Sunspots 813

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: (or humor) School buses performing from the Nutcracker. Really.

Computing: Gizmodo reports on a study that shows that Google searches are biased toward large news outlets, and against smaller local outlets.

Gizmodo also reports on the most read Wikipedia pages of 2020.

Education: Grammarphobia tells us more than we may have wanted to know about the ampersand (&).

Environment: Gizmodo reports on the deaths of large numbers of birds, at least partly because of climate change.

Humor: (or something) Relevant on how some familiar Christmas songs are really strange.

Politics: NPR tells us about some real bipartisanship in Congress!

Science: Gizmodo reports that a previously unknown population of blue whales was found because of their unique songs.

NPR reports that smoke may carry disease germs into the air, where we can inhale them.

(or maybe Humor) NPR reports that octopuses sometimes punch fish.

 The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking! 

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 65

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

But, it may be asked, is it not best to make our wishes known to God, and then to leave it to Him to decide what is best, without seeking to assert our will? By no means. This is the very essence of the prayer of faith, to which Jesus sought to train His disciples, that it does not only make known its desire and then leave the decision to God. That would be the prayer of submission, for cases in which we cannot know God’s will. But the prayer of faith, finding God’s will in some promise of the Word, pleads for that till it come. In Matthew (ix. 28) we read Jesus said to the blind man: ‘Believe ye that I can do this?’ Here, in Mark, He says: ‘What wilt thou that I should do?’ In both cases He said that faith had saved them. And so He said to the Syrophenician woman, too: ‘Great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt.’ Faith is nothing but the purpose of the will resting on God’s word, and saying: I must have it. 

To believe truly is to will firmly. But is not such a will at variance with our dependence on God and our submission to Him? By no means; it is much rather the true submission that honours God. It is only when the child has yielded his own will in entire surrender to the Father, that he receives from the Father liberty and power to will what he would have. But, when once the believer has accepted the will of God, as revealed through the Word and Spirit, as his will, too, then it is the will of God that His child should use this renewed will in His service. The will is the highest power in the soul; grace wants above everything to sanctify and restore this will, one of the chief traits of God’s image, to full and free exercise. As a son, who only lives for his father’s interests, who seeks not his own but his father’s will is trusted by the father with his business, so God speaks to His child in all truth, ‘What wilt thou?’ It is often spiritual sloth that, under the appearance of humility, professes to have no will, because it fears the trouble of searching out the will of God, or, when found, the struggle of claiming it in faith. True humility is ever in company with strong faith, which only seeks to know what is according to the will of God, and then boldly claims the fulfilment of the promise: ‘Ye shall ask what ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’

Sunspots 812

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Environment: The Trump administration has removed caps on the speed of water output by shower heads.

Ethics: (And politics) An article in The Week considers why President Trump has told so many lies that don't seem to matter. (Who cares whether he called Tim Cook "Tim Apple?" Trump apparently did, and claimed that he hadn't.)

(and health) ABC, and other outlets, report that the Vatican has approved the use of COVID vaccines, even though research to produce these involved use of human cell lines derived from aborted fetuses. The Vatican specifically condemned abortions, however.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight does an analysis of the recent history of the politics of the suburbs.

FiveThirtyEight also says that Democrats and Republicans should argue more, not less, and explains why.

Science: Gizmodo asks some experts if our hearing can become more sensitive, with training. They say that it can.

Sports: ESPN and other outlets report that Tara VanDerveer has now accumulated more wins than any other women's college basketball coach in history.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day, by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

 I heard the bells on Christmas Day

Their old, familiar carols play,
and wild and sweet
The words repeat
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along
The unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Till ringing, singing on its way,
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime,
A chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

Then from each black, accursed mouth
The cannon thundered in the South,
And with the sound
The carols drowned
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

It was as if an earthquake rent
The hearth-stones of a continent,
And made forlorn
The households born
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!

And in despair I bowed my head;
"There is no peace on earth," I said;
"For hate is strong,
And mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good-will to men!"

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
"God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The Wrong shall fail,
The Right prevail,
With peace on earth, good-will to men."

-Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, public domain. Source: Wikipedia.

