Arab Reading

“A statement of simple fact is not bigotry.”

Posted on by Alan

Arab ReadingI suspect it won't be often that I find myself agreeing with militant atheist Richard Dawkins, but after igniting a furor with a comment about Islam, he said something that I think bears repeating:

A statement of simple fact is not bigotry.

(From "Richard Dawkins Muslim jibe sparks Twitter backlash.")

Now, if you always focus on just the negative "simple facts" about a category of people…then that might be an indication of bigotry.

Wondering what Dawkins said that caused people to freak? Continue reading ““A statement of simple fact is not bigotry.””

Angel

Was It an Angel?

Posted on by Alan

UPDATE: It was a priest.

AngelFrom Christianity Today’s "Angel priest, Missouri [VIDEO]: Mysterious holy man vanishes after miracble blessing and saving car crash victim":

A mysterious "angel priest" appeared at a car crash scene in eastern Missouri on Sunday and prayed at the scene before vanishing without a trace.

The Catholic priest does not appear in any of the nearly 70 photos taken at the car crash scene, and rescue workers do not know the identity of the holy man who disappeared shortly after offering his blessing.

Raymond Reed, the fire chief of New London, told USA Today: "I think it’s a miracle. I would say whether it was an angel that was sent to us in the form of a priest or a priest that became our angel, I don’t know. Either way, I’m good with it."

Continue reading “Was It an Angel?”

Evolution Vs. God

Posted on by Alan

I think every Christian, well at least every one who speaks English :-), should see this video.

I am usually not impressed when Christian ministries claim they have disproven some secular view (or have proven some supernatural one). They are "preaching to the choir" with me, but that doesn't mean their arguments don't usually have gaping holes.

And, I am not going to claim that this video disproves evolution, but it does a great job of showing that a belief in evolution requires faith (and that means it does not meet scientific rigor). Kudos to Living Waters.

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U0u3-2CGOMQ&w=512&rel=0]

Please take time visit the Evolution vs. God site.

P.S. Of course, just because evolution requires faith does not mean it is false. Otherwise, Christianity would be false too. 🙂

Boy playing video game

Pat Robertson Has a Point

Posted on by Alan

Boy playing video gameI may cringe at some other things he has been quoted as saying, but…

Admitting that he's never played a video game before, televangelist Pat Robertson said Friday morning that murdering someone online in a video game is no different than committing the act in real life. (From "Pat Robertson: 'Murdering someone in cyberspace' is a 'virtual sin.'")

And he rightly alludes to these words from Jesus:

You have heard that it was said, 'You shall not commit adultery.' But I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman with lustful intent has already committed adultery with her in his heart (Matthew 5:27-28, English Standard Version).

If anything, I think he was mistaken for backpedalling a bit:

He later clarified that "God won’t send you to hell" for killing people in the virtual world, but that committing the act of violence, real or not, "you lose your sensitivity to God."

I don't thing God sends anyone to hell for any specific acts they do…but I also don’t think that it requires someone to actually murder someone else for there to be an indication he or she is a rebellious sinner separated from the Most High. It's the heart, not the behavior, that matters.

P.S. I did not watch what Pat Robertson actually said…and my initial comment at the beginning of the post wasn’t meant to bus-chuck him. I do think he has said some things that were better left unsaid, but I am not on the anti-Robertson bandwagon.

Shipwreck

Why Didn’t Anyone Die?

Posted on by Alan

ShipwreckAs I continue reading through the New Testament this year, I recently ran into this:

Since much time had passed, and the voyage was now dangerous because even the Fast was already over, Paul advised them, saying, "Sirs, I perceive that the voyage will be with injury and much loss, not only of the cargo and the ship, but also of our lives." But the centurion paid more attention to the pilot and to the owner of the ship than to what Paul said (Acts 27:9-11, English Standard Version).

A day or so later I read: Continue reading “Why Didn’t Anyone Die?”

If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck…

Posted on by Alan

Depressed man who lost at slots

Ray Charles

Preaching back in Antrim, New Hampshire I was famous for quoting songs in my sermons…and sometimes having them be the actual inspiration for the talk.

