While there are still two full weeks of the semester left, today was Dr. Witherington's last day of teaching for our Exegesis of Mark class. He's leaving saturday for a 6 week stint in Turkey, Greece and Israel where he's working on what's going to be an awesome project (I shall not announce the details here)!!! Anyway, after class, he took me up to his office and lavished a handful of generous gifts upon me. Here they are:
4/29/10
4/27/10
"Jesus Can't Save You Life Starts When The Church Ends" - JayZ
In this screencast, I offer a rebuttal to all the Christians who went on YouTube, all bent out of shape over JayZ's lyric "Jesus Can't Save You Life Starts Where the Church Ends" in his song "Empire State of Mind". Not only can many Christians not read their Bibles correctly, they cannot even interpret poetry and rap correctly. It's a sad fact but Christians REALLY REALLY REALLY REALLY need to learn how to interpret things better! Now, I'm no apologist for JayZ or anything but when I saw what people were saying on YouTube, I thought I should add an interpretive corrective. Here's the Screencast:
4/26/10
Needs For Ethiopia
Hey everyone, as you know, I'll be heading back to Ethiopia very soon (about 2 months). I'll be doing quite a bit while I'm there but I've had some specific requests from a missionary friend who has been living in Addis (the capital city) and serving there for about 10 years now. She has taken in 10 orphaned, street kids, feeds them, clothes them, teaches them, loves them, etc. She calls them her "soccer boys" because they have also started a soccer ministry. Anyway, in an email reply to me this morning, she requested several things, some of the items are small and some a little larger. So, if you can help or donate, here are some things she needs for her ministry:
1) A Christian flag
2) A Dell laptop battery (the one found here:http://www.brilliantstore.com/dell_laptop_batteries_dekcell_bl_5905.html)
3) A nice, working used laptop (or more than 1) with all personal data removed (she will use the computers to continue to teach her boys how to type)
4) Teaching materials (e.g. pencils, paper, etc.)
If you want to help provide any of these items, fill out the form below and I'll be in touch with you:
If you would like to donate funds to support my trip, click the donate button below:
Grace and Peace,
-Michael
4/24/10
Add Facebook "Like Button" To Blogger Blog Or Website In 1 Minute
Hey everyone, here are two screencasts I've created to help you add the new Facebook "Like Button" to your Blogger / Blogspot website or blog. The best part, it's super easy and takes about 1 minute!!! There are two separate screencasts here, showing you how to add the Facebook "Like Button" two different ways:
1. This screencast shows you how to add the Facebook "Like Button" to the future posts you will publish on your Blogger / Blogspot website or blog:
2. This screencast shows you had to add the Facebook "Like Button" to both your past and future posts on your Blogger / Blogspot website or blog:
1. This screencast shows you how to add the Facebook "Like Button" to the future posts you will publish on your Blogger / Blogspot website or blog:
2. This screencast shows you had to add the Facebook "Like Button" to both your past and future posts on your Blogger / Blogspot website or blog:
4/23/10
Travesty!!! Glenn Beck Speaking At Liberty University Commencement
Despite all of the controversy swindling around Liberty University's president these days, Ergun Caner, the school's leaders have taken the liberty (pun intended) upon themselves to get into even more controversy! What you ask? This time, they are inviting anti-Christian Social Justice, idiot-Mormon and far-right wing politician Glenn Beck to deliver their commencement speech. This news broke via an announcement on Twitter this morning. Oh my gosh, Liberty, this is a complete travesty!!! Please, reconsider this invitation to Beck and ask someone else to come instead. Liberty leaders, do you not realize what kind of grave you are digging for yourselves? You are jeopardizing the degrees of your students and your entire school's credibility, not to mention the credibility of the Gospel. Reconsider this!!! I know that Liberty has had a reputation for producing a bastion of politically conservative Christian speakers and icons but this is the exact opposite, this is just downright disgusting. Liberty, you are not only humiliating yourselves, you are humiliating real Christians everywhere!!! This is a new low for Liberty and is just unreal. Honestly, I have to believe that the conservative Christians in the Bible belt are going to stand up and rally against this! Liberty...hosting a Mormon commencement speaker?!? Who'd have thought we'd live to see the day? I wonder what donors will think about this?
