A Break from Silence

It is hard to believe how much has changed in one month, since my last post. There is to much for me to touch on, or even remember, right now. Instead, I will be writing regularly again and you should hear about some of it!

I have been meaning to make another post, but lacked the will to. I kept on waiting for something to happen that I wanted to talk about, and for it to happen at a time where I had lots of spare time to write (while being bored). Well... that time is now! I don't want to play computer games, don't want to eat, am tired from an active weekend, and have something to talk about. Step one to becoming active again.

There has been a recent craze going around about the Hunger Games. A popular book series that has had a movie adaptation. I haven't read the books yet because it would take time from school, but I plan to this summer.

Now, for the reason I mention this. For a reason I couldn't identify at first, the very mention of the Hunger Games stirred up lots of emotions. As I heard the story described, and later saw the movie, I had one of the deepest emotional connections yet. I wasn't completely sure why. Even the cover of the book or mention of the name would do it for me. And there's more to it than the fact that most of the action takes place in a forest. I enjoy forests and trees... but that didn't justify the way I felt when I thought about it.

I believe it is a combination of many different things, but the biggest is the games themselves. The games are a means of public entertainment, pitting kids against other kids. The rules are set up in a way that would potentially allow for an 18 year old male to fight against a 12 year old little girl, for the entertainment of the masses. It is in my nature to protect, especially the weak. That is why I am so emotionally connected to this series, because I want to protect these kids, especially the little girls. But instead, their slaughter is for nothing more than the amusement of the masses (and as punishment for a previous "rebellion").

Were the rules to bring the two champions, the greatest fighters, from each district, I would probably feel different. First off, because of the basic way biology and society works, most, if not all, of the "tributes" would be mature males. There is a reason armies are usually made up of men. However, the rules often force small children who couldn't even survive a night on their own in the wilderness to fight against others who are much older and stronger.

Part of the reason the rules would be set up like this was as a reminder to the twelve districts who is in control, and to make them feel helpless. Seeing their young children slaughtered for entertainment would have quite a heavy effect on people. Especially when that had been done as long as they could remember.

That is the main reason, I believe, why this series sticks out so much to me.

What do you think? Have you read the books or seen the movie? What do you like or not like about it? And why? Comment!

Nothing is Evil

I recently implemented something new. On Facebook I started a group called "

De' Tinker's Thoughts: Facebook Discussion Group", and asked the few members I had which post title they wanted me to write on. Well, the vote is in! So here I go...

Nothing is evil. How could that be? Don't we live in an evil world? Isn't evil all around us? What about the wars, the starvation, the lies, etc?

There is more to the saying then that. Maybe this makes more sense: Nothing was evil in it's original created form; or, nothing was created evil.

Whatever it is, it us us humans who make it evil or commit evil actions. Guns aren't evil, they are just a tool. Yet we use them for evil purposes. Eating meat isn't evil, yet we torture animals unnecessarily to get that meat or we intentionally provide low quality meat for people to eat. Even technology! Technology isn't evil, but as with the gun example, it can be used for evil purposes.

For instance, weather control technology. Some of you may not even believe we have the technology to effect the weather on any noteworthy scale. That's fine if you don't believe, it's up to you. Technology like that doesn't sound evil, does it? Well, it's not, whatever you were thinking. However, evidence suggests that this type of technology is responsible for multiple natural disasters and will also be used for a mass deception in the (near) future, with the intent of setting up a One World Government.

That brings me to another point, a Wold Government. Is that evil? Well, the idea itself isn't. However, the methods used to achieve such a government and the reason for that government are. The Almighty confused the languages of man at the tower of Babel when they created a One World Government, with the intention of being their own god. Mankind has always had that goal in mind, and is trying once again to create a modern "Tower of Babel" situation.

Getting away from the "conspiracy theories", here's another example: sex. These days I hear jokes about how Christianity means "if it's fun, stop doing it". In part this joke is talking about this very issue. The original purpose of sex was for pleasure between one man and one woman and to populate the earth. However, we have perverted it from it's original purpose, making most instances evil. Once again, it's not the idea that's evil, but what we do with it. That is why there is rape, adultery, homosexuality, etc. They have perverted the original purpose, in a similar way as was done with technology.

