Friday, January 30, 2009
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Hannah's Super Essay
As Christians
Sitting there in shock I could not believe my ears. Did my teacher really say twelve paragraphs? A twelve paragraph essay about our responsibilities as Christians to God and man! In my mind gears were kicking in and my mind was swirling with ideas. I was so anxious and nervous to start. Later that night when I got home I started right away.Throughout my intense researching I found so many exciting verses in the Bible. Researching I realized the Ten Commandments were perfect for my essay, because they are God’s laws and show us how to honor and glorify Him and how to love others. Notably the Ten Commandments were just right for all the information I needed to learn what my Christian responsibilities were.
As Christians we have many responsibilities to our God and honoring and glorifying God is part of them. Lovingly God formed us in His image for His own glory. We were created to faithfully honor and glorify God. We do this when we show God our love for Him, for the Bible speaks, “ You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” Matthew 22:37. Honoring God shows our love to Him. Living and following the Ten Commandments, which are God’s own laws is a way to show our love for Him.
Is God first in your life? The first two Commandments in Exodus 20tell us, “You shall have no other God before Me”, and “Do not worship false idols”. Meaning do not worship a person or thing, only worship God. Within we may believe we do not bow down and worship idols.However, we may love something more significantly than God, which iswrong and it may become to valuable in our life. Perhaps more importantthan God. Our responsibility as a Christian is to be positive there is nothing more treasured than Christ in our hearts, our minds, and our actions. We should not worship anything before God.
Do you watch the words that travel out of your mouth? The third Commandment in Exodus 20:7 teaches us, “Do not take the Lords name in vain”. Using the Lords name in vain is dishonoring to God nothonoring to Him. For instance you may be foolishly playing around with your friends and used Christ’s name disrespectfully. Inwardly your thoughts may have been, “It is just this once it will not hurt anybody.”However you actually did curse God, did dishonor God, and did sin. Colossians 6 informs us, “Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one”. Whenspeaking we need to be responsible and consider every word we use tocommunicate with, because we want our words to glorify God.
Do you take a day to relax? Following the fourth Commandment,which instructs us, “Keep the Sabbath day holy”, is another way we can honor God. The Sabbath day, which most people honor on Sunday, is the day our mighty God rested after forming and creating this huge world and all that is in it. Honestly God did not need to rest, because He is God. Our Lord rested only to prove to us we need to rest our tired bodies, minds, and actions after a long week of living in the world. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is necessary, just remember to take a day to relax, forget about all the worries of the world and worship God. As Christians it is our responsibility to keep the body and mind God gave us healthy.
As a Christian we need to be faithful in our responsibilities to watch our speech, take a day to relax and most important, keep God first in are life. So simple. Yet it means so much to God, because we were made to glorify Him. We want following God and His Commandments to becomea habit, which will help us to be responsible in honoring and glorifying God.
As a Christian honoring and worshiping God is our duty, however we also have a responsibility to lovingly respect others, because the Bible commands us to. Informing us the Bible commands, “You shall love your neighbor as yourself” Matthew 22:39-40. The Bible also instructs us, “Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving to one a another even as God in Christ forgave you” Ephesians 4:32. Do you see? We are requiredto love one another, and forgive one another as Christ, because Jesus did for us. Giving glory to God as we do so.
Do you get angry? The sixth commandment of the Bible reads, “You shall not murder” Exodus 2:13. The story of Cain and Abel shows us murder comes from anger and anger comes from the heart. In our life someone may do something to make us mad and angry. If we do notforgive them it will build up inside. Thinking nasty thoughts about this person we may start to want to take revenge on them. It could even lead to thinking of murder. The Bible tells us, “Love your enemies, bless those who cures you, do good to those who hate you, and pray for those who spitefully use you and persecute you” Matthew 5:44. As a Christian we have the responsibility to forgive others.
Do you always speak the truth? Lying may seem like a little crumb on the floor, not that big of a deal. However lying is as big as ahippopotamus before God. The Bible commands us in Exodus 22:16, “You shall not bare false witness against your neighbors”. Telling a fib about some one or to some one is wrong whether it’s over a crumb, a cookie, or a hippopotamus. Lying is lying! It hurts not just God but others around us and even our selves. Our responsibility as a Christian is to show respect to God and to others by doing our best, no mater what, to tell the truth.
Do you ever wish you had all the cool stuff your friends have? Well the
Bible commands in Exodus 20:17, “You shall not covet”. Meaning you shall not want everything you see others have. How do we do this? The Bible shows us through Psalms 16:17, “ I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving, and I will call upon the name of the Lord”. Having a thankful heart for what we have, we will keep are thoughts off what we don’t have. When having a thankful heart and being grateful will show the world we honor God. It is a responsibility of a Christian to have a cheerful attitude about what God gave us and to be glad for others blessings.
Respectfully and lovingly treating man, which is another way ofshowing honor to God, is our responsibility. Do you get angry, do you covet, and do you lie? I hope you see that this is wrong, because it is doing the opposite of what the Bible tells us to do. Forgiving others, being truthful, and having a thankful heart are ways to love and to show our respect to our neighbors. Honoring God and man should become a habit to work for, because it is our responsibility.
