Blãk

Has everyone heard about the new Coca-Cola product called Blãk?

If you haven’t, I found some info on the Coca-Cola website.  Blãk is described as "Coca-Cola and coffee fusion."  They say, "Coca-Cola Blãk is an invigorating and stimulating blend of the effervescent taste sensation of Coca-Cola and natural flavors, with real coffee.  The lightly carbonated, mid-calorie beverage… is designed to appeal to adult consumers."  Also, it "is not just a flavor extension. It is a blend of unique Coke refreshment with true essence of coffee and has a rich smooth texture and has a coffee-like froth when poured.  We believe we have created a new category of soft drink – an adult product in a carbonated beverage – and a whole new drinking experience.  This brand is ideal for any part of the day when people are looking for renewed energy or simply to take a break." 

So, has anyone tried it?

Matt and I saw the commercials and weren’t impressed.  However, Blãk was in the grocery store yesterday, and we thought we would try it.  Well, my reaction was "BLAK!"  I'm not sure how the drink is supposed to be pronounced, but my pronunciation meant, "This is gross!"  It tasted like a really sweet coffee drink that you got when it was hot, but then put it in the frig.  You know, it wasn’t intended to be served cold.  After Matt, my mom, and I tried it, Matt poured it out!  He did rinse the bottle out, so we could keep it!  I guess it wasn’t a total waste!! 

I don’t understand where the “appeal to adult consumers” is?!  They may like coffee and they may like Coke, but together… BLAK!!  So, their next “adult product in a carbonated beverage” could be Coca-Cola and vodka fusion!  They would call it…Coca-Cola Clear!?! ☺

WHAT TO SAY TO A SKEPTIC

WHAT TO SAY TO A SKEPTIC – The story of Christ’s resurrection isn’t fiction. But how should you react when someone thinks it is? We’ve got a few ideas.

by Bill Myers and Michael Ross

The angel said to the women, “Do not be afraid, for I know that you are looking for Jesus, who was crucified. He is not here; he has risen, just as he said. Come and see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples: ‘He has risen from the dead and is going ahead of you into Galilee. There you will see him.’ Now I have told you.” —Matthew 28:5-7Jesus Christ isn’t in the tomb. And get this: The guards are lying on the ground like dead men, and the stone has been rolled away.Some of the guards get up and race to the chief priests with an amazing story. “There was a violent earthquake at the tomb, and this angel — WHOA! He was bright like lightning and actually rolled away the heavy stone!”What do the priests do? They bribe the soldiers to lie!“Tell everyone that you fell asleep and that those pesky disciples stole the body. Above all, don’t even mention the stuff about the earthquake and the angel!”(Check out Matthew 28:1-15 for the full story.)

• • •For centuries people have acted like those stubborn priests and have tried to disprove — even ignore — the resurrection of Jesus Christ. After all, if our Lord didn’t rise from the dead, then everything He said and did would be a lie, right? What’s more, anybody can claim to be God — psychiatric hospitals are filled with such misguided people. But to say you’re God and then prove you’re immortal — that’s another matter.Christ’s resurrection was the proof, the seal of authenticity. And not only have people failed at disproving it, but during their research some have actually become Christians!Yet the heart of man is often blind. Just look around and you’ll spot lots of skeptics. That’s why it’s important that Christian guys be prepared to talk about the greatest event in history. So read on, and let Breakaway show you how to lay some groundwork for guiding others to the truth.Let’s take a look at the top three arguments people use — along with some solid answers.

“Maybe Jesus wasn’t really dead, and He just rolled away the stone himself.”  Right. A man who has been beaten, tortured and mutilated for hours is going to lie unattended for two cold nights in a tomb and suddenly find the strength to roll away a 2-ton rock, fight off all the Roman soldiers guarding it, then show up convincing everyone that He has a glorious resurrected body. That would be pretty hard to believe.And while we’re talking about His body, let’s not forget the blood and water that flowed from His side when the soldier speared it on the Cross. If He were alive, the wound would have spurted red blood. But in a dead body, the blood separates into massive red clots and watery serum, just as John described it. (See John 19:34.)

