Fun. Flexible (good to chew, hold, open/close, pick up, build into shapes etc.)
Dr. David Powlison of the Christian Counseling & Educational Foundation (CCEF - http://www.ccef.org)/ answers questions frequently asked to him about intimacy in marriage. It has just been put up on youtube.
'What harm is there in saying, Lord Cæsar, and in sacrificing, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions, and so make sure of safety?'But he at first gave them no answer; and when they continued to urge him, he said,
'I shall not do as you advise me.'So they, having no hope of persuading him, began to speak bitter words unto him, and cast him with violence out of the chariot, insomuch that, in getting down from the carriage, he dislocated his leg [by the fall]. But without being disturbed, and as if suffering nothing, he went eagerly forward with all haste, and was conducted to the stadium, where the tumult was so great, that there was no possibility of being heard.
Ch 9
Now, as Polycarp was entering into the stadium, there came to him a voice from heaven, saying,
Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp!
No one saw who it was that spoke to him; but those of our brethren who were present heard the voice. And as he was brought forward, the tumult became great when they heard that Polycarp was taken. And when he came near, the proconsul asked him whether he was Polycarp. On his confessing that he was, [the proconsul] sought to persuade him to deny [Christ], saying,
Have respect to your old age, and other similar things, according to their custom, [such as],
Swear by the fortune of Cæsar;
repent, and say, Away with the Atheists.
But Polycarp, gazing with a stern countenance on all the multitude of the wicked heathen then in the stadium, and waving his hand towards them, while with groans he looked up to heaven, said,
Away with the Atheists.
Then, the proconsul urging him, and saying,
Swear, and I will set you at liberty, reproach Christ;
Polycarp declared,
Eighty and six years have I served Him,
and He never did me any injury:
how then can I blaspheme my King and my Saviour?
Ch 10
And when the proconsul yet again pressed him, and said,
Swear by the fortune of Cæsar,
he answered,
Since you are vainly urgent that, as you say, I should swear by the fortune of Cæsar, and pretend not to know who and what I am, hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian. And if you wish to learn what the doctrines of Christianity are, appoint me a day, and you shall hear them.
The proconsul replied,
Persuade the people.
But Polycarp said,
To you I have thought it right to offer an account [of my faith]; for we are taught to give all due honour (which entails no injury upon ourselves) to the powers and authorities which are ordained of God. But as for these, I do not deem them worthy of receiving any account from me.
Ch11
The proconsul then said to him,
I have wild beasts at hand; to these will I cast you, unless you repent.
But he answered,
Call them then, for we are not accustomed to repent of what is good in order to adopt that which is evil; and it is well for me to be changed from what is evil to what is righteous.
But again the proconsul said to him,
I will cause you to be consumed by fire, seeing you despise the wild beasts, if you will not repent.
But Polycarp said,
You threaten me with fire which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished, but are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly. But why do you tarry? Bring forth what you will.
Ch 13
Immediately then they surrounded him with those substances which had been prepared for the funeral pile. But when they were about also to fix him with nails, he said,
Leave me as I am; for He that gives me strength to endure the fire, will also enable me, without your securing me by nails, to remain without moving in the pile.
Ch 14
They did not nail him then, but simply bound him. And he, placing his hands behind him, and being bound like a distinguished ram [taken] out of a great flock for sacrifice, and prepared to be an acceptable burnt-offering unto God, looked up to heaven, and said,
O Lord God Almighty, the Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, by whom we have received the knowledge of You, the God of angels and powers, and of every creature, and of the whole race of the righteous who live before you, I give You thanks that You have counted me, worthy of this day and this hour, that I should have a part in the number of Your martyrs, in the cup of your Christ, to the resurrection of eternal life, both of soul and body, through the incorruption [imparted] by the Holy Ghost. Among whom may I be accepted this day before You as a fat and acceptable sacrifice, according as You, the ever-truthful God, hast foreordained, hast revealed beforehand to me, and now hast fulfilled. Wherefore also I praise You for all things, I bless You, I glorify You, along with the everlasting and heavenly Jesus Christ, Your beloved Son, with whom, to You, and the Holy Ghost, be glory both now and to all coming ages. Amen
Ch 15
When he had pronounced this amen, and so finished his prayer, those who were appointed for the purpose kindled the fire. And as the flame blazed forth in great fury, we, to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle, and have been preserved that we might report to others what then took place. For the fire, shaping itself into the form of an arch, like the sail of a ship when filled with the wind, encompassed as by a circle the body of the matyr. And he appeared within not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace. Moreover, we perceived such a sweet odour [coming from the pile], as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been smoking there.