As I wrap up my twelve-paragraph essay on our Christian responsibilities on how to honor God and love man I am excited to read and share all that I have learned. I thought the Ten Commandments were just right to research, to share, and to learn from. Don’t you? In our life our goal should be to glorify and honor our God, through studying His word and loving our friends, our family, and even our enemies. By being kind to one another, tenderhearted, and forgiving we honor man, byloving the Lord with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind we glorify and honor God, which fulfills our Christian responsibilities.
The Wrong Tomb Theory
It assumes that the women got confused and went to the wrong tomb, an empty one at that. If so then the disciples who went to confirm the women's claims went to the wrong tomb. The big problem with this theory is that the Jewish and Roman authorities who had so much at stake and who placed the Roman guard and Roman seal at the tomb, would not have been confused about which was the right tomb. The Roman authorities didn't forget where they put their guard units and Imperial Seals. They could just go to the tomb and say, "see the guards are still here, the stone and the seal are still in place. Jesus is still in there." They could have even had the tomb reopened to show everyone that the body was still there. But they couldn't do that because they were at the right tomb and Jesus was gone.
Monday, January 26, 2009
Second Semester - Week 1
LATIN: Keep working on the conjugations and declensions. Next Monday there will be a reward for those who bring them to class.
RESEARCH: Remember to present your worldview in your research paper on BATS. In your illustration, try and demonstrate an interesting fact about this amazing creature.
RHETORIC: Make time this week to watch the Image of God video, and the Pitdown Man video so that we can discuss them in class on Monday.
GEOGRAPHY: Use the maps that we went over in class to draw and label a map of Asia every day this week. Spend some extra time this week going over all the vocabulary terms for our quiz on Monday.
BIBLE BASED WRITING: As soon as you have your Super Essay's finished email them to me so I can post them on the web. We will discuss them in class as soon as they are all in.
LITERATURE BASED WRITING: Have fun with your Bowditch Essay. Make sure that you follow the guidelines that I gave you on Monday.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Study Reminders
Please remember to read your fellow students Super-Essay's and bring your comments to class withy you on Monday. Also remember to practice your European Capitals so you are ready for the Geography quiz on Monday.
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Joy's Super-Essay - Week XV
Joyelle Elizabeth Bull January 19, 2009
Exalt HIS Name
When you are a Christian you have some responsibilities. They are in the 10 commandments, the beatitudes, the creeds, along with many other places found in and out of the bible. One other thing I didn't mention was the confessions. The first question of the Westminster Confession is (1) "What is the chief and highest end of man?" Which means what is the purpose of man? The answer is this: Man's chief and highest end is to glorify God, and fully to enjoy him forever.". Those are two more responsibilities of Christians.
Glorifying GOD is doing things that magnify Him. When we go to the grocery store we need to glorify GOD. We need to live our lives to reflect CHRIST. He set an example when He was on earth. He said, "(2)If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow Me.". (3)Dictionary.com says to follow is to, " to accept as a guide or leader", or to," to conform to...". JESUS tells us to conform to Him conform means to "become similar in ... nature". Our nature is to be similar to CHRIST's even more than that it is to be exactly like CHRIST's, He lived a perfect sinless life. We can never fulfill that calling. That is why JESUS came to die. Now GOD looks at our lives and sees CHRIST's.
We were created for one purpose, to glorify GOD. That's it, Colossians 1:16 tells us, "(4)For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible ... all things were created through Him and for Him.". He created us for Himself. Sole comes from the Latin word solus meaning alone, only, or the only. The only reason we were created is to glorify GOD with every breath we take. When GOD created man He said "It was very good". All the other things were "good". Also when GOD created man he formed him in His image! All the other things were spoken into existence. We were created special but man fell and GOD chose only some of us for CHRIST to die for.
We were chose by GOD. Paul writes to the Ephesians, "(5)Even as He chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and blameless before Him. In love He predestined us for adoption as sons through JESUS CHRIST, according to the purpose of His will.". John 3:16,17 relates "(6)For God so loved the world, that He gave His only Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through Him. Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because He has not believed in the name of the only Son of God.". JESUS came to die for His chosen few. He picked us before the world was created thousands of years ago. If the earth is 5,000 years old and you lived to be 80 years old you would have to live 62 ½ times to be as old as the earth. He picked us that long ago.
We were created and chosen to glorify GOD. We glorify GOD by leading a pious life. Again Paul is writing, this time to Philippi, he tells them, "(7)Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things" he goes on to say, "practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.". We are called to not only fill our minds with these things but also to live them out. JESUS tells us, "(8)So, whether you eat or drink, or whatever you do, do all to the glory of God.".
GOD is so great even that mountains crumble at His sight. Nahum 1:5 tells us, " (9)The mountains quake before Him and the hills melt away". Even the sinless angels cover themselves in the presence of GOD. Isaiah 2:6 says, speaking of angels, "... (10)each with six wings: With two wings they covered their faces and with two they covered their feet...". Yet we, sinful and vile creatures, are allowed into the presence of the all mighty GOD! Now that is a reason to glorify GOD, in everything we do. Like to catechism says we are to glorify GOD.
