Dangers to Your Christian Life (Edited, updated, and re-posted on 1 October 2025)

      Almost every time I am on one of my country's interstate highways I see someone texting on their cell phone while driving at 70 miles per hour (112.654 kilometers per hour). At that speed, the vehicle will travel the length of a football field in a few seconds WHILE THE DRIVER IS LOOKING AWAY FROM THE ROAD!

    This makes as much sense as turning on a chainsaw while entering a room where a baby is sleeping and throwing the chainsaw into the air. It may end well. I may not.

    Many Christians carelessly involve themselves in activities which are just as dangerous as a chainsaw. You may not agree with this list or may be able to add to it. Every item on this list has the potential to cause serious damage to your Christian life. 

    1. Practicing Cafeteria Christianity is when you take a little bit from here and little bit from there and reject things which make you uncomfortable, just like in an old-style cafeteria line. Everyone knows that there are some things about Christianity which are difficult. Paul had some strong things to say about accepting any changes to the Gospel.

    2. Religious discrimination and actual persecution are real and severe for Christians in many countries. Do not be foolish or naïve enough to believe that this does not occur in the “culturally advanced” Western nations.

    3. Complacency in your “goodness.” This is what Jesus meant about being like lukewarm water: “I will spew you out of my mouth.”

    4. Idolatry, like celebrity worship, stepping over other people for success, pursuing worldly pleasures to the point of obsession, being obsessed by where you live, or the fine clothing and jewelry you can wear to church, or by the important people you know, and extending even to things rarely recognized as sinful, such as food snobbishness.

    5. Getting involved in petty church squabbles. Really is self, pride and often reduces to factions led by two individuals. 

    6. Being too busy: becoming neglectful of church activities because of sports or busy business schedules.

    7. Accepting secularist ideas such as “all roads lead to God” (this minimizes Christianity and makes it just one religion among many), and believing non-marital sexuality is acceptable if “love” is involved.

    8. Fear of what other people think, fear of being cancelled. Who do you love more, Jesus or your social standing?

     9. Dabbling in astrology, Tarot, Ouija boards, automatic writing, divination, the occult, and other practices: these are not harmless children's games.

    10. Attempting an exorcism. Real demon possession is probably quite rare but Jesus acknowledged that it is real.

    11. Ghost hunting. The Bible never teaches the existence of ghosts though some people in the Bible obviously did believe in them. The appearances of dead Old Testament saints may have been the saints  actually being physically present. Ghost phenomena (hauntings, poltergeists, etc.) may be evidence of the other supernatural beings mentioned in the Bible. Do you really want to find out?

   12. Practicing Hatha Yoga. The Sanskrit word "hatha" (हठ) in English translates as "force" or "will" and is a system of physical exercises. From a physical standpoint, this is probably excellent for your health, relaxation, stress reduction, and bodily flexibility. When you practice yoga, from a spiritual standpoint, you are dabbling with Hinduism, a totally different religion from Christianity.

      The word "Yoga" (योग) is derived from yug, a Sanskrit word meaning "yoking" or "union." There are numerous types of yoga, all of which are focused on yoking or quieting the mind and achieving an inner stillness which contributes to a oneness with the universe, which is sometimes described as "cosmic consciousness."    

   13. Aligning oneself with extreme political views, whether conservative or progressive. Politics is not the answer; the Gospel is the answer. "Render unto Caesar" assumes that we should have civic and political involvement but our ultimate allegiance must be to Jesus. Secular political parties are ultimately not motivated by Christian principles but by a desire for political power. A real danger is equating national patriotism with Christianity. Real change can only come by reformed hearts, not by legislation.

    14. Allowing hatred or resentment to exist in your heart toward anyone. Hatred is corrosive and is a cancer. This is not about what the other person may have done but is about who you are.

    15. Reducing your Christianity to niceness, acceptance, social work, and a fight for social justice. These are important legitimate functions of the Church but they are absolutely not the essence of Christianity. The absolute, irreducible, core of the Christian message is returning each individual to a proper relationship with Jesus, one at a time, as if they were the only one. Each person on the Earth is of absolute worth because they are bought with the blood of Jesus.

