I spent most of my coffee time poring over the Pastoral Epistles---jotting a few notes here and there in my journal. Prior to our trip I felt numb, jaded, and even a bit lost. These "ministry maps" helped navigate me through a dense fog and kept me from shipwrecking on jagged rocks. More on all that another time perhaps.

Also I read a few sections of Alistair Begg and Derek Prime's book On Being a Pastor. It is an insightful, practical, and encouraging book. I recommend it to fellow ministers. Here are a couple of quotes from the first Chapter.

"The ministry of undershepherds and teachers is not simply a job. Rather it is a vocation, the answering of a specific call from God. It is the highest calling in Christian service." (p17)

"The task in view is that defined by the New Testament as being a pastor and teacher. God calls men to shepherd God's flock and to care for its well-being, to show God's people by example and instruction how they should live lives worthy of God their Savior." (p18)

"Advice frequently given is, "If you can avoid entering the ministry, do so! If you can do something else, do it!" This is sound counsel. If it is right for a man to give himself completely to the ministry of the gospel, he will feel that it is the only thing he can do. [...] God always gives a clear call to those whom He has chosen for the ministry, so that when the call comes they can do nothing other than respond to it. They will not be able to to say no to it." (p19)

In the late afternoons I sat in Grandmother's backyard. Kentucky is beautiful in Autumn. There, under an old tree, I polished off a biography on one of the most fascinating and controversial figures of Christian history. John Calvin: Revolutionary, Theologian, Pastor. Unlike many of his critics, Calvin served God in his generation under difficult situations and dangerous conditions. While most of his pastoral-theological efforts were admirable, some of his political involvements were deplorable. In the final analysis, John Calvin was a man just like us---a sinner fallen short of God's glory and yet saved by God's grace. Whatever your opinion(s) of Calvin's life and doctrine, you must admit that his sphere of influence is far-reaching and his theological legacy is enduring.

Finally, I started a(nother) journey through Middle Earth. Like Bilbo I was feeling like butter scraped over too much bread and I needed a holiday. I want to see mountains again, but for now a book will have to do. Autumn is the perfect season to begin an adventure from the Shire to Mordor...and back again.

Here is something on a Christian approach to Halloween that I found very helpful. The author provides a bit of historical insight and then he suggests a few things to do and things to avoid. Click here to read the pastoral advice.

saturday evening i tried to re-create the message, but things were falling apart more than coming together.

early sunday morning i tried to make the most of a bad situation, but only squeezed out two pages of sketchy notes. i did not have a good feeling about it. to make matter worse, before worship started i realized that my replacement notes were misplaced. i looked through the children's worship clipboards and the stack of worship orders.

zilch. nothing. lost!

i prayed during a couple of songs and when it was time to preach i stood up, opened my mouth, and poured forth the gospel of grace.

i was flying blind,
but O how i could see!

Click here to listen to Gifts and Wages.

after worship i opened my bible to stash a note card and that's when i found my replacement notes. they were tucked in between the presentation pages. doh!

Tapi akankah kita betah berlama-lama dalam lingkarang kesalahan yang tiada berujung, kembali mengulang-ngulang kesalahan yang sama sementara satu kesempatan untuk keluar dari sana masih terbuka? Ingat, selagi kita masih hidup, selalu ada kesempatan dan peluang yang akan kita dapat. Hanya saja peluang tanpa disertai dengan kemauan kita untuk memanfaatkan peluang tersebut akan percuma adanya.

Seorang muslim tidak boleh jatuh dalam lubang yang sama untuk kedua kalinya, keledai aja nggak bakalan seperti itu kan? Sebagai manusia, kita pasti mempunyai kesalahan baik itu besar maupun kecil, tapi jangan pernah menyepelekan dosa kecil karena yang kecil-kecil jika disepelekan akan jadi besar juga.

Bilal sahabat Nabi saw pernah berkata “janganlah engaku melihat kecilnya dosa yang dilakukan, tapi lihatlah besarnya perintah Allah yang engkau langgar”

Lalu masihkan kita enggan bertaubat kepada Allah hanya karena malu atau takut taubat kita tidak diterima Allah? Padahal Allah Maha Pengampun lagi Maha Penerima Taubat.

