Recommended Video - Unplanned

This is a video I show my friends and students. True story. If anyone knows where I can get this movie with Chinese or English subtitles (or even just the subtitle files) please let me know in the comments, thanks :)

Immersion / Baptism Verses

中文

Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, immersing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit

(Matthew 28:19)

He who has believed and has been immersed shall be saved; but he who has disbelieved shall be condemned.

(Mark 16:16)

Peter said to them, “Repent, and each of you be immersed in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins; and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.

(Acts 2:38)

Paul believed, repented, and prayed for 3 days, and he still was not yet saved because he had not yet been immersed into forgiveness, had not yet been immersed to wash away his sins:

Now why do you delay? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins, calling on His name.’

(Acts 22:16)

Or do you not know that all of us who have been immersed into Christ Jesus have been immersed into His death? Therefore we have been buried with Him through immersion into death, so that as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life. For if we have become united with Him in the likeness of His death, certainly we shall also be in the likeness of His resurrection,

(Romans 6:3‭-‬5)

Corresponding to that, immersion now saves you—not the removal of dirt from the flesh, but an appeal to God for a good conscience—through the resurrection of Jesus Christ,

(1 Peter 3:21)

having been buried with Him in immersion, in which you were also raised up with Him through faith in the working of God, who raised Him from the dead.

(Colossians 2:12)

one Lord, one faith, one immersion,

(Ephesians 4:5)

For all of you who were immersed into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.

(Galatians 3:27)

Paul believed, repented and prayed for 3 days and he still：

* had not yet been immersed, calling on His name. (Acts 22:16)
* had not yet been immersed, washing away his sins. (Acts 22:16) 
* had not yet been immersed into forgiveness. (Acts 2:38) 
* had not yet been immersed into the saved state (aka salvation) (Mark 16:16, 1 Peter 3:21) 
* had not yet been immersed into the death of Christ, in order to be buried with him, and then, united with Him in the likeness of His resurrection, walk in a new life. (Romans 6:3‭-‬5) 
* had not yet been immersed into Christ. (Galatians 3:27) 
* had not yet been immersed into being clothed with Christ. (Galatians 3:27)
* had not yet been made a disciple by being immersed in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. (Matthew 28:19) 

No wonder Ananias told him: "Why do you delay? Get up and be immersed, and wash away your sins."

浸禮的經節

English

所以，你們要去，使萬民作我的門徒，奉父、子、聖靈的名給他們施浸 。

(馬太福音 28:19)

信而受浸的，必然得救；不信的，必被定罪。

(馬可福音 16:16)

彼得 說：「你們各人要悔改，奉耶穌基督的名受浸，叫你們的罪得赦，就必領受所賜的聖靈；

(使徒行傳 2:38)

掃羅 相信､悔改､禱告三天了，還不算得救，因為還沒受浸得赦､還沒受浸洗去罪:

現在你為甚麼躭延呢？起來，求告他的名受浸，洗去你的罪。』」

(使徒行傳 22:16)

豈不知我們這受浸歸入基督耶穌的人是受浸歸入他的死嗎？ 所以，我們藉着浸禮歸入死，和他一同埋葬，原是叫我們一舉一動有新生的樣式，像基督藉着父的榮耀從死裏復活一樣。 我們若在他死的形狀上與他聯合，也要在他復活的形狀上與他聯合；

(羅馬書 6:3‭-‬5)

這水所表明的浸禮，現在藉着耶穌基督復活也拯救你們； 這浸禮 本不在乎除掉肉體的污穢，只求在神面前有無虧的良心。

(彼得前書 3:21)

你們既受浸與他一同埋葬，也就在此與他一同復活，都因信那叫他從死裏復活神的功用。

(歌羅西書 2:12)

一主，一信，一浸，

(以弗所書 4:5)

你們受浸歸入基督的都是披戴基督了。

(加拉太書 3:27)

掃羅相信､悔改､禱告三天了：

* 還沒受浸求告神的名 (使徒行傳 22:16)
* 還沒受浸洗去罪 (使徒行傳 22:16) 
* 還沒受浸得赦 (使徒行傳 2:38) 
* 還沒受浸得救 (馬可福音 16:16, 彼得前書 3:21) 
* 還沒藉着浸禮歸入基督的死，和他一同埋葬､在基督復活的形狀上與他聯合，有新生的樣式 (羅馬書 6:3‭-‬5) 
* 還沒受浸歸入基督 (加拉太書 3:27) 
* 還沒受浸披戴基督了 (加拉太書 3:27)
* 還沒奉父、子、聖靈的名受浸，作耶穌的門徒 (馬太福音 28:19) 

難怪亞拿尼亞跟掃羅說：你為甚麼躭延呢？起來，求告他的名受浸，洗去你的罪。

Chuck Horner's Videos for World Video Bible School

Found out today that my dad's classmate, Chuck Horner, passed away on June 26. My dad remembers him always saying about death, "I'm ready. Looking forward to it."

Here are some of the videos he did:

Genesis
Exodus
Leviticus, Numbers & Deuteronomy
Joshua, Judges, Ruth
1 & 2 Samuel
Kings & Chronicles
Ezra, Nehemiah, Esther
Isaiah
Jeremiah & Lamentations
Mark
1 Corinthians
2 Corinthians
Galatians
James
1 & 2 Peter
1 2 3 John & Jude

Recommended Video - looking for the Chinese subtitles to these

I'm looking for a version with Chinese subtitles and or Chinese audio. If you find one please leave a link in the comments.

These particular videos dissappear and reappear on the net. These links may break soon, and I'll try to replace them. If you think they're important, download them and show your friends.

If anyone knows of an English subtitle version of this first one, let me know and I'll put it here.

