tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-96618112024-03-17T20:25:37.030-04:00Sun and ShieldMusings on science, the Bible, and fantastic literature (and sometimes basketball and other stuff).
<br>God speaks to us through the Bible and the findings of science, and we should listen to both types of revelation.
<br>The title is from Psalm 84:11.
<br>The Wikipedia is usually a pretty good reference. I mostly use the World English Bible (WEB), because is public domain. I am grateful.Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.comBlogger3886125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-51712665816820227542024-03-13T03:27:00.001-04:002024-03-13T03:27:00.128-04:00Sunspots 967<span style="font-size: large;">Things I've spotted that may be of interest to others:<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNdOWsWt7EVmr0-__XmNF4yRxNl3gSaTtpJhnrNEPhLRki9xDndveDyVyEkHH9vq5YNBIr_ec6gwTXnTKkdmFPvR58wShISzNP6Th0iFcPwN_4cqs4JJViahhMSHG3UBA4EpCZKLIub6MHLEHvI5JlmA9IC2XDm9RpRT-ShKMEKb3ZWR6CRWB/s257/Sunspots_on_sun%20from%20Wikipedia.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="257" data-original-width="256" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUNdOWsWt7EVmr0-__XmNF4yRxNl3gSaTtpJhnrNEPhLRki9xDndveDyVyEkHH9vq5YNBIr_ec6gwTXnTKkdmFPvR58wShISzNP6Th0iFcPwN_4cqs4JJViahhMSHG3UBA4EpCZKLIub6MHLEHvI5JlmA9IC2XDm9RpRT-ShKMEKb3ZWR6CRWB/w168-h169/Sunspots_on_sun%20from%20Wikipedia.jpg" width="168" /></a><br /><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmodo reports on the discovery of <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/9661811/5171266581682022754">several very large undersea mountains</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation writer discusses <a href="https://theconversation.com/mounting-research-shows-that-covid-19-leaves-its-mark-on-the-brain-including-with-significant-drops-in-iq-scores-224216">what COVID does to our thinking</a>. It dangerous to the brain.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Another Conversation writer <a href="https://theconversation.com/belief-in-the-myth-of-outlaw-heroes-partly-explains-donald-trumps-die-hard-support-221368">compares Donald Trump to the outlaws of the American past</a>. (Al Capone, for one).</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmodo recommends <a href="https://gizmodo.com/the-best-computer-mice-1851293676">the best computer mice</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">An article in The Conversation pays <a href="https://theconversation.com/from-jaws-to-schindlers-list-john-williams-has-infused-movie-scores-with-adventure-and-emotion-222694">tribute to composer John Williams</a>.</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">(Image of sunspots from Wikipedia)</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-76012581477555197122024-03-12T03:39:00.001-04:002024-03-12T03:39:00.135-04:00Evidence of various kinds for evolution<p><span style="font-size: large;">TalkOrigins has published an extensive on-line document, free to use, on <a href="https://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/https://www.talkorigins.org/faqs/comdesc/">the many evidences for evolution</a>. No doubt there are some flaws, but it's pretty extensive, and seems to cover the ground well.</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-83260578135384077642024-03-11T03:10:00.003-04:002024-03-11T03:10:00.134-04:00Geology and a world-wide flood (or not)<p> <span style="font-size: large;">I am not a geologist, but a <a href="https://jesusinhistoryandscience.com/?p=3322">recent article</a>, written by a geologist, presents abundant geological evidence that the arrangement of rocks and fossils does not support the Young-Earth Creationist belief in a world-wide flood.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading.</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-63457527121867020662024-03-10T03:28:00.007-04:002024-03-10T03:28:00.140-04:00With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 215<p><span style="font-size: large;"> <span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. This is posted, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria;"> </span></span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large;">The material below, a "note" which is part of Murray's book, is quoted from another old author. I couldn't find complete information on the source. The author's name is given at the end.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0">‘<span style="color: #cc0000;">The new epoch of prayer in the Name of Jesus is pointed out by Christ as the time of the outpouring of the Spirit, in which the disciples enter upon a more enlightened apprehension of the economy of redemption, and become as clearly conscious of their oneness with Jesus as of His oneness with the Father. Their prayer in the Name of Jesus is now directly to the Father Himself. “</span></span><span style="color: #cc0000;"><span class="fontstyle2">I say not that I will pray </span><span class="fontstyle0">for you, for the Father Himself loveth you,” Jesus says; while He had previously spoken of the time before the Spirit’s coming: “</span><span class="fontstyle2">I will pray </span><span class="fontstyle0">the Father, and He will give you the Comforter.” This prayer thus has as its central thought the insight into our being united to God in Christ as on both sides the living bond of union between God and us (</span><span class="fontstyle0">John xvii. 23</span><span class="fontstyle0">: “I in them and Thou in me”), so that in Jesus we behold the Father as united to us, and ourselves as united to the Father. Jesus Christ must have been revealed to us, not only through the truth in the mind, but in our inmost personal consciousness as the living personal reconciliation, as He in whom God’s Fatherhood and Father-love have been perfectly united with human nature and it with God. Not that with the immediate prayer to the Father, the mediatorship of Christ is set aside; but it is no longer looked at as something external, existing outside of us, but as a real living spiritual existence within us, so that the Christ </span><span class="fontstyle2">for us</span><span class="fontstyle0">, the Mediator, has really become Christ </span><span class="fontstyle2">in us.<p></p></span><span class="fontstyle0">‘When the consciousness of this oneness between God in Christ and us in Christ still is wanting, or has been darkened by the sense of guilt, then the prayer of faith looks to our Lord as the Advocate, who pays the Father </span><span class="fontstyle2">for us. </span><span class="fontstyle0">(Compare </span><span class="fontstyle0">John xvi. 26 </span><span class="fontstyle0">with </span><span class="fontstyle0">John xiv. 16, 17; ix. 20; Luke xxi. 32; I John ii. 1</span><span class="fontstyle0">.) To take Christ thus in prayer as Advocate, is according to </span><span class="fontstyle0">John xvi. 26 </span><span class="fontstyle0">not perfectly the same as the prayer in His Name. Christ’s advocacy is meant to lead us on to that inner self-standing life-union with Him, and with the Father in Him, in virtue of which Christ is He in whom God enters </span>
