Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see.
On 04/23/2013,
in faith, future, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
11 It is written:
“‘As surely as I live,’ says the Lord,
‘every knee will bow before me;
every tongue will acknowledge God.’”
12 So then, each of us will give an account of ourselves to God.
A friend loves at all times,
and a brother is born for a time of adversity.
On 04/11/2013,
in 21st century, Daniel S. Christian, emerging technologies, faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society, the downsides of how people use tech,
by Daniel Christian
I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
.
Looking at a sampling (below) of the emerging technologies starting to hit the landscapes…
I am struck with the thought that, we need as many hearts of flesh out there as possible!
I hope that these types of very powerful technologies are used by people who care about each other and who respect the dignity of others; those who lift up and value life.
- Are we paying enough attention to information technology’s dark side?
Excerpt:
Technological power is not new, of course, but information technology’s exponential pace and declining cost is changing how the global game is played and who the players are. Control of technology is passing from the richest states and governments to smaller groups and individuals, and the results are both inspiring and terrifying. As Goodman says, “The ability of one to affect many is scaling exponentially—and it’s scaling for good and it’s scaling for evil.”- Pentagon to deploy more than 100 cyber teams by 2015
- The future of surveillance will turn society into a massive online game (Quick comment from DSC: While I dislike the title of this article, it’s very relevant to this posting.)
- A search engine for The Internet of Things (IoT)
Shodan, a little-known search engine, is the go-to site to find out about nuclear power plants control centers, gas stations, and highway signs connected to the internet.- 13-foot 12,000-pound mechanized robot suit now for sale in Japan
- This week in bots: The robots we build to kill for us
- Who’s responsible when robots kill? ‘We Robot’ Conference hunts answers
- The terrifying future is 3D printed weapons <– the dark side of 3D printing
and/or
This item on the DoD’s PETMAN project- For some, Google Glasses raise privacy concerns
As the launch of the latest interactive technology creeps closer, discussions about how the public will adapt have started to surface.- Facebook addresses Facebook Home privacy concerns
- Why Facebook Home bothers me: It destroys any notion of privacy
- Fake Twitter followers become multimillion-dollar business
- 3D scanner scans objects from over a half mile away, watches the grass grow
On 04/08/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
5 But he was pierced for our transgressions,
he was crushed for our iniquities;
the punishment that brought us peace was on him,
and by his wounds we are healed.
6 We all, like sheep, have gone astray,
each of us has turned to our own way;
and the Lord has laid on him
the iniquity of us all.
On 04/02/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, history, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
Jesus has risen
1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them, “Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen! Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered over to the hands of sinners, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.’ ” 8 Then they remembered his words.
.
On 03/28/2013,
in Daniel S. Christian, faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
What is Maundy Thursday?
What do Christians celebrate on Maundy Thursday?
Excerpt:
Maundy Thursday is observed during Holy Week on the Thursday before Easter. Also referred to as “Holy Thursday” or “Great Thursday” in some Christian denominations, Maundy Thursday commemorates the Last Supper when Jesus shared the Passover meal with his disciples on the night before he was crucified. In contrast to joyful Easter celebrations when Christians worship their resurrected Savior, Maundy Thursday services are typically more solemn occasions, marked by the shadow of Jesus’ betrayal.
…
What Does “Maundy” Mean?
Derived from the Latin word mandatum, meaning “commandment,” Maundy refers to the commands Jesus gave his disciples at the Last Supper: to love with humility by serving one another and to remember his sacrifice (emphasis here and purchased/modified graphic below from DSC).
Matthew 16:15-16 (NIV) — from biblegateway.com
15 “But what about you?” he asked. “Who do you say I am?”
16 Simon Peter answered, “You are the Messiah, the Son of the living God.”
On 03/22/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships,
by Daniel Christian
Coop’s Column – Royally Welcomed — by Dale Cooper
….the whole multitude of disciples began to praise God joyfully with
a loud voice for all the deeds of power that they had seen, saying:
“Blessed is the King who comes in the name of the Lord.
Peace in heaven and glory in the highest heaven.” (Luke 19.37-38)
Excerpt:
I give the rest of this column to Jorge Bergoglio, former archbishop of Buenos Aires, recently elected as Pope Francis I. In his Palm Sunday 2008 address to his Argentine flock, the Archbishop declared:
“Today, here in Buenos Aires, like in Jerusalem on that day, the street made way for Jesus. The street received Him properly. The crowd stood, begged for blessings, blessings for their families, blessings for their businesses, their houses, their autos… Blessing, what does that [really] mean? [It means] that Jesus “speak well” of something, that He approach! That He enter families, hearts, homes, autos, businesses…Jesus out in the street, interacting with the crowd…There. His desire is, just as the gates of the city were opened to Him, the same is done with the doors to our hearts. Every Holy Week He asks the same thing: “Open your heart to Me. I’m not here to mortify you! I’m not here to boss you around! I’m not here to take anything from you…I’m here to give you everything. I want to make you happy.” That’s what He’s telling us. If we slam the doors to our hearts in His face, He suffers. Although He is used to it, He suffers. And we lose the opportunity to become happy.
