Passover is coming up in about a week; March 30.
Exodus 12:1-7 "And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron in the land of Egypt saying, This month shall be unto you the beginning of months: it shall be the first month of the year to you. Speak ye unto all the congregation of Israel, saying, In the tenth day of this month they shall take to them every man a lamb, according to the house of their fathers, a lamb for an house: And if the household be too little for the lamb, let him and his neighbor next unto his house take it according to the number of the souls; every man according to his eating shall make your count for the lamb. Your lamb shall be without blemish, a male of the first year: ye shall take it out from the sheep, or from the goats: And ye shall keep it up until the fourteenth day of the same month: and the whole assembly of the congregation of Israel shall kill it in the evening. And they shall take of the blood, and strike it on the two side posts and on the upper door post of the houses, wherein they shall eat it. For I will pass through the land of Egypt this night, and will smite all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, both man and beast; and against all the gods of Egypt I will execute judgment: I am the LORD. And the blood shall be to you for a token upon the houses where ye are: and when I see the blood, I will pass over you, and the plague shall not be upon you to destroy you, when I smite the land of Egypt. And this day shall be unto you for a memorial; and ye shall keep it a feast to the LORD throughout your generations; ye shall keep it a feast by an ordinance for ever."
This "Passover" as it is called, is indeed kept by the Jewish people to this day. For the most part, Passover is kept as a memorial of the time when they were rescued from being slaves in Egypt.
In Jesus day, the Passover was celebrated by the nation of Israel. We find this in Luke twenty two.
Luke 22:7-20 "Then came the day of unleavened bread, when the passover must be killed. And he sent Peter and John, saying, Go and prepare us the passover, that we may eat. And they said unto him, Where wilt thou that we prepare? And he said unto them, Behold, when ye are entered into the city, there shall a man meet you, bearing a pitcher of water; follow him into the house where he entereth in. And ye shall say unto the goodman of the house, The Master saith unto thee, Where is the guestchamber, where I shall eat the passover with my disciples? And he shall shew you a large upper room furnished: there make ready. And they went, and found as he had said unto them: and they made ready the passover. And when the hour was come, he sat down, and the twelve apostles with him. And he said unto them, With desire I have desired to eat this passover with you before I suffer: For I say unto you, I will not any more eat thereof, until it be fulfilled in the kingdom of God. And he took the cup, and gave thanks, and said, Take this, and divide it among yourselves: For I say unto you, I will not drink of the fruit of the vine, until the kingdom of God shall come. And he took bread, and gave thanks, and brake it, and gave unto them, saying, This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me. Likewise also the cup after supper, saying, This cup is the new testament in my blood, which is shed for you."
That first Lord’s Supper, or Communion, as we often call it now, was actually part of the Passover meal that Jesus and his disciples participated in.
The very first Passover which God instituted through Moses focused on a lamb. That lamb had to be perfect, without blemish, because it was to be a symbol of Jesus Christ the sinless lamb of God. The blood that the Israelites were to sprinkle on their door posts was a symbol of the blood that Jesus would shed on the cross. Just as God would pass over those houses that had the blood on the door posts exempting them from the judgment that came upon Egypt, so also when God sees that Jesus blood has been applied to us spiritually, we will be passed over for the judgment that we deserve.
Romans 6:14-18 "For sin shall not have dominion over you: for ye are not under the law, but under grace. What then? shall we sin, because we are not under the law, but under grace? God forbid. Know ye not, that to whom ye yield yourselves servants to obey, his servants ye are to whom ye obey; whether of sin unto death, or of obedience unto righteousness? But God be thanked, that ye were the servants of sin, but ye have obeyed from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you. Being then made free from sin, ye became the servants of righteousness."
It is interesting that Jewish people today consider Passover as primarily a memorial of when they escaped slavery in Egypt. As Christians, every time that we commemorate Christ’s death as the Passover sacrifice, whether it is at Easter, or whether it is by participating in communion, it should remind us that we have also been set free from slavery. Christ’s blood has set us free from the bondage of sin. As Paul tells us in his letter to the Romans, sin no longer has power over us.
