Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Master of the Life of the Virgin: (fl. 1463-1490, aka: Master of Wilten, Johann van Duyren) This painter is identified only by his famed painting, The Life of the Virgin. The "van Duyren" identification is disputed.

Alan Ball: (b. 1952, Georgia, USA) Openly gay screenwriter, director, actor, producer. He has won an Academy Award, an Emmy, and a Golden Globe. His best-known projects are Six Feet Under, American Beauty, and True Blood.

Patricia Barnes: (b. Alabama, USA, aka: Sister Schubert) In 1992 she started Sister Schubert’s Homemade Rolls, now a $60,000,000/year company. Philanthropist.

Gregory of Nyssa: (b. 331? – d. 396?)Bishop of Nyssa and one of the Cappadocian Fathers (with his brother, Basil the Great, and his friend, Gregory of Nazianzus. Gregory was a staunch defender of orthodoxy and fiercely anti-Arian since Arianism denied the doctrine of the Trinity. He believed that the sudden realization of the provable massive extent of regularity and order in the cosmos was the most likely “proof” of God to reach a skeptic intellectual.

Thomas Jonathan Jackson: (b. 1824 – d. 1863, aka: Stonewall jackson) Presbyterian, Confederate general.

Do the Hokey Pokey!

A children's dancing song (the Hokey-Pokey), a Shaker dancing song (the Hinkum-Boobie), and a seventeenth century conjurer's phrase (hocus pocus) all seem to be derived from the Roman Catholic Latin Mass phrase, "Hoc est enim corpus meum," which means in English, "This is my body."

Christian Chefs Fellowship

The Christian Chefs Fellowship was started in 1997 by students at The Culinary Institute of America. Their website (http://www.christianchefs.org/) includes job listings, a culinary academy, recipes, and message boards.

The director of the fellowship is Ira Krizo, who is profiled in "Not Iron Chef, Christian Chef!" at http://www.christianchefs.org/about/news/encountersclip.pdf

Film Comment: Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music?

Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? (2004) is a documentary about the Christian Rock Music industry. Their music doesn't sound much like traditional church music, Gospel, or Contemporary Christian Music. This is not Amy Grant or Larnelle Harris; this is heavy metal Rap, death metal, growlers, screamers, thrash metal, emo, ska, techno, blues, Celtic, stadium rock, hardcore, rockabilly, etc. Mark Nicks of Cool Hand Luke says, "We are able to reach kids who will never go to a big Contemporary Christian show."

Though traditionalists often say that these musical forms are not even music, much less worship, the musicians respond that their music is from God and for God and has an evangelistic origin. Joel Thorpe of Alethian: "In the dark metal scene, it's all hatred and darkness and despair and we just want to show that there is hope, there is a light, and that light is Christ."

Some portions of the documentary were filmed at the Cornerstone Christian Music Festival in Bushnell, Illinois. The bands featured include Celestial Static, MXPX, Pedro the Lion, duVal, Elly Woman, five iron frenzy, Stryper, Squad Five-O, Zao, Alethian, P.O.D., the Supertones, and Living Sacrifice.

One of the musicians declares, "Chrisrians should be making incredible music!"

Religious Place Names

Sri Lanka: From "sri," Sanskrit for "sacred," and "lanka," Sanskrit for "Island."

Rajneeshpuram, Oregon, USA: This religious community is named for Chandra Mohan Jain (1931-1990) who was known as Bhagwan Shree Rajneesh. The Sanskrit name is in order, "Blessed one" + "sacred" + "lord of the night." "Pur" or "puram" means "city."

Ngirsu, Sumer: This is the modern Tell Telloh, Iraq. The ancient name is from the name of the god, Ningirsu/Ninurta.

Mokapu Beach, Mau'i, Hawaii, USA: From "kapu," Hawaiian for "forbidden" or "sacred."

Kingdom of Judah: From "yehudhah," Hebrew for "praised."

Film Comment: The Wild Dogs

There are several films carrying this title. This is the 2002 film directed by Thom Fitzgerald in Bucharest (Bucuresti), Romania.
The film won 4 awards in 2002 from the Atlantic Film Festival and 4 nominations from the Genie Awards and the Taos Talking Picture Festival. It is not Oscar quality, but it definitely will make you think, and squirm.

