Jeff Ragan > Recent Status Updates

"Aldebaran, Alpha (a) Tauri, is easy to find because it is in line with the three stars that make up Orion's Belt - and the Pleiades lies farther away along the same line" (114).

"But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior" - Titus 3:4-6

"More than anything, the psalms were declarations of relationship between the people & their Lord. They assumed his covenant with them & its obligations of provision, protection, & preservation. Their songs of adoration, confessions of sin...pleas for deliverance, assurances of being heard, petitions before battle & thanksgivings afterwards were all expressions of their unique relationship to the one true God" (445).

"And yet for this reason I found mercy, in order that in me as the foremost [of sinners], Jesus Christ might demonstrate His perfect patience, as an example for those who would believe in Him for eternal life. Now to the King eternal, immortal, invisible, the only God, be honor and glory forever and ever. Amen." - 1 Timothy 1:16-17

"He who can bring his powers into play steps into the ranks; he who cannot, stays behind" (191).

"For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ; who will transform the body of our humble state into conformity with the body of His glory, by the exertion of the power that He has even to subject all things to Himself." - Philippians 3:20-21

"In November 1868, General Ulysses S. Grant was elected president, & after four months Johnson returned to Tennessee. 'I have performed my duty to my God, my country, & my family'...Five years later, in an attempt to restore his reputation, Johnson ran for a seat in the U.S. Senate. When the news of his victory in Tennessee reach him - making him the only former president ever to be elected to the Senate..." (234).

"And He came and preached peace to you who were far away, and peace to those who were near: for through Him we both have our access in one Spirit to the Father. So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow-citizens with the saints, and are of God's household, having been built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus being himself the cornerstone." - Ephesians 2:17-20

"Though the Writings do not contain specific commands of God as does the Law or verbatim oracles as do the Prophets, they are nonetheless essential for the edification of God's people: they give indispensable patterns for prayer and praise; they offer insight into God's work in history; they alert the reader to the lessons to be drawn from creation and the human social environment..." (427).

"For you are all sons of God through faith in Christ Jesus. For all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus." - Galatians 3:26-28

"All his life Millard Fillmore had driven himself to succeed. Raised in dire poverty in western New York State, in the most desperate beginnings of any of our Presidents, at fifteen he was apprenticed to a clothmaker. There, while working the carding machines, he taught himself to read" (218).

"For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh, for the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh, but divinely powerful for the destruction of fortresses. We are destroying speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God, and we are taking every thought captive to the obedience of Christ." - 2 Corinthians 10:3-5

"As a very bright part of Abraham's character and example. He not only prayed with his family, but he taught them as a man of knowledge, nay, he commanded them as a man in authority, and was prophet and king, as well as priest, in his own house" (118).

"For we know that if the earthly tent which is our house is torn down, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For indeed in this house we groan, longing to be clothed with our dwelling from heaven; inasmuch as we, having put it on, shall not be found naked...in order that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life." - 2 Corinthians 5:1-4

"So I telephoned Sir Atholl to tell him that in view of what it would cost to have the boat made really seaworthy I could not buy her. Having expressed surprise that so much needed to be done, and made some observations about both the surveyor and the Berthon Boatyard, he finally suggested a substantial reduction in the purchase price. With some misgivings I agreed and Sea Breeze had changed hands" (664).

"Was it a publicity stunt? Just a bad decision? We may never know what the so-called proof debacle was about, but for industry insiders it was proof that bourbon had captured America's heartstrings again. Consumers loved bourbon so much they were willing to stand in long lines...in the cold, rain...just to put their name in the hat for a...drawing that would give them the opportunity to spend $400 for a bottle"(223).

"For I delivered to you as of first importance what I also received, that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that He appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve. After that He appeared to more than five hundred brethren at one time, most of whom remain until now, but some have fallen asleep." - 1 Co 15:3-6

"Tzu-kung asked saying, Is there any single saying that one can act upon all day and every day? The master said, Perhaps the saying about consideration. Never do to others what you would not like them to do to you" (186-187).

"Love is patient, love is kind, and is not jealous; love does not brag and is not arrogant, does not act unbecomingly; it does not seek its own, is not provoked, does not take into account a wrong suffered, does not rejoice in unrighteousness, but rejoices with the truth; bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things. Love never fails..." - 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

"Some Americans have promoted multiculturalism at home; some have promoted universalism abroad; and some have done both. Multiculturalism at home threatens the United States and the West; universalism abroad threatens the West and the world. Both deny the uniqueness of Western culture" (318).

"For though I am free from all men, I have made myself a slave to all that I might win the more. And to the Jews I became as a Jew, that I might win Jews; to those who are under the Law, as under the Law...that I might win those who are under the Law; to those who are without law, as without law, though not being without the law of God...that I may by all means save some." - 1 Co 9:19-22

"When Tyler summoned Harrison's cabinet to meet with him at Brown's hotel, he was told that all administration matters would have to be approved by them...[He said] 'I am very glad to have in my Cabinet such able statesmen as you...But I can never consent to being dictated to as to what I shall or shall not do...I am the President...When you think otherwise, your resignations will be accepted'" (212).

"...it is good for a man not to touch a woman. But because of immoralities, let each man have his own wife, & let each woman have her own husband. Let the husband fulfill his duty to his wife, & likewise also the wife to her husband. The wife does not have authority over her own body, but the husband does; & likewise also the husband does not have authority over his own body, but the wife does." - 1 Corinthians 7:1-4

"Christians believe that fulfillment of these expectations comes in at least two stages: the First Advent of Christ, providing salvation for all who believe in him; and the Second Advent, bringing the final judgment and ultimate salvation. Malachi, like the other prophets, does not make this distinction. Rather, he sees the near and the distant in a single view" (422).

"...but just as it is written, 'Things which eye has not seen and ear has not heard, and which have not entered the heart of man, all that God has prepared for those who love Him.' For to us God revealed them through the Spirit; for the Spirit searches all things, even the depths of God." - 1 Corinthians 2:9-10

"Whether manning the tiller or comforting Caroline on deck, Kennedy was always happiest when on the ocean. 'We all came from the sea,' he once said. 'It is an interesting biological fact that all of us have in our veins the exact same percentage of salt...that exists in the ocean. And therefore, we have salt in our blood, in our sweat, in our tears. We are tied to the sea'" (203).

"I urge you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies a living and holy sacrifice, acceptable to God, which is your spiritual service of worship. And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what the will of God is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect" - Romans 12:1-2

"The final section of Zechariah thus provides comfort and hope for all who are suffering under oppressive 'shepherds.' Both voices in this prophetic masterpiece must be heard: the pragmatic voice which encourages us to be involved in building this world into a better place; and he visionary voice which encourages us to renounce this world, to lift up our heads in anticipation of our redemption..." (413).

"But God demonstrates His own love toward us, in that while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. Much more then, having now been justified by His blood, we shall be saved from the wrath of God through Him. For if while we were enemies, we were reconciled to God through the death of His Son, much more, having been reconciled, we shall be saved by his life." - Romans 5:8-10

"The Andromeda Galaxy, M31, is one of the foremost objects in the whole night sky. It is a spiral galaxy, like our own in structure, but much bigger. With a diameter of around 150,000 light years, it measures half as big again as our own Galaxy and could contain as many as 400 billion stars. It is the largest galaxy by far in our local galaxy cluster...of about 30 galaxies" (108).