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: 11 1147 55 7519

Articles from Splinters of Silver

Prayer In School 2007-04-23 08:00:00 In the wake of the Virginia Tech incident and for years hearing the claim that by taking prayer out of school we have taken God out of school, I would like to ponder this topic today.Has taken prayer out of school caused such incidents as that at Virginia Tech and the lack of morality we see across America today?Honestly, I am not convinced of such. We have Christian schools and colleges that have prayer, preaching, Bible classes, teaching, and studying and ashamedly find that we have most things in common with public schools and colleges that do not have prayer and Bible in them.For one, we should not expect the school system to be the ones to teach our children how to pray or to teach them the importance of prayer. According to scripture, this is the responsibility first to the parent [Deuteronomy 6:7; Deuteronomy 11:19], second to the church [Ephesians 4:11-12].Although a person may be told that they cannot pray out loud where the entire school must pause for a moment of silence, t ...

Hypocrite 2007-04-20 09:30:00 hyp·o·crite - a person who pretends to have virtues, moral or religious beliefs, principles, etc., that he or she does not actually possess, esp. a person whose actions belie stated beliefs.I find it interesting that the definition noted above uses the words ?pretends to have? then at the end adds ?esp. a person whose actions belie (contradict) stated beliefs?.Hypocrite seems to be an easy name to sling at someone when they fall short of another?s expectations. The non-religious may throw it at the religious and the religious has no problem throwing it at the religious also.In my opinion I find it hard to consider falling short of one?s expectations to be the same as pretending.To fall short means: to fail to reach a particular standard.To pretend means: to appear falsely, as to deceive.I ponder is there then any leeway or margin of error between outright pretending and simply falling short of expectation?A Christian knows they are not perfect ? well, at least should know that ? since ...

Virginia Tech (2007) Could Have Been You or Me 2007-04-19 08:00:00 Surely if you are reading this you have heard of the Virginia Tech incident. I personally cannot imagine how the families of those affected are coping with such a loss or near loss. There are those that lost spouses, parents, children, siblings, friends, classmates, and teachers.Not being personally connected to anyone of the incident, I know it is not the same for me as it would be for one that it has personally touched. I pray that God will give comfort and lives will be moved to trust in Him during this time.What seems to linger in my thoughts is the fact that these people were unaware. They were living life as if they had many years to go, as they should have. But in a moment, the twinkling of an eye, everything changed. Some went out into eternity while others will have this image live in them for as long as they live.Do we ever think that today could be the day with meet Christ? I am not just talking about the lost, but also the saved.To the one that has not trusted in Christ, I ...

Frustrated 2007-04-18 08:00:00 Have you ever been frustrated to the point that you have to either walk away or say something you may regret later? No. You just haven?t spoken to enough people yet. HahahaWhat is the best policy when one is talking religion, politics, science, or television and the one just can?t seem to ?make? the other agree or ?see it my way??Maybe we should step back and take a moment to relax. Sometimes I think we get into discussions and all we really hear is ourselves. Instead of listening to the other side so we can intelligently agree or disagree, we often spend the time they are talking merely thinking of a ?good? reply to ?slam? them with.What that leaves us with is no discussion ?between? each other, but ?at? each other; with both sides only hearing, ?Blah, blah, blah?.Proverbs 18:13 says, ?He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him.?So next time, why don?t we, including me, listen first, then agree or disagree intelligently. ...

Expect the Expected 2007-04-17 08:00:00 Most have likely heard the phrase, ?Expect the unexpected?, but I am asking you to Expect the Expected. You may think, ?That makes no sense?, but please let me explain.When a lost person sees a child of God, or one whom claims as such, they most often expect that person to be different. Some often expect one to be perfect, without sin. Usually this leaves the unregenerate with a bad taste in their mouth concerning Christianity and hence the throwing around the name, ?Hypocrite?. Is it self-righteousness or misunderstanding, it may vary, but although they may admit that they are not without error, they find it easy when a saved person stumbles to say, ?I expected more from you.? Although most seem ready to pounce upon the regenerate who sins, especially openly, there does remain those which are more familiar with the closet Christian (which neither act or speak as a Christian) whom they very much expect to be no different than themselves.On the opposite end, I feel that we as Christians ...