When Satan told Eve, "You shall not die," he was right ... on the surface. They could not cease to exist. Even the wicked live forever. In hell.

In the outer darkness.
In the Separation.
In the weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Where the worm dieth not.

Where they would frankly ... be dying forever.

~ Sapphireslinger

當撒但對夏娃說妳不會死，他說對了，但只是表面。
他們沒辦法停止他們的存在，就連惡人也會一直存在。

他們會存在地獄裡
在外圍的黑暗中
在大分離中。
在那裡哀哭切齒
那邊的蟲也是不死的。

真實的來說，他們會在那裡 ... 永遠的死去著。

~ Sapphireslinger
(with thanks to Ben for tweaking the Chinese)

Reaction to Stephen Hawking's "Grand Design - The Meaning of the Universe"

By Sapphireslinger
Updated 2020.06.26 14:04

Two months ago I saw a video clip from Voice Tube called "Stephen Hawking's Grand Design - The Meaning of the Universe".

* My Day 1 reaction (March 31) to the video is this color.
* My Day 2 reaction (April 1) to the video is this color.
* My last few thoughts before posting are this color. (I ended up writing almost every other day these past two months.)

The pink boxes are quotes from the video transcript.

Here goes:

"It may seem crazy to doubt that our concept of reality is true.
But I think, to find the meaning of life we must answer the question: Is there an independent reality or not?"

My last remarks: He will claim that it is impossible to know this, and that therefore every meaning of life is equally valid.

"Imagine a scenario that is straight from a science fiction movie.
The world around you is actually nothing more than an elaborate fabrication
of some unknown superior intelligence.
A giant supercomputer provides you with all your senses
from what you see to what you smell, hear and touch.
But in fact you have no senses.
Your body does not exist. You are just a brain in a jar.
It may sound bizarre, but this is a genuine scientific hypothesis called:
The simulation theory.
For all we know, every one of our perceived reality is simply fed to us
by some all-powerful supercomputer.
And the simulation is so perfect that we never even notice.
But here’s the crack: It doesn’t actually matter.
It’s as Descartes said: We think, therefore we are.
The hamburger could be nothing more than a piece of computer code.
But our desire to eat it, is still our own desire.
We still feel hunger.
Our minds still exist, even if we are in a simulation.
So doubting the true nature of reality serves no purpose.
It’s simpler to just accept that there are fundamental limits to what we can know."

Last remarks: In other words, no more consideration of the question, "Is there an independent reality or not?"

The world around you is actually nothing more than an elaborate fabrication of some unknown superior intelligence...
But here’s the crack: It doesn’t actually matter.

Giving up so early in the video, Hawking? First you say, "To find the meaning of life we must answer the question: Is there an independent reality or not?" And a few sentences later you say, "It doesn't actually matter." You say it's because we still feel hunger to eat the hamburger even if it doesn't exist, so the feeling of hunger is the main thing not the existence of the hamburger. Ah, but the existence of the "superior intelligence" in control of the "fabrication", that would matter, because he has the ability to wipe away all hunger, to wipe every tear from your eye; and suppose he expects you to find him and establish a relationship with him?

Day 2 Response:

It’s simpler to just accept that there are fundamental limits to what we can know.

Except that the Bible implies that we will eventually know an awful lot more even if we come to know it too late. Every eye will see him, and every knee will bow. (Rev. 1:7)

"Take this table, for example.
How do you know if a table still exists if you go out of the room
and can no longer see it?
For all you know, the table could pack up and disappear out the window.
It could take a visit to the International Space Station.
Perhaps even fly to the moon.
All this before returning to the exact same spot and instance before you reenter the room.
This, of course is a pretty unlikely scenario.
But one we can’t rule out.
It is much simpler to assume that the table stays put when we are not there.
It is our best fit model of reality.
This is essentially what we do in science.
We create best fit models of how we believe
the universe actually works.
The ancient Greeks were the first
to build such scientific models.
They suggested that the earth was a large sphere, motionless
And fixed at the center of the universe.
But later pioneering scientist like Copernicus and Galileo
found a much simpler and completely revolutionary model to describe these same observations.
They proposed that the earth itself was spinning and orbiting the sun at the same time
along with all the other planets.
But neither can be said to actually be true.
Because they, like all models, are just models in our heads:
The best fit of reality we perceive.
In fact, physicists are forever creating ever more sophisticated models
And the truth of those models is impossible to establish.
...."

Let me repeat that again:

"And the truth of those models is impossible to establish."

Not exactly, or we wouldn't be able to tell that a later model is more accurate than an earlier model. The fact that you can tell that one model has more truth than another model, and that a model can have less truth than another model, means that truth is quantifiable and knowable. It means that it is possible to establish some truth even if it is a slow progression. It may not be knowable all at once, but if you can know more and more of it as time goes on, then you shouldn't relapse into saying that because you can never know it all, then let's scrap this whole idea of truth and return to saying that all models are equally valid.

Because that is what this video will eventually get around to implying, it starts off saying how our models of reality change as they get more accurate, but it ends by saying you can make it all up and it will all be equally accurate. Is it just my imagination, or is there a bait and switch going on here?

"[...]
So, do quarks exist?
The answer is they exist only as a model that works.
That is as far as we can go."

Day 2 Response: No, we can go further and say that if quarks exist then they have a real existence separate and apart from our ever-evolving, more-or-less-accurate, perception of them. The video appears to be trying to say that because our perception of them changes, they don't have an actual existence apart from our perception of them. They do, and therefore we have an obligation to know them more and more accurately. Never can we relapse into saying that because our perception of them is faulty therefore we can make it all up and it will all be equally accurate. Which is what this video gets around to implying at the very end. Bait and switch.

[My eyes skipped ahead here and answered a later quote first.]

"All this, the entire ... history of the universe
exists as a model inside our minds."

