejecting that a certain proposition is true, “God exists,” then if that proposition is false, we know that it must be true that “God does not exist.” These are called logically equivalent claims. Seems elementary doesn’t it?

If you present that to the atheist and it doesn’t click try explaining it this way:

TRY TACTIC 2:

Look at the letter A. Let’s make a claim that “A is symmetrical.” We run tests on the letter and discover, YES, A is symmetrical. That claim is TRUE.

Let’s try another letter, Q. If the “claim of symmetry,” when applied to the letter Q, is not true, then we can reject that claim, but we can also say that it is TRUE that Q is “A-Symmetrical.”

Apply this to atheism…

It is NOT the case that we merely lack belief in Q’s symmetry or “reject the claim that Q is symmetrical.” The case is that we can actually positively affirm that Q is A-Symmetrical! Hitchens and those who echo his sentiment are disillusioned.

CONCLUSION

I hate to break it to the atheists, but you ARE making a claim and that claim is, “there is no God.” Hitchens was wrong. Yes, atheists are rejecting that a certain proposition is true. But they are also emphatically asserting that a certain proposition (Theism) is false and are thereby making the logically equivalent claim that Atheism is true. Furthermore, as they love to point out to Christians, for this claim to be substantiated there must be some supporting evidence. You don’t give us a free pass and neither do we give you one. The statement that “there is no burden of proof on atheists to substantiate their claims because they aren’t making a claim,” is obviously fallacious.

/by

The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year in all genres. Each week, I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, Jim Whiddon

101. AMERICA’S DESTINY “America has already outlived the typical two-hundred-year destiny. Nations with a godly worldview begin with a period of great prosperity as they follow God’s principles. This is followed by a period of apathy. In their apathy, they turn away from God, resulting in God’s judgment. The book of Judges illustrates this cycle. We see in Judges a description of three hundred fifty years of Israel’s going through the cycle again and again. The cycle reoccurs over seven times. Each time, after the people turned from God, He reveals what a merciful and gracious God He is. He takes them back. He heals their land. God walks with them on the road to recovery.”

Excerpt From: Hovind, Chad. “Godonomics.”

102. AMAZING DATA USAGE “Asthmapolis has attached a sensor to an asthma inhaler that tracks location via GPS; aggregating the information lets the company discern environmental triggers for asthma attacks, such as proximity to certain crops. The firms Fitbit and Jawbone let people measure their physical activity and sleep. Another company, Basis, lets wearers of its wristband monitor their vital signs, including heart rate and skin conductance, which are measures of stress. Getting the data is becoming easier and less intrusive than ever. In 2009 Apple was granted a patent for collecting data on blood oxygenation, heart rate, and body temperature through its audio earbuds. Derawi Biometrics have developed an app for smartphones that analyzes an individual’s gait while walking and uses the information as a security system to unlock the phone. Meanwhile two professors at Georgia Tech Research Institute, Robert Delano and Brian Parise, are developing a smartphone application called iTrem that uses the phone’s built-in accelerometer to monitor a person’s body tremors for Parkinson’s and other neurological disorders. The app is a boon for both doctors and patients. It allows patients to bypass costly tests done at a physician’s office; it also lets medical professionals remotely monitor people’s disability and their responses to treatments.”

Excerpt From: Viktor Mayer-Schönberger & Kenneth Cukier. “Big Data.”

103. THE STANDARD “Jesus, the God/man who died for us, could take no pleasure in making life difficult or unachievable for us. Clearly he was setting a standard to make a point—that if someone was somehow able to keep from lying, murdering, even coveting for an entire lifetime, there was no way to ever dream of following this new standard. If hatred and anger equal murder, and lust is adultery, we’re all guilty. Only Jesus could meet that standard; so we are forced to rely upon Him for our standing before God. He takes the penalty for our sin; He becomes our advocate before a holy God.”

Excerpt From: Jerry B. Jenkins. “Hedges.”

104. HANDWRITING “researchers have found that the persuasiveness of a handwritten message is influenced by the quality of the handwriting: The worse the handwriting, the less persuasive the message will be. Readers mistakenly interpret the sense of difficulty they feel when they read a message with bad handwriting as a sense of difficulty believing the content of the message.”

Excerpt From: Noah J. Goldstein, Steve J. Martin & Robert B. Cialdini. “Yes!.”

