In a recent opinion piece in Patheos, Thomas Kidd, a dude with way too many degrees and far too little brain, told us who to support in the GOP primaries. "They should be looking for someone with at least three qualities: 1) competence in governing, with the more successful experience the better; 2) a sincere commitment to key moral and political ideals, such as the value of human life and liberty; and 3) public composure and the ability to project leadership to all Americans."
Apart from the horrifying statement identifying Christians as a core constituency of any political party, are we so retarded that we need to be told such pablum? It's like "Oh my, I was just about to support a pedophile migrant laborer with anger management issues for president. This article was just in time!!"
Thursday, June 30, 2011
Well This is Awkward- Part Two
If you don't think this is funny there's no hope for you.....
Dear Friends,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from this group and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that, even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there "degrees" of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev.24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?
I know you people have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Dear Friends,
Thank you for doing so much to educate people regarding God's law. I have learned a great deal from this group and try to share that knowledge with as many people as I can. When someone tries to defend the homosexual lifestyle, for example, I simply remind them that Leviticus 18:22 clearly states it to be an abomination. End of debate. I do need some advice from you, however, regarding some other elements of God's Laws and how to follow them:
1. Leviticus 25:44 states that I may possess slaves, both male and female, provided they are purchased from neighboring nations. A friend of mine claims that this applies to Mexicans, but not to Canadians. Can you clarify? Why can't I own Canadians?
2. I would like to sell my daughter into slavery, as sanctioned in Exodus 21:7. In this day and age, what do you think would be a fair price for her?
4. When I burn a bull on the altar as a sacrifice, I know it creates a pleasing odor for the Lord (Lev. 1:9). The problem is my neighbors. They claim the odor is not pleasing to them. Should I smite them?
5. I have a neighbor who insists on working on the Sabbath. Exodus 35:2 clearly states that he should be put to death. Am I morally obligated to kill him myself, or should I ask the police to do it?
6. A friend of mine feels that, even though eating shellfish is an abomination (Lev. 11:10), it is a lesser abomination than homosexuality. I don't agree. Can you settle this? Are there "degrees" of abomination?
7. Lev. 21:20 states that I may not approach the altar of God if I have a defect in my sight. I have to admit that I wear reading glasses. Does my vision have to be 20/20, or is there some wiggle-room here?
8. Most of my male friends get their hair trimmed, including the hair around their temples, even though this is expressly forbidden by Lev. 19:27. How should they die?
9. I know from Lev. 11:6-8 that touching the skin of a dead pig makes me unclean, but may I still play football if I wear gloves?
10. My uncle has a farm. He violates Lev. 19:19 by planting two different crops in the same field, as does his wife by wearing garments made of two different kinds of thread (cotton/polyester blend). He also tends to curse and blaspheme a lot. Is it really necessary that we go to all the trouble of getting the whole town together to stone them (Lev.24:10-16)? Couldn't we just burn them to death at a private family affair, like we do with people who sleep with their in-laws (Lev. 20:14)?
I know you people have studied these things extensively and thus enjoy considerable expertise in such matters, so I am confident you can help.
Thank you again for reminding us that God's word is eternal and unchanging.
AUTHOR UNKNOWN
Wednesday, June 29, 2011
Lost And Forlorn
The end-of-world folks must be sadly forlorn, lost in boredom, now that the date has been moved to October 2011. That's a long time to wait for a culture that thrives on conspiracies, apocalypse, and alien sightings. How is a self-respecting, tin foil hat wearing, Mayan calendar kind of guy to fill the time until October? We have a winner. Vaccines.
Yes we're talking cancer causing polio vaccines, secret government plans to poison our children with small-pox cures, even possible attempted genocide hidden under the guise of measles eradication. The web is exploding with sites warning us about this while hawking, I kid you not, home cancer cures at $5.15 a day, an intestinal cleaner called Oxy-Powder, and my personal favorite, the Bio- Energy laser. Check here for details.
There's enough web-sites out there to keep these morons busy until the end-times machine cranks back up later this summer. Of course the fact that millions of men, women, and children die every year for lack of vaccines we take for granted, childhood diseases that killed millions a 100 years ago have been almost eradicated in this country, and people from all over the world envy our medical system seems to escape these nut jobs.
