Genesis 3:1-5

This is my translation from the Hebrew text.

Now the serpent was more crafty than any living thing of the open field that Yahweh God made. So he said to the woman, "Indeed did God say you shall not eat from any tree of the garden?" Then the woman said to the serpent, "From the fruit of trees of the garden we may eat. But from the fruit of the tree that is in the very heart of the garden, God said, 'You shall never eat from it and neither shall you ever tough it, lest you die.'" Then the serpent said to the woman, "You will never die because God knows that in the day of your eating from it your eyes will be opened, and you will become like God, knowing of good and evil."

Genesis 2:22-25

This is my translation from the Hebrew text.

Then Yahweh God built the rib which He took from the man for a woman. Then He caused her to come to the man. Then the man said, "This now at length is bone from my bone and flesh from my flesh. Thus she will be called a woman because from a man she was taken." Therefore a man will leave his father and his mother and keep close with his wife and they shall become one flesh. Then the two of them were naked, the man and his wife, but they were never ashamed before one another.

Paige Patterson Preaches Through First Peter

I highly recommend Paige Patterson's sermon series on First Peter. You can find the series at PaigePatterson.info. After you get to the site, just right click on the sermon links and click 'save target as' to save each sermon to your computer. Dr. Patterson is the president of Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary.

Creed

Creed
A satirical poem on the modern mind by
Steve Turner

We believe in Marxfreudanddarwin.
We believe everything is OK
As long as you don’t hurt anyone,
To the best of your definition of hurt,
And to the best of your knowledge.

We believe in sex before, during, and after marriage.
We believe in the therapy of sin.
We believe that adultery is fun.
We believe that sodomy’s OK.
We believe that taboos are taboo.

We believe that everything’s getting better
Despite evidence to the contrary.
The evidence must be investigated
And you can prove anything with evidence.

We believe that all religions are basically the same—
At least the one that we read was.
They all believe in love and goodness.
They only differ on matters of creation,
Sin, heaven, hell, God, and salvation.

We believe that after death comes the Nothing
Because when you ask the dead what happens
They say nothing.
If death is not the end, if the dead have lied, then it’s
Compulsory heaven for all
Excepting perhaps
Hitler, Stalin, and Genghis Khan.

We believe in Masters and Johnson.
What’s selected is average.
What’s average is normal.
What’s normal is good.

We believe that man is essentially good.
It’s only his behavior that lets him down.
This is the fault of society.
Society is the fault of conditions.
Conditions are the fault of society.

We believe that each man must find the truth that
Is right for him.
Reality will adapt accordingly.
The universe will readjust.
History will alter.
We believe that there is no absolute truth
Excepting the truth
That there is no absolute truth.

We believe in the rejection of creeds,
And the flowering of individual thought.


Chance (a postscript)

If chance be
The Father of all flesh,
Disaster is his rainbow in the sky,
And when you hear

State of Emergency!
Sniper Kills Ten!
Troops on Rampage!
Whites go Looting!
Bomb Blasts School!

It is but the sound of man
Worshiping his maker.

Genesis 2:19-21

This is my translation from the Hebrew text.

Then Yahweh God formed from the ground every animal of the field and every fowl of the sky. Then He caused them to come to the man to see what he would proclaim to them, and whatever the man would proclaim each living animal, it would be its name. Then the man proclaimed names to all the cattle and to birds of the sky and to every living thing of the field, but for man there was never found a help corresponding to him. Then Yahweh God caused a deep sleep to fall upon the man. Then he slept. Next He took one of his ribs. Then He closed the flesh in the parts beneath.

Genesis 2:15-18

This is my translation from the Hebrew text.

Then Yahweh God took the man and placed him in the garden of Eden to work it and to keep it. Then Yahweh God laid charge upon the man saying, "From every tree of the garden you may freely eat. But from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil you shall never eat from it, because in the day of your eating it you will surely die." Then Yahweh God said, "It is never good for the man to be alone. I will make for him a help corresponding to him."

Absolutely Sith

Special to Letters to the Thirsty

Lets be quick. In Star Wars 3, our illustrious good guy Obi Wan Kenobi tells bad guy Anakin Skywalker, that Christians are bad. Well, he didn't really say that, but what is said attacks what we stand for.
Anakin--Anyone who is not with me is my enemy.
Obi Wan---Only the Sith deal in absolutes.

Lets be blunt. Anakin was dealing in absolutes. Either you're with him or against him. That's a very absolute statement and leaves no room for errors, correcting mistakes and rejudging things.

Matthew 12:30 "He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters. Jesus deals in absolutes too. But we all knew that. God Himself is an absolute which cannot be changed. The real question is whether the Jedi deal in absolutes. Well ask Obi wan if he's absolutely sure whether or not only the sith deal in absolutes. Claiming that only the Darkside deals in absolutes is an absolute statement and so the Jedi deal in absolutes every bit as much as anyone else, except that they think they don't do it. Everyone everywhere deals in absolutes. I'll leave you guys to come up with more examples.

Ben Joiner

Nuts...

"...he found me again." I chased this squirrel around a tree, and he finally stopped and posed for me. The squirrels are all over the place at SWBTS in Fort Worth, TX.

Colored Glass

This window can be found in the prayer room at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas.