Temper's the one thing you can't get rid of, by losing it.

I heard a good whammy at Bible study at Providence Church last night: H.A.L.T.

The context was discussion of the following verses.

• Proverbs 14:17 A man of quick temper acts foolishly, and a man of evil devices is hated.
• Proverbs 14:29 Whoever is slow to anger has great understanding, but he who has a hasty temper exalts folly.

(cf. Prov 19:11 & James 1:19)

Practical issues of "how to" brought the following to light. (HT Vicky Sterling)

H.A.L.T. before acting. In other words, it's wise not to do anything when you're ...

• H ... Hungry or Hurt
• A ... Angry
• L ... Lonely
• T ... Tired

That's a lovely accent you have. New Jersey?

Saw this 2nd bit while on vacation, but couldn't share until tonight ...

Okay, Miss Teen USA South Carolina was made (in)famous with this clip.


However, after watching a video clip of Peggy West (Milwaukee County Supervisor), perhaps she was on to something with this need for maps! The YouTube Nazis removed it, but you can view Peggy West's criticism of Arizona's immigration stance here.

It was certainly very kind of the senator to let her know by letter that Arizona does indeed border Arizona.

For geography help, Peggy West should consult with the man who's visited 57 (fifty-seven) of these United States.

You're overcooking my grits, coach.

Although a Lakers fan, I've long thought Pat Riley a better coach than Phil Jackson. While I still like Riley better, Jackson has impressed me the past few years and now I'm not so entrenched. Though he's had some premier players, Phil's been very successful, which may be quite the understatement, even though he's only been NBA's Coach of the Year once measly time (94-95).

Get this ...
Phil Jackson has coach his teams to the NBA Finals 13 of the past 20 years. 13/20?! Regardless of what happens tonight in Game 7 against the hated Celtics, that's VERY impressive. He's 10-2 in the finals, winning more than any NBA coach. In fact, after Tuesday night's win, Phil Jackson has more playoff victories than any other coach in any other sport, eclipsing Scottie Bowman.

Tonight is Phil's first finals Game 7 ever, and as the title hangs in the balance, a 16th for the Lakers or 18th for the Celtics, something gotta give. Phil Jackson is 47-0 in playoff series when his team wins Game 1, which the Lakers did. Kobe & Derek Fisher are 26-0 in a playoff series when they win Game 1. When teams are tied 1-1 in the finals, the winner of Game 3 is 10-0. The Lakers won Game 3.

But, the Lakers have never beaten the Celtics in a Game 7, going 0-4. And the Celtics have never blown 3-2 lead in the finals, going 11- in those series. Something's gotta give.

Despite his resume, Phil has never coached in a Game 7, so he's making history. Whether or not Phil wins a ring for his toe tonight, he's won this fan over. That Phil Jackson's a pretty good coach.

Cf. 50 Greatest Coaches of All Time by Sporting News, with Phil at #4.

Ah, I'm going to have to go ahead and ask you to come in on Sunday, too.

Previously, I addressed professing Christians who see church as optional. I offer the following for those who see church as unnecessary. (HT Mary Morrison)

A member of a church, who previously had been attending services regularly, stopped going. After a few weeks, the preacher decided to visit him.

It was a chilly evening. The preacher found the man at home alone, sitting before a blazing fire. Guessing the reason for his preacher's visit, the man welcomed him, led him to a comfortable chair near the fireplace and waited.

The preacher made himself at home but said nothing. In the grave silence, he contemplated the dance of the flames around the burning logs. After some minutes, the preacher took the fire tongs, carefully picked up a brightly burning ember and placed it to one side of the hearth all alone, then he sat back in his chair, still silent.

The host watched all this in quiet contemplation. As the one lone ember's flame flickered and diminished, there was a momentary glow and then its fire was no more. Soon it was cold and dead.