Creationist, Atheist, and Morality 2007-04-16 08:00:00 Morality ? ?conformity to the rules of right conduct; moral or virtuous conduct.?Moral ? ?of, pertaining to, or concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong?It has been noted in some atheist?s circles that they feel Christians promote themselves as ?morally superior (maybe not perfect, but certainly better) to atheists? simply because they are a Christians.For the moment I would like to discuss the idea of morality. Let it be noted that this particular argument will not be for/against any, but basically my thoughts of what I perceive of the issue. Feel free to share your thoughts, in good taste, and show where you agree or disagree with my view.Two stipulations are that we are discussing morality in America and the Christian God in this context and not the other gods of cults, etc.First, I would like to remove names and place people into three basic groups.Group 1 = those that do not believe in God.Group 2 = those that believe in a ...

Do All Babies Go Heaven? If So, Why? 2007-04-13 08:00:00 Sometime back the topic of "all babies going to heaven" came up in a group that I frequently visit. Recently a person present me with the notes they had that one had used to proved that indeed all babies go to heaven because they are innocent. Below I have color the notes in blue with my comments being in green. Please feel free to agree or disagree and present your case.As I begin this reply, please keep in mind that I am NOT saying all babies go to hell, some babies go to hell, or no babies go to hell. I do firmly believe ALL must go through Christ, whether baby, child, youth, or adult and therefore it is not simply because they are innocent.Are Babies safe? Babies can not be saved in the normal senseI really don?t understand the answer here. I am not sure what the ?normal sense? means. If they are speaking of walking an isle, praying a prayer, confessing sin, etc. I guess not, but neither did the OT saints who are just as saved as any NT saint is. We must remember that John the Bapt ...

So I Came From a Tadpole 2007-04-12 08:00:00 I recently infrequently started visiting an atheist blog and some time back I spent a couple of weeks conversing back and forth with an atheist. Admittedly I don?t know all the info surrounding atheists, but one thing is for sure, they do not believe in a Creator.The Big Bang seems to be considered the ?beginning? and evolution seems to be the means by which man now exists. But reading this article here got me thinking.According to Wikipedia, the Big Bang ?is the scientific theory that the universe emerged from a tremendously dense and hot state about 13.7 billion years ago.? Although, ?Physicists do not widely agree on what happened before this, although general relativity predicts a gravitational singularity.? The read is interesting and seems to favor a sci-fi movie theme. How they can easily discount a Creator but are unable to explain where all the matter came from to ?start? this random operation to actually produce intelligent design is beyond my human ability to comprehend, and ...

Almost, But Lost 2007-04-11 08:00:00 ?Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian?In Acts 26, we have the story of Paul speaking before King Agrippa. Paul could have cried and fallen into such self pity that he would have been useless as a testimony for Christ and surely King Agrippa would have tired and sent him away, but instead Paul chose to use the opportunity to give witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ.27 King Agrippa, believest thou the prophets? I know that thou believest.28 Then Agrippa said unto Paul, Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian.My dear friend Almost is not close enough. To be at the very edge of the narrow way, to gaze upon the finish line through the haze, to witness those which stride with purpose as they run the course, to wave and ponder the joy they must have, yet you yourself sit in the broad way pointed to the way of the narrow, with your eyes and ears fixed upon the glorious wonders of such a race, yet without faith you dare not cross the paths to come over, is burdensome to my heart.Wh ...

Ethnic Diversity 2007-04-10 08:00:00 Who hasn?t asked the question, ?Where do races come from?? It is amazing what one may hear sometimes. There was even one that made it into a magazine that someone showed me one day that was very interesting, not that is was scriptural or true, but that a ?religious? group actually held this view. I currently know of three different views I would like to present now.[1] I have heard it said that there was a race separation between the children of Adam and Eve, namely Seth and Cain.The problem I see with this is that there are only two children mentioned and there are more than two races, so then we would have to have a division of one or both of the children to properly consider the races we have.[2] I have heard it said that the races came from Noah and his three sons, namely Shem, Ham, and Japheth. This view holds stronger than the Seth/Cain view for the simple fact that Noah, his wife, his three sons, and their wives (8) were the only survivors of the old world. It has even been said ...

