Stormbringer's Thunder

  Buon giorno. I was going to use today for an article on how to give me hate mail, but this tripped my trigger. I have to do a boatload of qualifiers and disclaimers here. This appeared on my Twitter account (a thing I seldom use beyond autoposts), and I cannot reply to it while working. So, I cannot discuss it with the commenter before writing this. If he wants to lay claim to it in the comments section, he is welcome. Otherwise, I am assuming that he wants his privacy. So, today his name is going to be Lincoln Sears. He is an atheist, and I do know his name. I do not know exactly what Mr. Sears means by his comment, and I am not going to put words in his mouth or assume that I know what he is thinking. (It's only fair, don't you think, Norman? Are you going to say that I faked that comment?) What I am going to do is use it for a springboard. Wow, enough with the disclaimers and stuff. On to the fun! I should point out that I have never been able to leave a comment at Ans

"Evolution is promoted by its practitioners as more than mere science. Evolution is promulgated as an ideology, a secular religion—a full-fledged alternative to Christianity, with meaning and morality... Evolution is a religion. This was true of evolution in the beginning, and it is true of evolution still today." — Michael Ruse, anti-Creationist philosopher ( thanks to Creation.com )  

As always, I'm speaking in generalities, because I know of a few exceptions. People have the right to believe or disbelieve all they want, and I have said that repeatedly. So why does another's disbelief trump my belief? Why try to take that belief away?  I keep hearing/seeing reading that modern atheists are oh so much smarter than the billions of people in the world who know that there is someone higher up than we are. They are especially smarter than us dumb stoopid xtians; just ask them . Do you know what this is? Can you handle the truth? It's religious bigotry. So, why all the protests and other trouble-making? There is no valid reason to spam and troll Christian sites , even though these hypocrites claim to believe in "tolerance" and "free speech". It doesn't take a rocket surgeon to realize that they could just go on about their business, being smugly self-assured, jeering in their atheist chat rooms and not doing a blasted thing to actual

Buon giorno. Today's lesson in time wasters focuses on the evil twins of anger and hate. When you think about it, they trade places and even overlap sometimes. I'm not going to say, "Don't do that!" because hate and anger happen and are not dismissed in a simplistic manner. But education and awareness can help alleviate the problems. So, get comfortable and become educated now. When you're angry, you tend to lose focus. Calm down, for crying out loud! Your enemies are more than happy for you to make a mistake and then take advantage of the situation. (So is Satan; he just loves it when you get crazy and curse out the bellhop or even get into a physical altercation, giving him more control over you.) For that matter, loss of self control is simply bad psychology because you'll keep giving in to it and have an increasingly shorter fuse. Have you ever hated anyone? I'll admit to it, but it's rare. No, I'm not talking about someone you

The other day, I asked Christians to pray for the persecuted church and to get informed about what believers around the world are enduring. Some of us in America have persecution, but frankly, it is child's play compared to what happens in China, North Korea, Iran , India and other areas. I've been listening to Crosstalk podcasts (thanks to a tip from Silly Goose ), and on Monday, November 15 , they were discussing the persecuted church. This was with someone from Open Doors , another organization that ministers to, and gives information about, persecuted Christians. There are tens of thousands of Christians persecuted primarily for being Christians (although sometimes ethnic persecution is another part of the problem). Of course, there are always losers that have to mock. After all, there is no widespread persecution for jerks, atheists, leftists, Muslims, communists or others. Give a listen to this — person — who called into the show: Heartless loser. As far as I'm con

Isaiah 14.12-14 Revelation 13.18 He came like a savior from the east With the face of an angel But the soul of a beast Out of war he promised peace And to all, prosperity We trusted him and that was when He brought us to our knees We wanted an end to all our fears He told us peace would reign a thousand years And as we swallowed up his lies Slowly we were paralyzed He sealed our fate, then far too late We saw through his disguise Six sixty six It was hard to believe we could be so deceived by Six sixty six For a mark on our skin we sold our souls to him Without it no one could buy or sell He made the world his throne, this prince of Hell And those who would not worship him Were never seen or heard again His word was law, we surrendered all But we prayed for life to end Six sixty six It was hard to believe we could be so deceived by Six sixty six For a mark on our skin we sold our souls to him And th

Buon giorno. Today's lesson on time wasters is when people and things are unreliable. F'rinstance: Cell phone service should be there when you need it Internet service should be consistent Cable TV service should be available on demand Your auto's battery should start it up The can opener should open cans every time, or Fido and Fluffy will start to get cranky and demanding The airplane should stay together from takeoff through landing "Big deal, Uncle Bob! We know all that stuff." I'm glad you're paying attention. Now, how about people? You should be reliable on the job. If the boss considers you unreliable, don't expect that promotion, raise or even continued employment Your boss should pay you for your work Your friend should be reliable and willing to share your burdens You should keep your appointments and be on time A pathological liar hammered you again, and he should be honest Your doctor should diagnose your condition accurately

"Muslim people of Russia...all of your mosques and religious places were being destroyed during the reign of the Czar...From today your beliefs and ideals will prevail and should remain free forever." — Vladimir Lenin, 1917 Several countries in the former USSR were Muslim. Since Islam flourished under Soviet rule (Lenin wanted to destroy Christianity and the Jews, not Islam), Muslim governments reign in several of those countries today. As a result, persecution of Christians is widespread. Naturally, Christian persecution is still rampant in atheist regimes as well. Lenin declared that "The church is dead" in 1923. Instead, the church is very much alive, and Lenin has gone to meet the Maker that he claimed did not exist. Sunday, November 14, 2010 has been designated as a day of prayer for persecuted Christians around the world. I urge you to see what is happening in the rest of the world. Venture away from rose-colored stained-glass windows in our hot tub Christ

