Saturday, December 30, 2006

Bank scam

1. I do not have an account or dealings with this bank.

2. I would not respond to a threat of suspension of an account via the internet.

3. In the comments are two links, and it appears TD is aware of this problem and has warned the public.



Dear Valued Customer,

Financial institutions around the world have always been subject to attempts by criminals to try and defraud money from them and their customers. These attempts can occur in a number of ways (e.g. credit card fraud, telephone banking or Internet scams).

As a part of our ongoing commitment to provide the "Best Possible" service and Protection to all our Members in the year 2007, we are now requiring each member to validate their accounts using our new secure and safe SSL servers. To validate your online banking account click on Log In To Online Banking.

This Email has being sent to all our Bank customers, and it is compulsory to follow as failure to verify account details will lead to account suspension.

Thank you.
Online Banking Security Team
Canada Trust (EasyWeb) Online

© 2006 TD Group Financial Services site - Copyright © EasyWeb

Thursday, December 28, 2006

My take on New Year's Eve


Melbourne

My take on New Year's Eve

I have never been a heavy drinker or been drunk. I do not state this arrogantly as I have other problems to deal with, as we all do. In the early 1990's for New Year's Eve I attended a few house parties of a friend of a friend. A possible problem with these types of parties is that the person throwing the party may like your friend but not you. This happened to me as this above average looking Christian young woman did not like me for some reason over the course of two consecutive New Year's Eve parties and decided that she would scowl at me whenever our eyes met. I think she perhaps disliked satirical, theologians, that looked like doormen and not Brad Pitt. She claimed to be a Christian, and I thought to myself, how Christ-like of her to act in such a fashion. I therefore nicknamed her "Vampira" and shared this idea with Chucky who agreed it an accurate name. Fortunately for her she never turned the scowls into a full frontal verbal attack because the term "Vampira" may have sneaked out of my mouth.;) Also in the 1990's for a few years I did the First Night supposedly dry New Year's Eve evening. Yes, the actual events were dry as in non-alcoholic, but between shows many of the people on the streets were hammered. I remember being in downtown Vancouver with a crowd of 100,000-300,000 people, many of them drunk and one female member of our group who previously almost completely ignored me (no not Vampira) grabbed onto my arm for protection. After we got through the crowd she let go and ignored me again. Oh what fun it was to be downtown with six figures of people, many of them wasted, hardly being able to move, people throwing up, and fights breaking out. In the last few years I have settled into usually associating with a few good friends on New Year's Eve. I can listen to a wife lovingly nag her husband, and it is entertaining and a good time.

From the New American Standard Bible,1 Corinthians 6:10 points out that drunkards will not inherit the Kingdom of God. This does not mean that Christians do not sometimes become drunk, but that those who live a life of a drunkard are in general terms not living with God and will not experience God's everlasting Kingdom. This type of lifestyle must eventually cease in order to please God. I therefore see no reason to live as one who will not inherit God's Kingdom, although I humbly admit to share the sickness of sin with all of humanity. It is by God's grace and not works that I am saved as it states in Ephesians 2 from the same Bible.

Sunday, December 24, 2006

Rush: December 10, 1976


New official video as replacement: July 20, 2016

I am a Rush music fan, not necessarily in agreement with lyrics.
---
For fans of old Rush this may sound incredible, but for others it may range in sound from okay to worse.;) I enjoy the complex, innovative, nature of the music. Although Rush is a secular band I have learned from listening to them. I have tried to put complexity and innovativness into my writing. I am not necessarily in agreement with the lyrics of Anthem, although I have not broken them down philosophically.

Merry Christmas,

Russ

Friday, December 22, 2006

The supposed national sport


Denmark

This is a short follow up to my article that I originally posted on a former blog 'kingpinned' but reposted on here in September. The link below is to the original article on this blog:

http://satireandtheology.blogspot.com/2006/09/why-i-gave-up-on-nhl.html

Just to be clear here, I am in general terms both pro-American and pro-Canadian. I disagree with some things with both countries but overall think that North America is the best place in the world to live. The above article and my related comments are in the context of professional sports and in particular the National Hockey League. Below are some comments I made on another blog yesterday. I think the post has merit, although the concept of hate is too strong.

http://hamiltontigers.blogspot.com/2006/12/its-official-bettman-hates-canadians.html

Tuesday, December 19, 2006

European Union



The map which can be clicked on shows European Union members. Candidates are Croatia, Macedonia, and Turkey.

I recently renewed by European Union and United Kingdom passport. I found this link and information helpful:

From

http://www.euimmigration.org/eu_passport.html


EU Passport

Myth I: It is a common misperception to believe that there is an "EU Passport" which cover all EU member countries. An "EU Passport" is only a term used to describe a passport from any EU country and does not exists in reality. Any citizen from any EU member country have same rights to travel visa free within EU / Schengen and to work in any EU country of their choice.

