Album Review

As promised I plan on a regular feature for every day. Wednesday it is the album review.

First I will tell you what it is not. It is not confined to one genre. (I listen to almost everything) It is not confined to only Christian music. It is not always going to be a super current release.

As for what it will be: It will include an analysis of the genre, lyrics, listenability, musicality, and recording quality. And without further ado.

Alison Krauss and Union Station
Lonely Runs Both Ways

My first encounter with this group and this album was just over a year ago. It was the Tonight Show with Jay Leno Thanksgiving Episode for the troops. In simple terms, I was so impressed with the caliber of musicianship on that Thursday night, I tuned in the next night when they were playing again. I am not sure of one song they performed, but the other was the final cut from this album. A Living Prayer. It was at the least touching, but more moving. The single mic performance with Alison singing and then stepping out of the way so that the stringed instruments could huddle closer to the mic for instrumental sections, showed control, and ultimately musicianship.

Sold.

Bought this CD the next day.

The Genre is Bluegrass. Plain and simple. Classic, clean, and unadulterated. Bluegrass.

The lyrics are quite simply meaningful. You can listen and plug this album as background music, or listen at a critical level to the lyrics and it holds up. As I listened to it, I realized over many months that the lyrics are more overtly Christian than I had thought when I bought it. Which in turn made me look into one of the writers and band members. Ron Block, a Christian man and a thinker. From time to time I quite enjoy reading his writings.

For listening, you could plug this one on repeat all day and it would become the simple hum of the household. As well it suits laying on the couch on a Sunday afternoon, and immersing yourself in what it has to offer. (without outside disturbance)

The musicians are top drawer. Something that is layered deep enough that I still find neat little bits when I listen to it now, a year later.

As for recording quality, it passes the Sunday Afternoon couch test. Which in my level of thinking is only one step below testing sound system equalization. Quite respectable.

Sounds glowing doesn't it? It should. One complaint. Alison's clothing choice on the Album cover is one knotch below blush for me. Although they don't overtly claim Christian in their title, it is something that could be looked at.

Genre: Bluegrass
Lyrics: Thought Provoking
Listenability: Background, or Quiet Time.
Musicality: Eric Clapton
Recording: Couch Test

Still Nothing On

How many TV channels do you need before you realize that anything on Saturday night is lousy. It seems that Al Jessup hasn't figured that one out yet.

The last time he counted, he received more than 5,000 channels. He has stopped counting since.

I think he needs less dishes and maybe a lawn mower.

Read about it Here!

From the Right Side

As I have mentioned before, I love to engage my brain in the process of creativity. It is one of few things that consistently brings me pleasure.

What I have not mentioned is that it is my new found intention to put some structure into at least one basic post a day. Tuesday's will be specifically for those things that come from the right side of my brain.

Yukon Miner

This particular piece is part of a five piece set, that was sent to close relatives. Each piece depicts a characteristic from one of the provinces or territory that those five relatives reside in. As the title suggests, this depicts what is a very familiar image to those who dwell in the Yukon. In fact the miner is present on our license plate, and quite a stir occurred when there was a suggestion of removing it.

Purposefully this piece went to my brother who dwells in southern B.C. It is my intent that as each one in our family view their piece, they will be reminded to pray for the others in the family.

The next one, next week. From Ontario..... Any guesses what it is?

Quote for the Day

Randy and Danny Ray

They'll show back up any day

That's the one thing you can count on

But sometimes they'll be long gone

"I'd rather be hunting."

"Hooked on fishing."

Read it on their T-shirts

If you don't believe it

I live in my own mind

Ain't nothing but a good time

No rain, just sunshine

Out here in my own mind

Lyle Lovett
My Baby Don't Tolerate
Track 4 In My Own Mind

(I want to live where Lyle does!)

Fire!

Well the Government fell today. Strange, still feels like it did with a Government. Just a little more hope that my pockets wont be picked.

The usual came out right afterwards. NDP claiming that its ideals have been served. The liberals accusing anyone other than self, followed by flowery interpretation of the last 12 years. And the conservatives..... Yes the conservatives.

