Gospel Living

I literally LOLed (it does happen) when I saw this scene from NBC's "The Office": To my surprise, there seems to be something out there like it.  Not the Woof, but the Hoot .  Huh.

First, the reason more people aren't watching the World Cup: The historic consensus on vuvuzelas: And the all-time best parody : And just because it's soccer-related:

About twelve or so years ago I began to see the problems with my independent, fundie Baptist ways (not with all of it, just some problems).  One issue I was challenged on was predestination ("No, you can't believe in that! That's what * Calvinists*  believe!" was the sum of my reply, not that I knew what a Calvinist was at the time).  My friend, who was more patient with me than I deserved (no, I did not put the "fun" in fundamentalist) showed me some passages I had somehow never read.  Huh. Then things got interesting: he directed me to the radio ministry of someone who was helping him understand what the Bible had to say about the election of the saints. Harold Camping. I listened for months before suspecting something was wrong.  This was mainly because he was focusing on the doctrine of election at the time (as much as I remember from that deep sound that made the hot, Florida nights a little eerie).  I remember going back to my friend after a ...

You might remember that a year ago, a small group of Christian missionaries went to the annual Arab festival in Dearborn and were harassed by security guards .  (I say missionaries  because this was an ethnic celebration, not an Islamic/religious one as some have misunderstood.) On Friday, June 18, they were back at the festival.  This time the police decided it would be easier to simply arrest the Christians.  Why?  Who knows?  They were not impeding traffic or causing a disruption.  They were avoiding speaking on Islam and simply shared the message "Jesus loves you."   Their cameras were confiscated by police and have yet to be returned.  Upon their release from prison, though, they released the following video with other footage provided by another person: (HT: Acts 17 ) Jesus promised believers this kind of behavior when they obey His word.  I know there are Christians who are intentionally rude to police to try to get...

Just some food for thought: " Bitterness is the pill we eat hoping that it will poison someone else " (Unknown) Ephesians 4:31-32: " Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, as God in Christ forgave you. " Romans 14:10-13: " Why do you pass judgment on your brother? Or you, why do you despise your brother? For we will all stand before the judgment seat of God; for it is written, “As I live, says the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God.” So then each of us will give an account of himself to God. Therefore let us not pass judgment on one another any longer, but rather decide never to put a stumbling block or hindrance in the way of a brother. "  One more passage to consider - Col 3:8, 9, 12, 13 " But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from ...

 (HT: SenorGif) Of course, in a lesson of the importance of role models, the Jedi  aren't much better . Not that I am saying that my father is a Sith lord, of course.  Or a bad role model... Uh, Happy Father's Day, by the way...

ComingSoon.net has posted the official trailer and woo-wee, it looks like this movie is sticking closer to the book!  December 10 in, yes, you guessed it, 3D.  (Maybe it will outdo that awful Avatar flick.)

The Trinity is not an abstract theological concept, one that can be debated among academia but has no direct impact upon the believer.  It provides us with the blueprint for how godly relationships are to operate. He that made mankind in the beginning male and female is three Persons in perfect unity.  He that instituted marriage knows what it is to be "one."  The Trinity might be confusing to some when they are trying to comprehend it, it provides us a snapshot of what we were created for in our relationships. Stuart Scott points this out in his book, The Exemplary Husband (Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2002, pp. 51-52).  Here is what he gleans from his studies: Within the relationships of the Godhead (Father, Son and Holy Spirit) there is: A willingness to deny self (Mark 14:32-36; Phil 2:5-9). Honor and respect - though equality exists (John 8:49; 2 Pet 1:17). Submission to an order of authority - though equality exists (John 8:28-29; 14:31; 16:13; 1 C...

