The Fourth Man in the Fire

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Screenshot 2013-03-10 at 2.19.14 PMIn Daniel chapter 3, Shadrack, Meshach and Abednego were called to appear before King Nebuchadnezzar. They were charged with not worshiping the gods of Babylon nor bowing down the golden image of Nebuchadnezzar himself. He is willing to give them another chance, and if they will bow down then all will be well. But instead:

Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered and said to the king, “O Nebuchadnezzar, we have no need to answer you in this matter. If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king. But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”  -Daniel 3:16-18 Continue reading →

Chicken Church

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Screenshot 2013-03-08 at 9.15.40 AMEarlier this week I took my mother to lunch at the Big Chicken. Anyone from north Georgia, particularly the greater Atlanta area, knows about the Big Chicken, which is actually a Kentucky Fried Chicken restaurant, in Marietta. The thing is a landmark and part of life in Atlanta, like the Coca-cola museum or Turner Field.  It is certainly no accident that the building looks like a chicken.

The Church by the Sea in Tampa Bay, Florida may be another story.  My mother told me she saw it this morning on Headline News (HLN). Church members say it’s not unusual to see tourists stopping to take pictures. What do you think? Is it a great coincidence or a bit of careful planning that resulted in the big chicken church?

Screenshot 2013-03-08 at 8.48.19 AM…

And here’s my thought: If tourists drive out of their way to snap pics of a church that just happens (if that’s the case) to look like a chicken, they will also see Jesus on the cross. Is that not what the church is called to?

Meet Dr. Hannah Gay

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Screenshot 2013-03-07 at 7.19.26 AM

Did you hear the one about the baby born with HIV being cured?  No, it’s not a joke.  A child born to an infected mother was treated shortly after birth with a cocktail of three drugs, and months later (now 2 years later) tests negative for the virus.  Paul and Hannah Gay are Southern Baptists that spent 25 years working with pediatric AIDS patients in Africa.  Click the above image to read more.

Happy Monday

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Proof read carefully, because there are some things spell check can’t fix: 

hap mon, bloopers

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The Bible on History

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Bible, on HistoryI said the same prayer for the History Channel’s presentation of the Bible that I did for GSN’s Great American Bible Challenge last summer: please Lord, don’t let it be stupid. For the sake of Christian’s everywhere, I hoped it would not be something I had to apologize for to non-Christians/ unbelievers.

The Bible premiered tonight on History. For the most part, I would have to say that I liked it. Getting the story of all scripture into ten hours is an ambitious undertaking. Some things must be left out, and other parts of the story condensed. But if that’s the case, then why add anything that is not included in scripture? For all the drama the Bible contains, why add anything for dramatic effect? The producers must have known that some of us would be watching that know the Bible well. For our sake, why not remain as true to the original as possible? Continue reading →

The State of Marriage to be a Federal Issue

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wedding rings“The Obama administration abandoned its states’ rights position on marriage Thursday (Feb. 28) by asking the Supreme Court to overturn California’s Proposition 8, and in the process it laid the legal groundwork for legalizing gay marriage nationwide.” -Baptist Press, March 1, 2013

Last year president Obama announced his support of gay marriage and made it an issue in the campaign, but at that time indicated the legal specifics of marriage should remain the business of each state. Last year he said  “I think it is a mistake to try to make what has traditionally been a state issue into a national issue.”  Now in his second term he can say and act on what he really thinks.  The Justice Department is asking the Court to use a form of review known as “heightened scrutiny” which is much more likely to result in Prop 8 being struck down than “rational basis.”  Reviewing California’s Proposition 8 under heightened scrutiny could be a big step in legalizing gay marriage nationwide.

Read the full article here.  

A New Look

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It’s been a long time since I tweaked the design. A good piece of advice I was given early on, and continue to give others, is to find a good theme that works and leave it alone. Without going in to a whole bunch of details, this format should be wider on your screen and more visible. The other was a little narrow.

One of the things we had to loose was the code in the sidebar for a link button. The source code below creates a button that links back to The Master’s Table. Simply copy the html and paste in a post or sidebar text to add the button to your blog.

<a href="https://themasterstable.wordpress.com"><img src="https://themasterstable.blog/wp-content/uploads/2009/03/last-supper4.jpg?w=128" alt="Go to The Master's Table" title="Go to The Master's Table" width="128" height="53" /></a>

Take a look around, let me know what you think. Except for a few minor adjustments this should be about it.

One Person’s Testimony

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oneWe’ve all heard stories of a single vote that decided the fate of an election, or remember the lesson of the Knight Rider: One person can make a difference.  But have you ever been alone in a crowd when it comes to Christian faith?  Even if no one says anything negative, the temptation is to clam up about anything religious, to simply go with the flow.  Can one believer really make a difference? Continue reading →

Happy Monday

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Hello friends!  I had a busy week (and one very, very sick day) and blogging was just not a part of it.  Here’s a short Happy Monday post, and hopefully we’ll be getting back to our regularly scheduled programming.   God is good all the time, all the time God is good.  

great is thy faithfulness…

The picture below was taken in north-west Georgia as Samaritan’s Purse workers leave their mark during relief efforts following a recent tornado.  If you have to have a stump in your back yard…

hap mon, sumaritan's purse in GA… Continue reading →