Today's theme is interesting articles I read today - sorry this seems to be mostly controversial items but it just so happens.   Hopefully tomorrow's post is a little more constructive.

The Rise of the Papacy

http://www.ligonier.org/learn/articles/rise-papacy/

Especially interesting given the election of a new pope last week.  I for one had a renewed curiosity about the history of the Pope and had found several Catholic sites which traced the Pope all the way to the Apostle Peter.  I was a little skeptical and found this article to be helpful.  Hopefully nothing to rile up my Catholic brothers and sisters here; love you all in the Lord folks.  That said, I do have issue with the Pope seemingly claiming a role that is Jesus alone.

For there is one God and one mediator between God and mankind, the man Christ Jesus, who gave himself as a ransom for all people.    1 Timothy 2:5,6

Anyways - on a lighter note, have a look at this.  The Pope-mobile through the ages, nice!
http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/20/from-a-mercedes-460-nurburg-to-a-bulletproof-g500-the-popemobile-evolution/
  

Why I Changed My Mind About Baptism

http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/tgc/2013/03/20/why-i-changed-my-mind-about-baptism-2/

The Gospel Coalition has been doing a series on baptism and presenting the arguments for and against believers-baptism vs. paedo-baptism.  The latest entry has a reformed Presbyterian minister speaking about why he converted to a paedo-baptist position.  I found the arguments rather week as is typical for a good Baptist, lol.  Have a look at my comment below.


Interesting that of he three texts mentioned in the second to last paragraph none explicitly support infant baptism.

In my opinion this is a poor reading of Acts 2:38,29 - the promise is "Repent and believe and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit". ie. if your Children repent and believe they will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. 

This promise is valid for "everyone whom the Lord our God calls to himself”, but it is contingent on belief and repentance (also gifts of God, but that is another issue).

Colossians 2:10-11, The circumcision of our heart coincides with our regeneration by the power of the Holy Spirit - baptism merely symbolizes the death of the old man and resurrection to a new life with a new heart that desires to follow God's commands.
(see Jeremiah 9:25 & Ezekiel 36:26,27) 

1 Corinthians 7:14 - Seems silly but on the theme of households I would have to ask if the wife should baptize her unbelieving Husband as well if he consents?

Anyways, interesting topic.  I am a proud big "C" Christian, small 'b' baptist - so I hope that this issue being recently brought to the forefront will not hinder the Church's ability to work together for the common purpose of lifting up the name of Jesus.

"They say you don't have to be Baptist to get to heaven, but I figured 'What take the chance?'"  - Tony Campolo (That's a joke people, lol)

Prisoners Sue Over Lack of Non-Christian Chaplains 

http://life.nationalpost.com/2013/03/19/buddhist-jewish-wiccan-muslim-and-sikh-prisoners-sue-over-lack-of-non-christian-chaplains-in-federal-prisons/

Interesting Article in the Post today about government sponsored Christian chaplains.  Imagine, Christian chaplains being paid by the state.  Of course the rowdy secular crowd is up in arms, but the article does bring up some interesting questions regarding the state's role in sponsoring 'religions'.  I don't have time to get into that one today, but I thought the story of warden Burl Cain and America's (formerly) bloodiest prison 'Angola State Pen' is related and interesting, so have a look -->

 Cain's Redemption

"Formerly known as America's bloodiest prison, the 18,000 acres that comprise Louisiana's Angola State Penitentiary are now home to 5,000 inmates, a full range of seasonal crops, a 9-hole golf course, yearly rodeos, a Bible seminary, a museum, and much more. All of this came into being at the behest of Warden Burl Cain, who is now the longest-standing warden in the history of Angola prison. Under his leadership, the inmate population of 5,000 has gone from regular knife fights to Bible studies. Cain is a strong believer in the ability of the gospel to turn the most incorrigible of sinners into productive, moral citizens."

Say what you will re: church / state separation but it is pretty hard to argue with results! 

Apparently there is also a documentary on this one, I am hoping to find it somewhere online, if I do I will be sure to post if for your edification.


That's all for today folks.

 

D.A. Carson on the nature of spiritual blindness and sight.

Cyrpus Bailout II

 The Great EU Bank Robbery
 http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2294971/Cyprus-bailout-British-taxpayers-bail-victims-outrageous-raid.html

We Are All Cypriot Savers
http://opinion.financialpost.com/2013/03/18/terence-corcoran-we-are-all-cypriot-savers/

Few more observations on this government confiscation of private property for payment to private banks.

