I found this while surfing the net this morning. This is really neat although it would be cool if they set up torrents for these things.
Color Photographs from 1939-1945
I never knew there were color photographs back then. Anyway, the collection is neat, but the interface needs some help.
America from the Great Depression to World War II: Color Photographs from the FSA-OWI, 1939-1945
Is Missiouri Killing Patients?
Messianic Jews Harassed in Israel
Worthy News is reporting that Messianic Jews in Israel are being harassed.
An orthodox group called Gur Chassidim has been persecuting 30 messianic Jews in Arad. They have been insulted in public as Nazis, whores and dirty Christians. According to eyewitnesses the police have turned a blind eye or even sided with the persecutors. An assembly hall has been burnt down.
Leaders of the messianic congregation have written a letter of complaint to the police chief but received no answer. The mayor of Arad said he was dependent on the Gur Chassidim. He could not intervene unless there was bloodshed.
The Supreme Court has allowed the Gur Chassidim an annual demonstration in front of the pastor’s house with up to 100 participants.
As the authorities, the police and the judicial system seem unable to protect the messianic Jews they are calling for international solidarity. Three Christian organizations in Germany have pledged their support. Letters of complaint should be addressed to Israeli embassies.
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What Kind of Pen Do You Use?
So, what kind of pen do you use to write with?
Google Maps and US Census Data
This is pretty cool. Think of the posibilities for evangelism research.
Pastors having Friends?
Monday Morning Insight has a post asking if pastors should have close friends in the Church. I thought I would weigh in on what I think.
Let's start by looking at scripture. What does the scripture have to say about friends and friendship?
Here is a link to all verses that contain the word friend. Some ones I want to highlight are below.
6If thy brother, the son of thy mother, or thy son, or thy daughter, or the wife of thy bosom, or thy friend, which is as thine own soul, entice thee secretly, saying, Let us go and serve other gods, which thou hast not known, thou, nor thy fathers;
7Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;
8Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:
16Wherefore is there a price in the hand of a fool to get wisdom, seeing he hath no heart to it?
17A friend loveth at all times, and a brother is born for adversity.
18A man void of understanding striketh hands, and becometh surety in the presence of his friend.
24A man that hath friends must shew himself friendly: and there is a friend that sticketh closer than a brother.
5Open rebuke is better than secret love.
6Faithful are the wounds of a friend; but the kisses of an enemy are deceitful.
7The full soul loatheth an honeycomb; but to the hungry soul every bitter thing is sweet.
3Therefore whatsoever ye have spoken in darkness shall be heard in the light; and that which ye have spoken in the ear in closets shall be proclaimed upon the housetops.
4And I say unto you my friends, Be not afraid of them that kill the body, and after that have no more that they can do.
5But I will forewarn you whom ye shall fear: Fear him, which after he hath killed hath power to cast into hell; yea, I say unto you, Fear him.
14Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.
15Henceforth I call you not servants; for the servant knoweth not what his lord doeth: but I have called you friends; for all things that I have heard of my Father I have made known unto you.
16Ye have not chosen me, but I have chosen you, and ordained you, that ye should go and bring forth fruit, and that your fruit should remain: that whatsoever ye shall ask of the Father in my name, he may give it you.
From the results of the search, we can see the Bible has TONS to say about friendship. From several verses (see Deuteronomy 13:6-8 and Proverbs 17:16-18 from above) we can clearly see that friends can be a bad thing. From yet other verses (Proverbs 27:5-7 above) we can see that friends can serve a purpose. From yet other verses (Luke 12:3-5 above) we can see that Jesus had friends on earth. We can even see in John 15:14-16 that Jesus says calls those who have accepted Him friends. So what is the problem?
I think the problem–just like in most things–isn't the thing but our implementation of friends. Clearly friends and friendship is Biblical. Friends serve to encourage, lift up, help, and keep each other on track. However, I think we have list sight of the last one. We want friends. We want others to like us. How do we do that? We are "nice" to each other.
In our culture, being nice has been transformed into "doing favors for", "thinking more of", and "don't say 'mean' things." Biblical friendships would entail speaking tough love to people. Helping them improve and get closer to Christ.
In a business meeting or other situation, friendships shouldn't stop us from doing the right thing. Since when does being a friend entail always siding with your "friend." If that is what is expected, one should evaluate if the "friend" is a real friend or not.
In conclusion, I don't think there is anything wrong with pastors having friends. Having friends–both in and out of the church–is acceptable. However, those friendships should be Biblical friendships and neither party should feel pressured to NOT do the right thing.
If I dig a very deep hole, where I go to stop?
I always wondered this. What happens if you end up in the ocean? Will it drain through? What a way to end drought!
Boys Learn Differently
Shock of shock! Boys and Girls learn differently.
The differences between boys and girls are profound. Most classrooms are girl-friendly and largely feminized in culture. Boys think differently, communicate differently, and are incentivized differently. Young boys cannot sit quiet and still for long periods of time. Their concentration patterns are very different from those of girls — and they know it. Resisting an acknowledgement of these differences requires a tremendous capacity for denying the obvious.
What Will the US Look Like in the Future
Alot of that depends on what the church will look like. What will the church look like? Barna has done some research and is writing a new book. Here are some reviews of an advance copy:
"Revolution", George Barna's new book, will be published in September. Barna leads a church research institute, and is currently the most-quoted person in the Christian church in the USA because of his statistical work. To summarize the book's most important conclusions:
* The number of Christians attending local church in the USA is declining rapidly. Today, 70% of Christians attend traditional churches, but this will sink to 30-35% in 20 years;
* The number of followers of Jesus who do not attend a local church will grow from 30% to 70% in the next 20 years;
* Alternative fellowship forms (house church/simple church, post-modern churches etc.), currently home for 5% of USA Christians, will grow to make up 30-35%; another 30-35% will live out their faith in the fields of media, arts and culture; the remaining 5% of Christians attending non-traditional forms of church will have a family-based spiritual life;
* Conclusion: a minority group presently not even noticed by many will become the mainstream of North American Christianity in only two decades.
http://sojourner.typepad.com/house_church_blog/2005/09/the_new_revolut.html
http://sojourner.typepad.com/house_church_blog/2005/09/more_barna.html