Super Paul

Football Field sized asteroid vs. Mars!

Saturday, December 29, 2007

Scientists raise odds that asteroid might hit Mars

Winston-Salem Journal

LOS ANGELES - The chance of a asteroid the size of a football field crashing into Mars next month has been raised to 4 percent, scientists said yesterday after analyzing archival data.

The asteroid, known as 2007 WD5, was discovered in late November by the NASA-financed Catalina Sky Survey in Arizona. Based on the latest information available, scientists said last week that there was a 1-in-75 chance the asteroid could hit Mars on Jan. 30.

The odds were increased to 1-in-25 this week after a Ph.D. student pored through the archives and plotted the asteroid’s motions before its official discovery.

Here's another article on the topic:

Around the Bible in 90 Days!

A group of us are embarking on a project to read the entire Bible in Ninety Days. We'll meet once a week to encourage one another and discuss what we're reading.

Here's a website that explains how it goes - and includes the schedule if you'd care to join us:
http://www.biblein90days.com/

All this got me thinking again about the origins and reliability of the Bible as we know it today. I recall learning a few years ago that there is much evidence for the authenticity of the bible. Apparently, archeologists who specialize in evaluating all kinds of historical manuscripts have specific standards by which they judge these things. (Go figure! Who'd of known...?! Sometimes things make so much sense when you "discover" them for the first time.. D'OH! ;-)

And apparently, according to these standards of measurement, our modern Bible "passes" with flying colors. In fact, it's probably true to say that the book stands the tests beyond any other significant historical document.

This website summarizes the topic nicely:
http://www.allabouttruth.org/Origin-Of-The-Bible.htm

The Sixth Extinction

I thought it was just a fabrication of some paranoid X-Files episode writer - until I Googled it this morning. The Sixth Extinction, and the five previous versions, are actually recognized and described in science. Here are some links to scan:

National Geographic Magazine (1999)
http://www.nationalgeographic.com/ngm/9902/fngm/index.html

BBC News Article
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/3667300.stm

Science Daily (2004)
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2004/03/040319075340.htm

Feast of Seasons - Steve Bell and WSO

Steve Bell's Feast of Seasons Concert is available here:
http://www.cbc.ca/radio2/singleConcert.html?20071221sbel

These performances are some of the best music I've heard in ages. The WSO seems to really "get" Steve's music - the more they play together, the better it gets! And with the choir.. wow.

I suggest you pour yourself a favourite beverage, put on your best headset, turn up the volume, hit "play all tracks" and enjoy the inspired creativty of this musical feast. Truly delicious!

No Ramada Inn?

The traditional Christmas Eve service was great. Audrey Veal did another fine job of re-telling the ancient story with fresh insight, relating it to our day-to-day lives two thousand years later than the actual events. All while keeping it simple enough for the children in the audience to understand.

Not an easy feat.

Since viewing a documentary a few years ago that discusses the concept of inns and travelling accomodations in that culture, I've viewed the "no room at the inn" part of the story a little differently. Rather than picturing Mary and Joseph parking in front of the Bethleham Ramada and being told the rooms were all booked up for the night, I see it now in the context of family hospitality - or rather the lack thereof. Further rejection of Christ's entry into the world. This website does an excellent job of presenting the details of this translation of the key words:

http://blog.bibleplaces.com/2006/12/in-typical-christmas-pageant-one-of.html

My comment relates to the question of why would Mary travel to Bethleham at all so late in her pregnancy? And my conjecture is this: In a culture where the punishment for marital infidelity is death by stoning, (i.e. even to this day, some related cultures practice Honor Killings - the deliberate murder of any female relative who brings dishonor to the family name), could it be that Mary was safer staying close to Joseph than being left behind in Nazareth? This would fit well with the interpretation that family members in Bethleham chose to offer them shelter only in the lower household area with the animals, and did not offer any greater comforts in the "upper rooms" with the other family members.

It would also solve another difficulty for me. Surely Mary would have needed and had some minimal help from midwives or female relatives during her birth process? I can easily imagine someone in the extended family attending to her with minimal care, despite her "disgraced" condition, but then leaving her and the baby to rest afterwards in the stable area.