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 64

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

But the word of the Master teaches us more. He does not say, What dost thou wish? but, What does thou will? One often wishes for a thing without willing it. I wish to have a certain article, but I find the price too high; I resolve not to take it; I wish, but do not will to have it. The sluggard wishes to be rich, but does not will it. Many a one wishes to be saved, but perishes because he does not will it. The will rules the whole heart and life; if I really will to have anything that is within my reach, I do not rest till I have it. And so, when Jesus says to us, ‘What wilt thou?’ He asks whether it is indeed our purpose to have what we ask at any price, however great the sacrifice. Dost thou indeed so will to have it that, though He delay it long, thou dost not hold thy peace till He hear thee? Alas! how many prayers are wishes, sent up for a short time and then forgotten, or sent up year after year as matter of duty, while we rest content with the prayer without the answer.
 

Sunspots 811

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: A Christianity Today article indicates that, although many people are cautious about altering our genes, evangelical Christians are more skeptical than the general public.

A Relevant article considers the question of whether God may have created (or allowed) intelligent beings on other worlds. (There are about 2 trillion galaxies, and it is supposed that there are many possibly habitable planets in most or all of these.

Relevant also reports that Beth Moore, an evangelical leader, has spoken out against "Trumpism." (And "Bidenism.")

(And politics) Relevant also has an article discussing Christian Nationalism.

Environment: According to a USA Today article, the total mass of all human-produced objects on earth is now greater than the total mass of living things.

(and politics) Gizmodo reports that Ryan Zinke, formerly Secretary of Interior, who facilitated removing over a million acres from Bears Ears national monument, has had an official portrait, featuring him on a horse in that monument.

(and politics) NPR reports that contractors are pushing to get as much of the border wall erected as possible, before Donald Trump leaves office. Environmental groups, and others, are against this.

(and politics) President Trump has done less to protect endangered species than any President since Johnson, according to Gizmodo.

Health: A tool to let you see how full your local hospitals are, and how many COVID patients there are.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight provides a thorough discussion of Presidential pardons.

Science: Some bees have been found to add to their colony defenses by spreading animal feces near the opening. Scientists aren't sure why this works, or if it would repel so-called murder hornets.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 63

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

... the Lord warns us against the vain repetitions of the Gentiles, who think to be heard for their much praying. We often hear prayers of great earnestness and fervour, in which a multitude of petitions are poured forth, but to which the Saviour would undoubtedly answer ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’
If I am in a strange land, in the interests of the business which my father owns, I would certainly write two different sorts of letters. There will be family letters giving expression to all the intercourse to which affection prompts; and there will be business letters, containing orders for what I need. And there may be letters in which both are found. The answers will correspond to the letters. To each sentence of the letters containing the family news I do not expect a special answer. But for each order I send I am confident of an answer whether the desired article has been forwarded. In our dealings with God the business element must not be wanting. With our expression of need and sin, of love and faith and consecration, there must be the pointed statement of what we ask and expect to receive; it is in the answer that the Father loves to give us the token of His approval and acceptance.  

On Republican response to the Presidential election

A recent poll indicates that less than 25% of Republican respondents believe that the 2020 Presidential election was fair.

When our emotions guide our beliefs, it takes more than facts to change our minds. Most Republicans want to believe that the election was rigged. It's no wonder, when the head Republican warned everyone about this months and months ago, and hasn't stopped yet. He is a fount of misinformation, but his followers don't seem to realize this, or care. Mr. Trump, for example, said that, after November 3rd, the COVID pandemic would drop out of the news, implying that coverage of the pandemic was some sort of plot against him. I wish it had been. News about it has increased, not gone away.

But consider some facts: 1) Lawsuits from Trump's followers, and his legal team, have mostly been lost. And the judges involved have been, quite often, Trump appointees.

2) William Barr, attorney general, and head of the US Justice Department, has said that his Department has found no evidence of rigging, etc., during the election and vote counting. Other officials, national and state, many of them, like Barr, Republicans, have said the same thing. One of them was fired because he said that.

