From time to time I add a link to the blogroll (on the right sidebar). Last week I added a blog called Possessing the Treasure, written by a guy named Mike Ratliff. When I created the link I typed in Ratcliff, which is not his name and ergo not the correct address. The link is good, the site is good, pay him a visit. Continue reading
Category Archives: Christianity
“Evolution is a Proven Fact” -Dilbert
Defending Contending has tons of stuff like this. I couldn’t help it.
After my own heart…
God describes David as being a man after his own heart. I found one of those tonight. Thanks to internetmonk (this isn’t just a fan site) for turning me on to Ray Ortland, over at Christ is Deeper Still. Consider this quote:
“What unifies the church is the gospel. What defines the gospel is the Bible. What interprets the Bible correctly is a hermeneutic centered on Jesus Christ crucified,”
That’s almost something I would write, only it says more in fewer words. If you want to be a good writer, read people that are better than you.
Passover Becomes the Lord’s Supper
When Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper, he was taking an ancient Hebrew tradition and giving it new meaning. (Matt. 26) For the followers of Jesus, taking communion reminds us that Jesus’ body was broken and his blood shed just like Passover reminded the Jews that the death angel passed over Egypt. Jesus is the Lamb of God that was slain, much like the sacrificial lamb was slain in the Old Testament; the difference is that Jesus was the perfect sacrifice so that no more is needed. (Heb. 9)
If you listen to this sermon, remember that I’m speaking to middle and high school students. LOTS of backstory and explanation is given, and I am well aware that I often repeat myself. I believe the message is the truth of God’s Word, and the Gospel is clearly presented. Click here to listen (mp3)
Update for “Sue the Publisher”
“Don’t like what the Bible says? Sue the Publisher” is one of the more popular things I’ve written lately. On Saturday, more people viewed that post than hit my site searching for Outrigger Island. I’ve learned a little more about this story in the mean time:
Pictured above is Bradley Fowler. In my original article, I mentioned several publishers that had better get ready to be next, and one of them was Thomas Nelson. It turns out Fowler has already filed suit against Thomas Nelson as well. Zondervan says Fowler is putting fault in the wrong place, pointing out that none of the translation they publish were translated in house. Fowler’s claim is that these publishers intentionally crafted a religious judgment that homosexuals were sinners. I wonder if Fowler ever read the King James Bible? In the case of the KJV, it has been around so long it is public domain; there were no copyrights in 1611. There’s no one to sue if you don’t like what the KJV has to say. Of course, my original premise has not changed:
HOMOSEXUALITY IS A SIN, IT DOENS’T MATTER WHAT TRANSLATION YOU’RE READING!
I’ve also learned that people having been sueing publishing companies in Canada – and winning – so we shouldn’t be surprised that it finally happened here. Fowler is representing himself in both cases, and you know how that usually turns out. Will someone please hurry up and throw this case out of court so the overworked system can move on to a real case. May God have mercy on us all.
Ever feel like you’re alone?
Elijah is one of the better known prophets of the Old Testament. Just after defeating the prophets of Baal, however, Elijah does something very strange considering his victory. He hides out in a cave and simply asks God to kill him. 1 Kings chapter 19 is the very well known passage where there is a wind, but God was not in the wind; there was an earthquake, but God was not in the earthquake. Finally he hears the voice of God in a small still voice. I’m sure you’ve at least heard of this story. But twice in this passage Elijah expresses his concern that he is the only true believer left in the world. God basically tells him to get over his pity party, and informs him that there are 7,000 still in Israel that never bowed the knee to Baal. The lesson for us is that we are often not as alone as we think.
In Genesis chapter 14, Abram is the only man of faith we know about. After the flood, the population of the world grew, and very quickly forgot about God. As far as we know, Abram is the only person God is talking to period. Then he meets Melchizadek, king of Salem and priest of God Most High (El Elyon in Hebrew). Melchizadek blesses Abram, and Abram gives the priest a tenth of all he has. What’s weird about all this is the tribe of Levi, from which the Levitical priests are anointed, will not exist for hundreds of years yet. Levi was Abraham’s great-grandson, but not yet, not in Genesis 14. The New Testament book of Hebrews makes a big deal of this, and has a lot to say about the relationship between Abraham the patriarch and this priest not of the Levite order. Simply put, Abram was not alone in his belief of the True and the Living God.
At times, we are placed in tough places to grow. Remember the sunflower story? It can be discouraging, but recall the words of Jesus in Matthew 28: “I am with you always, even until the end of the age.” Just before that he said all authority was given to him in heaven and on earth. Not only are we not alone, who better could we ask be with us?
Here is this sermon in mp3: abraham-and-melchizadek
Things that Grow in Tough Places
Pictured at left are my wife’s wildflowers growing in front of our house. I’ll get back to those in a minute.
I noticed something while driving this morning. They did some roadwork not far from our home earlier in the spring. The road was widened and a gravel shoulder was added on each side in case you did need to move over. A few feet over from the edge of the gravel there still stands a large mound of dirt that was either used in the construction or pushed aside, and there is grass growing in the in-between space. I noticed this morning that 3 large sunflower plants have come up seemingly on their own, in the rough dry soil next to what was a construction area just several weeks ago. Each plant was about 5 or 6 feet high, and had very large sunflower blossoms. The sunflowers my wife tried to grow at our house didn’t do nearly so well this year. We planted them in potting soil, watered them regularly, but they always look like they’re about to wither up. They put out sunflowers, but the plants always look like they’re suffering; not like the wild growing plants beside the highway just down the road. Fascinating.