Not a word had been spoken since the initial greeting. The preacher glanced at his watch and realized it was time to leave. He slowly stood up, picked up the cold, dead ember and placed it back in the middle of the fire. Immediately it began to glow, once more with the light and warmth of the burning coals around it.

As the preacher reached the door to leave, his host said, with a tear running down his cheek, "Thank you so much for your visit, and especially for the fiery sermon. I shall be back in church next Sunday."

cf. "We Are God's People"
We are a temple, the Spirit's dwelling place,
formed in great weakness, a cup to hold God's grace.
We die alone, for on its own each ember loses fire;
yet joined in one the flame burns on to give warmth and light and to inspire.
(sung at Providence Church Sunday morning)

The musical growth of this band cannot even be charted. They are treading water in a sea of retarded sexuality and bad poetry.

You might have missed it, but VH1 just ran their 100 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of all time list. I'm a sucker for lists, so I had to share and weigh in.

• First, I think #2 should have been #1, since it started the phenomenon.
• There's a lot of rubbish rated higher than "Regulate" at 98.
• I can understand only one song per artist, but then I'm thinking Paul Revere for the Beastie Boys instead, or even Brass Monkey.
• No way that Doug E. Fresh's "The Show" doesn't break the top 50.
• No way Hammer's "Can't Touch This" doesn't make the top 25.
  
• Though it's become somewhat of a punchline, Vanilla Ice's "Ice, Ice, Baby" was the bomb back in the day and should have at least made the top 100.
• Lastly, is VH1 really all that qualified to come up with such a list?
  

