Getting Biblical (For A Second)

Most of my readers may know this about me, but at one point I did take religious studies. My knack for teaching lead me to take these studies to help others. I've long since shelved that part of my life, but this week has seen a lifetime's shared in religious discussion locally and on the social networks. I thought I'd put in a quick word from The Word.


I always say before doing any study in religion or philosophy with anyone, do not go by the words of any man or teacher, study and learn life and meaning for yourself. I never attempt to impose my beliefs on anyone, so take anything said with a grain of salt, so to speak. For those that do believe, we only have ourselves to answer for one day. For those that don't, that's the beauty of free will.


With that said, recently, false prophet Harold Camping made an educated guess as to when the clock would begin for the end of the world. Using calendars and tomfoolery, he predicted that the rapture of Christians would begin around 6PM on May 21st with events beginning around an earthquake in New Zealand. I know little else about his predictions, because I wasted enough time knowing what I already know of it.


So what does the Bible say? Fortunately, all of this rapture prediction garbage is put aside with two passages which I will put below. It speaks for itself, it's the words of Christ, and I need say no more than what's written. I would only need to add if anyone gives a date for any so called end of time events while calling themselves a Christian, turn the channel or laugh it off, he or she is only wrong and asking for public ridicule.



Matthew 24: 23-26, 36
 ²³Then if any man shall say unto you, Lo, here is Christ, or there; believe it not.
 ²⁴For there shall arise false Christs, and false prophets, and shall shew great signs and wonders; insomuch that, if it were possible, they shall deceive the very elect.
 ²⁵Behold, I have told you before.
 ²⁶Wherefore if they shall say unto you, Behold, he is in the desert; go not forth: behold, he is in the secret chambers; believe it not.


³⁶But of that day and hour knoweth no man, no, not the angels of heaven, but my Father only.

Getting Cultured

Last night, Janine and I took advantage of a rare chance to catch some prolific artwork. The Picasso exhibit came to Richmond earlier this year and this weekend it is concluding to sold out crowds. I'm glad we went. Picasso's art is thought provoking, it makes statements towards the time the works were done, and we get to see his perspective on humanity and the world.

We in fact were so thrilled with the work that the Va Museum of Fine Arts is bringing to Richmond, that we became members. Between this exhibit, the Tiffany exhibit last year, and Faberge coming up later on this year, it made sense to become a part of this, and we think it's important to support local venues that work hard to bring the world to our town. There's a lot of change and growth in the city and I'm becoming more and more proud to call Richmond home.

It was announced this morning that there will be a cultural exchange with China. Two hundred items from the Beijing Palace will be sent here to Richmond in 2014. We will in turn send art to the Chinese Palace Museum, one of the largest museums in the world. That's a pretty big deal. It's okay to be excited.

Source: Richmond Times Dispatch
Links:  Virginia Museum of Fine Arts
             Picasso

Portal 2 Awesome-ness

I admit to being a part time gamer. I don't play near as much as I did in high school, but there are some games and some series that I will always try to play and stay up to date. I downloaded Portal free from Steam a year ago and was hooked on that story line ever since.

With the release and instant success of Portal 2 a couple weeks ago, cool fan art is starting to emerge just as with any other staples of pop culture. Below is a mock 70's movie poster for the long anticipated Portal sequel. 

I'm just leaving it here for it's indescribable coolness. Some potential spoilers in the poster, so be aware.

link to article

link to Steam

Social Media Wins Again

Last night while mindlessly watching last week's Kitchen Nitemares, I thought I'd see what was going on with my twitter stream. I didn't expect to see the explosion of tweets and news that Osama Bin Laden, Al Qaeda mastermind had been killed. My timeline erupted in cheers, gratitude for our troops, and speculation about what happened.

News today is more instant than the internet itself regardless of the weight of each story, but it was sure good to see people and firefighters (above) taking to the streets in New York and DC after hearing such sweeping and greatly overdo story. But I will say even after hearing the news on Twitter, probably like most, I turned on the TV to catch the never ending cycle of reporting that is cable news.

I think that's what most do these days, get instant news from social streams, then turn on their televisions for that visual fix, then to blogs and newspapers for in depth analysis. I think all sources of media like this can work together, but organically, media outlets should be careful not to force us into walled gardens for this kind of content.

Thoughts to all still in service, people in the world still hate freedom and will not hesitate to hurt innocent civilians to advance their cause. Here's hoping for some peace though, finally.