    15. These first 14 are merely a few of the dangers Christians face. 

Science in Antiquity: Part 3

 Many modern people have a very limited view of history. They can only see or think about five or ten years into the past. They see history as boring and they think of the ancients as ignorant and backward. This was actually not true. What the ancients lacked was the modern accumulation of facts. An ancient Israelite would have been very puzzled and culture-shocked to have been dumped into the modern world, but he or she could have eventually learned to drive a car or to cook on a stove or to use a cellphone.

The ancients were just as intelligent as we are but the accumulation of scientific facts had not yet reached a critical point. Human knowledge took centuries to double, fact by fact. As knowledge accumulated, the rate of accumulation began to speed up. Every answer exposes a new question. Buckminster Fuller spoke of the Knowledge Doubling Curve which was relatively flat for centuries, then began a slow climb, and then went into an explosive upward thrust.

By the end of the 19^th Century, knowledge was doubling once per century. By about 1945, the rate of doubling was about every 25 years. By 1982, the rate was about every 12-13 months. By 2020, the doubling was occurring about every 12 hours. With at least 50,000,000,000 devices now operating and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the rate may now be in minutes.

 

b.80-70 – d. after 15 BC/BCE:  Life of Marcus Vitruvius Pollio, a Roman military, civil, material, mechanical, and chemical engineer, architect, artilleryman, construction expert, and acoustical engineer who designed theaters in which whispers could be heard. In Roman times he was best known for standardizing the sizes of pipes. He designed pulleys, cranes, hoists, water clocks, stucco, a type of odometer, a steam engine, catapults, and a type of central heating.

ca 99-ca 55 BC/BCE: The life of Lucretius, a Roman philosopher who was the first to describe Brownian Movement, the random movements of particles which are suspended in a gas or liquid. He speculated on what we would understand to be extraterrestrial life: “Nothing in the universe is unique and alone and therefore, in other regions there must be other earths inhabited by different tribes of men and breeds of beasts.”

120 BC/BCE: Death of the Greek scientist, Hipparchus. He was a mathematician and astronomer who compiled trigonometry tables and calculated the length of the year to within 6.5 minutes of the modern measurement. He also discovered the procession of the equinoxes. He also catalogued over 850 stars and prepared an accurate star map.

Ca 190 BC/BCE: 1. Birth of the Greek scientist, Hipparchus, in Nicaea, Bithynia (modern Iznik, Turkiye) He is a mathematician and astronomer who compiles trigonometry tables and calculates the length of the year to within 6.5 minutes of the modern measurement. He studied optics and geography, prepared star charts, and described a nova in 134 BC/BCE.

Ca 200 BC:  The Hopewell Native American Culture flourishes. (USA). They had knowledge of geometry and astronomy.

Choosing a Charity to Support

             Charity in the Bible is presented as “love in action,” not as a means of earning salvation but as a result of having been given the gift of salvation.  There are thousands of charities and, as we are financially able, we may donate to one or to many as we see fit. One caveat: for a Christian, our main purpose should be to advance the kingdom. Any other purposes, even those which are obviously positive, are secondary. 

            ἕκαστος καθὼς προῄρηται τῇ καρδίᾳ, μὴ ἐκ λύπης ἢ ἐξ ἀνάγκης· ἱλαρὸν γὰρ δότην ἀγαπᾷ ὁ Θεός 2 Corinthians 9:7, in a literal translation into English would read something like this: Every/each as he has decided in heart, not out of grudging or out of forced need/necessity, cheerful indeed giver loves God. Read this verse in your own preferred Bible translation.

            Not all charities are ethical and some border on actual fraud. Some give very limited funds to the causes they espouse, instead using most of their money for “administrative expenses.” Others resort to questionable practices to raise funds. They may send you a set of address labels or some small gift to make you feel a sense of obligation to them.

