Happy Second Birthday to the Riddleblog!

Today is the Riddleblog's second birthday!

So, I would like to use this occasion to thank all of you who stop here regularly and who enjoy the White Horse Inn, Reformed theology and eschatology and my odd sense of humor.  The number of monthly visitors and subscribers are nearly double what they were even a year ago.  The last two months each exceeded March 2007 when the number of hits I received dramatically spiked during the fall-out from MacArthur's comments about amillennialism @ the Shepherd's Conference.

This is one of the few blogs where the comments section hasn't been shut down at one time or another due to mean-spirited personal attacks or obnoxious comments.  Thanks to all of you for your charity and discretion.  Oh, I will delete an occasional post which goes off topic (to keep the discussion thread on the topic at hand), but by and large you guys are witty, thoughtful, and well-worth hearing from.

So to all of you, I just want to say "thanks," and I hope you continue to enjoy the Riddleblog,  If you feel led to "share," please don't.  But if you have thoughts about how to make this blog better, or other insights, please leave them in the comments section below. 

Did You Stop Beating Your Wife?

Yes, I know this is a trick question (along the lines of "can God make a rock so big he can't lift it?"). 

But in this case, this is no joke.  According to a popular young Saudi cleric, who is well-known for giving marital advice, young men should learn how to "properly" beat their wives.  Apparently, there is a right way and a wrong way. (click here: FOXNews.com - Saudi Marriage 'Expert' Advises Men in 'Right Way' to Beat Their Wives - International News | News o)

_______________________________ 

"Admonish them – once, twice, three times, four times, ten times," he advised. "If this doesn't help, refuse to share their beds."

And if that doesn't work?

"Beat them," one of his three young advisees responded.

"That's right," Al-'Arifi said.

He goes on to calmly explain to the young men that hitting their future wives in the face is a no-no.

"Beating in the face is forbidden, even when it comes to animals," he explained. "Even if you want your camel or donkey to start walking, you are not allowed to beat it in the face. If this is true for animals, it is all the more true when it comes to humans. So beatings should be light and not in the face."

His final words of wisdom?

"Woman, it has gone too far. I can't bear it anymore," he tells the men to tell their wives. "If he beats her, the beatings must be light and must not make her face ugly.

"He must beat her where it will not leave marks. He should not beat her on the hand... He should beat her in some places where it will not cause any damage. He should not beat her like he would beat an animal or a child -- slapping them right and left.

"Unfortunately, many husbands beat their wives only when they get mad, and when they start beating, it as if they are punching a wall – they beat with their hands, right and left, and sometimes use their feet. Brother, it is a human being you are beating. This is forbidden. He must not do this."

_______________________________ 

This is shocking, but comes as no surprise.  What dumbfounds me, however, is the desire expressed by so many multi-culturalists about eliminating the supposed patriarchalism of Christianity from the public square all the while touting the supposed glories (and wisdom) of Islam.

The quotes above particularly struck me (pun intended), since during our Wednesday night Bible study I was going through Ephesians 5 and Paul's exhortation to the church, "husbands, love your wives as Christ loved the church."  Funny, Paul doesn't mention "beatings" or abuse when he talks about the roles of husbands.  No, he speaks about loving our wives as we love our own bodies. 
 

"The Reformation: Then and Now!" Lecture Posted

The lecture from our Friday Night Academy course has been posted.  It is entitled, "The Reformation:  Then and Now!" You can find it here:

Click here: Christ Reformed Info - MP3's and Real Audio (of Academy Lectures)

 

Some Interesting Links

Well, there are some things in life worse than being bald--check out this awful photo of Larry King!  Click here: Whoosh!: Larry King Is Busting Out All Over.  Did anybody see Leslie Neilsen in "Dracula:  Dead and Loving It"?