105. THE NATIONAL SOCIALIST German Workers’ Party, led by Adolf Hitler, rose to power during a time of economic uncertainty in a nation of people longing for better times. Germany was a modern, industrialized nation whose well-informed citizens enjoyed ready access to information by way of print and radio broadcast media. Hitler was a man of the common people—not long before, he had been an army lieutenant—and his speeches were exciting and passionate. He promised more and better and new and different. He vowed rapid change and swift action. According to record, what Hitler actually said in his speeches depended very much upon the audience. In agricultural areas, he pledged tax cuts for farmers and new laws to protect food prices. In working-class neighborhoods, he talked about redistribution of wealth and attacked the high profits generated by business owners. When he appeared before financiers or captains of industry, Hitler focused on his plans to destroy communism and reduce the power of the trade unions.”

Excerpt From: Andrews, Andy. “How Do You Kill 11 Million People?.”

106. IDENTITY NOT IN OUR WORK “Corporate profits and influence, stewarded wisely, are a healthy means to a good end: They are vital to creating new products to serve customers, giving an adequate return to investors for the use of their money, and paying employees well for their work. Similarly, individual compensation is an appropriate reward for one’s contributions and is necessary to provide for oneself and one’s family. But it is not our identity, our salvation, or even our source of security and comfort. The Christian worker or business leader who has experienced God’s grace—­who knows “You are not your own; you were bought at a price” (1 Corinthians 6:19–20)—­is free to honor God, love neighbors, and serve the common good through work.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Every Good Endeavor.”

107. PURPOSE “To put away aimlessness and weakness, and to begin to think with purpose, is to enter the ranks of those strong ones who only recognize failure as one of the pathways to attainment; who make all conditions serve them, and who think strongly, attempt fearlessly, and accomplish masterfully.”

Excerpt From: Allen, James. “As a Man Thinketh.”

108. HONESTY “Honesty is a gift we can give to others. It is also a source of power and an engine of simplicity. Knowing that we will attempt to tell the truth, whatever the circumstances, leaves us with little to prepare for. Knowing that we told the truth in the past leaves us with nothing to keep track of. We can simply be ourselves in every moment.”

Excerpt From: Harris, Sam. “Lying.”

109. BAD DECISIONS  “Overconfidence is fed by the illusory certainty of hindsight.”

Excerpt From: Kahneman, Daniel. “Thinking, Fast and Slow.”

110. WHY SEVEN DAYS? “If He did not need to follow an order for physical reasons, why did He do it? He did it to illustrate how salvation advances and progresses. For example, Moses was using the creation account to explain to Israel, the first readers of this book, how God redeemed them from Egypt and took them to the border of the promised land. He took them from virtual nonexistence in Egypt and gave them life. He took them from darkness to light. He found them formless and empty and shaped them and filled them as a nation. Genesis 1–2 gave Israel more insight into the kind of Redeemer that God was and what their redemption from Egypt was like. There is much more here, however, than instruction for redeemed Israel. Jesus and his apostles used the creation theme to explain how God redeems our souls. Paul said that if any man is in Jesus, “he is a new creation.” Paul was saying, “If you want to find out what your salvation is like, go back to the creation account.”

Excerpt From: Murray, David. “Jesus on Every Page.”

 

/by

The Culture Chronicle

THE CULTURE CHRONICLE for April

The following list of events is a representative sample lifted from recent headlines and compiled in this format to offer some perspective concerning the current trends in our culture.  Items included were selected at my sole discretion. Jim Whiddon.

The number of chronic marijuana users increased 84% between 2000-2010 according to a Rand Corporation report commissioned by the White House. (CNSNEWS.Com)

Fusion Taps Ryan Nerz as TV’s First Chief Cannabis Correspondent (Variety)

Brendan Eich, co-founder of non-profit software company Mozilla, and inventor of JavaScript, was forced to resign as CEO after just two weeks on the job because he made a $1000 contribution to help pass Proposition 8 in 2008. Prop 8 banned same sex marriage in California, but was struck down last June. (Reuters)

New research shows the internet could be causing people to lose faith. In 1990, 8% of Americans claimed no religious affiliation. In 2010, that number rose to 18%. (Mail Online)

IRS agents testified before Congress that the agency’s political targeting did not apply to progressive groups as Democrats and the media have claimed, this according to a staff report prepared by the House Oversight Committee chairman, Rep. Darrell Issa. (The Daily Caller)