Playing the Fool 2007-04-09 08:00:00 Scripture declares in Matthew 5:22, ?whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hell fire?, but the fool himself is indeed headed to the chastisement and/or the wrath of God. No one should desire to be called a fool, and none should take joy in calling one as such.Our interim pastor recently preached on this topic, so I thought I would present the points he used to share with the readers here, along with my thoughts. I believe they are important and should make us aware that we need to witness to those around us before it is too late for them, and that may be things that we need to repent of.Today we will see four (4) classes of which the scripture calls fools:----------[1] ?The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God.? [Psalm 14:1; Psalm 53:1]This class can be broken down into two groups, but literally they are actually only one.[a] There is the one that claims there is no God, which is called the atheist. Within this group you have those which could care less about Go ...

Easter: Eggs and Bunnies, Crosses and Tombs 2007-04-06 08:00:00 As you know this Sunday, April 8, 2007 is known as Easter Sunday. As you enjoy time with your family and friends I would ask that you ponder a few things.As Christians, are we really celebrating the risen Savior, the resurrection of Christ for our justification, or is it just a holiday in which we use His name? One might say, ?That?s a crazy question, of course we are celebrating Jesus Christ on this day.?This is what I find interesting:1. We replace worship service preaching with music services. I am not against music, but scripture clearly says that the preaching of the cross is the power of God, not singing [1 Corinthians 1:18]. You could try and argue the point that singing is the same as proclaiming the gospel, but there may be some difficulty finding scriptural support. It is a well known fact that most people that hardly ever enter the doors of a church may visit on Christmas and Easter, so why then do we give them only singing; and maybe a five (5) minute thought and alter call ...

Easter: Good Thursday or Friday 2007-04-05 08:00:00 It is easy to acknowledge Christ must have risen on a Sunday, for scripture tells us it was on the first day of the week. As for Good Friday, I think we might have a small miscalculation, as do others, in the timeline.Matthew 12:40For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.Mark 8:31And he began to teach them, that the Son of man must suffer many things, and be rejected of the elders, and of the chief priests, and scribes, and be killed, and after three days rise again.John 2:19Jesus answered and said unto them, Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.I would agree that a portion of a day would count as a day, meaning I don?t believe it would have to consist of all twelve (12) or twenty-four (24) hours to be consider a day.And counting of the days is easy.Friday end of day (1) + Saturday all day (1) + Sunday early morning (1) = 3 days.Where the problem lies is in h ...

Location of Hell Examined (Conclusion) 2007-04-04 15:00:00 Conclusion: I tried my best to simplify my belief concerning the Location of Hell, and use mostly scripture. There is a lot more concerning the issue if one would only take the time to study. Comparing science about the earth and further scripture concerning pit, earth, fire, hell, etc., I personally believe that scripture indeed clearly locates hell in the center of the earth.Concerning one question that may arise, ?If the earth is destroyed one day according to 2 Peter 3:10 for the new heavens and new earth, then wouldn?t that mean that hell is destroyed too??Revelation 20:14,And death and hell were cast into the lake of fire. This is the second death.I have presented my case of scripture, it is up to you to decide if you believe scripture is telling us the location of hell is within the center of the earth or not. As admitted early, this is not a necessary belief for salvation, or a reason to break fellowship over.All I ask is that you consider the scripture presented and consider t ...

Location of Hell Examined (Pt. 5) 2007-04-04 14:30:00 Point 5: ?The heart of the earth?, not just the grave.There are 3 recordings of the word ?paradise? in scripture.Christ told one of the others crucified with Him that they would be together that very day in paradise.Luke 23:43,And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, Today shalt thou be with me in paradise.Yet Christ also told the people that He would not rise for three days.Matthew 27:63; Mark 8:31Paul said that paradise was in the third heaven [2 Corinthians 12:4], and the apostle John says it has the tree of life and those that overcome will be able eat of it [Revelation 2:7] in the city [Revelation 22:14]. Interestingly the tree of life was in the mist of Eden [Genesis 2:9].We know that Christ did not ascend into heaven within the three days following the crucifixion, for He told Mary that He had not as of yet on the day of His resurrection [John 20:17].If paradise was in the third heaven (1 ? where birds fly, 2 ? moon and stars, 3 ? God), then did Christ lie to the man on ...