Since everything was originally "very good", any evil must have come afterwards. And of course, any object itself can't be evil anyway, just as an animal or idea can't. We are the ones that cursed creation through our actions, and we pervert and corrupt all of these things.

Of course other issues, such as killing and murder, are a little harder to explain. According to what I hear (to lazy to look it up myself), in the original Hebrew the same word is used for "murder" as is used for "kill". That means the commandment "thou shall not murder" could just as accurately be translated to "thou shall not kill". So does that mean killing isn't evil? Well... as I said, it's a little harder to explain, and I may be wrong on this one.

It is said that death will be the last enemy to be defeated. Also, in original creation there was no death. However, upon further investigation of science, you realized that destruction was both possible and necessary before the Fall. You see, there is a fine balance in creation. Destruction and creation. We can't even see without this balance! As light comes into our eyes, it destroys certain chemicals. When these chemicals break down, it sends an electrical signal to the brain, telling us what we see.

Before the Fall, things were probably balanced differently. Balanced in such a way that there was no net decay, meaning that things could not die of age; or die at all. However, as I said, things changed. So the act of killing also upsets the balance, but adding lots of net decay. This is against God's original plan, for He wanted no death. But we now live in a fallen world, where death not only is possible but happens every minute.

I have not fully answered the problem though, is killing evil? Digging a little deeper, we find Jesus said that even if you are angry with someone in your heart, you committed murder against them (in your own heart). So based off all this, it seems it is really a matter of the heart. Even God commanded the killing of thousands (men, woman, children, even babies). The people that were killed were of a corrupt heart, and this was a punishment. But when we kill someone ourselves, we have no power, right or authority to give them that punishment; except in the case of government (which I will get to in a moment).

An individual on his own does not have this authority by default, but circumstances can present them self, such as getting attacked and taking a life defending yourself. Although you may not have been given the authority to "punish" this person, per se, you were fulfilling a God given instinct of self defense. Things are different when someone is causing you trouble and you hire someone to "silence" them. That is a heart problem right there. Also since man is created in God's image, he also is set apart and special from the rest of creation. Doing something evil towards another human is far different than it is from an animal or plant.

However, governments have been given certain authority from above to make and enforce laws, including the death penalty. This amount of authority has been given to them, to take a life, so it is up to the governments to respect these privileges. No matter how powerful a government becomes, they still answer to a greater power. It is the same for all of us, we each answer to something greater than ourself. In the case of killing and murder, it is a hard concept to clearly understand. You've just seen some of how I think it through.

Ultimately, death and killing isn't part of the plan, but is happening now. We must live with that. But as long as our heart is following God, our actions will lead us away from these evil acts (although we are still fallible humans). This means that it is possible to kill someone and not sin. It is the heart, the intent, that God looks at. This isn't to justify those who fought in the Crusades for "the glory of God", or any other similar circumstances. I merely mean that He will reveal His will if we listen, and there is example after example in the Old Testament where killing was part of that.

The simple answer? No. Killing is not evil (oh boy, is that weird to say!). It is our heart that is evil, and often times we kill because of our evil heart. The origin of evil also has an evil beginning, the Fall and Satan. But death also began there as well, but death is not evil. It is just a balance of nature that is not part of God's ultimate plan. There will come a time where he gives creation it's proper balance, then death and killing will be impossible.

There are many other examples, but this will suffice for now. This post is plenty long. However, I will soon be writing another post talking more about this issue.

Story of the 5th

So this is another school project I did. Since I already did all the work, I decided to post it. This particular project was to listen to Ludvig van Beethoven's 5th symphony...

...and write about what the piece means to me, what I feel/think/see/etc. when I listen to it. I only did the first movement, since I did not want to go into this kind of detail for the rest of 'em.

So, here it is:

The initial beats are lighting and thunder, which start a down pour upon a wounded man lying upon a battlefield filled with corpses. After the rain begins, he has flash backs about everything that brought him to this point. The following “creeping” feeling of the orchestra is the man remembering the events coming together for the war he is now in. The bridge begins the memory of the events which brought the redcoats to the very steps of the man’s plantation; ending with pistol aimed at his face and all his property burning.

