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Archive for the ‘Christian’ Category

“16 Dead Bodies Confirmed Resurrected from the Dead”- thus ran the headlines that blazed like wildfire through the Facebook religious community. Perhaps it’s my scottish blood, perhaps it’s my (Show Me State) land of birth, but somehow I tend to be sceptical of claims without good credentials.  Just because someone says it’s true because they heard it repeated by  someone they  know who heard someone speak about someone who knew someone related to the person who heard from the person who was there does not make it true. It is interesting that the Gospel accounts give names and places.  The Marys went to the tomb to anoint the body.  Peter and John ran to the tomb. All the apostles but Thomas were there.  500 people witnessed the bodily presence of Jesus the Christ – many of whom were still living at the time of the writing about this event.  There were plenty of first hand witnesses who were named and who could be interviewed at the time of the writing of the accounts.

In the matter above, however, there were flags in the account I read that waved “Warning!” from the beginning.  Read the rest of this entry »

Born to live, born to die, born to be crucified.
The babe from Bethlehem grew to be The Man.
From Mary’s womb the Creator came,
From that point on history was not the same.

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In the middle of all the commercialism, it’s easy to overlook the babe in the manger – not to mention the fact that this babe came to be the Lamb on the Cross, the Redeemer risen from the grave, the Councilor in your life and the King returning in the clouds.

Jesus – the reason for the season.

Del Tackett posted an interesting article entitled “When The Chair Just Doesn’t Fit” regarding certain issues amongst those who are involved in full time Christian service. Far too many folks see “The Pastor” (and it is capitalized in their verbal usage) as a perfect being only one step down from Jesus the Christ Himself – including many who fill the position. Read the rest of this entry »

This writer stands convinced that the best place to be is smack dab in the middle of God’s Grace and doing what He wants one to do. Being in such a place is not necessarily easy as sometimes the storm about one detracts from one’s ability to recognize that the Lord of All is on the vessel upon which one is traversing the stormy lake of life. He can calm the storm, but how exhilarating it is when He calms one’s heart instead so that one can find zest in the thrill of the ride.

The following is in response to an inquiry from a friend who was wondering about long distance relationships.  A lot of it has to do with relationships in general.  So, for what it’s worth, here it is.

First, for a relationship to be a long term success it has to have a firm foundation. Just like building a house. No good foundation – it’s gonna fall. This means that we need to think outside our current societal “box” so to speak. Our culture over the past decades has emphasized some of the worst foundations for long term relationships possible. Some of them are as follows. Read the rest of this entry »

¹Therefore, I urge you, brothers, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship.  ²Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:1-2 (NIV)

A long standing gripe of mine is the current religious culture that glorifies those who are “real worshippers” (ie – can move audiences with their vocal or musical talents) all the while ignoring what real worship IS.  In the passage above we are told to “offer our bodies as a living sacrifice” and are told “this is your spiritual act of worship”.  For some reason I tend to prefer the teaching of the Apostles who REALLY knew Jesus and His teaching  to the current crop of religious folk who filter the Word through centuries of tradition and current fads. Read the rest of this entry »

As mentioned earlier this week, a pastor in Florida planned to burn copies of the Qu’ran (Koran) on September 11, 2010.  His reasoning – “It’s the devil’s book.”  Well, so?  What does burning the Qu’ran do to change minds and win over people who are convinced that it is God’s book, not satan’s?  The answer is – nothing.  To many people the physical book itself is what is holy.  There are protocols about the proper treatment of the Qu’ran.  It is kept on the top shelf.  It is never placed under another book.  It is covered with a plastic or cloth dust cover when not in use.  It is never allowed to be on the floor. Etc, etc, etc. All these have to do with the physical book itself.

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200 yards from the site where nearly 3,000 people died on September 11, 2001 by the actions of muslim extremists there is a plot of land upon which adherents of Islam wish to build a 13 story “prayer and cultural center”, an edifice which is being called “The Ground Zero Mosque”. Their plans have fanned the flames of discontent amongst those who remember the celebrations by muslims in the streets around the world that were broadcast in the aftermath of the horrific attacks. However, it is not just non-muslims who are raising their voices. A quick search on a good internet search engine yields a number of articles by and about muslims objecting to this project. From Miss America to imams to political commentators there are voices raised by muslims decrying the intentions of those who have formulated this plan.

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Thank you to my brother Benjamin Rees for providing the search words that dug up the following information.  I had looked online but am one of the world’s worst googlers ever, can’t seem to put the search words together in the right way to find the info sought sometimes.  Anyway, below is a follow up to yesterday’s article, starting with the reply by brother Rees. Read the rest of this entry »