Importance of becoming better informed

“Why are photocopies of the Dead Sea Scrolls on the Internet not available free to the public?” Thus starts Don Srail’s Talkback piece in the Biblical Archaeology Review site, and he goes on to lament the suppression of valuable information from the public eye.

Once long ago, my dad was trying to move a bed from one room to another. And I was helping him. But being just four or so, he told me later, I was an additional weight that he was dragging with the bed. So it is in this struggle to get true science and true archaeology into the open, many of us are more of a nuisance than a help.

Madurai’s wall of shame

I find it hard to believe that such a wall exists. But it’s true. The city of Madurai is tense because police broke a portion of this wall yesterday. It is a 100-meter wall that was built 20 years ago to keep “low caste” people from entering the “upper caste” area of a village.

Caste is a very complex matter in India, a monster that clings so closely to us even 60 years after Independence. I worry for the children who are caught in the crossfire, those growing with the wrong notion that they are in some way superior, and those growing up believing that they are inferior.

My great grandfather’s father converted to Christianity from one of these very same castes that built this wall. So I am a pure-blooded one-of-these-castes person. I am in no way inherently superior to any one else—not superior to a Dalit or any other Indian or Asian or European or anyone else.

What does the Bible say about such divisions among human beings?

How does one get into a relationship with Jesus?

Very few tapes have we enjoyed together as a family as much as this one. It’s called Irreconcilable Differences, that features host John Ankerberg and a panel comprising John MacArthur, R.C. Sproul, and James Kennedy.

The issue discussed is a document that sets out with the noble aim of bringing Roman Catholics and Evangelicals together, but falls short because it overlooks and glosses over vital differences in the doctrines of salvation of both communions, resulting in implicitly compromising the five solas, so precious to us.

• Sola scriptura (”by Scripture alone”)
• Sola fide (”by faith alone”)
• Sola gratia (”by grace alone”)
• Solus Christus (”Christ alone”)
• Soli Deo gloria (”glory to God alone”)

I have many close Roman Catholic friends; how wonderful it would be to fellowship together. But I now know that it is not as simple as saying: Let’s forget our differences and get together. Coming together is going to have to involve much study of the Bible, church history and other material, much prayer, courage, and brutal honesty.

Ha ha, strawberry guavas can be yellow

So strawberry guavas can be yellow as well.

Julia, my team leader, brought me these guavas from her garden. Both the yellow and red fruit tasted like regular guavas, only slightly lemony.

RC Sproul interviews Ben Stein about the movie Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

This is a long video of 27 minutes. R.C. Sproul is very respected in Christian circles as a preacher and author who with his gift for lucid explanation has driven many a truth home to the hearts of his listeners and readers. This interview adds to the credibility and integrity of Ben Stein and this movie.

Click here for an earlier post about Expelled:No Intelligence Allowed

If any one knows whether or when this movie is to be screened in New Zealand, please let me know.

Seeraga Chicken Fry

Seeraga chicken fry uses garlic and cumin seeds for flavour. Seeragam is Tamil for cumin.

So you do not grieve as the rest who have no hope

Not far from where we live is a Christian college (’College’ in New Zealand is actually ‘high school’). On Monday, six students and a teacher from that school died in a flash flood during what was a week-long outdoor education course. The kids who died were 16 years old, the same age as our son Tim.

The students were at the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre in central North Island. As part of the course, 10 students with their teacher and instructor went canyoning on the Mangatepopo River. Now canyoning is an activity where you scramble, climb, jump, abseil and swim to travel through a canyon or gorge. When this little party entered the gorge, the water was at a very low level, and they were unaware that heavy rain was predicted.

The water level rose suddenly because of a flash flood. The group waited on a rocky ledge for the water level to go down, but it just kept increasing.

Outside my kitchen window

My younger daughter Lydia is camera crazy. Here are four pictures she took on different occasions.

Strawberry Guava

Last week our cousins in Henderson gave us some little red fruit that tasted like guavas but had no resemblance to them. Julia, my team leader at work, identified them as strawberry guavas.

They are pictured next to some apples to give you an idea of how tiny they are.

Pineapple Kesari

Kesari is a South Indian sweet that might start off a full meal. Traditional South Indian meals start with a sweet! Kesari also goes with a tiffin-type meal consisting of items such as idly, dosai, and vadai. The tiffin meals are usually had for breakfast or dinner.

Sometimes kesari is served as a scoop on a plate. Other times, the hot kesari is allowed to set in a tray and is cut into pieces.