From Facebook (via Jim Aitken)-
The aeroplanes to Tel Aviv sometimes fly over cemeteries, which according to some rabbis is forbidden for a cohen (traditionally a priest; a person regarded as descendant from Zadok (Aaron).
The guy in the photo is a religious cohen flying from Cyprus to Tel Aviv inside a sealed plastic bag! I reckon that the oxygen is sufficient for such a short flight, or perhaps the plastic bag was sealed just before arrival in Israel’s territorial waters…
You might want to start checking in on their Facebook page. You’ll see things there like this:
That’s right useful. Especially since there are some really good books out there like this one and this one. And loads more.
You’re welcome.
Reasons:
1- I take my calling and task as a Pastor/Theologian very seriously.
2- This calling is spelled out in Ephesians 4.
And his gifts were that some should be apostles, some prophets, some evangelists, some pastors and teachers, to equip the saints for the work of ministry, for building up the body of Christ,
3- Which calling consists in the following mandate:
until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God, to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ; so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the cunning of men, by their craftiness in deceitful wiles.
4- Consequently this means that I am charged to instruct correctly those who may be ill informed so that they can attain Christian maturity. I am charged, further, to implement this calling
Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and knit together by every joint with which it is supplied, when each part is working properly, makes bodily growth and upbuilds itself in love.
Which means that if I love those for whom I am given responsibility, I must love them enough to tell them the truth so that, knowing the truth, they can be authentically united to Christ and his love. His love which is itself truth.
5- Hence, the results of this ministerial/theological activity is that
… you must no longer live as the Gentiles do, in the futility of their minds; they are darkened in their understanding, alienated from the life of God because of the ignorance that is in them, due to their hardness of heart; they have become callous and have given themselves up to licentiousness, greedy to practice every kind of uncleanness. You did not so learn Christ! (Eph 4:11-20).
Right belief results in right behavior. Wrong belief results in wrong behavior. Thus, in sum, if I don’t instruct those for whom I am responsible before God I am guilty of allowing them to be destroyed and to destroy others. This I cannot do. Nor can I allow others to do it. Nor can I stand by silent while it’s being done.
So, when you post theological falsehood on Facebook or twitter you’ll hear about it. When you pass along talk of consulting horoscopes or posting photos which guarantee answered prayer if you’ll just do this or that you’ll hear about it. When your theology dips below what’s biblical, believe me, you’ll hear about it. Because you need to hear about it. Because I’m morally and ethically and pastorally and theologically bound by my calling to tell you about it.
So if you don’t want to have error pointed out, it may be best if you unfriend me on facebook and unfollow me on twitter and avoid at all costs anything I write whether formally or informally because, in the word of James
Let not many of you become teachers, my brethren, for you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness. (Jam 3:1).
The Day of Judgment is already going to be tough enough on me as it is. I don’t intend to add to the discomfort by remaining silent in the face of untruth. I’m not the sort of person to read or hear in any venue if the truth is something you don’t wish to hear.
Or maybe, just maybe, that’s precisely why you should friend me on facebook and follow me on twitter…
When these kinds of things show up on Facebook it’s all I can do to restrain myself from pointing out their perversity. Today I couldn’t, wouldn’t, and didn’t. This sort of nonsense, this turning God into a cosmic goodie box, is sub Christian. No, it’s paganism. So let me say this unequivocally- GOD IS NOT A SLOT MACHINE.
From Chiara Peri
For the second year, on January 31st bloggers will cook together, just for fun, swapping recipes and letting friendship spread on the net.
A Few simple rules if you’d like to join in:
1. Publish a post on your blog on January 31st (around 11am EST if you can, but that’s not prescriptive). Title your post “Free a recipe: [add name of your recipe]“. Then write your recipe. At the end of your post, write this sentence: “Stories are for those who listen to them, recipes are for those who eat them. I give out this recipe as a gift to those who’ll read it. It’s not my copyright, it’s just part of my life: so I let it go freely on the web”. Then, add the link to your post to a webpage (instructions to follow).
2. Those with a Facebook account may want to use the logo of the event as profile picture for that day, that is a “Keep calm…” on a red background with a personalised slogan you are free to choose, but please make it relevant to cooking or to the event.