Several stories are twined together into a slice of several days in the life of the rich elite and the poor beggars of Bucharest. It takes place during the period of the "cull" of the wild dogs which basically overran the city after the fall of the Communist dictator Nicolae Ceausescu. The characters include, a highly reluctant city-employed dogcatcher; a Canadian pornographer in town to photograph fresh, very young meat; a cynical and corrupt diplomat and his disillusioned lonely wife; bands of abandoned children; hideously deformed "freaks of nature;" gypsies; beggars; and, of course, the dogs.

Unless you are a veteran viewer of hard-edged films I really can't recommend that you watch this. Some of it will make you angry, some of it will make you cry. Some of the language will offend you. You will not believe that Dorutu (a human torso) and "Sour Grapes" (whose knees bend backward as he walks around on all fours like a large crab) are real people, but they are. There were no CGI special effects involved in filming these characters.

The film causes extreme disagreements among its viewers. Some hate it, some say it is an accurate reflection of Bucharest. One Romanian emigrant said online, "Every country they got their poors." Claudita_993, a Romanian who resettled in Canada, said of the dogs, "I felt sorry for them and I despised them at the same time."

The point of the film, from a Christian perspective, is that the people in the film were the actual wild dogs, aimless and hopeless, scrounging each day just to survive, living utterly without purpose. There are no innocent people, not even the children. The only innocents are the dogs. It is a powerful presentation of the sheer lostness of the world living without Jesus Christ.

Book Comment: Jesus of Nazareth

Jesus of Nazareth (1977), by William Barclay, is a novelization of the film (also 1977) of the same name by Franco Zeffirelli. The novel adheres closely to the script and is heavily illustrated with color stills from the film. This was a major big-budget movie with more name actors and actresses than you want me to list here and featured a score by Maurice Jarre.

My Dad Can Beat Up Your Dad

A joke from A Comedian's Guide to Theology by Thor Ramsey (2008, Gospel Light, Ventura, California).

"...God is not a man but could easily kick your butt if needed. I wonder how Jesus responded to the kid who bragged, "I bet my dad could beat up your dad.""
"My dad created your dad."

Social Justice and the Church

God (I AM, Jahweh, Elohim, Allah, Deos, Theos, etc) is a God of paradoxes, He is the God of Mercy and the God of Righteous Judgement; the last shall be first; those who ostentatiously pray already have their answer; the King of the Universe appeared to us a a poor man; free will and predestination are both true.

Check your Bible, Jesus always spoke with and dealt only with individuals, never with governments or institutions. In front of Annas, the High priest, He spoke directly to Annas. In front of Pilate, Pilate, He spoke directly only to Pilate (John 18:33-38.) Even when Jesus spoke to large groups, He was speaking to His individual listeners.

Throughout the Bible and the teachings of Jesus is a great concern for the poor. Jesus makes it plain that a failure to help the poor is a failure to obey Him. It’s that simple, but that concern for the poor is a consequence of salvation, it is not the Gospel message.

The Gospel message and the ultimate concern of the Church, is that, through His freely given act of Grace, through His substitutionary death on the Cross, Jesus has defeated the consequences of man’s sin (death) and made it available to every individual on Earth.

The social actions of the Church are a vital function but when they become the primary or only focus, they become what many believe to be a heresy, because they replace the Gospel.
……………………………………………………………………….
Concerning the identity of the Church: the Church is not an organization, a denomination, or a “movement.” What constitutes the Church is the totality of all true believers in Christ, indwelled by the Holy Spirit. Not everyone who is a church member is a member of the εκκλεσια, the Church.

Advertisements

Several days ago I received an e-mail from a young woman who said she had checked out my blog and had clicked on all my advertisements. What she was wanting was for me to go to her blog and click on her ads. She is one of the bloggers desperately wanting to make money from their blogs. These people would click on ads for Osama bin Laden Cola.

