Head-dibs

A friend of mine received the following in her e-mail. Below is my response: "Well I believe in God or a higher being, not the bible. Theres proof that its been tampered with, stories were falsified. Also, it's a bit fishy how after Jesus's death he was just referred to as a intelligant mortal man, until about 1,500 years later when it was recorded. The Christian bible is based on Pagan beliefs. Most of the devil's charateristics are Pagen, to twist peoples minds into their believe. Pagen harvest fork for cultivation? The Devil's pitchfork. When the Roman's came wanted people to switch religion's they morphed their beliefs to be bad. Also their's proof in Medival Time's when the power struggle between the Church and the Monarchy, the church used God to their advantage to gain power. Ultimently creating false idea's to gain popularity. I do believe in a high power, and in some aspect I do believe the Bible should be there, it creates some order...

When the cowboy applied for health insurance, the agent asked his routine questions about previous accidents--had he had any? The cowboy replied, "No, sir. Last year I was bitten by a rattlesnake, and a horse kicked me in the ribs. That laid me up for a while." The agent said, "Weren't those accidents?" "Nope," replied the cowboy. "They did it on purpose." The cowboy knew, perhaps, that where God is in control, there are no such thing as "accidents."

"'What scripture says, that's it!' We need to return to that in our preaching. Every preacher ought to close his message by saying, in effect, what Walter Cronkite says [sic] at the end of every broadcast: 'That's the way it is, this Sunday, January 18, 1976.'" Ray Stedman, "Total Wipeout," Sermon on Romans 3:1-20

Yesterday while driving through downtown I experienced two of many major construction projects going on simultaneously in our multiple downtown streets. One cannot drive too far in any direction without having to merge two, sometimes three lanes into one lane in order to avoid dropping down a deep hole carved out by some back-hoe surrounded by nearly a dozen helmeted orange-vesters, all gazing down at the guy at the bottom of the hole doing whatever it is he does down there. 1000 feet before each construction site, orange signs flash the warning that construction lies ahead, and another sign indicates that traffic will merge from three lanes, or two lanes into one lane. Some people move to the new lane, while others speed along trying to get as far as they can before having to merge—and this is the lane that usually backs traffic up. All those who passed the 500 foot mark, the 250 foot mark, the 100 foot mark still travel right up against the cones, not bothering to change lanes, are n...

Does anyone know who made this statement? "When you go out for a meal served as a buffet you're given the invitation to serve yourself, perhaps a salad. There's quite a range of dishes to choose from according to your taste. There's quite a range of dishes to choose from according to your taste. This is fine for eating but it doesn't work in Christian terms. One of the reasons why there's spiritual poverty is that believers have taken the 'salad bar' approach to scripture. Can we really pick the teachings we're comfortable with and ignore the rest? The answer, of course, is 'no.' When we take the 'salad bar' approach to scripture to justify your own prejudices or personal comfort, the result is a stunted spiritual life."

What is "happy"? As I've been examining my heart concerning some weighty matters, I found myself asking this question (perhaps too deeply, some might suggest) when I first inquired concerning my personal happiness. Where is the best place to look for a meaning of the word "happy?" Philosophy, psychology, biology, religion? My grandmother taught me to begin with a dictionary, so to this we will go. "Happy" is an adjective. Remember: adjectives are words that are used to describe (insert Schoolhouse Rock song here). The root word, "hap" can be a noun or a verb. Old Middle English definitions include "luck, chance, fit [as in "appropriate" or "convenient"], victory." More commonly "hap" can be understood to mean, "an occurence, accident" (older generations used to refer to "happy accidents," which suggests a redudancy for the sake of emphasis). The root word ("hap")...

Didja hear the one about the two lawyers? One thought he would make an impression on the jury by quoting from the Bible. He said (concering his oponent's client), "we have it on the highest authority that it has been said, 'All that a man has will he give for his skin.' The other lawyer, who knew his Bible, replied, "I am very much impressed by the fact that my distinguished colleague here regards as the highest authority the one who said, 'All that a man has will he given for his skin.' You will find this saying comes from the book of Job, and the one who utters it is the devil. And that is who he regards as the highest authority!"

