GuitarWarp

Christian singer and songwriter, Michael Gungor, has stirred up a lot of buzz recently by coming out on his blog with a personal revelation  that he "no longer is able to believe" the traditional biblical creation account in Genesis or the global flood of Noah that rose to the highest mountain peaks.  At the same time he tries to have it both ways, by finding some "value" in the stories even if not true.  In other words, on the level of fables with a moral. I have no more ability to believe, for example, that the first people on earth were a couple named Adam and Eve that lived 6,000 years ago. I have no ability to believe that there was a flood that covered all the highest mountains of the world only 4,000 years ago and that all of the animal species that exist today are here because they were carried on an ark and then somehow walked or flew all around the world from a mountain in the middle east after the water dried up. I have no more ability to believe these ...

THE PUZZLE OF PERFECTION: "The intuitive feeling that pure chance could never have achieved the degree of complexity and ingenuity so ubiquitous in nature has been a continuing source of skepticism ever since the publication of the Origin of the Species; and throughout the past century there has always existed a significant minority of first-rate biologists who have never been able to bring themselves to accept the validity of Darwinian claims .... Perhaps in no other area of modern biology is the challenge posed by the extreme complexity and ingenuity of biological adaptations more apparent than in the fascinating new molecular world of the cell .... To grasp the reality of life as it has been revealed by molecular biology, we must magnify a cell a thousand million times until it is twenty kilometers in diameter and resembles a giant airship large enough to cover a great city like London or New York. What we would then see would be an object of unparalleled complexity and a...

This line from the Christmas carol, We Three Kings , often stumps modern listeners.  What does it mean? " Incense " (or frankincense ) was a costly substance that created a fragrant smoke when burned. As the verse indicates, in this case it symbolizes our prayers rising to God. The phrase, " a Deity nigh " refers to the Christ Child himself, who was "near" (nigh) from the perspective of the three Kings who had traveled to worship him and offer Him gifts.  Nigh is an old word for near .  And Deity means divine, or God. "Owns" in this case probably does not mean the obvious fact that Jesus now "possessed" some incense since that was one of the gifts.  "Own" can mean to have the legal right to something.  Jesus is the one to Whom we pray. We rightfully give Him our prayers and praise. The kings gave him incense in recognition of this. The smoke from smoldering incense symbolized the prayers of God's people rising t...

From Christianity Today blog... What God Hath Not Joined Edith M. Humphrey  [ posted 9/1/2004 "H ave you not read that the one who made them at the beginning 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother, be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh'?" [Matthew 19:4-5]  So Jesus declares that in the first marriage and in every marriage since, it is God himself who joins particular members of the opposite sex together in a natural relation unlike any other. So Jesus declares that in the first marriage and in every marriage since, it is God himself who joins particular members of the opposite sex together in a natural relation unlike any other. All societies have honored this special union that Christians, Jews, and Muslims rightly recognize to be a gift of the Creator. Even in an atheistic context like Russia during the Communist period, Muscovite couples were married with festal trapping...

Because in this whole gay marriage and homosexuality debate very few ever bother to actually look at key Scriptures, GW has added them below: 1 Corinthians 6:9-10 (New Testament) 9  Don’t you realize that those who do wrong will not inherit the Kingdom of God? Don’t fool yourselves. Those who indulge in sexual sin, or who worship idols, or commit adultery, or are male prostitutes, or practice homosexuality, 10  or are thieves, or greedy people, or drunkards, or are abusive, or cheat people—none of these will inherit the Kingdom of God. (Is stealing or idol worship a sin according to this passage?  Yes! Likewise everything else listed, including homosexuality.) 1 Timothy 1:9-11 (New Testament) 9  For the law was not intended for people who do what is right. It is for people who are lawless and rebellious, who are ungodly and sinful, who consider nothing sacred and defile what is holy, who kill their father or mother or commit other murders. 10...

Ed Stetzer's blog post from May 10, 2012 talks of the "future of evangelical response" to the gay marriage issue. Of five principles evangelicals should consider, his last is this one: At the end of the day, all evangelicals will still have to deal with an issue on which the evangelical view is perceived as narrow and bigoted.   Evangelicals will continue to be pressured to accept a worldview rooted in cultural acceptance rather than biblical revelation. While President Obama's thoughts on certain issues have evolved, biblical truth has not. http://www.edstetzer.com/2012/05/president-obama-and-same-sex-m.html Many evangelicals are regular viewers of the conservative Fox News Channel.  Yet consistently there gay marriage is also seen as no problem, and something positive.  Even stalwart culture warrior Bill O'Reily commented 12/13/12 that if gay marriages passes the Supreme Court and becomes the law of the land it won't have any significant effect o...

