15/07/2006

  • Slavery, Racism, and Marriage


    BTW, this is not to celebrate or condone the heinous sin of man-stealing (i.e, involuntary slavery apart from the due process of just law) practicised by the CSA or the other heinous sins of racism or Aryanism.  While man-stealing is illegal and no longer prevalently practised, racism still is practised in the USA, and we must continue to oppose it.  From racism comes the tradition of man that says we must marry within the same race whereas the only clear and primary restriction that Scripture places on marriage is that we marry within the same religion whether a Protestant Christian marrying a Protestant Christian, a Catholic marrying a Catholic, or an unbeliever marrying an unbeliever. Scripture calls that "equally yoked" in 2.Cor.6:13-15.  Scripture says other things that would clarify meaning of "equally yoked" (Ruth 1:15-17, Prov. 31, Song of Solomon, Amos 3:3, Php. 2:1-2, &c.).  I would submit that "equally yoked" for Chrsitainity means two believers of the same denomination or very similar orthodox denominations.  A Protestant Christian marrying a Catholic Christian, a Methodist marrying a Presbyterian, and a liberal Christian marrying a conservative Christian are not compatible to Scripture.  However, Scripture says nothing about having to marry within the same race or nationality except OT Israel since God's chosen people (believers per the Covenant) were not to marry those unchosen (i.e, unbelievers).

  • Tracing those ancestors of the CSA


    For an organisation to which I belong (Sons of Confederate Veterans - Wm. Norris Camp), I had to submit documentation proving that my Confederate ancestors were indeed Confederate veterans.  Thankfully, my grandmother, the genealogist of the family, had done that work since she and Mom are members of the sister organization (United Daughters of the Confederacy) that demands the same documentation.  Looking at my documentation, I would say the first thing to do is looking at family records from you to as far back as you can.  Then, if there is still a gap, use libraries and church records to ascertain the missing ancestors.  Once you are back around the time of the War Between the States (1861-1865), the archives and library of the State in which he served would have the service records of the Confederate veterans.  For other wars before then (1812, Revolution, French & Indian War), I am not sure where to go except the State Library and Archive. 


    If I have time, I would like to document my Huguenot descent.  That descent means more to me than my other ancestry since it is not only biological descent but also spiritual descent (the Covenant).  (Huguenots were the French Reformed Christians led by John Calvin.)  I've gone as far back as 1700's Britain, to which some of my Huguenot ancestors fled when the wicked King Louis XIV of France revoked his grandfather's (Henri IV) Edict of Nantes, which gave religious liberty to the Huguenots and other Protestants. 


    Other bands of Huguenots fled to Switzerland with Calvin, and still others fled to Canada, VA, FL, and the Caribbean.  I pity those who fled to Florida (Fort Caroline near present day Jacksonville) since they went from French Catholic oppression to Spanish Catholic oppression since Florida was a Spanish territory at the time, and all they wanted was to settle and worship God in peace.


    (I am a "member in good standing" of the SCV and pay my dues, but I rarely attend the meetings since their meetings are on the same night as Bible Study / Care Group.  And Christ comes first.)

13/07/2006

  • Revision of Personal Standard



     


    The Third National Flag of the Confederate States of America - CSA ancestors and veterans


    The Huguenot Cross under the Red Disc - French Huguenot Ancestry


    Then my initials and birth year

08/07/2006

  • My Personal Standard


    Certain people, both royal and non-royal, in society have standards, that represent them, whether flags, banners, etc.  Over the past year, I've have been thinking of a simple personal standard.  Below is my 1st Personal Standard/Flag.


     




    Explanation:


    Italy - where I came into being.


    UK (pre-1801 Union Jack) - ancestral England and Scotland; Irish independence


    Ireland - ancestry


    modified Maine Huguenot flag - ancestral France (French Huguenots)


    Virginia - where I was born and raised; the 1st of my 6 favorite states, the state where I have lived the longest (24 of 31 years).


    People's Republic of Maryland - my mom and a close friend are U of MD alumni; the state is where I have lived the 2nd longest (6.5+ of 31 years); the state into which the Irish Airline Aer Lingus has flown.


    Green - one of my 4 favorite colors


    Dark Blue - ocean, one of my favorite vacation spots


    Royal Blue - the Blue Banner of the Protestant Covenanters; sky (aviation and birds, two big interests of mine)


    (Blue is the 2nd of my 4 favorite colors.)


    Red Disc - the Son; ancestral Spain and Confederate States


    Orange Ring around the Red Disc - Protestant Christianity; orange is the 3rd of my 4 favorite colors.


    A variety of colors - diversity (i.e, Scriptural diversity)


    FYI, my other favorite states:


    2. Georgia (where I have lived the 3rd longest; 1 of 31 years)


    3. North Carolina


    4.  Colorado


    5. Florida


    6.  Maine


    I long to return to Virginia or Georgia as a Resident.  However, God has different plans in mind; so, I must follow God despite my feelings.

10/06/2006

  • A few screen captures from my recent flightsim flights


    British Airways 8942, Stornoway (UK) - Edinburgh (UK), 1.0 h, 19000', Saab 340 - Over W. Scotland


     


     


    Icelandair 432, Baltimore (USA) - Keflavik (Iceland), 6.3 h, 9000', Boeing 757-200 - Climbing out over Baltimore



     


    TCA 2511, Nashville (TN) - Tampa (FL), 1.6 h, 33000', Boeing 757-200, Over AL-GA Line near Calloway, GA



     


    TCA 2511, Tampa (FL) to Nassau (Bahamas), 1.1 h, 7000', Boeing 757-200 - climbing out over Tampa near the Tampa Bay and Airport



     


    TCA 2511, Tampa (FL) to Nassau (Bahamas), 1.1, 9000', Boeing 757-200 - Cockpit view of water to the North of Bahamas's Andros Islands



     


    Delta 5370, Washington National (VA) - New York Kennedy (NY), 0.9 h, 7000', Canadair RJ-200 - Overflying Newark-NYC area (initial approach into JFK)


04/06/2006

27/05/2006

  • I am spending this long weekend visiting my parents and grandparents in Clarksville, VA.  For those wondering why I am not at New Attitude, it is a long, complex story; so, I'd lose you in the details.  Sorry to have missed NA, but I hope it was a blast and a strong meeting with God for those that went!