3) The Democrats lost seats in the US House (although they still have a majority), and they probably will not have the same number of Senators as the Republicans (meaning that Vice President Harris can break ties). What kind of conspiracy would diminish votes for Trump, while at the same time hurting Democrats?

4) All the complaints about the election have been that somehow Democrats got more votes than they should have, and/or Republicans got less votes than they should have. Again, it seems preposterous to suppose that there was massive fraud, all committed by Democrats. If they changed, say, 8,000,000 votes, wouldn't it be reasonable to suppose that a comparable number of Democratic votes were changed. Surely, if there was cheating, there would have been some on both sides.

I doubt that the number of Republicans who believe that the election was fair is going down much in the foreseeable future. That means that a significat fraction of the electorates won't believe in the process, and they may turn to some sort of coup, or to violence against Democrats. I hope not. 

Most Republicans don't want to believe that the election was fair.

Why is President Trump continuing to fight a losing battle? I can only speculate. Perhaps he really believes that he won the election. Perhaps he is just raising money for a run in 2024. Only time will tell. God help us all.

Thanks for reading.

Sunspots 810

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Christianity Today reports that Walter Hooper, who spent most of his life editing and publishing the writing of C. S. Lewis, has died.

Christianity: Christianity Today on the most commonly read Bible verses of 2020.

Relevant points out nine myths about Christians that many Christians believe (such as that there were three wise men.

Computing: Relevant discusses a New York Times report on sexual exploitation of children, and other bad stuff, on the most widely used source of pornography on the Internet.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that all major US banks have indicated that they will not finance oil drilling in the Arctic.

Elephants are making a comeback in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, according to Gizmodo.

Gizmodo also reports that "The Old Arctic is Gone," for centuries, probably.

Food: (or something) NPR reports that service workers, such as those who make deliveries, are getting smaller tips, and are more likely to be sexually harassed, since the pandemic.

Health: Gizmodo reports that the Centers for Disease Control has updated its recommendations on length of quarantine stay, relative to COVID. The recommended lengths have been shortened.

The obituary of Marvin J. Farr, a veterinarian who died from COVID, as so many others have, has gone viral. With good reason.

Politics: A Trump election lawyer has called for the execution of Chris Krebs, who was fired for saying that the 2020 Presidential election was free from anything close to lost or changed ballots, according to Gizmodo.

Science: TheScientist discusses the use of messenger RNA vaccines. (The most promising COVID vaccines are mRNA injections.)

(or something) Gizmodo reports on how a capsized cargo ship, with a few thousand autos on it, is being cut up and removed.

(And Christianity) The Wikipedia has an article on the star of Bethlehem, which considers several possible explanations, including the purely miraculous, and some astronomical phenomena.

Gizmodo has a slide show about the "most intriguing" archaeological discoveries of 2020.

Relevant and other outlets report that there will be a "Christmas Star" conjunction on December 21, and for a few days later.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight reports on findings that elite professional athletes are likely to be younger siblings.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, 62

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

And yet how much of our prayer is vague and pointless. Some cry for mercy, but take not the trouble to know what mercy must do for them. Others ask, perhaps, to be delivered from sin, but do not begin by bringing any sin by name from which the deliverance may be claimed. Still others pray for God’s blessing on those around them, for the outpouring of God’s Spirit on their land or the world, and yet have no special field where they wait and expect to see the answer. To all the Lord says: And what is it now you really want and expect Me to do? Every Christian has but limited powers, and as he must have his own special field of labour in which he works, so with his prayers too. Each believer has his own circle, his family, his friends, his neighbours. If he were to take one or more of these by name, he would find that this really brings him into the training-school of faith, and leads to personal and pointed dealing with his God. It is when in such distinct matters we have in faith claimed and received answers, that our more general prayers will be believing and effectual.

Sunspots 809

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

The Arts: Speculative Faith considers the question of whether a story that doesn't mention God, or the Bible, can glorify Him. Answer: yes.

I know nothing about the music, or the performers, but Gizmodo reports on a production, using 200 drones, that made a giant face in the sky, that lip-synced with some music. Amazing.

Christianity: (And politics, I guess) Christianity Today on the recent Supreme Court ruling on whether state or local governments can regulate attendance at churches. More than one aspect of this is discussed.