Folks who never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy seem to thrive in times like these, offering proof positive that the theory the weak are removed from the gene pool by natural selection is wrong.
Yes we're talking cancer causing polio vaccines, secret government plans to poison our children with small-pox cures, even possible attempted genocide hidden under the guise of measles eradication. The web is exploding with sites warning us about this while hawking, I kid you not, home cancer cures at $5.15 a day, an intestinal cleaner called Oxy-Powder, and my personal favorite, the Bio- Energy laser. Check here for details.
There's enough web-sites out there to keep these morons busy until the end-times machine cranks back up later this summer. Of course the fact that millions of men, women, and children die every year for lack of vaccines we take for granted, childhood diseases that killed millions a 100 years ago have been almost eradicated in this country, and people from all over the world envy our medical system seems to escape these nut jobs.
Folks who never let the facts get in the way of a good conspiracy seem to thrive in times like these, offering proof positive that the theory the weak are removed from the gene pool by natural selection is wrong.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Truth In Labeling
So, there is some sound reason, if one is a conservative Christian, to "preach against" both Islam and "the Left."~Name withheld
I withheld the name of the person quoted above so as to save him any further embarrassment. In today's superheated environment people are saying some really stupid stuff, and this post is not intended to make him appear any stupider, he's done a great job of it without my help. Rather, I keep coming across instances where people are claiming Christ for their particular political viewpoint and frankly it annoys me no end.
Dictionary.com defines Christian as follows: of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a liberal or conservative Christian. You may be a Christian with a liberal or conservative world view, but you are first and foremost a Christian. Nowhere in scripture do I find Christ advocating political activism on His behalf, He's solely focused on the eternal.
So where's the harm? The real and eternal common bond of Christianity should transcend any differences in the temporal world of politics, thus no one can claim Christ and preach against his brother because of political affiliation, differ with him yes, but preach against him? Shame on you!! You'll answer to God for that and it won't be pretty.
I withheld the name of the person quoted above so as to save him any further embarrassment. In today's superheated environment people are saying some really stupid stuff, and this post is not intended to make him appear any stupider, he's done a great job of it without my help. Rather, I keep coming across instances where people are claiming Christ for their particular political viewpoint and frankly it annoys me no end.
Dictionary.com defines Christian as follows: of, pertaining to, believing in, or belonging to the religion based on the teachings of Jesus Christ. There is no such thing as a liberal or conservative Christian. You may be a Christian with a liberal or conservative world view, but you are first and foremost a Christian. Nowhere in scripture do I find Christ advocating political activism on His behalf, He's solely focused on the eternal.
So where's the harm? The real and eternal common bond of Christianity should transcend any differences in the temporal world of politics, thus no one can claim Christ and preach against his brother because of political affiliation, differ with him yes, but preach against him? Shame on you!! You'll answer to God for that and it won't be pretty.
Monday, June 27, 2011
I Get Conflicted
"Ok, I was gonna whack you, but I was real conflicted about it." From the gangster comedy "Analyze This"
In a truly funny scene in the movie Analyze This the gangster De Niro brings Crystal, his therapist, to the docks to kill him because he's afraid he's said too much during his therapy sessions, this even though he's grown to like Crystal. De Niro's gangster enemies intervene and try to kill De Niro and a gunfight ensues. Crystal saves De Niro, then realizing what nearly happened he confronts De Niro, who admits it, saying "Ok, I was gonna whack you, but I was real conflicted about it."
I get that way a lot, not homicidal, conflicted. I believe the Bible is the total revealed mind of God yet there are passages, particularly in the Old Testament, that just make me cringe. I get a kick out of believers claiming Islam is a violent religion given God's instructions to the Israelites as they enter the promised land to kill every man, woman, and child living there. Can it be true that man coexisted with dinosaurs, as many interpret Genesis, given what we know about the age of the earth?
These conflicts used to drive me nuts and then a man told me "John, Everyone's got a list of questions they want to ask God when they get there." Turns out it's likely that there are still going to be some unresolved questions come the rapture, so why get all exercised?
After all, Jesus did not command me to resolve religious and scientific controversies, he said go help the poor, and witness to the nations.
