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 December 23, 2004 Muaaaaahhhhhaaaaahhaaaa! Merry Xmas, you stupid Christians! Now that Holding has gone on a vacation, I, Dr. Imus Keptic, have returned to take over this site! Now appreciate my genius here, you morons! And have a Crappy New Year! Blaaaahaaaaaahaaaahaaaha!!! December 22, 2004
I will now be away from ministry business until about the 3rd. I may be able to answer mail at some point but that's not assured. So until next year, a Blessed Savior's birthday observed, and a Happy New Year. December 16, 2004
December 14, 2004 Finished adding to the item on Harpur's The Pagan Christ. December 11, 2004
December 6, 2004 Guest writer Matt Paulson has an item for us (a Word document) on the Trinity and beauty. December 3, 2004 Again updated the Philippians Bible study with notes. December 1, 2004
November 30, 2004
November 24, 2004 Yes, the new computer is all set! Nice to be able to multi-task again without waiting an hour for the terminal to decide what end is up. Also got a couple of new items:
See you folks after the holiday -- have a blessed Thanksgiving (if you're celebrating that American holiday!). November 17, 2004 There may not be any uploads for a bit; part of that is the holiday upcoming, but we've also been and will be busy these last/next few days with background and technical projects. One was setting "redirects" for major articles so that people who use the old URLs will be redirected to new ones. Another has been a presentation on The Da Vinci Code which I'll be doing in the Boston area on Dec. 5th. But a big one in the next few days will be the retirement of our sputtering Pentium 2 and the replacement of it with a new system. I'll be busy setting up the new system and getting all the files transferred, so don't be surprised if the site isn't updated again until after Thanksgiving. Meanwhile here's a piece of fun news and an itemn of congratulations. A regular reader of ours is an independent film producer, and he was inspired by a line in one of our essays (it's found here -- "One who would readily die for the belief that there were three or five gods, or that the dead received salvation, or that one will receive a certain eternal reward, may not be so ready to die for a belief that Washington did (or did not) cross the Delaware.") to create a film titled Washington's Cross -- in which someone is indeed persecuted for believing in the historical crossing of the Delaware. Our reader reports that the film had an excellent showing at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival, where it won second place for Best Narrative Film, as well as Audience Choice Award for Best Film. (It was also one of a select few nominees for Best of Festival, though it did not win that.) For more information, see the sites here and here. November 12, 2004
November 9, 2004 Uploaded an initial draft of the apologetics Bible study of Philippians. This is a very early draft meant only to give an idea what the format of the studies will be. Feedback is welcomed. Tekton associate and contributor Brent Hardaway dedicates the day of November 9 to the loving memory of his grandmother, Evelyn Hardaway. His own words tell the story: "Her heart was as close to God's as anyone I've ever known, and she touched countless lives. Among her many ministries, she taught the 4th grade girls Sunday School class at Redwood Chapel Community Church in Castro Valley, CA for over 30 years, including some mother-daughter combinations. Her life was proof that to be great in God's kingdom does not require any great human abilities, just a faithful and humble spirit." Amen!!! November 3, 2004 Better Ohio than here, that's what I say!