100 Biz Markie – “Just A Friend”
99 Lil Jon & The East Side Boyz ft/ Ying Yang Twins – “Get Low”
98 Warren G ft. Nate Dogg – “Regulate”
97 Eve – “Who’s that Girl”
96 DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince – “Parents Just Don’t Understand”
95 L’Trimm – “Cars With The Boom”
94 Master P ft. Sikk, Fiend, Mia-x and Mystical – “Make ‘Em Say Ugh”
93 N.E.R.D. ft. Lee Harvey and Vida – “Lapdance”
92 Yo-Yo – “Can’t Play with my Yo-Yo”
91 Chamillionaire ft. Krayzie Bone – “Ridin’”
90 Pete Rock & CL Smooth – “They Reminisce Over You (T.R.O.Y)”
89 Cam’ron – “Oh Boy”
88 Jungle Brothers – “What U Waitin’ 4″
87 Wyclef Jean ft. Refugee All Stars – “We Tryin’ to Stay Alive”
86 Heavy D. and the Boyz – “Now That We Found Love”
85 Black Star – “Definition”
84 UTFO – “Roxanne Roxanne”
83 2 Live Crew – “Me So Horny”
82 Chubb Rock – “Treat ‘Em Right”
81 PM Dawn – “Set Adrift On Memory Bliss”
80 Three 6 Mafia ft. Paula Campbell- “Hard Out Here For A Pimp”
79 DMX – “Ruff Ryders’ Anthem (Stop Drop)”
78 Arrested Development – “Tennessee”
77 Cold Crush Brothers – “Cold Crush Bros. at the Dixie”
76 Big Punisher ft. Joe- “Still Not A Player”
75 Lil’ Kim ft. Lil’ Cease- “Crush on You”
74 EPMD – “You Gots To Chill”
73 Black Sheep – “The Choice Is Yours”
72 J.J. Fad – “Supersonic”
71 Whodini – “Freaks Come Out at Night”
70 3(rd) Bass – “Pop Goes the Weasel”
69 Common – “I Used to Love H.E.R.”
68 T.I. – “What You Know”
67 Mase – “Feel So Good”
66 House Of Pain – “Jump Around”
65 Spoonie Gee and The Treacherous Three – “Love Rap”
64 The Roots – “What they Do”
63 Kid ‘n Play – “Rollin’ With Kid N Play”
62 Digable Planets – “Rebirth of Slick (Cool Like Dat)”
61 Slick Rick – “Children’s Story”
60 L.L. Cool J – “I Need Love”
59 Ol’ Dirty Bastard – “Shimmy Shimmy Ya”
58 Ludacris ft. Shawna- “What’s Your Fantasy”
57 Big Daddy Kane – “I Get the Job Done”
56 Busta Rhymes – “Woo-Ha! Got You All In Check”
55 Terror Squad ft/ Fat Joe and Remy – “Lean Back”
54 MC Lyte – “Cha Cha Cha”
53 Lox ft. DMX and Lil’ Kim – “Money, Power, Respect”
52 Foxy Brown ft. Jay-Z – “I’ll Be”
51 Doug E. Fresh & the Get Fresh Crew – “The Show”
50 Lil’ Wayne – “Tha Block Is Hot”
49 Boogie Down Productions – “My Philosophy”
48 Nas – “One Love”
47 Young MC – “Bust A Move”
46 De La Soul – “Me, Myself, And I”
45 Geto Boys – “Mind Playing Tricks On Me”
44 Method Man ft/ Mary J. Blige – “I’ll Be There For You/You’re All I Need to Get By”
43 Game, The ft. 50 Cent – “Hate It or Love It”
42 Roxanne Shante – “Roxanne’s Revenge”
41 Funky 4 + 1 – “That’s the Joint”
40 Run-DMC – “It’s Like That”
39 Tone-Loc – “Wild Thing”
38 Coolio – “Gangsta’s Paradise”
37 Rob Base & DJ E-Z Rock – “It Takes Two”
36 Nelly – “Hot In Herre”
35 Queen Latifah ft. Monie Love – “Ladies First”
34 Cypress Hill – “Insane In The Brain”
33 Bone Thugs-N-Harmony – “Tha Crossroads”
32 Puff Daddy & The Family ft/ Notorious B.I.G., Lil’ Kim and The Lox – “It’s All About The Benjamins”
31 Kool Moe Dee – “How Ya Like Me Now”
30 Tribe Called Quest – “Check the Rhime”
29 Digital Underground – “The Humpty Dance”
28 Ice Cube – “It Was A Good Day”
27 Beastie Boys – “Hold it Now, Hit it”
26 MC Hammer – “U Can’t Touch This”
25 Fugees – “Killing Me Softly”
24 Eric B and Rakim – “Paid in Full”
23 Outkast – “B.O.B.”
22 Naughty By Nature – “OPP”
21 Afrika Bambaataa & Soul Sonic Force- “Planet Rock”
20 Kanye West ft/ Jamie Foxx – “Gold Digger”
19 Ice T – “Colors”
18 50 Cent – “In Da Club”
17 Sir Mix-A-Lot – “Baby Got Back”
16 Missy Elliott – “Get Ur Freak On”
15 Eminem – “Stan”
14 Tupac – “I Get Around”
13 Wu-Tang Clan – “C.R.E.A.M.”
12 L.L. Cool J – “I Can’t Live Without My Radio”
11 Jay-Z – “Hard Knock Life”
10 Kurtis Blow – “The Breaks”
09 Salt-N-Pepa – “Push It”
08 Snoop Doggy Dogg – “Gin and Juice”
07 Notorious B.I.G. – “Juicy”
06 N.W.A. – “Straight Outta Compton”
05 Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five – “The Message”
04 Run-DMC ft/ Aerosmith – “Walk This Way”
03 Dr. Dre – “Nuthin But A ‘G’ Thang”
02 Sugarhill Gang – “Rapper’s Delight”
01 Public Enemy – “Fight The Power”

Beware the beast Man, for he is the devil's pawn. Alone among God's primates, he kills for sport or lust or greed.

There is often talk of a "sinner's prayer," in which an interested party is to be led in order to become a Christian. Of course, praying doesn't make one a Christian anyway, but there's also folly in thinking that an unconverted person would ever want to pray such a prayer prior to being born again.

