Posts Made By: Brien Stratton

6) James- James was the half brother of Jesus, probably the next youngest to Jesus in age, being the first named of Mary's four natural-born sons: James, Joseph, Simon, and Judas. James was aware of his brothers activity, but though not opposed, he was not one of the disciples and followers of Christ. James also may have been numbered among the relatives that said of Jesus: "He has gone out of his mind." (Mark 3:21)

However, after the death of Jesus, James was assembled for prayer together with his mother, brothers, and the apostles in an upper chamber in Jerusalem. It was evidently to this James that the resurrected Jesus appeared personally, as reported at 1 Corinthians 15:7, so convincing this onetime nonbeliever that he was indeed the Messiah.

Thereafter James became a prominent member, a "pillar" of the Jerusalem congregation. He wrote the book of James as a general letter to all the congregations. The purpose of the letter seems to have been to exhort his fellow believers to display faith and endurance amid their trials, and to warn them against sins resulting in divine disapproval. In his book, he used illustrations from everyday life, including boats, farmers, and vegetation, giving colourful backing to James's arguments on faith, patience, and endurance. This copying of Jesus' successful teaching methods makes his counsel extremely forceful. This letter impresses one with James' keen discernment of the motives prompting individuals.-from the book- All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial. His book is a must read for living a Christian life.

Brien

7A) Peter- Peter was one of the earliest of Jesus' disciples, being led to Jesus by Andrew (his brother), a disciple of John the Baptizer. Of the apostles , Peter, James, and John were selected by Jesus to accompany him on special occasions, as in the instances of the transfiguration scene, the raising of the daughter of Jairus (who had died), and Jesus' personal trial in ther garden of Gethsemane.

The gospel accounts record more of Peter's statements than of any the other 11. He was clearly of a dynamic nature, not hesitant. This doubtless caused him to speak up first or to express himself where others remained silent. He raised questions that resulted in Jesus' clarifying and amplifying illustrations. At times he spoke impulsively, even impetuously. Peter revealed overconfidence and a certain feeling of superiority over the other 11 when declaring that, though they might stumble in connection with Jesus, he would never do so, being willing to go to prison or even to die with Jesus. True, all the others joined in making such affirmation, but Peter did so first and "profusely". Jesus then foretold Peter's threefold denial of his Lord.

Having "returned" from his fall into the snare of fear caused largely by overconfidence, Peter was now to "stengthen his brothers" in fulfillment of Christ's exhortation and to do shepherding work among his sheep. In harmony with this, we find Peter taking a prominent part in the activity of the disciples after Jesus' ascension into heaven.

Brien

On Pentecost, under guidance of holy spirit Peter acted as spokesman for the apostles and made use of the first of the "keys" given him by Jesus (Matthew 16:19), thereby opening up the way for Jews to become members of the kingdom. Then he was involved with helping the Samaritans to receive the holy spirit, so opened up the work for that group of peole also. From Joppa, Peter was guided to use the third ‘key of the kingdom,’ traveling to Caesarea to preach to Cornelius and his relatives and friends, resulting in their becoming the first uncircumcised Gentile believers to receive the holy spirit as Kingdom heirs.-from the book-Insight on the Scriptures

Peter wrote two books:

1 Peter. It's purpose: As the early Christians declared abroad the excellencies of God, the Kingdom work prospered and increased throughout the Roman Empire. However, some misunderstandings arose concerning this zealous group. For one thing, their religion had originated from Jerusalem and from among the Jews, and some confused them with the politically minded Jewish zealots who chafed under the Roman yoke and were a constant source of trouble to local governors. Moreover, the Christians were different in that they refused to sacrifice to the emperor or to mix in with the pagan religious ceremonies of the day. They were spoken against and had to undergo many trials on account of the faith. At the right time, and with forethought denoting divine inspiration, Peter wrote his first letter, encouraging the Christians to stand firm and counseling them on how to conduct themselves under Nero, the Caesar of that time. This letter proved to be most timely in view of the storm of persecution that broke out almost immediately thereafter.

2 Peter. It's purpose: The purpose of peter's second letter was to encourage Christians to exert themselves and to cling to the prophetic word; it contains pwerful warnings against apostasy.

Brien

8) Jude- Jude was the half brother of Jesus, and the brother of James (who also wrote a Biblical letter). Almost nothing is known about Jude's life. At one time Jude and his brothers did not exercise faith in Christ Jesus (John 7:5). However, after his resurrection, Jesus appeared to his half brother James (1 Corinthians 15:7). Doubtless this had much to do with convincing not only James but also Jude and his other brothers that Jesus was indeed the Messiah.