" Now large crowds were going along with Him; and He turned and said to them, ' If anyone comes to Me, and does not hate his own father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, yes, and even his own life, he cannot be My disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after Me cannot be My disciple. For which one of you, when he wants to build a tower, does not first sit down and calculate the cost to see if he has enough to complete it? Otherwise, when he has laid a foundation and is not able to finish, all who observe it begin to ridicule him, saying, "This man began to build and was not able to finish." Or what king, when he sets out to meet another king in battle, will not first sit down and consider whether he is strong enough with ten thousand men to encounter the one coming against him with twenty thousand? Or else, while the other is still far away, he sends a delegation and asks for terms of peace. So then, none of you can be My di...

Shakespeare opens his play "Julius Caesar" with a most curious situation. The setting is the Feast of Lupercal (February 15) and the people have taken to the streets to celebrate in a holiday-fashion Caesar's victory over Pompey in a civil war. Marullus and Flavius, two tribunes (government officials) who supported Pompey, attempt to discourage celebrating workers. Addressing the commoners, Flavius inquires of one concerning his profession, learning he is "a mender of bad soles." Shakespeare gives the audience a joke, which Flavius does not get, for the man is a cobbler, a shoe repairman; however, the joke comes to light when the cobbler clarifies his trade by telling Flavius, "I can mend you." The cobbler explains, "Truly, sir, all that I live by is with the awl: I meddle with no tradesman's matters, nor women's matters, but with awl. I am, indeed, sir, a surgeon to old shoes; when they are in great danger, I recover them. As proper men a...

Ever read " The Confessions ?" God knows I don't do "change" well, so every once in a while He sets events in motion to remind me 1) He is God; and 2) I am not. I have learned there are three ways to exist in this life: growing, maintaining or dying. Of these three there is only one positive and change is what moves us by the means of His grace to grow into the image of Christ. After all, this is the destination of the Christian. Admittedly, I've been quite busy and quite frustrated. So busy that I've set my blog on "autopilot" to post scheduled items while I try to find where "normal" is again. I've even had to cancel evangelism outings until the dust settles around the house. I could gladly list with details all the things that are bothering me right now, but I will not as nobody but God should be subjected to my complaints. As I finished unpacking my last three boxes from my office move, I tuned my computer in to CSN Radio , on...

"Christians must continually reduce every argument we hear today to this simple thing: Am I to accept this person's word, or the word of Christ? If this agrees with what he says, fine, it is truth. But if it does not, then I must decide whether the challenging authority is greater or less than Jesus Christ. As Christians, we are continually confronted with choices, whether we will accept the puny, flimsy, uncertain authority of a mere man, or the certain, sold and clear word of the Lord Jesus Christ." --Ray Stedman, "The Forces We Face" (Sermon on Eph 6:10)

“The evidence for our New Testament writings is ever so much greater than the evidence for many writings of classical authors, the authenticity of which no-one dreams of questioning. And if the New Testament were a collection of secular writings, their authenticity would generally be regarded as beyond all doubt. It is a curious fact that historians have often been much readier to trust the New Testament than have many theologians.” ( F.F. Bruce, “The New Testament Documents: Are They Reliable?” 1949, p.15 ). “No literary fact is more remarkable that that men, knowing what these writers knew, and feeling what they felt, should have given us chronicles so plain and calm. They have nothing to say as from themselves. Their narratives place us without preface, and keep us without comment, among external scenes, in full view of the facts, and in contact with the living person whom they teach us to know . . . . Who can fail to recognize a divine provision for placing the disciples of a...

