Monday, July 28, 2014

DANIEL CHAPTERS 7 AND 8


First, we see in Chapter 7 verse 3 that the beasts come out of the sea. The sea represents the people, or nations, of the earth, as explained in Revelation 12 and other chapters of Revelation.

 

The key to understanding who the four beasts of chapter 7 represent is found in Daniel 8 1. Daniel says the vision he had in chapter 8 was “after that which appeared unto me at the first.” Thus, we can infer that the four beasts in chapter 7 include Medo-Persia and Greece, just as the vision in chapter 8 does. “The first” could also be referring to the vision of chapter 2, which would lend even more credence to the beasts of chapter 7 being Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, and Rome.

 

Concerning the Roman Empire, the prophecy in chapter 7 has two fulfillments. Prophecy often has multiple fulfillments as opposed to just one as many people believe.

 

The first fulfillment took place many centuries ago and involved the ten nations of the western Roman Empire. Three of the tribes were destroyed and the little horn that came out of that western Roman Empire was the Roman Catholic church.

 

This leads to the second fulfillment of this prophecy. In this case, the ten horns represent ten world regions the worldly powers that be are planning to divide the world into. The ten world regions, I believe, will be:

 

North American Union;

Central-South American Union

Caribbean Union

Northern European Union (as Daniel 2 says the nations of Europe “shall not cleave one to another”);

Mediterranean Union;

Russo-Middle Eastern Union

Asian Union

African Union

Australian Union (consisting of Australia and New Zealand merged);

Union of Island Nations

 

Subsequently, three of the regions will be merged with others. From what I’ve heard, I think these will be the Central-South American, Caribbean, and Northern European unions merging with the North American Union.

 

More information about the division of the world into these regions can be found various places on the internet. Also of course, entities such as the African Union and the Asian Union have been mentioned in the news before, although at this time these unions are just political in nature.

 

The little horn represents the Vatican, which will control these ten world regions and make war with the saints as verse 21 of chapter 7 says. This of course parallels with Revelation 13.

 

Verse 25 says, “and he shall speak great words against the Most High and shall wear out the saints of the Most High and think to change times and laws and they shall be given into his hand until a time and times and the dividing of time.”

 

As anyone who has studied the teachings of the Catholic church is probably aware, Catholicism has spoken very blasphemous things against God. Any student of the history of the Roman Catholic church will also be aware that it has persecuted Christians for many centuries. However, the Catholic church has also thought it had the authority to change God’s times and laws as well. Laws it has changed include removing the second commandment from its version of the ten commandments and the addition of requirements such as confession and other rituals.

 

The Catholic church has also tried to change times. The Bible would seem to point to Jesus being born in about 2 B.C., based on verses about who was governor when certain things happened. Yet, Catholicism teaches Jesus was born in 1 A.D. and died in AD 33.

 

As for time, times and the dividing of time, most prophecy scholars agree this signifies a time of three and a half literal years. When this verse is paralleled with a verse that uses the same terminology in Revelation, I believe this phrasing is pointing to a final three and a half year period of time popularly known as the Great Tribulation.

 

As for chapter 8, we are told right in this chapter of Daniel that the vision concerns Medo-Persia and Greece. It tells of Alexander the Great and the dividing of his empire into four after his death. Verses 9-14 and 23-26 are speaking of Antiachus Epiphanese (or however you spell it) and his persecution of the Jews. His blasphemous actions against God are spoken of in 1 Macabees. The 2300 days represent the literal period of time Antiachus had control of Jerusalem. A man on YouTube named Barton Aaron Porter has a good explanation of this.

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

THOMAS HALE VS. STANLEY G. STURGES

Just got finished reading "In the Valley of Seven Cities" by Stanley G. Sturges, which tells of the author's experiences as a medical missionary in Nepal. A few years ago I also read "On the Far Side of Liglig Mountain" and "Don't Let the Goats Eat the Loqwat Trees" by Thomas Hale, books which are along the same subject matter.
I was struck by the difference in attitudes in the two authors. While Hale's books were valuable in teaching the lesson that, when you're a missionary, the worst case scenario will happen, after reading Sturges' book I no longer appreciate Hale's completely negative attitude.
While Sturges faced his fair share of worst case scenarios, he kept a much more positive attitude through it all. He has many complimentary things to say about the Nepali people, both those he came to know personally and in general. Hale didn't seem to have a single good thing to say about this mountainous South Asian nation and it's people. His whole demeanor was that of a Westerner crying in his beer about these backward Hindu people and why they couldn't just adopt American Christian fundamentalist ways and have done with it.
Maybe Sturges' being a Seventh-day Adventist helped in these matters. His diet may have contributed to having less desire for typical Western food and other attitudes of his particular denomination could have helped in other areas.

Saturday, July 12, 2014

ADVENTURES IN FOOD

Tuesday night I made a salad for dinner containing greens, cucumbers, tomatoes, peppers, onion, cheese, and Polish sausage.

Wednesday night, I made the same thing except with boiled eggs instead of Polish sausage.
Thursday night, I made hamburgers and put bacon, cheese, onion, and mustard on them.
Last night, I cooked a steak, cut it in half, sprinkled pepper on it, and put cheese on it and placed the two halves on two slices of bread. Then on two other slices of bread, I put a piece of onion. I then put the sandwiches in my sandwich maker and grilled them. Best thing I've ever eaten!

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

*JULY 13! SUMMERTIME! -- THIS SUNDAY AT THE BLACK DOG -- EVEN MORE 'AMAZING MUSIC'...

