Category: Random

What?! Wait! You Knew?!

Posted on by Alan

God pointing at cowering man

Just imagine you are Abimelech. A rich guy comes into your territory with a cute sister (although she had to be pretty old) and you take her for your wife. Win!

However…

But God came to Abimelech in a dream by night and said to him, “Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is a man’s wife” (Genesis 20:3, English Standard Version).

Ack! But…wait a minute…

Now Abimelech had not approached her. So he said, “Lord, will you kill an innocent people? Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister’? And she herself said, ‘He is my brother.’ In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this (Genesis 20:4-5).

Touché. Good to be able to clear that up. But…wait a minute…

Then God said to him in the dream, “Yes, I know that you have done this in the integrity of your heart, and it was I who kept you from sinning against me. Therefore I did not let you touch her” (Genesis 20:6).

If I were Abimelech, I would have said…

Continue reading “What?! Wait! You Knew?!”

Remembering the Bow

Posted on by Alan

Noah's ark and a rainbowThis year I am reading the entire Bible again (you should too), and yesterday the flood subsided. Afterward, our Lord tells Noah:

14 When I bring clouds over the earth and the bow is seen in the clouds, 15 I will remember my covenant that is between me and you and every living creature of all flesh. And the waters shall never again become a flood to destroy all flesh. 16 When the bow is in the clouds, I will see it and remember the everlasting covenant between God and every living creature of all flesh that is on the earth (Genesis 9:14-16, English Standard Version).

Considering God is an omniscient and omnipotent being, doesn’t it seem odd that He would need a rainbow to be reminded that he promised not to drown all of us again? We could say that this is a case where humans, naturally being human-centric, are using anthropomorphic language to describe God…but here the Most High is being directly quoted.

So, does God have to, like His creatures, tie a string around His finger to not forget things?

Continue reading “Remembering the Bow”

Chris from Black Stone Cherry being baptized

Welcome to the Body of Christ Chris (of Black Stone Cherry)!

Posted on by Alan

Soon after becoming a teenager music became a combination of an inspiration and an addiction for me, and within the last few years I ran into a great band called Black Stone Cherry. They quickly became one of my favorite groups.

Of course, Jesus is even more important than music, no matter how loud and great the guitars are. 🙂

So, even more exciting than the fact that Black Stone Cherry is going to release another CD in 2014 was the news today (on Facebook) that Chris Robertson (lead vocals and guitar) joined the body of Christ at the end of 2013. With the permission of Black Stone Cherry to reprint them on Traditores.org, here are the picture and post:

Chris from Black Stone Cherry being baptized

We hope 2014 is going great for everyone so far!
We ended 2013 in a very cool way and we hope this photo will encourage anyone searching or in need of inner peace! As BSC, we’re not “crazy Bible thumpers”…don’t get us wrong, we love to have a good time and rock out and all that fun stuff..but, we do love some us some Jesus! Right before Christmas, Chris was baptized by Ben, with assistance from Kevin Estes and pastor Chad Lockhart at Highland Hills Community Church in Glasgow, KY! The whole band was there and it was an awesome thing! We realize how lucky we are to be living our dream in music, and we owe our gift to God!
This isn’t a “publicity stunt” nor is it a “political religious move”. This is simply a public display of what we are proud of and we hope that someone, even if just ONE person, is affected by this in a positive way..then that’s what it’s all about!
We love yall and can’t wait to get back on stage this year and yes…melt your face clean off your….face..:-)

“Ben” is Ben Wells, Black Stone Cherry’s rhythm guitarist and a fellow brother in Christ.

Welcome to the body of Christ Chris!

Praise God for the change He made in you.

Praise God for the free gift of salvation He offers all who will trust and follow Him.

Praise God for the unabashed testimony Black Stone Cherry has made for their Lord and Savior.

Oh, and praise God for such great news after a rather stressful first day back at work in 2014. This story was a huge blessing to me—I hope it is the same for you.

P.S. If you are interested in the embedded Facebook version of their post, here it is: Continue reading “Welcome to the Body of Christ Chris (of Black Stone Cherry)!”

