Last April I got an Amazon Kindle. For those who don't know, a Kindle is an e-reader, an electronic book. And it's an amazing device. It uses a relatively new technology called e-ink which in every way makes the viewing screen look just like a paper book. Now you don't any longer have to get paper cuts or lick your fingers every time you want to turn a page. It's not like the lower resolution of LCD, nor is it backlit like it. Instead it can be read in ambient light, even in bright sunlight. It's just like paper.
It also allows you to have access to any of 300,000 books and more within one minute. Nearly all books are less than $10, many even free! It is continuously connected to the internet via a 3g connection (mobile phone) and thus to Amazon's electronic Kindle store. You can search books by Title and/or Author and download and pay for the book with a single click. I bought mine for $360, but they are now available for $299. My module is the Kindle 2.
Anyway, ever since I've gotten the thing I can't stop reading. I get the AP World, AP US, and MIT Technology News all day every day automatically updated as it changes. When I'm reading any of over 1,500 books it can hold in its memory, it always remembers where I was the last time I read it. It also keeps all of this information online for me to access via web. I know this sounds like a commercial, but I swear, I'm not benefitting by referrals or anything like that. If you get one, though, you will thank me!
I've managed to read my way through most of Dickens, which I've always wanted to do as his writing just blows me away. (What he's done with the English language should have been illegal for all of the pleasure it brings to lovers of the language.)
Once, while reading the bestseller "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, a good nonfiction about the Lincoln administration, they mentioned the then controversial abolitionist book "Uncle Tom's Cabin". I realized I'd never read that book, so I left off reading the current book, downloaded "Uncle Tom's Cabin" in less than a minute, read that book start to finish, and then picked up "Team of Rivals" and began reading right where I'd left off! Amazing!
Now, for some good books I've read. I just finished "The Help" #1 on the NYT bestsellers list. It's a very heartwarming and educational book (fiction) about the experience of negro maids in Jackson, Mississippi during the Jim Crow years. I've never been into fantasy fiction like Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and others, but during an Amazon promotion, they gave away the first in a series of one writer for free. So, I thought I'd try it. I ended up reading 12 600 to 900 page books by the Author Robin Hobb. The books were amazing and the writing was excellent! I recommend them most highly.
Books I also recommend include: The Unlikely Disciple (nonfiction), My Sister's Keeper (fiction, now a movie), I Know This Much is True, (fiction), The Lovely Bones (fiction), and The Copper Beech (fiction). I've read many, many more since I got my Kindle, but these were the very cream of the crop.
If you have a Kindle or any questions about the Kindle leave me a comment!
Wednesday, September 30, 2009
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
The Religious Success of Islam?
Has it ever occurred to you to think along the following lines? There are a lot of wars going on among the Muslims and the Western world. The Muslims believe their religion is correct to the point of killing multiple people in pitiless and savage ways and even killing themselves to become "martyrs" in the process. In many Muslim countries it is against the law to point of a penalty of death to attempt to proselytize Muslims to the truth. When you are trying to find out what you believe in, many people seem to come to the universal idea of a single omnipotent and omnipresent God or a "Great Intelligence" or Providence. The Muslim and the Judeo-Christian Gods would fall under these categories.
If you do believe there must be a God Who created all this, isn't it reasonable to assume that He would want us to know Him? We know scientifically that it is unlikely that God is appearing in any physical form today, so how are we to know Him? Many of the varied religions have a book or more to which they refer as Scriptures in which they believe that God in some form or manner communicates with them (The Bible, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, etc.) In the case of the Muslims, there scriptures are called the Qur'an or the Koran. They claim to believe in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but they almost never refer to them. Their most important book is the Koran. In some places you can meet a savage death by desecrating this book. Many religions also have one or more prophets who claim to represent God's presence, proclaim His messages and even write their scriptures. In the case of Christians this person is Jesus Christ, Who is also believed to be the Son of God. In the case of the Jews, these are people such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and many other minor prophets. In the case of Muslims, their prophet is a man named Muhammad who lived in the seventh century, well after the Jewish and Christian prophets. Again in some Muslim places, if you desecrate the name of Muhammad, you can meet a merciless death. Over all, I think you can draw one conclusion from Islam; it is a religion in which a lot of needless death occurs.