Education: Grammarphobia discusses uses of and, as in "try and stop me," rather than "to," as in "try to stop me."

Environment: The Trump administration has rejected a project in Alaska that would have been environmentally dangerous. Good for them.

Politics: (and History) NPR on the length of time between the Presidential election and the inauguration.

Politics (and health) The Atlantic has documented all of President Trump's wrong statements about COVID. There were a lot of them.

Science: In case you didn't know it, the earth occasionally has an asteroid orbiting it, a "minimoon."

Science Alert reports on the discovery of a large swarm of eels in the deep Pacific ocean.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 61

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

‘What wilt thou?’ Or, Prayer must be Definite.
‘And Jesus answered him, and said, What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’—Mark x. 51; Luke xviii. 41

THE blind man had been crying out aloud, and that a great deal, ‘Thou Son of David, have mercy on me.’ The cry had reached the ear of the Lord; He knew what he wanted, and was ready to grant it him. But ere He does it, He asks him: ‘What wilt thou that I should do unto thee?’ He wants to hear from his own lips, not only the general petition for mercy, but the distinct expression of what his desire was. Until he speaks it out, he is not healed. There is now still many a suppliant to whom the Lord puts the same question, and who cannot, until it has been answered, get the aid he ask. Our prayers must not be a vague appeal to His mercy, an indefinite cry for blessing, but the distinct expression of definite need. Not that His loving heart does not understand our cry, or is not ready to hear. But He desires it for our own sakes. Such definite prayer teaches us to know our own needs better. It demands time, and thought, and self-scrutiny to find out what really is our greatest need. It searches us and puts us to the test as to whether our desires are honest and real, such as we are ready to persevere in. It leads us to judge whether our desires are according to God’s Word, and whether we really believe that we shall receive the things we ask. It helps us to wait for the special answer, and to mark it when it comes.

Sunspots 808

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Robert Hawes has posted excerpts from a forthcoming book (I think). Here is his discussion about the flood of Genesis. It's thorough, and presents some interesting ideas, for sure.

Computing: Gizmo's Freeware describes web sites that identify fonts that you don't have, but may want to use.

Gizmo's Freeware also considers web sites or apps that add color to grayscale photos.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that climate change appears to have caused an increase in the number of winter drownings.

Health: (and politics, unfortunately) NPR compares two rural states with Republican governors. Their different responses to COVID, and the results, tell a dramatic story.

Politics: FiveThirtyEight analyzes post-election trust, and finds that a lot of Republicans do not believe the election was conducted fairly.

The same source compares the common right-wing belief that Trump won the election to the belief, birtherism, that President Obama was not a natural-born citizen. That belief hasn't really died, even though Trump, himself, eventually repudiated it.

Science: I'm guessing that you have never heard of the African crested rat. I hadn't. But it exists, and it's strange.

Gizmodo asks experts about the biggest scientific fraud of the last 50 years. They came up with two such frauds, serious ones.

Gizmodo also discusses the Arecibo radio telescope, in Puerto Rico, which has been demolished after over 50 years of doing good science.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 60

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

O our Lord! we cannot understand how Thou canst entrust such work and give such power to men so slothful and unfaithful. We thank Thee for all whom Thou art teaching to cry day and night for labourers to be sent forth. Lord, breathe Thine own Spirit on all Thy children, that they may learn to live for this one thing alone—the Kingdom and glory of their Lord—and become fully awake to the faith of what their prayer can accomplish. And let all our hearts in this, as in every petition, be filled with the assurance that prayer, offered in loving faith in the living God, will bring certain and abundant answer. Amen.

Let there be light! I'm thankful for the electromagnetic spectrum

Genesis 1:1 In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. 2 The earth was formless and empty. Darkness was on the surface of the deep and God’s Spirit was hovering over the surface of the waters. 3 God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. 

There is controversy over whether Genesis 1 is to be taken as a sequential account of the creation, or should be interpreted in some other way, and over when and how long creation took place. Let’s put those matters aside. They don’t really matter for the topics of this post. The first reported created act (although the creation of the earth seems to have come first) is bringing light about. That’s important.