Trust God in your Gospel-driven life: Trust is not a passive state of mind. It is a vigorous act of the soul by which we choose to lay hold on the promises of God and cling to them despite the adversity that at times seeks to overwhelm us. (Jerry Bridges, Trusting God , p. 200)

I just finished an excellent article called “Should We Get Married?” by David Powlison and John Yenchko ( Journal of Biblical Counseling , Vol. 14, No. 3, pp. 33-42), available online here . Below is my summary, basically quotations from the paper, but I still recommend the article because it has excellent discussion questions for you and your fiancée. If you are already married and reading this, you may find this to be a good cause to review your own relationship that it might grow. • Are you both Christians? o Are you looking to marriage to make you happy or complete, to give you identity or purpose? Do you hope marriage will remove a sense of despair, inadequacy, failure, bitterness, or isolation? Will marriage make your life “come together?” Do you believe your spouse will meet all of your desires? o Are you thinking of marrying a non-Christian? (see 2 Cor 6:14–16) o Do either of you have complicating entanglements or relationships? o Has God given you the gift of si...

This couldn't wait for a funny Friday. I guess people in other countries like this sport, and now I'm beginning to see why: Unfortunately, no Jedi trick can drown out the vuvuzela .

This is what Psalm 128:3 says about the God-fearing family, and this is what Wayne Mack points this out in his book,  Your Family God's Way   (Phillipsburg, NY: P & R Publishing, 1991). He writes, " A plant has independent existence.  A branch is simply a part of the tree " (43).  Olive trees were among the most valuable crops of the Ancient Near East, important for a variety of purposes and applications.  Of course, our kids are a valuable "crop," but we see them as individuals, not mere extensions of ourselves. Said another way, our goal is to raise them up to make wise and godly decisions on their own .  Mack writes it like this: " In your parenting, provide fences, not straitjackets.  Establish biblical limits and then train your children to obey them. ... As they mature, the fences can be expanded so that your children assume more and more responsibility for their own lives. " As your own very important "crop," you alone are r...

Sorry, I didn't want any that badly. From SenorGif Not very appealing.

Wayne Mack answers this in his book, Your Family God's Way (Phillipsburg, NY: P & R Publishing, 1991).  Psalm 128:1-4 says: 1 Blessed is everyone who fears the Lord, who walks in his ways! 2 You shall eat the fruit of the labor of your hands; you shall be blessed, and it shall be well with you. 3 Your wife will be like a fruitful vine within your house; your children will be like olive shoots around your table. 4 Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. Here are Mack's insights (p. 5): God says that God-fearing people: Receive divine instruction concerning the choices they should make (Ps. 25:12). Are prosperous in the most important ways (Pss. 25:13; 112:3). Experience God's goodness (Ps. 31:19). Are special objects of God's protection (Ps. 31:20). Have children to whom God shows compassion (Ps. 103:11-18). Have descendants who will be great on the earth in the most important ways (Ps. 112:2) Are motivated to be gracious and genero...

Claremont School of Theology now trains Muslim and Jewish clergy .  They want Christians to recognize "the other" as their neighbor.  I don't know what to say to that.  How squishy.

I guess kung fu is one method of... kicking false teachers out of the church.

When we repent of sins as believers, there are a couple of points within ourselves that must must change. Stuart Scott in The Exemplary Husband (Bemidji, MN: Focus Publishing, 2002), illuminates this for us. 1. We repent according to God's process of change by working to renew the mind with Scripture (Romans 12:1-2). He provides the following examples: Click image to enlarge. 2. We repent according to God's process of change by working to put off sinful actions and to put on righteous ones (Ephesians 4:20-24). He writes, " This involves putting enough thought into one's life to: (1) specifically plan how and when a particular sin will be avoided, and (2) determine specific ways to apply its righteous alternatives. True repentance does not take place without these things " (44). Click image to enlarge.

No, I haven't forgotten about this blog. I've simply had school everyday, five hours a day, for the past couple of weeks. Between that and my recent teaching schedule, I'm a bit delayed on getting new material up here. :) But, as my son used to say when he was two and made a big mess, "That's okay." I did get a chance to finally make some adjustments on the blog, some of which you may have noticed. First, I've updated the blog feed so you should be receiving summaries instead of blank emails and reader updates. Let me know if you want any further adjustments in that regard. Some things don't work very well in those feeds, so I think I still prefer not to feed a full post... the idea is to give enough for you to see if you're interested. BTW: I noticed that the feed is giving summaries on the post feed on the sidebar... I'm not sure how to correct that. Help is welcome. :) Speaking of the sidebars, I've eliminated many of the modules ...