Jeff Ragan > Recent Status Updates

"Every place in Scripture stating that Jesus was 'filled with compassion' brings with it a demonstration of the power of God for miracles" (93).

"The climbing party returned on the third day having had the worst of luck with the weather. The fine spell broke on the second day when they were on the summit ridge not far from the top, whence they were forced to retreat in a hurry before the onset of a severe storm...Colin had used his brain-biter with effect, and accustomed as they were to the frustrations of New Zealand weather, defeat did not rankle" (718).

"Tactically, his ratings were near the top: Special Forces with a focus on counterinsurgency. But his loyalty ratings were iffy at best - no outright treason, no contacts with the red states, just a refusal to go along and understand that considerations of form often outweighed considerations of substance" (138).

"Car la colere de l'Eternel est bien grande. Elle s'est enflammee contre nous, parce que nos ancetres n'ont pas obei aux paroles de ce livre et n'ont pas applique tout ce qui y est ecrit." - 2 Rois 22:13

"The Lycians were not strong enough to make a breach and clear the way to the ships; the defenders could not repel them from the wall now they had got a footing there. It was like a quarrel about boundaries on a common field, when two men with measuring rods in a narrow space are disputing for their shares" (148).

"...one must consider the possibility of coregencies, where one king begins to rule before another dies. This overlap would mean that actual reigns were not so long as the individual years of rule added together might indicate. Another factor is the possibility of interregnal periods when no king was on the throne" (637).

"...when I boil leadership down to its essence, I still see twenty-one things a leader must do well to lead effectively. However, at the same time I also recognize that no single leader can do all twenty-one things well. That's why every leader needs a team of people" (137-8).

"...we can know God. We know Him through the person of the Holy Spirit. We learn His voice by spending time in prayer, and we learn His ways by studying His Word. We are never too young or too old to know God" (78).

"Elected governor in 1978, thirty-two-year-old Bill Clinton bristled with ideas and energy. But he also made a series of political miscalculations. By seeming not to listen to his constituents, by raising licensing fees, and by giving an impression of intellectual arrogance, in 1980 he lost his bid for reelection...'I think [the loss] was good for me...If you survive it, you normally come out ahead'" (432).

"Paul believed that in Jesus Christ the true nature of the living God has been revealed ultimately & finally. God is not a grasping, self-centered being, but is most truly known through the one who...poured himself out in sacrificial love by taking the lowest place, the role of a slave, whose love for his human creatures found its consummate expression in his death on the cross" (227).

"...the variability which follows form the crossing of distinct species..."

A species is defined as those animals who can breed and produce fertile offspring. By definition, there can be no "crossing of distinct species."

"Mais moi je sais quand tu t'assieds, quand tu sors, quand to rentres, quand tu t'emportes contre moi. Oui, tu t'emportes contre moi! Tes discours arrogants sont parvenus a mes oreilles..." - 2 Rois 19:27-28

"Palestine is the land bridge connecting Europe, Asia, and Africa. 'The Fertile Crescent' is one name of the arable strip of land bordering the Syrian desert, i.e., the lands along the Tigris-Euphrates rivers in Mesopotamia and the coastal lands of the eastern Mediterranean (the Levant)...Palestine, though, was historically the poorest part of the Fertile Crescent" (619).

"Sure, amnesty. Just allow them to point weapons at the servants of the people because they don't feel like being punished for their arrogance. No, we're going to find and deal with everyone involved in this, Deputy. And these people are going to learn" (127).

"The initiative for intercession comes from God! As an intercessor, you must be sensitive and responsive to the direction of prayer the Holy Spirit places on your heart" (65).

"Off with you, Iris...& give this message to Hector. So long as he shall see Agamemnon full of fury dealing death in the forefront of his host, let him command his army to fight & keep away himself. But as soon as he sees Agamemnon wounded by spear or arrow & mounting his car for retreat, I will give him power to kill until he drives them upon their ships, when the sun shall set & the darkness come" (129).

"Roosevelt's ambitions cast a pall over the second half of Taft's presidency, as did the disastrous midterm elections, which went decisively to the Democrats. As the pressures mounted, Taft reacted by overeating more and more, eventually ballooning to 355 pounds. To escape the anxiety, he played endless rounds of golf, took long trips across the country, and grew crankier by the day" (420).