What would a true sinner's prayer look like? In other words, what would an honest prayer from an unconverted person* look like?

John Gerstner, mentor of R.C. Sproul, gives this suggestion:

"Dear God, whom I hate with all my being precisely because you hate and threaten me with hell, I hate this punishment perhaps even more than I hate you. Or, maybe I should say that I love my comfort even more than I hate you. For that reason I am asking a favor of you. I want you to make me love you, whom I hate even when I ask this and even more because I have to ask this. I am being frank with you because I know it is no use to be otherwise. You know even better than I how much I hate you and that I love only myself. It is no use for me to pretend to be sincere. I most certainly do not love you and do not want to love you. I hate the thought of loving you but that is what I’m asking because I love myself. If you can answer this 'prayer' I guess the gift of gratitude will come with it and then I will be able to do what I would not think of doing now—thank you for making me love you whom I hate. Amen."
-John Gerstner, Rational Biblical Theology of Jonathan Edwards (Powhatan, VA: Berea Publications, 1993), 3:81.

*As described by Scripture ... e.g., 1 Cor 2:14; John 3:3, 6-8, 19-20; 6:44; Acts 16:14; 2 Cor 4:4; Jer 17:9; Ezek 36:26-27; etc.

Please, I'm begging you, have mercy; I've been wearing the same underwear since Tuesday.

Humans quite often misunderstand the concept of "Begging the Question."

People will be talking about a subject and someone will say, "That begs the question ..." and then offer up a related question.

For example: "Whenever a sequel comes out, it always begs the question, 'So is it as good as or better than the first one?'"

In other words, what they mean instead of "That begs the question ..." is "That raises a related question, which probably should be asked & answered."

"Begging the Question" is actually a reasoning fallacy and would be a criticism of what's just been stated. In such a scenario, begging question is really avoiding the/a question; it's NOT asking for the question. Confusing use of terminology, I know.

Begging the question presents a premise as though it's beyond question and uses it in making an argument. As part of the argument, a person uses as fact that which may be unproven or contested in order to prove a point or draw a conclusion.

For example, the guy who gets rejected when asking a girl out for a date is begging the question when he attributes her "No" response to her being stuck up or dumb or a female dog or whatever. Why? Because he's assuming he's a worthwhile individual in whom there is no flaw. So, it can't be something wrong with him. It must be a defect in her. The fact finder would challenge his questionable assumption, namely that he's not a loser.

Another example is all the environmentally friendly things we must do in order to have a planet left for our children and grandchildren. Yet, these assertions beg the question; what's disputed is the effect those things have on the environment. In other words, the question is avoided as to whether or not our fuel exhaust or factories actually affect climate change.

Want another example? Most of the impetus behind gun control laws beg the question. We need to ban all guns so there will be a safer America for our children. What's the question avoided? Do gun bans lead to reduced crime rates? Look at Chicago. Look at Washington, D.C. Look wherever you like. The reality is that studies will show law-abiding citizens bearing arms reduces violent crime rates. But the question is begged in order to get laws passed, etc. [cf. "Strict gun laws are about as effective as strict drug laws... It pains me to say this, but the NRA seems to be right: The cities and states that have the toughest gun laws have the most murder and mayhem." -Mike Royko, Chicago Tribune]

In Christian theology, one indicator of begging the question is when a writer prefaces his premise with "Clearly," as in, "Clearly, X, so then Y." More often than not, X is not really all that clear. In fact, it's probably fiercely debated, else everyone would already be on board with Y.

"Clearly" tries to convince you that everyone already believes it, so you should too, which will enable us to move on to my conclusion.

An example, would be citing John 5:24 and 1 John 5:11-13, to show that a Christian cannot lose his or her salvation and then saying, "Clearly, a Christian cannot lose salvation, so Heb 6:4-6 & John 15:6-7 can't mean that."