Myth II: Being and "EU citizen" and "EU resident" is the same. This is not the case. An EU citizen is an individual who has a passport from one of the EU countries. An EU resident can be an individual who has obtained the right to work and live in one of the EU countries, but who still holds the citizenship of his or her home country.

In order for an individual to take advantage of all the benefits of EU, he or she would want to become a citizen of any EU country by obtaining a second passport. The process of obtaining citizenship with an EU country is a formal process. Individuals most frequently obtain a second citizenship, also called "Dual Nationality", based upon family relationships, marriage, or investment. However, obtaining legal residency through work or studying can also make the citizenship process easier at a later stage. The advantage is that you are residing in the country you want to live in.

Visit the EU Resource Center to gain direct access to different countries' passport forms, immigration and work forms, information, and application procedures. All information provided is based upon you taking advantage of our research and start your own application process for an "EU Passport" or "EU residency" right now.


The benefit as a potential theology professor would be the possibility of working in any one of those countries. I therefore have more options than working in Canada or trying to immigrate to the United States. A question that would arise is if there are any Universities in the European Union that would employ a conservative philosophical theologian.

Monday, December 18, 2006

Recent comments



Some recent paraphrased comments:

a) thekingpin68 (me): "Well I need to go over my two chapters I have revised and add some more liberal sources perhaps".

Person X: "Oh come on you need to show some integrity".

Please see my article on my other blog on this subject:

http://thekingpin68.blogspot.com/2006/12/theological-tension.html

As a conservative philosophical theologian I can accept the well meaning advice of this senior and well educated person. However, I do not think that in any way by following my secular University advisor's advice to add some mainline Christian perspectives to counter my conservative ones, am I risking not showing integrity. If I want to pass my dissertation I need to follow the rules of the institution I attend and their standards. By including liberal views in my work in no way means I sanction them. In a secular UK research degree I cannot create my own gospel orientated work. In the beginning with a different advisor I tried to write a dissertation with many somewhat original conservative philosophical arguments with little time spent on counter arguments, but this was deemed unacceptable. In my present situation I do not have the time and money to attempt to enter a theology program at a conservative Christian institution and I do not want to be working on a PhD in my forties. My theodicy (theory of dealing with the problem of evil) has not been challenged and I shall be pleased to succeed in passing my PhD with my own theodicy embedded within.

b) "It is better to be alone, than be with the wrong person". Co-host Jeff from the Doc Love program, a secular internet dating show:

I have been in the Christian community for a number of years and have never met someone special. Genesis 2:18 states that it is not good for a man to be alone and in 1 Corinthians, Chapter 7 it notes that each man should marry his own wife to avoid immoralities. The Apostle Paul was single and content as he wrote in 7:7 and therefore many Christians I have heard seem to assume that a Christian will either be blessed with a mate or be content. I think that is too simplistic of an idea. This is where theodicy is important and I reason that I am neither blessed with a mate, nor content and that is God's will, at least for now, and there is no guarantee things will change. I agree with Jeff that it is better to be alone than to settle for what will not fulfill me spiritually, intellectually, and physically as a Christian.

Saturday, December 16, 2006

The problem of evil, questionnaire


Siegen, Germany

Greetings, and thanks for reading.

I have two PhD chapters revised with two more to follow. Once these are accepted by my new advisor I will be sampling the questionnaire which he basically approves. The topic is the problem of evil.

If anyone is interested in receiving this confidential questionnaire by email when it is ready, please let me know by leaving a comment with this post or with the post Questionnaire Assistance in the archives. Most of my surveys will be collected locally, but I will accept email ones from people that attend Christian churches.

If you do not wish to leave a comment but would like to fill out the survey, you can email me at:

rnmwales@shaw.ca

Thanks again,

Russ:)

Friday, December 15, 2006

British lottery email scam


London

BRITISH CHARITIES LOTTERY PROMOTIONS.
UNITED KINGDOM.

We are pleased to inform you of the announcements today of Winners of
the MEGA JACKPOT LOTTO WINNING PROGRAMS. Your company or personal e-mail address, is attached to a Ticket number 644-701-836-872, with a serial number 64483-72 drew the Lucky Winning Numbers 06-14-17-28-30-41.

You have therefore been awarded the total lump sum pay out of
£420,000.00 credited to File Ref No: CLP/ 24-FB-426253.

You must contact the claims department by e-mail;

E-mail: bristishpromolottery@yahoo.co.uk

Congratulations once again from all our staff for being a part of our
Promotions program.

Mrs. Stacy Queens McLellan

© Charities Lottery 2006.

