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“Few things are cuter than an evangelical atheist.”

What is an evangelical atheist?  An atheist is a person who declares and/or believes that there is no god. An evangelical atheist is a person who dedicates themselves to preaching the “good news” that there is no god.  It is an amusing phenomenon indeed.  If there is no god, what does it matter if anyone believes that there is a god or not? And that is why they are so “cute”. Their own doctrine declares that “there is no purpose to life”, after all, there is no god, we are just accidents of nature, the result of endless eons of mindless mutations and when we die then that’s “all she wrote”, there’s nothing left.  So what does it matter what they believe, or what anyone believes?  Why should they care?  But many of them do.  They make it a point to try and persuade folks to their belief – which is in nothing.  Weird.  They are as fanatical in their belief as any ayatollah from Iran, and as bereft of logic.  It matters not what scientific proof of anything one can show them, such things are either ignored or interpreted by their mantra – “We’ll follow our investigation in any direction that it leads – as long as it does not lead toward God.”  It is my belief that since they can’t live within the framework of their own invented world that they have to create a reason to live.  And that reason to live seems to be simple – in order to tell others that there is no reason to live.

[Soapbox mode:  Off]

Far too many Christians are like “johns” seeking a hooker to fulfill their fantasy, give them an experience and excite their desires. They have no interest in commitment to the individual congregation, they are not interested in seeing it become in all things the bride of Christ. All they are looking for is a congregation that will fulfill their own desires and give them some transitory experience and fleeting pleasure.

On the other hand, there are far too many congregations who act like hookers. They offer pleasure and titillation with a soothing mix of “worship” and “praise”, but NEVER demanding commitment. Their main interest is pecuniary. As long as a person tithes or gives offerings then the leadership is happy. The spiritual growth and well being of the person in question is of no interest, as long as each party gets what they want.  Titillation on one side, pecuniary reward on the other.

To ask a person to make not only a statement of faith but to make a commitment to the local congregation is anathema in much of today’s culture. After all, if they toss something into the offering plate, is that not enough? One of the oddest things I’ve observed in churches in Latin America is the custom of asking “all baptized believers” to stand up to receive Communion. But at the time of the offering they pass the plate or other receptacle in front of ALL the folks present. And never have I heard anyone teach the Biblical truth that God expects us to put our personal relationships in order before we bring an offering to Him.

So if you are offering your gift on the altar, and there you remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there in front of the altar. First go and be reconciled with your brother, and then come and offer your gift. Matthew 5:23-24

There is a movement afoot in which folks declare “We can’t know anything for certain except that we should ‘love’ everyone.” The comments are well meant, after all, folks want to “do what Jesus would do”.  The intention is to convince everyone to walk around “loving on everyone” and creating “one big happy family” out of human kind by ignoring any notion of right or wrong.

On the other hand, there are others who condemn anyone and everyone who disagree with them. They tend to have a legalistic outlook on life and see anyone who disagrees with their particular brand of theology as “obviously headed for hell in a hand-basket”. Their attitude seems to be “my way is better even that God’s way” and “Real love smacks people upside the head for not toeing MY line.”

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Jesus replied: “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.’This is the first and greatest commandment. And the second is like it: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ All the Law and the Prophets hang on these two commandments.” (Matthew 22:37-40 – NIV)

It was almost time for bed and I was getting ready to shutdown my computer for the night when the news started to pop up on Facebook™ as various friends posted in various ways the latest news flash – “Osama bin Laden has been killed.”   I walked in to where my wife was watching the news and asked her to put on one of the international channels.  They were reporting what little they knew on the subject and droned on and on ad infinitum ad nauseum as they awaited the pleasure of the president of the United States to make his official statement.  Read the rest of this entry »

Recently I had a discussion online with someone regarding a picture I’d posted that “rubbed them wrong”.  (the actual words were “Where is the ‘Dislike’ button?”)  The objection came from different interpretations of the command to not take the Lord God’s name in vain.  In the course of the discussion the idea of trusting God came up.  I mentioned that to me God is my all in all.  He is my Doctor, Mechanic, Gunsmith, Watchman and more .  I trust Him to care for me in all areas of my life.  The other person replied, essentially, “You don’t really trust in God as you carry a gun.” Since the conversation had carried on long enough (more than long enough probably) I let that go unanswered at the time – but the idea keeps bouncing around in my head.  What does it mean to trust God? Read the rest of this entry »

“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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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 »

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 »