“Maybe the disciples moved Christ’s body.”  Hmmm, let’s consider the facts: A group of men who have dedicated their lives to a teacher who insisted on truth and honesty are suddenly going to turn into liars and swindlers. And each of these self-seeking no-goods will be willing to face poverty, incredible hardship, torture and even death to perpetuate that lie. Not a chance.Then there are the Roman soldiers. Considering that they were the best fighting machines in the world, it’s not likely that the disciples could overpower them and knock them all out. But even if they could, why didn’t they hurry and race off with the body before the soldiers came to, instead of painstakingly unwrapping all of the burial clothes and neatly folding the facecloth before making their getaway?

“OK, so maybe the soldiers stole the body.”  Hardly. Think about it: The very people who have been assigned to make sure that Jesus’ body isn’t moved decide to move it. What a neat practical joke to pull on their superiors. Of course, it would mean their execution for becoming traitors, but what’s a little death for a laugh or two?

• • •While we’re looking at evidence, let’s not forget that His resurrection was something Jesus had predicted time and time again. Then, of course, there were all those Old Testament prophecies.Once we’ve looked at all the facts and carefully examined the arguments, we would need more faith to believe that Jesus did not rise from the grave than to believe that He did.
Copyright © 2006 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

Original article from Breakaway Magazine http://www.breakawaymag.com/GodFaith/A000000220.cfm

April 15, 2006 – Entertainment Update

Book – I just finished Mending Places by Denise Hunter, and I have begun the second book in The New Heights Series, Saving Grace.  If you remember, I won the third and final book, Finding Faith, back in March.  I really enjoyed the first book, so I'm excited about continuing the series!!

Movie – Dear Franky (It came out in 2004.) – Wow!…great example of how important a dad (or father figure) is to a son!

Games – Here lately I haven't played any games.  So, the closest thing to a game would be trying to make potty time fun for Abbye!!  =)

TV Show – American Idol – Bucky just got sent home and Ace is next, hopefully.

Music – Josh Turner's Your Man – What a voice!!  You can listen to the song and watch the video and a couple others of his here.

“TRUST DA BIBLE, NOT DA VINCI’S CODE”

TRUST DA BIBLE, NOT DA VINCI'S CODE – The book was a big best-seller. The movie has huge hype. Find out why The Da Vinci Code’s claims about the Bible are purely fictional, and be ready to speak up for the truth.

by Greg Hartman

Seek the truth, the movie trailer said. But if you’d rather avoid silly conspiracy theories, sexual immorality or bad theology, you’ll want to avoid The Da Vinci Code.The uproar surrounding Dan Brown’s best-selling novel has been going on since it was released in 2003; the movie is igniting it all over again.As an action-adventure story, The Da Vinci Code delivers fast-moving suspense. But Brown claims his book is more than a story: He says the history presented in his book is all true.

Spoiler Warning
This isn’t a book or movie review, so I don’t mind spoiling the plot.According to Brown, Jesus and Mary Magdalene married and had children; the early church enjoyed sexual ceremonies in celebration of Mary’s femininity and divinity. Jesus wanted Mary to lead the church after His death (He was “the original feminist,” as Brown puts it), but the apostle Peter staged a coup and took over instead.After the Roman Empire became Christian under Constantine, church and government ruthlessly suppressed these “truths,” first by persecuting believers who didn’t play along and later by controlling which books made it into the New Testament.Since then, Jesus and Mary’s descendants have secretly kept His lineage and the truth alive. One of those descendants was Leonardo da Vinci, who hid loads of clues about the truth in his art. The good guys — one of whom turns out to be Jesus’ descendant as well — are running for their lives from Catholic officials who would murder them to keep them quiet.

Strange but Untrue
Jesus was married and had kids? Peter stole the church from Mary Magdalene? A bizarre story. Brown has maintained all along that The Da Vinci Code is nothing more than an entertaining way to teach what he believes is the truth about Jesus and the early church.Lies about Jesus and the Bible are nothing new. (See Matthew 28:12-15.) Instead of being an expert on lies, though, I’d rather be an expert on the truth — specifically, on why you can trust the Bible.Brown’s story hinges, after all, on whether the New Testament is historically accurate. If it is, then The Da Vinci Code isn’t. Simple as that. Let’s take a look at some of the evidence.

