Ahem

Maybe everyone saw these things but, Rice says she won't answer a subpoena, and Heroism stories made up by sources in Pentagon concern me.

Disturbing Quotes from the second:

**"Both [Tillman and Lynch stories] stand revealed as propaganda operations in which the truth was deliberately distorted to inspire a country and allay public doubts about the righteousness of the cause."

**"'The story of the little girl Rambo from the hills who went down fighting is not true,' she said. 'The bottom line is, the American people are capable of determining their own ideals for heroes, and they don't need to be told elaborate lies.'"

But then may be this is no suprise: Congress Sends Bush the Bill He Will Veto for Withdrawl..

Who can save my souooogle?

16 tons and what do you get?
---

Blogger is part of Google
I have a personalized Google home search page too.
I have started using Google calendars. (Pretty fruitin' awesome)

Google maps...I can see my backyard from a satelite.

In fact, when I get a reminder in my gmail to tell me an event is happening next week, I can click it to go to my calendar, which has a reminder of where the event is, which if I click I will get a satelite map and driving directions, and I can print my calendar, map and every other part of my soul on pdf.

I just upgraded my Firefox so I could look at Zillow better. And I plan to start Google dockin' it.

Oh, I started storing public and invitation-only photos on a picasaweb site (works with Google through iPhoto - Apple ate the other half of my soul).

If I ever need to find myself, I will just check online.

Romans

I have been teaching Romans in 8th grade NT.

I feel like I am getting it like never before. And like, once again, N.T. Wright is on it like a hornet.

I'm going to include here some very vague and malformed personal notes from my thought process.

-------------

The Jews believed that God was bound to saving them from their burden, and that he would do so through the (King) son of David.

The belief could be stated this way: The King will save Israel from the Gentiles.

Why did Jews expect be saved?
---They were the "right" people, God’s people.

How could they tell?
---They had the signs of God’s covenant:
----------Possession of Torah (the "have" the law)
----------Circumcision
----------Diet
----------Calendar

So they expected that when the King came the rescue would include the destruction of the Gentiles.

But Paul says:
---The King, Jesus, will save Israel and Gentiles.

How can God save Gentiles if they are the problem?
---#1 Problem: you believe the lines of right and wrong are marked out by Jewish/Non-Jewish, but they are actually marked out by faith(fullness)/idolatry.

Yes, but the Gentiles are the Idolators!!
---#2 Problem: You are too. So if you call for God to save you, you will call for God to Judge them for idolatry, if you call for God to judge them, he will also have to judge you. You have always relied on his mercy to save you from sin. If he will be merciful, then you must accept his mercy on the Gentiles.

Then how can he save anyone, is God justifying sin?
No he did it by condemning sin in Jesus.

-------MORE LATER-------

Heaven, Earth, Sea

Peter Leithart points out a Heaven/Earth/Waters triple that shows up all over the place.

See creation.

Here is a part of the Psalm reading from my classes today. I noticed this only because of his pointing it out. It is from the famous

Psalm 73: Surely God is Good to Israel // I envied the arrogant

..9 Their mouths lay claim to heaven,
and their tongues take possession of the earth.

..10 Therefore their people turn to them
and drink up waters in abundance.

------

I noticed that the ESV doesn't use the "water" phrase. I wonder what this means for the triple. Or what the triple means for the ESV.

Click the Title bar to go to bible gateway and see the whole psalm.

Stories and Blogs of Interest

Here are some interesting things:

How to evangelize and "do good" at the same time. Scot McKnight has said it well again. Especially of concern to me is the question of how we do nice things hoping to get to witness. Should niceness be a means to an end? His answer is worth the read. @ Jesus Creed.

Against such things there is no law...? Feeding the homeless in Dallas is being watched because... who knows where this food comes from.... these homeless people might get foodborne illness. So don't give them any food! @ USA Today

Luke