From Jim McGuiggan... Make the sinners suffer

Make the sinners suffer

A couple of years back I modernised and edited Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter. It's on the site and you can download it for free—see the Home Page. It's too great a book not to read but the original doesn't read as easily for us as it did for people back when Hawthorne wrote it. I removed some material and added some but the material I added was the kind of thing Hawthorne was driving at; so I have kept faith with his intention. He had a profound insight into the minds and lives of people and the piece that follows makes that clear. The sinner Hester Prynne is being led to the pillory and the scene speaks for itself. Ah Sin, to hell with you!

She reached the place. It was a sort of raised platform at the western end of the market area and almost under the eaves of Boston's earliest church; at first glance it seemed as if it were a part of the church structure. This raised platform was part of a punishing machine though it has been two or three generations since such a thing has been used. It stands now only as a reminder of the time when people thought it was the perfect instrument for promoting good citizenship—the way the French revolutionaries viewed the guillotine. On the platform stood the pillory. The pillory! Perfectly suited for the purpose. It's characteristic of those that have behaved shamefully to want to hide their faces from the public's eyes. They walk with their heads down or cover their faces with their hands. They don't want to see or be seen. But the pillory was deliberately designed to hold the head in one place and in one position—face forward. In fact, the face is the only thing really to be seen, certainly the only thing to take the spectator's eye. And isolating the face from the rest of the body forces the entire personality into the face so that the gaping, wondering and perhaps insulting and cruel public can look right down into the shamed soul of the sinner. Modesty is stripped away and there's no hiding. There's no outrage more flagrant and crass against the very person of a sinner than to deprive him of the power to hide his self-shamed face! This is the essence of cruel punishment made glaringly public by this instrument of wood and iron. They aren't used today but there's more than one way to make a public exhibition of a sinner.

We only need to keep spreading their shame and they go to work or worship or the market—wherever they go—slyly gaped at, knowing eyes strip away sincerity and call it hypocrisy. "She doesn't know that I know she's the one that [...]. Listen to her, look at her, you'd think butter wouldn't melt in her mouth."

Pilloried without the pillory.

And since there are always those that hear the story for the first time there's an unending stream of new gawkers. Bravo, courageous pillory-builders, we've got to keep these sinners before the eyes of the entire populace and it's even more exquisite when they don't know that knowing eyes are weighing them up. Later, when they learn that they've been a spectacle, they'll feel the pain beyond belief. They must be taught that the way of the transgressor is hard and if it doesn't lookhard to us then we must make it hard.

Arrrrrgghhhhhhh!

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

by Eric Lyons, M.Min. ... Scientists, Soldiers, and Fish Scales

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=2313

Scientists, Soldiers, and Fish Scales

by	Eric Lyons, M.Min.

Operating on a grant from the U.S. Army, scientists from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology are developing better body armor for soldiers. Surprisingly, the inspiration for their work comes from a foot-long African fish known as Polypterus senegalus.
According to scientists, the fish’s “armor” is able to protect it from others of its own species, as well as other carnivores. Its overlapping armored scales “first dissipate the energy of a strike, then protect against any penetrations to the soft tissues below and finally limit any damage to the shield to the immediate area surrounding the assault” (Crane, 2008). What makes the fish’s armor so effective? Aside from its four layers of overlapping scales, “researchers believe the dermal scales’ different composite materials [including bone and dentine—EL] and the geometry and thickness of various layers” all contribute to the armor’s strength and effectiveness in protecting the animal (Crane, 2008). Dr. Christine Ortiz, lead MIT researcher on the Polypterus project, stated: “Such fundamental knowledge holds great potential for the development of improved biologically inspired structural materials” (Bryner, 2008).
Brilliant scientists in the 21st century are spending an untold amount of time, energy, and money studying the scale structure of a fish, in hopes of designing new and improved armor applications for U.S. soldiers and military vehicles. Scientists admit that the “design” of the overlapping scale layers is “fascinating, complex and multiscale” (Crane, 2008). Yet, at the same time, we are told that this fish, which is inspiring state-of-the-art human armor systems, had no Designer (Bryner, 2008). Once again, naturalistic evolution allegedly was the great cause of a “fascinating” and “complex” creature. But design demands a designer. An effect (especially one of this magnitude) demands an adequate cause. In truth, blind chance, plus non-intelligence, plus random mutations, plus eons of time, neither designed nor caused Polypterus senegalus. Only an intelligent Designer could make such an awe-inspiring creature. As the psalmist wrote: “This great and wide sea, in which are innumerable teeming things, living things both small and great. O Lord, how manifold are Your works! In wisdom You have made them all” (104:25,24, emp. added).

