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Raised in Splendor: The Hope of Glorification for a Secular Age
No full textWhen most ponder on the Christian walk, they will likely run up on terms such as justification, sanctification, and glorification. This famous trio points to the faith that justifies the believer, the life in which the believer is sanctified through the gaining of wisdom through the reading of Scripture, the testing of life in a broken world, and the guidance of the Holy Spirit, but many simply view glorification as the final part of the journey, as if it does not have an important reality for the believer today./= / \u3e/= / \u3eWe live in a world where the idea of being glorified is either viewed through the lens of something that will eventually come, but has little importance now, or has an overfocused importance where believers only focus on their entry into heaven. Both are wrongfooted. Pastor and Theologian Jason Alligood provides a message of hope for the thoughtful Christian today. In Raised in Splendor, Jason Alligood communicates the hope of glory that transcends the fears and frustrations of a secular age that not only points to the hope for the future glorification, but that this hope is one that can be enjoyed and appreciated today.https://digitalcommons.cedarville.edu/faculty_books/1271/thumbnail.jp
MAESTRO: Multi-Agent AI Enhancing Security, Threat Response, and Orchestration
Full text linkIn the cybersecurity field, a significant skills gap exists between senior-level operators and novice operators. The goal of this project is to develop an Artificial Intelligence Offensive Cyber Assistant that enables novice cyber operators to perform at the level of an expert. This assistant is called Multi-Agent AI Enhancing Security, Threat Response, and Orchestration (MAESTRO). Through our research and development, we built a program integrating local or cloud-based state-of-the-art Large Language Models (LLMs) that will give accurate responses to assist a cyber operator in developing tactics. We utilize a Multi-Agent System (MAS) and Knowledge-Augmented Generation (KAG), as well as rigorous user testing, to increase confidence in our system. This research addresses ways to improve accuracy and consistency in LLM responses to confidently use artificial intelligence to scale operators in the cyber operation sector
L. rhamnosus extracts inhibit pyocyanin production in P. aeruginosa through expression of phzB
Full text linkPseudomonas aeruginosa is a gram-negative rod-shaped bacterium which can cause several serious infections such as septicemia, pneumonia or UTIs. They are one of the most common nosocomial infections, affecting those with cancer, cystic fibrosis, HIV, and others that are immunocompromised. P. aeruginosa employs a variety of virulence factors including exotoxin A, proteases, and pyocyanin. Pyocyanin can damage DNA, cause neutrophil apoptosis, and produce harmful reactive oxygen species. A bacterium found in the intestines which helps gut and immune health called Lactobacillus rhamnosus has antimicrobial properties. This study examined the effects of L. rhamnosus extracts on pyocyanin production in P. aeruginosa. In the presence of L. rhamnosus extracts, there was a decrease in pyocyanin production. In addition, the effects of these extracts on phzB expression were determined using RT-PCR. There was a 40% decrease in phzB expression when cells were grown with L. rhamnosus extracts. Utilizing the antimicrobial properties of a natural, friendly bacterium like L. rhamnosus could be helpful by regulating the phzB gene in P. aeruginosa that is involved in pyocyanin production
2025 Preface
Full text linkThe preface for the 2025 Inaugural ICC New Scholars Conference Proceedings
Berlin\u27s Memory
Full text linkA shadowed figure standing before a group of illuminated signs at the Berlin Wall Memorial in Germany
Creationism Versus Post-Fascism: How the Divine Institutions Model Could Inform Us in Current Geopolitical Issues
Full text linkCreationism Versus Post-Fascism: How the Divine Institutions Model Could Inform Us In Current Geopolitical Issues
Divine institutions are absolute social structures that God announced to all of humanity at their founding and which He designed for the benefit of mankind, both believers and unbelievers alike. The divine institutions are the individual, the family, and the country. The individual was established on Day 6 of creation. When God created Adam, He assigned him personal responsibility and accountability with the caveat that he would suffer the consequences of his own decisions. After the fall, labor became difficult and man faced eventual death, but both labor and life are sacred because of their origins. The family was also established on Day 6 with the marriage of Adam and Eve. The Bible describes marriage as a particular union between one man and one woman to the exclusion of all others. Marriage is the proper context for procreation, and children are to leave their parental family units to establish their own family units through new marriages. Marriage was marred at the Fall, and children were not born until after the Fall. The first two divine institutions—the individual and the family—were established on Day 6 of creation, which God declared as “good.” These institutions have productive facets inherent in their design and protective facets that are relevant after the Fall. The third divine institution is the country. This institution came after the Flood and is for protection from the sort of evil that was prevalent before the Flood. The Noahic Covenant positions man as accountable to his fellow man, thus laying the groundwork for civil government, and the Tower of Babel featured a dispersion of man along with the establishment of geological boundaries for separating them (cf. Deut. 32:8). A country is a geographically-bound territory with a civil government that protects the inhabitants of that territory.