Speaking of hair (or the lack thereof), here's another reason why Carl Trueman is one of the best living theologians.  Click here: Reformation21 » To Baldly Go

All of you gun lovers out there, check out this link -- the 10 Manliest Firearms.  Glad to know that I own at least one of these. Click here: 10 Manliest Firearms: by Michael Z. Williamson, SMLE, Mosin-Nagant M44, Swiss K31 Carbine, Remington 870  I love the quote from the Swiss General regarding a possible German invasion of his country. 

A tree that eats cows?  You gotta be kidding me!  Click here: 'Cow-eating' trees of Padrame - Newindpress.com

Here's a list of the most influential Christians in Hollywood--two of them have been guests on the White Horse Inn!  That would be numbers 5 and 12.  Click here: FOXNews.com - Mel Gibson Tops List of Hollywood's 'Most Powerful Christians' - Celebrity Gossip | Entertainment Ne

Finally, all you Three Stooges fans (are you reading this, Scott?) will be thrilled with this news--a chronological and definitive issue of remastered Stooge shorts on DVD.  Its about time . . .  Click here: Dumb and Dumber and Dumbest

Who Said That?

Who Said That?

"Right now the United States is in many ways a theocratic state, not dissimilar to some of the other religious states in the world where religion has a huge part to play in government."

You know the drill!  Please, no google searches, or cheating.  Leave your guess in the comments section below. 

Update on Sunday, October 28, 2007 at 06:47PM by Kim Riddlebarger

These words come from Canada's former ambassador to the United States, Frank McKenna.  I'll bet our theonomist friends would be surprised to learn that a theonomic state already exists.  I guess Canada has fallen so far that the presence of any Christians in government is taken as "proof" of a theocracy.

Good Riddance

Yes, I am very surprised that A-Rod opted out of his contract.  I'm even more surprised by the tacky way he did it.

Reportedly, the Yankees were offering huge bucks for a 5-year extension, but A-Rod opted out before even beginning negotiations with the Yanks.  He refused to return calls to the Steinbrenners and to GM Brian Cashman.  Since the Yanks have made it clear that they will not negotiate with A-Rod should he go down this road, he's gone.  Too bad, but certainly not the end of the world (to quote my least favorite player, Manny Ramirez).

Translation--A-Rod's agent (Scott Boras) must have a deal in place with someone else, and it will cost them upwards of the 230 million that would have been owed A-Rod if he played the next ten years for the Yankees.

Good luck to whoever signs this guy.  He's a great player, but he's driven by money, his agent is a snake, and he hasn't shown that he makes his team any better.  To make such an announcement during the final game of the World Series, stealing Boston's thunder, is about as tacky as it gets.  Don't forget that the Mariners won 116 games the first season after A-Rod left.

So, while I am surprised, I am not saddened.  The Yankees have not won a World Series with A-Rod.  They'll have oodles of money to spend on pitching.  And as we have seen with this year's Red Sox, last year's White Sox, and so on, it is pitching, pitching and more pitching which makes a team successful.

A-Rod is walking away from a chance to enter the Hall of Fame as a Yankee and have a plaque one day in his honor in Monument Park in the New Yankees Stadium.  Now he'll just be seen as a greedy hired gun, without a team, without a World Series ring, and without any shame.  As Pete Abraham puts it (Click here: The LoHud Yankees Blog), "he's now the homeless Hall of Famer."  He is, as Buster Olney puts it, trying to place himself above the game (Click here: ESPN - Olney: A-Rod upstages the World Series - MLB).  Baseball fans tend to frown on that. 

So, A-Rod, good riddance!  To you Angels, Dodgers and Red Sox fans who may end up with this guy, be careful what you wish for -- caveat emptor!

Academy Lecture Posted

The final lecture in my Academy series "Eschatology and the Antichrist" has been posted on the Christ Reformed Church website. 

The lecture is entitled:  "The Date of the Book of Revelation--A Problem for Preterists."  In the lecture, I defend the traditional date given for the Book of Revelation, i.e., c. A.D. 95.