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This Sunday, July  13th from 2 pm until 5....
At  The  Black Dog, 227 West Front St. in  Stirling.
The ‘Amazing Jam’! Even more amazing music... 
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Summertime and the music is easy.... This Sunday  afternoon  at The Black Dog in Stirling. We’ll be playing music there for about 3 hours. Welcomed by both staff and the patrons in the lounge and  restaurant, our music is greatly appreciated; people always ask to know when we  will return!
Once a month on Sunday afternoons. This Sunday afternoon (July  13th). Time is from 2 pm until 5.
The  format is a ‘song circle’ with the lead changing from person to person among the  group. Everyone has the option to offer a tune when their turn comes around, or  pass to their neighbour if they’d rather. Depending on the music, the mood,  choice of instruments, etc. some will choose  to support whoever is leading a song, others may prefer sit out and listen.   DSCF1663
We invite you to come out and join us, making music with old friends;  for sure, there’ll be some new faces too.
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Remember....
“Bring your instruments, your  voices and your music. It’s  all unplugged  and it’s all good! Guitar, bass,  harmonica, banjo,  mandolin, ukulele,  fiddle, accordion,  flute, celtic harp – the list goes  on.
“There may be only 4 or 5 of us or maybe a whole room full of  musicians. A place for ‘first-timers’ and experienced  players alike. A  good bunch of people playing all kinds of music together.  People in their teens all the way through  proto-geezers. Maybe even an DSCF1647sincipient-geriat or two....
“The  blues does not rule. Any  acoustic music from punk to  polka!”
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(Baritone sax and tuba set up in the parking  lot....)
Hope to  see you Sunday afternoon in Stirling.
James

Thursday, July 3, 2014

AVAILABLE NOW: LISTEN TO "CRY CRY CRY" FROM EDEN MULHOLLAND'S NEW EP BODY FIGHT TIME, OUT NOW!

I wanted to give you a head's up about Eden Mulholland, whose take on the pop music of the future comes complete with strange voices, ripped apart rhythms, momentary flashes from ethereal orchestras, and all with a complete disregard for genre boundaries. It may well be that Eden’s less conventional path in music -­‐ he formerly was a contemporary dancer -­‐ has helped shape his experimental approach to composition.

 

His latest EP, Body Fight Time (available digitally now) continues with that theme of intense musical experimentation. Originally written for contemporary dance productions, the songs in the EP were reimagined throughout the last four years into standalone songs at Roundhead Studios in Auckland, New Zealand, and still carry a strong visual influence.

 

"This is what I love about live dance performance, I can feel my body have a physical response to the way dancers move, as if I could get up and do it myself." Mulholland explains, "I want to play music that can make you feel something with body and ears."

The lyrics to this song aren't the best but the music makes it a pretty good rocker. 

AMBASSADORS TO THE WORLD

By Chris Wright. Licester, UK: Intervarsity Press, 1998.

This is a wonderful book that illuminates Deuteronomy and harmonises the Bible.

Loving God: The three things mentioned in the passage quoted in this chapter often go together. We forget God, then we (knowingly or unknowingly) serve other gods, then when bad things happen as a result of turning away from God we blame Him for those things.

Confronting God: This is why I don't agree with dispensationalism. It wasn't because the Israelites were such great people that they were chosen by God, but rather it was only due to God's sovereignty. As Paul makes clear in Romans, not all who are of Israel are Israel.

Imitating God: God had a reason for each and every law that He gave.

Wednesday, July 2, 2014

RADIO-RELATED STUFF

A host on WIND, Chicago was recently suspended for using racial slurs in a discussion of the Washington Redskins controversy. The host said he was just trying to have an "intelligent, adult conversation" about the matter. He should have realized there's no room for intelligent, adult conversation on talk radio.

Have been listening to Radio Prague the past couple days while having my lunch. I've caught bits of the Spanish program, the Russian program, the German program, and Czech newscasts.

Think I picked up WRVO very faintly Sunday night.

Was picking up WDCX Buffalo Sunday morning and afternoon.

Tuesday, July 1, 2014

TAKE A LISTEN TO BROOKLYN BASED PSYCHEDELIC DREAM POP BAND BALLENCER'S DEBUT LP TIPSOO


The Brooklyn-based psychedelic dream pop trio Balancer has come a long way since their initial formation back in 2012. The band met while they were all studying in Boston and knew from the start that the three of them were going to make music together. In late 2012 they debuted their EP House in the Clouds without any real expectations; they just wanted to share their music with the rest of the world and in February of this year they independently released their LP Tipsoo.

 

 Balancer’s members Francisco Valentin (voice & synth), Felipe Piedrahita (guitar & synth), and Gabriela Jimeno (drums & samples) are all originally from Puerto Rico and Colombia. When they first began creating music as a group they would hide away in their dingy Boston basement practice studio on a daily basis for hours on end and just play without saying a single word to each other. With each session they brought together their visions and energy to create a sound that was highly influenced by electronic, psychedelic, pop, and alternative rock music.

 

 Their music drew inspiration from many things, specifically their native countries, dualism and foreign dimensions.  They released their second EP Transitions in the summer of 2013 and decided to do things a little differently for their LP. That same summer they launched a highly success kickstarter campaign that helped fund the production of their latest album. They spent most of July thru September recording their LP Tipsoo at the Amati Sounds tracking room, which is a studio located in what used to be a hundred year old abandoned barn that was transformed into a studio by their engineer and producer Garrett Reynolds in Maple Valley, Washington.

 

 The band's full LP was titled after Tipsoo Lake where the band went to see a meteor shower while they were recording in Washington.

 

Tipsoo is available now.

Single "The Age Is a Gift" is appropriately psychedelic and dreamy. Great for those late summer nights when it's too hot to sleep.


TOUR DATES

7.10.14 Los Angeles, CA @ The Mint



Check out Ballancer here.http://www.soundofbalance.com