“Kemudian sesudah itu Kami maafkan kesalahanmu, agar kamu bersyukur” (QS. Al-Baqarah : 52)

Kenapa kita masih ragu untuk mulai membersihkan diri kita padahal “sungguh kebenaran itu adalah dari sisi Tuhanmu, sebab itu janganlah sekali-kali kamu termasuk orang yang ragu”

Maka mulailah dari sekarang membersihkan diri kita.

mohonlah kekuatan kepada Allah untuk bisa berhenti dari perbuatan dosa dan maksiat. “Allah Pelindung orang-orang yang beriman; Dia mengeluarkan mereka dari kegelapan (kekafiran) kepada cahaya (iman). Dan orang-orang yang kafir, pelindung-pelindungnya ialah syaitan, yang mengeluarkan mereka dari cahaya kepada kegelapan (kekafiran). Mereka itu adalah penghuni neraka; mereka kekal di dalamnya” (QS. Al-Baqarah : 257)
mohon ampunan kepada Allah atas segala kesalahan-kesalahan kita. “Allah tidak membebani seseorang melainkan sesuai dengan kesanggupannya. Ia mendapat pahala (dari kebajikan) yang diusahakannya dan mendapat siksa (dari kejahatan) yang dikerjakannya. (Mereka berdo'a): "Ya Rabb kami, janganlah Engkau hukum kami jika kami lupa atau kami bersalah. Ya Rabb kami, janganlah Engkau bebankan kepada kami beban yang berat sebagaimana Engkau bebankan kepada orang-orang yang sebelum kami. Ya Rabb kami, janganlah Engkau pikulkan kepada kami apa yang tak sanggup kami memikulnya. Beri maaflah kami; ampunilah kami; dan rahmatilah kami. Engkaulah Penolong kami, maka tolonglah kami terhadap kaum yang kafir” (QS. Al-Baqarah : 286)

“(Yaitu) orang-orang yang berdo'a: "Ya Rabb kami, sesungguhnya kami telah beriman, maka ampunilah segala dosa kami dan peliharalah kami dari siksa neraka” (QS. Ali Imron : 16)
bertaubat dengan taubatan nasuha, artinya taubat yang sebenar-benarnya taubat. Ia tidak saja memohon ampunan kepada Allah atas segala dosa-dosanya tapi berani meninggalkan perbuatan buruk itu tanpa kompromi lagi dan siap dengan segala konsekuensi yang akan dihadapinya.

“Dan (juga) orang-orang yang apabila mengerjakan perbuatan keji atau menganiaya diri sendiri , mereka ingat akan Allah, lalu memohon ampun terhadap dosa-dosa mereka dan siapa lagi yang dapat mengampuni dosa selain daripada Allah. Dan mereka tidak meneruskan perbuatan kejinya itu, sedang mereka mengatahui” (QS. Ali Imron : 135)

“Tidak ada do'a mereka selain ucapan: "Ya Rabb kami, ampunilah dosa-dosa kami dan tindakan-tindakan kami yang berlebih-berlebihan dalam urusan kami , dan tetapkanlah pendirian kami, dan tolonglah kami terhadap kaum yang kafir” (QS. Ali Imron : 147)

Nah, setelah kita melakukan taubatan nasuha dari segala perbuatan buruk kita dan telah say goodbye pada masa lalu yang kelam, tidak ada yang lebih baik dari hijrah ke arah yang lebih baik lagi. Selamat tinggal masa lalu, kita akan melangkah ke masa depan yang jauh lebih baik.

Biarlah masa lalu menjadi file-file bagian kehidupan kita, sebuah x-file yang akan menjadi monument untuk kita dapat berbuat lebih baik lagi.

“Dan apabila hamba-hamba-Ku bertanya kepadamu tentang Aku, maka (jawablah), bahwasanya Aku adalah dekat. Aku mengabulkan permohonan orang yang mendo'a apabila ia berdo'a kepada-Ku, maka hendaklah mereka itu memenuhi (segala perintah)-Ku dan hendaklah mereka beriman kepada-Ku, agar mereka selalu berada dalam kebenaran” (QS. Al-Baqarah : 186)

We are the aroma of Christ to God among those who are being saved and among those who are perishing.

