Random Thoughts
Fighting Sin through Seasons of Struggle
Feb 7th
I am nothing. As much as this world tells me to build myself up, to hold onto whatever grain of pride I have in myself, I know I am nothing. I am quick-tempered, eager to fight, steadfast in my pride. It might be easier to say that I am merely prone to some bad habits, but the truth is that it is so much more than that. I perhaps had an excuse as a non-Christian, when at least I could claim ignorance. I can do that no longer. I know the truth and I have tasted it. And yet, I still struggle with so many aspects of my faith. Yes, I have been granted victory over some key struggles with sin. So much so, that I loathe the thought of them. Still, I struggle with so many more. This was once quite disheartening to me. The idea that sin would have such a grip on me was a wall I could not climb. It hung over me with a shadow looming larger than I could stand. Now, however, I can see that wall and do battle with it. Knowing that I am no longer a slave to it has set me free to war with sin. Oh, it is hard, especially in our American culture. But, there is power in Christ.
The purpose of my writing this is simply to share the struggles. It seems quite often that Christians try to hide their struggles, so as not to come off as inauthentic or hypocritical. I have done this myself many times. That was even the temptation of late, as I have felt somewhat dry and disoriented in my faith. However, I am striving to be real in my faith and to recognize that many others have the same struggles. The Christian walk is not one of ease and it is not for the faint at heart. We are called to take up our cross and follow Christ into a life in which He Himself said that the world will hate us because it first hated Him. If you find yourself struggling in your faith, don’t hide, but continue to fight, continue to seek Christ, continue to read the Word. And on the other side of this season of struggle, you will be stronger for it. May God bless you.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Welcome to the Land of the Hypersensitive
Oct 27th
We live in America. There are two grocery stores, a McDonald’s, and a Starbucks on nearly every street. We all drive our own vehicles, we have more colleges than we know what to do with, and we are the Land of the Hypersensitive. How silly are we? People at Penn State are complaining because a new T-shirt design happens to bare too much resemblance to a cross. I quote:
Penn State says it has received six complaints about the shirt, including one from the Anti-Defamation League’s Philadelphia branch, from people who say it connotes a Christian cross. The logo design also has become the focus of controversy in the student newspaper, “The Daily Collegian,” which has received several letters to the editor on both sides of the issue.
Michal Berns, a junior majoring in media law and policy, said she refused to buy the $15 shirt because of its religious connotations.
“At first glance, you don’t necessarily think that’s what it looks like, but when you look at it more, it does look like a cross,” Berns told Foxnews.com. “That’s the reason I didn’t purchase it.”
I would understand the sensitivity if it portrayed Jesus on the cross in His historically beaten to a bloody pulp fashion, dying for our transgressions. This T-shirt, shown below, is Penn State with a line through it.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Random Thoughts
Oct 26th
It has been interesting of late. I have gotten a few emails recently that have made me refocus a bit. What is interesting to me is the way people define love. For instance, consider our own world, specifically our court system. Imagine that a judge let a criminal go, an especially bad criminal that raped and killed a child. If that judge let that child-killer go because he said it was the loving thing to do, we would be outraged. We would not feel it was the loving thing to do. No, that is not love. We demand justice. And our love for children says we hate those who commit crimes against them. So, why do we hold God to a different standard? We not only allow for the worldly judge to punish criminals, we demand it. And yet, when God stands before us as the righteous judge, we expect him to look the other way and pretend we did nothing wrong. In that scenario, God is no more righteous than the worldly judge who lets a child-killer go free only to harm another child. If we understand sin rightfully, we cannot help but understand the punishment for sin more clearly. If we apply the ten commandments to our lives, we will find that we are lawbreakers to a degree that is deserving of the wrath of God. The gospel is good news because God has provided a way for redemption, a way to justify the sinner through the sacrifice of Jesus.
Popularity: 5% [?]
Why I Hate Relativism
Oct 22nd
Hate is a strong word. It creates within us a picture of someone who is judgmental, loose-lipped, intolerant, and ready at any moment to fly off of the handle. It is also a word that has become taboo in our society because of this inaccurate portrayal. Because of our infatuation with tolerance, we move with swift unison to isolate those intolerant fools in our midst. In the name of pluralism, we have liquefied any ability to think rationally about truth. And yet, despite the prevailing winds of utter insanity in our world, I am willing now to use the word hate. I hate relativism. Relativism is weak, puny, ugly, and committed to destroying every fiber of truth in our being. In fact, I am not sure hatred is quite strong enough for the lie of relativism that exists in our postmodern world. Words matter. Concepts matter. Facts matter. History matters. There is, even if we deny it with every action, even if we rage against it with our heart and nerve and sinew, and even if we attempt in flagrant ignorance to subjugate our minds and prevent them from recognizing it, there is truth; and it matters. Did I mention that I hate relativism?