REFERENCES

Bryner, Jeanna (2008), “Incredible Fish Armor Could Suit Soldiers,” LiveScience, July 27, [On-line], URL: http://www.livescience.com/animals/080727-fish-armor.html.
Crane, David (2008), “Flexible Biological Scalar Body Armor for Future Soldiers?” Defense Review, July 31, [On-line], URL: http://www.defensereview.com/modules.php?name=News&file=article& amp;sid=1159.

From Mark Copeland... A True Son In The Faith (Acts 16:1-5)

                          "THE BOOK OF ACTS"

                   A True Son In The Faith (16:1-5)

INTRODUCTION

1. Paul's second missionary began when he and Silas left Antioch of
   Syria...
   a. Commended by the brethren to the grace of God - Ac 15:40
   b. Passing through Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches - Ac 15:41

2. Coming to Derbe and then Lystra, they added a third companion to their
   party...
   a. A young disciple named Timothy - Ac 16:1-3
   b. Who would assist Paul for decades at personal cost and great risk

[Paul called Timothy "a true son in the faith" (1Ti 1:2).  I like to
think of him as "The Daniel Of The New Testament". What was so remarkable
about him?  Let's first review what we know about...]

I. TIMOTHY - BEFORE HIS SELECTION BY PAUL

   A. PERSONAL INFO...
      1. His name means "honoring God" (he would prove true to his name!)
      2. He was a native of Lystra - Ac 16:1-2
      3. His mother was a Jewish, his father a Greek - Ac 16:1
         a. There is no mention of a synagogue in Lystra
         b. The mixed marriage might suggest a shallow faith earlier in
            her life
         c. Which might also explain why Timothy had not been circumcised
         d. Though he was taught the Old Testament Scriptures - 2Ti 3:15

   B. DISCIPLESHIP INFO...
      1. His mother (Eunice) and grandmother (Lois) had become believers
         - Ac 16:1; 2Ti 1:5
      2. Timothy was likely converted by Paul on his 1st missionary
         journey
         a. Paul had preached the gospel in Lystra and left disciples
            there - Ac 14:6-7,20
         b. Paul considered himself a spiritual "father" of those he
            taught - e.g., 1Co 4:17
         c. He certainly thought of Timothy as his "son" in the faith
            - 1Ti 1:2; 2Ti 1:2
      3. Timothy may have been as young as 13 when converted
         a. Paul's first missionary journey was around 47-48 AD
         b. Yet 16 years later (64 AD) he was still a "youth" - 1Ti 4:12
      4. As a new disciple, he may have witnessed Paul's stoning at
         Lystra - Ac 14:19-20
      5. He was familiar with Paul's persecutions at Antioch, Iconium, 
         Lystra - 2Ti 3:10-11
      6. As a disciple he was well-spoken of by brethren at Lystra and 
         Iconium - Ac 16:2


[It was this very young disciple that Paul wanted to join him and Silas.
Imagine the courage required on Timothy's part to accept, knowing the 
tribulations Paul had already faced!  Imagine the faith required by 
Timothy's mother and grandmother to let him go with Paul! But now let's
review what we know of...]

II. TIMOTHY - AFTER HIS SELECTION BY PAUL

   A. BEFORE LEAVING LYSTRA...
      1. Paul had Timothy circumcised because of the Jews
         a. Jews in the region knew Timothy's father was a Greek - Ac 16:3
         b. Remember Paul's evangelistic method:  Jews first, then
            Gentiles - Ro 1:16
         c. His custom was to visit synagogues first - Ac 17:1-3
         d. As a Jew (reckoned as such because of his mother), being
            uncircumcised would hinder Timothy's effectiveness among Jews
         e. As a matter of expediency, Paul had no qualms with Jewish
            Christians keeping elements of the Law - cf. 1Co 9:19-23; Ac 18:18,21; 21:17-26
         f. When made an issue of salvation, Paul would refuse 
            circumcision - Ac 15:1-2; Ga 2:1-5
      2. Consider what circumcision required of Timothy
         a. For young and older men, it was a serious and painful
            procedure - Gen 34:24-25
         b. For Timothy, his first act of service for Paul involved
            bloodshed!
      3. Timothy may have also been commissioned with spiritual gifts
         at this time
         a. By the laying on of hands by the elders of the church - 1Ti 4:14
         b. Together with the laying on of Paul's hands - 2Ti 1:6