The way the ad clicks work is that any blog which carries ads receives something like one-tenth of one cent per click while Google Adsense also receives revenue from the click and from selling the ad. There are hundreds of thousands of individual blogs so a few clicks on a few thousand blogs adds up to revenue for Google.

I consider my blog to be a ministry to other Christians and interested non-believers and hope to eventually grow my readership up to a much larger level than it currently has received. I harbor no delusions of making any money from it. I allow the ads to be displayed because I can't afford to fund a website on my own. If I can help Google/Blogger to give it to me for free, I'm fine with the ads.

So far the advertisements have followed the promised guidelines. Ad products are chosen based on key words which the Google computers detect in the text of the posts. This has, for the most part, worked well as long as I am careful. Once I made a post about chastity and the next day an advertisement for chastity belts came up! The modern use for chastity belts is primarily in the Goth subculture and in "alternative se_uality." (The _ is so I don't trigger an unwanted ad with this post!)

If you do find one of the advertisements interesting, feel free to click on it. As far as I know they are all legitimate.

The Longest Name in the Bible

The longest name in the Bible is Mahershalalhashbaz. This was the name God told Isaiah to give to his second son. The Hebrew words mean "the spoil speeds" or "the prey hastens."

"Moreover the LORD said unto me, Take thee a great roll, and write in it with a man's pen concerning Mahershalalhashbaz. And I took unto me faithful witnesses to record, Uriah the priest, and Zechariah the son of Jeberechiah. And I went unto the prophetess; and she conceived, and bare a son. Then said the LORD to me, Call his name Mahershalalhashbaz. For before the child shall have knowledge to cry, My father, and my mother, the riches of Damascus and the spoil of Samaria shall be taken away before the king of Assyria." Isaiah 8:1-4.

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: The Messiah Will be Born in Bethlehem

“But thou, Bethlehem Ephratah, [though] thou be little among the thousands of Judah, [yet] out of thee shall he come forth unto me [that is] to be ruler in Israel; whose goings forth [have been] from of old, from everlasting.”
 Micah 5:2

“And when he had gathered all the chief priests and scribes of the people together, he demanded of them where Christ should be born. And they said unto him, In Bethlehem of Judaea: for thus it is written by the prophet, And thou Bethlehem, [in] the land of Juda, art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come a Governor, that shall rule my people Israel.” Matthew 2:4-6.

“Hath not the scripture said, That Christ cometh of the seed of David, and out of the town of Bethlehem, where David was?”
 John 7:42

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Deng Qiong: (b. 1975, China) Medical technologist in Alabama. Within three months of becoming a Christian she had already brought her parents into the faith.

Isaac Watts: b. 1674, England – d. 1748) Theologian, logician, essayist, hymnwriter. Considered to be the “Father of English hymnody,” Watts wrote over 750 hymns. His best-known hymns include “When I Survey the Wondrous Cross,” “Oh God, Our Help in Ages Past,” and “Joy to the World.” He was an Anglican with Unitarian leanings.

Quintus Septimus Florens Tertullianus: (b. ca. 160, Libya – d. ca. 220, aka: Tertullian) Berber Christian writer and apologist who coined the term “trinity” and was the first to give an adequate explanation of the concept. He was also the first person to discuss “three persons, one substance,” and the first to use the terms “Old Testament” and “New Testament.”

Harold Philmon Reeves: (b. 1923, Louisiana, USA - d. 2009) In 1952, with his wife Rose Lengefeld Reeves, he became the first Southern Baptist missionary to Thailand.

Robert Dennis Crumb: (b. 1943, Pennsylvania, USA, aka: "R. Crumb.") Cartoonist, illustrator, satirical underground comic book artist, greeting card designer, mandolinist. He was the creator of Zap Comix (1968), and the graphic novel, Book of Genesis (2009). His most well known creations are Devil Girl, Fritz the Cat, Honeybunch Kaminsky, Mr. Natural, and the phrase, "Keep on Truckin'." Crumb was raised as a Roman Catholic but now considers himself to be an agnostic.

The Best Thing

"There's nothing better than being absolutely sure that the most powerful Being in the universe adores you as His own child."
Francis Chan in Forgotten God.

