Arbitrary Arguments
Monday, August 16, 2021
Sunday, August 15, 2021
Saturday, August 14, 2021
August 14 - The Miracle of the Dead Sea Scrolls
The Isaiah copies of the Dead Sea Scrolls proved to be word for word identical with our standard Hebrew Bible in more than 95% of the text. The 5% of variations consisted chiefly of obvious slips of the pen and variations in spelling. – Gleason Archer (1916-2004) Bible Scholar
It is a matter of wonder that through something like a
thousand years the text underwent so little alteration. – Millar Burrows
(1898-1980) Yale Divinity School The
Dead Sea Scrolls of St. Mark’s Monastery
Psalm 12: 6-7 "The words of the Lord are pure words: as silver tried in a furnace of earth, purified seven times. Thou shalt keep them, O Lord, thou shalt preserve them from this generation for ever."
"I Tried To Warn You" - Elon Musk
Dennis Edwards: Artificial Intelligence in the hands of an Adolf Hitler or Joseph Stalin. Abraham Lincoln said that the test of man's moral capacity was to give him absolute power. We are heading toward the ominous "last Days" of Bible prophecy when an evil world dictator will attempt total world control arising out of a so-called benevolent world government. All these technological "advances" are paving the way for persecution of those who refuse to submit to these "technological improvements."
Friday, August 13, 2021
August 13 - The Bible Text Is Certain!
This can be said of no other ancient book in the world. Scholars are satisfied that they possess substantially the true text of the principal Greek and Roman writers whose works have come down to us of Sophocles, of Thyaydides, of Cicero, of Virgil; yet our knowledge of their writings depend on a mere handful of manuscripts, whereas the manuscripts of the New Testament are counted by hundred, and even thousands.
– Sir Frederick Kenyon (1863-1952) Director of the British Museum from 1917-1921 and member of British Parliment from 1918-1952
Does God Love Me?
Have you asked, Does God love me? The Bible says that God loves us so much He gave His son, Jesus (John 3:16).
At Passion 2020 I gave this message called “The Search Is Over.” If you have struggled to find your purpose or worth, look no further than Jesus. If you have ever questioned whether God still loves you—this video of me preaching at the Passion Conference is for you. Be blessed and encouraged! – xo, Sadie Robertson
65,000 College Students Gather for Jesus
Maria Fonte: If you listen to much of the media with its often negative and disparaging slant against Christianity, especially in the US, it can start to look like faith in Jesus is fading into oblivion. But the other day I saw an article on an event that even the media couldn’t ignore. Over 65,000 young Christians, ages 18 to 25, gathered together to bring in the New Year with prayer and praise, and in the process, they raised funds to help others. It thrills my heart to see young Christians stepping forward in faith.
I believe that each generation needs its own approach to the world that they are living in, an approach that will best suit the needs of their generation and enable them to relate to the world that they will be reaching.
I’ve heard statistics that there are millions of Christians in the US alone who have decided to search for a different approach to living their faith. I believe that the Lord is the One leading them, just as He led us to change to meet the needs of those we were ministering to.
When I see examples of how strong faith in Jesus is in these young people’s hearts, it inspires me to trust the Lord that this is just a peek into what is going on around the world, as He prepares the younger generations to be the examples of Him for their day.
Each generation draws elements that are good from the generation before them. They may add many new things to suit the changing times, but that is in the Lord’s hands to bring about. We need to keep praying and watching with expectancy, knowing that God is working in the lives of the younger generations of believers, wherever He has them, in the way that He knows is best.
We need to pray for the Christians from the younger generations as they join in the task of reaching the world for Him. The process for bringing each of His up-and-coming followers to the place where He needs them will be as unique to the individual as it was with us. We need to place that in His hands. That includes the young people of the Family and all of His youth as they follow His leadings.
Here are several excerpts from the article:
Passion 2020 is a gathering of 18- to 25-year-olds … comprised of students and leaders from more than 1,680 universities, all 50 states and 81 countries.