The Right Stuff
Brown says the New Testament’s books were chosen by elite power brokers to keep themselves in control. That’s a common accusation, but it’s simply not true.The Third Council of Carthage ratified the New Testament in A.D. 397. They didn’t force everyone else to accept the books they liked, though; they simply recorded what believers already accepted as the inspired Word of God.Brown relies heavily on a collection of writings called the Gnostic Gospels (see “Holes”) for his mythology about Jesus and Mary, saying the early church kept them out of the New Testament to suppress the truth.The Gnostic Gospels, however, were written nearly 200 years after the real Gospels — obviously not by eyewitnesses to Jesus’ ministry. The reason they aren’t in the Bible is that they were rejected by nearly everyone from the start.

The Right Stuff, Part 2
Obviously no one had word processors or photocopiers when the New Testament was written. How do we know we’ve got what the New Testament writers actually wrote? How do we know it’s historically accurate?Experts look at two issues when they’re dealing with ancient writings:

1. How many manuscripts are there?  The more you have, the easier it is to weed out copying errors and revisions and identify what the author really wrote.

2. How old are the manuscripts?  If the gap between your manuscripts and the original is just a few years, you’re better off than if the original was written 1,000 years before your oldest manuscript.Here’s some manuscript evidence supporting some of the world’s best-documented ancient books:Caesar’s Gallic Wars is a critically important source for much of what we know about ancient Rome and Caesar himself. I bet you’ve never heard an argument about whether Gallic Wars is accurate, even though the earliest manuscript is separated from the original by 1,000 years and there are only 10 manuscripts. Historians are confident they have the right stuff.The world’s second-best documented ancient book is Homer’s The Iliad. It was written about 900 B.C.; the oldest manuscript is dated about 500 B.C., separating it from the original by only 400 years, and we have 643 manuscripts.That’s a lot. If historians are confident they have the real text of Gallic Wars, they’d stake their lives on The Iliad.The best-documented ancient book of them all, though, is the New Testament. We have more than 24,000 manuscripts of the New Testament, and the oldest is conservatively dated at A.D. 125 — only 35 years after the original.That, folks, is what you call being in a class by yourself.

Here Today, Here Tomorrow
Bottom line: You can trust your Bible.If Dan Brown isn’t satisfied that the New Testament is historically accurate, then he needs to explain why he thinks anything is historically accurate — much less a handful of myths about Jesus that were rejected the day they were written.That, frankly, is his problem. And he’s got a lot of company. People have attacked the Bible’s authority and accuracy since Day 1; their conspiracy theories and fake gospels are long forgotten, but the Bible is still here. After The Da Vinci Code has been forgotten, the Bible will still be here.

FIND EVEN MORE DA VINCI RELATED ARTICLES.

DIGGING DEEPER

If you’re interested in learning more about what’s wrong with The Da Vinci Code or what’s right with the Bible, check out the Da Vinci Tool Kit. The Da Vinci Deception by Erwin W. Lutzer tackles questions about Jesus, the Bible and The Da Vinci Code. Alex McFarland's Stand: Core Truths You Must Know for an Unshakable Faith presents foundational truths of the Christian faith. See a sample.

Greg Hartman is the managing technical editor for Focus on the Family’s Internet department. He is convinced that the moon landings were not faked, that Leonardo da Vinci was not a descendant of Jesus and that the Earth is not flat.

This article appeared in the May 2006 issue of Breakaway magazine. Copyright © 2006 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

http://www.breakawaymag.com/AllTheRest/A000000218.cfm

HOLES IN THE CODE

HOLES IN THE CODE – A few of the many problems with the gospel according to Dan Brown.

by Greg Hartman

Any honest historian will admit that research often raises more questions than it answers, but The Da Vinci Code has holes you could drive a Mack truck through. Here are just a few of the many, many problems with the gospel according to Brown:

• Brown carries on a great deal about the Gnostic Gospels and how it describes Jesus and Mary’s romance, but he doesn’t give much detail. There isn’t any.

Brown had only two passages to play with. One, in the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, mentions that Jesus loved her more than all the other disciples — but there is no hint of this being romantic love.

The other, in the Gospel of Philip, might mention Jesus kissing Mary. I say might because the passage is missing numerous words; its meaning is doubtful. And nothing suggests that this was anything more than a kiss of fellowship as practiced in the early church (Romans 16:16; 1 Corinthians 16:20).

Even if you believe the Gnostic Gospels are accurate and trustworthy — even though there’s every reason not to — that’s pretty slim evidence.

• Brown insists that Jesus had to have been married with kids, because it was unheard of for Jewish men to be single, especially rabbis.

