2009-05-26

Colin Smith points out that Ida only proves evolution if you assume that evolution is true, for it isn’t necessarily a ‘link’. For a lemur with some feature similar to humans in itself proves nothing, for it is just an acontextual snapshot, and one fills in the gaps according to his presuppositions. He also observes that while evolutionists say the missing link isn’t a problem, it’s odd how it becomes a problem once they’ve ‘solved’ it… Ida- The Missing Link-

Challies points to a classic example of technique based evangelism – it’s manipulative and creepy. It even deliberately aims to use psychological pressure. Soul-Winning Made Easy

Swan, commenting on a Luther criticism of Jerome, writes, “There's only one book with pure accurate truth. The Church Fathers, while saying some good things, also said some bad things. Simply because Rome says Jerome is now a saint, doesn't mean everything he wrote or held was perfect truth (Recall, my RC friends, he wasn't fond of the apocrypha). I don't find anything in the above statement by Luther all that outrageous.” Various Luther Tidbits

Kurschner writes Obama called the Islamic call to prayer one of the most melodious and beautiful sounds in the world, contrasting this with the report of a former Muslim who converted to Christianity, repenting of his sin of rejecting Jesus Christ as the Son of God.  What Beautiful Sound Does God Truly Desire-

The Church of Scotland has approved the motion to allow a practicing homosexual to minister. “This is a dark day in Scottish Church history and another sad chapter in the story of the mother church of Presbyterianism.” Church of Scotland votes in favor of homosexual minister (Derek Thomas)

Contrary to many claims, Christianity is doing a world of good, contributing 1/4 of all US giving to developing countries: “churches, ministries and similar entities sowed a whopping $8.6 billion into foreign soil in 2007. ” Religious Groups Provide a Quarter of All U.S. Aid to Developing Countries

“TIME Magazine offers some perspective on Ida (though they do so from an evolutionary perspective). "All of which renders the press release touting a 'revolutionary scientific find that will change everything' absolutely true -- as long as by 'everything,' you mean 'whether the branch of the primate family that includes monkeys, apes and humans comes from the suborder strepsirrhinae or the suborder haplorrhinae,' according to the PLoS One paper. And by 'change,' you mean 'adds information that may or may not help settle the question, but whose implications won't be known for a long time in any case.'"” 26)

A county in California is trying to force a home Bible Study to register with the government to continue to operate, or else make it shut down. This is nothing less than persecution, and trying to drown Christians in expensive bureaucracy so as to stop religious freedom. They were told that they “must stop holding "religious assemblies" until she and her husband obtain a Major Use Permit from the county, a permit that often involves traffic and environmental studies, compliance with parking and sidewalk regulations and costs that top tens of thousands of dollars.” Please Register Your Bible Study with the Government

Commenting on bondholders and GM, this article writes, “You would have to have a cold and mercenary character to seek what’s coming for GM. You would have to enjoy the smiting of the good or the fall of the strong. You would have to be the type who would chuckle as the arrow pierced Achilles' heel. You would have to be a GM bondholder.” http://www.reuters.com/article/bigMoney/idUS403032687720090526

Adams writes the a preacher should not strive for eloquence until he’s become a powerful expositor of the Scripture. “When you truly know the truth, it isn’t wrong to set it forth in the most winsome manner possible.” Eloquence—Good or Bad-

Here’s a quote worth thinking about: “The approach of most short-term mission teams seems to be to do things to the people instead of with the people. This approach exacerbates the feelings of inferiority that already paralyze the poor in my country and the feelings of superiority that often characterize those of us from wealthy countries. This dynamic is particularly problematic here. The government and the church have such a long history of paternalism that the people often believe they cannot do anything without the help of money and resources from others.” The Effect of Short-Term Missions on Poverty

Commenting on the John and Kate series, this post observes the wickedness of propping people up just to tear them down, which is happening as the same people who propped Kate Gosslein up as a Christian hero now calling her every manner of bad name and glorying in her destruction, just like the world props up a Britney Spears are Lindsay Lohan just to tear them down. John & Kate= Exactly What is So Wrong With Modern Christianity, But Maybe Not In The Way You Thi

