We Three Kings of Orient Are...

Hey all! With the Christmas season fast approaching, I thought that I would share some interesting facts I found out today about the Magi.

• Ever wonder why we have the wise men in the manger scene? Well, it turns out that in 1223 a monk named Francis who was from Assisi, decided to do a live nativity. (Francis of Assisi was actually the first guy to do this and so he could be considered the founder of the live nativity.) Francis used people from the local village to be Joseph, Mary, the shepherds, etc. and built a wooden manger and stable. Francis wanted to tell the whole story so he included the wisemen along with the manger scene, even though he knew it wasn't biblically accurate.
• How many kings were there? A Persian account says that there were 5. During Medieval times people thought it was 12.
• Magi? What does it mean? Magi is plural for Magus, which has connections with astronomy and Zoroastrianism, a pagan religion tied with the stars and other astronomical things.

That's all I've got for now. If you know any other cool facts about Magi, let me know. I'd love to hear about them!

Florida Trip 09 (Finally!)

OK, so I got back from Florida last Saturday, and I told myself that I would write about it soon. And soon ended up being now so here goes... Ahem.
We left my house at 5 o'clock AM ET. And traveled all day to Graham, NC to stay with the Wells family. I got the scoop on Mrs. and Heather Wells' trip to Honduras. Then, we left the next morning for Florida and got to my grandparents' home about dinner time. While we were there we enjoyed the hot tub and bikes and of course Thanksgiving the next day.
So on the Monday after Thanksgiving we went to Epcot in Orlando Florida. In my opinion, Epcot rivals Darien Lake. There was this really cool ride called Mission: Space.
Before you go on the ride you go into this room where you get briefed and it really feels like you're going to Mars. Then while this awesomely heroic music plays, you go to your positions and are given assignments and are told like three times that if you are prone to motion sickness caused by small enclosed dark spaces, spinning, or simulators you can go. And then when you pull the bar thing over your head, and the doors close, you launch. The G forces are incredible, and if I may say so they ROCK! Eventually, after tons of close calls you land on Mars and are super famous! That was probably the best part of the day, but there were other cool things like the countries of the world, the Test Drive Ride, Soarin', and the Christmas show.
But anyhow we left Florida Wednesday and arrived at my Aunt and Uncle's house in Stafford, VA near DC, at around 8 PM. Then, the next day we went to DC and saw all the monuments and the capital, which left us tired after walking a grand total of 6 miles. Then, the second day in DC we went to the Air and Space Museum and the American History Museum. We saw Lincoln's Hat and Spaceship One and the Ruby slippers (which I found out were fake,because someone stole the real ones) and Kermit the Frog and the Spirit of St, Louis and other cool stuff. And then, we got home the next day after slipping and sliding around through the mush on the roads, at 8 o'clock. I had a ton of fun!

A few days ago I put together a slide show of pics from my trip if you want to look at those. (They should be in the post just below this one.)

Pics of Epcot and DC

Hey everyone! I haven't gotten around to writing about my trip yet,but here are some pictures to whet your appetite! Enjoy!

Nonliteral Interpretations of Creation

So there are a few theories out there that are way off. Allow me to share them with you...

• Gap Theory- The gap theory says that there was a time gap in between Genesis 1:1 and the second verse. According to the GT, there was creation #1. Then after Satan's fall millions of years later, God started on creation numero two. This is just trying to fit the Old Earth Theory and there is no scriptural evidence.
• Theistic Evolution- Simply put this theory states that God used evolution to create the world. The Bible however says that God created by a direct act.
• Long-Day Theory-This theory suggests that each day was a long period, not a literal day. However at the end of verses 5, 8, 12, 19, 23, and 31, there appears the phrase, "...and there was evening and there was morning...". This signifies that the days were 24 hour periods.
• Progressive Creationism- This theory says that the earth is millions of years old and that at different points God created new animals. It also holds to a local flood as apposed to a world flood. Clearly this doesn't line up with the Bible.

COMING SOON: FLORIDA TRIP W/PICTURES!