I recently discovered the blog of John Shore, and the first thing I read was a coffee shop conversation he listened to between an evangelizing Christian and a guy he described as “Wasn’t Having Any.” The discussion was over John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, ‘I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.'” W.H.A. asserted that Jesus was not saying that only Christians were going to heaven, and that many Christians have abused that verse to claim it means something Christ didn’t say. Continue reading
Tag Archives: Christianity
Why I blog in ESV
“The ESV satisfies the preaching, memorizing, studying, and reading needs of our church, from children to adults. We are building all of our future ministry around it.”
John Piper
Pastor for Preaching and Vision, Bethlehem Baptist Church, Minneapolis
I was first introduced to the English Standard Version when I joined the ministry I am presently involved with about five years ago. (see footnotes) The ESV translation is used by our Bible teachers in our classes. Our campus minister uses it most often when preaching in chapel, but not always. Since I got mine in 2004, I always teach and preach from it. I believe the ESV to be the Holy Scripture presented in our modern form of spoken and written English. It is the Bible. Continue reading
Do you like church?
There are many books out right now about the dislike of church, why it has lost appeal, what should be done to reform worship, why men hate church, etc. etc. One blogger has generated some stir on this subject, and if you like/ dislike church attendence then you should weigh in. You’ll notice I have already. Check out Why I Don’t Blame You for Not Liking Chruch. Rich will appreciate it, and I think we all need to be aware of this problem if we plan to do anything about it. The president of the SBC predicts that 20% of Southern Baptist Churches will die in the next 20 years. (Thanks iMonk.) It’s time to recognize.
Vacation Bible School – Outrigger Island
Update: ideas for planning/ decorating
Vacation Bible School begins at my church in about a week and a half. This year’s theme is “Outrigger Island,” and is basically a Hawaii surf party setting. My church always uses the material provided by LifeWay, whereas our old church back in GA never used the SBC program. I don’t think they found anything wrong with the curriculum, it’s just that 100 other churches within an hour’s drive all did the same thing. So when my wife and I took over as the VBS directors, we were told two things; what our budget was, and not to use LifeWay resources. The budget I went over anyway, and the next year was given a bigger budget. We went with Group Publishers, and even though we’ve been gone 5 years, out church back home still uses their program each summer.
Wow, did I digress or what. ANYWAY, Outrigger Island is a surfer/island theme with the motto “Know the truth, Speak the truth, Live the Truth.” Continue reading
Still on vacation…
While we’re in GA I have limited access to the internet (I hope to buy a laptop next week, and not have this problem in the future). I want everyone to know we’re alive and well, and not give up on The Master’s Table as one of the blogs you read. Hopefully this will tide you over:
The Internet Monk is in transition to being Jesusshaped.com. In the meantime, he wants everyone to keep up with what’s going on at http://jesusshaped.wordpress.com, the temporary home during this transition phase. Check his new stuff out there.
We’re having Ricky from Two Channel Station as a guest blogger (he just doesn’t know it yet). I’m sure he’ll be thrilled. If you don’t know about Two Channel Station, this will be a good introduction, and keeps with the theme of The Master’s Table quite well also. Ricky writes:
Logic vs. Faith
How do you know that Christianity is the only way? How can you say that? Do you know for a fact that Christ did all that he supposedly did? Logically, how is that possible? Continue reading
Christian testimony of a former homosexual
After wrting about the gay marriage ruling in California, I got a lot of feedback in the comments. Most statements were made by either conservative Christians that thought the decision was horrible, or by gay men that saluted California for doing the right thing. As expected, they wanted to know what my problem was, and what gave me the right to decide gay couples couldn’t be married. One commenter, however, was unusual.
What follows is the testimony of an individual who previously practiced the homosexual lifestyle before accepting Jesus Christ as savior. This is the story of one who gave up a life opposed to God’s law, and by God’s grace became a believer and a follower. Thank you A.J. for sharing. Continue reading
Should Christians fight the culture war?
This is what the ancient ruins of Corinth look like today. Special thanks to Joe for the image, who had the chance to visit this site last year.
