John Piper Shares Concerns Over "A Common Word Between Us and You"

Back in December I posted on that document known as "A Common Word Between Us and You," which was an attempt by Evangelicals and "moderate" Muslims to have some form of unity. I shared my concerns, which you can read HERE, because the document really bothered me. Though I was surprised by some of the names on the document, I was NOT surprised to see that Brian McLaren and Rick Warren signed it!

Anyhow, John Piper just posted an awesome video on YouTube regarding this same thing! Watch it!

Do You Need A Laugh?

One of my coworkers forwarded me these cartoons and I thought I'd post them here so you can get a chuckle out of them!

This next one is not only funny, it nails the evolutionist viewpoint pretty good too! :)

My Rambled Thoughts for Tonight!

So a few days ago I finished reading Ann Coulter's new book, "Guilty: Liberal "Victims" and Their Assault On America." I have to say that I really really like her books, not only because of her good analysis of the political climate, but mostly because she makes me laugh. I know that many people do not like her books, but I think too many of them forget that while she is dead serious about what she writes...she writes in a manner intended to be humorous. Well, this book is no different, and I want to share one particular part here that not only was laugh out loud funny, but pretty good commentary upon our society as well. Towards the middle of the book she is discussing the "theft" of the 2004 election and she is writing about how the media was announcing the likelihood of John Kerry winning...these predictions based on faulty exit polls which even the poll's creator admitted was faulty since it depended on interviewing a large proportion of voters and that many of the pollsters were admittedly biased in favor of John Kerry. Denouncing the practice of depending on such silly polls to determine who is winning during an election, Ms. Coulter writes:

"There was also conspiracy theorist David Earnhardt's documentary Uncounted: The New Math of American Elections, which again took the exit polls as the fact-based control group that proved the actual voting results were a fraud and a hoax. You know what we need? We need a system even more reliable than an exit poll for determining how people want to vote. Maybe if we could get every voter to go into some sort of booth and cast a secret ballot..." (Last emphasis mine)

I just about died laughing when I read that paragraph!

If any of you have not read any of her books, I highly recommend them. I do, however, want to quickly share something I found very interesting. The book I read was one from the library, and as I was checking it out, the Circulation clerk noticed the title and author of the book. Since I've worked with her for a number of years, she felt free to comment on it and mentioned she just did not like Coulter...when I asked her why not she could not really say except to mention something about her reputation.

What is interesting to me is that this person has not read any of Ann Coulter's books and yet would be more than happy to read something by Al Franken, for example. How is it possible, however, to have such a low opinion of someone whose works you have not read? It really bothered me because those of us who are conservative in our politics are always made to seem so closed minded and even somewhat provincial. Yet I have actually read books by Al Franken and have watched the comedy show from which most 20 something year olds seem to get their news (the Daily Show, which "educated" people seem to think is NEWS!). Anyhow, this same person is one who professes Christ but voted for Barak Obama, the most pro-aboriton candidate I think I've ever encountered! Not that this means anything, since most "christians" who voted for him are equally unconcerned about actual Biblical issues like the sanctity of life, etc...

Well, since I have mentioned Obama, I'd may as well just add that while I certainly believe this administration will have a negative impact on our country, we should be happy tomorrow to celebrate what his election represents about what is good in our country. Despite the persistent accusations of racism in our country, tomorrow we shall have the first Black President of the United States of America. This is a good thing. It shows that America is not the country it was in the 1700's or the 1800's when being Black was so dangerous. It means that most of the country has finally accepted that we are all indeed created equal! And just so you know, when I say that I believe his administration will have a negative impact, I am not referring to economics or anything like that. Our economy may well improve, though whether it is due to his policies or the natural cycle of things will remain to be seen. When I talk about the negative impact, however, I refer to spiritual issues that have all too real effects upon us. Abortion for one. I fear we are about to enter an era of diminished protection for the unborn. Let us be sure to pray that this is not the case.

What can we do about this? The most important thing we can do, however, is to pray for the salvation of our President. May He experience the grace of God and come to know Christ as Lord and Savior of his life.