Book Comment: Share Jesus Without Fear

Share Jesus Without Fear by William Fay takes away all your excuses for not witnessing to others. The book talks about common reasons people don't share their faith, from fear of rejection, fear of friend's reactions, fear that they really don't know enough, fear that they will look stupid, etc. Fay points out a promise from God to a man who was afraid to step up: "...I will be with thee..."Exodus 3:12.

Fay gives step by step instructions for those with no idea where to start. He gives a list of Share Jesus Questions to ask those to whom you talk and clear answers to many of the objections and dodges which they will almost surely throw back at you. And then ... he tells you the secret: It is not your job to convert anyone to Christianity. It is your job to be obedient and step forward when called.

When you share the Gospel you have obeyed, you have succeeded. It is the Holy Spirit who convicts and converts the unbeliever.

"For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek." Romans 1:16

Christian Comment on Films, Part 3

Christian films date back to 1897 when four Passion Plays were set to film, one of them by Thomas Alva Edison. The first feature length American film was From Manger to the Cross. Since then there has been a steady stream of overtly Christian films like The Robe, Ben-Hur, The Greatest Story Ever Told, The Hiding Place, Jesus, Left Behind, The Restless Ones, Flywheel, Chariots of Fire, Amazing Grace, etc.

The BIlly Graham Ministries produced a series of films including Souls in Conflict, The Restless Ones, Joni, Then Sings My Soul, Eye of the Storm, The Home Coming, Last Flight Out, Cry From the Mountain, etc.

I believe that a Christian can derive insights even from films made by non-Christians; even from films which are anti-Christian. Go to the Labels listing below the last post on this page and click on "film commentary." Check out my posts for Time Bandits, Watermelon Man, The Man Who Could Work Miracles, I Am Curious (Yellow), the decidedly weird Rabbit and the blasphemous Jesus Christ, Vampire Hunter.

Christian Comment on Films, Part 2

Most films are made by non-Christians but that doesn't mean that they have nothing to say to us. Films can present positive and negative demonstrations to us of religious and philosophical concepts. Many films made by non-Christians contain objectionable elements (nudity, profanity, violence, non-Christian concepts, etc). Viewers have to decide for themselves and their children what they are willing to see or not to see,

One limit for me is the depiction of graphic, unsimulated sex. It is entirely possible to depict sexual situations, which are a legitimate subject of discussion, without resorting to showing actual sexual acts. Some would call this opinion prudery, but it is not.

An objection which some throw up is that less resistance is mounted to the depiction of graphic violence and gore than to the filming of a single sexual act. That is true, but the argument is fallacious because the violence and gore are not real, no one is injured by air bladders, latex appliances, prosthetics, puppetry, computer generated graphics, and red syrup.

A sexual act, in the Christian understanding, is to be restricted to a husband and wife between whom it is beautiful, natural, and fully approved by God. As the writer of Hebrews tells us, the marriage bed is undefiled." (Hebrews 13:4)

A recent film including graphic onscreen sex is Antichrist by the Danish director, Lars von Trier. The point being made is not enhanced by the inclusion of the insert (excuse me, that is the technical term) and adds nothing to the otherwise gripping horror film based on the emotional and mental deterioration of a woman whose infant son died by falling out of a window.

Sex outside of marriage is illicit and actual sex in a film, no matter how nobly or artistically it is intended or presented, consists of two (or sometimes more) people who ultimately are engaging in sexual union for financial remuneration. By definition, that constitutes prostitution. Look it up.

Christian Comment on Films, Part 1

To even begin to really understand a subject requires years of study and application. This holds true whether the subject is hitting a curveball with a wooden bat, understanding the difference between hairy cell leukemia and multiple myeloma, putting in a bathroom exhaust fan, playing a clarinet, repairing an aortic aneurism, preaching a sermon, or illustrating a comic book, the key to mastery of a subject is repetition and attention to detail.

When one approaches mastery of a subject, recurrent patterns begin to seem obvious, even predictable. Wayne Gretzky appeared to know, without looking, where all the other players were on the ice, because he did know. To quote The Great One, "Don't go where the puck was. Go where the puck is going to be." That is mastery of a subject.