Sun breaking through clouds

May the New Year Be the Last!!!!

Posted on by Alan

Taking one last look at Facebook last night, I came across this New Year’s wish from a friend:Facebook post

May the new year be better than the last!!!!

And, dear reader, I do hope that is true for you and yours.

However, when I first digested those words they came through as:

May the new year be the last!!!!

Now, that might seem for like a New Year’s curse instead of New Year’s blessing, but I would suggest that the greatest blessing we can all hope for is Jesus’ return:

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away (Revelation 21:3-4, English Standard Version, emphasis mine).

He who testifies to these things says, “Surely I am coming soon.” Amen. Come, Lord Jesus! (Revelation 22:20)

I will admit I’m a little apprehensive about the Second Coming. I mean personally apprehensive, not just worried about the billions who will no longer have the opportunity to accept the free gift of salvation. I trust my Lord…I just don’t trust myself.Sun breaking through clouds

How about you? Do these words make you exclaim, “Amen. Come, Lord Jesus!”?: Continue reading “May the New Year Be the Last!!!!”

The birth of Christ

“…Being Born in the Likeness of Men…”

Posted on by Alan

In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn (Luke 2:1-7, English Standard Version).

The birth of Christ

Have this mind among yourselves, which is yours in Christ Jesus, who, though he was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross. Therefore God has highly exalted him and bestowed on him the name that is above every name, so that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:5-11).

Merry Christmas from Traditores (https://traditores.org), Traditores Radio (http://tradio.in), Alan Fahrner, and the Fahrner family.

May you find (or become closer to) the One who "emptied himself, by taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men" and was "laid in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn."

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life (John 3:16).

Baby crying

“I can’t explain why we shouldn’t murder disabled children”

Posted on by Alan

Baby cryingMatt Walsh’s blog post, "I can’t explain why we shouldn’t murder disabled children" caused quite a stir this week. This is not really something I want to submit on Christmas Eve, but I wanted to make sure I didn’t forget to post it and (come to think of it) it is apropos given we are about to celebrate the birth of a baby.

Please read Walsh’s entire article yourself (my excerpts cannot do it justice)…but about two thirds of the way into the piece he explains its genesis:

I say all of this because my initial intention was to sit down and write about the couple in Washington who just won a 50 million dollar "wrongful birth" settlement. Brock and Rhea Wuth sued a hospital because their son was born severely disabled. No, they were not alleging that the hospital caused the disability; they alleged that the hospital (and a lab testing facility) did not run the correct tests that would have detected the genetic defects while the child was still in the womb. Had they been given the correct tests, they would have known that the baby was "defective," and then killed it. Tragically, they were robbed of the opportunity to abort their son, so the hospital must pay for the son’s care — for the rest of his life.

I’m speechless. Continue reading ““I can’t explain why we shouldn’t murder disabled children””

People singing

Christmas Album “Must Haves” (2013 Version)

Posted on by Alan

People singingOne of the things I love most about Thanksgiving is that I can stop being clandestine about playing Christmas music. 🙂

This year’s list is pretty much last year’s list because, sadly, no new Christmas albums came out in 2013 that interested me greatly. However, this has become an annual list…and I’ll sneak in a couple more MP3 collections you should consider getting (Amazon MP3 has developed an intriguing “The Christmas Classics Album” series)…

First, the "must have" albums:

Some singles:

And, new to my collection this year is “The Classic Christmas Album” by Johnny Cash. I have to listen a bit before I decide it belongs in my “must haves.” 🙂

(I am a huge fan of Johnny Cash…but nobody gets a buy into my Christmas music list! :-))

You may also want to see what Ella Fitzgerald, Martina McBride, Louis Armstrong, Carole King (isn’t she Jewish?), Amy Grant, The Jackson 5, Pink Martini, Andre Rieu, and Celine Dione have done.

Well, there you go…what’s on your list? Let me know…I always love a great excuse to buy more music! 🙂

And, if you don’t know Jesus Christ, this would be a great season to find out how a carpenter’s son changed history.  Spoiler: it’s because He wasn’t just a carpenter’s son. 🙂

A very Merry Christmas to you and yours!

