Splinters of Silver Scripture declares that the Words of God are pure, as silver tried in a furnace [Psalm 12:6], that God proves us as silver is tried [Psalm 66:10], and refines us as silver is [Zechariah 13:8-9]. I pray through this blog, not my words but, through the reading of the scriptures, through the presentation of thoughts and of comments, splinters of silver may prick and stay with us throughout our lives. Statistics Unique Visitors: Total Unique Visitors: Outgoing: Total Outgoing: 5 1147 55 7519

Articles from Splinters of Silver

A ?Jesus? Returns Wearing 666? 2007-05-09 10:10:00 A mere (apparently unregenerate) mortal man by the name of Dr. Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, 61 years old, banned in 3 countries, showed up in Orlando claiming to be Jesus Christ reincarnated.You can view the article here.His Claims:Miranda said millions of people worldwide have tattooed their bodies with "666" in recognition that the second-coming of Christ has taken place, according to the report.Miranda said he is known as God in at least 30 countries.News Claims:Local 6 reported that he was born in Puerto Rico and admits to being a recovering heroin addict. He also spent times in prison on drug and petty theft charges. Miranda is the founder of the Miami-based Growing in Grace Ministry.I am not sure which is worse: The claim or the following. ...

Evangelical Atheist ? Say What? 2007-05-09 08:51:00 Recently in my last post the term ?evangelical atheist? was mentioned by a commenter.Personally I don?t like the use of ?evangelical? and ?atheist? together, but I didn?t coin the phrase and people will say what they want to say. Of course, I don?t go around calling myself an ?evangelical Christian? either. I simply use Christian or Baptist.I tried to do a little surfing to find the term to see what I could come up with. The reason is because it is most often heard from atheists that they want Christians to keep religion to the church, their homes, and themselves and to reframe from proselytizing (their word). So I found the term ?evangelical atheist? interesting because in it carries the meaning that they are indeed atheists which go about to proselytize/convert theists to atheists; which would go against what atheists are telling Christians to stop doing.Here is the article and a small bit from it:None of this means, however, that there aren't some atheists who really do want to con ...

Christians vs. Atheists ? Does God Exist ? Debate 2007-05-08 09:53:00 Apparently on May 5, 2007 at debate between Christians Ray Comfort and Kirk Cameron and Atheists Brian Sapient and "Kelly" (who apparently did not want to give her real name) took place at Calvary Baptist Church in New York City.The debate is to air on ABC News Now tomorrow afternoon and Nightline tomorrow night on Wednesday, May 9, 2007.Informing articles:http://abcnews.go.com/Nightline/story?id=3130360&page=1http://www.christianworldviewnetwork.com/article.php/1972/Patrick_BurwellI haven?t seen the debate, but according to the link above, ?Kelly? had a ?wardrobe malfunction? that was most inappropriate for such a place (church) and situation (intellectual debate).Interestingly it seems that this Brian Sapient and ?Kelly? are a part of the following:?The Rational Response Squad challenges people to take the Blasphemy Challenge in which they make videos of themselves denouncing or blaspheming the Holy Spirit, and then post them on YouTube.?In my opinion, it is one thing to claim to be ...

What Heaven Is That : Genesis 1:1 2007-05-08 08:00:00 I was recently in a discussion, actually a different topic and it moved to a discussion about Genesis 1 and heaven. I mentioned I believe Genesis 1:1 is talking about the creation of heaven where God is and earth where we are.I was told ?You really need to find a good commentary brother. You have apassion for God, but you need some help in how to interpret the Bible?, which is fine, but the majority of things I believe have come from books, preachers, and/or teachers of the Baptist type. So, there is probably only a small portion of ideas I may hold that originated out of thin air (for a better quote) from reading the Bible without any previous knowledge of such from another person.I have been told that ?the heaven? in verse 1 is ?the deep dark expanse of outer space...where the stars, the moon, the planets, the solar systems, etc., are located?. Also that ?the firmament? of day 2 ?was the area which held the water described on day 2?.I was also given this:Strong's,Extended surface (s ...

Do You Believe In Evolution? 2007-05-07 08:00:00 A Transcript of: The Republican Presidential Candidates Debate (May 3, 2007) from nytimes.com gives the recall of the debate if you missed it (which I did).The question: ?I?m curious, is there anybody on the stage that does not agree -- believe in evolution??Three of the ten hands went up:Senator Brownback, Mr. Huckabee, Representative TancredoSenator McCain added: "I believe in evolution. But I also believe, when I hike the Grand Canyon and see it at sunset, that the hand of God is there also."Mr. Huckabee said: ?he is not opposed to teaching Darwin's theory? later, here.Me, personally, I was amazed that only three hands were raised, but hey, I really don?t know these guys.What about America?From pollingreport.com:Newsweek Poll conducted by Princeton Survey Research Associates International. March 28-29, 2007. N=1,004 adults nationwide. MoE ± 3."Which one of the following statements come closest to your views about the origin and development of human beings? Humans developed over mil ...

