Category: Fun

Calvin, Coffee & Blogging

~ Bob Hayton ~ 3 Comments

Blogging has been a tad slow lately. I’m spread out over several blogging ventures now. Re:Fundamentals.org, KJVOnlyDebate.com, and CrossFocusedReviews.com all need tweaking. I thought I’d share a post about a great new blogroll I recently joined. If you aren’t connected to fundamentalism or don’t want to join the Reforming Fundamentalist blog network I created, this blogroll might be more up your alley. Regardless the blogs on the network would make for great additions to your RSS reader.

Shane Vander Hart of Caffeinated Thoughts, started this blogroll. If you like Calvin, Coffee and Blogging, it might be just right for you! Click the image below to learn more.



Aspiring PolyMathis

By Grace Alone

Caffeinated Thoughts

Calvinistic Cartoons

Chris Ashton

Daily On My Way To Heaven

Deek Dubberly

Early Christian America

Fundamentally Reformed

Heavenly Springs

Orange County Calvinist

Journal from the Street

Justification by Grace

Random Thoughts From A Cluttered Mind

Reformed Women

Remissioned

Romans 11:36

Shane Waldrop

Taylormatthews

The Bible Christian

The Hafts

The Old Dead Guys

Theology for Girls

Theology Girl

Theology Girls

The Purple Sparrow

The Reformed Traveler

who am i?

Introducing The Reforming Fundamentalists Blog Network

~ Bob Hayton ~ 1 Comment

Cross-posted from the group blog, Re-Fundamentals.org. This represents the latest version of what I started a long time ago with the Fundamental Reformers blogroll.

We now have The Reforming Fundamentalists Blog Network up and running. Past members of Transformed by Grace and fellow contributors of Re:Fundamentals.org were included as members of the network. Anyone interested in joining can visit the network page here on this site.

Please note, if you are listed as a member of the network, we would still ask that you please take the time to add the blog network to your blog sidebar.

The following is from the description of the blog network.

The Reforming Fundamentalists Blog Network is a listing of blogs maintained by people connected to the independent Fundamental Baptist (IFB) movement. The IFB movement is widespread and includes a vast assortment of various fundamentalist camps. Most of these could do with some reformation. Some of the problems members of the network are standing against include: man-centered pragmatism; domineering leadership; emotionally-high, doctrinally-shallow preaching; rules-based, performance-oriented sanctification; and a lack of charitableness to other Christian groups.

Members of the network are at various stages in their journey with the Lord. Some work for change from within the IFB movement. Others view themselves as historic fundamentalists who embrace the fundamentals of the faith but not necessarily the fightin’ fundy mindset.

These blogs should all have some content devoted to the fundamentalist problem, but by no stretch do we think that members must all be crusader-blogs. This blog network is intended to spread the word about the new movement of young fundamentalists who care about the Bible and want to right the fundamentalist ship. The network is also about getting to know one another and sharing our common experiences. Often seeing what someone else went through and how similar it was to your own experience, can have a healing affect. It can also sharpen our thinking.

My hope is that continued interaction among the members of the network will help us realize Eph. 4:13-15: “Until we all attain to the unity of the faith and of the knowledge of the Son of God to mature manhood, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, so that we may no longer be children, tossed to and fro by the waves and carried about by every wind of doctrine, by human cunning, by craftiness in deceitful schemes. Rather, speaking the truth in love, we are to grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ…. (ESV)”

Jack the Ripper and the King James Bible

~ Bob Hayton ~ 9 Comments

What does Jack the Ripper have to do with the King James Bible? Well, apparently he represents judgment on those of us who abandoned that old faithful translation of generations past. In 1881 the Revised Version came out and met with widespread approval. So seven years later, in 1888, 5 women faced a gruesome death at the heads of a maniac dubbed Jack the Ripper. Who’d have known this was retribution for abandoning the King James Bible?

Here’s the comment we received at the KJV Only? debate blog yesterday which alleges this very thing, that Jack the Ripper was judgment on Britain for abandoning the King James Bible.

I would think 1881 is a good year to note as a line of demarcation of overlap and underlap of the Church of the Laodiceans and the Church in Philadelphia because after all, that is when the Laodiceans started to accept the old/new Bible which after 7 years were rewarded for their deeds by being visited by Jack the Ripper (by their fruits ye shall know them). The Philadelphian Church Age will continue as long as the Rapture because there are going to be those who stand for the faith once delivered to the saints until that time. Revelation 3 says (well at least it does in my Bible) …

Re 3:10 Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I also will keep thee from the hour of temptation, which shall come upon all the world, to try them that dwell upon the earth.
11 Behold, I come quickly: hold that fast which thou hast, that no man take thy crown.
12 Him that overcometh will I make a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go no more out: and I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, which is new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God: and I will write upon him my new name.

Now of course, the 2001 ESV is to blame for America’s tragic terror incident of 911. But we could turn the tables on the KJB. In 1607 the translation work for the KJB was being done in earnest. That’s also the year that the England’s Bristol Channel flooded, killing over 2,000 people. (That’s a lot more than 5.) Then around the time the King James Bible was finally gaining or surpassing the place of the Geneva Bible as the most used English Bible, there was the Great Plague of London which killed over 100,000 people (1665-1666). Surely that was judgment on England for abandoning the old Geneva Bible.

This comment illustrates that sometimes, people will see connections where they want to see them. It’s hard reasoning with this mentality. For those on either side of the KJB debate, let us work toward a careful and calm interaction, not a conspiracy theory-driven mentality that frankly doesn’t edify anyone.

**Illustration by Henrik Rehr, taken from the Danish comic Slim nr. 7 (Slime no. 7), used by permission.

–cross posted at the King James Only? debate blog

The Push for 5,000

~ Bob Hayton ~ 18 Comments

I have a special mark approaching for my blog. In October, it will be 5 years of blogging. But sooner than that, I will hit the 5,000 approved comments mark.

I’ve run the full gamut of comments over the years. I’ve seen many helped, and several ticked off. I have had hundreds of people share that my story has blessed them and that they find my blog helpful. I’m grateful that sharing my thoughts like this has been a blessing for so many. I’ve also had my share of critics and debates. In the early days of my blogs, we’d run up 50 comments plus and dozens of pages of interaction on some of my posts. Occasionally I’ve had to delete some over-the-top comments, as well, and I won’t even mention all the spam (none of the deleted comments count toward the 5,000, by the way).

I appreciate those who’ve read my blog over the years, and am thankful for all this interaction. I’ve even been blessed to be able to consider many of you as my blogging friends — and meet some of you in person.

In honor of the 5,000 mark soon approaching, I thought I’d do a push for some comments and give out a prize to the person with comment #5,000. I won’t tell you how far away from the 5,000 mark I am, but it is easily attainable by comments to this post, or some of the other recent posts. I would imagine we could hit it today or tomorrow.

The prize will be your choice of one of three books I have available to give away. To enter, just leave a comment on this or any post. If your comment is #5,000 you win. Please until this contest is over, limit yourself to one comment per post with a max of 3 comments per person — to be fair to everyone. To save the expense to me, I’m going to limit the contest to residents of the U.S.A., although I must say I’ve been blessed to have faithful readers beyond the borders of America.

Here are the three books which the winner can choose from. Click on the picture for more details. Thanks again for making this blog successful, and for taking the time to drop comments. I always appreciate the interaction.

A Biblegeek’s Dream: Viewing The Dead Sea Scrolls

~ Bob Hayton ~ 16 Comments

I had the opportunity of a lifetime. Last night, fellow biblioblogger and good friend, Shaun “the Bible Geek” Tabatt and I went to see the Dead Sea Scrolls! They are on display at the Science Museum of Minnesota from now through mid-October.

Words cannot describe the experience. A picture might help. Notice the smiles…

Unfortunately, they don’t allow photography inside the exhibit. But I don’t know how you’d be able to take in the exhibit with flash photography all around.

The exhibit has plenty of information and artifacts to hold your interest for 2 hours or more, easily. I felt like we were rushing and we spent more than an hour and a half. If it was just Shaun and I and no babysitters to worry about, we’d have spent all night there…. As it was we had our wives and another couple along with.

I enjoyed learning more about the history of the discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls. Duke University refused to purchase some of them when first found. And three were advertised for sale in a newspaper, if you can believe it.

The scroll jars and artifacts from 2,000 years ago were also fascinating. The coins dating back to before Christ were even more interesting. I couldn’t help but thinking of National Treasure (the movie), when we noticed the humidity and temperature gauges in the display cases.

The highlight, of course, were the scrolls themselves. They had 5 manuscripts on display. I’ve heard that a total of 15 mss will be rotated through the exhibit. Of the 5 I saw, only 3 were Biblical: Isaiah, Psalms and Genesis. The other texts were the Temple Scroll, and the Damascus document.

With my limited Hebrew (and with some help from the English translations), I was able to make out some words in the Hebrew. On the Psalms manuscript, which was by far the largest manuscript there (portions of six or seven columns), a proto-Hebraic script was used for the name of the LORD (Yahweh). On the other scrolls I was able to read the tetragrammaton (YHWH). On the Genesis scroll I was able to see Jacob’s name twice. I also clearly observed that there were no vowel points in the Hebrew script. (A point that some King James Onlyists dispute, siding with John Owen against the unified testimony of evangelical scholarship.)

The whole exhibit was exhilirating, but there was something extra special about a couple of the text choices. Isaiah’s manuscript started with 53:10. They don’t mention how Christianity interprets that text, however. Even more thrilling to me, was seeing Ps. 119:89 written there in a 2,000 year old manuscript. “Forever, O LORD, your word is firmly fixed in the heavens”. These manuscripts attest that God has preserved His Word for us faithfully down through the ages on earth, even, like it is in heaven.

The discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls is widely proclaimed as one of the greatest archaeological discoveries of all time. God in His providence has given us more insight into the original text of Scripture. And while there remain some questions as to particular readings here or there, the Dead Sea Scrolls witness to the stability and accuracy of the text of the Bible. It was a privilege to see some of that in person.

For more on the Dead Sea Scrolls, you’ll want to come up to Minneapolis and visit the exhibit. Or you can learn more at some of the following links.