His epistle was a general letter to be circulated widely to all Christians. It's purpose: To provide exhortation to help fellow believers to cope successfully with corruptive influences inside the congregation. Jude admonished them to "put up a hard fight for the faith".

Though short, Jude's letter contains some information not found elsewhere in the Bible. It alone mentions the archangel's dispute with the Devil over Moses' body and the prophecy uttered centuries earlier by Enoch. Whether Jude received this information through direct revelation or by reliable transmission (either oral or written) is not known. If the latter was the case, this may explain the presence of a similar reference to Enoch's prophesying in the apocryphal book of Enoch (thought to have been written probably sometime during the second and first centuries B.C.E.) A common source could have furnished the basis for the statement in the inspired letter as well as in the apocryphal book.-from the book- Insight on the Scriptures.

Brien

All the writers of the Christian Greek Scriptures in one way or another were closely associated with the original governing body of the Christian congregation, which included apostles personally selected by Jesus. Matthew, John, and Peter were among the original 12 apostles, and Paul was later selected as an apostle but was not reckoned as one of the 12. Although Paul was not present at the special outpouring of spirit at Pentecost, Matthew, John, and Peter were there, along with James and Jude and probably Mark. (Acts 1:14) Peter specifically counts the letters of Paul in with “the rest of the Scriptures.” (2 Pet. 3:15, 16) Mark and Luke were close associates and traveling companions of Paul and Peter. (Acts 12:25; 1 Pet. 5:13; Col. 4:14; 2 Tim. 4:11) All these writers were endowed with miraculous abilities by holy spirit, either by special outpouring as occurred at Pentecost and when Paul was converted (Acts 9:17, 18) or, no doubt as in the case of Luke, by the laying on of the apostles’ hands. (Acts 8:14-17) All the writing of the Christian Greek Scriptures was completed during the time that the special gifts of the spirit were operative.
26 Faith in the almighty God, who is the Inspirer and Preserver of his Word, makes us confident that he is the one who has guided the gathering together of its various parts. So we confidently accept the 27 books of the Christian Greek Scriptures along with the 39 of the Hebrew Scriptures as the one Bible, by the one Author, Jehovah God. His Word in its 66 books is our guide, and its entire harmony and balance testify to its completeness.-from the book- All Scripture is Inspired of God and Beneficial.

Brien

Hello all, any advice appreciated. I have talked to a few already about this. I have a 10" f/8 mirror (which is a pretty long focal length), and a Univ. Opt. mirror cell. I was originally planning to make them into a truss scope. However, lately I have been thinking that a conventional tube dobsonian setup might be better for easier use, as I could just take the tube and put it on top of the mount cradle and start to observe, without having to fuss with the tubes, and collimation, ect. I have a minivan, so the long tube should fit in my vehicle, as I will need to travel most of the time to use.

I originally thought of building the truss scope so I would have better handling of thermal currents, and the mirror would cool down better. But with the tube I heard that the observers heat does not drift into the telescopes light path, and also helps with dewing, and extranneous bright light sources in vicinity. I also think it will be much easier for me to make a tube scope, as my wood working skills, equipment are limited.

Any recommendations? Anyone been in the same situation? Which did you do, and what were the results? Are the thermal currents in a tube scope that big of a deal with a fan at the back of the fairly open Univ. Opt. mirror cell? How about a 14" tube instead of the standard 12" tube for this mirror? I know the larger tube will be more cumbersome, and your sec. mirror may have to be larger (I have a 1.83" minor axis), but will the thermal currents be reduced significantly?

Thanks,

Brien Stratton

Nice job Steve. What size and f# of the mirror? Can you explain how you installed the bottom of the truss tubes on the mirror box?

Thanks,

Brien

Steve,can you explain further, this is an interesting design. You cut a 2" dowel and inserted into the tube- was it snug? Then you drilled a hole up through the dowel. Then you cut the dowel on a bias to make two wedge shapes? Please explain. Do you mean you cut the dowel inside at an angle and put a t-nut on the top wedge?

Brien

I am normally neutral to political topics, but sometimes I wonder how other people view important topics. I saw on TV lately that the U.S. is waiving the normal delays, for immigrants to come to the States, if they agree to go to war for them. It mentioned that there were a number of these new potential immigrants that died in the latest war. One of the mothers of the recently killed soldiers said that she was proud that her son died serving his yet to be country. I personally think this practice of letting people in quicker if they go to war is deplorable. They can now nail their citizen papers on their coffins. The immigration authorities (or those who make these decisions) I guess have the attitude, that heh, if you want to make it to the U.S., then there is a price to pay. Anybody else wish to comment?

Brien