Beginning on theme one, the man remembers even farther back, before the ball, when he took his wife to a ball. The sounds of the violins are the man remembering slowly dancing in a beautiful hall before the war. When things pick up to the happier, faster paced tune, he is remembering more and more of the fast paced, carefree dance. Not long after those events though, the man begins to cycle through other events that lead to where he is now. As the Exposition repeats, he goes through a similar cycle of memories; from the events leading to the war, the burning of his plantation and killing of part of his family, to the times before the war.

The near confusion in the Development is the man being swarmed with different memories. From his anger that made him join the war, to those happy times before the war. His memory jumped from dances, to tired marching, to happy evenings with his family, to confused battles. Memories of pain, hunger, happiness, and sadness seem to attack him at once.

The Recapitulation is the very passionately angry memories of the man seeing the destruction of his plantation. With the quiet and slow oboe solo, the man remembers crying as he held his wife’s lifeless corpse in his arms, as the soldiers marched off with all his possessions burning.

The following crescendo for the bridge is the memory of sadness turning into anger and hate for the man. He remembers setting his wife’s body down, standing up and watching as the redcoats marched away. With the trumpet blasts the man is brought once again to the memories before the war; including the last dance he had. He had brought his whole family to an extravagant ball as one final time to have carefree fun before the fighting began. His memories begin once again with the slow, blissful dancing as he sees his wife smiling face. Memories of the dance speeding up and becoming more intense come along with the crescendo of the music, until he is spinning quickly and carefree with his wife in his arms, with his sons and daughters surrounding him all dancing carefree as well.

With the Coda comes conflicting memories of that final dance and this last battle; the joy of his family, and the hate of his enemy. Images of his smiling wife and his smoking rifle flooded his mind. Memories come harder and faster, making the emotions in the man boil as he lay on the battlefield. Finally, as the orchestra switches to the darker tune, the man is left with just the memories of his hate. Marching, firing, reloading, watching as enemy soldiers fell, and the blood of allied soldiers splattered his face and clothes.

Memories slow down, but become more focused as he sees the soldier that killed his wife and family and ordered the burning of the plantation. The music builds and intensifies as the two fight towards each other, and a few longing memories appear to the man. The following deep, powerful notes known from theme one are the man and the soldier meeting on the field of combat. They fight hard, the man burning with anger and hate. Combat ends with the soldier firing his pistol and the man stabbing him with a bayonet in time with the powerful closing notes. Along with the sudden ending comes the man suddenly falling into unconsciousness, having remembered all the events that brought him to this point.

The Armorer

[So here's a little parable I wrote a couple years back, with minimal editing. Please comment and share this so others can see it.]

Back in the time of swords and spears; back in the time of bows and arrows; back
in the time where God and science were one. Back in the time of the Medieval era, there
was an Armorer. He had been taught by his master how to make armor, as his master
before, and his master before that, and so on. He had been taught things about making
armor that were as old as armor itself.
But he had been taught more than that. He had been taught things about mankind,
those who would wear his armor, that were as old, and older, than man itself. He had
been taught about God, and how to listen to him.

And now, in this time, there was a war going on. This war had been raging for
generations. And this armorer, and his fathers before him, had been making armor for the
soldiers. But they made no ordinary armor. When they made armor, they were lead by
God, to make armor that would fit the exact needs of the one who would wear it. And for
generations this armor had been accepted. But now it was no more.
The armor that this armorer made was shaped irregularly; it was hard to move
properly. The armor had been designed to protect a certain thing at a certain time, as God
had intended. The armor was designed for a single moment, to protect them from the one
blow that would end their life. But the soldiers didn’t care, they wanted the new armor.
This armor was light, covered everything evenly, and looked better. It was made faster,
and they were all the same.