"Equality with God...is something that was inherent to Christ in his pre-existence. Nonetheless, God-likeness...did not mean for Christ to be a 'grasping, seizing' being, as it would for the 'gods' and 'lords' whom the Philippians had previously known; it was not 'something to be seized upon to his own advantage'...Rather, his 'equality with God' found its truest expression when 'he emptied himself'" (208).

"Lorsque Athalie, la mere d'Ahasia, vit que son fils etait mort, elle entreprit de faire mourir toute la descendance royale de Juda. Mais, au moment du massacre, Yehocheba, fille du roi Yoram et soeur d'Ahazia, parvint a soustraire Joas, un fils d'Ahazia, du milieu de ses freres, pour l'installer avec sa nourrice dans le dortoir du Temple. On le cacha ainsi d'Athalie, et il echappa a la mort." - 2 Rois 11:1-2

"One of the most precious gifts a leader can give people is belief in them. Too many have a difficult time finding their way in life. They've never had someone who truly believes in them and speaks into their lives. They don't know their own strengths and weaknesses. They are uncertain about the future. Leaders who connect help people believe in themselves and in the work they're doing" (128).

"The so-called Eastern settlement stretched from Torsukatak Fjord in the south up to Ivigtut, and in it the remains of 190 farms, 12 churches, a cathedral, and a monastery have been identified. In the Western settlement, concentrated around Godthaab Fjord, there were 90 farms and 4 churches. It is thought that in its hey-day there were some 3,000 Norse settlers, all from Iceland" (713).

"When confronted with several...reliable readings, one may employ certain rules...first, the more difficult reading is...to be preferred because scribes...tend to smooth out rough passages...the shorter reading...is preferable, since copyists are more apt to add glosses...than omit authentic phrases...A third...principle is to accept that reading as authentic which best accounts for all the other variants" (613-4).

"The People's Volunteers numbered eight...They were in a couple of Chevys...obviously 'liberated,' with 'PV' spray painted on the front doors. The thugs were smiling, happy, in fact, very happy. One fired five rounds into the air from an AK, and he giggled as the already scattering townspeople ran even faster...This was going to be fun. And easy. Except for the man walking down he middle of Main Street..." (116).

"Forgiveness, like confession, does not have to be an emotional experience. It is simply an 'act of your will,' responding to the Word of God by the prompting of the Holy Spirit" (61).

"Then Athena breathed strength into Diomedes. He struck right & left; there were ugly groans & cries as the sword went home, & the ground was reddened with blood. As a lion leaps furious on sheep or goats without a shepherd, so Tydeides went up & down among the Thracians until he had killed twelve; Odysseus went behind him, & every time he struck one of them took hold of a foot & pulled him out of the way..." (124).

"Christ's being God was not for him a matter of 'selfish ambition,' of grasping or seizing; rather it expressed itself in the very opposite. Thus in a single sentence Paul goes from Christ's 'being equal with God' to his having taken the role of 'a slave,' defined in terms of incarnation. All of this to call the Philippians to similar self-sacrifice for the sake of one another (v. 4)" (198).

"...there was the subject dearest to his heart: American expansionsim and 'manifest destiny.' Polk was determined, here too, to carry on a balanced national program, dividing his efforts between the Northwest and the Southwest. His twin goals were the settlement of the Oregon boundary with Britain, and the acquisition of Mexican-owned California, a subject closely linked to the Texas issue" (410).

"One day, while reading Malthus on Population, it suddenly occurred to him how, in the struggle for existence, which he had everywhere observed, 'favorable variations would tend to be preserved and unfavorable ones to be destroyed. The result would be the formation of a new species'" (v-vi).

"'Que voudrais-tu que je fasse pour toi? Demande-le moi avant que je sois enleve loin de toi.' Elisee repondit: 'J'aimerais recevoir une double part de ton esprit.' Elie repondit: 'Tu as exprime une demande difficile a satisfaire, mais si tu me vois pendant que je serai enleve d'aupres de toi, cela te sera accorde; si tu ne me vois pas, il n'en sera rien.'" - 2 Rois 2:9-10

"Only Ceres, Pallas, Vesta and a few other asteroids are roughly spherical in shape. The others are irregular-shaped lumps, looking rather like huge potatoes. From the way they reflect light, asteroids appear to be of three main kinds. Some are made up mainly of rock, some mainly of metal and others a mixture of the two" (154).