3. We would like as many people as possible to join in, so publicise the event on your blog, Facebook, twitter etc. Hashtags: #liberericette, #freearecipe
4. Don’t disclose your recipe until January 31st: keep it a surprise!
5. Have fun.
FAQ:
- What if I haven’t got a blog?
Kitchens are open: a blogger will host your recipe, just ask the organisers if you do can’t find one. Also, even if you do have a blog, feel free to go and cook in somebody else’s kitchen, or to host a friend yourself.
- What should the post look like?
Recipes can be of pretty much anything: main course, dessert, drink, jam, starter… If you can, add a picture of your finished dish, but that’s not essential.
Fun huh!
Facebook doesn’t know me at all. All the talk these days of ‘invasion of privacy’ by Facebook is proven untenable and easily done so by a glance at their targeted ads. Here’s the latest gang-
Dawkins? He’s as important to me as a tick on a dog 23 miles away. Beck? The Same. Obama? The only reason I would vote for him would be to annoy Netanyahu. And Dove soap? No thanks, I’m a Suave user.
No, I will no longer worry that Facebook is stealing my information and selling it to shady characters. They could never identify me if they had to.
This is inexplicably stupid: both in terms of the stupid boy who killed a total stranger and the stupid courts which gave him just a year….
A 15-year-old Dutch boy was sentenced to a year in juvenile detention on Monday for stabbing to death a girl whose Facebook posts reportedly led to a contract for her killing. The case, known in the Netherlands as the “Facebook murder”, caused widespread debate about the role of social media in violent crime. The court said the boy did not know the victim and had murdered her “at the request or instructions of others”. Dutch media reported that the 15-year-old victim, named in court documents as Winsie, had argued for weeks with two friends on the social networking site before they allegedly asked the defendant, who was 14 at the time, to kill her. He was offered a 1,000 euro payment, the media reported.
Dutchlanders, your laws really are senseless. Shame on you. Shame on your failure to value a human life and punish with any seriousness the vermin which snuffed it out.
”Is there any worse curse than approval? Have you ever learned anything new from people who accept the world as it is? … Regardless, it’s a fine thing to belong to a private club based on rejection and difference. I’ll go a step further. I believe excoriation is the true measure of our merit.” – Dave Robicheaux (Via Bruce McCormack on the Facebook).
Dear Jim,
We used to be Facebook friends and then you unfriended me. It’s ok. I hardly get on Facebook anymore. But I’m wondering why. I’m also wondering what criteria you have in mind when you unfriend people.
Thanks,
Harrison
Harrison, I have become something of a serial defriender for which I apologize. Sometimes, to be frank, I just get in the mood to cut down my list and I just ax people from whom I seldom hear or who post too many items from the likes of Rick Warren or Mars Hill ‘Church’ or Joyce Meyers. I’m sorta opposed to heretics and that lot gets on my nerve so I avoid them at all costs.
At other times someone will say or do something with which I disagree and so I think the very thought that we could be ‘friends’ in any sort of meaningful sense becomes utterly ludicrous.
And still at other times I just lose interest. That said, there are certain people with whom I’ll be friends no matter what. Members of SOTS are in that group. So too Herman Selderhuis and Karla Apperloo (of Refo500). So too the Sheffield-ians and the Copenhagen-ers (UPDATED). So is Robert Cargill, Chris Tilling, and probably Joel Watts (though he’s iffy). Israeli archaeologists too won’t feel the defriending jolt (although I’ve been defriended by some Israelis because of my politics just as I’ve been defriended others for my view of various social issues). And naturally wife and daughter won’t be defriended either. I defriended Rachel once and I experienced wrath and rage and it scared me so I won’t be doing that again.
In short, then, Harrison, my defriending is utterly capricious and in spite of that there are some people who will never experience it- from my end anyway. They are, of course, free to defriend me whensoever they wish.
Best,
Jim
Look, they made me an Admin for their FB page!
They’ll rue the day! ;-)
[Actually they asked me if I would be willing to help get the word out about the ASOR FB page and naturally I said I would do whatever I could to lend a hand. I would urge you, if you're on Facebook, and have an interest in archaeology, to hop on over to their page and 'like' it. It really does have loads of useful stuff and you'll be able to keep up with doings archaeological].