A Christian couple in Pakistan have become the latest to be sentenced to death for blasphemy, after they were accused of sending a text message deemed insulting to the Prophet Mohammed. (The Telegraph)

Brandeis University withdrew an honorary degree from Ayaan Hirsi Ali based on her criticism of the Islamic world from which she suffered and escaped. (The Weekly Standard)

The Muslim Brotherhood is launching a political party in America for the purpose of electing Muslims and influencing legislation that is favorable to Islam. The number of mosques in the United States has escalated 74 percent since 2000.  The government of Turkey is building a $100 million mega mosque in Maryland.  There are now 66 mosques in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. (Denison Forum)

The American Humanist Association (AHA) has launched a new initiative aimed at kids.  Their website, kidswithoutgod.com, is “a site for the millions of young people around the world who have embraced science, rejected superstition, and are dedicated to being Good Without A God!” The children’s section introduces us to “Darwin” the dog. (Denison Forum)

Washingtom, Iowa, a town of 7000, acquires armored vehicle used in Afghanistan for use by police department. Article cites “with the influx of military gear into local police forces, cops begin to view themselves as soldiers whose main job is combat rather than keeping the peace.” (The Daily Iowan)

Report: US internet ad revenue surpasses broadcast TV for the first time. (AP)

According to new regulations being instituted by the USDA, junk food (candy bars and sodas) is now totally forbidden in school vending machines, stores, and lunchrooms. The actual rules run a full 160 pages.  (The Weekly Standard)

A Colorado company has introduced the first-ever marijuana vending machine, which will soon be put to use at a dispensary in Eagle-Vail, Colo. (UPI)

Western Washington University President Bruce Shepard apparently bases success on the color of the students skin and not the content of the curriculum as he asked at a recent convocation address, “How do we make sure that in future years ‘we are not as white as we are today?’” (Campus Reform)

Texas A&M announced it will hold a separate and special graduation ceremony for LGBT students. The “Lavender Graduation,” as it’s being called, will feature as its commencement speaker Phyllis Frye – the first transgender judge in the state and aTexas A&M graduate. (One News Now)

President Obama asks the first openly homosexual bishop of the Episcopal Church to lead the closing prayer at the White House Easter Prayer Breakfast. (Washington Times)

The Freedom From Religion Foundation has filed a complaint against Clemson University head football coach Dabo Swinney for promoting Christianity within his program. (NBC Sports)

The University of Colorado has had a 30% increase in student applications since the passage of Amendment 64 legalizing marijuana.  (The College Fix)

Burger restaurant in Seattle sends out ad for Easter showing a cartoon Jesus eating one of their burgers while smoking a marijuana cigarette. (CBS)

A $500,000 study paid for by the federal government in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Climate Change concludes that biofuels made with corn residue release 7 percent more greenhouse gases in the early years compared with conventional gasoline. (AP)

The IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of a conservative charity, The Patrick Henry Center for Individual Liberty, for making statements critical of Hillary Rodham Clinton and John Kerry in a column published ten years ago – on April 2, 2004. (USA Today)

Two fourth-graders at a Greeley, Colorado elementary school were busted for selling marijuana at school. (ABC News)

The California Supreme Court is working to ban individuals from serving as judges if they are affiliated with the Boy Scouts of America because of the Scouts’ policy of prohibiting homosexual troop leaders. (The New American)

PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) shames First Lady Michelle Obama for using real eggs in the annual White House Easter egg roll. (Fox News)

President Obama has decided to consider wholesale clemency to as many as 200,000 inmates currently incarcerated for drug law offenses. (Fox News)

“FOR THE RIGHTEOUS WILL NEVER BE MOVED;

HE WILL BE REMEMBERED FOREVER.

HE IS NOT AFRID OF BAD NEWS;

HIS HEART IS FIRM, TRUSTING IN THE LORD.

HIS HEART IS STEADY; HE WILL NOT BE AFRAID,

UNTIL HE LOOKS IN TRIUMPH ON HIS ADVERSARIES.”

— Psalms 112:6-8

/by

The Wisdom Chronicle

The Wisdom Chronicle is designed to bring nuggets of wisdom from the dozens of books I read every year in all genres. Each week, I endeavor to share the best of what I have gleaned. The determination of relevance lies with you. Blessings, Jim Whiddon

91. TRUTH “We are not afraid to follow the truth wherever it may lead, nor to tolerate any error so long as reason is left free to combat it.”

