Annie's Blog

The Supreme Court

2/27/2016

Dreams of Ottumwa
Chuck Colson, 1996
Breakpoint

After nearly 40 years in Washington, I've noticed that two things happen to people who move here: First, their sinuses are shot. And second, even the most sensible people lose touch with the real world. They begin taking their cues from the so-called thoughtful part of the nation--that is, the elites who live inside the Beltway.

That's the only explanation I can find for why sensible people come to the Supreme Court and then issue irrational decisions. I'm thinking in particular of the Court's recent Romer v. Evans decision, which invalidated Colorado's Amendment 2. Now if only the Supreme Court were based in, say, Iowa, the justices might view issues like this differently.

As I mused on this subject the other day, I fell asleep--and had the most amazing dream. I saw a multitude of people from every part of the country, marching on the Supreme Court...

Isobel Williams

Art From:
Drawing from an Uncomfortable Position
Isobel Williams

The Lord Was There!

2/20/2016

The Lord Was There
Alistair Begg
Truth For Life

...The saints are God's heritage, and He is among them and will protect His own. This assurance grants us comfort in our troubles and spiritual conflicts! We are constantly opposed and yet perpetually preserved! How often Satan shoots his arrows against our faith, but our faith defies the power of hell's fiery darts; they are not only turned aside, but they are quenched upon its shield, for "the Lord was there..."

Moreover, the word of the Lord came to me saying, “Son of man, set your face against Mount Seir, and prophesy against it and say to it, ‘Thus says the Lord God,

“Behold, I am against you, Mount Seir,
And I will stretch out My hand against you
And make you a desolation and a waste.
“I will lay waste your cities
And you will become a desolation.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Because you have had everlasting enmity and have delivered the sons of Israel to the power of the sword at the time of their calamity, at the time of the punishment of the end, therefore as I live,” declares the Lord God, “I will give you over to bloodshed, and bloodshed will pursue you; since you have not hated bloodshed, therefore bloodshed will pursue you. I will make Mount Seir a waste and a desolation and I will cut off from it the one who passes through and returns. I will fill its mountains with its slain; on your hills and in your valleys and in all your ravines those slain by the sword will fall. I will make you an everlasting desolation and your cities will not be inhabited.

Then you will know that I am the Lord.

Ezekiel 35:1-9

World Treasure

2/13/2016

Oldest Surviving Copy Recognized as World Treasure
Veronica Neffinger
Christian Headlines

The oldest surviving copy of the Hebrew Bible has been officially recognized by the United Nations Educations, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) as a world treasure.

The Christian Post reports that the manuscript, called the Aleppo Codex, has been added to UNESCO’s International Memory of the World Register, a list of the most important discoveries in human history.

All current versions of the Old Testament are thought to originate from this ancient manuscript which was written around the year 930 A.D...

It's Time for My King

2/13/2016

My King
Shadrach Meshach Lockridge
March 7, 1913 – April 4, 2000

New Theology Books You Should Read

2/8/2016

7 New Theology Books You Should Read This Year
Kevin P Emmert
Christianity Today

Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, forthcoming 2015What does it mean to be a Christian today?
Modern Christian Theology
by Christopher Ben Simpson

How can we truly understand ourselves?
None Like Him: 10 Ways God Is Different from Us (and Why That's a Good Thing)
by Jen Wilkin

What is the church?
The Church: A Theological and Historical Account
by Gerald Bray

Is theology dead?
A Theology in Outline: Can These Bones Live?
by Robert Jenson

How did the cross change history?
Delivered from the Elements of the World: Atonement, Justification, Mission
by Peter J. Leithart

Why is it so hard to follow Jesus?
Reviving Old Scratch: Demons and the Devil for Doubters and the Disenchanted
by Richard Beck

Why is Paul difficult to understand?
An Anomalous Jew: Paul among Jews, Greeks, And Romans
(Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans, forthcoming)
by Michael Bird

Gospel of John Verified

2/8/2016

Pool Where Jesus Healed Verifies the Gospel of John
Jessilyn Justice
Charisma News

Archaeological evidence now proves the Gospel of John is true.

Though discovered more than a decade ago, the pool of Siloam continues to make headlines, most recently in an analysis by author and speaker Eric Metaxas.

In John 9, Jesus spat in the dirt, rubbed the mud on a blind man's eyes and then commanded him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.

Workers stumbled upon this very pool in 2005 while repairing sewage pipes.

"Scholars have said that there wasn't a Pool of Siloam and that John was using a religious conceit" to illustrate a point, New Testament scholar James H. Charlesworth told the Los Angeles Times. "Now we have found the Pool of Siloam ... exactly where John said it was..."

Finding the Pool of Siloam
Eric Metaxas
Breakpoint

The Gospel of John chapter nine tells the story of Jesus’ healing of a man born blind. After telling his disciples that the man’s blindness had nothing to do with either the man’s sins or those of his parents, Jesus applied mud to the man’s eyes and told him to wash it off at the Pool of Siloam.

Since at least the fifth century, Christians had identified a spot in Jerusalem as the Pool of Siloam and the site of the miracle. But it was not until a decade ago that archaeologists found what they are certain is the ancient pool of Siloam.

Like so many such finds, it was almost by accident. During construction work to repair a water pipe near the Temple Mount, Israeli archaeologists Ronny Reich and Eli Shukron found “two ancient stone steps.”

According to Biblical Archaeology Review, “Further excavation revealed that they were part of a monumental pool from the Second Temple period, the period in which Jesus lived.” The pool was trapezoidal in shape and 225 feet long.

Lenten Family Calendar

2/4/2016

Lenten Family Calendar
File Size:	217 kb
File Type:	pdf

Print our Lenten family calendar and post it in a prominent place in your home
to help you honor the season of Lent.
With ideas for practicing the traditional pathways of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving,
your family can take simple steps to a meaningful Lent.

Lenten Family Calendar
Loyola Press
A Jesuit Ministry

Lent is an important season in our common life as a Church.
We take this season seriously.
We use it as a time to become closer to God.
It’s a time to remove distractions and to sharpen our focus
so that we might better know God’s ways and become more loving
in the world, on the job, and in our own homes, far beyond the 40 days of Lent.

Historic Church Discovered

2/3/2016

Historic Church Discovered in Turkey
Hurriyet Daily News

Yet another historical church has been unearthed in the Cappadocia region of Central Anatolia and experts are excited about its frescoes, which depict scenes hitherto unseen.

The church was uncovered by archeologists during excavation and cleaning work in an underground city discovered as part of the Nevşehir Castle Urban Transformation Project, implemented by the Nevşehir Municipality and Turkey’s Housing Development Administration (TOKI).

The rock-carved underground church is located within a castle in the center of Nevşehir that spreads over an area of 360,000 square meters, within a third-degree archaeological site that includes 11 neighborhoods in the city center.

Nevşehir Mayor Hasan Ünver said the frescoes in the church showed the rise of Jesus the Christ into the sky and the killing of the bad souls.

“We know that such frescoes have so far never been seen in any other church,” Ünver said, adding that preliminary studies show the church might date back to the 5th century A.D...

Delight in the Lord

2/3/2016

The LORD Delights in Us
His love will never fail us! We can confidently put our hope in Him, knowing His faithfulness to His children always has been and always will be guaranteed.
Posted by BibleStudyTools.com on Saturday, January 30, 2016

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