Anyway, no matter how we interpret the rather sparse language of the biblical accounts, the point of the story remains the same. God chose the lowest, least glorious route imaginable to enter into his creation.

How can we NOT be attracted to a God who, with all the power and glory of the universe and beyond at his disposal by which he might seek to glorify himself, instead comes to us like this, seeking our allegience. Proving himself (as if he needed to prove anything) to be the One and Only King who's intentions for us are completely honorable and selfless. The kind of King worthy to be chosen as ruler by anyone from the lowliest, humblest shepherd to the richest, wisest Scholar.

Kinshasha Music - Wow!

That 'Polio Band' video led me to this page - wow!

http://www.youtube.com/florentdelatullaye

I loved the quote in "Jupiter's Dance" about music in every home...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxkaVmpgHcs

And this woman (Mimi Mongo) apparently died early this year -- and in this song I don't understand a word she is saying, yet her passion, pain and joy all so evident, brings a tear to my eye as I watch, listen and can't turn away no matter what. Wow!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=51ny0HhOwpk

"Special" music ...

Story of developing world issues, poverty, disease, musical rights, and the politics of peace-keeping ... complicated yet fascinating ... As the song itself.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxfULv7uIhY&feature=dir

Be sure to read the side-bar story and/or the BBC story linked at the bottom of the video notes.

End Hunger, Fast

Are you related?

Here's the place to find out, apparently:

For the curious - maybe this is for you:
http://www.dnaancestryproject.com/retail/

Steve Bell on CBC Radio

CBC Radio (Canada’s national broadcaster) will be recording Steve Bell with his band, the Winnipeg Symphony Orchestra and the Prairie Voices Choir in Steve’s Christmas concert “The Feast of Seasons”...

The concert will be broadcast on
CBC Radio One on December 24th at 10:00 p.m. and on

CBC Radio Two on December 25th at 7:00 p.m.

Tune in, and have Steve Bell, the WSO and Prairie Voices over for Christmas!

And for those outside of normal broadcast signals, try this page for a possible webcast:

1. http://www.cbc.ca/listen/index.html#

Old Testament law and Christians.

I thought this Q & A was worth posting - from The Plain Truth weekly update newsletter:

Q. In the November 26 PTM Update you said, "The law fails to bring righteousness and holiness. Righteousness and holiness can only be imputed, by grace; produced by the indwelling of our Lord and Savior. No human or group of humans, no law or combination of laws, produces holiness. It never has and never will."

Could you expound on the value of the Old Testament law as David expressed it in Psalm 119, (and others). I feel like there must be a balance in our attitude toward it, not of course to procure or complete salvation but David seems to have a perspective that I would like to have. Thanks.

A. Before beginning, let me explain that my immediate response is not hostile, but designed to ask you for further input, and hopefully to inspire you to further thinking and study. What kind of "balance" about the OT law do you propose? When reading any passage in the Bible, Christians always "balance" their understanding of that passage with a Christ-centered perspective. All that we know of God, as Christians, all that we experience, is based in Christ. Anything that happened before the cross of Christ must be read in a Christ-centered perspective -- i.e.. the individuals and the values they espoused were before the cross, and while there is much prophetic material in the Old Testament that is Messianic (pointing toward Messiah), it does not diminish or modify Jesus. For those of us who live after the cross -- in our case almost 2,000 years after -- our reading of Scripture always keeps in mind the fact that religion, with its traditions, legalisms, ceremonies, rituals and practices may have taken us off the path of a Christ-centered perspective -- so we too are looking for an authentic Christ-centered view of Scripture.

What did David mean about the law? He meant what all those in the old covenant understood -- that the law was the foundation of their relationship with God. What does the cross of Christ, and his victorious resurrection teach Christians? That Jesus is the basis of our relationship with God, and he gave us new commandments -- commandments which he will live in our lives if we accept him.

What good is the law of the old covenant? Does it save us? No, Jesus saves us. Jesus alone, without any help from the law -- the law of the old covenant, of the new covenant -- any law. What good is the law? The law leads us to Christ. The law shows us that we are dead meat/road kill -- without Christ. The law -- any law -- shows us that we are imperfect, that we are unable to be good enough for God on the basis of our own internal character and ability to perform. The law thus leads us to the place that we yield to Jesus, who does for us what we can never do for ourselves.