I make no claim of having achieved film mastery; one viewing of The Independent Film Channel's sarcastic game show program, The Ultimate Film Fanatic, disabused me of that notion, but, by my own personal count, as of today, I have seen 6117 films.

Most of the films I've seen only once, and, for most of them, once was plenty. A few were good enough to view repeatedly and a very few can only be described as artistic masterpieces.

I make no apology for loving movies and I make no apology for having seen some films of which you probably would not approve. As I once told my son when we went to see the Rolling Stones, you can appreciate someone's artistry with approving of their lifestyle, or, for that matter, their message.

Growing up in a conservative Southern Baptist environment, I knew people who never saw any films, even religious ones, because they considered them to be evil, or, at best, a distracting "bad influence." I didn't believe then, and don't believe now, that films, in and of themselves, are outside God's will for Christians. They are like all other forms of art, neutral. The content of the films and the intent of the filmmakers are what give them their worth, or lack of it.

While I agree that many modern films are pure trash, some take the art of filmmaking to great heights and are as brilliant as a sculpture by Michelangelo, a Wayne Gretzky goal, a Jack Kirby or Steve Ditko superhero bursting out of the confines of a comic book panel, or one of Mozart's symphonies. Those films, admittedly, are rare.

Film Comment: Duel

Duel was just a 1971 TV movie, like all the others which showed up once a week on network television back when good movies didn't cost as much to make as they do now. It is today considered to be one of the classics, a fine textbook example of tight, fast-paced plotting and suspenseful direction, and, incidentally, the first feature effort of Steven Spielberg.

Richard Matheson, a master of the twist ending short story, wrote the screenplay with its bare and simple story: a traveling salesman named David Mann (Dennis Weaver, Chester of Gunsmoke fame), driving a less than reliable car, is followed by, toyed with, and then menaced by, a relentless large tractor trailer truck which seems intent on terrorizing him.

When the frantic salesman stops at a truck stop the truck does also and the salesman unhappily realizes that one of the customers in the restaurant is probably the truck's driver. The problem is that he could be any one of them.

David Mann survives his ordeal by tricking the truck (and that is how it is presented, the truck more than the driver) into running off a cliff into a fiery crash below. Mann survives but there is no reason for any of it. Absolutely no explanation is ever given, just as there often seems to no explanation to real life.

Some people seem to be relentlessly pursued and crushed by life and never seem to know how to escape or improve their fate. Desperation hounds them every minute (the British call it "quiet desperation") and their every situation seems to fall apart into smelly mush. They live in fear and dread, often of nothing in particular.

Psychologists would advise the sufferers to step back from their problems, acknowledge their fears, and learn to view their situation from outside of their situation. The rationale is that what can be viewed without emotional baggage can often be handled and controlled logically.

There is, of course, some truth in this approach, but Christians know that it is sadly incomplete.

Placing one's trust in the Lord in every situation opens the believer up to the power of God. There is no situation which He can not use for His purposes. Being within His will means that, ultimately, the believer is safe no matter what happens. This is how Paul and Silas were able to sing after being beaten and thrown into jail for refusing to shut up about Jesus. (Acts 16:16-35)

Another light bulb joke

How many Nazi's does it take to change a light bulb?
Vun. He vill change it und he vill like it!

TV Guardian

TV Guardian (http://www.tvguardian.com/gshell.php) is "The Foul Language Filter." Parents may be interested in checking this out. There are demonstration clips on the website. What the service does is drop the sound for the duration of the offensive word/s. Warning: the demos include the edited and unedited versions of the clips. The service works with television and films.

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Barret Swatek: (b. 1977, Alabama) Figure skater, film, television, and internet actress,

Nicholas Donin: (.fl. 1240, France) aka: Nicolas Donin. Jewish convert to Roman Cathlicism, became a Franciscan. Virulently anti-Jewish. At his urging, Pope Gregort IX seized all copies of the Talmud. In France. About 12000 Talmuds were burned.

Dennis Colin Leary (b. 1957, Massachusetts) Actor, comedian, writer, director. Raised as a Roman Catholic.

