Paradoxes With Americas Christian Faith

Seeded on Tue Dec 5, 2006 9:40 AM EST (mattfarina.com)

The American Christian seems to be living in a paradox these days. This is what I found doing a little research on Christians from a few year old Barna Update. The update showed not just paradoxes in your church goer but some disturbing insights into pastors themselves.

church, faith, bible, christian, outreach

New Yahoo Maps Released

Seeded on Mon Nov 27, 2006 7:54 AM EST (mattfarina.com)

When Google released Google Maps they revolutionized online maps leaving Yahoo and Mapquest in the dust. In response Yahoo started working on the New Yahoo Maps. For quite some time it has been available to use while they work out the bugs and refine the features.

flash, google, yahoo, maps, ajax, yahoo-maps

Under The Influence

Seeded on Mon Nov 20, 2006 1:01 PM EST (mattfarina.com)

This past weekend I was at a bar with a mechanical bull. With mechanical bulls there are two general camps of people. Those who have ridden the bull and those who haven't yet secretly want to but are a little scared.

church, ministry, passion, shot, bible-study, enthusiasm, mechanical-bull

Leadership, Abraham Lincoln Style

Seeded on Mon Nov 13, 2006 1:13 PM EST (mattfarina.com)

Have you ever listened to a leader and thought, "You just don't have it right"? Have you looked at the world around you with all of the different types of leaders and wondered what makes a good leader? I have been asking myself both of these questions for the last couple days but …

church, leaders, leadership, abraham-lincoln

A Quote To Think About

Seeded on Mon Nov 13, 2006 9:35 AM EST (mattfarina.com)

"We have seen in the last decade the decline of the American government and the weakness of the American soldier, who is ready to wage cold wars and unprepared to fight long wars. This was proven in Beirut when the Marines fled after two explosions.

iraq, war, terrorist, abc-news, osama-bin-laden

How Many Kids Should Christians Have?

Seeded on Thu Nov 9, 2006 12:39 PM EST (mattfarina.com)

God has expectations for his people. Is the number of kids we try to have an expectation he has for us? I have been asking myself this question all week. Let me try to paint the picture how I came to this question and why I think it is really tough for us to personally answer.

children, population, kids, god, bible, oakland-county, genesis

Smear Campaigns Work

Seeded on Wed Nov 8, 2006 9:58 AM EST (mattfarina.com)

Smear campaigns work. This is a simple truth about about elections and many campaigns are turning not into campaigns for a person or their agenda but a campaign against their opponent. The idea is, if they can show the other person is worse, people will vote for them.

democrats, politics, republicans, polls

Genealogy from Adam to King Henry the VI

Seeded on Wed Nov 1, 2006 2:04 PM EST (mattfarina.com)

Genealogies that go back a few hundred years can be fun to look at. Ones that go back thousands of years are just plain amazing. That's what the genealogy of King Henry the VI is. This genealogy, from the Lambeth Castle in England, traces from Adam To Henery the VI.

europe, adam, genealogy, king-henry-vi

Worldviews in Science, Academia, and Philosophy

Seeded on Tue Oct 31, 2006 8:12 AM EST (mattfarina.com)

Do scientists and philosophers look at the world the same way you do? Each of us has a perspective, known as a worldview, that we view the world around us from. We make assumptions based on it, we make decisions based on it, and we view others and events based on it.

science, philosophy, ideology, academia, materialism, worldview, naturalism

7 Mistakes Ministry Startups Make

Seeded on Wed Oct 18, 2006 3:08 PM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Ministry startups fail on a regular basis. Even with some of the best people and great ideals there is a point where things can go sour and more often than not do. In the end there is a failed ministry and a bunch of people standing around in the aftermath wondering what happened.

leadership, bible, downfall, effort, ministries

Uniformitarianism, A Piss Poor Science Assumption

Seeded on Tue Oct 17, 2006 9:26 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Scientists make a lot of assumptions to come to the conclusions they do. Stephen Hawking calls some of his assumptions "ideological". In order to come to the conclusions scientists do they have to make assumptions to fill in holes.

flood, science, astronomy, paleontology, geology, earth-quake, catastrophism, uniformitarianism

Didn't the Fall of Man Already Happen?

