Page Two

I Love You

Thu, 26 Nov 2009 04:01:23 GMT

Climax Blues Band

Where’s My Gospel?

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 04:02:29 GMT

by Jared C. Wilson

[Minor editing for clarity.]

Gospel deficiency is the major crisis of the evangelical church. The good news has been replaced by many things, most often a therapeutic, self-help approach to biblical application. The result is a Church that, ironically enough, preaches works, not grace, and a growing number of Christians who neither understand the gospel nor revel in its scandal.

There are lots of good reasons to reclaim the centrality of the good news of Jesus in our preaching and teaching and writing and blogging, and I’ve come up with four basic arguments for (what I’m calling) The Gospel Imperative, but perhaps defining our terms is in order. It’s no good going on about making the gospel the center of our worship and discipleship if we are not on the same page for what the gospel actually is.

Like many others, I affirm that the gospel is big. I favor a robust gospel, a good news proclamation with many facets and ramifications. It is everywhere in the shadows and in the light of the Old Testament Israelites’ desert wandering, and it encompasses the brilliant kingdom landscape of Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount. It is in God’s gracious covering of the freshly fallen Adam and Eve (and in the cursing of the serpent) in Genesis, and it is in the awesome return of the tattooed, sword-wielding Jesus 65 books later in Revelation. I agree with Tim Keller, who argues that the gospel is “both one and more than that.” It is certainly “more than that.” But it is also “one,” which is why a nutshell like “The wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Rom. 6:23) can work well.

While acknowledging that the gospel is about the inbreaking kingdom of God setting a fallen world back to rights, the gospel I am speaking about here is the “essential” gospel, which is the news that Jesus has died to make atonement and risen bodily to establish his Lordship and has thereby murdered sin and conquered death.

Pretty powerful stuff, ain’t it? And yet many of our churches consider this news, which eternal angels still long to gaze into, merely introductory stuff.

Here are four basic reasons for evangelicalism’s reclamation of the gospel:

1. Because We Are Forgetful

Forgetting God’s goodness is part of our fallen DNA. The Bible demonstrates this vividly. Studying the Gospel of John with some friends once upon a time, we puzzled initially over the way the disciples believed in Jesus after his turning water to wine. Now, of course that would be cause for belief, but John’s Gospel tells us just one chapter earlier that Jesus’ self-attestation and his ability to know them (he reads Nathanael like a book) causes them to believe in him. Which was it?

Well, it’s both. Certainly Jesus gives us endless reasons to worship him as Lord, but I am convinced that he does this graciously as we endlessly “forget” his Lordship. In the Old Testament, God sets the enslaved Israelites free in a mighty act of deliverance and one day later they’re complaining about not having anything to eat. And that’s just the beginning. God keeps providing; the Israelites keep grumbling.

We have met the enemy, and the enemy is us. We are fickle, self-righteous, forgetful people. Yet we serve a steadfast, gracious, faithful God. Many preachers are fearful of highlighting the gospel every time they speak for fear of it appearing stale. But gospel redundancy is a good thing! We need it. We need the gospel every day (His mercies are new every morning) because we forget it and we sin every day.

Do not aid your community in its forgetfulness by relegating the gospel to the periphery of your proclamation. We need to be reminded of it constantly.

2. Because It is the Power to Save

We all want to grow the kingdom. We all want to seek and save the lost. We all want to lead as many people as possible to salvation. Then, why, for the love of God, do we preach all manner of behavior modification, none of which could save a single one of us, when only the gospel saves?

Paul writes in Romans 1:16, “I am not ashamed of the gospel, because it is the power of God for the salvation of everyone who believes.” Yet if we could label our churches with the Nutrition Facts found on your can of soup, I reckon many would say in the fine print, “Not a significant source of gospel.”

Are we ashamed?

If the gospel is the power to save, shouldn’t it be the meat of the message, not saved for the add-on invitation or for a special service every few weeks?

