Tag Archives: religion

The Biblical Exegesis of a Renowned Atheist

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“Christians seldom realize that much of the moral consideration for others which is apparently promoted by both the Old and New Testaments, was originally intended to apply only to a narrow defined in-group. ‘Love thy neighbor’ didn’t mean what we now think it means. It meant only ‘Love another Jew.'” -Richard Dawkins

You see friends, what you have here is one of the world’s foremost anti-theists, what Becky Garrison describes in her book as “the new atheists.” Richard Dawkins not only believes there is no God, he thinks religious faith is dangerous and a threat to our society. Continue reading →

Rantings about “stupid” Christians

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If I was writing a book on theology, I couldn’t just go off on a tangent and rant about whatever comes to mind. That’s the benefit of a blog. A good blog entry is almost bite sized; just enough for a mouthful in one sitting. Some of my online friends post 3 or 4 times a day. Some of them have no unpublished thoughts. I don’t often rant, but if you want to know what just burns my grits, it’s stupid Christians that make us all look bad. Continue reading →

Evangelizing Christian talks to Articulate Atheist

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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 →

Why I blog in ESV

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“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?

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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.

Should Christians fight the culture war?

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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 →

Gay marriage in California

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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. 

Religion and Politics

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Remember the 2000 Presidential election? The final results of that election day took weeks to become clear because the American public was so nearly evenly split between Democratic and Republican voters. Each vote in Congress is split nearly even because the Congressional leaders we select are nearly evenly divided, and very few are willing to “cross the aisle” in favor of the other party’s legislation. The word in politics these days is polarized. There is rarely middle ground that the majority of people can agree on.

This is the exact same thing I’ve been describing in the debate between theists and atheists. Atheists are no longer content to just not believe in God, but have launched attacks against faith itself. It’s like a war is being fought between people of faith and what now amounts to the enemies of the faithful. Becky Garrison suggests that we once all just played in our own sandbox, but the “New Atheists” want to throw sand in the face of believers.

It seems on almost every issue, everyone takes one extreme position or the other. There is no such thing as common ground anymore. We want hard lines on right or wrong, with zero tolerance for shades of gray. Life is not that simple. Sometimes there are no good guys or bad guys, there’s just guys. Historically, a few people on any issue took an extreme position, and the vast majority fell somewhere in between them. A bell curve suggests the probability of this phenomenon. I don’t know exactly when this changed, but the bell has been hammered out flat, more like a coin with 2 sides and no middle.

Jesus has left my building…

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…and I’m leaving with him.

UPDATE: Internet Monk has deleted the original article this post references.

Many of my readers are already familiar with the internetmonk. His latest blog post is the best thing he’s written in a long time in my opinion. If you’re a fan of his, you know he’s been going through some kind of “funk” for while. If you’re not already reading internetmonk, I want Jesus has left my building…and I’m leaving with him to be the first thing of his you read. It’s way more than just a reminder that denominations are the creation of man.

This link is to a post I wrote in March about the ecumenical and international nature of the ministry I’m a part of. If you stand in a room with people from many different nations, or perhaps many different types of Christians – or both – then you get a glimpse of what Heaven is going to be like. The gospel message is even now being carried to every tribe, every tongue, every nation. Heaven is not going to be divided by denominational differences; all people from all the ages will gather together in praising God. Jesus will be the firstborn of a large family; a family made up of Baptists, Methodists, Presbyterians, Lutherans, Episcopals, Roman Catholics, Messianic Jews and a host of others. There are over 30 Protestant denominations, plus Ethiopian Orthodox Christians, non-denominationals, and God only knows – literally – how many others. But there is one God, one faith, and one baptism.

We will sit down as God’s children some day; we should live like we believe that.

The Failure of Science vs. Religion

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When I first heard of “Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed” I was hoping it would open some doors. I was optimistic that the popularity of this movie would get people asking the right questions, and that Christians would have some answers ready. It could be expected that atheists, evolutionists and Darwinists would oppose the film and its ideas, but Expelled has also received negative criticism from other circles.

Intelligent Design is sort of a redheaded stepchild to begin with. It is not creationism, and conservative evangelicals think of ID as a compromise between religion and science. They accuse ID of trying to “water down” religious faith enough that science can accept it. So IDers are going to take it from both sides; Darwinists who think that it’s creationism as well as religious zealots who thinks it isn’t creationism enough. Continue reading →