Christmas 2012: New Year's Eve And New Year's Ending

Cambridge-trekearth

New Year's Ending

Due to the relative popularity, pageview wise of my Christmas and New Year's Eve posts, from now on in December these will mainly be the posts I will produce. I am not a populist post writer, for the most part, obviously, but on other hand, for marketing and ministry purposes I should 'listen' to my followers and readers and I do.

Obviously, I pretty much write what I am led to write, but again I do want to be sensitive to followers and readers. Overall, I am pleased with the progress of the blogs and still plan to continue with them, Blogger allowing, for the rest of my life as ministry and as an outlet for academic Theology, Philosophy of Religion and Biblical Studies.

Although presently working in the family networking marketing business, I am always interested in potential academic teaching possibilities, but I am not interested in putting all my eggs in one economic basket, especially with the mediocre United States economy at this time and the fact that most career work in academia, publishing and media related to my degrees will be in the United States. I will use my Blogger blogs as a media to maintain my PhD skill level and also look at any church relate teaching opportunities.

This blog's pageviews are basically matching the monthly highs from 2008 and 2010 and so there is an increase from 2011. My other blog, thekingpin68/Dr. Russell Norman Murray is likely at an overall month to month high at this point but it is still at about 40% of pageview level of Satire And Theology, even with me intentionally writing more posts on that blog and shorter posts, the Satire blog is simply, even with the same message, easier to read, and more visual and humourous. 

Even so, as far as Technorati rankings, which is primarily concerned with links, the blogs are fairly equal with the Dr. Russell Norman Murray blog perhaps being slightly ahead, when one blog is ahead, more often than not. This may because there are more citations with the posts. As well, my other blog is ahead with followers.

The disappointing issue, and I am trying to comment on the blogs of others, is lack of comments. I try to limit SPAM comments to the most humourous and informative, but they do assist in boosting my comment numbers and making the blogs look professional. I realize that many Blogger bloggers or other bloggers have dropped out or suspended blogging and I have blogged on this issue previous in regard to Facebook, I do realize Facebook and related sites with a type of blogging have their benefits, but if one feels so led I would appreciate some assistance with comments.

Obviously, I accept anonymous comments and if you are already a frequent pageviewer you already show up on Statcounter/Sitemeter and so if I have not figured out who you are by now, anonymous comments probably will not assist me, much.;)

It could be worse, I could be asking for ca$h...

Thank you to readers/pageviewers, followers, links, and commenters for 2012 and for the next years.:)

My brother and I drove back to Sea-Tac International Airport Tuesday and older brother went back to Arizona to join most of the family. Border patrol was not difficult this time with either country. In November when I went to pick him up there was first of all a forty-five minute wait at the border and then I was asked to pull aside by US Customs/Homeland Security for over an hour as they looked through my car and I stood in a long line-up only to be asked the same questions again and again, and then asked to sit down more than once. I do not venture over the border much but when I go to the Excited States of Americana from the Socialist Paradise of Canada by myself I receive some kind of interview about 33% to 50% of the time.

Perhaps it is all that martial arts combined with muscles and the glasses?

Once I even left the baseball bat in the trunk...woops. They did not say anything.

I do receive some pageviews from Canadian and United States security agencies (probably employees) and so I do wonder if when someone reads work about 'New Heaven and New Earth' there could be some misunderstandings.

No revolutionary here.

However, once I am checked out I always come out a saint. After all, I do have a lot of female readers relatively, some Americans read me and toddlers love me, so I cannot be all the bad...

On a serious philosophical note, I realize that since 911, and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security the United States Border Patrol has needed to increase security and I support it. What I would like to see is increased technological advances made at border crosses, ports, train stations, and airports in order not to waste so much time. When I first picked my brother up there was the forty-five minute wait at the border. Efficiency should be increased. This was a morning on a week day in November, not a major holiday. In my mind if one wants security there should be efficiency, there was too much delay in having the security officers check the cars in the first place.

Another example comes to mind when flying to the United States back in 2009 with my disabled Mother and her metal artificial hips and joints. Clearly she is elderly (prematurely due to disability), basically deaf, and struggling and therefore very likely not a threat. A machine/computer should be able to determine that nature of her physical being without her having to take her shoes off, which is a great struggle, holding up tens of other people. As basically deaf she cannot hear the instructions well from authorities not familiar with her and I was asked to step away and could not assist the officer. In any other case with an official, such as Medical Doctor or Bank Manager I would serve as Guardian basically, but with the United States Department of Home Security, which are still basically friendly people at the airport, and their airport employee associates, they required Mom to be taken aside alone.