Much to my disappointment, Steven Harper's speech was a little on the lackluster side of things. The one bright spot was him likening the Liberal form of Government and Campaigning to a thief that shouts fire in a restaurant and then in the pandemonium empties the cash register.

Good comparison Mr. Harper. You keep watching that till, and I'll keep voting for truth rather than corruption.

Saturday's Project

In typical Baptist fashion, when we met at the church to decorate it for Christmas, some worked, and some drank coffee.




The finished product turned out quite well.

For Rebecca

Since I have batteries in my camera, and have already taken a picture, I thought that I would post it.

Rebecca forgot to mention the incredible amount of ice!

Warmer

Remember this photo? It was taken on November 5th this year.

This is what it looks like today. Of course it has been above freezing for days, and today the wind picked up even more, and the sun is out!

Good Read

Those who know me, understand that I have no time for Brian Maclaren. He is to me, the poster child for what is wrong with doctrinal teaching today.

Steve Camp has a post that without a doubt captures the essence of what I feel in this matter. He writes:

McLaren prefers the use of “community” in describing the One Triune God: “a Divine community of Father, Son and Spirit." Preexisting in an "eternal, dynamic, glorious and holy fellowship of love.” Did you hear that? This is foolishness beloved. Why not speak of a divine village? A quaint spiritual township? A beautiful nook in the eternal woods where They (the Trinity) communed in a gentle mutually beneficial spirit of harmonius love and holy nurtured relationship? I am not trying to be sacrilegious, but see how utterly absurd this is to describe the eternal Godhead of Father, Son and Holy Spirit in such sentimental, romantic, transient terms?

If you have only 15 or 20 minutes to read this week, read brother Steve's post. You will not be disapointed.

I was blessed.

PC at its best

If there was any question whether political correctness had gone to far, this has to put the lid on the question.

The National Ledger has a list of the top 10 PC and un PC phrases. Such as # 6

Deferred Success as a euphemism for the word ‘fail’. The Professional Association of Teachers in the UK considered a proposal to replace any notion of failure with ‘deferred success’ in order to bolster students’ ‘self-esteem’.

There are many more that point, in a fashion negativly on Christian tradition.

Read them all.

Scott and Gerry

As mentioned before, Scott Brison smeared the NCC. What I didn't mention was that the NCC followed up further and was looking for a better apology. Now here it is!

Saturday's Project

The job this past Saturday was to put this motor, (a turbo charged and super charged Volvo diesel)




Into this hole, (engine bay, not the one in my brother in law's head)

Which is in this boat. ('76 Bayliner 30')

Success!

Now it's only 6 months until the water isn't hard!

The Creed

Strangers in a strange land

I awoke this morning to the ringing of the phone. The usual daily conversation ensued. It’s not that I want to be bored with the whole thing but this is how my morning starts everyday. These calls with my friend from Mercury are all the usual stuff. He lets me know of any odd solar events that are about to occur. I let him know how the information he gave me yesterday was good, we have a few exchanges of pleasantries and that is it for another day.

Now I suspect and hope that all of you know that I am of course joking. I must be. This would be for many reasons. We of course all know that there is no life on Mercury. We also know that there is no communication to Mercury. And last but not least for the deeper thinking ones here, that there is not enough of a time span, light speed wise, between here and Mercury for early warning to be of much help.

So what is the point?

The point is that I woke up this morning and spoke to the Creator of the universe. I read information in his word that was helpful and relevant to my day, and I thanked him for the blessings of yesterday. Not only this but as far as the world can see my conversation was as committable as the fictitious one with my alien friend.

Beyond that it is about as explainable as the alien conversation too. You see when we get right down to it we believe many things. We believe them for many reasons. We may be able to explain some. We may not be able to explain others. We may be able to rationalize some with logic and able to be flexible about others.

I must say before we dive into the Creed that I do not want to represent it as authoritative or as a part of the Canon. It is not the Lord’s Prayer or the Ten Commandments. But as the Presbyterian confession of faith states; [it is] agreeable to the word of God, and anciently received in the churches of Christ.