To one a fragrance from death to death, to the other a fragrance from life to life.

Who is sufficient for these things? 

And you were dead in the trespasses and sins [and the uncircumcision of your flesh] in which you once walked, following the course of this world, following the prince of the power of the air, the spirit that is now at work in the sons of disobedience—among whom we all once lived in the passions of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind, and were by nature children of wrath, like the rest of mankind.

But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ [having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This he set aside, nailing it to the cross.]—by grace you have been saved—and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus, so that in the coming ages he might show the immeasurable riches of his grace in kindness toward us in Christ Jesus.

For by grace you have been saved through faith. [In Christ also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with him in baptism, in which you were also raised with him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised him from the dead.] And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God, not a result of works, so that no one may boast.

For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand, that we should walk in them.

Van copuleren krijg je HIV, en van HIV krijg je AIDS, en van AIDS ga je dood. Het leven kan zo simpel zijn.

De afgelopen jaren zijn we gesubsidieerd gebombardeerd met varianten op dit thema, zodat zo’n beetje iedereen nu wel weet dat AIDS een heel gevaarlijke ziekte is, veroorzaakt door HIV, en dat je ‘het’ vooral veilig moet doen. Iedereen ? Nee, niet iedereen. Een klein groepje wetenschappers beweert nog steeds dat de bovenstaande stellingen onzin zijn, en dat HIV niet eens bestaat.

HIV is als virus nog steeds niet geïsoleerd. Ondanks de miljarden die er ingestopt zijn, is er nog steeds geen virus. HIV-tests zijn daarom ook geen HIV-tests. Het zijn tests die de aanwezigheid van antilichaampjes aantonen, die op hun beurt zogenaamd weer ‘markers’ zijn voor de aanwezigheid van HIV. Bij ieder ander virus zou de medicus staan te juichen bij het idee dat het lichaam bezig is antistoffen te maken tegen het virus, dit is immers een teken van genezing.

Lees verder op : Vrijspreker | Referentie : Getuigenis van Pineut

Click here to see an interesting rendition of the ebb and flow of world religions. Get other digital maps at Maps of War.

on that dark morning in american history, i was sitting outside on a swing, drinking a cup of coffee. one of the kids came out to tell me that uncle jason was on the phone and wanted to talk to me. i went inside and took the call in my parents' living room. 

jason said, "hey, are you watching the news? a plane just crashed into the world trade center."

turning on the TV i replied, "yeah, when nick and i went to see the twin towers we learned that that kind of thing has happened before."

i channel-surfed to CNN. then jason said, "yeah, but they think this happened on purpose."

about that time the second plane hit the other tower. i almost dropped the phone. i stood frozen in front of the television. a short time later, when the first tower collapsed, my knees buckled and i sat down on the coffee table. (i pointed at the TV and uttered something about how nick and i had stood on one of the towers.) for a moment, time stood still.

dad called from work and told us to stay put. we agreed. there was no need to travel on a day like that. i tried to call nick who lives on long island, but the lines were jammed and no calls could get through.

like the rest of the world, our eyes were glued to the news---TV, radio, Internet. and like many american citizens we waited in long lines to donate our blood.

i remember feeling shock, grief, anger, sorrow, anxiety, and then nothing at all. by the end of that infamous day i felt numb.

"The man who is called by God is a man who realizes what he is called to do, and he so realizes the awfulness of the task that he shrinks from it. Nothing but this overwhelming sense of being called, and of compulsion, should ever lead anyone to preach." Dr. Martin Lloyd Jones

HT: http://www.paulandtimothy.com/

Absoluut niemand weet wat de betekenis is van de beelden op Paaseiland. Intrigerend nietwaar ? Wist men iets en wilde men iets dmv. de beelden doorvertellen ?

Wie een idee of vermoeden heeft mag het zeggen, in elk geval is youtube een prachtig medium om er nader kennis mee te maken. Veel kijkplezier.

- Green Day

I suspect our difficulty in answering the question [of who should be baptized] stems less from a lack of biblical evidence and more from an inability to recognize that evidence when we see it, chiefly because our ways of thinking have changed so drastically from the ways of thinking natural to the authors of the New Testament, something which applies especially to the way we think about the family. Our difficulty in understanding the New Testament's answer to this question is not one of theology, but history, and only if we can get this mental blockage out of our way, then the answer to the question,"who are the proper subjects of baptism?" will, in large measure, take care of itself.

