Gospel Living

I've never been one who believes that there is a biblical requirement to home-school, though we have chosen that route and I teach classes for home-school students.  However, there is certainly plenty of cause to consider alternatives to public education. And if there weren't enough before, welcome to 2012. To start, here is a news story on gender "diversity" education out of Oakland, CA.  As part of its anit-bullying policy, the Redwood Heights Elementary School is teaching kids that like in the animal kingdom, "you can be a boy or a girl, or both," that gender is more of a "spectrum" than an either-or proposition. Read the Chalcedon report for more info on this particular trend (HT: American Vision News ).  No word on how schools plan to keep teenage boys who lie about "feeling like a girl" out of the girls' locker room. At least one might say that discussion in the video seemed relatively "clean," if not als...

A child is beaten with a plumbing supply line for seven straight hours, with periodic breaks only for family prayer.  In another family, a girl is unresponsive to the CPR efforts of the officer on the scene – she lied stripped naked, malnourished, and hypothermic.  Perhaps you remember these stories, and their connection to one another. Below I have all four parts of an Anderson Cooper interview with Michael Pearl , author of To Train Up Your Child and head of No Greater Joy Ministries – the teachings apparently upheld by this family and others whose actions have killed their children.  I first heard of this book a couple of years ago while in the student lounge at seminary – and no, while seminary students are typically spankers, it did not come up in a laudable conversation.  These particular stories were not in the conversation, but I was told by one concerned student about this book and the odd (at times, extreme) advice given by Pearl and the poor theologica...

A message for your new year: "How to Have a Worthy Walk," Ephesians 4:17-32 The Master's Seminary - 8 December, 2011 Just as sin weighed down the Ephesian believers, sin will keep you from walking in the freedom you have in Christ. This is a message you will use every day of your lives from now until glory. We note two simple instructions Paul gives the Ephesian believers so that we may also have a mature walk in Christ. I.  You have a mature walk when you put off old thinking (v. 22) II.  You have a mature walk when you put on new thinking (vv. 23-24) (As a side note, I am coming to the end of my seminary career and have my church resume and related information posted here , for anyone who is interested.)

As a young believer, I sampled quite a bit of what Evangelicalism had to offer… good and bad.  I don’t know which category you would place Mark Lowry in, but many agree that this song is a Christmas-time winner.  The following video comes from his 1995 VHS, “Remotely Controlled,” and is the version by which I judge all other versions: (Don’t worry, I’m not a Lowry-Onlyist). Of course, my dad wondered what I was getting into with the oft-times seemingly-pedestrian humor.  I loved it, perhaps because I found a kindred spirit.  Here are a couple other delights.  First, how to properly cook: Of course, on the theme of Lowry’s food habits and his singing, let’s not forget his parody of “I Surrender All” (a parody I have committed to memory): (Yes, that was Clay Crosse at 3:39) Have fun, and I hope y’all have had a wonderful Christmsa.

After Dan Barker's comment that the nativity was "an insult," a dozen or so people came out to show their support for the discussed display in Henderson, TX: ( Fox News , HT Ray Comfort ) (I hope no one had to avert their eyes.) Does overwhelming support make something okay?  Obviously not, though it is equally wrong for a vocal few to force the majority to change per its whims. Right and wrong cannot be determined based on the popular vote or lack thereof - it has to be based on an external, objective and unchanging source.  In other words, discussion of what is right and wrong in society is meaningless outside of a discussion of the Righteous Standard-Bearer, the Creator and Judge. Otherwise, words like "right" and "wrong" get lost in the wash of social semantics. Even so, the big story of the atheist world is not this but a sadder one: the passing of Christopher Hitchens, someone who lost his battle with cancer and presumably, his las...

For one family, it will be a merry Christmas and happy New Year.  From American Vision News : A baby born premature at 24 weeks weighing only 9 1/2 ounces has survived for weeks against the odds, and doctors are now optimistic enough to send her home by New Years.   Atlanta Journal Constitution reports , “At birth, Melinda Star Guido was so tiny she could fit into the palm of her doctor’s hand. Weighing just 9 1/2 ounces — less than a can of soda — she is among the smallest babies ever born in the world.”   While doctors warn that babies born this premature often experience developmental delays, many thrive and today are doing fine. USA Today reports of some previous cases: “One is a healthy first-grader, the other an honors college student majoring in psychology. Once the tiniest babies ever born, both girls are thriving, despite long odds when they entered the world weighing less than a pound.”   Pro-life advocates are pointing out the obvious: that ev...

(HT: Frank Pastore ) Do we need to discuss Dan Barker's self-delusion that there is no sin within the heart of every person on earth?  I didn't think so.   I'm bewildered by this.  I can't even begin to understand how a nativity scene makes people of other faiths feel unwelcome.  I feel fine driving past a mosque, a Buddhist temple, and a Hebrew school/synagogue every week.  Why do atheists walking by a nativity scene need to "keep their heads down?" Indeed, I the only time I feel unwelcome when I am told that displays of my faith around Christmas are offensive and insensitive, even when augmented with but other religious displays.   I took my family to the lake this past week for a boat show, and nowhere in the (what used to be called) Christmas lights was anything Christian, though there was a menorah.   Now, I don't mind anyone celebrating the Feast of Dedication (and neither did Jesus - John 10:22-23), so I don't understand why anyone...

A concise answer from Jay Adams: noutheteo or parakaleo? from Donn Arms on Vimeo .

Nice title, huh?  Well, stick with me. Understand that I haven't been keeping up-to-date on all of my blog feeds, so imagine my surprise when I saw Joel Osteen welcoming " one of the great voices of our generation " and acknowledging how God is doing in her life... you know what I mean: Oprah was on . Now, Oprah and her network demonstrably teach a false gospel: This means Osteen's greeting is in stark contrast to Paul's sentiments in Galatians 1:6-8 or 2 Corinthians 10:5-6.  I'm not saying he was required to be rude, but he seemed to be praising her for her good works, did he not?  The Apostle John said, " If anyone comes to you and does not bring this teaching, do not receive him into your house or give him any greeting, for whoever greets him takes part in his wicked works " (2 Jn 1:10-11). Of course, this is the same pastor who has twice said he can't tell ( or doesn't care about ) the difference between a Mormon and a Chr...

In the twilight of our representative, democratic republic, parental rights must bow to the opinions of an emotionally underdeveloped child.  I kid not (pun intended): the wave of globalization washing away oaths to protecting the U.S. Constitution is leaving inane laws in its wake. Today, parents are forbidden to homeschool their children, forbidden to remove their child from a class that counters the values and beliefs of the parent, and forbidden to take a child to church if that youngster would rather play Halo on Sunday mornings. Do you think I am writing hyperbole, or perhaps of a scenario that would never darken an American  household?  Watch this 37min video, which contains 3 reenactments of real U.S. court stories, and decide for yourself: HT: Thinking in Christ , which notes an interesting quote from the Washington Post re: Nancy Pelosi, who is seeking to regain the 25 lost seats in the House. " And if that happens — or when, ac...

Remember this gem from last year?

 

(HT: Andy Nasselli )