Random Bits

The World Is Not My Home

I tend to rail against large churches, but more against churches that want to be large. Here's a really good reason why being "seeker sensitive" is such a bad idea. Concentrating on church growth leads to stunts like this. (As the guy who does the sign at church I automatically recoil at any sign that attributes a quote from God. I don't need to make up a phoney quote from God, I got a whole bunch right here.)

After suspending Ray Rice for two entire games for nearly killing his wife, NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell  has suddenly come to the realization that bad behavior is BAD. He's instituted a policy of lifetime bans for a second offence. I'm not sure how well a sports venue requiring participants to behave is going to hold up in today's world.

The state of California now requires that Catholic colleges provide murder abortion coverage. This is an executive order from Governor Jerry Brown who claims to be a Catholic. Maybe I'm wrong but after watching Jerry Brown, Nancy Pelosi, and Joe Biden in action I'm getting the impression that there is no longer any church discipline in the Catholic Church.

After It Gets Worse, It Will Get Better

I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus. (Philippians 3:14)

Blessed is a man who perseveres under trial; for once he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him. (James 1:12)

'Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison, so that you will be tested, and you will have tribulation for ten days. Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life. (Revelation 2:10) 

It's Only Going To Get Worse

¹² Indeed, all who desire to live godly in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. ¹³ But evil men and impostors will proceed from bad to worse, deceiving and being deceived. (2 Timothy 3:12)

"Then they will deliver you to tribulation, and will kill you, and you will be hated by all nations because of My name. (Matthew 24:9)

21 "Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; and children will rise up against parents and cause them to be put to death. 22 You will be hated by all because of My name, but it is the one who has endured to the end who will be saved. (Matthew 10:21-22)

What is the Apocrypha and what's it doing in my Bible?

The Apocrypha is a set of books written between 400 BC and the time of Jesus' ministry on Earth. These books consist of 1 and 2 Esdras, Tobit, Judith, the Rest of Esther, the Wisdom of Solomon, Ecclesiasticus (also known as Sirach), Baruch, The Letter of Jeremiah, Song of the Three Young Men, Susanna, Bel and the Dragon, The Additions to Daniel, The Prayer of Manasseh, and 1 and 2 Maccabees.

Protestants reject the apocrypha as being inspired for one very good reason - the creators of the Old Testament, the Jewish community, rejects the apocrypha. So why does it exist in some bibles? 

Random Bits

Every life is precious... unless it's inconvenient, then according to Richard Dawkins it is Immoral to let that child live. This man is arguing for the pre-natal slaughter of the most sweetest, loving human beings I've ever met: people with Downs Sysdrome. This is the man that argues that human fetus is less human than an adult pig. Mr Dawkins would probably be surprised to find out that God disagrees:

12 Even the darkness is not dark to You, And the night is as bright as the day. Darkness and light are alike to You. 13 For You formed my inward parts; You wove me in my mother's womb. 14 I will give thanks to You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Wonderful are Your works, And my soul knows it very well. (Psalm 139:12-14)

In an act of what I call "Spiritual Broadcasting" the Holy Spirit asked Jason at the Cripplegate to tackle the same subject, Jason does a wonderful job explaining Mr. Dawkins heartless attacks on such wonderful beautiful children.

Glenn Beck, Joel Osteen and the End of Days

by Joe Schimmel

Our staff at Good Fight Ministries posted the following on our Facebook page on Wednesday, August 20, 2014: “Glenn Beck stops by Joel Osteen’s church!”

“…we spent Sunday morning with our religion followed by a service at Joel Osteen’s Lakewood Church in Houston. I spoke with Joel and Victoria before and after the service. They are always so kind and gentle. While again, we might disagree on “religion”, just as I might have with the Archbishop, we are in total agreement on faith.” –Glenn Beck, “Are we a nation divided?” August 18, 2014, glennbeck.com

If a Mormon can come to your church and interact with your pastor, and come out believing that they both share the same faith, you might need to find yourself a new church.

Want to see the difference?

Do ISIS and those forcing the Navy to remove Bibles from guest rooms have the same end goal?

By Allen B. West

Other than ISIS itself, I cannot believe there is anyone not appalled by their genocidal actions against Christians in Iraq — indeed we are witnessing a global persecution of Christians from the Coptics in Egypt to Pakistan. Things are so dire that even the Vatican has approved military action against the Islamic terrorist army. However, you don’t have to leave America’s shores to find or experience Christian persecution – it’s just being done more covertly.

As reported by Fox News, “There is growing outrage among sailors and religious liberty advocates over a directive that calls for the removal of Bibles from lodges and hotels run on U.S. Navy bases. The directive comes after an atheist group filed a formal complaint earlier this year over the placement of Bibles in the rooms. “The current direction is to remove all religious material from Navy Lodge guest rooms,” read an email to a Navy chaplain from The Navy Exchange Service Command (NEXCOM). “For those Navy Lodges with religious materials currently in guest rooms, the Navy Lodge General Manager will contact the Installation Chaplain’s office who will provide guidance on the removal procedure disposition of these materials.”