The second part of the Westminster catechism's first question is, "(10)to enjoy Him forever". When you think of enjoy you might think of sitting by a warm fire at Christmas time, or cuddling up on a window seat with the warm summer afternoon sun pouring down on you and your favorite book, or maybe even going to Disneyland and riding the Manahorn. The doctoral definition for enjoy is to, "(11)have benefit from", or to, "take delight in". We can take delight in all those things but to glorify GOD we must take delight in Him and receive His benefits.
We need to enjoy GOD by trusting. Luke tells us to "(12)See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. If that is how GOD clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? ". GOD provided everything for us so we need to praise Him. We can rejoice in the fact that the flowers are clothed and we need to rejoice in the fact that everything that we have was given to us by GOD. When we doubt our previsions we are doubting GOD, He knows what is best for us.
We are called to praise GOD, even when we think GOD should have made our sorrow and pain stop. A band called Casting Crowns wrote a song called "Praise You in this Storm". Here is an excerpt from the song
(13)I was sure by now, God, that You would have reached down
and wiped our tears away,
stepped in and saved the day.
But once again, I say amen
and it's still raining
as the thunder rolls
I barely hear You whisper through the rain,
"I'm with you"
and as Your mercy falls
I raise my hands and praise
the God who gives and takes away.
And I'll praise you in this storm
and I will lift my hands
for You are who You are
no matter where I am
and every tear I've cried
You hold in your hand
You never left my side
and though my heart is torn
I will praise You in this storm
I love this song because it tells of a man glorifying GOD in a storm. We need to praise GOD because He is holy and we are not. He is the only object that deserves worship. We need to keep trusting in GOD even when we think that there could be no way that this could be used for anything. "(14)For your thoughts are not my thoughts, nor are your ways my ways" declares the Lord.
We are to look forward to future enjoyment and glory. To be in heaven and to see GOD is the reason we are here on earth. But we must be like Paul, willing to which ever one is the will of GOD. "(15)For me to live is CHRIST but to die is gain". This is the best way to enjoy GOD. We have no idea what heaven will be like. In the bible it tells of streets of gold. We know it will be much better because all we will have is to worship GOD. We also know that, "(16)He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore". That verse comes from Revelation 21:4
"(17)O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.". That was from Psalm 34 written by king David. We can lean from David how to enjoy GOD. He poetically speaks the words, "my soul thirst for you, my body longs for you". We need to thirst and long for GOD this I shoe you enjoy GOD, by earnestly wanting to magnify Him in everything you do.
We as Christians do have responsibilities but they are definitely worth it when we think of the benefits of being a Christian. We are to enjoy GOD in glorifying Him. And in glorifying him we should enjoy Him. So as it says in Psalm 34:3 "(18)Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt His name together."
1. Westminster Catechism
2. Matthew 16:24
3. Dictionary.com
4. Bible Gateway.com
5. ibid.
6. ibid.
7. ibid.
8. ibid.
9. ibid.
10. ibid.
11. Dictionary.com
12. Bible Gateway.com
13. "Praise You In This Storm" Casting Crowns
14. Bible Gateway.com
15. ibid.
16. ibid.
17. ibid.
18. ibid.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Week XV - Assignments
LATIN: Now that we are in book 4 it is time to step things up a little bit. You need to know the declensions and conjugations like the back of your hand. It will take you about 15 minutes a day to do 30 words. This will be easier than waiting until the weekend and doing all 110 at once.
RESEARCH: Remember when you are researching Marsupials to think about presenting your worldview in your essays. You will find lots of darwinian information that you will need to refute.
RHETORIC: Take time to read the information that I posted last week about Playing Dead so that we can discuss it next Monday. Also take time to watch both parts of the Piltdown man Hoax video.
GEOGRAPHY: Make flash-cards of all the European Countries and Capitals and practice them daily. We will have a test on Monday.
BIBLE BASED WRITING: Finish your super essays and email them to me. Read all of the other students super essay's and bring your critiques to class with you on Monday.
LITERATURE BASED WRITING: You have one week to read Carry on Mr. Bowditch. Remember to make a Glossary of Terms for this book. You may want to familiarize yourself with what a Glossary of Terms is on page IV of Words Aptly Spoken. Also you do need to answer the review questions for every chapter and bring them to class.
Lauren's Super Essay - Week XV
The Responsibilities of a Christian
What are the responsibilities of a Christian? There are many, but two of the main responsibilities are one, that we should glorify God and two, that we make Him the number one priority in our lives. Glorifying God consists of many things we can do, such as serving others, working hard, and giving the Lord credit for everything good that we do. Also, to make God number one in our lives we must remember to try to obey His commandments, read His word, and most of all pray to God. These are the responsibilities of a Christian and our obligation to Christ for the gift of salvation.
God created us because He wanted to be glorified and praised and share His glory with us. In Exodus 20:5 it says, “I the Lord your God am a jealous God,” (ESV) so we need to praise Him and glorify Him. We can do this by serving others instead of ourselves, by working hard and to the best of our ability, and also by giving God praise and credit for everything. Knowing that we want to glorify God and please Him all the time should be a good enough reason to help us do that, but we still have our sinful nature pulling us away from Christ.