Yes, one person's PERCEPTION of history does exist as a model inside the mind, but ACTUAL history, what actually physically happened regardless of what I think happened, also exists as a separate entity from that.

So there are two things we are dealing with here:

* What actually happened
* What we think happened

It's important not to confuse the two.

[But to return to the next sentence in the transcript...]

"This is called the concept of model dependent reality."

Our brains construct models to make sense of what we are perceiving, but the things we are perceiving exist apart from our perception of them. Therefore reality is not dependent on our models/perception of it.

At the same time you can say that your individual sense of reality is dependent on the model for it inside your head. The term "model dependent reality" is a tricky bit of wordplay. It should read "model dependent perception of reality". Otherwise, here is where the discussion makes a subtle fork into falsehood, that will have consequences further on in the video.

To summarize:

There are no model dependent realities.
There are only model dependent perceptions of reality.

Reality is what actually happened.
Perception of reality is what you think happened.

If Stephen Hawking manages to obfuscate the two and blur them into one, that would be diabolical.

"And I believe that leads us directly to the meaning of life."

Your perception of the meaning of life will only be as accurate as your perception of reality. Or should I say, your perception of the meaning of life will be either helped or handicapped by the degree of accuracy in your perception of reality.

Because he will go on to conclude that because our perceptions of reality all differ, we should all make up our own meanings of life and they will all be equally valid without reference to actual reality.

If some perceptions of reality are more accurate than others, then I would venture to say that likewise some perceptions of the meaning of life are more accurate than others.

"[...]
That consciousness creates a three-dimensional model
of the outside world:
A best fit model that we call reality.
This reality is much more than what we see around us in our everyday life.
[...]
All this, the entire [...] history of the universe
exists as a model inside our minds.
So, where does this leave us with finding a meaning to life?
The answer, I think, is pretty clear.
Meaning itself is simply another piece of the model of reality
that we each built inside our own brains."

There is one false word here that will have consequences in his chain of reasoning later:

"Meaning itself is simply another piece of the model that we each built inside our own brains." [Emphasis added.]

I believe he feels that there is only ever perceived meaning, that actual meaning can not exist, because of where he goes with this later in the video.

Remember, if your models of the universe can get more and more accurate, that means that an absolute truth must exist even if you haven't arrived at it yet. And if meaning is dependent on your perception of that truth, then a BETTER if not ABSOLUTE meaning also exists, even if you haven't arrived at it yet.

But the whole drift of this video derails at this point to say, there is only PERCEIVED meaning, therefore have at it everybody, create your own perceptions of reality and perceptions of meaning, they are all equally valid and equally good without regard to accuracy of harmony with actual reality and actual meaning. As the last sentence of the video says, we are "The Lords of Creation". Forget discovering reality and meaning, make it up. Don't discover God, become God. What Stephen Hawking appears to be peddling is the same old lie as the very first lie in the garden of Eden. You can be like God, making up good and evil. Ironically God does want us to become ever more like him. But through discovering him, not through blocking him out. He wants our creativity and authenticity to be built on an ever more accurate perception of reality. Jesus, during his time here on earth, said that he was the chief corner stone whom the builders rejected and "Blessed is anyone who does not stumble over me." Whereas this video concludes by encouraging everybody to make up their model of reality without any special reference to actual reality. A very subtle derailment.

Last remarks: If an intelligence created the universe and humans with a purpose, then there would an actual meaning to life outside our own individual perceptions of that meaning.

An independent reality exists outside of our perceptions of it. (And we bump into it every time our perceptions of reality stray too far from it. If you don't perceive the actual chair in your path accurately enough, you will bump into it.)

An independent meaning of life can likewise exist outside of our individual perceptions of it. (And according to the Bible we will all bump into that independent meaning of life on the Judgment Day, if we haven't sought it out in the pages of the Bible beforehand. So we will each give an account of himself to God, Romans 14:12.)

Hawking started off the video saying:

"But I think, to find the meaning of life we must answer the question: is there an independent reality or not?"

In other words, he's saying the meaning of life depends on whether there is an independent reality.

It turns out there IS an independent reality outside our own individual perceptions of reality, therefore it appears that there would likewise be an independent meaning outside our own individual perceptions of meaning; ESPECIALLY if an independent intelligence created this independent reality in which we live and move and have our being, obviously he would have his own independent meaning for it all.

But now Hawking appears to be concluding that simply because we all have our own individual perceptions of reality, there is NOTHING MORE to meaning than what we can make up:

"Meaning itself is SIMPLY another piece of the model of reality that we each built inside our own brains."

After saying that perceived reality is "much more" than actual reality ...

"This [perceived] reality is much more than what we see around us in our everyday life."

... he appears to have dropped any attempt to connect the meaning of life with actual reality. From this point on it will be: everybody perceives reality in various degrees of accuracy, but you don't even have to strive for accuracy any more, make up the meaning as well.

It reminds me of Romans 1:21-22,25:

"For even though they knew God, they did not honor Him as God or give thanks, but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened. Professing to be wise, they became fools... For they exchanged the truth of God for a lie, and worshiped and served the creature, rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever, Amen." (Romans 1:21‭-‬22,25 NASB)

Hawking appears to be encouraging:

Don't connect meaning to an independent reality (and by extension God, the Creator of that independent reality) outside of yourself. Both the independent reality and the Creator of that independent reality are off limits to your consideration. Worship the creature instead. Meaning will only ever exist as an outcome of the model you build inside your head. We will not discuss whether the meaning becomes more meaningful and helpful as your model becomes more observant of independent reality and cognizant of the Creator's purposes, no, just give it your own meaning, you Lord of Creation, you.

"The meaning of life is what you choose it to be....
Meaning can only ever exist within the confines of the human mind....
[T]he meaning of life is not somewhere out there ...
[no connection to reality]
[don't look for God either]
... but right between our ears."