     

24/05/2006

  • BEWARE OF A WOLF IN SHEEP'S CLOTHING


    (He is in the Sovereign Grace Minstries blogring.)



    He has made a recent accusation also against Presbyterians, Reformed Christians, and other true churches of the Gospel.  The charge is that ALL sects that profess to be Christian (from those that are true churches to those that are false churches)  believe that the Psalms are only about David and not about Christ:


    "All sects -- from Roman Catholics to Presbyterians -- assume that the Psalms are David's/Heman's/Asaph's private experiences. ... Yet, every Sunday "Pastors" around the world PRIVATELY interpret the Psalms . By "private interpretation" I mean the practice of taking passages from the Psalms and interpreting them as ya-feel-like-it. "


    "Sadly, most Presbyterians and Reformed Baptists privately interprete the Psalms. By that, I mean they interprete the Psalms according to their own fancies. This is incredible. Are they  wiser than God? I'm not kidding. This is a question all you doubting Calvinists out there should consider. God says over and over again that the Psalms are about Christ. ... Yet, you doubting Calvinists think your interpretation of the Psalms is better than God's. You apply them to David."


    The Free Church - Continuing, the Presbyterian Church in America, the Orthodox Presbyterian Church, Captiol Hill Baptist Church, Sovereign Grace Ministries, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Metropolitan Tabernacle, and other true Reformed or Reformed-leaning churches of the Gospel have NEVER believed that the Psalms are not about Christ and have never believed that only some Psalms are.  We recognize and strongly believe that Christ is in the Psalms and that all the Psalms point to Christ and His Gospel.  That is one reason why some of us sing the Psalms ....  (Not necessarily to support Exclusive Psalmody but only to say that we would not sing them if Christ or the Gospel was not in them in some form whether prophecy or other revelation).  Therefore, by the Psalms being Messianic and containing the Gospel of Christ (as prophecy of Christ and His Gospel), we believe that the Psalms are about Christ.


    "Therein is a complete theology; the prediction of the advent of Christ in the flesh, the threatening of judgment, the hope of resurrection, the fear of chastisement, promises of glory, revelations of mysteries: all, as in some great public storehouse, are treasured up in the Book of Psalms."  -- St. Basil on the Psalms


    Spurgeon in his Treasury of David (commentary on the Psalms) frequently writes about Christ in the Psalms and time and time again how a particular Psalm points to Christ and the rest of the NT.


    Indeed, I am just as much a sinner as a blaspheming Jew and just as deserving of God's Wrath and Punishment, and I know that I am the chief of sinners.  I have a long way to go in my walk.  Yet I am a sinner saved by Grace through Faith (Eph. 2:8) and NOT doubting because of God's Promises in Rom. 8, John 3:16, and other wonderous passages!


    I post this only to warn the Church against this wolf in sheep's clothing

22/05/2006

  • I'll probably be called a traitor to Ireland by some people for this.  Anyway, I am renouncing categorically my Irish Republican beliefs as the ideology (which I've realised is a variant of PLO terrorism and Marxism) finds no support in Scripture.  I did not support militant Republicanism, but nonetheless, Republicanism even the pacific kind is devoid of Christ and is not Scriptural.


    (BTW, I am speaking of Irish Republican ideology, not US Republican ideology.)

13/05/2006

  • Pictures from Scotland (first of several posts)


    Glasgow Cathedral (the original wooden building which St. Mungo built)



     


    Scots Guards Memorial Plaque in the Cathedral (for those who died in active service while fighting terrorism and Northern Irish upheaval)



     


    Scars on interior Cathedral columns (where the Reformers/Covenanters removed the Popish idols from the church during the Reformation)



    St. Mungo's Tomb (St. Mungo was instrumental in bringing the Gospel to Glasgow)



     


    John Knox Monument at the Necropolis/Cemetery adjacent the Cathedral (also commemorated other Covenanters on the monument)



     


    Museum of Religious Life (a quilt done by all the Church of Scotland's parishes in Glasgow;  NOTE: the original city motto of Glasgow at the top)



     


    Glasgow Exhibition Centre (looks like the Sydney Opera House)



     


    Buchanan St. Pedestrian District (mainly shops, the least expensive watch I saw was $14,000)



     


    Street Entertainer on Buchanan St. (actually, he is not a statue; when a person put a coin in his box, he acted for the person.)



     


    Glasgow from atop the main Tower of Glasgow University



     


    My good friend Steve and I atop the University Tower (Steve is the friend that I met in college and, after a stint as an engineer, is serving as a missionary and church planter in Glasgow)



     


    The Glasgow Tall Ship Glenlee (last merchant sailing vessel of Glasgow; became a motorised trader in the Mediterranean and practise target for the Spanish Navy, and was restored)



     


    Old River Clyde Pedestrian Ferry being restored:



     


    Glasgow Police Helicopter Landing (next to Tall Ship)



     


    Glasgow Police helicopter Taking Off shortly after (routine city surveillance mission)



    Warm afternoon day in Steve's neighborhood:



     


    The view from Steve's top floor flat



     


    Next picture post:  "FREEDOM!!!"  (Stirling: William Wallace's and Robert the Bruce's stomping ground for Scottish Independence)