3. Because It is of First Importance

If holding the gospel as the power to save doesn’t push us toward greater gospel-centeredness, certainly Paul’s claim that it is of “first importance” (1 Cor. 15:3) should do the trick. But, again, we hold off on the gospel. We make it occasional or half-hearted, thereby ascribing it lesser worth than our very important and self-devised Six Steps for Successful Living.

In a recent White Horse Inn podcast, the fellows warned listeners to beware the preacher who says, “Well, of course the gospel.” The point here is that they are highlighting so much of what they do that is not the gospel and then when asked about the gospel’s absence, they say, “Well, of course the gospel.” In such churches the gospel is implied. Which means it is an afterthought. An implied gospel is a gospel FAIL.

The gospel should not be implied. It is of first importance. It should be the clearest, most prevalent message and theme of all a community’s worship and focus.

4. Because It Glorifies God

The gospel is not advice. It is news. It is not “Do more, be more, try more.” It is the message that the work is done. The gospel does not say “Pull yourself up by your bootstraps.” It says “It is finished!”

Our flesh hates this contrast. We hate it because the gospel says to us “You can’t do it; you are unable; you are deficient.” We don’t like to hear that. Nobody wants to hear that we are incapable of saving ourselves, that in our [innermost] insides we are broken and cannot repair ourselves.

This is what the gospel forces us to admit. And because it forces us to admit we are sinners deserving punishment with no inherent means of rescue, it forces us to admit that only God can save us, which forces us to reckon with the gospel truth that salvation is God’s work, not ours. God gets the credit. Grace means getting what we didn’t deserve, and the gospel of grace announces that “While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Rom. 5:8).

When we insist on preaching about our efforts and making the gospel an afterthought, we have begun glorifying our works, glorifying ourselves. But when we center on the gospel and revel in its proclamation, we are glorifying God, because we are holding Christ’s finished good work more important than our insufficient good works.

The gospel is the hope of the world. It is my hope and it is yours. It should be our prayer and our humble insistence, then, that the people named for the gospel live and preach true to their name once again. Source

Going through the motions

Tue, 03 Nov 2009 03:21:49 GMT

Grace Like Rain

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:24:14 GMT

My Savior My God

Sun, 01 Nov 2009 21:25:46 GMT

It is going to be a rocky road

Fri, 16 Oct 2009 03:12:45 GMT

By Chuck Baldwin September 22, 2009 NewsWithViews.com

Let's face it: most Americans live in a world of false security. This is somewhat understandable, given the fact that the majority of the U.S. population was born after 1945. Few remember the dangers and hardships of World War II; fewer still remember the Great Depression. Few Americans know what it's like to not have some sort of “supercenter” nearby with shelves stocked with every kind of food imaginable, twenty-four hours a day. Few know what life was like before there were restaurants of all sizes and types on virtually every street corner in America. And only a handful remembers when most roads were unpaved, or when sports were truly a pastime and not a megabuck obsession.

Modern living within the world's only “superpower” has created a giant unsuspecting, soft, lackadaisical, and lethargic society. We expect the government to keep our streets safe, our roads paved, our stores stocked, our jobs secure, and our enemies at bay. However, in the desire to make government the panacea for all our problems, we have sold not only our independence, but also our virtue.

Where the federal government was contracted (via the U.S. Constitution) to accept limited power for the overall good of both states and people, it has become a monster of gargantuan proportions, claiming authority over virtually every liberty and right known to man. And in the process, it decided it didn't need God, either.

It is no hyperbole to say that the U.S. federal government has been on a “Ban God” bandwagon for the past 50 years. Whether it kicks prayer and Bible reading out of school, bars military chaplains from praying in Jesus' name, burns Bibles in Iraq, removes state supreme court chief justices from their positions for posting the Ten Commandments, or threatens high school principals with jail for asking the blessing, the federal government has invoked the judgment of Heaven upon our country as surely as did Old Testament Israel.

Although the comfortable, sports-crazed, TV addicts probably aren't paying attention, this country is on the verge of an implosion like you cannot believe. For anyone who cares to notice, the signs are everywhere.