But there was one soldier who was different than all the other soldiers. He
believed that what the armorer made was better, better because it was designed by God.
His father had taught him about God, and told him stories about how He has a plan, how
He is wiser than all of man. And he believed that there was a plan with this armor. But he
didn’t understand his plan up to this point. He had been a peaceful farmer his whole life.
Yet he was drafted into the military. He hadn’t seen his wife in years, didn’t even know if
he would ever have any kids. But he knew there was a reason.
This soldier went to the armorer, and asked for a piece of special armor. The
armorer was glad to have someone who was willing to put their trust in his armor, and
God. So the armorer took his time making it. He took several days praying and seeking
out what this armor should look like. And then, after many more days, he presented the
armor to the soldier. Both the armorer and the soldier had been disappointed when they
had seen it the first time, the armorer while he was making it, and the soldier when it was
given to him. The armor was only a three inch thick circle of steel, only about as wide as
a fist. He was told to strap it over his stomach. He thanked the armorer, then he went off
to war.

The soldier fought with this awkward armor for many days. Then one day the
army was trying to hold a village. Reinforcements were hours away. They had been fighting all day. Fathers, brothers, sons, husbands, friends, even woman and children
had all died in the fighting that happened that day. The rest of the soldiers were fighting
great. With their modern armor, they could get hit and shrug it off. They could fight
freely, without restraint or being thrown off balance. But they weren’t protected from the
one fatal blow that would always end their life. But this soldier only had his one piece
of ridiculous armor. He was getting cut and beat up left and right. He had almost no
protection.
Near the end of the day, when no one thought they could go on any longer, and
that reinforcements would never come, a boy was seen crying in a burnt hut. He was
only a few years old, but he was crying loud. And an enemy soldier heard this boy, and
became irritated. So he aimed a crossbow, the most advanced weapon of the time, a
weapon that allowed a soldier with almost no training to kill a heavily armored knight,
who had been trained his whole life, in one shot. He took aim at the boy, and was about
to fire. But the soldier, the one with the strange piece of armor, ran and covered the boy
with his body.
Then the crossbow was fired. It went straight though the soldier with ease. But it
became imbedded in the armor, the specially designed armor. The bolt was stuck halfway
through the steel, the steel that was directly above the little boy. After the bolt struck,
many other bolts and arrows started to fire. But they were all fired at enemy soldiers.
The reinforcements they had been waiting for had finally come! But the soldier, as he lay
there dying, wondered how this armor was so special. It hadn’t protected him at all. Then
he looked at the child in his arms, the child that would live because of his armor, and
knew why the armor was so special. Or did he?

What that soldier didn’t know, and what the boy found out later, was that that boy
was his son. When the father had been drafted into the army, he had left his wife home
pregnant. But he didn’t know that. And with time, the mother wasn’t able to work, so she
moved in with some distant family members in a village many weeks journey away. And
that boy had been growing up in that village. Then one day, a group of soldiers came to
defend that village. A village full of woman and children, including the mother and son.
And one of the soldiers defending that village was wearing a very odd piece of armor. A
single circle of steel about as wide as a fist and three inches thick over his stomach.
And near the end of that day, most everyone in that village had been killed.
Soldier, peasant, man, woman, adult and child alike. Only a few were still alive. Those
few, amongst others, included the soldier, the boy, and the mother. The next day, a list of
all causalities was taken up. It was found that all male descendants of all the soldiers had
died in that battle, except the son of that one soldier. The one soldier who still accepted
the plan of God. And that soldier was the only soldier of that day whose bloodline
continued. And continues now.

And now, if any of these things were to happen you, what would you do? Would
you still do what God had designed you to do, even if no one accepts you for doing it?
Would you still follow Gods plan, even if no one else around you does? If someone were
to give their life for you, would you want to make that sacrifice worth it?
Who are you in this story? Are you the armorer? The soldier? The son? Are you
some one else in this story? I hope that reading this changes yours or somebody else’s
life, or makes them see things in a new light. Or teaches them something new, maybe
something about God? I’ve learned some things in writing this, and now I’m passing this
on to you, and whoever you pass this on to, and so on. Am I the armorer? Or had God
passed this on to me, like the soldier passed life on to his son? That’s something for me to
learn. And I hope you learn your place to.

War, Peace, and Medical Care

This post will be a contain two basic subjects I've been thinking about. The first will be a paraphrased quote that's been stuck in my head, the second is something I thought of while in a college class.

