The holy cows in Kathmandu, Nepal

The efforts to make Kathmandu a holy city are everywhere.  Temples, shrines, holy men, monks and holy cows.  From the airport in a taxi, way over its normal usage,  I raced through the city.  Our way is suddenly obstructed by holy cows.  Yes, I know many use the term to describe events but these are real cows.  They walk around as if they know that people consider them special.  They lie down in the middle of the roads and chew their belched up dinner.  They refuse to move so the taxi weaves around as if that is what is expected.  I am amused by this and question the driver.  "Is there a law that allows the cow to move about at their will?"  "Yes, a religious law."  It is a "law" stronger than the law of the land.    If you happen to kill a man you go to prison for 7 years..  If you kill one of these cows it will cost you 20 years.  The cows are a part of the reincarnation process.  The cow could very well be one of your relatives.  It could even be your grandmother.

On one of my taxi trips I ask the driver, "Do you ever eat a part of these cows?"  He looked around him as if someone might be listening.  I was the only one in the car.  "At night Sir, at night."  The holiness of these cows was brought into question.

I ask another about the cows. " Would you eat the meat of a dead cow?"  If they have died was his carefully guarded answer.  I ask about the way a cow might die.  "Sometimes they fall off a cliff."  I could not help but ask how that might happen.  In a guarded answer I understood that sometimes the holy cows are helped to fall.

So there you have the holy cows of Kathmandu.  Decide for yourself just how holy they are.

South China Morning Post and other great newspapers

The joy of holding in your hands a great newspaper is just that.  A joy.  One of first things I do in arriving in Hong Kong is buy newspapers.  I read about Myanmar's New Dawn.  Is it really possible?  Aung San Sii Kyi takes a deep breath.  She is pondering her next move.  Hillary is to visit Myanmar (Burma) December the 1st.  I read about Obama's victory in his Asian whirlwind stops.  I am not sure what the victory was suppose to be.  Thaksin former disgraced ex-preimer of Thailand refuses a pardon.  What is he up to?  Former president Arroyo has been arrested.  She has suddenly  become gravely ill.  Pope preaches in voodoo city.  Wow!  Woman risked life for a bigger bottom.  I just read them.  Whites are returning to S. African.  Maybe its not such a bad place.  Chinese people help Ai Weiwei pay his taxes.  What's the next government's harassing move?  The increasing lure of female suicide bombers.  What have they been promised?  Life in Hong Kong in an 18 sq ft cubicle. The poor are everywhere.  Tiger delivers to silence the critics.  We'll see.  A great newspaper.

Sue and I are off to a lunch with some Indian friends at their home.  Great food ahead.  I love their curry, tandoori chicken, naan, long tea, spices, spices.  Can't wait.  Got to go.

A few questions for the atheist.

What's the point?  I do not mean the point of your belief but the point of anything.  Nothing really makes much sense without God.  If there is no God then who decides what is right and what is wrong?  Right must be whatever I say is right.  You may disagree but it doesn't matter.  I decide.  Since there is no One to whom I must answer then the consequences of my decisions are rightly deserved.  You go your way and I'll go mine.  However, what will happen is our paths will cross and our rights and wrongs will clash.  I suppose it then depends on who is the strongest.  If you win then I will be forced to agree with you but that doesn't mean you are right.  It is your force that mandates the course.

If there is no God then I must act quickly to seize what I can of life because it is quickly slipping away.  I must eat, drink and be merry for tomorrow I die.  I just go away to be vaguely remembered for a time but then RIP.  What I gain in this life must be enjoyed quickly and to the utmost.  This is all there is.

Of course, I should live by some moral standard  but that is confusing too.  Who sets this standard?  Who is to enforce it.  You have no right to force your morals on me.  Further, you have no right to judge me.  By what standard do you plan on using.  If you are going to enforce your ethical way of life on me then you become god.  But you said there is no God.  I forgot.

The Bible, which is a very good book, says that it is the fool who says, "There is no God."  I can understand that. You have to be a fool to believe that.  This seems to be a foolish argument.  No God doesn't make any sense whatsoever.  This belief takes away life itself.  There simply is no real purpose outside of God.  Pleasure would have to be the only purpose and that pleasure you would have to decide on for yourself.  Our pleasures would probably not get along with each other.

Oh well, enough of this foolish talk.  There is a God and all men will know that in time.  My pleasure is in my relationship with Him.  My daily walk with Him brings a meaningful purpose to all I do.  What joy indeed.  You that have a problem believing in a personal God might want to reconsider your belief.   God is worth knowing.  

Funny theologies.