If you are a sincere seeker of truth, you may have discovered that there are many criteria by which religions can be compared or judged. I've looked at several comparisons among these three religions. I want to focus on what I think is the most basic one which is expressed by the question, "Which one does God give His blessings to?" If you look at Judaism for example, the best place we can look to is the Jewish state, Israel. Has God blessed the nation of Israel? Their track record is very good. Jews, as individuals, by and large seem to be very successful in all they set their hands to. As an example most of nuclear and theoretical physics has been the baileywick of the Jews (Albert Einstein was a Jew). The nation of Israel, was founded in 1948 after a war with Arab states in which Israel won hands down. In several subsequent wars, Israel overcame her enemies by what some would call "miraculous" means. Much technology and innovation has come out of Israel. Before the Jews occupied the land of Palestine it was pretty much useless land and was not being very well administered or exploited by its inhabitants. When it became the nation of Israel, the desert bloomed. It is now a very beautiful place in which to reside or visit .
How about the Christians? Western civilization, especially where there is a majority of the "protestant" persuasion has done very well. Let's take the United States of America as an example. Founded by various orthodox protestants trying to escape European religious persecution almost 234 years ago, it has flourished beyond the wildest dreams of its founders. Most of the world's greatest inventions, discoveries and innovations have all come from the predominantly Protestant United States. Of all the nations of the Earth, it has risen to become the most dominant nation in the World and has even conquered the Moon itself!
What about Muslim "civilization". Few of them seem to have done well with oil wealth beneath their soil, but what else can they claim? Many, if not most of them are still living in the 7th century or at least want to live there again under what they call "Sharia Law". Wait a minute, you might contend, didn't the Arabs invent our numbering system, and innovate much in the way of higher mathematics and astronomy? These accomplishments occurred long before the founding of Islam which again, began in the 7th century. None of the nations which are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and many other religions are very successful. (Japan is probably one exception to this, being a non-judeo-christian nation.
So, why doesn't an intelligent Muslim ask himself why they cannot defeat Israel nor can they win this current war in which Al Queda, the Taliban and many other sects are arrayed against Western Civilization? Where is their God? Where is Muhammad? Do they not call upon Him 5 times per day and keep one of the most rigorous religious regimes there are among religions with their many fastings, feasts, and pilgrimages? Why do they come in dead last when it comes to blessings? Is this the religion that one must believe in or die a horrible, pitiless death as the Koran says? Instead of following a man who preached the idea of killing one's enemies long after Jesus Christ told us to "Love [our] enemies", why don't we follow the Man who was both Man AND God. A God Who came down to Earth as a man, to strip of Himself most of His Godly powers which could have saved Himself from death, and laid down His own life ...and rose again... so that ALL of His creation might be saved? Then, you can enjoy the life of those who are surrounded and overwhelmed by His bountiful and rich grace (his unmerited favor)!
Use the comments to give your thoughts about this issue...
If you do believe there must be a God Who created all this, isn't it reasonable to assume that He would want us to know Him? We know scientifically that it is unlikely that God is appearing in any physical form today, so how are we to know Him? Many of the varied religions have a book or more to which they refer as Scriptures in which they believe that God in some form or manner communicates with them (The Bible, the Torah, the Book of Mormon, etc.) In the case of the Muslims, there scriptures are called the Qur'an or the Koran. They claim to believe in the Jewish and Christian Scriptures, but they almost never refer to them. Their most important book is the Koran. In some places you can meet a savage death by desecrating this book. Many religions also have one or more prophets who claim to represent God's presence, proclaim His messages and even write their scriptures. In the case of Christians this person is Jesus Christ, Who is also believed to be the Son of God. In the case of the Jews, these are people such as Moses, Isaiah, Jeremiah and many other minor prophets. In the case of Muslims, their prophet is a man named Muhammad who lived in the seventh century, well after the Jewish and Christian prophets. Again in some Muslim places, if you desecrate the name of Muhammad, you can meet a merciless death. Over all, I think you can draw one conclusion from Islam; it is a religion in which a lot of needless death occurs.