So first off, that quote. "If you wish for peace, prepare for war." I can't even remember where I first heard that, but the day of me writing this it has been stuck in my head. I think this is advice that many people need to hear and understand. America would be a far better place if people took this to heart. From interactions between individuals to interactions between nations, things would be better. Let's look down at the smaller levels of things.

Imagine living in a small town where everyone carries a loaded, working gun with them everywhere and is both capable and knowledgable about how to use it. Everybody who visits that town knows before even entering that every town member has a gun. You would have to be a fool to go into that town and commit a crime. Imagine going into rob a store. The cashier may pull a shotgun on you, the old lady getting eggs to make a cake my pull a pistol on you, and who knows what that kid listening to his music might pull on you.



Who knows?

 Imagine even farther back, to the pioneering of the west. Not only did people have guns for if they had to use them, they did use them. An eight year old could pick up a shotgun or rifle if he had to, and he (or even she) could use it. If anyone were to commit a crime against people like these, they better be pretty darn sure of themselves or they are just plain fools.

Now imagine today, with people trying to push gun control laws. Imagine another little town where it is extremely difficult to own guns, and it is looked down upon to have on in the first place. In this little town, cops only carry their little pistol with them when there is trouble. Now, everyone who visits knows about the gun situation here as well. If one of these visitors were to commit a crive in this little town, I couldn't quite blame them. The locals, not prepared, left themselves open.

If I were to rob a house, I would look for a town or neighorhood where people didn't own weapons. I would look for a town where people didn't "prepare for war". But let's say I lived in a town where everyone is "prepared for war". Guess what? It would likely be pretty peacefull. Everybody knows they're safe, and if somebody is stupid enough to act up, they know they may not live long enough for the police to even show up. It makes me think of a story I once heard, where a reporter asked a cop if he was expecting trouble because he was carrying his pistol on him, so the cop replied with something to the effect of, "If I was expecting trouble, I would have brought my shotgun!"

I should have started this post with this picture!

That's the way America, as a whole should think. Imagine with me, moving up to a bigger example, that America lived by that idea, "make peace by preparing for war". We (if you're an American like me) as a nation would try to have the biggest, baddest military in the world. And guess what? If we did, every other nation would try to make peace! Or even if every country and nation lived by that principle; then everyone would try everything they could to avoid war because they know that they are all ready to fight.

But no. For some reason I can't understand, we (meaning America) are trying to downsize our military and be nice to people to make peace. That works, don't get me wrong... until someone is tired of nice talk. Without a grenade launcher in your back pocket...

I had this picture sitting around on my computer, I just had to use it!

...they have no reason to listen when those peace talks fail. However, if we honestly try to make and keep peace in the foreground, while preparing to dominate any enemies in case things go wrong, we would be much better off. That goes for individual people and countries. If someone tries to mug me, it's all well and good to sweet talk them out of it, but it would be nice to have a backup plan consisting of blackpowder and lead. But no, America is trying to cut spending on the military and defense so they have more money to waste on themselves and to put into other projects that I believe only exist because people are to lazy to take care of themselves.

Just to show that I live what I preach
I own all of these, and either carry them on me, sleep next to them or have them hung on my wall
And yes, that is a micky mouse blanket. You won't get an explanation because I ain't offering.

This brings me to my second part of the thoughts I was thinking of earlier today. That didn't make a lot of sense even while I was typing that last sentence. Anyway, part two!

I'm sure you have heard some about the corruption and such that goes on in jails, and how hard it is in general. The sad part is though, some people actually try to get arrested to get thrown into jail because it means they get to have their medical needs taken care of for them. I have two main points on this section, points I will try to actually stick to. The first is people who are capable of taking care of their medical needs should so that the goverment doesn't have to waste money on their sorry a**es when it could be used to take care of those who can't take care of themselves, and my second point is that people are put into jail who should be put into mental hospitals and such. Basically, I am talking about medical like stuff all around. Sounds appropriate since I was just talking about guns.



Yes, I'm just looking for an excuse to post these now

The goverment is involved in several health care programs and such. I think that is fine (though I would prefer godly individuals to take up that role, not the goverment), but what I can't stand is people who take advantage of the system. When the goverment stepped in and made Christian charity law, and therefore under their jurisdiction, things went down hill. I even heard of a story where someone robbed a bank of a dollar (I believe it was) just so he could get arrested so his health needs would be met by the goverment in jail.