As we look at the Apostle’s Creed we find a group of statements that are as much to the core of who we are as anything. We do not flex on these things. We may be able to rationalize some, and may not be able to even explain to ourselves others. But we believe them with wholeness of heart.

Since the early church these basic statements of faith and truth have not been open to question. And as much as they are not questionable they are utter foolishness to the world.

The statement: I believe in God, the Father Almighty, can get by most people but it is not the end of the statement, He is of course the Creator of heaven and earth, and here we are already in trouble and at odds with the world. A complete and sovereign being who made it happen. Not Darwin. Not balanced forces of good and evil, or yin and yang, not the power of man not an independent bang. CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH.

You see what we really have here is a litmus test. We as Christians accept the authority of the Bible. We live and die by it. At either the onset or somewhere along the way all in the world fall away from these statements. They are not based on the clever thoughts of man rather they are based on the Nature of God, and based on the book he provided. They are what he has revealed to us of his character.

In this first statement we conclude with: and in Jesus Christ, His only Son, OUR LORD. And the completion of the first sentence clears out the other faiths.

In Psalm 100 we read: Know that the Lord, He IS God: It is he who has made us and not we ourselves; We are his people. Now some may have been asking how I ever would have linked the Psalm and the Creed into one. But as I pointed out the Sovereign nature of God is paramount to our understanding of the Creed. I cannot claim authorship of this comparison. It is on this comparison that I was compelled to the Topic.

It is a song written by Rich Mullins about the Creed that I saw this. In his words:

And I believe what I believe, is what makes me what I am.
I did not make it, No it is making me.
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.

And once again incase you missed it.

And I believe what I believe, is what makes me what I am.
I did not make it, No it is making me.
It is the very truth of God and not the invention of any man.

Isn’t that the truth. You see these are not just the statements that define who God is. They are the defining statements that shape who we are. Our Holy Spirit implanted desire to become more Christ like is a process that involves emulation, and emulation is also worship. In our thought process the dwelling on the Sovereignty of God brings about a change. We see God’s Holy nature and it affects us. It changes us. Not once but in an ongoing fashion. These truths of God outline for us a focus on his character and by result our interrelationship to him.

Who was conceived of the Holy Spirit,
born of the Virgin Mary,

So, ah, How does that work? Can you explain it? I know that I can’t. I also can verify the truthfulness of the statement. We say take it on faith. Not convincing but again at the core of our beings as Christians we know or should know that it is true. It is the very truth of God. Not the invention of any man. This is a characteristic of much of what we believe. It is a characteristic of much of the creed. I cannot explain the virgin birth. I cannot explain the Trinity, and I cannot explain the resurrection. I know the truth of all of them. I have an implanted belief. As a matter of proof I have the Faithfulness of God. Again not convincing to one outside of Christ. But very compelling to all in the Body.

Of course it is followed by something not only explainable but reasonably believable. Isn’t it curious how the most understandable and possibly provable statement in this whole creed directly reflects mankind’s darkest hour.

suffered under Pontius Pilate,
was crucified, died, and was buried.

We need to understand this from two points. One is from the point noting Christ’s undeserved punishment. Understanding that He fulfilled all that was prophesied about him. That he went to the grave. That he went to the grave unjustly. Two is that we are the ones that put him there. This phrase denotes again Christ’s faithfulness to us. But it also denotes our culpability in the act of his crucifiction.

We now come to what I have, in the past, found to be the most incongruous statement in the Creed. I should first let you know that I have spent much time over many years wondering about the next phrase. I also believe that in the minds of the forefathers that penned these words they had a specific meaning in mind. When I read through all the other statements I see the very truth of God. I am led to believe that although the Creed is not canonical, it is unlikely that an actually incongruous statement would have made the cut, and survived all these years.

‘He descended into hell.’ Calvin writes in his ‘Institutes of the Christian Religion’ for four pages on these four words. Although there is more than one way of looking at it I feel that the important question is this; Have you heard of the phrase he’s been through Hell? Well I would submit to you that Christ being wounded for our transgressions and bruised for our iniquities is a Hell of its own. It is being forsaken by the Father in a way that we cannot comprehend. What we are saying is that He bore the weight of divine severity since he experienced all the signs of a wrathful and avenging God.