The website shown below discusses donor’s hesitance to contribute to charities which violate the donor’s privacy by selling their names and contact information to third parties. There are actually companies which sell targeted mailing lists of persons known to have donated to similar charities. For example, a person could be targeted for their history of donating to charities dedicated to a particular political orientation, or to a specific religious group, or to animal rescue activities, or to anti- or pro-abortion groups, or to foster involvement in the arts, or to literacy programs, or to homeless or injured veteran’s activities, or to  advance children’s sports involvement, or to disaster relief organizations, or to charities which are medically oriented. There is an established charity for almost any imaginable purpose and you can safely assume that most of them are willing to sell the contact information of their donors and to buy targeted lists of prospective new donors. They, and hundreds of others, will flood you with sometimes very insistent requests for donations.  On https://smartasset.com you can also read this article, “The 50 Worst Charities in America.”

https://www.workplaceprivacyreport.com/2022/03/articles/online-privacy/not-for-profits-charities-might-attract-more-donors-with-improved-website-content-attention-to-privacy/

This is unethical and is presumptuous, as if you owe your money to their particular charity. It exhibits an extreme disrespect for their donors but is not illegal and at least some of the donated funds go to their stated causes.

Favor Christian charities as your first choices. Give to secular charities if you have even more to give. Research your chosen charity’s mission statement carefully to make sure that they actually provide the majority of their funds to their stated purpose.  Some charities explicitly state that they respect their donors and that they do not sell your personal information to others. God loves a cheerful giver but he also expects us to use our gift of discernment. Use your money wisely to advance the Kingdom.

A few Bible verses about charity: Deuteronomy 15:11; Proverbs 14:21, 19:17; Malachi 3:10; Matthew 5:42, 6:1-2, 19:21; Luke 6:38, 11:41, 12:33; John 3:17; Acts 9:36, 20:35; Hebrews 13:16; Romans 12:13; Colossians 3:14; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 John 3:17; James 2:15-16. 

Hello, Grenada! 17 September 2025.

Hello, Grenada!  Welcome to the world-wide group of readers from many countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful. Tell your friends about this blog. Everyone is welcome.

Bonjour, Grenade ! Bienvenue parmi nos lecteurs du monde entier, venus de nombreux pays, qui visitent également ce blog. J'espère que vous trouverez certains articles utiles et pertinents. Parlez-en à vos amis. Bienvenue à tous.

As of 17 September, there have been 868,196 page views of this blog since May 2010. The current number of posts is 1814. These posts can be searched using the Search This Blog function. An alphabetical list of subjects discussed on this blog is at the extreme bottom of the blog page under Labels and indicates the number of posts about the subject in question. The Translate This Page tool can present the blog in numerous languages.

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Book Comment: A Survey of Old Testament Introduction

 

In his book, A Survey of Old Testament Introduction, Dr. Gleason L. Archer presents a conservative discussion pf Old Testament canonicity, historicity, information about the Semitic languages, known textual problems, the “specific difficulties” presented by each book, archaeological evidences, how the Hebrew/Aramaic manuscripts were prepared and transmitted to new generations, and the challenges which can be presented by higher criticism.

Gleason sees the Old Testament as the preparation and the New Testament as the completion of the Christian message. He points out that “It made a great deal of difference that Greek was precise in expressing time values, and that Hebrew laid chief emphasis upon mode of action rather than upon tense.”

The survey takes each book verse by verse and discusses historical, textual, and modern questions. The text assumes some level of knowledge about archaeology, the Hebrew language, the history of the Middle East, various approaches to biblical criticism, and tends to become a little technical on some points. It is obviously intended for beginning college or seminary level students but is not above the understanding of the interested layman. Pastors and academics will definitely find it useful.

As with most books such as this, what you get from the book depends on what you bring with you. You may not agree with everything the author says. Luke (see below) advises you to think for yourself.