Again not efficient.

Keep Calm

Rotten E Cards

New Year's Eve

I have a local party to go to, nothing wild...

Please send me ca$h-See Mathew 24

Google Images

Ignore false prophets (Matthew 24)-Google Images

Christmas 2012: Integrity

London-trekearth

London-trekearth

Christmas posts have done fairly well relatively speaking, pageview wise on this blog and therefore I can reasonably conclude that my readers are receiving benefit from the Christmas posts and also the related New Year's Eve and New Year's articles as well. I reason I can write this article with a level of integrity and not simply as a pageview grab.

Blackburn philosophizes that integrity is most simply 'a synonym for honesty'. Blackburn (1996: 195). But the philosophical concept of integrity is often connected with more complex notions of a human harmony with self, and this very self would be compromised by doing certain things. Blackburn (1996: 195). The implication being that self would be compromised by committing acts/actions that would lack honesty and not be of integrity.

After church Sunday, I sat with Mr. Matt and the choir, having lunch. Now I would never be caught alive or dead in the choir, but I was nice enough to assist Mr. Matt, even though it was not my scheduled turn with church clean-up, and so I had a very small lunch with Mr. Matt and some ladies and at the time assisted bringing dishes, trays and coffee (a proof we are not Latter-Day Saints) related pots and cups downstairs and helped load the dishwasher after assisting with the rinse in the sink.

At the lunch table, in the Christmas spirit we were discussing issues such as divorce, dating, evangelism to non-believers and in general living as a Christian. My thought as a Christian theologian and philosopher was that everyone in the Church, as noted previously on my blogs, as a sinner fails to have perfect integrity in the Gospel, because even though the believer is regenerated as in born again (John 3) and chosen for salvation (Ephesians 1, Romans 8), each believer still has the sinful nature described in Romans 1-6. So when certain non-believers or certain fellow Christians label Christians as hypocrites, it is as one who violates his or her own principles, ethics, morals. There is at times truth with these labels,

The Sunday sermon was focusing on 'election' and was basically in agreement with the compatibilism expressed in my MPhil and PhD theses.

I reason as Calvin expressed the idea in 'Bondage and Liberation of the Will' that the regenerated person was one freed to worship the Biblical God in a way that the lost, unregenerate person could not. Calvin (1543)(1996: 115).

Feinberg expressed similar concepts in his work but more also from a philosophical perspective as well, as did I.

The point being that even though those in the Church are 'chosen'/'elected' and it is first a move by God implied by God moving someone to be 'born again', as Calvin noted, there is a sense of the will being freed upon regeneration to do the will of God, in Christ.

The example of divorce arose at lunch. I do not claim that relationship experience, but have studied related concepts for hours online psychologically from secular perspectives and theologically, Biblically and philosophically academically. If the Scripture only allows for divorce in the cases of divorce (Matthew 19, I Corinthians 7) then as the one young woman in particular agreed with me today, the way to avoid divorce is to approach marriage with the attitude that divorce is a non-option. Of course this requires a suitable partner to start with... I refuse to write relationship posts anymore and I was in fact invited by a secular relationship professional, now Facebook friend that was so impressed by my work to start a Christian site dedicated to such, but I declined as I have enough to do online already, and desire no more. But in light of Jesus warning on the subject in Matthew 5 (see the Dr. RNM blog) and Paul with I Corinthians 7 (see Dr. RNM blog)  it is common sense I reason most people reading this struggle with this general area, including me.

A key seems to be reconsidering perspectives again and again and again by the Holy Spirit's guidance within Scripture.

Not to be following set worldly patterns. Or bad patterns within the Church for the matter.

On Sunday we discussed evangelism and how sometimes persons in 'cults' were more friendly than Christians. Mr. Matt correctly stated that Christians should not always be 'nice' because the Gospel is true and offends, implying for example, hell is not nice. True enough, but one of my faults as an introvert that is becoming slightly more extroverted over the years is that I am not the most smiley person, or the first person to shake hands etc.. But on the other hand, I am never afraid or ashamed to share the Gospel, the Bible, Christian theology and philosophy in public and private.