___________________________________________________________________________
PL:: E-mail wys³any za pomoc± us³ugi WebMail oferowanej przez http://www.Problemy.PL/
EN:: Mail sent from WebMail service at http://www.Problemy.PL/

Wednesday, December 06, 2006

Christianity in summary

Versailles, France from trekearth

The following article is the third I have produced with the assistance of religionfacts.com. I provide the links below and so therefore if you would prefer to look at the originals and forget this site that is of course your option. However, those of you that wish to bother reading my hopefully wonderful article, please read on.:) Generally I like the information provided by this link, but some comments come to mind though.

I do not pretend to be able to judge the human spiritual condition, but with the rather secular state of our world, I seriously question if there are actually approximately 2 billion out of 6.5 billion people following the Biblical Christ through the power of God's Spirit. In Matthew 7: 13-14 Jesus states that many people take the wide road in life that leads to destruction, while only a few take the narrow way that leads to life. Now of course approximately 2 billion out of 6.5 billion of the world's population is still approximately 31%, but I question if this is really the idea of few that Christ was discussing. If there are that many Christians in the world I seriously wonder why Western civilization for example, seems to be becoming increasingly secular. I would deduce that the number of church adherents for the United States of America, and United Kingdom may include many people who are born into a Christian faith, and may not actually believe in and follow the Biblical Jesus Christ.

Used by permission from http://www.religionfacts.com/

http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/fastfacts.htm

Date founded:
c. 33 AD

Place founded:
Palestine

Founder:
Jesus of Nazareth

Adherents:
2 billion {1}

US adherents:
159 million in 2001 {2}

UK adherents:
51 million in 1997 {3}

Size rank:
largest world religion

Main location:
Europe
North America
South America

Major sects (denominations):
Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Protestant

Sacred texts:
The Bible, comprised of the Old Testament and New Testament

Original languages:
Aramaic, Greek, Latin

Religious professionals:
Priest; bishop; archbishop; patriarch; pope; pastor; minister; preacher; deacon

House of worship:
Church, chapel, cathedral, basilica, meeting hall

Type of theism:
Trinitarian Monotheism

Ultimate reality:
One God (a Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit)

Human nature:
Created good but now born sinful

Purpose of life:
Know, love and serve God

How to live:
Have faith in the true God and Christ's resurrection, do good works, participate in sacraments

Afterlife:
Resurrection of body and soul, purgatory (Catholic and Orthodox), and eternal heaven or hell

Symbols:
Cross, dove, anchor, fish, alpha and omega, chi rho

Major holidays:
Advent (Nov. 30 - Dec. 24)
Christmas (Dec. 25)
Epiphany (Jan. 6)
Lent (40-day period prior to Easter)
Good Friday (last Friday before Easter)
Easter (date varies)
All Saint's Day (Nov. 1)

Books of the New Testament :
Gospel of Matthew
Gospel of Mark
Gospel of Luke
Gospel of John
Acts of the Apostles
Romans
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians Ephesians
Philippians
Colossians
1 Thessalonians
2 Thessalonians
1 Timothy
2 Timothy
Titus
Philemon Hebrews
James
1 Peter
2 Peter
1 John
2 John
3 John
Jude
Revelation

Two Greatest Commandments
1. Love God with your heart, soul and mind.
2. Love your neighbor as yourself. {4}

Four Last Things
1. second coming
2. judgment
3. heaven
4. hell

Seven Deadly Sins
1. pride
2. greed
3. lust
4. envy
5. gluttony
6. anger
7. sloth

Seven Ecumenical Councils
1. Council of Nicea (325 AD)
2. Council of Constantinople (381)
3. Council of Ephesus (431)
4. Council of Chalcedon (451)
5. Second Council of Constantinople (553)
6. Third Council of Constantinople (681)
7. Second Council of Nicea (787)

Twelve Apostles
1. James, son of Zebedee
2. John, son of Zebedee
3. Philip
4. Bartholomew
5. Thomas
6. Andrew (Peter's brother)
7. Simon Peter
8. Matthew the tax collector
9. James, son of Alphaeus
10. Simon the Zealot
11. Judas Iscariot
12. Thaddaeus {5}

Fourteen Stations of the Cross
1. Jesus is condemned to death
2. The cross is laid upon him
3. Jesus' first fall
4. Jesus meets Mary
5. Simon of Cyrene bears the cross
6. Veronica wipes Jesus' face
7. Jesus' second fall
8. Jesus meets the women of Jerusalem
9. Jesus' third fall
10. Jesus is stripped of his garments
11. Jesus is crucified
12. Jesus dies
13. Jesus' body is taken down
14. Jesus's body is laid in the tomb

References
1. adherents.com
2. adherents.com
3. adherents.com
4. Mark 12:28-31.
5. Matthew 10:2.