I have a quick shameless plug.   We have been working quite a while on our cross-translation keyword search over at Bibleshark.com.    We are happy with what we are delivering on a first phase release.  We are investigating some new technologies etc. to increase the speed and accuracy of the search over time.   I still believe it to be the one of the best if not the best bible search on the net and there will be more to come.

“We the willing, led by the unknowing, are doing the impossible for the ungrateful. We have done so much, with so little, for so long, we are now qualified to do anything, with nothing.”

 

This is just to good.

WATCHMEN Book Cover

I just got back from a relaxing vacation and part of that relaxation time was spent reading WATCHMEN.  I went to a movie about a month ago and saw a preview for the WATCHMEN movie that is out in theaters now and that it was based on the graphic novel.   I haven’t ever read a graphic novel and immediately thought that this one would be a good one to read.  I picked up a copy the day before we left for vacation and I completed it today.  The book is awesome and I would highly recommend reading it if your looking for a great piece of fiction.  This book is outstanding from a literary and artistic viewpoint.   This novel really paints a picture of evil and how it decays the world. Though this book really didn’t strive for a hidden Christian message of any kind, I found the following quote from the text fitting:

“I guess I’ve just reached a point where I’ve started to wonder whether all the grandstanding and fighting individual evils does much good for the world as a whole.  Those evils are just symptoms of an overall sickness of the human spirit, and I don’t believe you can cure a disease by suppressing its symptoms.”  Adrian Veidt (Ozymandias)

Go out and grab a copy if your looking for an entertaining read.  I plan to read more graphic novels and I am looking forward to selecting the next one to read.

I have found myself in many situations where I needed to run this command in order to start with a clean slate in regard to policy.  Putting it here on the blog will ensure I can find the command the next time that I need it.   In short, there are times when you move machines from domain to domain or you have done a series of policy edits over time and your RSOP (Resultant Set of Policy) just doesn’t seem to be accurate.  When I find myself in this situation, I run the command below:

secedit /configure /cfg %windir%\repair\secsetup.inf /db secsetup.sdb /verbose

After running this command I reboot the machine, log back in, and run a  “gpupdate /force” to pull the policy back down.  I then check the RSOP again to see where I stand.  I have found that this command is very helpful in troubleshooting RSOP while cleaning up the trash.

We are proud to announce that the first revision of our Cross-Translation Concordance is up and functional.  We know that the first revision needs some work and we plan to deliver the needed functionality.  We wanted to go ahead and get it out there knowing that it is already a beneficial tool.   We are currently delivering 32,004 unique words showing up 2,204,761 times in 16 translations of the Bible.   We have everything from Aarabah to Zuzims.

We designed this concordance to be almost identical to a printed Bible Concordance.  You choose the starting letter which will then give you pages of results for words that start with that letter.  The words are in alphabetical order and each page will list the first and last word at the top (just like a dictionary/concordance).  For example,  the first page of words for the letter “L” starts with “laabim” and ends with “lands” so you will see “laabim through lands” at the top and bottom of the page.

We hope you like the functionality.  As always, feedback is welcome.

I was reading in Galatians and came across this verse that summarizes a thought that I have had and preached before.  So many people claim that being a Christian requires an additional act that we must perform.  They believe in the following equation:

Jesus Christ + Something = Righteousness

Paul targets a group of people just like this in his letter to the Galatians known as the Judaizers.   This was a group of  Jewish Christians that still believed that many of the ceremonial practices in the Old Testament were still necessary in the New Testament church.  For example, they wanted to force Gentiles that became Christians to follow through in circumcision.   The Judaizers believed that righteousness required Jesus Christ + something else.  Many current denominations have similar requirements.  For example they may require Jesus Christ + Baptism to achieve righteousness.  These current day Church requirements are  Church Law just like the Old Testament Jewish Law that the Galatians refused let go. Paul describes this as “foolish” (Galations 3:1).    Galatians 2:21 summarizes it perfectly:

²¹ “I do not nullify the grace of God; for if righteousness comes through the Law, then Christ died needlessly.”