“Some think that the Old Testament is stricter than the New, but they are judging wrongly; they are fooling themselves. The old law did not punish the desire to hold onto wealth; it punished theft. But now the rich man is not condemned because he has taken the property of others; rather, he is condemned for not giving his own property away.” ( St. Gregory the Great, 540-604 ) “I vehemently dissent from those who would not have private persons read the Holy Scriptures, nor have them translated into the vulgar tongues. I wish that all women—girls even—would read the Gospels and the letters of Paul. I wish that they were translated into languages of all people. To make them understood is surely the first step. It may be that they might be ridiculed by many, but some would take them to heart. I long that the husbandman should sing portions of them to himself as he follows the plough, that the weaver should hum them to the tune of his shuttle, that the traveler should beguile with ...

"Trying to destroy or defend the Word of God is like two men with toothpicks on either side of the Rock of Gilbraltar. One is trying to push it over with his tootpick and the other is trying to hold it up with his toothpick. The Rock is going to stay firm regardless of either man." --Doc Henry, Lake Ray Hubbard Bible Church

At that time King Herod caused terrible suffering for some members of the church. He ordered soldiers to cut off the head of James, the brother of John. When Herod saw that this pleased the Jewish people, he had Peter arrested during the Festival of Thin Bread. He put Peter in jail and ordered four squads of soldiers to guard him. Herod planned to put him on trial in public after the festival. While Peter was being kept in jail, the church kept up their regular activities and pot-lucks and even printed his name on the prayer list that would be printed each week. “. . . and God, please be with Peter . . .” someone prayed during the blessing for the food. The night before Peter was to be put on trial, he was asleep and bound by two chains. A soldier was guarding him on each side, and two other soldiers were guarding the entrance to the jail. Suddenly another guard came in, flashing his torch around in the cell. He poked Peter in the side and woke him up. "Quick! Get up!...

Most people seem to think that the world is becoming, or will inevitably become, a better place in which to live. It is felt that through education, diplomacy, and scientific advances, most people will live longer, better, and more peaceful lives than any who have lived before. Is this really what's next? Not according to Jesus! Not long before He left this world about two thousand years ago He said, " As the days of Noah were, so shall also the coming of the Son of Man be " ( Matthew 24:37 ). There are two very important things in this statement. First, Jesus reiterates His promise to return to the world (more about this later). Second, when He comes, the condition of the world will be the same as it was in the days of Noah. What is said about the world then? We are told, " The earth was corrupt " and " filled with violence " ( Genesis 6:11 ). The headlines on the evening news and in the world's newspapers every day show that in spite of our ...

"On Language: Me, Myself and I." By CAROLINE WINTER Published: August 3, 2008 Why do we capitalize the word “I”? There’s no grammatical reason for doing so, and oddly enough, the majuscule “I” appears only in English. Consider other languages: some, like Hebrew, Arabic and Devanagari-Hindi, have no capitalized letters, and others, like Japanese, make it possible to drop pronouns altogether. The supposedly snobbish French leave all personal pronouns in the unassuming lowercase, and Germans respectfully capitalize the formal form of “you” and even, occasionally, the informal form of “you,” but would never capitalize “I.” Yet in English, the solitary “I” towers above “he,” “she,” “it” and the royal “we.” Even a gathering that includes God might not be addressed with a capitalized “you.” Read the rest of the article here . ht: Tim Challies (who else?)

Violet (picking her nose): “Spitting is an dirty habit” Wonka: “I know a worse one.” Robert Murray McCheyne, a godly Scottish minister and friend of Horatius Bonar from the 19th century, suggests the cultivation of a specific habit as a means of fostering holiness in a minister. That vital, daily habit is none other than prayer. McCheyne writes: “I ought to pray before seeing any one. Often when I sleep long, or meet with others early, and then have family prayer and breakfast and forenoon callers, it is eleven or twelve o’clock before I begin secret prayer. This is a wretched system. It is unscriptural. Christ rose before day, and went into a solitary place... Family prayer loses much of power and sweetness, and I can do no good to those who come to seek for me. The conscience feels guilty, the soul unfed, the lamp not trimmed. Then, when secret prayer comes, the soul is often out of tune. I feel it far better to begin with God, to see His face first, to get my soul near Him before it...