Consequently, if God continues to deal with us as families in his covenant, then we need to give some very serious consideration to what we are doing if we leave our children unbaptized. We are not leaving them free to exercise their own free choice in a democratic universe. Instead, we are forcing them to break God's covenant; we are depriving them of what they have a legitimate right to; and we are making them to be covenant-breakers in the eyes of God.

(Quoted by Robert R. Booth, Children of the Promise, pp. 149-150)

The Chupacabra has been spotted in Cuero, Texas. The "X-File" creature was filmed from a Dewitt County Trooper's dash-cam.  Chupacabra, also known as the "Goat Sucker", is supposedly a mythical creature that latin culture has embraced for centuries. Thanks to my brother-in-law, he found a clip on CNN that demistifies the lore: 

http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2008/08/12/pkg.tx.chupucabra.kens 

This groundbreaking footage proves its existence. My humble opinion, it is real. And, I think it may have been created in the darker ages during times of Mexican liberation from a right-wing regime in some dungeon while testing gene splicing and cloning (a conspiracy well hidden from the rest of the world). They probably combined a coyote with a hairless cat, or maybe even a mutant rat with a chihuahua. Regardless, as you can see in the video, I think the tequila had something to do with it. Notice the water tower of Cuervo Mexico.... they forgot the "V". Maybe it should be called a "V-File. 

Vi har jo alle vore særheder og små fejl, så byen går med på hans sindsforvirring og byder dukkekæresten indenfor i bylivet og behandler hende som en rigtig kvinde. Det kommer der masser af sjove situationer ud af. Men det er en skæv og stille film af den slags, hvor man kan høre, når man selv ler. Og den er så fin og diskret, at man kan mærke sit eget smil.

Den viser hvordan tolerance, forståelse og næstekærlighed kan løse de fleste problemer. Og så spiller Emilily Mortimer Lars’ gravide svigerinde. Og hun er lige så smuk og indtagende her, som hun var som millionøsen i ”Match Point” og lejemordersken i ”51st State”.

I ”The Dark Knight” overdøver larmen fra eksploderende bygninger, tunge dumpe slag mod kroppe, brølende køretøjer og hysteriske menneskemasser enhver chance for at høre sig selv le eller gispe. Og der er heller ikke meget at grine af.

Heath Ledger spiller Jokeren, som vil dræbe Batman og sprede død, kaos og skræk i Gotham. Og Ledger viser, at han er langt bedre som psykopatisk morder med for megen make up end som bøsse med cowboyhat. 

Flere anmeldere har peget på styrken i, at Jokeren handler uden rationel grund. Det er forkert. Han vil gerne bevise over for Batman, at Gothams borgere (som Batman har viet sit liv til at beskytte) og statsadvokaten (som Batman sætter sin lid til) på bunden er selviske krystere, der er parat til selv at slå ihjel og sprede kaos. Jokeren vil både taget livet og ”illusionerne” fra Batman. Det lykkedes selvfølgelig ikke. Så ligesom ”Lars and the real girl” må filmen være en skuffelse for folk uden tiltro til menneskeheden.

Ud over at kæmpe med Jokeren, så går Batman også slås med moralske tanker og romantiske ideer, og det er med til at gøre filmen 20 min. for lang. For så store tanker kan en tegneseriehelts hoved ikke rumme, hvis han skal tages seriøst som en helt fra fantasiens overhalingsbane. Hvis man sammenligner Batmans livsfilosofering med fx Edderkoppens eksistentialistiske small talking med sig selv, så overdriver Edderkoppen ikke sine åndelige evner. Og frem for alt kommer ”Edderkoppen” fra Marvels tegneserieverden, hvor heltene har lidt tankevirksomhed og personlighed. Hvor i mod Batman kommer fra DC Comix’ todimensionelle verden

Filmen er også en indirekte kommentar til de første Batman-film. Tim Burtons dystre, fiktive og fascinerende univers er erstattet af en realistisk – men stadig dyster – storby. Og skurkene viser, at alle de tidligere Batmanfilms megastjerner, der fjollede rundt som parodier på superskurke, var fejlcastede.