Or perhaps it might be more accurate to say I was infamous for it 🙂

In either case, don’t worry…I’m not going to start singing up here. I already like all of you too much to do that. 🙂

However, I am going to quote the late Ray Charles, who famously…and quite soulfully…sang:

If it wasn’t for bad luck, I wouldn’t have no luck at all.1

Do you ever feel that way? That nothing…at least nothing major…ever goes right for you?

  • That if you get mail it’s going to be a bill?
  • That if you are going to hear from your boss it is because he or she is mad at you…and you didn’t do anything wrong?
  • That if you get a call from long distance family it’s going to be to tell you someone has died, has cancer, or some other awful news?
  • That the one time you don’t watch the speedometer closely you are guaranteed to see flashing lights in your review mirror?

What else would you add to the list? How long is your list?

I suspect there are some sitting here before me who aren’t being unreasonable to feel that way. The last half-decade has been especially hard on many of us, and it seems tragedy is striking closer to home…and more often. As a church family we still mourn the recent loss of Tyler…who should be in our pews instead of in our memories. I’m sure there are others of us who are fighting a disease whose outcome isn’t yet sure. Still others may not know how they are going to pay their upcoming rent or mortgage.

In our sin-scarred world there seems to be one thing that is as sure as death and taxes:

We will suffer.

Continue reading “If It Wasn’t for Bad Luck…”

What Kind of Eyes Do You Have?

Posted on by Alan

I do not know this minister beyond what LIGHTNING ROD NYC PASTOR’S STUNNINGLY CONFRONTATIONAL SERMON ON TRAYVON MARTIN: ‘YOU SEE THE WORLD THROUGH YOUR BLACK EYES’ says (and it isn’t terribly positive), but he had a jarring reaction to the outcome of the Zimmerman trial:

[Dr. James David Manning] urged his mostly black congregation to stop viewing the world through their "black eyes" and start looking at it through the "blood of Jesus."

If they did that, the pastor explained, there would be no denying that the verdict in the Zimmerman was the correct one. He also told those who are convinced that Zimmerman is guilty that they only believe that because they are black.

Ouch! However, for Christians, it got even worse:

He called out those in the black community who refuse to consider any other possibility than Zimmerman racially profiled and killed Martin in cold blood.

"The only reason why you think that way is because you’re black," Manning preached. "You see the world, not through the blood of Jesus, you see the world through your black eyes. You have not changed yet."

Double-ouch!

I suspect even non-Christians are familiar with Matthew 7:1’s, "Judge not, that you be not judged" (English Standard Version). It is often used to bludgeon those who have the audacity to point out sinful behavior (and often wielded by those who don’t even believe in the inspiration or authority of Scripture). The problem is that it wasn’t uttered alone, instead Jesus continued…

Continue reading “What Kind of Eyes Do You Have?”

The Blood of Martyrs Is the Seed of the Church?

Posted on by Alan

Martyr being led to be burnt at the stakeIf you are a Christian, there is a decent chance you've heard Tertullian1 quoted as saying, "The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church." I could not find that exact quote in my Logos library, but perhaps this is its basis:

Nor does your cruelty, however exquisite, avail you; it is rather a temptation to us. The oftener we are mown down by you, the more in number we grow; the blood of Christians is seed.2

The more succinct (oft-quoted) version is inspirational…and on the surface seems logical.

Or does it? Continue reading “The Blood of Martyrs Is the Seed of the Church?”

“Amazing Grace” Versus “Hail Satan”

Posted on by Alan

SatanYou know that you have gone too far when the Church of Satan disavows your actions:

"Classy: Pro-abortion protesters drown out 'Amazing Grace' with chants of 'Hail Satan'"

Resulting in…

"Church of Satan distances itself from pro-abortion activists chanting 'Hail Satan!' Turns out Satan is prolife"

Reality is, a spirit that would encourage someone to fight for abortions beyond 20 weeks (or, in my opinion, at any point in a pregnancy) is the same spirit that leads the Church of Satan. Still ironic the latter doesn't want to be tarnished by the former…

Not the Same…

Posted on by Alan

Graphic depicting that Christianity and Islam are not the same thingOne of the web pages I check on pretty much daily is The Corner at National Review Online. A couple weeks back I ran into the article "You're a Good Man, Cardinal Dolan." Michael Potemra's piece starts off with:

The highly mediagenic archbishop of New York, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, visited a mosque on Staten Island and encouraged the worshipers there to hold on to their faith.