We ask the question, “which came first: the chicken or the egg?” The question implies a puzzle to be solved as one is led to think how one cannot exist without the other. The truth is there is no puzzle. Since there was a beginning to everything, so the chicken must have come before the egg in the miracle of creation. The same kind of question can easily be asked of the minister, “Which comes first, the call or the training?” The answer, on the other hand, is less positive than our chicken--here the answer is “neither”. Is it possible to begin the ministry without a call? Is it possible to begin the ministry without training? Both are possibilities. For years seminaries have graduated students well trained for the ministry but they lack the call and discover they have interests elsewhere. Men and women have with good intention spend time and money earning ministerial degrees with little or no interest for spiritual development and are searching out ways to increase their earning power ...

Q: Why is quality more important than quantity to God? A: The LORD desires obedience over sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22-23; Gen 4:1-8); clean hands, a pure heart and a heart not lifted up to vanity or deception (Psalm 24:3-4); a broken spirit and contrite heart open to His observation (Ps. 51:16-17, Prov. 21:2-3). God delights in the prayer of the upright (Prov. 15:8), in one willing to be obedient (Isa. 1:10-20), in one who chooses God’s way over method or tradition (Isa. 66:3; Jer. 7:22-23). God desires the depth of intimate relationship (Hos. 6:6), of people who act like Him (Amos 5:21-2; Mi. 6:6-8; Matt. 23:23). The quality of a living ministry is like a house built on a rock (Matt. 7:21-27), is a ministry of mercy (Matt. 9:13; 12:7), a ministry of function--an all heart, mind and soul love for God, that spills over love to others—rather than ministry of form (Mark 12:33). “One way to tell if a church is dead or alive spiritually is whether its focus and concern is more on the quality ...

"Crucial Factors to the Spiritual Effectiveness of Pastors" The search for success has become an all-consuming obsession in lives of men and women in the western world today. This search is found in the areas of both work and play, in business and in recreation and interestingly, the same search has found its way into the ministry. Ironically the western world has endeavored to drive a wedge between the sacred and the secular, yet the search for success seems to encompass both. Here we may pose a question: which is greater—finding success or finding effectiveness? The answer to this question indicates the great dichotomy that exists between the ministry of success and the ministry of effectiveness. “The two look the same to me,” one may say. On one hand success and effectiveness may look very much alike as the terms may apply to the “end” of one’s efforts; on the other hand, the difference is subtle and dangerous. Success may be thought of as “mastery” or “the gain of o...

Wednesday of last week began a new turn of events in the lives of the Wilson family. Wednesday night my mother fell and broke her knee-cap in two. She was unable to leave the emergency room due to her overall weak upper body, high blood sugar and high blood pressure, so she was admitted to the hospital and await surgery, which occurred on Friday. A long stay over the weekend ended with her being transferred to an assisted living facility where she will now stay for what seems to be permanently. I was anticipating getting back into a "normal" routine, so we had Bible study and prayer on Saturday in preparation for an evening in Five Points. As soon as we got downtown, my cell phone rang with a call that delivered me back to the hospital where my wife and I stayed until 2:30 a.m. with my mother--her blood sugar was sky-high again. I did not make our evangelism outing, but Tim and Joe went anyway. What follows is Tim's report--since he wrote it, he gave me permission to post...

James Adams published an excellent article on this topic in the Sword & Trowel, 1972.

[repost from Thursday, April 13, 2006] “ For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast .” This last week was very exciting in terms of evangelism. My daughter went with me to Finlay Park last Sunday and we talked to 11 people about their need for Christ. We have to remember that as we go out, we are only sowing seed. We only spoke with about 4 at USC Wednesday night and all professed Christ. I like one guy’s response—he got right to the point and proclaimed Christ’ payment for the penalty of his sin. All I could do is grin and shake his hand. It’s hard to see people’s face change when they realize their sinful state before the LORD then choose to hang on to sin and not repent. Last Sunday each couple we talked to had a very different dynamic. One girl delighted in her admitting that all the bad she had ever done was break the 9th commandment. Her delight was quickly turned to distress when she learned...