As Calvin writes: This is our wisdom: duly to feel how much our salvation cost the Son of God.

Now the exciting stuff.

I have an image in my mind brought to me buy a certain recording of the Rich Mullins song I referred to earlier. You have all heard the phrase, And the crowd goes wild. On this recording they do. When we speak the words: The third day He arose again from the dead. Do we go wild. Do we feel a leap in our hearts? VICTORY! For the Messiah has fulfilled his mission and has set the captives free. The game is won. He has Set US free.

He ascended into heaven
and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty,
whence He shall come to judge the living and the dead.

Again we are shown the ultimate Sovereignty of God. This image is one of an all powerful God that demands our worship. Our worship in humbly seeing that he has bought and paid for us. And now is overseeing his purchase from his rightful throne. Not as a bystander but through the loving guidance of his comforter.

I believe in the Holy Spirit,

For this we thank and worship him. How? We thank him and worship him in private and in, or with

the holy *catholic church,
the communion of saints,

We do this in the manner of Psalm 100

Make a joyful shout to the Lord all you lands!
Serve the Lord with Gladness:
Come before his presence with singing.
Know that the Lord, He is God.
It is he who made us and not we ourselves;
We are his people and the Sheep of his pasture.
Enter into his gates with thanksgiving.
And into his courts with praise.
Be thankful to Him and bless his name.
For the Lord is good:
His mercy is everlasting.
AND HIS TRUTH ENDURES TO ALL GENERATIONS

the forgiveness of sins,
the resurrection of the body,
and life everlasting.

These are of course the promises to us. Not deserved but lovingly bestowed.

So for the point. The point is this. We are strangers in a strange land. Aliens. What we believe is foolishness to the wise. But what we believe is everlasting. There is a fundamental difference between us and the world. The world knows it. So should we. We should hold fast to the truths in the Creed for these truths are the ones that are making me.

Walk on Water

Now you too can walk on water.

More on the Nuclear Bubble here!

Quote for the Day

Let's wash our hands as we throw little fits
Let's all wash our hands as we curse hypocrites
We're locked in the washroom turning old tricks
Deaf
And joyless
And full of it

From Steve Taylor's Squint album.
Track 5 The Finish Line.

Sorry Virginia

Long Lost Friend

No, I am not referring to my conspicuous absence from blogging in the last few days!

I am referring to a band that I have heard little from in the last 10 years. In truthfulness I had literally forgotten about them. Their name is Fleming and John. It seems that just recently they have decided to make themselves known again.

I have to admit that the fascination that I have with them is from one song that I heard released on an obscure album that was a tribute to Steve Taylor, namely I Predict a Clone. They covered Steve's Harder to Believe Than Not To. It was Flemings soaring vocals that hooked me. They were reminiscent of a punk band that I used to listen to called the Sugar Cubes.

The sad fact is, that is all I heard from these talented people up until now.

If you have any leaning at all toward alternative music, take 8 minutes of your time and look at the video on their site.

If you think that you might have heard these type of sounds before, the list of there contributions to modern music is long including:

Ben Folds Songs for Silverman, Super D, Speed Graphic, Sunny 16, Rockin' The Suburbs, Reinhold Messner, Whatever and Ever Amen
Trail of Dead: Worlds Apart, Source Tags and Codes, Relative Ways
Spoon:
William Shatner: Has Been
Lynne Me Your Ears: Jeff Lynne Tribute
I Predict a Clone: Steve Taylor Tribute
Vietnam, a Musical Retrospective
John Mayer: Room for Squares
Train: Drops of Jupiter
Jars of Clay: The 11th Hour
Sixpence None the Richer: Sixpence None the Richer
Lee Ann Womack: Something Worth Leaving Behind
DC Talk: Jesus Freak, Free at Last
GRITS: The Art of Translation
Indigo Girls: Swampophelia
Nanci Griffith: The Flyer

A more complete description of this is available here and here.

Papal Greetings

Understandably the Cuban Catholic community seems upset, that the Pope gave greetings to Castro.