First of all, Israel and Iran are on the verge of war. And right now, I'm not concentrating on the "why" or "who's right or wrong" of the equation. I'm simply telling you, war between Israel and Iran could break out at any time. And when it does, the chances that it will not become nuclear and not become global are miniscule. Yes, I am saying it: the prospects for nuclear war have never been greater. The CBS-canceled TV show, JERICHO, could become a reality in these United States in the very near future. (I strongly urge readers to purchase both seasons of JERICHO and watch them, because this could be our future.)

Secondly, America is on the verge of total financial collapse. By the end of this year, America's budget deficit will stand at around $2 trillion. The debt gap is many trillions more than that. But the nail in the coffin for America's fiscal health will be the decision by China to dump the U.S. dollar. Ladies and gentlemen, this will be the death knell for our financial stability (and a painful lesson in sowing and reaping).

It is estimated that China owns around one-third of all U.S. debt. If and when China dumps the U.S. dollar there would be nothing left to stabilize it, and Weimar Republic/Zimbabwe-style inflation will ensue. America will be thrust into financial chaos. (If one doubts that China is planning to dump the dollar, consider that China is currently purchasing and stockpiling gold at an unprecedented level. This is why gold has suddenly surged to over $1,000 per ounce and why it will continue to rise.)

Third, the paranoia regarding the Swine Flu being demonstrated by both government and media spokesmen begs a giant push for some type of "government solution." If they keep hyping this "pandemic," mass hysteria and fear (created by the government and its lackeys in the media) will result. This would, no doubt, necessitate some form of forced vaccination, quarantine (maybe this is what all those internment camps will be used for), and martial law.

Exactly how and when all of the above will actually materialize is yet to be seen. There is no doubt in my mind, however, that within the next few months, the world that we know today is going to vanish. And most Americans are totally unprepared for what's coming.

If you are able to get out of debt, do it. If you need to scale down your lifestyle in order to be better prepared for difficult days, do it. If you don't have guns and ammo, buy them. If you have not prepared some sort of preserved food pantry, do it. If you don't have some kind of survival plan in place for you and your family, get one. If you are not physically fit, get in shape. If you are able to move to a more secure, out-of-harm's-way location, do it. (During any kind of financial or societal meltdown, urban areas will quickly turn into war zones. Can anyone say, "New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina"?) In other words, get your nose out of the boob tube, get your bottom off the easy chair, and get busy.

Am I worried or discouraged? Absolutely not! (But I am preparing.) The potential good that may result from all of the above is that perhaps God will protect and raise up a remnant of people who would be willing to rebuild a place where Natural Law is respected, constitutional government is revered, and where a ubiquitous, loathsome, overbearing federal government is far, far away. You know, like America's Founding Fathers did 233 years ago.

In the meantime, get ready. It's going to be a rocky road. Source

2010

Thu, 15 Oct 2009 03:19:25 GMT

What if I stumble? DC Talk

Sat, 03 Oct 2009 12:45:58 GMT

What if I stumble?

Sun, 23 Aug 2009 02:09:50 GMT

Presidential Countdown

Sat, 15 Aug 2009 03:50:29 GMT

Heaven or Hell?

Fri, 17 Jul 2009 01:50:12 GMT

"...(Hunter Thompson) told me 25 years ago that he would feel real trapped if he didn't know that he could commit suicide at any moment. I don't know if that is brave or stupid or what, but it was inevitable. I think that the truth of what rings through all his writing is that he meant what he said. If that is entertainment to you, well, that's OK. If you think that it enlightened you, well, that's even better. If you wonder if he's gone to Heaven or Hell, rest assured he will check out them both,” Ralph Steadman wrote.

We have nothing yet

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 22:48:55 GMT

I did not have many personal possessions when I landed in Viet Nam - no radio, no record player, no eight-track, no cell phone, no I-phone, no U-phone. I did have one record and someone in our barracks had a record player.

I really liked one song and played it over and over. One day I returned to the barracks and the record was gone. Obviously, someone had heard the song one time too often.

Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:27:21 GMT

Chicago Tribune, Jan 29, 2009

Yesterday: 1. Outgoing President George W. Bush quietly boards his helicopter and leaves for Texas, commenting only: "Today is not about me. Today is a historical day for our nation and people."

Eight years ago yesterday: 1. Outgoing President Bill Clinton schedules two separate radio addresses to the nation, and organizes a public farewell speech/rally in downtown Washington D.C. scheduled to directly conflict with incoming President Bush's inauguration ceremony.

Yesterday: 2. President Bush leaves office without issuing a single presidential pardon, only granting a commutation of sentence to two former border patrol agents convicted of shooting a convicted drug smuggler. He does not grant any type of clemency to Scooter Libby or any other former political aide, ally, or business partner.

Eight years ago yesterday: 2. President Clinton issues 140 pardons and several commutations of sentence on his final day in office. Included in these are: billionaire financier, convicted tax evader, and leading Democratic campaign contributor Marc Rich; Whitwater scandal figure Susan McDougal; Congressional Post Office Scandal figure and former Democratic Congressman Dan Rostenkowski; convicted bank fraud, sexual assault and child porn perpetrator and former Democratic Congressman Melvin Reynolds ; and convicted drug felon Roger Clinton, the President's half-brother.

Yesterday: 3. The Bush daughters leave gift baskets in the White House bedrooms for the Obama daughters, containing flowers, candy, stuffed animals, DVD's and CD's, and heartfelt notes of encouragement and advice for the young girls on how to prepare for their new lives in the White House.

Eight years ago Yesterday: 3. Clinton and Gore staffers rip computer wires and electrical outlets from the White House walls, stuff piles of notebook papers into the White House toilets, systematically remove the letter "W" from every computer key-pad in the entire White House, and damage several thousand dollars worth of furniture in the White House master bedroom.

Headlines On This Date 4 Years Ago:

"Republicans spending $42 million on inauguration while troops Die in unarmored Humvees"

"Bush extravagance exceeds any reason during tough economic times"

"Fat cats get their $42 million inauguration party, Ordinary Americans get the shaft"

Headlines Today:

"Historic Obama Inauguration will cost only $170 million"

"Obama Spends $170 million on inauguration; America Needs A Big Party"

"Everyman Obama shows America how to celebrate"

"Citibank executives contribute $8 million to Obama Inauguration"

Prop 8 Sodomy

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 12:06:32 GMT

ACORN

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 04:16:10 GMT

“’You’ve got only a couple thousand bucks in the bank. Your job pays you dog-food wages. Your credit history has been bent, stapled, and mutilated. You declared bankruptcy in 1989. Don’t despair: You can still buy a house.’ So began an April 1995 article in the Chicago Sun-Times that went on to direct prospective home-buyers fitting this profile to a group of far-left ‘community organizers’ called ACORN, for assistance. In retrospect, of course, encouraging customers like this to buy homes seems little short of madness. At the time, however, that 1995 Chicago newspaper article represented something of a triumph for Barack Obama. That same year, as a director at Chicago’s Woods Fund, Obama was successfully pushing for a major expansion of assistance to ACORN, and sending still more money ACORN’s way from his post as board chair of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge. Through both funding and personal-leadership training, Obama supported ACORN. And ACORN, far more than we’ve recognized up to now, had a major role in precipitating the subprime crisis... In June of 1995, President Clinton, Vice President Gore, and Secretary Cisneros announced the administration’s comprehensive new strategy for raising home-ownership in America to an all-time high. Representatives from ACORN were guests of honor at the ceremony. In his remarks, Clinton emphasized that: ‘Our homeownership strategy will not cost the taxpayers one extra cent. It will not require legislation.’ Clinton meant that informal partnerships between Fannie and Freddie and groups like ACORN would make mortgages available to customers ‘who have historically been excluded from homeownership.’ In the end of course, Clinton’s plan cost taxpayers an almost unimaginable amount of money. And it was just around the time of his 1995 announcement that the Chicago papers started encouraging bad-credit customers with ‘dog-food’ wages, little money in the bank, and even histories of bankruptcy to apply for home loans with the help of ACORN...ACORN is at the base of the whole mess... And Barack Obama cut his teeth as an organizer and politician backing up ACORN’s economic madness every step of the way.” —Stanley Kurtz

October 13, 2008
08-42 Patriot Post

Obama Kenya commie

Sun, 26 Oct 2008 03:58:34 GMT

This video documents Obama's support for a politician in Kenya who is a communist and
supports Islamic law. This is not a pretty picture.