I do not mean funny in a "ha ha" sense but a funny way in that they are strange. I look at these differently than a cult.  A cult is a rejection of basic Christian beliefs. A cult will always fail in the test of who Christ is.  Funny theologies are found within the "Christian" world.   They are a corruption of Biblical truth and create a lot of confusion.

More and more our Christian world is being invaded with this funny stuff. We have had the hyper faith movement.  You still find some of it.  The prosperity gospel was thrown at us and caused confusion.  I was invited not to long ago to a church that claimed to have gold dust falling in worship.  That drew people.  I didn't see any.

Soul sleep is not new but has been resurrected.  A keeping of the sabbath in the Old Testament way is still around.  I suppose the newest funny theology is the messianic movement.  They really can not get their act together as to what they believe but it is basically a resurrection of the Galatians problem that the Apostle Paul deals with.  Of course, no one can forget 88 reasons why the Lord will come in 1988.  He didn't come.  I don't know where those followers are.

Some of this stuff is so strange that you have to laugh.  They throw these funny things out and expect everyone to accept it without question.  After all, they will tell you, this is a new revelation.  They forget that Solomon said, "there is nothing new under the sun."

The best way to keep from falling into one of these traps is to know your Bible.  A solid biblical knowledge will help you recognize funny theologies when you hear them.  They will continue to come.  Jesus warned in Matthew 24 of mass confusion within the Christian faith in the days just before He returns.  The confusion will be so great that many will depart from the faith.

Call them what you like but beware they can cause you to fall.

  

Oh, how I love Christmas!

It is in the air.  It has been since the "ber" months started.  The music is playing.  The decorations are going up.  Excitement is in the air.  I am not sure what part of Christmas I like the most but I like the season.  I suppose it would start with the carols.  My favorite?  Wow.  That's a hard one.

"I am dreaming of a white Christmas."  I love that one.  Silent night.  Joy to the world.  Jingle bells.  I even like Rudolph and Frosty.  I love Christmas trees all bright and cheery.  I love the lights, the gatherings, the gifts.  I like to give and receive.  What a beautiful way to tell someone we care.

I do not know what day our Lord was born into our world.  It probably was not the 25th of December.  There were 364 other days He could have chosen.  I am not sure it really matters.  What I do know is Jesus was born and we should celebrate his birthday.  After all most of celebrate our own birthdays.

There are some who say they do not believe in Christmas.  I am not sure why or what they mean by making such a declaration.  Do they not believe that Jesus came?  If He did come why not celebrate.  In stating we do not believe in something we are making a statement of personal principle.  Being a principle we must not violate it in anyway.  We must reject the Christmas bonus.  We must not accept gifts and tell the giver that it is against our principle.  We must not attend any Christmas gathers.  After all our religious convictions are on the line here.

As for me and my house we will celebrate the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The decorations are up.  The kitchen is preparing.  The smells are in the air.  Let's celebrate.  Its Jesus' birthday.

The King James Version

The KJV is a translation just like NIV, NASV, ASV, Message, Living Bible, Amplified, etc, etc.  They are all guilty.  They are translations.  Each one done in a different time and authorized by different sources.  The KJV is a translation no better or worse than others.  It depends on your need.

The KJV was authorized by King James I.  He certainly was no holy man.  When the supporters of this version talk,  they sometimes speak of the fact that it is the authorized version.  So was every other translation.

If you are a purist you might want to consider taking Hebrew and Greek so you do not have to rely on a translation.  But even if you so this, remember that there are no original manuscripts of the bible.  They do not exist.  The nearest thing we have are the dead sea scrolls.  But they are copies of a source nearest the original.  

Just a warning.  Be careful how you berate other translations over the KJV.  It is no different and somewhat difficult because of its usage of the old English.  To speak of it as of Satan is very dangerous.  You will have more questions about your stand than you can answer.  

Every translation is a serious effort to bring the bible into a language we can understand.  And, by the way,  what translation do the various language groups use.  If you speak an very obscure chinese dialect how are you going to ever read a King James Version.  To listen to some you are in big trouble.  You probably will never make it to heaven.  I think the proverbial Saint Peter is going to check at the gate to see what translation you have been using.  Excuse me, I am going to look for my old KJV.  I think it is here somewhere being neglected. 

Ramblings!

1.  Buddhists have flags that doing their praying for them.  Cool!

2.  Nepal has an airline called Buddha Air.

3.  Thailand is seriously flooded.

4.  Do you think there will be an Occupy the World movement?  The problem is when it is over where would we go?

5.  There are several countries in the Middle East who do not have a leader.  They just up and got rid of them.  Now what?

6.  Israel is dead serious!

7.  God doesn't care for about half of our so called theology.  He didn't have anything to do with it anyway.

8.  The last days won't last.

9.  Christmas is real.

10.  Pray before you go to bed and you will sleep better.