One way we can bring glory to God is by serving others. If we show God that we love and care for others more than ourselves, and truly mean it, it will glorify Him. Knowing that we want to please God should help us keep a glad heart that wants to serve. Joyfully we need to serve. God is only pleased if we do it for the right reasons. Down in our hearts if we are serving others because we want to be noticed by others, we are doing it for the wrong reason. Serving others to glorify God. That’s the reason we should do it.
Working hard glorifies God. If you are doing school, working at a job, or simply doing a little chore around the house, you need to work hard at it and do your best for the Lord. God will be glorified if you work hard for Him and Him only. In Colossians 3:23 it says, “Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men… for you are serving the Lord Christ,” (ESV). You also need to have a good attitude while doing your work. To God, if you have a bad attitude it is like not doing it at all. Wholeheartedly is how we should do our work for God.
When we are working hard or serving others and someone compliments us there is one thing we should do that glorifies God the most, give credit and praise to God for everything. God is the one who makes it possible for us to do such things. He is the one who gives us our gifts and talents, and we need to recognize that. Despite what people may say, God still deserves the credit and praise. Thankfully accepting their compliment is okay, but we still need to add in praise to God. He deserves it. We should give it to Him because we truly love Him and want to glorify Him.
Praise Him. Worship Him. Glorify Him. Now you can go out and serve others knowing God is smiling down on you. You can work hard and truly know who you are working for. You can give credit to God and realize it is what glorifies Him the most.
God is the most important thing in our lives. We need to show Him that we love him and respect Him by making Him the number one priority. We can do that in many ways such as obeying the Ten Commandments that He gave us, reading His word, and equally as important by praying to Him. God is the almighty one and we know that He is to be loved, respected and worshipped all the time.
One way we can make God number one in our lives is to obey His commandments. Since the Bible says that no one can keep all of God’s commandments perfectly except Jesus, we know we can’t do it. God will help us to keep them by giving us the Holy Spirit to help us to recognize when we have broken one. When we ask forgiveness, God immediately forgives us. In Psalms 51:17 it says, “The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Showing Him that we are truly sorry pleases Him, because He knows we are trying to do our very best. We should confess right away. And that shows we are putting Him first.
Reading God’s word is also a way we can make Him number one in our lives. When we start and end our day with God’s word, it shows we care about what God’s word says. God’s word is very important. Without it we would have nothing to live by, and we would not know God’s will for our lives. Naturally we should be thankful God gave us His word and His laws and we need to read them, and make Him the first part of our day.
Praying to God is another way we can put Him first in our lives. In 1 Thessalonians 5:17 it says, “Pray without ceasing,” (ESV). That’s what we need to do. It is our way of communicating with God just as the Bible is His way of communicating to us. The Lord loves to hear our prayers, and He wants us to pray to him. When we pray to God it shows we trust Him, because we are taking our cares and worries to Him first, and He loves to hear us praise him. Lovingly, he hears each and every one of our prayers and He cares for all of them.
God is our creator. He is righteous, He is all-knowing, all-powerful, and He deserves to be number one. When you get up in the morning and read God’s word and pray about it you can have a peace about why you are doing it. Even though you cannot fully keep all of God’s commandments, you can feel good about knowing He will forgive you, and help you to mature and grown more Christ-like.
Now you have learned just a few responsibilities that we have as Christians. Serving others for God’s glory, working hard and doing our best for God, but most importantly giving God credit for everything are just a few ways we can glorify Him. Also as Christians it should be our main goal to make God number one in our lives. To do that we need to obey His commandments, read His word, and we need to pray to Him. He loves to hear us pray to Him. Those are the responsibilities of a Christian.
Brianna's Super Essay - Week XV
Responsibilities of a Christian
Ten Commandments
Brianna L. Bowman
Have you ever broken one of the Ten Commandments? Well, if you have, are you going to Hell? Are you not a Christian anymore? Miraculously God always forgives. Why does God forgive people who continue to sin over and over again? The most amazing thing happened; God’s only son came to earth and died for all of our sins. The Ten Commandments came from God to Moses and you can read about them in Exodus 20:1-17. The 1st commandment is: You shall have no other gods before me. The second is: you shall have no graven images. The 4th commandment tells us to remember the Sabbath and keep it Holy Followed by the 5th commandment Honor your father and Mother, Do not lie or covet make up the ninth and tenth commandments. These are six wonderful teachings of the Ten Commandments that I am addressing here.
Amazingly Mans primary purpose is to glorify God and enjoy him forever. One of the chief ways to do this is by obeying the Ten Commandments. Three of the Ten Commandments that instruct us on how to glorify God are: Having no other gods before the Lord Almighty, Having no idols and remembering the Sabbath and keeping it holy.
The 1st commandment says “You shall have NO other gods before me.” The word Worship in English comes from the word “worth.” Consequently when we worship something we declare it has great worth. If God is really important to us our life will reallystate it! For this reason we will seek him in prayer as well as reading the Bible. God commands us to have no other gods before him, so we must worship him alone.