FIRST DAY RESPONSE TO THE VIDEO:

[Here, at this late point in the video is where I was finally spurred to start responding that first day. But now you can understand that response from all the commentary up to this point.]

"That consciousness creates a three dimensional model of the outside world: A best fit model that we call reality."

I think a better word would be "perceives". [Consciousness perceives a model of the outside world.] After all, an outside person can track the stimulus as it interfaces with your body and then travels up your nerves to your brain.

Last remarks: His choice of words was fine. Our consciousness perceives the outside world by CREATING a model with stimuli received through the senses.

However, because he had already begun to hint that looking for ultimate reality was irrelevant, and because later he will conclude that all perceptions are equally valid without reference to that ultimate reality, my instincts to begin raising reservations to his statements were correct.

All this, the entire ... history of the universe, exists as a model inside our minds.

Physical reality can exist outside our minds at the same time our sensory derived perception of that reality exists inside our minds. That statement felt like it was trying to establish one at the expense of the other. Because the author himself will draw this conclusion with the very next sentence...

"So, where does this leave us with finding a meaning to life? The answer, I think, is pretty clear. Meaning itself is simply another piece of the model of reality that we each build inside our own brain."

He is subtly denying the possibility of an outside reality again. He's saying that meaning is "simply" (i.e., NO MORE THAN) what you decide it is, that there is not something outside yourself that might be real and concrete and have meaning beyond yourself, that you can interact with.

It is true that our own PERCEPTION of meaning exists entirely within our heads, but he ignores the fact that there can be a reality and meaning outside ourselves that pretty regularly interacts with us, i.e.:

* things like daily life (someone bumps into you, or a car crashes into you, and alters your perception of reality whether you wish to allow it to or not)
* the universe (it rains on you and intrudes itself via your senses into your perception of reality)
* and God (who communicates with us through his completed written Word, the Bible, that unless we harmonize with what he considers Good, our future perception of reality is going to resemble an eternal lake of fire.)

It reminds me of the time Margaret Fuller said, “I accept the Universe!” And Thomas Carlyle said, “Gad, she'd better!”

So the video is saying here, you ONLY have the meaning INSIDE your head, because whatever exists outside yourself can NOT be known and can NEVER be known (sounds pretty arrogant and unscientific to me), so YOU make the rules (you don't have to listen to some outside-your-head God.)

The statements in this video sound like a variation on Satan telling Eve, “in the day you eat of it you will be wise like God, knowing good and evil.” Well, they sure found out about good and evil but not quite in the way Satan implied it: You will finally be wise enough to know good and evil for yourself, you won't have to listen to God tell you what it is.

Likewise here is this video saying everything is in your own head anyway, including this God you think wants you to do something, so God doesn't really exist because he is a creation of your brain, so you make the rules, not God!

Nice try!

This video jumps from MAYBE there is no outside reality, to directly asking you to live your life as if there IS NO outside reality.

"Take this mother and child.
They each create their own little bubbles of reality in their conscious minds.
The youngster can create a detailed mental model of his surroundings.
Even though he may not fully appreciate the fact he’s on the fifth floor.
The mother’s reality is also produced by her mind."

Sloppy, misleading terminology.

The mother's perception of reality is produced by stimulus received through her senses interacting with her mind. At least two crucial differences there.

Did you see what happened? The video completely glossed over the fact that there can be perceived and actual reality, and asks us to take for granted that our synapses are firing on their own, and are not being triggered by an outside reality.

"And for her, her love for her boy is as real as the telephone in her hand."

Her perception of the telephone in her hand came through her senses coming in contact with the physical object, and her perception of her love for her boy came through her accumulated past value choices.

"In short: the brain is responsible for not only the reality we perceive…
but for our emotions and meaning too.
Love and honor, right and wrong
are part of the universe we create in our minds
just as a table, a planet or a galaxy.
It’s pretty remarkable to think that our brains
which are essentially a collection of particles working to the law of physics
have this wonderful ability to not only perceive reality
but to give it meaning, too.
The meaning of life is what you choose it to be.
Personally, I like to think that it is everyone of us that gives meaning to the universe.
We are, as cosmologist Carl Sagan once said:
The universe contemplating itself.
Meaning can only ever exist within the confines of the human mind.
And in this way, the meaning of life is not somewhere out there
but right between our ears.
In many ways, this makes us The Lords of Creation."

[End of Video]

Day 2 Response: Our PERCEPTION of right and wrong is part of the universe we create in our minds. ACTUAL right and wrong would be something very different, and dependent on ACTUAL reality.

The last part of that quote is very interesting, it can be both true and false.

Yes, you can give life whatever meaning you want it to have. Whether it will actually make you happy or healthy depends on how accurate your perception of actual reality has become, and how much you are in harmony with the purposes of the Creator of your brain. Yes, the Creator created us in his image so we are all "lords of creation" with free will to use that creative power for good or evil in harmony with truth or deception.

However, I believe Stephen Hawking does not believe in the existence of the Creator so his "Lords of Creation" are being encouraged to make up their own perceived realities and perceived meanings without reference to actual reality, nor the ultimate Lord of Creation.

The conclusion, when all has been heard, is: fear God and keep His commandments, because this applies to every person. For God will bring every act to judgment, everything which is hidden, whether it is good or evil. (Ecclesiastes 12:13-14)

My First Day Response to the end of the video:

"In short: the brain is responsible for not only the reality we perceive but for our emotions and meaning too."

Again, that should read PERCEIVED meaning. I may value you, God may value you, but you may not value yourself and commit suicide.