Just as the children of Israel were delivered from being slaves to Egypt, and into being God's servants, Christians have been delivered from being slaves to sin and into being servants of the most high God. Both were accomplished by being passed over from judgement; both because of the blood of a lamb. On judgement day, will God pass over you because he sees that the blood of the lamb has been applied?
Sunday, March 21, 2010
Friday, March 12, 2010
68" Racer Revisited
A few days ago I received a comment from Mark, of Early Iron Motorcycles in De Soto WI, on a previous post called Paper Engines. In that post I had proposed an engine combination using 61" Knuckle flywheels, UL rods, and overbored 74" cylinders. I called that engine a 68 inch racer. The term 68" Racer was one that I had heard from another old timer (i.e. my age) He remembered that he had a Knuckle "guru" from back in the day who talked of building them, but he did not remember the engine details. Without really thinking about it, I applied the name to my version.
Mark was good enough to give me a little insight into what the term 68" Racer originally meant. Mark tells me that his first 68 incher was influenced by a guy who went by the name of Chicago Smitty. Mark built it with lightened 74 wheels using stock 61" pistons with shortened skirts and using stroker plates made to get as much squeeze in the chamber as he deemed safe. He made up a set of custom guides to use cut down R valves (a slightly longer version of the 1.94 Iron XL intake), cleaned up the ports and used an SU carb with an Andrews K grind cam and a Panhead dual point breaker. According to Mark, it ran so strong he had no trouble outrunning Shovelheads.
Later Mark built another Knuckle, similar to the first, but with custom Ross pistons for 10:1 compression, dual plugs in the Knuck heads and a custom breaker with Dyna S single fire ignition. This one ran so good it was faster than a high buck modified Evo. (I know what you are thinking - just spending a lot to hop up a bike doesn't make it fast - but the guy who modified the Evo in question is the same guy that ported the Shovel heads for my friend Bobby's motor which set multiple national records)
Right about now, I would bet we have a few Knucklehead fanatics out there who are getting mighty excited about building something similar. Thanks, Mark, for sharing that info with us.
I think we can be pretty sure that Mark's version of the 68" Racer is the "period correct version." It also has the rather large advantage of using the nice thick, pretty much indestructible 61" Knuckle cylinders. The only drawback that I can see, is the small bore size would tend to limit the intake valve size quite a bit. I'll have to take a closer look at that as I continue with my big valve conversion project.
Mark was good enough to give me a little insight into what the term 68" Racer originally meant. Mark tells me that his first 68 incher was influenced by a guy who went by the name of Chicago Smitty. Mark built it with lightened 74 wheels using stock 61" pistons with shortened skirts and using stroker plates made to get as much squeeze in the chamber as he deemed safe. He made up a set of custom guides to use cut down R valves (a slightly longer version of the 1.94 Iron XL intake), cleaned up the ports and used an SU carb with an Andrews K grind cam and a Panhead dual point breaker. According to Mark, it ran so strong he had no trouble outrunning Shovelheads.
Later Mark built another Knuckle, similar to the first, but with custom Ross pistons for 10:1 compression, dual plugs in the Knuck heads and a custom breaker with Dyna S single fire ignition. This one ran so good it was faster than a high buck modified Evo. (I know what you are thinking - just spending a lot to hop up a bike doesn't make it fast - but the guy who modified the Evo in question is the same guy that ported the Shovel heads for my friend Bobby's motor which set multiple national records)
Right about now, I would bet we have a few Knucklehead fanatics out there who are getting mighty excited about building something similar. Thanks, Mark, for sharing that info with us.
I think we can be pretty sure that Mark's version of the 68" Racer is the "period correct version." It also has the rather large advantage of using the nice thick, pretty much indestructible 61" Knuckle cylinders. The only drawback that I can see, is the small bore size would tend to limit the intake valve size quite a bit. I'll have to take a closer look at that as I continue with my big valve conversion project.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
In Afflictions
2 Corinthians 6:4-5 But in all things approving ourselves as the ministers of God, in much patience, in afflictions, in necessities, in distresses, In stripes, in imprisonments, in tumults, in labours, in watchings, in fastings;
This past Sunday morning as our Pastor led us through 2 Corinthians, he paused, as he has done in the past, at one of the descriptions of what the apostle Paul had undergone. I do not recall his words, but they had to do with how far removed the "Health and Wealth" gospel, so popular today, is from what the Bible teaches.