At any given moment, we could all potentially find ourselves deceived, confused, and deluded into thinking something that is not true. Even so, this should not lead us to believing that there is not actually something that is true. Our ability to recognize truth is irrelevant as to whether or not there actually is something true. No, we could all be at our very core mistaken about everything that exists and truth would not budge an inch. The question we must ask, we must wrestle with, and we must begin to bend towards, is this: despite our propensity to mar facts into our own fictional preferences, can we grasp truth? My answer is not only yes, but in fact, I believe we can literally bathe in truth at every turn and step. For all of our potential to destroy truth, to suppress the truth (as Romans 1 says), there is a way for us to understand truth and respond to it. However, in the name of relativism and pluralism, our society puts a premium on an individual’s private experience, and all but eradicates real truth from the equation. And so, in many cases, we are utterly incapable of even understanding basic truths – that is, without divine help.
So, I hate relativism because it is lie that we have told ourselves to give us comfort. While Christians (and other religious people) are accused of being delusional (e.g. Richard Dawkins), the ultimate irony is that it is in fact the atheists (and I would add the practical atheists) who are delusional. They not only relegate truth to some cosmic backroom, they base the very foundation of their philosophy on doing so. This is why Romans 1:21 says, “For although they knew God, they did not honor him as God or give thanks to him, but they became futile in their thinking, and their foolish hearts were darkened.” [Emphasis mine] Futility in thinking is a precise description of the world we live in. Even most who would say they believe in God in some form or fashion (I call them practical atheists – they call themselves spiritual), are utterly confused in their thinking. And yet, there is hope. Jesus said that he was, “the way, the truth, and the life.” As the incarnate Word of God, Jesus is the very truth that we must seek. Through him, our foolish minds can come to the light.
Popularity: 5% [?]
An Atheist’s View on Evangelism
Oct 20th
The following is an excerpt from a letter that Ray Comfort received some years ago. I am sharing this in the hopes that it might motivate Christians to share their faith more.
This is an excerpt of an e-mail to Ray from an atheist.
“You are really convinced that you’ve got all the answers. You’ve really got yourself tricked into believing that you’re 100% right. Well, let me tell you just one thing. Do you consider yourself to be compassionate of other humans? If you’re right, as you say you are, and you believe that, then how can you sleep at night? When you speak with me, you are speaking with someone who you believe is walking directly into eternal damnation, into an endless onslaught of horrendous pain which your ‘loving’ god created, yet you stand by and do nothing.
If you believed one bit that thousands every day were falling into an eternal and unchangeable fate, you should be running the streets mad with rage at their blindness. That’s equivalent to standing on a street corner and watching every person that passes you walk blindly directly into the path of a bus and die, yet you stand idly by and do nothing. You’re just twiddling your thumbs, happy in the knowledge that one day that ‘walk’ signal will shine your way across the road.
Think about it. Imagine the horrors Hell must have in store if the Bible is true. You’re just going to allow that to happen and not care about saving anyone but yourself? If you’re right then you’re an uncaring, unemotional and purely selfish (expletive) that has no right to talk about subjects such as love and caring.”
Popularity: 8% [?]
New Scientology Commercial
Oct 18th
So, there I am watching football (watching football is not what it used to be for me; more and more of late, I am finding my old favorite pastime to be a bore). Nonetheless, I went over to watch football with Pops today and a commercial comes on by the Church of Scientology (I hesitate to use the word “church”).
Here is the commercial and then commentary afterwards:
Throughout the commercial, one verse came to mind:
Proverbs 14:12 There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.
Besides the fact that it celebrates everything in life that glorifies man under the umbrella of “spirituality,” I am just wondering what it has to do with Scientology? Anyway, since I live just an earshot away from the headquarters of Scientology, this was of interest for me.
Popularity: 11% [?]
Gospel Video Home Page
Oct 17th
I went ahead and created a new home page for the gospel video. You can find it here: http://www.proclaimthetruth.net/thegospelvideo.html
I am looking to feature it more by setting up ads on Google. So far, it has been seen by over fifty people in the last two days. Please feel free to share this link with friends and families, especially if they are unsaved.
Popularity: 5% [?]
The Greatest Show on Earth?
Oct 16th
Richard Dawkins has a new book out, titled ‘The Greatest Show on Earth: The Evidence for Evolution
Popularity: 5% [?]
Brian Mclaren a Confirmed Universalist
Oct 6th
Brian Mclaren confirmed in very vague terms that he is a universalist in a recent post on his blog — not that it was ever in doubt. What is clear by Brian’s response in his Q&R, as he calls it, is that he does not understand the gospel. He builds his case for universalism on the fact that different Christian sects have different beliefs. He further states, “If God requires 100% accuracy, we’re all hopeless since we all fall short in our understanding of God.” The problem with this statement is that it has very little to do with the gospel, if anything at all. In fact, I would argue that our collective human understanding of God, meaning every man and woman on the planet combined, is utterly minuscule compared to the actual truths of God. Salvation is not based on our understanding of God, except to say that our faith must be in the right God — the real God. Christianity is littered with false converts whose understanding of God was in fact much higher than most. Salvation is found in understandng who the real God is and by having true saving faith in that God; it is not found in mere understanding of facts about God.
We are commanded to repent and place our faith in Jesus Christ. To do that, we must recognize who Jesus is. Muslims and all other religions deny the deity of Christ and the propitiatory sacrifice he made on the cross. As such, they cannot be saved unless they repent and place their faith in Him. Our salvation is found in the penal substitution found in Jesus and Him alone.
Popularity: 43% [?]