   B. AFTER LEAVING LYSTRA...
      1. Timothy fulfilled special and often dangerous missions for Paul
         a. Staying behind with Silas in troubled Berea - Ac 17:13-14
         b. Sent to learn of the brethren in afflicted Thessalonica - 1Th 3:1-8
         c. Leaving Ephesus to go to Macedonia with Erastus - Ac 19:22
         d. Sent to Corinth to remind them of Paul's ways in Christ - 1Co 4:17
         e. Sent to persecuted Philippi to learn of their condition - Php 2:19
         f. Left at Ephesus to deal with any who might be trouble - 1Ti 1:3-4,18-19
      2. Timothy truly became Paul's "fellow laborer in the gospel of
         Christ"
         a. Paul considered no one as like-minded as him - Php 2:19-22
         b. He had Timothy join him as co-authors of 6 epistles - 2Co, 
            Ph, Co, 1Th, 2Th, Phile
         c. Timothy received 2 epistles from Paul - 1Ti, 2Ti
      3. As Paul faced death, he asked Timothy to come (which involved 
         risk) - 2Ti 4:9 
      4. Timothy himself was imprisoned at some point, but later released
         - He 13:23

CONCLUSION

1. Summarizing what we learned about Timothy, he was...
   a. Blessed by the faithful upbringing of his grandmother Lois and
      mother Eunice
   b. Dedicated as a disciple to serve Jesus and His apostle Paul
   c. Faithful in carrying out tasks assigned to him
   d. Courageous in the face of persecution, risking imprisonment and
      death
   e. Humble enough to accept a "second string" position, the perfect
      "preacher's helper"

2. Like Daniel, Timothy is a wonderful example for serving God in 
   youth...
   a. "in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity"
      - 1Ti 4:12
   b. "purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself" - Dan 1:8

For all Christians, Timothy demonstrates what it means to be "A True
Son In The Faith".  

As sons of God through faith and baptism into Christ (Ga 3:26-27), let
the example of Timothy in the Scriptures inspire us to be more faithful
and fruitful in our service to Christ, no matter the cost...!

Executable Outlines, Copyright © Mark A. Copeland, 2012

From Gary... It rises again...

Have you seen June's full moon? Beautiful, simply beautiful!!!  However, this moon is a bit of a quandary to me, as I have seen it referred to as a strawberry moon, a honey moon and lastly as ROSE moon. With a last name like Rose, its not difficult to pick the one I like best.  However, I certainly would not refer to this rising moon as a Rose moon, because it would be a bit awkward to say that the Rose moon ROSE.  Whatever you want to call it, this gorgeous luminary made me think of this passage from Paul's letter to the Corinthians...

1 Corinthians, Chapter 15

1Co 15:40  There are also heavenly bodies and earthly bodies, but the glory of the heavenly is one, and the glory of the earthly is another.
1Co 15:41  There is one glory of the sun, and another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for star differs from star in glory.
1Co 15:42  So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown a perishable body, it is raised an imperishable body;
1Co 15:43  it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power;
1Co 15:44  it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Like most things, it always pays to refer to the fundamentals. Whether its about a golf swing, chess strategy, grammar or even viewing the sky- going back to basics is almost always a wise choice.  And what can be more basic than considering the moon in the night-time sky? Not much, except for matters like life and death and life after life.  So, I wonder... What will one's resurrection body look like?  No idea, really- except that it will be both imperishable, spiritual and propagated in power.  In other words- a honey of a body.  Well, that settles it; this moon will be a HONEY moon to me from now on!!!

From Gary... Not every sign should be followed

How to make it to HELL; interesting. But, we really don't need directions to go to the hell that Jesus refers to, do we? So, we have a choice, but perhaps not the one that is obvious.  At this point, the following passage from the "Sermon on the mount" seems to fit...

Matthew, Chapter 7 (NASB)

Mat 7:13  "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the way is broad that leads to destruction, and there are many who enter through it.
Mat 7:14  "For the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life, and there are few who find it.
Mat 7:15  "Beware of the false prophets, who come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves.
Mat 7:16  "You will know them by their fruits. Grapes are not gathered from thorn bushes nor figs from thistles, are they?
Mat 7:17  "So every good tree bears good fruit, but the bad tree bears bad fruit.
Mat 7:18  "A good tree cannot produce bad fruit, nor can a bad tree produce good fruit.
Mat 7:19  "Every tree that does not bear good fruit is cut down and thrown into the fire.
Mat 7:20  "So then, you will know them by their fruits.
Mat 7:21  "Not everyone who says to Me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but he who does the will of My Father who is in heaven will enter.
Mat 7:22  "Many will say to Me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in Your name, and in Your name cast out demons, and in Your name perform many miracles?'
Mat 7:23  "And then I will declare to them, 'I never knew you; DEPART FROM ME, YOU WHO PRACTICE LAWLESSNESS.'
Mat 7:24  "Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them, may be compared to a wise man who built his house on the rock.
Mat 7:25  "And the rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and yet it did not fall, for it had been founded on the rock.
Mat 7:26  "Everyone who hears these words of Mine and does not act on them, will be like a foolish man who built his house on the sand.
Mat 7:27  "The rain fell, and the floods came, and the winds blew and slammed against that house; and it fell--and great was its fall."