Also, he left something out. The brain is just a tool like our heart or lungs, but the buck stops with our soul, the “ghost in the wires”. We have emotions and we choose how much to control those emotions and how we act on those emotions. On the Judgment Day God is not going to accept, “Well you see, Lord, it was this brain I was born with, that made me hit him.”

Yes, we can be born with malfunctioning equipment, born with a brain put together with fewer checks or even non-existent checks on a flaring temper, and it can be either easier or harder to forge usage pathways through our neuronal networks with the accumulated traffic of our daily decisions and actions. God will take into account any extenuating circumstances.

But normally speaking, your brain doesn't make you kill someone, you as a soul make a decision to do so.

Likewise, if your perception of reality and the meaning of yourself is a collaboration of your soul making decisions after reviewing the stimuli making its way to your brain through your senses, and if the stimuli is actually coming from outside your body, and it is not your brain firing off neurons on its own and hallucinating, then there IS an outside reality that your brain can perceive and interact with.

Your life is not a hallucination of your brain. I am really separate from you and you are really separate from me. I can honor you for being you and not something my brain made up. You can honor me for being me and not something your brain made up. I did not create you and I am not your God.

So, if there is a reality outside the brain and our brains can perceive it and interact with it, then there could be a God who created us and told us what our meaning is. (It is up to your soul to use its brain and senses to engage with the world outside your brain to sift the evidence for God.) Then your meaning would NOT be SOLELY whatever you decide it to be.

"Love and honor, right and wrong are part of the universe we create in our minds, just as a table, a planet, a galaxy."

Woah! Are you saying love and honor, right and wrong are whatever I say they are? Right and wrong are whatever I want to pretend they mean? There is no REAL right? There is no REAL wrong? There is only what feels right to you and feels right to me and if they are different may the strongest man win?

Besides you aren't real anyway. This video says you might not really be outside my brain, and this video keeps encouraging me to act as if everything is a dream inside my head, so I can do whatever I want to you. Nothing I do to you will be wrong, because you don't really exist, I am dreaming you up. My brain is the universe. I am God.

The very fact that you are standing there disagreeing with me means I have seriously lost control over my brain. I need to focus and you will disappear. Why not steal that car, kill that baby, set that house on fire? It's all inside the head. It won't hurt anyone.

Really!??

"The meaning of life is what you choose it to be."

It depends on what you mean by that. To a CERTAIN extent, I have always kept in mind that life is what I make it, life is what I allow it to be, what I am allowing others to do to me. If I am not satisfied with my life, I look at myself first, I don't wait around for other people to change my life for me. I usually don't go around saying I have to do this, or I can't do that. I simply sit down and think real hard about what I need to change to make myself happy. I actually appreciate the feeling of pain. It makes everything real simple. Look for the pain and change that area. I truly am a fan of the phrase, “Life is what you make it.”

But people, I only do that within the boundaries of God's standard, with my sense of right and wrong bowing to him. Otherwise I might feel pain that I don't have what is yours, and take it.

But this video is completely leaving out God.

"Meaning can only ever exist within the confines of the human mind."

There's no me outside your mind? There's nothing outside your mind, not even God? You are sooo lonely.

"And in this way, the meaning of life is not somewhere out there but right between our ears. In many ways, this makes us The Lords of Creation."

[end of video]

There you have it. You are God. Along with everybody else. Don't know how all those Gods are going to settle their differences. Might makes right, I guess. It reminds me of Animal Farm. All animals are equal. But some animals are more equal than others.

Seriously people, there IS a whole universe outside your mind, and God, the real Lord of Creation, beyond that. You can find Him in the Bible.

Because some day your perception of reality is going to perceive Him whether you want to or not. And then it will be too late when you find out He's all you ever wanted, and you are already being consigned to the outer darkness. "In that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth." (Matthew 22:13, 25:30).

However right now, “In Him we live and move and have our being” (Acts 17:28). The entire material universe could be said to be a simulation that God constructed. Hawking talks about brains in jars, but our whole material universe is a jar. In an eternal spirit.

God is still more than the universe, not the universe itself. God is still eternal while the universe had a beginning. And each one of us will still give an account of himself to God at the appointed time.

“Be dressed in readiness, and keep your lamps lit ... Blessed are those slaves whom the master will find on the alert when he comes; truly I say to you, that he will gird himself to serve, and have them recline at the table, and will come up and wait on them ... You too, be ready; for the Son of Man is coming at an hour that you do not expect." (Luke 12:35-37,40)

We are constantly called into fuller perception. We come out of non-existence into existence. We come out of the womb into the world. We come out of the domain of darkness into the kingdom of His beloved Son. At the end of our lives, we are called out of temporal life into eternal life, out of mortality into immortality, out of time into eternity.

God, who dwells in unapproachable light, calls us out of darkness into His marvelous light. (1 Timothy 6:16, 1 Peter 2:9)

"Behold, I stand at the door and knock; if anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and will dine with him, and he with Me." (Revelation 3:20)

"The Spirit and the bride say, “Come.” And let the one who hears say, “Come.” And let the one who is thirsty come; let the one who wishes take the water of life without cost." (Revelation 22:17)

God WANTS us to see more and more, and you need light to see, which is why he calls us to His Light, to walk in it, because that is where He is. (1 John 1:7) And where he is, everything else is. (Romans 11:36)

"But all things become visible when they are exposed by the light, for everything that becomes visible is light." (Ephesians 5:13)

"God is Light, and in Him there is no darkness at all." (1 John 1:5)

“I am the Light of the world; he who follows Me will not walk in the darkness, but will have the Light of life.” (John 8:12)

"There was the true Light which, coming into the world, enlightens every man." (John 1:9)

In God's book, you can never have too much light for perceiving ever more accurately.