The fact is, the way that we, as Christians, handle adversity should bring glory to God. So many of those first century Christians died a martyr's death, and brought glory to God thereby. Sitting comfortably here in America, it is hard for us to fathom that even today Christians in many parts of the world are suffering similar deaths and bringing glory to the name of Jesus Christ by steadfastly refusing to deny their faith.
While none of us has any promise that such persecution will never reach our shores, for the most part, we are insulated from such things. It struck me that perhaps for many of us, the greatest trial that we will ever face is to die a lingering death due to disease. Let us pray the Lord would give us the strength to also bring glory to his name by the manner in which we face it.
This past Sunday morning as our Pastor led us through 2 Corinthians, he paused, as he has done in the past, at one of the descriptions of what the apostle Paul had undergone. I do not recall his words, but they had to do with how far removed the "Health and Wealth" gospel, so popular today, is from what the Bible teaches.
The fact is, the way that we, as Christians, handle adversity should bring glory to God. So many of those first century Christians died a martyr's death, and brought glory to God thereby. Sitting comfortably here in America, it is hard for us to fathom that even today Christians in many parts of the world are suffering similar deaths and bringing glory to the name of Jesus Christ by steadfastly refusing to deny their faith.
While none of us has any promise that such persecution will never reach our shores, for the most part, we are insulated from such things. It struck me that perhaps for many of us, the greatest trial that we will ever face is to die a lingering death due to disease. Let us pray the Lord would give us the strength to also bring glory to his name by the manner in which we face it.
Thursday, February 18, 2010
Proof of Reverse Evolution
I just read in V-Twin News (not to be confused with the similarly named purveyor of questionable quality parts) that Harley Davidson is in process of introducing a new parts numbering system. The quite understandable problem is that they were running out of available digits in the old system.
Let's back up for just a moment. Harley's first (to the best of my knowledge) parts numbering system was quite simple. My 1926-1939 Harley parts catalog starts with part number 2-24 and ends with 7424-32. The two digits at the end indicated the year of introduction of the part. Simple yet effective, however as time went one, no doubt available digits became scarce.
The next parts numbering system is the one that we all know and love, and is the one that was in use well before I was turning wrenches for a living. This system uses, for most major parts, five digits and then a dash followed by the year of introduction of that part, just as the earlier system did. For example, in the earlier system, a tappet roller for 45" Twins was 208-29. In the later numbering system, the same part was 18535-29. From what I understand all of the current part numbers will remain valid, and only new parts coming on line will receive the latest part numbering system.
So, "what is your point and what in the world does it have to do with your title?" you are no doubt wondering. Well, just this; It seems that the more we know, the dumber we get. I once heard that the normal human brain can comfortably keep four numbers in it's short short term memory. I prove that to myself every time I have to write account numbers on checks as I pay bills. Try it for yourself. Look at your credit card. Broken down into four sets of four digits, it is simple to copy onto a piece of paper. Now put those 16 digits down on paper without any spaces or dashes. Copy them now. Not so easy is it? Better yet, now double check your work!
Now, I suppose no one employed by Harley Davidson had ever heard of such a thing (or at least none of those in charge of coming up with the new numbering system). But did anyone even consider asking a parts counter man what he thought? Here is a sample part number as given in the V-Twin News article: 34500008. That's right, eight digits with no spaces. And the introduction year? Well, that info will be available, but no longer contained in the part number itself. If you are still having trouble counting the zeros in that sample, here's a hint. Count the number of other digits, and subtract from eight.
I am sure there won't be any mis-ordered parts due to this system! (sarcasm) Obviously the person who came up with it never had to look in a parts book and then walk back to a shelf to find the part. and there's nothing like waiting for a special order part for a week, so that you can finish a job, only to find you copied one number wrong and bought a $900 crank assembly instead of the $1 gasket that you needed.
There is no doubt that the human race is gaining more knowledge all of the time. We are in the "Information Age" as it is called, but information is not the same thing as intelligence, and it certainly is not the same thing as common sense. The new Harley parts numbering system? Just a silly little inconsequential example of not looking before you leap, or else a prime example of how you can't teach an old dog new tricks ......whichever way you prefer to look at it.