It was like a slap in the face to Cuban Catholics when Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone, Archbishop of Genoa, visited the "island prison" known as Cuba, Oct. 3-10, during which time he had an interview of two hours with the communist dictator Fidel Castro. Adding insult to injury, the Archbishop extended a "special" greeting to Castro on behalf of His Holiness Benedict XVI.

I find the whole thing absurd if not totally unlikely. It seems that this may not be the facts at all.

"It is difficult, not to say impossible, to suppose that Cardinal Bertone traveled to Cuba without the knowledge of the Office of the Vatican Secretary of State, and even of His Holiness Benedict XVI himself, judging from the information of the press, not contradicted up to the present that the Archbishop of Genoa was a bearer of a "special" greeting of the Pontiff to the dictator," said Valladares.

Of course the Pope may never say that this was not his message. I find that assuming if he does not object that he is complicit, is at the least a bad argument.

The whole story.

Via Canada Free Press

What?

I am not quite sure if this is supposed to be like Pepsi Free or Coke Zero, or if it escaped from Engrish.com.

The good news comment is a little quizzical too.

(For those who may not know, what should have been said was region free. This denotes that the player will play DVD's from all regions no matter what region they are encoded for. ie Europe, Japan, North America. A machine like this is completely illegal.)

Audio Advancement?

Now I am not sure exactly why one would need this, but it seems to me that it might be useful for those who are inept when in comes to controlling feedback.

In case you are wondering, this is a soundproof microphone. You simply hold that cone over your face, and talk into it.

In all likelihood one would hope that the sound proof nature of this would make it impossible to hear the brilliant individual that is using it. Alas that is not the case. It is meant to insulate the mike from noise that occurs around you, leaving only the rich tones of your voice to be amplified.

If you are after the other effect, we would suggest returning to the original plan. The handyman's secret weapon, Duct tape.

As for those of you that think it just might be worth a cheap laugh, to see the worship leader at your church with the audio equivalent of a cabin pressure mask. Purchase one of these and an elastic band.

All this fun and only $65 us.

If you have any success let me know. Mike stands are expensive.

More information @ PhoneyWorld

The Trickster

Native tradition refers to these birds as tricksters. I am not sure how tricky they are being here, but I will say it took me the better part of two days to get a photo of them.

What is really happening here is a tradition of another sort. In November in this neck of the woods, it is very usual for hunters to head up north to the Dempster Highway to bag caribou.

This meal for the Ravens is one of the end results of that hunt. In this case, the outcome of my neighbor's hunt.

Outdoor Pictures

Since everyone else, (everyone being Scott and Rebecca) is posting pictures of the dreary outside today, I thought I should point my camera out the window too!

Cool Tools 3

I have been looking for a simple tool of this kind for a while now. My laptop is very old, and yet I still desire to be able to transfer photos to it for viewing while I am out of town. Not to mention also transfering files to and from my PDA.

A multicard reader is bulky and comes with cables. This simple SD to flash drive converter by IOGear is simple, light, compact, and best of all really cheap.


I also have found need to have such a drive when I am over at friends places (that are in the dark ages) and would like to transfer photos to their computers, from an activity that we have just finished.


I purchased the drive at Staples for the small amount of $15 on sale. $20 regular. Cheap!

Ozzy and Sharon

Although the show and the media have taken great pains to show Ozzy as harmless and cuddly, I can't get over the Black Sabbath days. Statements like Sharon's latest show far more about their real nature.

Read it for yourself. (rude as it is)

Thanks

I am thankful to the Lord for my home fellowship group. It has over many occasions, recent and long ago, provided the support that has helped my family through tough times.

I appreciate the members of it, and understand the distinct nature of what they bring when we meet. They are my close friends, and I understand that they are all a gift from my God.

Thanks to them, and thanks to Him for them.

Veterans

In fine fashion, the city councilor that I agreed with yesterday is already on my bad side.

Dave Stockdale thinks that it would be too much to give veterans free parking. As he states...

