Thursday, May 17, 2007

Linkestan 2007 05 17

On Affliction :It always means more coming from one who is going through the mill

The martyred body : A thought dedicated to the memory of Necati Aydın, Uğur Yüksel, and Tillman Geske

The Panda and the Beaver : Best career advice I've seen in a long time.

The Most Essential Career Skill You Need to Succeed : Some more career advice

Sleep Strengthens Your Memory

Tuesday, May 15, 2007

A Muslim asks : Friends or Classmates ?

click HERE to read this penetrating post by a black American convert to Islam.

The poster is clearly asserting that his Muslim experience is more akin to being "classmates" rather than "friends" .

That he has hit a raw nerve is made more evident by the 40+ comments his post has attacted.

In effect, they are all asking one question : where is the love ?

We have the following exhortations to love one another in the New Testament which I venture to say are nowhere matched anywhere in the Koran (click on the reference to read the verses):

1 Corinthians 6:11-13,
1 Thessalonians 4:9-10 ,
2 Peter 1:7-8

In the Christian faith, love is more central than knowledge.

This is the example of Jesus Himself and is also required of any who would be His disciples.

Saturday, May 12, 2007

Hiatus

Blogging will be light to practically nonexistent until August.

But, do keep praying for me.

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

Meredith Kline (1922-2007)

This gentleman, along with James Jordan, has helped make the Old Testament a coherent whole for me as a Christian.

Apparently he has now gone on to Glory.

In his tribute to Kline, Lee Irons names the top two things Kline has taught him :

"...First, as a recovering dispensationalist, I learned from him the big picture that made sense of the Bible as a whole. He explained the flow of covenant history from creation, to the fall, to the promise, followed by the two-level fulfillment of the promise, first typologically in Israel, then anti-typically in Christ. Kline also explained so many of the strange things about the Old Testament – like the destruction of the Canaanites, the scary laws of the Israelite theocracy, and why the exile had to happen. His understanding of the Mosaic covenant as a republication on the typical layer of the Adamic covenant of works was for me the linchpin that held everything together. After being raised with a dispensational understanding, he gave me back my Bible. He took all of the weird things in the Old Testament and explained them in a unified, systematic way so that the whole plot of the Bible was seen as leading on a single track to its climactic, eschatological fulfillment in Christ.

Second, he explained the gospel of justification by faith alone in a way that offered tremendous assurance. Taking up Paul’s theology of the two Adams in Romans 5 and 1 Corinthians 15, Kline explained the gospel on the basis of the federal theology of the Creator’s covenant of works with the first Adam and the Father’s covenant of works with the second Adam. Kline also taught that heaven must be earned, but that by Christ’s merit heaven has been earned for his people. This understanding of the gospel is precious to me because it provides the assurance that in Christ we are “beyond probation,” since the right to heaven has been won and cannot be revoked. Christian obedience is merely the evidence of the genuineness of our faith, but not in any way the condition or means of receiving the right to heaven."
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Monday, May 07, 2007

Sensus Divinitatis (3)

This week the topic is being "without excuse" as in Romans 1:20.

The Greek word for "without an excuse" is anapologetos only occurs in one other place in the entire New Testament : in Romans 2:1.

It must be significant that the word is repeated in the same context and nowhere else.

Tony Miles, broadcaster on Premier Radio and minister at Wesminter Methodist Chapel gives us HERE a helpful analogy from experience of what being "without excuse" looks like in its negative and positive aspects.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

Linkestan 2007 05 05

Latest Crisis in Turkey : a good place to get at something of the real story behind the story

Why Beauty is Truth : on symmetry in maths and physics. This might be a book worth getting and reading.

The Perfect Church : if you find it, what you should do.

The Sibel Edmonds Story : tells us no more than what we already knew : that all states maintain alliances and also secrets about those alliances

Turkey's hidden Armenians : sheep without shepherds.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007



SYRIAN FOREIGN POLICY IN THE CONTEMPORARY MIDDLE EAST POLITICS with special reference to TURKISH-SYRIAN RELATIONS

by His Excellency Dr. Sami Khiyami, Ambassador of Syrian Arab Republic


Date
May 9th, 2007
Time
18:45 - 21:00
Venue
London School of Economics
Address
Room: S421
London School of Economics
St. Clement's Building
London
WC2A 2AE

Program Outline

18:45 Registration18:55 Welcome Speech by LCSS19:00 Main talk 20:15 QuestionsThere will be refreshments available afterwards.

Abstract & Biography

His Excellency Dr Sami Khiyami holds a PhD degree in Electronics and Information Technology from the University of Claude Bernard Lyon, France. He worked for various public and private enterprises and taught at several Universities and research centres including Damascus University and “Institut National Polytechnique de Grenoble”, France before his appointment to London as the Ambassador of the Syrian Arab Republic. He extensively contributes in many scientific reviews, journals, seminars and conferences both in his field and on the issue of Syrian foreign policy.

Links
Directions to LSEMap showing where LSE is locatedMore detailed map of LSE

To register for the seminar, please click here.