On 03/21/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
Jeremiah 17:7-8 — from Bible Gateway’s Verse of the Day
But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in Him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.
On 03/15/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
The Lord Speaks
38 Then the Lord spoke to Job out of the storm. He said:
2 “Who is this that obscures my plans
with words without knowledge?
3 Brace yourself like a man;
I will question you,
and you shall answer me.
4 “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?
Tell me, if you understand.
5 Who marked off its dimensions? Surely you know!
Who stretched a measuring line across it?
6 On what were its footings set,
or who laid its cornerstone—
7 while the morning stars sang together
and all the angels shouted for joy?
8 “Who shut up the sea behind doors
when it burst forth from the womb,
9 when I made the clouds its garment
and wrapped it in thick darkness,
10 when I fixed limits for it
and set its doors and bars in place,
11 when I said, ‘This far you may come and no farther;
here is where your proud waves halt’?
12 “Have you ever given orders to the morning,
or shown the dawn its place,
13 that it might take the earth by the edges
and shake the wicked out of it?
14 The earth takes shape like clay under a seal;
its features stand out like those of a garment.
15 The wicked are denied their light,
and their upraised arm is broken.
16 “Have you journeyed to the springs of the sea
or walked in the recesses of the deep?
17 Have the gates of death been shown to you?
Have you seen the gates of the deepest darkness?
18 Have you comprehended the vast expanses of the earth?
Tell me, if you know all this.
19 “What is the way to the abode of light?
And where does darkness reside?
20 Can you take them to their places?
Do you know the paths to their dwellings?
21 Surely you know, for you were already born!
You have lived so many years!
22 “Have you entered the storehouses of the snow
or seen the storehouses of the hail,
23 which I reserve for times of trouble,
for days of war and battle?
24 What is the way to the place where the lightning is dispersed,
or the place where the east winds are scattered over the earth?
25 Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain,
and a path for the thunderstorm,
26 to water a land where no one lives,
an uninhabited desert,
27 to satisfy a desolate wasteland
and make it sprout with grass?
28 Does the rain have a father?
Who fathers the drops of dew?
29 From whose womb comes the ice?
Who gives birth to the frost from the heavens
30 when the waters become hard as stone,
when the surface of the deep is frozen?
31 “Can you bind the chains of the Pleiades?
Can you loosen Orion’s belt?
32 Can you bring forth the constellations in their seasons
or lead out the Bear with its cubs?
33 Do you know the laws of the heavens?
Can you set up God’s dominion over the earth?
34 “Can you raise your voice to the clouds
and cover yourself with a flood of water?
35 Do you send the lightning bolts on their way?
Do they report to you, ‘Here we are’?
36 Who gives the ibis wisdom
or gives the rooster understanding?
37 Who has the wisdom to count the clouds?
Who can tip over the water jars of the heavens
38 when the dust becomes hard
and the clods of earth stick together?
39 “Do you hunt the prey for the lioness
and satisfy the hunger of the lions
40 when they crouch in their dens
or lie in wait in a thicket?
41 Who provides food for the raven
when its young cry out to God
and wander about for lack of food?
Unswervingly resolute — from the Calvin Institute for Christian Worship / Coop’s Column by Dale Cooper
Description of column:
This week we join Jesus and his disciples at a spot just outside the city of Jericho. They’ve made their way southward from the Mount of Transfiguration a week or so earlier and are now at a place a few miles west of the city where two important roads intersect. One road leads west toward Jerusalem and the other north toward Galilee. That intersection, and the choice of which road to take, became something of a crossroads’ moment for Jesus.
Prayer [DSC’s prayer for sure]
“O Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner.
Establish my heart in your will.
Grant me true repentance for my sins;….
To You, my God….be praise and glory forever
For all the benefits you have given me,
And for all Your mercies to me, a sinner,
For your name’s sake.
Amen.”
On 03/01/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, relationships, society,
by Daniel Christian
As for God, his way is perfect:
The Lord’s word is flawless;
he shields all who take refuge in him.
This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.
On 02/25/2013,
in faith, global / globalization, hearts -- matters of the heart, photography, relationships,
by Daniel Christian
Landscape photography: 10 beautiful examples — from creativebloq.com
Example:
On a Yellow Stripe Road by Vincent Piotrowski
From DSC:
This beautiful picture brings some scripture — Genesis 9:12-16 — to my mind:
12 And God said, “This is the sign of the covenant I am making between me and you and every living creature with you, a covenant for all generations to come: 13 I have set my rainbow in the clouds, and it will be the sign of the covenant between me and the earth. 14 Whenever I bring clouds over the earth and the rainbow appears in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant between me and you and all living creatures of every kind. Never again will the waters become a flood to destroy all life. 16 Whenever the rainbow appears in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and all living creatures of every kind on the earth.”