"I appreciate what (veterans) have done but I don't think (providing free parking) is appropriate"

Now I don't know about you, but his sound blatantly ignorant. If we give free parking to tourists and the like, why can't we do it for those who stood up for our country. The men and women that gave, so that we might have.

Not that I have a clue what battle is like, or worse what it was like in the past, but I am at least capable of understanding that those that stood for the 'True North Strong and Free' deserve to be able to park their cars wherever they want.

Where do I donate to their parking fund?


Read the Whitehorse Star Yourself!

Fire of the Wrong Kind

A dear friend of mine, and a friend of many coffee lovers in Whitehorse, has suffered a great loss.

This morning there was a fire in the building that houses Midnight Sun Coffee Roasters. It is a tragic loss. The owner Zola Dore is sure to be spinning right about now. My prayers are lifted up for her today.

Not only does this affect the one shop, it also affects her other retail outlets, as well as the many businesses that purchase their coffee from her. This was her only roasting location and I would suppose that the logistics in setting up will be extremely time consuming.

Zola has been, and is a philanthropist. She has at many times helped out various organizations throughout the north. I know. I have personally been the recipient of this graciousness. As well as my church, and a few other clubs that are also dear to me.

I can only hope that those who have received help and support from Zola over the years will reciprocate with support for her at this time.

Please remember her in your prayers.

More information @ CBC North's Website.

[Update: story in the Whitehorse Star]

Food for Fines

In an amazing stroke, that shocks me, our local city council came up with a good idea!

The idea is that in place of parking fines, during a two week period at the end of November, they will take food donations of equal or greater value. These in turn would be placed with a local food bank. However, it instantly became contentious when one of the councilors pointed out that is was a logistical nightmare.

This is a rare case where I agree with this councilor. Which is surprising since I really feel that there is quite a need for this in our community.

I think quite simply that the City should take cash donations, and then send the lump sum to the food banks.

It'll never work though.

Too Simple.


Read the whole story.

Via CBC North

Dark Shop, Dumb Ideas 2

As said before, in my line of work from time to time we get to do things that are a little out of the ordinary. And get paid to do them. In this case we built a couple of dolly's for a customer. The specifics of which are:

Aluminum Construction
BMX Wheels
Hydraulic Disc Brakes

Needless to say that this called for a run off the roof!

Honest we're not all nuts in the Yukon, but if you live here long it's kind of hard to tell. Mind you I've lived here way to long and I wouldn't take my word for it.

Dumb it Down

It is sad that I do not find this surprising. In a effort of glowing stupidity, someone has decided to make a buck selling the I Love Lucy Bible Study. I can't really say much that hasn't been said by our brother Steve Camp. In his apt review of this game study he states:

As you can plainly see from our Lord's words above, that parables were used by Him to prohibit the message from those whose hearts were hard and unbelieving--not as a means to reveal truth to unbelievers. Once again, in someone's zeal and desire to communicate the gospel to unbelievers, they actually act unbiblically and dumb-down the very message that is motivating their hearts in serving the Lord.

Read the whole article.

What Monty Python Sketch Character are you?

You are the Minister of Silly Walks


What Monty Python Sketch Character are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

via Stat Guy

Call to Worship April 17/05

Please Rise

We are here this morning to engage in worship of the Lord God. Let us do so in words, in song, in thinking, listening and prayer. I charge you to keep your mind on Him as we gather here today.

Hear from Psalm 93

The Lord reigns,
He is clothed with majesty
The Lord is clothed,
He has girded Himself with strength.
Surely the world is established, so that it cannot be moved.
Your throne is established from of old;
You are everlasting.

Bow your heads.

Lord, please guide us today through worship in its many facets. Find what we say and do acceptable. Guide our ears and our hearts to hear You speak. Guide the leaders and speakers to tell your truths. Let it all be done to Your glory.

All Praise to God Almighty.

AMEN

Discernment

While reading the Pyromaniac, I stumbled across a profound statement.

I let you in a little on the background. Phil is attempting to discuss the very real difficulty with false prophecy. Of course it quickly moves into any topic other than the simple one I just mentioned. Although he has tried to set a boundary the conversation takes on a life of its own. The main point though seems embodied in the following bit.

