text: Giants Of The Faith | mnphysicists theological blog
  Category Archives: Giants of the Faith
  Quotes and writings of the past
  It takes about eight minutes for light to reach us from the sun may judge of the pace at which that light comes when we reflect a cannon ball rushing with the swiftest possible velocity would seven years to get there and that a train travelling at the of thirty miles an hour and never stopping for refreshments require more than three hundred and fifty years before it reach the terminus You may thus form some slight idea of distance that we are from the sun and this I think furnishes with a good illustration of faith There is no man who can except by faith that the sun exists That he did exist eight ago I know for here is a ray of light that has just come him and told me that but I cannot be sure that he is existing at this moment There are some of the fixed stars that are at a vast distance from the earth that a ray of light from them hundreds of years to reach us and for aught we know they have been extinct long ago Yet we still put them down in chart of the heavens and we can only keep them there by for as through faith we understand that the worlds were by the word of God so it is only by faith that we can that any of them now exist. When we come to examine the matter closely we find that our eyesight and all our faculties and senses are not sufficient to give us positive conviction with regard to these heavenly bodies and therefore we still have to exercise faith so is it to a high degree in spiritual affairs we walk by faith not by sight
  May 25, 2015 Giants of the FaithRon Amundson
  Sanitizing the Wise Men
  January 8, 2011 Giants of the FaithRon Amundson
  I've been thinking about Epiphany and the wise men for a bit. Its interesting how a so called sanitized view of those fellows seems to pervade much of Christian society.
  Many folks hold them out to be Kings, and I think such is reasonable if one looks at their visit fullfilling old testament prophecy. The thing is, to simply state they are kings from afar, and that they were astronomers is only part, and realistically only a sanitized part of the story. More so, I think we loose something if the story is just left at that.
  The study of the stars is what leads us to think of astronomy, today, a very hard science with an incredible amount of really nasty mathematical equations behind it, albeit extremely visually appealing. Back then, the study of stars was likely a lot more oriented along the lines of astrology, rather than orbital mechanics and spectral analysis.
  The word magi is sometimes used to describe the wise men. Magi, were typically followers of Zoroaster, and for all practical purposes were Persian priest astrologers. If we do a bit of digging into the term "wise men", we find it also refers to Simon the Magician (a believer, albeit an inept one, and for whom the sin of Simony is named) in Acts, yet another connection to astrology and sorcery. We also find Elymas, another sorcerer, albeit one who tried to lead people astry.
  Lets look at the gifts they brought… gold, frankincense and myrhh. A vastly different type of offering than sacrificed animals as was the common practice of the day. Some records suggest that Gold, Frankincense and Myrhh were given to the mythical God Apollo hundreds of years prior. In todays world, we think very positively of the gifts… I'm not so sure said combination gifts would be looked at as being very popular amongst those who ascribe to a legalistic point of view back then.
  Even more so, imagine the outrage amongst those who didnt like it that Jesus ate with sinners, that the first ones who came to be with him were sorcerers, and were guided by a star. God pretty much condemns folks who practice such in the OT, but yet he used exactly such folks to be the first recorded to see his Son.
  What I find really impactful, is despite the practices and lifestyle of the wisemen, they knew of the Messiahs birth, they gave homage to God in his most humblest state, as a mere babe. If one does ascribe them to be Kings, their actions seem even more powerful. They set aside their works, their world, their lives to find what God had illuminated to them… They didnt miss the point, like so many others, who had the right lifestyle, the right actions, the right ancestry… yet got it all wrong.
  Ramblings on St Stephen
  December 28, 2010 Giants of the FaithRon Amundson
  Some random thoughts on St Stepen, bearing in mind either the 26th(West) or 27th(East) was St Stephen's day.
  The social gospel, with the power of the Gospel… The social gospel should not be just the doing of good deeds. More so, it should be folks doing good deeds, equipped, ready, and willing to make disciples should the Holy Spirit open the doors to do so. St Stephen was giving the role of helping the widows to allow the others to fully devote their time to prayer and the ministry of the word. While scripture doesnt give us much history as far as how much he did as concerns helping the widows, it fully addresses his sharing the good news of Christ to an audience who was less than receptive.
  The synagogue of the Freedmen and their zeal for the law, so much so they completely missed the fact that the law and their scriptures pointed to Christ parallels a some of todays ministries. So many good deeds end up so focused on the deed aspect that Christ ends up being set aside… or in other cases, the tight integration of church and state forces Christ aside. When it comes to government funding of ministries, if someone steps up and fusses, things do not go well. Perhaps we really arent that different than the folks in the Freedman synangogue way back when, albeit it would be unlikely for the messenger to be stoned… but shunned would be a real possibility in some circumstances.
  St Stephen's defense in front of the Sanhedran rocked…
  March 12, 2009 Giants of the FaithRon Amundson
  Prayers for Alan Henley
  October 11, 2008 Giants of the FaithRon Amundson
  Alan Henley, a truely master airman was injured while playing with his kids a few months back, and while now at home, very much needs prayers as well as his family. You can read more at his caring bridge web site. Its a rough time for all of them, yet his wife Jen is holding things together very well. I've been down that path, and it is not an easy one whatsoever. Whats really amazing though, is how she is witnessing to the world, as to God's grace. Nearly every update points to Christ in one way or another.
  Here is an old video of Alan in flight.
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