The Apostle Paul spent most of his ministry in places like Greece and Rome, far away from the church at Jerusalem and God’s chosen people, the Hebrews. The Grecco-Roman world was populated by a pantheon of pagan gods and goddesses, whose stories of jelousy and betrayal make our soap operas look like children’s stories. It is probably safe to say most Greek adult men were bisexual (I was actually taught they all were.) A skilled craftsmen, for instance, would have had a wife and children at home, but also have been having sex with a younger apprentice who was studying the master’s trade. This was typical in the culture. The public bath houses were “meeting places” for leaders of the city and merchants to meet daily. The original Olympic games were held nude; and only men were allowed.
Paul would have been surrounded by it. There’s no way he missed the decadent and sinful way of life going on all around him. But we don’t see Paul marching through the streets of Corinth or Ephesus wearing a sandwich board sign declaring that “God hates fags,” Fred Phelps style. Continue reading
Free will, or not free will?
Today that is the question. We clearly read in scripture where God has ordained certain events to take place. God establishes thrones and kingdoms on the earth, to serve in certain instances, as instruments he uses to bring about his righteous judgment, or at other times to show his mighty hand. He is the Lord of history. But.. what about free will? If humanity has the will to choose for himself, how does God predestine historical events? That my friend is the right question.
Okay, I’m going to cheat. I’m not exactly going to answer these quesitons, but give you some useful information as you work it out. In Genesis chp. 50, Joseph tells his brothers “As for you, you meant evil against me, but God meant it for good, to bring it about that many people should be kept alive, as they are today.” They had evil in their heart when they sold Joseph into slavery, but God used it to bring about his purpose and plan.
Consider this passage from Acts 2:23 “this Jesus, delivered up according to the definite plan and foreknowledge of God, you crucified and killed by the hands of lawless men.” God’s plan of salvation called for Jesus to die as a sacrifice. The evil men of the first century, whom Peter is preaching to in Acts, carried out God’s plan in order to bring salvation.
Man does what he wants; God gets what he wants.
Let’s try something new. Below is video of this sermon being preached on Sunday, May 18th. Sorry about the sound quality. This is my first attempt at uploading digital video. (The video made me nervous; I’m normally a better public speaker than a writer.)
Gay marriage in California
Are we really surprised? I read online where someone called it a “Day of Shame” when the California Courts ruled a law unconstitutional that defined marriage as between a man and a woman. I’m not sure California has any shame left.
Remember the case a few years ago (I’m thinking ’02, maybe ’03) regarding the phrase “under God” in the Pledge? The father in that case, offended his daughter had to say that in school, had first gone to court in Florida. After losing there, he decided he had the best chances in California. This guy moved his family across the country so he could be offended by the pledge in California, and sue there. And he was right; a judge there sided with him, on the basis of First Ammendment rights, and separation of church and state. The whole country knows California is way left, and I don’t mean geographically.
San Fransico has been a Mecca of gay and lesbians since the 1960’s. “If you’re going to California, be sure to wear some flowers in your hair… You’re gonna’ meet some gentle people there.” There is no single day in California more shameful than any other day.
I’ve been hapily married for the past ten years. My wife and I are unusual in the fact that we both grew up in happy, unbroken homes. I believe in holy matrimony, as described by God in the Bible. We live in a free country; if you want to have homosexual intercourse, you’re well within your rights to do so. But don’t call it marriage. That cheapens and degrades the marrital relationship I have with my wife. Marriage is the first institution created by God. Do what you wish with your gay lovers, but leave “marriage” to those of us who understand and appreciate it.
Do you love pizza?
If you love pizza, and I mean love it so much you could never get tired of it, consider becoming a youth minister. I’m only half kidding. I’ve been involved in youth ministry for about 16 years, and have reached a point in my life I think I’ve had enough pizza. My profession is working with high school age youth, and the favorite meal of teen age students, especially if it’s an informal gathering for some occasion, continues to be pizza. In addition to what we get once a week in the cafeteria, I spring for pizza once or twice a year in BCM (Baptist Campus Ministry, formerly BSU). We’re also involved in drama, and I drive the bus for a couple of sports teams. At church, we’re sort of leaders for the youth leaders, who are upper level high school to mid-20’s. So after Back-Yard-Bible Club, planning for VBS, get together with the mission team, we go for a round of pizza. For that matter, one of our church deacons OWNS a local pizza establishment, and his daughter is one of our leaders. There’s no escaping it.
I’m not complaining; not really. I’m just trying to share from my experience. If you’re crazy about pizza, find a position doing what I do. It’s like perpetual college student diet (assuming you went to a Baptist college that didn’t allow beer).
The Master's Table 