Make Your Own PDFs Free

Here's a useful link I found. PDF Online. You can submit your own files and they automatically get encoded into a PDF format. You submit your file online and it will be emailed to you with 3-5 minutes. It works for Word, Pictures etc.

Brain Teaser From Japan

I've heard this is a brain teaser from Japan, it's used to test applicants about logical solving supposedly. It's tricky! It took me about 20 minutes to solve, and 20 minutes to figure it out again the next day because I'd forgotten! It's one of those sequence tests. Click on the blue dot to begin the test. Let me know how you did.

Objective: To get everyone across the river.
Everyone: Mother, 2 daugthers, Father, 2 sons, Policeman, Criminal

Rules of the Game:

• Only 2 people at max can cross the river at the same time on the raft.
• Only the Father, Mother, and Policeman can operate the raft.
• The Criminal cannot stay with any member of the family without the Policeman.
• The Mother cannot stay with the sons without the Father's presence.
• The Father cannot stay with the daughters without the Mother's presence.
• That means left with a child of opposite gender, transporting a child, or arriving at the other side alone with a child.
• Click on the people to move them.
• Click on the red lever to move the raft.

It can be frustrating, I almost gave up, so it's ok. Have a good time!

Click Here to begin.

PALM SUNDAY - Martin Luther

John 12:12-19

We call this day Palm Sunday - the day our dear Lord Jesus Christ rode into Jerusalem, thereby fulfilling the word of the prophets who foretold that He would thus ride into the city on a donkey.

It could just as fittingly be called the day of Christ's triumphal entry.

All of this, I say, was announced and written about long ago by the prophet Zechariah, so that the Jews would never gawk and gape for a parade of worldly power, external pomp, and splendor. He will ride into Jerusalem in this humble manner, and will then weep over a city which did not accept him.

This was, of course, foretold beforehand also for us, and is preached to us year after year, so that we might learn the difference between Christ's kingdom and the kingdoms of the world, between our Christ-King and other earthly kings.

In His kingdom and by His Word Christ not only teaches us that we are poor lost sinners, condemned to death and in the devil's clutches, but also that through His death and blood, He has redeemed us from all sins, from death and the power of the devil, so that by faith in Him we are righteous and blessed forever. What wonderfully different teachings, wisdom, and insight this is compared with what is offered by human reason, legal experts, and the wise of this world - namely how to live here and now, managing house and home, acquiring goods, and protecting land and people. Even if we do live here a long, long time, finally and eventually we still have to depart and leave it all behind.

This is the reason why Christ entered Jerusalem as He did, without worldly pomp, meekly riding on a donkey. Thereby He not only wanted to fulfill the words of the prophet, but also to point out the manner and character of His kingdom, so that we may never be deluded into thinking that He came to earth to help us become rich and heap up treasure, when actually He came so that we might be delivered from sin, death, and the devil, and become truly rich in the life beyond. To sum up, this then was His true purpose in coming to earth, His kingdom's true nature and power and fruit, namely, that we may one day escape this wretched, mortal decaying existence and enter that happy, glorious, eternal life beyond.

It was just such a King that God promised through His prophets. Had God intended Him to be an earthly king, reigning in worldly fashion, there would have been no need for Him to be especially promised. Because God made a very particular promise about Him, there was no way He could have come as an ordinary king, ruling in the usual royal style. David and other kings reigned in that traditional manner, over territory and people, and thereby also gathered treasure. This King, however, is a very extraordinary King, especially promised by God; He set up a spiritual, eternal kingdom, over which He holds sway with unique power and might - His Word and the Holy Spirit.

But the Jews simply didn't want this kind of King - even though He came to them exactly as their prophet Zechariah had said: a righteous helper with eternal, heavenly blessing. ... they paid little attention.