Light is important. The main source of usable energy on earth is light. Energy from light drives the water cycle. Light is absorbed by green plants, and almost all of the food we eat exists because of that. Light makes it possible for us to perceive where we are, where we are going, and who and what is around us. Light makes it possible for us to work, and to play. Without light, reading would be difficult or impossible. Except for those unfortunates of us who are blind, we live in a world perceived and navigated because light is present.

The Bible doesn’t say “let there be an electromagnetic spectrum.” Such a term wouldn’t have made sense to the ancient Israelis, and doesn’t make sense to a lot of us today. See here for more about that spectrum. But I will say that visible light is a rather small part of a range of energy forms, ranging from gamma rays, X-rays and ultra-violet to infrared, microwaves and radio waves. The people living when Genesis was written, and when it became a part of their culture, had no way of detecting these other forms, or appreciating their importance. However, whenever and however light came to be, this whole family of energy must have accompanied it. I don’t know about you, but I use WiFi every day. I’m not sure whether my phone uses 5G or not, but, whether it does, or not, it’s using part of the electromagnetic spectrum to help me communicate.

I had a chest X-ray a few weeks ago. That part of the electromagnet spectrum allows us, as it were, to “see” parts of our bodies that we can't see with ordinary light.

We open our blinds frequently. This is partly so we can see our surroundings. It is also to help heat our home without adding to the utility bill. Light is reflected -- that’s how we see, as light is reflected off of whatever we are looking at, and comes back, going through our pupils and striking our retinas. But it is also absorbed, for example by green plants that carry on photosynthesis. Some of the absorption is manifest in that light energy is converted to heat energy, which, when radiated, is another part of the electromagnetic spectrum. Without heat derived from the sun’s light, the earth would be uninhabitably cold.

Some other Biblical thoughts about the electromagnetic spectrum. Here’s a quotation from 1 Timothy: “6:16 He alone has immortality, dwelling in unapproachable light, whom no man has seen, nor can see: to whom be honor and eternal power. Amen.” Unapproachable light? Yes, there is that, physically. We can’t be exposed to parts of the electromagnetic spectrum, in any great amount, or for any great length of time, without suffering damage, or even death. Is the scripture talking about the electromagnetic spectrum, as physicists measure it, or is this symbolic of God’s great holiness and power? Or is it both? I don’t know.

John 8:12 Again, therefore, Jesus spoke to them, saying, “I am the light of the world. [Perhaps referring to Isaiah 60:1] He who follows me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the light of life.” Christ, Himself, illuminates, warms, communicates. He is truly the light of the world. (See John 1:1-9.)

Finally, Revelation 22:4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 There will be no night, and they need no lamp light or sun light; for the Lord God will illuminate them. They will reign forever and ever. I don’t pretend to understand this, but its part of the Bible.

Thanks for reading. Image modified from Pixabay. Scripture in this color, from the World English Bible.

Sunspots 807

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Christianity Today reports on religious persecution. That (and not just of Christians) is on the rise, world-wide.

Computing: (or something) National Public Radio reports on the movement of workers from home from expensive metropolitan areas to small cities like Burlington, VT, Knoxville, TN and Greenville, SC.

Education: Grammarphobia considers the question of how a final -ed syllable was pronounced, in previous times. (Example: was "learned" pronounced to rhyme with "burned," or with "turn head?")

Science: The Scientist reports on studies of the ability of zebra finches to identify vocalization from other individual birds of the same species. Their abilities are remarkable.

Sports: ESPN and other outlets report that Kim Ng has become the first general manager of a major North American pro sports team.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

 

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 59

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

Blessed Lord! Thou hast this day again given us another of Thy wondrous lessons to learn. We humbly ask Thee, O give us to see aright the spiritual realities of which Thou hast been speaking. There is the harvest which is so large, and perishing, as it waits for sleepy disciples to give the signal for labourers to come. Lord, teach us to look out upon it with a heart moved with compassion and pity. There are the labourers, so few. Lord, show us how terrible the sin of the want of prayer and faith, of which this is the token. And there is the Lord of the harvest, so able and ready to send them forth. Lord, show us how He does indeed wait for the prayer to which He has bound His answer. And there are the disciples to whom the commission to pray has been given: Lord, show us how Thou canst pour down Thy Spirit and breathe upon them, so that Thy compassion and the faith in Thy promise shall rouse them to unceasing, prevailing prayer.

