A hospital

As long as there's been a Church, people have argued whether it's, as I've heard it, a haven for saints or a hospital for sinners. I believe it's the latter, and I'll tell you why.

No one goes to a hospital because he's well; he goes because he's sick. In the same way, churches aren't full of good people, but sinful, broken ones. Jesus, after all, didn't come to call the righteous, but sinners to repent. Everyone has violated God's law, everyone is broken, and everyone needs healing.

If anyone tries to act high and mighty because they're "good church folks", ask them of what they've been forgiven. If they haven't been forgiven, then they're bound for Hell and need the Gospel. If they have been, they came to Christ like everyone else, limping.

Poor understanding

Let's face it: some things in the Bible are hard to understand. Women should wear a head covering "because of the angels"? I've asked, and no one seems to understand that one.

Evangelicals love to pull verses out of context and apply them to ourselves as promises from God. If you think you're immune, ask yourself what John 3.17 says, or what Philippians 4.12 is about. The vast majority of people in churches don't know. If you're going to continue doing it -- and I certainly can't stop you --- then at least know that you have a lot of company in the cults.

Mormonism, for example, has built several important doctrines from a single verse in 1Corinthians that speaks of baptism for the dead. That practice is never mentioned again in Scripture, and is certainly nowhere commanded or recommended. Yet it is a vital part of Temple Mormonism, and is seen as acceptable by many professing Christians.

Knowing a verse is good. There's such a thing, though, as knowing just enough to be dangerous.

Happy anniversary to the American Holocaust

This past weekend many in America celebrated the 40th anniversary of Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court decision that declared abortion legal in the United States.  I generally listen to NPR on the way to work, and this weekend they were having a ball trumpeting this landmark in "women's rights".

That's how it's presented:  as an issue of a woman's individual rights.  I'm not denying that women have certain inalienable rights, just as men do.  I'm not arguing that their rights are in any way inferior or subservient to the rights of men, or that their rights ultimately come from men.  All are created equal.

It's just that, as a man, I don't have the right to murder a baby either.

A mighty and righteous stomp

'Many have missed the point of why Christian should let another person stomp on him. The reason is not that the Christian is a wimp, but that he has surrendered the job of vengeance to the Lord. If someone does me wrong, I am not to take the law into my own hands. Instead, I give it all to God in prayer, and if (in His perfect judgment) he sees fit to do so, He will stomp on the person who stomped on me; and he has a righteous (and bigger) stomp.' -- Ray Comfort, The School of Biblical Evangelism

Who are we planning on shooting?

There's a lot of talk going around about guns right now.  The ones who hate guns are demanding they be severely restricted and eventually outlawed entirely.  The ones who love guns are demanding that the solution is more guns, not less.  Arm the teachers, they say, and anyone fool enough to attack a school will get what's coming to him.

Review #005: "The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience"

Ron Sider is a big name in certain circles, due largely to his book Rich Christians in an Age of Hunger, first published in 1978.  I have to admit that I've had that one on my "to-read" shelf for a year or so and haven't gotten around to it yet.  I have read his 2005 work The Scandal of the Evangelical Conscience, though, and found it both bracing and very frustrating.

Five more books

One of my first posts on this blog was dedicated to five books that had a significant impact on me.  With my revived interest in writing fiction (see my other blog 365 Pages), I thought it might be a good time to revisit the concept.

A warning for prayer weasels

Did you know that there are times when Satan would love for you to pray?

Stockholm syndrome

The other day I wrote about the incompatibility of modern American culture with the teachings of Christ as we see them in Scripture.  The fact is that what we do -- what we in the church do -- is often directly opposed to the clear and unambiguous Word of God.  Far too often, when faced with this dilemma, we choose to turn our backs on Scripture.  Why is that?

Was Jesus Christ an idiot?

I guess that got your attention, huh?  Rest assured, the answer to that question is 'absolutely not', but that leads to another, harder question.  If Jesus Christ wasn't an idiot -- if he knew what he was talking about and was able to correctly convey his thoughts to his followers, and by extension to us -- then why do so many people act as if he were?

Ruthlessly clinging: The Tale of Grunkle and Gruntley

The other day I read a post on Google+ that really struck me.  Greg Gordon of sermonindex.net wrote, "The deception will be so strong in the end times that only those who ruthless cling to the Lord and His promises will be safe."  I assume that he meant "ruthlessly cling", and I thought that "ruthlessly clinging" is something I know a little about these days.

The answer is always simple

On Monday evening I read a G+ post that essentially called me an idiot who didn't care about babies being murdered because I didn't vote against our president in the last election.  (For the record, I abstained from voting, because no candidate was acceptable.  As Charles Spurgeon said, "When faced with a choice of two evils, choose neither.")  Aside from reminding me of the constant bickering that drove me from Facebook, it drove home once again the desperate need for professing Christians to understand the way the world actually works.

Filth pays

The last couple of days there's been a lot of talk about the kid who stars on Two and a Half Men and his statements regarding his new Christian faith and its effect on how he sees the show.  I can't comment on the kids' faith, of which I know nothing, or the content of the show, which I've never watched.  One thing that's jumped out at me, though, is how much he apparently gets paid for the show he now describes as "filth".

A real fan

Oh, is that game today?  I don't know how I forgot, because I really, really love Alabama football.