Have a Wonderful Thanksgiving

Normally Mrs. WideAwakeChristian and I are celebrating Thanksgiving with our children a mile up and 1,600 miles west of here, but this year my folks need a little help so we're giving up the snow, the cold, the blowing leaves, the frost, and the frostbite for the beach here in the sunshine state. Personally I like winter, but my folks like summer and never want it to end. This is much like the multitude of ways we love to praise our God. There are many different protestant denominations because God realizes we're not all the same and need to communicate with Him a bit differently, so He gave us different ways to do it. 

And for this, among thousands of other reasons, I am grateful that God made us. Thank you dear Father.

Were Verses Used Out of Context?

I've posted before that it's a bad idea to use a single bible verse, always look for the content first before you use a verse. I'm beginning to see where some modern doctrines come from using bible verses out of context to support a potentially unbiblical doctrine.

While cruising YouTube looking for funny cat videos (well, if I told the truth and said I was looking for steam locomotive videos from the 1940's you'd think I was a nerd) when I stumbled across a video by Monica Dennington about pre-trib vs. post trib beliefs. She starts with the following verse:

I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. (John 14:18)

This is a nice verse, but Jesus is speaking of his resurrection and sending the Holy Spirit to his disciples, there's nothing in the context of that verse that has anything to do with His second coming or the tribulation, or the timing of the rapture. And luckily Monica doesn't use it for backing up either doctrine, she just lets it hang there and continues on to speak about the fact that we don't know when Jesus is coming back, even Jesus doesn't know, and He spoke at length in Matthew 24 about His return. So if Jesus doesn't know when He will return, an event which is in the bible, how could we possibly know anything about a pre-tribulation rapture which is not in the bible? Were Bible verses used out of context when formulation the pre-tribulational doctrine? Was the Bible used at all?

Giving Thanks

O give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.

1 Chronicles 16:34

Buying Your Way Into Heaven One Burger At A Time

For those of you meat lovers that have never had a bison burger I strongly suggest that you do. Bison has less fat, fewer calories, and lower cholesterol than beef while remaining quite flavorful, a delicious richer sweeter flavor than beef. An adequate description of a bison burger was penned years ago  by drug saturated songster Jimmy Buffett: "Heaven on earth with an onion slice." So what does an exquisitely crafted burger have to do with eternal salvation? Nothing, not a thing... unless you're Jane Fonda and Ted Turner.

When Ted was 24 his father killed himself leaving Ted to run Turner's billboard company, which Ted did and parlayed it into his multi billion dollar empire. His former wife Jane Fonda says that's it's a miracle that he turned out the way he did:

“"Given his childhood, he should've become a dictator... He should've become a not nice person. The miracle is that he became what he is. A man who will go to heaven, and there’ll be a lot of animals up there welcoming him, animals that have been brought back from the edge of extinction because of Ted... And he says he's not religious. But he, the whole time I was with him, every speech -- and he likes to give speeches -- he always ends his speech with 'God bless'... He’s turned out to be a good guy.”

Ok, let's face it, when you think "biblical scholar" the name Jane Fonda is not in your top 10, and probably not in your top 10,000 either. A miracle that Ted overcame his background and became successful? How about the Robertsons who overcame their background, addictions and sinful natures and became successful Godly men? Has Ted accepted Jesus as the Way, the Truth, and the Light? Does Ted realize that no one comes to the Father except through him? Ted Turner summed up his views on Christianity in one sentence:

"Christianity is a religion for losers."

Food for Thought

But they (the Jews) were deceptive, and Allah was deceptive, for Allah is the best of deceivers (Koran S. 3:54; cf. 8:30)

so that by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have taken refuge would have strong encouragement to take hold of the hope set before us. (Hebrews 6:18)