Although I agree that a genuinely converted and justified person will not become unsaved, the reasoning is faulty. Someone might just as easily go to Heb 6:4-6 and John 15:6-7 for a bit and then say, "Clearly, a believer can lose his or her salvation, so John 5:24 & 1 John 5:11-13 can't be universally eliminating the possibility."

So, back to terminology ... if a statement raises the question in your mind, say, "That raises the question ..." or "That brings to mind the question ..."

Otherwise, you're actually criticizing the other person's statement, accusing him or her of a logical fallacy and playing dirty, if intentional.

N.B. Begging the question is related to circular reasoning or making a circular argument, but not quite the same. An example would be fossil dating. That fossil is 30 million years old. How do you know? Because we found it in the 30 million year old rock. How do you know that rock is 30 million years old? Because of the dates of the fossils we found there, etc. Another example of circular reasoning would be to say that the reason drugs are illegal is because they are bad. And the reason drugs are bad is because they are illegal.

You'd probably abandon your clothing if it made any kind of emotional demand on you!

While I don't believe the obligation for modesty only applies to females and I don't believe modesty only applies to attire and I don't believe males are free from responsibility when they lust, the following may prove insightful with regard to those areas.

Joshua Harris:

Girls, you have an equally important role. Remember the wayward woman we discussed earlier? Your job is to keep your brothers from being led astray by her charms. Please be aware of how easily your actions and glances can stir up lust in a guy’s mind.

You may not realize this, but we guys most commonly struggle with our eyes. I think many girls are innocently unaware of the difficulty a guy has in remaining pure when looking at a girl who is dressed immodestly. Now I don’t want to dictate your wardrobe, but honestly speaking, I would be blessed if girls considered more than fashion when shopping for clothes. Yes, guys are responsible for maintaining self control, but you can help by refusing to wear clothing designed to attract attention to your body.

I know the world tells you that if you have a nice body, you should show it off. And we men have only helped feed this mentality. But I think you can play a part in reversing this trend. I know many girls who would look great in shorter skirts or tighter blouses, and they know it. But they choose to dress modestly. They take the responsibility of guarding their brother’s eyes. To these women and others like them, I’m grateful.”

“and let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (Hebrews 10:24) It’s time to start seeing other people’s purity as our responsibility.

— Joshua Harris, I Kissed Dating Goodbye

Related Items:

• Read It is our most modestly priced receptacle. (Gunny's thoughts on modesty being about more than just clothing)
• Read Is modesty an issue in the church today? (An audio response from John Piper about this issue for women AND men)
  
• Read Modesty: A Word to Fathers. (C.J. Mahaney's wisdom to fathers about modesty and their daughters)
• Read Modesty and the Christian Woman. (Lionel Woods' thoughts on how Christian women should dress in a non-Christian world)
• Check out The Modesty Survey. (An exciting, anonymous discussion between Christian guys and girls who care about modesty hosted by TheRebelution.com, "a teenage rebellion against low expectations")
• Check out Why is a daughter's modesty a dad's responsibility? (A video clip of John Piper's message on the role of the Christian husband)
• Read Mary K. Mohler's Modeling Modesty. (a pdf booklet which uses some interesting and thought-provoking fictional characters to illustrate what is happening to Christian women in the area of (im)modest dress)
• Read "True Beauty" by Carolyn Mahaney. (a pdf chapter in the book,Biblical Womanhood in the Home)
  
• Read Modesty: The Attitude of the Modest Woman. (C.J. Mahaney's thoughts on the mindset behind modesty)
  
• Read No shirt. No shoes. No dice. (Gunny's exploratory thoughts on modesty with regard to attire)

To women: “And you must not lay a stumbling block in their way, nor blow up the fire of their lust, nor make your ornaments snares but you must walk among sinful persons as you would do with a candle among straw or gunpowder, or else you may see the flame which you would not foresee, when it is too late to quench it.”
~Richard Baxter