Moon Pictures Featured in New Book

This Summer I was asked by reknowned deer hunter Lynn Ketner of Georgia if he could use some of my Moon phase pictures in his book on hunting whitetailed deer. I agreed and was able to get them to him in time before publishing. Here is a link to his book:

Hunting the Whitetail Using Data & Discoveries

It is neat that I was able to be featured, but also, if you like to hunt, this is a wonderful resource. Please check it out!

JZ Holloway

Why are we upset or surprised?

Recently, a public school in New Jersey were made to praise President Obama in a school recital. Since then, outrage has sprung forth, but really, why are we so upset and surprised? It is no different than what the Roman Emperors, kings, princes, dictators, etc have done in the past, and continue to do to this day. So why is it we are so surprised? I am more surprised that the children in the class who are “Christian” have not been taught to refuse, as the early Christians did in the Roman Empire, to worship anything other than God – and also that the parents sitting there listening to the worship song did not stop it or their children.

We must remember the ruler of this world is the Devil. He is the Lord of the air – even after his defeat on the Cross. Just as Persia had a “prince,” the United States, and every other country and geographical area, has a p”prince,” or ruler over it – influencing and manipulating, even causing “good” things to happen. There is no such thing as a Christian nation, or even a moral nation, they are all pagan. The United States was not founded so men could worship anyway they liked, it was set up so that religious institutions, most notably then the Church of England, could not hold sway over the government, and vice-versa, the government could not hold sway over the religious institutions. It should be no surprise when the government run schools try to infuse a sense of patriotic duty and trust in the government since religious institutions try to do the same thing… i.e. Sunday School, Children’s Church and the like. The government itself is a “religious” body as well as a body that desires to be worshipped. Instead of being shocked when things like this happen, maybe we should simply instruct our children, and remind ourselves, that we must not be surprised or upset, but we should take a stand and refuse to participate.

Lastly, keep in mind – we “worship” past presidents, even setting up feast days in their honor, the same with people like Dr. Martin Luther King – and this does not upset us. We “worship” Christopher Columbus, who nearly wiped out the Carib Indian population, again having a feat day in his honor. We celebrate or Day of Indepence (feast day) which marks our rebellion against England and a great loss of life on both sides. So what makes this worship any more different?

More Pictures…

Update on the Family…

Article on the family @ Diocese of the Mid-South webpage

Jupiter and more from Providence, RI

It’s been about a year since I have posted anything astronomy wise, but here are some. They are not spectacular for a few reasons 1) I have never used a Nikon before 2) it was cloudy & 3) well… it is Providence, lots of light. Oh, and the Jupiter one might actually be Vega or possible Deneb, it is hard to tell with the clouds.

Enjoy!

Being a Christian nation in a Pagan nation…

Keeping with Gregory Boyd’s concept that the United States is not a Christian nation, and that whole idea is a myth, I want to look at a quote from his book “The Myth of a Christian Nation.” “What if the energy and resources spent to preserve and tweak the civil religion [i.e. the Christian nation concept] was rather spent feeding the hungry, housing the homeless, befriending the drug addict, and visiting the prisoner?” (115, 116) The answer is simple, we would no longer just be going to church, but we would be the Church. We would no longer just call ourselves Christian, but be Christian… we would, as Boyd says, do the Kingdom. We would be called Christian not because we say we are, but because people would see the life of Christ in us.

Is the civil religion – the political activism, etc, important to try and maintain? No… in fact, as Boyd argues, it is harmful to the Kingdom. By depending on the civil government to make laws protecting morality – by depending on the “over” kingdoms, we lose our own “under” kingdom… we trust less in God and try and get the government to make the nation a moral bulwark. We put our faith in the “over” government, and lose our servant nature. This began almost 1700 years ago when Constantine the Great legalized Christianity… and hence forth the Church became dependant on the government, as well as trying to control it. Instead of protesting, we should be praying, instead of endorsing and giving our money to candidates, we should be giving our money to the poor and needy. For real change, we need to stop depending on an election… stop just going to the Church, but be the Church and do the Kingdom. We must stop judging and begin  sacrificing all that we are. Jesus fellowshipped with the sinner… not the righteous, for it was the sinner who needed Him most. For this is the only way we can Love.

More on the “Christian Nation” Concept…

Recently I have been reading Gregory Boyd’s books “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power Is Destroying the Church” and “The Myth of a Christian Religion: Losing Your Religion for the Beauty of a Revolution.” Both of these books explore what Boyd calls the myth that a wordly nation can also be a Christian nation, and the myth that the Church should be be very active in promoting or smearing political parties and politicians in the United States.

Essentially I agree with him and here is why… First, The Founding Fathers of the United States did not found this country to be a Christian nation, but to be a nation that embraced religious freedom. Thus, the government cannot make political decisions – nor should they – based upon one religion or another. Second, the Bible mentions numerous times that Satan – not Jesus – is the lord of this world, also, nations have princes, or “gods,” that rule over them – such as the “prince of Persia” seen in the Book of Daniel. Sadly, the “prince” of the United States is not God… why, well, its a wordly kingdom first and foremost, but also because this country was founded on rebellion, insurrection, fear, violence and war. That is not the way Jesus Christ spread His kingdom – giving definition to Boyd’s difference in “over kingdoms” and God’s “under kingdom” – worldly kingdoms rule OVER you, God’s kingdom puts the one in charge beneath everyone else – leadership by serving and sacrifice. Lastly, the myth causes Christians to act surprised when governments and politicians and leader act the way they do… even though those people are fallen people just like them, think in the same manner, etc… Yet, honestly, how should we expect other people to act… well, just like us, and if they are not practicing believers or practicing in another religion, probably even worse.

I highly recommend these two books, and even if you do not get them, check out Gregory Boyd’s website at Christus Victor Ministries

JZ Holloway