If there is any other requirement/law other than Jesus Christ that is required for righteousness, then Christ’s death on the Cross is worthless unless that additional law is fulfilled.  That makes the additional law more powerful than Christ’s death and thus his death would be “needless” and it would “nullify the grace of God”.   With that being said, I hope you can rely on the below equation as truth:

Jesus Christ = Righteousness

I have written a few post on this blog that touched briefly on the origin of faith. You can find some brief faith talk in the comments of “Do Southern Baptist Believe in Predestination?” and “Faith is the key“. Please keep in mind as you read the babblings of this sinner that I am growing in the truth by the grace of God each day. I often look back at my posts and wonder why I wrote some of things I did, but it is also reassuring to read these posts as evidence of a growing relationship with a gracious redeemer. I hope that you will continue to read as I attempt to share with you what I believe is the true origin of faith and more specifically “faith in Christ”.

Lets start with the salvation equation:

Romans 10:9 that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord, and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved;

I think that pretty well sums up how individuals are saved (become a Christian). I think we can all agree that the above equation has a conversion prerequisite. We know people aren’t born believing and confessing. We know that there was obviously a time when they were not believing and confessing, which is why the act of believing and confessing Christ is so special when it happens. It represents a change of heart. There is a difference in the person. So I think it is safe to say that some type of conversion has happened in the individual’s heart to bring about believing and confessing. So why did they start believing and confessing? Why did they put their faith in Christ? One minute we have a sinner on the path to hell and the next minute we have a believing and confessing Christian on the path to righteousness and full of faith. Where did the faith come from?

Faith is possessed by Man and provided by God:

Faith is possessed by man, however he does not have the ability as a sinful creature to create it within himself (Romans 3:10-18). We read in Hebrews 12:2 that Jesus is “the author and perfecter of faith”. You will also read in in Acts 14:27 that God “opened a door of faith to the Gentiles”. These verses show that Faith comes from God. Paul makes this very clear to us in Romans 12:3.

“For by the grace given me I say to every one of you: Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you.’

Paul said “Grace Given me” and “Faith God has given you”. Grace and Faith our given by God. Salvation is given by God. We see the words “Grace”, “Faith”, and “Saved” in Ephesians 2:8-9 where we see that these things are a gift from god, not of ourselves, so that no man may boast. It is important to understand that we are all children of wrath (Ephesians 2:1-7). We are all of darkness and darkness cannot create light within itself. Light must shine into a dark space to light it up (John 1:1-5 , 1 John 2:8-11).

True mercy and grace can only exist in a state of complete helplessness. If salvation through faith was as simple as a choice, then we would be helping ourselves. Faith comes from God.

A quick update:

• We are still living in Kansas City
• I got promoted to Interim Director of Information Technology at my company. Now I got to get that “Interim” removed.
• The Lockman Foundation granted Bibleshark.com the right to use the New American Standard Bible and the Amplified Bible
• I actually completed my first Masters class in the MSIS program at Nova and I am on to the next one.
• Kassa and I spent our 11th Valentines Day together….yep…Still in Love
• We are leaving for a much needed vacation in San Francisco in 2 weeks
• I am reading 3 books simultaneously and slowly
  • The Only Investment Guide You’ll Ever Need by Andrew Tobias
  • The Case For Christ by Lee Strobel
  • The Attributes of GOD by Arthur W. Pink
  • Next on the list: Southern Baptists and the Doctrine of Election by Robert B. Selph

You can vote for bibleshark.com by clicking the following link: VOTE FOR BIBLESHARK

The listing can be viewed here.

I really hope this gains some ground. I know the dev geeks are all sick and tired of Microsoft strong-arming with IE. I have to admit that IE7 was a little better in regards to web standards and the ease of cross-browser compatibility. However, they are still throwing their weight around.

Opera Files EU Antitrust Suit Against Microsoft