In a truly funny scene in the movie Analyze This the gangster De Niro brings Crystal, his therapist, to the docks to kill him because he's afraid he's said too much during his therapy sessions, this even though he's grown to like Crystal. De Niro's gangster enemies intervene and try to kill De Niro and a gunfight ensues. Crystal saves De Niro, then realizing what nearly happened he confronts De Niro, who admits it, saying "Ok, I was gonna whack you, but I was real conflicted about it."
I get that way a lot, not homicidal, conflicted. I believe the Bible is the total revealed mind of God yet there are passages, particularly in the Old Testament, that just make me cringe. I get a kick out of believers claiming Islam is a violent religion given God's instructions to the Israelites as they enter the promised land to kill every man, woman, and child living there. Can it be true that man coexisted with dinosaurs, as many interpret Genesis, given what we know about the age of the earth?
These conflicts used to drive me nuts and then a man told me "John, Everyone's got a list of questions they want to ask God when they get there." Turns out it's likely that there are still going to be some unresolved questions come the rapture, so why get all exercised?
After all, Jesus did not command me to resolve religious and scientific controversies, he said go help the poor, and witness to the nations.
Sunday, June 26, 2011
Well This Is Awkward
Pulpits rang out today all across this great land against the law in New York State permitting gay marriage, the consensus being that scripture declares homosexuality sin. Scripture also declares the worship of other Gods sin, yet those same pastors would probably, to a man (or woman), defend the rights of others to worship in the faith of their choice even though that worship condemns them to hell, which isn't entirely clear about homosexual behavior.
My point here isn't argument about scripture or the law in New York, it's about the Harvest. Let's see if I can explain myself. If you're gay in America and own or have read the bible there's fair reason to suspect homophobia in the selective outrage about sin flooding from our pulpits. Adultery, divorce, and myriad other sins seem to inspire far less outrage than gay and lesbian behavior. And how does that affect our witness to the gay community? Not well I suspect.
When we can overcome the homophobia and hypocrisy of our fulminations about homosexuality is when we will become far more effective witnesses to those who, like us, are simply "poor miserable sinners who rightly and justly deserve temporal and eternal punishment" except for the sacrifice of the Lamb for our sins.
It's really awkward to try and explain the position of many believers to a bible reading LGBT.
My point here isn't argument about scripture or the law in New York, it's about the Harvest. Let's see if I can explain myself. If you're gay in America and own or have read the bible there's fair reason to suspect homophobia in the selective outrage about sin flooding from our pulpits. Adultery, divorce, and myriad other sins seem to inspire far less outrage than gay and lesbian behavior. And how does that affect our witness to the gay community? Not well I suspect.
When we can overcome the homophobia and hypocrisy of our fulminations about homosexuality is when we will become far more effective witnesses to those who, like us, are simply "poor miserable sinners who rightly and justly deserve temporal and eternal punishment" except for the sacrifice of the Lamb for our sins.
It's really awkward to try and explain the position of many believers to a bible reading LGBT.
Saturday, June 25, 2011
A Dangerous Place To Be
Satan watches for those vessels that sail without a convoy.~George Swinnock
I got into a fascinating discussion yesterday with a young man over the concept of religion. We were talking about the need to belong to a community of believers and his question was "Does community have to mean religion?" I have long believed that when you drill down to the core of the problem, folks who are turned off by religion really simply dislike what man does with religion. Religion itself is benign.
Religion(at Dictionary.com) is defined as "a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, especially when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs."
By that definition a handful of believers sharing their love of Jesus over lattes at Starbucks is "religion". And though they may never meet, they likely share that same "religion" with many worshipers at traditional churches who feel about Christ the same way. Is one path superior to the other? I doubt it. I don't believe that "community" is a one size fits all concept, find the community you're comfortable in and serve the Lord, and there you'll find religion.
I hold nothing in common with the haters of Westboro Baptist church who picket the funerals of our fallen heroes, nor do I count as fellow believers the Koran burners of the Dove World Outreach church. Yet I do share "religion" with millions, and I'm grateful for that. I don't want to try and worship God alone, I start to make sense to myself, and as a friend says, I have trouble telling if it's God's voice or mine. And that's a dangerous place to be.
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