Desmond Mpilo Tutu: (b. 1931, South Africa) Apartheid opponent, first black South African Anglican Archbishop of Capetown. 1984 Nobel Peace Prize.

Sven I: (b. 985 – d,. 1014) King of Denmark.

Isaac Watts Poem

"The best obedience of my hands
Dares not appear before thy throne
But faith can answer Thy demands
By pleading what my Lord has done."
Isaac Watts (1674-1748)

A clear and concise statement of salvation by grace.

Super Obama

This is not, never has been, and never will be, a political blog, so this is not a political post. This is a comment by a Christian man on a situation involving another Christian brother, President Barack Obama.

On 30 August 2009, I wrote about an Obama Christ painting on http://www.jesusoftheweek.com and said that, as a Christian man, President Obama should be offended by the picture and should be trying to discourage others from doing similar paintings.

Now, on http://www.stylinonline.com/barrackobama.html there is a posting of a Super Obama T-shirt by the artist Alex Ross. The painting depicts the President tearing open his business suit (just like Superman) to expose his superhero uniform underneath. On his chest, instead of Superman's "S" is a large red "O." It is well-known that Superman is considered to be a literary Christ figure.

I am aware that most people will just find the Super Obama shirt to be funny and will think nothing further of it. I suppose that I am holding President Obama to a standard to which he does not hold himself. I just wish he would make some sort of an effort to discourage this sort of thing.

This, and other issues, is discussed on the group blog (six writers), Holy Heroes, Religion in Comics. http://holyheroes.blogspot.com/. A warning: you will not agree with every post and some of the subjects discussed may offend you.

The Glory for Christ Football League

Tim Tebow is the most well known home-schooled football player. He grew up in Florida which is one of the twenty-four US states to allow home schooled kids to play with public or private school teams. Georgia is one state which does not.

The eight team Glory for Christ Football League is made up of homeschoolers and students from small private Christian academies which don't have teams of their own. One coach has told his team to "block as if you're blocking for God," which of course, they are. Any activity performed for the glory of God is holy. We often forget that.

Football can be holy. Being a lawyer can be holy. Acting can be holy. Brother Lawrence, a 17th century lay Carmelite brother, in his book, The Practice of the Presence of God, showed that even cooking, cleaning pots and pans, and repairing shoes can be holy.

To see a slideshow on The New York Times website about The Glory for Christ Football League, go to http://www.nytimes.com/slideshow/2009/06/25/sports/0626-FOOTBALL_index.html

Christians

At some time during their lives, the following people have publicly identified themselves as Christian. Inclusion in this list does not indicate approval or disapproval of the person, their religious beliefs, or their actions. This is a recurring segment in this blog.

Michael Francis Moore: (b. 1954, Michigan, USA) filmmaker, author, liberal political commentator. His films are often quite controversial, taking an extreme left view. Moore is a Roman Catholic.

Kirk Thomas Cameron: (b. 1970, California, USA) Actor, evangelist. He starred in Fireproof, the highest grossing independent film of 2008. He has won numerous acting awards.

Luciano Pavarotti : (b. 1935, Italy – d. 2007) Operatic tenor, humanitarian. 1998 Grammy legend Award. Roman Catholic.

Nodar Kumaritashvili: (b. 1988, Georgia – d. 2010) Georgian Olympic luger killed at Whistler, British Columbia when he flew out of the luge track and hit a metal pole.

Jeremiah Castille: (b. 1961, Georgia, USA) Professional football player who, in college, was on the last Bear Bryant-coached team. He is the father of two NFL players, Tim and Simeon.

You Tube Funnies

It may just be my bizarre sense of humor but I laughed all the way through a short You Tube video entitled, "How To Defeat Calvinism." Its sarcasm struck a jovial chord within me.

I also laughed at "Arminian Witnessing" and "Calvinist Witnessing." Both of these shorts are part of a posted series of films populated by Lego People and cartoon characters.