"The path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, that shines brighter and brighter until the full day." (Proverbs 4:18)

"He who practices the truth comes to the Light." (John 3:21)

"Then watch out that the light in you is not darkness." (Luke 11:35)

"He who comes to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of those who seek Him." (Hebrews 11:6)

"Light is sown like seed for the righteous, and gladness for the upright in heart." (Psalms 97:11)

Whatever it is that you want that is good, God is the way to it.

"For from Him and through Him and to Him are all things. To Him be the glory forever. Amen." (Romans 11:36)

"Wake up, and strengthen the things that remain, which were about to die." (Revelation 3:2)

"Blessed is the one who stays awake ..." (Rev. 16:15)

Video Recommendation: "Tower of Babel: Origin of Races with Ken Ham"

I love finding a video I want to show all my friends. To date I've watched this one 6 times over with 8 friends, and they all liked it. It's a keeper.

I usually start at 24:58 minutes in. But you can also start from 9:01, which is where this video is set to start.

If you find this interesting, you may also want to read this other article on the net which I am also reading with different ones: Bill Nye/Ken Ham Debate Review: Tying Up Really Loose Ends

Microchipping and the Tower of Babel (bilingual)

I wrote most of this on November 4, 2019. I thought it would be ready to post in two days, so I stopped doing anything else on my blog until I should have posted. Unfortunately 2 days turned into 3 months as I would tinker with it off and on, and then get sidetracked with other projects. For a two day article, I like it, but three months is overkill. It would be interesting to re-write this article in light of the recent virus epidemic, but enough is enough.

我在2019年11月4日編寫了大部分內容。我本來以為可以在兩天內發布，因此我停止在部落格上進行任何其他什麼，直到我應該發佈為止。 不幸的是2天變成了3個月，因為我會不斷地修改它，然後又陷入其他項目的困境。 對於一篇為期兩天的文章，我很喜歡，但是三個月太過分了。 鑑於最近的病毒流行，重新撰寫這篇文章會很有趣，但是我覺得這樣就夠了。

I found this video on the net: They're Spending Billions To Chip Our Brains

我在網上找到了這個視頻: They're Spending Billions To Chip Our Brains

After watching that video, how do you feel about these verses? 

觀看完該視頻後，您對這些經文有何感想？

“The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:6-7) 

耶和華說：“看哪，他們同是一個民族，有一樣的語言，他們一開始就作這事，以後他們所要作的一切，就沒有可以攔阻他們的了。 來，我們下去，在那裡混亂他們的語言，使他們聽不懂對方的話。” (創世記 11:6‭-‬7) 

I have had nothing but positive feelings toward those verses for a long time now. 

我已經很久以來對那些經文只有積極的感覺。

But only today did I catch “And this is what they began to do.” Can you see it? “Here they are with all this ability and THIS is what they choose to do with it.” Evidently it was an ominous indication of how we would be using our abilities in the future.  

但是直到今天我才注意到 「這就是他們開始做的事」那部分。了解麼？ 「他們擁有這些能力，而這就是他們選擇要做的事。」顯然，這不祥的預示著我們將來如何使用我們的能力。

What was so heinous about building a tower? Is God threatened by skyscrapers and technology? 

建造塔樓可算那麼的滔天麼？神受到摩天大樓和科技的威脅嗎？

Nothing's wrong with towers, except that only four generations back when they got off the boat, “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth'” (Genesis 9:1) and in the number of generations that it took Shem's son (born 2 years after the flood) to become a great-grandfather, society was off to the dogs again and saying, “'... OTHERWISE we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)

建造塔樓沒什麼問題，除了只有四代以前人下船後的時候「神賜福給挪亞和他的兒子，對他們說：“你們要繁衍增多，充滿大地。」(創世記 9:1 CNV) 而洪災兩年後所出生的閃的兒子變成了曾祖父的世代數目之內，社會再度陷入衰落，說：「…免得分散在全地上。」(創世記 11:4 CNV) 

In other words, God said, “Scatter,” and only 4 generations later they are saying, “Don't scatter.” In 4 generations, they have reversed the command.

換句話說，神說：“分散”，而只有四代以後人類就開始說：“不要分散”。只花了4代的時間來，他們就扭轉了，使命令反向。

And can you imagine the tyranny that would have been required to keep themselves from scattering? Thank God he broke up that dictatorship.

尤其您能想像為了要阻止大家散佈會造成的多少可怕的專制嗎？ 感謝神，祂打破了那次的獨裁統治。

“This is what they've chosen to do with their abilities? Let's get them separated up for a few thousand years so they can't destroy themselves completely, at least until they're smart enough to invent Google Translate and instantaneous communications, and the Cultural Revolution on steroids.” 

“嗯，這就是他們選擇用自己的能力做的事嗎？ 讓我們將他們分開幾千年，以使他們無法完全毀滅他們自己，至少直到他們足夠聰明以發明Google Translate和即時通訊，而可以如虎添翼的進行文化大革命為止。”

If you don't know what the first Cultural Revolution was, read these 2 books:
如果您不知道文化大革命是什麼，請讀這兩本：

* Fox Butterfield's China, Alive in the Bitter Sea
* 福克斯·巴特菲爾德（Fox Butterfield）的《中國：苦海余生》

* Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (which you can read here at Library Genesis.)
* 張戎的《鴻：三代中國女人的故事》 (可以在這裡閱讀［英文版］：Library Genesis.)

That is what would have had to occur to keep people from escaping the Tower of Babel. In the Tower of Babel incident God was for scattering and freedom, and man was not. 

那將是阻止人逃離巴別塔的事。在巴別塔事件中，神爭取驅散與自由，而人不是。

Image credit:asofterworld

But I'm not trying to paint God as a Luddite. Throughout the Bible it is God who is for life and knowledge, and Satan who is for death and ignorance. 

