Dallas MacDonald
Quotable Quotes #23
“We talk so much about leaving a better planet to our kids, but say almost nothing about leaving better kids to our planet. We would do well to teach our kids wisdom; of course, to do that we would first… Continue reading
The Streets of London (adapted lyrics)
Have you seen the old man
In the closed down market
Kicking up the paper
With his worn out shoes?
In his eyes you see no pride
Hand held loosely at his side
Yesterday’s paper telling yesterday’s news
Have you seen the old girl who walks the streets of London
Dirt in her hair and her clothes in rags?
She’s no time for talking
She just keeps on walking
Carrying her home in two carrier bags
In the all-night cafe
At quarter past eleven
Same old man
Sitting there on his own
Looking at the world
Over the rim of his tea-cup
Each tea lasts an hour
Then he wanders home alone
And have you seen the old man
Outside the seaman’s mission?
Memory fading with this medal ribbons he wears
In our winter city
The rain cries a little pity
For one more forgotten hero
And a world that doesn’t care
Let me take you by the hand and lead you through the streets of London
I’ll show you something to make you change your mind.
END. Continue reading
The High Cost of Providing a Free Service (Editorial)
I’ve recently had an interesting dialog with a professional news service, the sort of organization whose business it is to supply news for sale to newspapers and other media outlets. I thought it would be useful to show what it takes to provide the sort of blog you see here, and how much it would cost.
Bible Truth For You (which operates both a blog and an emailed newsletter “The Christian News Roundup”) has good relationships with several news organizations, which have generously permitted us to publish their news stories here under varying conditions, depending on their choices. We are always grateful that they permit this for us.
It must be kept in mind, however, that news gathering is a business, and those who do so quite reasonably expect to be paid for their efforts. It’s here that we enter into the wild and woolly world of commercial news.
In recent negotiation with an unnamed news provider we found that the cost of using their news stories would be $180 per article, or a basic subscription of $550+ per month; note the ‘per month’, not ‘per year’.
Keep in mind that is with just one news service, and we would need to use many such news providers. This cost doesn’t even include any other operational costs that are a part of this website and blog, so it shouldn’t be hard to imagine that operating a a website such as Bible Truth For You is potentially very expensive.
And what is the cost to our readers? Zilch.
We don’t charge for access or entry to our website; there is no paywall. We also don’t generate any income from his website; we sell no Bibles or Christian T-shirts, no CDs or DVDs of music or great preaching. We don’t have advertising (as yet; it may come if we continue to struggle as we do). We don’t begrudge people from making free use of what we provide freely; that is the model we have chosen to follow and we want as many people as possible to make use of what we offer.
We do, however, want people to be aware of what it takes to run such a website as ours: that it isn’t a doddle which is of little effort or expense.
We do have the facility to give donations in the right sidebar, if anyone might like to do so.
Two Coins in the Shofar: The Religious Victimization of the Poor
Luke 21:1-4
The widow and her two coins is almost universally seen, and used in countless sermons, as an illustration of how we should give; that is, to give to the uttermost. However, an examination of the context of the passage and an understanding of Jewish religious culture reveals that the widow was being exploited by the religious system of the day, to get her (and others like her) to part with everything she had.
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Is God Willing To Save Everyone From Hell?
Why Did Jesus Weep?
“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!” (John 11:33–36).
This was a scene of intense sorrow and pain. Not only was Mary weeping (a form of the verb klaio; “to wail,” or “to lament loudly”), but the Jews who came with her were also weeping and wailing loudly. According to Jewish custom, even the poorest family was expected to hire at least two flute players and a professional wailing woman. Since Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were a prominent family, they would likely have had even more professional mourners, in addition to the others who came to pay their respects (v. 19).
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What Does It Mean: ‘Let Not the Sun Go Down Upon Your Wrath’?
Does the Bible Teach Us to Pester God with Prayer?
What is the Extent of the Authority of Church Leadership?
Anne Askew
Anne Askew was a woman who died as a martyr during the reign of Henry VIII of England. She was one of many women who, like many men, “loved not their lives to the death”, and maintained their testimony of Jesus Christ to the end of their lives.
Anne was born into the gentry as the daughter of a knight (Sir William Askew of Stallingborough, a wealthy landowner and part of the court of Henry VIII). She had a comfortable childhood and received a good education with her brothers at home. Hard working, clever and an avid reader, Anne showed a keen interest in Bible studies and memorized entire passages. After reading the Bible in English and much study, Anne’s life increasingly came to reflect the grace she had received through Jesus Christ.
In 1536 Anne was forced into a marriage by her father against her will, because her older sister, who had been betrothed to Thomas Kyme (a Catholic and wealthy landowner), died. Because her father didn’t want to lose a valuable connection, Sir William compelled Anne to marry Kyme.
What Price Freedom?
Bible Truth For You: Editorial
One of the basic, but often overlooked, biblical social principles is that of Freedom. Freedom for the individual, freedom of expression, freedom of belief, freedom of movement, freedom to express disagreement with any and all,… Continue reading
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