Information you will need to search for this book:

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A general caution: books may give you wonderful new insights and explanations of subjects, but you should never base your Christian beliefs on any one book or the teachings of one person, no matter who they are. All teachings must be consistent with scripture. Read as the Bereans did, with discernment. “… for they received the word with great eagerness, examining the Scriptures daily to see whether these things were so.” Acts 17:11 NASB

Any doctrines must be consistent with the historical full body of Christian thought. Doctrines or teachings inconsistent with scripture in any way must be rejected. You would not eat cheese which had a fuzzy fungus growing on it.

Hello, Nauru! 16 September 2025.

 Hello, Nauru!  Welcome to the world-wide group of readers from many countries who also visit this blog.  I hope you find some of the posts useful or meaningful. Tell your friends about this blog. Everyone is welcome.

 As of 16 September, there have been 866,831 page views of this blog since May 2010. The current number of posts is 1812. These posts can be searched using the Search This Blog function. An alphabetical list of subjects discussed on this blog is at the extreme bottom of the blog page under Labels and indicates the number of posts about the subject in question. The Translate This Page tool can present the blog in numerous languages.

 The Labels section at the bottom of this page is useful in searching for all Saints on the Loose blog posts which mention a particular subject. Numerous subjects are mentioned on this blog. All, in one way or another, are pertinent to the purposes of this blog. Search for any word of interest to you. There are hundreds of labels on various subjects including grace, film commentary, food, Star Trek, sanctification, Pee-Wee Herman, Spain, blasphemy, Star of Bethlehem, distracted driving, ekklesia, and Arianism.

             This blog has been viewed from at least one hundred and forty-eight countries: Albania, Algeria, Angola, Antigua and Barbuda, Argentina, Armenia, Aruba, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Bolivia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Brunei Darussalam, Bulgaria, Burkina Faso, Cambodia/Kampuchea, Canada, Cayman Islands, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Democratic Republic of the Congo (Congo - Kinshasa), Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Egypt, El Salvador, Estonia, Ethiopia, Finland, France, Gabon, Georgia, Germany,  Ghana, Greece, Guam, Guyana, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast/Core d'Ivoire, Jamaica, Japan, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Kiribati, Kosovo, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Lithuania, Luxembourg,  Macau, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mali, Malta, Mexico, Moldova, Mongolia, Morocco, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Oman, Pakistan, Palau, Panama, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Republic of the Congo (Congo - Brazzaville), Reunion, Romania, Russia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Suriname, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Thailand, Trinidad and Tobago, Togo, Tunisia, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, Uganda, Ukraine, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States of America, Uruguay, Uzbekistan, Venezuela, Vietnam,  Yemen, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

        Some references say that there are 197 countries on Earth, but many people will say the number is 195, the number of members of the United Nations, plus Vatican City and Palestine, who are not UN members

Film Comment: Sinners (2025)

 

Sinners is a movie which is intended to be about racism, cultural oppression, colonialism, black culture, anti-religion, and anti-Christianity. As usual, I can make Christian observations about the film which are probably unintended by the director.

“Son, you keep dancin’ with the Devil, one day, he’s gonna follow you home,” from a pastor father to Sammie, nicknamed Preacherboy, who is aching to become famous for his outstanding blues guitar and singing talent. Sammie hooks up with two morally fluid brothers who are opening a juke joint. This sets up a conflict when two white men and a woman show up that night wanting to join in the fun. The problem is that they are vampires.

One man about to be killed/turned into a vampire begins to loudly quote the Lord’s Prayer. All the vampires join in and help complete the quotation. This seems to be intended to show that Christianity has no power against evil.

A Christian response: the frightened man’s words were just that, words, and they did have no power. There is a difference between knowing and believing. The power is not in the words. They are not a Magick spell. God is not our genie in a bottle. The words have power only as they are used by the Holy Spirit.

The theologian, Martin Luther, noted that "The Devil can quote scripture to his own ends." Satan quoted Psalms 91:11-12 while tempting Jesus to misuse his authority (Matthew 4:1-11, Luke 4:1-13). Satan is the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus responded to Satan's attack by quoting scripture back to him, Matthew 4:7, which quotes Deuteronomy 6:16..