The 2nd commandment says “You must not bow down to any graven images.” We must not make Money, TV, a fancy new Corvette, or an extraordinary Mansion go before God. Many People think that these things and many others will make them happy, but they are wrong. They need God first and foremost. God will fulfill them more than any earthly thing. Many people make up there own ideas of what they think God should be. However God says you should never trust your own opinion about who God is or even the opinions of others. You must make sure that what you believe about God is from the Bible only.Constantly God has revealed himself to us through the Bible.
The 4th commandment says “Remember the Sabbath day and keep it holy.” God whocreated the Sabbath day for Sunday; we must rest and make that day out for just worshiping our Lord and Savior, additionally the Sabbath is rest that believers have in Jesus. When we know our Lord he gives us a rest from the burdens of our sins. Faith in the gospel is how we come to enjoy the rest given to us by God and displayed in the Sabbath. MeaningfullyHebrews acknowledges in chapter 4:9-10, “There remains, then, a Sabbath rest for the people of God; for anyone who enters Gods rest also rests from his own work, just as God did from his.” We must learn to worship him because we want to, not because someone makes us go to church. Psalms 103 17-18 “But from everlasting to everlasting the Lords love is with those who fear him and his righteousness with their children’s children, with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.”
As you can see from the three Commandments illustrated above honoring God is something every person is created to do. When we go to church on Sunday we are worshiping God in a wonderful place filled with our brothers and sisters in Christ. That is just one way of honoring God. He loves to see us all together in one place worshiping his name! He hates when we put other things before him, and have other gods that go before him. So we must not make any idols that we think are more wonderful than God, and we must not have any other gods except him. Let us boast in Christ alone!!
Surprisingly the bible tells us to be imitators of Christ. How can this be accomplished? Serving others is a wonderful way of loving our neighbors and following the teachings of Christ. The Ten Commandments address these deeds with the fifth commandment: Honor your father and mother. Do not lie and do not covet are discussed in the 9th and 10th commandments.
The 5th commandment says “Honor your father and mother.” The first authority we have is our parents. Considerably we are to have God be our authority first, then our parents. But by obeying our parents we are obeying the Lord. Our parent’s authority is God, and ours is to honor our parents as a way of obeying God. Our parents are here to protect us and love us. God has also provided authority in other areas other than the home. Like the Government, our President is one of our highest authorities. Police Men have authority over us as well. When we have a problem with our authority we become angry with them and in a sense angry with God.
The 9th commandment says “You shall not lie!” When we tell other people what we think God should be like we are not only lying but we are blaspheming God. God only speaks the truth; he created us to be righteous and holy. He also created us to love the truth as He does. The ninth commandment FORBIDS anything that would hurt or injure anyone. Naturally when we say mean or unkind things about other people we are breaking the 9th commandment! Consequently we need to watch what we say, we need to let our words be glorifying to Him.
The 10th commandment says “You shall not covet!” It is very natural for us when we see something that we want but don’t have, to start coveting it. Not surprisingly this is a very natural human response, but it is still sin. We can’t fathom why God should call things we do “sin” if we can’t help doing it. Obliviously God is holy and can not tolerate any sin! This sounds harsh but God is merciful. By revealing our sin it demonstrates how much we need a savior.
In these last three commandments we are talking about serving others. Christ put our parents in charge of us, so when we obey them we are obeying God. Also, when we lie, we are disobeying God and his rule. When we covet we are also sinning. Stubbornly we desire what God does not want us to have.
It is clear that God is our heavenly father; most fathers love their children and want what’s best for them. God provided rules for us to live by. These rules are called the moral laws that tell us how to behave towards God and man. Romans 3:20b illustrates our need for God’s law “Through the law we become conscious of sin.” The moral law came to Moses from God in the form of the Ten Commandments found in Exodus 20 in the Old Testament. The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever and the Ten Commandments reveal to us how to accomplish this. You shall have no other gods before me, you shall have no idols and you shall remember the Sabbath and keep it holy. Clearlythese three commandments demonstrate how to best glorify God. The Lord is clear on how we should treat others, Jesus himself stated: You shall love your neighbor as your self. To clarify here are three ways to love your neighbor: Honor your father and mother, do not covet and do not lie. Honoring your father and mother and abstaining from lying shows respect for others. Coveting creates jealousy and damages relationships with others and God. God has given us everything we need, tragically we don’t always trust in His perfect plan for our lives. Unquestionably God commandments are always perfect!
Bibliography:
Bible
The Way of the Master for Kids; Kirk Cameron & Ray Comfort
Training Hearts Teaching Minds; Starr Meade
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
Week XIV - ASSIGNMENTS
LATIN:
Can you believe that you know 110 Latin vocabulary words? Practice makes perfect so spend the next three days drilling yourself so you will be prepared to move on to LNST #4. Also remember to look for LATIN IN YOUR LIFE, for there is Latin all around you. Remember what you learned this week "Semper ubi sub ubi" and "dei gratia". And remember, Friday is declension and conjugation day.
NATURAL SCIENCE:
I am looking forward to hearing about all those interesting facts that you are going to come up with about these amazing creatures that God has created. Today as you do your research remember that you are communicating your world view and much of the information that you will find comes from a Darwinian perspective.
RHETORIC:
We are training our brains to retain so remember to spend some time on the catechism questions everyday. And have fun with the DCYBATD and ICJH.
