Chocolate Chip Cookies

“It was snack time at Sunday School and the teacher was getting ready to hand out giant chocolate chip cookies.  Two young brothers began to argue over who would get the first cookie.  The teacher saw an opportunity for a moral lesson: “If Jesus were here, He would say ‘Let my brother have the first cookie.  I can wait.’”

The older boy turned to his brother and said, ‘You be Jesus.’”

From the Big Book of Church Jokes, published by Barbour Publishing, Inc. Used by permission.

Why Life Begins at Conception, Part 4

The sperm (from the father) and the egg (from the mother) each carry one half of the parent’s genetic information.  At fertilization, a full set of genetic information is present; the exact same full set of information which is present in every cell of the adult individual.  Between thirty and one hundred fifty million sperm compete to reach an egg after each sexual act.  Each one of these sperm carries one half of the full set of the father’s genetic information.

The fertilized egg begins almost immediately to reproduce itself. Each copy carries a  full set of genetic information; the exact same full set of information which is present in every cell of the adult individual.

The cells form a flattened disk called the blastodisc and a groove, the neural groove, develops in the middle of the disk.  The walls of the groove rise up and close together to form the neural tube.  The neural tube becomes the spinal cord.  Each cell in the structure carries a  full set of genetic information; the exact same full set of information which is present in every cell of the adult individual.

This short video is of a chicken embryo, but the process is exactly the same in the human embryo.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nuL2wUOZKf8&feature=related

At each step of the baby’s development every cell in the body carries a full set of genetic information; the exact same full set of information which is present in every cell of the adult individual.   If a blind DNA analysis were to be performed on two separately submitted specimens, on the embryo and on tissue taken from the mother, the result would be this: the analysis would show two individuals who were related genetically.  

A Financial Company Dedicated to Biblically Responsible Investing

The Timothy Plan was created in 1992 by Arthur Ally as a retirement plan for evangelical pastors.  The plan is now a family of funds which screens investment opportunities for activities inconsistent with a conservative Evangelical Judeo-Christian understanding.  The items for which the plan screens include alcohol, tobacco, abortion, pornography, casino gambling, anti-family entertainment, alternative lifestyles, and anti-Israel bias.  As do all legitimate investment firms, the plan warns that "Investing in a mutual fund may result in loss of principal."

Book Comment: The Money Answer Book

The Money Answer Book (2010) by Dave Ramsey, is a collection of questions and answers about money and personal finance from a Christian perspective.  There is nothing of the heretical Prosperity Gospel here.  Ramsey does not teach that you can have a person “key to God’s bank.”

Several of the principles taught by Ramsey include:

1.     Be responsible to God and your family in your use of money.

2.     Discuss all money decisions with your spouse.

3.     Do not borrow money.

4.     Get rid of debt.

5.     Do not let your emotions be manipulated into buying  things.  You do not need more things. 

6.     Tithe.

An example Ramsey gives:

“The average monthly car payment is $378.  If you only have one car payment you’re shelling out almost $5000 in one year.  Investing $378 per month in a good growth stock market fund from age 25 to age 65 will be worth more than $4.4 million !”

In the book, Ramsey discusses:

1.     401K and IRA retirement saving accounts

2.     Saving and Investment

3.     Retirement

4.     Insurance

5.     Real Estate

6.     Student Loans

The book is interspersed with biblical quotations with illuminate the points being made.

Wanting to Be a Millionaire

"It is absolutely okay for a Christian to want to be a millionaire, because as Christians we know that no matter how much we have, we own nothing.  We are simply managers of the resources God has given us.  If we can manage God's Money, whether $100 or $1 million, we are okay."  Dave Ramsey

Dave Ramsey is a Christian financial expert who advocates living debt-free on a strictly cash basis.  His advice is biblically based and does not seem to be associated with the heretical Prosperity Gospel.  His basic message is work hard, don't spend more than you have, and don't borrow money on credit.

Roll Tide! War Eagle!

I have spoken before about how football is almost a religion in Alabama.  People are born into Alabama or Auburn families and sons of players at one school almost invariably play at the same school.  Most approach this in a rational fashion and take good natured pokes at one another.  As with anything, a few become obsessive to absurd levels.

Today is the first game day of the 2012 season.  Auburn is playing the Clemson Tigers in Atlanta, Georgia and the currently second-ranked Alabama is visiting the Michigan Wolverines in Dallas, Texas. 

(Some videos will not play properly when you click on the triangle.  Instead,  click on the title line in the picture and the video will begin .  When the video is completed, close the You Tube pop-up window to return to this blog.)

Roll tide

War Eagle flight

The origin of Crimson Tide and Roll Tide:

The Rose Bowl in Pasadena, California is where the Alabama team won their first four national titles (a total of fourteen.)  The national sports writers spoke of the team looking like a tide of red, a Crimson Tide, pouring onto the field.

The association with an elephant (the mascot: Big Al) began because the sports writers noticed a picture of a red elephant on the personal storage trunks the players brought with them.  The trunks were supplied to the team by a local Birmingham luggage company, Rosenberger's Birmingham Trunk, whose business logo is a red elephant.  The elephant logo refers to the strength of the trunks which they sell.

The origin of War Eagle:

The Auburn Tigers mascot is Aubie the Tiger.  The eagle, also, became associated with the team very early in Auburn history. In 1892, an eagle circled over the football field during a football game and the fans pointed into the air and yelled “War Eagle!”  

The Importance of Christianity

"Christianity, if false, is of no importance, and if true, is of infinite importance.  The only thing it cannot be is moderately important."  C.S. Lewis (b. 1898, England - d. 1963) Writer, Christian apologist.