I get tired of hearing some talking heads say that what we need to do is get rid of all extremists in all religions. I can't speak for other religions such as Islam, but extremism in Christianity looks like this: "Give to the one who asks you, and do not turn away from the one who wants to borrow from you. "You have heard that it was said, 'Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.' But I tell you: Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you," (Matthew 5:43-44) "If you love those who love you, what reward will you get? Are not even the tax collectors doing that?" Matthew 5:46 "You have heard that it was said, 'Eye for eye, and tooth for tooth.' But I tell you, Do not resist an evil person. If someone strikes you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also." Matthew 5:38-39 "But I say to you who hear, love your enemies, do good to those who hate you." (Luke 6:27) "But love your enemies, an...

Proponents of gay marriage are of course trying to position the whole issue as civil rights.   But is it?  At least one prominent minority leader objects to this tactic and sees it as something entirely different. Bishop Harry Jackson who is African-American, says gay marriage is not a civil rights issue, but fundamentally about redefining the institution of marriage. There are some profound differences between things like race and gender, which he points out are permanent and not of one's choice.  But sexual orientation can change, and homosexuality is a behavior.  What's really going on is a group of people insisting on redefinition of something that that is based in the very biology of our species.  It takes male and female to reproduce.  And without question a healthy mother and father role model is hard wired into the optimal nurture of a child.  If you are an evolutionist you are really forced to this conclusion or you admit abandoni...

Did Jesus outright condemn homosexuality?  As it has been observed by others, he didn't have to.  He intensified all the commands against sexual sin. A good analogy would be a Sheriff speaking to a classroom and telling the students, "Obey the speed limit when you are old enough to drive."  He didn't specifically mention "The 40 mile per hour speed limit" because he didn't have too.  Obviously it is included in "speed limits."  Only a sophist would try to later make an exception for "40 miles per hour." There are seven very clear passages in the Old and New Testaments that directly forbid homosexual practices.  But it is often claimed that Jesus himself never addressed the issue.  Proponents of gay lifestyles then use a supposed argument from silence on Jesus' part to justify, and even overturn clear New Testament teaching against homosexuality. But did Jesus really never say anything about gay marriage or homosexual practi...

Moore's blatant misuse of Scriptural promises to justify his prosperity gospel teachings can be seen in an article he wrote to justify his teachings: God’s Will to Heal Keith Moore “GOD SAID SO!  How do we know whether it’s God’s will to heal us or not? It makes little difference what others say about it. What did He say about it? Remember that God is no respecter of persons (Acts 10: 34) and He never changes (Mal. 3:6). So what He said to them yesterday, He is saying to you today.   God’s word is God speaking to me.” Let’s just take these opening statements for starters.  He begins on firm ground, that it only matters ultimately what God says about healing, etc. But his Scriptural support is unfounded. The phrase, “God is no respecter of persons,” means God is impartial (specifically that the Gentiles were now accepted as equals to Jews), and not at all that anything God promised a certain individual in the Old Testament can now be “claimed” by so...

On his web site, Communion With God, in an article entitled "Principles of Christian Dream Interpretation," under a heading of "More Thoughts on Dreams" Mark Virkler claims, "Dreams are reliable messengers. They reveal the condition of one's heart (Dan. 2:30), as well as the voice of God within one's heart (Acts 2:17)" And he claims There are no warnings in the Bible to beware of your own dreams , with the possible exception of Ecclesiastes 5:3,7, which is probably best understood as a reference to "daydreams" since all other references in the Bible to "dreams" are positive .  But are dreams reliable?  Are they assuredly God's voice to you?  Is there only one warning and that about "daydreams"?  What does the Bible say?  Truth is, there are many direct warnings, at least 11, about dreams! 1. God gave stringent warning about the danger of dreams in Deuteronomy 13:1-3, “If a prophet or a dreamer of dre...

Marker Virkler on his web site give 7 "foundational principles" for interpreting one's standard night time dreams as the voice of God speaking to us.  This are drawn from his book, Hear God Through Your Dreams .    In one of his principles, he claims that God never gives a dream that implies condemnation: Dreams reveal but do not condemn. Their goal is to preserve life, not to destroy it (Job 33:13-18).  He bases this on a single quote from Elihu in the book of Job.  Is this proof text true?  Do all dreams preserve life? We need go no further than the book of Genesis to see this is not the case.  When Joseph was in prison the Pharaoh's cup bearer and his baker were thrown in jail.  They each had dreams, which Joseph interpreted.  The cup bearer's dream of squeezing grapes into Pharaoh's cup foretold his forgiveness and restoration. But the baker's dream of birds eating the loaves of bread out of the basket on his head foretold his exe...