GEOGRAPHY:
Draw and Label the countries of Europe this week every day. By Friday you should be ready to draw them from memory next Monday in class. Concentrate on the countries only this week, don't worry about the features or the capitals. So, draw, label, draw, label, draw, label, draw, label. And in between in your spare time, play the map game on the left.
BIBLE BASED WRITING:
This essay assignment is the most challenging one yet. I have confidence in all of your abilities and am looking forward to reading what you think the Responsibilities of a Christian are. As Christians we need to know what we believe, why we believe it, and what we are to do about it.
MATH:
Think about this as you do you math this week.
Math Reveals the Design Around Us
Just looking at a sunflower, we can tell that the sunflower was carefully designed by a wise Creator. Math, however, allows us to see God’s design to a new level, revealing the care God took with each aspect of His creation. The seeds in all sunflowers—be they large or small—are arranged according to two patterns. When we use math to examine these patterns, we observe that, no matter how many seeds the sunflower contains, the patterns always relate to each other according to the exact same mathematical proportion. It turns out that that precise proportion enables the most amount of seeds to fit in any given sunflower. What a wise, caring Creator we serve! Seeing the amazing way God designed the sunflowers should remind us that we can trust Him to take care of the details of our lives. Now if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is, and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will He not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Matthew 6:30
http://www.christianperspective.net/mathinfo/teachingmathbiblically.html
Week XIV - RHETORIC
PLAYING DEAD
I hope you enjoyed chapter 15 of DCYBATD yesterday. The swoon theory isn't the only alternative theory of the resurrection. There are many other theories that are just as bizarre.
Resurrection Theories
Most Christians believe that Jesus died on the cross and then miraculously returned to life. But some non-Christians have proposed other theories to explain what happened. Several of these resurrection theories originated in ancient times, but others are modern. Here are brief descriptions of the best known theories:
-- Stolen Body Theory --
Some early opponents of Christianity claimed that the followers of Jesus secretly stole his body from the tomb and then invented the whole story of the resurrection. The Gospel of Matthew mentions this accusation in verses 27:64 and 28:13, and refutes it by saying that the tomb was guarded by Roman soldiers.
This accusation may have even prompted the Romans to enact a new ordinance known as the Edict of Caesar. This ordinance, which is engraved on a marble slab found in
The Stolen Body Theory is one of the oldest and best-known resurrection theories. But there are two good arguments against it. First, a hoax involving so many people would be difficult to pull off. And second, the followers of Jesus would have had no plausible motive for carrying out such a plot.
-- Missing Body Theory --
A more likely possibility is that someone else took the body from the tomb without Jesus' followers knowing about it. In fact, according to John 20:2-16, this is exactly what Mary Magdalene thought when she first discovered that the tomb was empty. This explanation would probably occur to most people who found themselves in a similar situation.
There is a variation of this theory in which everyone goes to the wrong tomb, which happens to be empty. But all forms of the theory have the same basic difficulty, because a missing body, just by itself, probably wouldn't be enough to convince most people that Jesus had returned to life. Still, the evidence strongly suggests that the first visitors to the tomb did find it empty, and this could very well have been the initial step toward the eventual belief in the resurrection.
-- Swoon Theory --
The basic assertion of the Swoon Theory is that Jesus wasn't completely dead when he was removed from the cross. In fact many people have been mistakenly pronounced dead, even by modern doctors. In some cases breathing becomes so shallow and heartbeat so faint that both are very difficult to detect. If modern doctors can be fooled, then so could the Roman soldiers at the cross.
The gospels indicate that Jesus died much sooner than most victims of a crucifixion. According to Mark 15:44, Pontius Pilate was very surprised when he heard that Jesus was already dead. Proponents of the Swoon Theory often argue that this could indicate that he was actually still alive.
Some people have suggested that the early death might have been caused by the wounds that Jesus suffered during his scourging. Also, according to John 19:34, a soldier thrust a spear into his side shortly before he was removed from the cross. Even if he wasn't already dead, this probably would have finished him off.
On the other hand, some scholars think that the story of the spear thrust is a fabrication, purposely invented by the author of John to try to refute the idea that Jesus wasn't completely dead. The other three gospels, which were probably written before John, say nothing at all about a spear thrust. As for the scourging wounds, most experts doubt that they would have been fatal.
In some versions of this theory, Jesus revives for only a short time, just long enough to make a few appearances, and then actually does die. In other versions he makes a full recovery, but soon leaves the country to avoid recapture.
The Swoon Theory is usually regarded as one of the most plausible resurrection theories. But unless new evidence comes to light, it will continue to be based mostly on speculation.
-- Drugged-Body Theory –
This is similar to the Swoon Theory, except that the apparent death on the cross is induced by a drug. Such a possibility does have a scientific basis, because experiments have shown that a plant-derived drug called Reserpine can put mice into a temporary death-like state for several days. This, or some similar drug, might very well have the same effect on a human being.
A detailed account of this theory was given by Hugh J. Schonfield in his book The Passover Plot. The author argues that a death-simulation drug was given to Jesus as part of a plot to allow him to survive the crucifixion.
Although such a scenario is possible, this theory is usually rejected on the grounds that it is too complex and involves too much conjecture.
