Weekly roundup

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I saw this picture at Casting Pearls Before Swine and thought it was worth a 2nd viewing.  Greetings from Mt. Perspective!  (It says, “Now that I’m safe I’m Pro-Choice!”)
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You know you are blessed when the abortionist who tries to kill you ends up signing your birth certificate.  Just more evidence that abortion kills an innocent [...]

Coveting

It is easy to take the 10th Commandment (Thou shalt not covet) more lightly than others, because it not as highly ranked, right?  But coveting leads to all sorts of problems and is at the root of violating many of the other commandments.
Coveting is bad because when we covet we make ourselves miserable.  But there [...]

Context counts and early church leaders on abortion

This is a combo post.
One of the most important rules for Bible study is to never read (just) a Bible verse.  Countless errors occur when people pick and choose verses they like while ignoring the real meaning of the passage.  An individual verse can’t mean something different than it does in the broader passage.  I have accidentally [...]

Must-see videos

These Stand to Reason videos are simply outstanding.  Greg Koukl is the most well-reasoned, winsome, articulate and effective apologist and teacher I’ve come across. 
The videos are just a couple minutes long.  I highly encourage Christians and non-Christians to watch at least a couple of them.  They will educate you and help you think more clearly.
Their Podcast, website [...]

Who can you marry? An exhaustive list of Biblical rules.

According to the Bible, a Christian should only marry a person who is:

A Christian
Able to be married (i.e., of legal age, not married already, etc.)
Of the opposite sex

Item 3 used to be self-evident (and still is, for most of us), but we had to add it to the list a few years back. 
That’s it.  The key [...]

Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed

Seven minute preview of the upcoming movie. 
The more I thought about this situation, the more I wondered why we tolerate free speech in every other area of this society, but not here.
What makes this situation so different?  In my experience, people who are confident in their ideas are not afraid of criticism.  So that tells me that [...]

Total Transformation’s Tips

I just wanted to plug my friend John’s cool site, Total Transformation (and, to a lesser extent, his irreverent Musings, Rants and Monologues site).
He documents his successful and sustained weight loss and fitness journey and encourages others as well, and he does this with a Christian worldview and a good sense of humor. 
He also has the guts [...]

Favorite dish of liberal theologians & skeptics: Shellfish

 
As always, this is about careful thinking and proper analysis of the Bible and not about picking on homosexuals.  We are all sinners in need of a Savior. 
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Many liberal theologians, skeptics and pro-gay lobbyists use the “shellfish” argument to undermine and/or dismiss parts of the Bible they disagree with, often mocking about how they love [...]

Hell is not very popular

I once mentioned in an adult Sunday School class how people often quote Matthew 25:40  (“Whatever you did to the least of these, you did unto me”) but they almost never quote verses 45-46 (“He will reply, ‘I tell you the truth, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you [...]

Privacy

Clinton, Obama and Edwards would all demand pro-abortion Supreme Court justices (But there is no litmus test, of course).
Their rationale was the typical political weasel-word privacy. Privacy to do what, pray tell?  Have an abortion, of course. 
Does a woman have a right to kill her toddler in the privacy of her own bedroom after consulting privately with her [...]

Weekly roundup

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Maybe the death penalty is the deterrent many of us knew it was.  And even if studies couldn’t prove it out, we all know that if traffic tickets cost a nickel they would be less of a deterrent and if they cost us 1 yr. in jail they would be more of a deterrent.  So [...]

Fasting

Fasting is mentioned in the Bible several times but there aren’t a lot of details on how/when to do it.
I have never done much fasting.  I used to listen to Bill Bright (deceased former leader of Campus Crusade for Christ) a bit after my lunch time workouts.  He’d go on about fasting and it just made me more and more [...]

Poor arguments to make with atheists

There are three ways discussions with atheists get off track rather quickly. 
1. Don’t confuse moral behavior with a foundation for morality.  The claim that atheists don’t have a foundation for morality (a true statement in my view) is often miscommunicated or misinterpreted as saying they don’t have morals (a typically unfair and inaccurate statement).  Some atheists [...]

Roman soldiers in the Bible

A Christian leader I really respect claimed that he couldn’t be a policeman because his faith wouldn’t permit it.  I don’t have a desire to be a policeman, but we need Christians in all kinds of jobs like that. Why would anyone want all the police to be non-Christians?!
The Bible has nothing to indicate that [...]

Weekly roundup

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A friend mentioned that his daughter made the following point about capital punishment and abortion so I added it to my post on the same topic. (Thanks, Michelle – what a brilliant and wise freshman you are!)  Here’s a paraphrase:
Actually, I am OK with unrestricted access to abortions . . . provided that the unborn get [...]

The Israelites and me

When reading the Old Testament I often think, “Wow, these Israelites just didn’t get it!”  After all,  God spoke to them, gave them his laws, made and fulfilled promises, etc. but they kept turning away.  The consequences were severe, just as God had warned.  They turned back and God forgave them, but then the cycle [...]