4/21/10
The Vacuous Mind of the American Christian
An old school-like video, but a new spoken word exploring the mindlessness of Christianity in America:
4/17/10
Thomas Merton's Vicarious Response To Glenn Beck
One of my favorite deep Christian thinkers of the last century has to be Thomas Merton. Merton's insights regarding the nature of faith, the person of Jesus and life in this world are simply life-altering and astounding; Merton was brilliant. But Merton did not think in a vacuum and he had many mentors and persons who influenced him, one of whom was Christian social advocate Ebehard Arnold. Below is a statement by Arnold, mentioned by Merton several years ago that I believe, places the whole matter of "Christian social justice" in its proper context. This is something that Glenn Beck needs to read and take to heart! Here it is:
"There are political organizations that stand, as we do, for international peace, the abolition of private property, and full community of goods. Yet we cannot simply side with these organizations and fight their battles in their way. We do feel drawn, with them, to all people who suffer need and distress, to those who lack food and shelter and whose very mental development is stunted through exploitation. With them, we stand side by side with the 'have-nots,' with the underprivileged, and with the degraded and oppressed. And yet we avoid the kind of class struggle that employs violent means to avenge lives taken through exploitation. We reject the defensive war of the suppressed just as much as the defensive wars of nations. We must live in community because we take our stand in the spiritual fight on the side of all those who fight for freedom, unity, peace, and social justice."
4/13/10
4/12/10
Ethiopia 2010
Here's a preview of events for my upcoming 2010 Ethiopia Mission Trip. If you feel the desire to support this trip, click the button below the video.
4/11/10
A Funny "Captcha"
So, I was on a site that prompted me to fill in a "Captcha" box today and lo and behold, I saw the funniest "Captcha" I've yet to see. Anyway, these two words together are quite humorous.
4/5/10
If The Cross Offends You...
...if it's too bitter, if it's too bloody, if it's too violent, if it's just too much...and if you would rather have heard Jesus say "Take up your chocolate cross and follow me", then here you go. I have a feeling that it's the kitsch kinda stuff like this that contributes to people hating, despising, mocking and shunning Christianity in the West. A chocolate cross, for God's sake, have we lost our freakin' minds? My goodness people, if you are a Christian and this doesn't offend you, you need to question your beliefs!!! Seriously, we sit around and gripe and complain about people taking "Christ" out of Christmas and then replacing the cross with the Easter Bunny but we don't say anything about this!?! Is this what Christianity in America has come to? What will shut us up, satisfy us and keep us appeased is a chocolate cross on the shelf of the grocery store? For some, this probably seemed like such a great gift to give to the their pastors/preachers. Well, I'm here to tell you that if you have a pastor worth his weight in salt, he will have been highly offended by this. So, I imagine the next battle for so-called Christians here is when the symbols of Islam start getting made into chocolate and then we have to start trying to outdo our "competition". Wake up Christians!!! For the freakin' love of God, get fired up about this stupid crap and start doing things that make people want to love Jesus rather than laugh at Him and us. And oh, just in case you didn't notice, this picture I took was indicative of the cross in our culture in a completely different way: after Easter, it goes down in value to most people!!! The cheap, falling price of the cross. I'm disgusted!!!
Psalm 109 (LXX) / 110 Screencast
In this screencast, we work through Psalm 109 (LXX) / 110 and discuss lexical, grammatical and syntactical aspects of verses 1-7. This post is also being added to the lot of other helpful Koine materials at GettingGreek. Use the slide container below to navigate through the various screencasts (which total about a fifty minutes worth of analyses!).