我並不是說神排斥科技。 在整本聖經中，就是神認可生命和知識，而就是撒旦推銷死亡和愚昧。

God didn't dumb humans down at the Tower of Babel, he just got them loosened up and spreading in all directions. If you knew there was someone interested in killing off the human race, like the Devil, wouldn't you have done the same? 

神並沒有在巴別塔把人類弄笨了，他只是鬆開了人類並讓他們向四面八方驅散。 如果您知道有誰對殺死人類感興趣 (例如魔鬼)，您不會也這樣做麼？

Obviously, God has faith in the human race surviving until he comes again. He designed us, so he knows what we're capable of. And since he knows the future, he knows all the twists and turns we'll make to the end of our story. And because he is God, he can and will stop anything that gets too close to ending us. Earth is not an experiment for him but a testing ground for you, for God to see who loves the truth. 

顯然，神對人類的生存到祂再次來世為止有充滿的信心。 祂設計了我們，所以祂知道我們的能力。 而且由於祂知道未來，所以祂知道我們將在故事的結尾處所經歷的所有曲折。 而且由於祂是神，祂可以而並且一定會阻止任何事情變得過分失控。 地球不是祂的實驗，而是你的試煉場。

.. For this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (Jesus, Gospel of John 18:37) 

“…我要為真理作見證，我為此而生，也為此來到世上。凡是屬於真理的人，都聽我的聲音。” （耶穌，約翰福音 18:37 CNV）

and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.(2 Thessalonians 2:10‭-‬12 NASB) 

並且在那些沉淪的人身上，行各樣不義的欺詐，因為他們不領受愛真理的心，使他們得救。 因此，　神就使錯謬的思想運行在他們當中，讓他們相信虛謊， 叫所有不信真理倒喜愛不義的人，都被定罪。(帖撒羅尼迦後書 2:10‭-‬12 CNV) 

Do you think I've missed something in the Tower of Babel story? Comment below.

您是否認為我錯過了巴別塔故事中的某些意思麼？評論一下。

So how does it help you to know all this?

那麼知道所有這些對您有什麼幫助？

1. You will have a more accurate picture of the world around you. 

1.您將對周圍的世界有更準確的了解。

2. You will be more aware of what's at stake in your obedience or disobedience to the will of God.

2.您會更了解自己對神的旨意的服從或不服從的重要性。

3. You will know more about the pros and cons of microchipping. 

3. 您將進一步了解微芯片的優缺點。

4. Life is not boring, is it? 

4.生活不是無聊的，對嗎？

5. Now you can appreciate a boring life. 

5.現在您可以欣賞無聊的生活。

6. Pretend like the whole world got un-microchipped last month. Are you happy now? Have you thanked God for the freedoms you do have? 

6.假裝整個世界都被微芯片，直到上個月每個人都同時擺脫了他們的微芯片。 地球不是光榮的地方嗎？ （《哈利路亞》合唱插曲）到目前為止，您是否感謝上帝賜予您生命中的祝福？

7. Now you can teach your kids not to grow up and inflict microchipping on others!  

7.現在，您可以教您的孩子長大的時候，不要對他人施加微芯片！

8. The web links are great for teaching your kids reading, vocabulary, spelling, discussion and writing what they would do to help make the world a better place.

8.網絡鏈接非常適合教孩子閱讀，詞彙，拼寫，討論和寫作，他們將做些什麼來幫助世界變得更美好。

9. The video in this article makes for exciting social studies! (English teachers take note.)  

9. 本文中的視頻有助於進行激動人心的社會學課程！ （英語老師請注意。）

10. When children learn stuff young, it doesn't shatter them when they're older.  

小時候知道這些東西，就不會長大的時候學感到那麼震驚。小時候學的東西，就不想長大以後所發現的東西感到那麼的震驚。

I once shared a news headline with a 13-year-old boy and he said his elementary school teacher had already told them that stuff 3 years ago. When I asked if the news had bothered him, he shrugged. 

有一次我跟一個13歲的男孩分享一個新聞的時候，他說他的小學的老師已經跟他們說了。我問他聽到那個新聞的那時候有沒有感覺不舒服，可是他說他就不覺得怎樣。

11. If someday your company asks you to microchip, have you made yourself indispensable to your company, or kept other jobs going on the side, so that you can afford to say no, and vote with your feet, sending a message that makes companies think twice about demanding certain things of their employees and giving others the room to say no as well? Preparing for freedom and making use of your freedom makes those around you freer as well, which in turn makes your own freedom more certain. 

如果你的公司有一天要你裝微芯片的話，你是否已經對他們那麼重要，或維持備份工作，為了有選擇說不要裝否則你會離開公司，讓公司怕繼續勉強人員，這樣給同事一份自由。預備維持你的自由，以及使用這自由所給你的選擇，也會堅強你周圍的人的自由，而他們所加強的自由會互相保護你自己的自由。

Are you raising your kids to be psychologically prepared and equipped with the skills that will allow them to say no as well? 

你是否裝備你的小孩讓他們有心裡而學歷準備為得有同樣的拒絕資格和能力？選擇？

12. What if airlines eventually decide to demand microchipping before you can travel? Some child out there who doesn't know his “limits” may have already begun equipping himself to start his own airline to allow people to circumvent this requirement. If enough children are made aware of the problem they will feel more purpose in their studies and come up with solutions in time for the future.

如果航空有一天堅持你裝微芯片才讓你旅遊呢？也許已經有一個不知道自己的限制的小孩開始預備開自己的航空為了讓人避免這個要求。足夠的小孩理解這問題的話，他們會更感覺到讀書的意義，而有可能來得及發明未來的解決。

What can you add to the list of things to prevent or get around this situation and make the world a better place? Comment below.

