The pastor preached out of the New International Version, which presents John 8:9 like this:

John 8:9 – NIV
9:  At this, those who heard began to go away one at a time, the older ones first, until only Jesus was left, with the woman still standing there.

Here is that same verse, in the King James Version.

John 8:9 – KJV
9:  And they which heard [it], being convicted by [their own] conscience, went out one by one, beginning at the eldest, [even] unto the last: and Jesus was left alone, and the woman standing in the midst.

What a difference the translation makes!  The NIV version omits “being convicted by their own conscience” and just says that they began to go away, one at a time.  Did they leave because they were bored?  Or was it because they had came to see a stoning and figured that wasn’t going to happen?

The NIV translation takes away one of the key points of this passage – that we are to be convicted of our own sins when we are in the presence of Jesus Christ.  I believe it is difficult to fully grasp what it will be like to be in God’s presence when we come before him after we die.  God and Jesus Christ, who are pure and holy compared to us, who are sinful is a monumental gap that we will not be able to bridge on our own.  Only God can bridge that gap by forgiving us of our sins and allowing us into His heaven where we can exist pure and holy, without sin.

But until that day, we are called to come before Christ, be convicted of our sins by our conscience, and confess them so that they can be forgiven.  The New International Version doesn’t help with that by leaving out significant parts of the original text.  I believe it hurts, in fact, by changing the meaning and leaving its readers with an incomplete (in this case) understanding of the Bible.

1. One More for the Road: Adam Steffey
2. Circles Around Me: Sam Bush
3. Ring the Bell: Gibson Brothers
4. Whatcha Gonna Do: Claire Lynch
5. Songs My Dad Loved: Ricky Skaggs
6. Almost Live: Bryan Sutton and Friends
7. Mountain Soul II: Patty Loveless
8. The Crow: Steve Martin
9. Deep in the Shade: Steep Canyon Rangers
10. Brothers from Different Mothers: Dailey and Vincent

The PopMatters article has links to listen to each of the albums – which is very cool.  The list is pretty good.  There are a few albums on it that I’ve not heard – so I’ll probably be off to Amazon again soon!

U.S. Senate Democrats lost their 20 seat majority yesterday when Republican Scott Brown won the special election for the Senate seat vacated when Ted Kennedy died last year.  Once he is seated, in a week or two after the election paperwork is shuffled, Democrats will be down to an 18 seat majority.  Their majority will drop from 60-40 to 59-41.

A shift of one senator from the Democrats to the Republicans.  One senator.

Yet it is already making a tremendous difference.  President Obama and Democrat leaders in the Senate and House of Representatives are already apparently considering trying to pass a pared-down bill in place of the massive (and massively flawed) plans in conference now.

One seat changes from Democrat to Republican and big changes occur.  Democrats go from controlling 60 of 100 seats to 59 and big changes occur.  Why?

I think this is indicative of the position from which Democrats are leading – or rather trying (and failing) to lead.  President Obama has turned out to be the ultra-liberal that those who didn’t vote for him knew him to be.  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid have been trying to shove an ultra-liberal agenda down our throats and it hasn’t worked.  Senate Democrats have a larger majority, even once Scott Brown is seated, at 59 seats than Republicans ever did during President Bush’s terms and yet President Bush got the things done that he wanted to do.

President Obama hasn’t.  And apparently won’t.

They try to lead from a position that is much, much too far left for most people to stomach.  And it is finally catching up with them.

Who knows what this means for the normal election cycle this November.  Now to then is a long time, politically speaking.  Republicans didn’t exactly lead with high-morals and virtues when they help majorities in the Senate and House recently.  But they did get more done with lesser majorities than Democrats are doing now.  The Republicans need to recognize the seriousness of the message they’ve been given every bit as much as the Democrats do.

I’m not necessarily confident that either group will do so, however.

There are too many bowl games.

And what is with all the bowl games on or after January 1?  January 1 used to be the big bowl game day.  Then the national championship game was moved out to give it its own night and increase the number of people who would watch the game on television.  I understand that.  But there are fourteen bowl games on or after January 1 this year.  Including the GMAC Bowl on January 6, after every other bowl except the national championship game.  It features traditional football powerhouses Troy and Central Michigan.

Ooooooohhhhh!   Aaaaaaahhhhhh!  Can’t you just feel the excitement.

Bah!  Humbug!