Remember the wildflowers at the top of the page? Each spring we plant a variety of wild flowers in the beds around our home. We buy a mix of seeds designed to attract humming birds and butterflies. When we were dating, my wife made sure I understood she would rather have wildflowers than store-bought roses. She also prefers gemstones to diamonds; she says diamonds are boring, you could cut glass to look the same way.
We’ve all heard stories of a dandelion growing up through a narrow crack in the sidewalk, or a tree growing out of the side of a barren cliff. Why do you think God does that? When we see a flower growing right up through a crack in solid rock, you kind of say to yourself “Wow, that’s really something.” It’s nothing special when a plant grows in lush, fertile soil. That would be easy. I think sometimes God puts us in difficult places to grow, so that when we do grow he can say “Wow, that’s really something.” Growth in a difficult place means more than if everything were easy. My wife thinks wildflowers of many different varieties are more interesting than a dozen roses all genetically engineered to look the same. I think God raises Christians that way too. It’s often us who want all Christians to look and act the same. I believe God made us wildflowers.
Update – separation of church and state
If the image of the cross appeared on every license plate that South Carolina produced, that would be unconstitutional. Unwilling drivers would have religious symbols thrust at them by the state. But if you don’t want an “I Believe” plate on your car, all you have to do is not ask for one. Why should it be illegal for the state to sell me one? In our society of free-market capitalism, consumer sovereignty says the buyer decidies what get produced and sold, not the government.
This post is an update to my original article Separation of Church and State. There is a lively discussion going on over at Americans United for the Separaton of Church and State about the South Carolina lisence plate issue. Here’s a link.
Let’s also keep this in perspective: Christians in China would probably find the heated debate over this issue laughable. Any underground church, hiding from their government in order to meet, has bigger issues to actually worry about. We are so spoiled rotten by being blessed beyond measure in this country, we don’t know what persecution is.
UPDATE, AUG 12 – Denise Gibel-Molini has written one of the best articles on separation of church and state I’ve read in a long time (yes, including mine). It’s about the War in Iraq, and is a little long, but is very well researched and I believe historically accurate.
Don’t like what the Bible says? Sue the publisher.
Get a load of this:
“In Grand Rapids, Michigan, Christian publisher Zondervan is facing a $60 million federal lawsuit for allegedly homophobia and prejudicial translations of the Bible. by a man who claims he and other homosexuals have suffered based on what the suit claims is a misinterpretation of the Bible. Bradley Fowler has sued the publisher despite the fact that it is not the translator.
Fowler focuses on the translation of 1 Corinthians 6:9 — and notes that homosexuals are listed “wicked” or “unrighteous” and barred from the kingdom of heaven.”
Thank you Jonathan Turly for blogging on this. This guy wants $60 million – and an apology – for the grief he has suffered over the last 20 years because of this translation of the Bible. Unfortunately pretty much every translation of the Bible I’m aware of, no matter how lieberal, condemns homosexuality. Even if we take First Corinthians out of the Bible, you can’t get around Romans Chapter One. Fowler really needs to sue God, that’s who says homosexuals aren’t going to heaven, not the Bible authors and not Zondervan. I guess Crossway, Thomas Nelson, and International Bible Society had better get ready; the last time I checked, their Bibles didn’t come out too favorably toward homosexuality either. This case is like sueing the police officer who wrote you a speeding ticket on the grounds that paying the fine and losing your lisence caused you economic loss and emotional suffering. OMG!
I’ve updated this story: click here.
Separation of Church and State
I recently posted this article about the state license plates in Florida and South Carolina that have set off recent separation of church and state arguments. I basically assert that to protect the division between church and state, we sometimes compromise our first amendment rights, namely freedom of speech and also of religious expression. Again, you can click here for that article; for this post I have some new information.
I was discussing the establishment clause over dinner with my department head (it’s a small town). I mentioned that “separation of church and state” is nowhere to be found in the Constitution, Declaration of Independence, Bill of Rights, etc. He asked me if I knew where the statement did in fact come from. I honestly did not. I have been informed – by a history teacher with more education and experience than myself – that the term separation of church and state was first used in a private letter written by Thomas Jefferson. Jefferson authored the Declaration of Independence, the document that first declared there was a United States of America. A Baptist church was concerned that the Federal government was going to institute the Congregational Church as the state appointed church, and Jefferson wrote a letter to their minister saying there was enough “separation of church and state” that it wouldn’t happen. That letter was lost to the ages until sometime in the 1950’s when someone dug it up. Since that time, because of that letter, the establishment clause of the Constitution has been interpreted to mean separation, and the Supreme Court favors that document – a private letter between two citizens – over the Constitution wording and other legal documents.
Here’s a good link for further research: http://everynation.wordpress.com/2007/04/09/is-separation-of-church-and-state-in-the-bible/
