Happy Monday
The Opposite of Fighting the Culture War
The other day we looked at what happens when Christians choose to fight the culture war. Be careful, the culture may fight back. I saw this story and thought “That’s exactly the opposite of fighting the culture war.” See what you think.
The Sturgis Motorcycle Rally takes place each August near the small town (pop. < 7,000) of Sturgis, South Dakota. The very first “Black Hills Classic” held in 1938 featured 9 racers and a small audience. Today it one of the largest motorcycle rallies in the world and provides a significant source of income to the town. I ride a motorcycle but would stop short of calling myself a biker. On the one hand I’d like to go at least once, and of course ride the whole trip up (as opposed to driving a rig with my bike in a trailer, setting up camp somewhere and riding the last few miles). On the other hand, once you get to Sturgis there is really nothing going on but sin and debauchery. It is also known as the Devil’s Playground.
So the way to fight the culture war would be to set up booths, tents and signs on the major routes just outside of town and shout names, wave Bibles, tell bikers they were riding two wheels to Hell, and hope they pull over, find Jesus, then turn around and ride back home. But what if we saw the Devil’s Playground as a mission field? What if we offered the chance to win a new Harley Davidson motorcycle in exchange for listening to a 3 minute testimony? And what if the result was 513 people making professions of faith?
Enter the Dakota Baptist Convention. Please read this full story via Baptist Press. We can fight the culture war or we can share the Gospel and lead people to Jesus. The choice is ours.. the choice is yours to make.
Jesus is Better
13 letters, 3 words, one complete sentence: Jesus is better.
Caleb and Sol Rexius have released two albums, Afloat in 2009 and The Healing in 2012. Jesus is better is the 12th track on The Healing album. Find them on Facebook or shop on iTunes.
This is What Happens When You Fight the Culture War
Way back when in 2008 I posted Should Christians Fight the Culture War? Perhaps that’s a good place to start. This is an example of what happens when we do try to wrestle with flesh and blood rather than powers and principalities.
Video via CNN, no explicit language or images
In Warsaw, Ohio a strip club owner staged a protest outside of a local church during service on Sunday morning, complete with topless protesters carrying signs. Apparently New Beginnings Ministries has been protesting outside of the local strip club for years, taking pictures of customers license plates and calling the girls that work there things like tramps and whores. Church Pastor Bill Dunfee says it is the responsibility of the church to spread the Gospel, uplift the name of Jesus and confront evil. The confrontation of evil has resulted in a small crowd of strippers, employees and friends of the Foxhole Club to assembling a protest of their own. Be careful when you fight the culture war, the culture may just fight back. Continue reading
Happy Monday
Happy Birthday wishes to Johannah Lorelai AND her mother Teresa on this fine August Monday. That’s Johannah five years ago on this date. Peace!
And for the other 99.5% of you not having birthdays today: Continue reading
Who Were Matthew, Mark, Luke and John?
As books were chosen to represent a New Testament of the Bible, conveying the biography of Jesus and the formation of the Christian Church, a few were chosen and many others passed over. The writings that were chosen by the early church leaders become Bible canon, but there are many gnostic Gospels and falsely ascribed (pseudepigraphal) epistles that still exist today. There is even some disagreement between Catholics, Protestants and Orthodox Christians about what is considered scripture.
Michael Patton, author of the Parchment & Pen Blog published by Creedo House, finds it interesting that while some Gospels with recognizable names, i.e. Gospel of Judas and the Gospel of Mary, were passed over we have four Gospels included in the Bible that are essentially anonymous. Each book is named for the person believed to be the author – namely Matthew, Mark, Luke and John – but none of the writers identify themselves as such. Patton further believes this anonymity adds to rather than detracts from the works credibility.
Please read 4 Gospels or 4 Forgeries and see for yourself. I found the post engaging and his reasoning sound but you’re entitled to agree or disagree.
Happy Monday Turns 100
Good morning everyone. This is Happy Monday # 100!
From July 23, 2012 here is what the very first Happy Monday post looked like. The original idea was for you to catch up on things you might have missed over the weekend and start the week with some things to look forward to. By week #2 each paragraph began with a headline. It was a Monday paper. After a few weeks of reporting the news and wishing readers a “Happy Monday” one of my friends IRL commented that there wasn’t much in the post to be happy about. Continue reading
The Lego Movie
Have you seen the Lego Movie? It was released in theaters back in February and on video a few weeks back. I’m not going review it; I’m going to share the Gospel!
The Lego Movie reminds me a lot of the Matrix. Both movies feature an entire world filled with people living their lives who do not know their world is a construct. In the Lego Movie everything is put together with plastic blocks and takes place on a large table in a family’s basement. In the Matrix everything was virtual and existed online. It’s just that the Matrix came out before there were blogs! For this post let’s sticks with Lego’s. The target audience consists of all age groups and the Matrix, well, is probably running on AMC by now. Continue reading
Prayers for the Caner Family
Please pray for our friend Ergun Caner, some know him as Butch, and his family as they deal with the loss of their eldest son. Here is the obituary the family posted earlier today.
BRAXTON PAIGE CANER
(March 8, 1999 – July 29, 2014)
The service celebrating the life shall take place on Saturday, August 2, at 2pm, at the New River Fellowship Church, 3252 East I-20, Hudson Oaks, Texas, 76087. Rev. Scott Crenshaw and Dr. Clark Bosher shall officiate, and Michael John Clement shall lead worship. Continue reading
The Master's Table 