Strange that the IMF is calling this a 'bank -tax', this is quite the misnomer.  A bank tax would be payed by banks out of their profits, a profit garnish so to speak.  Something like that would be much more appropriate here.

This is not a 'bank tax', but a confiscation of private funds.   The powers that be like to hide their blatant theft with many words, catch phrases to be repeated by the media in an attempt to throw off the general public.

Since a large portion of the general public pays no attention to the news they are likely to hear the words 'bank tax' in passing on the radio and think, "wow they are finally making the banks pay!", when in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

The question also needs to be asked; who is actually owed money?  Cyrpus as a country is in the hole for 7 Billion Euros, so who actually holds the bonds and is demanding to be paid?  This question has not been addressed in any of the articles I have read.  There is no doubt in my mind however that the answer is that other international banks hold the bonds.

The article indicates that the problem originated with the Cypriot banks;   

"According to credit rating reports, Cyprus arrived at this fiscal crisis initially because its banks carried a lot of Greek debt as approved by international bank rules." 

So the problem started with Cypriot banks doing business in accordance with international banking rules.  These banks ruined themselves by taking on bad debt, destroyed the Cypriot economy but now expect private citizens to pick up the pieces.  In the meantime the IMF thinks this is fair and that it "appropriately allocates the burden sharing."  Wow.


I also find it interesting that based on a typical fractional reserve banking system banks typically only hold about ~10% of their total liabilities in cash.  Therefore what the banks could be doing in effect is confiscating all the real currency and leaving the public with zeroes on a computer screen.  See what happens when you try to withdraw that!

What may happen through this though bailout is that the banks are actually shooting themselves in the foot.  As the Daily Mail article stated;

"Sebastien Galy, of the bank SocGen, agreed the move could be the ‘trigger’ for a new eurozone crisis:  ‘It breaks a cardinal rule – namely, public trust on which money relies.'"

People use banks because they are a guarantee; deposit insurance is supposed to mean that nothing can happen to your money.  This situation proves that this is not the case.  As such I expect people may think twice before placing their funds somewhere that they can be so easily confiscated.

This may have an actual negative impact on banking in the long run.  The whole situation makes me think that a shoe-box under the bed or a safe in the basement is looking like a good option, especially given the fees banks charge and the low rates of interest they offer.

In any case at this point I will simple re-iterate the ideas I brought up in my previous post.

Nothing in this life is guaranteed. 


These are the verses I have been thinking about in light of what is happening in Cyprus:

^"Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.” (James 4:12-15)

"But the day of the Lord will come like a thief. The heavens will disappear with a roar; the elements will be destroyed by fire, and the earth and everything done in it will be laid bare.  Since everything will be destroyed in this way, what kind of people ought you to be? You ought to live holy and godly lives as you look forward to the day of God and speed its coming.  That day will bring about the destruction of the heavens by fire, and the elements will melt in the heat.  But in keeping with his promise we are looking forward to a new heaven and a new earth, where righteousness dwells." (2 Peter 3:10-13)

 “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moths and vermin destroy, and where thieves break in and steal.  But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moths and vermin do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal.  For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. (Matthew 6:19-21)

Cyprus Bailout

Cyprus Bailout

http://business.financialpost.com/2013/03/18/welcome-to-cyprus-a-sunny-place-for-shady-people/

 

More crazy stories from the EU: Governments confiscating personal savings to pay for incompetence and mismanagement.  And you thought you had a right to private property? Seems unbelievable, thought when you think about it our artificially low interest rates in Canada could also be construed as a tax on personal savings… 

In any case I think there are a few morals to this story.  One is that you can and will pay for your government’s incompetence even if you didn’t vote for them!  In Ontario that is a scary state of affairs…  Another moral may be that nothing is guaranteed in life.  This situation was described by Solomon in Ecclesiastes 2:18, 19 “I hated all the things I had toiled for under the sun, because I must leave them to the one who comes after me.  And who knows whether that person will be wise or foolish? Yet they will have control over all the fruit of my toil into which I have poured my effort and skill under the sun.”  Many people likely spent years in Cyprus working to make it a better place, only to see a generation of mismanagement dismantle much of what they had worked toward.

Ultimately as a Christian what I take from this is summarized by 1 John 2:17 “The world and its desires pass away, but whoever does the will of God lives forever”.  This world is destined for destruction, is what we are investing in going to last?  Whether global economic collapse takes our savings, or our life is cut short and we meet our maker sooner than we expected (Luke 12:13-21!); is what we are investing in now going to matter in 10,000 years?