Here’s another of the far too many examples in modern ‘Christianity’ of a high profile ‘Christian’ talking the talk but not ‘walking the walk’. Ryan Lochte tweeted a few days ago
‘Plain’ must mean ‘plan’. And yes, God does have a plan. Promiscuity isn’t part of it. But his mom was on the Today Show boasting about his promiscuity…
Ryan Lochte is all about the one-night stands … says his mom, Ike Lochte. ”He goes out on one-night stands. He’s not able to give fully to a relationship because he’s always on the go,” the elder Lochte told TODAY.com on July 31st.
He’s not able to give himself to moral behavior either. Is he.
I really wish people who talk about God would live like they actually took that relationship seriously. It reminds me of the people on Facebook who constantly talk pious talk but who do so while posting pictures of themselves and their besties out boozing it up and giving the world the bird.
The old timers had a word for what Lochte and the Facebook pic posters are: hypocrites.
Look no further. ‘Like’ the ASOR Facebook page and you’ll be kept abreast of all the best stuff (without the fluff and nonsense).
I haven’t, and won’t use the absurdly ridiculous ‘who viewed your profile’ scam on the Facebook. It’s rubbish and here’s the screenshot proving it:
Note that two different people, completely unrelated to each other, have the ‘exact’ same people viewing their profiles. I would submit that the ‘who viewed your profile’ is a scam aimed to mine your data. Don’t trust it.
This facebook comment appeared on the local news website in connection with a story about a baby left at a Church. See if you can spot the numerous ironies…
Heavens… grammar, anyone? Especially when the lead sentence fragment denounces the dumb…
They’ve changed your email address. As the Daily Beast reports
On Monday the company changed everyone’s default email address to the @facebook.com account that all users were assigned recently—but few had started using. When users check their contact information on their profiles or timelines today, they will find only the @facebook.com email account listed and any other email addresses hidden. In a statement of explanation, Facebook said, “Ever since the launch of timeline, people have had the ability to control what posts they want to show or hide on their own timelines, and today we’re extending that to other information they post, starting with the Facebook address.”
Go to your Timeline. Click about, under your contact info. Scroll down to “Contact Info” and hit edit. Switch all of the crossed out circle symbols to a full circle for each inbox you want visible on your profile. If you don’t want @facebook.com to show up, switch it from a full circle (“Shown on Timeline”) to crossed out (“Hidden from Timeline”). This is also a good opportunity to check your privacy settings and make sure your various inboxes are visible only to friendlies. Hit save.
From the BBC-
Please do not feed the Trolls
Websites will soon be forced to identify people who have posted defamatory messages online. New government proposals say victims have a right to know who is behind malicious messages without the need for costly legal battles. The powers will be balanced by measures to prevent false claims in order to get material removed. But privacy advocates are worried websites might end up divulging user details in a wider range of cases.
This is good news for everyone. Honest people don’t hide and hiding people, barring some sort of situation in which they would be persecuted for being truthful, aren’t honest.
By the way- you can do your part in the war against trolls and it’s something simple: moderate comments on your own site. If someone doesn’t give their name or you don’t know who they are, don’t approve their remarks. They’ll soon tire of their exercise in futility. I know. I’ve sent many blathering imbeciles off dissatisfied that their ramblings didn’t get airtime. They usually land on the angry atheist blogs where they’re perfectly at home with the other dimwits.
Via Ref.ch on the facebook. There’s theology in that humor…
He’s in hot water with his Bishop!
A British priest has apologized for some unholy language on his Facebook page, his bishop says.
Canon Chris Tilling
Paul Shackerley, Vicar of the Minster Church of St. George in Doncaster in northern England, raised eyebrows by using the f— word and remarking that “alas, I have religion tomorrow” in some Saturday evening postings.Peter Burrows, the bishop of Doncaster, met with Tilling
Shackerleyon Friday and later said the priest regretted the inappropriate language and had removed it.“Whilst meant in a jocular sense, he recognizes that some of the language was unfitting. He has apologized unreservedly,” Burrows said in a statement posted on the diocesan website. “I have received Chris’s
Paul’sletter of apology and have been assured that this will not happen again.”
We tried to warn Chris his potty mouth would get him in trouble one day…
From Robert Reich-
Starting in 70s, US economy shifted from goods to services. In 90s from services to ideas. With FB’s IPO, from ideas to smoke & mirrors.
Word. America used to make things. Now it makes almost nothing and money is made for no real reason.