<span class="fontstyle0">into immediate relation and unites Himself with us, and in whom we in all circumstances </span>
<span class="fontstyle0">enter into immediate relation with God. Even so the prayer in the Name of Jesus does not consist in our prayer at His command: the disciples had prayed thus ever since the Lord had given them His “Our Father,” and yet He says, “Hitherto ye have not prayed in my Name.” Only when the mediation of Christ has become, through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, life and power within us, and so </span><span class="fontstyle2">His mind, as it found expression in His word and work, has taken possession of and filled our personal consciousness and will</span><span class="fontstyle0">, so that in faith and love we have Jesus in us as the Reconciler who has actually made us one with God: only then His Name, which included His nature and His work, is become truth and power in us (not only for us), and we have in the Name of Jesus the free, direct access to the Father which is sure of being heard. Prayer in the Name of Jesus is the liberty of a son with the Father, just as Jesus had this as the First-begotten. We pray in the place of Jesus, not as if we could put ourselves in His place, but in as far as we are in Him and He in us. We go direct to the Father, but only as the Father is in Christ, not as if He were separate from Christ. Wherever thus the inner man does not live in Christ and has Him not present as the Living One, where His word is not ruling in the heart in its Spirit-power, where His truth and life have not become the life of our soul, it is vain to think that a formula like “for the sake of Thy dear Son” will avail.’—</span><span class="fontstyle2">Christliche Ethik, von Dr. I. T. Beck, Tubingen, </span><span class="fontstyle0">iii. 39.</span></span>
<br style="font-variant-alternates: normal; font-variant-east-asian: normal; font-variant-numeric: normal; font-variant-position: normal; line-height: normal; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-size-adjust: auto;" /></span><p><span style="font-size: large;"> </span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-84522373622324516822024-03-09T11:39:00.000-05:002024-03-09T11:39:05.912-05:00The Six-Day War in Creationism, by Gene Nouhan<p><span style="font-size: medium;">There are several books that seriously criticize Young-Earth Creationism, as it is taught by Ken Ham of Answers in Genesis (AiG), and others. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Six-Day-War-Creationism-Critique-Movement-ebook/dp/B0CLKXTHFS/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">The Six-Day War in Creationism: A New Critique of the Young Earth Reform Movement and Its Excesses</a></i> is the most thorough such book that I have read. It's also the longest. The length and content of that title gives a hint of that thoroughness, and length. </span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Author Gene Nouhan carefully considers the meaning of the Bible's original languages, and concludes that the Bible wasn't meant to say that the earth is but a few thousand years old, and doesn't. His related main criticism of the Young-Earth Creationism (YEC) movement is that its advocates do not usually explicitly claim that you have to agree with them for your eternal salvation, but that they argue so strongly for a YEC interpretation (never mind the lack of evidence) that the message that comes across is that only YEC believers can be saved.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nouhan doesn't attempt to rule out a six day creation by examining scientific evidence. Others have done so, explaining that a young earth isn't consistent with geological, biological, or paleological findings. Nouhan's base is the original words in the Bible, as far as we can know them. I am not a scholar of biblical language, but Nouhan seems convincing. He calls upon logic and common sense.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Two other books that I recommend are not as thorough, but seem sound in Biblical scholarship, and make some important points. <i><a href="https://www.amazon.com/Mis-interpreting-Genesis-Creation-Misunderstands-ebook/dp/B08R35P84H/ref=tmm_kin_swatch_0?_encoding=UTF8&qid=&sr=">(Mis)interpreting Genesis: How the Creation Museum Misunderstands the Ancient Near Eastern Context of the Bible</a></i>, by Ben Stanhope, deflates claims from AiG that the Bible teaches that dinosaurs were contemporary with people in Noah's time, based on his analysis of the language of the Old Testament. Why does AiG make such claims? One possibility is that they genuinely believe that the Bible teaches that. Another possibility is that, as a culture, we are excited by dinosaurs -- see Jurassic Park, etc., the Flintstones, news reports on newly discovered fossils, and many other phenomena -- and that AiG is using this fascination to raise interest, attendance, and money. Stanhope considers archaeology, and some of the sciences, as well as history. An important sample is </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">It’s historically outrageous to suppose a global flood ... [is] supposed to have managed to blast out the Grand Canyon in North America and fossilize the dinosaurs in Uzbekistan but couldn’t put a dent in the Sphinx at Giza or other hundreds of Egyptian sites and entire civilizations constructed far earlier and well documented as alive and well through this period. If you accept the calculation that a global flood occurred in 2300 BC, you absurdly end up having to compress or explain away nearly all of the world’s chronological and archaeological evidence dating to before the middle of the Egyptian Old Kingdom period.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><i><a href="The Heresy of Ham: What Every Evangelical Needs to Know About the Creation-Evolution Controversy">The Heresy of Ham: What Every Evangelical Needs to Know About the Creation-Evolution Controversy</a></i>, by Joel Edmund Anderson, argues that AiG believes, and teaches, that Young-Earth Creationism is one of the foundational beliefs of the church, which belief is a heresy. Here's a quotation from the book:</span></p><div>