Thoughts Opposing Homosexuality = Hate Crime? 2007-05-04 12:05:00 In a recent article at BPNews.net, here, the House just passed a law, by a vote of 237-180, for the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act. It appears that the Senate believes it will pass when brought to them, but Bush has the power to veto.Interesting:Current hate crimes law protects traits such as race, religion and national origin, but the bill's opponents say the new legislation would grant protection based on lifestyle. They also say it would move federal law toward punishing thoughts and beliefs, since the motivation of a person charged with a hate crime would have to be evaluated. In addition, some critics warn it eventually could result in suppression of speech that describes homosexual behavior as sinful.Two concerns I have:1] ?protection based on lifestyle?If indeed protection is granted on the basis of lifestyle, where would it stop? Would there then be protection for bestiality also in the near future? Are we as Americans really ready to protect every lifestyle ...

Does Pro-Life = Christianity 2007-05-04 08:49:00 Over at my neighborhood atheist blog vjack posted a topic entitled: Christian Terrorism: Alive and Well.The post is from an article, here, which speaks of a bomb found outside an abortion clinic in Austin. The bomb was found and disarmed and no one was hurt, but the claim from the blog is that this is Christian Terrorism because it was at an abortion (i.e. pro-choice) establishment.A later posted article, here, by a commenter gives the name of the person and where they are from:Paul Ross Evans, 27, of Austin is charged with three federal crimes that accuse him of using weapons of mass destruction, attempting to damage a building used in interstate commerce and attempting to damage a facility because it provides reproductive health services.In 2003, Evans was sentenced to 15 years in prison for an aggravated robbery at a Lufkin Whataburger.To me it looks like this guy has more issues than claiming to be a pro-life Christian being called to terrorize abortion clinics with the use of bomb ...

Wedding Crashers 2007-05-03 09:00:00 I recently saw a show on television called The Wedding Crashers. No, I?m not talking about the movie, which I did not see, but a show with real weddings and real brides and grooms which ask these people to really crash their weddings so they will be remembered.This post will mostly be for a stimulus of some verses in Scripture I find most interesting.Matthew 22:9-14 9 Go ye therefore into the highways, and as many as ye shall find, bid to the marriage. 10 So those servants went out into the highways, and gathered together all as many as they found, both bad and good: and the wedding was furnished with guests. 11 And when the king came in to see the guests, he saw there a man which had not on a wedding garment: 12 And he saith unto him, Friend, how camest thou in hither not having a wedding garment? And he was speechless. 13 Then said the king to the servants, Bind him hand and foot, and take him away, and cast him into outer darkness, there shall be weeping and gnashing of teet ...

Trustworthy Siblings? (Vaticanus & Sinaiticus) 2007-05-02 10:05:00 Vaticanus:Believed to have been written in the 4th century, it appeared in the Vatican Library in its earliest catalog of 1475.Sinaiticus:Believed to have been written in the 4th century, it was found (shown to) by Constantin von Tischendorf the Monastery of Saint Catherine, at the foot of Mount Sinai in Egypt, in 1859.Both of these Codexes are part of the Alexandrian text-type family, also called Neutral or Egyptian. Westcott and Hort used this family and relied heavily on Vaticanus and Sinaiticus for their 1881 The New Testament in the Original Greek.Before Karl Lachmann first in 1850, and Westcott and Hort?s Greek, the Byzantine text-type was used, as through the Reformation with Tyndale and the Bibles which followed.Interestingly virtually all modern translations, since the Kings James Bible, have come from the Alexandrian text-type family. Or I don?t know of any from the Byzantine text-type.I have heard countless times in reading the phrase ?oldest and best manuscripts? by the lov ...

Three Cheers for William Tyndale 2007-05-01 09:48:00 Just a little history, for I really don?t know much at all. Just ask anyone that knows me.Raise your hand if you have heard the name William Tyndale? Well, if you use a Bible, which I hope you do, you should know the name.Tyndale is known for his translation of the Bible which was the first in English translation from the Hebrew and Greek Texts. John Wycliffe?s ?morning star of the Reformation? translation was from the Latin Vulgate in the 1380s.Tyndale?s New Testament from the Greek was printed in 1526 and fourteen of the Old Testament books were translated from Hebrew into English by the 1530?s; which assumingly made him the first to translate Hebrew into English.Myles Coverdale, a close friend of Tyndale, translates the rest of the Old Testament Tyndale was unable to complete, relying mostly on Tyndale?s earlier drafts, and publishes the first complete English Bible, the Coverdale Bible, in 1535. Tyndale was in prison for 15 months, ending in his strangling and burning at the stake ...