Let's back up for just a moment. Harley's first (to the best of my knowledge) parts numbering system was quite simple. My 1926-1939 Harley parts catalog starts with part number 2-24 and ends with 7424-32. The two digits at the end indicated the year of introduction of the part. Simple yet effective, however as time went one, no doubt available digits became scarce.
The next parts numbering system is the one that we all know and love, and is the one that was in use well before I was turning wrenches for a living. This system uses, for most major parts, five digits and then a dash followed by the year of introduction of that part, just as the earlier system did. For example, in the earlier system, a tappet roller for 45" Twins was 208-29. In the later numbering system, the same part was 18535-29. From what I understand all of the current part numbers will remain valid, and only new parts coming on line will receive the latest part numbering system.
So, "what is your point and what in the world does it have to do with your title?" you are no doubt wondering. Well, just this; It seems that the more we know, the dumber we get. I once heard that the normal human brain can comfortably keep four numbers in it's short short term memory. I prove that to myself every time I have to write account numbers on checks as I pay bills. Try it for yourself. Look at your credit card. Broken down into four sets of four digits, it is simple to copy onto a piece of paper. Now put those 16 digits down on paper without any spaces or dashes. Copy them now. Not so easy is it? Better yet, now double check your work!
Now, I suppose no one employed by Harley Davidson had ever heard of such a thing (or at least none of those in charge of coming up with the new numbering system). But did anyone even consider asking a parts counter man what he thought? Here is a sample part number as given in the V-Twin News article: 34500008. That's right, eight digits with no spaces. And the introduction year? Well, that info will be available, but no longer contained in the part number itself. If you are still having trouble counting the zeros in that sample, here's a hint. Count the number of other digits, and subtract from eight.
I am sure there won't be any mis-ordered parts due to this system! (sarcasm) Obviously the person who came up with it never had to look in a parts book and then walk back to a shelf to find the part. and there's nothing like waiting for a special order part for a week, so that you can finish a job, only to find you copied one number wrong and bought a $900 crank assembly instead of the $1 gasket that you needed.
There is no doubt that the human race is gaining more knowledge all of the time. We are in the "Information Age" as it is called, but information is not the same thing as intelligence, and it certainly is not the same thing as common sense. The new Harley parts numbering system? Just a silly little inconsequential example of not looking before you leap, or else a prime example of how you can't teach an old dog new tricks ......whichever way you prefer to look at it.
Wednesday, February 17, 2010
Zion, Temple of God
(all bold type in this post has been added for emphasis)
Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
If you are like me, you may have had some problem pinning down just what Mount Zion represents, particularly in the New Testament. Zion is mentioned over 160 times in the Old Testament, but only a few times in the New.
The very first time Zion is mentioned in the Bible gives us it's basic definition.
2 Samuel 5: 6-7 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
This verse has the potential for some confusion, but as I understand it, both Bethlehem and Jerusalem were called "the city of David; Jerusalem because he made it his capitol city and Bethlehem because it was where he was born.)
Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Interestingly, this may have been the very same mountain where Abraham offered his son Isaac in what was a picture of God the Father allowing his own son Christ Jesus to be an offering for sin. But the reason I am mentioning it, is that it pin points Zion as the house of the God of Jacob, or in other words, the temple. To emphasize the fact that the temple was not only God's house, but that it was his dwelling place, lets look at:
Joel 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Just as God dwelt in the Tabernacle before; after Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, he chose that as his dwelling place here on earth. Of course we know that God resides in Heaven, and he also is omnipresent, but the Tabernacle and the Temple were places where God chose to manifest himself at those times. Now let's look at a few verses that use Zion in a more spiritual sense.
Isaiah 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Here we see Scripture referring to Zion as his people and as the redeemed of the Lord.
One of the Old Testament verses that is often quoted in the New, is this:
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
One person who quotes that in the New Testament is Peter.
1 Peter 2:4-10 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Note that Peter states that New Testament believers are built into a spiritual house, whose chief corner stone is Jesus Christ. Keeping that in mind, and to clarify let's look at something Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus.