<p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: medium;">... heresy is not limited to simply wrong teaching about something. It also can involve undue emphasis of a particular theological point or view, and actually elevate a secondary or non-essential issue to a level of primacy, equal to the resurrection of Christ.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">And Anderson (and Nouhan) believe that AiG and those it influences and agrees with have done exactly that.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Nouhan's book is not perfect. There are a few things that the editor missed, such as using "tenant" when "tenet" was what was meant. The acronym SDWC is commonly used, but never expanded. (It means "Six Day War in Creationism," of course. There are hundreds of footnotes. Some of them, to web sources, don't give the UUL but give the site's name (Answers in Genesis, for example) and the date. Some of those sources would be hard to fine. Some footnotes are not to an outside source, but give part of Nouhan's argument. I'm not clear as to why these are not part of the main text. Finally, Nouhan overuses italics. When it doubt, italicize, seems to be his thinking. These are minor flaws, or maybe flaws at all. It's a good book.</span></p>
</div><p><span style="font-size: medium;">Thanks for reading!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;">The following graphic does not directly relate to this post, but it's my blog. It's impossible to take Genesis 1 and 2 as two straightforward sequential lists of events:</span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: medium;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEistU5vQ4GhJ8-Y3sFGsHGQ5aDeN8XOb9OzUqY5ovn5qGOILNl53IgSaueuiWy-Mh6cCkmDXPhDP0ECVx28Z9KA5iVrdO0VITaCGxKJBOE_8Mhb3ZdfYHIfe7NCq00m8EOv4kJzt9lv8x2GJ8zQoaAu6Bz4CeQ1YKhGal-v-YY5JePVw8WnBNG9" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="404" data-original-width="640" height="258" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEistU5vQ4GhJ8-Y3sFGsHGQ5aDeN8XOb9OzUqY5ovn5qGOILNl53IgSaueuiWy-Mh6cCkmDXPhDP0ECVx28Z9KA5iVrdO0VITaCGxKJBOE_8Mhb3ZdfYHIfe7NCq00m8EOv4kJzt9lv8x2GJ8zQoaAu6Bz4CeQ1YKhGal-v-YY5JePVw8WnBNG9=w408-h258" width="408" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"><br /></span></p><p><span style="font-size: medium;"> </span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-30121889835927965452024-03-03T06:34:00.000-05:002024-03-03T06:34:04.194-05:00With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, Excerpt 214<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2024/03/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria;"> </span> </span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: x-large;">And, O my Lord! Give me specially to know, as Thou didst promise Thy disciples, that Thou art in the Father, and I in Thee, and Thou in me. Let the uniting power of the Holy Spirit make my whole life an abiding in Thee and Thy intercession, so that my prayer may be its echo, and the Father hear me in Thee and Thee in me. Lord Jesus! let Thy mind n everything be in me, and my life in everything by in Thee. So shall I be prepared to be the channel through which Thy intercession pours its blessing on the world. Amen.</span></p><p><br /></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-59193239036152713602024-03-03T03:38:00.002-05:002024-03-03T03:38:00.139-05:00With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 213<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://www.blogger.com/u/1/blog/post/edit/9661811/1547194534580831024">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large;"> </span></p><p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span class="fontstyle0">Blessed Lord! In lowly adoration I would again bow before Thee. Thy whole redemption work has now passed into prayer; all that now occupies Thee in maintaining and dispensing what Thou didst purchase with Thy blood is only prayer. Thou ever livest to pray. And because we are and abide in Thee, the direct access to the Father is always open, our life can be one of unceasing prayer, and the answer to our prayer is sure.</span></span></span></p><p></p><span style="background-color: white; font-family: Cambria; font-size: x-large;"><span style="color: #990000;">Blessed Lord! Thou hast invited Thy people to be Thy fellow-workers in a life of <span class="fontstyle0">prayer. Thou hast united Thyself with Thy people and makest them as Thy body share with Thee in that ministry of intercession through which alone the world can be filled with the fruit of Thy redemption and the glory of the Father. With more liberty than ever I come to Thee, my Lord, and beseech Thee: Teach me to pray. Thy life is prayer, Thy life is mine. Lord! teach me to pray, in Thee, like Thee.</span></span><br /></span><p></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-7320270437078516172024-02-28T07:21:00.003-05:002024-02-28T07:21:44.530-05:00Sunspots 966<p><span style="font-size: large;">Previous Sunspots posts have included a photo of spots on the sun, from NASA. I haven't been able to do that for this edition.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">The previous Sunspots post pointed to a news article about Caitlin Clark, who recently scored more points than any other female college basketball player. Or not. NPR reports on <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/16/1231817283/caitlin-clark-scoring-record-lynette-woodard-pearl-moore">two other great women scorers</a> who have been mostly overlooked, Lynette Woodard and Pearl Moore.</span></p><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">ScienceAlert reports that scientists have produced <a href="https://www.sciencealert.com/scientists-invent-new-hybrid-food-by-growing-beef-inside-grains-of-rice">cells that are part rice and part beef</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation writer <a href="https://theconversation.com/trump-is-no-navalny-and-prosecution-in-a-democracy-is-a-lot-different-than-persecution-in-putins-russia-223840">compares Trump's claim of being persecuted with the actual persecution of Alexia Navalny</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmodo reports on <a href="https://gizmodo.com/new-moons-discovered-around-uranus-and-neptune-1851282795">the discovery of small moons around Uranus and Neptune</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">(Thanks to a relative for this item.) <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/21/1233010882/tcus-womens-basketball-team-had-so-many-injuries-it-held-open-tryouts-midseason">The Texas Christian University women's basketball team was so beset by injuries that they welcomed women who wanted to try out</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>USA Today</i> and many other outlets report on the discovery (by scientists -- aboriginal people knew about it) of a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2024/02/22/new-giant-anaconda-species-found-amazon/72701331007/">new, and large species of anaconda</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><i>Neuroscience News</i> reports that the belief of <a href="https://neurosciencenews.com/pythagoras-music-math-neuroscience-25671/">Pythagoras, that sounds related by simple ratios produced pleasing music, was not exactly correct</a>. </span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-15471945345808310242024-02-25T03:07:00.003-05:002024-02-25T03:07:00.131-05:00With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 212<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2024/02/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by_11.