We Christians, however, should get really well acquainted with this Christ-King, and place all our hope boldly in the life which is to come, where we will be forever happy, free of all sin and infirmity. It's for that reason that Christ came, and was crucified, died, rose from the dead, and ascended into heaven to occupy His kingdom. That's how He overcame sin, death, and the devil for us, and by His blood and Holy Spirit swept us clean of all filth, so that all who believe in Him are righteous and blessed, and will someday pass through temporal death into His eternal, heavenly kingdom.

A Christian, you see, has not been baptized, so that he may collect treasure and get rich here on earth - all of which he can do as well without the gospel and baptism; instead he was baptized so that through Christ he may attain eternal life. To reach that life is why we should faithfully use the gospel and our baptism. I am a baptized Christian so that I may inherit and attain Christ's kingdom. And if I'm also blessed with possessions, I use these for my physical needs - certainly not to lift myself up into heaven!

We should, therefore, mark all the difference between Christ's kingdom and worldly powers, as He Himself clearly showed by His extraordinary entry into Jerusalem, riding on a donkey, without a saddle, the animal a borrowed one at that! All of which made it crystal clear that He was in no way like the worldly rulers who have amassed a lot of treasure and property for the purpose of displaying worldly pomp and circumstance for their public appearances. Christ was no such earthly king; on the contrary, He is an eternal King, with an everlasting kingdom where one needs neither gold or silver, and yet will never suffer any want or need in all eternity.

After all, we must in the end depart and leave behind the goods of this earthly life; that should help us remember where we really want to be, namely with Christ, our eternal King. For if we accept Him here, that is, believe in Him and heed His gospel, He will also receive us over there, saying to us, 'Come, O blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.'

This, then, is what our dear Lord Jesus Christ meant to show by His entrance into Jerusalem, so that we might truly understand Him and His kingdom. On the left hand, as it were, we still live here in the kingdom of this world, but always on the right hand we reach forward and upward to His kingdom everlasting in the world to come. It was for that future life that we were baptized. May God grant us His grace so that we may joyously welcome and accept this King and remain with Him forever. Amen!

- excerpt Complete Sermons of Martin Luther 5:366-371

God Enjoyed

Thou incomprehensible but prayer-hearing God,
Known, but beyond knowledge, revealed, but unrevealed,
my wants and welfare draw me to thee, for thous has never said, 'Seek ye me in vain'.
To thee I come in my difficulties, necessities, distresses;
possess me with thyself,
with a spirit of grace and supplication, with a prayerful attitude of mind,
with access into warmth of fellowship,
so that in the ordinary concerns of life my thoughts and desires may rise to thee,
and in habitual devotion I may find a resource
that will soothe my sorrows, sanctify my successes,
and qualify me in all ways for dealings with my fellow men.
I bless thee that thou hast made me capable
of knowing thee, the author of all being,
of resembling thee, the perfection of all excellency,
of enjoying thee, the source of all happiness.
O God, attend me in every part of my arduous and trying pilgrimage;
I need the same counsel, defence, comfort I found at my beginning.
Let my religion be more obvious to my conscience, more perceptible to those around.
While Jesus is representing me in heaven, may I reflect him on earth,
While he pleads my cause, may I show forth his praise.
Continue the gentleness of thy goodness towards me,
And whether I wake or sleep, let thy presence go with me, thy blessing attend me.
Thou has led me on and I have found thy promises true,
I have been sorrowful, but thou hast been my help,
fearful, but thou hast delivered me,
despairing, but thou hast lifted me up.
Thy vows are ever upon me, and I praise thee, O God.

- The Valley of Vision

Some 'Cross Centered' Principles

• "We never move on from the cross, only into a more prolonged understanding of the cross." - David Prior
• "The message of the cross is the Christian's hope, confidence, and assurance."
• "The Spirit does not take his pupils beyond the cross, but even more deeper into it." - J.Knox Chamberlain

In Mahaney's writings, he encourages to always remember the cross, never move on from it. 'The cross is still at the center." "The gospel isn't one class among many that you'll attend during your life as a Christian - the gospel is the whole building that all classes take place in!" It is our foundation in Christian life, we can never truly move on from it, if we do our whole structure of life would collapse. "This book talks so much about what it takes to keep the gospel central." In his book, He attacks 3 world views that draw our hearts away from keeping the gospel central, they are:

1. "Legalism, which means basing our relationship with God our own performance."
2. "Condemnation, which means being more focused on our sin than on God's grace."
3. "Subjectivism, which means basing our view of God on our changing feelings and emotions."