Believe it or Don't - 2008.05

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 03:07:57 GMT

Tree innocent until proven guilty

Three drunken men attacked a tree with an ax. They blamed the tree for a car crash that killed a friend, a court was told.

The attack was carried out just over 12 hours after a talented rugby player was killed when the car he was a passenger in hit the tree. Read more.

Screwdriver Control advocates upset with grandma

Armed only with a screwdriver, a 95-year-old woman in a wheel chair kept a burglar from breaking into her home by repeatedly stabbing his hand.

It was 3 a.m. when the woman heard somebody break the glass on her front door and push the door open. When a hand came inside and tried to unlock the door, she stabbed it. Again and again.

She stabbed that hand many times over the next hour Police said. The woman would not leave the door for fear the man would break in while she was calling for help. Read more.

An example of “New Math”

A Missouri man faces a felony indictment after trying to purchase a LCD television for less than $3 by replacing its UPC code with that of a water bottle.

According to documents filed in Court, the man allegedly tried to purchase a 26-inch LCD television from Wal-Mart, claiming the UPC code valued at $3.16 was the proper code the television, which normally sells for more than $517. Read more.

Maybe his fifth offense would have been the truck driver

Gary Sanborn pedaled his bike in the dark along Route 139, the price he had to pay after pleading guilty to four drunken driving offenses and having his license revoked.

In a sad twist, Sanborn died while riding his bicycle, struck by a pickup truck whose driver, police say, was drunk. Read more.

Mattress safer than bank

The number of Brits who think the best place to keep their money is under their mattress has nearly trebled during the past year, figures show.

Around 11% of people said they now thought their money was safest under their mattress, compared with just 4% 12 months ago, according to Newcastle Building Society.

The research found the crisis at Northern Rock and the credit crunch has caused people's confidence in banks and building societies to dive.

Just 57% of people said they now thought their money was safest with one of these institutions, down from 74% a year ago. Read more.

They should have used their mattress

A Chinese couple are distraught after their three year old daughter threw their savings out of the window of their 17th floor flat.

The little girl threw the equivalent of $1,400 out of the window of their rented apartment while her parents were asleep.

“When I woke up, she wasn't beside me, and my purse was on the bed, open, and with a thick wad of money missing,” said the mother. “I looked everywhere, then I noticed there were two notes on the windowsill, and another two on the window sill one floor down.”

The owner of a restaurant on the first floor of the building told her that money had been raining down on to the street, and that passers-by had gone crazy trying to catch it.

Mrs Huang said she spent the whole day in tears as $800 of the money had belonged to other people. Read more.

Not “normal people”

(England) A taxi driver ended up stranded after he followed his taxi’s navigation system directions – into a river.

The mini-bus driver was on his way to collect a fare when he took a wrong turn into the River Nar. Fortunately he had no passengers aboard – but he did have the embarrassment of having to call his bosses for help.

Taxis owners Keith Jarvis and Pat Bowles took along a towrope, expecting to find the eight-seater minibus just off the ford.

But Mr. Jarvis said: “It took ages to find him and we couldn't believe it when we saw where he was – it was several hundred yards along the river!

"The vehicle still had its engine running and headlights on, and he was sitting in it with his trousers rolled up round his knees. I shone a [flashlight] in the river and there were fish swimming around the headlights."

Pat Bowles added: “Normal people would stop and back out but because his navigation told him to keep going that's what he did.” Read more.