Sunspots 806

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Relevant has a tongue-in-cheek piece on Starbuck's cups, which, again, don't include the word, "Christmas," on them.

A Christianity Today article argues that Phoebe (Romans 16:1) had an important role in the church.

Environment: The US has officially withdrawn (finally) from the Paris Climate Accord. Gizmodo also reports that, if Biden wins, we could re-join the Accord in about a month.

Gizmodo reports that the voters of Colorado have voted to have wolves introduced into the state. (They used to live there).

Health: (or something) Relevant reports that the US divorce rate keeps dropping. However, marriage, especially among those not so well off, is also less likely.

The Panda's Thumb is not totally optimistic about Pfizer's vaccine, for more than one reason. I hope that the optimism is correct.

Politics: Neil Cavuto, Fox News anchor, had his program cut away from a White House press conference, because, he said, it was presenting unsubstantiated assertions about ballots, according to Relevant and other sources.

Nate Silver, head of FiveThirtyEight, discusses what recent polls got right.

Science: Relevant reports on an extra-solar planet that has extreme conditions.

Gizmodo reports on recent observations of a little-known kind of squid.

Sports: FiveThirtyEight reports that the number of punts returned, rather than let fall, or fairly caught, is declining.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 58

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

The other blessing to be asked will not be less. Every believer is a labourer; not one of God’s children who has not been redeemed for service, and has not his work waiting. It must be our prayer that the Lord would so fill all His people with the spirit of devotion, that not one may be found standing idle in the vineyard. Wherever there is a complaint of the want of helpers, or of fit helpers in God’s work, prayer has the promise of a supply. There is no Sunday school or district visiting, no Bible reading or rescue work, where God is not ready and able to provide. It may take time and importunity, but the command of Christ to ask the Lord of the harvest is the pledge that the prayer will be heard: ‘I say unto you, he will arise and give him as many as he needeth.’

Solemn, blessed thought! this power has been given us in prayer to provide in the need of the world, to secure the servants for God’s work. The Lord of the harvest will hear. Christ, who called us so specially to pray thus, will support our prayers offered in His name and interest. Let us set apart time and give ourselves to this part of our intercessory work. It will lead us into the fellowship of that compassionate heart of His that led Him to call for our prayers. It will elevate us to the insight of our regal position, as those whose will counts for something with the great God in the advancement of His Kingdom. It will make us feel how really we are God’s fellow-workers on earth, to whom a share in His work has in downright earnest been entrusted. It will make us partakers in the soul travail, but also in the soul satisfaction of Jesus, as we know how, in answer to our prayer, blessing has been given that otherwise would not have come.

Sunspots 805

Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: Christianity Today examines the status of women, as shown by the Bible's text.

Christianity Today also has an article on "Why Evangelicals Disagree on the President"

Computing: Gizmodo reports that a camera, using artificial intelligence, confused a referee's bald head with the soccer ball that it was supposed to be tracking.

Ethics: (Or something) Relevant reports that Jerry Falwell, Jr., is suing Liberty University over his forced resignation.

Science: A new coral reef has been discovered, off of Australia, according to Gizmodo and other outlets.

NPR reports on cells, in our brains, that help us recall events in proper sequence.

Listverse has a photo essay on amazing happenings from long ago, captured by fossils.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 57

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

Solemn thought! O why is it that we do not obey the injunction of the Master more heartily, and cry more earnestly for labourers? There are two reasons for this. The one is: We miss the compassion of Jesus, which gave rise to this request for prayer. When believers learn that to love their neighbours as themselves, that to live entirely for God’s glory in their fellow-men, is the Father’s first commandment to His redeemed ones, they will accept of the perishing ones as the charge entrusted to them by their Lord. And, accepting them not only as a field of labour, but as the objects of loving care and interest, it will not be long before compassion towards the hopelessly perishing will touch their heart, and the cry ascend with an earnestness till then unknown: Lord! send labourers. The other reason for the neglect of the command, the want of faith, will then make itself felt, but will be overcome as our pity pleads for help. We believe too little in the power of prayer to bring about definite results. We do not live close enough to God, and are not enough entirely given up to His service and Kingdom, to be capable of the confidence that He will give it in answer to our prayer. O let us pray for a life so one with Christ, that His compassion may stream into us, and His Spirit be able to assure us that our prayer avails.