Whether you are a cessationist or not, you ought to be able to see that fatuous predictions which never come true are false prophecies, not legitimate spiritual gifts. And false prophecies are irrefutable proof that the mouthpiece who utters them does not really speak for God. If the contemporary church including both charismatic and cessationist believers cannot come to grips with that fundamental reality, then the only spiritual gift anyone ought to be seeking is the gift of discernment.

Frankly, we have an overabundance of professing prophets and tongues-speakers these days, and precious few men with real discernment.

The post is found here, and the comments afterwards, are in many ways amazing. Bits of scripture that come out have challenged me. Not necessarily specifically in how I view modern prophecy, but more in the manner of my attitude towards my view point.

I believe that Phil's simple statement about discernment is so true. We assume as Christians that the gift comes with our faith, no questions asked. Further, if and when this gift is applied, it quickly comes under fire for not being loving or caring, or the feel good phrase for the week. It is rarely accepted as wise advice, and is always open to debate.

Now I don't mean to imply that love is not important, and that the testing of those words that claim to be discernment, is wrong. These acts in themselves are discernment. Just do not let them cloud the truth, for fear of falling into the same fate as Hannaniah.

(back to prophecy) In the time of Jeremiah there was another prophet named Hannaniah. Hannaniah was a false prophet and suffered the fate of death. (Jeremiah ch 28) There was no tolerance for error on God's part. Should there be from us? Or should we look at discernment a little more hardily.

In OT prophecy (not that I'm any expert) there was quite a pattern. It is one that I have never seen followed to this day. It was not reactionary. This is evidenced in the previous passage in verse 11, when it states that Jeremiah went his way. It also took into account a pattern of short term, long term. Evidenced again in chapter 28 v 13-17 in which Jeremiah speaks of Hannaniah's death and the long term effects on the Israelites. A true prophet would show that he spoke the truth of the long term, by providing a short term bell weather.

This, to me, begs for more than a small amount of discernment when it comes to modern prophecy.

As the Apostles states, desire the greater gifts.

Colder and Tired

As mentioned, I was planning a bike ride today. It happened, and other than the wind it was not as cold as I thought it might be.

Did I mention that it was a mountainbike ride?

No wipe-outs. Lots of slipping and sliding. The requisite snowmobile tracks that make trail riding in the winter more fun have not been made yet. All in all it was fun socializing and exercising. Food at the end tasted better than it ever can without -17 c and hard work.

Colder

When I woke up this morning the temperature was -17 deg C, which is
about 1 deg F above zero. A little colder than seasonal norms. Cold enough that I am not sure what will happen to my bike ride today!

Liars

Just so that this is not missed.

Right after the first poll, post Gomery, the Liberals went on the offensive. Specifically Scott Brison, with a smear campaign.

Now that the Vice President of the NCC has questioned him on it, Mr. Brison has recanted.

I have not seen this in the MSM media, and it is likely that I will not.

Get the word out!

via Neale News

50 Cent

Ok, now we all hear things on a daily basis that make us tilt our heads a bit. This one blew my mind. A quote from 50 cent:

"I think people responded to it the best way they can," 50 told
ContactMusic.com. "What Kanye West was saying, I don't know where that came
from."

Instead, 50 said, "The New Orleans disaster was meant to happen.
It was an act of God."

Is it possible that 50 understands the concept of 'Ordained.' I don't know, but I may take a slightly different look at his upcoming movie, Get Rich, or Die Tryin.

Via CTV.CA

Thankful

I am relaxed, mellow, listening to Norah Jones, and ready to enjoy an evening at home. I am thankful for all of these.

And not to run it around again but I enjoyed a wonderful cigar this afternoon, and that too I am thankful for.

For the first time in many weeks I feel this way and the only explanation is the grace of God.

Thanks be to God.

Dark Shop, Dumb Ideas

To re-enforce the idea that men are stupid, I offer this example. Although I do know the individual in the picture, the better part of wisdom tells me to keep that a secret. I am not sure on the weight, lets just say lots and leave it at that. There was a flicker of thought in the process mind you, the chain needed to be moved!