I ”X-Files: I Want to Believe” bruger Mulder og Scully og alle de andre også tid på at tænke over sagerne, men det gør ikke filmen langtrukken. Filmens tema kræver omtanke: ”Skal man to eller ej”. Hér er spørgsmålet: Skal man tro på en pædofil præst, der siger han har syner, der kan hjælpe med at redde en bortført FBI-agents liv?

Denne ”X-Files” er uden tv-seriens og den første X-File-films særlige paranoide karakter med uhygge, overnaturlige væsener, konspirationsteorier og close encounter of the bad kind. Det gør filmen nutidig, men er et tab for os fan, og gør den til ”bare” en god – og fantastisk flot fotograferet – thriller.

Den bedste af disse tre film er ”Lars and the real girl”.

Af Per Vad

this week we are hosting alberto and veronica serrano. we call them beto and vero. they arrived last wednesday and will be staying until august 11. now that's what i call a visit. 

so far, so good. we have eaten tons of food, consumed several pots of coffee, stayed up too late, and gotten up too early. all this we have done in espanglish which adds to the laughter.

and we look forward to more of the same in the days to come. 

---------

* hard to imagine that we have been here as long as we were there. that is, we have been at new hope as long as we were in oaxaca. hijoles! tiempo no espera a ningun hombre.

Después de nueve años en televisión y el salto cinematográfico en 1998, los agentes del FBI, Fox Mulder y Dana Scully, regresan una vez más a la gran pantalla.

Aunque aun se desconoce la trama de la película, pero se tratará de un thriller sobrenatural que centrará su historia en la complicada relación entre los dos agentes mientras Mulder continúa con su búsqueda de la verdad.