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria;"> </span> </span></p><p><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0">To many a believer it was a new epoch in his spiritual life when it was revealed to him how truly and entirely Christ was his life, standing good as surety for his remaining faithful and obedient. It was then first that he really began to life a </span><span class="fontstyle2">faith-life. </span><span class="fontstyle0">No less blessed will be the discovery that Christ is surety for our prayer-life too, the centre and embodiment of all prayer, to be communicated by Him through the Holy Spirit to His people. ‘He ever liveth to make intercession’ as the Head of the body, as the Leader in that new and living way which He hath opened up, as the Author and the Perfecter of our faith. He provides in everything for the life of His redeemed ones by giving His own life in them: He cares for their life of prayer, by taking them up into His heavenly prayer-life, by giving and maintaining His prayer-life within them. ‘I have prayed for thee,’ not to render thy faith needless, but ‘that </span><span class="fontstyle2">thy faith </span><span class="fontstyle0">fail not:’ our faith and prayer of faith is rooted in His. It is, ‘if ye abide in me,’ the ever-living Intercessor, and pray with me and in me: ‘ask whatsoever ye will, and it shall be done unto you.’</span></span></p><p></p><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">The thought of our fellowship in the intercession of Jesus reminds us of what He has taught us more than once before, how all these wonderful prayer-promises have as their aim and their justification, the glory of God in the manifestation of His kingdom and the salvation of sinners. As long as we only or chiefly pray for ourselves, the promises of the last night must remain a sealed book to us. It is to the fruit-bearing branches of the Vine; it is to disciples sent into the world as the Father sent Him, to live for perishing men; it is to His faithful servants and intimate friends who take up the work He leaves behind, who have like their Lord become as the seed-corn, losing its life to multiply it manifold;—it is to such that the promises are given. Let us each find out what the work is, and who the souls are entrusted to our special prayers; let us make our intercession for them our life of fellowship with God, and we shall not only find the promises of power in prayer made true to us, but we shall then first begin to realize how our abiding in Christ and His abiding in us makes us share in His own joy of blessing and saving men.<p></p>O most wonderful intercession of our Blessed Lord Jesus, to which we not only owe everything, but in which we are taken up as active partners and fellow-workers! Now we understand what it is to pray in the Name of Jesus, and why it has such power. In His Name, in His Spirit, in Himself, in perfect union with Him. O wondrous, ever active, and most efficacious intercession of the man Christ Jesus! When shall we be wholly taken up into it and always pray in it?
<br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span><br /><p></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-43438517909754732732024-02-22T15:28:00.001-05:002024-02-22T15:28:52.903-05:00Do bacteria mutate randomly, and acquire antibiotic resistance, or do they mutate when exposed to antibiotics?<p><span style="font-size: large;">A <a href="https://theconversation.com/bacteria-can-develop-resistance-to-drugs-they-havent-encountered-before-scientists-figured-this-out-decades-ago-in-a-classic-experiment-220283">post from The Conversation</a> reminds us of the classic experiments conducted by Salvador Luria and Max Delbrück, who showed, in 1943, that bacteria mutate randomly, producing antibiotic-resistant organisms without exposure to the antibiotics. See the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luria%E2%80%93Delbr%C3%BCck_experiment">Wikipedia article</a> on this Nobel prize winning research.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading!</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-62912550742707847732024-02-17T03:35:00.001-05:002024-02-17T03:35:00.150-05:00Sunspots 965<p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation article <a href="https://theconversation.com/dietary-supplements-and-protein-powders-fall-under-a-wild-west-of-products-that-necessitate-caveats-and-caution-220536">discusses dietary supplements</a>, with some warnings. </span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSWtO2Q_NYbqSZr6oSSrfUU-PMoP5Cm6-EMvyVwiH9F5Eh7U3yfuEJ0WaHc4dkuEyMAVeDqcm-K7I7h3Q501irtwnzYOHplzImtkUzt6ht2zDuQAXd3MFABU-aLSkrM7mGx22Ci7UUhtaPTGQLTw-TFty_NBHHoaYaIhuyCBO6yr0iDcpClbRG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="127" data-original-width="127" height="172" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEhSWtO2Q_NYbqSZr6oSSrfUU-PMoP5Cm6-EMvyVwiH9F5Eh7U3yfuEJ0WaHc4dkuEyMAVeDqcm-K7I7h3Q501irtwnzYOHplzImtkUzt6ht2zDuQAXd3MFABU-aLSkrM7mGx22Ci7UUhtaPTGQLTw-TFty_NBHHoaYaIhuyCBO6yr0iDcpClbRG=w172-h172" width="172" /></span></a></div><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Another Conversation article tells us about <a href="https://theconversation.com/synthetic-human-embryos-let-researchers-study-early-development-while-sidestepping-ethical-and-logistical-hurdles-214186">synthetic human embryos</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Grist report suggests that <a href="https://gizmodo.com/category-6-hurricanes-are-already-here-1851243388">we are now occasionally experiencing category 6 hurricanes</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation writer examines the <a href="https://theconversation.com/israel-is-a-jewish-nation-but-its-population-is-far-from-a-monolith-221926">ethnic and national diversity among the Israeli defense forces</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Joel Duff <a href="https://thenaturalhistorian.com/2024/02/12/a-plea-to-pastors-and-theologians-who-preach-on-social-media-2/">pleads with Christian leaders who routinely post material, opinions</a>, copied from others without checking -- the equivalent of posting material from the tabloids on sale at supermarket checkout areas, he says.