Such prayer will ask and obtain a twofold blessing. There will first be the desire for the increase of men entirely given up to the service of God. It is a terrible blot upon the Church of Christ that there are times when actually men cannot be found for the service of the Master as ministers, missionaries, or teachers of God’s Word. As God’s children make this a matter of supplication for their own circle or Church, it will be given. The Lord Jesus is now Lord of the harvest. He has been exalted to bestow gifts—the gifts of the Spirit. His chief gifts are men filled with the Spirit. But the supply and distribution of the gifts depend on the co-operation of Head and members. It is just prayer will lead to such co-operation; the believing suppliants will be stirred to find the men and the means for the work.

Sunspots 804

 Things I have recently spotted that may be of interest to someone else:

Christianity: (and Politics) John Piper, an important evangelical, explains, without mentioning names, why he won't be voting for Donald Trump.

The editor of Christianity Today, on white male evangelical supremacy, and the history that led us to this point.

Computing: (And Christianity) Christianity Today reports on young TikTok evangelists.

Education: Listverse tells us some interesting facts about mountains.

Environment: Gizmodo reports that a feasible method to break down polyethylene plastic has been found.

Philosophy:  The Society of Catholic Scientists argues that human minds cannot be completely explained by physics and chemistry.

Science: Gizmodo reports on a beetle that can withstand being run over by an automobile.

The Scientist reports that previously unknown salivary glands have been found in us humans.

The Scientist also reports that water (frozen) has been found on the moon.

The graphic used in these posts is from NASA, hence, it is free to use like this.

Thanks for looking!

With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, 56

This post continues a series of excerpts from With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go here. The previous post is here. As usual in this blog, long quotations are in this color.

How little Christians really feel and mourn the need of labourers in the fields of the world so white to the harvest. And how little they believe that our labour-supply depends on prayer, that prayer will really provide ‘as many as he needeth.’ Not that the dearth of labour is not known or discussed. Not that efforts are not sometimes put forth to supply the want. But how little the burden of the sheep wandering without a Shepherd is really borne in the faith that the Lord of the harvest will, in answer to prayer, send forth the labourers, and in the solemn conviction that without this prayer fields ready for reaping will be left to perish. And yet it is so. So wonderful is the surrender of His work into the hands of His Church, so dependent has the Lord made Himself on them as His body, through whom alone His work can be done, so real is the power which the Lord gives His people to exercise in heaven and earth, that the number of the labourers and the measure of the harvest does actually depend upon their prayer.

Jesus and politics, 2020 edition

Sometimes, we think that the way to fix the world is through politics. Jesus didn’t try that. There were lots of poor people, but He didn’t campaign for higher taxes on the rich to help them. The illegal aliens were running the country, but He didn’t try to get rid of them. Abortion may have been practiced in Israel, and perhaps infanticide was, too -- it seems to have been common among the Greeks and Romans. There's not a Biblical record of Jesus mentioning either of these practices. There weren’t any Muslims yet, but there were Samaritans, and He got one of them to be an evangelist to her village, and told a story, to a Jewish audience, about the goodness of another Samaritan. The Romans had open carry, but the Jews didn’t. There was slavery, and women were second-class citizens. He didn’t try a political solution for any of these things. He helped individuals that He came across, lived a sinless life, and died and rose for our sins. That, plus training the disciples, was His way of attacking the problems around Him.

Note: Apparently, sometimes God calls a person to become politically active. Wilberforce’s crusade against slavery seems to have been a case of this.

John 18:36a Jesus answered, “My Kingdom is not of this world. If my Kingdom were of this world, then my servants would fight, that I wouldn’t be delivered to the Jews. But now my Kingdom is not from here.” (World English Bible, public domain)

Thanks for reading!