您將在事情清單中添加什麼來預防或避免這種情況並使世界變得更美好？評論一下。

Other stuff on the net that sparked this post:
引發此帖子的相關外部新聞：

It’s Spreading: Now the British Media Is Pushing Microchipping In The UK [2018]

Thousands Are VOLUNTEERING to Be MICROCHIPPED in Sweden: Can the Rest of the World Be Far Behind? [2018]

Why People Will Happily Line Up to be Microchipped Like Dogs [2017]

Microchipping and the Tower of Babel

I wrote most of this on November 4, 2019. I thought it would be ready to post in two days, so I stopped doing anything else on my blog until I should have posted. Unfortunately 2 days turned into 3 months as I would tinker with it off and on, and then get sidetracked with other projects. For a two day article, I like it, but three months is overkill. It would be interesting to re-write this article in light of the recent virus epidemic, but enough is enough.

I found this video on the net: They're Spending Billions To Chip Our Brains

After watching that video, how do you feel about these verses?

“The Lord said, “Behold, they are one people, and they all have the same language. And this is what they began to do, and now nothing which they purpose to do will be impossible for them. Come, let Us go down and there confuse their language, so that they will not understand one another’s speech.” (Genesis 11:6-7)

I have had nothing but positive feelings toward those verses for a long time now.

But only today did I catch “And this is what they began to do.” Can you see it? “Here they are with all this ability and THIS is what they choose to do with it.” Evidently it was an ominous indication of how we would be using our abilities in the future.

What was so heinous about building a tower? Is God threatened by skyscrapers and technology?

Nothing's wrong with towers, except that only four generations back when they got off the boat, “God blessed Noah and his sons and said to them, 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth'” (Genesis 9:1) and in the number of generations that it took Shem's son (born 2 years after the flood) to become a great-grandfather, society was off to the dogs again and saying, “'... OTHERWISE we will be scattered abroad over the face of the whole earth.” (Genesis 11:4)

In other words, God said, “Scatter,” and only 4 generations later they are saying, “Don't scatter.” In 4 generations, they have reversed the command.

And can you imagine the tyranny that would have been required to keep themselves from scattering? Thank God he broke up that dictatorship.

“This is what they've chosen to do with their abilities? Let's get them separated up for a few thousand years so they can't destroy themselves completely, at least until they're smart enough to invent Google Translate and instantaneous communications, and the Cultural Revolution on steroids.”

If you don't know what the first Cultural Revolution was, read these 2 books:

* Fox Butterfield's China, Alive in the Bitter Sea

* Jung Chang's Wild Swans: Three Daughters of China (which you can read here at Library Genesis.)

That is what would have had to occur to keep people from escaping the Tower of Babel. In the Tower of Babel incident God was for scattering and freedom, and man was not.

Image credit:asofterworld

But I'm not trying to paint God as a Luddite. Throughout the Bible it is God who is for life and knowledge, and Satan who is for death and ignorance.

God didn't dumb humans down at the Tower of Babel, he just got them loosened up and spreading in all directions. If you knew there was someone interested in killing off the human race, like the Devil, wouldn't you have done the same?

Obviously, God has faith in the human race surviving until he comes again. He designed us, so he knows what we're capable of. And since he knows the future, he knows all the twists and turns we'll make to the end of our story. And because he is God, he can and will stop anything that gets too close to ending us. Earth is not an experiment for him but a testing ground for you, for God to see who loves the truth.

.. For this I have come into the world, to testify to the truth. Everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.” (Jesus, Gospel of John 18:37)

and with all the deception of wickedness for those who perish, because they did not receive the love of the truth so as to be saved. For this reason God will send upon them a deluding influence so that they will believe what is false, in order that they all may be judged who did not believe the truth, but took pleasure in wickedness.(2 Thessalonians 2:10‭-‬12 NASB)

Do you think I've missed something in the Tower of Babel story? Comment below.

So how does it help you to know all this?

1. You will have a more accurate picture of the world around you.

2. You will be more aware of what's at stake in your obedience or disobedience to the will of God.

3. You will know more about the pros and cons of microchipping.

4. Life is not boring, is it?

5. Now you can appreciate a boring life.

6. Pretend like the whole world got un-microchipped last month. Are you happy now? Have you thanked God for the freedoms you do have?

7. Now you can teach your kids not to grow up and inflict microchipping on others!

8. The web links are great for teaching your kids reading, vocabulary, spelling, discussion and writing what they would do to help make the world a better place.

9. The video in this article makes for exciting social studies! (English teachers take note.)

10. When children learn stuff young, it doesn't shatter them when they're older.

I once shared a news headline with a 13-year-old boy and he said his elementary school teacher had already told them that stuff 3 years ago. When I asked if the news had bothered him, he shrugged.

11. If someday your company asks you to microchip, have you made yourself indispensable to your company, or kept other jobs going on the side, so that you can afford to say no, and vote with your feet, sending a message that makes companies think twice about demanding certain things of their employees and giving others the room to say no as well? Preparing for freedom and making use of your freedom makes those around you freer as well, which in turn makes your own freedom more certain.

Are you raising your kids to be psychologically prepared and equipped with the skills that will allow them to say no as well?

12. What if airlines eventually decide to demand microchipping before you can travel? Some child out there who doesn't know his “limits” may have already begun equipping himself to start his own airline to allow people to circumvent this requirement. If enough children are made aware of the problem they will feel more purpose in their studies and come up with solutions in time for the future.

What can you add to the list of things to prevent or get around this situation and make the world a better place? Comment below.

Other stuff on the net that sparked this post:

It’s Spreading: Now the British Media Is Pushing Microchipping In The UK [2018]

Thousands Are VOLUNTEERING to Be MICROCHIPPED in Sweden: Can the Rest of the World Be Far Behind? [2018]

Why People Will Happily Line Up to be Microchipped Like Dogs [2017]