Preachers and urban legends

I'm still surprised by people who don't know about sites like Snopes and Truth or Fiction.  I have to chuckle to still see such things in my inbox like Microsoft is paying people to forward emails, warnings that the FCC is about to ban Christian programming, or that the aspartame in artificial sweetener is going to kill or maim me.

Social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter breathe new life into false rumors while creating new opportunities for misinformation.  How many of you, after hearing about the death of Osama bin Laden, saw this fake quote that was supposedly from Martin Luther King Jr.?

I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy.

It's definitely quotable, but misapplied.

So, what about rumors that preachers unwittingly spread?  Trevin Wax has posted several you may have heard (HT: JT):
  1. The “eye of the needle” refers to a gate outside Jerusalem.
  2. The high priest tied a rope around his ankle so that others could drag him out of the Holy of Holies in case God struck him dead.
  3. Scribes took baths, discarded their pens, washed their hands, etc. every time they wrote the name of God.
  4. There was this saying among the sages: “May you be covered in your rabbi’s dust.”
  5. Voltaire’s house is now owned by a Bible-printing publisher.
  6. Gehenna was a burning trash dump outside Jerusalem.
  7. NASA scientists have discovered a “missing day” which corresponds to the Joshua account of the sun standing still.

There are lots more in the comments section of the post.

The morale?  Always fact-check, never allowing the impact of an illustration be the driving force behind your sermon.  The text is the most important to get across anyway, right?

Popular posts from this blog

RE: "Pastor Dayna Muldoon EXPOSED"

Image
It enough to make your heart ache.  "Pastor" Dayna Muldoon  has been pitching her tent in Florida, and like Todd Bentley before , false claims to miracles, healing, and prophecies litter her campsites. This video of a Calvary Chapel pastor exposing her as a false prophet has been appearing in various places, and its been uploaded to YouTube multiple times.  Even Todd Friel got animated about this , and nothing gets him hyper. Here's the deal: Muldoon set up her tent-meetings right down the road from Calvary Chapel St. Petersburg , peeking the interests of many attending the church.  When they listened to the message she presented, however, they found it not to be the Gospel, but instead the typical narcissistic message of health and blessings from God. This is coming from a Calvary Chapel crew, folks that are typically non-cessationists themselves.  Many churches, including this particular Calvary Chapel , host after-glow services where one ex...
Click to read more...

Was Rebekah a child when she married Isaac?

Did Isaac marry a three-year-old?  If you've never pondered this question, it's because nothing in the straightforward reading of the text would suggest that Rebekah was a toddler or that their marriage was arranged. Even so, a couple of verses out of context could be used by skeptics to prove anything.  While perusing the web for a related topic, however, I found a thread stating that the Bible isn't against the raping of children .  The cited evidence was this issue, the claim being that Isaac engaged in pedophilia. The question comes from the fact that Genesis 22:23 announces the birth of Rebekah after the binding of Isaac.  Tradition states that Isaac was then thirty-seven, and Scripture says that the two wed when Isaac was forty (Gn 25:20).  Hence, Isaac robbed the cradle. The whole theory is fraught with assumptions, the primary being that Scripture never records a age marker for Rebekah.  Further complicating the matter, however, is Jewis...
Click to read more...

MacArthur: Calvinism in a Nutshell

Image
From YouTube: Calvinism (Also know by Doctrines of Grace or Reformed theology) John MacArthur use Romans 8:28-30 as main text. The five points of calvinism are Total depravity (total inability), Unconditional election, Limited atonement (Also called particular redemption or definite atonement), Irresistible grace (also called efficacious grace), and Perseverance of the saints. Full sermon http://www.gty.org/resources/sermons/90-427 Romans 8:28, "And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose. For those whom He foreknew, He also predestined to become conformed to the image of His Son so that He would be the firstborn among many brethren. And these whom He predestined, He also called. And these whom He called, He also justified. And these whom He justified, He also glorified."
Click to read more...