I finally bought a "magical" acoustic guitar. The brand doesn't matter as every guitar is different. As WWW Guitar Advisor notes:  Every manufacturer turns out the occasional dud -- and the occasional gem. Don't be a snob and refuse to look at unknown brands. You might miss out on something special.  It just happens in my case to be a Martin Laurence Juber OMC LJ Pro (maple sides and back, etc.). But that matters not a bit.  You can play 200 of the same model Taylors, Martins, Breedloves, or whatever, and maybe one will stand out for some crazy unknown reason that even the luthier couldn't say why.  Two guitars of the same scale length and set up will sometimes play differently too. Earlier I wrote about certain almost "magical" acoustic guitars that, for whatever reason, seem to stand way out beyond their peers--regardless of brand.  In my life I've played on maybe six I would put in that category.  And I've played many hundreds in vari...

Recently the EU banned bottled water manufacturers from claiming on their bottles that water can help prevent dehydration, claiming that this was not provable.  Violations carry up to two year imprisonment. "...last February, the European Food Standards Authority (EFSA) refused to approve the statement. A meeting of 21 scientists in Parma, Italy, concluded that reduced water content in the body was a symptom of dehydration and not something that drinking water could subsequently control. Now the EFSA verdict has been turned into an EU directive which was issued on Wednesday."  Just transfer this "scientific finding" to global warming or any of a dozen other liberal causes that restrict free trade and business or western lifestyle.  Junk science.

This is a harder question.  If the Blue and White G3 was my favorite (based on that feeling you get when you open the box and begin using it over the next days and months), which was my least favorite? Here is the complete catalogue of Mac's I've owned & were my primary home computer (5 stars is best, 1 star is least favorite: Original 128 K Macintosh (I later did a dyi upgrade to 512k) **** Mac Plus ****1/2 SE 30**** Mac IIcx** (noisy) PowerMac 7200 AV (with the monitor with stereo speakers)** PowerMac 7500*** Blue & White G3 tower***** G4 TiBook 550 Mhz (still have it and we use it)*** Dual 1.25 G4 Mirror Door June 2003 "wind tunnel" model * (one star) G5 dual 2.3 Ghz tower (late 2005) purchased used when mirror door died*** iMac 27" 3.4 core i7**** And the looser is:   the dual G4 1.25 Mirror Door.  It was actually a bit faster than the new single 1.8 G5, and much cheaper, but man was it loud, loud, loud!  It sat under my desk for six y...

There have been so many! I bought my first Mac, the original 128k Macintosh, in October 1984. I was in graduate school in Dallas, and had not even heard of a Macintosh.   One Saturday we walked into a Dillard's where I had tried some PC compatibles before. Yes, they sold computers back then at Dillard's in the Town East Mall.  As I made my way past the glass counter, the type that usually hold watches or cologne, there on top, by itself, sat a strange, small beige box with a mouse next to it. I noticed the Apple logo and "Macintosh" and asked the clerk what in the world it was.  He said it was a new type of computer that uses a mouse, and he reached across from behind the counter and moved it a bit. As I peered at that original Mac screen, black on white and WYSIWYG with crisp square pixels one word popped into my mind:  "Crystalline!"  Other computers were fuzzy green blocky letters on a black screen that looked nothing like what printed out. It wa...

The recent remarks of Dallas-area pastor Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Church Dallas, have ignited widespread criticism--primarily because they were directed towards a prominent political candidate, Mitt Romney, who is a Mormon. Jeffress labeled Mormonism a "cult," which is hardly new.  In fact, not calling Mormonism a cult is what is relatively new.  From it's inception in the 19th Century in New York State, until the 1980s, Mormons themselves were quick to point out that they are not part of Christianity and distanced themselves from the church.  Around that time, however, the Mormons began an aggressive PR campaign to try to show common ground such as "family values" and so forth.  We've all seen the slick TV ads that tell a heart warming story then ended with "brought to you by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints." Quick survey of key doctrinal differences: Classic Christianity:  One God in three Persons: Fat...

If you dream about sexual intercourse with someone is that God's way to tell you you need their spiritual gift?     According to evangelical author Mark Virkler, the answer is yes. Mark Virkler has been a popular Christian seminar speaker (4 Keys to Hearing God's Voice), but few may be aware of his strange views on dreams and their interpretation. On his Web site he explains his views.  www.cwgministries.org/Principles-of-Christian-Dream-Interpretation   Virkler encourages us to try to remember our dreams upon waking and ask the Holy Spirit to help us interpret the symbolic imagery of our dreams to figure out what God is saying to us.   A few examples will suffice:   He states that if we meet someone in our dream named Sharon that could mean that we need to work on sharing more. Or again on Virkler’s Web site, “One person reported dreaming of a friend named "Anita Cook" and finding the interpretation to be ‘I need to cook.’” And, “Dreaming about ketc...