Category Archives: Christianity

Is Mitt Romney a Christian?

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Is Mitt Romney a Christian?  Are Mormons Christian?

Many others have already posted on this.  Here’s the article that got me thinking.  My issue has less to do with Romney’s faith than with the significance of a candidates faith when considering a president.  But first things first.

Are Mormons Christian?  The short answer is yes, but it comes with a lot of baggage to unpack.  Mormons, who would prefer to be called Latter Day Saints or LDS, read the Bible and believe in Jesus Christ.  Anyone worshiping Christ is a Christian in that sense.  As a believer in Christ, Romney falls in that classification.  But that’s not all Mormons believe. Continue reading →

Leon Brown Responds to Common Objections to the Gospel

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I don’t have a “Watch and Share File” but take a look at this.  Leon Brown wrote an article listing three common objections people have to receiving the Gospel.  In a sit down interview he discusses those objections and lists practical responses.

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I’m listening to Leon Brown and thinking about the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus was not thinking about the number of baptisms he could list or the number of contacts he could report making.  His ministry wasn’t about sheer numbers as much as it was about changing people’s lives; real people that he cared about.  Jesus sometimes argued with religious leaders, but he didn’t really waste a lot of time on them.  He was more likely talking to tax collectors and prostitutes, touching lepers, preaching the Gospel to the poor, or explaining the kingdom to the working class.

There’s a lot of wisdom in the things Leon Brown says, but notice also how he carries himself and the mind set with which he approaches sharing the Gospel.  He is sowing seeds rather than trying to win a debate about how everyone else is wrong.  This is some of the most practical apologetics I’ve heard in a long time.  Let me blunt:

We should all listen to this guy and share the Gospel the way he does.

*I’m not the first blogger to link this.  Props to Paul Wilkinson and the Wednesday Link List.

The Read and Share File

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This is Read and Share File #10.

James said to be doers of the Word and not hearers only.  Paul Wilkinson reports on on blogging vs. doing.

The purpose of sharing what I read is that some things are said better than I could have.  Carley Evans at Grace Partakers has this to say about Growing Into Christ.  And says it well.

2 Timothy 4:3 describes a time when people will no longer endure sound teaching; sound doctrine in the King James.  Reformed Baptist Fellowship has done an excellent job with this post, and a few other bloggers have already linked to it.  All I can add is to say that Paul told us so.

And now for something completely different.

So much of God’s wisdom and Christ’s love cannot be expressed because of the limitations of the English language and our own finite minds.  Scripture relies on analogy, metaphor, symbolism, parables, and… poetry.  David was a lyricist and musician, and his son Solomon had a knack for prose himself.  Moses claimed to be slow of tongue, but at least twice he led the Hebrews in song.  Sometimes we don’t know how to pray or what to pray, but we are told to pray without ceasing.  At times we groan in the Spirit.  Most of what I share on this site is based on scriptural teaching and preaching, but as beings created in God’s image one  of his many gifts is creativity.  Some people think in poetry rather than paragraphs.  Captive Free is always in the blogroll; please read Little Lost Girl by Garment of Praise.  

Theater as a Metaphor for Life

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When I say theater I mean actors on a stage.  Watching a movie in a crowded room with a sticky floor is not the metaphor for life I’m thinking of.  

Imagine sitting down to watch a play.  The set looks great.  The costumes are wonderful.  It becomes clear very quickly that the actors have put in the time rehearsing scenes and memorizing lines.  But there is so much more going on that you – the spectator, the audience – do not see.  Backstage there are props and furniture pieces that haven’t come out yet.  There are people scurrying around in quiet darkness so as not to be seen or heard from the house.  There are people in the wings changing costumes and make up, and others in the booth controlling lights and sound.  The director may be sitting in the audience unnoticed while the stage manager runs around making sure everything happens that should happen.  During a scene with two people sharing a dialog, there could be 30 others working frantically on whatever is about to happen next.  If all goes well, what the audience sees is only what they mean for you to see. Continue reading →

Glorious Day!

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It is a glorious day.  Celebrate the Resurrection!