Regardless of whether Islam is a "religion of peace" or not, if you are a Christian who holds on to traditional faith, you probably reacted to that sentence the same way I did.

Not so well…

Although I am an inclusivist (see also here), I cannot reconcile Potemra's opening statement with John 14:6:

Jesus said to him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me" (John 14:6, English Standard Version, emphasis mine).

Now, before I judge someone's words I try to read (or hear) them in context, and I clicked through to the news report that was the genesis of Potemra's entry. I could not find the cardinal specificaly encouraging Muslims to hold on to their faith, but in some respects this was even more disturbing:

The cardinal asked questions about the Muslim faith and emphasized throughout his visit how much the two religions and their members have in common.

"You love God, we love God and he is the same God," the cardinal said of the Muslim and Roman Catholic faiths.

Ack! Continue reading “Not the Same…”

49

Posted on by Alan

Birthday cake with candlesWhen I was young, my birthday was second only to Christmas in excitement for me. As I've aged, however, they have morphed into more of an annual time for reflection. Sure, I still appreciate the love and attention I receive from friends and family members, the gifts, and the myriad Facebook Happy Birthdays, but as I begin my 50th year of life three thoughts stand out for me more than the actual celebration of my birth.

#1: Wasted potential.

I suspect I am not alone in thinking that I have, in great measure, wasted the gifts that God has given me (and the opportunity to be much closer to Him than I am). How about you? Do you embarrassingly look back on the hours you squandered on activities that helped no one, including yourself? Do you imagine what you could have been if you kept your eye on the prize and then lower your head in shame as you see the delta between it and where you are?

And just think…this is how I feel now…wait until next year when I turn 50. 🙂 Continue reading “49”

Adam & Eve

Not So Crazy After All

Posted on by Alan

Adam & EveSome folks probably look at Christians as a bit nutty because orthodox ones believe that all humans can be traced back to two original parents (Adam and Eve) about 6,000 years ago.

Well, maybe we aren’t so crazy after all…

“All Europeans are related if you go back just 1,000 years, scientists say”

And, not only that…

The cold, hard genetic evidence points to a warm and fuzzy fact. “It underlines the commonality of all of our histories,” Coop said. “You don’t have to go back many generations to find that we’re all related to each other.”

Interesting, eh?

P.S. If you are a Christian who discounts the creation narrative as mythological, allegorical, or a just word picture of what really happened (e.g. as describing evolution), all you’ve done is moved your problem forward to the story of Noah: Continue reading “Not So Crazy After All”

Measuring tape

A God that Does Not Want to Be Measured Will Not Be Measured

Posted on by Alan

Measuring tapeOne of the (many) shortcomings of Christian religion to atheists is that God remains unmeasurable.  Here is a being that purportedly has often interfered in the natural realm (including its very creation), yet no scientific instrument, photograph, video, or so on has captured a single one of His miracles (although I'm sure some Christians would argue otherwise).

Yet, as much as it might be claimed a cop-out, reality is that…

A God that does not want to be measured will not be measured.

Now, that is actually slightly inaccurate in that it implies God has hidden Himself, whereas Christians believe that He has actually gone through great efforts to reveal Himself, finally providing the ultimate form of communication: Continue reading “A God that Does Not Want to Be Measured Will Not Be Measured”

One Man, One Vote…One Time

Posted on by Alan

I remember Charles Krauthammer talking about how tyrants believe in "One man, one vote."

"One time."

Which, of course, is the time they get voted into office.

I think a similar thing happens in Christianity. Someone realizes that denomination(s) have gone outside the Bible for doctrine (or have misinterpreted it)…and (rightly) decides with like-minded people to learn what Scripture really says.

Then, of course, they document their conclusions, fully convinced that this time they’ve got it right, and anybody else who concludes something different is wrong.

I imagine God is sad every time…but not surprised. 🙁