Former minister to quit driving

A veteran motorist ended 76 years of trouble-free driving by smashing his Ford Fiesta into two Porsches.

Jack Higgs, 93, was parking next to a Porsche showroom when his car shot backwards, causing $120,000 damage.

First, he hit a gleaming red Carrera II which acted as a ramp, causing his 13-year-old hatchback to flip over on to a silver Porsche 911 parked alongside.

Staff in the showroom ran outside to be confronted by a scene of wreckage and Mr Higgs hanging upside down by his seatbelt in his overturned car. Read more.

Unexploded missile as an anvil

Romanian firefighters were shocked after a farmer was spotted using an unexploded missile as an anvil.

The 122mm calibre missile, discovered by the man in his garden in Puieni village, Giurgiu county,a few months ago, had been used for sharpening hoes and scythes.

Explosive specialists said the missile was still active and endangered not only the farmer's family but also his neighbours.

A spokesman for the firefighters said: "We've had many problems because of these unexploded bombs which have been in the ground since the Second World War but this is really crazy.

"How can you hit a bomb with the hammer? It could have exploded any time.” Read more.

What a knob

A Hungarian farmer almost killed one of his labourers after wiring his barn door to the mains to stop crooks stealing animal food at night.

Laszlo Miklos, 57, from Bekes county, said he had been plagued by thieves for the last month who would break into a barn and steal food meant for sheep and cows.

He said: "I have no idea who would want to steal animal food from me but I was losing money and the thefts were driving me mad.

"I have an electric fence around parts of my farm to stop the animals getting out and that gave me an idea that I could use electricity to stop the thieves getting in, but I forgot to tell my staff."

Doctors who treated the 51-year-old labourer at a local hospital said he had suffered a heart attack that left him in intensive care and severe burns to his hand and arm.

A hospital spokesman said: "Only the insulated effects of his thick boots saved him from certain death. He is lucky to still be alive.” Read more.

Yoo hoo, anybody home?

A Kentucky man was arrested on drug trafficking charges after he was reportedly pumping gas into an imaginary vehicle. Read more.

Man's steps are ordained by the LORD . . .

Tue, 21 Mar 2006 05:06:57 GMT

. . . how then can man understand his way? Prov 20:24

Six days a week a truck backs up to the dock and picks up a load. It is a one man job. As long as he does his job, I have no concerns. Today, however, it was snowing. I knew the driver would have trouble. Unfortunately, I never know when he will show.

As I worked in my office I occasionally looked at the snowfall. Periodically, I would go outside and shovel the snow away from the door. It was a wet, heavy snow that was determined to block the door. Normally, I leave the office two or five times a day for tasks in town. Visibility was down, the road was slick and I was trying to decide whether, or when, I should go.

Finally, I got into the truck and as I started to leave I said, "Lord, why am I going now? I don't really have to. I could go later, but I'm going if that's what you want."

Six blocks later I saw the truck and two (not one) men working by the dock. I could have driven by, after all it's not my job, but I pulled up to help. Because of the snow, it took three of us to do the job.

Of course I realized immediately why God had me leave when I did. Those men needed me, and God used me. More than that He let me see that He really is in control. He gave me a desire to be more aware of Him, to see His hand in the mundane.

Musical Mush

Fri, 10 Feb 2006 04:01:06 GMT

Are We Impairing Our Capacity to Think?

by Chuck Colson

When church music directors lead the congregation in singing some praise music, I often listen stoically with teeth clenched. But one Sunday morning, I cracked. We had been led through endless repetitions of a meaningless ditty called, “Draw Me Close to You.” The song has zero theological content and could be sung in a nightclub, for that matter. When I thought it was finally and mercifully over, the music leader beamed at us and said in a cheerful voice, “Let’s sing that again, shall we?” “No!” I shouted loudly. Heads all around me spun while my wife cringed.

I admit I prefer more traditional hymns. But even given that, I am convinced that much of the music being written for the Church today reflects an unfortunate trend—slipping across the line from worship to entertainment. Evangelicals are in danger of amusing ourselves to death, to borrow the title of the classic Neil Postman book.