“We’re not simply keepers of the light, but we are carriers of the light of Jesus to the world,” Louie Giglio, Passion founder, said. “One of the practical ways that we can carry that light to the world is to participate in the goal of Scripture translation.”
Last year, almost 40,000 students gathered at Passion 2019 and were able to raise more than $400,000 to translate the Bible for deaf people across the world.
Each year, students have joined together to raise money for different initiatives, including the END IT Movement, which launched at Passion 2013 and has raised $8.3 million to fight modern-day slavery. In addition to that, students will raise money for Share Light, a campaign to see the Bible scriptures translated into the 6,000 known languages during this generation’s lifetime.Thursday, August 12, 2021
August 12 - The New Testament Unrivaled Among Ancient Writings!
If we compare the recent state of the New Testament text with that of any other ancient writing, we must…declare it to be marvelously correct. Such has been the case with which the New Testament has been copied – a care which has doubtless grown out of true reverence for its holy words – such has been the providence of God in preserving for His Church in each and every age a competently exact text of the Scriptures, that not only is the New Testament unrivaled among ancient writings in the purities of its text as actually transmitted and kept in use, but also in the abundance of testimony which has come down to us for castigating its comparatively infrequent blemishes. – Benjamin Warfield (1851-1921) Princeton Theological Seminary
Wednesday, August 11, 2021
Ivermectin Works Study Shows!
Use of Ivermectin Is Associated With Lower Mortality in Hospitalized Patients With Coronavirus Disease 2019: The Ivermectin in COVID Nineteen Study
Affiliations
- PMID: 33065103
- PMCID: PMC7550891
- DOI: 10.1016/j.chest.2020.10.009
Abstract
Background: Ivermectin was shown to inhibit severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 replication in vitro, which has led to off-label use, but clinical efficacy has not been described previously.
Research question: Does ivermectin benefit hospitalized coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients?
Study design and methods: Charts of consecutive patients hospitalized at four Broward Health hospitals in Florida with confirmed COVID-19 between March 15 and May 11, 2020, treated with or without ivermectin were reviewed. Hospital ivermectin dosing guidelines were provided, but treatment decisions were at the treating physician's discretion. The primary outcome was all-cause in-hospital mortality. Secondary outcomes included mortality in patients with severe pulmonary involvement, extubation rates for mechanically ventilated patients, and length of stay. Severe pulmonary involvement was defined as need for Fio2 ≥ 50%, noninvasive ventilation, or invasive ventilation at study entry. Logistic regression and propensity score matching were used to adjust for confounders.
Results: Two hundred eighty patients, 173 treated with ivermectin and 107 without ivermectin, were reviewed. Most patients in both groups also received hydroxychloroquine, azithromycin, or both. Univariate analysis showed lower mortality in the ivermectin group (15.0% vs 25.2%; OR, 0.52; 95% CI, 0.29-0.96; P = .03). Mortality also was lower among ivermectin-treated patients with severe pulmonary involvement (38.8% vs 80.7%; OR, 0.15; 95% CI, 0.05-0.47; P = .001). No significant differences were found in extubation rates (36.1% vs 15.4%; OR, 3.11; 95% CI, 0.88-11.00; P = .07) or length of stay. After multivariate adjustment for confounders and mortality risks, the mortality difference remained significant (OR, 0.27; 95% CI, 0.09-0.80; P = .03). One hundred ninety-six patients were included in the propensity-matched cohort. Mortality was significantly lower in the ivermectin group (13.3% vs 24.5%; OR, 0.47; 95% CI, 0.22-0.99; P < .05), an 11.2% (95% CI, 0.38%-22.1%) absolute risk reduction, with a number needed to treat of 8.9 (95% CI, 4.5-263).
Interpretation: Ivermectin treatment was associated with lower mortality during treatment of COVID-19, especially in patients with severe pulmonary involvement. Randomized controlled trials are needed to confirm these findings.
Keywords: hospitalized COVID-19; in-hospital mortality; ivermectin; mechanical ventilation; number needed to treat; severe pulmonary involvement; survival.
Copyright © 2020 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