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmodo warns us that <a href="https://gizmodo.com/your-mac-is-not-virus-proof-it-never-has-been-1851244442">Mac computers are vulnerable to viruses</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation writer discusses <a href="https://theconversation.com/ai-companions-promise-to-combat-loneliness-but-history-shows-the-dangers-of-one-way-relationships-221086">having relationships with artificial intelligences</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Caitlin Clark has set <a href="https://www.npr.org/2024/02/15/1230701661/caitlin-clark-a-tsunami-of-impact-and-influence-breaks-the-ncaa-scoring-record">a record for points scored over a career in women's basketball</a>, according to NPR and multiple other sources. She's not a ball hog -- she recently made her 1000th assist. The all-time record for either sex, set by Pete Maravich over 50 years ago, is likely the next record Clark will break.</span><br /></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-81464335756361693932024-02-16T06:58:00.000-05:002024-02-16T06:58:15.912-05:00Immigration and migration, what the Bible says (repost)<p><span style="font-size: large;">This was a <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2017/07/how-bible-wants-us-to-treat-aliens.html">fairly long post</a> on what the Bible says about how to treat immigrants.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading, or re-reading.</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-18677293925551894902024-02-11T08:45:00.003-05:002024-02-11T08:45:50.032-05:00With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 211<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2024/02/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span> </span></p><p><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0">The Only-begotten is the only one who has the right to pray: to Him alone it was said, ‘Ask, and it shall be given Thee.’ As in all other things the fulness dwells in Him, so the true prayer-fulness too; He alone has the power of prayer. And just as the growth of the spiritual life consists in the clearer insight that all the treasures are </span><span class="fontstyle2">in Him, </span><span class="fontstyle0">and that we too are </span><span class="fontstyle2">in Him</span><span class="fontstyle0">, to receive each moment what we possess in Him, grace for grace, so with the prayer-life too. Our faith in the intercession of Jesus must not only be that He prays in our stead, when we do not or cannot pray, but that, as the Author of our life and our faith, He </span>draws us on to pray in unison with Himself. Our prayer must be a work of faith in this sense too, that as we know that Jesus communicates His whole life in us, He also out of that prayerfulness which is His alone breathes into us our praying.</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-90010694370648133082024-02-08T09:11:00.000-05:002024-02-08T09:11:33.716-05:00Sunspots 964<p>Things I have spotted that may be of interest to others:</p><p>A splendid essay on <a href="https://swilling.com/principles-christian-thinking/" target="_blank">eight principles of sound Christian thinking</a>.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh46mECtmEwMo00PIv3uP_ajDV49J_5nLWXUWPjxuWMAQt5rXb6nNsE-lBJt8NF2dEvAoKlU5DfO6LMFVJ3x56yW_PrHEVgydnEIb8DfX-jbPfNtSVdD4JkYZyJ--I7BKf7KmvYmB36ZewMSqwE3YHheDs5lpeeLJ1oDttzXjw15G51QmCGS6MU" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="128" height="127" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEh46mECtmEwMo00PIv3uP_ajDV49J_5nLWXUWPjxuWMAQt5rXb6nNsE-lBJt8NF2dEvAoKlU5DfO6LMFVJ3x56yW_PrHEVgydnEIb8DfX-jbPfNtSVdD4JkYZyJ--I7BKf7KmvYmB36ZewMSqwE3YHheDs5lpeeLJ1oDttzXjw15G51QmCGS6MU=w127-h127" width="127" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p>A Conversation writer discusses <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-treason-is-a-key-topic-in-trumps-14th-amendment-appeal-to-the-supreme-court-221460" target="_blank">treason and the 14th amendment to the US Constitution</a>.</p><p>Another Conversation writer tells us that <a href="https://theconversation.com/supreme-court-word-count-limits-for-lawyers-explained-in-1-026-words-222327">there are limits to the length of legal briefs</a>, and some lawyers do their best to get around such limits.</p><p>Gizmodo has an article which tells you <a href="https://gizmodo.com/how-to-know-which-phone-you-have-a-guide-for-fellow-id-1851221598">how to find out what model your phone is</a>.</p><p>Heart, Mind, Soul and Strength <a href="https://weekendfisher.blogspot.com/2024/02/jesus-v-words-of-demons.html">considers demons</a>, whether real beings or diseases.</p><p>Gizmodo reports that a woman has received a <a href="https://gizmodo.com/deep-brain-implant-treats-ocd-epilepsy-seizures-1851225810">brain implant device</a> that controls her OCD and bipolar disease.</p><p>Gizmodo also reports on <a href="https://gizmodo.com/guy-used-chatgpt-talk-5-000-women-tinder-met-his-wife-1851228179">a Russian man who found his wife using artificial intelligence</a>.</p><p>LiveScience reports that <a href="https://www.livescience.com/animals/whales/hidden-hybrid-dna-found-in-blue-whales-reveals-theyve-been-mating-with-other-species-and-their-offspring-are-reproducing">blue whales, the largest animals on earth, have been mating, occasionally, with another species of whale</a>.</p><p>NPR reports that gardeners can now grow <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/02/06/1228868005/purple-tomato-gmo-gardeners">purple tomatoes</a>. The purple color comes from snapdragon flowers.</p><p>Thanks for reading!</p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-6412014801327232522024-02-04T20:49:00.002-05:002024-02-04T20:49:13.906-05:00With Christ in the School of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 210<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2024/01/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span> </span></p><p><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0"></span></span></p><p></p><span style="color: #e06666; font-size: large;">And we participate not only in the benefits of this His work, but in the work itself. This because we are His body. Body and members are one: ‘The head cannot say to the feet, I have no need of thee.’ We share with Jesus in all He is and has: ‘The glory which Thou gavest me, I have given them.’ We are partakers of His life, His righteousness, His work: we share with Him in His intercession too; it is not a work He does without us.