Having just arrived home from a wonderful NZSO concert where the lovely and vivacious Sa Chen did a fantastic performance of Robert Schumann’s Piano Concerto in A minor, I plonked myself down in front of my window on the cyber-world to do a round of my favourite blogs.

And there was Dave Walker’s breaking news of how 2 Chronicles 31:7 is the 30638th most popular verse in the Bible out of the 31101 verses that make up the Bible. From the sublime, full circle to the alternatively-sublime, in the space of an hour is quite a fast trip, but I just felt like giving Dave’s blog an extra plug since I think he is a very nice person.

Here is a photo of Dave’s Cartoon Blog up on my monitor just a minute ago. He is writing here about heaps… because that is what 2 Chronicles 31:7 is all about. If you have your Bible handy and feel inclined to look it up, that is well and good. But if you don’t then just read on because this is what that verse says:

“They began doing this in the third month and finished in the seventh month.”

What it is they were doing was piling things in heaps. Dave gives a further analysis of this verse over on his own blog (do check it out) so I wont go into it here, but suffice to say, this verse is not a particularly well-known or popular one out of the Bible (going on the number of times it is quoted on the Internet) and Dave had an idea… This is what he writes:

“Feel free to post your own devotional thoughts on 2 Chronicles 31:7. It would be great if we could bump it up to the top 5. This would perplex a lot of people, which I'm all in favour of.”

Well, I don’t have any devotional thoughts on that verse at the moment, but that could change anytime later. For the meantime, I will just leave it at that and go search for Schumman’s PC in A minor to download for my iPod. Back in the near future…

Yesterday I received a very nice surprise from my friend and fellow blogger, Mark Alexander, who announced that he has nominated Judah’s Journal for the “Thinking Blogger Award”. Criterion for nomination is that the blog concerned had made one think. It isn’t specified exactly what the blog concerned made one think, but just that it did. I suspect in Mark’s case it was probably good things that it made him think, but regardless of what they were, I am very pleased that it caused such a response in him anyway.

The way the Award works is like a game of Tag. Now that I have been tagged, I am “it” and allowed to nominate 5 blogs that made me think. Again, nothing is required to be said about what they made me think - just that they surely did so. However, I am not a great blog-reader and I don’t think I even read 5 blogs, or not on any regular basis, so I intend to nominate a couple less than five but instead say a little more about what they made me think in order to make up for the deficiency. Those whom I nominate are then “tagged” and if they accept nomination, should go ahead and nominate their own choice of five, linking back to Judah’s Journal as the previous tagger. This form of tagging does not involve spray-cans of paint, nor the Police, nor upset citizens - it is relatively safe, moral and legal to go ahead. If one accepts nomination, one is expected to post the little Award logo/banner as well (which I did just now - later - when Mark kindly pointed that out to me).

Mark’s own blog, A New Dark Age Is Dawning, causes me to think about the worrisome encroachment of Islam into western civilization and the very real dangers that this presents all of us who do not want Sharia law forced upon us. It is scary stuff, thinking about that, but cannot be avoided if you are to take a realistic look at what is happening out there in our world.

Anyway, now I am nominating for this prestigious Award the following blogs (in alphabetical order):

Covenant Theology - Puritan Lad (Scott) expounds and elucidates a traditional exegesis of Scripture in a very clear and sensible manner. He debunks a lot of the cultural infestations that cause a corruption of true Christian belief and offers much tasty and nutritious food for thought.

Omnipotentgrace - August (John) does something quite similar to Puritan Lad’s blog (indeed, they post and/or comment to each other’s blogs at times) and when it comes to sustaining food for thought, offers further menu items for the discerning diner. Jesus told Peter “Feed my sheep” (John 21:18) and these two blogs most certainly do that.

Toward the Goal - John (a different one) shares his Christian journey with experiences and discoveries from Bible studies, his delightful little family (check out the photos of the very recent new addition!) and events in wider Baptist Church circles. John, you’re tagged too, haha!

OK you three, CONGRATULATIONS! on being nominated for this most prestigious Thinking Blogger Award.

On my page Just what is it about Islam? I recently posted a disclaimer concerning a misrepresentation of me made on a forum to which I am not a member nor had previously visited. I discovered it by tracking back on a link that appeared in my Journal statistics. It was probably the result of an unfortunate misunderstanding on the part of an otherwise well-meaning person who posted there and I am sure it was not intended to cause any mischief. However, some false claims were made of me that I have never made of myself. It is not particularly pleasant to find oneself criticized for things one has never said nor done, and I wanted to set the record straight on Judah’s Journal so that readers know what is the truth and what is not. It does highlight the need to take care when making statements about others, and being sure that one has understood and can substantiate any claims that are made.

One of the authors I have referenced in my comments on Islam is Robert Spencer. He is committed to exposing the facts about Islam and the prophet of Islam. However, in doing so, he receives considerable flak from Muslims who resent what he writes and accuse him of disseminating lies based on hatred and fear. It is important for the reader to regard critically all such protests that set about trying to discount this kind of information. Many who protest are Muslims who want to present a nicer side to Islam. They themselves may truly and wholeheartedly believe their version of Islam to be the truth, but it is a version that is at variance with the facts highlighted by these authors noted here and on websites beyond this one. Some of these Muslims have adopted a “moderate version” of Islam and claim that the “radicalized” Islam of the Middle East is not true Islam. However, there is much to be said about this position as the “moderate” believers do little (if anything) to defy their own Muslim brotherhood whose beliefs and behaviours are such a cause for concern, and much else is also denied in the face of objective reality. The claim that these authors are spreading lies and have an agenda based on hatred and unrealistic fear is unfounded. Objective reality demonstrates very clearly that reasonable fear of Islam is not unrealistic and that the facts are proven truthful, substantiated both by world events and Muslims themselves. One must really question the agenda of those “moderate” Muslims who deny that it is the case and insist upon a benign interpretation of Islam instead.

In Robert Spencer’s latest book, The Truth about Muhammad, he discusses why the truth about the prophet of Islam really matters. Was Muhammad a figure of compassion and peace, or was he a violent and evil murderer, warmonger and paedophile? Spencer discusses this issue by drawing on information from solely Muslim sources, and he says that it matters greatly because…

- for if he was indeed a man of peace, one may reasonably hope that his example would become the linchpin of reform efforts in the Islamic world that would eventually roll back the influence of jihad terrorists. If he really championed democracy and equality of the sexes, one could profitably invoke his example among Muslims, who revere him as the highest example of human behavior, to work for these ideals in the Islamic world. But if the jihad terrorists are correct in invoking his example to justify their deeds, then Islamic reformers will need to initiate a respectful but searching re-evaluation of the place Muhammad occupies within Islam - a vastly more difficult undertaking.

This post is not intended as a complete review of Robert Spencer’s newly published book, but it is possible that I will publish my review of it here very soon. Meanwhile, it needs to be said that the truthful portrayal of Muhammad is the critical measure of Islam and whether it can be regarded as the religion of peace and tolerance as claimed by “moderate” Muslims who constantly criticize and discount the exposure of Islam by writers such as Spencer, or as the religion of violent hatred and intolerance which is evidenced by world events and what we so often read in the Qur’an and the Hadith.