Ephesus announcement pt3

This project isn't meant for unbelievers, or those who have just converted. While they may find good stuff in here - it is meant for the Christian who, after years of sitting in Church and listening to the preacher, and after hearing others talk about the Bible for years, decides to dust it off and read it for his (or her) own self.

I hope those whom I did not create this project for can also find enlightenment, but I think they would be better off seeing their local Baptist Pastor (yes, I am a Baptist. While there are other good Christian denominations, this is the one I know) for advice.

For those of you already reading Luke, I recommend reading and considering each passage (a passage is somewhat shorter than a chapter), rereading it if necessary, to remember it. Except the last half of Chapter 3. Starting with verse 24, this genealogy is in there for some important reasons that are clear to Bible scholars, but are unnecessary (unless you are REALLY into genealogy) for a beginner. In fact, I never read this particular passage, but will look things up in it from time to time.

This book, the Gospel according to Luke, is written by Mary's personal physician (this can be discerned from the first chapter, and some other various clues), to a high ranking theologian. It is fairly simple to read, and while largely written from the viewpoint of an observer, it was largely (but not completely) observed firsthand.

follow up to anouncement

Maybe I should have mentioned yesterday, that the best place to begin reading the Bible, especially if you have never read any more than a verse or a quick passage, it the Gospel according to LUKE.

This is especially relevant today, since the Christmas story is in Chapter 2.

I recommend that beginners read Luke like a story (but not necessarily in one sitting, only pausing to reflect, and only re-reading to insure you really remember what you read. If you happen to be reading from a Bible with notes at the bottoms of the page, you can glance at them, but you should concentrate on the text of the story itself, at this time.

I will go more into detail about Luke in the near future.

Anouncing the Ephesus Project

For some time now, I have been known in some parts as knowledgeable on the Bible. For a similar time, I have been attempting to put together a pamphlet on the subject of Bible study.

Why?
In my first attempt at Bible study, I began (without any one's assistance) with Genesis Ch. 1 and soon crashed and burned badly. My second round was more successful - I read all of the Bible , but ultimately proved Acts 8:30,31 (where a disciple asked a man "do you understand what you are reading" and the reply was "how can I, unless someone guides me?"

In addition, I have made some brash statements in this blog and on Combat Effective about what I do or don't believe, that I fear theocracy, and that I feel the Roman Catholic Church has been leading people astray. Well then, what do I believe? I believe each and every Christian who has normal mental faculties should read, study and learn (and learn about) the Bible for their own self.

That is all well and good, but I just got through saying that my first two tries were less than successful, so why do I try to hold my fellow Christians to such a high standard? Because, for one, the Bible says we should (but I'll get to that later). There are other reasons. Mainly so that other, less scrupulous people won't lead them astray. And to aid in their study, I am embarking on a series of articles to help them through that first few months of study where most people seem to flounder.

As I said at the beginning, I have been trying (without much success) to put this all into pamphlet form. There are many good books, some hundreds of pages long trying to cover this same subject. But face it, if you were inclined to read them, you would be inclined to have read the Bible by now. On the other hand, I have found getting this into pamphlet form near impossible. So the next best thing is a series of interlinking articles, where you can skip around, and pick and choose what you need, when you need it.

I call the whole thing the Ephesus project. A detailed study of the ancient city of Ephesus and a study of the Bible would explain why I chose that name, but for now, it is just a name to make it easy to find my articles on this subject.

I will be looking forwards to writing more on this, and I hope to get some feed back along the way.

Importing our demise

(Some hope at the bottom of this rant.)

Just a couple weeks ago, I ranted about the poisoning of our food (and toys) by eastern nations. Well, as a follow up, there is more bad than good. President Bush, at the time, promised more scrutiny of our imports, but I have seen no evidence of it.

In addition, we might consider prescription drug imports. Does anyone remember, from 2003 and 2004, Food and Drug Administration (FDA) officials claimed (see paragraph 9) that reimporting prescription drugs from Canada is unsafe?

Then why are we deliberately pursuing importing drugs from a country that has a history of trying to pass poisonous products through the supply channels?

The FDA claims to perform 100 percent screening of active pharmaceutical ingredients. Well then, why can't it get and screen a list of ingredients in childrens toys?

There is some hope. While only up since August this year, there is a new blog focusing on China free products.
http://china-free-products.blogspot.com/

UPDATE: the china free blog above isn't what I thought it was, but here is a better one:
http://notchinamade.net/ this web site is for sale, however, so I don't know how long it will last. In the mean time, check along the right side of it for good links to stuff not made in China.

Ray-O-Vac

I began worrying about this company a few months ago. They have historically been known for providing batteries in larger quantities to those of us who use quite a few batteries. This means that as we began embracing LED's, and our use of batteries has dwindled, they might have a hard time staying around. This became more of a concern for me when the local Lowes hardware store stopped carrying Ray-O-Vac batteries (leaving me with virtually no reason to go there).

Should not have worried, though. If I had kept up with the technicle news, I would have known that they have diversified their product line. I discovered this when I needed a new flashlight for my wife's car (you will recall that I work outdoors, and often at night, so I have several lights for myself). As I browsed through the displays, I noticed a couple of new LED flashlights from Ray-O-Vac, and that got my curriosity going.

I have been lamenting that the technology for the headlamp I use at work is getting a bit dated, but it looks like they are creating an assortment of products that I may switch to in the future. This one that I use has been reliable far longer than the ones I used in the past. The switch is getting some wear, but still reliably turns on (the detents are worn almost smooth, however). The only part that seems to be wearing completely out is the elastic headband.

In case the engineers at Ray-O-Vac are listening, a bit less red light in the night vision setting and a 1-watt LED instead of the kripton lamp would be an improvement, and maybe market a replacement headband for when they wear out, would be nice. Otherwise keep up the good work.

For the rest of you, they have several methods for sales outlets, one of which is Rayovac Direct, and no, this isn't a paid post. I don't do that (yet), but I do think a visit to their website is worth the trip.