Nothing else would impact our nation more than that.

An Ode to Israel's Right to Self Defense

I read this beautiful article on a blog by a man who goes by the name of Sultan Knish. I have added him to my list of blogs to follow. The following are the first two paragraphs of his article, which I hope and pray will prompt you to want to read the rest.

"When rockets fall on Israeli towns, the press doesn't run over to describe the carnage in loving detail or splatter photographs of gore across the evening news. The International Red Cross makes no condemnations, the UN has nothing to say, and the usual suspects who cry out against war crimes when we defend ourselves-- are silent as stones.

That is why we choose us. Because no one else will. The lesson we have learned is that if we do not care for our children, no one else will. If we do not protect them, no one else will lift a hand to do it for us."

His article is called "Why We Choose Us." Please read it HERE

The Religion of Peace...Really?

I heard of this situation that occurred in Germany and finally found the video posted on "Atlas Shrugged," a conservative blog. I found it again on YouTube so I'm embedding it here. Watch it and then tell me why exactly the police would do what they did...unless it is out of fear of a militant minority whose religion does not forbid them from using violence to achieve their admitted goal of turning all nations Muslim!

Watch:


I hope this shocks you as much as it does me...that police would break into someone's home and remove a flag hung by a private citizen in their own home! Notice the police are not removing flags from the Muslims marching in the street...whose own flags are just as if not more inflammatory than that of the Israelis! I hope and pray this never happens in our country, but as this next news video shows, there have already been such protests in our own country against Israel...oh that the Muslims among us would be as quick to protest the terrorist acts committed in their name, and that they would be as willing to be so visible at it!

Watch this video too:



So as my title asks...THIS is a religion of peace? Great. And the secular world accuses us Christians of being narrow minded!

The Wolves Among Us

I first came across this video over at A Little Leaven. Based on some of what I wrote earlier about people who confidently describe themselvs as "christians" while denying His claim that nobody can be saved without Him, I thought I'd post this video and show how one of the great heroes of the emergent church views the Book upon which we base all that we know about Jesus!

I hope that all of you will have the opportunity to watch at least some of this video, and as you do so consider that this man, with his gentle demeanor and soothing voice is really a ravenous wolf full of deceit and in whom the Spirit does NOT dwell! Shocking isn't it? I readily admit that he is someone whom I would probably like (if I did not know of his heresies), and someone who is probably a lot more likeable than I am to a whole lot of people. And yet unless he repents of his sin and truly follows Jesus as Lord and Savior of his life...he is nothing but a walking corpse.

Watch the video and compare what he says to what the Word of God says!

Well...I could not get the video to embed here, so instead I'm posting it as a link...my apologies for this, but please follow the link to see Marcus Borg discuss his [warped] views on the Bible!

Here is the LINK

I have been reading the book pictured here for a number of days, and I have to say it is quite good. I wish that I could say that it's premise is unlikely, but it is all TOO likely. It is a political treatise on the dangers of Islam, but I was struck more by the what it says of Christianity and the animosity towards it in our culture. There is so much fear and animosity against the True Faith that Americans want its every hint ereased from our public dialogue.

I found this passage on page 66 quite illuminating:

"[speaking of a man named Abdurahman Alamoudi] He's...the fellow who helped devise the three-week Islamic awareness course in California public schools, in the course of which students adopt Muslim names, wear Islamic garb, give up candy and TV for Ramadan, memorize suras from the Koran, learn that "jihad" means "internal personal struggle," profess the Muslim faith, and receite prayers that begin "In the name of Allah," etc. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals- the same court that ruled the Pledge of Allegiance unconstitutional because of the words "under God"- decided in this case thta making seventh graders play Muslim for two weeks was perfectly fine, just an interesting exposure to a fascinating "culture" from which every pupil can benefit. Separation of church and state? That may be, but nobody said nuthin' about separation of mosque and state."