We have to know and preach the gospel to ourselves to move past these world views, and keep it central. Ways we can get better at this is: memorize, pray, sing, reviews its changing effect, and study the gospel.

"Every day of our Christian experience," writes Jerry Bridges, "should be a day of relating to God on the basis of His grace alone. We are not only saved by grace, but we also live by grace every day."
May the truth that saved you always be the dearest truth of your life. As Martin Luther reportedly said, "I feel as if Jesus had died only yesterday." May the reality of Christ's death for you be that near your heart.
Never move on from it.
Jesus died for your sins. May your every day be live by His grace alone. May you know the joy and peace of the cross centered life.

Store Wars

I have posted a lot of thinking posts. Here is a pure fun one. Visit this site for Grocery Store Wars. You will watch Cuc Skywalker learns the ways of the Farm, teams up with Ham Solo and confronts Darth Tater. Sound funny or ridiculous, well it is.

Organize your Projects

A cool site I came across was www.backpackit.com. This site allows you to set up your own web pages to organize projects, create to-do lists, post notes, post files and pictures (well, these two you have to pay for) all together. It's would be ideal for school projects because multiple people can access it and check off or post notes. Or to-do list to remind yourself things. You'll have to check out the site, the have a lot more great examples of what you can do.

A Good Read

Another book that I really recommend is C.J. Mahaney's 'The Cross Centered Life: Keeping the Gospel the Main Thing'. A good friend of ours gave this to Meg and I during our engagement. We actually read this together on our honeymoon too. It's been a really great reminder of how important the gospel is in our lives. The most important thing. And how we need to come back to this central point in our lives continually. I just picked it up again tonite and was re-reading a couple parts of finishing a couple last sections. It's a good read.

www.multnomahbooks.com

2 Corinthians 5:21 - "For our sake He made Him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God."

Praise Jesus!

The Mover

O Lord, I am astonished at the difference
between my receivings and my deservings,
between the state that I am now in and my past gracelessness,
between the heaven I am bound for and the hell I merit.

Who made me to differ, but thee?
for I was no more ready to receive Christ than were others;
I could not have begun to love thee hadst thou not first loved me,
or been willing unless thou hadst first made me so.

Let 'wrath deserved' be written on the door of hell,
But 'the free gift of grace' on the gate of heaven.

- excerpts from 'The Valley of Vision'

Christmas 'Break' Readings

Although I have graduated, it still seems like a got a mini-Christmas break this year. I've been reading some powerful texts from the prophets.

"But they refused to pay attention and turned a stubborn shoulder and stopped their ears from hearing. They have made their hearts like flint so that they could not hear the law and the words whcih the Lord of hosts had sent by His Spirit through the former prophets; therefore the great wrath came from the Lord of hosts." - Zechariah 7:11-12

A text that reminds me of being a sinner. These words were written by Zechariah the prophet warning people of who they are serving and what has been going on.

"Thus says the Lord of hosts, 'Behold, I am going to save My people from the land of the east and from the land of the west; and I will bring them and they will live in the midst of Jerusalem; and they shall be My people, and I will be their God in truth and righteousness.' " - Zechariah 8:7-8

A text of hope and promise of the Lord.