You can find the lecture here (along with the earlier lectures in the series):  Click here: Christ Reformed Info - MP3's and Real Audio (of Academy Lectures)

Fire Update

Many of you have emailed me asking about the fires spreading throughout much of So Cal.  So, here's the latest from the local OPC diaconal committee who have done yeoman's work in keeping everyone informed.

As for me and my house, we are in the northwest part of Orange County, well away from the fires--although with all the ash falling, I feel like I'm living in Pompeii.  Several of our church families live near the fire in south Orange County (the Santiago Fire), but to my knowledge, no one has been displaced.

But its a different story in northern San Diego County about 75 miles to the south of Christ Reformed.  The "Witch" fire burned very close to Westminster Seminary--at last report there were a few singed trees toward the back of the campus (if you've been there), but no damage to the campus itself.  Some of those professors who live near the seminary (the Hortons, the Strimples, the Van Drunens) were evacuated.  The Clarks were OK at last report--the Baughs were staying with them (having been evacuated from further out).  Those professors living in the northern part of town, were not evacuated.  As best as I can tell, the fire burned through the southeastern part of Escondido yesterday afternoon heading south to Rancho Bernardo, where so much damage was done.  The winds which, thankfully, are dying down, can cause burned areas to flare up again.  Once that fear is over, my guess is that the evacuees will be allowed home.

There are many URC, OPC and PCA churches and their members in San Diego County directly effected by this.  The siutation is quite fluid and all depends upon the winds.  Pray that the winds die down, and for the exhausted firefighters who are giving it their all.

At least governor Arnold didn't come out and announce in his thick accent, "Kalifornia is on fire," like he did last time.

Update on Tuesday, October 23, 2007 at 08:12PM by Kim Riddlebarger

Scott Clark has several updates (Click here: http://www.oceansideurc.org/ - The Heidelblog (Scott Clark)

My Wife's Greatest Fear

All things considered, my wife is pretty normal.  But like most everyone else, she has her phobias.  She's afraid of spiders and six-legged home invaders and is not fond of reptiles either.

But she's also afraid of monkeys--very afraid of monkeys!  It all comes from a bad experience as a child with an organ-grinder and his money-grubbing spider monkey assistant.  The episode of the Twilight Zone with the monkey-like creature taking the wing apart on an airplane while a young William Shatner watched in horror, also had something to do with it.

So, imagine her reaction to the recent news headline, "Monkeys Attack Delhi Politician."  (Click here: BBC NEWS | South Asia | Monkeys attack Delhi politician).  This poor man was out on his balcony, and was suddenly attacked by a herd (swarm? pack? gaggle?) of monkeys and tragically fell to his death. 

From the look on her face, I now know that my wife's greatest fear would be to live in a place where gangs of monkeys ran wild and attacked people on their upstairs balcony!  I guess that means there will be no vacations in Delhi . . .  The zoo's probably "iffy" as well.

Update on Wednesday, October 24, 2007 at 11:50AM by Kim Riddlebarger

As if my wife needed another reason to fear monkeys . . . The Link says it all.

Click here: FOXNews.com - Kenyan Monkeys Make Lewd Gestures at Women - Science News | Current Articles

Who Saw the UFO?

One of the current presidential candidates claims to have seen a UFO.  If you guessed it was Dennis Kucinich, you'd be correct.

According to a new book by Shirley MacLaine (Click here: Kucinich sees UFO, new book claims - OPENERS - Ohio Politics Blog by The Plain Dealer), Congressman Kucinich "had a close sighting over my home in Graham, Washington, when I lived there. Dennis found his encounter extremely moving. The smell of roses drew him out to my balcony where, when he looked up, he saw a gigantic triangular craft, silent, and observing him. It hovered, soundless, for ten minutes or so, and sped away with a speed he couldn't comprehend. He said he felt a connection in his heart and heard directions in his mind."

Now if you were from another planet, would you come all the way to earth to observe Congressman Kucinich on Shirley MacLaine's porch?  Proof positive that there is no intelligent life in outer space.