Ephesians 2:19-22 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
God chose to live in the Temple, also called Zion in Old Testament times. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone of that temple. Jesus Christ is also the chief corner stone of the New Testament Church which is also the place where God chooses to live. Does this mean that Christ is the cornerstone of two separate spiritual buildings? Paul give us that answer in that same letter to the Church at Ephesus.
Ephesians 3:1-6 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
In other words, Old and New Testament saints are part of the same body!
In conclusion I would contend that the term Zion has several meanings. First would be the literal physical place of the Temple in Jerusalem. But Scripture also uses Zion in a spiritual way to describe the whole city of Jerusalem. In an even more spiritual sense, the Bible uses Zion to refer to the Old Testament saints, and later to describe the Church, two parts of the same body. A body in which God dwells, through the Spirit.
As with everything in the Bible, it is important to interpret literally what the Lord intends to be interpreted literally and to interpret figuratively what he intends to be interpreted figuratively.
Hebrews 12:22-23 But ye are come unto mount Sion, and unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an innumerable company of angels, To the general assembly and church of the firstborn, which are written in heaven, and to God the Judge of all, and to the spirits of just men made perfect,
If you are like me, you may have had some problem pinning down just what Mount Zion represents, particularly in the New Testament. Zion is mentioned over 160 times in the Old Testament, but only a few times in the New.
The very first time Zion is mentioned in the Bible gives us it's basic definition.
2 Samuel 5: 6-7 And the king and his men went to Jerusalem unto the Jebusites, the inhabitants of the land: which spake unto David, saying, Except thou take away the blind and the lame, thou shalt not come in hither: thinking, David cannot come in hither. Nevertheless David took the strong hold of Zion: the same is the city of David.
This verse has the potential for some confusion, but as I understand it, both Bethlehem and Jerusalem were called "the city of David; Jerusalem because he made it his capitol city and Bethlehem because it was where he was born.)
Isaiah 2:3 And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the LORD, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the LORD from Jerusalem.
Interestingly, this may have been the very same mountain where Abraham offered his son Isaac in what was a picture of God the Father allowing his own son Christ Jesus to be an offering for sin. But the reason I am mentioning it, is that it pin points Zion as the house of the God of Jacob, or in other words, the temple. To emphasize the fact that the temple was not only God's house, but that it was his dwelling place, lets look at:
Joel 3:17 So shall ye know that I am the LORD your God dwelling in Zion, my holy mountain: then shall Jerusalem be holy, and there shall no strangers pass through her any more.
Just as God dwelt in the Tabernacle before; after Solomon built the Temple in Jerusalem, he chose that as his dwelling place here on earth. Of course we know that God resides in Heaven, and he also is omnipresent, but the Tabernacle and the Temple were places where God chose to manifest himself at those times. Now let's look at a few verses that use Zion in a more spiritual sense.
Isaiah 51:11 Therefore the redeemed of the LORD shall return, and come with singing unto Zion; and everlasting joy shall be upon their head: they shall obtain gladness and joy; and sorrow and mourning shall flee away.
Isaiah 51:16 And I have put my words in thy mouth, and I have covered thee in the shadow of mine hand, that I may plant the heavens, and lay the foundations of the earth, and say unto Zion, Thou art my people.
Here we see Scripture referring to Zion as his people and as the redeemed of the Lord.
One of the Old Testament verses that is often quoted in the New, is this:
Isaiah 28:16 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.
One person who quotes that in the New Testament is Peter.
1 Peter 2:4-10 To whom coming, as unto a living stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God, and precious, Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ. Wherefore also it is contained in the scripture, Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious: and he that believeth on him shall not be confounded. Unto you therefore which believe he is precious: but unto them which be disobedient, the stone which the builders disallowed, the same is made the head of the corner, And a stone of stumbling, and a rock of offence, even to them which stumble at the word, being disobedient: whereunto also they were appointed. But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should shew forth the praises of him who hath called you out of darkness into his marvellous light; Which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy.
Note that Peter states that New Testament believers are built into a spiritual house, whose chief corner stone is Jesus Christ. Keeping that in mind, and to clarify let's look at something Paul wrote to the church at Ephesus.