The trend is also true of Christian radio, historically an important source of in-depth teaching. Many stations have recently dropped serious programming in favor of all-music formats. For example, a major Baltimore station dropped four talk shows to add music. A respected broadcaster recently dropped “Focus on the Family,” claiming it had become too focused on “moral issues.”

When a Cincinnati station replaced “BreakPoint” with music, I told the station manager that believers need to think Christianly about major worldview issues. Her reply? Younger women want “something to help them cope with life.”

This view was confirmed by a Christian homemaker during a TV special on evangelicalism. She is so busy, she explained, with her kids, Bible study, cooking, and all, that she does not even get to read the newspaper. Church for her is getting her spirits lifted. Now admittedly, modern life creates enormous stress, but can’t the Church offer comfort and help people confront the culture? Of course, music is important in the life of the Church. But it cannot replace solid teaching.

The decision by Christian broadcasters to avoid moral controversies could result in the Church withdrawing from the culture as it tragically did a century ago. The great strength of radio, as with books, has been to present in-depth teaching that engages Christians cognitively. Unfortunately, thinking analytically is something Christians find increasingly difficult. According to a government study, the average college graduate’s proficient literacy in English has declined from 40 percent in 1992 to 31 percent ten years later. The study defines proficient literacy as the ability to read lengthy, complex texts and draw complicated inferences.

This is horrifying. The Gospel above everything else is revealed propositional truth—truth that speaks to all of life. Sure, the Gospel is simple enough for a child to understand. But if you want to study doctrine and worldview, you need the capacity to engage ideas cognitively. Doctrine and biblical teaching does not consist of dry, abstract notions. It is the truth that must be carried to the heart and applied. And there is no escaping that it is truth that must be learned.

When Postman published his book two decades ago, he feared television would impair our capacity to think. He was right. But can we learn from this—or are we destined to follow suit, with the Church blissfully amusing itself into irrelevance?

http://www.pfm.org/AM/Template.cfm?Section=BreakPoint1&Template=/CM/ContentDisplay.cfm&ContentID=17952

Give me the country

Fri, 20 Jan 2006 04:17:46 GMT

Gen. 13:10 Abram's men and the men who worked for nephew Lot were having a dispute over water rights. Abram told his nephew to pick the lot of his choice. And Lot lifted up his eyes and saw all the valley of the Jordan, that it was well watered everywhere . . . So Lot chose for himself all the valley of the Jordan. .

So Lot chose the best. Abram didn't grumble. He settled in the land of Canaan, while Lot settled in the cities of the valley . . Abram settled in the country and Lot settled in the city. Hmmm.

Now the men of Sodom were wicked exceedingly and sinners against the LORD. And the LORD said to Abram, after Lot had separated from him, "Now lift up your eyes and look from the place where you are, northward and southward and eastward and westward; for all the land which you see, I will give it to you and to your descendants forever. Even that nice piece of land that your nephew took.

Ham's sin

Thu, 19 Jan 2006 02:09:58 GMT

Gen 9:18 ff Now the sons of Noah who came out of the ark were Shem and Ham and Japheth; and Ham was the father of Canaan. These three were the sons of Noah; and from these the whole earth was populated. Then Noah began farming and planted a vineyard. And he drank of the wine and became drunk, and uncovered himself inside his tent. And Ham, the father of Canaan, saw the nakedness of his father, and told his two brothers outside. But Shem and Japheth took a garment and laid it upon both their shoulders and walked backward and covered the nakedness of their father; and their faces were turned away, so that they did not see their father's nakedness.

When Noah awoke from his wine, he knew what his youngest son had done to him. So he said, "Cursed be Canaan; A servant of servants He shall be to his brothers." He also said, "Blessed be the LORD, The God of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant. May God enlarge Japheth, And let him dwell in the tents of Shem; And let Canaan be his servant."

It is Ham that sinned, but it is Canaan that is cursed.

Power to the sheep?