JT endorses “the new IVP book by Clarke Forsythe, Politics for the Great Good: The Case for Prudence in the Public Square. (At the IVP site you can read the Preface, Introduction: Is it Immoral to Be Prudent? and Table of Contents.)” The argument in the book aims to establish that there is no moral compromise in aiming at the greatest possible good when the perfect is unavailable. Politics for the Great Good- The Case for Prudence in the Public Square

Bonhoeffer observes that the greatest psychological insight, ability, and experience cannot grasp this one thing: what sin is, and for this reason, it knows infinitely less than the simplest Christian. You can only be a sick man before a psychiatrist, but before a Christian you can be a sinner. Bonhoeffer on the Difference Between the Counsel of Psychiatry and Christianity

Payne points out the the hymn ‘Rock of Ages’ was redacted in the Wesleyan tradition to speak of cleansing from the power of sin, a concept foreign to the NT, as sin remains a powerful enemy of the faith, but in line with Wesleyanist ‘entire sanctification’. Toplady, who wrote the hymn, instead had said, ‘save from wrath and make me pure’, reflecting the double nature of Christ’s propitiatory atonement (we receive righteousness, he receives our sins). The double cure

JT quotes DeYoung: “Passivity is a plague among Christians. It's not just that we don't do anything; it's that we feel spiritual for not doing anything. We imagine that our inactivity is patience and sensitivity to God's leading. At times it may be; but it's also quite possible we are just lazy. When we hype-spiritualize our decisions, we can veer off into impulsive and foolish decisions. But more likely as Christians we fall into endless patterns of vacillation, indecision, and regret. No doubt, selfish ambition is a danger for Christians, but so is complacency, listless wandering, and passivity that pawns itself off as spirituality. Perhaps our inactivity is not so much waiting on God as it is an expression of the fear of man, the love of the praise of man, and disbelief in God's providence.” DeYoung- The Plague of Passivity and the Hyper-Spiritualizing of Decisions

Canadian households are more in debt than ever, at a whopping 1.3 trillion. Has anyone thought of, say, living within their means?? http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2009/05/26/canada-household-debt854.html

“I thought atheists hated "organized religion" and religious assemblies.  So why is it that a group of atheist parents (Parenting Beyond Belief) gather every Sunday morning for mutual support and to share their free-thinking ways.  I guess they have nothing else to do on Sunday mornings . . . Click here: Parents gather to nurture nonbelief - Faith & Spirit - Ledger-Enquirer.com” Keep Your Eyes on This One

Burk points out that the new Supreme Court justice, Sotomayor, appears to think that jurisprudence is about making policy, rather than applying law. Sotomayor- “Court is where policy is made.” Obama thinks empathy is a key ingredient for an effective judge. Sonia Sotomayor

Turk points to an interesting comment by someone illustrating a certain comfort with uncertainty about the normal things in life. Sometimes you give a guy a break

Mohler writes about the conflict of interest between parents’ right to determine the raising of children and the state’s interest in protecting the health and welfare of all citizens. He enumerates a number of tragic cases where parents, on religious grounds (e.g. faith healing) refused medical treatment for their children, where many died with easily treatable conditions. Mohler notes the broad consensus that a parent has no right to withhold treatment from children, and supports the right of the state to intervene here. However, he cautions that, considering the power of government and the reach of the state into almost all areas of life, the danger exists that the state could seek to expand this duty into other decisions related to education, discipline, and nurture. Most notably, he observes that Scripture nowhere forbids the use of medicine, and medicine is a blessing. “In these cases I advise what the great Reformer Martin Luther advised -- take your medicine and put your trust in God.” http://www.albertmohler.com/blog_read.php?id=3844

Piper writes about how not to read a parable. Some try to use the parable of the tenants to show that God didn’t know that His Son would die (blatantly contradicting the revealed truth that He was sent to die), by interpreting the owner’s (in the parable) seeming ignorance as God’s ignorance. But most immediately, the parable ends with this: "Have you not read this Scripture: ‘The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; this was the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes'?" (Mark 12:10-11). Hundreds of years before, the Psalms prophesied that the Messiah would be rejected, killed, and raised from the dead, and this is the Lord’s doing. Jesus Himself thus provides what is needed to immediately correct this error. How Not to Read a Parable

DeYoung elaborates a little on the benefit of Christ’s resurrection.

