Beyond parody

As we left Manhattan at the end of our vacation on one of those wild the-stereotypes-about-NY-drivers-are-true rides, I saw a Methodist church with a big gay pride parade banner outside of it.  I looked up the website of the Church of the Village today and found this notice:
Join us as we observe Pentecost, Agape Sunday, Gay [...]

Michael Jackson, Farrah Fawcett and a couple hundred thousand not-so-famous people . . .

. . . all died today.  I hope that many of them trusted in Jesus for their salvation before they died, because:
Hebrews 9:27 And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment
Their eternal destiny is fixed.  I saw one blogger say he hoped Fawcett was at peace now.  [...]

The “still, small voice” was a voice

The Bible passage below is often misinterpreted.  It pertains to the Prophet Elijah after his amazing victory over the prophets of Baal at Mount Carmel.  He has run away to avoid the wrath of Jezebel and is hiding in a cave.
1 Kings 12-13 After the earthquake came a fire, but the LORD was not in [...]

The Immaculate (Mis)conception

I was recently corrected by a fellow blogger because I used the term “Immaculate Conception” in an erroneous way.  I always thought the term referred to Jesus’ conception, but it turns out that it refers to the false teaching that Mary was conceived without original sin.  My bad.
(As noted on the Sorry, but Mary can’t [...]

Bait & switch = bad idea. Forgetting to switch = really bad idea.

The Bible teaches that we should not use trickery to share the Gospel.
1 Thessalonians 2:1-6 You know, brothers, that our visit to you was not a failure. We had previously suffered and been insulted in Philippi, as you know, but with the help of our God we dared to tell you his gospel in spite [...]

Odd similarities

There is an weird sort of parallel between many atheists and theologically liberal Christians: Making up a false version of God.  The difference, of course, is that one group doesn’t believe in their false version and the other does believe in their false version.  But the end result is the same: Self-worship, or making up [...]

Certainty

I’m revising and re-running this in (dis)honor of the commenter who trotted out the straw man about the “supposed certainties of conservative-traditional Christianity.” Eek! 
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It seems I have have acquired a little Internet ”fan club” that likes to dismiss me for being so certain about things.  I can’t miss the irony of them being certain that [...]

The Essentials of the Christian Faith

I thought this link on The Essentials of the Christian Faith was a good summary of essential doctrines (e.g., Salvation by grace alone through faith alone, the bodily resurrection of Christ Jesus from the dead) and non-essential ones.
You don’t have to know the essentials to be saved (see the criminal on the cross in Luke 23), [...]

If it feels good, you shouldn’t necessarily do it

Many people subscribe to the philosophy of “if it feels good, do it,” or its cousin, utilitarianism, which is defined as:
the ethical doctrine that virtue is based on utility, and that conduct should be directed toward promoting the greatest happiness of the greatest number of persons (Dictionary.com)
I see at least three significant problems with these [...]

One of Satan’s big schemes

I heard about a ministry called Abortion Changes You on a Stand to Reason Podacst.  They share many stories about how it doesn’t just impact the women involved, but the men and other family members as well.  One woman told her boyfriend they couldn’t go to church because they had committed a big sin.
The founder’s story [...]

The flip side of moral relativism

Greg Koukl of Stand to Reason made a good point about the flip side of moral relativism and those who say we don’t know what truth is. 
Here’s a paraphrase: If you don’t know what truth is then you don’t know what a lie is.  If you can’t define what a lie is then you are [...]

“They only care about ______”

A poor argument used to try to silence orthodox Christians and to change the subject is to claim that we only care about abortion and homosexual behavior.  That is thoroughly false on two levels and irrational and uncharitable as well.
First, we care about a whole lot more. Go check out who starts and funds most [...]

Roundup

President Obama is really bad at science.  He thinks that abortions don’t kill human beings.  He should check out secular embryology textbooks to see the scientific facts.  But why let pesky scientific facts get in the way of your worldview and your financial support?
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Need a laugh?  I think you’ll get one from this list over at [...]

Christians. The original diversity group.

Christians.  The original diversity group.
 
There is neither Jew nor Greek, slave nor free, male nor female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus.
 
Galatians 3:28
When we had a Christian employee network group at Compaq that was one of our tag lines (that was before HP came along and decided our organization was too controversial). Not [...]

Kairos Prison Ministry and the 5 Love Languages

I was reflecting on why the Kairos Prison Ministry is so effective at helping transform lives and it occurred to me that one of the reasons is that is conveys the love of Christ so thoroughly and effectively.  By coincidence or design, it uses all of the The Five Love Languages in reaching out to prisoners.
Here’s [...]

Saved and confused

Cue the Led Zeppelin soundtrack . . .
The mark of a Christian is faith in Jesus Christ.  See the criminal on the cross for exhibit A.  He never tithed, read the Bible, took communion, spoke in tongues, got baptized, did good works, wore the right clothes, sang the right songs, etc. but he was saved by faith [...]