Imagine a statewide curriculum on living like a Christian! And just who is this Mr. Alamoudi? Well I googled his name and came up with plenty of information on this man who was considered a "moderate" Muslim but who ended up being imprisoned for various extremist actions! See here for some basic on the man! And if you don't believe the story cited about Islam in the public school of California, view this link.

I'm not going to go into a huge rant about how our society hates the Believer...but consider that quote above and ponder why our country hates us so. But by no means be surprised, for did our Lord not warn us about this and tell us to expect nothing less?

Just think about it. And hopefully you will conclude that if the world is going to hate us no matter what, just for professing His name even...why not go all out and be zealous for His name? Can they hate us any more? Well, actually they can...but they won't hate us any less if we compromise our standards...they'll just hate us AND hold us in contempt.

No Need for Christ in Christianity?

This morning I just finished reading Dr. Mohler's latest blog post. I highly recommend that everyone read this post, which you will find here.

After reading it, I was struck by how true his words are, and the report by that Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. What I don't believe for even one minute is that those so-called Christians who reject the Biblical claim that there is no salvation without Jesus are actually Christians. If you read Dr. Mohler's blog you know what I'm talking about, but if you have not done so, he cites some statistics from the aforementioned Pew report, which show that 52% of American "Christians" and whopping 37% of supposed "evangelical Christians" reject the FACT that Jesus alone saves and that without Him there is no hope of heaven for anyone. Unfortunately, I know from personal experience that there are indeed many of these false Believers, for I work with a number of them. Ones who profess Christ as their Savior but deny that the Holy Scriptures which alone proclaim Him to us are actually the Word of God; ones who profess Jesus as the one they worship while denying His own claims to be the only One by which men can taste salvation. Even more troubling, I am related to some who think that Jesus' claim to be the only Way does not refer to salvation but to a way by which one might reach the judgment. In this view, Jesus is little more than a gatekeeper rather than the Gate itself! How such a view can be held in the face of the very context of that particular verse (John 14:6) is beyond my limited mental capacities!

So, yes, there are indeed those who reject just about any and all claims made by our Lord and Savior Jesus...and contrary to popular belief (ha ha), many if not most of those come from within the fellowship...in the form of the false convert or the deceiving one. But by no means can we say that they are truly saved.

Let me say this again...if you don't believe that faith in Jesus as Lord and Savior, as revealed in the Bible, is the only way to enter into heaven, then you are not a Christian!!! If you think you are, then my suggestion would be to open up that Bible and start reading it, not as a bunch of literature put together, but as God's Living Word. And don't look at one passage and think to yourself that you have found the answer, but compare it to the rest of Scripture. You think you are a Christian, so start to act like one and study His Word. If you begin to find that you have been deceived, then repent and truly be saved!

Praise God for men like Dr. Al Mohler, who stand for the faith without any compromise. Men like him and Dr. MacArthur deserve our prayers and our support...and may the Lord raise up young men to take their place when the time is right.

God Bless

A New Year of Sword Tagging!

Well yesterday we had our first sword tagging event of 2009! Seven boys attended, unfortunately no dads. Well, I was there of course, but I always am! :)

I normally post the Bible lesson of the day, but yesterday we did not have a traditional Bible lesson; more of a discussion of a passage in Scripture. The Scipture was the following one:

“You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I tell you not to resist an evil person. But whoever slaps you on your right cheek, turn the other to him also. If anyone wants to sue you and take away your tunic, let him have your cloak also. 41 And whoever compels you to go one mile, go with him two."
- Matthew 5:38-41

Our discussion was about how we are to interpret the first part of these verses...the who turning the cheek thing. In light of the fact that for two hours we whack at each other with mock swords, I thought it appropriate for us to look at this and discuss it! :)

Now, we all know that there are those who will use this passage to say that Christians should allow themselves to be mistreated by anyone and for any reason. There are some who say that Christian obedience compels us to be beaten and not defend ourselves. While some who say these things are dear brothers and sisters, it seems interesting to me that many of those who have said it to me are not even Believers! Hmmm...you think maybe they like the idea of having a group of people to push around without any fear? Yeah, me too.