How does Christ’s resurrection benefit us? First, by his resurrection he has overcome death, so that he might make us share in the righteousness he won for us by his death. His resurrection assures us that God has accepted His work, and therefore His work is finished. Second, by his power we too are already now resurrected to a new life. Third, Christ’s resurrection is a guarantee of our glorious resurrection. How Does Christ's Resurrection Benefit Us-

Challies recommends Outrageous Mercy by William Farley. In this book, Farley examines some of the key messages communicated to us through the death of Jesus.. looking to the the implications of the cross, the meaning of the cross, in the Christian's life. Systematic theology tells us the truth. The cross demonstrates it. Outrageous Mercy

Again, Swan exposes the errors in yet another misrepresentation and character assassination by a Romanist of Luther. Proof of Luther's pathetic spiritual condition

The Darwin exhibit is a very clever form of mind control, basically consisting of: Setting up straw-men arguments that totally misrepresent what Bible-believing Christians accept. Showing how wrong Christians are for believing the things they supposedly believe (which they don’t believe in the first place!). Convincing visitors that Darwinian evolution is true, and that one is a fool to believe otherwise (and certainly foolish to believe the Bible) – by simply knocking down the absurd straw men, to establish their own credit.  http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/au/mind-control

Pastors (and parishioners) should be wary of expecting ‘results’ quickly, and they should be ready to settle in for the long haul (e.g. Piper, Dever, etc. model this). Alex Ferguson and ministry success

Russ Moore poses a serious question for his students (in an ethics class): Presented with a man, who is physically and psychologically transgender, having become a ‘woman’, adopted a child, who believes that he’s her mom, has come to believe in Christ, and is very sorrowful over his past, and wants to repent, but doesn’t know what to do, or if he is too far gone. To pastors: Show what you would say to this individual, step by step, what he should do, short and long term, and how you’d lead the congregation to think/act through the situation with the mind of Christ.  How the Gospel Ministers to the Transgendered

Hays quotes the rather jaded perspective of an antinatalist, pointing to the irony in that it is so nihilistic because it’s so idealistic. When idealism comes into contact with a fallen world, the result is bitter disillusionment. Nothing is ever good for the antinatalist because the bad spoils the good. Antinatalsim reveals the perverse ingratitude of man to God, and exposes the atheistic presupposition inherent in posing the problem of evil, since evil is only gratuitous if you reject God in the first place, for then there is no compensatory good. Is the problem of evil a problem-

Turretinfan continues a debate over limited atonement, wherein he argues to make the point that a significant number of important fathers held to limited atonement. As an aside, he observes that the "sufficient for all, efficient for the elect" position is fully consistent with the Limited Atonement position. It's even how John Calvin himself interpreted 1 John 2:2, one of the key passages in the limited atonement debate. Limited Atonement - Respone to Albrecht

This article at AiG describes the gruesome mechanics of Judas’ death involved in showing, for those who actually find it problematic, that Matthew and Acts do not contradict each in their accounts. One says Judas hanged himself. The other says ‘falling headlong he burst open in the middle and all his entrails gushed out.’ In the hot sun, a hanged body would bloat, easily bursting upon hitting the ground. http://www.answersingenesis.org/articles/2009/05/25/contradictions-how-did-judas-die

Let’s retire cheesy, inaccurate, overused sermon illustrations. Here’s two: The toy boat, and the footprints in the sand. Top 5 Worst Illustrations of ALL Time (let’s retire them)

Burk quotes Mohler pointing out that Obama didn’t discuss abortion at Notre Dame – President Obama merely talked about talking about abortion. It’s a moral evasion and insult to the issue, which, of course, he has to do, because otherwise he’ll find himself defending the indefensible. He’s president, and this means he can’t get by saying it is ‘above my pay grade.’ Talking about Talking about Abortion