-- Twin Theory --
There are two main versions of this theory, both based on the idea that Jesus had a twin brother. In one version the twin dies on the cross instead of Jesus, and in the other version the twin appears as an impostor after Jesus dies.
Proponents of these ideas claim to find supporting evidence in certain names which can be translated as "twin". But both versions of the theory are obviously very far-fetched, and it has few supporters.
There are other variations on the idea that a mistake in identity caused someone else to be crucified instead of Jesus. Some early Gnostic writings say that Simon of Cyrene, the man who carried the cross, was also the man who died on it. And a fraudulent book called the Gospel of Barnabas says that Judas Iscariot was the man who was actually crucified. But both of these ideas are just as far-fetched as the twin theory.
-- Vision Theory --
The basic idea of this theory is that the earliest belief in the resurrection was based on illusory visions of a ghostlike apparition of Jesus. In ancient times many people believed that divine beings sometimes used visions as a method of communication. A person who had such a vision knew that it was a vision, but thought that a divine being had created it. Thus, the belief in the resurrection could have originated when some followers of Jesus imagined that he was using visions to communicate with them. Then later, as the message was carried to people in other communities, stories about visions could have gradually evolved into stories of a real physical resurrection.
Supporters of this idea argue that the severe emotional impact of the crucifixion would have made the followers of Jesus susceptible to such visions. Their expectations for him had been so high, and his arrest and execution had occurred so suddenly, that many of them could have found it difficult to accept the reality of what had happened.
Some of his followers could have still been in a state of denial two days later when his tomb was found to be empty. That discovery could have given them hope that he had somehow survived after all. Fervently believing that he actually had survived, they could have had hallucinations in which they saw his ghostly form trying to communicate with them. Others may have seen him in dreams, or simply "felt his presence."
Proponents of this theory often point out that the apostle Paul apparently based his belief in the resurrection on a hallucinatory-like experience. As related in the Book of Acts (9:3-9), Paul was on the road to
The letters of Paul are the earliest known Christian writings. Yet he never explicitly says that Jesus was resurrected in bodily form. And in 1Corinthians 15:3-8, he adds his experience on the road to
Another example of a vision of Jesus is found in the re-discovered "Gospel of Mary". One surviving fragment of this work contains a passage in which Mary Magdalene tells the other disciples that Jesus appeared to her in a vision and gave her a special revelation.
Some scholars think that Mary Magdalene may have been the first believer in the resurrection. It is an interesting fact that she plays the biggest role in the stories of the empty tomb and the first post-resurrection appearances of Jesus, yet she is rarely mentioned anywhere else in the gospels. Luke 8:2-3 says that seven demons had been expelled from her, and this could indicate that she was a very emotional person. As already noted, she apparently had at least one vision of Jesus. Perhaps her attachment to him was so strong that she couldn't accept the reality of his death, and she took this vision as proof that he was still alive.
Many people consider some form of the Vision Theory to be the most plausible alternative explanation for what happened.
-- Hypnosis Theory --
Some people have suggested that visions of a risen Jesus could have been caused by post-hypnotic suggestion. This is in line with the theory that Jesus used hypnosis to perform some of his miraculous cures. If he could use hypnosis to cure people, then perhaps he could have also used it to implant a post-hypnotic suggestion into the subconscious of his followers.
Although this scenario is theoretically possible, most people think it is unlikely.
-- Spiritual Resurrection Theory --
Some modern Christians, and even a few theologians, believe in a spiritual (rather than bodily) resurrection of Jesus. According to this view, his human body either vanished or was removed by God, and he reappeared in his eternal spiritual form.
Some scholars think that this was also the original belief of the earliest Christians, and that the idea of a bodily resurrection didn't appear until later. Possible evidence for this can be found in some of the earliest writings, including the letters of Paul and the Gospel of Thomas. Surviving writings of the gnostics indicate that this group of early Christians may have believed in a spiritual resurrection. In fact the evidence suggests that different groups of early Christians disputed this very matter, and some scholars suspect that several passages in the gospels may have been invented to try to refute the idea that Jesus arose in spiritual form. The best-known example is John 20:24-29, in which Jesus invites the disciple Thomas to touch the wounds made by the nails and the spear thrust. Some scholars doubt that this actually happened, especially since none of the other gospels say anything at all about nails or a spear thrust.
The belief that Jesus returned in a spiritual form is also consistent with the various gospel stories in which he suddenly appears and disappears, or passes through walls, and with the stories in which his followers don't initially recognize him, or are told not to touch him. Many scholars think that these stories are older than the stories in which he invites the disciples to touch him.
Note that the Spiritual Resurrection Theory is fundamentally different from the Vision Theory. In one case there is an actual spiritual resurrection, whereas in the other case there are only hallucinations
http://www.gospel-mysteries.net/resurrection-theories.html
Week XIV - RESEARCH
Here is that amazing Great White Shark video that I was telling you about.
Pretty cool! Now get back to writing your paper.
Week XIV - RHETORIC
I WAS WONDERING WHERE I GOT MY FACE FROM
You better not call me fish-face on Monday!