So now we’ve evolved to the point in America where we refer to God’s Holy Bible as simply “materials.” This is how it happens, the silent war that results in the death of the Judeo-Christian faith heritage of our Republic. This is how secular humanists erase all semblance of our faith tradition so that future generations will reject the premise.

So I ask, what is the difference between the violent actions of ISIS and the covert actions of these atheist groups? Let’s be honest, the desired end state and result is the same — the death of Christianity. 

The Bones of a Church

I've been following John MacArthurs "Anatomy of a Church" series of lectures/sermons and his descriptions really strike home. Readers will know of my distaste for man-centered churches whose main goal is to worship the human ego, and if you agree with my distaste for the Church of The Human Ego, Dr. John's words are a breath of fresh air. If you disagree, Dr. MacArthur's words are still a breath of fresh air, it's just that you've been sucking stale air. 

The anatomy starts with the support structure, the skeleton. Dr. MacArthur identifies five main bones that are needed to support a church in a Godly, loving way.

Bone #1 - a High View of God. It is imperative that any church that claims to be Christian to view itself as an institution for the glory of God, everything else the church says and does is secondary to that primary purpose. It seems like this is a no-brainer, but if you look at some churches they have programs and workshops to improve yourself, to improve your kids, to improve your marriage. The church has morphed from an institution designed to love and glorify God to a workshop to make you feel better about yourself. We no longer worship God but worship the 'seeker'.

We dragged God off his throne and made him subservient to us, a mystical self-help guru that loves us regardless of what we do and does what we demand. Instead of actually worshiping our creator our worship service has devolved into singing inane songs with all the musical complexity of a door bell containing repetitious lyrics that Jesus forbid us in Matthew 6:7 written to make us feel good about ourselves. So many do not know how to bow down to Jesus, to tremble at the horror of our sins, to thank Him with tears in our eyes for not squashing us like we deserve. 

Men, Not Angels, Preach The Gospel

Do not get your gospel from an angel!

Don't get me wrong, angels are awesome, these messengers of God are full of power and might and radiate the glory of God so much so that even the saints mistakenly worship them. But they're not preachers, yet.

Let's look at it this way, if Jesus could have used angels, why did he bother with disciples? Angels are awesome, they're big, they're glorious, they cannot be ignored. But according to Robert Manson Wood:

Jesus does not use created angels to accomplish the enormous taks of preaching the gospel to everyone on earth. Preaching the gospel is a redemptive work. God has given that redemptive work to man only and by that means makes it possible for man to share equally with Him in the eternal rewards of joint partnership... The created angels are not permitted to preach the gospel because they do not understand it and have not experienced it. 1 Peter 1:12 says "...-things which angels desire to look into." (Angel in Your Future, Pg 196, Robert Manson Wood)

Random Bits

The World Is Not Our Home

I for one could not get on the Robin Williams band wagon, when I returned from a tour of duty in Europe (before the internet and satellite TV) I returned to an America that no longer spoke English. I was greeted by everyone with a cheery "Na-noo na-noo" and displeasure was expressed by "Shazbat"  and I had to investigate the cause. Instead of a cheery clown I saw a tortured soul in the depths of drug addiction and mental anguish and I didn't find much of it funny. Ok, the Genie in Alladin was funny. I will admit that. Bryan Fischer has what I believe is the best Christian perspective on the passing of this poor soul.

Yes she's a sinner, we should love her and edify her, not encourage her. Here is yet another example why CCM is bad for souls and other growing things. Unfortunately less discerning people are still going to hold her us as an example of praise. As the commentor said: Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. He didn't say, "You go girl".

The Price of Fame

Detective Carter, where are you?

You thought I was going to post a picture of Robin Williams, didn't you. This post is about Robin Williams, but I'm going to start with someone who really made me laugh; Chris Tucker.

I first discovered Chris in The Fifth Element, my very favorite SciFi flic. He's starred in some of my favorite movies besides The Fifth Element (all of the Rush Hour franchise) but hasn't done a lot of work because he doesn't agree with the parts he's been offered. Chris is a born-again Christian and does not want to play a part that compromises his Christian beliefs. Chris has huge financial difficulties ($12 million tax debt) and is paying it off and Chris knows he can't overcome this issue by himself. He leans on God to help him. You can't believe how much I admire that.

There's actually several Christian celebrities in Hollywood that have the guts to say "No" when offered a roll that compromises their Christian morals. Probably the most well known Christian in Hollywood, Chuck Norris, also refuses to compromise his morals. But to many the most attractive temptation is fame and adulation, and they'll do anything to reach it.