Now, I understand that there are some people who truly cannot take care of themselves; there are people who do truly benefit from these programs and don't have a reasonable alternative. I am talking about everyone else who uses the system but doesn't really need it. But being such lazy bums, they "force" the goverment to spend money on them when that money could be used on people who really need it. It is our responsibility to take care of ourselves, that way resources could be spared to help others. Because of this, and the fact that the goverment shouldn't be involved so heavily in health care, if at all, it leads to them spending a lot of money they don't have. Leading to debt and trying to cut projects that are part of their job; such as military and national defense. And when I say national defense, I'm not talking against aliens or asteroids, I'm talking against other nations and such. But, because people just don't seem to care, the goverment has to use money to keep those sorry people alive.

Then there is the fact that in America, our solution for everything seems to be to throw people in jail. A man's insane? Throw him in jail. Someone is addicted to drugs? Throw them in jail. Someone killed a man while defending themself? Throw them in jail.

There are people who should be in hospitals instead of jails. Mental hospitals as well. Also, throwing people in jail won't do much good to stop an addiction to drugs. If you want to get someone off drugs, you need to get more personal with them. It requires work; not iron bars.

I think all my energy went into writing the first part of this post, so I don't have much for the second half. Well, at least I got my thoughts down. That was the point of all this.

Okay, I'm done.

The Three

"But the godless are like thorns to be thrown away, for they tear the hand that touches them. One must use iron tools to chop them down; they will be totally consumed by fire."

I was preparing to right this post when I suddenly read this passage immediately before the section I was going to talk about. It seemed to fit will as a means of explaining what I am about to talk about. So what am I talking about than? War.

Warriors specifically. To be even more specific, I will be focusing mainly on three warriors: Jashobeam, Eleazar, and Shammah. These were David's mightiest warriors out of all his mighty warriors. These guys were the best of the best. And they weren't simply labeled that; they earned it.

Let's start with Jashobeam. He lead these three warriors, the "three mightiest warriors among David's men".

Before I begin telling you about him though, let me just say a few things. I had heard of these guys, and others before, but literally just hours before writing this I rediscovered them. I became fascinated very quickly by many of the war heroes in the Bible. I chose to write of these three for now. I could probably go on for a long time though about the warriors of old (both in biblical and nonbiblical texts).

Now, Jashobeam. How to put it... Okay, I got it! To become an Ace today in the airforce, you have to get five confirmed kills. Jashobeam would have become an Ace, 40 times, in one single battle. Using just his spear, against an army. That means in one single encounter, Jashobeam killed 800 men. 800 men! And my Bible says "He once used his spear to kill 800 enemy warriors in a single battle" (emphasis mine). This was just one single battle for him. Thas was obviously his largest, because why would anyone choose to tell of a smaller victory, but it still leaves you (or at least me) wondering how many he killed in all his years as a warrior. On the many video games I see these days with kill/death ratios, if there was someone with 800 kills and 0 deaths, he would be banned for hacking! Yet we see that same ratio happen here, and no hacking (except what Jashobeam possibly did to the bodies of his foes). And of course, as I said, you must remember that this was just one battle!

Okay, so Jashobeam was the mightiest of all David's warriors. So he was the main leader of more ordinary warriors, right? Wrong!

"Next in rank among the Three was Eleasar son of Dobai, a descendant of Ahoah. Once Ealeazar and David stood together against the Philistines when the entire Istraelite army had fled."

So let me explain this to you. Israel was at war with the Philistines. The Philistines are the bad guys, and the entire good guy army just ran away. Except for David and Eleazar. The entire Israelite army! Except for these two guys, just left standing there. Here's what happens next:

"He killed Philistines until his hand was too tired to lift his sword, and the Lord gave him a great victory that day. The rest of the army did not return until it was time to collect the plunder!"