The darkened portion above says it all- Jesus makes the difference between heaven and hell and those who refuse to listen- will not make it to heaven. Heard this all before? Not interested? Well, just follow the sign above- you will get there!!!

From Jim McGuiggan... MAD DOGS AND TEN-FOOT CHAINS

MAD DOGS AND TEN-FOOT CHAINS

It’s often been said (and rightly but within definite limits!) that we can’t legislate morality. We can’t make people good by issuing laws. We might be able to stop criminals committing crimes by issuing laws (and by a police presence to enforce the laws) but we can’t turn them into people that don’t want to break the law simply by making more and more laws. There’s so much truth in that. In fact, it’s probably true that one of the markers of a society’s wickedness is the huge number of its laws. Laws in a very real sense are for the law-breakers (compare 1 Timothy 1:9). [Still, we sometimes make laws that are so unjust that they encourage law-breaking and we could with effort make laws that would encourage honor and shape characters of righteounsess.]

It’s clearly true that the man that longs to do evil and only keeps from it because he’s afraid of being punished is an evil man (compare Matthew 5:22,32). If we’re compelled to pass close to a mad and lunging dog that’s chained by a ten-foot chain to a stout post, it isn’t the dog’s disposition we’re thankful for. The savage animal straining at the chain is the same animal chained or unchained. We breathe a word of thanks for the chain and hurry on by.

It might be true that we all know people who act friendly toward us but we know (in various ways) that if it were not for prudence’s sake they’d gut us. We might even have been such people. Horrors—might even be such people. In any case, to cherish the evil is to be evil; and for all our politeness and surface smiles the seeds of corruption breed and multiply in the dark below.

There are good reasons to be thankful that fear and prudence keep us from immoral and criminal behavior. If nothing else, there are those that go happily on their way, not being brutalized, because there's a "ten-foot chain." And I know that if some of us weren’t restrained by realities external to us that we would do evil and that might lead to other evils and we might well plunge into an abyss from which there is no recovery. At least, if we are restrained we might at some point change and become good people whose restraints are in our hearts and gladly chosen.

Fear is no bad thing unless it has become a bad thing—morbid, paralysing or the sole motivation from which we act. Fear puts traffic lights at busy crossroads; fear puts lifeboats on ocean-going liners; fear builds hospitals, organizes fire-fighting teams and funds sensible and needed medical research. No bad thing fear. It's one of God’s gifts. But if that’s all there is to us, then we’re pretty poor human beings. Other gifts must be received with thanksgiving and cultivated if we’re to be morally mature people.

And those who would govern essentially by fear are poor leaders. I think I know some people whose central word is "punish". It doesn’t appear that they think much about transforming and inspiring—it’s all about "stopping" wrongdoing. But how can it be bad to want to stop wrongdoing? Oh, I don’t say that we shouldn’t want to stop wrongdoing, ours or someone else’s—we should. But it’s a very narrow view that sees our moral business centrally to be about "avoiding" or "stopping" evil and to choose "punishment" as the single weapon in our armory. Would we be happy, do you think, if we thought the children in our home responded only to some form of punishment? Would we not grow weary of heart in sending them to their room or depriving them of this or that? Would we be satisfied that he had "stopped" this or that wrong act? Would we not long for a way to transform their hearts so that the fear of or aversion to "punishment" would increasingly be a thing of the past and that they would behave in response to an inner something—something written on their hearts?

This much seems clear: any good thing that we have to constantly remind ourselves to do, any good behavior or attitude that we have to constantly practice or it will grow weak and die—that "virtue" is not mature. To do the right thing is good nut to will the right thing is better and to do the right thing characteristically without even consciously thinking about it is best. The "virtue" that has to be consciously watched and tended and fed, whatever else we are to say about it, is nothing to be smug about. "Self-control" is a good and needful thing [Galatians 5:23] but it is one of the lower level virtues. Under very pressing circumstances a self-controlled response may be nothing less than heroic but various impulses that must always be held in check let us know we haven't "arrived" as virtuous people. It's imperative that we don't allow ourselves to give up the struggle against evil desires and go with the current but it's also imperative for us to acknowledge the abiding presence of our susceptibility to the evil.