November 2, 2004
November 1, 2004
This week I have some preparation to do for a "missions fair" at my home church. October 29, 2004 Added a new item on the question, Is 2 Kings 15:27 an inarguable error in the original manuscripts? October 27, 2004 Finished up my freelance assignment and got back from a great couple of speaking engagements in Pennsylvania; also picked up commentaries on Philippians so I could begin work on the commentary for that. Also today, we have an item, Does 2 Chron. 26:15 contain an anachronism? October 22, 2004 Today we have added something special to our essay on the existence of Jesus which I have called, "The Gamaliel Challenge". We'll see if any Christ-mythers step to the plate on this one. Other than that, two announcements. First, after due consideration I have decided to embark upon a project of compiling Tekton Bible Studies for folks out there to use as teaching tools or however they wish. More will be said on this later once I have figured out some particulars. I will intend to do all NT books, and key OT books, and will probably start with a smaller NT book like Ephesians for the purpose of trial and experimentation. This will be a large project and will probably take several months, though I'll of course pop in with other material now and then as usual. Second, guest writer Dee Dee Warren has informed us that Hank Hanegraaff has made a declaration for preterist eschatology (though he apparently calls it "exegetical eschatology"). You can hear more by listening to the CRI radio show for 9/23 and 9/24 here. October 20, 2004 Matt Paulson (my Catholic consult for the article, and regular Tekton guest writer) adds his own retort to Mark Bonocore. October 19, 2004
I've been working on another freelance writing assignment this week, this one on a tight deadline. October 15, 2004
October 11, 2004
October 8, 2004
October 4, 2004
I will be away for the next three days but will be able to answer some mail. September 30, 2004
September 29, 2004
September 28, 2004 Yep! This time it took over 48 hours to get my power back; though as it is, half my neighborhood is still without juice, which is ludicrous. I have to say I agree with critics (see for example here) who are critical of our power system in this country. But you're not wanting to hear my rants on that. I'd like to thank my tech man (see below) for helping give notice and taking care of some issues while I was without power. As for Jeanne, my area ended up with an extra whammy because it turned northwest just at a point so that we got both the north and the southeast parts of the storm, giving us a longer dose than others got. Still, the house had no damage other than a rip in a window screen caused by one of my neighbor's shingles flying over our roof and into our backyard area. Our house was built post-Andrew and you can tell: Other houses built before Andrew in our area lost lots of shingles. We do have one new item, a critique of an item on the Sec Web by Gary Sloan in which he "interviews" Jesus about modern political issues. Time to break out the contextualing machine again! September 26, 2004 As expected, I lost power due to Jeanne. This time unlike the last two, though, my entire city went out and I doubt if I'll get power back within 24 hours like last time. Otherwise all is well; no damages or injury. I'll be back as soon as possible. [In case you are wondering how JP Holding managed to get this page updated without power, 'tis I, his techie, who updated this, as per email] September 24, 2004 Whoops! This tells you how common hurricanes are getting this year; I wasn't aware Jeanne was headed this way until a reader in California wrote me a note about it! OK, the deal is this: The site's file restructuring is done, other than some odds and ends I'll take care of over the next couple of weeks, and the current track of Jeanne will put us on the weaker, western side of it where we'll get about the same as we got with Frances at least and what we got with Charley at worst. But again, that could change 500 times before Sunday. I do expect to lose power (again) so we'll see you folks after Jeanne passes and I have power. September 23, 2004 Hey folks, just wanted to let everyone know that I'm still working on the file restructuring and I should have the last of the material done by Monday. You may note some links not working, but please be patient -- they'll be back! September 15, 2004 "Wildcat" responds to Mohamed Ghounem. Because of our file restructuring project, you will find that many of the links in this essay will not work for the time being. As I gradually move files into their new location, the links will start working. There are also present two copies of the original review on the site; the "official" one is already at a new home here. September 14, 2004 As I post this, Hurricane Ivan churns a few hundred miles to the southwest, with the present track indicating nothing more for my area that a lot of intermittent rain and winds up to 15 MPH. To get here would require it to make a radical turn to the right that not even Sean Hannity could engineer, so the likelihood is that my neck of the woods is off the hook. Meanwhile I am continuing to work on changing the directory structure and seem to be on schedule. Also, W. R. Miller updates his blockbuster essay, The Truthfulness of the Bible. September 10, 2004 Well, here we go again! Florida has not been not with three hurricances in one year since 1964, so I am told, but it looks like to may happen again. On the present forecasted path, Ivan will hit my area with winds that again, I'd say, would match those we had with Charley. Obviously that could change 500 times before Tuesday, but rules are the same as last time: I'll keep an eye out and skeedaddle if necessary. The only difference this time is that this one won't hit on a weekend, which means time I'd normally devote to Tekton will be cut into if I have to leave, or lose power. This may be the last update for a while if so. In the meantime, I have decided that it's a good time to completely rework the file directory structure on the site and eliminate some of the file prefixes associated with our days with the Bookshelf (i.e., the JPH_ and tekton_ files). This will take at least two weeks but will hopefully make the site more accessible and easier to manage as it has grown to well over 2000 items/1500 articles. See you folks after Ivan. September 8, 2004 I got a note from my server today that will be of interest: Your account, tektonics.org, is being moved Thursday, 9/09, to a new server as part of a service upgrade intented to optimize site performance. Your site visitors may experience a temporary interruption in site loading associated with the move, but such interruptions rarely exceed 1 minute. So there's an FYI for ya'll.