" ' A son honors father, and a servanth His master. Then if I am a father, where is My honor? And if I am a master, where is My respect?' says the Lord of hosts" - Malachi 1:6

Another text of warning to the rebellious people. Malachi 1:8-9 has a similar warning, with the example that if you're able to give the best to your governor to please him, why are you giving poor offering to your God. Later in the book, even during judgement and warning, Malachi 2:14-16 shows us the Lord's value of marriage, He as a witness of the covenant and the Spirit as 'binder'. " 'For I hate divorce (sending away),' says the Lord." That was really neat to learn glean from the passage, although the overall theme of the book is not towards marriage.

Some Christmas Bounty

God has been gracious over the Christmas break. He has been a God of provision through the workings of family and friends. Listed below are some of the books that received for Christmas. While I am proud of these gifts, I hope that they will give you new ideas of authors to read, maybe a new avenue of good reading to be had.

C.S. Lewis - The Four Loves













C.S. Lewis - The Great Divorce













Jerry Bridges - The Gospel for Real Life













Randy Alcorn - The Grace and Truth Paradox













Jerry Bridges - The Discipline of Grace

Merry Christmas

After the weighty post below, not to take away any of the seriousness, but I wanted to wish all:

Merry Christmas!

The Disappearing Doctrine of Hell

I read this after seeing the link to Al Mohler's website on Chris's blog:

"Belief in hell is fast disappearing in Scotland, according to press reports. Reporter Donald MacLeod points to the fact that one third of Scottish clergy "still believe in the existence of hell." Of course, that means that the other two-thirds have decided against hell.

From MacLeod's article in The Guardian [London]:

Eric Stoddart, a lecturer in practical theology at St Andrews University, surveyed 750 randomly selected clergy and found that 37% believed in hell, although this was more marked in the Highlands and Western Isles, where conservative, Presbyterian congregations predominate.
"The doctrine of hell is downplayed by most of today's churches even by those who still believe in it. It isn't viewed as very politically correct even by a new generation of more theologically conservative ministers," said Dr Stoddart, who commented that there was a conspiracy of silence on the subject.

This is consistent with what is happening in the United States as well. Hell has become an odium theologicum -- an odious doctrine that is just too politically-incorrect for modern taste. Many preachers just find a way never to mention it. Or, as one wag has observed, they just air-condition hell, denying that it is a place of everlasting torment.

Look at this fascinating section of the article:

Dr Stoddart is interested in how belief in hell affects everyday life and is keen to hear from ordinary Christians as well. He said: "I'm interested in how people handle their belief in hell. If you believe (or are told you should believe) your grandmother is going to hell because she is not a Christian, how do you deal with that? Do you dehumanise her or psychologically distance yourself in order to accept her fate? How is it possible to go about daily life while believing that a loved-one has entered eternal suffering? When most hell-believing Christians are likely to encounter the death of 'non-Christian' loved-ones it is striking that it is a subject rarely tackled. No one talksabout this aspect. There is something of a conspiracy of silence."

Dr. Stoddartis interested in how the relational aspects of human life influence an individual's belief in hell -- and vice versa. At the Web site for his research project, Hell: The Pastoral Implications, he comments:

I concluded that the pain that arises from believing in hell whilst suspecting that your loved-ones might already be there is something that churches fail to recognise. There's something of a conspiracy of silence when it comes to acknowledging that it might apply to real, actual people rather than just an anonymous group called 'the lost'.

The knowledge of what hell really represents is a humbling consciousness that leads to heartbreak and serves as an impetus to evangelism. Those who deny the reality of hell will bear some real responsibility for the fact that so many will be found there.

Ezekiel 3:16-21

A very good article to compliment this is one of John Piper's on DesiringGod.org:

'Dorothy Sayers on Why Hell in Non-Negotiable'

Comment: Is this the same St. Andrews that PCM read about in 'St. Andrew's Seven' this summer in our missions Bible study?