Seeded on Mon Oct 16, 2006 8:19 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Have you ever watched an apocalypse movie and wondered what it would be like to live in a fallen world? Or, ever talked about what it would be like if society as we knew it crumbled? Ever thought about how you would treat others if you survived into this world? If you saw people …

death, life, god, good, fall, bad, bible, sin, apocalypse

The Creation Of Man

Seeded on Thu Oct 12, 2006 11:47 PM EDT (mattfarina.com)

God created man. At least that's what Genesis 2 says. The way Genesis says God created man has some pretty large implications on who we are and what our lives mean. After Genesis quickly covers creation it slows down for man and gives some more detail.

woman, man, god, bible, genesis, creation, yahweh, genesis-2, yhwm

The Sabboth, Not Just A Day Off each Week

Seeded on Thu Oct 5, 2006 10:11 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

One of the things in the Bible that sticks out for me is when God took that day of rest after completing the work of creation. In my mind I pictured God constantly doing things and never resting. This is in stark contrast to that idea.

history, work, god, week, hebrew, bible, genesis, israelites, sabbath, genesis-2

How do we pick the next govenor?

Seeded on Tue Oct 3, 2006 11:39 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

How do we select our governors? Is it by party lines? Is it because they tell you what you want to hear? Is it because they trash talk the other candidate the best? Last night, in Michigan, we had the first of three debates between the candidates and I was left wondering how we, …

governor, election, politics, michigan, republican, democrat

Another Science Book Error - Gills

Seeded on Mon Oct 2, 2006 9:10 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Last week, a commenter on my post about errors in our science textbooks brought up embryonic gill slit structures which is described in biology textbooks. It turns out that this is another example of a textbook error.

evolution, science, embryo, textbook, embryology, science-textbook-errors

Social Conditioning Our Scientific Views

Seeded on Thu Sep 28, 2006 9:46 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

We have all been socially conditioned. Our parents did it when they told us to eat our vegetables and clean our rooms. Our friends did it to us when they egged us on to do one more shot at the bar.

evolution, religion, intelligent-design, science, culture, sociology, social-conditioning

Minicast: sIFR

Seeded on Wed Sep 27, 2006 9:54 AM EDT (geeksandgod.com)

Ok, so we talk alot about why you shouldn't use flash on a website, right? It's not accessible to screenreaders, mobile devices and other miscellaneous browser types.

flash, espn, web-design, podcast, sifr, font, geeksandgod

Genesis: Creation Days 2 - 5

Seeded on Tue Sep 26, 2006 12:29 PM EDT (mattfarina.com)

The book of Genesis not only teachers us about creation and where we came from but about how God brought order to His creation. This order can be seen in the order of creation and how creation work was divided up. At the same time, God said creation was good, not morally neutral.

animals, land, god, good, bible, genesis, morals, creation, genesis-1

The First Day of Creation in Genesis

Seeded on Mon Sep 25, 2006 3:50 PM EDT (mattfarina.com)

The first book of Genesis talks about creation, or the start of it all, in a very different way from other texts. The ancient texts of the time when Genesis was written spoke of the creation as an accident of the gods.

day, bible, jesus, genesis, creation, genesis-1

Errors In Our Science Textbooks

Seeded on Thu Sep 21, 2006 9:29 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Our science textbooks are full of errors. This is something growing up and being a lover of science I never imagined. When there were things that didn't make sense to me or seemed a bit 'out there' I chalked it up to unproven theories.

science, wells, textbook, embryology, gould, haeckel, science-textbook-errors

Building Better Marriages

Seeded on Wed Sep 20, 2006 11:07 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

We are a society that has unhealthy relationships and marriages that end in divorce. To most people this is just the world we live in. Where 40% of first marriages end in divorce and the numbers go up in second and third marriages.

women, marriage, divorce, god, men, bible, relationship, femininity, masculinity

Digging Into The Details Of Genesis 1:1

Seeded on Wed Sep 20, 2006 9:39 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

Digging into the details of the first sentence in the first book of the bible brings out details and life that we don't see by reading the sentence in English. There is significance that shouldn't be overlooked and is worthy of geeking out over. When I read:

english, hebrew, bible, genesis, creation, genesis-1

Examining The Biases Of Our Teachers and Ourselves

Seeded on Mon Sep 18, 2006 11:31 AM EDT (mattfarina.com)

We are all biased when we look at the world around us. No one has clear glasses. Some are rose colored, some are brown, and still others are green. These biases we have affect what we look at and how we think about it.

church, evolution, bias, teacher, science, culture, creation

What Ministry Leaders Can or Should Blog About

Seeded on Fri Sep 15, 2006 8:53 AM EDT (geeksandgod.com)

Ministry blogging is different than other forms of blogging. Ministry blogging is a extension of and a way to enhance our ministries. So, when we look for a purpose for the blog we need to look no further than the one we already have.

ministry, community, blogging, blog, teaching, geeksandgod, outreaching

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