Although Jesus’ disciples sometimes called Him “teacher” or “rabbi,” He wasn’t really a rabbi, and single Jewish men were not as unusual as Brown claims.

Besides, even a casual reader of the Gospels can see how often Jesus cheerfully violated tradition. Brown himself dubs Jesus “the original feminist,” so it’s hard to understand why he insists Jesus couldn’t possibly have broken this particular tradition.

• Somehow Brown overlooked a passage from the Gospel of Thomas claiming women can’t get to heaven unless they turn themselves into men first. So much for the Gnostic Gospels’ feminism.

• After cooking up his own version of history and theology, Brown unaccountably tosses in a dash of paganism: The early church, he says, used sex for worship — an idea found nowhere in his beloved Gnostic Gospels, although the Bible does mention, and condemn, pagan shrine prostitution.

After radically revising church history and theology, in other words, Brown revises his own revisions with a healthy dose of sexual immorality.

That’s hardly surprising. Sex sells, both for books and movies. The book has little graphic sex (the movie may not show similar restraint), but it does tell the reader that the church — the “real” church, as Brown defines it — has no problem with believers practicing all the immorality they like.

FIND EVEN MORE DA VINCI RELATED ARTICLES.

This article appeared in the May 2006 issue of Breakaway magazine. Copyright © 2006 Focus on the Family. All rights reserved. International copyright secured.

http://www.breakawaymag.com/AllTheRest/a000000219.cfm

Let’s Go See “Over the Hedge”

Earlier I posted More on What to do About the DaVinci Code Movie with an idea I found on Robin Lee Hatcher's blog about supporting another movie on The Da Vinci Code's opening weekend.  The only question I had was "What other movies are coming out that weekend?"  Well, I found that info on http://movies.yahoo.com/.  I've included the list below, and the only one I would see is Over the Hedge.  It's previews looked cute and funny!  I checked out what http://www.pluggedinonline.com/ had to say about Over the Hedge, but since the release date is still a little over a month away they don't have anything about it yet. 

Opening May 19, 2006
•	The Da Vinci Code
•	Over the Hedge
•	See Know Evil
•	The King
•	Twelve and Holding

As of today, I plan to cast my support to Over the Hedge!  What about you?

How Horribly Sad…Please pray!

(I haven’t post anything for a couple day, because I just didn’t really have anything particular that I felt like saying.  However, today, I was getting caught up on my news, when I found this article.  I knew I had to share it with you.)  

_____________________________________________________

Abortion Clinic Workers Refuse To Help Mother Screaming to Save Live Child

 

ORLANDO, FL, April 25, 2005 (LifeSiteNews.com) – Angele, a single mother in her thirties with two children, thought that abortion was the answer to her circumstances. At almost 23 weeks gestation, she entered the EPOC Clinic in Orlando, Florida. Little did she realize that the next day she would give birth to a live, perfectly healthy boy whom she named Rowan. Cradling Rowan’s moving body, her screams for help were ignored by abortion clinic workers while her son took his last breath.

The clinic is known for late-term abortions and its well-known founder, Dr. James Pendergraft. A few years ago he served time in a federal prison regarding an alleged scheme to extort the city of Ocala, Florida by means of his other abortion clinic in that city.

On April 1, Angele was given Valium and laminaria were inserted in her cervix to begin dilation. She was told to return the following day. On April 2, Angele took prescribed medicine to induce labor. Cramping and crying, she went to the clinic and knocked repeatedly on the door. Eventually someone came and directed her to a room that had dried blood on the wall. She was given a blanket that was still wet. She began to bleed and go into labor. Despite her cries, no one assisted her. After one hard push, the baby was born, fully intact and definitely alive. Angele said, “His right leg moved. He curled up a bit, like he was cold; I screamed but no one came.” She pleaded for the clinic workers to call 911 but they did not.

Angele caressed and comforted her son by rubbing his back, tummy and chest. “I stroked his precious little head and kept telling him I loved him and we would be okay,” she said. Still no one came to help. Eventually Angele, holding the baby still attached to the umbilical cord, ran to get her cell phone. Help did not arrive in time. Rowan took his last breath. “After a few minutes I realized for certain that he was gone. I picked up my son. I held him to my chest. I rocked him and prayed. I could not stop crying,” said Angele. “I felt so bad. I felt so helpless. I had been so wrong to come here … I wanted to fix and change everything once I saw Rowan’s precious little face and body. All we needed was someone to get us to safety,” Angele said.