So, these two big armies came together to fight. The good guys run, except for their leader and one of his best warriors. The entire enemy army attacks. These two men kill all of them. The entire Israelite army that fled merely comes back to find a field strewn with corpses of the Philistines, and all they have to do is collect the plunder. And I highly doubt these "armies" were small warbands of a few dozen warriors. When we read other mentions of the Philistines, and other enemies of Israel, as well as the armies of Israel itself, we hear of numbers in the thousands. Or tens of thousands. Or even hundreds of thousands! So I really doubt that David and Eleazar fought a few dozen men. After all, Jashobeam killed 800 in one encounter! How many Philistines lay dead at the end of this day? I can only imagine...

And finally, Shammah. The third warrior in the Three.

"One time the Philistines gathered at Lehi and attacked the Israelites in a field full of lentils. The Israelite army fled,"

I'm starting to see a patter here. The Israelites and the Philistines come together to fight, then the Israelites run away. But...

"but Shammah held his ground in the middle of the field and beat back the Philistines. So the Lord brought about a great victory."

One of Israelites great leaders/warriors seem to come and save the day. Okay, reread that section above. "but Shamah held his ground. . . and beat back the Philistines" Not only did Shammah kill them, he actually drove them back! Now this is one man we are talking about here! Once again, we see the Israelite army run, but this time we see one warrior stay behind. And do the work of an entire army.

Now I challenge you to find one historical example (other than the Bible, there are several) of someone, anyone, who can beat these exploits. And remember, the Philistines are known for having large armies. Whenever I hear the word "Philistines" in the Bible associated with a number, that number is always at least a thousand. So, we've seen instances of two men killing an entire army and one man driving an entire army back. Yet another of one man killing 800 enemy soldiers with his spear in one battle. Beat that. Can you find one provable instance of anyone else in history who can do something like that? Likely not, since these were men of the Almigthy.

Oh, and just to top it off, one final exploit of the Three was thrown in. The Philistines occupied Bethlehem, and David wanted a drink from the well at the gates of Bethlehem. So when the Three heard this, what did they do? Did they just think to themselves "well, once the Philistines leave we'll make sure our first task is to get him a drink"? No. Did they decide to gather the army and attack? Nope.

They broke through the Philistine lines at Bethlehem themself to get a drink for David. Three men broke into the city occupied by the enemy army just to get some water from a well. Then what happened? David saw the water as to good for him to drink, or as he said "This water is as precious as the blood of these men who risked their lives to bring it to me." So he offered it to the Almighty instead.

So the score so far:

Jeshobeam: killed 800 men in one battle

Eleazar: killed an entire army with David

Shammah: drove back in entire army by himself

The Three: broke through enemy lines in an occupied town to gather water from a well which was used as an offering for the Lord of Heaven's Armies.

Beat that. I beg of you, beat it.

Damascus Steel

Once again talking about ancient technology, here are some of my old thoughts (along with a few new ones) on the steel of legend. This steel, according to these legends, was strong enough to cut through solid stone and remain sharp enough to cut falling silk. Of course, these legends could just be a major exaggeration, but if man really was as smart in the past as I believe, I wouldn't put it past them.

Here is a picture of our "modern" damascus steel:

Pretty unique look, isn't it? This is pretty much how it is believed to have looked. Of course, I believe we have lost the special techniques they would have used to make it so strong in the past. And if you think that story is a little far fetched, here's another, more recent story I heard.

I got to meet an actual knife maker. It was a hobby for him, but now he makes a pretty good profit out of it. Enough of a profit to make knives out of armor grade metal. He once even made a knife, put it in a clamp, and shot it three times with a .50 calibre bullet. The knife was a bit roughed up, but otherwise just fine.

If I lived in ancient history, and was rich enough to afford a damascus blade, I would like one of this type of design:

2100 and 2103 are my favorites of those in the picture, I think. But a damascus sword like this would be pretty amazing thing to have. Imagine it, a sword so sharp I could drop a cloth on it and the cloth would be sliced right through. Then of course, the blade would be incredibly tough and dull very slowly. I could easily cut a man in half and not even have to worry about sharpening the blade!

Yes, I do like to imagine a bit sometimes. You must remember though, it isn't really all to far of a stretch for ancient man to make weapons like this if you think about it.

Okay, so this short post was about the boy inside me. We all have to have a little fun, don't we?