I Used To Be a Christian, I Promise 2007-04-30 08:00:00 On an atheist blog (yeah, I?ve been visiting one) I posted this comment which many may disagree with, so I decided to post my comments here and hopefully some will pay a visit to explain why they believe I am wrong.I said: It appears that some people here claim they used to be Christians.My concern is not with whether or not a person believes they have accepted Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior by grace through faith, but the words used to be a Christian.What I mean is that biblically speaking, if a person does repent of sin and by faith accepts Christ as Savior; they are in fact saved at that very moment and become what is known as a Christian. As a Christian we are to following the Word of God (Bible) as our authority, even if it means going against the traditions of men that also claim to be Christians.Baptist, which I am, believe we are saved by faith alone, we are baptized in obedience (without it effecting our salvation one bit), and that tongues are not for today, which most fail ...

Night Clubs for Kids 2007-04-27 08:40:00 Now here is a novel idea. If it isn?t bad enough that night clubs often (if not always) lead to drinking, fornication, and mostly anti-Biblical forms of activities, why not make it look pleasant, safe, and nothing wrong with it for our children under eight (8)?Here is an article from MSNBC, here, that says:On a recent Saturday afternoon at a grungy, darkened nightclub on Manhattan's Lower East Side, toddlers with fake tattoos jumped up and down on a crowded dance floor.To accommodate the stroller set, nightclubs have to make a few adjustments?like making sure floors are cleared of last night's broken glass. What good can possibility come from such? What is with us parents here in America? We?re not doing this for our kids; we are doing this for ourselves.Capitalizing on Gen-X parents' appetite for all things hip, bands like the Terrible Twos, the Sippy Cups and the Dirty Sock Funtime Band are doing shows that make Mom and Dad feel less like June and Ward Cleaver and more like Gwynet ...

Why Do You Do What You Do? 2007-04-26 08:00:00 Just a few quick questions to ask yourself today:1] Do I read and study my Bible because I need a verse to argue with, or because I love God and want to know more about Him?2] Do I pray always asking for something from God, without ever thanking or praising Him for what He alreay has done?3] Do I go to church because I have to or to be seen by others, or because I enjoy the fellowship with other believers and to hear more of my Savior?4] Do I give to my local church because I feel like I must, or because I love Him whom has given to me so much?5] Do I sing for recognition from the claps of the congregation, or because I love my Savior and desire to praise His name?6] Do I witness for the sake of arguing and condeming others, or for the sake of drawing those to Christ by allowing His light to shine through me?7] Do I call myself a Christian for what God has done for me, or for what I have done for God?8] Do I really know what others think of my Christianity, or am I too busy telling mys ...

Baptists and Child Abuse 2007-04-25 08:00:00 An article by the Christian Post was recently brought to my attention, here. It is quite disturbing to see the actions of proclaimed Baptists being used to pose questions such as:?It seems to me that a more compelling story would focus on the bridge between faith and abuse. Of course, I am not claiming that faith inevitably leads to abuse. However, there is reason to explore the possibility of some connection.? [Link]Not so much that people are claiming such, but that we as Christians are bringing such a negative thought pattern toward God, our Savior Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, and the Scriptures.The world has a right to say, ?You are supposed to be a Christian, why are you doing that?? Even Christ said, ?Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them.? [Matthew 7:20]We as Christians can?t just sit back and say, ?Well, non Christians do it too.? Dare we make the same claim as them, ?You?re no better than I am.? Indeed we are not. Do we as Christians not have the Father, Christ, and t ...

VTech Got What They Deserved? 2007-04-24 08:00:00 In an article reference at an atheist blog, here, speaks of a man (I refuse to call pastor) named Fred Phelps. Granted, I have never heard of this Phelps, but if half of what this article says about his ?group? is correct he should remove the name Baptist from his ?church? name. I don?t think he could even be considered an Independent Baptist.Apparently this guy planned to protest the funerals of the teachers and students that were slain by the killer. Christ may have said, ?Let the dead bury their dead? [Luke 9:60], but the context was calling someone to duty whom was looking for a way to keep from service to God. I don?t remember him commissioning Christians (his people) to protest and hold uprisings at funerals.Assumingly they have been offered more air time to reframe from actually visiting the funerals themselves, see here, by Mike Gallagher.The articles claims, an apparently so by this Phelps? website name is http://www.godhatesfags.com/, that:Fred Phelps, believes the United Sta ...