Thought Quotient

“Science is what we understand well enough to explain to a computer, and art is everything else. Every time science advances, part of an art becomes a science. So, art loses a little bit, but mysteriously begins to gain back again because as we understand more, we think of more things that we don’t know how to explain to computers.” - Don Knuth

We read this update in a recent Joni and Friends newsletter. It’s an email from Dr. Matthew Fargo to ‘Wheels for the World’ regarding Pediatric Wheelchairs in Iraq…

Dear Friends,
My name is Matt Fargo, and I am one of the military physicians in Mosul, Iraq. I am sorry I haven’t written sooner, but I just wanted to let you know that the pediatric wheelchairs your organization donated have been put to good use. We have found countless children with medical ailments which have made them crippled or have made it difficult to walk. Attached is a photo of one such child given one of your wheelchairs, taken at a local medical screening in Mosul. I wanted to show you this picture so that you can see that your organization has done a wonderful service to the children of Iraq.

Sincerely,
Matthew Fargo, MD

“Defend the cause of the weak and fatherless;
maintain the rights of the poor and oppressed.
Rescue the weak and needy;
deliver them from the hand of the wicked.”
- Psalm 82:3-4

Click here if you’d like to get similiar updates from Joni’s newsletters.

Related Links:

• Joni and Friends
• Wheels for the World

News update from Rocketown Records…

Watermark’s new album, A Grateful People, is the #1 Christian album on iTunes right now. You can check it all out on the iTunes Inspirational page.

Related Links:

• Watermark ‘A Grateful People’ in stores today
• Watemark - A Grateful People

The story of the prodigal son…

Luke 15:11-32

Note that the father was on the lookout for the return of his lost son. When he saw his son coming to him, he raced out to meet him and loved on him and offered him grace while his son had nothing to offer him and was undeserving. That is grace personified. The father in this parable represents our Heavenly father.

question:
What was necessary for grace to be given?
answer:
Coming to Him. That’s all.

Note the differences between the sons in this story. While the prodigal was self-centered and went out on his own to do his own thing, the other son was self-righteous which led to a lack of joy and even a bitterness toward his own brother. By the end of the parable, we can conclude that one was a sinner and knew it, the other was a sinner and had forgotten it.

I heard David Jeremiah say this recently about this passage of scripture:
Jesus told this story to explain to the Pharisees that were questioning Him that indeed His purpose in life was the very thing they accused him of: not only hanging out with sinners, but seeking them out and offering grace to them!

In the spirit of 1 Peter 3:15 and the need to answer the many questions that are sure to arise after the release of The Da Vinci Code movie on May 19, we will look at a few claims from Dan Brown’s novel*:

• “I shant bore you with the countless references to Jesus and Magdalene’s union” (p. 247).
  THE TRUTH: There are only two such references — both in writings that have been universally discredited.
• ‘The New Testament is based on fabrications…. The greatest story ever told is, in fact, the greatest story ever sold” (pp. 341, 267).
  THE TRUTH: When standard scholarly measures are used, the New Testament emerges as the best-authenticated document in ancient history. The text we have today is virtually unchanged from the earliest manuscripts.
• “Fortunately for historians… some of the gospels that Constantine attempted to eradicate managed to survive. The Dead Sea Scrolls were found in the 1950s hidden in a cave near Qumran in the Judean desert” (p. 234).
  THE TRUTH: Constantine did not attempt to eradicate any Gospels. The Dead Sea Scrolls were discovered in the 1940s; they contain none of the New Testament books or even a reference to Jesus.

*thanks to CRI for compiling this summary.

Related Links:

• 
• The Da Vinci Hoax (BreakPoint Commentary)

You could always see right through the front I’d offer You
Not believing my excuses, waiting for the truth
When You could have turned Your back and walked away from me
You picked me up instead.

So we’ll turn another page and change the way I look at You
And maybe I’ll begin to understand what You went through
Not content to leave me wandering and unaware
You took my hand instead
Yeah, You lead me to the edge

I’m falling down
Tumbling after You
I’m overwhelmed
Tripping over simple truth
In all I’ve found
There’s nothing more beautiful
Than what I’ve found in You

Starfield - Tumbling After

As a writer I’ve found that I have a subject default. If I don’t have a specific vision for a song it will inevitably turn into a song about the tension between wanting to live right… and actually living right. Maybe it’s because for most of my life I find myself living in that place… feeling defeated and frustrated… falling and tumbling towards Christ as I learn to get over myself and let him lead. Maybe that’s a good place to be…. I haven’t quite figured it out yet. All I do know is that it’s worth it… there nothing more beautiful than the moment grace meets my stubborn undisciplined life. - Tim Neufeld