If you are a sincere seeker of truth, you may have discovered that there are many criteria by which religions can be compared or judged. I've looked at several comparisons among these three religions. I want to focus on what I think is the most basic one which is expressed by the question, "Which one does God give His blessings to?" If you look at Judaism for example, the best place we can look to is the Jewish state, Israel. Has God blessed the nation of Israel? Their track record is very good. Jews, as individuals, by and large seem to be very successful in all they set their hands to. As an example most of nuclear and theoretical physics has been the baileywick of the Jews (Albert Einstein was a Jew). The nation of Israel, was founded in 1948 after a war with Arab states in which Israel won hands down. In several subsequent wars, Israel overcame her enemies by what some would call "miraculous" means. Much technology and innovation has come out of Israel. Before the Jews occupied the land of Palestine it was pretty much useless land and was not being very well administered or exploited by its inhabitants. When it became the nation of Israel, the desert bloomed. It is now a very beautiful place in which to reside or visit .
How about the Christians? Western civilization, especially where there is a majority of the "protestant" persuasion has done very well. Let's take the United States of America as an example. Founded by various orthodox protestants trying to escape European religious persecution almost 234 years ago, it has flourished beyond the wildest dreams of its founders. Most of the world's greatest inventions, discoveries and innovations have all come from the predominantly Protestant United States. Of all the nations of the Earth, it has risen to become the most dominant nation in the World and has even conquered the Moon itself!
What about Muslim "civilization". Few of them seem to have done well with oil wealth beneath their soil, but what else can they claim? Many, if not most of them are still living in the 7th century or at least want to live there again under what they call "Sharia Law". Wait a minute, you might contend, didn't the Arabs invent our numbering system, and innovate much in the way of higher mathematics and astronomy? These accomplishments occurred long before the founding of Islam which again, began in the 7th century. None of the nations which are Muslim, Buddhist, Hindu and many other religions are very successful. (Japan is probably one exception to this, being a non-judeo-christian nation.
So, why doesn't an intelligent Muslim ask himself why they cannot defeat Israel nor can they win this current war in which Al Queda, the Taliban and many other sects are arrayed against Western Civilization? Where is their God? Where is Muhammad? Do they not call upon Him 5 times per day and keep one of the most rigorous religious regimes there are among religions with their many fastings, feasts, and pilgrimages? Why do they come in dead last when it comes to blessings? Is this the religion that one must believe in or die a horrible, pitiless death as the Koran says? Instead of following a man who preached the idea of killing one's enemies long after Jesus Christ told us to "Love [our] enemies", why don't we follow the Man who was both Man AND God. A God Who came down to Earth as a man, to strip of Himself most of His Godly powers which could have saved Himself from death, and laid down His own life ...and rose again... so that ALL of His creation might be saved? Then, you can enjoy the life of those who are surrounded and overwhelmed by His bountiful and rich grace (his unmerited favor)!
Use the comments to give your thoughts about this issue...
Monday, June 1, 2009
By and Large a Good Thing!
I'm no longer able to garden. I run completely out of strength, use a cane to get around. I'm miserable now that I can no longer garden. Today, Kenny III and I worked on putting out my Kenbob Fiery peppers out in pots in the front yard. When they are full grown and a beautiful shade of red, I place them in a jar, top them off with distilled vinegar and can them. Then in the winter when I have some time and strength, I make them into sauce. It is the most delicious sauce, you wouldn't believe. I have a very close Thai friend who LOVES hot peppers of every kind. He likes his peppers powdered or whole and has never liked sauce. But he loves my pepper sauce. It is a peculiar variety of pepper I found at a gas station garden center in Rosebush 28 years ago and because I have never been able to find this variety in any pepper photographs, I started calling them Kenbob peppers and the sauce, Kenbob Sauce. I used to give away bottles of the stuff, but I can't make it in the volume I used to so it's all for me now. I'd be happy to share my seeds though. This is how I've maintained my peppers for so many years. I always keep a plant or two in the house and hand-pollinate them. They make wonderful ornamental plants with their bounteous number of red peppers hanging from the bush.
I have recently found out that I woman that I know and always thought of as a Christian due to her going to a very sound church, is a stripper at Deja Vu. It really grieves me that she is doing this. We are told that when brothers and sisters in the faith practice sexual immorality, we are to have nothing to do with them to shame them into repentance. We are not able to even eat with them.
About a month ago I was thinking about the horrors that Tiller the Baby Killer was committing against God. I prayed then that God would remove him. Now it's been done. Hell yawned to receive him. The evil required to make your living continually cutting up small babies ready to be born just blows me away. I can't imagine the pure evil. Some men molest children. This man KILLED them using the most monstrous means. Whoever this man was who killed him may not be a very nice person, but he did a nice thing. Monday morning, no babies were going to die by Tiller's hand, Praise God!
I just found out that the Muslim prophet was a pedophile! He was in his 50s when he married a six year old girl "Aisha", and started raping her at the age of 9!!! This is straight from his own writings. And don't think that the jihadis are not the normal Muslims, they are instructed from the Koran to force Jews and Christians to accept Muhammad as the true prophet of Allah or to kill them if they will not. The nice Muslims are not faithful to their own scriptures! It is indeed a violent religion. I know much violence has been committed by Christians in the name of Christ, but Christ taught us to love our enemies, to offer them food and water, but Muslims are told by their very scriptures and prophet, to kill non Muslims. God save us in these perilous times. We are letting these people into our country and poisoning our own well.
I have recently found out that I woman that I know and always thought of as a Christian due to her going to a very sound church, is a stripper at Deja Vu. It really grieves me that she is doing this. We are told that when brothers and sisters in the faith practice sexual immorality, we are to have nothing to do with them to shame them into repentance. We are not able to even eat with them.
About a month ago I was thinking about the horrors that Tiller the Baby Killer was committing against God. I prayed then that God would remove him. Now it's been done. Hell yawned to receive him. The evil required to make your living continually cutting up small babies ready to be born just blows me away. I can't imagine the pure evil. Some men molest children. This man KILLED them using the most monstrous means. Whoever this man was who killed him may not be a very nice person, but he did a nice thing. Monday morning, no babies were going to die by Tiller's hand, Praise God!
I just found out that the Muslim prophet was a pedophile! He was in his 50s when he married a six year old girl "Aisha", and started raping her at the age of 9!!! This is straight from his own writings. And don't think that the jihadis are not the normal Muslims, they are instructed from the Koran to force Jews and Christians to accept Muhammad as the true prophet of Allah or to kill them if they will not. The nice Muslims are not faithful to their own scriptures! It is indeed a violent religion. I know much violence has been committed by Christians in the name of Christ, but Christ taught us to love our enemies, to offer them food and water, but Muslims are told by their very scriptures and prophet, to kill non Muslims. God save us in these perilous times. We are letting these people into our country and poisoning our own well.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
Computer Down Blues, Israel and Hamas
I've had to take my computer in for repairs. My drive kept getting repeating errors on it. I tried and tried to fix it and then determined it was beyond my ken to do so. So, it's in the capable hands of Mainstream Computers in Alma for the time being, and I'm using my son's computer to accomplish most of my computer tasks.
I want to vent my spleen about what's going on in the Middle East. For those who don't know, a six month "cease fire" between Hamas in the Gaza strip and Israel collapsed a few days back and Israel, after showing a LOT of patience and restraint, finally decided to do something about it. Hamas has the nasty habit of targeting Israeli civilians with rockets designed to kill them and destroy their homes, schools and temples. Many Israelis have been killed and injured by these bombs. During the ceasefire, Hamas lobbed over 100 of these rockets at them and still Israel would not budge from the ceasefire. What kind of restraint would we show if Canada started lobbing rockets at several of our cities in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? How long would we suffer their onslaught while exercising all of our efforts at trying to make peace with them?
Here's a little something I wonder about...
Let's say you have a world view, a belief structure, and you rely on that to offer you some kind of "salvation" from the world's troubles and a promise of life after death. How would you go about choosing one? A lot of people just take a leap into the dark or simply hold fast to the faith in which they were raised. But say you're a smart one, and you want evidence to show the correct one. Would you not look at the lives of those espousing a given belief to see which shows the greater success in these areas of salvation? Let's look for a moment at Hinduism. Has their worship and world view resulted in riches for them? Are their efforts blessed with success? Any honest person has to say no, Hinduism has only brought poverty and backwardness to those who are its followers. What about Roman Catholicism. Yes, they do fare better, but do not progress much past the Latin American style of life. What about Islam, nothing but poverty, despair, raging wars, violence, hatred of every kind. It is a very scary religion. What about Protestant Christianity? From this world view has arisen the best of Western Civilization, the accomplishments, dominions and riches immeasurable. The United States was founded upon Biblical principles and by them, prospered greatly. Now we see those principles abandoned and our successes are inversely proportionate to our adherence to those principles.