Exodus 20 (LXX) Screencast
In this screencast, we work through Exodus 20 and discuss lexical, grammatical and syntactical aspects of verses 1-17. This post is also being added to the lot of other helpful Koine materials at GettingGreek. Use the slide container below to navigate through the various screencasts (which total about a fifty minutes worth of analyses!).
4/3/10
Dt. 18 (LXX) Screencast
In this screencast, we work through Dt. 18 and discuss lexical, grammatical and syntactical aspects of verses 15-22. This post is also being added to the lot of other helpful Koine materials at GettingGreek. Use the slide container below to navigate through the various screencasts (which total about a forty minutes worth of analyses!).
Psa. 18 (LXX) Screencast
In this screencast, we work through Psalm 18 and discuss lexical, grammatical and syntactical aspects of verses 1-6. This has also been posted with other helpful Koine materials at GettingGreek. Use the slide container below to navigate through the 16 screencasts (which total about a half hour worth of analyses!).
Genesis 18 (LXX) Screencast
In this screencast, we work through Genesis 18 and discuss lexical, grammatical and syntactical aspects of verses 9-21. This has also been posted with other helpful Koine materials at GettingGreek. Use the slide container below to navigate through the 16 screencasts (which total about an hour and a half worth of analyses!).
4/2/10
$1,000 Pisteuomen Giveaway: Learn Biblical Hebrew
As many of you know, I have spent a considerable amount of time creating language learning sites: Getting German, Getting Greek and Getting Aramaic are three sites that I currently have live. Two that are in the hopper are Getting Hebrew and Getting French. Well, recently, I was approached by an outstanding language learning organization that gave me an outstanding opportunity: To provide, as an award, for one of my readers, the opportunity to learn biblical Hebrew online. In conjunction with The Hebrew University of Jerusalem & eTeacher, I have the privilege of offering 1 of my readers, the opportunity to do this for free. This package is worth right around $1,000! That's right, $1,000!!!
Here's a portion of the email I received:
"Since your blog is one of the most respected blogs about learning languages, we would like to offer you an online course valued at $1000, which you can give to your readers! It's up to you to decide what they will need to do in order to get the course - whether it be a contest amongst your blog readers asking them to interpret a psalm from the bible or to write a short story in Hebrew, or rather asking them to promote your blog...the creative ideas are of course limitless."
At this point, I have not decided on how I will run this contest. Neither have I set a start and finish date for the contest. As of now, what I want to do is to ask you, my readers, what sort of task should persons undertake to get this reward? Keep in mind, this has a value of $1,000! Remember also that it is true, online interaction with some of the best Hebrew language teachers around, a number of them residing in Jerusalem itself. Also, some academic institutions even allow this to count as course credit!!! In short, this is no small matter. So, what say ye? Feel free to email me, leave a comment here or to reply via Twitter or Facebook.
As soon as I get things nailed down, I will repost on this and provide contest dates, requirements, etc.
Need more, well here's something to whet your appetite:
4/1/10
I Hope You Understand: 12 Minutes on Good Friday
Got 12 minutes this Good Friday? If so, why not give this devotional of mine a listen?
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To download the .mp3, click the link:
Hijacked Pisteuomen Restored!!! Thank You Blogger!!!
As many of you are aware, someone played a nasty April Fools Day trick on me this morning (at least that's my theory) by hijacking my site. I tried everything I knew to get back into the site to fix it but my last resort was to email Blogger and have them go in, change things and then reissue me login info. Thankfully, I use the free "Blogger Backup" utility, so, once access was restored, I was able to get the site back to normal from old but up-to-date, files.
If you didn't see the drama that went down, here's a screenshot of the site that I took (I couldn't even right-click to get source code!!!):
Of course, Jim, being who he is, thought I did this in retaliation for some snide remark he made in the recent biblioblogs carnival but that's not the case (oh the audacity of him to think I'd read a post from his site!!!). Whatever. Anyway, things are back to normal. Many thanks to Blogger for coming to the rescue! I dare Wordpress to even try to top their service!
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