It's Halloween...

...and you know what that means!

Today's verse

Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

Matthew 5:13 (KJV)

Today's verse

The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the Lord is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid?

Psalm 27:1 (KJV)

Today's verse

I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service.

Romans 12:1 (KJV)

Today's verse

For wisdom is better than rubies; and all the things that may be desired are not to be compared to it.

Proverbs 8:11 (KJV)

Update on Asia Bibi

The Christian Broadcast Network gives a compelling overview of the terrible price Christians must pay to follow Christ.

Read Asia Bibi's own words.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Today's verse

All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: That the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.

2 Timothy 3:16-17 (KJV)

Today's verse

Not unto us, O Lord, not unto us, but unto thy name give glory, for thy mercy, and for thy truth's sake. Wherefore should the heathen say, Where is now their God? But our God is in the heavens: he hath done whatsoever he hath pleased. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they speak not: eyes have they, but they see not: they have ears, but they hear not: noses have they, but they smell not: they have hands, but they handle not: feet have they, but they walk not: neither speak they through their throat. They that make them are like unto them; so is every one that trusteth in them.

Psalm 115:1-8 (KJV)

Today's verse

Marvel not, my brethren, if the world hate you. We know that we have passed from death unto life, because we love the brethren. He that loveth not his brother abideth in death.

1 John 3:13-14 (KJV)

Today's verse

Bear ye one another's burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ.

Galatians 6:2 (KJV)

Today's verse

Ye that fear the Lord, praise him; all ye the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him, all ye the seed of Israel. For he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him; but when he cried unto him, he heard.

Psalm 22:23-24 (KJV)

Today's verse

Have mercy upon me, O Lord; for I am weak: O Lord, heal me; for my bones are vexed.

Psalm 6:2 (KJV)

Today's verse

And he spake a parable unto them to this end, that men ought always to pray, and not to faint; saying, There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city; and she came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; Yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her, lest by her continual coming she weary me. And the Lord said, Hear what the unjust judge saith. And shall not God avenge his own elect, which cry day and night unto him, though he bear long with them? I tell you that he will avenge them speedily. Nevertheless when the Son of man cometh, shall he find faith on the earth?

Luke 18:1-8 (KJV)

Reading list

Wind & Fire, by Bruce Larson.

Today's verse

And the Pharisees came to him, and asked him, Is it lawful for a man to put away his wife? tempting him. And he answered and said unto them, What did Moses command you? And they said, Moses suffered to write a bill of divorcement, and to put her away. And Jesus answered and said unto them, For the hardness of your heart he wrote you this precept. But from the beginning of the creation God made them male and female. For this cause shall a man leave his father and mother, and cleave to his wife; and they twain shall be one flesh: so then they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder.

Mark 10:2-9 (KJV)

Today's verse

Wait on the Lord: be of good courage, and he shall strengthen thine heart: wait, I say, on the Lord.

Psalm 27:14 (KJV)

Today's verse

If ye love me, keep my commandments.

John 14:15 (KJV)

Today's verse

In God we boast all the day long, and praise thy name for ever.

Psalm 44:8 (KJV)

Today's verse

I am the Lord thy God, which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. Thou shalt have no other gods before me. Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image, or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth. Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them: for I the Lord thy God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate me; and shewing mercy unto thousands of them that love me, and keep my commandments. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain. Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. Six days shalt thou labour, and do all thy work: but the seventh day is the sabbath of the Lord thy God: in it thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy manservant, nor thy maidservant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates: for in six days the Lord made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore the Lord blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. Honour thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee. Thou shalt not kill. Thou shalt not commit adultery. Thou shalt not steal. Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Exodus 20:2-17 (KJV)

Today's verse

Then came Amalek, and fought with Israel in Rephidim. And Moses said unto Joshua, Choose us out men, and go out, fight with Amalek: to morrow I will stand on the top of the hill with the rod of God in mine hand. So Joshua did as Moses had said to him, and fought with Amalek: and Moses, Aaron, and Hur went up to the top of the hill. And it came to pass, when Moses held up his hand, that Israel prevailed: and when he let down his hand, Amalek prevailed. But Moses hands were heavy; and they took a stone, and put it under him, and he sat thereon; and Aaron and Hur stayed up his hands, the one on the one side, and the other on the other side; and his hands were steady until the going down of the sun. And Joshua discomfited Amalek and his people with the edge of the sword. And the Lord said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: for I will utterly put out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven. And Moses built an altar, and called the name of it Jehovahnissi: for he said, Because the Lord hath sworn that the Lord will have war with Amalek from generation to generation.