Leer mas en http://www.elmulticine.com/noticias2.php?orden=7355

PROXIMAMENTE EN CINES

Le ricerche continuano, anche da parte degli italiani  Cento anni fa sui cieli della Siberia  un'esplosione da mille bombe atomiche  Tra le ipotesi la disintegrazione di un asteroide, ma anche lo «scontro» con un blocco di antimateria cosmica    Un'immagine della foresta carbonizzata (da www.americandigest.org)  Un'immagine della foresta carbonizzata (da www.americandigest.org)  Che un secolo fa, in piena Siberia, si sia verificata un’esplosione equivalente a mille bombe nucleari di tipo Hiroshima, e che quel remoto fenomeno rimanga ancora un problema insoluto, malgrado decine di esplorazioni e ricerche, è uno smacco per la moderna ricerca scientifica. Ma proprio questa è la storia della misteriosa esplosione di Tunguska, che il 30 giugno 2008 compie esattamente 100 anni: tante supposizioni, tanti tenui indizi, e ancora nessuna ipotesi definitivamente provata. Caduta di una cometa o di un asteroide? Esplosione di una bolla naturale di gas metano? Oppure, per scivolare sul fantascientifico, collisione fra il nostro pianeta e un grumo di antimateria? O lo schianto di un’astronave aliena? Sul caso Tunguska, negli ultimi anni, se ne sono lette di tutti i colori, da credibili ipotesi pubblicate su qualificate riviste scientifiche, ad articoli e libri di fiction privi di qualunque fondamento. Il centennale del mistero della Tunguska, ancora oggi irrisolto, merita un’attenta ricostruzione dei fatti.    ACCECANTE COME UN SOLE - Il 30 giugno 1908 alle 7,14 del mattino, quando sull'altopiano siberiano è giorno affermato, appare un oggetto simile a un disco solare, con una luminosità ancora più accecante del Sole. Sfreccia da Sud-Est a Nord-Ovest, riempiendo il cielo di bagliori intermittenti blu e bianchi e lasciandosi dietro una scia di fuoco e fumo. Fende l'aria con un sibilo, poi piega verso il suolo e inonda l'orizzonte di un rosso cupo, prima di scomparire con un sordo boato. Alcuni riferiscono di aver visto distintamente il disco luminoso, contornato da tutti i suoi fenomeni accessori; altri lo percepiscono soltanto indirettamente, come un lampo, una colonna di fumo, un tremendo tuono che fa vibrare l'aria e il terreno. L’oggetto sembra cadere in una zona disabitata, immediatamente a Nord di un corso d'acqua riportato in tutte le carte geografiche, Tunguska, uno di quei grandi fiumi che dalle alture orientali si tuffano nel bassopiano siberiano a ingrossare le acque dello Jenisej. Il paesaggio è quello tipico dell'altopiano siberiano: catene montuose e vallate che si succedono monotone, ricoperte dalla taiga, la fitta foresta di conifere secolari. Tutto attorno, una complessa rete fluviale, punteggiata da paludi malsane. La zona, d’inverno, è il regno delle nevi e dei ghiacci, con temperature che scendono oltre i 50°C sotto lo zero. In quella regione, che ai primi del secolo era in gran parte inaccessibile e in parte abitata da popolazioni di cacciatori nomadi, l'oggetto non identificato sceglie una depressione naturale per scatenare tutta la forza del suo impatto: una conca circondata da colline e montagne e ricoperta da alte conifere. Le esatte coordinate geografiche, determinate 19 anni dopo il fatto, sono 60° 53’ 09” di latitudine Nord; 101° 53’ 40” di longitudine Est.    LA FORESTA CARBONIZZATA - Il disastro è di vastissime proporzioni: circa 2mila km quadrati di foresta bruciata e devastata, migliaia di animali abbattuti e, stando alle testimonianze locali, molti cacciatori e abitanti di povere capanne feriti e ustionati; ma, a quanto sembra, nessun morto. Ancora oggi, a testimonianza di quel cataclisma, resistono centinaia di tronchi di alberi abbattuti e carbonizzati, a indicare con il loro orientamento gli effetti dell’onda d’urto. I fenomeni luminosi sono avvertiti entro un raggio di 600-700 km; quelli acustici uditi fino a mille km di distanza. Per dare un'idea della portata del fenomeno, se fosse accaduto a Roma, sarebbe stato visto da un capo all'altro della penisola e udito da Francoforte a Tripoli, da Barcellona a Belgrado. Il mondo è e rimarrà per parecchio tempo inconsapevole dell'evento, ma i sensibili pennini dei sismografi e dei barografi dell'Europa intera registrano l'accaduto che è interpretato come uno dei tanti terremoti lontani. Molti anni più tardi, saranno gli studi comparativi delle registrazioni sismiche e barometriche, a permettere di calcolare la potenza scatenata dall'esplosione della Tunguska che fu di circa 13 mila kilotoni, equivalente cioè a un migliaio di bombe come quella sganciata su Hiroshima. Le notti successive un altro e più appariscente fenomeno s’impone alle popolazioni europee e asiatiche delle alte latitudini: molte ore dopo il tramonto del Sole persiste una luminosità crepuscolare di straordinaria intensità. I giornali parlano di «fantasmagorici bagliori notturni» e gli astronomi spiegano che, probabilmente, si tratta di aurore boreali connesse all'attività del Sole.    IL CRATERE CHE NON C’E’ - Trascorso il turbine della prima guerra mondiale e della rivoluzione bolscevica, bisognerà aspettare il 1921 perché un ricercatore del Museo di Mineralogia di Petrograd, Leonid A. Kulik, incuriosito dai ritagli ormai ingialliti dei giornali del 1908, decida di compiere il primo sopralluogo nella zona del disastro. Si reca, innanzitutto, nei centri più popolosi ai margini dell'area colpita, alla ricerca di testimoni oculari, e raccoglie una grande quantità di prove. Riesce a ricostruire la traiettoria del corpo, pensa che si tratti di un grosso meteorite che cadendo a terra ha scavato un cratere e ritiene di poterlo scoprire, recuperando anche i frammenti del presunto corpo celeste. Per aver successo nell'impresa occorre una spedizione ben organizzata, in grado di penetrare tra le foreste e le montagne che circondano il luogo dell'impatto. Kulik impiegherà sei anni per convincere i membri dell'Accademia Sovietica delle Scienze a finanziare l'impresa. Ma la ricognizione non dà i risultati sperati: dopo mille fatiche e difficoltà, lo studioso non trova ne’ il cratere, ne’ i frammenti del meteorite.    COMETA O ASTEROIDE? - Per superare queste contraddizioni, comincia a farsi strada un'idea, avanzata nel 1930 dall'inglese J. W. Whipple, che identifica l'oggetto con il nucleo di una piccola cometa avente circa 40 m di diametro, una stima che sarà poi rivalutata da alcuni astronomi favorevoli a questa ipotesi. Un nucleo cometario, ragiona Whipple, penetrando ad alta velocità nell'atmosfera, può dare luogo a un'onda d'urto e a un'esplosione distruttive e, nello stesso tempo, a causa della sua bassa densità e della sua struttura a conglomerato di ghiacci e polveri, può disintegrarsi completamente, disperdendo una grande quantità di piccoli grani solidi. Si spiegherebbero in questo modo il fenomeno delle notti lucenti, il mancato ritrovamento di grossi frammenti meteoritici e l'assenza di crateri da impatto. Questa, ancora oggi, è l’ipotesi sostenuta da molti scienziati russi. Quelli occidentali, invece, propendono per un piccolo asteroide, anche questo esploso e vaporizzato in aria, tra 5 e 10 km d’altezza, che avrebbe lasciato al suolo soltanto tracce microscopiche.    IL MISTERO IN FONDO AL LAGO - La Tunguska ha attratto l’attenzione anche di un gruppo di studiosi italiani coordinato dal professor Giuseppe Longo, un fisico dell’Università di Bologna. Essi, dopo sopralluoghi e analisi, pensano di avere individuato in un piccolo laghetto denominato Cheko, il cratere scavato da uno dei frammenti del presunto asteroide. L’ipotesi, avanzata in un articolo sulla rivista scientifica Terra Nova (agosto 2007), non è condivisa da altri esperti e richiederà ulteriori esplorazioni sul fondo del lago, alla ricerca di eventuali frammenti del corpo celeste, per essere provata. Fra le ipotesi più stravaganti ne esistono due che tuttavia si basano su studi scientifici qualificati. La prima, elaborata da Willard Libby, lo scopritore della tecnica di datazione col carbonio 14, si basa proprio sull’abbondanza di questo isotopo riscontrata negli anelli di accrescimento degli alberi subito dopo il fenomeno: fatto che viene attribuito alle conseguenze di una possibile annichilazione fra la materia terrestre un blocco di antimateria spaziale venuto a contatto con l’alta atmosfera. La seconda ipotesi esotica, avanzata da un gruppo di fisici dell’Università del Texas, riconduce i fenomeni descritti in Siberia nel 1908 allo scontro fra il nostro pianeta e un mini buco nero, come quelli la cui esistenza è stata postulata dall’astrofisico Stephen Hawking. Franco Foresta Martin corriere.it