New Listing in My Blog/Website Roll

I have added BlogCatalog to the list of blogs and websites I check regularly. The Christian section of their listings contains hundreds of blogs ranging from the daily musings of Christian soccer moms, to devotionals, to self-proclaimed mystics and prophets, and to hard theology. It is an excellent place to browse through blogs expressing the great diversity of modern Christian thought and is therefore totally in keeping with the theme of this blog.

I Am Not Ashamed!

Franklin Graham, the evangelist son of Billy Graham, declared on the website of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association that "I am not ashamed of the Gospel," quoting from Romans 1:16. He predicted in his statement that a time may come in America where public statements about the Christian view on abortion or homosexuality and clear preaching of the Gospel will be outlawed as hate crimes. You don't think it could happen here? It has already happened in some European countries. There will even be people who identify themselves as Christians who become angry about what I just wrote in the second sentence. They do not agree that abortion and the practice of homosexuality are proscribed by scripture and their understanding of the the gospel, το ευανγγελιον, the "good" or "true message." is murky at best. If someone can not explain clearly and plainly what the gospel is, then they are, to quote our friend Christopher Hitchens, "... really not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

Are you able to say along with Pastor Graham, "I am not ashamed of the Gospel."?

Practice Your Religion

On 26 February 2010, Northwest Yeshivam, an Orthodox Jewish high school in Yakima, Washington, chose to forfeit a game in the Washington State high school basketball tournament rather than have its students violate a religious fast (the Fast of Esther) by rehydrating themselves during the game. They could have played the game without rehydrating liquids such as Gatorade but felt that that would be dangerous for their student's health. Good for them on several levels.

1. They put their student's health above winning a game.
2. They didn't ask for special treatment by insisting that the date of the game be changed to fit their agenda.
3. They showed their students, and those at the other schools, that principle overrules personal wishes.
4. They were faithful to their religious beliefs.

It is easy to compromise one's beliefs and principles "just this one time." One time can become many. People of faith should remain faithful to their beliefs. If you are a Roman Catholic, be the best Roman Catholic you can be. If you are a Baptist, be the best Baptist you can be. If you are a Jew, be the best Jew you can be. If you are a Bahai, be the best Bahai you can be. Otherwise, don't waste your time pretending.

Cutting to the Chase

Sometimes an outsider sees things more clearly than those on the "inside." The outsider has no reason to be diplomatic; they can be blunt, even rude, and say what they think needs to be said.

In The Portland Monthly for 27 February 2010, British atheist Christopher Hitchens was interviewed by a Unitarian minister named Marilyn Sewell. Hitchens told her what he really thought.

Sewell: "I'm a liberal Christian, and I don't take the stories from the scripture literally. I don't believe in the doctrine of atonement. ... Do you make a distinction between fundamentalist faith and liberal religion?"

She wasn't expecting his response.

Hitchens: "I would say that if you don't believe that Jesus of Nazareth was the Christ and Messiah, and that he rose again from the dead and by his sacrifice our sins are forgiven, you're really not in any meaningful sense a Christian."

Their interview was conducted over a dinner meal and Dr. Sewell (http://www.marilynsewell.com/) says that as he continued to drink, Hitchens became increasingly ascerbic and insulting. That happens sometimes when people drink.

Sewell's accessment of Hitchens was that he knows very little about religion and that his responses should "not be confused with thoughtful discourse." I disagree. His responses may have been what they were because he knows what he believes, why he believes it, and exactly who he was talking to. And, there is a very real possibility, given the pointedness of what he said, that he was prompted to speak by the Holy Spirit. (See my 20 February 2010 post, "Listen to the Holy Spirit.')

Messianic Prophecies from the Bible: Herod's Slaughter of the Children in Bethlehem

Messianic Prophecies is a recurrent segment in this blog.

Old Testament:

“Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, [and] bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they [were] not.” Jeremiah 31:15.

New Testament:

“Then Herod, when he saw that he was mocked of the wise men, was exceeding wroth, and sent forth, and slew all the children that were in Bethlehem, and in all the coasts thereof, from two years old and under, according to the time which he had diligently enquired of the wise men. Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying, In Rama was there a voice heard, lamentation, and weeping, and great mourning, Rachel weeping [for] her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not." Matthew 2:16-18.