Exodus 17:8-16 (KJV)

Today's verse

And when he had opened the fifth seal, I saw under the altar the souls of them that were slain for the word of God, and for the testimony which they held: and they cried with a loud voice, saying, How long, O Lord, holy and true, dost thou not judge and avenge our blood on them that dwell on the earth? And white robes were given unto every one of them; and it was said unto them, that they should rest yet for a little season, until their fellowservants also and their brethren, that should be killed as they were, should be fulfilled.

Revelation 6:9-11 (KJV)

Stumbling through mathematics: Gabriel, blow your horn!

Gabriel's Horn is a mathematical oddity. It has a finite volume with an infinite surface area. Below is a Maple 16 plot of Gabriel's Horn:

Gabriel's Horn is formed by rotating the function f(x) = 1/x about the x-axis. The volume of Gabriel's Horn is a finite number and is calculated as follows:

V = ∫^∞₁ π 1/x² dx = π

The surface area of Gabriel's Horn is tricker to calculate, but it turns out to be infinite:

S = ∫^∞₁ 2π(1/x)√(1 + (1/x²)²) dx > ∫^∞₁ 2π(1/x) dx = ∞

Thus, you have the strange result of an object that can be filled with a finite amount of paint, but requires an infinite amount to paint the outside surface!

Today's verse

I, even I, am the Lord; and beside me there is no saviour.

Isaiah 43:11 (KJV)

Update on Asia Bibi

There is increased security for Asia Bibi after she has received new death threats.

Key quote:

The government of Punjab government beefed up security for 45-year-old Asia Bibi in Sheikhupura jail, where she is currently on death row, officials said.

The step was taken after authorities were alerted that a cleric had announced a bounty of Rs 30 million for any person who killed the woman.

Asia Bibi is also facing the threat of a suicide attack by the "Moaviya group", a militant organisation, The Express Tribune newspaper quoted its sources as saying. An intelligence report issued last week alerted authorities about this threat.

Aslam Pervaiz Sahotra, senior vice president of the Pakistan Christian Democratic Alliance, told PTI that a cleric named Maulana Muhammad Yousuf had announced the reward for anyone who killed Asia Bibi shortly after Governor Taseer met her in prison last year.

"Following this, the government directed the Jail Superintendent to ensure the safety of Asia Bibi by all means," Sahotra said.

Read Asia Bibi's own words.

The online petition calling for mercy for Asia Bibi can still be found here.

For those who do not know who she is, here is the story about Asia Bibi's unjust imprisonment and death sentence for "blasphemy" against the Prophet Muhammad.

Please pray for Asia Bibi and her family.

Today's verse

Ye shall walk after the Lord your God, and fear him, and keep his commandments, and obey his voice, and ye shall serve him, and cleave unto him.

Deuteronomy 13:4 (KJV)

Today's verse

Help us, O God of our salvation, for the glory of thy name: and deliver us, and purge away our sins, for thy name's sake.

Psalm 79:9 (KJV)

Today's verse

For the Lord thy God hath blessed thee in all the works of thy hand: he knoweth thy walking through this great wilderness: these forty years the Lord thy God hath been with thee; thou hast lacked nothing.

Deuteronomy 2:7 (KJV)

Today's verse

Seek ye the Lord while he may be found, call ye upon him while he is near: let the wicked forsake his way, and the unrighteous man his thoughts: and let him return unto the Lord, and he will have mercy upon him; and to our God, for he will abundantly pardon.

Isaiah 55:6-7 (KJV)

Movie night

The Tuskegee Airmen (1995).

Today's verse

There is a way which seemeth right unto a man, but the end thereof are the ways of death.

Proverbs 14:12 (KJV)

Today's verse

Beloved, follow not that which is evil, but that which is good. He that doeth good is of God: but he that doeth evil hath not seen God.

3 John 1:11 (KJV)

Today's verse

Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.

Hebrews 11:1 (KJV)

Today's verse

I charge thee therefore before God, and the Lord Jesus Christ, who shall judge the quick and the dead at his appearing and his kingdom; preach the word; be instant in season, out of season; reprove, rebuke, exhort with all long suffering and doctrine. For the time will come when they will not endure sound doctrine; but after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears; and they shall turn away their ears from the truth, and shall be turned unto fables. But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry.

2 Timothy 4:1-5 (KJV)