The tomb is empty.  Death, hell and the grave have been conquered, what more do we really have to fear after that?  Paul wrote that if we die with Christ we will also be raised with him.  Happy Easter.

Prophetic Words: An Easter Sermon

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Genesis 22 tells the story of the sacrifice of Issac.  Well, Isaac wasn’t really sacrificed but it was a close call.  The point of the story is that Abraham was willing to sacrifice his son, thus passing his test of faith.  As they were going up the mountain, Isaac notices they have wood and fire and actually asks his dad about not having a lamb.  Abraham says “God will provide himself the lamb.”  (Gen 22:8)  After he was stopped – at the last possible moment – from sacrificing his son, he saw a ram caught by the horns in a thicket.  That lamb was slain as an offering of thanksgiving.  But did Abraham really know?  He reasoned that Isaac’s birth had itself been a miracle, and if God chose he could restore Isaac to life.  Now think about Jesus on the cross, the lamb of God that takes away the sin of the world.  Recall Abraham’s words: God will provide himself the lamb.  Truer words were never spoken. Continue reading →

El Shaddai

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“Though your Word contained the plan,
they just could not understand;
your most awesome work was done
through the frailty of your son.”

It’s Friday; Sunday’s Coming

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Vocals by S.M. Lockridge, images from The Passion of the Christ

To see animation instead of the movie scenes, watch here.

He Cannot Save Himself; a poem for Good Friday

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He Cannot Save Himself

Many questions were asked of him,
though no answer was heard.
Pilate pressed him to respond,
but Jesus spoke not a word.

As prophesied by Isaiah,
like a lamb he was silent.
Which angered the crowd even more,
and they began to riot.

Governor Pilate faced the Jews,
and in order to honor custom,
told them that at their choosing,
he would release one prisoner among them.

He knew that Jesus was delivered
out of envy, malice and vice.
But the crowd choose Barabbas,
shouting “Crucify Jesus Christ.”

Pilate washed his hands before them,
saying “I am innocent of this man’s blood.”
The crowd said “Let his blood be upon us,
and upon our sons.”

They stripped off his own garments,
placed on him a robe and crown.
And then pretended to worship,
before him kneeling down.

They placed on his head
a crown made of thorns.
Then they spat, hit and slapped him,
and mocked him to scorn.

They compelled the man Simon
to carry his cross.
And divided his garments,
by casting lots.

They made for him a sign,
placed over his head.
“This is Jesus, King of the
Jews” the words read.

Thieves were crucified with him,
on his left and his right.
One was loud and boastful,
the other more humble, contrite.

“We are guilty of our crimes,
and deserve to die this way.”
And when Jesus saw his faith,
promised paradise that day.

“He cannot save himself” they mocked,
as his blood fell to the ground.
But they were crucifying an innocent,
in whom no guilt was found.

This was God’s plan of salvation,
established before there was time.
Each event had been prophesied,
and now fell perfectly in line.

The trial, the false witness,
his hanging on a tree;
It was all prophesied clearly
in Isaiah fifty-three.

So the words of their mocking
are actually true, you see.
He could not save himself, for
on the cross… he saved me.

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Clark J. Bunch
re-posted from 2/17/2009

Holy Week: Three Prayers of Jesus

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When Jesus taught his followers how to pray, he gave them a simple formula (such as in Matthew 6).  We often called this the Lord’s Prayer, but Model Prayer or even Disciples’ Prayer would be more descriptive.  Here are three prayers Jesus himself prayed during Holy Week.

The High Priestly Prayer (John 17) This entire chapter is a prayer spoken by Jesus that we call the High Priestly Prayer.  The writer of Hebrews goes to great lengths to detail the ways Jesus acts as our high priest, continuously going into God’s presence and making intercession on our behalf.  His prayer in John 17 casts Jesus in the role of High Priest, bridging the gap between man and God, between the unholy and Most Holy.  Jesus has only a few days left on earth at this point in the story, and is about to take his place at God’s right hand.  Jesus prayed for his followers of that day and all that would ever believe and follow in the future.  Jesus literally prayed to God for us. Continue reading →