Louis Giglio Will NOT Lead Inaugural Prayer

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GiglioLouis Giglio is an Atlanta Area pastor that recently became well known for organizing Passion 2013.  Some 60,000 college students met at the Georgia Dome to rally against sex-trafficking and slavery.  Some of my own friends were there and posted regularly on Facebook, while others were able to view live streams.  Giglio, possibly riding the success of Passion, was invited to lead prayer at President Obama’s inauguration on January 21st.

After further investigation, gay and lesbian groups found a sermon from the 1990’s in which Giglio preached the sinfulness of same-sex relationships. The inaugural committee has now released this statement: “We were not aware of Pastor Giglio’s past comments at the time of his selection and they don’t reflect our desire to celebrate the strength and diversity of our country at this inaugural…”

In other words, Pastor Giglio does not support gay marriage and the inaugural committee will look for a “Christian” that does to pray for the president.  Read the full story here.

 

 

Supreme Court Will Hear Same Sex Marriages Cases

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wedding ringsThe U.S. Supreme Court will hear cases concerning California’s Proposition 8 and the Defense of Marriage Act.  Prop 8 was passed by California voters defining traditional marriage after the state’s Supreme Court upheld gay marriage rights.  The Defense of Marriage Act, passed by Congress in 1996, means that the federal government does not have to recognize gay marriages performed in the states in which they are legal.

The cases will be heard in March, on the 26th and 27th respectively.  The High Court’s decision(s) could lead to the legalization of gay marriage nationwide or the affirmation of current laws.  Gay marriage is currently legal in nine states, while 30 states have constitutional amendments defining marriage as between one man and one woman.

READ MORE HERE. 

Happy Monday

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I seriously considered not doing Happy Monday this week, but several new followers joined us on Facebook just last night.  So let’s start the week off right, shall we?

hap mon, busy

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If you’re just joining us, Mondays are tough.  Hopefully a few verses of scripture, a funny cartoon, an inspirational saying and a joke or two can help you make it through. Continue reading →

I Hope They Laugh at My Funeral

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funeralSometimes we desire to offer comfort to those that mourn and try to find the perfect thing to say.  What we really want to do is make it all better.  There often is no perfect thing to say, and sometimes the best thing to say is nothing at all.  Job’s “friends” accused him of lying, concealing the truth, and having unconfessed sin in his life.  But before all of that, the first thing they did was sit down with him in the ashes and rubble and for three days said nothing at all.  Those were real friends.

Some Christians get the idea that happiness is the only mood we are supposed to express.  God is good all the time, this world is not our home, Jesus is all we need.  These are all great truths but that doesn’t mean we will not experience other emotions during this life here.  Ecclesiastes  teaches there is a time for every activity under heaven, including a time to laugh and a time to cry.  After Jesus saw Martha, Mary, and all those with them weeping, John 11:35 says that Jesus wept.  He knew ahead of time that Lazarus was dead and that he would be raised; he wept because he empathized with those weeping.  Jesus also wept over Jerusalem, and at other times was angry.  Revelation 21:4 says that God will wipe away every tear.  We live in a broken world, and are surrounded by sin and death.  There are times that mourning is called for, and no words can make everything better.  Despite our eternal hope, it is not wrong to sometimes be sad. Continue reading →

The Read and Share File

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overload

This is where I list other blog posts and articles that I’ve read myself and wish to share with others.  They’ve slowed down since the introduction of Happy Monday, but this is Read and Share #18.  

It’s a little late, but this treatment of I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day proclaims the wonder of the Gospel.

Randy Kilgore takes an inspiring look at T-ball in this day’s devotion at Our Daily Bread.

Check out Throw it Out, New Year’s posting from our friend Cloudwatcher. Continue reading →

New Year, Same Goal

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fireworks

Happy New Year!

I hope that in 2013 you manage to loose 10 lbs, make it to the gym 3 times a week, quit smoking, and/or finish the great American novel.  But for Christians – rather than trying harder to be better people, what we really need to do is be more Christ-like.

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people.
(Titus 3:1-2 ESV)

Remind them; nothing new, just an encouragement to keep doing the things we already know.  Be salt and light, keep building the Kingdom.  And don’t worry about turning over a new leaf; if anyone is in Christ he is a new creation.  Welcome to 2013.

2012 in Review

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WordPress, the blog platform used to produce and host The Master’s Table, creates a year in review infographic for each user.  Stats include the most read post, most commented on post, most active commenter, etc.  Click the link at the bottom of this post to view the full report.

Here’s an excerpt:

19,000 people fit into the new Barclays Center to see Jay-Z perform. This blog was viewed about 120,000 times in 2012. If it were a concert at the Barclays Center, it would take about 6 sold-out performances for that many people to see it.

Click here to see the complete report.

Happy Monday

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tim hortonWe’ve all seen stories where a gas station customer pays for someone else’s gas, or a good Samaritan in a grocery store pays for the next person in line.  At a Tim Horton’s in Winnipeg last Friday, a chain reaction of paying it forward was set off lasting for three hours.  A total of 228 drive through customers paid for the person in line behind them.  What’s more Canadian than Tim Horton’s and hospitality, eh?

I mentioned the History Channel’s upcoming mini-series The Bible in a post yesterday.  I had been putting it off for several days, and it was this devotional at Our Daily Bread on the endurance of God’s word that motivated me to act.  There’s also a bit about a Bible museum being built by the owners of Hobby Lobby.

hap mon, lord told me, via preach the Gospel dot com

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The Bible on History

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Bible, on HistoryMy degree is in history and political science.  I taught history for eight years, and if I’ve learned anything it’s this: take what you see on the History Channel with a grain of salt.

UPDATE: Read my review of episode 1 here.

I enjoyed America: the Story of Us so much that I bought the DVD set.  I watch Pawn Stars and American Pickers which are entertaining and quasi-historical.  But History is also the cable network home of reality series such Ax Men and Ice Road Truckers; and then there’s Ancient Aliens.  Everything on History (owned by A&E Networks) is not of equal historical value.  Let’s leave it at that.

Which brings me to The Bible.   Continue reading →

God is On My Side

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jer 29“God is on my side.”  Consider for a moment the arrogance of that statement.  We’ve all said it, and probably didn’t mean to infer anything by it.  But the implication is that we have a position, a plan for victory, and that God chooses to support our position.  The truth is, we don’t even have a side.

Of all the children in a large family, Joseph was the favorite of his father Jacob.  (As in Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, also known as Israel.)  Joseph was also favored by God.  When his brothers plotted to kill him, a band of merchants just happened by and one suggested there was no profit in killing him but he could be sold as a slave.  That would get rid of him and they could make a little something on the side.  Joseph was carried down to Egypt, which was of course all part of God’s plan.  Perhaps that traveling merchant caravan didn’t just “happen by” after all. Continue reading →