Mathew D. Staver, President and General Counsel of Liberty Counsel, which represents Angele, told LifeSiteNews.com “Angele’s baby Rowan’s birth and death unmasked the tragic abortion and infanticide that occurs every day in America.  Most victims are nameless and we never hear about them. We need to replace the abortion rhetoric with a culture of life.”

Staver recalls: “When I visited baby Rowan at the funeral home and saw his precious little body, fully formed with blond eyelashes and growing fingernails, I wondered, ‘How can we continue to kill our children and hide behind the rubric of choice?’”  He added, “Rowan’s short life will not be in vain if his story can give life and hope to mothers who believe their only choice is abortion. We must protect our precious, innocent children. We must extend a healing hand to mothers like Angele.”

jhw

---

---

–>

(c) Copyright: LifeSiteNews.com is a production of Interim Publishing. Permission to republish is granted (with limitation*) but acknowledgement of source is *REQUIRED* (use LifeSiteNews.com).

_______________________________________________
Here’s the orginal site of this article.  http://www.lifesite.net/ldn/2005/apr/05042504.html

(Please give your prays, time, money, clothes, baby supplies – what ever they need – to your local crisis pregnancy centers.  I have such a burden for the babies, moms, and dads that are involved in this horrible thing called abortion.)

Food for Thought

This excerpt is from Enjoying God by S. J. Hill: 

The story is told of a desert nomad who awoke one night with an insatiable appetite.  The nomad lit a candle and looked around his tent for something to eat.  His eyes eventually focused on a bag of dates propped up in a corner.  Being extremely hungry, he reached into the bag and pulled out a date.  He took one bit and spit it out.  Inside the date, he discovered a worm.  But he was so hungry that he reached back into the bag, grabbed another date, and proceeded to bite into another worm.  He even tried a third date, but all he got was a mouthful of worm.  You would have thought he’d stop eating; instead, he blew out the candle and in the darkness of his tent ate the entire bag of dates. 

Within every human being there’s an insatiable appetite for happiness and fulfillment.  The desire is so strong that at times people will blow out the candle of their conscience, regardless of the “worms” or the consequences of their sin.  Even though they know better, they choose to suffer the consequences just to experience a passing moment of pleasure.

It’s disturbing to me that Christians have been taught to suppress their deepest desires for pleasure and happiness.  Over the years, I’ve heard minister emphatically declare that “God isn’t interested in whether or not we’re happy.  All He cares about is that we glorify and serve Him.”  I would agree that God’s glory should be the primary focus of our lives.  But I would strongly suggest that God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.  In other words, the greatest way we can glorify the Father is by enjoying Him and finding our ultimate happiness in Him.

Any thought or comments?  Please share them!

Who are you missing?

There are people from my past that I really wished I would have stayed in touch with.  It's not that I think about them all the time, but some times they are on my heart so strongly! 

How about you?  Are there people that you've Googled hoping to find out where they are and prayed that they're doing well?!

Promoting Purity in Young Children

I found out about these books, and wanted to share them with you.  Whether you have kids or not, it doesn't matter.  These are great stories.  Read about them and then at the end you can listen to them!!

The Princess & the Kiss: A Story of God's Gift of Purity
By Jennie Bishop                                                                   Summary:
A loving king and queen present their daughter with a gift from God—her first kiss—to keep or give away. The wise girl waits for the man who is worthy of her precious gift. But where is he and how will she ever find him? A marvelous, beautifully illustrated parable for children and parents.

The Squire & the Scroll: A Tale of the Rewards of a Pure Heart
By Jennie Bishop                                                                   Summary:
Little girls worldwide have embraced Jennie Bishop's best-selling morality tale The Princess and the Kiss—and ever since its publication, parents have been clamoring for a companion book for boys. Here's the answer! Follow a young squire as he fearlessly defends "the lantern of purest light" against all enemies—including a fire-breathing dragon!

Click the following links to listen to these stories.  You'll go to the program of Family Life Today's that aired the story.  You choose Windows Media or Real Media, the hosts talk for a little bit, and then the story is read.  Each broadcast is only 30 minutes, but the stories don't take that long since they talk some before and after each story.

The Princess and the Kiss

The Squire and the Scroll

Also, here's the author's website: http://www.jenniebishop.com/index.htm