Mark Driscoll, of Mars Hill Church in Seattle, is publishing a book online about pornography and masturbation. Each week a new chapter is added, which you can read online and/or download a PDF. The first five chapters are already available at Porn Again Christian, where you can also read a table of contents that lists the dates of upcoming chapters. Continue reading
Category Archives: Christianity
A Scriptural Perspective on Economic Collapse and Financial Bailout
We live in the richest nation on earth. It may be borrowed money, and we may be about to pay the piper for it, but Americans are simply the wealthiest society ever in history. We currently consume over half of the world’s natural resources. The poverty line in the United States is higher than the per capita income of many nations. My dog drinks cleaner water than about half of the world’s children. We spent more money last year on ice cream than NASA spent in the entire space program. That is the beauty of capitalism. The revenues generated go back into fueling the system. Carl Marx predicted capitalism would destroy itself, but you see, greed makes it work. Our greed drives us to work harder, put in more hours, educate ourselves to get higher positions, etc. And what do we do with all of that additional hard-earned cash? WE SPEND IT, creating jobs and providing increasing salaries for our friends and neighbors. So what went wrong? Continue reading
Dry Spell?
I feel like I’m in some kind of a slump lately. Maybe you call it a dry spell. I don’t normally use this blog to talk about me and what’s going on in my life, but you may have noticed I haven’t used this blog lately for well, anything. Is there a Christian writer’s block? Continue reading
New Page: The Best Of…
I set out to make a short list of essential posts, my list of personal and reader favorites from all the material found on The Master’s Table. Writing a “short list” almost proved too great a task for me. The new page “Best Of” is sort of an anthology of my work here on this blog. I don’t expect anyone to go back and read each post, but the 18 posts listed almost form a working theology of everything I believe. Some of these probably deserve a repost, and I will actually be looking over some of them as I prepare sermon material in the near future.
Come Visit Noah’s Ark
Well, sort of. This is a full size replica of the ark based on the dimensions given in the Bible. The ark is 150 cubits long, 30 cubits high and 20 wide. A cubit is about 18 inches. Think of 2 cubits as 1 yard. So an ark 150 cubits long would be about 75 yards in length, 2/3 the size of a football field. A host of animals greet visitors as they enter, but the petting zoo is not quite finished on top. (no joke)
To visit this ark, you will have to travel to the Netherlands. Dutch architect Johan Huibers built the ark, and yes it appears to be floating in water. Thank you Bethany Toranto for the story. She has quite a few more pictures up as well. Hey, I’d rather see the ark than the Creation Museum, but to each his own.
Mom’s Buttermilk Biscuits (Romans 8:28 style)
Here’s a very good post from back in the day (April 2008) when my blog didn’t have any readers. The premise is that understanding Romans 8:28 is a lot like making biscuits. This is kinda’ like shopping for groceries; don’t read this if you’re already hungry.
“And we know that for those who love God, all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.” (ESV) Continue reading
Now in the News: Tony Alamo and Gospel Today
UPDATE: A federal magistrate upheld a $66 mill. judgement against Tony Alamo last week. (9/14/2011) source: Washington Post
There are two items that have been getting a lot of press lately. I commented on another’s blog about Tony Alamo, and decided it was time to mention him myself. I read this AP report {no longer available; this post is now 3 years old} to get a little background. It’s a good little biography if you’ve never heard of this guy before. This is not his first 15 minutes, if you get what I’m saying. He’s been in and out of the news (and jail) for about 20 years now. Most recently the charges involve underage sex and marriage scandals, and once again he is defending his organization on the grounds that it is not a cult. Continue reading
Was Jesus a Radical?
The simple answer is yes. Jesus was radical in his ministry and teachings. He questioned the rulers of the Jewish faith, he threw people out of the temple, he pronounced woe to the scribes and Pharisees, he performed healings and miracles on the Sabbath, his disciples did not fast, and even ate without washing their hands. His whole Sermon on the Mount turned the Jewish traditions and laws seemingly upside down. The simple answer is that Jesus was a radical; however, I don’t believe it’s that simple. Continue reading
Show Us a Sign
This is a real church sign located not far from Cleveland, Ohio. Mike Frizzell has been providing us with humorous and amusing church signs for some time in a regular bit he calls Signs of the Times. I couldn’t resist sharing this one also. The church says it is meant to be a “friendly” reminder to teens that the Bible doesn’t condone homosexuality. Many have misunderstood the sign’s meaning, or are unfamiliar with the pop song it is a reference to. Read the whole story here from Fox News.
Verse by Verse Bible Study
I want to share with my friends and readers the different Bible studies I’m in right now, but don’t want to sound like I’m bragging. I work in full time ministry, so there’s lots of people leading many different activities all around us. I’m not trying to wave in anyone’s face how holy I am or anything like that.
I remember my dad teaching through the book of Matthew when I was in the 8th grade. We might do a few verses this week, or just one. Then we’d pick up next Sunday where we left off. It takes months sometimes to get through a book this way (or years) but it provides a thorough understanding. I seem to have wound up in several studies like that at the same time. The Sunday School class I attend is studying the book of Galatians. Anytime you study one of Paul’s letters you get some history of Paul, and often compare what he writes to one church with what is written to another.
Our Sunday a.m. text until advent begins is the book of Phillipians. The a.m. small group my wife and I lead is working through the Gospel of Mark. And our men’s morning devotional group is doing a verse by verse study of Nehemiah. That’s a total of 2 epistles, 1 gospel account, and one Old Testament book of history. I don’t always take enough time to study scripture on my own. This whole situation is a blessing to me because of the consistency.
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