Tim Horton! Where Are You?

Oh how I long for an Extra Large Double Double And A Cruller To Go! I miss Tim Horton's terribly and the K-Cups you can occasionally get just aren't doing it for me. For those of you who are not familiar with Tim Hortons you're probably from South America... well, from south of Detroit at least. Tim Hortons is a Canadian coffee and donut shop (owned by the American burger chain Wendy's) that is occasionally located south of the border for the blessed few. 

Tim Hortons is a superior cup of brew in a superior business setting. It's steaming hot nirvana for the working classes with a bagel on the side. And, most importantly, it's not Starbucks.

Tim Hortons is real coffee, delicious, piping hot, mixed just the way you want it (double-double!!!), no pretense, no arrogance, no made up phony languages to sound 'hip' and eurocentric, and no secular proselytization. All of which make Tim Horton's vastly superior to Starbucks. 

Random Bits

I shocked a dinner gathering of family and friends by praying for God's healing love to calm the anger filled hearts of Mikey Weinstein and his associate Leah Burton. Personally I was shocked that I had to remind a group of Christians of Matthew 5:44

Mr. Pope continues to stray further and further from what the Bible actually says and instead continues a personal vendetta against the only economic system that has raised the standard of living for the poor, the free market system.

Speaking of straying, Mr. Pope is also straying from the teaching of his own church (lets just ignore that whole "place in heaven for atheists" thing, it was just a "white lie" in the name of PR) There is a church ban in the RCC on clergy holding government jobs. Miguel D'Escoto Brockmann, a priest and member of the Maryknoll Fathers served as Nicaragua's foreign minister from 1979 - 1990 a period where the Sandinista rule was a study in a reign of terror. Of course the spineless Brockmann blamed the murders and tortures committed by his own government on Ronald Reagan. Instead of begging the Lord for mercy and forgiveness for his part in the slaughter of thousands,  Brockmann asked Mr. Pope for his old job back. Ignoring Brockmann's part in murdering thousand of civilians and ignoring Brockmann's violation of RCC rules Mr. Pope  said "Why sure!" and gave Brockman back his deaths head crucifix (complete with skull and crossbones) ignoring the fact that the man who kicked Brockmann out of his hassock, Mr. Pope John Paull II, was recently made a saint by Mr. Pope himself.

"Their God changes the path of our rockets"

“Their God changes the path of our rockets in mid-air, said a terrorist,” was the headline in the July 18 edition of the Jewish Telegraph.

This came from a partial quote by Barbara Ordman, who lives on the West Bank. Her exact quote was: 

“As one of the terrorists from Gaza was reported to say when asked why they couldn't aim their rockets more effectively: “We do aim them, but their God changes their path in mid-air.”

Is God taking a hand in the conflict between Hamas and Israel? As reported in Israel Today an Iron Dome anti-missile system operator could not shoot down an incoming missile, the Iron Dome battery commander said to a reporter at a Hebrew language webs site: 

Taste And See That The LORD Is Good

“O taste and see that the Lord is good; How blessed is the man who takes refuge in Him! O fear the Lord, you His saints; For to those who fear Him there is no want.” (Psalm 34:8-9)

Only God is truly Good. While man was made in God's image we are tainted with sin and therefore can only recognize good, and many of us are incapable of doing even that and instead see goodness in corrupt and selfish acts of man. Goodness flows not from man's deeds but from God Himself. Once you realize the dichotomy of how insignificant you are compared to God's splendor and majesty yet at the same time how valuable you are to God and how much you are loved by Him that you can finally realize another dichotomy: His love and goodness which invites you in, and His power and holy majesty which sinks you to your knees.

 

Random Bits

For here we do not have a lasting city,
but we are seeking the city which is to come.
(Hebrews 13:14)

It appears that Governor Jerry Brown, like most of his liberal colleagues, has completely forgotten that the United States is governed under rule of law and not under a cult of personality. What this means is that we are ruled not by a person but by the laws passed by Congress, that way we're not enslaved to the whims of a slick talking Nero wannabe. So when Jerry Brown, Catholic/Buddhist/New Age Demagogue, starts invoking religion to justify his usurpation of law, you need to know that there was no Bible opened in his demagoguery, especially the page that contains Romans 13:1-7.

The human appointed "Vicar of Christ", Pope Francis,  tells Christians that the whole Great Commission thing is just plain rude and shouldn't be followed. In item #9 of his list of  Top 10 P.R. Stunts Secrets To Happiness Mr. Pope tells us "the worst thing of all is religious proselytism," while our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ tells us:

19 Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, 20 teaching them to observe all that I commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age.” (Matthew 28:19-20)

But then what does Jesus know? he was only God. He was only sinless and perfect. Francis is The Pope!