Wed, 30 Nov 2005 05:01:53 GMT

20:1 And it came about on one of the days while He was teaching the people in the temple and preaching the gospel, that the chief priests and the scribes with the elders confronted Him, 2 and they spoke, saying to Him, "Tell us by what authority You are doing these things, or who is the one who gave You this authority?" 3 And He answered and said to them, "I shall also ask you a question, and you tell Me: 4 "Was the baptism of John from heaven or from men?" 5 And they reasoned among themselves, saying, "If we say, 'From heaven,' He will say, 'Why did you not believe him?' 6 "But if we say, 'From men,' all the people will stone us to death, for they are convinced that John was a prophet." [Sheep united are to be feared.]

Luke 16

Sat, 26 Nov 2005 05:03:36 GMT

Now He was also saying to the disciples, "There was a certain rich man who had a steward, and this steward was reported to him as squandering his possessions. 2 "And he called him and said to him, 'What is this I hear about you? Give an account of your stewardship, for you can no longer be steward.' 3 "And the steward said to himself, 'What shall I do, since my master is taking the stewardship away from me? I am not strong enough to dig; I am ashamed to beg. 4 'I know what I shall do, so that when I am removed from the stewardship, they will receive me into their homes.' 5 "And he summoned each one of his master's debtors, and he began saying to the first, 'How much do you owe my master?' 6 "And he said, 'A hundred measures of oil.' And he said to him, 'Take your bill, and sit down quickly and write fifty.' 7 "Then he said to another, 'And how much do you owe?' And he said, 'A hundred measures of wheat.' He said to him, 'Take your bill, and write eighty.' 8 "And his master praised the unrighteous steward because he had acted shrewdly; for the sons of this age are more shrewd in relation to their own kind than the sons of light. 9 "And I say to you, make friends for yourselves by means of the mammon of unrighteousness; that when it fails, they may receive you into the eternal dwellings.

David Reagan writes: Christ shows the wisdom of the world in certain areas. Here, even the unjust steward understood that he could make things easier on himself by being kind to those under him. That is, if he were not greedy with his goods, others might be generous to him in his time of need.

Jesus contrasts that with the greed and covetousness of the Pharisees. They strictly followed religious traditions, but were stingy in their worldly goods. They made a great distinction between the spiritual and the secular and felt that their obedience to the spiritual rules made it unnecessary to live holy in the secular realm. But this parable teaches us that the way we deal with the earthly and secular areas of our life is how we will deal with the spiritual. If a man is not a hard worker on his job, he will not be a hard worker for God. The two are connected.

This parable also teaches us that God tests us in our secular areas of life to see if we are ready for spiritual responsibility (see Luke 16:10-12). If we cannot righteously do our work or handle our finances, why would God trust us with more important spiritual responsibilities?

http://learnthebible.org/parable_of_the_unrighteous_steward.htm

Luke 6

Thu, 17 Nov 2005 04:49:21 GMT

Now it came about that on a certain Sabbath He was passing through some grainfields; and His disciples were picking and eating the heads of grain, rubbing them in their hands. But some of the Pharisees said, "Why do you do what is not lawful on the Sabbath?" And Jesus answering them said, "Have you not even read what David did when he was hungry, he and those who were with him, how he entered the house of God, and took and ate the consecrated bread which is not lawful for any to eat except the priests alone, and gave it to his companions?"

[This is not an argument that I would use. I fear the Pharisees would respond, “David violated the commandments. Should his sin be an example for others?” ]

Luke 4

Wed, 16 Nov 2005 03:58:49 GMT

To write the same things again is no trouble to me, and it is a safeguard for you.

Jesus fasted 40 days and then He was hungry. (Think on that.) The devil tempted Jesus. Jesus responded with, “It is written,” using Scripture to face temptation. The devil a second time tempted Jesus. Jesus again responded, “It is written.” A third time the devil tempted Jesus. This time the devil said, “It is written.” Jesus once more used Scripture to defeat His enemy.

Satan knows and uses Scripture. Do we know it well enough to stand against him? He is persistent. Are we resistant?