<p></p>We do this because we are partakers of His life: ‘Christ is our life;’ ‘No longer I, <span class="fontstyle0">but Christ liveth in me.’ The life in Him and in us is identical, one and the same. His life in us is an </span><span class="fontstyle3">ever-praying </span><span class="fontstyle0">life. When it descends and takes possession of us, it does not lose its character; in us too it is the </span><span class="fontstyle3">every-praying </span><span class="fontstyle0">life—a life that without ceasing asks and receives from God. And this not as if there were two separate currents of prayer rising upwards, one from Him, and one from His people. No, but the substantial life-union is also prayerunion: what He prays passes through us, what we pray passes through Him. He is the angel </span><span class="fontstyle0">with the golden censer: ‘UNTO HIM there was given much incense,’ the secret of acceptable prayer, ‘that He should add it unto the prayers of all the saints upon the golden altar.’ We live, we abide in Him, the Interceding One.</span>
<br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span><br /><p></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-2510888572927477762024-01-31T16:36:00.001-05:002024-01-31T16:36:12.880-05:00Sunspots 963<p><span style="font-size: large;">Things of interest that I have recently spotted:</span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYdui4sFCuBQ46YdHapSECeLYBY_5_cKKChA7ExYpa72bHuwtyfxRtf_I1riUqkx2LB5d4MYOk8e417d-B5HkCV3_82lEGIJW7cfrS9fN86nfeKu0qZU8fdW0qNP2cDxtshB45KFkbJHN8Rj9o9T3uX1CvPlXuk0pdnJzeqkvX0H6dmcp5EzB7" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img alt="" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="128" height="196" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/a/AVvXsEjYdui4sFCuBQ46YdHapSECeLYBY_5_cKKChA7ExYpa72bHuwtyfxRtf_I1riUqkx2LB5d4MYOk8e417d-B5HkCV3_82lEGIJW7cfrS9fN86nfeKu0qZU8fdW0qNP2cDxtshB45KFkbJHN8Rj9o9T3uX1CvPlXuk0pdnJzeqkvX0H6dmcp5EzB7=w196-h196" width="196" /></span></a></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Grammarphobia tells us about <a href="https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2024/01/exclamation-point-2.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=exclamation-point-2">the history of the exclamation point/mark</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Gizmodo reports on a study indicating that <a href="https://gizmodo.com/cursive-handwriting-better-learning-than-typing-study-1851206941">cursive writing helps children learn more than keyboard use does</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation writer tells us about the smells we experience when we cut the grass. It's part of <a href="https://theconversation.com/that-sharp-green-smell-of-freshly-cut-grass-its-a-plants-cry-for-help-and-it-may-work-as-a-less-toxic-pesticide-for-farmers-204673">the plant's defense mechanisms</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">A Conversation article discusses the question of <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-surprising-reason-why-insects-circle-lights-at-night-they-lose-track-of-the-sky-221387">why insects circle artificial lights at night</a>, and answers that question.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Another Conversation article points out <a href="https://theconversation.com/sleep-can-give-athletes-an-edge-over-competitors-but-few-recognize-how-fundamental-sleep-is-to-performance-221403">how getting enough good sleep increases athletic performance</a>.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading!</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-13645453625445361942024-01-29T09:24:00.003-05:002024-01-29T09:24:45.022-05:00Women singers in the Old Testament choir?<p><span style="font-size: large;">1 Chronicles <a class="cv" name="C25V4">25:4</a> <span class="b">Of Heman; the sons of Heman:
Bukkiah, Mattaniah, Uzziel, Shebuel, and Jerimoth, Hananiah, Hanani,
Eliathah, Giddalti, and Romamti-Ezer, Joshbekashah, Mallothi, Hothir,
Mahazioth. </span> <a class="cv" name="C25V5">25:5</a> <span class="b">All these were
the sons of Heman the king’s seer in the words of God, to lift up the
horn. God gave to Heman fourteen sons and three daughters. </span> <a class="cv" name="C25V6">25:6a</a> <span class="b">All these were under the hands of
their father for song in the house of Yahweh, with cymbals, stringed
instruments, and harps, for the service of God’s house; (World English Bible, public domain)</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">This seems to suggest that the three daughters were among the musicians under Heman, their father, in the time of David. The few other versions I checked said the same thing. The question, of course, is who "all these" refers to. I'm not sure.</span></p><p><span style="font-size: x-large;">Thanks for reading. </span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-7161090174816597332024-01-28T07:18:00.003-05:002024-01-28T07:18:58.350-05:00With Christ in the School of Prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 209<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2023/12/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by_01722862780.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span></span></p><p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0">He makes us share in His intercession.</span></span></p><p></p><span style="color: #cc0000; font-size: large;">To understand this, think first of <span class="fontstyle2">His intercession: </span><span class="fontstyle0">He ever liveth to make intercession. The work of Christ on earth as Priest was but a beginning. It was as Aaron He shed His blood; it is as Melchizedek that He now lives within the veil to continue His work, after </span><span class="fontstyle0">the power of the eternal life. As Melchizedek is more glorious than Aaron, so it is in the work of intercession that the atonement has its true power and glory. ‘It is Christ that died: </span><span class="fontstyle2">yea more</span><span class="fontstyle0">, who is even at the right hand of God, who maketh intercession for us.’ That intercession is an intense reality, a work that is absolutely necessary, and without which the continued application of redemption cannot take place. In the incarnation and resurrection of Jesus the wondrous reconciliation took place, by which man became partaker of the Divine life and blessedness. But the real personal appropriation of this reconciliation in each of His members here below cannot take place without the unceasing exercise of His Divine power by the head in heaven. In all conversion and sanctification, in every victory over sin and the world, there is a real forth-putting of the power of Him who is mighty to save. And this exercise of His power only takes place through His prayer: He asks of the Father, and receives from the Father. ‘</span><span class="fontstyle2">He is able </span><span class="fontstyle0">to save to the uttermost, </span><span class="fontstyle2">because </span><span class="fontstyle0">He ever liveth to make intercession.’ There is not a need of His people but He receives in intercession what the Godhead has to give: His mediation on the throne is as real and indispensable as on the cross. Nothing takes place without His intercession: it engages all His time and powers, is His unceasing occupation at the right hand of the Father.</span></span><p></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-73819799314090566292024-01-27T09:59:00.002-05:002024-01-27T16:24:15.257-05:00I've been gone. Sorry.<p><span style="font-size: large;">Approximately a month ago, our computer died. During the replacement process, I discovered that somehow I hadn't backed up the file with my Google password as part of it. After many attempts, Google has allowed me to use a new password, which I am now doing, thank God!</span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading, if anyone is. I hope to post more soon. However, I'm still getting acquainted with a new (to me) keyboard, a new (to me) operating system, Windows 11, a new HTML file creator, and trying to figure out where OneDrive has found and/or saved (or not) my files.</span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-55161762817182215732024-01-26T15:39:00.001-05:002024-01-26T15:39:25.123-05:00Sunspots 962<p><span style="font-size: 16pt;">According to
Gizmodo, </span><a href="https://gizmodo.com/florida-ev-buyers-shocked-to-learn-their-cars-eat-tires-1851197019" style="font-size: 16pt;">drivers
with electric vehicles are wearing out their tires rapidly</a><span style="font-size: 16pt;">. This doesn’t
affect me – the article says that someone who “drives like a grandmother” won’t
have such quick wear.</span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size: 16.0pt; line-height: 107%;">Gizmodo also
tells us that <a href="https://gizmodo.com/moonquakes-moon-shrinking-nasa-artemis-risks-1851200324">the
moon is shrinking</a>. Really.<o:p></o:p></span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-91835150930684693162023-12-24T06:30:00.018-05:002024-01-28T06:59:01.795-05:00With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 209<p><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go <a href="https://ccel.org/ccel/murray/prayer/prayer?queryID=32262072&resultID=887">here</a></span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2023/12/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by_0191021338.html" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; font-size: large; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span></p><p><br /></p><p> </p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-37726392779349607052023-12-17T03:37:00.032-05:002023-12-17T03:37:00.150-05:00With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 208<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">.
I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm
not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for
making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book,
go </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/9661811/3565045526968519658" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2023/12/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by_0191021338.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on <a href="https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Mark+11%3A22-24&version=WEB">Mark 11:22-24</a>.</span></span></span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span class="fontstyle0"><span style="color: #990000;">As the disciples, when they saw Jesus pray, asked Him to make them partakers of what He knew of prayer, so we, now we see Him as intercessor on the throne, know that He makes us participate with Himself in the life of prayer.</span><br /><span style="color: #990000;">How clearly this comes out in the last night of His life. In His high-priestly prayer (</span></span><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #990000;">John xvii</span><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #990000;">.), He shows us how and what He has to pray to the Father, and will pray when once ascended to heaven. And yet He had in His parting address so repeatedly also connected His going to the Father with </span><span class="fontstyle2" style="color: #990000;">their </span><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #990000;">new life of prayer. The two would be ultimately connected: His entrance on the work of His eternal intercession </span><span class="fontstyle2" style="color: #990000;">would be the commencement and the power of their new prayer-life in His Name. </span><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #990000;">It is the sight of Jesus in His intercession that </span><span class="fontstyle3" style="color: #990000;"></span><span class="fontstyle0" style="color: #990000;">gives us power to pray in His Name: all right and power of prayer is Christ’s; He makes us share in His intercession.</span>
<span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"><br /></span></span></span></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-89633705898338574012023-12-10T03:37:00.008-05:002023-12-10T03:37:00.136-05:00With Christ in the school of prayer, by Andrew Murray, excerpt 207<p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">T<span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">his post continues a series of excerpts from </span><i style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">With Christ in the School of Prayer</i><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">, by </span><a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Murray_(minister)" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; letter-spacing: -0.05px; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">Andrew Murray</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. I do this, not because I'm a powerful prayer warrior, but because I'm not. Murray was. I thank the Christian Classics Ethereal Library for making this public domain work available. To see their post of the book, go </span><a href="https://www.blogger.com/blog/post/edit/9661811/3565045526968519658" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="color: #dd8766; text-decoration-line: none;" target="_blank">here</a><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">. </span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;">His book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span><span style="letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> The previous post in this series is <a href="https://sunandshield.blogspot.com/2023/12/with-christ-in-school-of-prayer-by.html">here</a>. </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">As usual in this blog, long quo</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;">tations are in <b><span style="color: #990000;">this color.