Threads from Henry's Web

Author: henry

  • Christian Carnival and Mosaic Bible Announcement

    OK, these are not that closely related, but the Christian Carnival will appear here tomorrow, and it will be evening before it appears.

    I will announce the winner of the Mosaic Bible giveaway at the same time.

  • Jesus Paradigm Giveaway

    Details at for the Sake of Truth.

  • Can Anyone Identify this Spider?

    It has taken up residence next to my office, in a large web stretched between the office and a nearby tree. I rather like it, and will allow it residence as long as it wishes.

    In my younger days I collected spiders and was fairly good at identifying them, but my younger days are long past and I don’t have any of my books. I tried some online options but wasn’t able to come up with anything.

    So if I have any readers who do that sort of thing, I’d really like some help. The picture below is about half size. Click on it to see the full size spider. The web is not portrayed well due to bad lighting, but it is circular and symmetrical.

    Unidentified Spider, near Pensacola, FL
    Unidentified Spider, near Pensacola, FL

  • Singing Praise to President Obama?

    CBS is reporting on a school that has children singing songs about President Obama’s accomplishments. I note that the story compares the reaction to this to the reaction to Obama giving a speech. I thought the speech reaction was way overblown. The president of the United States should be able to address the nation, and to address schoolchildren as well.

    But even in the context of Black history month as the school superintendent said this was, I think this is deplorable. Use historical figures, celebrate current African-American citizens, celebrate President Obama as our first African-American president, but leave out the songs of praise for his specific policies.

    In both religion and politics, it seems some teachers fail to comprehend the idea of neutrality.

    HT: Dispatches

  • Mosaic Study Bible Contest Closed

    I have only four entries, but the contest is closed.  Thus, for the four of you who entered, I must say that 1 in 4 is a better chance than you are likely to get in any lottery.

    Considering the large number of reads of the relevant posts, I’m guessing my question put some people off, but that’s how it goes.  I will announce the winner on Wednesday afternoon, when I post the Christian Carnival, which I’m hosting here this week.

  • Retraction on NIV2011 Update

    With an tip of the hat to Peter Kirk, I withdraw objections to the NIV2011 update project.  Peter in turn links to this NIV 2011 FAQ.

    My objection to the update hinged on the idea that the TNIV was being bypassed in favor of going back to the 1984 NIV.  I saw (and still see) no reason why there needed to be a parallel update when the TNIV does such an excellent job.  With the affirmation (under Q27) that the TNIV text is not to be abandoned, my objection is no longer valid.

    I still believe that the church as a whole puts too much into American resources and too little overseas, but Biblica and the CBT are already doing what I would call for in providing for translation for other languages (see Q17).

    Thanks to Peter Kirk for his diligent work in keeping some of us slower folks up on the facts of this case.

  • Christian Carnival CCXCV Posted

    … at The Evangelical Ecologist.

  • Railing against the Text of Scripture

    … and against God.  John Hobbins thinks you should.  I think he makes a pretty good scriptural case!

  • NLT Blog Tour Continues

    First, catching up, the 9/22 host was The Church of Jesus Christ, with the review is here.

    Yesterday, the tour continued right here with my review and an interview with Keith Williams. Keith provided some very helpful answers. The tour continues at This Lamp today, and Rick’s review is already posted.

    You can find all tour links at the Holy Bible Mosaic blog.

    Remember that my contest for a free copy of the Mosaic Bible remains open until the end of the week.

  • Doing Something

    Talk is cheap, and I’m a good talker. This past Sunday I visited a new Sunday School class and met a young man who told me that he was opposed to abortion. He went on to say that he believed that if you talked about something you should be willing to act, and in his case, that meant going out and getting the home study done and being willing to adopt. He and his wife had done precisely that and had adopted an older child.

    I deeply respect someone who takes that sort of action. There are many ways in which one can act. Some of us are called upon to proclaim, but even then I think the proclamation gets weak if one isn’t personally involved in taking action in some way.

    Today Allan Bevere has a great post on the health care debate and how the church should be engaged. What can we do? Do we really believe the gospel has power? Consider this near Allan’s conclusion:

    … But in the midst of the debate over how the Principality and Power called the United States can initiate health care reform, I believe that the church should be ahead of the game and work to cover as many people as it possibly can, and thereby demonstrate a powerful witness to others concerning what is possible. The church is a sleeping giant with resources available to it, both spiritual and physical, that can shake the very foundations of every civilization, but they are under-utilized because we continue to think the nation-state is where the real action is. We continue to believe that Caesar is more effective in accomplishing tasks than the people of God brought into existence by nothing less than the resurrection of Jesus Christ. [emphasis mine]

    I think our greatest difficulty with sharing or proclaiming the gospel in this country is that we do not show the power of the gospel in the way we live as a church. If the gospel has power–resurrection power–then we should be able to point to something to show for it, as the early disciples pointed to an empty tomb.