Ch 16
At length, when those wicked men perceived that his body could not be consumed by the fire, they commanded an executioner to go near and pierce him through with a dagger. And on his doing this, there came forth a dove, and a great quantity of blood, so that the fire was extinguished; and all the people wondered that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect, of whom this most admirable Polycarp was one, having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church which is in Smyrna. For every word that went out of his mouth either has been or shall yet be accomplished.
Ch 19
This, then, is the account of the blessed Polycarp, who, being the twelfth that was martyred in Smyrna (reckoning those also of Philadelphia), yet occupies a place of his own in the memory of all men, insomuch that he is everywhere spoken of by the heathen themselves. He was not merely an illustrious teacher, but also a pre-eminent martyr, whose martyrdom all desire to imitate, as having been altogether consistent with the Gospel of Christ. For, having through patience overcome the unjust governor, and thus acquired the crown of immortality, he now, with the apostles and all the righteous [in heaven], rejoicingly glorifies God, even the Father, and blesses our Lord Jesus Christ, the Saviour of our souls, the Governor of our bodies, and the Shepherd of the Catholic Church throughout the world.
Ch 21
Now, the blessed Polycarp suffered martyrdom on the second day of the month Xanthicus just begun, the seventh day before the Kalends of May, on the great Sabbath, at the eighth hour. He was taken by Herod, Philip the Trallian being high priest, Statius Quadratus being proconsul, but Jesus Christ being King for ever, to whom be glory, honour, majesty, and an everlasting throne, from generation to generation. Amen.
[from the 'Epistle Concerning the Martyrdom of Polycarp']
Tipton Canal and Community FestivalTrade, charity & heritage stalls, guided walks, canal art, working boat displays, static narrowboat parade, food and drink, live entertainment, children's rides, canal boat rides, outdoor pursuits, model boat exhibition and demonstration and much moreSat 19th Sept, 12 AM - Sun 20th Sept, 4 PM
… Polycarp also was not only instructed by apostles, and conversed with many who had seen Christ, but was also, by apostles in Asia, appointed bishop of the Church in Smyrna, whom I also saw in my early youth, for he tarried [on earth] a very long time, and, when a very old man, gloriously and most nobly suffering martyrdom, departed this life, having always taught the things which he had learned from the apostles, and which the Church has handed down, and which alone are true. To these things all the Asiatic Churches testify, as do also those men who have succeeded Polycarp down to the present time, - a man who was of much greater weight, and a more stedfast witness of truth than Valentinus, and Marcion, and the rest of the heretics. He it was who, coming to Rome in the time of Anicetus caused man to turn away from the aforesaid heretics to the Church of God, proclaiming that he had received this one and sole truth from the apostles, - that namely, which is handed down by the Church.Bk 3, Ch 3.4 Irenaeus Against Heresies
The thesis: Historically the church has excelled in producing good beer & wine .... and then in drinking it.
[Is it really true that John Calvin was given over 200 litres (or gallons?) of wine as part of his yearly stipend?]
Liberalism & feminism = no more wine
Alcohol is good (not on the job though)
Drunkenness is a sin. So serious that drunkards cannot inherit the kingdom of God. Unless repented of.
Being drunk leads to or is connected with ... brawling, mockery, sexual sin, poverty, violence, dumb drinking games (& then the bragging about the 'legendary' antics of last night), getting really loud, sleepiness, getting others drunk so as to see them naked, depression, futile attempt to escape from life's problems, sleeplessness.
We often read into drinking our past experiences (or of those close to us).
There are 3 perspectives:
prohibitionist (all drinking of alcohol is wrong, evil etc.), but this is silly, God created it to gladden the heart of man (and Jesus turned water into wine! 100-180 gallons of the good stuff). Jesus was accused of being a drunkard. Because he never drank? Come on! But he NEVER was drunk ... he was without sin. So are you holier than Jesus?
abstentionist (not a sin, but because so many people abuse it we should never drink alcohol), God gave Israel loads of stuff that they used for sin. Has God given you a tongue, or hands or mind that you have misused? Is there anything on planet earth that someone has not used to sin with? No! We'll have to absain from everything.
