The invisible sky bully; have you ever heard God referred to that way? Even worse than calling him the “invisible man in the sky” is the notion that God pushes people around because he is bigger than them. A real bully is often a coward, and throws his weight around or intimidates those smaller than himself with words. Those promoting the sky bully myth would have you to believe that God orders people to worship him, and sends to hell anyone that doesn’t. It makes it easier to not believe in a God that could be like that, or helps people to doubt there is such a God. In a way that’s good, because there isn’t a god like that. Continue reading
Total Depravity/Gospel Sermon
This video well illustrates the point that it is our very nature to be evil. He offers loads of scripture to back his claims. Don’t give up on it too early; hang in there, it ends with a presentation of the Gospel. They give you all of the bad news first, but the good news is in there.
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The Godless Revolution That Never Happened
I want to link to this article on atheism, but I’m afraid to at the same time. I’m going to wind up getting into an argument that I wish I hadn’t started. The name of the blog is Heritage and Destiny, and while the title of the post is Culture Wars, it is really about the false claims of atheism. Here it is, please click the link and read it. I believe atheism is a growing trend, but this article sites Gallup Poll information that shows the numbers have been pretty consistent over the years, and atheists are still quite a minority. The new atheists may be louder, but according to the data are not growing in numbers any faster than the old passive atheists did.
Old Testament God is the God of the New Testament
In a lot of people’s minds, God is this angry, loud, vengeful monster in the Old Testament of the Bible. Some non-Christians tell us we have two gods, the Old Testament one with the commandments and judgements, and the New Testament one offering grace and mercy. The God of the Bible is one; he gives commandments, he judges, but also offers to extend grace and mercy instead. The dichotomy may be apparent, but isn’t a matter of fact. Continue reading
Free Stuff
Desiring God Ministries is the public outlet of all things John Piper. For a long time, they have been willing to work with people to get resources in the hands of those who might not be able to afford them otherwise. Lots of stuff is available at little or no cost if you’re willing to work with them. They are not just giving everything away, but if you have a need they will provide you with Piper books and other resources. They are found online at desiringgod.org. You may also want to check out the Desiring God Blog.
Recently everything John MacArthur has become available. At Grace To You (GTY.org) you can read, listen to, or buy a CD of his sermons – 2725 of them. MacArthur is available through radio, television and podcast, and Grace to You has it all on their website. This has gotten a lot of buzz on the blogosphere, so expect to hear sermons ripped off from MacArthur at a church near you soon!
The Bible, Uses and Misuses
Imagine you wanted to open a one gallon can of paint. Most all of us have a flathead screwdriver lying around in the kitchen junk drawer or else someplace handy. You grab that and pry the lid from the can. It’s not exactly what the screwdriver was made for, but it does the job well enough. The Bible is like that also. Continue reading
On the Issue of Slavery
“And why have you made us come up out of Egypt to bring us to this evil place? It is no place for grain or figs or vines or pomegranates, and there is no water to drink.” Numbers 20:5
In Numbers chapter 20 the Hebrews are complaining to Moses that he has brought them out of Egypt into the wilderness. You see, even though they had been slaves in Egypt, the Hebrews were used to having certain things. There they had lived in houses, not tents. There was plenty of water to drink via the Nile River. And one thing they brought up a lot was the food. The Hebrews missed the pomegranates of all things. Egypt had those. Continue reading
My ESV Study Bible
It came today! Some of you have had the ESV Study Bible in your hands for a month now. I know because you’ve been posting pics of your Bible or pics of you with your Bible on your blogs. Some of us didn’t get in on the first 50,000 copies run. I knew back in the summer that I could pre-order a copy, but was kind of holding out for getting one as a birthday present (Dec. 11). My birthday came early, so I can’t complain. Special thanks to my secret Santa.
So if you’re already in Numbers, I’m now at least in the boat with you. If you haven’t yet considered the ESV Study Bible, let me recommend it. If you can’t afford an entire Bible reference library, this is like have a one volume set of the same thing. The video below was produced by Crossway Bibles, and has been on YouTube since August. It is highly informational, at least check it out. Other ESV resources are linked on my ESV page tabbed at the top of this window, including my post on Why I Blog ESV.
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American Christians
American Christians are just not exactly the same as “Christians.” That’s a sweeping generalization that I know is not true in some cases. There are plenty of exceptions I’m sure. But by in large, Christianity in America is light-years away from the first century church described in the New Testament. Continue reading
Career Satisfaction
The Rev. Dr. Rick Wright says he enjoys helping people and being creative.
“With ministry I get to tie in my fundamental beliefs about God and life with what I do all day. So I get to work with people and assist them. And in ordained ministry I think it’s a bit unique in that people will open up to you because you are a priest/pastor and share who they really are inside,” explains Wright, senior associate rector at The Falls Church in Virginia.
Yahoo! has created a list of the people in America happiest with their careers. I glanced it just out of curiosity, and wouldn’t bring it up at all if Clergy were not at the top of the list. 67.2% of clergy members report being “very happy” with their career. Also on the list: firefighters, special ed. teachers, and auto mechanics.