So why do these Islamic extremists, Hamas, Hisballah, Al Quaida, and the Taliban not see what they are "gaining" by virtue of their beliefs. Why is it they don't see that God is blessing Israel in every way in their small strip of land next to the Mediterranean? All of the efforts which Islam has exerted against Christianity and Judaism have been totally wasted. Do they stop and take account of their "progress" and not repent of their mistaken ways?
I just watched a special on Fox, in which a young Islamic man, imprisoned in an Israeli jail for being caught up in terrorist activities, the son of a senior Hamas officer, was shown a simple Scripture in which Christ told us to "Love your enemies." In a moment, his heart recognized this Word from Christ as true. The "flavor" of this truth was completely different from the Koran. He gave himself wholly over to evangelical Biblical Christianity. Because of this, he now has a "Fatwa" hanging over his head and is seeking asylum in the U.S. Now the enemies he is told to love, want nothing more than to kill him.
What stark differences there are between our two civilizations.
We are told in the Scriptures that he who blesses Israel, will be blessed, and he who curses Israel will be cursed. Let's remember to pray for Israel in her battles, and pray blessings upon her in every way!
I want to vent my spleen about what's going on in the Middle East. For those who don't know, a six month "cease fire" between Hamas in the Gaza strip and Israel collapsed a few days back and Israel, after showing a LOT of patience and restraint, finally decided to do something about it. Hamas has the nasty habit of targeting Israeli civilians with rockets designed to kill them and destroy their homes, schools and temples. Many Israelis have been killed and injured by these bombs. During the ceasefire, Hamas lobbed over 100 of these rockets at them and still Israel would not budge from the ceasefire. What kind of restraint would we show if Canada started lobbing rockets at several of our cities in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan? How long would we suffer their onslaught while exercising all of our efforts at trying to make peace with them?
Here's a little something I wonder about...
Let's say you have a world view, a belief structure, and you rely on that to offer you some kind of "salvation" from the world's troubles and a promise of life after death. How would you go about choosing one? A lot of people just take a leap into the dark or simply hold fast to the faith in which they were raised. But say you're a smart one, and you want evidence to show the correct one. Would you not look at the lives of those espousing a given belief to see which shows the greater success in these areas of salvation? Let's look for a moment at Hinduism. Has their worship and world view resulted in riches for them? Are their efforts blessed with success? Any honest person has to say no, Hinduism has only brought poverty and backwardness to those who are its followers. What about Roman Catholicism. Yes, they do fare better, but do not progress much past the Latin American style of life. What about Islam, nothing but poverty, despair, raging wars, violence, hatred of every kind. It is a very scary religion. What about Protestant Christianity? From this world view has arisen the best of Western Civilization, the accomplishments, dominions and riches immeasurable. The United States was founded upon Biblical principles and by them, prospered greatly. Now we see those principles abandoned and our successes are inversely proportionate to our adherence to those principles.
So why do these Islamic extremists, Hamas, Hisballah, Al Quaida, and the Taliban not see what they are "gaining" by virtue of their beliefs. Why is it they don't see that God is blessing Israel in every way in their small strip of land next to the Mediterranean? All of the efforts which Islam has exerted against Christianity and Judaism have been totally wasted. Do they stop and take account of their "progress" and not repent of their mistaken ways?
I just watched a special on Fox, in which a young Islamic man, imprisoned in an Israeli jail for being caught up in terrorist activities, the son of a senior Hamas officer, was shown a simple Scripture in which Christ told us to "Love your enemies." In a moment, his heart recognized this Word from Christ as true. The "flavor" of this truth was completely different from the Koran. He gave himself wholly over to evangelical Biblical Christianity. Because of this, he now has a "Fatwa" hanging over his head and is seeking asylum in the U.S. Now the enemies he is told to love, want nothing more than to kill him.
What stark differences there are between our two civilizations.
We are told in the Scriptures that he who blesses Israel, will be blessed, and he who curses Israel will be cursed. Let's remember to pray for Israel in her battles, and pray blessings upon her in every way!
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