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When Joseph was raised to power in Egypt, he unveiled a plan to increase government control. It all started with the seven fat years the earth produced abundantly.

Phase one: Centralize government power

Phase two: Impose a national flat tax of twenty percent

Phase three: Seize control of national resources---agricultural and financial

Phase four: Redistribute the wealth

Phase five: Increase government dependency (aka, state-sponsored poverty)

Phase six: Socialize the masses

By the end of the seven lean years the Egyptian federal goverment had reached massive size. Pharoah owned Egypt and everything in it---including the people. Read the whole story here. 

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"It's extraordinary to me that the United States can find $700 billion to save Wall Street and the entire G8 can't find $25 billion dollars to saved 25,000 children who die every day from preventable diseases."

- Bono, rock star and anti-poverty activist. (Source: The American Prospect blog)

In Colossians 2:11-13 Paul appears to view the external rite of circumcision as a pointer to the greater redemptive reality of Christ and his followers being "circumcised" or "cut off" from the old sinful world and set apart to a new one. Accordingly, Paul speaks in 2:11 of believers' redemption consisting of being "circumcised with a circumcision made without hands," which has occurred by means of the "circumcision of Christ" (i.e., his death [2:11]). "Uncircumcision [akrobystia] of your flesh [sarx]" (2:13a) represented sinful unbelief, from which one needed to be "circumcised." This is likely an analogical allusion to Gen.17:10-27, where "the flesh [sarx] of your [or,"his"] uncircumcision [akrobystia] appears four times.

Source: Commentary on the New Testament Use of the Old Testament, Eds. G.K. Beale and D.A. Carson, p. 862