</span></b></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Cambria; letter-spacing: -0.05px;"> Murray's book is based on Mark 11:22-24.</span> </span></p><p><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: #990000;"><span class="fontstyle0"><b>‘I have prayed for thee;’ Or, Christ the Intercessor.</b><br /></span><span class="fontstyle2">‘But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not.’—</span><span class="fontstyle2">Luke xxii. 32</span><span class="fontstyle2">.<br />‘I say not unto you, that I will pray the Father for you.’—</span><span class="fontstyle2">John xvi. 26</span><span class="fontstyle2">.<br />‘He ever liveth to make intercession.’—</span><span class="fontstyle2">Heb. vii. 25</span><span class="fontstyle2">.<br />All growth in the spiritual life is connected with the clearer insight into what Jesus is to us. The more I realize that Christ must be all to me and in me, that all in Christ is indeed for me, the more I learn to live the real life of faith, which, dying to self, lives wholly in Christ. The Christian life is no longer the vain struggle to live right, but the resting in Christ and finding strength in Him as our life, to fight the fight and gain the victory of faith. This is specially true of the life of prayer. As it too comes under the law of faith alone, and is seen in the light of the fulness and completeness there is in Jesus, the believer understands that it need no longer be a matter of strain or anxious care, but an experience of what Christ will do for him and in him—a participation in that life of Christ which, as on earth, so in heaven, ever ascends to the Father as prayer. And he begins to pray, not only trusting in the merits of Jesus, or in the intercession by which our unworthy prayers are made acceptable, but in that near and close union in virtue of which He prays in us and we in Him. </span><span class="fontstyle2">3 </span><span class="fontstyle2">The whole of salvation is Christ Himself: He has given HIMSELF to us; He Himself lives in us. Because He prays, we pray too. As the disciples, when they saw Jesus pray, asked Him to make them partakers of what He knew of prayer, so we, now we see Him as intercessor on the throne, know that He makes us participate with Himself in the life of prayer.</span></span>
<br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; letter-spacing: normal; line-height: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: -webkit-auto; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px;" /></span><br /></p>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-47534729261908484972023-12-08T20:24:00.000-05:002023-12-08T20:24:02.741-05:00Christ didn't come as a baby<p> <span style="font-size: x-large;">We don't seem to know what day, or even what year, Christ was born, but he was born.</span></p><span style="font-size: large;"><br />Christ didn't come as a baby. <b>He came as an embryo.</b> Did He retain any of His divine omniscience and omnipotence during that pre-natal period? I don't know, but I suspect that He didn't retain all of it. The Bible teaches that He was tempted like we are. I don't know if fetuses are tempted. However, to really be like us, He must have had an experience much like ours, and I suspect that that meant, after He was born, not being able to speak for a year or so, and, before He was born, giving up some of his powers and awareness. Was this easy for the Creator of the Universe? I wouldn't think so--the cross wasn't.<br /><br />If He gave anything up, He did it for me, you, and everyone else.</span><div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">P. S. December 8, 2023: Christ came a long time before coming as an embryo, as <b>creator.</b> See John 1, and, as Paul put it:</span></div><div><span style="font-size: large;">Colossians 1:16 For by him all things were created in the heavens and on the earth, visible things and invisible things, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things have been created through him and for him. 17 He is before all things, and in him all things are held together. (World English Bible, public domain)</span></div>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9661811.post-20673636475996165042023-12-07T16:20:00.003-05:002023-12-07T16:20:40.908-05:00Sunspots 961<p><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-size: large;">Things I have recently spotted that may
be of interest to others*</span></span></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWam4rF9nt52WpqCvCL0gHtdK_cJywdu3gEjN6VPKp_7GD1W6K4-u5LVBlK2wGLyfEVJ9e1O7G7aZX3xZnm1CnhV8VKI-eQh7EW_9Eu5kYhRsbPKWncBszRDflFUJLZMgAo6SHzSrQmADjMOnFCcbiEXW2V0lbl_cQECqjSt9IfaIYd7Wntsq3/s128/Sunspots.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="128" data-original-width="128" height="128" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhWam4rF9nt52WpqCvCL0gHtdK_cJywdu3gEjN6VPKp_7GD1W6K4-u5LVBlK2wGLyfEVJ9e1O7G7aZX3xZnm1CnhV8VKI-eQh7EW_9Eu5kYhRsbPKWncBszRDflFUJLZMgAo6SHzSrQmADjMOnFCcbiEXW2V0lbl_cQECqjSt9IfaIYd7Wntsq3/s1600/Sunspots.gif" width="128" /></a></span></div><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Christianity:
</b>(and embryonic development) <i>Christianity Today</i> discusses <a href="https://christianitytoday.com/ct/2023/december/ivf-frozen-embryos-are-new-orphan-crisis.html">a
million or so frozen embryos</a>, some of which have been frozen for
decades.<b><br />
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Computing:</b>
Gizmodo reports that <a href="https://gizmodo.com/ai-images-as-much-energy-as-charging-phone-hugging-face-1851065091">generating
AI images takes more energy than you might think</a>.<b><br />
</b></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="font-size: large;"><b>Education:
</b><b>(</b>And <b>Christmas </b>and<b> Hanukkah)</b> Grammarphobia
examines the <a href="https://www.grammarphobia.com/blog/2023/12/hanukkah-christmas.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hanukkah-christmas">different
spellings of the names of these two celebrations</a>.</span></p>
<p><span style="font-size: large;"> *I try not to include items that require
a password or fee to view</span></p>
<span style="font-size: large;">Thanks for reading.</span>Martin LaBarhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14629053725732957599noreply@blogger.com0