—Thomas Jefferson”

92. NUMBERS “It takes only about eleven and a half days for a million seconds to tick away, whereas almost thirty-two years are required for a billion seconds to pass. Rock music has been around for only about two billion seconds.”

Excerpt From: John Allen Paulos. “Innumeracy.”

93. MUST WIN “The only must win was World War Two.”

— Buffalo Bills coach Marv Levy

94. BIBLICAL WORLDVIEW  “Christianity asserts that every individual human being is going to live forever, and this must be either true or false.… If individuals live only seventy years, then a state, or a nation, or a civilization, which may last for a thousand years, is more important than an individual. But if Christianity is true, then the individual is not only more important but incomparably more important, for he is everlasting and the life of the state or civilization, compared with his, is only a moment.”

— C. S. Lewis

95. INTELLECTUALS  “Both in antiquity and today, people who reject the knowledge of God think of themselves as “enlightened” (Heb. 10:32). Their ignorance here is not lack of general education; some are brilliant in their own way, but such brilliance is all wasted and futile in the end when combined with hardness of heart toward the truth of the gospel in Christ.”

Excerpt From: Crossway. “ESV Study Bible.”

96. GET THE FACTS  There are four people on a train en route from Paris to Barcelona—a beautiful young girl traveling with her elderly grandmother, and a stately general traveling with his aide, a young, handsome second lieutenant. The foursome is sitting in silence as the train enters a tunnel in the Pyrenees, the mountain range on the border between France and Spain.

It is pitch-dark in the tunnel. Suddenly there’s the sound of a loud kiss, followed by a second sound, that of a loud, hard smack. Upon exiting the tunnel, the four people remain silent, with no one acknowledging the incident.

The young girl thinks to herself, “Boy, that was a swell kiss that good-looking lieutenant gave me, and I really enjoyed it.What a shame my grandmother slapped him, because he must have thought it was I who slapped him. That’s too bad, because when we get to the next tunnel, he won’t kiss me again.”

The grandmother thinks, “That fresh young man kissed my granddaughter. But fortunately I brought her up to be a lady, so she slapped him real good. I’m glad because now he’ll stay away from her when we get to the next tunnel.”

The general thinks to himself, “I can’t believe what just happened. I personally handpicked him to be my aide, and I thought he was a real gentleman. But in the dark, he took advantage of that young girl and kissed her. But she must have thought it was I who kissed her, since I was the one she slapped.”

Meanwhile, I young lieutenant is thinking, “Boy, that was wonderful. How often do you get to kiss a beautiful girl and slug your boss at the same time?”

The story shows that while four people can have the same set of facts, they can arrive at four different conclusions.

Excerpt From: Elko, Kevin. “The Pep Talk.”

97. RAISING CHILDREN “Children are messengers to a time we will never see. As parents, our job is to make them INDEPENDENTLY DEPENDENT on Christ.”

— Dennis Rainey

98. FAMILY “Without strong families, we won’t have freedom and limited government for long. By recognizing the perennial nature of the family in its laws, the government limits its jurisdiction over individuals and the family. If the government can’t manage to acknowledge something as basic as the family, it won’t acknowledge individual rights for long. The destruction of families leads to a larger, more intrusive nanny state. The family is a huge check on government power. As Mike Huckabee has said, “The most important form of government is the family.” The better a family functions, the less you need from local, state, and federal governments.”

Excerpt From: James Robison & Jay W. Richards. “Indivisible.”

99. U.S.A. PROPHECY? “Henry and most of the Revolutionary generation believed that a republic needed religion to preserve virtue, honesty, and independence lest it trespass into amoral individualism and a degenerate complacency. An ethically directionless people would eventually succumb to the enticements of a tyrant, Henry feared.”

Excerpt From: Thomas S. Kidd. “Patrick Henry.”

100. LIFE’S ACCOMPLISHMENTS “If this life is all there is, then everything will eventually burn up in the death of the sun and no one will even be around to remember anything that has ever happened. Everyone will be forgotten, nothing we do will make any difference, and all good endeavors, even the best, will come to naught. Unless there is God. If the God of the Bible exists, and there is a True Reality beneath and behind this one, and this life is not the only life, then every good endeavor, even the simplest ones, pursued in response to God’s calling, can matter forever. That is what the Christian faith promises. “In the Lord, your labor is not in vain,” writes Paul in the first letter to the Corinthians, Ch. 15.”

Excerpt From: Keller, Timothy. “Every Good Endeavor.”

/by