(Revised) Today, I want to prompt you to use some rational thought, and I'm going to use hyperbole do to it. Is that all right with you? If not, get over it, I have points to make. There is an increasingly popular expression called "quote mining", where your opponent's words are used against him. The problem is, people get to crying that quotes are taken out of context or otherwise misused. Leftists fuss about alleged "quote mining" when their words are used against them, but they run their mouths and spew so much hate, it is not difficult to find something that they said and use it against them (check Joe Biden, for example). When evolutionists are faced with quotes they do not like, they dismiss quotes with a wave of their magic wand and pretend they disappeared. When you fire off some anti-evolution statements by evolutionists, they put their lab coats over their heads, picket your home and burn models of the DNA molecule in your yard. Tha

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ's sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too."  2 Cor. 1.3-4 ESV — The Apostle Paul Edited for clarity and fixed links. Buona sera. Wow, I've been at this since May 30, 2007 and almost 600 posts. Should I have a party for article number 600, or my four-year anniversary? Both? So anyway. From the Ministry of Dreadful Analogies, I present: Frog Gigging. Basically, it's skewering the critters with a big fork-like spear in the middle of the night. (Some people think it's a fun sport and a variation on hunting, but I'm not fond of the idea for the most part. Perhaps if I had eaten frog legs I might feel differently.

Buona sera. There have been a few articles and discussions regarding the supernatural here and elsewhere in which I have been involved. One of the main points is whether or not (or when and how ) to use "the supernatural" (or miracles, God or other explanations). Well, Podcast #177 from Please Convince Me apologetics addresses these matters to some extent, as well as discussing the Virgin Birth, the Early Gospels and other issues. It runs about an hour, but at least it's free. And the host is very qualified regarding what qualifies as evidence. You can listen to that here .

Does anyone have the nerve to rock out, really rock out? Then turn it up! The previously embedded "video" had crummy sound quality. Here is better sound (there is no official video). Lyrics are below. This man came to me he was looking for action Pulling a blade to my neck He said, “Call me the butcher cause that's my trade And you know that I’ve come to collect.” I said "Hit me now And we’ll see where it leads Cut me out if you think I will bleed Strike me down If you think you’re a man Cause I know that you don't understand" Because there is no weapon There is no blade You wonder why I’m not afraid? There is no weapon There is no blade You’ll never kill Him that lives inside of me. He looked into my eyes, all he saw was conviction Dropping the blade to the earth I said, “How could you think that I’d ever retreat? You know that I’m already dead.” I said "Hit me now and we’ll see where it leads Cut me out if you think I wi

Buona sera. Yesterday, I told you that I had one or two more political articles in me. Looks like this is the last one for a while. I'm going to try to cover two points here, so try to keep up, OK? I've taken some heat from people for saying that Christians need to be involved in the political process. (For that matter, in American, anyone can be involved in the political process. I just happen to be a Bible-believing Christian.) The foundations of America are based on Christian principles . To those people who say that Christians should be more occupied with leading lost souls to Christ and ignoring the political process, I say, rubbish! Were our founders apostates, or misguided, or foolish because they put their Christian principles into action to form and govern this nation? It was their work that gave you the freedoms that you have right now to practice your religion, and now you want to stay out of it? Christians are called to be the light of the world, the sal

Buona sera. I've been stuffing little bags with candies and gospel tracts to give to the little bandits at the door tonight. So, I'll redirect you to someone else's work: QueenQueequeg: I'll Become an Atheist, IF..... : "I am willing to lay down my faith in the Bible and in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, God in the Flesh- IF you can PROVE to me that there is a..."

"Socialism is a philosophy of failure, the creed of ignorance, and the gospel of envy, its inherent virtue is the equal sharing of misery." — Winston Churchill Suppose that every day, ten men go out for beer and the bill for all ten comes to $100. If they paid their bill the way we pay our taxes, it would go something like this: The first four men (the poorest) would pay nothing. The fifth would pay $1. The sixth would pay $3. The seventh would pay $7. The eighth would pay $12. The ninth would pay $18. The tenth man (the richest) would pay $59. So, that's what they decided to do. The ten men drank in the bar every day and seemed quite happy with the arrangement, until one day, the owner threw them a curve ball. "Since you are all such good customers," he said, "I'm going to reduce the cost of your daily beer by $20." Drinks for the ten men would now cost just $80. The group still wanted to pay their bill the way we pay our

I was going to give these topics a rest, but something came up. On a previous post, Zach made a comment, and I am excerpting it here. His first sentence is an answer to a question I had asked him. Hope you're not embarrassed, but I want to give you a more complete response than the comments section would allow: My lack of belief in the supernatural is pretty much complete - I have never seen any reason to attribute a supernatural cause to phenomena. I suppose I rule out supernatural explanations because once you let one in, where do you stop? I look at an event I do not understand and go immediately to natural causes. Even if I can't figure it out, I still would assume it had a natural explanation. I'm worried that if someone started attributing causes to supernatural events, they would skip over the whole 'natural cause' thing and go straight for the supernatural, because technically everything is potentially explainable by an omnipotent being, no?