In more ways than one a man [or woman] mustn't think of himself more highly than he ought to think [Romans 12:3].

©2004 Jim McGuiggan. All materials are free to be copied and used as long as money is not being made.

Many thanks to brother Ed Healy, for allowing me to post from his website, theabidingword.com.

by Kyle Butt, M.A. ... Seeing God in a Box...Fish

http://apologeticspress.org/APContent.aspx?category=12&article=1541

Seeing God in a Box...Fish

by	Kyle Butt, M.A.

Constant competition between car companies rages to see which one can design the lightest, toughest, most aerodynamic, fuel efficient models. It seems that the DaimlerChrysler Company has recently put itself several steps ahead in the race by designing a remarkably efficient economy car for Mercedes-Benz. The idea that inspired this car was very simple. The designers looked to the natural world to find a model of highly-efficient, aerodynamic design, coupled with a sturdy structure that could withstand collisions. The model on which they finally settled seemed an unlikely candidate: the boxfish.

At first glance, the boxfish’s body does not appear very aerodynamic. As its name implies, it has a rather “boxy” look, and not the streamline “raindrop” shape that is used for many aerodynamic models. Upon further investigation, however, the boxfish’s shape and design happen to be amazingly efficient. As one author put it, “Despite its boxy, cube-shaped body, this tropical fish is in fact outstandingly streamlined and therefore represents an aerodynamic ideal. With an accurately constructed model of the boxfish the engineers in Stuttgart were able to achieve a wind drag coefficient of just 0.06 in the wind tunnel.” In order to grasp the importance of this drag coefficient, it “betters the drag coefficient of today’s compact cars by more than 65 percent” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...,” 2005, emp. added).
But the aerodynamic aspects of the boxfish were not the only helpful features used by the DaimlerChrysler engineers. The skin of the boxfish “consists of numerous hexagonal, bony plates which provide maximum strength with minimal weight” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...”). By reproducing this skin structure, the car company was able to achieve “up to 40 percent more rigidity...than would be possible with conventional designs.” The report went on to say that if the entire car shell were designed with these hexagonal structures, the weight of the car could be reduced by almost one-third, without forfeiting any safety features during collisions.

Such copying of the natural world is not a unique event. A popular field of study known as biomimicry has arisen of late in which scientists and technologists look to nature to supply optimal designs and functions. Ironically, the writer of what appears to be the primary article on this amazing boxfish/car relationship misses the logical conclusion of the biomimetic design, as do other scientists who study the field—that design demands an Intelligent Designer. The said writer commented, “[T]he boxfish possesses unique characteristics and is a prime example of the ingenious inventions developed by nature over millions of years of evolution. The basic principle of this evolution is that nothing is superfluous and each part of the body has a purpose—and sometimes several at once” (“Mercedes-Benz Bionic...,” 2005).
Notice the concession made in the writer’s statement that the boxfish, indeed, exhibits “ingenious invention.” Such a statement implies that some type of “genius” or intelligence is behind the invention. Furthermore, evolution has been consistently presented as a process that is maintained by naturalistic, random, chance happenings that are incapable of producing anything “ingenious” or “intelligent.” And finally, the author states that evolution leaves nothing “superfluous,” and that each part of the evolved animal has “a purpose.” This remark is ironic considering the fact that many defenders of evolution continue to use the argument that humans and animals maintain several “vestigial organs” that are supposedly useless leftovers of evolution (see Harrub, 2001, for a discussion of vestigial organs). Indeed, any theory that explains too much, explains too little. On the one hand, evolution maintains an underlying principle that nothing is superfluous, while at the same time evolution is a “fact” because animals and humans supposedly have left-over vestiges that are no longer useful? As one can see, the concept of evolution is so “flexible” and self-contradictory that it sustains no real ability to explain anything.
To the contrary, the only valid explanation for the optimal design in the boxfish is the fact that whenever we see efficient, complex design, there must be an intelligent designer behind it. Considering the fact that many of the most ingenious engineers that the car-manufacturing world can boast spent thousands of hours copying the design of the boxfish, which proved to be 65 percent more efficient in some ways than other designs, one must logically conclude that whoever designed the boxfish has outsmarted the brightest car engineers for many years. “Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good” (Genesis 1:31).

REFERENCES

Harrub, Brad, (2001), “Hey Cut That Out...On Second Thought, Hold That Scalpel!, [On-line], URL: http://www.apologeticspress.org/articles/2050.
“Mercedes-Benz Bionic Concept Vehicle,” (2005), [On-line], URL: http://www.germancarfans.com/news.cfm/newsid/2050607.004.