I will not win awards for overt friendliness, but at least I cannot be blamed for hurting the Gospel by being mean-spirited and by being unwilling in a friendly manner in public and private, as I do on these blogs, to discuss Christian theology and philosophy.

These are examples in my mind for a Christian to have integrity with a Christmas type spirit year round.

BLACKBURN, SIMON (1996) Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

CALVIN, JOHN (1543)(1996) The Bondage and Liberation of the Will, Translated by G.I. Davies, Grand Rapids, Baker Book House.

Bad Christmas Gift-The Guardian

Bad Christmas Gift-The Guardian

From FreakingNews.Com

The Guardian

Freaking News.com

Christmas 2012: Lights, Satire & Philosophy

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The first scan below is from Browning page 63, the other Oliver page 220. I only scanned part of Oliver. These were used on a Christmas post for this same blog in 2010.

BROWNING, W.R.F. (1997) Oxford Dictionary of the Bible, Oxford, Oxford University Press.

OLIVER, O.G. Jr. (1996) ‘Christmas’, in Walter A. Elwell (ed.), Evangelical Dictionary of Theology, Grand Rapids, Baker Books.

The birth of Christ was documented in the Gospels (Mathew 1-2, Luke 1-3), and Christmas was an event brought about by the Church to highlight the birth of the Son of God, the God-Man the one that atoned for humanity within the new covenant (Hebrews 12) that was resurrected and will lead his followers to resurrection (I Corinthians 15).  Therefore, on principal, I do not have a theological or philosophical difficulty with the historical fact that Christmas is not strictly 'Biblical' because the birth of Christ, whatever technical day is actually is, is Biblical, and the salvific work, the atonement and resurrection is well-documented in Scripture. It should be noted that a key to the New Testament was to document accurately the religious history, as compared to 21st Century historical standards which aim to document the date and time exactly. This would also be made easier with modern technology.

The issue of Santa Claus brings controversy in the Christian Church.

From edited:

http://www.stnicholascenter.org/pages/who-is-st-nicholas/

'The true story of Santa Claus begins with Nicholas, who was born during the third century in the village of Patara. At the time the area was Greek and is now on the southern coast of Turkey. His wealthy parents, who raised him to be a devout Christian, died in an epidemic while Nicholas was still young. Obeying Jesus' words to "sell what you own and give the money to the poor," Nicholas used his whole inheritance to assist the needy, the sick, and the suffering. He dedicated his life to serving God and was made Bishop of Myra while still a young man. Bishop Nicholas became known throughout the land for his generosity to the those in need, his love for children, and his concern for sailors and ships.'

'Under the Roman Emperor Diocletian who ruthlessly persecuted Christians, Bishop Nicholas suffered for his faith, was exiled and imprisoned. The prisons were so full of bishops, priests, and deacons, there was no room for the real criminals—murderers, thieves and robbers. After his release, Nicholas attended the Nicea in AD 325.... He died December 6, AD 343...This liquid substance, said to have healing powers, fostered the growth of devotion to Nicholas. The anniversary of his death became a day of celebration, Saint Nicholas Day, December 6th (December 19 on the Julian Calendar).'

Obviously, there is a difference between this documented historical Saint Nicholas and the modern day Santa Claus. Santa Claus is largely used a marketing tool, especially in the Western World to assist in the sale of merchandise in the Christmas Season.

Theologically and philosophically I do not see the modern Santa Claus as 'Satan Claus' but rather as noted a commercial marketing tool and also a fantasy outlet for children and to some extent adults at Christmas in the context of toys and wonderment. I do not have a major problem with it but I would not replace God, or Jesus in any way with Santa Claus in a child's life. Therefore, a Christmas could be very much Christ and God focused, theologically (philosophically) and with related imagery, but a radical hyper-fundamentalist type of opposition to all things Santa would not need to be adhered to. I to an extent see Santa, when properly put in his place, and that is the key, like Batman, Spider-Man, Scooby-Doo or other fictional commercial figures that may have appeal, especially to children at Christmas time.

Now the hyper-fundamentalist can argue that Batman and company are not Christmas idols to some like Santa Claus is and that is true, to the same degree, for the most part, not knowing every situation. But, Santa, like Batman and company is a basically benevolent fictional character that can in context, be put in his (or her place if needed) in order to allow God/Christ to be at the centre of Christmas.

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