There are views that I find difficult to understand how people see them that way, but I try not to judge peoples hearts based on them.  We seem to have lost the art of discussion without anger and judgement.  That is sad since we are called to think on and discuss our understanding of His commands pretty much all the time in what is probably one of my favorite passages from the Bible.

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one. You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.” - (Deuteronomy 6:4-9 ESV)

Not being able to voice ones beliefs without fear of verbal assault is killing personal growth in theological understanding in our communities.  If we aren’t prepared to defend our position then we should be spurred to investigate it further.  Any increased study prayerfully undertaken should produce the blessing of further comfort and possible correction of previously misunderstood texts.  Now not everything we undertake to study is an overnight effort.  Sometimes the journey to arrive at what you fully believe on a specific topic is fraught with moments of disbelief and doubt in your own understanding, being willing to change your position is part of the maturity we all seek to achieve.

I pray we recover reasoned diligent discussion through debate, it is a tremendously beneficial skill that offers the reward of refining and sharpening our understanding of the Lords word. Understanding why someone is saying what they are saying frequently yields results that are closer to your own than you previously would have thought, and often spurs study which ultimately strengthens all involved.

My favorite portion of his post is below…

Reformed theology has maintained consistently that Scripture teaches God’s exhaustive sovereignty and human responsibility. God does not cause evil. In fact, God does not force anyone to do anything against his or her will. And yet, nothing lies outside of the wise, loving, good, and just plan “of him who works all things after the council of his own will” (Eph 1:11). That God’s sovereignty and human responsibility are true, no serious student of Scripture can deny. How they can be true is beyond our capacity to understand. As Calvin put the matter, following Luther, any attempt to unravel the mystery of predestination and human responsibilty beyond Scripture is a “seeking outside the way.” “Better to limp along this path,” says Calvin, “than to rush with all speed outside of it.”

via - Does Calvinism Make God a “Moral Monster”? – White Horse Inn Blog.

Apple has been betting on HTML5 since the iPhone came out, and there was a much publicized spat between Adobe and Apple over this decision.  This led to Google with android rushing to fill the market void of a flash compatible handsets for all our mobile needs.  Android tablets and handsets with flash were launched, and for quite some time the HTML5 based iphone/ipad duo were touted as doomed for their lack of flash abilities.

The flash device manufacturers were constantly thwarted despite their best efforts with inconsistant or poor performance. In my opinion it was a matter of using a desktop & mouse oriented legacy system (flash) on a touch platform with too little resources to make it all go zooom.  So the experience although it worked was usually not as good as the now available HTML5 versions being made by many media outlets.  The standards group that has been pushing HTML5 did so to the benefit of all our browsers, no more would we need to download something to watch media, it would just work.  One less thing to go wrong or need to be updated because it was out of date.

Silverlight came out and sidestepped some of the issues that plagued flash but still did not remedy the need to install a new component into the browser to view the new material.  Any additional components we install into our browsers add an additional layer of risk from a security aspect that may provide a hacker an entry into your machine.  With multiple vendors there are multiple fingers pointing at whose to blame or patch the holes found and in todays world that is a bad thing.

So today I read two of the three choices announced changes, Adobe the makers of flash and Microsoft the makers of silverlight have announced either a change of direction, or insinuated an end of life situation for these former huge platforms.  Not that they’re usefulness is over as of today, just that their future no longer seems to be in the primarily mobile arena.  Which is the fastest growing segment of how users are getting information about many companies and products.  That is why this matters potentially to you and I, as I am frequently asked “what should we use to develop our new website?”.

If you are looking to develop a website for your company, church or club, take a moment to find a developer who is well versed in the latest standards. You may find flash or silverlight is still your best bet for your new site, but I would be surprised if they don’t also insist on or offer you an HTML5 based version.  If they do, is it worth the added $ to make two sites?  This very reason is why going with standards such as HTML5 over specialized plug-ins like Flash or Silverlight makes sense.

And if your looking to develop your personal skills in the web area, focus your development training around HTML5, at least until the next big thing arrives. To see Forbes take on the flash situation click here. I have snatched an excerpt from another news site with a link below it for the silverlight info.

From ZDNet

Several of my customer and partner contacts have told me they have heard from their own Microsoft sources over the past couple of weeks that Silverlight 5 is the last version of Silverlight that Microsoft will release. They said they are unsure whether there will be any service packs for it, and they are also not clear on how long Silverlight 5 will be supported by Microsoft.

via Will there be a Silverlight 6 and does it matter? | ZDNet.

One more thing, choose a modern browser to surf the web.  Older browsers have holes that could allow your information to be leaked or your machine accessed unless you diligently keep them up to date.  I myself use Chrome from Google, though both Firefox 8, and Safari 5 are good choices.  Internet Explorer 9 would be my last choice but I have baggage from the browser wars and IE9 seems to be a solid browser if you aren’t keen on the other 3.  In all cases keep them up to date, your whole computer for that matter, a little preventive measure on your part can save you a lot of heartache later.

In light of that article, if you want a pretty good short explanation of how I have come to believe God saved me check out the paragraph below, go read the not too long article (the link follows the paragraphs below) when you have time for a broader, fuller, short explanation.  Most likely you may have no idea whether your a Calvinist or Arminian, but see if the paragraph below changes your understanding of what a Calvinist would believe.

Eschewing theological labels for a moment, it is biblical and Christian to call people to believe in the gospel. This is, after all, how Jesus began his ministry: “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel” Mark 1:14-15. You dont have to know Greek to recognize the imperatives.

But we Calvinists love to quote Ephesians 2:8. “Faith is a gift from God!” we exclaim. “It doesnt originate in the person!”

The question is: When non-Christians do repent and believe the gospel, do they express faith in Christ? Or does God grant the gift of faith in Christ to men? Yes! Why? Scripture teaches that faith in Christ includes both an objective and a subjective aspect. This is not a contradiction. Rather, the two must be held in tension.

Objectively speaking, faith is a gift from God Eph. 2:8, although the “gift” is the whole work of salvation, not just the faith. Subjectively speaking, the person exercises faith in the gospel Eph. 1:13. This is why Paul thanks God the objective side for the Ephesians faith in the Lord the subjective side; Eph. 1:15-16.

Since faith is both objective and subjective, we are right, as Calvinists, to call unbelievers to put their faith in Jesus.

Hyper-Calvinists inappropriately overemphasize the objective aspect of faith. Therefore, they have a hard time calling people to put their trust in Jesus. Arminians, on the other hand, inappropriately overemphasize the subjective aspect of faith, as ultimately the responsibility of the individual.

Calvinism, and more importantly the Bible, appropriately emphasizes both, which is why we can must! call unbelievers to put their faith in Christ, and mean it.

via How to Call for a Gospel Response Like a Calvinist – The Gospel Coalition Blog.

My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I enjoyed it, the author has another book out called the foundations of grace I also enjoyed. So far he is 2 for 2, check this one out if your interested in hearing about how John Calvin preached, and interacted with his community of believers in the church. Actually done in the manner of helping others preach and teach, it changed my mind on how I delivered the information in my classes. Presenting the material not on a 5th grade level, but also not on a college level, but rather at the clearest most understandable level. Letting the word of God speak rather than trying to make it “relevant”, the word of God already is.