The Chronicles of Narnia

My wife and I went to see the movie last nite, along with my brother and some of his friends. It was a good movie, not great, but good. It did have some very powerful moments in there. Those key moments were awesome.
It's hard when everyone has seen the Lord of the Rings trilogy, and how well done those movies were done. The LOTR series had such excellent detail, imagery, and direction, it was an awesome series really. Well, I'm not saying Narnia doesn't have any of this, it's hard to hold up to that series. Maybe that's the problem, it may be 'Lord of the Rings Lite', but it really is probably directed to a different genre or audience.
It is toned down, you notice there will be no blood, even for the great sacrifice. (* I'm being vague to not ruin any storylines intentionally). The children are the main story line, even if they are going to battle later in the film.
The allusions that some of the things in the film holds, they can be very powerful. Edmund's treason and betrayal. Aslan and his actions. I think the being of Aslan was just very powerful, the respect to he was on film and Who is portraying. And what Aslan does, wow.
It was definitely worth seeing, but as a film, won't take the place of LOTR for me. But some of those moments in Narnia are just chilling due to imagery it holds and the power of the imagery.

A Link to the Movie site:
http://adisney.go.com/disneypictures/narnia/index.html

Wedding Announcement

Mr. and Mrs. Blinson

Blinson - Madden

Megan Ashleigh Madden and Joshua Lee Blinson were married October 22, 2005, at Providence Baptist Church in Raleigh. Reverend Chip Bugnar officiated their ceremony.
The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Madden of Apex. She is the granddaughter of Mr. and Mrs. Herb Hilsinger of Kinston, and Mrs. Kiyoko Madden of Holly Springs and the late Mr. Madden.
Parents of the groom are Mr. and Mrs. Mel Blinson of Raleigh. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. L.W. Sharp of Raleigh, and Mr. and Mrs. Shelton Blinson of Raleigh.
The couple will live in Raleigh, having completed their honeymoon to Topsail Island.

- Isaiah 46:9-10 -

* sorry for the delay, this is 'official' unofficial announcement *

Spice Shower Pictures

Thanks to all who helped in throw the Spice Shower for us. We really appreciated it. Thanks to the Whatleys for hosting it in there home. Thanks for attending too, and all the great spices and other gifts that we got.

-The Shower Cake - The theme was "Love, Honor, Cherish"

This is a few of the attenders that we at the show. Love you guys.

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More Wedding Pictures

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Exchanging of the Rings

The New Mr. & Mrs. Blinson

Excitement After the Ceremony

Our Wedding Party

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Wedding Pictures - The Beginning

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My beautiful bride, Meg, along with two of her bridesmaids, Kristen McCutchen (L) and Sarah Thuston (R).

My bride with only one of her many favorite aunts, this one is Aunt Michelle.

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Streams of Mercy

Man's great difficulty is that we have religion without guilt, and religion without guilt just tries to make God a big 'pal' of a man. But religion without guilt is a religion that cannot escape hell for it deceives and finally destroys all who are a part of it.

Religion without any consciousness of guilt is a false religion. If I come to Jesus Christ without any confession of guilt, simply to gain some benefit, I still have woe upon me, as did the Pharisees before me! But if my guilt drives me to Jesus, than I have my guilt taken from me and I find mercy. Oh, the mercy of God! We sing about the mercy of God, and I hope we know what we are singing about: 'O depths of mercy, can it be, that gate is left ajar for me.'

If God could not extend us His mercy and grace, and treated us exactly as we deserved, there would be only one course for Him to follow. God would have to turn an angered face to us in life and He would have to turn His back to us in death. That would happen to the best human beings that ever lived, if we should only receive what we deserve.

But, oh, the grace of God! God through the plan of salvation in Jesus Christ will go beyond our merits, beyond that which we deserve. Even if our sins have been like a mountain, it is the grace of God that assures our forgiveness. There is cleansing for the defiled, gracious and satisfying cleansing - a beautiful element in Christianity as revealed by the Lord Himself, and not just abstract theology.

- A.W. Tozer

Pictures Coming Soon

We've gotten some of our pictures back from what the family has taken, and also some from the beaches during our honeymoon. I will work on uploading these to the website soon. Stay tuned...