Is the law of the old covenant a "balance" in the life of a Christian? No, authentic Christianity is based on faith alone, grace alone and Christ alone. The law of the old covenant -- all of it -- is irrelevant for Christians. We live by faith in Jesus, who died and gave himself for us, that we might be in him, because of the blood of the new covenant. The New Testament tells us the life that Jesus will produce in us as we yield to him -- it will be a moral life, but it will not be produced because of morals. Morals don't produce Jesus -- it's the other way around. Jesus produces morals.One can be a good moral atheist, Buddhist or Moslem -- "better" morally than some professing Christians -- but not "have" Jesus. If we are in Jesus, and he is in us, then we will be moral -- law-abiding -- but we will be that way because of him, not because of our own efforts in building character.

Christianity is all about Jesus -- whereas religion, including any counterfeit of authentic Christianity, is all about the individual and how hard he/she works to please God.

ATC Listening Post

Interested in listening to air traffic control frequencies? This is a useful site:
http://www.liveatc.net/feedindex.php?type=canada

Space, and other bodily functions...

Wings of Hope - with feathers...

My buddy Ester has been living with cancer for over 8 years now so technically he’s a cancer survivor -- that's him with the pink feathers - and he's not actually headless - he's just ducking under grooming his leg. And yes, Ester is a boy. It used to be Lester, but when he introduces himself he often leaves off the 'L' - so now we just call him Ester.

Now, I'm going to be talking about a bird, but maybe you or someone you know is struggling through tough times. Facing trials of different sorts. An illness. A broken relationship. A terrifying setback. Then you know about pain, sorrow and suffering. Because ultimately, it’s all the same pain. It is common to all of creation.

Ester, a moluccan Cockatoom is 23 years old (his normal lifespan is about 80 years). Because human beings "love" cockatoos, Ester finds himself confined to a cage for his entire life. No one asked him if he wanted to be a pet. He’ll never know what it is to fly freely and be everything that God intended him to be.

But I have high hopes for Ester. Hope has already saved Ester from cancer. When he was scheduled to be killed because his vet bills would over-tax his families resources, someone rescued him and paid for his treatments — because they Hoped. After several weeks of chemo-therapy the vet performed a lumpectomy to reduce the size of Ester’s tumor, (you can see the sore on his backside). And Esther fought through all this and still lives! Today Esther is one of the happiest and friendliest little birds at the Refuge. He shows what can happen because of HOPE. And the dedication of people willing to go where HOPE leads.

Jesus asks us to be compassionate - to suffer with those around us. But to encounter pain and sorrow in the world without being anchored by an unshakeable hope, is folly.

So, hope serves as a tether that guides us safely through a world of suffering towards a better future and prevents us from being over-whelmed by the ‘here and now’. But hope for this life alone is only a foretaste of our ultimate hope. The bible encourages us towards a greater hope for every creature who suffers - a time when suffering will have worked its miracle in us and all creation will be released into a new Era!

Romans 4:18-25 (the Message)
That's why I don't think there's any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what's coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.

All around us we observe a pregnant creation. The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs. But it's not only around us; it's within us. The Spirit of God is arousing us within. We're also feeling the birth pangs. These sterile and barren bodies of ours are yearning for full deliverance. That is why waiting does not diminish us, any more than waiting diminishes a pregnant mother. We are enlarged in the waiting. We, of course, don't see what is enlarging us. But the longer we wait, the larger we become, and the more joyful our expectancy.

Hope fully realized - the return of Jesus Christ, is the ultimate hope that allows me to enter into compassionate ministry and be not swept away by it.

And HOPE is usually all I can hold out to someone in the midst of their trials. A cup of hot chocolate. A shoulder to cry on. A kind word or deed. That’s not much. But often it’s enough and it’s that first step towards salvation.

A salvation that we merely glimpse in each small healing in this life - like Ester’s (This video shows just how well he's healed and how much joy he experiences just being alive!):