Friday, January 9, 2009
Challenge A - Week XII Bible Based Writing
Joyelle Elizabeth Bull December 30, 2008
Because He is GOD
(1) Job might have been written in the 1st part of the 2nd millennium B.C. as thought by some. Although others think it was written at the end of the Old Testament time. Jewish tradition has it that Job was written by Moses. Contradicting that others believe that Job was written by someone who lived in Edom, a city of Esau's descendants. Undeniably Job is very mysterious about where, when, and by whom it was written. Throughout Job there is wisdom, making it a "wisdom book" like the Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. Job raises the age old question "Why do bad things happen to righteous people?". It also answers it. Job is a book that has many interpretations such as, GOD is unjustly cruel, Jobs wife is nearly unloving, and surly when you become a Christian you won't have troubles. Can you discern what is right and what is wrong?
A lot of people think that GOD was unfair. Punishing is for bad people and rewards are for good people, right? Well thats what we think anyways. So why isn't that what GOD did to Job? The thing is we want GOD to be predictable. We want GOD to be like us, instead of striving to be like Him. Sadly we forget who hung the stars, but Job didn't, although his friends thought he did. In ctheir rather long discussion they remind him, when Zophar articulated:
(2) "Who made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the chambers of the south;"
"Can you find out the deep things of God?
Can you find out the limit of the Almighty? It is higher than heaven—what can you do? Deeper than Sheol—what can you know? Its measure is longer than the earth and broader than the sea. If he passes through and imprisons and summons the court, who can turn him back? For he knows worthless men;
when he sees iniquity, will he not consider it? But a stupid man will get understanding when a wild donkey's colt is born a man!"
Zophar is saying that GOD knows and sees you. He also talks of the constellation Pleiades which in fact is a part of Greek mythology. The stars were thought to be the seven daughters of Atlas. Kinda ironic eh?. He was telling Job that GOD was utterly uncontainable, ultimately indescribable, and positively incomprehensible and then mentions mythology as if it was true. Job completely trusted GOD. Because he wasn't getting better, Jobs friends, thought that he was resenting GOD and needed to be told that GOD was watching his every move. Job already knew this attribute of GOD. Without a doubt, it would be unjust for us to afflict someone for doing good, but we are not GOD.
Jobs wife is only mentioned three times in the book of Job. One of the times is when Job and his wife are talking. This is what they say: Jobs wife declared: (3) "Do you still hold fast your integrity? Curse God and die". Job answered: (4) "You are talking like a foolish woman.". When Job solemnly says "foolish" it literally means one who obviously is not a believer. In Psalm14:1 and again in Psalm 53:1 David states:"The fool says in his heart, "There is no God." They are corrupt, their deeds are vile; there is not one who does good." Naturally most people are hard on Jobs wife, but she lost 10 children too along with livestock, servants, and money. Along with that she had to watch her husband gruelingly suffer. She couldn't help. She just wanted him to die so she didn't have to be pained in his pain anymore. Considering all this doesn't make it ok, she should have watched her tongue, but we learn from her mistake. It becomes clear that Jobs wife's three seconds of fame were not spoken in vain.
Finishing the scripture above the second half of verse reads "(6)Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?". Job was right, he was saying that when we are blessed by GOD, we need to accept the trial He will lay in front of us. Christians suffer. When you enter the church all your problems don't just fall off and never come back, in fact a lot of times they multiply. Surely people throughout the Bible suffered. For example in Jeremiah 20 it tells of how Jeremiah was oppressed because of his prophesies from GOD. Also the book of 2nd Samuel Uzzah reached out and touched the ark of the covenant to steady it, because the oxen had stumbled, and he was instantly struck down by GOD. Of course the best example is definitely CHTIST the LORD who openly suffered, even before He painfully died. He was mocked. He was scorned. He was jeered at. All these things, by his own creation. GOD undoubtedly, is going to give us trials in life and the only way to pass them is to keep praying for the strength to get through another day.
(7) As Dr. Derek Thomas points out, in his teachings on Job, "Job had a good point but argued it poorly, Job's friends had a bad point and argued it extremely well.". So was GOD unfair? Was Jobs wife unaffectionate? In knowing CHRIST do people become like a clown fish in an anemone; invincible to harm? Thoroughly no, absolutely no, and wholly no. Ergo to answer the question "Why do bad things happen to righteous people?", for GODs glory. Like it says in Isaiah "(8) For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways," declares the LORD.". Isn't that great!? GOD is so sovereign and holy. Unlike Jobs friends we need to learn to trust that GOD has his sovereign hands on our lives. Ultimately Job teaches us that GOD should be served simply because He is GOD.
(1) Anonymis Bible Basics Job Net ministries. 2001. December 28, 2008.
<netministries.org/Bbasics/BBjob.htm>
(2) Job ESV <biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=22&chapter=1&version=47>
(3) ibd.
(4) ibd.
(5) Psalm ESV <biblegateway.com/passage/?search=psalm;&version=47;>
(6) Job ESV <biblegateway.com/passage/?book_id=22&chapter=1&version=47>
(7) Dr Derek Thomas November 22, 2008. Why do bad things happen to "good" people. Cornerstone Christian Church lecture series <cccm.org/index.php?option=com_sermons&task=16&submit=View>
(8) Isaiah ESV <biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Isaiah;&version=47;>
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