And then we'll line up with those who killed Jesus when he broke their rules.
Swearing. Speeding. Gluttony. Rape.
Speaking. Cars. Food. Women (or men!).
The Bible???!!!
Der! Just learn use them rightly to God's glory.
Did Jesus drink in a day when people abused alcohol and overindulged? Yes.
So are you holier than Jesus? And God makes evil things?
moderationist (drinking alcohol is not a sin, somepeople can drink, some can't - down to conscience)
distinguishes between universal and particular sins.
Universal sins: Murder, adultery, rape etc. are ALWAYS WRONG FOR EVERYONE.
But not all sins are like that.
So the key is to ask the right questions that make this distinction (like Scripture): Who is drinking it? Why? Where? How much? How often? With what effect? etc.
And then act in love with regard to those in the 'other' category to you. [Romans 14]
Kimani Maruge, an illiterate great-grandfather, grabbed global headlines when he jumped at a belated chance to educate himself soon after President Mwai Kibaki's government introduced free primary schooling in 2003.
BBC viewers were treated last week to the bizarre spectacle of Mr BanKi-moon standing on an Arctic ice-floe making a series of statements so laughable that it was hard to believe such a man can be Secretary-General of the UN. Thanks to global warming, he claimed, "100 billion tons" of polar ice are melting each year, so that within 30 years the Arctic could be "ice-free". This was supported by a WWF claim that the ice is melting so fast that, by 2100, sea-levels could rise by 1.2 metres (four feet), which would lead to "floods affecting a quarter of the world".Read the rest of the article here
Everything about this oft-repeated item was propaganda of the silliest kind. Standing 700 miles from the Pole, as near as the stubbornly present ice would allow his ship to go, Mr Ban seemed unaware that, although some 10 million square kilometres (3.8 million square miles) of sea-ice melts each summer, each September the Arctic starts to freeze again. And the extent of the ice now is 500,000 sq km (190,000 sq m) greater than it was this time last year – which was, in turn, 500,000 sq km more than in September 2007, the lowest point recently recorded (see the Cryosphere Today website). By April, after months of darkness, it will be back up to 14 million sq km (5.4 million sq m) or more.
Mr Ban seems equally unaware that, even if all that sea-ice were to melt, this would no more raise sea-levels than a cube of ice melting in a gin and tonic increases the volume of liquid in the glass. If he is relying for his "100 billion tons" on land ice melting in Antarctica and Greenland, he should note that much of their ice sheets are growing rather than shrinking. His "100 billion tons" is fantasy.
O God the Holy Spirit,as we are about to embark on a study in Luke 1 at eXcel I will be watching this with extra interest (if it is available on-line, which I guess it will be)
This summer has seen:
Mike Perham's achievement in Totallymoney.com
Hilary Lister's achievement in Me Too
And now, Malcolm has done it (again) in Torsa II
The Church remains finite and sinful; at her best, she has only a partial grasp of the riches of God’s infinite Word, and through sin, she holds the truth in imbalanced, disproportioned, and sometimes inaccurate ways. And so, Reformed theology should be reforming theology. Sometimes even deeply cherished beliefs should be challenged or supplemented by further and deeper reflection on Scripture. Sometimes new situations confront the Church, which previous generations never had to address, new apologetic challenges arise, new idolatries seek to rival the supremacy of Christ in her affections, new ethical questions press for her attention.
More positively, as history progresses, God, by his Spirit, is transforming the Church from one degree of glory to another. In the Church, he is growing humanity to maturity in Christ. And as she matures, the Church will grasp new things in new ways, not contradicting old truths rightly held, but enriching her understanding and ability to serve her Lord. It is the glory of God to conceal things; the glory of kings is to search them out (Prov. 25:2). What is needed, then, is a new generation of kings, glorious in their union with the glorified Christ, who will devote themselves to seeking new treasures in God’s Word and new treasures in his creation, and who then, like well trained scribes, will bring out of their treasury new along with old, in the service of Christ’s Church.