The terms “fascist” and “nazi” are thrown around haphazardly today, but ideologies responsible for millions of murders need to be taken seriously. Two strands of fascism emerged in the 20th century (Italian classical fascism, which emphasized the state, and German National Socialism, which emphasized race) and should be understood through their roots in Karl Marx and through certain key developments in the Weimar Republic, most notably the critical theory of the Frankfurt School. After the collapse of the fascist powers in World War II, several former fascist philosophers continued to develop fascist ideology into post-fascist forms that are diametrically opposed to the divine institutions of Genesis and have gained international followings.
Two currents in post-fascist political ideology that are relevant today are Leftism and Ruscism. Leftism is a post-fascist iteration of neo-Marxism that develops critical theory by formulating new critical groups onto intersectionality frameworks. Ruscism is a post-fascist theory that seeks multipolarity through expanding borders. These two ideologies have many similarities in their developments and each undermines the divine institutions. Both post-fascist ideologies dissolve the individual into the collective. Leftism does so through group identity politics and Ruscism does so through Aleksandr Dugin’s development of Heideggerian Dasein into a unique geopolitical theory. Both post-fascist ideologies undermine the family by pushing collectivism and by allowing cultures to redefine marriage outside of the biblical definition. Both post-fascist ideologies oppose the biblical prescription of multiple countries in hopes of attaining a multipolar utopia.
By maintaining the literal creationist view of Genesis 1–11 that affirms the historicity of Adam and Eve, the Garden of Eden, the Fall, the Flood, the Noahic Covenant, and the Tower of Babel, we can identify these three divine institutions of the individual, family, and the country, and this may serve as a starting point for identifying political ideologies that are contrary to God’s design for the world. In a world where political discussions have dwindled into name-calling and conspiracy theories, creationists may rise above by getting to the heart of the Genesis prescription for divine institutions.
Bibliography:
Dugin, Aleksandr. Четвертая политическая теория: Россия в политические идеи XXI века [The Fourth Political Theory: Russia and Political Ideas of the 21st Century]. St. Petersburg: Amfora, 2009.
Dugin, Aleksandr. Мартин Хайдеггер: Последний Бог [Martin Heidegger: The Last God]. Moscow: Akademicheskiĭ Proekt, 2014.
Mussolini, Benito. “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism,” translated by Jane Soames. In Benito Mussolini, My Autobiography: With “The Political and Social Doctrine of Fascism.” EBSCOhost ebook version. Mineola, NY: Dover Publications, 2006
Very Soon : In Time
Full text linkThe art piece Very Soon : In Time , is one of a two part piece with a double meaning. In description, an impaled Victorian-like decorative clock with blue and white stained glass detail with golden lining and adornments on the corners and pole ends of the time teller. Gutted by a matte black, butterfly hilted dagger with electric blue and white detailing, a completely different design compared to the clock, its own kind of elegance. As for the story, one would say that it could just be killing time or the radical and abrupt change in style was forced to a stand still. In theory, these wouldn\u27t be a bad guess but in reality it is deeper. In the world that God has made, we are called to move when He moves, go or stay when he gives the green light. So when Jesus comes, and he is coming soon, are you prepared to draw the sword, no matter when? In time, he will call. Will he be heard and will we fight by his side? That is the bigger picture