September 7, 2004 The lights flickered a couple of times, but we kept our power otherwise. After 2 1/2 days basically shut in the house we're a little stir crazy but otherwise OK. Now the concern is Hurricane Ivan, though I like the looks of the current projections in terms of this one not hitting us. Over the next day or so I will finish up the last of the editing of files, as well as make some changes to the directory structure to make life a little easier for keeping organized. Most of these will be older items, and will be put into a file titled "luf" -- so if you have problems finding something, try adding an "luf" like so: Also, W. R. Miller's scientist project is getting its own folder; it is now found here. I will work through and adjust links everywhere except old What's New pages. September 6, 2004 We survived Frances with no damage or pain and a power outage of about 18-20 hours (though I am not assuming it won't go out again later). My thanks for all the prayers and notes of concern. Right now it is still raining hard (about the same as one of our thunderstorms in the summer) so we're not out of the woods yet, but the clearing is in site. September 4, 2004 Being that Frances has slowed down quite a bit -- giving us an additional 24 hours -- I had time for a little more work. Given the present state of the forecast (as well as the clogged roads, and the scarcity of gas) we're staying put where we are and looking for a power outage to be the biggest effect on us. Floods are of concern for many people but we are on a high spot with two lakes on levels far below us that can take the fill, and flooding should not be a problem for us. Winds look like they'll be the same as Charley, maybe 5-10 MPH more.
September 2, 2004 Updated items with the JPH prefix. I've decided that this will be the last upload until Hurricane Frances has either decidedly gotten out of the way; or if it slows and I have extra time, or has come and gone. This one looks meaner than Charley and the current model has the central path right over my part of the metro area; it could be just the same as last time, but we've decided that if it looks like it will stay on that track, we'll skeedaddle down to some relatives towards the Florida west coast. At times like this a few miles either way could make a big difference. I should also have time for a little ministry-related work not involving uploading. Should I have to leave the house, I'll take all my equipment with me and ask my tech man to relay any messages about what's going on. Also, we'd like to note our Skeptical friend Kyle Gerkin has an item up on the Sec Web on Mormonism. August 30, 2004
August 27, 2004
August 23, 2004
Special prayer request from "Wildcat" as he has some hard tests upcoming! August 20, 2004 Updated files beginning with C, E, F, L, and R. We'd also like to plug for a new page started by Dee Dee Warren here, which will serve as a sort of clearinghouse for non-heretical preterist material. W. R. Miller has new entries for us in the list of scientists who are Christians. Also added some quotes to point one of The Impossible Faith at reader suggestion. As a special feature, one of the resident seminarians at TheologyWeb, "Jaltus", has graciously provided us with some comments and recommendations on Biblical commentaries, which we will link to through our Apologetics Arsenal. Jaltus has multiple undergrad majors including Classical Greek. He has finished a Master's of Divinity and is currently working on his Ph D in New Testament. He also has a few minor publications forthcoming in respected journals. August 18, 2004 Continued updating old material; did filenames beginning with B, H, K, and N. This includes an update from "Punkish" on Hesus of the Druids, an update from us on an alleged parallel to the Passion of Jesus in a story of Baal, and some response notes to an ingrate Skeptic on the bat in the Bible. August 16, 2004 Though Charley's long gone, a lot of people remain without power around here (thanks to the Neanderthal service provided by the local power company, Regress Energy, which sends technicians around on woolly mammoths). That includes a few family members I'll be hosting; so Tekton uploads will be a bit sparse for the week. We do have Matt Paulson's response to Kevin Giles (who also slightly edited his original response). You may also have noticed the new logo, courtesy of our friend Talmid Ben at MessianicArt.com (who had also designed the prior logo for us, and thought it was time for a change). We also would like to note a debate between Sam Shamoun and Osama Abdallah, as noted by Wildcat, which is here. The title is, "Was Muhammed a True Prophet?" August 14, 2004 Hey folks, just a note to let everyone know that Charley came and went and caused no problems for the household, other than (what did I say yesterday about large trees?) that someone a few blocks down had a big tree fall over power lines, leaving