Ephesians 2:19-22 Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God; And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone; In whom all the building fitly framed together groweth unto an holy temple in the Lord: In whom ye also are builded together for an habitation of God through the Spirit.
God chose to live in the Temple, also called Zion in Old Testament times. Jesus Christ is the chief corner stone of that temple. Jesus Christ is also the chief corner stone of the New Testament Church which is also the place where God chooses to live. Does this mean that Christ is the cornerstone of two separate spiritual buildings? Paul give us that answer in that same letter to the Church at Ephesus.
Ephesians 3:1-6 For this cause I Paul, the prisoner of Jesus Christ for you Gentiles, If ye have heard of the dispensation of the grace of God which is given me to you-ward: How that by revelation he made known unto me the mystery; (as I wrote afore in few words, Whereby, when ye read, ye may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ) Which in other ages was not made known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto his holy apostles and prophets by the Spirit; That the Gentiles should be fellowheirs, and of the same body, and partakers of his promise in Christ by the gospel:
In other words, Old and New Testament saints are part of the same body!
In conclusion I would contend that the term Zion has several meanings. First would be the literal physical place of the Temple in Jerusalem. But Scripture also uses Zion in a spiritual way to describe the whole city of Jerusalem. In an even more spiritual sense, the Bible uses Zion to refer to the Old Testament saints, and later to describe the Church, two parts of the same body. A body in which God dwells, through the Spirit.
As with everything in the Bible, it is important to interpret literally what the Lord intends to be interpreted literally and to interpret figuratively what he intends to be interpreted figuratively.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Stan Dishong; Drag Racing Legend
There is an excellent post over at Electra Glide in Blue on drag racing legend Stan Dishong. If you have any interest in vintage motorcyle drag racing it is well worth checking out.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Knuckle Seat Install
As I mentioned previously, one of the items I would like to cover on my blog this year is installation of big intake valves in a set of Knuckle heads. If you are dealing with stock heads, it is quite likely that you will find good reason to give the exhaust seat inserts attention also. Sometimes the stock exhaust seat is simply sunk too deeply from multiple valve jobs. Often the seat will be pitted so badly as to be unusable. But even if those two items are not an issue, you may want to consider replacing them because they have become extremely "work hardened" from 60+ years of use. While this extreme hardness is not an issue while in service, it makes the seats very hard to work with. Modern seat cutting equipment will invariably chatter, and stone type seat grinders will require lots of time and constant dressing if there are any misalignment issues to be corrected.
So, as part one of this series on installing bigger intake valves in a Knuckle, we will look at replacing the exhaust seats, though if you are planning to use stock size intakes, the same procedure can be used for those seats.
ABOVE: Removing the old seat inserts is pretty simple on a Knuck. With the guide removed, a slim punch will fit though the guide hole and can be angled to catch the back side of the insert. A few taps and your heads should now look like this. (both intake and exhaust seats removed)
ABOVE: Once the seat recess has been cleaned, carefully measure the bore in multiple places to determine how much press fit the new insert will have. You want a minimum of .004" interference, though I prefer .005"-.006".
ABOVE: A home made tool will work for seat installation. This one is made using an old valve with a collar welded just below the face to keep the new insert centered, and a piece of scrap for a handle. Shown here with new insert not seated on collar.
ABOVE: Tool with new seat insert seated on collar. A "dummy" guide will have to be installed temporarily in head to keep everything aligned so that the seat goes in straight. You can always use your old guide (you didn't throw it away did you?), sanded down a bit so it is only about a half thousandth press in the head.
ABOVE: Prior to actual installation, put the head in your oven at 500 degrees (that is the head in your oven, not your head in the oven) and the seat insert in your freezer. If the head is clean, it should not stink up the kitchen, but if it isn't and your wife catches you, you may want to go back to putting your head in the oven. Unlike with an aluminum head, even with a heated head and frozen guide, you will have to use moderate blows with a hammer to install the seats.
ABOVE: Here is the head with new exhaust seat insert installed. Now you can remove the dummy guide and proceed with the valve job, which will be covered in a future post.
One last thing, if you are having trouble finding suitable valve seat inserts, you can follow the link at the bottom of the left hand column of this blog to my eBay store. I will generally have what you need in stock.
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