But anyhow, what the boys and I discussed was how exactly we are to live this teaching out today. One of the boys, when I asked the question, immediately said "I'ts talking about revenge." All I can say, is wow. Out of the mouths of babes, right? This is exactly what the context is. The whole eye for an eye and tooth for a tooth thing was the tribal view of revenge. Someone takes out your eye, take out theirs, AND their other eye while you are at it. Jesus, however, is saying revenge is not ours to take. He, of course, knew the Father had already told Isreal that vengeance belonged to Him (see Deuteronomy 32:35)!

In fact, to help these young men understand, I asked them what they would do if someone were attacking their sisters. All of them said they would defend her, which is correct. To defend yourself or someone else is not wrong. To afterwards seek them out to do them harm is a sin. For that is called revenge. And just to make sure they did not misunderstand, I told them that this has nothing to do with government, which has been granted the sword by God. This is talking about individuals. Now, in most cases, it is easy to walk away if someone wants trouble with you. Walking away is the right thing to do. Even if you are struck, it is sometimes still the better thing to walk away. Forget foolish pride. But we all know that there comes a time when we must stand and fight. The Christian is not in sin for defending himself against a brutal and merciless attacker. Nor is he wrong to step in to assist when a weaker one is being attacked.

This, then, is what we discussed yesterday. Like I said, not necessarily a Bible study, but a good Bible discussion. The boys all participated and commented and it is good to see young men wanting to know more of the Word. I don't know for sure that all of them are necessarily Believers, but I teach as if they are and trust that the Word is indeed able to pierce them and draw them to Himself.

Injuries? Of course. Knuckles scraped as usual, accidental head shots too. I myself was hit on the head pretty hard by one boy. My head still hurst this morning! But don't worry, he'll get his next month! Oh wait...never mind, I almost forgot what I'd just typed! :)

Happy New Year!

2009

Amazing isn't it? How quickly time passes by, especially the older we get! :)

This year I welcomed the new year playing games with my family, including a game of "Settlers of Cataan" and some power rounds of chess. At midnight my sister in law proceeded to wash dishes, the boys went to bed, and I looked out the window at fireworks for a bit until I decided to read and go to bed. It was a wonderful evening.

2008 for me was a year of mixed reviews...well, not really. Regardless of what happened, I know that God is indeed sovereign and so I am content in the knowledge that His Word promises indeed that all things work for our good. I've written so often in the past of how this by no means says that all good things happen to us, and I would be a hypocrite if I did not accept that which God planned for my life with humility and total trust. May it please the Lord to help me stand firm all the days of my life.

So as I bid farewell to 2008, I think of what lessons the Lord has brought my way. For one, as many of you are aware, this Summer was one of the most, if not THE most difficult of my life. A false accusation was brought my way, and by the grace of God those who know me stood by me and supported me without any reservation. While everything has turned out well so far, who knows what may come up from this incident in my life. Yet my trust is totally in the Lord my God, and my vindication comes in Him. Positive outcome from all of this was that I was able to see how many true friends I had by the love and support I received. In my own neighborhood there were a couple of families who immediately assured me of their confidence in me, they cried with me and offered total support, without any reservation or hesitation whatsoever.

One of the best things to have come out of this situation was the bonding with a brother in Christ from my old church. This man gave me much comfort and prayed with me throughout. Out of his willingness to be there for me I have found an accountability and study partner, which by the grace of God all of us men need.

So, as my hero Joseph said, that which others planned for evil, God used for good! Would I want to go through it again? Yes and no. Yes if it is the only way by which I could have learned what I did and found the Christian fellowship I did. No because it was so hard. Even so, may I always be ready to stand firm by my convictions.

As 2009 begins, I will try, by the grace of God, to remain above reproach in all my dealings with people. I have identified areas in my life that needed discipline and I hope to abolish those tendencies. But above all, may every day of this year be one in which my desire will be to serve Him and honor Him in all aspects of my life.

And how can I end but as I did last year? I cannot, and so:

"He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming quickly.” Amen. Even so, come, Lord Jesus!"

May His return indeed be soon...Amen!