P.S.  With Andy Williams, Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis…you just need to find a good collection for the money.  With some of the other ones you’ll want to make sure you get the album I specifically listed…with a couple of them, not all their Christmas albums are good, especially if you like traditional arrangements as I do…

Rating of clergy ethical standards

Cause and Effect?

Posted on by Alan

Some woeful news for us ministers:

WASHINGTON, D.C. — Americans’ rating of the honesty and ethics of the clergy has fallen to 47%, the first time this rating has dropped below 50% since Gallup first asked about the clergy in 1977. Clergy have historically ranked near the top among professions on this measure, hitting a high rating of 67% in 1985.

🙁

And here’s the graph (please go to "Honesty and Ethics Rating of Clergy Slides to New Low" to see it fully):

Rating of clergy ethical standards

Around the same time I received this news, I saw an article titled "Disgraced Ex-Preacher Says There’s a Major Culture Problem in Evangelical Christianity." Near the top it says: Continue reading “Cause and Effect?”

Giving Up Snarkiness

Posted on by Alan

Snooty man

There is an article worthy of a read from Megan McArdle about "Why [She Tries] Not to Write Bad Reviews."

A key part of what she says:

But that’s not actually the main reason I avoid it. The main reason I avoid the joys of snarky takedowns is that it’s not very good for you. Snark is immense, immense fun; the only thing more enjoyable than chortling to yourself over a particularly well-turned insult is having your friends and acquaintances e-mail to tell you how awesome it was. But if you’re basically pretty good at snotty putdowns — and most bloggers have at least an apprentice-level facility with this art — it’s almost too much fun. It’s too easy. It’s the writing equivalent of skiing the bunny slope.

I have written some epic snark, and I have written a book, and let me just tell you, there is no comparison. Books are hard. Reported features are hard. Sarcasm and outrage are easy, which is why they tend to peak in adolescence, unlike, say, mastery of nuclear physics.

Please read McArdle’s whole post…and please also read mine about "Christian Snarkiness."

I don’t think Snarkiness is healthy for society, and I think it is often downright sinful for Christians who should know better…

Greg Thornburg Playing “Carol of Bells”

Posted on by Alan

I had the honor of working with this guy…and always thought of him as a drummer…but…

[soundcloud url=”https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/122818036″ params=”color=ff6600&auto_play=false&show_artwork=true” width=”100%” height=”166″ iframe=”true” /]

Is it Okay to Test God?

Posted on by Alan

Man with bullhornA new Twitter friend posted an article which showed that prayer had no effect on the success of heart bypass surgery (and that, actually, those who knew they were prayed for fared worse). For her consideration I shared my article, "A God that Does Not Want to Be Measured Will Not Be Measured."

Although she saw some weaknesses in it, at least she said it was okay. 🙂

Another Twitter friend of mine said that the study was testing God…and testing God is blasphemous. Luckily they didn’t get into fisticuffs :-), but they also never agreed if it was testing or not. (I lean toward yes…but not necessarily intentional.)

Now, the Bible does include people testing God in some respect or another. For instance, Gideon and the wet/dry fleece (Numbers 6:36-40) and Hezekiah and the backward-moving shadow (2 Kings 20:8-11). God doesn’t condemn either, so what gives? Continue reading “Is it Okay to Test God?”

“No Matter What God You Pray To”

Posted on by Alan

Christmas Tree

From this year’s national Christmas tree lighting:

President Obama said Christmas is a time "we celebrate the birth of a child who came into the world with only a stable’s roof to shelter Him."

He also made this statement about Christmas: "It’s a message both timeless and universal — no matter what God you pray to, or if you pray to none at all."

Hmmm…contrast that with these words referencing the purpose of Jesus’ birth:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe is condemned already, because he has not believed in the name of the only Son of God. And this is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil (John 3:16-19, English Standard Version, emphasis mine).

That is a timeless message, but not at all universal…