us without electricity for about 12 hours. Lots of debris everywhere, and we are a bit concerned about some relatives in Ft. Myers we can't get a phone call to. See you next week. My thanks for the letters of concern. August 13, 2004 Updated and checked files beginning with I, O, and Q (which is more than you might think, because of our Q-Marcan priority series). Meanwhile the given time for Charley's landfall has been moved forward twice. It is not projected to hit my neck of the woods until late afternoon. Winds where I am will be around 35-40 MPH by the projections, with gusts up to 70, which for native Floridians isn't particularly cause for worry unless you have old and large trees in your yard -- I don't. Chances are my power will go out, since the local power supplier is so incompetent that the lights go off any time a buffalo snorts in the Great Plains. See you next week. August 12, 2004 Spent more time reviewing old articles on the site for corrections and updates; this time we did files beginning with A. Among these is an update on charges alleged against one of our research assistants by Acharya S. Also have been working diligently on a freelance magazine article. And yes, I'm in the projected path of Hurricane Charley; but it doesn't look like anything that will do major damage in my area. August 9, 2004
August 6, 2004
August 3, 2004
July 30, 2004
July 27, 2004
Remember to check out TheologyWeb - Tekton's exclusive place to debate. You will find rigourous debate with atheists, and dicussions/debate between Christians on issues of internal doctine, as well as opportunity to interact with adherents of nonChristian faith and cults. All that being said, there is also a serious dose of fun! July 23, 2004
July 20, 2004
July 15, 2004
Site plug! We'd like to spot a new site called SaveMe.org by a reader. It's new on the block and growing; check it out! July 9, 2004
June 25, 2004
I'll be busy for much of the next two weeks with a big project! June 22, 2004
June 18, 2004
June 16, 2004
June 11, 2004
June 9, 2004
June 7, 2004 Hey folks, it's thunderstorm season here in Central FL again, so that means at any time between 11AM and 8PM I could have to shut down and unplug everything to keep from getting zapped. Such is life in the Sunshine State.
June 4, 2004 Hey folks, been busy finishing a magazine article, plus we had the holiday off, so just a little to give:
May 27, 2004
May 17, 2004
May 14, 2004
April 30, 2004 Whew! Well, now that we have regained control of the site (wink, nod) we have some new material. I did take a bit of a break while some company came from out of town (and to rest my eyes from staring at a computer screen, heh heh!) but now back to the regularly scheduled programme...we had an unusual amount of mail, apparently in part because Tekton was featured on some major sites, including Internet for Christians.
Over the next couple of weeks I will be devoting my time to a depth project on Christian history. I hope to have at least a major draft up in two weeks. April 20, 2004
April 16, 2004
April 2, 2004
March 24, 2004 We had some time without updates while we moved the site to a new webhost. Now we have lots of room to stretch and we aren't paying a lot for it! So meanwhile, here's what's new:
March 19, 2004
March 16, 2004
March 15, 2004
Site recommend: One of our readers has some material at this location definitely worth a look!
March 9, 2004
March 5, 2004
Reader recommend: A veteran reader, and we, suggest The Messianic Bible, by Michael Brown of the Answering Jewish Objections series. March 1, 2004 I have just returned from viewing The Passion and will give a report after the Q and A at my church Wednesday night. On the bad side, I forgot to turn on the microphone and so did not get my third class of Understaning the Bible in Cultural Context on record We do have a new item by guest writer Ibn Tahhara, a gentle parody asking of Winnie the Pooh was a good Muslim. Buckle in. February 26, 2004
February 20, 2004
February 17, 2004
February 10, 2004
February 6, 2004 There will probably not be any uploads next week, or if there is one, it will be small. I will be attending to a family medical issue (not "serious") and then attending a conference.
February 4, 2004
February 2, 2004
January 30, 2004
January 28, 2004
January 26, 2004
January 23, 2004 Hey, it's just like old times when I uploaded biweekly!
Readers will also note that we now have the ability for you to choose a printer-friendly version of our templated articles. Special thanks again to Chanoch and Sylvester! January 9, 2004
January 6, 2004
January 2, 2004
Notice: All links on pages below from 2001-2002 and some from 2003 are not changed for our file restructuring and will be non-operable for the time being. We will work to change them over the next few weeks. New stuff for 2003. Go home! |
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Hey Brooks, I fixed it and added a different one!
